A/N: Hello everyone. Who's ready for part 1 of the final battle? Cause here it is.

The air was still as the five champions stood across from Kagutsuchi and his Mega Arceus. The chaotic sounds from the two armies battling it out around and inside the tall tower they were all on were almost nonexistent to any of them. All of their focus was on each other.

"I applaud you all for making it this far. But sadly for you, this fight is all but over. You don't stand a chance against me, the creator of PWO."

"We won't know until we try." Ren said. "Besides, if we do nothing, we're dead anyway. If we're going out, we prefer to go out fighting."

"But we don't plan on dying." Kaede added. "The only person that's dying here today is you, Kagutsuchi."

Kagutsuchi nearly broke out into laughter at hearing this. "You honestly think you can defeat me? Well then, go on champions. Make my day."

"Our pleasure." Akio said.

Simultaneously, all five champions tapped the key stones on their bracelets. At the same time, the pokemon they each had sent out began to glow.

"Dragonite!"

"Tyranitar!"

"Sceptile!"

"Charizard!"

"Hydreigon!"

"MEGA EVOLVE!"

Together the pokemon of the five champions all lit up as their appearances changed into their mega evolutions.

"Remember, that Arceus can change into any type it wants at any time." Ren told them.

"I've got that covered." Akio said. "Let's go, Sceptile! Leaf blade!"

"Fire type, Arceus." Kagutsuchi commanded. "Then use flamethrower."

The legendary pokemon obeyed the Game Master's command as it switched to a type that lowered the effectiveness of leaf blade greatly. As Sceptile's attack landed and it backed away, Arceus prepared to unleash a powerful stream of fire.

"Kaitlyn, do it!" Akio called out. "Ren, get ready!"

Instantly reading the Hoen champion's mind, Kaitlyn called out an attack. "Go Tyranitar! Stone edge!"

As Arceus attacked, Dragonite quickly swooped in and grabbed Sceptile, getting it away from the flamethrower. Meanwhile, Kaitlyn's partner let out a roar as it slammed its fist into the ground. Large pointed stones rose in a vertical line from Tyranitar, reaching up and going towards Arceus.

"Arceus, steel type! Do it now!" Kagutsuchi commanded.

Akio smirked. "He fell for it."

As Arceus changed its type to steel, the stone edge attack hit. The damage was minimal, though that wasn't the point of the attack. Kagutsuchi realized this when he saw Ren's Charizard mere feet away from Arceus. "No!"

"Blast burn!" Ren shouted.

Azure blue flames spewed from Charizard's mouth as it unleashed a relentless fire attack on Arceus. Kagutsuchi tried to change Arceus to water type but it was too late. The legendary pokemon let out a cry of pain as it fell towards the ground.

Seeing Arceus fall towards the ground gave Kaitlyn the opening she wanted. "Earthquake!"

Tyranitar roared as it shook the entire roof. Arceus was hit by the attack as it landed on the ground, dealing even more damage while Kagutsuchi struggled to keep his balance.

"Now's our chance! Hit it hard!" Ren yelled. Even with Charizard having to rest momentarily, four attacks simultaneously would no doubt prove to be difficult.

"Dragonite, flamethrower!"

"Tyranitar, hyper beam!"

"Sceptile, leaf storm!"

"Hydreigon, dragon pulse!"

Kagutsuchi watched as the flurry of attacks came towards Arceus. With so many different types, he couldn't come up with a defensive type fast enough. Once again, the legendary pokemon was hit hard, bringing its health down even further.

"You little brats…" Kagutsuchi growled.

"Don't underestimate us." Ren smirked. "We've been playing pokemon games all our lives."

"Unlike someone like you, we know how to effectively battle without relying on cheats." Kirito said.

"Your Arceus is powerful, but there's a glaring weakness." Kaede told him. "If multiple types come at it, it can't properly defend itself against all of them."

Kagutsuchi clenched his fists in frustration. "It seems I didn't give you brats enough credit. Very well then. It seems I have no choice." He held opened his menu and type in a command.

Akio narrowed his eyes. "The hell's he doing now?"

"Sending you to your graves." Kagutsuchi answered as he pressed one final tab. As he did so, his body began to glow, along with his Arceus.

The five champions gasped in shock as Kagutsuchi disintegrated into particles of light. Those particles swirled around Arceus before seeping into the legendary pokemon's body. Arceus roared in pain as it thrashed about. After a few seconds however, its rampage stopped. The pokemon's eyes suddenly turned red as it stared directly at the five champions. "Now then, it's time for you all to die."

Disbelief was all they could feel when they heard Arceus speak. And it was Kagutsuchi's voice talking to them.

"Did he just… merge with Arceus?" Akio asked.

"How do you like it? This is my trump card. My absolute full power." Kagutsuchi laughed. "Now I don't need to bother giving out commands to a tool. I can simply use its power for myself."

"And Arceus? What about it?" Kaitlyn asked with a glare.

"What does it matter? It's simply a tool, a weapon for my use. Those pokemon you fight with are the same.

Kaede felt her body shake with rage. "Tools? How can you have the gall to say that?"

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?" Kagutsuchi asked mockingly. "It must be tough, considering you were the same for awhile."

"... Unforgivable." Kaede growled. She glared at Kagutsuchi with all the rage she could muster. "Our pokemon aren't tools. They're our partners. You created them to be alive. Shouldn't you of all people know this?"

"That was simply a way to give the game more life." Kagutsuchi explained. "In the end, they will always be tools."

"Well they're not to us!" Kaede yelled. "My pokemon have always been there for me! We've laughed together! Cried together! Battled together! Someone like you who only sees others as pawns might not understand, but there's a bond between trainer and pokemon!"

"A bond? Don't make me laugh!" Kagutsuchi said. "Show me this bond then! Let's see if it can save you!"

"Dragonite! Thunderbolt!"

Dragonite roared, sharing its trainer's anger as electricity shot out from the antennas on its head. But Kagutsuchi quickly changed to a ground type, rendering the attack null and void.

"Pathetic." he said as he switched to normal type. "Now let me show you what a REAL attack looks like!"

Just like that, energy exploded out from Kagutsuchi. The five champions all struggled to hold their footing, the immense energy threatening to blow them all away. Kagutsuchi then unleashed a hyper beam. Its power was unlike any of the attacks that Arceus had unleashed before. The five champions and their pokemon were all blown back, landing across the destroyed rooftop.

"Ugh… damnit…" Akio grunted as he sat up. "How freaking strong did this asshole make himself?"

"We can't give up." Kirito choked out in his weakened state. "Everyone's counting on us."

Kagutsuchi hovered in the air, looking down at the champions. "So much for your so called "bonds". It seems this is all they amount to."

"Empoleon, use ice beam!"

At Misaki's call, Empoleon fired its ice beam off at one of the many pokemon flying around in the sky. Its wings froze as it fell towards the vast ocean below. But there would be no breathers with just one of them down. Because the army of pokemon Kagutsuchi had amassed seemed endless.

"One down. Another million to go." Misaki said. She noticed a Pidgeot unleash an air cutter attack her way. "Empoleon, iron defense!"

Following her command, Empoleon brought up the two bulky fins it gained from its mega evolution and shielded it trainer. The air cutter barely scratched the powerful pokemon's defense.

"Jolteon, hit it with thunderbolt!" Asuna called out.

Asuna's partner, also in its mega evolved form, unleashed a blast of electricity at the enemy Pidgeot. The flying type shrieked as it retreated. But pokemon were still crawling all over the tower, both inside and in the air.

By the stairway to the lower floor, Sinon and Liz ran up while fighting off pokemon from below. Several other trainers also retreated to the floor they were all on.

"There's no end to them!" Sinon called over to Asuna. "We can't keep this up forever!"

"We just need to hold out until Kirito and the others take down Kagutsuchi!" Asuna called back. That said, she had to agree with Sinon that they were running low on energy fast. The number of enemy pokemon seemed infinite.

Coming down from the sky, Ryota landed on the balcony Asuna and Misaki were standing on. "What's our status?"

"Barely holding on." Misaki told him. "We need more firepower."

"Well less than half my team is in fighting shape after going a round against Kagutsuchi." Ryota said. "So I'm in even worse condition than everyone else."

"Asuna! Look out!"

The sudden shout caused Asuna to look and see an Aerodactyl come zooming at her. She brought her arms up to protect herself, but before the pokemon could make impact a blast of ice hit the Aerodactyl and sent it falling down. All heads turned to see Izumi walking over to them with a Froslass at her side.

"Thanks Megumi." Asuna said.

"For the millionth time, it's Izumi in here." the girl said. "Now are you ready to kick some butt, or are you all tuckered out?"

Asuna grinned as she and her friend stood back to back. "You wish. Just try to keep up with me."

Jolteon and Froslass stood with the two girls, ready to take on the massive pokemon army together.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Ice beam!"

The two pokemon followed their trainers' instructions and unleashed their attacks. Several pokemon fell from being hit. Finally, their ranks were starting to thin out slightly.

A scream came from upstairs, causing Misaki to look and see Clair running away with her Lucario while several pokemon chased them. Yui and Silica were running along at her side.

"Clair! Yui! Silica!" Misaki exclaimed.

"Garchomp, use dragon rush!" Ryota called out.

Acting quickly, Ryota's Garchomp lunged towards Clair. It rushed past her and crashed into the horde of pokemon chasing her.

"Thanks Garchomp!" Clair called out as she continued to run. Garchomp let out a roar, as if to warn the enemy pokemon that it had no intention of letting them pass.

Misaki rushed over to the young girl. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." Clair nodded. "But Lucario and I are pooped. There's so many enemies in this place."

"Take a rest for now. And stay by my side." Misaki told her. She grabbed a pokeball from her belt and tossed it out. "Dusknoir, help out Garchomp!"

The ghost type appeared and floated next to Garchomp, fighting off the enemy pokemon army with it.

Yui ran towards Asuna, along with her Mega Zoroark. "Mama, there's too many of them."

"We'll be fine, Yui. Just stay close to me." Asuna told her AI daughter.

Yui nodded her head while Zoroark joined the fight against the pokemon in the sky. Misaki sighed in relief that they had managed to somewhat regroup safely. But in the corner of her eye, she saw a psybeam attack come from a Kadabra in the horde Garchomp and Dusknoir were fighting. She tackled Clair to the ground as the beam shot over their heads. But as Misaki followed its line of attack, she saw it go towards Yui and Zoroark, who were focused on the pokemon in the air like Asuna and Izumi.

"Asuna! Izumi! Yui! Look out!" Misaki shouted.

Izumi was the first to notice Misaki's call. She turned and saw the attack going straight for Yui. Acting on pure reflex, she shoved Yui and Asuna out of the way.

Asuna fell to the ground as Yui landed on top of her. "Megumi, what was that-" Asuna's voice trailed off as she watched what happened next. Izumi took the psybeam attack, being knocked back into her Froslass. Asuna's eyes widened in horror as she saw both Izumi and Froslass go over the edge.

"Megumi!" Asuna screamed as she ran to the side. She looked down from the balcony and saw the ice type trainer fall further and further down, disappearing beneath the clouds and plummeting towards the ocean below.

"MEGUMI!"

"Greninja! Water shuriken!"

At Lyra's command, Greninja tapped its knees and formed to shurikens of pure water in its hands. It flung them at the army of pokemon she was facing, making direct contact.

"Alright!" Lyra grinned. Her pleasure was short lived however, when she saw plenty more pokemon still around after the smoke cleared. "Or… not."

Lyra wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Greninja was the best pokemon she had on her and both of them were starting to lose most of their stamina.

A Houndoom roared as it rushed at Greninja. The ninja frog couldn't dodge in time and got knocked back. Keeping the pressure on them, Houndoom lunged at Greninja once again.

"Greninja!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Gardevoir, use moonblast!"

Out of nowhere a bright pink orb came flying at Houndoom, crashing into it. The dark and fire type fell back, growling it anger.

Lyra and Greninja gasped as they turned to see who it was that had just come to save them. They saw a young girl with blonde hair, about the same age as Lyra. Gardevoir hovered by her side, as if to show she was its trainer.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked.

Once she got over her surprise, Lyra nodded her head. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. Now leave this to me." she said, walking past Lyra.

"But you can't fight all those pokemon on your own!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Maybe the old me couldn't." she said. "But while I was traveling in Kalos, I acquired a little power boost." She called out to her pokemon. "Let's do this Gardevoir! Mega evolve!"

Gardevoir suddenly began shining with a bright light as it mega evolved. Soon, Mega Gardevoir was standing at the girl's side, ready to fight.

'Incredible…' Lyra thought as she stared at them.

"Hey, Caitlyn! Need some help?"

Caitlyn turned her head and saw two more trainers walking into the room. Cheryl and Riley, two trainers from the Sinnoh region where she had also been from. "You bet." she said.

Riley grinned. "Alright. Time to go wild."

"We have to buy as much time as we can until the champions defeat the creator of this game." Cheryl said.

Both Cheryl and Riley called out to their pokemon.

"Steelix! Mega evolve!"

"Lopunny! Mega evolve!"

Both Steelix and Lopunny shined with the same light Gardevoir had, as they too mega evolved. Both of them were just as raring to go as their trainers.

Lyra watched as the three mega evolved pokemon clashed with the army of wild pokemon. She held her head low. She had gotten so much stronger. But she was still unable to fight without needing others to save her.

'Please… I need strength… Just a fraction of the strength that Ren has.'

Just as she thought this, Lyra saw a gleam in Greninja's eyes. Both of them stared at each other. It was as if they knew what the other was thinking without even having to say it.

"You want to fight too, right Greninja?" Lyra asked. "You want to help protect everyone." Greninja nodded and Lyra got to her feet. "Alright then. No more rest. Let's show them we can fight too!"

Greninja let out a cry as a pillar of water formed around it. Lyra didn't know what was happening, but she suddenly felt a massive amount of power beginning to flow through her. 'What is this?'

Over by Caitlyn, Riley, and Cheryl, the horde of pokemon was gradually beginning to overwhelm them. "We can't keep this up." Riley said.

"We have to." Caitlyn told him.

Suddenly, a blur rushed past them, knocking away the horde of pokemon as it stood with the three mega pokemon. It looked like Greninja, but an entirely different form. A large shuriken of water was on its back.

"No way…" Cheryl gasped.

"Hope you don't mind me crashing the party." Lyra said, coming over to the three trainers.

Caitlyn grinned. "Not at all. Glad to have the assistance."

With that, the four trainers began taking on the horde. This was a fight they had to win.

Ren and the other champions laid on the ground. Their pokemon were also at their limit, struggling to stand. Ever since Kagutsuchi had taken over Arceus, nothing they had done worked. His power was immense.

"What do we do?" Kirito managed to choke out.

"Are we… really going to die? Let everyone down like this?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Hehehe… HAHAHAHA!" Kagutsuchi laughed as he looked down at the champions. "This is the difference in our power! And now, you will all die!"

"Not… yet…" Ren said, managing to get to his feet on wobbly legs. He nearly fell over, but managed to regain his balance. "We can… still fight…"

Kagutsuchi let out an amused chuckle as he looked at the Sinnoh champion. "You can still fight, huh? I doubt you have the energy to walk another step let alone keep fighting."

'Damnit…' Ren thought as he struggled to stay on his feet. 'What do I do?'

"Will you give up?"

Ren blinked in surprise at the sudden voice that spoke into his mind. 'What was-'

"Will you give up?" the voice asked again.

'Of course not.' Ren spoke back in his mind. 'Everyone's counting on us.'

"Then are you willing to fight? Are you willing to put everything on the line, even your life."

'Without a doubt.'

"Then unleash your true power! Protect the ones you love!"

Ren couldn't help but feel that the voice speaking to him sounded familiar. 'Who… are you…?'

"You know who I am." the voice spoke. "You are… my trainer."

Ren widened his eyes, suddenly realizing who was speaking to him. 'No way… Can it really be…'

"I grow tired of this." Kagutsuchi said. "Time to end your worthless lives!"

Kagutsuchi unleashed another hyper beam attack on the group. As it closed it, Ren noticed a light shine from his champion bracelet. It reassured him.

"Let's do this!" Ren shouted. "Come to me!"

Out of nowhere, a pillar of light shot down from the sky. It appeared right in the path of the hyper beam, blocking it from the champion's and their pokemon.

"What?!" Kagutsuchi gasped.

"What…. is that?" Kaede said in awe.

As the light began to die down, a new pokemon stood in front of the champions. It had a red and blue body, with a humanoid figure. It turned its head back towards Ren. "It has been too long, my trainer."

Ren grinned and showed a thumbs up to his partner. "Glad to see you… Deoxys."

A/N: Well that's the end of part 1. Next chapter will be where everything ends. Hoping to get it out within a couple months, but can't make any promises. Until then, readers.