68,69

"Ready for this?" Ash asked.

Keldeo nodded firmly. "I am, Ash!" he said. "You've helped me out a lot, and I think I can do it!"

"Good," Ash smiled. "Should I tell you how well I did when I faced her last time?"

Keldeo frowned.

"...tell me afterwards," he decided.

"Sure thing," Ash agreed. "Okay – and remember, there's the backup if you need it."

Another nod, as Keldeo glanced down at his belt – specifically, the three Fast Balls in a neat row.

"Okay, Keldeo!" Ash said with a grin. "Let's do this!"

"Dewgong, Surf," Lorelei instructed.

Her Water-type complied, sending out a wave of water, and Keldeo's first Sacred Sword hit him on the side. Turning, Dewgong fired a Water Pulse which slapped into the second blade-beam and attenuated much of its power, then rolled to one side and fired an Ice Beam.

Lorelei waited for several seconds, as the water spread and flattened out. "Okay, now – Sheer Cold!"

Dewgong was quite some distance from his opponent, so the pulse of intense cold didn't harm Keldeo – it certainly didn't knock him out, though the arena did get a bit chilly.

What it did, though, was to freeze the water in a ring around him into cold, slippery ice. Ice which Dewgong was experienced at battling on, but which Keldeo most certainly was not.

The young Fighting-type saw the problem coming before it arrived. "Right!"

Ash saw it too. "Keldeo – try-"

What he was going to say, though, went unheard. Keldeo reared up, then – just as the wave of ice crossed under him – slammed his forehooves down onto the ice hard enough to crack it.

He pivoted forwards, taking the weight on his forelegs, and then drove his rear hooves down with the same ice-cracking force.

That got him a stable platform. He ignored the skating Dewgong for now, and swung his horn twice to fire off two scything blasts – one of them slicing a line out from Keldeo to cross just behind Dewgong, the other about a quarter turn away.

Then he fired blasts of water from his hooves down the cracks.

This course of action led to two results.

First was that Keldeo was rocketed into the air, soaring easily fifty feet into the air from the sheer force he'd put in.

The second one was that all that water went through the cracks and under the ice, lifting it up.

It fractured with an almighty BANG along the lines Keldeo had scored, and Dewgong was suddenly on a chunk of ice four inches thick and a hundred feet on a side which was rapidly tilting to vertical.

WHAM.

"That was very... Ash-like of Keldeo," Misty observed. "Guess he's been learning well."

"No kidding," Brock agreed, as Lorelei returned the Dewgong from underneath the broken ice. "Which might be a bit scary, come to think of it... I'm sure being Ash-like would make him very capable, but I fear for nearby buildings."

Keldeo twisted, hooves lashing out, and caught the Mamoswine a glancing blow as it thundered past him.

He used his Hydro Pump to brake, then multiplied himself and charged up an Aura Sphere. A chomp, and the Sphere shattered into dozens of fragments which deluged towards the shaggy-coated Ice-type.

"Mamoswine, Ancient Power!" Lorelei instructed. "Power through it!"

Mamoswine grunted agreement, horns flashing, and shot a blast of Rock-typed energy at his opponent.

Keldeo's horn swung down, flaring, and he scythed through the Ancient Power – then, as it blew two craters in the floor either side of the Water-type, he counterattacked.

Hooves drumming on the frosted ground, he charged forwards – jinking around a Mud Bomb, leaning over a bit to make the turn, before lighting his horn with Secret Sword and clashing it against Mamoswine's tusks.

"There's something..." Cobalion frowned. "I don't know. Something strikes me about Keldeo now..."

"What, that he's stronger?" Terrakion asked. "He's been doing well-"

"That's not it," Virizion interrupted. "I see it too, and I think I know what it is. Cobalion... he's come into his own. Look here."

All three Swords followed the next few moments closely.

A Jynx flared into existence on the battlefield, and Keldeo faced her down – flanks heaving, after the heavy work he'd been doing already in the battle, but steady and confident.

"...you're right," Cobalion agreed. "There was no nervous glance, there. He's quite self-confident – not just in his ability to fight, but in his ability to judge his opponent's strength."

"Oh, I get it," Terrakion said, nodding. "He's not looking to Ash for confirmation something's a good idea any more. Cool!"

"It is indeed," Virizion smiled. "It is indeed. He's grown up."

They winced as a wave of Psychic energy crashed across the battlefield – then that turned to shock, as Keldeo launched a Night Slash which punched through the psychic wave and hit Jynx a glancing blow.

"Can he do that with anything that uses his horn?" Cobalion asked. "That's quite remarkable."

"Certainly looks like it," Virizion agreed.

"Okay, when's he getting back here?" their friend asked. "I want to learn that!"

"We all do," Cobalion chuckled.

"Audine?" the Pokémon Centre's assistant nurse asked.

"No, we're just here to watch the television," Virizion told her. "But – actually, if it's not too much trouble, could we get something to eat?"

"Dino."

"Great work, Keldeo!" Ash said, sincerely. "That was amazing!"

He held out a Pokéball, and recalled the exhausted Fighting-type. He'd managed to get through Dewgong, Mamoswine and Jynx, but that last one had left him absolutely exhausted – and the arena a mess of powder-snow and icy chunks.

"Should we-" he began.

Lorelei smiled. "This has been a lot of fun so far, Mr. Ketchum. Please, continue."

"Right!" Ash agreed. "Okay – Entei, see if you can finish what Keldeo started!"

About ten minutes later, Entei managed to haul Cloyster's shell open and launch a blast of flame in through the gap.

Lorelei held up her hand in acceptance of the loss. "I'm out – good match."

"And I can take that as I want to," Entei muttered, rubbing at his spike-stuck paw. "Ow."

"Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?" Mr. Goodshow called, through a PA system. "First, let's all thank Mr. Ketchum and Lorelei for that wonderful battle!"

The applause that ran around the arena was gratifying.

"Secondly – that was one reason why this series of matches are so special, with such a skilful opponent as Mr. Ketchum for our Elite Four members. But the other one is – Mr. Ketchum will only be using Legendary Pokémon."

That drew some gasps, and at least one shout of 'lucky bastard!' from the crowd which was answered by a great deal of laughter.

"Well, he's done the work..." Charles Goodshow quipped. "Next will be Bruno, the Breaker of Bricks and the Fighting-Type master of the Elite Four! Though I still don't understand the Onix..."

Another ripple of laughter.

"What's he going to send out to fight Bruno, do you think?" Casey asked, as the second member of the Elite Four took the field.

"Good question..." Pietra admitted. "Latias, maybe? That one makes sense..."

Next to them, Koji leaned forwards. "Wait... who are they?"

He pointed, and the girls followed his finger.

"Aren't those the Kimono Girls from Ecruteak?"

"Yeah!" Casey confirmed. "I met them once. They're nice..."

She frowned. "Wait. Why are they coming out on Ash's side of the field?"

One of the five girls, wearing an ornate rainbow-patterned kimono, struck two bamboo clappers together.

"May?" Norman asked, glancing over at his daughter – who seemed to be all but trembling with anticipation.

"I helped him with the ideas for this," May explained. "Wait for it..."

Ash threw the Pokéball. It was almost invisible at this distance, but then it opened and there was a great big crackling BANG from the seals attached to it. A towering cloud of white smoke erupted forth, with orange flame at the base...

And then, bursting through into the sunlight, came Ho-Oh. The blazing noonday sun reflected and refracted off his iridescent wings, spreading an aura of colour all over the stadium as his wings churned away the smoke.

"...top marks," Caroline remarked.

Casey gaped. "You're kidding me. You're... how long has he had that?"

"I'm getting the distinct impression we got off lightly," Koji said.

Ho-Oh's wings flared, and he settled down to a stately hover just above the arena floor.

"Okay, Bruno's main thing is to go for the all-out strike," Ash said, giving some last-minute advice. "That's one reason why I came up with the new move."

The firey legendary dipped his wings, then beat hard down and ascended as Bruno sent out his Hitmonlee.

"Hitmonlee!" Bruno called out. "Our big challenge is going to be doing damage fast enough – so start with a lot of it! Stone Edge!"

Hitmonlee complied, drawing one leg back and digging it hard into the ground before snap-kicking up with it – carrying a load of the rock and dirt of the arena floor, which shot up at Ho-Oh.

"Now!" Ash called.

The Rainbow Pokémon seemed to explode in a cloud of flames, which streamed upwards – and the Stone Edge went through empty air before being stopped by the Alakazam.

Bruno's head went back as he followed the flame, and blinked. "How did-"

The flames dissipated, revealing Ho-Oh much closer to the stadium roof with his wings covered in scorch marks. He called out, voice rippling in the air, and turned before spearing down a bolt of flame.

"Ho-Oh's able to heal really quickly!" Ash explained. "So I thought – why not make an artificial thermal to get out of trouble?"

"...I can see this one's going to be difficult!" Bruno called.

His Kicking Pokémon emerged from the flames somewhat the worse for wear, and he pointed up. "Okay, Hitmonlee – another Stone Edge! Aim high!"

"...well, now we know why there were those regular explosions over where Ash was training," Norman admitted, as the fiery glow of Ho-Oh's attacks cast second-shadows across the stadium.

"Impressed?" May asked, a bit smugly.

"I've been impressed for a while," Norman pointed out. "But now I'm a bit more impressed than before, certainly. And – it looks very spectacular."

"I wonder if he'd want to do some contests with you!" Caroline suggested. "I believe he's got so many Pokémon that getting them all into gym challenges might be difficult."

"...actually, I should ask him," May admitted.

Hitmonchan punched out, fist cloaked in ice, and the rosy flame splashed off his glove – the ice acting like an oven glove, preventing him from being directly contacted by Ho-Oh's attack.

"Right!" Ash called. "Ho-Oh, change in tactics!"

A cry of acknowledgement, and Ho-Oh unleashed flame again. This time, it streamed out from his tail and wings in a continuous layer, joining up to form a tornado of flame which hung in the air – whipping the air in the stadium into a breeze, then a stronger wind.

Hitmonchan's gloves came up in a high guard position, ready to block the next blast of flame – though the tornado would be harder to deal with.

"Behind you!" Bruno called out, and Hitmonchan spun with blazing speed. His fist came out, crackling with thunder, and scored a hit on Ho-Oh – then the Fire-type's talons grabbed him by the arm, and hauled him skywards.

Flying straight up through the core of the flames as they dissipated, Ho-Oh was carried skywards faster than he might have been through wing-power alone. Repeated Thunderpunches rammed into his talons, but he could handle it – then, reaching his apex, he turned around and flung Hitmonchan at the floor in a Sky Drop.

"Flaps down... engines slow... okay, I think we're about ready ta land, Jessie!"

Jessie nodded, and shifted the joystick slightly. The big aircraft seemed to float in the air for a moment as it flared, shedding speed and height, then touched down with a gentle bump.

The bumping got less gentle a moment later as they jostled their way to a landing on the grass strip, but it was a lot better than it could have been.

"Phew!" Jessie said, relieved. "This thing's a lot more intimidating than a balloon or submarine, at least they don't tend to crash if you do nothing..."

Meowth shrugged. "Hey, it ain't like we'd hit da ground, not with Abra on board."

Jessie nodded. "True..."

A trail of flame went past, and Moltres backwinged to land just in front of them.

James staggered off, looking a bit queasy.

"Guess he didn't enjoy da turbulence," Meowth observed. "Okay, we're in Hoenn again, now what?"

"Well, going by what Team Aqua and Team Magma did last time... they're not exactly subtle," Jessie observed.

She winced. "Though neither were we."

"Jessie, we got a giant firebird on da team and you been teachin' her to do aileron rolls through Cubone's bonemerangs. We ain't subtle now," Meowth said.

"Point taken."

"Okay, Onix!" Bruno said, as the Eviolite sparked to life. "Remember, you're the strongest thing on the battlefield – so go close in, you'll come off best!"

Onix coiled up, then lashed out with a cascade of rocks in a Rock Slide.

Ho-Oh cloaked himself in flame and executed a radical course change, and only one of the rocks hit him – though that one hit plenty hard enough.

Rising, he used the flame-thermal trick to accelerate skywards faster, and levelled out nearly at the stadium roof. Solar energy flowed over his feathers, and then blazed down as an intense green Solarbeam.

Onix had an answer for that one, though. It raised a shining iron tail, and the grass-type attack reflected off in all directions – scoring lines on the field, and driving the tail back a few inches.

When the attack faded, however, Onix was still quite healthy.

Ash's response to that was a grin. "Okay, Ho-Oh! Rain Dance!"

Everyone else was a little taken aback. Pardon?

Ho-Oh, however, complied. He beat his wings once, flames crackling beneath them, and then swept his shimmering feathers outwards.

There was a kind of ripple through the air.

Overhead, clouds began to gather, blocking out the noonday sun. Within a few seconds, they had joined up and the first drops began to fall.

"No more long flights unless we have to..." James sighed.

Moltres looked a little worried. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head. "Sorry – never mind, forgot... no Meowth, no translation."

After a moment, James leaned back on the grass. "Hoenn... hm, it's been a while."

Seeing Moltres looking curious, he expanded. "Last time around... yeah, it kind of got confusing. But at the same time, it was pretty fun, some of it – this is where Jessie got into Contests."

"That explains why she's been working on making my moves showy," Moltres mused.

"Actually, this is about the time we lost Arbok and Weezing," James said. "Not having that happen again... it was poachers," he filled in.

"How ironic."

"And then we got Cacnea, and Seviper... now Seviper was kind of funny. Jessie captured Seviper by beating her up herself..."

James blanched, as the memory touched something off. "Whoops... hey, Jessie!"

"What?" Jessie called back from the plane.

"We're going to need to head to my parents' summer house in Sinnoh! I forgot Carnivine!"

Jessie looked aghast. Then she threw the flight manual at him. "Couldn't you have remembered that before we flew all the way down here?"

Moltres couldn't quite hold in a giggle.

As the rain intensified, Ho-Oh shook his wings out and rode the wind.

Unlike certain other Fire-types, rain was not a problem for him – he preferred the sun, but there were no exposed flames to harm.

But... there were certain advantages.

Half-hidden by the drumming rain, he charged up his attack.

"Ready?" Ash called, a moment later.

The Fire-type nodded, knowing Ash at least could see him perfectly.

"Weather Ball!"

In his enthusiasm, Ho-Oh may have overcharged the Weather Ball slightly. It drew in all the water currently falling through the stadium into one ball as he fired it, and then slammed that considerable mass into Onix at equally considerable speed.

Mud went everywhere.

As Bruno recalled his last Pokémon, the rain dwindled to a patter before stopping entirely.

Exactly this situation was what Ho-Oh was well known for, and he did not disappoint. His feathers glowed as the sun broke through the clouds, and he came spiralling down with a rainbow trailing him from the top of the arena to barely above the floor of the stadium.

Then, just as he passed Ash's box, he flared. Landed. Raised his head, and let out a long cry with wings and tail spread.

That done, he nodded courteously to Ash, who returned him.

"We're certainly having a treat today," Norman smiled. "Do you know who's next?"

"I'd have thought you'd know, Norman," Caroline teased. "You're the Gym Leader."

"Not of around here I'm not," Norman pointed out.

"It's obviously Agatha next," Max frowned. "But who's Ash going to use to battle her?"

"At this point I wouldn't be surprised if he sent out Lugia..."

"Oh, he can," May assured him matter-of-factly. "He doesn't talk about it much, but even last time he helped save Lugia – Brock told me once, he wasn't there but Misty told him..."

Norman blinked, but had become almost inured to Ash stories by now. "I see. Do you think he'll use Lugia here?"

May frowned.

"I think no," she began, but before she could explain why she though that she was interrupted.

The crowd began to murmur as Agatha stepped up, before swelling as she sent out her first Pokémon – a big, black Gengar.

In reply, Ash gestured.

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then a white and purple form stepped onto the field from one of the tunnels, with an odd gliding step that suggested it was more floating-at-ground-level than walking per se.

Greetings, Mewtwo broadcast.

The crowd went very quiet.

Yes, I know, I know. It's all a bit surprising. Mewtwo spread his hands, and rose a few feet into the air. He's a very hands-off trainer.

"Ready?" Ash called.

Suppose so.

Turning to face Agatha's Gengar, Mewtwo gathered energy into his palms. Let's see how this works out.

"So?" Ritchie asked, gazing down over Hoenn. "What do you think? Should we do this place next?"

Zippo shrugged, giving his wings a shake.

"I think so," his Raichu volunteered. "It's got Water and Flying gyms, which is a definite plus."

Another grumble from Zippo.

"Oh, come on..." Ritchie chuckled, patting the flank of his Charizard. "There's a Fighting gym, you're not just a Fire-type."

"Fair enough," the Charizard sighed. "Should we head back down?"

"In a bit," Ritchie denied. "I like flying up here."

Sparky coughed. "You realize that Ash's third match should be on by now?"

For a couple of seconds, Ritchie did nothing.

Then he pointed down. "Okay, Zippo, enough flying for now! Let's get back to the Pokémon centre!"

Chuckling, Zippo folded in his wings and dove. The wind whistled around him and his passengers, going from a breeze to a gale in moments, and he stooped down towards Slateport's main Pokémon Centre.

As the ground rushed up, Ritchie waited until Zippo was slowing down and then hopped off the side. A burst of psychic energy braked the rest of his fall, and he hurried into the Centre to watch the main screen.

Mewtwo made a seemingly-lazy gesture, and a huge pulse of energy roared out towards Gengar.

The Ghost-type responded by swooping out of the way, letting the attack expend itself on the floor of the arena, before heading underground.

"Okay, Mewtwo!" Ash said. "You know what to do!"

I do indeed. Mewtwo gathered shadowy, ghostly energy in his hands, and then thrust them down towards the floor. Shadow sweep!

Dozens of Shadow Balls cascaded from his fingers, reaching the ground and phasing through it just as Gengar had done. They moved in a complicated pattern, appearing and disappearing for several seconds and tracing a space underground so that Gengar had nowhere to hide that would not be intercepted by a Shadow Ball at least once.

The whirling balls produced a purple haze in the air for a few seconds, and at the end of it Gengar emerged somewhat the worse for wear.

"Watch out, he's not done yet!" Ash called. "Psystrike!"

Mewtwo gestured, and the Gengar was driven into the wall by a hammerlike blast of energy.

There we go, he said, pleased. One down, four to go.

The second Pokémon Agatha sent out was a new one to Ash and Mewtwo both. It was almost like a sword and shield joined together, with the shield held in one 'arm' and the other one – a tassel-like appendage – clearly visible.

"Dexter?" Ash asked.

That is an Aegislash. It's got the move King's Shield – if you hit it when it's blocking with the shield, it drains energy.

"Thanks. Mewtwo, stay clear when it's defending!"

Thank you for the advice, Mewtwo said somewhat tartly. And should I keep breathing, too?

He clenched his fist, and frowned.

"What is it?" Ash asked.

I can't manage a Psystrike any more. How-

"Grudge!" Ash realized. "Gengar used Grudge on you – I guess we'll have to watch out for that one in future..."

Very true. I can see this could be harder than I-

Aegislash brought its shield up to the defensive position. Then, startling both Ash and Mewtwo, it charged at him.

What the!? Mewtwo asked, and backed away to keep the range open. Aegislash followed, pommel-eye glowing, and Agatha cackled.

Ash was frowning. "So I guess you can't attack it... uh... can you throw stuff at it from a distance?"

I think so. Mewtwo reached down to the arena floor, getting as firm a grip as he could while being chased by the surprisingly mobile animated weaponry, and made a sharp upwards gesture – making the arena floor crumble into dust.

Mewtwo's power reached out to enfold it, and he drew the dust and sand towards him – then set it whirling around his body at close range, forming a kind of ersatz sandstorm through which Aegislash would have to pass.

The King's Shield Pokémon promptly did so, abrading badly in the high-speed sandshield but reaching Mewtwo to deliver a shield bash.

Mewtwo flinched back from the feeling of the impact. What – that hurt! More than it should have!

"I see!" Ash called up, as Mewtwo swooped away from Aegislash to gain more distance. "It's making itself hit you so the King's Shield thing happens!"

That's just annoying! Mewtwo frowned, and this time a much larger chunk of rock came flying up and cannoned into Aegislash.

It clattered back to the floor after that, shield askew, and Mewtwo had a moment to feel satisfied before it vanished.

Not wasting so much as a moment, he launched out a spherical Dark Pulse which filled the whole arena with night-black and purple-blue shadows.

"Left!" Ash called, and Mewtwo saw a black-glowing blade swinging itself at him from the side. The shield was in one of the tassel-arms, revealing the wicked blade aimed for his shoulder.

Reacting quickly, Mewtwo managed to use an intense Reflect shield to prevent the Night Slash from connecting with him. The Dark-type attack eroded through it almost instantly, but Mewtwo reinforced it with a rush of compressed air that formed a physical shield in its place.

A backhanded Psychic, and he knocked Aegislash to the arena floor again.

"King's Shield!" Agatha called. "Now, Rest!"

The shield blocked the blade once more, and then Aegislash's pommel eye closed.

This seems- Mewtwo began.

"Dodge!"

Mewtwo teleported out of the way, trusting Ash to only tell him that if there was a need. That trust was borne out a bare second later, as Aegislash launched forwards a Hyper Beam.

Ah. Sleep Talk, Mewtwo realized, as he saw Aegislash was still asleep.

This was going to be a complicated battle, he could tell.

Giovanni leaned back in his seat.

"You know," he observed, and Persian looked up with sleepy eyes. "That is getting your money's worth."

Persian yawned, not all that bothered.

69

Hands together, Mewtwo fired out a storm of Shadow Balls at Dusknoir.

Opening its central body, the Ghost-type absorbed the attack into itself. Mewtwo kept up the barrage, swerving them so that Dusknoir had to keep adjusting, and after about twenty seconds Mewtwo finally snuck one past the defences.

There was an almighty explosion, and Dusknoir dissolved into the wind.

I assume they come back at some point... Mewtwo muttered. Right. Four down, one to go.

"That's right!" Ash confirmed. "Hey, can you still use Shadow Ball?"

Mewtwo checked, holding out his hand. Dark energy resolutely failed to form on it, and he sighed.

Oh well. I still have Psychic and Focus Blast, at least...

Agatha chuckled. "Now – ask yourself, child. Why would I sacrifice four Ghost-types without using Curse?"

"It had occurred to me," Ash admitted. "I didn't want to ask, though, because it might give you ideas."

Another chuckle. "Smart boy!"

Agatha sent out her final Pokémon – a Sableye.

Mewtwo frowned. That's not exactly-

"Miracle Eye now!" Ash snapped.

"Too late!" Agatha announced, and there was a flash of bright orange light.

Squinting against the glow, Mewtwo saw the Mega-Evolution faintly. Sableye's body lit up, and then the energy all focused towards the gem on its chest. The red jewel glowed brightly, flaring and expanding, and came loose as it rapidly ballooned to being larger than the Sableye itself.

When the orange power faded, some other changes were visible – mainly cosmetic, such as yellow teeth and red eyes.

The gem was the important one, though. It was so big Mega Sableye was able to use it to hide behind.

"Good luck handling that!" Agatha cackled.

I intend to, Mewtwo informed her calmly. Miracle Eye.

That done, he summoned a ball of glowing psionic energy into his palms, and launched forwards a sparkling Psybeam.

When the dust faded, he frowned. Eh?

Mega Sableye was completely untouched. The gemstone was undamaged, and the ground around it was scarred – but not even the fingers holding the gemstone up had been affected.

"The attack bounced off the shield gem!" Ash told him. "But there was something else... wait, see if you can detect him!"

"Her!" Agatha said peevishly.

Mewtwo extended his mind.

Hundreds of mental whispers, bleed-through from the crowd – mostly tense with anticipation, seeing what Agatha had been building up to all battle.

The shining star that was Molly Hale, still bearing the – thankfully positive – marks of her experience with the Unown last year.

Wily old Agatha, and Ash's determination, and Pikachu and all the rest of them.

...but no Sableye.

You are correct, he informed Ash. Miracle Eye did not work.

"It's Magic Bounce!" Agatha said. "Foresight and Miracle Eye don't work on her now!"

"An ability?" Ash asked. "Huh. I thought you'd just use Magic Coat..."

Any suggestions? Mewtwo asked. I must admit this is a new one on me.

To demonstrate, he hammered down another pulse of psychic energy. It made the ground around Mega Sableye crack and sink a few inches, but the patch shielded by her gem was untouched.

A rock hurtled in from the side, and Mega Sableye demonstrated she could go intangible as well – phasing through the rock without it contacting her.

The Ghost-type then cackled, sounding a lot like her trainer, and her shadow deepened and blackened. It spread out, unhindered by the early afternoon sun, and stretched out towards the hovering Mewtwo's shadow.

"Don't let her connect!" Ash warned, and Mewtwo looked down before swooping away.

A blast of bright light flashed out from Mewtwo's palms, forcing the Shadow Sneak to retreat, and Mewtwo kept it up to try to force Mega Sableye to retreat behind her shield again.

On a hunch, he clenched one fist and sharply pulled on the entire arena floor. It rose up, but Mega Sableye's shield-crystal blocked it from affecting the ground directly underneath her – and her shadow used it as a cover to lash out and claw at his legs and tail.

Another Flash drove it back, and Mewtwo glanced over at Ash – his irritation fading, as he saw Ash deep in thought.

"Okay, Mewtwo!" he said, after a few more seconds' thought. "You know Aura Sphere, right?"

That's not exactly going to-

"It's just the start point!" Ash interrupted him. "Okay, keep high and safe – throw some rocks at her or something – and listen closely!

Mewtwo did so, exerting his telekinesis to rise higher into the air and away from attacks. A few Shadow Balls whipped up at him, but he avoided them with relative ease – most of his attention on Ash.

"Okay, build up an Aura Sphere, then – concentrate on the Aura itself," Ash began. "Everything about how it feels, everything about how it moves. How it's basically life energy, concentrated into a sphere."

Mewtwo nodded slowly, listening.

"It's just energy, at the moment – but it can be more. Think about that energy, and remember – life is like a flame." Ash's voice was low but urgent, and Mewtwo could hear him quite clearly. "It spreads, and burns up, and once it's strong enough it's impossible to blow out. Aura warms you deep inside, and it's got the potential to be not just warm but hot."

"What's he doing?" Norman asked.

May frowned. "I think... no, I know what he's doing."

"Do you?" Max asked. "I sure don't..."

"Understand?" Ash asked.

I believe I do.

"Now, just bring that heat to the surface!" the trainer finished. "Make it move faster, swirl so it rubs against itself and heats up!"

Putting both hands around the ball of Aura, disdaining the Power Gems and Shadow Balls whipping past his floating form, Mewtwo concentrated and split his Aura Sphere down the centre – setting one half spinning one direction, the other half directly opposite it, and the central plane a place of clashing opposites.

For a few seconds, that was that. Then a spark caught.

Ash spotted it as soon as Mewtwo did, thanks to his Aura Sight. "Right!" he called up. "You got it! Now – throw that flame!"

Mewtwo needed no further prompting. He threw the ball of flaming Aura downwards, and it exploded on Mega Sableye's shield sending a roar of fire in every direction.

"...oh, that's what he was doing," Norman realized. "He just taught Mewtwo a new move mid-battle."

He considered it.

"Neat trick, if you can do it."

Now he had an attack that could actually work, Mewtwo went back on the offensive. He built flaming balls of Aura in both hands, and sent them out on curving paths which intersected Mega Sableye from perpendicular directions.

"One step back and shield to the front!" Agatha ordered.

Mega Sableye did so, planting her shield so that both the balls of fire hit it the other side to her – just about.

The concussion was impressive, knocking her back despite the steadying influence of her shield, and then Mewtwo launched down a third fireball.

This one – finally – connected.

Mewtwo pressed his advantage, growing increasingly confident with pyrokinesis as the battle went on, and about a minute later Agatha sighed and raised her hand.

"Okay, you win. Well done."

The words were not exactly enthusiastically said.

Excellent, Mewtwo said, and settled gently to the ground. That was a great deal of fun, and an amusing mental puzzle. Ash – thank you for your assistance. I am glad to see that your mind is as sharp as ever.

Brock nearly choked on some popcorn.

Incidentally, Mewtwo added, raising his head and looking around the stadium. I am going to be signing copies of my book in the Pokémon Centre later.

He spread his arms, and rose steadily into the air until he was out of the stadium and out of sight.

After a moment of silence, Lance turned on the microphone.

"I'm sure we all enjoyed that," he said, with a smile on his lips. "That's Agatha for you, ladies and gentlemen – the most tricky of our number."

A smattering of applause.

"And – well, we know who's next, don't we?" he added. "There'll be a short break, but I will be facing Ash myself soon!"

"Thanks for coming on such short notice," Ash said gratefully. "I kinda didn't think to..."

The girl smiled, a little uncertainly. "The journey was certainly quick."

"Yeah, that was nice of Mewtwo too," Ash nodded. "You know what-"

"Of course I do," she replied. "I've been learning everything I can about the subject for over a year, since it's apparently all completely true."

"I'd do that," Ash admitted. "But I don't really have the time..."

"Yeah, at least I can focus on... well, legend singular."

Melody adjusted her outfit. "Right, let's go do this."

"Did you have any advice for this one?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, actually," May confirmed. "It took us a while to work out what would be best, but we finally got it this morning."

"Any spoilers?" her mother asked cheekily.

"No, wait like everyone else has to!" May laughed. "Look, here we go."

As they watched, a girl clad in a red-fringed white robe walked out onto the grass. She bowed, then took an instrument from her sleeve and began to play.

Sweet, pure notes resonated out into the arena, describing a simple and haunting tune. It had a slow time signature, and it took about thirty seconds to get through the first five or six bars.

Once it reached that point, Ash threw the final Pokéball.

It exploded outwards in an enormous cloud of towering white smoke as the half-dozen white smoke seals detonated, and then a second voice wove into the song. Deep and rich, it formed a counterpoint to the ocarina's tune, and a moment later a great whirlwind of air and water streamed out of the cloud and up into the arena.

A shadow moved across the stands, the sunlight picking out something moving within the Twister-

And, with a sweep of his wings, Lugia emerged. The Psychic-type dismissed the swirling wind, and hovered there beating his wings.

"May?" Norman asked, calmly. "At some point I'm going to ask Ash for a list of Legendaries he doesn't have, and it's going to be shorter than the list of ones he does."

"...yeah, probably," May agreed. "How was the intro? The music's Lugia's song, by the way, it actually helps heal him if he's injured."

"I think it worked quite well," Caroline told her. "How did you manage the water?"

"Splash seals."

"Good thinking, they're underused."

Max leaned forwards in his seat. "Let's see how Lance does!"

Lugia hovered there for a moment longer, and then Lance sent out his first Pokémon – an Aerodactyl.

He glanced down at Ash. I will be listening. But I think this might get a little far for you to shout.

With that, he brought up his wings and beat them – hard. He went soaring up into the air, and Aerodactyl followed.

Servos clicked, and the roof retracted all the way to give people a better view as the two Flying-types swept skywards.

Neck craned back, Melody watched as the Great Guardian went to battle.

His wings beat, churning the air, but his speed was much greater than that alone could explain. Glowing softly, he wove around Aerodactyl's Rock-type attacks and countered with battering blasts of psionic energy.

The Rock-type was overall coming off the worst, she thought – which wasn't surprising, given Lugia was a Legendary.

She glanced over at Ash, and blinked. His eyes were shut.

"Uh-"

Ash held up a hand. "Sorry, concentrating."

"Right..."

Lugia rolled, avoiding a shotgun-blast Rock Slide from his opponent, and hissed as it clipped his tail.

Down!

Diving for a moment, he flared his wings and twisted around to get a bead before launching out a wave of water from his maw. The blast met a Stone Edge coming the other way, which attritted it down, and Aerodactyl snapped around in a manoeuvre riding the edge of a stall to get out of the way.

As he came back up to speed, Lugia's fins folded in and he rolled. Wings spreading, he whipped up a horizontal Twister and curved it around to hit Aerodactyl.

The Rock-type got blindsided by the attack, and whirled towards the ground – then levelled out and came back up, wings beating hard.

Twister from below.

Lugia absorbed the suggestion Ash had sent, and nodded. His wings whipped up another Twister, and he sent it lashing past Aerodactyl before making it whip around in a U-turn and come from behind.

Caught off guard, Aerodactyl was carried past Lugia early, and his Rock Slide spread went awry – mostly. He did manage to hit Lugia in the side with two or three of the rocks, which stung but didn't do any real harm.

A Psyshock met a quick Stone Edge, and the two Flying-types began circling for another clash.

"Hmmm..." Brock said, looking up. "That's interesting."

Philena glanced at him. "Oh?"

"Oh, just..." Brock shrugged. "I can really see how Lance got his title, that's one well-trained Aerodactyl."

Professor Ivy nodded silently, as Aerodactyl managed to flip around and get a bearing on Lugia from behind. The big Psychic-type was already turning out of the way when Aerodactyl lined up, and a crackling Light Screen expanded out to protect Lugia from whatever Aerodactyl was planning.

As it turned out, Aerodactyl had something big planned. He gave a hissing roar, and as he did a red-glowing ball of grey rock formed in his claws.

Turning to match Lugia's dodge, he released the ball of rock – which snapped forwards with startling speed, directly at Lugia.

Brock half-stood. "That's Rock Wrecker!"

The potent Rock-type attack slammed into Lugia's shield and smashed it aside, detonating as it did with a mighty BANG. Rock fragments sprayed Lugia's back for a series of painful impacts, and he let out an audible cry of pain before snatching himself up into a flip.

That let him target the tired Aerodactyl squarely, and a Hydro Pump forced him to the ground.

Ash frowned up as Lance recalled his Fossil and switched Pokémon. "Lugia? Are you okay?"

I am fine, Ash. I have taken knocks harder than this from my charges before.

Reassured, Ash nodded. He watched, then frowned and warned Lugia – silently this time. That Salamence has a neck band. I think it's a Mega Stone.

Understood.

Ash spared a moment to smile. The fact they could communicate mentally – when close, when both were concentrating on it – had been a nice surprise to confirm, and it had the potential to be useful in other situations too.

"We're certainly getting to see a lot of Mega evolutions," Misty observed.

Bruno nodded. "I'm still looking for one," he admitted. "I've heard of a stone that works on Medicham, so that's my goal for now."

Misty smirked slightly.

"Yes, we know you've got one already," Lorelei smiled. "Lance told us about it. I actually think he plans to use his Gyarados you caught for him today."

"That was one strong Gyarados," Misty agreed. "But – has he managed to train him yet?"

"Mostly. I think it involved beating it up a couple of times..." Bruno shrugged.

There was a whipcrack of air as Mega Salamence rose skywards, and they leaned forwards to watch.

The path crunched softly as Todd walked up it.

"This is quite nice," he said, stamping one foot on the springy gravel-topped path. "I wonder how they do it... moss?"

Sneasel shrugged.

"I suppose there's no real way to know," he admitted, and resumed walking. "Man, but the air here's lovely!"

His assistant chuckled softly, and he joined in after a moment. "I guess so... but when we were in Saffron, that was pretty bad."

Sneasel waved a claw, indicating she wasn't sure – then tensed slightly.

"What is it?" Todd asked, all business now.

In reply she pointed ahead, and Todd shaded his eyes before nodding.

"That looks like it, alright. Okay..."

Swinging his bag off his shoulder, he got out the big camera. He had hopes of being able to get close, but if he wasn't able to then distance shots would be fine.

A gasp ran around the stadium as Mega Salamence and Lugia exchanged powerful Flying-type blasts of energy.

An Aerilated Hyper Beam met a powerful Aeroblast coming the other way, and the two attacks clashed violently and birthed a short-lived ring-shaped vortex. The shock cloud dispersed, and then the two Flying-types passed one another at close range before turning around for another high-speed attack.

If Aerodactyl had been a close-in dogfight, this was more like boom-and-zoom. Both Pokémon were using their great speed to attack on the fly, hoping to limit the engagements and avoid too much trouble if they happened to be the one who came off worst, and neither had yet taken too much of a hit.

"Okay, change of plan!" Lance called up. "Boomburst, then get Thrashing!"

"Boomburst?" Ash repeated. Lugia, ready a Light Screen -and a Protect too!

A moment later, the roar of sound came blasting out from Mega Salamence's maw. It spread in a cone pattern, visible as a solid wall in the air, and Lugia whirled to accelerate away as he built his shield – anything to reduce the impact.

Behind the wavefront, Mega Salamence's whole body pulsed a faint red. A visible air shock formed around him as he prepared for a series of agile passing attacks, intended to outpace Lugia's ability to rebuilt his shield.

There was a flash as Lugia's shields firmed-

Contact.

The impact knocked the Great Guardian through the sky, and he flipped twice before regaining his flight regime. As he did, he whipped out a wing, and cuffed the skewing Mega Salamence.

That didn't seem to faze the powerful Dragon-type, who performed what would have been a tumble had it not been so exquisitely controlled and slashed up at Lugia under his guard.

Lugia's reply was a powerful Hurricane, but he was scrambling – reacting, not taking the initiative – and Mega Salamence rode his advantage to deliver a one-two punch of slashing air-bladed blows with the wind on his wings.

Aeroburst! Ash sent up.

Lugia complied, building energy and letting the air rush towards his mouth. Mega Salamence came in for another run, aiming to be behind and safe when the attack finished charging-

And Lugia used Aeroburst, abruptly releasing the energy that corralled the high pressure air for his attack.

The resultant omnidirectional attack hit both him and Mega Salamence, but he'd been ready for it. Mega Salamence had not.

Walking cautiously down the path, Todd kept his camera half-raised for a quick snapshot if something turned up.

"I didn't imagine it, right?" he asked, after a few minutes of slow walk had taken them around into a narrow draw. "We did see-"

Sneasel tapped his arm urgently.

"What?"

She pointed.

Todd looked up.

Hello, the Lugia hovering overhead said, speaking as well – presumably for Sneasel's benefit. What brings you here?

"I just want to take some photographs," Todd said automatically. "How did you manage that without my noticing?"

I've had quite a lot of experience staying hidden, the Lugia informed him. Speaking of which, why are you up here to take photographs?

"Uh... I got a tip from my friend Ash," Todd explained. "He said-"

The Lugia visibly brightened, and drifted downwards. Ah, I see. That would be my mate he sent you after – I'm afraid he's away at the moment.

She frowned, legs taking her weight as she landed. Actually, if I understand it right, he's probably battling in the Silver Conference today.

"He's – wait," Todd said slowly. "That implies... oh."

He and Sneasel exchanged an astonished look.

"I said Ash was catnip for legendaries, I guess I should have expected this," Todd sighed. "Oh. Well... can I wait around until he gets back? Or... would you mind if I took photos of you?"

He saw the female Lugia consider it.

I might be alright with that, she said, after a moment. And... knowing what I do of Ash Ketchum, if he sent you our way then you can be trusted.

She raised her mental voice. Silver?

A cry answered her, and Sneasel blinked in shock.

"What?" Todd asked, and she pointed.

A moment later, a smaller Lugia came half-hopping half-flying over the low ground. He said something Todd didn't understand, and the female – the mother – Lugia smiled.

He's one of Ash's friends, she told him. He'd like to take pictures of us. Doesn't that sound nice?

"I seriously need to thank Ash for this," Todd said absently. "Hello."

The young Lugia waved, and bugled a question at his mother.

Yes, I'm sure you'll get to keep some. Oh – if you stay around long enough, she said, turning to Todd again, I'm sure that my mate would be willing to have a few taken as well.

"That would be lovely," Todd smiled. "Thank you."

Of course, depending how his battle goes he might need a bath first...

A torrent of raw orange energy traced a path skywards, meeting a red blaze heading down and impacting it a little above the stadium roof.

Hyper Beam clashed with Aeroblast, producing a ball of bright energy, and then the whole thing destabilized and fell apart with a crash and a brief cloud of smoke.

"You fought that?" Brock called over the din to Misty.

"He did knock out my entire team except Mega Gyarados!" Misty replied, also shouting. "But some of those moves are new!"

The Shiny Gyarados let out a roar as Lugia swooped overhead, and launched himself skywards.

Ice blasted out, and scraped along Lugia's wing, but the Flying-type was too high to get a Bite into and Lance's Gyarados hit the floor again a few seconds later with a thump.

Unconcerned, the Atrocious Pokémon charged something else and spat it skywards as Lugia came around for another run.

The Zap Cannon hit Lugia's shield, crackling against it, and some of the energy bled through into his fine white-and-blue feathers.

Fighting off the paralysis with an effort of will and the benefit of his earlier Safeguard, Lugia dove and got out of line-of-sight.

Sweeping low over the buildings of the town itself, Lugia turned in to stay close to the stadium.

He couldn't just wait it out, he had to stay in battle... but how was the question, as Gyarados was proving a powerful opponent with a good mix of moves and excellent aim.

Lugia, time for the last trick, Ash sent to him.

After considering it a moment, Lugia nodded to himself. Ash was right – this was exactly the situation his final new trick would be most useful in... and it wasn't worth saving it for shock value, not really. (Besides, Lance's final Pokémon would probably be another Flying-type.)

Very well, he sent back. Please – concentrate on where the Gyarados is.

Ash complied, and Lugia managed to get the very rough sense of where Gyarados waited – in the middle of the stadium, offset a little away from Ash's box.

That would be enough.

He turned to face the stadium, hovering, and tilted so he was looking a little way up.

Then he began to inhale.

"Mr. Ketchum?" the referee asked. "I've just been told your Pokémon is charging an attack – and aiming it at the stadium. I hope you're not planning on blasting through the stands..."

"Of course not!" Ash replied. "People might be hurt!"

"Yes, that's why we're worried..." the referee explained.

"Oh, right... uh, anyway, it's not a problem!"

The referee was about to ask for more information, but that was about the point Lugia fired.

Ash had gone back and looked at how Aeroblast worked – more specifically, how the blast managed to collimate itself into one beam.

(Ash couldn't actually spell 'collimate', but that was the general gist of what he'd been working on.)

Together, he and Lugia and Pidgeot had worked out that the main Aeroblast was actually the rushing air around it – the red beam was carried along by it, and in fact would follow it if it bent.

Which led to this attack – where Lugia's Aeroblast swept up into the sky, curved in a shallow, graceful loop, and slammed down onto the startled Red Gyarados before he could fathom what was about to happen.

It was quite painful.

"...well, that's a new one on me too," Lance admitted, as his Gyarados measured his length on the floor. "New move?"

"Just an adjustment to an old one!" Ash replied. "It's kind of tricky to set up, though..."

"I imagine so. Well." Lance recalled Gyarados, and took his final Pokéball. "Okay, Ash – you may be interested to know that this is my starter. He's been with me for decades, and he was there when I qualified for the Elite Four."

"Neat!" Ash replied.

Lance waited a moment, then finished. "Against Palkia."

With that, he sent out his Dragonite, who wasted no time in blurring skywards with a crack of air.

Giovanni made some notes on a pad of paper.

"Eight," he said out loud. "Possibly more."

Persian glanced up.

"The number of Legendaries that the boy actually has and has used," he explained. "There's also that Orrean who had three confirmed... that's more Legendaries in one place than I think have been recorded in decades."

The Normal-type yowled-yawned, and shook himself.

"My primary concern is making sure that the information is disseminated widely," Giovanni went on.

Persian gave a limber shrug, and Giovanni chuckled harshly.

"Well, at least if everyone's warned the ones who do press the issue are too foolish to have on the team."

That got a nod.

Giovanni thought for a moment more, then turned back to the screen. He blinked.

"I see Lance hasn't lost his touch..."

The Rocket leader was pleased to see that his long-term strategy of keeping out of the way of the Dragon Clan was fully justified.

Lugia rolled, avoiding a Thunder. A second followed almost on the heels of the first, and he plunged into a Twister to get a moment of respite.

Safe within his energy-laced whirlwind for the moment, Lugia curved around to try to get behind Dragonite. The crack of an Extremespeed penetrated the rushing sound of the wind, and he felt like chuckling.

Of course that wasn't going to work so easily...

He came out of the Twister with his mouth glowing, and launched the Ice Beam towards Dragonite. A trio of shields sprang out from the orange Dragon-type nearly instantly, Barrier layered on Light Screen layered on Reflect, and the Ice Beam stalled out before breaking through the Light Screen.

A moment later the shields came down again and Dragonite shot out of the way of a Sky Attack. He came around in a tight hairpin curve, passing Lugia at a distance of feet, and volleyed in a Blizzard as he did so.

Lugia pulsed his Safeguard to block the ice, and shook his head.

Fighting Zapdos and Articuno usually involved harder-hitting attacks, but not nearly this much speed!

Right, time for a change of pace.

Lugia dove, trading height for speed, and began to gather the air for his signature attack.

A Thunder attack sizzled past, and he knew exactly what Dragonite was going to expect him to do. The most sensible move – and the likeliest one – was to charge the attack, come around in a wingover and fire it as he rolled back to horizontal.

So Lugia didn't do that.

Fins snapping up for better manoeuvre capabilities, he pitched forwards – coming so close to the ground below that he had to tuck in his tail as he bottomed out upside down in a valley – and Dragonite's Blizzard went harmlessly past, way overhead.

Then he fired his Aeroblast, aiming up from below at the evading Dragonite.

A red beam lashed out from somewhere the spectators couldn't see, and reached for Dragonite.

The Dragon-type moved with shocking speed to evade as Lugia's Aeroblast played across the sky to get him, but his luck ran out about two seconds in. An explosion went off, and the orange dragon came out of it tumbling before righting himself.

Lugia swept back into view, wings churning, and fired an Ice Beam which Dragonite countered with a precise Fire Blast.

"This looks like a battle of equals," Norman said, squinting. "Or... I suppose Lugia's got more power, but Dragonite's still controlling much of the course of the battle."

"Who do you think will win?" Max asked.

Norman shrugged.

Then there was a bang overhead.

Lugia, you still okay? Ash asked, as the instant snowcloud began to fall.

I am, Lugia confirmed, and then his wings swept away the cloud.

His voice sounded tired, and there was a sheen of ice on his wings that was falling away as Ash watched. I think that got both of us.

Yeah, he's – behind!

Lugia went straight back to a Twister, and the Thunder attack spalled off the surface of the draconic whirlwind.

Undaunted, Dragonite flew alongside it and fired in a Blizzard – one paw glowing blue, the other yellow, as he kept up the alternating thunder-snow barrage which was wearing Lugia's impressive stamina down.

When the Psychic-type burst out of his Twister, he immediately went into another one, which managed to confuse Dragonite for a precious second. This second Twister went on the attack, hitting Dragonite twice on the flank and producing flashes of light as it did so.

Wait – try and get him with a Hydro Pump! Ash instructed, realizing something.

Lugia muttered something mentally about how that was easier said than done, and swerved to try and get a bead on Dragonite. The highly-trained Dragon was already gone, though, and a moment later a fresh Blizzard arrived on Lugia's right rear side.

Can't I just use Rain Dance?

It has to be another Water attack, Rain Dance would just make his Thunder stronger! Ash replied. Okay, try Aqua Tail – left now!

Lugia turned, lashing out with his tail, and it connected with a thwack as Dragonite got just a little too close. The impact produced a wash of water, and Lugia's neck snaked around ahead of his turn to add to that with a blast of Surf.

"Dragonite!" Lance called up. "Don't use Blizzard – your paws are wet, it would hurt you more than him!"

Dragonite agreed, and switched to evasion. He dodged between the stadium roof and an Icy Wind, then rocketed around in a wide turn for speed. He gained height as he did so, and by the time he turned in again for an attack run he was visible from inside the stadium itself.

"Dragon Rush!"

"He's coming to you!" Ash called up, close enough to be heard for once. "Aeroblast, you can't miss!"

The trainers looked at one another for a moment, looking for clues as to whether the other was planning something extra.

Aeroblast roared out, and Dragonite dove directly into it.

Ash's grin turned into a frown. "Wha – dodge!"

Unfortunately, Lugia simply didn't have the time to get out of the way. Protected from the Aeroblast by a layer of Barrier shields, Dragonite hit Lugia directly in the chin.

This destabilized what was left of the Aeroblast, which exploded, and a moment later there was a CRASH from the arena floor.

"What just happened?" Lorelei asked. "I can't see – there's too much smoke and dust!"

Bruno frowned. "Was that a very big Pokémon hitting quite hard, or quite a big Pokémon hitting very hard?"

"That's what I'm wondering!" Lorelei replied, willing the debris to settle.

The first thing to emerge as the dust slowly cleared was an orange tail, twitching feebly. Then a series of dark blue fins.

"...wow," Misty said softly, as she saw the damage that had been done.

Both Pokémon had clearly managed to get up some kind of shield in the last moment before impact, as they were in spherical craters at the end of their crash scrapes instead of something shaped more like their bodies.

"I just – wait!"

She pointed.

Below, Dragonite stirred. He shook his head, then pushed himself clumsily to his feet and kicked off from the ground.

Lugia tried to rise as well, but his strength failed him halfway up and he collapsed.

"Didn't you say that's the Legendary whose job is subduing three other Legendaries?" Philena asked. "And Lance beat him?"

"I guess that's why he's the Grand Champion," Brock agreed. "Close match, though..."