Will of Steel

Lugia brought his friends to the pier of Olivine City. It felt good to be out of the cold and back in the sun. The beach is sometimes better than the mountain. "Here we are," Lugia announced.

Yugi and his friends climbed off and set foot on the dock. "I guess this is our last ride with you."

"Yes, it is," Lugia tells him. "But I had a lot of fun showing you the world and traveling with you. It was also just as wonderful helping you once again."

"We had a lot of fun too, Lugia," said Joey. "Hanging out with you was the best part of this adventure."

Kaiba agreed. "Thanks for everything."

"No," Lugia was saying. "Thank you for coming here and being a part of my world."

"Lugia, will we ever see you again?" Emily asked.

"Of course," he promises her. "Of course you will. After all, goodbyes are not forever. So if you ever want to see me again, come back to the Whirl Islands. I will be there."

"Okay then," Emily says sadly. "Goodbye, Lugia." And she plants a kiss on his nose. But Lugia admitted to himself that he was feeling sad too. Saying goodbye to his friends reminded him of the time he said goodbye to Melinda before she died. But he knew this would be different. He knew he would be seeing the warriors of Millennia again and spending time with them again.

"I will always be with you," he says softly. He also places his wings over the heroes to hug them. "Our worlds may be separate, but we will stay united."

Joey agreed. "That's right; friends 'till the end."

"All of you take care of each other," said Lugia. "And good luck on the rest of your journey."

"We will," Kaiba promises him. "And you take care as well."

Lugia nods and lifts his wing to wave goodbye. "Goodbye, my friends." And he dives back into the ocean.

Emily sighed as she looked at the horizon. "Father would have loved this," she whispered.

"Think we'll ever see Lugia again?" Joey wondered.

Yugi nodded. "I'm sure of it." He was right. They would always be friends and friends are always destined to meet again one way or another no matter what place or time.

Just then, Janina came to the pier. "Hey, guys. You're back."

"Hi, Janina," said Emily. "Did you come to pick us up?"

She nods and wonders, "I saw you guys from the lighthouse. Were you riding a Lugia just now?"

"Yeah, he's an old friend," Yugi answered. "He brought us back after our journey on the Whirl Islands."

Janina was amazed. "That's awesome." Yugi and his friends decided to tell her about their adventure on the way to the gym.

Janina brought the group to the arena where Jasmine was waiting. "I've been waiting for you," Jasmine tells Emily.

She nods in agreement. "Me too. I've been waiting for this for a long time."

Janina decided to referee the match. "Each trainer will be allowed to use two Pokémon. The match will be over when both Pokémon on either side are unable to continue battling. At stake is a Mineral badge. Battle begin!"

Jasmine tossed her Pokéball and called on Magnemite. Emily decided to start with Sylphid. The boys were confused. Salamando would have been a better choice, but Emily knew what she was doing. Sylphid tried to attack with Thunder Shock, but Magnemite dodged the attack. It tried to stun Sylphid with its Thunder Wave, but Sylphid dodged it. He tried using Thunder Shock again, but Magnemite was too fast. He tried to send sparks everywhere by attacking with Discharge. Magnemite tried to send its Thunder Wave all around, but still couldn't land a hit on Sylphid. But Sylphid was starting to get worn out after dodging Magnemite's attack. Emily saw that he needed to be recharged, so she told him to be steady and take the attack.

The effects of Thunder Wave wouldn't paralyze Sylphid because he was an electric Pokémon. But thanks to his special ability Volt Absorb, taking the attack would restore his strength. And with Magnemite drained of its electricity, it was too weak to avoid an attack. Sylphid charged in and used Double Kick, which was super effective. Magnemite was no longer able to battle.

Jasmine was ready to call on her strongest Pokémon. It was a Steelix and he was wearing a Mega Stone. After being recharged by Magnemite, Sylphid still had some fight in him. But Emily had to be careful because Steelix was also a ground-type. Sylphid tried to attack with Double Kick. Steelix took some damage, but not enough. He used Iron Tail, but Sylphid was fast enough to dodge it. Sylphid tried to attack with another Double Kick, but Steelix pushed him away with Iron Tail. Normally, steel-type attacks aren't very effective against electric Pokémon, but Sylphid felt like the weight of a boulder was forced on him. He tried to get back on his feet, but couldn't.

Emily called Sylphid back and sent Salamando to take it from here. Being a fire-type, he could withstand steel-type attacks like his brother. But Emily still had to be careful with all that strength. Jasmine assured her Steelix that he had nothing to be afraid of though his opponent was a fire-type. In fact, she was ready to take the match to the next level. She placed her fingers close to her hair and touched her Keystone. Steelix's Mega Stone began reacting to the power of the Keystone, allowing him to Mega Evolve. Emily knew it was going to come to this. Steelix was bigger and stronger, but Salamando is a Pokémon that fights with fire and passion in his heart. He tried to attack with Flamethrower, but Steelix shielded himself using Sandstorm. After the Sandstorm let up, Emily and Salamando noticed that Steelix disappeared. They saw a hole in the arena and figured he used Dig to escape. Feeling rumbling in her feet, Emily knew where Steelix was going to come up from, so she guided Salamando away from Steelix. Steelix failed to attack with Dig, so he tried using Iron Tail. Salamando wasn't as fast as his brother, but he still managed to dodge the attack.

Salamando tried using Flamethrower, but Steelix did the same thing as before and used Sandstorm to shield himself. He also burrowed himself underground, but instead of coming up from under, he came up from behind Salamando. He used Iron Tail again, but Salamando dodged it. Steelix tried to attack again. Being in the air, Salamando was in no position to dodge, so Emily told him to change his course by using Flamethrower against the ground. Steelix burrowed himself underground again and emerged in front of Salamando. He was about to use Iron Tail again, but Salamando jumped in one of the tunnels to avoid getting hit. He came up from behind Steelix and managed to successfully attack Steelix with Flamethrower.

Salamando went back in the tunnels, but Steelix used Iron Tail to cause the ground to shake and crumble. Salamando managed to get out before he could get caved in. When he did, Steelix managed to hit him with his Iron Tail. He managed to avoid a direct hit, but getting hit by that Iron Tail made Salamando feel like he was getting crushed with the weight of a boulder. Salamando knew he would only be kidding himself if he said that attack was nothing compared to what he had been through. But he was the stubborn one of the family and wouldn't go down easily. He weakly got back in the arena.

Steelix was about to end the match using Crunch, but fire surrounded Salamando's body and he dodged it. He was now moving faster than before. He learned to use Flare Blitz. He tried to charge in for an attack, but Steelix pushed him away. But coming in contact with Salamando's attack cause him to get burned. Salamando tried once again to attack with Flamethrower, but Steelix used Sandstorm to protect himself once again. But Salamando wouldn't let up. He kept giving everything he had. It didn't look like anything was happening, but after a while, heat began to build up inside the Sandstorm, weakening Steelix. Now he was trapped in a whirlwind of fire. When the attacks stopped, Steelix fell to the ground in defeat and the effects of Mega Evolution wore off.

Emily and her boys cheered in triumph. Sylphid and Salamando hugged each other and they hugged Emily too. Jasmine called Steelix back into his Pokéball. "That was great, Emily, turning that Sandstorm back on me as a whirlwind of fire was brilliant. It's been a long time since I last saw that maneuver." She holds out her hand and presents Emily with the Mineral badge. The blonde girl takes the badge and cheers in triumph.