Defender, thanks for the compliment on the fighting scenes that happened! The thought makes me absolutely delighted!
Now, it's time for the Final Boss!
Chapter 61 - vs. Primals Dialga and Palkia
Grace looked around the empty cavern, a frown on her face. "Are you sure they're up here?"
"I'm certain," Khrista confirmed. "I can sense their presence. It feels like they're breathing down the back of my neck."
"You have yet to completely hone your Aura sense, it seems."
The group turned, catching sight of a tired-looking Heatran, which was chained to their end of the cavern.
"They have hidden themselves so well, that you won't know where they are until they attack you," the Heatran added.
A scowl came over the Angeleon's face. "Oh, great. How are we going to find them before they find us?"
Heatran shrugged. "I'm afraid that there, I cannot help you. Perhaps you can harness your Aura sense a little better, and find them that way."
Khrista's eyes narrowed, then she turned to face the rest of the cavern, closed her eyes, and concentrated on finding the lifesource of the two Legendary Pokemon. As she concentrated, her shirt shifted to an orange and gold combination - Fighting and Psychic.
At first, Khrista didn't see anything that signified Aura, but as she became more determined, the blue energy that signified Aura began to flicker into focus.
Suddenly, the Aura seemed to explode - the entire cavern was covered in it. Khrista stumbled back in surprise, blinking her eyes open in order to get rid of the blue flashes that now flickered in her vision.
"They've taken precautions against Aura Sight," Khrista told the others. "Palkia probably spread their Aura all over the place to guard against anyone trying to find them that way."
Joshua frowned. "Then we'll have to find another way - before they descend on us." He looked at Heatran. "Did they do that to you?"
The Pokemon shook his head. "This place, despite what those two have done, is still my home. I can sense where Pokemon stand, and how the lava responds. However, now that they know of my powers, they steer clear of the ground."
Khrista looked up. "Steer clear of the ground, huh?" Her shirt shifted to sky blue, and she rose into the air, the winds coming to her bidding. Tornadoes came and went swiftly, going around the cave in strange patterns, almost completely filling up the room with dust kicked up from the rocky floor.
Heatran's eyes widened with surprise. "The rocks told me she was a fighter, but this I wasn't expecting."
"That's my cousin for you," Joshua responded. He suddenly flinched, grabbing his head with his left hand. "Something big is going to happen soon. I suggest you stay as close to the wall as possib-aak!"
Khrista turned sharply in the air, eyes widening as soon as she caught sight of Palkia's strange, giant red paw gripping her cousin, the rest of the giant dragon appearing from the shadows.
"Hey, you!" Khrista barked, pointing at the dragon. "Let go of my cousin!"
-He knows more than he should- Palkia growled in response, his now dark red gem shining. -This human you call your "cousin" deserves to disappear from existence. As do you-
"Like I will," Khrista growled in response. She reached for the PokeBalls on her belt, but a force stopped her - like their was a force field around her waist.
-You may only choose one of yours to battle us- Dialga explained, his orange gem shining as he kept Khrista's hand from reaching her PokeBalls. -If you choose anything more, we will destroy you slowly-
The force field suddenly disappeared, and Khrista's arm dropped to her side.
Ash and Red exchanged quick glances, then nodded to the Electric-Types on their shoulders.
"We choose Pika/Pikachu!" the two called out.
-You are not bound- Palkia growled in response. -She is-
"And I've made my decision," Khrista responded. She grabbed the only Master Ball on her belt. "Ray, let's go!"
The Dragon/Flying-Type appeared beside his Trainer, looking around the cave in momentary confusion. As soon as he laid eyes on Dialga and Palkia, he let out a growl.
-You are only allowed to use this Pokemon- Palkia stated. -If it faints, your life and your cousin's life are forfeit-
Ray looked at Khrista sharply, surprise in his eyes. "What?!"
Khrista closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "You're the only one of the Pokemon I have with me that has a move that could take them both out within one hit. Vapor may be able to do that, but she doesn't have that much power. Besides, I trust you to pull through, Ray."
Ray's eyes widened, and he looked back at Palkia. "Well, I'm not doing anything until you put him down." He let out a low growl to accent his point.
Palkia gave him a bored look. -You need not be alarmed. The boy will not be harmed unless I wish it to be so- He let go of Joshua, only for the teen to be suddenly encased in a giant bubble. -Choose the creature which will fight for your life, boy-
"I already have," Joshua responded. "Caleb. You know what to do."
The Fighting/Steel-Type nodded. "Right. Let's go." He moved to stand in front of Dialga, glaring daggers at the Legendary.
-Whenever you feel ready- Dialga stated. He moved over to one area of the cavern and landed on the ground, Palkia doing the same.
Khrista and Ray moved as one, placing themselves in front of Palkia, while Caleb dashed forward to stand in front of Dialga again.
"Hah!" Caleb shouted, throwing an Aura Sphere in Dialga's direction.
Almost instantly, the large dragon unleashed a roar that Khrista felt almost tore her apart limb from limb. The Aura Sphere quickly dissipated as the roar echoed throughout the cavern, pelting Khrista, Ray, and Caleb with its remains.
"That was Roar of Time!" Khrista identified. "He won't be moving again for a while! Ray, concentrate your fire on Palkia! Dragon Pulse!"
Ray reared back and fired on the giant formerly-pink (now red) Legendary, only for Palkia to create a rip of space in front of him, causing the attack to disappear.
Khrista let out a growl. "Great. I should have realized that Palkia still had Spacial Rend in his arsenal." She considered firing off an attack of her own, but thought better of it - her cousin was powerless, and certainly didn't seem to be able to throw attacks around at random.
Caleb was quick to move again - he fired off a Dragon Pulse this time, once again in Dialga's direction. Ray was quick to attack, as well, firing off a Dragon Pulse himself. Khrista's eyes sparked with delight upon seeing that both moves hit their mark - apparently, Spacial Rend forced Palkia to recharge in this world.
"Careful," Joshua's voice suddenly echoed in her head. "That won't do much against them at this point."
Well, what do you suggest I do, then? Khrista responded. And since when can you use Telepathy?
"Ask me later, when this is over and done with. Look, the Red Chain is going to take a lot of power to take out. If you want to take them out, you have to use the most powerful attack you have. I can't release Corza from his PokeBall, but you and Ray can still use Draco Meteor together."
Khrista's eyes narrowed as Dialga's orange gem started to flash; it was likely that the Legendary was back up at full power. "Ray, when I say so, don't hold anything back when we use Draco Meteor."
Ray shot her a look, but said nothing.
"And...stay out of my way for a moment. I want to get a few hits in." Khrista moved in front of Ray, her shirt starting to become royal blue, only to stop halfway through, becoming a Dual-Type Dragon/Flying swirl.
Taking in a breath, Khrista gathered what anger she had in her, and attacked Dialga.
Outrage in and of itself is a powerful attack, but when combined with a need to take out your foe for the sake of the world's survival, it gains even more power.
Khrista wasn't aware of this - all she wanted to do at this point was take out the Legendary before he could do any further damage.
Ray's eyes widened as he watched his Trainer, a maniacal grin on her face, as she used the move that he had almost killed her with. "Stop! You're going to kill yourself!"
"I know what I'm doing," Khrista snarled in response. Her hits started to become more erratic as her strength began to deplete, but Dialga was still flinching.
"She's going to do something foolish," the Legendary muttered. "Khrista, stop!"
Khrista ignored her Pokemon, letting out a growl in response. Her attack switched from Outrage to Dragon Claw, slashing Dialga's orange gem - most likely an attempt to break it.
Dialga let out a howl of pain, thrashing around as he tried to avoid Khrista's attacks. Unfortunately, this only led to Khrista attacking Palkia with the same ferocity, hitting the red gem on the creature's shoulder.
"Khrista, stop!" Ray repeated. "That's enough!"
Gradually, Khrista's attacks began to slow as she regained her surroundings. Upon realizing how close she was to the Spacial Legendary, she retreated to Ray's side, eyes wide.
"Thanks," she panted, looking a little worse for the wear.
"You needed to be snapped out of it," Ray responded. "Now, are we going to use Draco Meteor?"
"No," Joshua responded. "We need to give the others a turn before we take them out. Despite Khrista's efforts, they are still too strong to take out in one move."
"Hey, guys!" Khrista called down. "You're up!"
Ash and Red exchanged glances, then ran in front of Dialga and Palkia, Saur in front of the Dragon/Water-Type, and Charizard in front of the Dragon/Steel-Type.
"Flamethrower!" Ash ordered.
"Power Whip!" Red called out.
Charizard reared back and fired off a stream of fire that could have rivaled anything Moltres could have cooked up, while Saur threw a giant vine whip that looked like it was exerting green energy.
Dialga, who was actually looking worse for the wear, let out a Roar of Time that caused the flamethrower to scatter, but Palkia ended up taking the hit from the Power Whip, which Khrista found surprising.
Ash's eyes narrowed. "Fire Blast!"
"Let's do a Razor Leaf!" Red called.
This time, the Fire Blast hit Dialga square in the chest, while Palkia caused the Razor Leaf to go through one rip in space and out another right behind Charizard.
"Ow!" Charizard yelped. "Not funny!"
"Ignore it, Charizard," Ash stated. "Try another Flamethrower!"
"Frenzy Plant!" Red ordered.
Once again, the Flamethrower's power was scattered with Dialga's roar.
Unfortunately, Frenzy Plant didn't hit its mark, either - instead, Palkia slashed through it with a Dragon Claw, which also hit Saur.
-Insolent pests- Palkia snarled. -These Pokemon alone do not have a power that rivals ours-
"Infernape!" Ash called out, releasing the Fire/Fighting-Type. "Fire Spin! And Charizard - use Fire Blast!"
"Pika, use Thunder!"
Palkia shook his head, another Spacial Rend causing the Electric-Type attack to go behind the Ketchum brothers. Dialga took the two fiery hits, but no burn or fiery cyclone were left behind.
"Look out!" Ash shouted, pushing Red out of the way as the Thunder was sent toward them. He absorbed the attack, then turned to glare at Palkia. "Take this!"
A large ball of electricity blasted out of him, hitting the Legendary in the chest, causing the Water/Dragon-Type to flinch in surprise.
"Infernape, use Flare Blitz!" Ash ordered, motioning the Fire/Fighting-Type forward. "Charizard, fall back and take a breather!"
The fire monkey saluted, then charged at Dialga, who looked like he was ready to claw at the Fire/Fighting-Type. However, Infernape managed to avoid the Dragon Claw, hitting the Legendary in one of its legs. As he retreated, a large flame coursed up Dialga's leg, only dissipating when it reached his gem.
"That should do it," Joshua stated. "Whenever you're ready, Khrista."
Khrista nodded in response. "You up to it, Ray?"
Ray nodded."I have enough energy to send Kyogre and Groudon to kingdom come if I have to." He grinned at his Trainer. "Are you?"
Khrista let out a breath. "Give me a minute." She closed her eyes and concentrated on bringing her Dragon power together in her core. To her surprise, it responded instantly, gathering together to the point of exploding out of her. "Now, Ray!"
"Draco Meteor!" the two shouted together.
Not but an instant later, a loud rumbling was heard above them.
Ash looked up. "We need to keep then distracted," he told Red, motioning to the Legendaries. Grabbing the PokeBalls on his belt, he shouted, "Come out, everybody!" As soon as all the Pokemon he had brought with him were out, he stated, "Heracross, you and Charizard go help Infernape against Dialga. Sceptile, Pikachu, and Gible - go after Palkia."
Pikachu grinned and gave Ash a thumbs-up. "You got it!"
He leapt off his Trainer's shoulder and promptly unleashed a Thunderbolt attack in Palkia's direction, while Pika did the same with his Thunder attack.
Red then released the rest of his own Pokemon. "Saur, go help Pika against Palkia. Poli, you've got Dialga. Lax, you're going against Dialga. Aero, you've got Dialga. And Vee, you go after Palkia."
The Espeon nodded. "They won't know what hit them."
He dashed off in the direction of the Legendary. At the same time, Grace set her sights on Dialga.
While the Pokemon began to take Dialga's and Palkia's attention, Khrista's power began to slowly fade. Gritting her teeth, she tried to summon more power, but there wasn't much left.
"We're not losing," Joshua stated. "Not today."
Khrista could barely hear him, but she could tell that he was determined not to let them lose against the controlled Legendaries.
Switching to vocal, Joshua called out, "Caleb! Now!"
Below, Caleb nodded, then let out a guttural roar as he started to glow with a strange, blue energy, which has long since been identified as Aura. "Aura Storm!"
A beam of Aura was suddenly fired on Dialga, who let out a primeval shriek. The air was suddenly filled with energy as the Aura Storm hit Dialga's orange gem point-blank. Khrista, upon realizing this, managed to absorb whatever energy was zooming around her. Above, the rumbling became even louder.
Palkia let out a snarl. -No one is going to defeat us. Certainly not a group of genetic freaks-
Ash's eyes narrowed. "Oh, yeah? In case you haven't noticed, Dialga isn't looking so good."
"Now!" Ray roared. He released a Dragon Pulse at the rocky ceiling, causing it to collapse as gigantic meteors crashed through, practically bursting with draconic energy.
While Red's and Ash's Pokemon were able to get out of the way in time, Dialga and Palkia were too large to get of of the way of the Ultimate Dragon Attack. They were soon buried under a large pile of rocks, still releasing draconic energy.
"Let's hope that did it," Khrista murmured, looking over at the rock piles as Joshua was slowly lowered and landed on the ground as the bubble dissipated. "I don't think I can manage another attack like that."
"I was starting to wonder when those two would get some sense knocked into them!"
Khrista turned her head sharply, catching sight of a strange, blue Sandslash standing near a hole that had suddenly appeared in the cave wall.
"What do you mean by that?" Khrista asked as she landed on the cave floor. "And where did you come from?"
The Sandslash motioned to the hole. "When Cyrus took over, he had me and my friends rounded up for no reason and trapped in a pocket dimension. When you knocked him out, I managed to slip out and leave a tunnel that leads out of the mountain. I came back in to see what had happened."
Joshua was about to respond to this when the rock pile was suddenly thrown apart by a blast of draconic energy. For a moment, Khrista thought she had caught sight of a fine red dust, but the moment passed quickly.
When the dust had cleared, Dialga and Palkia were standing there in their normal colorings.
Dialga nodded to Khrista and the others. "Thank you for rescuing us."
"I warned him what was going to happen if he tried a stunt like this," Palkia muttered.
Khrista's eyes widened. "You tried to dissuade Cyrus?"
"Both times, yes," Dialga confirmed. He bent down to have a closer look at Khrista. "You seem familiar, somehow. What is your name, child?"
"I'm Khrista," Khrista responded, "one of the kids Cyrus dragged here after he took over." She motioned to her cousin and the Angeleon, continuing, "And these are Joshua and Grace."
"Ah, the Avatars the Psychics saw. I would say that it is an honor to finally meet you, but it appears we already have."
"Avatars?" the Sandslash repeated. "What do you mean by that?"
"They're the kids who play video games back on their world," Palkia explained. "We saw just one Trainer, but the Psychics saw more follow when Ash became a Trainer after White. Whatever actions the one went through, the others mimicked some time later - and received the same hateful emotions from Cyrus and others."
"Oh." The Sandslash nodded, understanding, but then frowned. "But what about White? Where is she?"
"She went to a place out of Cyrus' reach," Palkia replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Grace asked, frowning. "Cyrus grabbed everybody from our neighborhood. Does that mean he couldn't go beyond there?"
"Not quite." Palkia let out a growl of annoyance. "The scientist known as Charon knew how to manipulate space in such a way that he could reach anywhere on your world. However, Maria White was called away to a world beyond his reach, as she is a World Jumper."
"World Jumper?" Grace repeated. "Is that what this White is?"
Dialga gave a nod.
"Maria White," Khrista muttered under her breath. "Maria..." Her eyes widened. "I've got a neighbor named Maria!"
"And I believe that same neighbor is the Trainer of which I speak," Palkia replied.
"And the same Trainer who meddled in everything Cyrus did," Dialga added.
Palkia looked up towards the hole. "Speaking of meddling, we have a planet to restore. If you would excuse me." He took off through the hole and into the sky without another word.
"I may not have command over space, but I can restore those who have been changed to their proper forms," Dialga stated. "You may go and tell the others what has occurred; they need not worry about what we are doing."
Dialga started to go, but Khrista exclaimed, "Wait!"
The Temporal Pokemon paused and looked at the human. "Yes, Avatar?"
"How is it that Maria White is Maria Carlsdale?" Khrista demanded. "She's never told any of us about doing something about this."
"Maria has her own reasons for that," Dialga replied. "Maybe you could ask her the next time you see her."
Before Khrista could ask Dialga anything more, the Legendary took off and disappeared into the dark sky.
Khrista nodded. "Right." She flew up onto Ray's head, calling, "All right, guys! Let's go back!"
Spacial Break
Cyrus awoke from his first dreamless sleep in days, only to find himself staring face to face with the man he had allied himself with years ago.
"You've been asleep for two days," Ivan noted as Cyrus sat up. "I was beginning to wonder if the device had lobotomized you."
"Cyrus shook his head. "I had been having nightmares on that accursed planet. Now that I am here, I am free of sleepless nights." He looked around the gray room grimly. "I see you haven't redecorated."
"Like I need to. What happened that forced you to come here?"
Cyrus let out a growl. "I was beaten. Again."
Ivan seemed intrigued by this. "Was it the same one you were complaining about from the last time?"
"No - her I couldn't find. This one was a kid who somehow became part Mew!"
"Is that bad?"
Cyrus got off the bed, an angered look on his face. "As bad as when your first 'project' turned against you, and worse, as I was unable to destroy her. I knew my work would be reversed just as quickly as I had activated it, so I found a window of opportunity. Unfortunately, I came here alone."
Ivan shook his head, making a tsk noise as he did so. "You shouldn't let yourself be so vulnerable. Is there anyone who escaped?"
"No; they captured everyone." Cyrus started to pace back and forth. "There is no point in trying to go back and invade - the Pokemon those Trainers have are probably powerful enough to destroy an army of yours with little difficulty."
"That is a pessimistic thought," Ivan noted.
"It is said with experience," Cyrus shot back. "If we are going to go back, we need creatures that can stand against Pokemon. We need that blue demon you spoke to me about."
Ivan's eyes widened, his glasses reflecting the light source above their heads. "A tall order. But with you and your scientist friend here, I might be able to put something together..."
Spacial Break
"We're back!" Khrista called as she and the others arrived in the Square.
A large crowd of Trainers quickly surrounded them, but the Professors pushed them back.
"How did it go?" Birch inquired. Khrista noticed that he didn't ask them about where they had gone - he had most likely been told about what they had gone off to do.
"We rescued them with two Draco Meteors," Khrista explained. "Plus, we found this little guy."
The blue Sandslash standing to her right waved.
Professor Rowan leaned forward and inspected the Shiny Pokemon. "Your Trainer has been worried sick about you."
"I kinda figured," the Sandslash responded. "Where is he?"
"He went back to Kanto about an hour ago," Professor Oak explained. "I was planning on heading back soon myself."
"So you can give me a ride?" The Sandslash grinned as Oak nodded. "Awesome! We'll have to wait a little, though - the Legendaries are probably going to bring everyone else back once Dialga's taken care of restoring everyone to normal."
"That's all right. I still have a few things I need to take care of."
"So, what's going to happen now?" Green asked.
"Now, we wait for Palkia to do his work," Red stated. Turning to look at his brother, he said, "Palkia mentioned that Cyrus hated you. Why?"
Ash smiled sheepishly, and rubbed the back of his head. "A few years ago, he learned about the whole 'Chosen One' fiasco back on the Orange Islands. He then tried to hunt down Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno to reenact the whole thing, but I stopped him. After that, he tried to do that to the other world disasters, but I - and the Avatars, is sounds like - stopped him every time."
"And now Cyrus has vanished," Elm muttered.
Khrista frowned. "What do you mean by that? Wasn't Darkrai keeping an eye on him?"
"I am still mortal, Legendary or not," the mentioned Pokemon responded, materializing in front of Khrista. "I had just sent him into a Nightmare Sleep when he pressed something and caused himself and Charon to disappear." He handed Joshua a metallic object. "It looks like he activated some sort of artificial Teleport."
Joshua turned the object over in his hands. "Some sort of portable, one-use warp device," he identified. "It probably has the destination coded in." He rubbed a strange K-like shape in the device. "It could have sent him to another world."
"Another world?" Khrista repeated, surprised. "But where would they go? He's lived here for his entire life, hasn't he?"
Joshua shrugged. "You can never tell with people of his caliber." He dropped the device, which had strangely turned to dust in his hands. "Well, it looks like he won't be bothering us for a while." His eyes scanned the crowd. "I'm going to get my Pokemon healed up. If any of you want to battle me, get in line."
Khrista smirked. "And that goes for me, too! I haven't been able to get into an official battle yet, and I'm itching for one!"
Hah! I'm dropping hints about White all over the place!
We're almost done, guys - we've got a single-digit number of chapters left!