Rise from the Ashes

by I'd Kill me

When the nations are brought to their knees, when darkness and plague rage the land, when the people's spirit has been locked away, Who will be the people's salvation? Who will defy the tyrant king? Who knows or cares, but we know one thing, revenge solves everything. Rated M for language and death.

32. Chapter 31: Payback's a Bitch

Well, here it is, the final chapter. This is probably going to be a long one, no, it's definitely going to be a long one. I'll make sure of that, gotta end this off with a bang after all. I thinking that I'm probably going to release the epilogue 12 hours after I update the story. I'm looking forward to writing the ending I've had planned out since day one, it going to be marvelous. But I'm also sad, I have to end the story, and school starting on top of it. I'm switching schools so I have no idea if I'm going to be able to write (who the hell am I kidding, I'll probably just blow off the homework and do this instead). I'm told the workload is vastly different from that of my old school. Oh well, worst case scenario is that I'll be updating once a month, I'll just have to make them long chapters if that's the case. Also, I should explain that the attack 'Heavy Slam' does not do any damage, it increases the amount of damage caused based on the weight of the Pokemon you are using. Just want you to keep that in mind when we get to a certain part. Thank you everyone for staying with me up to this point and a special thank you to Sailor Tachichi Vegeta for not only staying with me form the start, but for reviewing every chapter. It means the world to me. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed, it means a lot and finally, I hope you enjoy the last chapter of Rise from the Ashes

Rubyspe: I know, I'm so sad right now, yet inexplicably happy. I enjoyed writing this so much, but I'm happy I'm able to finish it, and thanks, I'm glad you enjoy it. (On a side note I'm so glad they finally noticed Ruby's good at battles in your story, keep up the good work). I do have plans for one or two stories after this one. Both in modern times.

BlackStarZX: Oh god I needed that. I'm glad someone is giving me a hard time about it. Thanks for making me laugh, all I've gotten are loos of pity, except for me manager who slapped me on the chest as a joke (it hurt though). Turns out that I signed a form that said I didn't want to sleep during the surgery, but I don't remember signing it. Gritty stories are the best, and as for views, I'm happy with where I'm at. I'd have been happy with five views really.

travis the ralts: Thank you?

Sailor Taichichi Vegeta: Wow, it never gets old responding to you, even after thirty two chapters. I took the pie idea form a story I'd like to write and just redid it a little. There's no way in hell I'm taking a shower of apple juice man. It ain't happening. And now, Sailor, here's my deep, warm hearted thank you for sticking with me for these months. So my friend, thank you, you make my day.

By the way, we reached exactly 20,600 views. Weird right?

Chapter 31: Payback's a Bitch

-Ash's POV-

That was not how I wanted to leave the castle. It was the most awkward confrontation I've ever had in my life, and that's saying something. I mean, I'm an insensitive bastard who can never read a situation involving emotions, so when I can tell the atmosphere is awkward, there is a major problem. It happened four days ago, yet I fell like it happened five seconds ago

The second I was in the room alone with her I knew there was a problem. I could feel it in the air, like how everyone is tense before they go to battle. When no one wants to say that there is a possibility that they'll die, but every person is thinking it. It felt exactly like that.

"Um, hi Ash" Dawn said nervously, her back pressed against the door I had entered not ten seconds ago. 'My exit is blocked' I thought, narrowing my eyes. This was premeditated, planned out. I stole a glance at the window, too high to jump. Not that I had been planning to, but if she thought that I'd try to escape then there must be a reason.

Looks like m only way out is through the door, and I'm not the type to shove ladies around, no matter how angry I get.

"By the looks of things I'm not going to like where this is going Dawn" I said. She fidgeted against the door, confirming my accusation.

"Well, I don't know about that, but I figured better safe than sorry" she said

I crossed my arms and shifted my weight, gazing at her cooly "So? What is it that you felt the need to lock me in a room with you" I asked her

"We... we need to talk, about, you know..." she said hesitantly

"About the kiss?" I said flatly. I'm kind of surprised at how I've held to gather this impassive act "How can you say it so nonchalantly? That was my first..." she said, trailing off at the end. I raised an eyebrow "Well I'm sorry it ended up being with me" I said

"No! I'm not upset or anything, I just, wanted to know something" she mumbled. I leaned forward a bit, silently telling her to keep going "Did, did you feel it to?" she asked quietly

Now I was confused "Yeah, I felt you flips on mine, it was kind of impossible to ignore" I said

Her face went red "N-no I meant what did you feel during the kiss?" she said. I took a minute recall exactly what I had been feeling "Well, surprise reigned above the others, but I'd say their was a little confusion, fear, and... pleasure" I mumbled the last part while scratching the back of my head, looking anywhere except for her eyes

Her face lit up at the last part "You felt it too!" she exclaimed happily, I turned back to face her "Explain to me exactly what you were feeling, because right now, I'm feeling like we're talking about two different things"

She looked down shyly "I-I don't really know how to explain it. It was like a connection, it made me feel... happy"

'For the love of-. She has a crush on me?! Feign ignorance, it's the best solution'

"Feel happy?" I said. She bit her lip and took a step towards me "Yeah, if you just let me..." she trailed off and stepped in front of me, eyes closed, leaning upwards.

My eyes widened I took a step backwards and grabbed her shoulders "Dawn what are you trying to do here?" I asked in a serious tone. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I know you felt it too, just let me-"

"No! Dawn I don't know what you felt but I'm not going to kiss you" I said firmly "If that's all, then I'll have to take my leave. I have a mission coming up in a few hours" I said, walking aground her towards the door.

"Wait Ash!" she yelled as I reached for the doorknob. I turned around when I heard a loud "thump" come from behind me.

"Dawn!" I ran to her collapsed form, helping her up "Are you alright? Did you hurt someth-mph!"

I was cut off when she wrapped her arms around my neck and pressed her lip to mine, again. I grabbed her shoulders and tried to push her off as gently as possible, but she latched herself onto me like a vice.

Finally, she separated from me, gasping for breath "Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't feel anything" she said, arms still wrapped around my neck. I stared down at her, my face barely inches from her own "Dawn. I felt nothing. I'm sorry"

I rubbed my head at the memory, she wasn't too upset after I said that. She was surpassingly clam, but she dismissed my apologies. I did feel bad though, rejection was not something easily dealt with.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, now was not the time to be remembering that. "What's the matter? Losing your head?" an Aura Guardian sneered at me. I shot him a glare and continued to sharpen my sword. It was the only thing keeping me occupied enough to not send it through the guy's throat. Apparently, I was a popular topic with the Aura Guardians. Fifty percent respected me, but didn't like me, thirty percent were impassive, and the remaining twenty percent liked me. But not one of them would stand up for me if the fifty percent started throwing around insults.

The Aura Guardian council probably one that I was Aaron's son, and most likely did not advertise that fact. But word travels, not matter how well kept the secret is. And when the Aura Guardian populace found out I was their idol's son and he wasn't training me, they probably figured it was because I didn't have a pure aura, or I was rejected by Aaron for apprenticeship. And if Aaron rejects something, his followers are probably going to do the same. At least fifty percent didn't send me glares every time they saw me

I sighed and sheathed my knife, putting the sharpener in my pack, which I was sitting on. Resting my arms on my legs, I took a look around at everyone. The Aura Guardians seemed to segregate themselves from everyone else, probably because they didn't want to get friendly with someone who could end up being an enemy of the Aura Guardians.

The Aqua Guard mingled with each other, but what surprised me the most, was that the Magma Core was separating themselves for everybody more than the Aura Guardians. Only Ruby would go over to talk talk with anybody else, and even then it was only with the generals or the king. I guess I'm not one to talk, I've barely said a word to anyone.

I ran a hand through my hair, oh yeah, I forgot to mention I had to give my hat away. The second the Aura Guardians saw it, they demanded I hand it over. To avoid any conflict, which they seemed fully prepared to engage in, I gave it to them. That hat had been a present from Riley, but I wasn't surprised when he watched the whole thing go down without a word. I didn't blame him, in fact, I preferred it that way. It's better if I get all they dish out than Riley. If he says a word out against his senior Aura Guardians, that fifty precent, will not make his life easy gong forward.

"Oof" came a grunt from next to me. I dragged myself from my thoughts and looked at my father who was sliding down the wall to sit down "Need something?" I asked him

"Nope" he said, looking at the ceiling of the tunnel "Just wanted to sit with my son". I almost flinched at the word "son", but I held my composure. I promised Ruby I wouldn't immediately start yelling at him and give him a chance to talk before I get mad, and I'm a man of my word. "How much longer till everybody's ready?" I asked him, already having a estimation in my head

"About twenty minutes, give or take" he said, referring to the Aura Guardians. "Oi, check it out. Magma Core's leader heading out alone with an Aqua Guard general. I looked back the way we came and sure enough, Ruby was being lead by the hand away from the group, Sapphire being the leader. "Didn't see that one coming, they seemed to hate each other" he said with a chuckle

"Really? You didn't pick up the signs"

"What signs?" he asked in confusion. I looked back at him "What sign?" I repeated "How the hell did you become an Aura Guardian without learning how to read people? You got to look underneath everything, and if you can't find anything there, then you look underneath the underneath, Arceus, who knew you'd be so stupid?" I said

"Ph, I should be the one lecturing you about these things" he said with a smile

"Whatever shit stain. Do me a favor and tell em that those two are doing back there. I can't see a thing in this darkness" I said

He grunted begrudgingly, but his eyes began to glow with a familiar blue and he looked in the direction Ruby and Sapphire went. His eyebrows shot up after a second and he let out a low whistle

"Kinky" he muttered

"No fucking way" I muttered, looking back into the darkness they'd disappeared into "Well "fucking" is a pretty accurate description of what they're doing"

"I call bullshit" I said

"I kid you not, they may not being actually doing it but they are on the border of discarding their clothes and feeling each other up" he said, eyes still glowing blue.

"Then what the hell are you doing still watching them? Turn your fucking aura off you sick bastard" I hissed at him, waving a hand front of his face, trying to save a little of my friend'd dignity. He blinked and the glow receded away. "I was just making sure they didn't do anything stupid" he defended

"We're about to launch a full scale attack being completely outnumbered, outgunned, at a disadvantage, and in very deep enemy territory with no definite escape route. What about this situation isn't stupid?" I said

He shrugged "Fair point. So, why are you not yelling?"

"Made a deal"

"So you don't hate me?" he asked. I shook my head "Of course I hate you, I will till the day I die and when I'm burning in hell. I'm just not yelling at you, yet" I said. I was speaking the truth, I will never forgive him for what he did, and I will hate him to the day I die.

"Still, an improvement is an improvement" he said. I grunted, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with him. "Well, looks like I'm up" he said, standing up and walking to the front of the group "Alright everyone, if you're ready, then let's exit the tunnels and back to the world of the light" Aaron said, turning to a large wall that would be considered to be a dead end if an Aura Guardian wasn't present.

Aaron stepped forward along with another Aura Guardian. They stood at either side of the wall and placed their palms on it for a moment. There was flash of blue from both sides before a small line came from both sides, creating a sort of design on the wall before meeting at the top and sliding down the middle as a single line. The wall split in two, as if they had just created a door.

I was surprised, there was no flashy display when we had first entered the caves. There was just a rock was that they blasted through then a door similar to this one. They did the same thing, except the door just opened, no light, no sound, just a simple swinging of the doors.

I walked back to check on my arsenal of Pokemon, checking everyone off just to make sure we didn't have any stragglers. After making sure my Pokemon were all accounted for, I walked to the front, followed by my Pokemon, Pikachu, leaping to his rightful place on my shoulder.

I watched the doors slowly open, revealing a tunnel barely wide enough to hold five people at a time. All thoughts about the problem of how to get everyone through quickly and efficiently left my head. Blame it on the pre battle nerves, but I was suddenly itching to get outside and see what I'm up against. Weird right? I already knew we were outnumbered two to one.

I peaked out of the cave and for the first time in four days, I saw sunlight. Normally I'd take a moment to enjoy the sunlight and the outdoors, but I felt no need to greet the day that could end with my death, then again, didn't everyday entail some possibility of death

I ran ahead of everyone, leaving them to sort out how to get everyone through the tunnel. I ran with my Pokemon at my sides, a pack in all definitions of the word, just a weird pack. I held my hand up with an enclosed fist and all of my Pokemon stopped at once, but I pushed on. I needed them to stop so the guards wouldn't get suspicious when they saw a mismatched group of Pokemon peaking over the horizon.

I stood tall when I reached the view of Saffron, no need to hide when I'm invisible speck in the distance. Obviously I couldn't judge their strength since last time I was here, but no doubt there were more soldiers than usual. With increasing attacks by and victories by Hoenn, the would have increased their strength on the borders and in their cities, taking soldiers away from the outposts that lay scattered about all the regions.

Still, I gazed out at the capital of the Kanto region, home to King Giovanni, a.k.a the tyrant king. Excitement coursed through me, this battle would take place any minute now. There was no point in waiting for night, such a large force would be sighted on the horizon immediately. No, we were attacking the minute we got everyone out of that cave. Also, most people would ask "why attack the walls when you can go through the gate?". Yeah, the gate filled with traps, surrounded by archers, and bottlenecked the entering force giving the defending soldiers easy kills. No, way too many deaths would come of that. If you blow a hole in the wall however, unrestricted access, along with the defenders on the other side being blown away by the explosion were two very important pros.

I couldn't help but grin at my odds of survival, it was exciting to face death. I have faced him a million times, but this time, this time I had a streak of vengeance to carry, and I would not go down till my mother was avenged. I would make it home, I had someone to come back to, someone who was waiting for me. Unaware of the monumental odds I faced. I turned around, beginning the walk back with my Pokemon in tow, taking my time, seeing as there was no rush to wait for the soldiers and Pokemon to get out of the tunnel.

The walk took a shorter amount of time than I wished, but i was pleasantly surprised to see all the Pokemon out, Ruby's team out, the Aura Guardians out, and some of the Aqua Guard out, but none of Lance's rebels had appeared yet. I sent my Pokemon to wait with Green's steadily forming cohort while I walked over to Ruby, catching the conversation as I neared

"-can't wait or this to start, this is going to be the greatest battle we'll ever have in out lives" Thomas said excitedly.

"Only an idiot would look forward to a battle" Samantha said

"Come on Samantha, you have to admit that you're looking forward to this battle as well" Ruby said

She shrugged "I guess, but I'm not looking forward to dying" she said

"Then don't die" Thomas said with a smile. I rolled my eyes, only Thomas would make a fearsome possibility with a thousand to one odds seem like a simple choice. "Why are you looking forward to this so damn much?" Samantha growled at him

"Because this our chanc-"

"Humans are naturally defiant" Matt interrupted "In the face of overwhelming odds we choose, rather than withstand, to go out and meet it. We stand in stubborn defiance against a relentless oppression. We choose to stand in defiance against the odds all others dare not. For humans are defiant. and in our defiance comes strength, in our defiance comes our will to survive, to defy our fate"

"..."

"Where the hell did that come from?" David asked incredulously. Matt shrugged "Just something Maxie told me" he said

"Well I was going to say that I'm excited because this our chance to redeem ourselves from all our past failures" Thomas said "This our chance to show the world that the Magma Core deserves a second chance"

"Amen" Butch said with a smirk, earning a chuckle from everyone, even though the topic was a serious one. "How long till everyone's out?" I asked

Ruby glanced at me before turning his attention to the tunnel entrance, watching soldiers flood through "Don't know" he shrugged "But they had the Pokemon go through first, causing the edge to widen for one extra person to squeeze in there. That helped out a lot actually"

I looked around and realized that everyone was already preparing to mobilize. Sapphire's cohort was already assembled and waiting for the remainder of Blue's to get out of the tunnel. Green's cohort was already strapped for battle as well and was moving towards the horizon, just out of the sight of the castle. "Shit" I cursed, running to my waiting Pokemon.

We caught up with Green's cohort and walked next to him "When does the first strike begin?" I asked him. He glanced at me for a second "Blue said she'd be ready in ten minutes. That was three minutes and fourteen seconds ago. When times runs out, we attack" he said. I was a little miffed at the idea of attacking when you couldn't be positive if your reinforcements were prepared or not, but I pushed the matter aside. If he trusts her, then so will I.

I began my own countdown though 'Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Four minutes. Sixty, fifty nine, fifty eight, fifty six' I counted, tapping my foot silently on the ground as we all stood in silent anticipation.

I looked at the faces of the Pokemon and the men. The Pokemon held a steel among them, one that held their primal instinct of do or die. The men held ones of stony masks, fear, excitement, and anticipation. I glanced up at Pikachu, seeing only determination in his eyes.

I glanced at Green, his expression was one of cold emotionlessness. An expression that a good commander must have at all times, the only exception being one of anger when his orders weren't followed.

'Two, one. One minute. Sixty, fifty nine' I counted, my anticipation growing with each passing second. I drew my sword and called my Pokemon to my side, the charge would start in-

"Fifteen!" Green's voice rang out amongst the silence "Fourteen! Thirteen! Twelve! Eleven! Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! ONE!" he roared, breaking out into a run. I charged forward as well followed by my Pokemon. I saw Charizard, Garchomp, and Pidgeot take to the sky, already dashing ahead of us. I glanced back at Aggron and Tyranitar, the two massive Pokemon already lagging behind. Not that I was surprised.

I looked to my right and saw flying types soaring towards the castle and Blue's and Sapphire's cohort also charging in, getting into a good firing position. The massive sound of a horn and the ringing of bells brought my attention back to our target. Saffron City was bustling with activity. Civilians were rushing inside the gates, only to be pushed back by a horde of soldiers exiting .

"Attack!" Green yelled. The Pokemon began launching anything they could at the wall, hyper beams, gusts, flame-throwers, water pulses, hydro cannons, anything that could be fired at long range. Most would think that such an attack would annihilate a wall. But the walls of Saffron were reinforced wit steel row that ran through in a checkered pattern built into the iron-mixed cement. This acted as a reinforcement against any incoming attacks, even repelling some of them.

But the attack was not fruitless, the damage the attack caused could be plainly seen.

Suddenly, the hiss of incoming arrows caught my attention, but I realized they were our own. They rained upon the enemy soldiers that were attempting to exit the gate, annihilating anyone who dared to peak their heads through.

I grinned, but my reassurance was cut short as an arrow flew past my head, almost impaling Sceptile. "Form up around the armored Pokemon, dodge if you can" I yelled to my Pokemon while making myself scarce amongst the soldiers. They had their shields raised as a wall, a standard phalanx formation without the pikes and long spears. Personally, I preferred the legionnaire tactic. "A cloud of dust and an army of statues", that's how Meowth described it.

I refaced my attention back to the hail of arrows when I felt a warm trail of blood trickle down my cheek, not even checking to see if it was a cut, who needed confirmation of something they already knew? I growled as I jumped back and froth in-between shield holders, firing off two shots every time I switched before moving once again.

I growled in frustration, this was getting us nowhere. "Tyranitar Hyper Beam! Aggron Focus Blast!" I yelled. Both Pokemon bellowed a mighty roar and launched their attacks at the wall. Tyranitar, front and center" I yelled at him, he made his way over to me, stopping just to the side of the shield wall, looking t me expectantly while arrows bounced off his armored body "Give cover to the other Pokemon, just keep up a steady defense so they can get attacks off okay?" He nodded and looked up at the attacking archers, waiting for me to call out the order

"Tyranitar use Protect!" he spread his arms out and brought a massive yellow shield to appear in front of him. The others, picking up on my plan, sent the Pokemon our way, beginning an assault of attacks against the wall while what few archers were present and I attempted to relinquish the flow of arrows against us.

Draw, shoot, reload. Draw, shoot, switch positions, reload. Draw, shoot, reload. I was starting to get mad, no matter how many I dropped, two more seems to appear out of nowhere, we were barely halfway through the wall too!

I grinder my teeth together, frustrated I was being held up like this "Aggron! Heavy Slam" he dropped to all fours, I could see the muscles tense in his body, building up power for the attack "Now! Giga Impact!" He roared and charged straight for the wall, ramming into it, causing a massive column of dust to erupt from the force.

I felt triumphant when I saw Aggron give off a roar of victory when he appeared on the other side of the wall "Shield wall, forward!" Green yelled, seeing our opportunity "Everyone, put your shields above your heads" he said. "Sceptile, paint those walls red. Leaf Blade!"

He ran behind my charging Tyranitar and jumped on his shoulders just before we reached the wall, pouncing on a shocked archer. I spun the the right to avoid his falling body. I glanced up at Sceptile, watching him deftly move along the wall, cleaning the wall of soldiers. I brought my eyes back ahead of me to watch the battle between Aggron and a very large Houndoom. There wasn't much to watch though, Aggron picked it up by it horns and threw it, its destination three blocks down and six feet under.

Now it was time for my job, I let loose a loud whistle, earning a roar in reply. Charizard landed in front of me, huffing out a burst of flames form the sides of his mouth, waiting for me to get on. "Pikachu, when you see the signal, come find me. Till then, take out every enemy Pokemon you see, got it? I said. I turned and ran towards Charizard, grabbing his neck and using my momentum to swing myself around onto his back. I pointed towards where I wanted him to go, giving him a moment to let loose his trademark roar before he stretched his massive wings, taking to the sky.

I scanned the ground, watching the fighting take place in the streets, Pokemon attacks lit up the sky as aerial combat roared above us as well as the city below. I could see some civilians peaking out their windows, most hiding in a basement or some sort of shelter. But I shook my head clear of my thoughts of heaping them, I had an important job to do.

Charizard landed on a soldier, effectively crushing his spine and killing him instantly. I hopped off and made my way along the wall, finding a good spot to launch the signal from. I was met with resistance however as archers drew their attention from the enemy cohort that stood just within their firing range.

I jerked left as the first arrow came at me, barely missing my should, and rolled under the second. I saw the first archer already notching another arrow, but I was too close. I jumped from my roll and he brought his bow up, trying to get a shot off.

'Too slow'

I spun, flicking my sword as it neared his neck, decapitating him. I paused for a second, allowing his head to hit the floor, shortly followed by his body before looking up at the two other archers, both of them shaking in fear. I grinned wildly, scaring them even more before launching myself at the second archer swiping at his chest before ducking and spinning around him stopping behind him and driving my sword behind me, straight through and out his chest.

I retracted my sword and flicked the blood off as I ran towards my third target. He dropped his and fumbled to get his short sword out, drawing it just as I reached him. I didn't even need to do anything complex maneuvers, I just pressed him, attacking in fast but simple strikes until he finally lost the strength to parry correctly, causing his sword to be pushed up above his head, leaving his chest wide open.

I spun around, cutting a neat gash straight across his chest before spinning the other way and slicing yet another one, into him, making and incomplete "Z". I pushed him to the ground and looked around for anyone else. there were a few archers behind me and in front of me, but there were preoccupied firing off arrows at Blue's and Sapphire's platoon.

I called Charizard over, but just as I was about to tell him to fire off the signal, a Flamethrower raced towards him. "Jump now!" I yelled at him. He threw himself in the air, successfully dodging the attack before flapping his wings and coming to a rest just behind me, facing our new enemy.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the petty mercenary" Drew said, atop a Flygon that looked poised to strike. I rolled my eyes at his insult "If I recall correctly, this petty mercenary kicked your ass" I mumbled irritably. Now I had to deal with him before I could launch the signal, or not. "Charizard, Fire Blast into the sky followed by Flame Burst I said.

The result of the two attacks colliding resulted in a massive explosion, one that dwarfed all combat in the sky and attracting the attention of Blue and Sapphire, telling them to head to the wall.

Drew looked back down at me "Flygon Dragon Claw"

"Knock it away then use Fire Fang" I said. Charizard flew towards the incoming dragon type and spun, using his wings to push Flygon's outstretched claw to the side before sinking his fangs, now set ablaze, into the enemy Pokemon's neck, causing it to cry out in pain and writhe around.

"Flamethrower" I called out. Fire erupted out of the sides of Charizard's mouth, sending Flygon into a new series of spasms before Drew gained finally some wit about him "Flygon use Dragon Tail" he yelled out. His Pokemon curved his body, smacking Charizard with its tail and forcing him to release Flygon's neck.

Charizard flew back, not giving Flygon room to push the new advantage, but just as I was about to call out an attack I saw an attack coming from right behind Charizard. "Charizard tuck your wings!" I yelled at him. His weight immediately carried him to the ground, only getting skimmed by the Gust. He turned and glare angrily at the Pidgeot that passed by, returning the glare.

"Charizard, return to the sky" I said. He once again took off into the sky, keeping a watchful eye out for more Pokemon that decided to lend a hand to our opponents. "Flygon, use Hyper Beam" Drew called out.

"Avoid the attack" I said. Charizard tucked his wings for a moment, diving right under the attack. But just as he extended his wings again, he was slammed into by an enemy Pidgeotto. I cursed under my breath "Charizard use Dragon Claw". He immediately grabbed the Pidgeotto just as it came out from its Arial Ace,trying to fly away to find a new target. He pulled it back towards him and raked his claws down the spine of the flying type before throwing it to the ground

"CHARIZARD DODGE NOW!" I roared at him. He looked up to see a Dragon Breath headed right towards him, having no time to dodge, he quickly charged up a flamethrower, countering it enough to cause the attack to explode just a few feet away from him. He emerged from the inferno the burns and bruises, but his menacing glare was still in place as he landed in front of me.

"Don't you get it? With my army of flying types soaring around and attacking you at random times, you'll have no chance to get an attack off at me. You're done for" Drew said with a smirk.

I scoffed, shuffling around through my pouch looking for the desired item "I guess that would be true... if my Charizard were a normal one" I said, my finger clasping around the item I was looking for "But unfortunately for you, I happen to own the biggest, baddest, most powerful Charizard on the planet, and he's only about get better" I said with a grin, bringing out a small crystal orb with a flame pattern etched into it.

The effect was immediate. The orb began to glow and Charizard matched it, glowing in the same blinding light. A roar pierced my ears as the glow faded, showing Charizard's Mega Evolution. His entire body was now pitch black, the only exception being the blue of the interior of his wings and the large striped that went from the top of his neck to the tip of his tail. His wings now zigzags at the tips, almost like feathers except they were all one appendage and sharp as knives. At the top of his wings were sharp claws, ready to tear into some flesh and rip it out. His horns and gone from dull nubs to sharp blue tipped horns and his his shoulder were adorned with what looked like a shoulder guard. Two horns on both shoulders round into a "U" shape, the two blue tips separated by a few inches. But what was most terrifying about his new appearance, was the dark blue flame that came from the tip of his tail and from the corners of his mouth, as if he couldn't even control his own power.

He let out another monstrous roar, before launching into the sky once again. "Charizard Flamethrower!" I yelled

"Flygon Dragon Breath" Drew countered, causing an explosion of green and blue. "Fire Fang" I yelled over the explosion, hoping my words weren't lost in the noise. But Charizard lunged through the smoke and flames before reappearing less than a second later, mouth filled with his blue flames and he latched onto the neck of Drew's Flygon once more, tearing through the flesh and ripping out a massive chunk of Flygon's throat, killing it.

Its carcass crashed to the ground, causing Drew to be thrown off. He rolled for a second before hitting a giant square piece of rubble, probably a piece of the wall. He got to his knees before the impact of Charizard landing in front of him caused him to fall over again. He scrambled away from him crawling on his back while looking up in pure terror

"NO! PLEASE. I'LL DO ANYHTI-"

That's as far as he got before Charizard clamped his jaws over his head, crushing it completely. He ripped it off and spat it away, launching it off somewhere into the fray of the city now torn by the fighting.

"Charizard, fire off a Flamethrower into the sky please" I said, watching as the city was lit up by a massive column of blue flames. The response i wanted was delivered, A Thunderbolt shot into the sky just a few blocks down, I could even hear my partner yelling from this far away. It wasn't even ten seconds before Pikachu jumped off a roof and landed on the back of Charizard, using it as a springboard to land on my head, before quickly transferring to my shoulder

"Charizard, take us up" I said, climbing in his back. Once we were back into the air I gazed at the battle below me. We were taking the city, with the help of Blue and Sapphire, we were taking the city street by street. These soldiers hadn't seen a good fight in years, but our seasoned veterans were straight from combat and ready to kill.

I looked for anywhere that desperately needed my help, but the assistance of the Aura Guardians was extremely helpful. Having an army of people that could summon and control a divine force was helpful. I brought my eyes to my target, the palace. Giovanni was somewhere in there, waiting for someone to kill him. Knowing my luck he's out at his vacation home or something.

An explosion erupted for my right, destroying a multiple buildings. I caught a sight of Ruby grinned atop some rooftops, the Magma Core at his side before he raced off and jumped to another roof. I saw King Norman making his way towards the castle, a massive Slaking literally crushing buildings as it went. I saw Blue and Green fighting back to back, tag taming anyone who came too close.

Then I saw him, he was at the palace entrance, watching everything happen. Normally, I would've charged straight at him, but the massive Dragonite that stood behind him made me wary. I ordered Charizard to stop for a moment, he was waiting for someone to attack him. I was even more cautious now, this was not right, any of it. He should have guards, he should be hiding, escaping, surrendering, fighting, not standing around in the middle of the open.

Was he that confident? I knew he wasn't stupid, so he had a plan. Charizard let out a low growl below me, looks like the Dargonite saw us. It slowly rose into the air before flying towards us, deeming us a threat enough to attack. Then again, I'm riding a black and blue Charizard that emitted flames so hot they were blue. Who wouldn't deem us a threat?

"Pikachu use Thunderbolt" I said to him. He jumped off my shoulder and launched a the powerful attack at the Dragonite before landing back on my shoulder. But it rolled to the left, evading the attack before charging up its own. Its wings began to glow and it raced towards us 'Wing Attack' I thought.

"Charizard use Fire Punch" I said. His fist became encompassed with blue flames as he charged at the incoming Dragonite. Charizard drilled Dragonite with an uppercut to the jaw. But Dragonite recovered immediately, charging up a Thunder Punch and hitting Charizard right in the stomach.

"Seismic Toss"

Charizard grabbed onto Dragonite, pinning its arms and raced towards the ground, spinning while he did until he let go and threw Dragonite head first into the ground. We flew back up and watched as Dragonite emerged form the dust cloud that ad formed. He launched himself into the sky once again and glared at us as if saying "You're supposed to be dead now".

"Charizard Flamethrower" I said. He released a flurry of blue flame at the Dragonite ho countered with a Dragon Breath causing an explosion. Dragonite erupted from the smoke and ash, Dragon Claw ready to strike. "Charizard, take this to the ground" I said. He complied immediately, diving to the ground and avoiding the attack. I hopped off his back "You got this?" I asked him. He nodded before looking back up at the rapidly approaching Dragonite, charging up a Dragon Claw of his own.

I cast him one more look before running to the palace, charging through the battles that raged around me, stabbing any enemy soldier that I passed. I ran towards the gates that were guarded by only two guards, a Wartortle and a Venasaur.

I rolled under a horizontal slash from the first one and stabbed him in his back, before ripping my blade out and parrying the second. while Pikachu almost caved in the head of the Wartortle with an iron. I drew a knife and slashed across his chest, but he pressed on with his attacks. I caught the flat of my blade beneath his hilt and flick my wrist, sending his blade into the dirt. just as he reached for a knife he felt my blade run straight through his heart.

I kicked him off my sword before running towards the Venasaur deflecting a Vine Whip. While it was distracted fighting me, Pikachu launched a quick Thunderbolt. It was a direct hit, and just enough of a distraction allow me to plunge my sword through its brain. I made a quick look to check on Pikachu who was already at my heels. We raced up the stairs and straight to Giovanni.

I emerged at the top of the stairs a little breathless, my previous battles finally catching up to me along with the stairs. Giovanni gave us an uninterested look, but still gave us his attention, if that makes any sense. "Can I help you?" he asked in an annoyed tone, like I just flicked him in the forehead.

"You can burn in hell" a voice said for behind us. Kind Norman emerged at the top of the staircase, his Slaking lumbering just behind him, hardly a scratch on the two. Giovanni turned to him "Finally the main show" he said "I was getting bored standing here and just watch-"

He was interrupted when hid Dragonite crashed into the side of the building, making a rather large indent in the side of it. It fell to the ground with a this before struggling to get up. Charizard landed on top of it before grabbing and driving a Fire Punch into its stomach. Dragonite shook it off and launched a Hyper Be a at him, just missing Charizard's head by inches.

Charizard grabbed it by its mouth and forced the Hyper Beam to point away from him, pushing Dragonite back to the ground. It writhed underneath him, trying to desperately get out from underneath his weight. Charizard ripped Dragonite jaw, spreading the two ends apart with a sickening crack and ending the Hyper Beam. He opened his mouth and fired off a column of flames into Dragonite's open mouth cueing it to roar in pain.

The skin on Dragonite's body began to burn away and with a smiled tug, Charizard ripped its head off and let out a roar of victory into the sky. he looked down and glared at Giovanni, throwing the head at his feet.

Giovanni looked down in disgust at the head "How barbaric" he said, pushing the head away from him with his foot. "But now that we're done here we can get on with this" he snapped his fingers and soldiers immediately came from around the corners of the castle, out its doors and surrounded us all sorts of Pokemon with them. I was back to back with King Norman, staring down all the soldiers and watching Giovanni walk away.

"Well, I can take about half of them with Slaking, what about you?" he asked me

Before I could answer, an explosion came from the gates drawing the attention of a few of the soldiers around us. "Could you use some help?" Riley asked, charging forward with some Aura Guardians, Ruby and the Magma Core, Blue, Green, Sapphire, and some of the Aqua Guard. I didn't respond, I just impaled a distracted soldier through the throat before ripping his neck open. I kicked his body back into the crowd of soldiers, knocking a few of them down.

It went to hell fast, bodies littered the ground and blood pooled around our feet. Pokemon attacks flew around, crashing into friend and foe. I lost Pikachu somewhere in the fray, I could only hope he was okay. I couldn't even remember how many opponents I faced until I found myself thrown to the ground at the door of the castle. I scrambled up and ran inside and shut the doors.

I turned around to face empty corridors, only person being present was some sort of steward who was shaking at the sight of me. I glanced down at myself and realized why. My clothes were in tatters, cuts were littered around my body and blood covered me like a second skin, not all of it my own.

I walked up to him an grabbed him by the neck "Where is Giovanni?" I growled out.

"H-he's u-u-up in t-the l-l-left t-t-tower g-g-giving orders t-to the flying t-type g-g-g-general" he stuttered out, pointing towards a hallway. I threw him to the ground and walked towards the hallway, seeing a spiral staircase at the very end of it. The climb was arduous, the adrenaline wore off and the pain finally caught up with me. I struggled up the last few steps, listening to the conversation "izard is giving us hell. It's fucking black and blue! It's unheard of! We can't do anything against it" a voice said

"Find a way captain, find a way" Giovanni said, the threat behind his words not lost to anyone's ears. I heard the flap of wings and just as I came to the top I saw a man on a Charizard fly away.

"So you made it out" Giovanni said. I turned my attention to him, he looked at me calmly, but I could see his hand on the hilt of his sword which had perviously not been there. "I drew my own sword and pointed it at him, ignoring the screams my muscles let out. "Do you think you can beat me?" he asked, looking at me like I was stupid.

I shrugged. He sighed, as if fighting me would just waist his time, before drawing his sword. "Do you know who I am?" I croaked out. He raised an eyebrow "No, and I don't care"

I nodded "Just checking". I luged at him, ready to drive my sword through him. he pushed my blade to the side with his own, countering with a downward slash. I rolled under the strike and swiped behind me, my sword meeting only air. I turned around and parried the vertical slash, then a horizontal, a stab, I was completely on the defensive.

I ducked under and attack and spun my legs underneath, causing him to fall over. I jumped on him and thrust my sword at his throat, but he deflected with his own. I grabbed my blade using my free hand and pushed down, forcing the blade closer to his throat. I could feel my sword piecing int y hand, but I ignored. "Do you remember burning down a small village that sat at the edge of the Kanto, Hoenn border about twenty one years ago?" I asked, venom dripping in my tone.

"Ah, another avenger" he said with a grin "I believe it was called Pallet Town yes? I sent Hunter J there to kill Sir Aaron's wife and child. Let me guess you're the only survivor and have lived your life with the soul purpose of killing me?" he said with a wicked grin.

I growled at him and pushed down harder, but my strength was waning and before I knew it, he had pushed my off and out position were switched. His blade was now at my throat and I was desperately trying to push it away. "Well it was worth slaughtering an entire town just to get back at Sir Aaron" Giovanni said.

"To bad you failed asshole" I said. He looked bored with my response "I lived through that, you only succeeded at killing Aaron's wife" I said while chuckling, inly resulting in me coughing up blood. He looked at me for a long moment "I can see the resemblance" was all he said before pressing the blade harder against me.

I pushed back with all my might, and that was my fatal mistake. He pulled back, surprising me with the sudden loss of weight before bringing his fist down against my face. My head slammed against the hard stone with an audible "crack". I felt him grab me by the collar of my shirt and drag me to the edge of the tower, bringing me up to look over the stone railing.

"See this? This going to fail. My soldiers are coming for all across the world and when they get here you are all going to die. Even if you kill me, you won't be able to hold the city for more than a few days. It was all pointless in the end" he said

"...ga -ct" I chocked out

"What was that?" he said

"-ga -act" I said a little more loudly

He grabbed the back of my head and slammed in against the railing, "Care repeat that?" he said with a smile.

"GIGA IMPACT!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. I felt the tremor run through the tower as Charizard blew through the spire. I watched him come out the other side, blowing stone everywhere. Then I felt the tower tilt, and tilt, and tilt, and fall.

I fell through the sky, looking up at the stones flying around in the air, I saw Giovanni tumbling through the sky, screaming at the top of his lungs. At least I think he was, I couldn't hear anything. I saw some of the parts of the tower that held together fly past me into the ocean below, I saw Piakchu, staring at me, his mouth open in shock. He might have even called my name. I saw Ruby fighting waves of enemies, back to back with Sapphire, his head slowly turning in my direction at the sight of a large piece of the castle collapsing. I saw King Norman looking at me, I saw Charizard racing towards me, flapping his wings as hard as he could, a panicked look on his face.

I smiled and reached out to him, trusting that he would get to me in time.

Then I hit the water, I felt the pain, the anguish, the anger, everything, and then nothing,

Blissful nothing