Chapter 54 - Final Battle

"Flare! Get over here!"

The Flareon looked down the hall, catching sight of Vapor standing in front of an open lab door. "What is it? Find something?"

"A room filled with caged Grass-Types!" Vapor's mermaid tail started to wag impatiently. "I'm going to need your help freeing them."

Flare grinned. "It would be my pleasure." He bounded over to where the Vaporeon stood, then walked into a darkened lab.

Inside, there were cages arranged in rows at the back of the lab, the larger ones being in the back, and the smaller in the front.

"Hey!" Vapor called. "Are you guys all right?"

The Pokemon in the cages jumped up in alarm upon hearing the Water-Type's voice.

"Is that a Vaporeon I hear?" asked an Ivysaur cautiously.

"He's not the only one here," Flare answered. "I'm Flare, and he's Vapor. We're here to bust you guys outta here!"

In the back row of cages, a Meganium and a Leafeon who shared a cage looked at each other in surprise.

"Flare?" the Leafeon called in male tones. "Vapor? Is that you?"

Flare's ears twitched, and his eyes widened. "Who else could it be, Lea of White's team? We already told you guys who we are." He nodded to Vapor. "Let's get to work."

"You know the drill," was Vapor's response.

Flare nodded. "All right, Grass-Types - unless you want to get burned, I suggest you stand as far away as possible from the bars."

The Flareon positioned himself so that he was in a direct line with the bars facing the lab, then unleashed a Flamethrower that flew across the cages and began to heat up the metal cylinders that kept the Grass-Type Pokemon restricted. It wasn't long before the metal had become white hot.

"My turn!" Vapor called as Flare stopped the stream of flames. "Keep back - who knows what the heated metal is going to do. Hydro Pump!"

A torrent of water blasted across the cages, suddenly cooling the metal, causing it to groan and bend from the pressure and the sudden temperature change. Within seconds, the bars had snapped and been blown to the other side of the lab.

Vapor stopped the water attack and stretched. "Ahh...it's been a while since I'd helped in a breakout. Next!"

"Way ahead of you," Flare responded, motioning to the already white hot bars in the second row.

Vapor grinned. "Perfect!" He bounded over and blasted the next row, freeing the Meganium and Lea.

"Hey, Lea and Bloom!" Flare greeted, grinning. "Been a while, you two."

Lea promptly tackled the Flareon while Bloom the Meganium looked on in amusement. "I knew you guys would come and rescue us!"

"It took us a little work to get here, though," Vapor pointed out. "And there's more than just us, too."

Elaine the Espeon dashed into the lab, her eyes wide with alarm. "Guys, we have a problem. Khrista's going to be in big trouble!"

"What?" Bloom asked, startled. "What do you mean?"

"I sensed something in the air - apprehension and fear," the Espeon explained, ignoring Lea's look of surprise. "And there's a lot of panic emanating from somewhere near her. We have to find Khrista!"

"But how are we going to find her?" Vapor asked. "We don't know anything about this place!"

"But we do," Bloom responded. "They never considered how intelligent we actually are."

Flare let out a growl in annoyance. "Thinking we are truly dumb animals? That isn't right! How do we get to wherever Khrista might be?"

"She's most likely in the center of the tower," Leaf remarked. "Cyrus holds meetings there, so she could have gone there to see what was up." She slipped out of the lab and motioned for the mob of Pokemon to follow her. "The warp panel's this way! Come on!"

Space Break

Joshua had known that something wasn't right as soon as Cyrus had managed to regain his composure and make Khrista show herself. And then the attack by the Red Chain on Khrista - a surprising development, and maybe a bad one.

The teen had quickly handed out what "tech bombs" he had (those cameras, despite being stealthy, were quite bulky and would make for good, loud explosives when the time comes). The boy then steeled himself for an attack from whatever was going to come.

The arrival of a lot of Pokemon streaming through the warp panels was not what he had expected, as his eyes were still on Khrista as the Red Chains took hold of her.

"Hey, you!" A four-legged creature suddenly landed on Joshua's right shoulder. "What's happening to Khrista?"

"She's become snared by the Red Chain," Joshua muttered grimly in reply. He looked at the creature on his shoulder, and his eyes widened in confusion. "And what are you supposed to be?"

The sky-blue furred creature on his shoulder looked like it could have been an Eevee once. The white, furry collar had become a moving bunch of clouds that went around its neck and moved to the center if its back, where a pair of soft, white wings sprouted from its back. The fluffy tail had become like a Glaceon's, with a forked end like an Espeon's, and the ears and eyes matched a Jolteon's. There were also small tufts of cloud on the back of each of the creature's legs, near the ankles.

"I'm an Angeleon!" the Pokemon responded proudly in female tones. The grin on her face disappeared from her face quickly, however. "Look - we need to do something in order to stop that stuff affecting her!"

"We can't do anything but watch and wait," he stated matter-of-factly. "If any of us get in there, we'll be under Cyrus' control in a matter of seconds. My cousin is a mix of both Pokemon and human DNA, if her ability is any indication, so the result for her is unpredictable."

"Ash is being controlled and Pokemon can be controlled," the Angeleon hissed. "I don't think it's going to matter for her."

Joshua's eyes narrowed, and he was about to issue a retort when a bright flash caught his attention. The boy's eyes promptly widened upon seeing that Khrista's form was glowing brightly underneath the red band that had formed around her waist.

The Pokemon on his shoulder let out a gasp of surprise. "What's happening to her?"

Joshua shook his head slightly. "Unpredictable," he murmured. "I think Khrista's Pokemon half...is evolving."

The Angeleon gave Joshua a weird look and was about to respond to this when a bright flash onstage stopped whatever murmurings and movements there had been from those in the crowd.

As soon as Joshua saw the changes that had been made to his cousin, he took in a sharp breath.

The teen still looked (mostly) like she had before the strange light, only her shirt had gone from the Ghost-Type purple-gray shade to the gold Psychic-Type shade, and for good reason: the teen had obtained the ears and tail of a Mew, and she now simply floated in the air in the fetal position, still unconscious.

"What happened to her?" the Angeleon asked Joshua in a soft voice, concerned.

"I know it's evolution in Pokemon terms, but...I don't know what she can do now," the teen murmured in response.

Cyrus approached Khrista cautiously, looking like he was ready to bolt in case she did anything. When Khrista didn't stir, the Galactic became more bold, and he circled her with an evil grin on his face.

"Something is wrong, Master," Ash called out suddenly, causing everyone to look at the Trainer in surprise.

Cyrus sent the boy a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"Her mind is blocked. You will need a spoken password of some sort."

Joshua's eyes widened while Cyrus frowned.

"Password?" Cyrus repeated. "What do you mean, password? I didn't have to deal with this with you."

"She is part Pokemon, Master. Something must have happened during the process."

"She's also from another world," a grunt muttered. "That...thing probably rendered her useless."

Joshua frowned slightly, glancing at the Angeleon, who looked like she was ready to take out Cyrus when she had the chance. He decided to take a chance.

While Cyrus was contemplating on what sort of password was needed, the boy stepped out of the crowd, the Pokemon on his shoulder watching him in confusion and alarm.

"Khrista Elizabeth Langstrom!" Joshua called out. "It's me, your cousin! Joshua Joseph Langstrom! Get over here!"

Khrista shuddered suddenly, and her eyes snapped open, revealing multicolored irises. Without saying a word, she uncurled herself and floated over to where Joshua stood, stopping to his left, still hovering.

Cyrus looked at Joshua sharply. "What is this?" he demanded.

"Names give power around here," Joshua replied calmly. "It wold make sense that her full name was the password you were looking for." He nodded to Khrista. "Free Ash from the Red Chain that binds him. We'll take care of the others."

-Easily done- Khrista responded on the public telepathic level. She quickly left Joshua's side. -Raichu, Sparkler - I have need of your assistance-

The two Electric-Types - now released from their PokeBalls - looked at each other, nodded, and bounding off after their Trainer, followed by Pika and Ash's Pikachu.

Joshua then turned his attention to Cyrus, ignoring the looks he was getting from the kids and Pokemon around him. "Get him!"

The room seemed to instantly explode with activity as the attackers resumed the battle. Joshua charged Cyrus head-on, prepared to punch the Galactic square in the chest. He had to stop short when Cyrus' Honchkrow appeared in front of him.

"Hey!"

The Angeleon suddenly rammed into the Honchkrow, sending the Flying/Dark-Type reeling. Then the Flying Eeveelution took off, the crow Pokemon flying after her with a loud squawk.

The Galactic Leader gave a crazed smirk, then released a black, dog-like Pokemon with curled horns on its head. Before the Houndoom could attack, though, a Vaporeon dashed by and blasted the Fire/Dark-Type away with a Hydro Pump.

Cyrus called on his Gyrados next, but that was chased off by a Leafeon and a Jolteon.

A look of frustration came over Cyrus' face, and he pulled out a Crobat and an Absol at once.

"Hey! Need some help, Joshie?"

The boy turned his head, catching sight of a familiar pair of Pokemon. "Yes, I would," he responded, a smile coming across his face. "Alak, you take Crobat. Gangrene, you're got the Absol."

The two Pokemon exchanged mischievous smiles, then got in front of their Trainer, glaring at their adversaries.

"You can speak to us using my telepathic connection," Alak told Joshua without glancing back.

His Trainer nodded. Hit the Crobat with Psychic, Alak. Gangrene, take out the Absol with Focus Blast.

"You're going to end this too quickly!" Gangrene complained as she charged up the attack.

"The sooner the planet can go back to normal, the better."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Alak agreed.

The Psychic-Type's spoons started to glow, and with a quick movement, the Crobat's wings were crushed against the bat's small body. At the same time, Gangrene's energy attack hit Absol hard, causing the Disaster Pokemon to slide back a little from the force.

Cyrus gritted his teeth in annoyance, then stated, "Bite and Shadow Ball."

Fire back one of your own, Gangrene. Finish the Crobat, Alak.

"Done and done."

Alak flicked his left wrist, and the Crobat, which had been cringing in pain while suspended above ground, suddenly fell to the floor with enough force to almost send it through the floor. The Absol fired off a ball of shadowy energy, Gangrene releasing an identical ball at the same time, causing the two Shadow Balls to explode on contact and dissipate.

"Crobat is done," Alak reported.

Joshua nodded, taking mental note of the comical swirls that had taken the place of the Crobat's eyes. Finish off the Absol with a double Focus Blast.

The two Pokemon nodded at once, then charged up and fired on the Dark-Type before Cyrus could utter another attack order.

The Galactic Leader looked at the trio in surprise. "H-how-"

"There's a reason I had these two trained together," Joshua responded calmly. "Alak, I think you know what to do with him."

The Alakazam nodded, then held up his spoons, releasing psychic waves in Cyrus' direction as he did. Within seconds, the Galactic had collapsed, unconscious.

While Alak was lifting up Cyrus using his Telekinesis, there was a sudden blast of sound from somewhere behind them, the smell of ozone quickly permeating the air. Quickly, Joshua turned around to see what was going on, and his eyes widened in surprise.

Khrista, two Raichu, and two Pikachu were standing in a circle around Ash, a huge column of electricity coming through the upper floors of the tower and hitting the Kanto Trainer.

-Enough!- Khrista declared, breaking the circle and causing the attack to cease as Ash fell to the ground. -The boy is rescued- She turned to look over at where Joshua stood, Alak still keeping an eye on a slumbering, twitching Cyrus. -The enemy's biggest players have been subdued. All that remains are the minion-goons-

Joshua nodded in agreement. "Alak, get yourself and Cyrus out of here and head back to the Underground. Try to find someone who might have stayed behind and tell them what's happened. Darkrai, you go with him."

The Dark-Type Legendary appeared beside Alak. "Very well. But only because I have to stay close to this one to keep him completely subdued." He nodded in Khrista's direction, then faded away into shadow as Alak vanished in a flash of light.

As soon as Cyrus had left the building, the fighting quickly ceased. Khrista and Joshua worked with the Pokemon and Trainers to gather up the scientists and Galactic grunts. The boy thought that it was odd that neither Aqua or Magma goons had appeared at all, and that there were very few Rocket members. What remained of the Kanto team also seemed oddly relieved to have someone telling them that they were under arrest.

As the last of the goons were gathered up, the booming outside of the building began to affect the tower more vigorously.

"It's the Rayquaza!" Red called out as the others looked about in confusion. "They're going to make the entire tower collapse! We need to get out of here!"

-All Psychic-Types, grab as many Pokemon and humans as you can and Teleport yourselves out of here!- Khrista called out. She herself then Teleported a couple groups of Galactics and scientists, only to suddenly cry out when her Pokemon features disintegrated in a shower of sparks, and the teen fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Khrista!" Raichu called out in alarm, rushing over to the fallen teen. An instant later, Mewtwo and Mew were hovering over Khrista, Ash being levitated by Mewtwo's power not very far away.

"She has over exerted herself," Mewtwo noted as Mew lifted Khrista's form with Telekinesis. "A few days' rest will do her some good." Turning his attention to the Pokemon and people that remained after the Psychic-Types had left with those they could take, the Legendary stated, "Aurora and I are more than capable of Teleporting all of you out of here. All I ask is that you got as close to us as possible and don't more from your spot until we say so." The two Pokemon were instantly surrounded by a large group, each person wanting to get as close to the Legendaries as possible.

"Stay calm!" Red shouted. "A mob is not going to do us any good right now."

Miraculously, all movement ceased at the sound of his voice.

Mewtwo nodded in approval. "Aurora. Now."

At once, the two Psychic-Types began to glow, and a pink-and-blue bubble expanded around the group as the ceiling above began to crumble. Just as a gigantic piece was about to pierce the energy dome, the group disappeared from the tower.

So much action packed into one chapter! Man, was that a beast to write!

But we're not done yet - not by a long shot.