Chapter 28: Facing Harley's Army

Reviews

Darkdrgon: Well, thinks changed I suppose. But who knows. I drafted an outline of the chapters and sometimes as I write it, it doesn't go exactly according to plan. This one sure didn't as it was originally meant to focus on Harley sending his alchemist out to create the potion, but that ended up in last chapter and I had to rework my plans. So we'll see. As for your evolution suggestions, I might do that at some point, but probably not here.

Lady Arcanine: I will!

Shadic Hyrule: Yeah, I plan on using the child from Lady Arccanine's first story on here. Maybe add the other two in as well.

Peselle the Alchemist made her way through the forest, looking for herbs. She had just about everything she needed to make the potion. But there was one ingredient she still needed. But she had not intention of going through with it, unless she had a guarantee that Harley would win the upcoming battle. True, he had a powerful magical creature on his side. That was something she had not anticipated. If this truly was a legendary magical creature, then King Norman's army might very well be overwhelmed. She looked for the last herb and found it soon, she did however, spot another one nearby. She grabbed both of them and then made her way to where she'd heard the king made his encampment.

She soon found it. There was a man in a knight's suit of armor with a pair of magical creatures standing next to him. A yellow mouse one, and a blue fox creature.

…

As he practiced, Ash saw the woman with pink hair in a nurse outfit.

She looks like Nurse Joy's ancestor. He thought to himself.

The woman waked past him. Ash continued to swing the sword, practicing the basics blocks and strikes he'd learned at the medieval festival on Mossdeep Island and reviewed just now with Sir Alex. He might not be able to do much, but he had to do his best. It was past noon by now, the sun was just warm enough to make him feel a bit toasty in his armor. But he had to practice, this was the only chance he had if he was going to help save May. He did have his Pokemon of course but they might not get to him in time. Plus Harley had Celebi on his side, and who knew what else? Ash knew Celebi was a grass and psychic type. He had Swellow and Castform's Fire type transformation to go against that. His other Pokemon though were grass, electric, and water types though. If he was going to face Celebi, he'd be at a disadvantage. Though with May's Glaceon and Torchic, maybe it would be enough, since ice and fire were strong against grass. He didn't have anything that worked against psychic types though. Ah well.

He continued practicing his sword techniques until someone approached. It was Sir Alex.

"Sir Ash, come quickly! An informant has just arrived from Petalburg castle!"

Ash was led to the command tent with Pikachu and Glaceon following.

They found Norman in the command tent speaking with the woman who had passed Ash.

"Sir Ash, this is Peselle," Norman said in a serious tone. "She's an alchemist that worked for my castle as a healer and brewer when we needed it. She just delivered some… rather bad news."

"Harley learned Princess May is pregnant and asked me to make a potion to kill the baby!" Peselle said with remorseful eyes.

Ash gritted his teeth at the thought of that, feeling the rage of a fire type. He clenched a fist.

"That evil… argh!" Ash shouted. "If I get my hands on him, I'll…"

"Don't worry, it won't happen," Peselle said. "Not if you can defeat him in battle! But if he wins then I'll have no choice but to give her the potion or risk him executing me!"

That was a relief, somewhat.

"Is May okay?" Ash asked worriedly.

Peselle hesitated. "She's been beaten a bit, but she'll be okay. Her former lady in waiting is taking care of her."

Ash felt another surge of anger.

"We can't wait any longer," Norman said, his eyes flaring as well. "We have to strike quickly or Harley will send another alchemist to do the job of aborting my future grandchild."

He gave Ash a glare that said 'You already put a baby in my daughter' but didn't say anything aloud.

"We will attack quickly. Sir Ash, you don't have a lot of experience with a sword so-

"I'm coming!" Ash insisted. "I may not have the experience as a knight, but I'm going to train hard, sire! And I got my Pokémon as well! That's something I'm good at it!"

"Is it now?" Norman asked.

Ash nodded.

"Well then, maybe you'll have better luck on a different style of knight fighting!" Norman suggested.

He led Ash to a section of woods nearby where a group of Rapidash were tied. They looked like unicorns with their horns and horse features, their manes were made of bright hot flames.

"These are one of the few magical creatures we are able to tame readily in this time," Norman told him. "Our knights often ride them into battle or they pull our carriages."

Ash recalled May mentioned having Rapidash pull her carriage when they first met.

"Climb on," Norman told him.

Ash did so, selecting the nearest Rapidash and putting his hand on its whitish gold fur cautiously. He'd ridden many years ago when he'd first begun his journey with Brock and Misty. A friend they made got injured before a big race and Ash had ridden her Ponyta instead. It evolved into a Rapidash and won the race. Ash remembered getting burned on two occasions first trying to mount it as a Ponyta. Thankfully they only burned people they didn't trust, and these Rapidash must have been trained to recognize knights as their masters, because it didn't burn Ash.

"Alright Rapidash, lets see what you're made of!" Ash said as he snapped the reins. "Yah!"

The Rapidash moved fast, and Ash clenched his teeth in fear as they moved through the forest. But fortunately, the Pokémon drove when Ash was unsure and dodged all the obstacles easily. Ash only got hit in the face by a branch once. They circled around and returned to the camp.

"Whoa!" Ash exclaimed as he and Rapidash emerged from the forest.

They rode and practiced swordsmanship till the sun was close to setting.

Ash now faced Sir Alex again.

"Alright, one more go," Alex said.

Ash nodded. The more experienced knight came at him and he gripped his sword with both hands. Alex swung and Ash blocked. He struggled against the mighty blow of his mentor, using swords his whole life gave Alex an edge over Ash in both experience and strength. But Ash managed to block and retaliate, now somewhat used to the weight of his armor and using the sword. He used his right hand to guide the blade and the left to maneuver with the pommel. He made for Alex's left shoulder then switched to the right at the last second. Alex just barely managed to block the attack. He countered and Ash blocked once again before finally landing a strike on Alex's armor.

"Good," Alex said. "But remember, you'll need to thrust against another knight and aim for the gaps in his armor if he is wearing plate!"

He gestured to the gaps in his own armor and Ash nodded. They ended with that as the last rays of sunlight were vanishing. The chefs brought out dinner and Ash chowed down at Norman's table. The food here wasn't nearly as good as the modern stuff, but it wasn't bad. He ate his whole plate and Pikachu and Glaceon did the same.

"Get some sleep," Norman commanded once dinner was over. "We attack in the morning. All or nothing. We take back both my daughter and kingdom!"

Ash and the others nodded. They then made their way to their tents, with Ash sharing one with Alex, Glaceon, and Pikachu. They slept, although Ash was a bit uneasy about tomorrow. He just hoped May was okay.

…

The princess lay in her room, Akari watching over her. Her pain had fortunately diminished, the worst was over… for now. But May feared what could happen soon. She hadn't heard anything of news outside the castle and wondered when her father would be making his move.

"Dad," she whispered softly.

"May?" Akari asked hearing her. "Are you okay?"

"Still a bit sore," the princess admitted. "But I think I'm okay."

She put a hand on her stomach, hoping the baby was okay.

"Please hurry Dad," she whispered softly. "And be able to win."

…

The morning sun rose and Norman's camp with it. The soldiers and knights packed up everything they needed. The handful calvary mounted their Rapidash, including Ash. Some young squires rode Ponyta into battle as well, carrying shortswords. Ash hadn't gotten a squire since there weren't any spares present. Ah well, he had Pikachu and Glaceon, the other Pokemon would were still in their Poké Balls. He'd let them out when they were about to attack.

"Onward and off to battle!" Norman shouted in his full suit of armor that bore a crown on top of his helmet. He raised his sword and his Rapidash led the way at trot speed.

His army followed behind him, along with the other riders. Peselle stayed behind, hoping things would turn out for the best and she wouldn't have to abort the child. She'd keep her distance and watch, then tend to the injured regardless of who won.

Soon, the army emerged from the woods and came within view of Petalburg Castle. It was a massive stone fortress, once bearing Norman's sigil. But now it bore Harley's symbol of a green cactus on a purple background. The lookouts spotted them and Ash heard a horn blowing from the castle. The drawbridge lowered and Harley's own army emerged. Soldiers in tunics matching Harley's banner of green and purple, which was also the color of his out fit and hair respectively.

Ash grabbed all his Pokeballs.

"Come on, everyone!" he called as he threw them into the air.

All five of his Pokemon emerged. Corphis, Grovyle, Swellow, Plusle, and Castform. They all called out in a mixture of their names.

"Pikachu now!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu nodded and leapt down to Glaceon who'd carried May's fanny pack. He got out the Poké Balls and with Glaceon's help got all three of May's other Pokemon out. Minun, Bulbasaur, and Torchic emerged as well. They were ready, Ash drew his sword along with the other knights.

"Alright, we're going into a different kind of battle! When we do, attack the guys in green in purple!" Ash ordered his Pokemon.

His Pokemon were confused as they weren't usually ordered to attack humans, but seeing as this was an emergency, knew they had no choice.

"Castform! Light things up with Sunny Day!" Ash told his final Pokemon.

"Castform!" it said.

Castform lit up gold, and the sun light above intensified.

"Alright, Castform, Glaceon, Torchic and Swellow! Be on the lookout for Celebi!" Ash said. "If it attacks you guys are our best defense!"

They all nodded.

"Ready?" Norman asked his army. "Charge!"

And so the army and their handful of magical creatures charged at the usurpers. A massive knight led Harley's army on his own Rapidash that had been outfitted with black armor, a trio of Mightyena rode beside him, looking mean.

Grovyle carried Corphish as the Crustaceon Pokemon couldn't move very fast out of water. Swellow and Castform flew, while Glaceon, Torchic, Pikachu, Plusle, Minun and Bulbasaur all ran head long into the battle.

…

In his home dimension, Dialga watched the events carefully and the timeline which appeared as a line of light that were vibrating.

"History is constantly changing with this event," the Time Pokemon said. "If Harley triumphs, the world will enter another timeline altogether. His time in Ash's period made him desire to see such a world never comes about. He will certainly damage it if he wins. Even if Norman wins however, there will be casualties in this war that were not meant to be. Children that eventually father future generations that will never come about."

Dialga sighed. "The sacrifice for a princess's happiness did cause damage in the long run. But this is Duke Harley's fault as he caused this new conflict instead of moving on. Princess May bears some responsibility, but Harley will be the one to face my wrath when the time comes. Perhaps I can still save some of the ones who will bring the children of the future."

He prepared to enter the battle himself.

…

Harley watched the battle start from atop the wall of Petalburg castle. He was in his own suit of armor with a green and purple surcoat over it, and a mace at his hip. This would be more effective against armored opponents should he need to engage in battle himself. But he doubted he'd need to.

"Onward and to the death!" Sir Gregory shouted out.

His Rapidash and three Mightyena, all of whom had Harley's controllers attached to them, did as they were told. Steel clashed all around them, lances splintered, blood of both humans and magical creatures spilled. Harley grinned, his men were heavily outnumbered by the loyalists, but with one as large as Sir Gregory on the front lines, and the power of the one Harley was about to unleash, victory was probably certain. Still, Harley had to acknowledge that if not for the latter, they probably be facing near certain defeat. Good thing he enlisted Celebi for a little longer. Maybe he'd keep the creature around. Its not like it had anything better to do. Other then guard forests, but that was an insignificant thing in Harley's mind.

Harley saw King Norman run a soldier down and slice through his neck with perfect precision. Sir Alex was dismounted by Sir Gregory though, Harley smirked at that. Those two were probably the greatest threat out there. But his eyes widened as he saw a familiar group of magical creatures moving alongside a knight with a red plume on his helmet. Harley couldn't identify that knight as his equipment was only the standard suit. Must not be someone famous. One of Gregory's Mightyena leapt and hit the unknown knight, causing his helmet to fall off. Harley's eyes widened.

"It can't be!" he exclaimed. "The thief has followed me here!"

Ash Ketchum got up a bit too late as the Mightyena that dismounted him turned back and lunged. But yellow mouse creature in front of its master and shot an electric at the dark type. Mightyena howled in pain and collapsed as Ash's other creatures and those belonging to May rushed to his side and protected him from any incoming harm. They shot various attacks of fire, electricity, grass, and ice at Harley soldiers when they advanced, giving Ash time to get up and draw his sword. He'd dropped his lance when he fell.

Harley's rage hit an all time high.

"That thief will not be taking my princess again!" he yelled. "Go, Celebi darling!"

The time traveling forest Pokemon flew out, its eyes narrowed under the control of Harley's device.

…

Ash saw it coming.

"There it is!" he pointed. "Torchic! Castform, Glaceon! Swellow!"

The four Pokemon he called focused their attention on his command. The sunlight was still shining brightly, so fire attacks would be more powerful. His other Pokemon (and May's) stood guard, shooting their own attacks of Thunderbolt, Bulletseed, Bubblebeam, Razor Leaf, and Spark into the enemy forces. It looked like they were winning. Norman and another knight managed to get the big enemy knight off his Rapidash. The big knight got to his feet and drew a large sword off his saddle. He then cut down a soldier that came at him, and another. Norman charged at him, blindsiding him and knocking his helmet off. The big knight grunted as his face was exposed and Norman prepared to deliver a killing blow. But the enemy stepped back and cut at the neck of Norman's Rapidash who let out a cry as it was partially beheaded. Pikachu's eyes widened at the display of carnage before his eyes, and he charged up another electric attack. At the same moment, the big knight raised his sword to end the life of the King of Hoenn.

"Pikachuuu!" Pikachu shouted out. "Take this!"

His Thunderbolt hit the large knight who screamed as his armor was cooked. He collapsed. Norman's knight's rushed to his side, just as Celebi arrived. Now, came the real battle it seemed. Harley's human forces were spent, only Celebi remained.

Okay, conclude this saga next time for the battle with Harley. Feels like a good spot for a cliffhanger. See you next Sunday night or Monday morning as seems the usual now. Good night. Am currently going over this story by reading aloud and editing.