Note: Well, looks like the anime will be continuing into gen 9. The question is how the mainline formula will change from Journeys. I just hope they do something different, and have Ash's personality evolve a bit more now that he's the world champion. I guess we'll find out this Friday.

Anyhow, enjoy.

Hoenn chapter 8: No Biting, Just a Gible!

It was a horrid sight.

Ash, Serena and Yellow hopped down to the base of the tower, into an empty main chamber. Normally, the interior of the tower was hollow, a winding staircase circling around the walls leading to the top of the tower. The structure itself was a place of worship and little else, with the occasional pilgrim making their way to the top of the tower to give tribute to the great Dragonlord.

Yellow could only imagine what the walls had once looked like. Perhaps they were full of ornate, intricate carvings or beautiful paintings of the many dragon type pokémon that the Draconids adored. Conjuring such images helped her to deal with the reality of what she was looking at. The interior of the entire structure was completely coated in the dark matter, layers upon layers that were strewn about, almost looking like the excretions used by Durant's to make their nests. Even worse were the many, many cocoons that were present along the coating, each one likely containing the distorted pokémon that they saw outside. That's when she noticed that one in particular was large, extremely large. Her eyes traced the base of it near the bottom of the wall to the top. But the top just kept going… and going… and…

"Oh… no…" Ash looked up as well. "That one goes all the way to the top. Rayquaza's in there."

"Pikaaa…" Pikachu trembled on Ash's shoulder.

"How..?" Serena stuttered. How could such a massive pokémon become captured like this?

"Those distorted pokémon are strong… They might have caught Rayquaza off guard," Yellow said. Considering how easily her world's Rayquaza dealt with the distorted pokémon outside, it was the only answer. Still… it wouldn't have been easy to capture regardless.

Do we even stand a chance…

That's when they saw that the hole at the top of the tower suddenly broke open, the dark matter that clogged the wound convulsing and compressing into a slender figure. From their angle they couldn't see exactly what it was, but the sound of energy blasting away from the tower gave them a solid hint.

"Rayquaza's fighting back. We have to hurry!" Serena said, frantically scanning the area.

"Over there!" Ash pointed towards the center of the room. Like in mount Coronet, small tubes and wire-like webbing connected the cocoons to a single pedestal, now illuminated by the natural light pouring into the room. Like before, an ominous orb hung over it. Yellow took out the crystal. It pulsated upon being placed in view of the pedestal.

"Alright." Yellow took a deep breath. "All I need to do is to place this in and…"

Intruders.

Defilers.

Unwanted.

The voices descended upon them. They could hear several people in their heads.

"Trainers…" Yellow said quietly to Ash. He nodded to her, continuing to survey the room. They could appear at any moment…

He turned to Serena. She was hardly moving now, breathing heavily with her eyes to the ground.

"Serena…" He whispered to her. Her breathing became heavier, and cold sweat began to run down her face.

You dare trespass here?

How? How did we let you in here?

Failed! Failed the village! Failed the Dragonlord!

"Serena," He placed a hand on her shoulder, bringing her back to him, though her eyes were still wide as they stared at him.

"Ash… they're…"

"They're just words," he told her as the voices intruded in his head. Even though he and Yellow warned the others about the distorted trainers, actually experiencing it was something else entirely.

"Right… yeah…" She tried steadying her breath, her eyes still pointed down. She felt so… helpless. It's not as if she hadn't seen her share of horrors on her journeys, but this was… different. These voices… they were oh so quiet, yet piercingly loud.

Well… crawl into my brain more like it… How could she be like this? Ash and Yellow were so calm right now. Sure, they've faced these… whatever-they-were before, but she doubted they would have made it back if they froze up like this. They must think I'm a coward.

It wasn't true of course, and she knew it. Ash would never, and she had only known Yellow to be kind. Still… she couldn't help but feel a bit envious of Ash's fearlessness. She finally looked up at him. To her surprise, his face wasn't one of cold-hearted stoicism like she imagined.

"We're right here. I'm right here. They can't hurt you." Not the most creative words of encouragement, but he wasn't thinking straight either. His eyes darted around, his mind racing at what to say next. It wasn't fear, at least not for their assailants. It was… her. He couldn't bear to see her like this.

"I'm okay," She finally said, clutching his arm and lowering it. "We can do this."

He nodded, turning his attention back to the pedestal. There, forming out of the dark matter on the ground next to it, rose five figures. They were definitely human, each seemingly cloaked in monk-like cloaks, not dissimilar to the various garbs found on the Draconid villagers. As expected, they were missing their mouths, and on their hands were long threads that led to a small mass that stood up to their thighs. The trainers could tell that they were meant to be Gibles.

"These must be the Draconid villagers that Granny talked about. They've been turned…" Serena said.

You intrude on our sacred grounds?

"No! We are here too free you!" Yellow shouted. "We know you are under Giratina's control. Let us help you!" She raised the crystal up to them. Maybe it would scare them off like the Coronet distorted trainers.

Defend! We failed to defend this place!

Failures. Failures all!

They didn't even flinch.

"There's no use Yellow! These ones must be stronger!" Ash called. "Noivern? You ready!"

"Noi!" Noivern cried out as he leapt in front of his trainer.

Guess we're fighting them. Serena steeled her nerves. These were far worse than she even imagined. But she couldn't think about that right now.

"Go, Delphox!"

Appearing from its pokeball was a bipedal red and yellow pokémon resembling a fox, its overall visage resembling fantasy witch. The pokémon held out a large stick, held together by a red bow near its tip.

"Phox!" The pokémon stood fearlessly next to her trainer.

"Ratty! Let's go!" Yellow called as she tossed out her Raticate. The pokémon stood poised to attack.

Begone! The tallest of the distorted trainers reared his leg back, and swiftly kicked his Gible high into the air.

Gibbblllleeeee!

The distorted pokémon cried as it was flung into the air. The trainer leaned back slightly before launching his whole body into the air as well. The propulsion of his body shifted him upside down, where his leg made contact with Gibble, hurdling it towards the trainers.

"Watch out Noivern!" Ash yelled as Noivern leaped over the Gible. However, the tendrils attached to it yanked the distorted trainer right towards Noivern's new position. The monk collided with Noivern in midair, tossing the pokémon to the ground. Quite surprisingly, the monk landed right on his feet, quickly hopping out of their reach. His Gible was merely dragged along with him. As it slowly got back up, and the trainers could hear faint whimpering emanating from it.

I'm sorry friend... But we cannot let them pass!

"Noivern, are you alright?!" Ash asked as Noivern got back to its feet.

"Noi!"

"Pika!" Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder. "Pika Pika?!"

"Just take it easy buddy…" Ash said as he tracked his opponent. "Noivern! Use dragon pulse!" Noivern launched a powerful ray of energy directly at the monk. He and his Gible jumped right out of the way, though the Gible was slightly too slow and got nipped on its leg.

No! We cannot fail!

The remaining monks proceeded to Attack, launching a similar flurry of kicks towards Raticate and Delphox. The trainers were ready for the attack, and dodged them, just barely. The monks were exceedingly fast, even while their Gibles hurtled through the air.

"We need to hit them head on!" Serena yelled. "Use Mystical fire!"

Delphox raised her stick, unleashing a wave of ethereal fire at one of the monks. The Monk dodged it handedly once again.

You cannot escape. This voice sounded like a young women. The monk reared back and launched her whole body towards Serena, who was caught off guard. She crossed her arms over her head, bracing for impact.

"Iron tail!" Ash called out loudly as Pikachu jumped towards the monk, slashing it with his tail glowing a metallic white. The tail cut directly through the monk's torso. The monk and their Gible fell to the ground, dissolving back into the ground.

No! She failed.

Defeated! We can't!

The monks looked in despair at their fallen companion. It was all it took, as Yellow Raticate charged towards them with his claws viciously outstretched.

"Up!" May screamed as she pulled on her Flygon's harness, dodging a fierce blast of energy from the distorted Rayquaza.

It was nearly impossible for the trainers to get in close as it fired off a flurry of concentrated hyper-beams at them. Even Rayquaza was having trouble dodging the oncoming blasts.

We just need to hold out for a bit longer!

"Why did I sign up to be a distraction?!" Ruby cried.

"We're gonna be okaayyyaahhh!" May screeched as another blast was sent flying right over her head.

"Just focus on not gettin' hit!" Sapphire called. The Flygon flew erratically to avoid the blasts. It worked for a time, until suddenly…

Crash! A stray hyperbeam caught one of the Flygon right above Ruby, sending the pokémon plummeting towards him. He tried to steer up to avoid a collision, but he was barely fast enough. The Flygon collided with his in midair, the impact of the collision knocking him off the simple harness. Soon he was free falling, the Flygon far too entangled with each other to take notice of him.

"Ruby!" With no hesitation Sapphire dived straight down towards him. Luckily, she was fast enough, catching him in her arms.

"Hey there… ummm…" Any wit he attempted to conjure faded as he took note of his position, his girlfriend holding him bridal style on a Flygon, her eyes filled with the intent to kill.

"You idiot! You're gonna go get yerself killed liked that in front of me!?"

"I… Well…" He had little time to explain before she tossed him into the air. He barely had time to start screaming again before a large, clawed hand grabbed him in the air.

I got you, don't worry.

He looked around as he was trapped in Rayquaza's grasp. Luckily it seemed like they hadn't lost any of the other Flygon. He couldn't see the ones that fell however. He hoped they were okay…

HALT!

The Flygon paused, hovering in place. The hyperbeams stopped, and the distorted Rayquaza stood motionless for a moment.

"Maybe it's… no. nope. Not getting my hopes up."

Ruby's doubts were well founded. The distorted Raquaza began to gather energy in its hand. The power swirled around its palm before elongating, taking an odd, curved shape. The tops extended backwards, then connected with a solid beam of energy.

It was a bow.

"What… is that..?" Sapphire asked, holding her breath.

Make no mistake. That thing also wields the power of the Dragonlord.

It's small arm, bow in hand, raised towards the sky. It then used its head to bite down on the bowstring and used its long neck to arch it back. Then it opened its jaw, and suddenly, a hail of blue bolts launched up from the bow, flying high into the heavens before arching directly on top of Rayquaza and the trainers.

Rayquaza flipped upside down, raising its free hand to unleash a powerful lightning spear. This time, radiant energy surrounded the spear, creating a shield that covered almost the entire area. The bolts crashed against the shield, the thundering echoes booming loudly for miles.

"Wow…" May couldn't help but stare at the spectacle above her. The energy bolts dissipated on the shields, the blue and yellow energies mixing into a dazzling display of color. As gorgeous as it was terrifying.

Ugghh… They could feel Rayquaza buckling slightly under the pressure. They couldn't even tell how the distorted Rayquaza was doing this, but they could hardly see past the shield barrier.

Too strong… The shield won't last much longer.

Ruby was still held in Rayquaza's other hand, the heat of the spear was… surprisingly soothing. He could almost relax, were impending doom not right above him.

And then it stopped. Quite suddenly, actually.

Hmmm… Rayquaza looked to the tower, as did all the other trainers. The distorted Rayquaza was suddenly thrashing about quite violently as a glowing golden light enshrouded it, burning away the dark matter entirely.

And then it was gone. The tower stood proudly once more, free of the corruption. It was unfortunate that its once majestic visage was somewhat muddled by the gigantic hole in the rooftop.

And so, it is done.

The light was almost blinding, as the crystal burned away the dark matter. Various dragon type pokémon collapsed from their cocoons, all exhausted from their ordeals. And then there was the massive body of Rayquaza, slinking down to the ground. All the pokémon groggily got up, eyeing the trainers with suspicion.

"Uhm… I hope they're happy to see us…" Serena said, backing towards the pedestal. They were suddenly surrounded by a small army of Garchomp, Noivern, Flygon and other pokémon which she'd only seen in passing before. Not to mention the massive Rayquaza, which slowly raised itself above the ground where the trainers stood. It looked individually at all the trainers one by one.

"You're free now," Ash said. "You're all free!"

Rayquaza turned its head to the hole in the ceiling. It gave one final nod to Ash, Yellow and Serena before flying out of the tower. The other dragons left along with it. Except for…

"You… you…" Behind the trainers were five individuals, each one standing beside a Gible. They moved slowly towards the trainers, almost limping. "You saved us… we're…"

"It's okay," Yellow ran up to them. "We can take you back to the village."

"Thank you…" the monk on the right, a young woman, said before sitting down next to her Gible. The small pokemon inched up to her, letting out a sad Gible.

"You did nothing wrong… I wasn't strong enough. I failed our…"

"No!" Yellow interrupted. "None of you failed anyone. You were all corrupted."

"Yes… I know…" She sighed, taking heavy breaths. "We just need time…"

"I'm sorry… but we need to get the shard," Serena said. "Right Ash?"

"Right," he said, looking at the stairs.

"Wait… you mean…" The woman reached into a pocket on her cloak. She held out the obsidian black shard in front of the trainers.

"You just… had it on you?" Yellow asked.

"Yes… before I was taken. I just… felt like it was important…"

Ash and Yellow looked at each other briefly, before Ash reached out to grab the shard. The more of these he got, the less he wanted to hold on to them. He wrapped it in a small piece of cloth and placed it in his bag.

"We should get out of here." Ash said, placing Noivern back in his pokeball and heading towards the main door, now released from the dark matter's grasp. The other didn't object as they followed him.

"We did it!" Sapphire cheered as she landed on the beach, with May and Ruby following close behind.

"That was… wow," May finally let herself breathe. They dismounted off their Flygon and met the trainers in front of the tower.

"Nice that we all got out of this in one piece," Ruby said, still clutched in Rayquaza's grip. "Hey… can you…"

"Of course," Rayquaza said as she lowered Ruby down to the beach. The trainers turned towards the dragon.

"Dragonlord!" The monks immediately went down on their hands and knees. There Gibles did the same, barely balancing themselves with their small hands.

Ruby raised an eyebrow. "You know… I'm sure you don't need to…"

It's fine. You'll never convince them.

Ruby shrugged. He had far more pressing matters to attend to. Said matters rushing up to him in a fury.

"Don't go getting yerself into trouble like that again!" Sapphire scolded.

"But we were all fighting at the same time! It was just an accident, jeez… fight for something noble and this is what I get, huh?"

"Yeh but you can at least fight good ya know? You got distracted!"

"Well… it was…"

"And don't you dare say it was 'cause of me. Ash and em got the job done! And that's with the girl he's been smitten with all day right beside him!"

"Well… it wasn't you who got distracted," Serena said quietly to Ash. Her tone was trying to be playful, but the shame was obvious.

"You did great Serena. We all did."

"Right…" She wasn't convinced. Not yet at least.

I think it's time I departed. Rayquaza looked up to the sky.

"Leaving so soon?" Sapphire asked, finally pausing her tirade.

Yes. But I'm sure we'll meet again soon. Giratina's influence will continue to spread, and we will all be called to fight against it.

"With the crystals Clemont and Emerald are making, we have a chance of stopping them," Ruby said.

Perhaps. But the key is the distortion ball.

Ash shuddered at the thought.

Do what must be done, young human. Goodbye.

And Rayquaza took off, leaving the trainers standing next to the tower.

"Come on," Yellow said, mounting her Flygon. "Let's get back to the village."