Kanto 18: Essence
"You put them in a pikachu suitcase?" queried Kent in a bewildered manner.
"I get that it's bloody ironic," groaned Bill, unzipping the electric mouse themed bag, "but, it's all I had."
"Ironic…?" muttered Andrew, sitting casually on the tatami floor, "more like disturbing."
"Why didn't you put them in a depository case?" questioned the even keeled member of the Elite Four, folding his arms while standing behind them.
"That wasn't an option," answered Bill as he pulled a large jar out of the suitcase, "one of the doc's journal entries says that a depository case will trigger decomposition."
Ash watched as Andrew and Kent's eyes widened when they saw the ominous fetus in the jar.
JR's expression narrowed as he reached out his hands, "let me see that."
"Sure," said Bill with a shrug before handing it over, "unfortunately, there are plenty more to go around."
"So, this is what Team Rocket coerced Dr. Fuji into creating?" asked Andrew as Bill handed him a glass jar.
"Those bastards…" muttered Kent, impatiently taking one out of Bill's suitcase.
All three members of the Cinnabar trio took a moment to thoroughly inspect the abomination fetuses.
JR turned to Ash, "you found these?"
"Well, technically Growlithe did," replied Ash as he gestured to his pup, "he caught a whiff of them while we were making our way to the Pokemon Mansion."
"I see," said JR, curiously raising an eyebrow, "how far away were you when he picked up the scent?"
"About a quarter of a mile," answered Ash, wondering why the Elite Four member wanted to know.
JR handed the wet specimen to Ash before crouching down to look growlithe in the eye, "you must have quite the nose."
"He does," insisted the yellow eyed man, "Arcanine was very impressed."
"If Kent's arcanine was impressed," said JR, talking gently to Growlithe as he scratched behind the canine's ear, "then you must be special."
The pup looked up at JR with jovial eyes before affectionately licking his forearm.
The Elite Four member chuckled for a brief moment as he stood back up and turned to Ash, "I can tell that you've trained him well."
"Thanks," said the young trainer with a smile.
It was obvious that JR had a deep affinity with pokemon after watching him interact with Growlithe.
"Considering the way that people talk about you, I'm sure you don't need my advice," said the Elite Four member, "but be patient when it comes to evolving him. Wait until he learns his entire moveset."
"I plan on it," replied Ash with a nod.
"Good," said JR with placid eyes as he reached out his hands, waiting for Ash to return the jar that he had given to him prior to engaging with Growlithe.
The dark-haired boy handed it over.
"It doesn't look like any of the depictions of Mew that I've seen," said JR, carefully inspecting the contents of the jar.
"There's no guarantee that any of those delineations are accurate," answered Bill with a sigh, "but, it's also not a pure copy."
"What do you mean?" asked Kent in a curious manner.
Bill reached into his suitcase, removing the spiral bound notebook that contained Dr. Fuji's journal entries.
"Read this," said Bill, tossing the journal to the yellow eyed Ace Trainer.
Andrew and JR moved over to where Kent was sitting. Leaning over, they read along silently as he flipped through the pages. Although their reactions weren't as intense as Bill or Sabrina's, it was apparent that the journal entries troubled them.
"Damn…" muttered Andrew with a frown as Kent closed the notebook, "I know what he did was wrong, but I can't help but feel sorry for the guy."
"It's sad…" groaned Kent in a prolonged manner as he clenched his fist, "but, Dr. Fuji betrayed Kanto. Regardless of what happened with his family, it's inexcusable."
"I know, but what would you do if you thought you could bring your dead daughter back to life?" asked Andrew in an empathetic manner.
"He was trying to recreate her," replied Kent with a sharp tone of voice, "even if he was successful, the end result wouldn't have been his daughter. It would have been a clone."
Despite the fact that they were from Cinnabar, it didn't seem like any of them knew Dr. Fuji personally.
Ash glanced over at Bill. He could tell that their conversation was upsetting him by the way that the pokemon researcher was clasping his pant leg.
"Andrew, Kent — stop," said JR firmly, "it doesn't matter. What's done is done."
While hearing the Elite Four member's words, the two first-class ACE trainers simultaneously noticed Bill's discontentment before obliging.
JR redirected his attention to the pokemon researcher while pointing at the fetus in the jar lying next to him, "it may share parts of its DNA, but the abomination is a completely different pokemon, isn't it?"
Bill nodded, letting out a sigh as he released his grasp, "considering the alterations that Team Rocket forced the doc to make, and the fact that the fetuses appear to look way different than any of the existing depictions of Mew, I would say yes. Team Rocket's original goal may have been to have the doc clone Mew, but instead he ended up creating a brand new species."
Ash remained quiet. He didn't want to divulge any information that could guide the conversation in a direction where Kent, Andrew or JR questioned what his role in all of this was. There were already enough people that knew about his identity as the Chosen One.
JR raised his hand to his chin, "and going off of what Dr. Fuji said in the journal entries, I'm assuming that it's got more raw power than Mew…"
"Yes," replied Bill, "I wouldn't be surprised if it has the strength of an SS-ranked legendary."
"SS!?" blurted Ash, "you've never mentioned that before!"
Growlithe looked back and forth between Ash and Bill, doing his best to follow.
"I've just recently started thinking about it," said Bill, anxiously tapping his fingers on one of the tatami mats, "Mew is considered one of the stronger S-ranked legendaries that we know about, so if the abomination does in fact outclass it, then it's not out of the question."
"You know about the legendary classification system?" queried JR inquisitively, pivoting his attention to the young trainer.
"I do," replied Ash, playing it cool, "I learned about it after the battle against Ariana in Saffron."
"Oh, yeah…" said the Elite Four member in an elongated manner, "Kent mentioned that you were there."
JR paused as he looked at Ash with an intrigued expression, "you sure seem to be heavily involved in all of this."
"I've just been—" started the dark-haired boy nervously.
"Ash has had an interesting journey so far," interrupted Bill, sensing that the conversation was heading in a precarious direction, "and he's befriended a lot of important people."
"Like you?" asked JR, raising his eyebrows.
"Well, that's not what I—"
"If it weren't for Ash's involvement, everyone on the SS Anne would have died, and the Master Ball would have been stolen," interrupted Kent matter-of-factly.
"The kid is the one that found the Rocket base underneath of the Game Corner, too," added Andrew.
"…And our mission to raid the Cinnabar Lab was only given to us because of what you found," said JR as he gazed at Ash intently, "it seems destiny has a knack for putting you in the right place at the right time."
For some reason, when the Elite Four member uttered the word destiny, it felt like it had even more weight to it than normal.
Most likely because the prodigious trainer was spot on…
At the time of all of the aforementioned events, Ash had thought the exact opposite of what JR had just said. The young trainer used to be of the opinion that he was always in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, he wasn't aware of who he was back then. In hindsight, it was apparent that his involvement hadn't been a coincidence, especially when he took into consideration the subconscious persuasion of his other self.
"I'm just happy I've been able to help out," replied Ash, scratching the back of his head in an awkward manner.
"I think you've done a little more than help out…" said JR, placing his hand on Ash's shoulder, "Kanto owes you its gratitude."
"Like you said, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," deflected Ash, waving his hands in a flustered manner.
"Don't be shy, kid," said Andrew cheerfully, slinging his arm around Ash's shoulders, "JR's just giving you your flowers. Bask in the praise. You deserve it."
"What you've done for Kanto is special, Ash," added Kent with a gentle smile, "thank you."
Growlithe let out a jaunty yip, agreeing with the Cinnabar trio.
As his face turned red, Ash looked over at Bill with pleading eyes, begging for him to bail him out.
With a smile, the pokemon researcher shook his head, "they're right, my friend. You should be proud of yourself."
Dammit, Bill…
After being forced to soak in the uncomfortable feeling that he got from being continuously showered with praise, Ash did his best to try and change the subject.
"When are you guys going to search the lab?" asked the dark-haired boy.
Their dispositions suddenly shifted to convey seriousness.
"After sundown," answered Kent, "once the museum is closed. We're not sure what we're going to be walking into, so we want to make sure there are as few civilians as possible."
"Got it…" replied Ash, nodding his head, "that makes sense."
"What's your plan?" asked Bill, raising an eyebrow.
"Plan…?" queried Andrew, "what do you mean?"
"I mean, you've got to have a bloody plan for how you blokes are going to infiltrate the lab, right!?"
"Oh, that's what you meant," said Andrew with a shrug, "I think we're just going to walk through the front door."
"Oh, I got you that makes…wait…what did you just say?" questioned Bill incredulously.
"He said we're going through the front door," reiterated Kent, "there's no need for this to be a covert mission. We have a permit from Lance to search the premises."
Considering Bill was such a big fan of deception, Ash had a feeling that he had worked up something a little more elaborate in his mind.
The pokemon researcher sighed, "but, what if they refuse?"
"If that happens…" said JR, folding his arms as he smirked, "the five of us will force our way in."
The dark-haired boy and the pokemon researcher both pointed at themselves with wide eyes and slacked jaws.
"The five…" started Ash.
"Of us?" finished Bill.
The member of the Elite Four nodded as Andrew and Kent smirked.
"Lance has requested that the two of you come along," stated Kent matter-of-factly.
"The Champion requested that I-I go on the mission?" responded the young trainer completely bewildered, "w-why?"
"We don't know," said Kent, shrugging his shoulders, "he wouldn't go into details. All he said was that your presence was essential."
That doesn't make any sense.
Unless…
Does Lance know that I'm the Chosen One?
Other than his trusted friends, Willow and Mew, the only person that knew about his identity was Koga. But, considering the shinobi's current relationship with the League, Ash figured it was unlikely that he would say anything.
Sabrina had to have divulged quite a bit of information in order to convince Lance to remain idle until Mew was ready to confront the abomination. However, he doubted that the gym leader would disclose to the Champion that he was the Chosen One without letting him know.
Could Lance have figured it out on his own?
Maybe he was jumping to conclusions…
But, what other reason could there be?
Regardless, Ash wasn't opposed. From the beginning, he wanted to see for himself what was behind the wall in the Cinnabar Lab. He had just assumed that he wouldn't be given an opportunity to satisfy his curiosity.
Welp, this should be interesting…
"What about me?" asked Bill disconcertedly, "why do I need to go? I don't even have any bloody pokemon."
"You're a pokemon researcher," explained Kent, "you know your way around a laboratory way better than any of us. Lance figures that you'll be able to identify anything that seems suspicious. Besides, if things go south, there are more than enough pokemon between the four of us to protect you."
Just like he'd done earlier with Ash, Andrew slung his arm around the pokemon researcher's shoulder, "don't sweat it, Bill. We've got your back."
"I'm not worried about my safety," groaned Bill, clearly bothered by Andrew's disregard for boundaries, "I was just wondering why Lance thought it was necessary for me to go."
"Well, now you know," replied the brown eyed first-class ACE trainer, smiling as he lifted his arm off of Bill.
He paused, looking Bill in the eye, "if you had to guess, what do you think we'll find in the lab?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure…" muttered Bill, "I do know that the fossil restoration research that the doc mentioned in his journal has undergone some serious headway in recent years. If we're wrong about the abomination being created in the Cinnabar Lab, then I think that the best case scenario is that we will find some rather fascinating experiments."
Despite the fact that Bill had never officially shared with Ash what kind of 'riveting work' the Cinnabar Lab had been doing over the last several years, he had figured it out on his own with the help of Dr. Fuji's journal entries. Using the DNA from ancient fossils, the Cinnabar Lab had been attempting to find a way to revive extinct pokemon.
"What do you think is the worst case scenario?" asked Kent with a slight frown.
Bill took a deep breath, "that we're about to walk into a lab filled with ancient beasts that is entirely under the control of Team Rocket."
While Ash, JR, Kent and Andrew processed the severity of Bill's words, the pokemon researcher continued, "it's not likely, but in the event that Mew's DNA is still usable, there's also a chance that they are trying to create another abomination."
"I see…" uttered JR with a smirk as he grasped his depository belt, "this mission might be even more paramount than I thought."
Ash bit his bottom lip.
Kent cursed.
Andrew's eyes intensified.
And Growlithe trotted over to his trainer.
Bill's hypothetical worst case scenario had caught everyone's attention.
XXX
They were at the edge of the small forest just south of the Big Riddle Inn, and the sun was beginning to set. As Ash reached for Pidgeot's pokeball, Andrew tossed a great ball up into the air. The young trainer took several steps backwards and relaxed his hand, waiting to see what pokemon the first-class ACE trainer let out of the capture-device.
The moment that the outburst of energy from the release erupted, Ash thought he felt something in his psyche expand.
What was that?
When the white light dissipated, a levitating, foreign species that the young trainer didn't recognize was unveiled. Its elegant, bipedal form resembled a flowing gown. Although the majority of its body was white, the hair that curled over its face in addition to its arms and the underside of its dress were green. Its red eyes matched the fin-like horn that extended from its chest, and a shorter, more rounded horn protruded from its back.
It was absolutely beautiful and despite its dainty, eloquent appearance, the dark-haired boy could tell that it was strikingly powerful.
"What is that!?" asked Ash with widened eyes as the foreign specimen respectfully greeted its trainer by curtsying.
"This is Vera. She's a gardevoir," replied Andrew with a soft smile, "isn't she a beaut? I caught her when she was still a kirlia while I was traveling in the Hoenn region. She'll teleport us to the lab."
"Wow…" muttered Ash in wonderment, "what a gorgeous pokemon."
"It's been a long time since I've seen a gardevoir in person," crooned Bill with admiration in his eyes, "she's magnificent."
"Hey, Vera," welcomed JR, "it's good to see you again."
"Vera," said Kent with a nod of acknowledgment.
Growlithe let out a cordial yip.
After examining her surroundings, the enchanting psychic-type murmured as she thoughtfully made eye contact with each of them one at a time. Saving Ash for last, her red eyes abruptly enlivened with curiosity before she swiftly floated over to him. Remaining calm, the boy stayed still as Vera placed her two delicate hands on his cheeks. Her red eyes began to glow white as the young trainer felt a gentle, psionic pressure press up against his consciousness.
"Vera, what are you—" started Andrew as he began to move towards them before suddenly being pulled back by JR.
"Don't interfere," said the Elite Four member.
"I'm with JR, let it play out," added Kent, raising a hand to his chin.
"But, this isn't like her," said Andrew in a worried manner, "I've never seen her act like this before."
"Exactly." replied JR with a fascinated expression, "do they seem concerned?"
Still aware of what was going on around him, Ash noticed JR point towards Bill and Growlithe. The two of them were watching the scene with intrigued expressions, completely unperturbed.
"Interesting…." muttered JR in a drawn out manner with a slight smile on his face.
"You are special…" spoke Vera, transmitting her words directly into Ash's mind.
Ash had experienced telepathy more than a handful of times throughout his journey. He had learned that the communicative psychic ability varied in comfortability depending on the user. Out of all of the pokemon that had spoken to him by means of the rare technique, Vera's feminine, projected voice was by far the most delicate. There was no pain whatsoever. As a matter of fact, it was kind of pleasant.
"I must know who you are. Your presence is unlike any other human I have ever come in contact with."
Her words were oddly similar to what Koga had said to him when they first met.
Vera must be able to sense the essence of the Chosen One.
"My name's Ash," said the dark-haired boy aloud, "it's nice to meet you, Vera."
Vera's eyes flickered brightly, "I know your name. I can figure that much out just by feeling your ego. What I am asking is, who are you in the grand scheme of destiny?"
Given the fact that she had phased into his mind, Ash attempted not to think about his identity as the Chosen One. Unfortunately, the harder he tried to keep who he truly was out of his thoughts, the louder his psyche confessed.
"Can't you read my mind?" asked Ash as his consciousness was practically screaming that he was the Chosen One.
"I cannot," answered the elegant psychic-type, "your mental barrier is too formidable."
She can't?
Mental Barrier?
But, I don't—
He recalled the expanding sensation that he felt when Vera was first let out of her great ball by Andrew.
Is that what that feeling was?
How did—
It must have been my other self.
But, why hasn't it ever done that before?
Strange…
"I'm just a pokemon trainer," lied Ash with a shrug — unsure of what else to say in order to convince Vera not to pry.
"You are lying. You are not a regular pokemon trainer," replied Vera with a slight hint of irritation in her projected inflection, "your id, ego, and superego are all intertwined with a great power."
"What does that mean?"
"Your entire essence has been marked by a supreme being," explained Vera.
A supreme being?
Did it happen when Mew made contact with me?
An excerpt of the divine feline's words wafted through his consciousness.
'Take pride in who you are, and embrace what you must do. For you were chosen by the Original One.'
The Original One?
"If your trepidation is coming from a desire to keep your true identity a secret from the other humans, do not fear," said the psychic-type, "I, Vera, only wish to satisfy my own curiosity. I will not disclose any information to anyone — not even my own trainer."
Ash's reluctance came from the fact that he didn't want JR, Andrew and Kent to know. If he could trust that Vera would keep it to herself, the idea of one more pokemon knowing about his true identity didn't really bother him. Besides, it was likely inevitable that she would find out anyway. Even in this moment, all Vera had to do was read Growlithe or Bill's mind to retrieve the information that she was looking for. But, the elegant psychic was too distracted by his presence to realize it.
The dark-haired boy tilted his head, "really…you won't?"
At this point, Ash could practically feel the curiosity radiating from JR, Kent and Andrew. The yellow eyed ACE trainer had even made his way over to Bill at one point, likely in an attempt to try and pry some information out of the pokemon researcher that could explain why Andrew's gardevoir was so interested in the young trainer.
"You have my word," pledged Vera.
He felt something in his psyche recede.
Her eyes immediately widened as she let go of the boy's face in a flustered manner.
Vera began to lower her head.
"Don't," projected the Chosen One, grabbing the reigns, "just act natural."
His other self only took control for a brief moment before drifting back into his subconscious.
Respecting his wishes, Vera did her best to regain her composure.
"To think that I would get the chance to meet you," articulated Vera in a reverential manner, "He, who is promised by destiny."
Sheepishly scratching the back of his head, Ash glanced over at the others for a brief moment before focusing his attention back on the gardevoir.
He lowered his voice down to a whisper, "I hope you can come up with a good excuse to tell Andrew."
"Do not worry about Andrew," echoed Vera from inside of his mind as she began to make her way back to her trainer, "my trainer is very strong, but he is also simple minded. It's the other two that will be persistent in asking questions. I am sorry if I have caused you trouble, Anointed One, but I had to know."
Anointed One?
"Please, just call me Ash…" thought the dark-haired boy, pivoting his attention down towards Growlithe momentarily before looking up at Bill and the Cinnabar trio.
"Very well, A-ash," replied the gardevoir hesitantly as if calling him by name was a great offense.
"Are you okay, kid?" queried Andrew with concerned eyes.
"I'm fine," replied Ash with a nod and a smile.
The long, brown-haired ACE trainer pivoted his attention to his psychic-type, "what the hell were you doing, Vera?"
Her eyes shined bright as she faced her trainer.
"What was that about?" inquired JR, folding his arms. The Elite Four member's facial expression was calm and collected, but his eyes demonstrated ardor.
"She just wanted to talk," answered the young trainer, doing his best to come off as nonchalant.
"Sure she did…" said JR in a prolonged, sardonic manner.
Clearly, he wasn't buying it.
The young trainer crouched down to scratch behind Growlithe's ear as he tried to think of a better excuse.
"What did you talk about?" asked Kent, raising an eyebrow.
Looking up, Ash gave Kent and JR a smile, "Vera sensed some of my clefairy's thaumaturgic energy on me. It piqued her interest."
"Oh, I see…" answered Kent letting out a sigh, "that makes sense. Vera has a secondary fairy-type classification. Fairy pokemon are so rare, she must have wanted to know what the source of the energy was."
The young trainer had no clue that the gardevoir was a psychic/fairy dual-type. The excuse just randomly popped into his head.
It seemed to work on Kent.
What about JR?
The Elite Four member removed his white, backwards cap for a brief moment before scratching the back of his head. All the while, he looked at Ash with skeptical eyes.
"You have a clefairy?" asked the prodigious trainer.
Breathing a mental sigh of relief, Ash noticed Bill's inquisitive expression. He'd have to tell his friend about his conversation with Vera later.
"I do," replied Ash, stroking the top of Growlithe's tuft before standing back up.
The canine let out a disappointed groan. He was enjoying the momentary affection.
A smile spread across JR's face as he put his hat back on.
"Well done, Ash," projected Vera in an amused manner as she was being questioned by Andrew about her actions.
"I was starting to think I'd never meet another trainer that has one," said JR as he placed a hand on Ash's shoulder, "you're lucky. Despite their cute appearance, they're extraordinary battlers."
"You have a clefairy, too!?" exclaimed Ash with a big toothy grin.
JR nodded with a smirk, "well, I had a clefairy. I evolved her into a clefable a long time ago."
He paused, "we'll have to introduce them later."
"Do it now!" interjected Bill, overflowing with excitement, "we still have some time until it's dark! I've never seen two members of the clefairy line interact before!"
JR glanced over at Kent with an eager expression.
"You're the mission leader," said Kent, shrugging his arms with an entertained expression, "Bill's right, we've got some time. It's up to you.
JR's smile widened into a grin. Using one of his index fingers, he pressed a button on the left side of the sleek, metal belt that was fastened around his waist. Meanwhile, he cuffed his other hand, holding it up against the opposite side of the depository belt.
"Six," said JR with an authoritative tone.
In less than a second, the voice activation system within the exuberantly expensive wearable device registered his selection, materializing the red and white capture-device within his cuffed hand.
"I've got to get myself one of those," said Ash after whistling in a way that expressed that he was impressed.
"They're not cheap," answered JR, grasping his clefable's pokeball in one hand while he grabbed his depository belt with the other, "but, there isn't a better way to travel with all of your pokemon when you don't have a carry limit."
"Even if you don't have a carry limit — unless you're a psychopath like JR — once you have more pokemon than what can fit on a standard trainer belt, you're better off leaving some with a competent person that you trust," inserted Kent, "it becomes way too much to manage. Besides, you can always switch them out at a pokemon center as long as the person you leave them with has a PC and a transfer machine."
"In that case, I guess you can consider me a psychopath," said Ash with a smirk, "because I don't have any intention of ever leaving any of my pokemon with anyone else."
"Aren't you from Pallet?" asked Kent, raising an eyebrow, "don't you trust Professor Oak?"
"Of course, I trust the professor," said Ash with a sigh, "it has nothing to do with that. I just don't want to be separated from any of my pokemon."
"I've been trying to tell him that for years," interjected the Elite Four member with a groan, "he doesn't get it."
"It's not that I don't get it," retorted Kent, rolling his eyes, "I just think that trained pokemon can benefit from having a little bit of independence every once in a while."
The yellow eyed ACE trainer took a deep breath, "and it becomes too difficult to meet all of their needs unless you keep several of them in their capture-devices for an extended period of time."
"It's definitely unorthodox," said Bill, chiming in, "but, I'm sure Ash can handle it."
Looking the dark-haired boy in the eye, the pokemon researcher smiled, "my dad's on a business trip in the Kalos region right now, but he should be back at headquarters in about a week. I can have him send you one while we're in Pallet if you want."
"Really!?"
"Yeah," responded Bill with a shrug, "it shouldn't be a problem. A depository belt will be free for you anyway with your Platinum Card. He'd just be saving you a trip to Saffron or Celadon since we only sell them at headquarters and the Department Store."
"Thanks, Bill," replied the young trainer with a grin, "that would be awesome. Make sure to thank Robert for me."
"Will do."
"Dayumnnn…" drawled Andrew joining in on the conversation, "you have a Silph Co. Platinum Card, kid? Must be nice having the Montgomerys as friends."
Unsure of how to respond, Ash gave the first-class ACE trainer an awkward smile.
"As much as I'd love to comment on the fact that a ten-year-old is walking around with one of the most valuable items on the planet," jeered Kent as he gestured to the pokeball in JR's hand, "you guys are getting a bit sidetracked."
"Oh, yeah, sorry," replied Ash as he hastily unclipped Clefairy's pokeball from his belt.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ash noticed that Vera was moving closer as JR tossed his clefable's pokeball up into the air with a smile on his face.
Following suit, the young trainer lofted Clefairy's capture-device out in front of himself.
Levitating just outside of the two surges of radiant, white light was Vera. It appeared as though she was interested in the interaction that was about to take place. Either that, or she was trying to further validate Ash's excuse from earlier.
"Both," transmitted Vera into the boy's mind, "I would like to help ensure that your identity remains a secret, but it is also always nice to see other thaumaturgic beings."
I see…
Ash's newly discovered mental barrier suddenly widened.
…JR's clefable must have telepathic abilities as well.
When the incandescent light dispersed Clefairy and a majestic, pink pokemon with a vaguely star-shaped body stood across from one another. Even more so than most pokemon belonging to the same evolutionary line, JR's clefable and Ash's clefairy had very similar features. Albeit, the clefable was nearly three times larger. She also had much longer ears as well as a pair of dark pink wings that each had three long, rounded points.
She wasn't as suffocatingly imposing as the elder clefable of Mt. Moon, but JR's specimen had an astronomical presence.
Zeroing in on the compelling clefable, his fairy-type's eyes beamed with delight for a brief moment before she suddenly took in her surroundings. It appeared as though Clefairy was checking to make sure that she wasn't being summoned to battle.
The clefable gazed at Clefairy with soft, affectionate eyes and a tender smile. From the moment the evolved fairy pokemon was released, it was evident that she was deeply touched to see another member of her kind.
"This isn't a battle," explained Ash as he crouched down next to Clefairy before pointing at JR, "that man standing over there wearing the red sweatshirt is JR Tanner — one of the strongest trainers in Kanto."
As Clefairy let out an acknowledging murmur, Ash moved his pointer finger towards the evolved fairy pokemon, "and that's his clefable. JR and I want to introduce the two of you. Why don't you go and say hi?"
After taking a moment to admire the powerful, female clefable that stood before her, she slowly skipped forward after being gently nudged by her trainer. Ash could tell she was nervous. Clefairy hadn't seen another member of her species since they had left Mt. Moon over four months ago. He was certain that making a good first impression was important to his fairy-type, especially when he took into consideration that she was being introduced to a specimen of this caliber.
"Don't worry," reassured JR as he gestured for Clefairy to come closer, "Clefable hasn't seen another one of her kind in a long, long time. She's probably just as nervous as you are."
Sauntering in Clefairy's direction in order to meet her halfway, Clefable's eyes were as placid as her trainers. It was obvious to Ash that the mature fairy wasn't anxious whatsoever, but he appreciated the Elite Four member's attempt to calm his precious friend's nerves.
When they were close enough to touch, Clefairy looked up with reverent eyes.
Clefable met her gaze with a kind, comforting expression.
The two fairy pokemon examined one another for a brief moment before the clefable leaned over, emitting a low, mellow murmur. Reaching down with one of her hands, she gently stroked the curly tuft atop Ash's fairy-type's head. A glimmering glow of pink, thaumaturgic energy was released as Clefable divulged a harmonic melody.
Vera's gown swayed back and forth as she floated over to them. She let out a series of mild hums before her eyes glowed once again. Noticing Vera for the first time, Clefairy pivoted her captivated gaze back and forth between the two fairies like a pendulum as Clefable's eyes emanated the same white light as the gardevoir.
Vera and Clefable's eyes remained lambent for quite some time. All the while, everyone stayed silent as they watched. It was apparent that something significant was happening. After a couple of minutes of Clefairy continuously and perplexedly swiveling her attention between the two high level mystics, the gleam in their eyes simultaneously ceased. All of a sudden, Clefable picked up a confused Clefairy, embracing her in a joyous, loving hug.
The atmosphere had changed. Clefable's disposition was notably affectionate prior to her interaction with Andrew's gardevoir, but now she was exhibiting a much more intimate type of adoration.
What did Vera—
"They're sisters," transmitted the graceful gardevoir with a hint of excitement in her telepathic intonation.
Judging by the way that everyone reacted, it was obvious that this time around Vera had broadcasted her voice to all of them.
Ash and Bill went slack-jawed.
Kent and Andrew's eyes widened.
Growlithe tilted his head while vocalizing an inquisitive howl.
JR smirked while folding his arms.
And Clefairy looked up at Clefable completely dumbfounded.
From opposite sides, Ash and the Elite Four member approached the scene that was taking place in-between them.
"Sisters…" said JR in a prolonged manner, "is that so, Clefable?"
Turning towards her trainer while holding Clefairy, the evolved fairy pokemon nodded as her eyes shined with psionic energy.
Responding to what Ash assumed to be Clefable's telepathy, JR smiled softly at his fairy-type, "I'm happy for you. I know you've missed your parents since we left Mt. Moon all of those years ago, but to think you had a little sister."
JR petted the top of Clefairy's curl before shifting his attention to Ash, "and to think she would belong to you. If your clefairy is anything like her sister, she's going to make quite the clefable one day."
"Yeah…" replied Ash — still trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.
An image of clefairy's parents flashed in his head.
Clefairy was still young. Presuming that JR caught his fairy pokemon way back when he was traveling through Kanto about eight years ago, there was no way that the two sisters had ever met before.
How did Vera figure it out?
Did she identify their parents by sifting through their memories?
Do Clefairy and Clefable have similar presences?
Or, maybe it had something to do with their thaumaturgic energy?
Regardless, Andrew's dual-type was amazing. Within such a short amount of time, she'd identified that something was different about Ash and realized that Clefairy and Clefable were siblings. If all of Andrew's pokemon were this impressive, it was easy to see how he was able leave Celadon without a scratch after demolishing a Team Rocket base that was under the control of an executive by himself.
With Growlithe by his side, Ash positioned himself so that he was standing next to JR. He smiled as he looked Clefairy in the eye.
"Did you know that you had a sister?"
Clefairy nodded and let out an affirmative murmur as her older sister gently put her back on the ground.
Clefable briefly exhibited a shocked expression before her countenance lit up as if she had just received wonderful news.
"See, Clefable," said JR as he scratched behind his fairy pokemon's ear, "your parents didn't forget about you."
Clefable divulged a gleeful hum, acknowledging her trainers words before pivoting her attention to Clefairy, engaging in a conversation that Ash and JR couldn't understand.
The dark-haired boy turned to the prodigious trainer with a curious expression, "why did she think that her parents had forgotten about her?"
He sighed, " I caught her near the southern entrance of Mt. Moon. She wanted to get stronger, so she decided to run away from her clan in search of a trainer. Ever since that day, Clefable has felt guilty about the way that she left. I've offered to take her back to visit, but she's always been apprehensive, fearing that her parents were either angry or had forgotten about her."
"I see…" said Ash in a contemplative manner.
The young trainer smiled as he watched Clefairy and Clefable happily interact.
"You should take her," continued the dark-haired boy, "Clefairy's parents were supportive of her when it was decided that she would be going on a journey with me. I'm sure that they would welcome her with open arms."
"When it was decided?" queried JR, raising an eyebrow.
"It's a long story…" muttered Ash.
"I hate to ruin such a heartwarming moment," interjected Kent, placing a hand on JR's shoulder, "but, we really should get going."
"Y-y-ou're s-such a b-bloody buzzkill, K-kent," sniffled Bill, clearly moved by the scene that had just unfolded.
"S-s-seriously, bro," added Andrew, wiping the tears from his face, "they're s-sisters that are m-meeting f-for the f-first t-time. Th-the m-mission c-can wait. Th-this is wh-what l-life is about."
Kent sighed, "this has been a special moment. But, don't make me the bad guy just because I'm pointing out that it's time to head to the lab."
"Kent's right," stated JR before taking a deep breath, "it's time."
He pivoted his attention to Andrew, "is Vera ready?"
Having managed to get his emotions under control, the first-class ACE trainer nodded, "she's always ready."
"Good," replied JR.
The Elite Four member made eye contact with his fairy pokemon as he raised her pokeball, "Clefable, say goodbye to your sister for now. I'm going to return you."
With understanding eyes Clefable made a harmonious sound as she turned to Clefairy. Bending over, she gave her another big, affectionate hug. While being embraced, Clefairy synchronized her voice with Clefable. A subtle ray of thaumaturgic energy was emitted from the two fairy pokemon as they said their temporary goodbyes. When they reluctantly let go of each other, a red beam of energy enveloped a smiling Clefable before returning her to her pokeball. In subsequence, the dark-haired man lowered the capture-device so that it was level with the right side of his belt.
"Deposit," said JR after pushing down the same button on his belt that he had pressed when he withdrew his fairy-type's pokeball.
A burst of white light enshrouded Clefable's pokeball before it dematerialized, being swallowed back inside of JR's belt.
Ash unclipped Clefairy and Growlithe's pokeballs.
"I'm going to return you guys for now. I don't want either of you to be affected by the teleportation," explained the young trainer.
In wake of an unforgettable experience, an elated Clefairy nodded while maintaining a smile on her face.
Growlithe barked in a confirmatory manner.
Pressing the button on both of their capture-devices, Clefairy and Growlithe were both returned to sequester.
"Is everybody ready?" asked JR, adjusting his cap.
"Damn straight!" exclaimed Andrew with overwhelming confidence.
"Let's go," answered Kent with a smirk.
"Bloody hell, just do it," groaned Bill.
"I'm ready," replied Ash.
"Vera, take us as close as you can without any civilians seeing us," commanded Andrew.
"See you all on the other side," uttered JR with a smirk.
There was an immense flash of white light before they all vanished.
XXX
After spending a couple of seconds in-between dimensions, the group rematerialized from within a bright surge of incandescent energy.
They were now in the middle of a small thicket filled with a surplus of bushes and trees. The lights from the nearby buildings shined through the surrounding plant life, and he could hear the indistinguishable voices of people chattering in the distance.
"Bloody hell!" blustered Bill after the cursory lag from the teleportation subsided, "I hate that feeling!"
"It takes some getting used to," answered Kent as he quickly took a look at their current whereabouts.
To Ash's pleasant surprise, he felt fine. It was nothing like the previous times he had been teleported. His stomach wasn't nauseous, and his vision was crystal clear.
Was Vera's teleportation that smooth?
Considering Bill's current condition that seemed unlikely.
He remembered Sabrina mentioning that repetition made it easier, but the only time he'd teleported since he'd left Saffron was when Mew sent his unconscious body from deep within the Seafoam Islands' cave system to Cinnabar's northwestern beach.
So, what was the reason?
"It's your mental barrier," explained Vera, speaking into his mind for a brief moment.
Well, that's convenient…
"We are just a short distance southwest of the desired location," broadcasted Vera to all five of them.
"Thanks, Vera" said Andrew as he raised her great ball to return her.
Everyone else expressed their gratitude — even Bill — as the beautiful, psychic fairy was enshrouded in a radiant red light.
"It was nice to meet you, Ash," transmitted Vera into his mind, curtsying in the general direction of the group before being vacuumed back into her capture-device.
'Likewise,' thought the young trainer with a smile as he reached for Growlithe's pokeball.
JR quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping his motion, "you're going to have to keep your growlithe in his pokeball for the time being. We want to come off as unthreatening until we have a better idea of what's going on, so no pokemon for now."
"O-okay," stammered Ash, slightly jolted.
"Sorry," said JR with an apologetic expression, letting go of Ash's wrist, "I didn't mean to startle you. Your Growlithe just seems like the type that doesn't like to be inside of his pokeball, so I wanted to save you the trouble of having to return him twice in such a short period of time."
"Th-that makes sense," said the young trainer, turning red as he waved his hands in a disconcerted manner.
He'd stood bravely in the face of several perilous circumstances since the start of his journey, and yet he'd been spooked by an unexpected movement from someone he respected.
How embarrassing…
"Let's head to the lab," suggested JR, speaking to the group as he pointed northeast.
Ash, Bill, Andrew and Kent responded in a confirmatory manner as they followed JR out of the thicket. It took a few minutes, but once they were clear of the dense collection of bushes and trees, they could see the Cinnabar Lab in the near distance.
"She brought us a lot closer than I was expecting," said Kent as they made their way towards the front entrance of the large, futuristic looking building.
"Never doubt my girl Vera," replied Andrew, furrowing his brow.
Kent sighed, "I wasn't doubting her. I just figured that it would be difficult to get us this close without someone noticing the light from the teleportation."
"The voices from earlier were coming from the opposite direction. There's no one over—."
The automatic doors opened as two middle-aged men wearing white lab coats exited the building. Judging by the fact that the scientists didn't so much as look at them as they passed by, it was evident that they were in deep conversation.
"If they're all as inattentive as those two, we might be able to just walk straight into the restricted area," said Kent with a quiet laugh as they approached the front door.
"Unfortunately, with the wall they've put up, it's not going to be that bloody easy," replied Bill, "we're going to have to be granted access."
"It was a joke," groaned Kent.
"It wasn't funny," chided Bill.
The first-class ACE trainer rolled his yellow eyes.
When they entered the lobby, there were two receptionists. Each of them had their eyes glued to a desktop monitor as they sat with poor postures behind the front desk. Ash recognized one of them as the scrawny, young man that was working the ticket booth earlier in the week when Ash, Bill and Growlithe were searching for Blaine's riddle. The other receptionist looked to be in about his late thirties to early forties. The man's face was weathered, and his eyes were bloodshot. It didn't take a genius to deduce that he was in dire need of sleep.
The Cinnabar trio had made the correct decision when they decided to initiate the mission after dark. Other than the two men behind the desk, the rest of the lobby and the hallway to the East Wing were conveniently devoid of both scientists and civilians. Therefore, even if things went south, they wouldn't be making too big of a scene.
When they reached the front desk, JR cleared his throat, tearing their attention away from the monitors.
Both receptionists' eyes immediately widened when they looked up.
"Aren't you—" started the thin, brown-haired man.
"I am," answered JR with a stern expression.
Surveying the rest of the group, the man's worried eyes temporarily settled on Bill as he feebly pointed at him, "and you're—"
"Yuppers," replied Bill with a goofy smirk.
"Wh-what is a member of the Elite Four and Bill M-montgomery doing here!?" questioned the tired looking man with a noticeable amount of anxiety in his inflection.
"Why are you nervous…?" questioned JR before gesturing for Kent to step forward, "show it to them."
Kent pulled out a sheet of paper and his nameless League badge, from somewhere inside of his jacket, before holding them out in front of himself for the receptionists to see.
Ash watched as their dispositions gradually became distraught. The look on each of their faces told them everything that they needed to know.
"They shouldn't have put the two of you out here," laughed Andrew as he leaned up against the desk, "you both look like you've seen a ghost."
The receptionists gulped.
"Do I need to explain what this is?" queried Kent, waving the search warrant back and forth as he raised an eyebrow.
Neither of them were able to muster a response.
"Can you please open that door?" asked JR, pointing towards the steel door with the electric key pad and the bronze plate that read: Restricted Access.
While quivering, they remained quiet.
"Open the door," demanded JR with a little more edge in his tone of voice.
"W-we can't do that," replied the scrawny, brown haired man, trembling as he shook his head.
The Elite Four member narrowed his eyes, "why not?"
"We j-just can't," answered the man with the bloodshot eyes.
"Do you guys understand what you're saying?" questioned Kent as he set the legal document down on the desk, "this is a search warrant issued by the Champion. You can't deny us access."
"We kn-know, but if we l-let you in wh-who kn-knows what will ha-happen to us," stammered the middle-aged man.
"I see…" said JR in a drawn out manner before letting out a sigh, "this place is under the control of Team Rocket, isn't it?"
The young, scrawny man suddenly reached for something underneath the desk.
"I don't think so!" yelled Andrew, reflexively diving across the desk and tackling the man out of his chair.
Thud.
"Ahhh! My shoulder," yelled the receptionist, clearly in pain.
As Andrew put the scrawny man in a headlock, the other receptionist tried to stretch his arm across and underneath of the desk in order to get ahold of whatever his currently subdued coworker had reached for.
It was to no avail.
The man was viciously punched in the face by Kent before being tripped up by Andrew, who swung his legs out utilizing some type of martial art's takedown. Hoisting himself over the desk, Kent landed on top of the middle-aged receptionist before delivering an open-handed blow to the side of his neck, knocking him unconscious.
"Woah…" muttered Ash.
"Bloody hell…" said Bill in a prolonged manner.
"What were they reaching for?" asked JR as the man that Andrew had in a chokehold succumbed to comatose.
"I don't see—" started Kent, crouching underneath the desk.
"There's a button," informed Andrew, taking a deep breath as he pushed the scrawny man's limp body to the side before nimbly springing himself back up onto his feet, "it's underneath the top of the desk."
From below the desk, Kent let out sigh before lifting himself back up, "I'm assuming it triggers an alarm."
"That was a close call," groaned JR, "we don't want to give them any time to hide or destroy whatever it is that's behind that wall."
He paused as he pointed towards the two inert bodies, "tie them up."
Kent pulled a small depository case out of his jacket pocket before withdrawing four short, sturdy wires. After tossing two of them over to Andrew, they hastily bounded both of the receptionists hands and feet.
Acting on instinct, Ash unclipped Haunter's pokeball before gently lofting it out in front of himself. In wake of being released, Haunter let out a ghoulish guffaw.
"Haunter, use Hypnosis on those two guys that are knocked out behind the desk. Make sure to breech their brainwaves."
JR, Kent and Andrew pivoted their attention to the ghost-type as he levitated up and over the desk. While divulging another outburst of ghostly laughter, Haunter emitted two lazy waves of psychic energy from his hands that further incapacitated the two compromised receptionists.
"Good idea, my friend," said Bill, nudging him with his elbow.
JR smirked, "a fairy and a ghost…I'm impressed."
"Good to see you again, Haunter," said Kent with a welcoming wave.
The apparition goofily waved back.
"Aren't you guys a little embarrassed that we didn't think of that?" asked Andrew in-between laughter.
"I thought of it," replied JR with a shrug, "the rook just beat me to it.
"Ehhh, sure you did, Mr. Elite Four," teased Andrew.
JR gave Andrew a sardonic smile, "I kind of like the sound of that. Say it again."
"Yikes, bro," answered Andrew, scrunching his face in attempt to convey his distaste, "that's not the response I was expecting."
While awkwardly scratching the back of his head, Ash directed his attention towards his ghost-type, "Haunter, I want you in my shadow."
Heeding his trainer's command the specter slowly drifted over to him, divulging a habitual guffaw before submerging himself in the young trainer's shadow.
Ash instantly felt a reassuring sense of ease, and his confidence was heightened. His gut was telling him that as soon as they found a way to bypass the restricted area's steel door, shit was going to hit the fan. Therefore, Haunter's presence in his shadow was a necessity.
"A shadow dweller, eh?" queried Andrew with a smirk.
"Yea—" started the young trainer before being incidentally cut off by Bill.
"So, what's your bloody plan to get past this door?" asked Bill as he examined the key pad, "it requires a code. Since there's no one else around, I could probably hack into it, but it would take me a while."
"Unfortunately, this is made out of some kind of material that blocks mystic energy, so we can't teleport in," explained Kent as he casually tapped the wall, "Vera sensed it when she teleported us to the inn earlier today."
"One of our pokemon could bust through it," suggested Andrew.
"That's too risky," answered JR with a hand on his chin, "there could be experimental specimens up against the other side of the wall. Now that we know that Team Rocket is in control of the lab, we need to proceed forward assuming that Bill's worst case scenario is reality."
"What do you mean?" asked Kent, folding his arms.
"Think about it…" said JR, "let's just say that they've manage to restore some prehistoric species—"
"Don't forget that they could be trying to duplicate the bloody abomination as well," interrupted Bill, raising one of his pointer fingers in a way that made him come off as a know-it-all.
"That too…" said JR in a drawn out manner, "anyways, my point is that if there are live specimens in there, they've got to have them either sedated or restrained. There's no way that they're just roaming around the lab. If we cut into the wrong place, we could wake something up or set something free."
"I see your point…" replied Andrew, "well, then there's really only one option, isn't there?"
JR nodded as he gestured in the direction of the steel door, "we can either wait for Bill to hack into that entry pad, or we force our way through the door."
The Elite Four member paused as he took a deep breath, "regardless, it's the only spot that's guaranteed to be clear of anything that could be detrimental to the success of the mission."
"Do you guys think there are any cameras in here?" asked Kent as he carefully surveyed the room, "what's the likelihood that we're ambushed by a bunch of Rockets the moment that we get through?"
"There might be," replied Bill matter-of-factly, "but, if this wall is able to block all of the different kinds of mystic energy, I doubt anything electrical could get through. Whether a camera is hardwired in, or utilizes electromagnetic waves, I can almost guarantee that the feed would be cut off. I didn't see any when we walked in, but if there are cameras, whoever is doing surveillance isn't in the restricted area."
"Ehh, it doesn't really matter," shrugged Andrew, "we'll crush them either way."
The long-haired, first-class ACE trainer directed his attention towards JR as his eyes intensified, "you and I both know that you're not waiting for Bill to hack into that thing. So, who's doing it, you or me?"
He turned to Kent, raising an eyebrow, "or do you want to do the honors?"
"Doesn't matter to me," shrugged Kent, "but, you seem like you're raring to go."
The yellow eyed ACE trainer gestured towards the door with his head, "go ahead."
Andrew glanced at JR.
"Who are you going to use?" asked the Elite Four member.
"Eon."
JR's eyes widened before he burst into laughter, "that's one way to make an entrance. You better make sure it takes it easy, though. All it needs to do is breech the door — not destroy the lab. This isn't the Game Corner."
"For what it's worth, Eon wasn't even with me when I took out the Game Corner," replied Andrew with a sigh, "It'll be fine."
"Maybe I was a little too cavalier," said Kent, regretting his words from earlier, "are you sure about this, JR?"
"As long as it controls its strength," said the dark-haired man, "it's been a while since that one time. Andrew knows the stakes, I'm sure he wouldn't consider using it if he thought it would complicate things."
"We're talking about Andrew!" retorted Kent in a worried manner.
"Bro, I'm right here…" groaned the long-haired ACE trainer, narrowing his eyes as he unclipped an ultra ball from his trainer belt, "take a chill pill, Kent. I promise I'll make sure Eon does the minimum."
"What if there's a person on the other side?" asked Ash with concern.
JR turned to him with a slight frown, "cross your fingers that there isn't, but that's a risk we're going to have to take. This mission was issued with the people of Kanto in mind. We can't hesitate because a corrupt scientist or a member of Team Rocket might be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
The dark-haired boy gulped.
He knew JR was right, but still…
Andrew smiled as he addressed the group, "you guys might want to step back and get ready. No matter how much Eon holds back, it's going to be loud. If this place is really full of Rockets, they're going to come running."
What the hell is inside of that ultra ball?
Listening to Andrew's suggestion, they all put plenty of distance between themselves and the steel door.
"Ooooooh, you're getting me excited," crooned Bill as he twiddled his fingers with a giddy expression, taking even more steps backwards than the rest of them.
"Seventeen and fifty-three," demanded JR as he pressed the button on his depository belt.
Two shrunken capture-devices appeared in his cuffed hand. One was a standard pokeball, while the other was mostly white with a bold, red line that rested in-between both halves and encircled the return button. The dark-haired boy didn't recognize the unique capture-device.
While letting out a deep sigh, Kent unclipped a pokeball and a great ball from his belt.
With Haunter in his shadow, Ash detached Growlithe and Scyther's capture-devices from their assigned slots.
"Eon, come out," said Andrew with a cold intonation as he lofted the ultra ball out in front of himself.
His disposition had changed. He was no longer the easy going Andrew from earlier. Ash could practically feel his indomitable will and thirst for battle radiating from his body.
Good thing he was on their side.
When the potent black and yellow capture-device snapped open, a massive billow of radiant white light exploded outward. The energy lingered for a brief moment before it dispersed.
Ash's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.
Woah…
A colossal bipedal pokemon resembling a suit of armor stood before them. The majority of the foreign specimen's body was teal, and it had yellow, luminescent swirls on its bulky, pointed, boulder-like shoulders as well as the back of its humongous five-fingered hands. The pale eyes on its small head — one of which was L-shaped — also glowed yellow in addition to the jagged crack that streaked across its chest at a diagonal angle. The non organic brute had a brown, belt-like seal fastened to its chest that was the same color as the thick bangles that were strapped around its ankles and wrists. There was a cylindrical, skirt-like formation that encircled its waste, and a ghoulish aura that leaked from the entirety of its ten-foot frame.
After rigidly pivoting its head and body in order to take in its surroundings, the titan divulged a loud, low-toned, discordant whirr.
It was unlike anything that could be found in Kanto. Between Vera and the newly released Eon, Ash had quickly been reminded of how little he actually knew about the world of pokemon.
"It's a golurk," explained Bill from behind Ash with excitement in his voice as Andrew greeted his titan, "an automaton pokemon that was created by ancient people in the faraway Unova region. I've never seen one in person before. Golurk and its primary form golett are so scarce that for centuries we thought they were extinct."
Ash briefly glanced back at Bill.
The pokemon researcher took a deep breath as a smile of admiration formed on his face, "it's incredible…"
Bill wasn't exaggerating. Eon was one of the most breathtaking pokemon he'd ever seen.
Ancient people were able to create something like this?
"What's its typing?" asked Ash in a curious manner while Andrew was explaining the situation to his golurk.
"It's a ground/ghost dual-type," answered Bill, "a fascinating combination if I say so myself, but do you want to know what the real kicker is?"
"What is it?" queried Ash with his eyes glued on the giant, foreign specimen.
"That bloody behemoth can fly."
"You've got to be freaking kidd—"
"Hammer Arm!" commanded Andrew.
A fighting-type technique on a steel door…
That's smart.
Ash crossed his fingers, praying to an unknown higher power that nobody was behind the door.
Eon took a heavy step forward, causing the ground to shake. As it let out another low, whirring sound, it bent its rigid knees while raising its gigantic, closed fist. It proceeded to swing its arm downward with tremendous power, striking its target. There was a loud ringing thud as the steel door immediately caved from the force of Eon's Hammer Arm. After being separated from the wall, the now deformed metal was buried into the ground in front of them, creating a small crater and a swelling ripple of debris.
It was silent for a brief moment before there was a sudden outburst of frantic yelling coming from beyond the hole in the wall.
"Eon stop anybody that tries to escape!" yelled Andrew, "don't kill!"
The long-haired, first-class ace trainer unclipped a great ball and pokeball from his belt before sprinting through the opening that Eon had created.
As his heart began to race, Ash heard the unmistakable sound of numerous pokemon being unleashed from their capture-devices — most of the releases were happening beyond the wall, while a handful of them occurred right beside him. There was a collective surge of bright white light that caused Ash to squint his eyes as the sound of chaos ensued.
"Weavile, Emploeon — use your own discernment and incapacitate anything that gets in your way!" commanded JR.
All of a sudden, Ash's attention was drawn to his left when a gray and red streaking form that was too fast for Ash to make out rocketed by Eon and through the opening.
The young trainer only saw the backside of JR's other pokemon as it moved forward with its trainer following behind it. Its two sharp, black and blue, flipper-like wings were pointed backwards as it swiftly sprinted towards the battle. It had two golden bumps on its back and a blue fin-like protrusion that formed its tale. The feature that stood out to Ash the most was the golden, trident-shaped horns that shallowly jutted out from somewhere on its face before erecting upwards in the appearance of a three-pronged crown.
"Go, Arcanine!" howled Kent, "Altaria, let's move!"
Ash darted his eyes quickly to his right when a large, yellow blur that he assumed to be Kent's shiny canine utilizing Extreme Speed blasted forward like a missile.
Trailing behind Arcanine, Kent bounded towards the hole in the wall accompanied by a dazzling, blue avian with a fluffy, cloud-like body and wings.
The yellow eyed ACE trainer abruptly stopped and turned towards Ash and Bill, which allowed the dark-haired boy to get a better look at the foreign specimen.
It had two long, blue plumes that extended out of the top of its head, and a short, white, hooked beak that poked out from in-between two prominent cheek patches that were also white. Its neck was long in comparison to the short legs and feet that protruded out from the bottom of its fluffy body. The foreign altaria's tail had five long, blue feathers that swayed back and forth as it gracefully flew alongside its trainer, and its small, black eyes looked gentle and kind while simultaneously displaying nobility and power.
"Ash, Bill — give us a moment to take control of the situation before you enter!" yelled Kent, "two minutes should be enough time!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" replied Bill.
The dark-haired boy remained quiet.
Ash and Bill watched as Kent and Altaria bypassed Eon before entering the restricted area.
He was chomping at the bit as adrenaline started to well up from somewhere deep inside of him. Lofting Growlithe and Scyther's capture-devices up into the air, the young trainer took a deep breath, trying to suppress the overwhelming feeling of anticipation.
Lance had requested his participation.
JR, Andrew and Kent had trusted him.
He would wait.
When the light from the two releases waned, his canine and mantis immediately were on guard as they eyed Eon. With its focus consumed by its orders to guard the entrance that it had made, the colossal golurk didn't even notice their presence.
"Don't worry it's on our side," explained Ash, crouching down and briskly petting behind Growlithe's ear before standing back up and placing a hand on Scyther's shoulder.
"We're about to go into battle against some really bad people," disclosed Ash to Scyther before shifting his eye contact to his pup.
"Growlithe, it's Team Rocket."
The canine divulged a low, menacing snarl. He knew exactly what type of situation this was.
"We're going to head in there in a minute," said Ash, pointing towards the ramshackle opening, "I need you to assess the situation, and help out where you can. There are going to be plenty of pokemon on our side, but most will probably belong to Team Rocket. I will direct you the best I can, but this isn't a typical battle. Growlithe, you've done this before. Scyther, you have my permission to act on your own. Use your best judgement. Haunter is with me, so don't worry about my protection."
Haunter raised his eyes out of Ash's shadow. He couldn't see them from his angle, but he sensed the apparition's minacious presence.
Growlithe nodded, letting out an affirmative bark.
Scyther bowed, emitting a resonate whirr.
The dark-haired boy turned to Bill, "stay close."
"You got it, my friend."
"Haunter be mindful of Bill," commanded Ash, "if protecting us both becomes too much, let me know. I'll let one of the others out."
His ghoul let out a short burst of ghostly laughter before plunging back into his trainer's shadow.
"Do you think it's been two minutes?" asked Ash impatiently to Bill, "I forgot to keep track."
"Just give it a wee bit longer," replied Bill, pinching one of his thumbs and index fingers together to represent a short amount of time.
Ash nodded, anxiously tapping his fingers against his thigh while he let a little more time go by before springing into action.
All of a sudden, the ground shook when Eon began to move, bending its large, stiff knees as two young men wearing black jumpsuits attempted to bolt through the hole in the wall. Paired with long, gray gloves and matching boots, the bold letter 'R' was embroidered in dark red on their chests.
With zero hesitation, Andrew's monstrous, foreign dual-type used both of its gigantic hands to pluck them from the ground, causing them to fearfully scream.
"D-don't!" shouted one of the Rockets, uselessly struggling to try and free himself from Eon's grasp.
Their black hats fell from their heads as Eon lifted them into the air before emitting a low frequency wave of ghoulish energy from its chest. Ash could tell that the mighty golurk held back enough to ensure that it didn't kill them. However, their eyes immediately rolled back into their heads the second Eon's Night Daze made contact, signaling that they had succumbed to unconsciousness. Once the Rockets were out cold, the titan proceeded to casually toss their inert bodies to the side.
Thud.
Thud.
Ash winced in response to the sound of their defenseless bodies consecutively hitting the ground.
Bill's disposition was unnerved, "yikes. Those bastards will be feeling that in the morning."
"That's for sure," agreed Ash.
He began to walk forward, "alright, we've waited long enough. Let's go."
With Scyther and Growlithe by his side, Haunter in his shadow, and Bill trailing behind him, Ash approached where Eon stood. With every step, the cacophony of combat got louder and louder. When they bypassed the hulking automaton, it emitted a low, unthreatening, vibrating noise, seemingly acknowledging their presence. Its non organic eyes flickered with yellow light as it watched them enter the restricted area.
XXX
The moment that they entered the room, Ash's eyes widened for a split second before he quickly gathered himself to survey the landscape of the battle.
"Bloody hell…" muttered Bill, "I've never seen anything like this."
For the most part, Ash had.
It reminded him of what happened in Saffron.
The sounds.
The scale.
The atmosphere.
And the intensity of numerous battles with stakes that went way beyond mere competition.
"L-look at them…" gasped Bill with a combination of sadness and astonishment in his voice, "th-they actually bloody did it. Too bad this accomplishment will forever be marred by corruption."
Although under normal circumstances Ash's attention would have immediately been drawn to the elite level pokemon that were being directed by the Cinnabar trio, the young trainer couldn't help but zero in on the dozens of primordial beings that could be spotted amidst the pandemonium. Their appearances were slightly different than the illustrations that he remembered seeing in the textbooks that he had studied while preparing for the Trainer Qualification Exam, but they were close enough to where the dark-haired boy was able to identify the different revived species.
Straight ahead — in the center of the large, well lit room full of mangled scientific apparatuses — two brown, bipedal, armored arthropods with silver scythes for arms were rampaging. One seemed to be ruthlessly slashing at anything that crossed its path — which at the moment happened to be a rolling metal cart full of beakers, vials and other assorted laboratory equipment — while the other was engaged in a vicious battle against an arbok. Making his deduction based off of past experiences, Ash assumed that the cobra pokemon belonged to a member of Team Rocket. The arbok was trying to drench the ancient arthropod in a slew of acidic toxins, while the pokemon the young trainer confidently identified as a kabutops mysteriously raised large chunks of the ground up into the air — enshrouding them in purple aura — before hurling them in the direction of its opponent.
Scurrying on the slick tile near where the two kabutops were running rampant were a handful of small, crab-like arthropods with flat brown shells that covered their bodies. They had two sets of eyes — a black, beady pair on the top of their shells, and a couple of red, luminescent eyes that filled the pitch-dark space in-between their shells and their four, short yellow legs. He wasn't sure because their expressions weren't visible, but by the way that they frantically scuttled back-and-forth in an aimless manner it seemed as though they were frightened.
On the far left side of the room — just beyond where Kent's authoritative arcanine was absolutely dismantling a group of uninspiring Rocket pokemon — was a large, rectangular cage. The top and bottom consisted of metal, but instead of bars, the sky blue mollusks were confined within a series of red, vertically parallel energy beams. Ash was too far away to recognize all of their details, but he was able to infer that the pokemon inside belonged to the previously extinct omanyte line.
As soon as he was done registering the ancient pokemon in the room, Growlithe and Scyther took off.
His pup dashed in the direction of Kent's arcanine. Along the way, he activated Flame Wheel, barreling through two feral raticate that were trying to flank a potent umbreon. Ash immediately recognized the dark-type as the yellow eyed ACE trainer's elite specimen that had terrorized Ariana's demented pokemon back in Saffron. It was facing off against a sandslash and a rather impressive machoke.
Despite the fact that the umbreon was out numbered and at a type disadvantage because of the machoke, it was in total control of the battle. Perpetually using Psychic to keep the fighting-type at bay — which it had to have learned by means of a TM — the dark-type simultaneously pelted the sandslash with multiple bursts of black energy. Shaking off the barrage, the ground-type proceeded to dive into the tile, using Dig to look for an opportunity to counterattack. While the sandslash was underground, the umbreon sequenced Psychic and Quick Attack to knock the machoke off balance before divulging an ear-splitting Screech to lower its defense. As the machoke reflexively brought its hands up to its ears, the umbreon blasted it with a powerful wave of psionic energy before ruthlessly colliding into it at full-speed, knocking it unconscious.
After witnessing the skillful dark-type's violent Take Down, Ash's eyes caught up to Growlithe. His pup was now giving support to Kent's arcanine over by where the omanyte and omastar were being held captive. Having made quick work of the mediocre Rocket specimens from earlier, Arcanine was now taking on a stout golem, chaining long-distance fire-type techniques like Flame Burst and Flamethrower while dodging anything the dual-type tried to hit him with. Just like the battle between Kent's umbreon and the machoke, the fire-type was simply too strong for the type disadvantage to make a significant difference.
However, while Arcanine was focused on taking down the fully-evolved dual-type, there was a group of Rocket pokemom under the control of a grunt that were trying to pile on damage from a distance. Considering his overwhelming strength, Arcanine would have eventually taken care of the situation on his own. However, from across the room, Ash thought he witnessed the shiny beast give Growlithe an acknowledging nod when the pup struck the two koffing and nidorino with Flame Burst before transitioning into Flame Wheel. After viciously colliding into the two levitating poison-types, the pair of koffing were sent flying into a nearby wall. In subsequence, the canine extinguished his flames before crouching down into a ready position straight across from the poison coated nidorino.
Growlithe's got this.
Completely confident that his pup would be able to handle the nidorino, Ash shifted his line of sight slightly to the right, quickly locating Scyther. His bladed bug-type had elected to take on a pinsir that was trying to close in on Vera. While simultaneously concealing Andrew in a psionic barrier, the elegant gardevoir was enshrouded in a mixture of psychic and thaumaturgic energy as she fired a Psybeam at an impending primape that was charging towards her. There was a thin, pink thaumaturgic mist that surrounded them. Ash had no idea what it was, but it appeared as though it was acting as some kind of protective repellent.
The dark-haired boy's eyes consistently swiveled between Growlithe, Scyther and Andrew as he and Bill started to hastily move forward.
"Where are we headed!?" shouted Bill at the top of his lungs, ensuring that his voice was heard over the raucous strife.
"Over to where Andrew and Vera are!" replied Ash while trusting that Haunter would protect them.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Ash felt something coming from their right. Before he could react, his ghost-type emerged from his shadow, using Psychic to stop the assailant dead in its tracks. Turning his head, Ash saw a cubone enveloped in a constrictive layer of purple energy. It glared at them for a brief moment with an aggressive countenance before being launched over to the other side of the lab.
"Bloody hell!" cursed Bill, clearly startled.
"Good job, Haunter," said Ash, refocusing on what was going on in front of him.
The ghost-type made the decision to stay out of Ash's shadow for the time being, choosing to levitate alongside them. After the cubone's attempted ambush, it was evident that he was on high alert.
As they neared Andrew and Vera, Ash checked in on Growlithe and Scyther. His canine was currently maneuvering around a field of Toxic Spikes while intermittently firing off a barrage of Ember and Flame Burst at the nidorino. The poison-type managed to dodge, but it was haggard, having already taken a significant amount of damage. Growlithe, on the other hand, was in the same condition that he had been in when he left his trainer's side. The dark-haired boy couldn't imagine that it would take his pup that much longer to defeat the inferior nidorino.
Just a short distance to the left of Andrew and Vera, Scyther had already incapacitated the pinsir from earlier and was now battling against a formidable hypno. The mantis was slashing through a series of long-distance psychic-type techniques with Fury Cutter as he tried to sever the distance between himself and the pendulum swinging hypnosis pokemon. Despite the hypno's competency in contrast to some of the other Rocket pokemon in the room, Ash was certain that Scyther would be victorious. Even if he didn't factor in his mantis' type advantage, it was evident that he was the superior battler. In terms of pure ability, his bug-type outclassed the hypno, and his diverse moveset would be difficult for the psychic-type to pin down.
The moment that they reached the long-haired first-class ACE trainer and his psychic fairy, the barrier that was protecting Andrew — which looked like a combination of Light Screen and Reflect — vanished momentarily before reappearing outside of Ash and Bill's position, encompassing them within its protection.
"Hang tight in here with me until we take control of the room!" bellowed Andrew with fire in his eyes, "keep an eye on your Growlithe and Scyther, kid! They're battling well, but there are some beasts in here!"
"Okay!" answered Ash with a nod.
"Will do!" replied Bill, surveying the room with intrigue.
While being mindful not to keep his attention away from his pokemon for too long, his vision drifted over to the right side of the room where the most intense battles were taking place.
"Dozer, finish it off with Heavy Slam!" commanded Andrew, "I need you to help out Tundra! He's in a jam!"
Ash watched as the immense, dark blue-green mammalian pokemon moved its round feet at a speed that was striking for a pokemon of its size. Coating itself in a thick, shimmering layer of energy that took on the appearance of steel, Andrew's snorlax leaped into the air, revolving it's body horizontally as it collided into the beaten down electrode like a fallen meteor. Quickly lifting its gargantuan body up off the unresponsive, non organic electric-type with its stubby, clawed arms, the room shook as Dozer bounded towards a foreign, quadrupedal ice-type that was being cornered by a magmar and an even more imposing golem than the one that Kent's arcanine was battling on the other side of the room.
"Vera, is it ready!?"
With a serious expression, Andrew became quiet, causing Ash to presume that he and his dual-type were communicating by means of telepathy.
After their brief mental conversation, a baneful grin formed on Andrew's face, "use it!"
A massive layer of purple, psionic energy appeared out of nowhere, hovering over the entire right side of the room. In subsequence, there was a loud thunderous sound as multiple, jagged bolts of bright white energy rapidly streaked towards the ground. The dissonant symphony of outcries made Ash flinch as a multitude of Rocket pokemon were struck by Vera's mighty Future Sight. The majority of the unlucky, twisted pokemon that were caught up in the devastating psychic-type technique immediately fell to the ground limply. If the dark-haired boy had to guess, he would say that the gardevoire's inordinate attack had diminished the enemy's forces on the right side of the room by more than half.
During his initial encounter with her before she had teleported them to the Cinnabar Lab, the young trainer had come to the conclusion that Vera was abnormally strong. However, at the time, there was no way for him to be able to grasp the full extent of her power. Her psionic prowess was even more prominent than Kaz and Midna — Sabrina's strongest alakazam.
Simply put, Vera was a monster.
Now that a good chunk of the congestion had been cleared out of the way by means of Vera's Future Sight, Ash was able to get his first visual of Kent and JR. Both the yellow eyed, first-class ACE trainer and the dark-haired member of the Elite Four looked to be making their way over to an opening in the wall that led to an enclosed, ascending staircase.
The two foreign species that JR had released prior to entering the restricted area were mowing down Rocket pokemon left and right. Surrounded by a thin veil of Mist, the flightless, black and blue bird was intermittently blasting off a torrential pillar of highly pressurized water and an exploding stream of bubbles at multiple adversaries. While the young trainer was watching, a brazen victreebel tried to take advantage of its type advantage and ambush the water-type on its left flank, swinging a large, razor-sharp leaf down at the noble bird. In one swift, fluid motion JR's crowned specimen coated one of its flippers in steel, deflecting the Leaf Blade with Metal Claw before blasting it to the other side of the room with an outburst of light that made a heavy drumming sound when it was emitted. Having only taken a brief moment to deal with the victreebel — utilizing moves that Ash figured coincided with what had to be a secondary steel-type classification — the dual-type seamlessly transitioned back to unloading Hydro Pump and Bubble Beam at the Rocket pokemon that were desperately guarding the staircase.
Catching a glimpse of it when it stopped using Agility for a short moment in order to activate Nasty Plot and sharpen its claws, Ash recognized the other foreign pokemon that JR was commanding. It was a dark/ice dual-type that he had learned a lot about while he was studying the Johto region's dark-types back when he was still considering what eevee evolution he wanted to pursue. The sharp clawed, weasel-like pokemon with red feathers protruding out of the top of its head, neck, ears and tail moved across the battlefield at a lightning fast speed, using a flurry of close range techniques such as Feint Attack, Fury Swipes, Slash, Night Slash and Metal Claw to incapacitate Team Rocket's pokemon with ease. In the short amount of time that the dark-haired boy had observed it, the weavile had taken out two machop, three gloom, and an extremely potent vileplume that Kent's altaria had been steadily wearing down from the moment Ash shifted his attention to this part of the room.
"Knock out that grunt with Disarming Voice!" shouted Kent to his Altaria.
With the nasty grass-type out of the way, Altaria moved expeditiously, letting out a loud, outcry as it blasted the member of Team Rocket that had previously been directing the vileplume. As the grunt hit the floor, JR's weaville leaped over his limp body before coating its claws in dark energy, intercepting a marowak that was attempting to flank Altaria. With adept awareness, Kent's blue avian turned its head to the left, unleashing a surge of draconic energy that collided into the bone wielding ground-type while it was trying to shake off Weaville's Night Slash.
"Tundra, start hurling Ice Balls over there!" commanded Andrew while pointing over at the pokemon by the staircase.
"Dozer, use Belly Drum, then hit 'em' with Giga Impact, big fella!"
"Vera, use Psybeam when Dozer makes contact!"
After taking out all of the Rocket pokemon in their immediate vicinity with the help of Dozer, the massive, foreign quadruped made out of semi-transparent hailstone began to materialize a spherical, compacted mass of ice in front of its wedge shaped head. In concurrence, Andrew's snorlax divulged a loud moan as it used both of its fists to pound on its belly like it was a massive bass drum.
Prior to Andrew's forthcoming onslaught, Ash turned his attention to the other side of the room to check in on Growlithe and Scyther.
Tuning into his bug-type's battle at the perfect moment, Ash watched as Scyther struck the hypno in the chest with a swirling, razor-sharp whirlwind knocking it off-balance while causing it to divulge a painful outcry.
"Finish it off with Bug Buzz, Scyther!" shouted Ash, giving his first command since they entered the restricted area.
Hearing his trainer's words scyther rapidly flapped his wings in the direction of the stumbling hypno. They made a hair raising screeching sound as a large, visible green sound wave crashed into the yellow, semi-humanoid psychic-type. Upon contact, its eyes immediately went stark white before it fell backwards, dropping its pendulum when it hit the ground.
"Good job, Scyther!" yelled Ash while examining his bladed bug-type's condition.
The mantis was lightly panting and had taken some damage, but it wasn't enough to concern the young trainer. He'd let Scyther continue to fight for the time being, especially since it was evident that he was making a difference on the battlefield.
During the time that Ash had taken to survey the right side of the room, his pup had finished off the nidorino. Kent's arcanine must have defeated the golem as well because both he and Growlithe were now much closer to Ash's position, teaming up to overwhelm a hitmonlee as the chaos on the left side of the room started to wane. His pup was strafing around the fighting-type's position intermittently firing Flame Burst and Ember, while the shiny arcanine had enveloped himself in a layer of thaumaturgic energy as he continuously bludgeoned the fighting-type with all four of his paws. Ash gritted his teeth when he heard the hitmonlee repetitively shout out in pain each time it was hit by Arcanine's Play Rough and Growlithe's barrage of flames.
This one won't last long…
The yellow eyed ACE trainer's umbreon was busy darting around utilizing Confuse Ray on the few leftover grunts and scientists that were either hiding or trying to escape. As soon as they were hit by the spherical ray of yellow light, it didn't take long for them to knock themselves out by means of self harm. There was one Rocket in particular that Ash watched run full speed into a wall. In subsequence, he made a loud gasping sound as he fell backwards onto the ground.
At this point, other than one of the kabutops, the group of kabuto, and the caged specimens belonging to the omanyte line, there were only a couple of pokemon conscious on the left side of the room that didn't belong to either Ash or Kent. One was the hitmonlee that Arcanine and Growlithe were on the verge of finishing off, while the other was a rather formidable tangrowth that had just incapacitated the other kabutops by forcefully swinging one of its thick vines on top of its head before being intercepted by Scyther. Crossing both of his blades as they glowed green, his mantis slashed outward, striking the grass-type in the side with X-scissor, causing it to cry out in agony.
"Haunter, I'm safe for now! Go help out Scyther!" commanded Ash while pointing at the giant bundle of blue vines.
Launching himself out of Ash's shadow like he had been shot out of a cannon, Haunter let out a burst of cacophonous laughter as he phased through Vera's barrier. While streaking towards the tangrowth at an expeditious rate, the ghost-type gathered ghoulish energy in-between his disembodied hands, preparing to unleash a Shadow Ball.
As Scyther hacked away at the grass-type's vines using a combination of Fury Cutter and X-scissor — while occasionally evading with Agility when the tangrowth tried to counterattack by either swinging its vines or shaking loose a blue or purple powder in order to inflict a status condition — Ash noticed a black and yellow blur moving towards the vine pokemon's left flank.
Oh, sending Haunter might have been overkill…
The dark-haired boy forced himself not to look away when the tangrowth was struck from three different directions by Scyther's X-scissor, Umbreon's Dark Pulse and Haunter's Shadow Ball, resulting in a chilling squeal that echoed out from within the large detonation. When the smoke caused by the convergence of powerful techniques dispersed, the mantis, the ghoul and Kent's dark-type surrounded the debased grass-type prior to confirming that it had succumbed to comatose.
"Damn…" groaned Bill without having to raise his voice as he clenched his fist after watching what had happened to the tangrowth, "you can't help but feel sorry for these pokemon. It's not their fault that they've been wrapped up in all of this."
Ash let out a deep sigh before responding, "yeah…it's sad."
Why does an organization like Team Rocket have to exist?
"Evil is everywhere," transmitted Vera into his mind as Ash's eyes pivoted over to Growlithe and Arcanine.
The two canines had defeated the hitmonlee and were now glancing back and forth between the right side of the room and the pokemon belonging to the kabuto line, seemingly looking for direction on what to do with the revived prehistoric specimens.
"It's why the world needs trainers like Andrew, JR and Kent," continued Vera, "and it's why destiny has anointed you."
He took a deep breath.
I see…
Scyther, Haunter and Umbreon had moved over to where Arcanine and Growlithe were while eyeing the primordial beings.
The lone, active kabutops appeared to be communicating with the group of kabuto while it trotted towards the far left side of the room. The kabuto followed behind it, showing significantly less uncertainty than they had when Ash first saw them.
"Andrew, the left side has been cleared except for a handful of kabuto and one kabutops," explained Ash, turning to the long-haired ACE trainer, "what should we do with them? Kent's arcanine and umbreon seem to be just as confused as my pokemon."
"I'd like to catch one of them," replied Andrew with a smirk while keeping his eyes focused on the battle that was still unfolding on the right side of the room, "but JR put the kibosh on that the moment he saw them."
To be honest, he was fighting back the urge to try and catch one as well. But, deep down in his gut, he knew it was the wrong thing to do. Regardless of the circumstances, the Cinnabar Lab had revived two extinct species. After the completion of the mission, the League would have full awareness of the accomplishment. Using the specimens in this room, there would likely be a concerted effort to try and recover the kabuto and omanyte line on a much wider scale. Ash didn't want to get in the way of something like that.
The first-class ACE trainer unclipped a pokeball from his belt before casually tossing it up in the air. When it snapped open, and the white light from the release dissipated, Ash could feel the extraordinary strength emanating from the poliwrath in front of him. Even the impressive specimens that he'd seen at the waterfall in Area Three of the Safari Zone couldn't hold a candle to this one. It stood at least a couple of feet taller than most members of its kind, and its superb muscularity was noteworthy. Its bulbous eyes that protruded out of the top of its head exuded experience, and the black swirl in the center of the white patch on its belly was even more prominent than normal.
"Rip, go put those prehistoric pokemon over there into a deep sleep with Hypnosis," said Andrew, using his thumb to point backwards while keeping his eyes on the battle near the staircase, "take the kid's Haunter with you to help out."
The stalwart poliwrath nodded as it let out an affirmative guttural sound. It proceeded to swiftly bound out of Vera's barrier towards Ash and Kent's pokemon while pointing at Haunter. Grabbing ahold of the ghost-type's attention, it beckoned him to follow it.
"Go with Andrew's poliwrath, Haunter!" commanded Ash, "follow its lead!"
After bobbing his levitating body up and down, Haunter took off towards the primordial arthropods, trailing behind the brutish poliwrath.
"Growlithe, Scyther — back to me!" called Ash.
While his pup and mantis hastily made their way over to him. Kent's arcanine and umbreon bended their knees before exploding out of their stances in the direction of Kent.
The left side of the barrier disappeared momentarily, allowing Growlithe and Scyther to enter before there was a reverberating, droning sound as it reappeared.
"You guys were awesome out there," praised Ash, folding his arms as he took a close look at their current conditions.
Both Growlithe and Scyther were panting heavily and had taken a noticeable amount of damage, but their eyes displayed that they wanted to keep going. Scyther was a little more worse for wear. There was a spot on his thorax that looked particularly tender, and his posture was beginning to slouch.
For now, he would leave it up to them.
"Do you guys want to keep going?"
In-between deep breaths, they nodded their heads.
"It's okay if you guys need to rest."
This time, they both emphatically shook their heads.
"Well, I guess that solves it…" said Ash with a soft smile, "at the very least, I want you guys to hang out in here with us until you catch your breath."
The young trainer paused, as he pointed over to the ongoing conflict on the right side of the room, "watch the battle over there. You might learn something."
Growlithe let out a confirmatory yip.
Scyther divulged a low, resonate whirr.
Since Andrew's poliwrath was with Haunter, the young trainer was confident that they would accomplish their objective whether he was paying attention or not; therefore, he fixed his line of sight on the battle by the staircase.
In the short amount of time that Ash had focused his attention back on the left side of the room, JR and Kent had advanced quite a bit, and the enemy's numbers had decreased to the point where it wouldn't be long until they were able to traipse up the staircase to access the second floor.
"Vera, let's move forward!" commanded Andrew, "one final push! Use Heal Pulse on Tundra! He's taking a lot of heat from those houndoom. Dozer's sleep techniques are all over the place right now! I might have to return him if he doesn't wake up soon!"
The first-class ACE trainer began to saunter forward while keeping his eyes glued on his sleeping snorlax that was using Sleep Talk to sporadically carry out a variety of techniques such as Heavy Slam, Rollout, Chip Away and Lick — which more often than not didn't connect. There were a couple of times that it fired off long-distance, elemental moves like Thunderbolt and Ice Beam that managed to crash into a Rocket pokemon or two, but for the most part Dozer had become rather ineffective.
As Ash, Growlithe, Scyther and Bill stepped forward with Andrew and Vera, the young trainer easily deduced what must have happened for this situation to occur. After utilizing Belly Drum and Giga Impact, the snorlax's stamina must have been depleted to the point where Andrew commanded him to use Rest. Due to the species naturally abundant vitality, it was a valid strategy. However, in a situation like this — where there were allies that could be caught up in Sleep Talk's unpredictability — it seemed like it was more trouble than it was worth. It's not like Andrew was short on pokemon. His trainer belt was completely maxed out, and he had only released five thus far.
Why's he so reluctant to return his snorlax?
"My trainer is very adamant about seeing things through from start to finish," projected Vera, "under most circumstances, he will only return us if we have either completed our objective or can no longer battle."
Interesting…
It wasn't the way Ash did things, but he could appreciate that kind of resolve.
As long as his principles took into account the well-being of his pokemon, it was a dogma worthy of his respect.
Ash pivoted his gaze towards Andrew's other pokemon on the front lines. The large diamond-shaped beast raised its ability to tank attacks by hardening its glacial body with Iron Defense before unleashing a harsh, icy burst of wind at the Rocket pokemon that were still guarding the stairs.
"Kent, get Altaria out of there!" howled Andrew as they got closer to the yellow eyed Ace Trainer and JR's position.
"You heard him, Altaria!" shouted Kent as Umbreon unleashed Dark Pulse and Arcanine fired Fire Blast at the group of twisted pokemon while standing beside their trainer.
After blasting an exeggutor with an extremely potent fairy-type technique that Ash didn't recognize, Altaria expertly maneuvered through the air back to its trainer's side.
"Fellas, you're going to need to protect yourselves!" warned Andrew.
JR muttered something as an ultra ball appeared in his cuffed hand.
Kent unclipped a great ball.
Ash watched as two bright white lights surged next to the Elite Four member and the yellow eyed ACE trainer.
Appearing next to JR was a sizable, bizarre, non organic entity. It was black and resembled a mud statue. There was a peg-like protrusion that erected out of the top of its round, oblate-shaped head. Surrounding the circumference of its head were many pink eye-like structures, and in-between each eye was a strange yellow beak. Its round torso had two white, circular markings that jetted downwards with a yellow spot in the middle of each one, and it had two pegged orbs for arms as well as two tiny stubs for legs.
The foreign specimen that JR had released was by far the most peculiar pokemon that Ash had ever seen.
What the hell is that?
He shifted his line of sight over to Kent.
Standing on one leg alongside the yellow eyed ACE trainer was a bipedal, humanoid pokemon. There was a red headpiece on top of its thin gray body that had three bulb-like extensions — one on top and one on both sides. Its eyes were focused, and its red lips were puckered. The pensive creature's legs appeared to be covered with red, puffy pants that had yellow spots on the knees and yellow bands around its hips.
The moment Ash had finished taking in the appearance of the red and gray humanoid pokemon, JR and Kent were both concealed within their own purple, psionic barrier.
If it wasn't a priority before…it was now.
He needed a psychic-type.
"Tundra — Blizzard!"
The foreign ice-type's yellow eyes intensified as the Icy Wind that it was putting forth enhanced to the nth degree. A frozen tempest made of snow and hailstone ripped through the air, roaring as it rapidly approached its target.
"Empoleon, Weavile — wipe out whatever's left!" commanded JR authoritatively.
The handful of grunts that had been spouting commands from halfway up the staircase frantically fled to the upper floors, abandoning their pokemon.
Cowards…
Upon impact, there was a chorus of disharmonious outcries as Tundra's momentous Blizzard appeared to swallow everything in its path. Multiple shadowy forms immediately fell to the ground, crumbling from the overwhelmingly frigid assailment. The few that attempted to endure did so for nought. Ash was able to make out two swift, vague blurs that moved amidst the manifested snow storm. By the time they came to a stop, the visible, black obscurities that had nearly withstood the foreign ice-type's Blizzard were now motionless on the floor, and the only sound that could be heard was the howling wind.
Holy shit.
It took a few moments for the Blizzard to die down, but when it did, the only pokemon that were still conscious by the staircase belonged to the Cinnabar trio.
"I'm going up!" announced JR, wasting no time as the strange, black entity floating next to him dropped its barrier, "survey the room before you join me! Weavile, Empoleon, Claydol — let's go!"
The Elite Four member sprinted towards the enclosed staircase, "Claydol, I want a Light Screen out in front of us!"
Vera and Kent's foreign psychic-type discarded their circumferential, psionic shields as JR started to hastily ascend up to the stairs. A light purple, semi-translucent barrier formed in front of the dark-haired man and his pokemon as they climbed out of sight.
"Dammit, he beat me to it!" cursed Andrew, scratching the back of his head as he and Vera made their way over to Dozer.
Affectionately patting his sleeping snorlax on the belly while he unclipped a pokeball from his belt, the long-haired, first-class ACE trainer proceeded to return his ginormous normal-type before heading over to check on his ice-type.
"I'm slightly conflicted because of all of the fallen pokemon," said Bill with his hand on his chin, "but, his avalugg's Blizzard was bloody magnificent."
So, that's what it's called…
"What region is it from?" asked Ash with curiosity, watching as Andrew showered his avalugg in praise.
"Avalugg and its primary form bergmite can be found in the mountainous parts of eastern Kalos," explained Bill, "they're hard to come by, though. Considering he also has a golurk, Andrew's had to have done a lot of traveling."
It was hard for him to look too far ahead when it came to the future, especially with the abomination and the League tournament looming. But, after seeing so many of the Cinnabar trio's foreign pokemon, he couldn't help but get excited by the idea of one day exploring the world's other regions.
"Are you guys alright?" asked Kent, glancing over at the left side of the room as he, Arcanine, Umbreon, Altaria and his foreign psychic-type moved over to Ash and Bill.
"Yuppers," replied Bill.
"Yeah," answered Ash.
The yellow eyed ACE trainer briefly examined Growlithe and Scyther, "it seems like they battled hard."
Kent's shiny arcanine let out a low, affirmative bark as he nodded his head, acknowledging their efforts. In subsequence, he made eye contact with Growlithe before filling his intimidating maw with fire.
With admiration in his eyes, Growlithe reciprocated Arcanine's gesture, breathing out a scalding spurt of flames.
A widened smile spread across Kent's face as he looked his arcanine in the eye, "one of these days, we'll have to get together so that you and Growlithe can hang out."
He paused before showing Ash a smirk, "if you want, Arcanine can show Growlithe a thing to two before the tournament."
Ash's eyes widened, "That would be awesom—"
"Looks like Rip and your Haunter got the job done, kid," interrupted Andrew, pointing towards the left side of the room as he walked over with Vera and Tundra.
After turning around, Ash saw that Haunter and Andrew's poliwrath were on their way back. Beyond their current position, on the opposite side of the room, the kabutops and the handful of kabuto were lying still in front of the omanyte and omastar enclosure.
"Hold up, Rip!" bellowed Andrew, "go make sure that everyone else in the room is out cold! We don't want any stragglers sneaking up behind us once we head up to the upper floors! If there's a person or pokemon that you're on the fence about, hit 'em with Hypnosis!"
Stopping on a dime, Andrew's poliwrath began to survey the room. Its countenance intensified as it looked down at the numerous unconscious bodies on the floor.
"You've got this, bro!" shouted the long-haired, first-class ACE trainer, raising a fist in the air before pointing towards the hole in the wall, "if you need help Eon is right over there!"
Rip let out a loud, confirmatory gargling sound before he began to make his rounds.
"Well done, Haunter," complimented the young trainer as the apparition approached.
Without a scratch on him, Haunter reached out to his trainer with one of his disembodied hands.
"Once we head up, I want you back in my shadow," said Ash with a smile while high-fiving his ghoul.
Haunter let out an agreeable guffaw before giving Growlithe a congratulatory pat on the head and high-fiving the flat side of one of Scyther's bladed appendages.
"We can count on Rip to make sure that nobody follows us up," said Andrew, scanning the room, "and nothing will be escaping through the lobby with Eon standing guard."
A sly smile formed on his face, "if we don't hurry up, JR will get to have all of the fun."
"It's always baffled me that you actually enjoy missions like this," replied Kent with a sigh.
"Oh come on, Kent," groaned Andrew, rolling his eyes, "don't be lame. You know you do, too. We get to crush Rockets while some of our pokemon get a nice little workout. What's not to like?"
"Whatever you say…" said Kent in a drawn out manner as he shook his head.
All of a sudden, the ceiling started to tremor after a series of loud explosions could be heard from somewhere above them. The two first-class ACE trainers immediately shifted their attention towards the staircase.
Andrew hastily unclipped a great ball and returned his colossal avalugg before bolting towards the flight of stairs, "come on, Vera!"
The elegant dual-type momentarily froze as her eyes magnified with intensity.
The long-haired, first-class ACE trainer turned around with a confused look on his face, "Vera?"
Growlithe and Arcanine began to snarl as they pointed their twitching nostrils upward.
The rest of their nearby pokemon began to stir in a disquieted manner, and a loud, resonate whirring sound could be heard coming from the hole in the wall.
"Eon, too?" mumbled Andrew.
"Growlithe, what's wrong?"
"What's bothering you Arcanine?"
"A strange and powerful presence has been let loose up there," broadcasted Vera to all of them.
"Strange?" queried Kent.
"How powerful?" questioned Andrew.
"Don't tell me I was right, and they've made another bloody abomination…" muttered Bill.
A scowl formed on Ash's face as an unexplainable feeling of rage began to boil from somewhere deep inside of him.
What's happening?
Where is this anger coming from?
"It is not the abomination," explained Vera with glowing eyes.
"Is it another legendary?" asked Kent.
"No, it is not," replied Vera.
"Then what's the big deal?" asked Andrew, raising an eyebrow as he folded his arms.
"It is ancient like the ones over there," projected the gardevoir, pointing in the direction of the primordial arthropods and cephalopods as her typically placid countenance displayed indignation, "but its mind is a dark, evil void. They have done something to it. I'm afraid it is warped beyond repair."
She paused, "it needs to be dealt with immediately. If it is left under the control of these twisted humans, or it escapes, the consequences will be catastrophic."
Kent took a deep breath as he began to move towards the staircase, "we need to get up there, Andrew. Ash, Bill — stick with us."
"Medicham — Light Screen." commanded the yellow eyed ACE trainer.
"Vera, you too," ordered Andrew, "use your discretion if you think we need to combo it with Reflect, but for now conserve your energy."
Two light purple, psionic shields appeared side-by-side in front of them as Kent and Andrew directed Vera and the medicham to pick up their pace. Trailing behind the two foreign psychic-types, the long-haired ACE trainer unclipped a great ball from his trainer belt while the yellow eyed ACE trainer — accompanied by Arcanine, Altaria and Umbreon detached a pokeball from his waist.
Haunter submerged himself in his trainer's shadow as Ash, Growlithe, Scyther and Bill jogged behind the two elite trainers. The dark-haired boy removed Ivysaur's pokeball from its assigned slot on his belt as he tried to quell his anger.
Out of his peripherals, he noticed Growlithe and Scyther both sporadically glancing at him with worried expressions, and he could feel Haunter stirring in his shadow.
"Are you okay, my friend?" asked Bill with evident concern in his inflection.
Due to their keen senses, he wasn't surprised that his pokemon were able to sense the strange indignation that he was currently feeling. But, it must be really apparent if Bill was able to pick up on it considering everything else that was going on around them.
"I'm fine," replied Ash, gritting his teeth, "Team Rocket just pisses me off."
"They can all bloody choke on some cyanide for all I care," grumbled Bill while clenching his fist, "but don't worry, they'll get what's coming to them."
Damn, Bill…that was dark.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Because you and three of the strongest trainers in all of Kanto are here to make sure of it."
Growlithe let out a confident bark.
Scyther emitted a reassuring whirr.
And a comforting, ghoulish guffaw could be heard coming from his shadow.
Taking into account the fact that a pokemon as strong as Vera was worried about the ancient being that they were about to encounter, Ash wasn't sure how much of a difference he and his pokemon would make. However, his friends were right to be confident. All three members of the Cinnabar trio were here, and the young trainer was pretty sure that he had yet to see anything close to the full extent of their power.
When they reached the second floor, it wasn't nearly as chaotic as Ash was expecting it to be. The room was slightly smaller than the first floor of the restricted area, but the scenery was more or less the same. It was structurally open, and the lighting was bright. There was a thin, rising layer of smoke that was coming from a handful of scientific apparatuses as well as about a half-dozen unconscious grunts and more than twice as many fallen pokemon.
There were two battles taking place on opposite sides of the second floor. On the far side of the room, JR's weavile was facing off against two above-average marowak and a weezing that was rather lackluster compared to the one that Ash had defeated when he battled Koga.
There was a grunt commanding the three Rocket pokemon, whereas JR was nowhere to be found. Weavile appeared to be tired, but it was clearly in control of the battle. Evading one of the marowak with Agility when it swung its bone, Weavile counterattacked by materializing multiple shards of ice before flinging them at the ground-type. Simultaneously, the foreign dual-type divulged an ear-splitting Screech, stunning the other marowak while releasing a potent, menacing array of dark energy at the weezing right before it was able to spit out a glob of poison.
A short distance to the right of where they entered, Ash witnessed JR's fatigued empoleon use one of its hardened flippers to bludgeon a golduck with Brick Break before reflexively pivoting to the right, letting loose a piercing beam of ice that intercepted a barrage of razor-sharp, biological needles fired by a heavily damaged beedrill.
"Knowing JR, he left Weaville and Empoleon to handle this floor on their own," said Andrew, "Vera, use Heal Pulse on those two."
"Altaria, go help Weavile. Arcanine, take care of the beedrill."
From behind her Light Screen, the beautiful, psychic fairy's body was enveloped in a pinkish purple aura as she emitted two beaming rays of energy — one from each hand. In less than a second, they both connected with their designated targets, enshrouding Weavile and Empoleon each within a healing cloak of surging light that rejuvenated them significantly.
After soaring up and over the top of Vera's barrier, Altaria jetted towards Weavile. By the time the blue avian reached the other side of the room, one of the marowak had already been defeated. Electing to let loose an intense stream of purple flames, the remaining marowak was caught off guard. When its entire body was engulfed in Altaria's Dragon Breath, it let out a tortured groan before succumbing to comatose.
Altaria knows Dragon Pulse and Dragon Breath…?
Is it a dragon-type?
All of sudden, Ash's attention shifted to the right when Arcanine activated Extreme Speed to close the distance between himself and Empoleon's position. The expeditious yellow blur leaped into the air before torpedoing into the black and yellow poison bee pokemon. Before the bug-type had even realized what happened, the canine mercilessly took its floundering form to the ground. When they hit the surface, there was an abrupt ignition of flames followed by a high-pitched, whirring shriek.
Standing above its charred and twitching body, Arcanine turned his head towards Empoleon as the flightless bird spun horizontally at a tremendous rate, crashing into the golduck with its revolving beak. While it was being savagely pierced in the chest by Drill Peck, the fully-evolved duck pokemon lost consciousness before its limp body was sent flying into the nearby wall.
Now that the golduck and beedrill had been taken care of, Arcanine and Empoleon's eyes immediately darted to the other side of the room to check in on the other battle. However, their gazes didn't stay fixed for long as Altaria hit one of the weezing's heads with a star shaped mass of scorching hot fire and Weavile struck the other with a streaking beam of glacial hailstone. When the two elements converged on one another, there was a sizable detonation. From within the explosion, the poison gas pokemon made a high-pitched whistling sound that reminded Ash of an overheated tea kettle. As expected, when the smoke from the explosion cleared, the weezing was blackened and out cold, rolling back and forth as it involuntarily drooled toxins from both of its mouths.
"Good job!" shouted Kent, "Arcanine, Altaria — back to me!"
"I don't think we have to worry about any Rockets waking up in here anytime soon," said Andrew squinting his eyes while examining the battered appearances of the bodies scattered throughout the room.
As Weavile, Altaria, Arcanine and Empoleon made their way over to them, Andrew made eye contact with JR's dark/ice-type, "it looks like you went a little overboard in here. I don't have to go around and check pulses, do I?"
Weavile narrowed its eyes at Andrew before Empoleon stepped forward, placing one of its wings in front of the sharp clawed weasel-like pokemon while shaking its head and divulging a coarse trill.
"He is saying that JR told them to be thorough so that he didn't have to worry about his rear," explained Vera, "but, they were careful not to kill."
"You sure?" queried Andrew, raising an eyebrow at the blue and black flightless bird, "Some of those lacerations look pretty deep."
Emploeon nodded as another string of explosions could be heard from overhead. In succession, the ceiling shook and small chunks of debris fell to the ground in the middle of the room.
Kent and Andrew remained calm as Ash and Bill reflexively covered their heads.
All of the pokemon except Weavile and Empoleon responded by moving a little closer to their trainers.
The long-haired ACE trainer glanced at the ascending staircase for a brief moment before pivoting his attention back to the two dual-types, "I guess I'll take your word for it. We need to get moving. It sounds like things are pretty lively on the third floor."
"Why do you always give JR's weavile a hard time?" asked Kent as he clenched the pokeball in his hand, "as far as I know, he's never crossed the line."
"He knows why…" muttered Andrew with a smirk, "he loses himself in battle. He's just like your scizor and my zoroark. You got to keep a close eye on 'em."
"What about your golurk?"
"Ehh, Eon's fine," said Andrew in a dismissive manner, "it may lack emotions, but it's a rule follower. If I say don't kill, it won't kill. Simple as that."
"But, what about that one time?"
"Yeah, well, I think it's about time we head up," said Andrew, sheepishly scratching the back of his head as he turned towards the ascending staircase.
Jeez, he didn't even try to answer the question.
What the hell did Eon do?
Kent sighed, "Weaville, Empoleon — you two come with us.
Empoleon let out an affirmative squawk.
Weavile gave a slight nod while maintaining a scornful scowl.
The yellow eyed ACE trainer focused his attention on Ash and Bill, "are you guys—"
All of a sudden, there was a loud, discordant explosion as a highly condensed beam of rainbow colored energy ripped through the ceiling at a diagonal angle before penetrating through the wall on the opposite side of the room. It dispersed nearly as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind two gaping holes in the building filled with crumbling debris and smoldering smoke.
"Shit!" shouted Ash, having covered his ears as Growlithe and Scyther protectively stepped in front of him while Haunter raised his body out of his trainer's shadow with menacing eyes.
"Bloody hell!" wailed Bill.
"Vera, we need a full-power barrier right now!"
Her eyes glowed as she manifested a thick, light purple energy shield that surrounded their position. Ash could tell that it was slightly more potent than the one that she used to protect them on the first floor.
"Medicham, fortify it!" commanded Kent imperatively.
This time it was the medicham's turn to raise a barrier. As it balanced on one leg, its focused eyes gleamed white. Flattening its gray, three-fingered hands and pressing them together like a monk, another light purple, semi-translucent barrier was formed just inside of Vera's, giving them an extra layer of protection.
"Ash, Bill — do not leave the barrier unless Andrew or I say so!" demanded Kent sternly as Vera and Medicham began to lead the way up the shaking staircase, "that was a high level Hyper Beam, and JR's pokemon are way too disciplined to let one get away from them like that! It probably came from the monster Vera was talking about earlier!"
Grasping Ivysaur's great ball, Ash's boiling rage was beginning to intensify.
"Other than Arcanine, do you have any of your strongest pokemon with you!?" asked Andrew to Kent as they hastily climbed the steps.
"A few!" answered Kent, "what about you!?"
"Same!" replied Andrew.
It wasn't like Andrew and Kent weren't taking the threat of the altered, ancient specimen that all of their pokemon had sensed before seriously, but there was definitely a significant difference in their demeanor now that they had caught a glimpse of what it was capable of. Their heightened sense of urgency was apparent.
With every step that they took up the lengthy, quavering staircase, the thunderous sound of explosions and collisions amplified. If it weren't for the sense of security that he felt from Vera and Medicham's tandem barriers that were pressing up against the walls that enclosed the stairs, Ash would be worried that they would implode inwards on them.
The moment that they walked through a blown out doorway at the top of the staircase, the dark-haired boy could feel the profound pressure coming from the numerous clashing monsters. The intensity of the atmosphere was somewhere between Area Three of the Safari Zone and the articuno's frozen vault in the Seafoam Island's cave system.
Empoleon and Weavile immediately bursted forward like they had been shot out of a cannon, throwing themselves into the middle of absolute chaos.
"Damn!" howled Andrew with ferocity in his inflection, "where the fuck is JR!?"
"Several of his pokemon are in here, he's got to be somewhere close by!" replied Kent.
"Wh-what the hell is happening…!?" blurted Bill.
Ash was silent as he and his pokemon were trying to process what they were witnessing.
The space that they were in seemed to be about the same size as the room on the second level. The lights were flickering on and off, and the floor was flooded with a clear solution from the plethora of giant, cracked and smashed glass tubes that stood vertically around the outer edges of the room. There were dead abomination fetuses at various stages of development all over the ground intermixed with many half-formed kabuto, omanyte and gray, winged, reptilian creatures.
It was a revolting sight…
There were a handful of tubes that had somehow remained untouched. Some of them had vague, fleshy, floating masses inside of them while others contained growing kabuto, omanyte, abominations and what had to be aerodactly, considering that a handful of flying, gray reptilian beings that looked like the impressive fossil in the East Wing were viciously engaging in combat within the room.
Taking into account that Growlithe had noticed the scent of the fetuses from a block away before they found the failed specimens at the Pokemon Mansion, Ash was momentarily surprised that his pup and Kent's arcanine hadn't picked up on their collective presence earlier. But, after noticing that the walls were made of the same strange material as the one that was blocking the restricted area on the first floor — and that the door had likely recently been destroyed by one of JR's pokemon — Ash figured that their hyper sensitive noses must not have been able to register anything up here for the majority the raid.
The rest of the scenery consisted of ravaged furniture such as tables, counters and chairs as well as charred and dismantled laboratory equipment. The wall opposite of their position was almost completely destroyed, leaving a humongous hole that led outside. A good portion of the ceiling on that side of the room had collapsed and fallen to the floor, and the overflowing liquid from the tubes poured out of the side of the building like a waterfall. Amongst the mounds of wreckage, fire, smoke and destroyed experiments were many motionless pokemon, Rockets and scientists. Despite his anger, Ash hoped that they were all just unconscious. But, considering some of their conditions, it was hard to believe that none of them were dead. He wished he didn't have to look at the multiple large, puddles of blood that were watered down due to the solution on the ground, but it was impossible not to while trying to make sense of the numerous battles taking place in front of them.
"Arcanine, Altaria, Umbreon — get out there!" bellowed Kent, "try not to kill, but don't hold back! This needs to come to an end quickly!"
All three of them responded affirmatively in their own way before rocketing towards the battle.
"Vera, fire from a distance and offer support with Heal Pulse when you can! But, your primary focus needs to be holding this double barrier with Kent's medicham!"
The light coming from Vera's eyes strobed momentarily.
He could feel Growlithe and Scyther growing antsy next to him after Kent and Andrew's pokemon were given their orders.
"Growlithe, Scyther — stay here for now!" commanded Ash through his gritted teeth, "I'm sorry, but in a situation like this, we've got to pick and choose our spots!"
His pup let out a reluctant confirmatory bark.
Scyther remained silent, but stayed put.
Just as Ash began to zero in on a battle between a freakishly muscular machamp and an outlandish, bipedal, humanoid pokemon with a clown-like appearance, two bright, radiant white lights erupted on the other side of the barrier, causing Ash to squint his eyes. When the shimmering energy from the two releases faded, the young trainer was able to immediately recognize that the pokemon in front of him were exorbitantly powerful.
One of them was a large, draconic piscine that was nearly a foot taller than Ash as it balanced on its tight, curled, blue tail. The majority of its body was covered in shiny blue scales, and it had a long, thin snout that was perfectly shaped to unleash long-distance water-type techniques with pinpoint accuracy and devastating velocity. It had two thin, branched spines that protruded out of the top of its head as well as one that poked out of its back that supported a white fin. There were two more white fins that jutted out from below its cheeks, and the kingdra's eyes were more red than the blood on the floor.
The second pokemon was a big, foreign, light green dragon with some insectoid features. It had a pair of sizable, rhombus-shaped wings with red trim and two short, skinny arms that both had three sharp claws. The dragon's two hind legs were robust, and its feet were toeless. Its long tail had several dark green stripes and the tip flared out with three small, conjoined segments that were identical in shape to its wings. The specimen's fierce, spaced out eyes were covered by round, red, transparent covers, and it had a pair of dark green antennae that extended backwards from the top of its head.
"Kingdra, take out as many Rocket pokemon as you can!" bellowed Kent.
"Dune, help JR's pokemon with those gray, flying beasts!" commanded Andrew.
An outburst of rapid moving water erupted out of the gills on both sides of Kingdra's neck before spiraling around its body. Enveloping itself in a reverse current Whirlpool, the noble piscine launched itself towards the violent fracas.
The green dragon divulged a reverberating roar as it powerfully beat down its wings, rapidly lifting itself up off of the ground and into the air. The rush of wind that was stirred up by its accelerated movement crashed into the psionic barrier before dispersing outward with breadth.
With Kent's noble kingdra and Andrew's sublime, foreign dragon having entered the fray, Ash surveyed the battlefield while looking for an opportunity to help out.
The battle that was taking place directly in front of them between the brawny machamp and the devious looking mr. mime was starting to heat up. With a massive, ominous grin on its face, the pantomime had concealed itself within a combination barrier like the one that Vera and Medicham were currently maintaining. From within its confines, it was unleashing potent, purple psionic waves while occasionally enshrouding its body in thaumaturgic energy before attempting to blast the fighting-type with Dazzling Gleam. While sequencing the fairy-type technique and Psychic, the creepy humanoid pokemon was doing a bizarre, swaying dance while emitting a subtle, pinkish purple wave that seemed to be affecting a handful of the pokemon in the area including the machamp.
Despite the type disadvantage, the onslaught of propelled mystic elements, and the fact that it was confused due to the mr. mime's strange, teetering movements, the machamp was still somehow holding its own. It wasn't able to dodge all of the pantomime's long-distance techniques, but it maneuvered around most of them. It must have had a strong mental-barrier because it was able to shake off the few that made contact. Ash had even seen the machamp disrupt a handful of psionic waves and Dazzling Gleams with its tremendous brute strength, utilizing Cross Chop and Dynamic punch to directly disperse them, which the young trainer didn't even know was possible. On account of the fact that it was confused, it would occasionally inflict damage on its own body by means of punching itself or sporadically pounding its head into the ground, but nevertheless it continued its goal of trying to take out the psychic-type.
While enduring each assault, the machamp closed the distance between itself and the mr. mime a handful of times. Each time it got close enough, it would use a flurry of fighting-type techniques with so much force that it was able to penetrate the demented mr. mime's barrier long enough to make contact.
Presently, the machamp that Ash was sure belonged to JR was utilizing all four of its muscular arms to unload a devastating incursion of punches on the mr. mime's barrier while withstanding the pantomime's Psychic. Having already taken some damage, the menacing smile that was previously on the psychic-type's face had turned into a scowl. With each blow from the machamp's Close Combat, the barrier began to wane and shatter until it eventually dispelled. The moment that it was out of the way, JR's machamp let out a loud, intimidating battle cry as it bludgeoned the mr. mime in the face with Dynamic Punch, burying its frail body into the ground.
Welp, that's one way to overcome a type disadvantage…
Having witnessed the resolution of the battle between JR's machamp and the mr. mime, Ash's line of sight shifted slightly to the left in the direction of two intense skirmishes that were occurring side-by-side.
There was an efficacious electrode that was enveloped in a layer of electricity as it discharged various long-ranged techniques using its natural element at Kent's umbreon and a yellow, bipedal ovine pokemon with black stripes on its neck and tail. The foreign specimen had two black conical ears as well as two red orbs — one on its forehead, and one on its tail. As far as Ash could tell, each orb acted as a power source. While using the orb on its forehead to materialize a light purple Light Screen to lessen the impact of the electrode's Discharge, Spark, Electro Ball and Charge Beam, the ovine unloaded a slew of electric-type techniques of its own from the red orb on its tail.
Considering the fact that Kent's Umbreon was working in tandem with the ovine, snarling at the electrode while coated in black aura as it intermittently unloaded multiple harsh waves of dark energy at the red and white, non organic sphere, it was safe to assume that the foreign, yellow electric-type was JR's. Although the electrode was strong, it was obvious how the battle would turn out. There was no way that it would be able to overcome two of the Cinnabar trio's pokemon on its own.
To the left of Umbreon and the two electric-types, there was a mesmerizing, cream-colored, foreign serpent with long, pink, hair-like fins that extended out from above its eyes and down nearly half of its lengthy body. At the top of its head was a horn, and above its red eyes were two thin, pink antennae. The lower end of its serpentine body had a series of blue and pink scales outlined in black that were meshed together, creating a beautiful pattern, and its tail consisted of four blue, semi overlapping fins that each had a pink oval in the center.
Engaged in combat with the gorgeous serpentine pokemon was the largest victreebel Ash had ever seen. Standing at least seven-feet tall, the bell-shaped pitcher plant pokemon had potent, purple toxins leaking from the agape mouth on top of its head as it encircled the foreign specimen in a whirling spiral of razor-sharp leaves. The serpent responded by covering its body in multi-colored, semi translucent energy before being pelted by the Leaf Tornado. After letting out a painful outcry, an extremely dynamic blast of psychic power crashed into the giant grass-type, causing it to divulge an agonizing shriek of its own. Fighting through the pain, the serpent proceeded to fire a massive, high velocity pillar of water at the victreebel, knocking it off balance.
"Scyther, go help that serpent take out that victreebel!" commanded Ash, deducing that the foreign specimen was JR's, "as soon as your done come back to me!"
Without hesitation, his bladed bug-type exploded forward out of the barrier, activating Agility in order to quickly reach his destination.
Growlithe groaned, clearly irritated that he wasn't the one that was called upon.
"Good thinking!" said Bill, raising his voice to be heard, "milotic is a water-type! It's clear that it's strong, but that victreebel is an exceptional specimen!"
"JR's milotic is a monster!" inserted Andrew with a smirk, looking up as he watched his green dragon forcefully whip an aerodactlyl in the back with Dragon Tail, causing it to let out an angry, primordial outcry, "she would have found a way to win on her own, but I'm sure she'll appreciate the help!"
He paused, "some of these Rocket pokemon are tough! They remind me of the ones that psycho bastard Petrel had!"
"I was just thinking the same thing!" added Kent, focusing his eyes on Kingdra and Arcanine, who were teaming up to battle a burly, vicious nidoking, "there's a few of them that far outclass anything I've ever seen from a grunt! We might be dealing with an executive!"
An executive…
While keeping his eyes planted on his mantis — who was now slashing at the victreebel with Fury Cutter as JR's milotic coiled up its body with an intense look of concentration — words from one of Dr. Fuji's journal entries popped into his head.
'Archer has provided me with a team of scientists that are attempting to help me figure out what is wrong with the formula'
Connecting the dots, Ash was reminded of his conversation with Sabrina when he had told her about Dr. Fuji's involvement.
'There's two other executives. Archer, the man mentioned in Dr. Fuji's journal entries, is one of them.'
It must be him.
The man that stole Amber's DNA in order to coerce Dr. Fuji into creating the abomination was here.
Archer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"It's got to be Archer!" shouted Ash with rage in his voice while watching JR's milotic fire a streaking beam of ice at the victreebel, who just slammed Scyther in the side with one of its wiry vines, causing the mantis to divulge an agonizing whirr.
Kent and Andrew both muttered something that Ash couldn't hear due to the roaring sound of battle as Bill clenched his fist indignantly.
"The bloody bastard that corrupted the doc is here!?"
Suddenly, their eyes collectively darted towards the gaping hole in the wall when two giant, multicolored bursts of energy collided in the nearby night sky. Ash's ears were ringing from the sound of the explosion as a wave of harsh wind ripped through the room. In succession, a humongous, gray winged beast could be seen through the hole for a split-second as it flew by at a tremendous speed, maneuvering around a mighty blast of purple draconic energy.
In wake of the powerful Dragon Pulse, a blue, black and purple three-headed dragon with six wings momentarily soared into view, coming to a halt in front of the hole. The heads on the left and the right were loading up draconic energy while the head in the middle was charging a Hyper Beam. There was a blaring, reverberating percussion sound as it concurrently released two vigorous Dragon Pulses and an exorbitantly powerful Hyper Beam that bursted out of view before the dragon rested for a few seconds. While it was idle — with its attention focused on whatever it was that was going on outside — a strange looking non organic, blue and fuchsia colored pokemon on the far side of the room let loose three separate beams — one red, one yellow and one blue — at the frightening dragon. However, one of the menacing specimen's heads abruptly turned in its direction with scorching hot energy in its maw. It released two consecutive Heat Waves at the porygon-z. The first one intercepted the compelling tri attack, instantly nullifying it, while the second blasted the manmade specimen, blasting it into a blazing pile of ravaged laboratory equipment.
Woah!
The minacious three-headed dragon beat down all six of its thin black wings before rapidly ascending out of sight.
"That was JR's hydreigon!" bellowed Andrew as he unclipped two capture-devices from his belt.
"Was that other beast an aerodactly!?" queried Kent, detaching a great ball from his waist, "it was at least three times bigger than the ones in here!"
"That was the ancient one with the flayed mind." broadcasted Vera.
"It must have the king's nature!" declared Bill with a combination of awe, fear and disgust evident in his intonation.
"A corrupted, ancient king, eh!?" bellowed Andrew, narrowing his eyes as he tossed two capture-devices that phased through the barrier, "This is getting really messy! I'm going out there to help JR! Kent, you handle what's going on in here!"
The safari ball and great ball snapped open, expelling two surging masses of radiant white light.
"You got it!" replied Kent, "we'll be out there as soon as possible!"
When the light from the capture-devices dispersed, two magnificent dragons divulged deep, authoritative roars. They immediately looked past the chaos in front of them as they gazed out the hole in the wall.
One was a pokemon that Ash had been hoping to one day see ever since Walker had shown him the dratini capture records back at the Safari Zone's admission center. Standing somewhere between nine to ten-feet tall was an orange, gray eyed dragon with two wriggly cream colored antennae. Its legs were muscular. Its tail was sturdy. And it had two disproportionate wings with teal membranes on the inside. The dragonite's presence exceeded the shiny specimen with the king's nature that frequented Bill's lighthouse, and despite the discrepancy in age, it was almost on par with the alpha that had acted as Mew's conduit in the dragon lair.
The other dragon's semblance didn't quite match up with the dragonite, but it was monstrous in its own right. It stood about six-feet tall with a frame that was broad and robust. It was primarily blue in color with red markings under its throat, on the inside of its legs, and on the underside of its long, tapering tail. The quadrupedal dragon had two large, red wings and two raised ridges above its eyes. Three flat fins protruded from both sides of its head in the shape of the backside of a jet, and it had two razor-sharp teeth in its upper jaw and two in its lower jaw. Each of its four stout legs had three pointed claws, and its underbelly was gray and thickly scaled. The foreign dragon's beady black eyes were focused and ferocious.
"Don't sweat it, bro! JR and I can handle it!" shouted Andrew, stepping out of the barrier before grabbing ahold of the base of the foreign dragon's neck, hoisting himself onto its back, "besides, now that shit has hit the fan, and the battle has spread outside, you better believe that it won't be long until the old geezer makes his way over here! Vera, don't let Ash or Bill out of your sight, listen to Kent, and make sure Dune doesn't follow us until those aerodactyl are taken care of! None of them can escape here!"
Andrew's dragonite turned its head to face him and the foreign dragon with a look that conveyed that it was raring to go.
"I like the look in your eyes, Kai!" howled Andrew, making eye contact with his dragonite before stroking the back of his foreign dragon's neck, "Zenith, let's go! Don't forget I'm riding bareback!"
The two dragons thrusted down their wings, causing another surge of wind to fill the room as they took off. On their way out, the foreign dragon named Zenith breathed out a mighty stream of draconian fire that sounded like a souped-up blowtorch at one of the gray winged beasts, while Andrew's dragonite, Kai, fired a freezing streak of hailstone down towards the ground that struck a stout golem that Kent's altaria had been dealing with.
"How many bloody dragons does that bloke have!?" asked Bill.
The yellow eyed ACE trainer smirked while holding onto his great ball, "a lot!"
After fighting off the urge to fly atop Pidgeot's back in order to witness the insane battle that was taking place outside, Ash settled his line of sight back on the melee that was still unfolding in front of him.
A ways to the left, Scyther and JR's milotic were still engaged in a heated battle with the impressive victreebel. The serpent was flinging draconic infused whirlwinds at the bell-shaped grass-type, and Scyther was using Agility to get in close while his blades were coated in dark energy. In concurrence, the victreebel was letting loose a storm of bladed leaves at JR's milotic in order to intercept the Twisters, while releasing a pungent burst of yellow powder in the direction of the mantis with the intention of paralyzing him.
"Disperse it with Razor Wind!" shouted Ash at the top of his lungs, hoping to be heard, "keep trying to get close with Night Slash while using Focus Energy!"
Scyther proceeded to slash the air in front of him, creating a sharp, swirling burst of wind. Meeting the Stun Spore head on, the bug-type's Razor Wind dispersed it in several directions. Most of it was swept out of the way, but the mantis was unable to avoid the entirety of the paralysis inducing status technique. A cloud of dark yellow powder hit Scyther in the same raw spot on his thorax that had been bothering him ever since they left the first floor of the restricted area. Wincing upon contact, the mantis' eyes aggrandized as a white veil of energy that was barely visible enveloped his body. Elusively dropping to the ground and sliding across the slick, wet surface, the bladed bug-type narrowly avoided the victreebel's Poison Jab before spinning and cutting into its yellow flesh with Night Slash.
As soon as Scyther connected with his black coated blades, causing the grass-type to shriek, JR's milotic lunged forward, spiraling her lengthy body around it. While constricting her serpentine form with Wrap, the milotic let out a beckoning outcry to Scyther. The mantis responded by leaping high up into the air, crossing his blades before he made his diving descent. Just before his bug-type made contact, the beautiful serpent let go of the pitcher plant pokemon, hastily slithering out of the way as Scyther ruthlessly slashed into its flesh with X-scissor. The victreebel didn't make a sound as it quivered from its uppermost leaf to the bottom of its bell-shaped body before falling face forward into the sopping wet floor.
Pumping his fist, Ash watched as JR's milotic looked at Scyther with a thankful expression before sidewinding her way towards her trainer's machamp, who had an arbok by the throat while concurrently using Lowkick to fend off a nasty parasect that was trying to sink its claws into the fighting-type. Considering the fact that the superpower pokemon was covered in a potent purple and yellow powder, the parasect had already doused it in a mixture of Poison Powder and Stun Spore. Continuing to battle as if it was unaffected, the machamp suddenly flexed its muscles, engulfing its body in an orange aura before swinging and tossing the cobra pokemon in the direction of the parasect. After being thrown like a rag doll by JR's machamp, the arbok succumbed to comatose the moment it crashed into the floor, narrowly missing the mushroom pokemon.
As Scyther wearily made his way back to him, Ash repetitively darted his eyes back and forth between his pup and the vile parasect.
After unleashing a frigid Ice Beam at the red bug-type as she swiftly closed the distance between herself and the superpower pokemon, the milotic sprayed a low velocity spurt of water at JR's machamp in order to wash away the Stun Spore and Poison Powder. Leaving an after-image as it maneuvered out of the way of the serpent's powerful ice-type technique, the mushroom pokemon crossed its claws, lunging towards the machamp the moment that it noticed that a crowbat had abruptly halted JR's milotic with a flurry of blade like bursts of wind.
A parasect that knows Agility!?
"Growlithe, go after that Parasect!" commanded Ash, pointing towards the mushroom pokemon, "try and hit it with Ember as you close the distance! Don't use Flame Burst unless you're sure it won't accidentally hit any of our allies!"
Doing his best to ignore the flowing liquid that was rushing across his paws, the canine bounded forward while loading his maw. He let loose a series of scalding flames at the parasect, hoping to catch it off guard as it tried to pierce one of the machamp's legs with its right pincer. Failing to connect with what appeared to be an absorption technique, the parasect had just enough time to Slash the machamp across the thigh before it was forced to abort with Agility because of the fighting-type's impending Karate Chop. Unfortunately, due to the timing of the machamp's open handed thrust, the bug-type managed to fortuitously avoid Growlithe's Ember barrage despite being unaware of its approach.
"Dammit," groaned Ash.
Now cognizant of his pup's presence, the parasect shook loose a sizable cloud of purple powder from its spotted mushroom, attempting to catch both Growlithe and JR's machamp within its area of effect.
"Burn it!" shouted the young trainer as the psionic barrier momentarily dematerialized to let Scyther back in before reappearing once again.
"Are you okay, Scyther!?" asked Bill as Ash kept his eyes glued to the battle.
The dark-haired boy saw a pinkish purple glow in his nearby peripheral vision that he assumed was Vera's Heal Pulse as his bladed bug-type emitted a whirr that conveyed alleviation.
'Thanks, Vera.'
"You are welcome, Ash."
Growlithe unleashed another assailment of Ember, incinerating a good portion of the Poison Powder. As a billow of purplish black smoke ascended towards the ceiling, the superpower pokemon quickly closed the distance between itself and the parasect. Enveloping its open fist in purple draconian energy, the fighting-type struck the quadrupedal bug-type twice on the side of the large mushroom on its back, causing it to let out a loud shriek.
"Fire Fang!"
Vanishing into thin air before suddenly reappearing within the veil of thinning smoke, Growlithe mercilessly chomped into the other side of the parasect's mushroom before igniting his fangs.
"Way to go, Growlithe!" howled Ash as the parasect cried out in pain once more.
Using Agility against Blaine's growlithe wasn't a fluke…
Ash wasn't sure if he would consider it mastered just yet, but at the very least, his pup had gotten to the point where he had shattered his previous comprehension of his own speed.
Recognizing that JR's machamp and Growlithe had taken complete command over the battle, Ash pivoted his attention to Scyther. Due to Vera's Heal Pulse, his mantis looked much better than he did when he was making his way back to the barrier, but most of his body still showed a noticeable amount of damage.
Inexplicably, Ash felt the strange anger inside of him wane as the sound of battle was beginning to diminish enough to where they no longer needed to yell in order to communicate within close proximity.
"Ash…" said Bill in a drawn out manner with a sincere expression.
"I know," replied the dark-haired boy with a nod before unclipping his mantis' safari ball from his belt with his free hand.
"You've done more than enough, Scyther," said the young trainer with a soft smile on his face as he looked his bladed bug-type in the eye, "I need you to rest now."
While panting heavily, Scyther's eyes displayed disappointment. However, despite the fact that the mantis didn't want to be returned, he bowed out of reverence for his trainer.
As he raised the camouflage designed capture-device and pressed the return button, he looked at Scyther with an earnest countenance.
"Remember, one step at a time," reminded Ash as his bug-type was enveloped in a cloak of red energy, "this is only the beginning."
The mantis' eyes lit up right before he was sucked back into suspended animation.
Clipping Scyther's safari ball back to its assigned spot on his belt with one hand while he held onto Ivysaur's pokeball with the other, Ash shifted his attention back to where his pup and the machamp were battling the para—.
Growlithe wasn't there.
His anxiety spiked.
Frantically swiveling his eyes from side to side in order to locate his best friend, the boy inadvertently processed the bulk of the current state of disarray.
To the left — a short distance from their position — Kent's umbreon was enshrouded in pink thaumaturgic energy, utilizing Moonlight to heal itself as it alertly stood in front of a fallen exeggutor. Right next to it was JR's yellow ovine with the two red spheres. The electric-type was in the middle of finishing off an above-average sized venomoth by blasting it with a ball of condensed electricity.
Close to the third floor's western wall, Weavile had just unleashed a strange, dark, malignant energy from a distance at an utterly deplorable vileplume that appeared to have activated Growth. Its countenance was wicked, and it had black rings around its eyes. Just as he had done from the moment he was let out of his capture-device by JR, Empoleon was working together with Weavile. With his fins coated in steel, the flightless bird was battling up close and personal, alternating between Metal Claw and Peck. The vileplume moved well, dodging Empoleon's assault while creating a whirlwind of sharpened petals to try and intercept Weavile's ominous dark-type technique.
There were two more battles taking place within close proximity to Empoleon and Weavile's exchange with the vileplume. Alongside the western wall — just beyond JR's two dual-types' position — a large, gray, winged beast with pointed ears and a massive, agape mouth had at some point been forced to battle on the ground due to the fact that it had multiple lacerations on both of its wings. Ash wasn't sure what pokemon had made it so that the aerodactyl could no longer fly, but it was now being completely overpowered by JR's non organic psychic-type. While holding the ancient flying-type in place with a potent ray of psionic energy, the foreign mud statue raised chunks of the flooring up from the ground, coating them in purple energy before continuously flinging them at the aerodactly. Each time the mysterious technique landed, the beast let out a loud primordial screech.
Adjacent to Empoleon and Weavile — about halfway between the western wall and the center of the room — JR's milotic was still engaged in combat with the crobat that had intervened when she had attempted to come to the aid of JR's machamp. Although it wasn't on the same level as Koga's prodigious purple bat pokemon, it was still an impressive specimen. Sequencing Supersonic, Air Cutter, Swift and an occasional Confuse Ray, the dual-type tried to wear down the milotic from a distance. However, the serpent was up for the challenge, intercepting everything that came her way by intermittently firing Ice Beam and Hydro Pump at a tremendous velocity.
In the center of the room, just past the unconscious, smoldering parasect an expeditious brown and blue spinning form that Ash couldn't make out was moving in their direction as it was being chased by Kent's Altaria. The blue avian that Ash was convinced had to be a dragon-type was letting loose a harsh, steady stream of draconian flames from above in attempt to cutoff the revolving being as a ferocious fearow tried to flank it.
A ways to the right — over by the wall on the eastern side of the floor — Kent's kingdra was hovering well above the ground. The water dragon's head poked out from the top of its reverse current Whirlpool as it unloaded a multitude of devastating Hydro Pumps at some of the winged primordial monsters that were caught up in aerial combat above them. Below it was the listless body of the odious nidoking that the noble piscine and Arcanine had been battling earlier. It was battered to the point where Ash doubted that it would ever fully recover.
The dark-haired boy finally spotted his pup on the far right side of the room with Arcanine as they cornered an insidious jynx atop a small pile of wreckage. Above them — where the ceiling had been destroyed — were a couple of aerodactyl, clashing against Andrew's green, insectoid dragon, an incredibly fast avian made of sleek steel that Ash didn't recognize, and another stunning, foreign dragon that was black and purple with some bat-like features. Adjacent to them on the left, JR's resilient machamp — who must have just made its way over there — and an extremely nefarious green-skinned humanoid pokemon that was mostly covered in long, dark purple hair were fighting together against a stout marowak, a very potent hypno and an aggressive dodrio.
Ash cursed under his breath.
He knew that his pup looked up to Kent's shiny arcanine and was likely using this as an opportunity to learn how an elite member of his species battled, but why'd he have to —
"Guys!" shouted Bill anxiously at the top of his lungs.
Haunter launched himself out of his shadow.
Vera fired a vigorous beam of purple psionic energy.
And a radiant burst of white light erupted in front of him.
"Crunch!" commanded Kent as the light from the release started to fade.
In concurrence, the rapidly approaching blue and brown spinning specimen that was surrounded by a revolving, horizontal silver beam was struck by Haunter's hard-hitting ghoulish fist and Vera's whirring Psybeam. There was a momentary stalemate due to the substantial momentum that the Gyro Ball had picked up.
The intense stationary deadlock came to an abrupt end when the green, hulking, dinosaurian brute that emerged from Kent's great ball rapidly thrusted its open maw downward, savagely closing it on top of the gyrating pokemon with overwhelming force. Dangling from its jaws that oozed sinister black energy, the limp hitmontop let out a sickening gasp before being spat out to the side like it was a nasty piece of meat.
"Oh, god…" muttered Bill, clearly disturbed.
"Don't worry, it'll live," reassured Kent as his bipedal, spiked pseudo-legendary turned to look at its trainer, "Tyranitar is thorough, but he's not a killer."
"Are y-you sure?" stammered Bill with uncertain eyes.
"I'm positive," replied the yellow eyed ACE trainer with an intense expression before focusing his attention on his rock/dark dual-type, "distinguish the enemy, and end this as soon as possible!"
The commanding, armored pokemon bellowed a domineering roar before bounding forward towards the battle that looked to be on the verge of coming to an end. As Haunter phased back into his shadow, Ash couldn't help but feel a hint of jealousy knowing that one day Austin's pupitar would evolve into the same imposing, spiked dinosaurian form.
As Tyranitar wasted no time making his overwhelming presence known by unleashing a momentous wave of plangent, dark energy up into the air, immediately incapacitating the fearow that had halted Altaria's pursuit of the hitmontop, Ash darted his eyes back over to the far side of the room. Having already torched the jynx into comatose, Growlithe and Arcanine were now helping JR's machamp and the fearsome, long-haired, humanoid pokemon overrun the dodrio and marowak that heartlessly fought over the top of the defeated hypnos' unconscious body.
While Arcanine sunk his electricity filled maw into one side of the dodrio's feathered body as it tried to fight back by repetitively thrusting its beak into the shiny canine's flesh, the foreign goblin engulfed itself in black aura before blasting all three of the birds heads with a harsh, malignant energy. After being violently inundated by the two efficacious techniques, the wingless avian crumbled to the ground.
Simultaneously, JR's machamp vigorously pummeled the marowak with Close Combat as Growlithe hit the ground-type in the back with a series of precise, scorching Embers, doing his best to ensure that they didn't accidentally clip the fighting-type. The marowak attempted to retaliate against the superpower pokemon and the pup by desperately flailing its fists, legs and bone with Stomping Tantrum, but it was to no avail. While Growlithe continued his barrage of flames, the machamp suddenly switched its approach. Crossing its arms while flattening its fists before delivering an absolutely devastating Cross Chop. As a result, Growlithe had to use Agility to hastily dash out of the way when the marowak was sent flying outside of the building through the hole in the wall.
"Vera, Medicham — it's time to move to the other side. With Tyranitar in mix, the room will be cleared in a moment," said Kent as he stepped towards the front of the dome-shaped psionic shield.
The gardevoir's eyes flickered, "very well."
Medicham divulged a quiet grunt.
While maintaining the combination barrier, the two psychic-types began to make their way towards the other side of the room. Ash, Bill and Kent followed while being mindful of where they walked. It was clear that none of them wanted to accidentally step on one of the many loose abomination fetuses or partially formed ancient specimens on the ground; not to mention, all of the inert human and pokemon bodies that were all over the place.
"Th-this is bloody disgusting," complained Bill in-between gags as they walked around a couple of limp Rockets and scientists while also bypassing the fallen, twitching fearow, "my shoes are drenched in solution and blood."
Despite the battles that were wrapping up all around them, Ash shifted his eyes between the ground and the opposite side of the room. Just like Bill, his socks and shoes were soaked. He had been trying his best not to think about the fact that his feet were covered in watered down blood, but it was impossible not to now that Bill had pointed it out in such an emphatic manner.
"I can't tell you how many shoes I've thrown out over the years," groaned Kent as he watched Tyranitar blast the crobat that JR's milotic had already considerably weakened out of the room with another minacious Dark Pulse.
Bill gulped, "h-how often do you blokes get sent on missions like this!?"
"More often than you'd think," replied the yellow eyed ACE trainer with a sigh as he stepped over a partially formed kabuto, "but, I'll admit that this is pretty high up the list in terms of repulsiveness."
"I would hope so!" blurted Bill, "I'm probably going to have bloody nightmares about this the rest of my life!"
The dark-haired boy couldn't agree more.
Good thing he had Haunter to eat his dreams.
By the time they reached where the ceiling had collapsed, the only pokemon that were still conscious on the ground were Growlithe and the specimens belonging to the Cinnabar trio.
His pup was currently standing alongside Arcanine and the hairy, green, humanoid pokemon as they fired off an assortment of long-distance techniques at the last remaining aerodactyl above them. It didn't stand a chance as it was also ruthlessly assaulted by JR's two foreign, winged pokemon and Andrew's green, red eyed dragon.
"Growlithe, back to me!" shouted Ash, finding his pup's involvement no longer necessary.
By the time his canine made it back to his side, the unfortunate, ancient flying-type brutally crashed into the ground behind them.
The battle on the third floor had ended.
"Vera, Medicham — why don't you drop the barrier for a bit and rest," directed Kent, "but, be prepared to raise it again if you notice any stray attacks from outside heading our way."
For the time being, the barrier was dispelled.
Ash clipped Ivysaur's pokeball back to its assigned slot on his belt. He'd been holding onto it for what felt like forever, but the right opportunity to utilize his saurian grass-type never occurred.
"You battled well, but I thought I said that we were going to have to pick and choose our spots," scolded Ash, pivoting his attention between Growlithe and the rest of the group as they approached the immense hole in the wall.
Although the sound of battle in the lab had ceased, chaos could be heard coming from outside.
His pup's ears lowered and his tail drooped before he guiltily pressed his head up against his best friend's leg. After nonverbally apologizing, he proceeded to look back and forth between Ash and Arcanine, who was now walking loyally beside Kent.
"I know you were battling beside Arcanine, but—"
Ash paused when he noticed that all of the Cinnabar trio's pokemon behind them were making their way towards the opening in the wall. All the while, Andrew's insectoid dragon as well as JR's two foreign, flying specimens soared towards the battle that was going on outside.
"We'll have to finish this conversation later," said the young trainer before gesturing for Growlithe to pick up his pace, "come on."
Growlithe followed with his tail tucked between his legs.
When they reached the ledge that only existed because of the gaping hole in the wall, Ash gasped, and his eyes widened. He surveyed the scene in front of him in an astonished manner while the waning, transparent solution on the floor softly flowed past his feet and cascaded off of the ledge.
Due to its sheer immensity, his eyes were instantly drawn to the imposing ancient being that soared through the starry sky while enduring an assortment of exorbitantly powerful techniques. It was hard to estimate its exact size because it was frequently changing its elevation, but it had to be at least three times bigger than the other specimens belonging to its species.
Not only was the aerodactyl's size extraordinary, but its features were different than the ones that the Cinnabar trio's pokemon had just dismantled. It had sharp, jagged, black rocks that sprouted out from all over its body, and there were notably long protrusions that came out of the top of its wings, ears, lower jaw and back. There was a glowing, grayish purple orb in the center of its chest, and the membranes on the inside of its wings appeared to be a darker shade of purple. The entirety of its body leaked a foreboding purplish black aura that was visible because of the gleaming orb, and even from a distance, Ash could see its bright green irises that were surrounded by its deep red scleras.
It didn't look like this when it flew by earlier…
He was disturbed and confused.
Is it even an aerodactyl anymore?
Back when Ash had learned about the extinct species that were native to Kanto while he was studying for the Trainer Qualification Exam, he distinctly remembered reading that researchers and scientists had determined that aerodactyl couldn't evolve.
Clearly they were wrong.
On top of its unexpected form, the energy that it was leaking seemed unnatural. The young trainer didn't know for sure, but he assumed that it had something to do with the alterations that Vera had mentio—.
Suddenly, when it descended in order to evade a full-power Hyper Beam that illuminated the night sky surrounding it, Ash noticed that it had a thick, metal collar around its neck. In addition, the grayish purple orb that he had originally thought was a part of its anatomy was actually fastened into the center of a black harness that was strapped around its chest.
What are those?
Are those objects causing—.
Vera's words wafted through his mind.
'Its mind is a dark, evil void. They have done something to it. I'm afraid it is warped beyond repair.'
When he squinted his eyes, the dark shadowy form of a person could be seen straddling its nape.
There's somebody riding it…
That must be…
Archer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ash felt the unnatural anger that had peculiarly lessened before his interaction with Scyther once again reach a boiling point.
He took a deep breath to calm himself down as he focused on Bill's words from earlier.
'Don't worry, they'll get what's coming to them.'
Ash glared at the vague human shaped form that he could barely make out.
'Because you and three of the strongest trainers in all of Kanto are here to make sure of it.'
At his current level, Ash still didn't think that there was anything that he and his friends could do to make a difference in a battle of this magnitude, and it would be irresponsible for him to think otherwise.
It was frustrating, but it was reality.
Be that as it may, Lance had requested his presence, and destiny had placed him here for a reason. He was certain that at this point in his journey, his purpose wasn't to sway the outcome of the battle.
So, what could he do?
"Just watch, Ash…" transmitted Vera, "there will come a time when you are the deciding factor, but now is not that time. In this moment, all you need to do is witness the power of three pokemon masters. The more you see, the more you'll understand."
Ash momentarily turned towards the beautiful psychic fairy as she gazed at her trainer and JR. They were both flying side by side, giving commands atop the backs of their awe-inspiring, foreign pokemon.
Vera froze as her eyes momentarily strobed with a pink energy that was distinct from the white light that she typically emitted while using telepathy.
It felt familiar, but he didn't know why.
"you must become familiar with the pinnacle for destiny demands that you surpass it, Chosen One."
The rage within him leveled out before it slowly started to dull.
Surpass them?
Destiny sure has high expectations…
Listening to Vera's suggestion, Ash carefully watched JR and Andrew's pokemon as they faced off against the ancient, ascended aeradactyl with the king's nature that was emitting a sinister aura.
Streaking through the night sky at an expeditious rate in the direction of the spiked beast's left flank were two blurry masses. Ash couldn't make out what they were because of the tremendous speed at which they flew, but they moved in a synchronized manner, spiraling in concert as they unleashed a fierce storm of slashing wind. Divulging a hair raising cry while it managed to gather itself amidst the twofold Hurricane, the fossil pokemon materialized a collection of large, craggy boulders out of thin air that were enveloped in a luminescent, dark purple energy before launching them at the two swift obscurations.
The two blurs immediately rocketed out of the way of the unknown technique before coming to a sudden stop behind the giant, beastly flying-type. As they both loaded bright, striking multi-colored beams of energy in their maws, the young trainer was able to identify them as two indomitable dragonite — one was the monstrous specimen that Andrew had let loose earlier named Kai, while the other was without a doubt just as impressive — maybe even more so. Unless JR or Andrew had more than one dragonite, it had to be the dragonaire that the elite four member pulled out of the little lake in Area Three of the Safari Zone eight years ago.
While both dragonite unleashed two powerful, resonate Hyper Beams, the blue and black, three-headed dragon with the six wings divulged an egregiously loud outcry, blasting the evolved aerodactyl with a rippling wave of visible sound from its right flank. Upon impact, a small surge of light purple energy could be seen gleaming at the base of the primal monster's neck. The fossil pokemon let out another agonizing bellow before it activated agility, leaving an after-image that was pierced and dispersed by the two descending, multi-colored outbursts.
Was that a barrier on its neck?
Does Archer have a psychic pokemon up there with him?
"It's fast for its size," said Kent without taking his eyes off of the battle as he unclipped a pokeball from his belt.
The ancient flying-type reappeared behind the menacing dragon that Andrew had called a hydreigon before powerfully thrusting one of its wings down on top of it. JR's intimidating specimen was sent flying downwards after being bludgeoned by the vicious Wing Attack. Right before it was about to hit the ground, it let loose a powerful burst of draconian energy in order to slowdown its momentum before sharply thrusting its wings, launching itself back up into the air. A large crater was left in the earth's surface from the dynamic Dragon Pulse.
"Forget about its speed," replied Bill with a look of disbelief, "look at its form. There's been several aerodactyl fossils that researchers have unearthed over the years, but nothing like this has ever been discovered. Aerodactyl isn't supposed to have any other stages!"
As the hydreigon rapidly ascended, and the two dragonite momentarily stalled after releasing their hyper beams, the red and blue dragon named Zenith that Andrew was riding unloaded a pillar of highly pressurized water at the ancient being. In concurrence, while its red eyes and the metallic cross on its face glowed white, the large, floating, disc-shaped pokemon made out of blue-tinted steel that JR sat cross-legged on top of unleashed an expansive surge of psionic energy. The dynamic Psychic constricted post-release, wrapping itself around the foreign dragon's Hydro Pump to create a devastating psionic water lance. As it streaked through the sky at a blistering velocity while making a blaring, droning sound, the ascended aerodactyl hastily emitted a quick-fire Hyper Beam to intercept it. The mystically coated blast of water ripped through the incomplete multicolored outburst like it was nothing, blasting its target in the stomach. The spiked flying-type let out a harrowing cry, thrashing its body in the air as the light purple energy on the back of its neck reflected the light from the stars.
"Do you see the stone strapped to its chest?" queried Kent while watching Andrew's green, foreign dragon breathe out a large stream of purple fire from below at the primordial monster, blasting it in the right side as JR's purple and black, bat-like dragon hit it on its left wing with a flurry of slashing, razor-sharp wind.
"Strapped?" queried Bill, "I thought that was part of its—"
The pokemon researcher gasped.
"Y-you've g-got to be bloody k-kidding me!? Why's it so big!?" blurted Bill in response to Kent as the evolved aerodactyl angrily shook off the Dragon Breath and the Air Cutter, "h-how did T-team Rocket g-get their h-hands on s-something like that!? And how the b-bloody h-hell did they a-activate it!?"
Kent remained silent as his yellow eyes carefully followed the battle.
He firmly grasped the pokeball in his hand while he bit his bottom lip in a contemplative manner.
What are they talking about?
Why is Bill so worked up?
What does that stone do?
While letting out an enraged clamor, the primordial monster proceeded to summon dozens of cragged boulders that were covered in the same dark purple energy as before. However, this time, instead of using the mysterious technique as a weapon, it acted as a shield. After spiraling around the fossil pokemon's body at an expeditious rate, a handful of the large, supernatural stones accurately rocketed outwards in the direction of the various impending attacks that were just fired from Andrew and JR's pokemon.
After intercepting both of the dragonites' robust, draconic waves, the hydreigon's potent pulse of dark energy, the green, red eyed dragon's whirring Bug Buzz, and the metallic avian's glaive-like slash of wind, there was a massive explosion. A heap of debris from the mystifying boulders was sent flying in every which direction. In response to the detonation, JR's mechanized psychic-type rapidly separated its ball-and-socket joints, extending its clawed, iron legs outwards. An interconnected web of psionic energy was quickly released from all four of its extremities before solidifying into a large combination barrier that enshrouded itself and its trainer in addition to Andrew and Zenith. In immediate succession, a storm of small, glowing, jagged stones rained down on the light purple barrier, causing a chorus of resonate dings.
"Bill, what is that stone?" asked Ash, pointing in the direction of the large billow of smoke caused by the explosion, "and what's with that collar?"
"I'm not sure about the collar, my friend," said Bill, taking a deep breath, "I'm guessing it's what's warped its mind, but there's a lot going on here…"
He paused, "as for the stone—."
Bill's voice was cut off when the evolved aerodactyl let out a blood-curdling battle cry, causing everyone to cover their ears. Considering, the sheer volume of the roar that it divulged, it had to have carried across the entirety of the island. If Blaine and the Cinnabar Police Department weren't already on their way, they were now.
All of a sudden, Andrew's green, long-tailed dragon named Dune and JR's black and purple, bat-like dragon were sent involuntarily flying out of the thick cloud of smoke straight towards JR and Andrew. The disc-shaped pokemon that Ash figured was a psychic/steel dual-type hastily halted their momentum dead in its tracks with Psychic, narrowly avoiding a collision. In a matter of seconds, two beams of red light streaked through the air, enveloping the two pensile dragons before sucking them back into the confines of their capture-devices.
"I'm going out there!" bellowed Kent as his facial expression intensified, "everyone, backup!"
Ash, Growlithe, Bill and all of the Cinnabar trio's pokemon that were standing alongside of them backed away, giving Kent enough space to let out whatever it was that was inside of the pokeball that he had been holding onto.
Gently tossing the red and white capture-device out to the side, it snapped open right before it the hit the wet floor, expelling a burst of incandescent light. In wake of the glimmering surge of energy, a draconian, bipedal beast with a presence compelling enough to cause Ash's eyes to widen was unveiled. Standing at least three-feet taller than the average member of its species, the mighty charizard that Ash assumed was Kent's starter, let out an authoritative roar. In subsequence, it snorted out a spate of flames before steadily flapping its large wingspan and lifting its lengthy, muscular tail up off of the ground in order to protect its humongous tail flame from the soft, flowing liquid on the ground.
In response to the charizard's inordinate presence, Ash reflexively reached for Charmeleon's pokeball so that they could be introduced to one another.
Albeit, he stopped himself.
Now wasn't the time.
Growlithe's eyes momentarily showed admiration and his ears perked up as he took in the appearance of the exponentially powerful fire-type. However, when Ash looked down at him after feeling his wagging tail against his leg, he instantly started to sulk again.
Jeez, was I too hard on him?
The orange, winged fire lizard's eyes abruptly shifted outside.
"Hang on, bud," said Kent, walking over to his charizard as he alertly swiveled his attention between Ash, Bill, the slew of powerful pokemon in the room, and the battle outside, "I'm hopping on. We've got to protect our home."
The yellow eyed ACE trainer glanced over at Vera and Medicham, "put a barrier up around Ash and Bill. Make sure to cover them from all angles. Vera, bring them to us once the battle is over."
"It shall be done," broadcasted the psychic fairy as she curtsied.
Taking a deep breath, his eyes surveyed the rest of the Cinnabar trio's pokemon, "I doubt anything will wake up. But, if something does, human or pokemon, take care of it."
He pointed towards Ash and Bill, "protect these two as if your lives depend on it!"
There was a resounding, collective confirmatory response that came from the group of elite pokemon.
Kent proceeded to plant one of his hands on the base of his monstrous charizard's neck, hoisting himself onto its back in one smooth motion. As he sat atop his fire-type, his gaze zeroed in on his brutish tyranitar, who was standing a short distance behind Ash and Growlithe.
"Tyranitar, if it's still conscious when we knock it to the ground, get down there and finish it off!" bellowed Kent with authority in his voice.
The dinosaurian dual-type let out an affirmative roar as the large, winged fire lizard thrusted down its wings.
The moment that they lifted up off of the ground, Ash watched with intrigue as Kent pulled out the same small depository case from his jacket pocket that he had withdrawn the constraints from at the beginning of the raid.
"Give me a second, Charizard," said the first-class ACE trainer, stabilizing himself on charizard's back by squeezing both of his legs as he tapped at the screen on the depository case.
Kent pointed the screen on the depository case directly at his free hand. When the blue light that the storage device emitted dispersed, the yellow eyed ACE trainer was grasping a black collar that had a tennis ball-sized, glowing stone fixed into it. The smooth orb was predominantly blue with a thick, wavy, black striation in the center of it. The black, natural swirl contained two different shades of blue that streaked downwards — one was the same color blue as the part of the stone that encompassed the black striation, while the other was darker.
The object was mesmerizing.
"Wh-what the b-bloody h-hell is happening!?" exclaimed Bill, "I-is that—"
"It is," answered Kent.
"W-where did you—"
"I can tell you more later," replied Kent, redirecting his attention towards the battle as he strapped the collar around the base of his fire-type's neck, "Charizard, head towards Metagross' barrier!"
"A-at least tell me who figured out how to activate it!?" queried Bill.
"Professor Oak and Steven Stone!" shouted Kent right before his Charizard rapidly took off towards JR and Andrew.
Professor Oak?
Who's Steven Stone?
Ash was extremely confused.
What the hell is going on?
"This is u-unbelievable," stammered the pokemon researcher, placing a hand on his forehead as Vera and Medicham materialized a barrier that completely surrounded Ash, Bill and Growlithe.
"Bill, can you please tell me what is going on!?" asked Ash disconcertedly as he watched JR's metagross open part of its barrier for a short moment to let Kent and his charizard inside before sealing it back up.
Taking a deep breath in order to compose himself, Bill answered, "those stones are frequently mentioned in the ancient texts — especially, in the Legend of the Chosen One."
His friend paused as he looked him in the eye, "archeologists throughout the world have quietly found quite a few of them. Their existence is one of the main reasons why there are still some people in the scientific community that believe in the prophecy."
Ash gulped at the mention of the prophetic book in which he was the main character.
Despite the guilt he was still feeling, Growlithe looked up at Bill with curious eyes.
"Although, some of them have been found throughout the years," elucidated Bill as he planted his eyes on JR, Andrew and Kent, "no one's ever been able to figure out how to activate them."
Activate?
"What do they do?" asked the dark-haired boy, "and what does the professor have to do with this?"
His pup let out a quizzical howl.
"The aerodactyl—" started Bill before shaking his head while pointing towards the Cinnabar trio, "never mind, just watch."
Just watch!?
Why can't you just tell me!?
Growlithe groaned.
While feeling extremely annoyed, the young trainer made a concerted effort to at least try and keep his eyes fixed on the Cinnabar trio as they commanded the pokemon that they were riding. He didn't want to miss whatever it was that was about to happen once Kent activated the magnificent stone that he had strapped to his charizard's neck.
The specimen with a slight arachnid resemblance that Kent had called Metagross was emitting various different types of psionic waves. Ash could identify most of the psychic-type techniques such as Psychic, Psyshock and Confusion. But, there was one that he didn't recognize, where the dual-type exteriorized a multi-colored sphere — constructed out of psionic energy — that took on an eye-like appearance. Every time the Metagross materialized the mystical, extrasensory eye, its next technique always seemed to make contact with the primordial monster even if it was in the middle of using Agility.
In concurrence, Kent's charizard had already made its presence felt by the ascended aerodactyl, unloading a vicious stream of fire that was so powerful that Ash could feel the heat all the way from his current position. As a matter of fact, considering the visible, reddish orange, torrid waves that blasted outward each time Charizard unleashed its Flamethrower, he wouldn't be surprised if the winged fire-lizard was using an original technique that combined Flamethrower and Heat Wave. With the help of Andrew's blue and red, foreign dragon's highly pressurized Hydro Pump and potent Dragon Breath, Charizard had incinerated the rest of the revolving stones that the draconian flying-type had been defending itself with, which allowed the two dragonite, Hydreigon, and the metallic avian to suddenly commit to close-range combat.
Despite the fact that he usually had good self-control, Ash's attention inadvertently drifted away from the Cinnabar Trio when the two dragonite both rocketed high up into the sky — while enshrouding themselves in vigorous surges of blue draconic energy — before nosediving towards the spiked aerodactyl right after it missed one of them with a full-power Hyper Beam. The synchronized duo spiraled downwards, creating a blazing, blue vortex before they separated at the last second. Each of them crashed into one of the primordial flying-type's wings at full-speed with Dragon Rush, causing it to cry out in agony as its expansive, spiked appendages quivered and the barrier on the back of its neck oscillated.
How the hell is he staying on?
Somersaulting out of their Dragon Rushes, one of the dragonite's aura intensified as its eyes glowed with intimidation, forcing the ancient beast to momentarily shudder, while the other dragonite spun horizontally, mercilessly hitting it in the face with its water enshrouded tail.
In wake of the tandem assault that consisted of Leer and Aqua Tail, the two dragonite torpedoed out of the way as JR's steel coated flying-type and his Hydreigon launched themselves at the evolved aerodactyl's two flanks.
"Dragonite, back to me!"
"Kai, over here!"
Approaching from the right, the silver avian suddenly shed some of the steel from its body, revealing numerous red feathers before it blasted forward at a speed that was impossible to follow. There was a pitch black streak of energy that sliced through the sky like a katana before the aerodactyl shrieked, doubling over as it favored its right side.
Tearing through the night sky on the left, Hydreigon quickly closed in. In response, the monstrous, primeval being with ridiculous endurance loaded its maw full of electricity before snapping open its jaws and plunging at the impending three-headed dragon. Divulging another shrieking wail that knocked the enemy backwards — and caused Ash and Bill to cover their ears — the hydreigon followed up its Hyper Voice with a point-blank blast of draconic energy.
The creature let out another tortured outcry as Hydreigon quickly ascended outside of its physical reach.
Skarmory, Hydreigon — that's enough!" howled JR as multiple massive pillars of scorching red and blue fire roared upwards from the ground at the spiky, evolved aerodactyl.
Growlithe's tail started to repetitively smack into the young trainer's leg in reaction to the powerful fire-type techniques.
It must be Blaine.
Despite its haggard and damaged condition, the enormous fossil pokemon, quickly ascended, narrowly evading the cogent array of sweltering flames.
How much freaking stamina does it have!?
Ash's line of sight immediately darted in the direction that the forceful Flamethrowers, Fire Blasts and Infernos had come from in order to confirm his assumption.
Standing underneath of an overhanging street light while leaning up against his cane in a stoic manner was the old man. In close proximity to him were a handful of indomitable looking fire-types. From such a distance, he wasn't able to make out all of their features, but he managed to distinguish some of them. Three of the pokemon were foreign, and the two specimens that belonged to species that were native to Kanto without a doubt hadn't appeared during his gym battle with Blaine earlier that day.
Amidst the gym leader's pokemon was a magmortar. Even from Ash's faraway vantage point, he could tell that it wasn't Vulcan. There was no way that he could estimate its height and mass, but it was evident that it was utterly gigantic. While the dark-haired boy attempted to examine it, one of its cannons was pointed upwards in the direction of the winged monster as it loaded sapphire flames.
To the right of the enormous magmortar that Ash suspected might have the king's nature was a bipedal, fox-like pokemon with a long red, orange and yellow coat of fur that looked like an elegant robe. It held a flaming, natural stick in its right hand that it waved like a magic wand as a growing mass of burning psionic energy levitated directly above it.
On the magmortar's left was a mainly red ape-like pokemon. Its hind legs were in a squatted position while it supported the majority of its body weight on its two large, anterior fists. It had a giant grin on its face that consisted of spiky teeth, and the long, bushy eyebrows above its two black-ringed eyes were ablaze. The enraged ape was cloaked in a thin layer of heat as it prepared to unleash its internal flame.
Levitating next to Blaine was a strange apparition that looked like a chandelier. It's round head had a ring of black spikes on top of it that housed a large purple flame, and there were several curved, black appendages that extended out of the black, downwardly pointed fixture-like base that held its head. Each arm had a purple flame at the end of it, and even though it was hard to be sure from so far away, its bright yellow eyes appeared to be pupil-less. Unless it was acting in an incredibly subtle manner, the ghoul was the only one of Blaine's pokemon that didn't seem to be in the middle of going on the offensive.
Standing at the forefront of Blaine's group with its maw full of blue fire was a domineering, draconian fire-type that Ash initially mistook for a foreign pokemon. However, after recognizing its enormous tail flame in addition to the structure of its build, he quickly realized it belonged to the same species as his fire lizard and the yellow eyed ACE trainer's authoritative charizard. It was big, but on account of the distance, Ash wasn't able to decipher whether or not its size was comparable to Kent's specimen. Be that as it may, its presence was grand.
It was born different.
Its black reptilian skin and the beautiful claret red membranes on the insides of its wings were stunning.
Blessed with one of the two exalted genetic mutations, Blaine's charizard was shiny.
Woah.
Growlithe divulged an excited bark.
"The old man's not messing around if he brought Grimm and Ignis with him," said Bill with a slight hint of trepidation in his voice, "if the goal is to capture Archer alive, somebody needs to tell Blaine. Barrier or not, those two will burn him to a crisp."
"I will tell him," transmitted Vera as her eyes flickered.
"How convenient" replied Bill before, looking down at Ash, "you really need to get yourself a psychic-type, my friend."
Thanks for stating the obvious, Bill…
"Which ones are Grimm and Ignis?" asked Ash, raising an eyebrow after ignoring his friend's comment.
"Grimm is the shiny charizard and Ignis is the magmortar with the king's nature," replied Bill as he pointed at the two extraordinary specimens, "they're some of Blaine's oldest pokemon. He's had them since he was around your age. I met them once a long time ago, but I don't think they typically leave the volcano."
"I see," replied the dark-haired boy as the shiny Charizard named Grimm abruptly beatdown its wings, launching itself into the sky. It unleashed a giant stream of sapphire flames while it ascended in the direction of the evolved aerodactyl.
The primeval being managed to dodge the black charizard's sapphire Flamethrower, however its already heavily damaged side was seared by one of the arms of a blue, star-shaped Fire Blast that screamed past Grimm. Another burst of reddish orange fire just barely missed as the shrieking beast hastily ascended even higher up into the sky before a whirring, purple psionic beam with flames revolving around it clipped the bottom of one of its wings.
"Hey, you old geezer!" shouted the long-haired ACE trainer with an edgy inflection.
Focusing his attention back on the Cinnabar trio, Ash was slightly thrown off when he noticed that the barrier that had been protecting them was gone, and JR and Andrew were now each sitting atop the backs of their prodigious dragonite while Kent was riding Hydreigon.
Metagross, Charizard and the red and blue dragon were a short distance in front of them. The draconian fire-type and the foreign dragon kept glancing back at their trainers in an anticipatory manner as they flapped their large wings, while the mechanized psychic-type hovered statically with its clawed, iron legs tucked in.
Andrew continued with ferocity in his voice, "You better tell them to steer clear of the back of its neck! We need the bastard that's riding it alive!"
The old man remained quiet. Either he didn't hear Andrew, or he was electing not to respond.
"Blaine seems off…" said Bill in a drawn out manner.
"His mind has been consumed by rage," broadcasted Vera as her eyes strobed, "when I attempted to explain the situation to him, he already knew the majority of what was going on. He has read a journal."
Uh-oh…
That's not good.
"Shit, I knew we shouldn't have left the journal in the—" started Bill before he gasped once more.
"What is—" managed Ash before being cut off.
"Bloody hell, the metagross and the salamence have them, too!?"
Suddenly, a brilliant outburst of erratic multi-colored energy surged forth from each member of the Cinnabar trio's wrists.
In immediate succession, three bright, condensed lights identical in color to the ones erupting from JR, Andrew and Kent illuminated from the opulent stones that their pokemon donned.
A staggering light emerged from one of Metagross' iron legs.
Dazzling energy came forth from Zenith's tail.
And the black and blue stone fixed around Charizard's neck radiated with a prominent effulgence.
The three effluxes of power poured outward and aimlessly in every which direction before their focal points expanded, consuming their forms. In subsequence, the shadows within each detonation of radiant rainbow energy rapidly changed as the unmistakable sight of evolution took place.
This can't be real.
Despite his lack of knowledge when it came to foreign pokemon, it was blatantly obvious that JR's metagross and Andrew's salamence had already achieved evolutionary maturation.
But, Charizard…
Seeing the winged fire lizard's form shift shattered everything he knew about the potential of pokemon.
No wonder Bill had gotten himself so worked up.
This changes everything.
He felt his other self rise out of his sub conscious, but it didn't take the reins.
This is a power bestowed by the Creator.
It lingered for a moment as the light from the multi-colored energy dissipated.
This is Mega Evolution.
"Th-they're bl-loody m-magnificent…"
Ash couldn't agree more.
Absolutely Incredible.
Levitating a short distance in front of JR, the ascended metagross had grown significantly. It now had four intimidating, clawed arms made out of steel — two that jetted forward from the top half of its body, and two that protruded out from the bottom half. Its four iron legs extended backwards from the back of its body, giving it eight total sturdy metal appendages, and it had two sharp, sleek metallic triangles that poked out from both of its sides. The cross on Metagross' face that used to be silver was now gold, and its red eyes were even fiercer than before. There were two small holes and a metal spike below its cross that gave off the impression of a goatee.
Mega metagross.
Waiting for orders across from Andrew, Zenith's red wings had melded together into one large, blade-like, crescent-shaped wing. With a narrower face, neck, body and tail, the foreign, red and blue dragon now had a much more streamline appearance. The ridges above its eyes were less prominent than before, and instead of the thick, gray scaling that it had underneath of its jaws, it now had slick, red flesh. The upper pair of fins on the sides of its head had become elongated and tapered, while the middle portions now streaked towards its nose. The thick shelled underbelly that it had before was now a vest-like, aerodynamic, armored frame that covered its chest and shoulders.
Mega salamence.
In-between the two mega evolved, foreign pokemon, Kent's ascended fire lizard looked up at the exchange between the shiny member of its species and the primordial beast. Most of its body was now black like Blaine's shiny charizard; however, its underbelly and soles were sky-blue. It was more muscular than before, and on the front and back of each of its shoulders were two blue spikes that curved upwards. The tips of the sharp black horns that protruded out of the back of its head were the same color blue as the spikes on its shoulders, and it had pointed black protrusions that jetted out from behind its horns in addition to the back of its neck. It had dark blue, jagged wings that sprouted downward from its two black, spiked wing-arms, and its blisteringly hot, blue flames that consistently streaked out of its maw were the same exact color as its majestic tail flame.
Mega Charizard X.
X?
Why, X?
Inconveniently, his other self didn't respond, receding back into his subconscious.
"Zenith, you know what to do!"
"Charizard, make sure Blaine's charizard doesn't kill him!"
"Metagross, remove him from the back of its neck, and bring it to the ground!"
The ascended metagross vanished, leaving behind an after-image as Charizard and Zenith launched themselves even higher into the air, flying side by side while they maneuvered around the rapidly rising blasts of fire that were being catapulted by Blaine's hellacious fire-types. The draconian fire-type and the crescent winged dragon severed the distance in-between themselves and the ongoing battle between Blaine's black charizard and the ancient monster in a heartbeat. The moment that they got to within striking distance, Metagross appeared on the primeval beast's left flank. The steel/psychic dual-type's body was momentarily enveloped in a black aura before it unleashed a potent, but controlled, burst of dark energy that instantly dispelled the barrier on the evolved aerodactyl's neck.
As soon as the barrier was removed, Charizard thrusted itself at Blaine's winged fire lizard. Ash couldn't see Grimm's facial expression from so far away, but by the way that its body froze when the mega charizard grabbed both of its thin arms, Ash could tell that it was astonished by the specimen's current form.
In concurrence, the mighty mega salamence swiftly pivoted its streamline body. Facing the earth's surface, it unloaded a barrage of Hydro Pumps in order to extinguish the torrid flames that were being unleashed by Blaine's fire-types on the ground.
As Charizard and Zenith ensured that Archer and another shadowy form that was unveiled the moment that the barrier went down weren't scorched into cinders by Blaine's pokemon, Metagross proceeded to swiftly and repetitively crash all four of its clawed arms into the exhausted, ancient, mega evolved pokemon's wings. At the same time that it used Bullet Punch, it enshrouded the two small shadows in a cloak of psionic energy before hastily using its telekinetic powers to snatch them off of the beast's neck.
After turning an array of powerful fire-type techniques into a rising cloud of steam, Zenith quickly turned around and fired off one of its expeditious Hydro Pumps at the violently thrashing primordial beast that had lost complete control from the moment that its rider was removed from its neck. As the high velocity, surging pillar of water pelted its target in the stomach, causing it to let out a resounding gasp that could be heard all the way from Ash's position, Kent's mega evolved charizard let go of Blaine's specimen before turning its body around to face the aerodactyl.
Showing zero animosity towards each other, the two charizards — one ascended, and one shiny — doused the giant fossil pokemon in sapphire flames. Its agonizing shriek caused Ash and Bill to once again cover their ears as the gold cross on Metagross' face glimmered with psionic energy. The mechanized psychic-type proceeded to hastily move Archer, and what Ash assumed was the pokemon that had maintained the barrier, down towards the ground with its telekinetic capabilities while contemporaneously levitating up above the massive, blue double Inferno that was engulfing the wailing ancient pokemon.
When the dark-haired boy saw Andrew and Kent rapidly descend on the backs of Kai and Hydreigon as JR remained in the air atop Dragonite with his semi descaled skarmory flying by his side, Ash did his best to try and keep tabs on everything that was going on.
As soon as Kai and Hydreigon landed, the two first-class ACE trainers disembarked before waiting a short moment for the dark forms within Metagross' veil of psychic energy to be brought down to the ground. On the right, Blaine was riding on the back of his foreign, ape-like pokemon as he and all of his impressive fire-types hastily made their way over to where Kent and Andrew were. It was at this moment, that Ash noticed the boisterous sirens that were steadily getting louder, undoubtedly approaching their location from somewhere in the nearby distance.
When the purple, psionic energy dispersed right before it touched down, roughly dropping the executive and a strange, white, red and yellow, ribbon-like pokemon on the ground, Ash looked up as a radiant, bluish silver light illuminated the night sky. Squinting his eyes on account of the brightness, he wasn't able to clearly make out everything. However, he did recognize that Charizard, Grimm and Zenith had cleared out of the way while the source of the massive light plunged towards the earth's surface like a falling meteor.
"Bloody hell that Meteor Mash is huge!"
Stuck underneath the large, shining mass was the spiked, evolved aerodactyl. It was belly up with its wings widely spread apart as its charred body struggled to get out from underneath the gravity of the momentous assailment. After witnessing Charizard and Grimm's scorching, twofold Inferno, Ash was shocked that the ancient flying-type was still conscious. Considering all of the vicious attacks that it had endured, the ascended fossil pokemon's vitality truly was otherworldly.
Nevertheless, the battle was about to come to an end. Even if the mega aerodactyl with the king's nature somehow managed to get back up once it crashed into the ground underneath the weight of the gigantic, glistening body of matter, its demise was inevitable. There was a hulking beast, emitting a maliciously eager aura standing behind him that was ready to make sure of it.
"We should move," said Ash, looking up at Bill as he used his thumb to point backwards at the imposing tyranitar behind them.
"Yeah, we don't want to get tra—"
He abruptly felt the bizarre sensation of his newfound mental barrier expanding within his consciousness before an image of his pup popped into his head.
Suddenly, Ash, Bill and Growlithe were consumed by a bright surge of white light before being momentarily propelled into another dimension.
When they jarringly reemerged from the overstimulating, kaleidoscopical realm that they were forced to pass through while undergoing teleportation, Bill was slouched over on the ground while Growlithe was standing disconcertedly by his side — physically unaffected, but evidently confused. Vera and Medicham's backs were facing them as they had their full attention glued to the conflict that was ensuing in front of them.
Just as he mentally registered that Vera had teleported them right behind where Andrew, Kent, Blaine and their pokemon had come face-to-face with the Rocket executive and his strange, foreign specimen, the ground intensely shook from the force of the devastating collision that took place a short distance beyond their position. While Ash somehow managed to keep his balance, there was a harsh, white light and an explosive rush of dirt, debris and wind that surged in their direction like a mighty tidal wave before a giant, dome-shaped, psionic barrier encompassed all of them within its protection.
"Shit!" yelled Ash, overwhelmed by the staggeringly fast-paced series of occurrences.
Growlithe groaned in a perturbed manner.
"Bloody fucking hell!" cursed Bill after wiping the vomit from his mouth, "as if the unexpected teleportation wasn't enough!"
After quickly gathering himself, the dark-haired boy felt a sudden impulse to move forward, "Growlithe, Bill — come on!"
His pup let out a shaky, but affirmative, bark.
"O-okay!" replied Bill in an anxious manner.
Passing by Vera and Medicham — who had their arms raised as they held the large barrier that shielded everyone from the destructive aftermath of the Meteor Mash's impact — Ash overheard the intense confrontation that was taking place in the center of an intimidating encirclement of powerful pokemon that were unknowingly blocking his view.
"What did you do with Nathaniel!?" shouted a raspy voice that undoubtedly belonged to Blaine, "where the hell is he you Rocket piece of shit!?"
"I've never understood friendship," responded a cold, dispassionate, low-toned voice that had to belong to Archer, "getting so worked up on behalf of another human being…what's the point?"
"Of course you wouldn't understand," spat Kent, "you're scum."
"I'd tell the old man if I were you. He's not fucking around," added Andrew with disdain evident in his intonation, "as a matter of fact, none of us are!"
Thud.
There was a loud gasp followed by a disturbing outburst of gags and coughs.
A shiver went down Ash's spine as he, Growlithe and Bill maneuvered their way around Blaine's red and yellow coated, bipedal fox before bypassing the ape-like pokemon with the ignited eyebrows. Both of the foreign fire-types turned around, staring at them momentarily with aggressive eyes. However, after the elegant fox had a sudden look of reverential recognition on its face when it zeroed in on Ash, they both turned back around, refocusing their attention on the confrontation.
On the right side of the encirclement, there was enough space in-between the quadrupedal fire ape and Andrew's prodigious dragonite for them to get a good view of the impromptu interrogation.
A man with short, disheveled aqua blue hair was hunched over on both of his knees. It was apparent that he had gotten the wind knocked out of him as he tried to support his slender frame with his bleeding right hand while grasping at his stomach with his left hand. His tattered and severely scuffed long-sleeved shirt and long, sleek pants looked to at one point have both been primarily white, and the black, upside-down, hexagonal patch with a bold red 'R' in the center of it was dangling from his chest. Due to his doubled over position, his face was currently hidden from Ash's view.
Limply twitching on the gravelly ground next to the man presumed to be Archer was an odd, white, red and yellow pokemon. After getting a closer look, rather than comparing it to a ribbon, Ash would say that its appearance more accurately resembled a fūrin wind chime. Its beady yellow eyes in the middle of its round body were completely blank, and its long, patterned, tag-like tail was battered and frayed.
Standing over Archer with threatening countenances were Andrew, Kent and Blaine.
The gym-leader's foreign apparition with a chandelier-like appearance levitated right next to the Rocket executive as its purple flames palpitated and it made an ominous droning sound.
Positioned behind the Rocket was Ignis. Standing well over ten-feet tall, the monstrous magmortar with the king's nature had its cannons pointed directly at Archer as it purposefully leaked sapphire-colored flames.
Looming on the left side of the blue-haired executive was JR's menacing hyrdreigon. It was currently lowering its three heads down to Archer's level in an intimidatory manner while divulging a low, malicious guttural noise.
When Archer's hacking fit came to an end, Andrew crouched down on the ground before roughly clenching the blue hair on the back of his head. With his young, unlined, bleeding face visible to Ash for the first time, he found the emptiness in his aqua blue eyes unsettling.
"Where is Dr. Fuji?!" questioned Andrew intensely, "and where is the abomination?!"
"That was quite the punch," replied Archer matter-of-factly, "I almost vomited."
"Answer me!"
"It's not like it matters at this point now that you League mutts have found out about the Lab," articulated Archer emotionlessly, "so, if you must know, Fuji is dead. As for Mewtwo, it has defected. I do not know where it—"
Thud.
After bludgeoning Archer's face with his fist, the old man winded back his arm once again as Andrew continued to squeeze the executive's hair.
"You killed him!?" bellowed Blaine.
"You little fucking prick…" berated Andrew.
Kent raised his hand to his forehead as he shook his head.
Ash's stomach had started to turn as he processed Archer's words before the same overwhelming feeling of rage from earlier started to well up.
As the dark-haired boy tried to repress it, Bill stood shellshocked as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.
While whining, Growlithe looked up, pivoting his attention between his trainer and Bill.
"I didn't kill him," said Archer placidly before spitting blood out of his mouth, "Mewtwo killed Fuji and the rest of the scientists that created it the moment it was born. What a waste. We would have already made another one if it weren't for—"
Thud.
Andrew let go of his grasp after the old man hit Archer in the face for a second time as hard as he could.
"Y-you hit hard Blaine," muttered Archer as blood leaked from his crooked nose and swelling mouth while he struggled to get back up onto his knees, "not as h-hard as this n-neanderthal of an ACE trainer, though. You know, if y-you cared so much about Fuji, why weren't you the one to b-barge your way th-through the wall in the l-lab? Oh, how many times my m-men h-have told me th-that you were leaving your mor-moronic little riddles in the East Wing. Ev-everything was happening right under your nose — within y-your jurisdiction. D-didn't y-you ever question wh-why Fuji p-pulled away fr-from you? D-didn't you think it was st-strange th-that h-he left out of the b-blue without t-talking to you? He's been dead f-for over a year. I may not u-understand fr-friendship, b—"
Thud.
Crack.
Despite his anger, Ash winced when he heard the sound of the executive's ribs snapping after Kent kicked him in the side with a tremendous amount of force.
"Kyuuuuuhhhhh!" gasped Archer.
"We're the ones asking questions you evil piece of shit," admonished the yellow eyed ACE trainer.
Thump.
Ash turned around after hearing a loud thud that had come from somewhere behind him. Having landed on the ground atop the back of his huge, mighty dragonite, JR swung one of his legs to the side before nimbly leaping down to the gravelly surface. After being presumably returned, his steel avian was nowhere to be found, and the barrier that Vera and Medicham had been maintaining at some point had been dispelled when the impact from the devastating Meteor Mash was no longer a concern.
"Stay here, Dragonite," commanded JR before facing the encirclement of imposing pokemon.
Walking with a quick pace, the Elite Four member moved in Ash's direction while portraying the same even-tempered demeanor that he had frequently displayed before the raid.
"He must have talked," said JR as he took in Ash's angry expression and Bill's distraught countenance, "what has he said so far?"
"A-as w-we feared, the d-doc i-is dead," stammered Bill, "he w-was k-k-killed by the a-abomination."
"Shit…" replied JR with compassionate eyes and a frown, "I'm sorry to hear that. My condolences."
"Sabrina was right, the abomination isn't under the control of Team Rocket anymore," said Ash with an evident amount of enmity in his voice despite the fact that he was trying to suppress his useless anger.
"I see…" answered JR, placing a comforting hand on Ash's head.
He let out a heavy sigh as he looked at the boy with intent filled eyes, "it's okay to be angry in the face of evil, Ash."
As the Elite Four member maneuvered past them, he continued to speak, "strong emotions don't cloud the judgement of those that are competent."
The dark-haired man adjusted his backwards cap as he made a beeline straight towards Archer.
Ash wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that he would never forget the words JR had just said.
"You must be Archer," said JR, squatting down while resting both of his forearms on his knees, "it looks like you're in pretty bad shape."
"Kyuhhhhhhh!" gasped Archer — unable to properly respond."
"Kent, broke a few of his ribs," explained Andrew as he glared down at the struggling executive, "it's going to take him a moment to catch his breath."
JR glanced at Kent with a perturbed expression.
"He pissed me off," said the yellow eyed ACE trainer, folding his arms, "he started to question the old man."
Without responding to Kent, JR looked up at Blaine from his crouched position, "are you okay, old man? I know you two were close."
Blaine was as white as a ghost. All of the anger that he had just exhibited disappeared as fast as air leaves a popped ballon. It was evident that Archer's cruel words had some truth to them.
"N-Nathaniel is dead…" muttered Blaine as his legs wobbled, "m-my best friend was wrapped up i-in a mess like this, a-and I didn't even know. I can't b-believe I let this happen."
Blaine…
Thump.
Hearing a thud next to him, Ash looked down to the right to see that Bill had fallen into a sitting position. With his hands in the ground, the pokemon researcher stared forward with a look of disbelief in his eyes as Growlithe tried to comfort him by licking one of his forearms.
"I c-can't believe this…" said Bill, shaking his head while tears flowed down his face, "all th-this time…he's been dead."
The boy's rage began to boil.
"This isn't your fault, Blaine," said JR, shaking his head as he pointed towards the anguishing Rocket, "it's his…"
The prodigious member of the Elite Four paused as he pivoted his line of sight back towards Archer, "and whoever his boss is."
Thump.
As the blaring sound of police sirens got louder and louder, Metagross, Charizard, Grimm and Zenith landed behind Ignis. All three of the pokemon that had achieved mega evolution by using the splendid, peculiar stones had returned to their previous forms.
So, it's temporary…
A ways beyond their position, a giant fallen primordial beast was inertly sprawled out on the ground. It no longer had any of the black protrusions that previously covered its body, and the dark purple, shadowy aura that it had been emitting was gone. Prodding it with its foot was Kent's tyranitar, who seemed to be ensuring that it had succumbed to comatose.
"Who is your boss?" asked JR when Archer's wheezes and gasps began to lessen.
"Hyuhh that is not hyuhh information that hyuhh you are going hyuhh to get out of me," responded Archer as he uselessly tried to crawl away.
Hydreigon lowered one of its heads directly in front of the executive while loading draconic flames in its mouth as Ignis fired a blue, scorchingly hot Ember at the ground right in front of the Rocket, stopping him in his tracks.
"Lance is aware that there is a traitor amongst us," replied JR with tranquil eyes, "it must be someone with a pretty high rank if they know about the key stones. Somebody like that couldn't be a grunt…"
JR's expression abruptly intensified as he peered at Archer with an authoritative countenance, "the traitor could be an executive like you, but I doubt it. I'm thinking it's your boss. Now, why don't you save us some time, and tell me who it is?"
"There is nothing hyuhh that you could do hyuhh to me that would get me to tell you hyuhh his name."
"I'm not planning on doing anything to you," replied JR as he shook his head in a disappointed manner, "but, I can promise you that it would be a lot easier on you if you'd just tell me. There's a pretty famous psychic that was close to Dr. Fuji who will be dying to get her hands on you once we take you back to the Indigo Plateau."
He paused, "I've watched her work on your colleagues' mental barriers a couple of times. Let's just say it doesn't seem like a pleasant experience."
"So hyuhh be hyuhh it."
JR let out a deep sigh, "all of you executives are the same. This boss that you are willing to endure so much for, do you think that he will bat an eye at your sacrifice?"
"Hyuhh it doesn't matter. We hyuhh know we are pawns hyuhh. But, hyuhh if we can be of use hyuhh to him hyuuh than hyuuh that is hyuhh enough."
"Didn't you just get done saying that caring for another human being is pointless?" questioned Andrew, crouching back down next to JR as he raised an eyebrow at the executive, "it seems like you care about this boss quite a bit if your willing to suffer to such a degree."
"The boss hyuhh is different hyuhh. He is the exception. He hyuuh is hyuhh like a god. He is hyuhh the Chosen One."
The boy's rage erupted as his other self exploded out of his subconscious.
"The Chosen One will be the world's greatest hero," replied JR, furrowing his brow, "your boss is a lowlife piece of shit."
"A-ash—?" queried Bill as the dark-haired boy began to move towards Archer.
Growlithe followed his trainer's lead. The pup's eyes were ablaze with a bright, unnatural light.
"Th-this must be the other persona," muttered Bill with astonishment in his voice.
"Ash, what are you doing?" questioned Kent, reaching for one of his shoulders.
He swatted away the yellow eyed ACE trainer's hand.
"Hey, what's gotten into—" started Kent before noticing Ash's blazing, silver eyes.
"Kid…you shouldn't be—" began Andrew as the boy brushed past him, "woah..."
"Ash Ketchum, what are you doing her—" said Blaine prior to becoming speechless.
After turning his head to look up at the boy from his crouched position, JR's eyes widened before a smirk appeared on his face, "so this is the reason that Lance insisted that you come."
All of the elite level pokemon belonging to Blaine and the Cinnabar trio lowered their heads in a reverent manner.
The Chosen One looked down at Archer with an expression that portrayed repugnance.
At first, the executive appeared confused as he painstakingly pivoted his line of sight back and forth between Ash and Growlithe.
"A hyuuh child and hyuhh a Growlithe?"
"How can the man that you worship be the Chosen One when I am standing right before you?"
When Archer looked into Ash's silver eyes, there was a moment of realization before his dispassionate countenance contorted into an ugly look of fear.
"This can't hyuhh be!"
"What is true, and what you wish to be true, are two different things," spoke the Chosen One, "this is reality, and my reality is destiny."
"Hyuhh, but—"
"I've heard enough out of you."
"Haunter," commanded the Chosen One, "Put him to sleep."
Rising out of the Chosen One's shadow without making a sound while his ghoulish eyes shined with an otherworldly, silver light, the apparition unleashed a lazy, but potent, wave of psionic energy out of his disembodied hands.
After showing a brief look of despair right before the Hypnosis washed over him, Archer fell face first into the gravelly surface.
The Chosen one let out a deep sigh before turning around to face Bill, Blaine and the Cinnabar trio. As Growlithe and Haunter's eyes returned to normal, Ash was handed back control of his body.
"I'm sorry," said Ash with a guilty look on his face, "I kind of ruined your interrogation."
For a moment, all that could be heard was the blaring sound of police sirens as the night sky was filled with red and blue lights.
Andrew and Kent looked at the boy with bewildered expressions.
Despite Blaine's deep sorrow a small smile appeared on his face.
With puffy eyes, Bill sighed, "I g-guess the meowth's o-out of the bag."
Growlithe and Haunter gazed up at their trainer with admiration in their eyes.
JR stood up from his crouched position as he looked Ash in the eye with a massive grin on his face, "I had a feeling…"
Well. So much for keeping it a secret from the Cinnabar trio…
XXX
To be continued…
XXX
A/N: I'm sorry for the longer wait this time around. This one was much more challenging to write. I hope you all liked it. I know it didn't feature many of Ash's pokemon, but there will be plenty of time for all of that in the upcoming chapters. Please leave a review. I'd love to hear your thoughts, and if you feel inclined to be updated on the status of each chapter while you wait, I do give updates on my profile. Anyways…
Thanks for reading!
Much love, vincentgrey21
