Chapter 16
Ash considered his options. Apex and the Team Void grunts accompanying him were much stronger than Crypto and his team had been.
"Pikachu, use Thunder Wave!"
Apex grunted as his Absol was paralyzed by Pikachu's attack. "Return! Ryhorn, use Horn Drill!"
"Skye, grass!" Ash shouted, "Use Leaf Blade!"
The attack managed to stop the Ryhorn but as Ash's attention was diverted, a Murkrow hit Pikachu from behind with a Sky Attack.
"Pikachu! Are you ok?"
"I'm fine," said Pikachu, slowly getting up, "alright bird brain, you asked for it! Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu's attack hit and the fried Murkrow was retuned by one of the grunts.
"Watch out!" Ash ducked just in time to avoid being hit by a bubble beam from an Azumarill.
"Thanks, Latias!" Ash called as he turned his attention back to the Ryhorn. No matter how many Pokemon he and his team defeated there always seemed to be more. Ash guessed that each of the grunts probably had a full team of 6 Pokemon. Even if they weren't that strong, the sheer amount of them would eventually overwhelm them.
"Ryhorn, use Sand Attack!"
"Skye, use Ice Beam!" Ash breathed a sigh of relief as the Ice Beam froze the Sand Attack, he knew very well what it did and if it had hit it could mean the end for one of his Pokemon.
"Ash, we can't keep up with all of them!" Ash heard Latios telepath.
"Ok," said Ash, making a decision, "we'll use Mega Evolution. Try to get back to me,"
"On it," replied Latios.
"Alright Skye, return!" said Ash, "Pikachu, we need to delay them, use Electroweb!"
The Electroweb obviously couldn't damage the ground-typed Ryhorn. However, that didn't mean it couldn't hold Ryhorn in place for a while.
"Enough of your tricks!" shouted Apex, "I'll show you what real power is! Crush them Tyranitar!"
Ash grimaced as the Armor Pokemon came out of its ball. It looked even more powerful with the purple gas that poured out of it signifying that it too had been turned into a shadow Pokemon.
"Ash we're back!" Ash noticed Latios and Latias beside him.
"Alright, ready?"
"Totally," said Latios, "let's show them our full power!"
"Right," said Ash, tapping the keystone on his wrist, "alright, Latios, Latias let's do this!" The building filled with a bright light and even Apex was forced to squint. "Combine our hearts as one and Mega-evolve!" Beams of light connected Ash's keystone with Latios and Latias' mega stones. The light engulfed Latios and Latias and when it had faded, Latios and Latias were both in their mega forms.
"Tyranitar, use Dark Pulse!" called Apex desperately.
"Use Dragon Pulse!" shouted Ash.
Latios and Latias fired powerful shots of draconic energy at Tyranitar. Needless to say, their attacks quickly overpowered Tyranitar's. When the dust had cleared from the explosion, Tyranitar was revealed to be flat on the ground, the swirls in his eyes indicating that he had fainted.
"Return!" Apex growled. Never before had his ace been defeated so quickly. "You may have won this time, but next time you won't be so lucky! Squadron B, retreat!" Again, every single grunt pulled out a psychic Pokemon and used Teleport so quickly, that neither Ash nor Latios or Latias were able to react in time to stop them.
"How are we supposed to catch them if they keep disappearing so fast?" Ash wondered.
"At least we won," said Latias as she and her brother reverted back to their regular forms.
"Yeah, but now they know about our Mega-evolution," said Latios, "they'll definitely be much more prepared next time,"
"Don't worry," said Ash, "cause we'll be stronger too!"
"Totally," said Pikachu, hopping on his shoulder.
"Hmm, I feel like we're missing someone," said Latias.
"Oh," said Ash, "almost forgot. Skye, come on out!"
The Eevee shook herself off as she came out of her Pokeball. "Did we win?"
"Yep!" said Ash, "Thanks a lot Skye, you were great!"
"Do we get to crush more evil dudes now?" asked Skye.
"Don't worry," said Latias, allowing Skye to get on her back, "we'll get to do that again very soon,"
"Speaking of which," said Latios, "I think we should try to find their base. It has to be somewhere near here, otherwise, their Pokemon wouldn't be able to teleport that far,"
"So somewhere between Silver Town and Ecruteak City?" said Pikachu.
"Yeah," said Latios, "we should probably start searching in that area,"
"Do you think we should go now?" asked Latias.
"How about a quick trip to the Pokemon Center first?" asked Pikachu, "I don't know about you guys, but Skye and I need at least a little healing,"
"Ok," said Ash, "There's one nearby… I think,"
After Ash and his Pokemon had gone to the Pokemon Center (Pikachu leading the way), they began looking for a clue as to where Team Void's hideout was.
"How are we supposed to find their base if it could be anywhere between Silver Town and Ecruteak City?" groaned Ash after he, Latios, and Latias had been flying in a zig-zag pattern over said area for about 2 hours.
"Didn't Arceus say something about using your abilities or something to find their base?" asked Pikachu.
"Yeah," said Latios, "it can't be our regular abilities though, since that just lets us levitate,"
"Unless Arceus meant we're just supposed to fly around until we spot it," said Ash.
"Hold on," said Latias, "I think I'm getting something,"
"What do you mean-" Ash stopped mid-sentence when he felt something coming somewhere from the forest below.
"It feels like some kind of vibration," said Latios.
"Should we check it out then?" asked Pikachu.
"Yeah," said Latios, "but we should probably camouflage in case it is Team Void's base,"
"Good idea," said Ash.
Ash, Latios, and Latias turned invisible and flew into the forest below. Once down, they began searching the area for any signs of a base or hideout.
"I think I found something," said Latias, pointing to a purple V on the side of one of the hills which was almost entirely overgrown with ivy.
"I think that's it," said Latios.
"How do we get in though?" asked Ash.
"Maybe the door?" the three looked down to see Pikachu standing next to a highly camouflaged door.
"Oh," said Ash as he, Latios, and Latios flew down to Pikachu.
Ash turned the handle. Or at least he tried to turn the handle.
"Darn, it's locked," said Ash.
"Let me try," said Latios. His eyes glowed, showing that he was using Psychic to try to open the door. After a few moments, he pulled back. "It's no good, I have a feeling that they've protected the door with some kind of force to keep anyone else from opening it."
Just then, they heard voices. Ash quickly grabbed Pikachu and he, Latios, and Latias flew behind some bushes. Even though they were invisible, that didn't mean they couldn't be detected by some psychic-type Pokemon.
As they watched, three men wearing Team Void uniforms came from behind a corner. They were walking towards the door when Ash accidentally snapped a tree branch.
"What was that?" one of the men asked.
"Probably just some wild Pokemon," replied another.
"Could be," said the third, who looked like he was in charge, "but we should check it out anyway. We don't want anyone discovering this place."
The other two men nodded and they slowly approached Ash, Latios, Latias, and Piakchu's hiding place.
"What do we do?" asked Ash telepathically, "Pikachu can't turn invisible,"
"I think we're going to have to fight them," said Latios, "there's only three of them. If we take them by surprise they might not be able to call for help,"
"Ok," said Ash, "on 3. One, two, three!"
Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, the men were knocked off their feet by an invisible force. Before they could so much as make a noise, they were knocked unconscious by a powerful thunderbolt.
"That wasn't too hard," said Ash.
"Yeah, but what do we do with them?" asked Latias.
"We should probably take them somewhere into those bushes so no one else notices," said Latios.
"Hmm," said Pikachu rummaging through the pockets of one of the men.
"What are you doing?" asked Ash.
"Ah ha!" Pikachu said triumphantly, holding up what looked like a key card, "I knew it!"
"Guess that solves our problem," said Latios.
"Great job Pikachu!" said Ash, "Let's get these guys out of the way and go!"
Ash, Latios, and Latias used Psychic to quickly move the three men out of sight before tapping the key card on the door. Sure enough, there was a clicking sound and when Ash tried the handle again the door swung open with ease. After making sure the door was closed behind them, the group took in their surroundings. What they saw made a chill run down their spines.
Aaaand that's a wrap!
Totally didn't stop at a cliffhanger :)
Jokes aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! If you did, please leave a review and consider joining my discord server! New members are always welcome, plus you can chat directly with me and get sneak previews of upcoming works! (link to server on my profile page)