Part 22

The two Aces who had been stationed outside of the throne room had been conversing quietly as they waited for any further orders from the Dealer. They hadn't heard anything that applied to them, but they had heard his recent order for the rest of the Cards to start their portion of the mission. This could only mean that something was wrong.

"He just gave the Kings, Queens and Jacks the order to evacuate the people." One of them said, receiving a nod from the other.

"It's about time things started to pick. I was beginning to think we wouldn't see any action." The other replied.

Unknown to them, coiled around the top of one of the stone columns was a lone Arbok that had been watching them for a moment, looking a for a moment to strike. The two Aces had been diligently watching their surroundings until both of them became distracted by a set of orders being given out on their wrist communicators. This was the time to attack.

Slithering down the back of the column to make sure it remained in the shadows, the Arbok silently got down onto the floor where it prepared to lunge at its target.

"What the-" Before the Ace could finish his exclamation, he was completely wrapped up by the Arbok who began to squeeze him mercilessly. Arbok then opened up its maw, revealing the purple fangs that it was prepared to sink into the Ace's neck.

"Ampharos, get out here and use Thunderpunch!" The second Ace called out. Before Arbok could bite down onto the junction between the Ace's neck and shoulder, a Pokeball hit its forehead which forced it to pause. Arbok then looked up to see what had hit it, only to be greeted with the fist of Ampharos.

The electricity from Ampharos surged through Arbok's body, causing it to release the Ace as it was sent flying into one of the stone columns. Arbok broke right through the column, destroying the base of the support piece which cause the entire thing to topple over.

"Are you okay?" The second Ace asked as he kneeled down beside his partner who was resting on the floor.

"I think I'm alright." He replied as he rose up to his feet. But as soon as the two of them looked up, they saw that numerous Arbok had been in this corridor, and they were now dropping down from the stone columns one by one.

"Oh boy." The first Ace muttered.

"Well you wanted some action didn't you?"

"Just keep an eye out for their Toxic attack." He replied as he called out his Floatzel.

"Right...Floatzel, use Hydro Pump!"

"Let's help out Ampharos, use Thunderbolt!"

After drenching the horde of Arbok with water, they were immediately zapped by Ampharos, but this wasn't enough to knock out all of them in one go. The Arbok began to hiss together before opening up their mouths to fire out a Toxic wave at the Aces and their Pokemon.

"Floatzel, use Water Pulse!" Floatzel raised both its hands, creating a dense sphere of water which it threw to the floor. A wall of water rose up from the floor, blocking off the Toxic attack until it ended. From there, the Aces and their Pokemon split up to take cover behind the columns. The number of Arbok was more than they could handle in direct confrontation.

"What's going on?" The Aces looked back to find the Dealer standing at the entrance of the throne room, observing the situation.

"We've been cornered by the Arbok." The first Ace replied as he called for his Floatzel to snatch up the Dealer and bring him to safety behind the columns.

"I'm afraid we don't have time to deal with this. Leave the Arbok to me." The Dealer stated as he retrieved an Ultraball from his jacket pocket. Tossing it into the air, the Dealer released the fiery Pokemon contained within that hovered in the air as it took shape. "Get behind us. Now Volcarona, use Psychic!"

Volcarona began to flap its wings rapidly as its eyes gained a bright blue glow. The dual type Pokemon gave a screech before it released a thin psychic blast down the center of the room that quickly expanded in size to the point where it filled nearly the entire corridor. The Arbok were slammed against the walls by the massive attack which also destroyed the stone columns with ease.

The Aces raised their eyebrows, glad that they had moved out of the range of Volcarona's Psychic attack. It had practically demolished the entire corridor.

"Come on, let's get going. We have to get to the engine room in the basement level of the Palace." The Dealer said as the second Ace lowered himself down for the Dealer to climb onto his back.

"Just point us in the right direction." The Ace said before glancing back at the first Ace who was grasping his side. "Hey, are you sure you're alright."

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's nothing the Chansey treatment can't fix up when we get back to base." He replied before patting his side a few times, whispering to himself that he would be fine. The Arbok would've surely crushed his torso if the second Ace hadn't saved him, but he was sure that there had been some kind of damage done to his ribs.

"No, we can't afford to have any mistakes at this point. Losing one man can affect the entire outcome of this mission." The Dealer said as he pulled out a Pokeball from his jacket pocket this time, tossing it into the air to call out his Audino. The Dealer then called for the Ace to lay down on his back for Audino to examine his torso before using Heal Pulse on his sides and shoulders. "This won't fix anything at the moment, but it will numb the pain enough for you perform at your usual level."

"Thank you sir." The Ace said as he rose up from the floor, rolling his shoulder a few times to see if the soreness was truly gone. "I feel better now."

"Good." The Dealer said as he gave the Ace a nod. He then raised his arm to speak into the communicator he had on his wrist. "Joker, we're coming down to the basements levels. What's the situation like down there for you."

"The opposition down here is very heavy." Joker said in reply. "And what are coming down here for?"

"The Palace is set on a crash course for Vermilion City. Our only option it to disable the engine and take it out of the skies."

"You couldn't alter the course from the throne room?"

"No, its been locked to make sure that we couldn't change it." The Dealer replied.

"Well that means Lawrence had been planning for all of this. The engine room is probably a trap, so be careful."

Just a few minutes after leaving Ash and Gary, Anabel and Joker had found the room where the Pokemon were being held on the same floor. Hundreds of Pokeballs were inserted into numerous treys that were stacked up on number of shelves that filled the room. Now they had finally found the Pokemon, all they had to do was gather the Pokeballs and escape.

"Alright Anabel, can I leave you with Gallade to collect the Pokemon?" Joker asked her, causing Gallade to give him a narrow stare.

"Um, sure. But, how will I get out?" Anabel asked.

"Just find a flying type Pokemon and head to the nearest balcony. Then head east to the Vermilion City Harbor." Joker explained, receiving a nod from Anabel. "Good, I'll meet you at the harbor."

Joker then turned on his heels before Anabel could get a word out, hiding the crooked smile he wore as he left the room.

'I wonder what he's up to this time?' Gallade asked itself out loud, gaining Anabel's attention.

"What do you mean?" Anabel asked curiously.

'Oh, right. He mentioned you could understand Pokemon.' Gallade noted before it went silent, beginning the task of retrieving all of the Pokeballs from the shelves using its psychic abilities. Raising its arms, Gallade's eyes turned light blue before a number of the Pokeballs gained a blue outline as well before they lifted into the air.

"Wait, what is he going to do?" Anabel asked, but Gallade wouldn't speak to her at this point. With a sigh she glanced at the doorway that Joker had left through, wondering what this might lead to. Looking at the Pokeballs that were still on the shelf, Anabel began to observe the aura radiating from each Pokeball in search of the ones that she was familiar with.

Moving from one row of shelves to the next, Anabel soon found three Pokeballs that all matched the auras she was accustomed to seeing from her own Pokemon. She was positive that this as them. Taking them down from the shelves, she called out all three of her Pokemon. As they took shape, Anabel immediately kneeled down and enveloped all three of them in hug, causing the group to stare at her curiously.

"It's so good to see you all again." She said softly to her Pokemon. "I was so worried."

Her Pokemon remained confused after she released them, but Anabel had no time to explain anything to them. Calling back Growlithe and Psyduck, Anabel then looked up at the shelves in search of Ash's Pokemon as well, and just as she thought, they were right next to her's. Collecting the five Pokeball's, Anabel tucked them away into the small pouch strapped to her waist and called for Espeon to follow her.

They found Gallade effortlessly gathering the Pokeballs together into a spherical field it had created to contain them. Within a few minutes Gallade had collected all of them and looked back at Anabel to tell her that it would waiting in the harbor. With that, Gallade vanished with a flash of light and Anabel was by herself in a Palace filled with powerful Pokemon.

She wanted to know what Joker was doing considering the fact that he was so secretive. Julia had shared her name with them, but Joker had hidden his behind his rank, so Anabel could only wonder what he was doing in the Palace. All of the Cards seemed loyal to the organization during the briefing in Indigo Plateau, so why was Joker going off on his own when this wasn't mentioned in the briefing.

Taking a deep breath, Anabel glanced down at Espeon, recalling the fact that she had come here to ensure the safety of her own Pokemon. She wouldn't risk putting them in more danger by willingly wandering around with all of these Arbok around. She would find Ash.

"I've had enough of this Gary!" Ash shouted as he, Pikachu and Mr Mime stepped forward, pressing Gary further into the dead end hallway that they had pushed him into. "Tell me what you know about Lawrence's plans."

They had been battling for quite a bit of time now, and Ash's team had taken quite a beating. Muk and Haunter had been knocked out already, using their combined effort to defeat Gary's Golem. From there the match of Pikachu and Umbreon became the focus, and Pikachu managed to defeat it handily with Mr Mime providing support. All Ash had left was his Pidgeot, Pikachu, Tauros and Mr Mime, all of whom were clearly exhausted with the amount of battling they had done since returning to the Palace.

"You're hardly in a position to demand information from me Ash." Gary shot back as he observed the situation. Umbreon was unconscious farther down the hall behind the Ash and his Pokemon, and even though Gary had been cornered in a dead end, he didn't feel threatened at all. He still had multiple Pokemon that he could bring out.

"Mr Mime, hold him with Psychic." Ash ordered. Before Gary could get his fingers around the Pokeball, his arm became stiff, held in place by Mr Mime's Psychic attack.

"I'm not here to goof around Gary. What is Lawrence planning, and why does he need Anabel?" Ash demanded. Gary only sighed, realizing that at this point he wouldn't be going anywhere.

"He's searching for a city. An ancient city. And only Anabel knows the way." Gary began before eyeing his Umbreon who slowly rising to its feet behind Ash and his Pokemon.

"What?" Ash exclaimed. An ancient city that only Anabel knows the way to? Just when he thought this day couldn't get any weirder. "And what is Lawrence going to do once he finds this city?"

Gary remained silent, glaring at Ash who was still unaware that Umbreon was active again.

"Come on Gary!" Ash shouted.

"Umbreon, use Shadow Ball!" Gary yelled in reply, sending a chill up Ash's back, but before he could turn around Mr Mime took a hit to its back. The attack wasn't strong due to all of the damage done to Umbreon, but it was enough to break Mr Mime hold on Gary. "Go Electivire, use Thunder!"

"Mr Mime, use Protect." Ash ordered, realizing that Umbreon was far from a threat at this point. Mr Mime raised its hands, creating psychic wall in front of them which blocked out the attack, getting an irritated snort from Gary. Mr Mime's only purpose was to play defense, and it was doing an excellent job at this. Raising Umbreon's Pokeball, he called it back since it wouldn't have any affect on this battle in its current state.

"Now Tauros, use Giga Impact!" Ash commanded.

Hurling a Pokeball into the hall, Ash released the bull Pokemon who gave a roar before it charged down the hall at Electivire. A purple funnel developed around the normal type as it galloped, fearlessly rushing toward its target. The funnel continued to expand in size to the point where Gary realized that within this corridor, they wouldn't be able to avoid this attack. They would have to face it head on.

"Electivire, use Giga Impact as well!" Gary ordered called out. Their only option was to match the level of power so cancel out the two attacks. Electivire raised its arms, gaining a purple aura as it prepared one of its strongest attacks in order to counter Tauros before it charged in as well. The two attacks met with a thunderous clap that also produced a shockwave that was sent out in all directions, destroying the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Mr Mime, shield us with Psychic!" Ash called out. As the shockwave neared Ash and his team, Mr Mime covered all of them a psychic to field to ensure that they weren't harmed by the shockwave, although they were forced to move backward as a portion of the hallway collapsed. A dust cloud rose up from the damage, separating the two trainers who spared no effort trying to check on the condition of their Pokemon. "Tauros, are you okay?!"

Looking down into the hole that had been created from the two Giga Impacts, Gary could see that Electivire and Tauros had fallen down to the floor below. Rather than call out to his Pokemon from his current position, he jumped down to check on Electivire himself. With a grunt, Electivire sat up as its trainer approached it, glancing at Tauros who had been knocked out from the collision.

"Let's go Electivire." Gary whispered as he recalled the Pokemon before deciding that it would be best to leave the scene. He wanted an opportunity to battle Ash again, but facing his second string of Pokemon wasn't as interesting as he had hoped. Not to mention Lawrence had also warned him that he would only have a little bit of time to do this before the Cards realized that they would have to take down the Palace. 'Hopefully we'll continue this again soon Ash.'

Waiting for the dust to settle on the floor above, Ash anxiously waited to see the end result of the clash between Tauros and Electivire, but what he found left him feeling sour. Not only had Tauros be knocked out, but Gary had gotten away too.

"Ash?"

The young man looked back to find Anabel and her Espeon looking at them.

"Anabel, what are you doing here? Is everything okay?" He asked as he pointed Tauros' Pokeball at the unconscious Pokemon to call it back.

"Joker's Gallade already left with the Pokemon. But Joker left me there to go do something by himself." Anabel explained.

"What's wrong with that?" Ash asked.

"Well, I just thought it was weird since this wasn't discussed at the briefing."

"Hmm. It is a little weird, but right now he's one of the good guys, and he gave me the job of catching Gary. We can't let him get away." Ash replied as he pointed to hole where they would begin their pursuit.

"Hold on Ash, I brought these for you." Anabel said, pulling out the Pokeballs that held the Pokemon that had been taken from him. Ash's eyes widened at this as he accepted them, happy to see that his Pokemon were safe and sound.

"Let's go!"

Lance had been through quite an experience tonight. For the past month he had been looking forward to this night, because it was one of his career milestones. He would be inducted into the Hall of Fame where he would be remembered as one of the many great trainers to ever battle on the professional circuit. Everything had gone perfectly until the lottery battles begun, and from that moment forward, his greatest dream quickly became a nightmare.

But as the night slowly continued, he helped Ash escape, relying on Ash's promise to return and free everyone that had been taken hostage. Ash never returned, but a group of people did come to rescue them. They all possessed a emblem on their clothing that Lawrence had seen only once while he was deep in Indigo Plateau, and it was then he realized who had saved him.

The Cards.

He had only heard about them once since joining the Elite Four, but now he was incredibly glad to see them. A group of six of them entered the room and made quick work of the Arbok before leading everyone out to one of the many balconies of the Palace where they brought out the flying and psychic type Pokemon they had brought with them.

"Don't be afraid. Our Pokemon won't drop any of you." The Cards said as they encouraged the trainers that had attended the induction to step into the psychic fields that their Pokemon had been creating to hold them.

The plan was to bring a flying type Pokemon to carry the psychic type Pokemon who would be holding a number of trainers within a psychic field to Vermilion Harbor which was drawing ever closer. Many of the trainers were nervous about the idea, but with some coaxing from the Cards, all of the guests had agreed to the plan and soon enough they were being transported off the Palace in large groups.

"Good work guys." Julia said to the rest of the team she had been working with. Everyone had been evacuated safely, and they still had one psychic and flying type Pokemon to use for their own escape. All they had to do was wait for the all clear signal from the Dealer.

"Julia!" The voice came from her wrist communicator, and she was certain that it belonged to the Dealer.

"Julia here, is everything alright?" She asked.

"Arbok from all over the Palace have flocked to the engine room. We can't break through their defenses. We need assistance now!" The Dealer explained.

"Don't worry, we're on our way."

"Volcarona, shield us with Psychic!" The Dealer shouted as the Arbok opened up their mouths to fire another wave of Toxic at them. Creating a barrier between them and the Arbok, Volcarona watched as the Dealer and one Ace retreated with the other Ace limping as he used his partner for support.

From the moment they had arrived on this floor, everything had gone south. No matter how many Arbok they knocked out, more continued to replace them until they were finally overwhelmed. The Ace who had been attacked and injured earlier had been on the receiving end of an Iron Tail attack from one of the Arbok, leaving him in a great deal of pain and struggling to move.

They were forced to retreat, and with Volcarona's help, they made it safely to one of the stairways which they used as a shelter. It was there that the Dealer called for the aid of the remainder of the Cards that were still within the Palace, and their help arrived quickly.

"Are all of you okay?" Julia asked as she examined the wounds on each of the Aces and the Dealer.

"I'll be fine." The healthy Ace replied.

"Same here. But as for our friend here..." The Dealer trailed off as he looked down at the second Ace who was resting on the floor with Audino trying to relieve some of his pain using Heal Pulse. "He won't be able to continue. Someone will have to leave with him. Are there any volunteers?"

"I'll take him." Julia stated as she kneeled down beside the injured Ace.

"Here, you can leave on my Braviery." One of the Jacks said as he passed her the Pokeball that held the flying type Pokemon.

"But how will the rest of you escape?" Julia asked, looking around at the rest of them.

"Don't worry about us. If everything goes according to plan, the Palace will land in the water giving us some time to get out before we escape." The Dealer pointed out. "Now go on, we'll handle things down here."

"Alright, good luck guys." Julia said as she helped the Ace to his feet, allowing him to put and arm around her neck to hold himself up.

"We'll see you soon." The Dealer said as he gave her a reassuring smile.

Slowly but surely, Julia and the Ace began to move up the stairwell, leaving behind the group who had their gaze placed on the Dealer, waiting for him to give the signal for them to begin the last portion of the mission.

"Don't take these Arbok lightly. Lawrence selected them as the Pokemon to guard his Palace for a reason. They're cunning, just like him. The closer we get to the engine room, the larger their numbers grow, so be prepared." The Dealer explained as his Volcarona hovered beside him. "Is there anyone who wants to back out now?"

"You ask us this before every mission." The remaining Ace exclaimed. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't know the risks."

"Such zeal." The Dealer said softly as he smiled. "Fine then, let's begin."

All the Cards that were present around him began to call out the Pokemon they still had with them, forming a ragtag crew that would storm the engine room and hopefully take care of this structure which threatened a portion of Vermillion City.

"Damn, we lost him." Ash muttered as he looked down the each of the corridors around him, unable to decide which way they should go to look for Gary. Anabel frowned, recalling the fact that she had disturbed Ash during his battle which gave Gary some time to escape.

"I'm sorry Ash." Anabel began, receiving a curious glance from him.

"For what?"

"I came at the worst possible time. I held you back from chasing him and now he got away." Anabel explained, getting a chuckle from Ash.

"Don't worry about that Anabel. Right now I'm happier to see that you and our Pokemon are safe." Ash replied as he looked at Anabel, and as the adrenaline began to wear off, some lingering thoughts began to bother him.

"He's searching for a city. An ancient city. And only Anabel knows the way."

Ash wrinkled his forehead. There was definitely something deeper going on here than he originally thought. Between everything he had heard from both Riley and Lawrence, what Gary had told him seemed to shed new light on everything. Lawrence and Riley were racing to find the same thing. And only Anabel knew where it was...

Ash had read about ancient civilizations that were hidden someone on the planet, but he never really believed that they existed. It just sounded so weird, but perhaps they were real. Riley was the head a Silph's Co, a very famous organization, and he wouldn't waste his time pursuing something that wasn't real.

Ash's wrist communicator buzzed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Hello?" Ash said after raising the device to his ear.

"Ash, this is Joker. Get out of there." He said.

"Wait, why?" Ash asked.

"The Palace will be going down in a few minutes. It's time to leave."

"I still haven't captured Gary."

"Don't worry about that. Lawrence got away, so we'll probably be running into both of them in the future."

"Alright then. Where are you?"

"I'm heading towards the harbor right now."

"Okay." Ash said, ending their conversation as he looked toward Anabel. "It's time for us to go."

"We made it!" The Dealer declared as he and his team entered the engine room, ordering half of the Pokemon they had with them to stand guard at the entrance while the rest of them would perform the task of destroying the engine. The entrance of the room led directly to a platform where the Cards could look down at the spherical engine unit down below with a maze of pipes running out from it to the thrusters and propellers on the base of the Palace. "Volcarona, close up the pipes using Psychic!"

A small portion of each pipe within Volcarona's sight gained a light blue huge before they began to creak as the dual type Pokemon crushed the metal to close off each of the pipes. With a few moments, all of the pipes had been successful shut which was the first step in the process of overloading the engine.

"Now we just need an electrical attack!" The Dealer called out as he pointed at the engine.

"I'm on it!" One of the Kings declared as he and his Ampharos stepped forward. "Ampharos, give it a Thunderbolt!"

The electric type Pokemon gave a shout as its horns began to crackle. Then it fired off an incredible amount of electricity, pouring it into the engine which began to hum loudly as it picked up the extra power, but with the pipes closed it was unable to distribute this energy resulting in it heating up.

"Is anyone else picking up on that?" One of the Jacks asked as he looked down at the scanner he held.

"What?" The Dealer asked as he glanced back at the young man.

"Something just activated underneath the engine, and for it to show up on our scanners means its our tech." The Jack explained.

"Do you know what it is?"

"Um, just give me a moment." He replied as he used to scanner to check the frequency of the device. There was moment of silence before he paled considerably as he looked up. "It's a bomb. A heat sensitive one. There's roughly a minute until it detonates!"

Lawrence had planned every move they would make once the entered the Palace. Upon discovering that it was on a crash course to Vermilion City, they would have no choice but to try taking it out of the sky by overloading the engine. And if they successfully shutdown the engine, it would set off the bomb to kill all of them. They had initially thought that Lawrence was targeting the trainers at the induction, then they had thought it was Vermilion City, but now they realized that he was only targeting the people that would be fighting him. The Cards.

"All of you, get as far away from here as possible!" The Dealer roared, surprising everyone present. The old man who had been acting as their leader for years had always been rather soft spoken. For most of them, this was the first time hearing him yell, and it put many of them on edge as they realized just how dangerous the situation had become in just a few seconds.

Everyone quickly called back their Pokemon and left without a word, but the Jack who had detected the bomb noticed that the Dealer wasn't moving.

"Aren't you coming with us."

"No, we'll stay back and contain the blast for the rest of you to escape!" The Dealer replied.

"There's no way Volcarona can hold it back. That bomb is strong enough to destroy half of this Palace!" The Jack exclaimed.

"We have no choice. If the rest of you are going to make it, someone has to at least slow down the explosion." The Dealer replied as he looked back at the Jack. "Now move, that's an order!"

"Yes sir, and it's been a pleasure working alongside you."

"Oh don't say that. Have a little faith in us." The Dealer said as he glanced at Volcarona with a small smile. He was never one to lose faith.

The Jack then left the Dealer and his Volcarona in the engine room to look down at the engine which was beginning to radiate heat as it overloaded.

"Volcarona, use Psychic over the engine to create a wall and do everything you can to hold back the blast!" The Dealer said as he looked up at his partner Pokemon. Volcarona gave him a nod before it rose higher into the air, preparing the attack with the time that was left. In the mean time, the Dealer raised his communicator to speak through it to the one person that he was sure had made it out of the Palace. "Joker?"

"Yes sir?"

"I know it's short notice, but I've selected you to become the next Dealer of the Cards."

"But what about you?"

"I won't be around much longer. I had already been planning to hand over the organization to you for quite some time."

"I won't fail you." Joker stated.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you." The Dealer said before the bomb detonated. There was a thunderous boom followed immediately by the whole room beginning to quake, forcing the Dealer to grab onto the railing around the platform. "Give it everything you've got Volcarona!"

He couldn't even look down because the light from the blast was blinding, but it appeared as though Volcarona could hold in all of this energy. The dual type Pokemon was still hovering calm, focusing intently on the task at hand. The Dealer let out a sigh of relief, pleased to see that there might actually be a chance of them containing the entire blast. But that small moment of relaxation came to an end almost immediately.

There was second boom that shook the entire room once again.

The entire room suddenly grew hot, alarming the Dealer as he looked toward his Pokemon once again. It was doing everything it could, but strength of a second bomb proved to be too much for Volcarona. The blue hue in its eyes had faded, leaving the Dealer with enough time for just one more thought.

Vermilion Harbor

Joker stood comfortably on one of the piers in Vermilion City with his Gallade, looking back at the trainers from the Hall of Induction who had made it to safety just a few minutes ago. There were camera crews already on the scene, interviewing the trainers and asking about their experience on the Palace as they recollected their Pokemon. The Cards had successfully freed the trainers and their Pokemon, but as Joker looked at his wrist communicator, he could only wonder what the current condition of the Dealer was.

Looking up at the Palace that was still good distance from the harbor, Joker could see that the Palace had been declining for a short period of time before the base of the building suddenly exploded. Everyone in the harbor became silent as the looked at the Palace which went into an immediate free fall. With a small smile, Joker watched as the Palace crashed into the sea, but this was far from over. There was yet another explosion from within the Palace which seemed to split the entire structure in two as it sunk into the water.

Water flooded into the Palace, accelerating the sinking process as was consumed by the ocean. The enormous building disappeared into the water, leaving everyone to wonder how that Palace which was hosting an elegant party was now sinking to the bottom of the sea.

"Well now that I think about, perhaps six was overkill." Joker noted quietly as the water that Palace had disappeared into began to glow. The water began to rise as though something was going to ascend out of the ocean, but the water continued to rise to the point where it was towering over the harbor. "Tidal wave, not what I was planning for."

"We can't let that hit the city!" Lance shouted as he pitched two Pokeballs into the air, calling out his Gyarados and Dragonite. "Everyone, call out your Pokemon to help! Dragonite, Gyarados, use Twister to redirect the wave!"

The two Pokemon gave a triumphant roar before unleashing the same attack to a massive spiraling windstorm which they sent out to counter the tidal wave, but the combined Twister attack was only a fraction of the size of the wave making it ineffective. Everyone began to call out their flying and fire type Pokemon, calling for attacks to either evaporate or blow away the water.

"We can't attack it individually!" Lance yelled. "We have to work together! Let's combined our fire and flying attacks to stop it!"

Everyone gave each other a collective nod before calling out the attacks in unison. The end result was an incredible smoldering twister that skated across the top of the water to the tidal wave.

Many of the trainers gave silent prayers as they watched the twister approached its target. If this failed, there was no chance at them saving the city. Their hearts raced as they realized that they would be the first disappear within this tidal wave.

The blazing twister met with the tidal wave, and it immediately evaporated the section of he tidal wave that it had hit while the suction of the winds drew in what remained of the wave, effectively moving the threat of the tidal wave.

"Did you get footage of that?!" One of the news reporters exclaimed before everyone burst into cheers.

Joker raised his eyebrows as the coordination of the trainers. The tidal wave was unforeseen, yet they all managed to work together to save the city. He was impressed.

"Hey, Joker!" Someone called out, drawing the man's attention. Looking down the pier, he could see Ash and Anabel approaching him.

"Oh, its good to see that the two of you made it off in time." He replied as Ash neared him, distancing the two of them from Anabel.

Ash had a lot of questions, and no one was willing to give him answers. But he couldn't just sit back and be the puppet anymore. Whatever was going on around Anabel, he wanted to know more right now.

"I want to know more about Lawrence." Ash stated.

"Are you sure you want to? You'll likely end up paying the price price."

Ash glanced back at Anabel, recalling that Gary had said that Anabel was the key. Everyone was hiding something from him, and he needed to know.

"I'm ready." Ash declared, causing the Joker to smile.

"Well then, let's return to Indigo Plateau."

A/N

For those of you who remember, I had been promising you guys action during the part where Anabel was getting developed, and here it is. This is just a small sample of what I have in store, so as I've said many times before, get ready because we're going on a wild ride.

I remember someone asked if we would be seeing Ash and Gary rematches, and this was only the first one. And since Ash didn't have his main six Pokemon during the battle, I didn't really focus on this battle. But there will be bigger ones in the future.

So what did you all think of this arc now that its essentially over? There was a lot going on with the introduction of the Cards, and Lawrence proving to be an antagonist. Give me some feed back guys! :D I'll try to have the next update ready for you guys as soon as possible.

So until next time you guys, peace out!