Capítulo 30: 27,28
With a sound like a ringing bell, a pulse of distortion washed over the forest.
"I guess we know what that is," Misty said. "Come on!"
Brock nodded, and they hurried towards the centre of the disturbance.
"Togekiss," Misty said, grabbing the Pokéball as they were moving, "Can you keep an eye out for us?"
Togekiss nodded, and took to the sky. "Sure thing, Misty."
It was a short trip to the shrine, which was quite close to Arborville, and so they got there just about as Celebi's time jump completed.
Brock pointed. "Misty, can you grab Celebi? I'll make sure the boy's okay."
Accepting that, Misty knelt down next to the tired Grass-type Legendary. "Are you okay?" she asked.
Celebi blinked, and looked up at her. A moment of confusion, and then Celebi jumped and hovered away slightly. "No! Stay away!"
"We're not here to hurt you," Misty soothed. Unbidden, Togekiss floated down behind her trainer, and smiled reassuringly. "Poor thing – you're hurt, aren't you?"
"I think Sammy's okay," Brock reported. "Still breathing, and his pulse is strong. I'll give him some water."
"Good idea, Brock," Misty said. "Make sure he doesn't choke."
"I have studied this," Brock pointed out. "I'm not a complete idiot."
"Eh." Misty shrugged, and turned back to Celebi. "Don't worry, you're among friends now."
Celebi blinked slowly, looking from her to Sammy and Brock. "What..."
"She's right," Togekiss said. "Isn't there a lake around here which can heal Pokémon? Let's get you there right away."
Misty nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."
The Legendary frowned. "I... I think... okay."
She glanced over at Sammy. "Is he alright? He tried to save me, in... in the – I think I jumped forwards, so the past."
"He seems fine," Brock reported. "Wait – he's waking up."
Celebi floated into the air, which clearly took a lot of effort, and hovered over Sammy as he woke.
"Celebi?" he asked, and blinked. "Did... where's that poacher!?"
Brock caught him as he surged upright. "Don't worry – Celebi time travelled with you, you left him in the past."
Sammy glanced at Celebi, who bobbed up and down before sinking tiredly to the floor.
"Okay," he said, accepting that, and also deciding these people had to be okay if Celebi wasn't trying to run away from them. "How far did I go?"
"Well... not sure," Brock said, glancing at Misty. "We met someone called Towa, who warned us about the Voice of the Forest..."
"I met her too!" Sammy said. "She was an adult – I don't know exactly how old, maybe a bit more than twenty?"
"Then I guess you came forward something like forty years," Brock said.
"Forty years..." Sammy repeated. "Wow."
He glanced around. "Wait – where's my sketchbook?"
"She might have it," Misty suggested. "Brock, do you think you can take him-"
"I'm called Sammy," Sammy supplied.
"Thanks," Misty said. "I'm Misty, and you heard he's Brock. Brock, can you take Sammy to Arborville? I'll try and get Celebi to the lake of life."
"Wait," Sammy said. "I want to make sure Celebi's okay. I'll come with you."
"Sure," Misty said, thinking. "Okay – Brock, let Towa know what's going on. Togekiss, did you see which way the lake was?"
Togekiss nodded. "Follow me – I'll lead the way."
Sammy reached down and picked up Celebi, cradling her in his arms and making sure to support her head. "Let's hurry!"
Flaring her wings, Pidgeot dumped speed. She decelerated from near-transsonic cruise to landing speed much faster than normal, trying to waste as little time as she could, and Ash jumped off her back before she'd quite stopped moving.
Returning her, he hurried into the Pokémon centre. "Uh... Nurse Joy?"
The Olivine Joy looked up. "Oh – hello, young man. Are you in a hurry?"
"Yeah," Ash nodded.
"Well, it's not busy, so that should be fine. I'll handle yours right now."
"Thanks," Ash said with a quick smile. Pikachu hopped up onto the counter, and as Joy took him Ash also passed over five Pokéballs.
"Thank you. Oh, might I ask what they are?" she said, running the scanner over Pikachu. "If I can set the computer up ahead of time it goes quicker."
Her Chansey looked up, ready to enter the information.
"Let's see..." Ash pointed. "That's a Lucario, those two are Ivysaur and Bayleef..."
"Ivysaur... and Bayleef..." the Chansey repeated, typing away.
"The final Pokéball is Pidgeot."
"Oh, the one you arrived on?" Joy asked. "I saw you through the door. Did you go overhead a bit more than an hour ago? Several people have mentioned it."
"That's right," Ash confirmed. "The Fast Ball is Suicune."
Joy dropped the scanner. "Pardon? Did you just say Suicune?"
"Yeah," Ash said, with a nod. "Still amazed I caught her, but... there it is."
"Well... goodness," Joy said faintly, and picked up the scanner again. She completed her examination of Pikachu, and nodded to Chansey. "Just a bit tired, two ccs of ether and one of regular potion should be adequate."
Chansey nodded, picking Pikachu up and taking him into the back.
"Do you mind if I scan, uh, Suicune next?" Joy asked. "I've only ever heard stories before."
Ash nodded. "Go ahead, she might actually be the worst off."
Joy picked up the lightning-marked Pokéball, and opened it. For a moment, she just stared at the stately blue Pokémon who emerged, then she shook her head and started running the scanner again.
"I don't have a baseline for you," she apologized, glancing between Suicune and her screen. "So I'm going to be guessing slightly..."
Suicune shrugged slightly, and smiled at Ash. "This is convenient, I must admit – Entei was recovering for days after your match with him."
"Really?" Ash blinked. "I thought he was still pretty well off..."
"He tricked you, I see," Suicune smiled. "No, that was Lava Plume, not Eruption."
"But that must mean I... wow," Ash said, shaking his head. "I didn't realize I was that close."
"You weren't supposed to," Suicune reminded him, then winced slightly as Joy sprayed something over part of her leg. "What was that?"
Joy could tell Suicune was curious from body language and the tone of her voice. "It's a spray of test potion – it lets me see how well your body reacts to it... okay, I think I've got a dosage ready."
She tapped it into the computer, and took the resulting printout. "Take this to Chansey, please."
Suicune nodded, carefully took the printout in her mouth, and padded into the back room as Joy started scanning the unconscious Ivysaur.
Ash glanced at the clock. "Man, I hope this doesn't take too long..."
"I'm not exactly dawdling," Joy said, a little peeved. "If I go any faster, I might miss something important. Using just potions like this is quicker, but I have to get the dosage right."
"Right," Ash said, trying to calm down. "Sorry – I found out a short while ago that there's something important going on, and I don't want to be late."
"With a Pidgeot like the one you have, you certainly shouldn't be late," Joy said absently. "Wow, this Ivysaur is tired. What's he been doing? Frenzy Plant?"
"Yes," Ash said simply.
"...oh," Joy replied, blinking.
As they hurried along the forest trails, following Togekiss, both Sammy and Misty noticed the occasional forest Pokémon examining them – seeing if they were a threat.
The result tended to be that the Pokémon melted back into the mists, though one Furret did run alongside them for the whole rest of their journey, dodging in and out of the undergrowth.
After some minutes, they came to the shores of a large, clear lake. The far side was almost shrouded in mists, but a few trees could be seen there rearing out of the mist.
"This must be the Lake of Life," Misty said.
Sammy nodded, looked down at the Celebi cradled in his arms, and stepped into the water. "Okay, Celebi. I hope this works."
He knelt, not caring that his trousers were soaked by the lake water, and placed her into it.
Celebi shifted slightly, seeming to breathe a little easier.
A crashing sound made Misty turn. Crobat glided through the trees, and then Brock came through at a run with Stantler beside him.
"Hey, Brock," Misty said, as the older boy skidded to a halt at the side of the lake. "Why's Stantler out?"
"It made it easier to explain to all the forest Pokémon," Brock said. "But I haven't seen any for a few minutes – look!"
Misty followed his gaze.
Standing by the lakeside, at the other side of a large embayment, were dozens upon dozens of forest Pokémon.
"I... guess they're here to make sure Celebi gets healed," Misty said – she'd never quite had that explained to her, but it made sense. "Maybe she needs to be a bit deeper in the water?"
Sammy nodded, and immersed the Legendary more fully. She fluttered her small wings, then seemed to perk up slightly, and swam out of his arms deeper into the water.
A little green light appeared, visible through the water. It brightened, strengthening as they watched, and got faster and faster.
Then Celebi burst through the water, glowing with psychic energy. "Yay!" she called, spinning around as water droplets fell around her. "I feel much better!"
"Celebi!" Sammy called. "You're all right!"
Celebi smiled at him, and at Brock and Misty – then stopped, looking into the distance. "Wait – what's that?"
A beam of orange energy slashed out of the trees, barely missing her, and blew a tree to splinters – scattering the forest Pokémon.
Misty winced. "Oh, no..."
The giant spider-like war machine of the Iron Masked Marauder stomped into view, with a Tyranitar by its side and crackling with dark energy.
"At last!" the Marauder said, triumph in his voice. "I've found you, Celebi!"
He looked down at Tyranitar. "Get it!"
Brock and Misty exchanged glances, then both sent out every Pokémon they had.
"Leave Celebi alone!" Sammy shouted, taking his own handmade Pokéball and opening the top. "Charmeleon – we're going to help Celebi too!"
Tyranitar fired another Hyper Beam at Celebi, again narrowly missing, and then Misty's Gyarados slammed into him and drove him backwards.
Vicious scowled beneath his mask. "Right – you asked for it! Skarmory, bring me that Celebi!"
Brock blinked. "He didn't have a-"
With a flash of light, a Skarmory materialized overhead. It cawed, a horrible tooth-grating sound, and swooped in towards Celebi.
Panicking, the little Psychic-type fired an Extrasensory attack and dove out of the way of Skarmory's attack.
Vicious released several more Pokémon – dark-balls producing a Houndoom and a Venomoth, who started attacking Brock's Pokémon, and regular Pokéballs producing three more. The Weavile, Scizor and Girafarig teamed up on Misty's Pokémon, quickly forcing them away from the Dark Tyranitar.
Around this point, Sammy noticed a strange noise. He pointed up. "What's that?"
Brock and Misty followed his finger.
"I... don't know," Misty admitted. "Well, it's some kind of flying machine, but..."
She stopped talking as it transformed, flipping up the outer half of each wing so the propellors on the outer edges were now facing down.
"Prepare for trouble!" boomed a very familiar voice.
It didn't get much further, though, because they had to jink out of the way of a powerful Psybeam from the Girafarig.
"Hey!" shouted another voice. "You wrecked da motto! Now dis is personal!"
The tiltrotor moved to the right, avoiding another attack by one of Vicious' Pokémon, and opened up with its chin gun. Dozens of small bullets per second sprayed across the war machine, denting the armour, though Vicious himself escaped harm by way of a quickly-deployed armour plate.
"Scizor!" he snapped. "Stop them!"
Ninetales snatched her tails away from a powerful Dark Pulse, and snarled at the Houndoom who had fired it. Her tails weaved together a low-powered Fire attack – a little below even an Ember – and shot it at the Houndoom.
It splashed across him without making a mark, and she hissed – Flash Fire. That would make things tricky, not that they weren't already.
Another Dark Pulse shot out, forcing Ninetales to jump away from it, and then Growlie landed on the Houndoom hard enough to crack the floor underneath him.
"We've got to stop meeting like this," she quipped, glad to see him, and he grinned.
The Arcanine then turned towards their foe, frowning in confusion. "Wait a minute-"
Houndoom nearly took his leg off, erupting forwards and slamming his jaws together in a Crunch which went where Growlie's knee had been a moment before.
"Well, I suppose it wasn't going to go that easily," Growlie commented, licking his fangs as they circled Houndoom.
There was an ear-splitting crash as the giant robot threw an Ursaring into a tree hard enough to crack the heartwood.
"Any ideas?" Ninetales asked, feinting forwards with her tails and decoying a Dark Pulse out of Houndoom – then wincing as it blew several branches off the tree it connected with. "Well, that wasn't a good one..."
"I know," Growlie said, turned his back, and ran.
Ninetales didn't follow his movement – knowing she could, but also that it might be a terrible mistake to do so. Instead she built purple witchfire on her tails and spun forwards a Hex – the best of a bad lot, for the moves she knew.
Houndoom didn't even bother to dodge, taking the attack with a contemptuous ease, and then pounced forwards to use Crunch on her.
He was slightly wrong-footed by an Earthquake some way across the chaotic battlefield, but recovered before he even reached Ninetales. His jaws opened-
And closed on air, as her illusion dissipated.
Ninetales slapped him with all nine tails, bundled up into a single package, and he staggered sideways slightly before recovering. He barked, hugely, the sound lashing at Ninetales' ears, and leapt forwards again.
Several seconds of snarling, biting combat on the forest floor, and she was more grateful than ever before for her dates with Growlie. Their play-fighting had given her a few tricks for this very real fight, and she managed to avoid taking a Crunch anywhere important.
Eventually, she managed to get her feet between them, and pushed him off with a grunt of exertion. Hurriedly coming back to her feet, she was able to stop him simply jumping back at her by dodging out of the way.
A few more seconds of circling, and this time it was Ninetales who jumped in. Houndoom feinted left, then came forwards and in under her guard.
At that point, Growlie arrived with another bone-shaking high speed impact, knocking Houndoom sprawling. He followed up with a powerful series of blows, taking a few hits in return as he focused entirely on hitting Houndoom instead of defence.
That clearly hurt, but it didn't take him out of the fight either. The Houndoom blasted a Fire Blast at Growlie at point-blank range, producing a huge explosion of flame which didn't harm the Arcanine but did startle him, and then followed that up with a Dark Pulse and made it clear.
Rather than follow up, Houndoom turned his head and blasted Crobat out of the sky with an Inferno, then turned back to the other two Fire-types as if daring them to react.
"You son of a-" Ninetales bit the words off, because they were unhelpful and also true, and swirled her tails around again. Both she and her mate vanished from sight.
Houndoom spat a Dark Pulse, which hit nothing, and started sniffing – trying to locate his opponents by scent.
Cubone ducked, barely avoiding being hit by a leg of Vicious' war machine.
Forming a large femur, she swung it at the closest bit of it she could reliably reach – another leg – then jumped back as the retaliatory blow from one of the arms came in.
This all posed an interesting question. How did she kill a machine?
Normally the answer to that would have been easy – pull it into her Marble, then hit it with bones until it stopped moving. But that was... less of an option, since she could no longer sustain the Marble for long.
So she was reduced to the other kind of brute force attack. Try things until something broke.
Forming a knucklebone from something large, she used her Thick Club to hit it like a baseball into the body of the machine. This produced a clang, a curse, and a ball of Grass energy from Vicious' Girafarig which she barely evaded in time.
Cubone switched tactics, throwing a pair of bones on long, looping trajectories out into the distance. They curved back in on themselves, and she judged the timing by eye – then threw two more directly at the machine.
All four hit at the same time, and the whole complicated war machine rang like a bell.
Cubone watched it vibrate, seeking out the points which might be vulnerable. They weren't very vulnerable – the spider-tank was well armoured – but they were there, which was good enough to be going on with.
Jumping forwards, she avoided another Energy Ball and sent a Bonemerang back at the Girafarig to keep him busy. At about the same time as that connected, a Stantler charged in, and got blasted backwards by a Psybeam.
Cubone formed a set of Sharpedo teeth, concentrating to maintain them all at once, and used them as pitons to start climbing the side of the striding war machine.
If she could hit the weakest point enough, it might work...
More than once, she had to stop climbing and just cling on as hard as possible to avoid being flung off, as the machine shook its leg hard to try and dislodge her.
The tough Ground-type had a good grip, though, and managed to avoid being shaken off. A few minutes had her next to what she thought was something important, and she began driving a chisel-like modification of an Omastar spine into the weak spot.
Then she had to fend off a snapping grabber-arm as the Marauder noticed what she was doing, and abandoned her break-in attempt for now.
Gyarados – both Gyarados – roared, blasting away at the corrupted Tyranitar with Dragon Rage and Hydro Pump respectively.
Their target roared back, taking surprisingly little damage from the blow, and blasted a Hyper Beam back at the collection of Water-type Pokémon in the lake. The impact knocked Politoed flying before he managed a single attack, and Kingdra dove underwater to avoid being hurt.
The Tyranitar stepped a few paces further forwards, producing splashes of water as he walked into the littoral of the lake, and stamped down hard in an Earthquake. This destabilized several of the Water-types by making the water they were resting on shake back and forth, and threw their attacks wild until they restabilized.
Meowth, riding on James' Gyarados, plinked away with his coins using Pay Day – it didn't do much, but it made him feel better.
"Any idea how we can actually hurt dis guy?" he asked. "I'm open ta suggestions – yipe! Look out!"
An Ancientpower rock went just overhead, and Meowth swore he felt his fur ruffle as it shot past.
Gyarados roared again, firing a Hyper Beam back.
"Jump kick!" Stantler said, galloping forwards. His Soothe Bell jingled, announcing his presence even before he started the attack, and Tyranitar slapped him aside with his tail with contemptuous ease – barely needing to exert any effort at all.
"Kid!" Meowth called, concerned. "Ya okay?"
Then he spotted something, gaped, and shut his mouth quickly.
Switching topics, he tapped his mount on the head. "Don't ya know any better Water attacks? Dis is barely hurtin' him!"
Gyarados' reply was to thrash his tail, sweeping a deluge of water forwards with Aqua Tail, and the impact – coinciding with a Hydro Pump from Misty's Gyarados – made his target skid backwards a bit.
Another Hyper Beam roared out in response, sending Seaking staggering backwards and barely conscious in spite of the shielding effect of the water. It also clipped across Kingdra, knocking that Pokémon backwards, and knocked Starmie out with relative ease.
"Ah, great..." Meowth said, looking for Politoed and seeing him still knocked out. "Looks like da lake's already busted... ain't no healin' for us."
Tyranitar slammed his tail into the ground, this time producing a shower of rocks in Stone Edge. Meowth was the only Pokémon to escape injury out of the half-dozen or so targets, and it also finished Seaking off.
"Dis ain't goin' as well as it could," Meowth winced.
"Ice punch!"
There was a sound like a beautiful crystal sculpture hitting a bouncy castle.
"Night Slash!"
This one sounded like an exquisite katana being driven into a large blancmange.
"Icicle Crash!"
Wobbuffet rocked backwards as the attack hit, then rocked forwards again and released a pulse of energy which struck Weavile and made him wince. "N-ice try, there, but not good enough! Want to go for the double hit?"
"Punishment!"
"Yes, I do a lot of them, don't I?" Wobbuffet agreed, unfazed.
"Shut up! X-Scissor!"
"I prefer my scissors to still be intact!" The patient punster returned this attack as well, grinning all the while. "And that's nothing to Sneasel at!"
Weavile looked like he might be about to have some kind of breakdown. Snarling, he formed shadow claws and slashed them across Wobbuffet's face.
Then got hit by the Counter of that, too.
Misty spoke softly. "How long can you keep this up?"
Stantler turned to her, bereft of his usual Soothe Bell to avoid the betraying jingle. "Quite a long time, as long as it doesn't get attacked."
"Right," Misty nodded, again softly. "Did you put us anywhere?"
"I made you run into the trees," Stantler supplied, turning back to watch the air over the lake and concentrating – directing an illusion of Celebi dodging and weaving around the Venomoth. "And I made my double crawl into the undergrowth before he vanished."
"You're getting really good at this," Brock said, approvingly, and Stantler smiled.
Misty pointed. "Hey – look! To the south!"
Brock, Sammy, Stantler and Celebi turned to follow her finger.
A tiny line of white, visible in the bright blue sky overhead. And, in the centre of it, a cream-brown dot...
"That's Pidgeot," Misty identified. "That means-"
"It's Ash!" Brock said, just about remembering not to raise his voice.
"Who?" Sammy asked.
"Ash Ketchum," Misty clarified. "He's our friend – he wasn't here when you came back, but I phoned him to let him know to get here fast. He's a really strong trainer, and-"
Pidgeot arrived. Her white air-control wings beat once, moving a huge volume of air, and a Gust attack so strong it was visible blasted out along her line of attack. It reached the spider-walker moments before she did, making it stagger, and then the remnants of her sonic boom slammed into it moments later.
As Pidgeot shed speed, pulling up into a wingover, Ash let himself fall clear of her back. He twisted himself in the air as he fell, aiming to land on his feet somewhere clear, and a branch of Pidgeot's tailwind carried him to the ground a little faster and more smoothly than he would have managed alone.
"You love making an entrance, don't you?" Pikachu quipped, jumping from his shoulder and building his first electrical charge. As he did so, Ash grabbed two Pokéballs and released Bayleef and Lucario, then another two which produced Primeape and Muk.
For now, the Legendaries would be his reserve. He didn't want the Marauder to know they were around.
"Guys!" Ash called, taking in the situation. "Try and get his Pokémon! Then focus on the tank!"
Pikachu opened the hostilities by charging a Thunderbolt, and then fired it off at the Tyranitar. Unlike its earlier evolutions, Tyranitar was not immune to Electric attacks, and the hit made it turn slightly to examine the new arrivals.
Ninetales' latest illusion dissolved as Houndoom bit into it, and then shook his head like he was worrying at a Ratatta.
That done, he looked around, sniffing, and followed the scent.
"Any plans?" Growlie asked, keeping his voice down.
"I lure him, you hit him," Ninetales summarized. "You're the one with a Fighting move, it's the best we have."
"Fair enough," he replied, and nuzzled her briefly. "Be safe."
"He won't get any more than the tips of my fur," she told him – then broke cover, running at an angle to Houndoom's path, and fired a Dark Pulse. It didn't do much to the Dark-type, but it was better than a Fire attack, and he bounded after her with a howl.
Then something blue and black and moving very fast indeed cannoned into his flank, bowling him over. Houndoom rolled over with the force of the impact, came to his feet, and had just enough time to begin to snarl before Lucario kicked him in the chin.
Following up from that blow, he delivered another kick to Houndoom's chest with his other foot, and then kicked off into a handspring which took him out of the way of a retaliatory Flamethrower.
"Hello," the Fighting-type said, glancing at Ninetales for a fraction of a second. "Need help?"
"It wouldn't go amiss," Ninetales summarized.
Lucario nodded, and blocked a Flamethrower with Protect. It kept coming, though, a continuous rolling stream of fire, and he charged an Aura Sphere with his free hand before throwing it just as he dove aside and let his Protect collapse.
Houndoom began to turn his Flamethrower to follow, then noticed the blue-glowing Aura Sphere, and had to jump out of the way of the attack instead. The Sphere tracked around to follow him, and collided with a fallen log.
The Fire-type snarled at his opponents as the log showered him with splinters, then shot a Dark Pulse at Growlie as his prowling around for an opening revealed him.
That took his attention off Lucario for a moment, and the Fighting type capitalized to the full.
Lucario's muscles bunched up as he channelled Aura to his feet, crouched, and kicked off with startling speed. He wrong-footed Houndoom by going overhead, launched an Aura Sphere as he went past, bounced off a tree and slammed both feet into the canine's rear leg.
Houndoom stumbled forwards as that leg abruptly refused to bear any weight, and Lucario pressed his advantage, ramming home a series of Force Palm strikes and finishing up with a paralyzing Thunderpunch.
"There," he said, stepping back, and looked around for how else he could help.
Primeape ran through the undergrowth, focusing Aura into his hands. Compressing it gradually tighter and tighter, building a reserve for the fight to come.
Arriving at the battle, he skidded into a tight turn. His feet produced a huge sweeping wave of water as he turned a complete half-circle running on the lake surface, and launched himself at Tyranitar with fist cocked back.
The saurian Tyranitar growled at him, then went skidding slightly backwards in the lakeshore mud as Primeape's punch hit with a hollow boom.
Roaring, the Tyranitar switched his attention fully from the Water-types to the irritating Primeape. His foot slammed down in a Stomp, aiming for the Pig Monkey Pokémon, and hit nothing.
Primeape jumped back, skidding along the surface of the lake as though it was an ice rink, and then his feet abruptly dug in and used it for purchase. Water fountained back in recoil as he launched himself forwards.
A Close Combat hit Tyranitar with a hollow boom, sending him rearing backwards again, and he screamed his rage before firing a Hyper Beam.
Primeape grinned beneath his fur.
He raised his right hand, and the Aura in it became a visible bluish-silver layer. Then he scythed it forwards just as the Hyper Beam hit.
The impact sent him crashing backwards several feet, feet sinking several inches into the water surface as his water-walking aura trick began to cut out, and orange energy sparked and crackled off in all directions.
He raised his other hand to supplement it, feeding in more and more energy to his unorthodox form of Focus Energy, and the Hyper Beam continued to push him back and claw at his control.
Then, slowly, the attack dissipated.
Tyranitar panted, staring at the fuzzy Pokémon facing him.
"Revenge!" Primeape shouted, and pounced. His silver-blue right hand, now cloaked in a layer of orange energy from the Hyper Beam, hit with a BOOM which shook the ground as Rage fed into Revenge fed into Primeape's diamond-like control of his own Aura.
The impact knocked Tyranitar backwards again, and he staggered. His tail went out to support him, preventing him from falling over, but it was a near thing.
"Focus Punch!" Primeape added, leaping into the air and pulling back his other fist.
What Primeape hit Tyranitar with was not a Master Blow – but the main way of telling that was that Primeape was not completely exhausted by the devastatingly powerful impact. It produced a series of concentric ripples in the lake centred on the point of impact, and there was a telltale crack which indicated that the punching fist had gone supersonic at the moment of impact.
Tyranitar finally overbalanced from that blow to his chin, teetering backwards and then crashing to the floor like a felled oak.
Panting, Primeape landed back on the water of the lake, and smirked slightly.
Bayleef exchanged a look with the Scizor facing her.
She remembered this Pokémon from last time this had happened.
Specifically, she remembered that she had beaten him. Despite his being a Steel/Bug type, and her being a relatively recently evolved Grass-type.
"How long have you been a Scizor?" she asked, a little curious.
Scizor blinked. "About three days," he said, then scowled. "Hey! Don't try to distract me! X-Scissor!"
Bayleef's vines whipped out behind her, latching her to a tree, and she pulled herself backwards and out of the way of his close-quarters attack.
She released the vines at the point of greatest extension, drawing them back in, and swirled the leaf on her head as Scizor charged in again.
He was so new to his new body that he didn't know about the greatest advantage a Scizor had... its armour.
"Petal dance!" she called, unleashing a storm of unnaturally sharp cherry blossom.
Scizor blinked, waving it away from his face using his pincer-like claws, and advanced steadily through it. He readied another X-Scissor, and Bayleef's vines lashed out again – forwards this time, past him on either side.
She used them for a sudden burst of forwards acceleration, using her blizzard of petals to hide her position until it was too late, and kicked off his forehead on the way past to disorient him.
Bayleef landed a bit badly, and stumbled as she turned. The potion hadn't properly fixed her up – not really – and she was already feeling the pang of fatigue from earlier.
But she just had to – there!
She'd been focusing her petals on one very specific spot on the armour, scratching away at it again and again. Now she'd gotten through it, and Scizor didn't notice because he was unused to how his new Steel-typing made him so much tougher – the pain, slight as it was, should have been an alarm bell.
Bayleef lashed out with her vines one more time. This time, she put more energy into it than was probably wise, and her Power Whip smashed into the weak spot hard enough to send Scizor flying backwards into a tree.
She panted, but grinned on seeing the small cracks around that weak spot on his armour. She'd got him! The triumph felt good, blowing away her fatigue, and she called up her Petal Dance again to hit him there once more.
Stumbling to his feet, Scizor scowled at her and charged-
And a Flamethrower hit him in the side.
A Charmeleon she recognized as Sammy's waved at her. "Nice work, Meganium!"
It was at that point she realized she'd evolved.
"Huh," she said, glancing down. "Didn't expect that..."
Ash winced as Ivysaur's Leaf Storm attack crashed into the Marauder's Girafarig without any noticeable effect, and then the Psychic-type retaliated with a Psybeam.
"Ivysaur – fall back!" he called. "It must have Sap Sipper! Pikachu, can you handle him?"
Pikachu nodded, running forwards. "Take this! Volt Ta-"
Ash spotted the object at the same time Pikachu did – a sliver of a second before it hit.
"Look out!" he shouted, though far, far too late.
28
Pikachu saw the ball coming – just.
By the time it hit, he'd already started to build a charge to fire at it, but didn't have time to launch off even a Thundershock before the phenomenally powerful 'ball pulled him in.
It wasn't like a regular Pokéball. Those were disorienting, but nothing more than that – and Pikachu had heard you got used to that, after a while.
It was a lot more like the dark Pokéballs Mewtwo had used back on New Island – a horrible tugging sensation, seeming to be trying to pull him inside out, and then blackness.
Pikachu started struggling, trying to get back out. He knew regular Pokéballs could be broken open, could this-
And then came the pain. All-encompassing, surpassing, omnipresent pain.
It seemed to play directly on his nerves, sweeping across in horrible disorienting waves, and Pikachu screamed.
Ash froze. He couldn't help it.
This was... as bad as it could possibly be.
All over the lakeshore, the fighting stopped for a moment, as everyone – even Vicious' Pokémon – turned to look.
Ash tried to think, to work out what to do to save his best friend, as the sphere of metal crackled with dark lightning and the Marauder caught it in his open palm.
Ash couldn't hear anything. There was a kind of rushing sound in his ears, shock drowning out the outside world.
And at the same time, perversely, he could hear Sir Aaron's voice with crystal clarity.
"I can see how that would be useful, I guess," Ash said, once Sir Aaron had finished describing the Aura Purge. "But – uh, what did you use it for?"
The ancient knight winced. "Nasty stuff, this – shadow Pokémon."
"Shadow Pokémon?" Ash repeated, frowning. He remembered hearing some news story which mentioned those...
"There are two ways they were made, back in my time – both difficult," Sir Aaron went on. "First way is accidental. A Pokémon who's kind of unstable loses a well-loved trainer, and... goes kind of out-of-control. On a rampage."
Ash nodded along.
"When that happened, we had to stop them. This was a... well, basically a safer way – it let the fight take place inside the Shadow Pokémon instead of on the outside. And even if it didn't work, it gave people time." Sir Aaron shrugged. "Anything you can get."
He rolled his shoulders. "The second way is... deliberate. Capture a Pokémon, stop it escaping – doesn't matter how – and torture it until it breaks."
Sir Aaron's expression turned sombre. "I've seen the results. They're more dangerous than the first kind, because they follow orders – of the one who made them what they are."
"Pikachu..." Ash whispered. Spots swam in front of his eyes, and he took a sudden breath. "Pikachu!"
Vicious smiled as the Dark Ball's indicator lit up, signifying the process was completed.
Excellent.
Those idiots in the tiltrotor trying to stop him had been helpful, in a way. When the boy had shown up, he'd known exactly which was his most dangerous Pokémon.
And now that immensely capable Pikachu was his. Possibly his greatest weapon, even if he managed to capture Celebi...
Seeing the young trainer beginning to run forwards, Vicious opened the 'ball, releasing his new Pikachu.
It was almost the same as it had been – a fairly typical Electric Mouse in appearance, though there were those strange cheek pouches... but the eyes told the story. They were full of rage, but behind that... emptiness.
"Pikachu!" Vicious said, pointing. "Thunderbolt that boy!"
"Chuu!"
A smirk played over the Marauder's features, as the bolt of electricity slammed into Ash Ketchum just as he jumped to try and get on the tank. It hit with devastating force, blowing the boy backwards through the air and sending him crashing through the upper canopy and out of sight.
"Excellent!" Vicious laughed. "Now – Pikachu, destroy anyone who dares to try and attack me!"
Vicious savoured the results. The first electrical attack that resulted speared out across the lake, hit the V-22 Talonflame that had been firing on his tank, and blew off a rotor.
The second one took a second longer to charge, and blasted off into the sky – and, two seconds later, a Pidgeot crashed into the lake in a huge plume of spray.
Vicious laughed. "Excellent!"
Then he noticed his Dark Venomoth looking confused. Hadn't it been fighting the Celebi?
The answer quickly presented itself. There was a small knot of people on the lakeshore – with Celebi cradled against the chest of another boy, and a Stantler standing next to them looking as shocked as the rest of them.
Vicious got the attention of the Venomoth, and nodded towards the group on the lakeshore.
"Ash! Pikachu!" Brock shouted, as the dreadful events unfolded.
They'd all forgotten about how the Dark Balls worked. Of course, the friends had known they needed to keep Celebi away from the Marauder – but the idea that he might try to capture any Pokémon was something they hadn't expected.
Pidgeot crashed into the lake a few hundred yards out, electricity crackling across her feathers.
"How did-" Misty began, then stopped herself. "Of course – Dark Balls force the Pokémon to use all the power they have..."
"And Pikachu's always been trying not to hurt his friends," Brock added softly.
Sammy gaped. "That's... horrible!"
Brock patted him on the shoulder. "We'll-"
He paused, and looked back towards the lake.
No fake Celebi dodging overhead.
"Stantler – is your illusion still up?" he asked, a horrible suspicion forming.
"I – no!" Stantler's antlers started to glow, as he hurriedly rebuilt the cloaking illusion. "Sorry, Brock, I-"
A beam of red energy flashed towards the group. It played across Stantler, Brock and Sammy, before focusing in on Celebi and intensifying into an overcharged Signal Beam.
Celebi cried out, trying to form a shield, which held for a moment before breaking under the strain of the Bug attack.
"Celebi!" Sammy said, moving to shield her. The Venomoth swooped overhead, keeping her in his sights for several seconds before ending the attack.
There was another ear-punishing thunderclap as Pikachu blasted Lucario backwards.
Celebi started to glow. Eyes widening, she struggled against the psychic energy gripping her, and then it pulled her out of Sammy's arms and towards the Marauder and his machine.
"The Girafarig!" Misty realized – stupid! They'd forgotten to stop it!
Togekiss arrived back overhead, blew the Venomoth out of the sky with Sacred Fire, and then turned to watch with the rest of them.
Vicious was already pulling out his next Dark Ball.
Ash shook his head, trying to gather his senses.
Taking a breath, he opened his eyes and saw he was lying in a pile of broken branches and leaves.
A crash of thunder from some way off jogged his memory, and he started with a jolt. "Pikachu – no..."
His belt flashed.
"Ash!" Keldeo said, helping him up. "What happened? We heard you shout, but there was too much noise."
"It was the Marauder," Ash said, catching his breath. "He – he used a Dark Ball on Pikachu. I think – if they work like Sir Aaron said Shadow Pokémon were made, it means he's been tortured."
Swallowing, Ash glanced between the two Water-types. "I... he's not okay, and that..."
He rubbed tears from his eyes. "Sorry, I – he's been with me for years, and..."
Suicune stepped forwards, her muzzle touching his dangling left hand. "Ash," she said, "We will save him. That is a promise."
Ash nodded, swallowing again. "Thanks – yeah, thanks."
The young trainer clenched his fists, breathing more steadily now. "Right. Let's go save him."
Keldeo stamped a hoof, flashing over into Resolute form. "Yeah!"
Ash glanced between them. "Only... we need to work out what we're going to do. That tank of his is really tough, and we've got to get past Pikachu – and both of you are Water-types."
He took the final Pokéball at his belt, and opened it. "Quilava – we're probably going to need you to be a distraction."
"I'd guessed," Quilava said, nodding calmly. "I'm not weak to Electricity, so I'm the best choice."
Ash smiled at her, and she pretended not to notice the tears in his eyes. "Thanks, Quilava."
"As for you two – here." Ash pulled three large Wacan berries from his pack. "They should help with Electrical attacks for a few minutes."
Suicune took one in her mouth, and avoided biting into it for now. Keldeo did the same, and Ash took a quick mouthful of the third.
"They don't work as well for humans," he said around the mouthful, "but they do last a bit longer. Right..."
He looked between the three Pokémon. "Let's go."
There was another crackle-BOOM as they set off, further underscoring the situation.
"He got Celebi, too," Ash said, noticing the huge floating construct of wood as Celebi pulled it together from the nearby trees. "This isn't good..."
"What do we do?" Keldeo asked, glancing back and forth between Ash and the construct.
"Well..." Ash shrugged helplessly. "Last time, it took Sammy – he's Professor Oak's younger self, brought forwards in time... anyway, Sammy and I were able to convince Celebi to snap out of it."
"What first?" Suicune asked.
Ash frowned. "I think... Keldeo, Quilava, can you keep them busy?"
Keldeo paused, then nodded firmly. "I can try!"
"Right. Suicune – we should pick up Sammy, Celebi knows him this time too."
Suicune nodded, and knelt for Ash to get on. As she straightened, she looked at the two Pokémon who were now her teammates. "Good luck, you two."
They nodded their thanks, then ran out into the open.
"Why! Won't! You! Shut! Up!" Weavile ranted, slashing both sets of claws forwards in an X-Scissor.
Wobbuffet bounced backwards, halted for a moment nearly parallel to the ground, then came back and cracked Weavile on the chin with stunning force. "Because I'm one tough cookie!"
Weavile paused, thrown, and half-lowered the set of glowing claws he'd been about to use for a Fury Swipes. "That's not... a pun..."
"Actually, it is," Wobbuffet said, with a fixed grin. "It's called dramatic irony."
"Hello," a thick, gloopy voice added behind the Ice/Dark type.
Weavile turned, and saw a Muk.
"Maybe you'll be easier to handle, then!" he said, raising his claws again. "Icicle-"
Muk opened his mouth, and then all Weavile knew was pain.
Suicune halted in front of Ash's friends, and Ash swung down.
"Ash!" Brock said. "Are you all right?"
"What do you think?" Ash snapped, then shook his head. "No, I... sorry, Brock. No, I'm not – that's my starter over there!"
There was an explosion of electricity and water, and he glanced back. Seeing Keldeo using his Sacred Sword to block an escalating series of thunderbolts, he winced.
"What do you need us to do, Ash?" Misty asked.
"Do you have any Pokémon left?" Ash began, then rubbed his temples. "No, silly question – I can see Togekiss and Stantler, and all the rest are out there either knocked out or fighting."
"I can help," Togekiss volunteered.
"No, keep Misty and Brock safe," Ash told her. "As for – Sammy, right?"
Sammy blinked. "How do you-"
"That doesn't matter right now," Ash interrupted. "Celebi knows you. She trusts you, and so we're going to need your help to save her. Climb on!"
Professor Oak blinked.
He looked around, wondering what could have caused the sudden attack of nausea. It felt like he'd stood up too quickly – everything went fuzzy for a moment.
Shrugging it off, he returned to the email he was reading. It was Gary's latest about the two Mega Stones he'd managed to acquire so far, and the similarities and differences between their properties.
Interesting reading, though the Professor still awaited the day he could study the transformation in person.
A few paragraphs later, he had a second inexplicable feeling of... the world, shifting under his feet. A bit like a ship in a storm, when the cargo in the hold slid from one side to the other, and the comfortable patterns you hadn't even noticed in how the ship rolled and pitched were suddenly gone.
Vicious laughed, as his new base was formed out of vines and roots and branches.
The Pikachu was nice – very helpful, even now it was blasting away at a Ninetales which had been positioning to blast him – but Celebi, now, that was the true prize.
With such a powerful Pokémon under his command, he could remake Team Rocket in his own image!
Speaking of Team Rocket, those irritating enforcers seemed to have survived for now. There were two large parachutes draped over a tree near where their Talonflame tiltrotor had gone down.
Pity.
Another crash of electrical energy drew his attention. The Pikachu was firing at...
At...
Vicious didn't actually know what it was. It looked a little like a Rapidash, or perhaps a Ponyta, with a shaggy red mane... but the rest of its colours were entirely different, and it didn't look like a Fire-type.
It also had a huge glowing blade extending from its forehead, and was using it to parry the electrical attacks Pikachu was putting out. Which was – impressive.
And discomfiting. Perhaps he would need to make that Celebi's first target.
As he thought that, an orange blur drove directly at him. It got close, then bounced off the shields, and he grinned as the blur slowed and revealed itself to be the Aura adept's Quilava.
That was probably about it for Pokémon, then. If he was using the Quilava, then that meant the biggest threat of all – the Charizard – was unavailable.
Excellent.
Vicious clenched his fist in triumph as an attack finally made it through to the strange equine Pokémon. He flinched as the electricity played over him, then rallied, and jumped out of the way of the follow-up attack and began sprinting around the tank faster than Pikachu could turn.
The Marauder blinked. Was that Pokémon shooting water from its hooves?
Very strange.
But, as his gaze followed the sprinting Pokémon, he spotted something else.
Back over with the boy who had tried to save the Celebi, there was the Aura adept – and a Suicune.
Where the Darkrai had that come from?
As he wondered, there was a sudden – and very final – clunk from the body of his walking tank. It shivered, seized up, and the shield powered down.
Vicious winced. That took away his protection.
"Celebi!" he shouted. "Bring me up to my new base!"
Celebi's psychic grip reached out, took Vicious, and pulled him off the war machine just before it collapsed.
Cubone grinned behind her mask, triumphant.
It had taken a while, but she'd finally managed to hammer her way through to something vital.
Crawling back out of the hole she'd made, her first sight was Pikachu standing there with his cheeks crackling.
"Hi," she said. "Any idea where Jessie and James are?"
Pikachu gave her a dispassionate look, then blasted her with a Thunderbolt.
Cubone waited until it had finished, then gave him a puzzled glance. "Why? Sure, I've got Lightningrod, that's not going to hurt me... but why blast me at all?"
Pikachu frowned slightly, then jumped forwards at her with his palm glowing. Startled, Cubone barely formed a Shieldon-derived shield in time to block.
Then the Girafarig hit her with an intense Solarbeam.
Muscles bunching, Suicune ran towards the giant plant construct.
As she approached, though, a bolt of lightning crashed her way from the wreckage of the tank. It fouled her approach, and she had to break away.
Her second attempt met much the same fate, despite a wall of water that her tailwind whipped up alongside her. Pikachu's powerful Electric attack punched straight through the shield, and nearly hit her even though her position was obscured by the wave.
"Suicune!" Ash shouted, bent over to avoid the wind. "This isn't working! We're going to have to stop Pikachu first!"
Suicune nodded – she could see the logic. "Got it."
This time, when she made her run, she turned aside the moment the lightning bolt started. Producing a gigantic wave as she cornered at half the speed of sound, she dove in towards the wrecked tank preceded by a swirling cold wind.
As they closed in, Keldeo lunged forwards. He spun on two hooves, directing his fore left hoof at Pikachu, and blasting him with a stream of water mirrored by one coming out of his rear hoof for balance.
Pikachu took the obvious counter-attack, firing lightning at the jet, and Keldeo cut it off just before the Thunderbolt could have used it as a conduit to electrocute him.
Though it did almost no damage, the jet of water did physically knock Pikachu backwards. His slashing follow-up blow took just a bit longer to prepare than it would otherwise have done, and so Keldeo was able to block it with his Secret Sword before volleying in a Focus Blast – at the Girafarig.
Blindsided, the Psychic/Normal Pokémon was knocked out by the powerful attack, and his Solarbeam went unfired.
Despite this, however, Suicune and her passengers did not get a clear run in. Pikachu sensed their approach, whether by sound or by feeling the breeze on his back, and slashed out another Thunderbolt.
Suicune winced as it blazed into her forelegs, hampering her and making her lose speed. She jumped over the next attack, and shot an Ice Beam back at Pikachu which collided with the follow-up Zap Cannon.
The resultant explosion blew Ash and Sammy off her back.
The moment she landed, Suicune located the still-falling Sammy. Bursting into motion again, she managed to catch him before he hit the beach.
Ash landed in a crouch, having had enough time to stabilize himself in mid-air.
"What now?" Sammy asked, looking between the three remaining Pokémon.
Pikachu's cheeks sparked warningly, and Ash stepped forwards between him and Suicune.
"Pikachu!" he said, voice raw. "Stop! Please!"
Ash had eyes only for Pikachu, desperately trying to see if he was getting to his first Pokémon. "Pikachu! I – don't listen to him!"
Those horribly blank eyes were unmoved. Then they tightened, just slightly, and Ash got a Protect up just in time to avoid the Thunderbolt hitting him.
Keldeo started to move forwards, and Ash shook his head slightly. "Wait."
"But Ash, if you keep this up then-"
"I said wait, Keldeo!" Ash repeated, and the pain in his voice stopped Keldeo more than the first direct order Ash had given him.
The Colt Pokémon stopped moving, setting his feet ready to spring forwards if he had to but not doing so for now, and Ash exhaled.
"Pikachu," Ash began, trying to find something – anything – that might get through to the Electric-type. "Remember when we met, Pikachu?"
Pikachu fired another Thunderbolt, and this time Ash didn't block it.
"Ash!" Keldeo shouted as the attack hit. "Suicune, we have to-"
"Look!" Suicune said, nodding sharply, and Keldeo followed her gaze.
Ash was still standing. A bit of residual electricity crackled between his fingers, and he forced a chuckle.
"Yeah, that's... pretty much how we met," he said, sounding like he was surprising himself with how he sounded. "Man, but you couldn't stop shocking me..."
Another Thunderbolt came in. Again, Ash didn't stop it with a Protect.
"You shocked me, you shocked Professor Oak, you shocked half the town, and you certainly didn't shock any Pokémon," Ash went on, doggedly, and missed the little gasp from Sammy. "Not ones I told you to, anyway. But... I don't know quite how, but we got to know each other."
Pikachu blinked, frowning, and then launched forwards another Electric attack. This one was less powerful than the previous one, though, and his eyes were no longer blank and dead – instead, full of a deep confusion.
"There are three things I learned about you, Pikachu," Ash said. "Firstly, you're one stubborn Pokémon, and nothing will stop you for long. Secondly, you're the best friend any boy could have. And third – you hate Pokéballs."
That prompted a reaction. Pikachu flinched, and electricity crackled between his cheeks and ears. None of it came forwards in an attack, though.
Ash crouched down, rummaging in his pouch, and pulled out a lightning-marked Pokéball. "This is yours, Pikachu. I've never used it, not that I can remember, but I still kept it around for some reason..."
Pikachu stared at it, and his hackles started to rise.
Ash expanded it out, and then rolled it gently forwards – with nowhere near enough force to actually reach Pikachu. It went forwards, slowly trundling across the ground, then hit a stone and stopped about halfway between them. "Do what you want with it."
None of the spectators was daring to breathe.
Pikachu blinked, slowly, and looked again at the ball. His cheeks crackled, as he built up a charge... then it dissipated.
Confusion rose into his face, several half-formed emotions fighting for dominance. "Pi...ka?"
"It's yours," Ash repeated. "Destroy it if you want. We're friends anyway, it doesn't matter what some ball says."
Again Pikachu built up the charge for an attack, and again he let it die away. He took a hesitant step forwards, then his face scrunched up in pain and he clutched his head.
"There!" Vicious pointed.
Celebi complied, and fired a powerful blast of Psychic energy at the forest.
There was a huge explosion, and bits of tree and earth went everywhere. His corrupted Skarmory was buffeted by the blast, but continued doggedly obeying orders.
Vicious squinted through the smoke, looking for a sign of the irritating duo who had done such damage to his plans.
"Looks like you missed them again, Celebi," he said, and chuckled. "No matter. They've got to be in here somewhere. Attack again! There this time!"
"Biiiiii!" Celebi intoned, and another Psychic attack started to charge.
A crackling sound caught his attention. "Eh?"
Looking down at his collar, he saw one of the dark balls was crackling with eerie violet energy.
Expanding it out, he examined it.
"What's causing this?" he asked. "Why is it – that can't be normal, that's how it normally acts when it's catching a Pokémon!"
Pikachu cried out in pain, dark energy crackling over him.
"Pikachu!" Ash shouted, running forwards. "Are you alright?"
He hit Pikachu's Pokéball with his foot in his haste, and it bounced across the muddy lakeside to skid to a halt near the knocked-out Cubone.
Reaching Pikachu, Ash picked him up – heedless of the dark energy skirling around him – and hugged him to his chest. "Please be okay, Pikachu..."
"Pika..." Pikachu reacted on instinct, and returned the embrace.
Ash was here. It would all be fine.
Ash felt tears soak into his jacket, and hugged tighter.
After a few seconds, a weak voice reached him. "Ash... thank you. For everything."
"Ah!" Vicious shouted, as the Dark Ball exploded in a flash of light and smoke.
Stumbling slightly, he looked down at the remaining five. Tyranitar, Venomoth, Houndoom, Skarmory – all still there, though three were marking their linked Pokémon as unconscious and even as he watched the fourth joined it.
Too close to one too many of Celebi's Psychic attacks.
Celebi was, self-evidently, still there... so that meant...
Vicious clenched his fist, looking back towards the site his tank had been.
How had they done that? Even when a Pokémon died, the ball just lost the connection!
Squinting, he just about made out the boy, the Suicune, and that other Pokémon.
And a tiny little yellow dot.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Pikachu," Ash said, voice raw. Tears dripped freely down his cheeks. "I thought I'd lost you."
"I'm so sorry I hurt you, Ash," Pikachu said. His voice fell over itself in the attempt to apologize. "And I'm sorry I hurt everyone-"
"It wasn't your fault, Pikachu," Ash interrupted. "It's no-one's fault except his."
Pikachu's cheeks sparked.
Suicune cleared her throat. "I am very glad indeed to have you back, Pikachu," she said, in a steady voice. "But we have unfinished business with the Iron Masked Marauder."
Keldeo nodded. "Yeah – he's going to pay for hurting my friend!"
Pikachu looked between them, still clinging to Ash's shirt, and smiled wanly. "Thanks, guys."
Ash glanced over to make sure Sammy was still there, and then swung aboard Suicune – being careful not to jostle Pikachu. "Come on – we've got to stop him!"
Sammy nodded uncertainly. "Uh... okay – look, did you just say Professor Oak? Because that's my-"
Suicune started running across the water, heading for the root-and-branch construct, and Keldeo followed alongside.
Ash looked back. "It's a long story!" he shouted. "Really long!"
Sammy nodded again, still frowning. "Because I know we're forty years in the future, and you knew my name, and-"
A pulse of distortion came out from the huge floating simulacrum, interrupting him and making all five – person and Pokémon alike – grimace with pain.
"I'll help!" Togekiss announced, matching speed with them.
"Togekiss?" Ash asked. "I thought you were keeping Misty and the others safe!"
"His Skarmory went down a minute ago – I saw it! Now you guys are the only ones who need protecting!"
Another pulse of distortion.
"Celebi!" the Marauder snapped. "Stop them – by any means necessary!"
Celebi was the Time Travel Pokémon.
Her eyes glowed as she summoned up the energy for a targeted time jump to throw them into the distant future – making them no longer any sort of a threat.
"Ash?" Sammy asked. "Am I Professor Oak?"
Time finally had enough.
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