章節 17: 4,5
"It's locked. Of course it's locked."
"Did you expect it to be open?"
"Well..."
"Of course he did."
"Hey!"
"Right, I'll handle this. Give me a sec-"
A maintenance hatch dished out with a crunch from a powerful impact, and then fell to the floor.
"Because that's not obvious in the slightest," Ash said, nodding down at the crumpled hatch as he scrambled out of the accessway.
"What did you want?" Riolu asked, following. "We didn't have a key."
"Yeah, but now it's obvious someone's on board," Ash said, then shrugged. "Oh well... where's he keeping the birds?"
Pikachu hopped out of the hole, lightning crackling around his claws. "A room near the middle of the ship, I think."
"Good thought." Ash retrieved his staff, making sure it was ready to hand, and then pulled out Dexter's projector with his free hand. "Okay, Dexter. Anything you can tell me?"
This place has no wi-fi. None whatsoever.
"I'm sure you'll cope," Ash assured him.
No, I mean I can't link into the ship's systems. There's no way in to link with. Dexter made a slight electronic blaat noise. Sorry.
"Oh, right," Ash realized, then shook his head. "Fine. No electronic help. Okay, I can live with that... Pikachu, you said you had an idea?"
"Well, just – we're on the outer edge, so we need to find a door leading inwards." Pikachu hopped off down the corridor, and the others moved to keep up with him. "This is as good a way as any."
In the storm outside, crackling orbs of Ice and Lightning energy shot out of the main gun turret of the Hikokyu. Most of them missed, flicking past the target Zapdos at high speed, but the occasional one connected with a screech of pain.
Zapdos snarled, spitting Thunder back at the orbs as they came in.
He was the master of the skies now!
The power of the storm flowed through and around him, snapping out in bolts towards the towering ship overhead. Some of them hit home, causing scorch marks, but no major damage as the lightning rods drew off the power.
Another orb hit home, and then two more in quick succession as the Hikokyu's targeting computer found the range.
Zapdos staggered in the air, then recovered – wings beating less surely.
The cannon stopped firing and rotating. Instead, a half-dozen square frames of metal dropped out next to the gun. They fell through the air for about fifty feet, stopped in mid-air, then started to spin.
Moving with purpose, they spread out to surround Zapdos.
The Legendary bird blasted the first one with a bolt of lightning sufficient to bring down the power lines of a large city. It wobbled in the air, losing the sure movement that had been controlling it up to that point, then recovered and bored back in.
Zapdos gained height with sweeps of his powerful wings, climbing out of the box.
The loops rose with him, and two – faster than the others – passed either side of him.
An incredibly powerful Thunder Wave attack fired off from them, overwhelming his innate electrical resistance and hammering straight into him.
Zapdos screamed in pain, then shook the effect off – not without difficulty – and blasted both objects as hard as he could.
Two more approached, and lightning played between them as they bracketed him. Some of the power went into him, the rest went through him, and the rings slowed to match his speed.
A final burst of Thunder – the most powerful he could manage – knocked one away, but another took its place, and from there on all his struggles were useless.
Protesting loudly, he was ferried up into the open hold of Hikokyu.
"Impressive," J admitted. "I mean, obviously I've done better, but that's with a crew."
"My glorious Hikokyu needs no aid," Lawrence agreed, stepping from the control platform as Zapdos was levitated into the central room – thrashing about like the others.
"Now..." Lawrence turned to consult the tablet, and quoted. "Bring together all three. Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea."
J glanced over at the treasures. "How?"
"All will be revealed in time, I am sure... dear sister," Lawrence assured her with a smile. He picked up the red orb and the blue one. "These I caught first. Perhaps they must be combined into one orb, that would be as the greater treasures said to command Groudon and Kyogre."
After considering that, J nodded agreement – she'd seen stranger things.
"How to make it happen, though..." Lawrence mused, touching the orbs together and confirming they were as solid as ever.
"Maybe the rest of the prophecy holds a key?" J suggested.
"No, it's some nonsense about three titans destroying the world," Lawrence replied absently. "Hmm... Hikokyu, contract Moltres's cage and make sure there's a part of it outside the force field."
On his sister's confused look, he elaborated. "Touching the orb to the defeated legendary bird may awaken some power within it – a true test of strength."
"Oh, come on..." Ash whispered, crouched by the door. "Hunter J is here as well?"
Riolu gave the woman a hard look. "We need to stop her somehow."
"No argument here," Ash agreed. "But the first thing is to get those orbs."
"I have an idea," Pikachu volunteered, speaking as quietly as the rest of them. "We let the birds free, and hopefully the chaos will distract them."
"Sounds good to me," Ash agreed, after a moment's thought. "What do we have that's powerful enough?"
"Charizard's Blast Burn. My Volt Crash..." Pikachu thought. "And Squirtle's whatever-the-heck he comes up with."
"Works for me," Ash agreed, and walked back a half-dozen paces before bringing the two out.
"You heard?"
Charizard nodded.
Squirtle took in a deep breath, and then let it out slowly at a glare from his trainer. "Yes," he said simply.
"Okay... Pikachu, start charging," Ash said, still quietly. "Signal me when you're ready to fire."
With a faint hum, Pikachu rose into the air on a cushion of static charge. One by one, three rings of electrical potential formed around his waist and began to spin. Slowly at first, then faster and faster.
"Charizard," Ash went on. "Blast Burn Moltres's cage as soon as Pikachu fires. Squirtle, you know what to do."
The little Water-type raised an arm, which began to coat itself with water. "Meet you on the surface of the ocean, Ash – I don't think I'm going to be able to stop this side of the wall."
Pikachu's tail waved back and forth.
"Okay," Ash said, and took a deep breath. "Now!"
J watched her brother trying to make the red sphere contact Moltres's tail without being singed.
Perhaps he was on to something. The spheres certainly had to be more than just pretty baubles...
He gave it up, and walked back over to the tray to select the bluest of the three objects.
As he did, J blinked as something prickled her well-honed danger sense.
Her reaction was automatic.
"Down!" she snapped, diving forward and knocking her brother's legs out from under him.
A bolt of lightning – one almost as powerful as the ones Zapdos had been throwing around – passed to her left, making her hair stand on end and giving the air a strong smell of ozone. It struck the cage holding Zapdos and exploded, throwing smoke everywhere.
Barely had she registered that when a blaze of fire, so hot and concentrated that it was mainly visible as a blue aftershock in the air, went past over where Lawrence had been standing barely seconds before. It roiled the smoke-cloud, hit the shield holding Moltres, and detonated.
There must have been something focusing the blast, because otherwise it probably would have killed her.
And then, most of a second after that, some kind of drill went over to her right, shedding water in all directions. It disappeared into the smoke, there was a loud clang, then a smashing of glass.
J coughed in the foul smoke, scrabbling at her waist for a Pokéball.
"Did it work?" Pikachu panted, ears drooping. "That's about as powerful a blast as I can manage."
Ash closed one eye, looking through the smoke. "Looks like – yep – whoa!"
He stepped to one side, back behind cover, as Articuno screeched with triumph at his escape.
"I broke out!" he declared, in defiance of the evidence.
Zapdos countered that, wings crackling with electricity again, and Moltres took issue with both of their opinions by blazing up with fire.
"Oh, you're kidding..." Ash sighed.
Articuno took flight first, diving through the hole Squirtle had left in the plate-glass window. His wings spread, and flared, and he sped off towards the nearby Ice Island on wings of glittering blue silver.
That was met by a scream of rage from Zapdos. "No! I claimed the islands! I rule here!"
He blew a hole in the floor and plunged out after Articuno.
Moltres disdained both already-existing holes, instead melting a way through a bulkhead into the open air. "These islands are mine, Zapdos!"
"Wow," Ash commented absently.
"Yeah," Riolu agreed. "What a bunch of morons."
"Aren't you supposed to revere Legendary Pokémon?" Pikachu asked, shaking his head as he recovered.
"I find myself becoming more inclined to be a mixture of impressed and scared," Riolu replied, watching through the floor. "And there goes an Ice Beam... and a Flamethrower..."
Pikachu pointed. "Ash. The orbs!"
"Right!" Ash replied, advancing into the room. He coughed in the cloud of thick, choking smoke, and zeroed in on the orbs. "Here we go – Fire island, Ice island-"
Something very big hit Ash from the side, knocking the orbs from his hands and bowling him over. He let out a truncated cry, broken off with a thud and a roar.
"Ash!" Riolu called, advancing into the smoke with glowing paws.
Pikachu followed without a moment's hesitation.
"Guys-" Ash began, then air whooshed out of his lungs as a powerful weight pressed down on his chest.
He summoned aura to his palms, trying to aim and fire an aura sphere up at his opponent.
"Turn him over, stop him fighting back," J's voice said.
A clawed foot pushed roughly at Ash's side, and he went down onto his face despite his best efforts.
"Now, kill him."
As the master criminal's Salamence inhaled, a bolt of lightning hit him on the cheek with stunning force. He snarled, distracted, and an Aura Sphere smashed into his neck.
"Now!" J commanded. "Kill him now!"
Charizard disagreed. With a body slam.
The Fire/Flying dragon hit his Dragon/Flying opponent like a freight train, sending him flying entirely off Ash and out one of the few remaining unbroken windows on the observation deck.
Charizard followed through, diving out the hole after Salamence. His wings opened with an audible crack, and he roared defiance after the Dragon-type.
Salamence roared back, and started the battle proper with a Dragonbreath. Charizard retaliated with a Flamethrower, and from there they went out of sight behind flying machine superstructure.
"You," J hissed, as Ash got back to his feet, "are too persistent for my liking."
"I almost die a lot," Ash informed her, taking his staff in a sure two-handed grip. "I'm kind of good at not going all the way."
"I've had enough of you," J said, matter-of-factly, and slipped her hand into a pocket. Out came her goggles, which went onto her head and started to glow red.
Then came a gun.
"What?" Ash asked, blinking at it as she levelled it at him. "An actual gun?"
J fired. Ash brought his staff up in a blurring arc to impose it, thankful for the improved reaction time he got from Detect, and the bullet pinged off and thudded into some of the rich upholstery around the room.
"You owe me a ship," J added, making little moves with the muzzle of her gun towards Pikachu and Riolu as they tried to circle her. "I'll take it out of your hide, though."
A humming noise distracted Ash. He glanced over, and saw that Lawrence III had regained his footing, picked up the now-glowing Fire Island orb, and activated his elevating control deck.
The distraction nearly cost him his life. A second bullet cracked out, and it took a hasty Protect to deflect it from a direct hit to a miss so close it cut his hair.
"We should get out of here, Ash," Pikachu recommended, eyes on J. "The treasures are what's important."
"Yeah, but how do I-" Ash began, then stopped talking. His eyes widened.
J scoffed. "That's such an old trick-" she said, then frowned.
"What's that noise?"
What began as a low rumble escalated into a roar. A sound that drowned out the sound of the engines, then the sound of speech, and made a good attempt at drowning out thought.
And, over the top of it, some familiar voices.
"Prepare for trouble!" boomed a PA system.
The PA system was a bit of a botch job, made of a couple of hi-fi stereos bolted to the nose cone of the Rockets' vehicle.
The vehicle itself, on the other hand, was anything but a botch job – a sleek arrow of metal, with two engines blazing away to keep it 'standing on end' in the sky.
"And make it double!" added a different voice.
"What the..." J said, keeping one eye on Ash. "What is this?"
"Yeah, by now we're kind of used to it," Ash shrugged. "Cool plane, guys!"
"Why, thank you!" James' voice said, then he and Jessie audibly cleared their throats.
"To protect the world from devastation!" Jessie opened, which was actually true.
"To unite all peoples within our nation," James continued, which was less so.
"To make sure everyone else is deaf," declared the female Rocket admin, in what was probably an understatement.
"And to fly around in a Flanker-F!" James said, waving from the pilot's seat.
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"
"J, give up now, or prepare to fight!"
The targeting lasers on the nose lit up.
"Good night!" Meowth added from Jessie's lap. "Okay, now where's da cannon controls..."
The nose cannon fired two rounds. One of them smashed the last remaining glass window, the other went inches to J's left and blew a hole in the wall – also starting a fire.
"Run!" Ash shouted, as J turned to return fire at the aircraft.
The minute that there was a solid wall between Ash and J, the young trainer relaxed.
"Seriously, what the hell?" he asked Riolu. "A gun?"
"She is a criminal, Ash," Riolu pointed out. "Besides, we just got saved by a military aircraft."
"Yeah, but a gun..." Ash glanced around as they jogged along the corridor. "Wait. Where's Pikachu?"
The yellow rodent hurried up from behind, body blurred slightly with Agility and a blue sphere in his paws. "Sorry about that – I went to see if the other orbs were still there."
"Good thought!" Ash complimented him, picking up the Ice orb from Pikachu and pocketing it. "What about the other one – Lightning? I know Lawrence has Fire."
"Wasn't there," Pikachu reported, with a shake of his head. "Sorry. I think it fell out of one of the holes."
"Oh, great..." Ash said with a sigh. "Well, guess we're going to have to find it later."
They came to a staircase, with opulent purple carpeting down the middle of what was otherwise quite simple marble steps, and art and paintings lining both walls.
"How much stuff does this guy have?" Ash asked, powering up the stairs with his two Pokémon flanking him.
"A lot?" Riolu tried.
The corridor they ended up in at the top of the long steps was about on the level of the middle impeller bank. Large blades crossed in front of the windows every few seconds, and thunder and fire flashed outside.
"Hope Charizard is okay out there," Ash said, searching for a sign of his burly Fire-type as they continued.
Charizard flew hard, wings beating with the steady rhythm that carried him at combat speeds, and curved up and around a protrusion of the flying ship.
Dragonfire curled after him, going wide, and then he was inside the shadow of the ship and harder to target. He didn't stop, instead making a sharp turn to make it harder for Salamence to track him.
Glancing back, he verified that the other dragon hadn't got him back in view yet, and folded his wings to drop out of contact.
Metal flashed past, then one of the lower engine pods, and after that he was into clear air beneath the Hikokyu.
He had to make a small correction to avoid hitting a fighter aircraft (which was a weird enough sight to earn a double-take, at least until he spotted who was flying it and that explained everything) and then went up under another engine pod and latched on with all four sets of claws.
Charizard curled his tail up inside his wings, and waited.
Twenty or so tense seconds passed, and then Salamence appeared again. He hadn't seen Charizard yet, and instead bore in on the fighter jet.
He was barely seconds away when the jet noticed. It cut engines, gimballed them and reignited them – resulting in a weird, counterintuitive swing-by-the-nose that left it upside down as Salamence passed.
Cannon rounds stabbed out, hitting one wing of the blue Pokémon.
Charizard saw his chance, and took it. His claws clenched, getting a better grip – the engine sputtered and coughed as he finally hit something vital – and then he pushed off, accelerating to Aerial Ace speeds and coming down onto the stalling Salamence in a gushing roar of Dragonbreath.
The attack hit his unsuspecting target hard, and Salamence roared out with pain, then rolled and caught Charizard's Dragon Claw attack with his own Slash, and started trying to both bite and claw at once.
Snarling and snapping, the two dragons gradually lost height.
"That ain't good for the engines," Meowth commented, as they rolled back upright again. "But it's a good thing we got that levitation unit in dis thing, or we'd be worse off."
"And being bitten in half by a dragon would be worse still," Jessie agreed. "Did we get J?"
"No," James reported mournfully. "The cockpit's got a couple of cracks in it, too..."
"What else can we do to help?" Jessie asked.
"I got somethin'!" Meowth said with gusto, tapping away at the controls. "Dat thing ain't gonna have guns any more!"
"Wait," Jessie said, blinking. "Are you going to-"
The Suicune-37 juddered as four missiles dropped off the racks, two at a time. They shot across the intervening space to the Hikokyu's weapons module, and blew huge chunks of metal and machinery out of it.
Secondary explosions followed, and then the whole assembly detonated.
Ash stumbled as the gigantic flying castle shook like a ship in a storm.
"What did we just hit?" he asked, regaining his footing.
"I think something hit us, actually," Riolu corrected.
"Oh, sure, it's obvious now..." Ash couldn't quite suppress a chuckle. "Okay, we must be nearly around the ship by now. Where's the next stairs?"
Pikachu's voice cut in on his question. "Look out!"
Ash turned to look at Pikachu, then followed his gaze out the window.
Lightning stabbed through the stormy sky. Then ice, closer. Fire, closer still...
The three legendary birds, the Titans of legend, approached with startling speed. Their battle scored the side of the Hikokyu with near misses and shots that only partially connected, then Zapdos collided with one of the impellers as he used Drill Peck on an evading target, and Moltres' fire cut off a half-dozen engine pods.
This explosion was both very big, and very, very close. Ash fell over with an oof as an impeller almost under their feet blew up, tearing a hole in the side of the ship and making the corridor floor give way entirely.
Hikokyu shuddered, taking on a definite list, as the lost engine pods canted the ship away from the missing lift capacity.
Then the fighting continued off into the distance.
"Oww..." Ash complained, standing upright again with difficulty. "That was close..."
"I'll say," Riolu agreed, looking with a shiver at the rent metal where they'd almost been standing.
"We're going to have to jump over this," Pikachu decided. He gave the gap a look, then used Agility to boost his speed – then a quick Quick attack followed, and he was over.
Ash went next. He took a deep breath, channelling his aura, then took a run up... pushed aura into his boots, cancelling out most of his weight... and leapt.
Landing with an oof on the far side, he turned. "Riolu?"
"Got it." The Emanation Pokémon stepped back, and got ready to follow-
"Toxic!"
Ash's gaze snapped up.
Hunter J was standing in the curve of the corridor, almost out of view. Her clothes were torn and smouldering, and there was an unsettling triumph in her eyes.
Then her Drapion fired a massive Toxic attack.
Riolu was already in the air when he reacted. He heard the move, and knew that it was intended to kill Ash.
There wasn't even a decision to be made, not really.
Ash had sworn to protect him. Had saved his life. Had trained him further than even his original harsh regimen had taken him.
Had become the best friend he'd ever had.
So he twisted in the air, focusing all the Aura he could into a powerful Force Palm, and moved himself into the way of the attack.
Ash was a human – he wasn't tough enough.
He, on the other hand, would probably survive.
Ash saw what Riolu had to be doing. Time seemed to have slowed, as his body tried to do something – anything – to change what was about to happen.
But he was too slow.
He closed his eyes, not wanting to see-
And a loud clang reverberated through the floor.
"...whoa," Pikachu said softly.
Ash looked up. At the blue-and-black body standing in front of him, now almost the same height.
"As you kept faith with me, so I with you," Lucario said. "Go. I'll handle J."
"Nearly there," Sir Aaron said, with relief. "We've beaten friendship into people the length and breadth of Japan, showed off, showed one another up, and showed up late for at least one battle."
He looked between the young Palkia and the young Dialga.
"Now, time for the final battle."
"Dis gonna be good!" Palkia said.
"Stop it, please," Sir Aaron pleaded. "Your accent is terrible."
"Sorry," the Spatial Pokémon said, insincerely, and pink blades of energy started to form around his gauntlets. "Let's get on with it!"
"Wait up a bit," Dialga asked. "Who's the final boss, dad?"
I'm touched, Arceus said out of thin air. I miss you calling me that.
"Dad?" Dialga pressed.
Oh, right. Well, I originally planned to make it an undead human. But then I had this idea...
Sir Aaron sighed. "No, wait. Don't tell me. I think I can guess."
Ominous music started playing.
"Seriously?"
Ieyasu stepped up beside Sir Aaron. "At last... an enemy who deserves to know the true nature of bonds!"
He cracked his knuckles, making the gloves he wore flash with golden light.
"Did you write all the dialogue?" Sir Aaron pressed, facing vaguely skywards.
Almost all of it. Almost.
"BEHOLD!" a deep, rich voice announced. Like the voices of some Legendary Pokémon, it imposed itself directly on the mind without bothering to involve itself with speech. "The demon king of the reverse world returns to the world of mortals!"
"Hiyah, bro!" Palkia said, killing the mood completely. "Are you ready, guys?"
"So," Sir Aaron addressed the creator of all once more. "You made a Giratina, as well."
Of course I did. How could I not? Giratina is as much a part of creation as Dialga and Palkia.
"Right. And the reason he's not turned up in any of our previous games is?"
...because I created him since this game started. I forgot, okay? I'm omnipotent, not omnimnemonic.
"That's not a word." Sir Aaron faced Giratina directly, watching as the Dragon/Ghost type went from Origin forme to Altered forme. "Nice to meet you."
"Oh, come on." Giratina seemed to sag. "Are none of you going to stay in character?"
Dialga shrugged. His fins extended slightly, and the gem on his chest started to glow.
"Excellent!" Ieyasu said, noticing. "May our bonds shine forever, throughout all time!"
Giratina's crest flashed, and he teleported a hundred feet to the left just before Roar of Time connected with him.
Sir Aaron threw one of his Sacred Swords just on general principle, then Palkia got in on the act with a Spatial Rend, and combat became general.
5
Lawrence III drummed his fingers on the armrest of his chair, as he watched the plots and cameras.
It was hard to maintain his composure. Very hard.
J was having trouble, that annoying trainer was still at large, and all three of the legendary birds had escaped.
And now they were ignoring him! Him, the chosen one!
The fact of the matter, though, was that he didn't have much to use to change that. Hopefully, Lugia would come to him anyway, since he had – if briefly – brought the trio together, and if the great legendary didn't come quietly... that was why he had four capture rings in reserve. The most powerful four, at that.
Another shiver ran through the body of the Hikokyu. Lawrence ignored it, choosing instead to focus on the red treasure of fire on its tray.
What did it mean? Why had this orb suddenly flashed into fiery life?
Something about that boy. The aura adept...
Perhaps that was it. The orbs required aura to fully activate, just as part of what made legendaries so powerful was their aura.
With all three together, he could surely control Lugia.
In fact...
He raised the orb of fire, and concentrated on it. "Moltres," he whispered.
Seconds ticked away, silently were it not for the constant rumble of Pokémon battle outside.
Once nearly a minute had passed with no reaction, Lawrence sighed.
So, they only had power when combined.
It had been worth a try.
The computer cut in. Unauthorized entrant approaching bridge.
Sighing, Lawrence steepled his fingers and spun his chair to face the bridge doorway.
Lucario stood with quiet dignity, facing J and her two remaining Pokémon.
"I suggest you give up," he said, addressing her Drapion. "It would save a great deal of trouble if you did so now."
Ariados and Drapion bristled, raising fangs which dripped with green-purple poison.
J frowned. "Lucario... Fighting and Steel type..."
She sighed. "Bug moves are nearly useless. Poison is completely useless. Normal type moves are at a disadvantage... Drapion! Earthquake!"
The scorpion-Pokémon raised his pincers into the air, then slammed them on the floor.
Lucario took a step forward, then leapt back over the hole in the ship as the Earthquake took effect. The whole vessel shuddered, superstructure flexing and groaning, and the list increased.
Landing on light paws despite his weight, Lucario cocked his head to one side – just slightly.
He closed one eye, monitoring the Aura in the two Poison types.
Ariados he could, essentially, safely ignore. Drapion was the dangerous one, because it knew at least one attack that could hurt him. (Badly, now – more badly than five minutes ago, at least, since his new Steel type wasn't entirely good news.)
A glow built around his paws.
J pointed at him with one hand. "Earthquake again! Kill him!"
Lucario jumped again. His left wrist-spike glowed, becoming a pair of metal claws, and he used them to dig into the ceiling of the corridor. The other forepaw pulsed with light, and launched off a powerful Flash Cannon.
Drapion screeched as the blow hit.
Poison and Dark types... Lucario mused. Not much that's especially effective on them...
Ariados launched a String Shot at him, and he dropped free of the roof to land on blue-glowing hindpaws. His Metal Claw sheared through what little of the string was still aimed to hit him, and he began to craft a staff out of Aura.
There was a little click noise from J's direction. Lucario looked up just as she fired.
J's expression of triumph turned to one of bafflement.
Lucario lowered his free paw from in front of his face, then opened it.
A small metal slug rested on the palm.
"Steel type," he said, though not really sure if she could understand him.
It wasn't the whole story, either – it had taken aura to catch it without it drawing blood, and he was probably going to bruise – but it was certainly impressive.
J's fist clenched. "Drapion! Bring the ship down if you have to, but kill him!"
Both Pokémon clicked their pincers together in reply, then Drapion raised his tail. Ariados fired a Sticky Web over Lucario's head, aiming to catch him if he jumped, and Drapion brought his tail down for the most powerful Earthquake yet.
Lucario adjusted his grip on his staff, and dove – sideways. He hit the window with a crash, the spikes on his wrists shattering through it, and disappeared down past the lip of the window just as the whole ship shuddered.
Several lifting pods crackled and shut down as cumulative damage broke their internal machinery, and the list actually corrected a bit.
J stumbled, and cursed. "We're losing altitude," she said, correctly interpreting the slight shift in sensation. "Looks like you did bring the ship down."
Drapion grovelled.
"Stop it," she said, curtly. "Now, we need to make sure he's dead."
The two insectoid Pokémon nodded, and scuttled over to the side of the ship.
A blue paw grabbed onto Drapion's front foot, and hurled him entirely out of the ship in one convulsive heave.
"What-!" J gaped for a moment, then realized what had happened and stepped back from the edge. "Stop him!"
A blue-glowing bone staff clocked Ariados on the head, and he staggered for a moment before collapsing.
Lucario hauled himself back up onto the floor, the claws on the back of his wrists reforming back into spikes once again.
Then he gave J a cool, collected look. "Well?"
J tapped her goggles, which flashed to on.
Lucario sighed, and decided to exert a little extra effort in order to make his next words understandable. "If you won't let yourself be taken alive, then you're probably going to be killed at some point here. I'm not going to let you go."
He paused. "I would regret your death, but... not very much."
Fire-type and Dragon-type crashed into the waters of the Orange Sea.
Charizard immediately pumped out as much heat as he could, intensifying his tail flame to resist the effects of the sea and abandoning the fight to put his whole focus on trying to get out of the water.
Salamence, who had been coming off generally the worse of the fight, seized this opportunity with all four paws. He lunged for Charizard's tail with his jaw and yanked him back into the water, pulling him down with underwater wingbeats that strained tired flight muscles.
Ash's Pokémon roared, twisting his tail to keep the flame as safe as possible, and blasted down with a potent Overheat. The water in the immediate area turned to steam, buying him a moment's respite as water rushed in to fill the sudden gap.
That was a trick he couldn't repeat, though. Every moment going up and down on high storm waves was highly dangerous to him, eroding away the advantage he'd won over the minutes of combat so far.
"Hands off my big orange friend punch!"
Salamence had just enough time to turn his head and see the incoming turtle before it hit him between the eyes. The impact stunned him, making his jaw go limp, and Charizard climbed gratefully above wave height.
"Thanks!" he called down, panting.
"Don't mention it!" Squirtle replied, standing on the water in defiance of normal logic. "Actually, though, do mention it! To everyone!"
Now recovered, Salamence snarled.
"Seriously, what in the name of Groudon is your problem!?" Charizard asked, exasperated. "J is a complete bitch!"
Salamence did not deign to answer. He roared, his teeth crackling with electrical energy, and snapped for Squirtle.
The unconventional Water-type grinned, and dove into the water.
Salamence simply drove his head into it after Squirtle, letting the electricity short across the surface.
Then a colossal column of water blasted from underneath him, launching him entirely into the air.
"Mere electricity does nothing to me!" Squirtle announced, then coughed. "Well, not that pathetic display of voltage, anyway."
"What was that for?" Charizard asked, as the Water Spout attack's force slowly dissipated now that Squirtle had stopped feeding it. "You know Ice type attacks."
"That's right, I do," Squirtle agreed, and pointed.
The Water Spout had carried Salamence a good couple of thousand feet into the air. Now, he was finally free of the rushing force of the water-
And promptly got hit by a stray Aurora Beam from the continuing three-way Legendary spat.
"But Articuno is much better at them," he finished smugly.
Wings iced up, Salamence plummeted back towards the ocean.
"You know, we should probably make sure he doesn't drown or something," Charizard mused.
"Yeah, probably," Squirtle agreed, then brightened. "Hey! Defeat Means Friendship, so maybe he'll be nicer to us now!"
"Pidgeot pile-drove him into a hill last time, and that didn't help much." Charizard flared his wings, and dropped to only a few feet above the peaks of the waves. "Grab on, I'll give you a lift."
"Ya know, right now I ain't sure whether it's us what done more damage to their ship, or dem..." Meowth commented, watching the Hikokyu shudder again and begin to slowly drift downwards.
"It's quite a close call, isn't it..." Jessie agreed.
Something went CLUNK.
"What was dat?" Meowth asked.
James gulped. "Speaking of close calls..."
He flicked a switch and wrenched the yoke around, and the fighter aircraft went from hovering in the air to a shallow dive. A couple of seconds later there was another, louder, cough from the engines, followed by a small explosion and half the control panel lit up.
"Oh, great..." Meowth muttered. "We still good, James?"
"Depends what you mean by good," James informed them, punching controls to douse the turbines. "We're not about to crash, but the engines aren't going to be working again today."
The fighter started to gain speed as it lost height.
"What happened?" Jessie asked. "We didn't get hit..."
"Yeah!" Meowth weighed in.
"Well, a giant flying machine just started shedding bits overhead," James pointed out, and shrugged. "I think the intakes sucked in bits of metal."
"Ain't dat just great," Meowth said, chuckling weakly. "The fighter got indigestion..."
"What can we do to help?" Jessie asked.
James started flicking switches. "We've got the ram air turbine, so we've got cockpit power. Meowth!"
"Yep?"
"Use Missile!"
Meowth blinked. "But I don't know no attack called-"
"He means use all the missiles we've got left," Jessie interrupted. "We need to shed weight."
"Right, got it!" Meowth flipped controls on his own panel, disarming the remaining eight missiles, and dumped them in pairs. By the time all eight were gone, the glide path was noticeably smoother.
"Where now?" James added. "We need somewhere to land..."
"Can this do a beach landin'?" Meowth suggested. "Otherwise, we're gonna have to splash. Either way, head for the nearest bit of Shamouti."
"Got it." James banked the aircraft carefully, trying not to shed too much speed, and headed off towards the main island in the group.
The door swung open.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused?" Lawrence asked, watching the boy as he, his Pikachu, and an Ivysaur came through.
"...pardon?" Ash asked, blinking. "You imprisoned three Legendary Pokémon and nearly caused the end of the world!"
"Merest speculation." Lawrence stood, and with a gesture brought up an image of the tablet. "When the treasures are combined, they will tame the beast of the sea."
"Did you even read the rest of the tablet?" Ash began, then stopped. "Okay, what? Don't you think the Beast of the Sea is Lugia?"
"What else could it be?" Lawrence asked, rhetorically. "When Lugia is tamed, this storm will end."
"It's more like the opposite." Ash shook his head. "Okay... you know Articuno, Zapdos and Moltres are the titans, right?"
"Of course," Lawrence agreed, neglecting to mention that he'd decided that merely minutes ago. "Once they are in harmony – that is, all mine – then the destruction they are causing upon the world will end."
Ash gaped. "How does that even..."
He gathered himself. "Right... and the water's great guardian?"
Lawrence frowned. "That, I am not sure of. I am sure it will all become clear in time-"
"It's Lugia, you idiot!" Ash exploded.
"How could the same thing be both Great Guardian and Beast of the Sea?" Lawrence asked. "Perhaps Manaphy is the Great Guardian. I admit I'm curious to see the palace of the sea."
Whatever Ash was going to say about that was cut off by a juddering crash, which threw everyone across the room.
Lawrence steadied himself first, and glanced over at the treasure on its plinth.
It wasn't there.
Looking to the direction he'd been thrown, he saw nothing either. Then he looked back at the boy, who was already back on his feet.
The Ivysaur next to him was grinning, and had the treasure of Fire in its vines.
"Give that back!" Lawrence snapped, his irritation showing in his voice for the first time. "It is my destiny to-"
Another impact, this one even worse and continuous. A long grinding, tearing sound heralded the base of Hikokyu beating itself to ruin on the slope of Ice Island's main peaks.
Ash managed to stay on his feet at first, but the shaking sent him stumbling, then across the room and out the smashed window.
"Ash!" Pikachu called out, running to the edge of the window. "Are you okay?"
Ivysaur followed, rattling off a Grass Whistle to make sure Lawrence didn't interfere, and readied his free vine to try and rescue Ash.
Ash tumbled through the air. He barely avoided hitting the blades of the nearest impeller, one of the many which had shut down due to shock damage.
As he approached the rocky slope he scrabbled at his belt, trying to reach a Pokéball. "Um... gah... Pidgeot!"
The Pokéball still at his waist erupted, forming into his oldest Flying-type. She took in the situation at a glance, snagged his cape with her claws, and swung him onto her back. "Don't worry, Ash, I've got you."
"Thanks, Pidgeot," Ash said, as she pulled up and just avoided kissing the ground. Loose dirt and leaves went flying in her windrush. "Let's go back up and pick up Pikachu and Ivysaur. Up there!"
"Got it." Pidgeot flapped hard, rising back past the stopped impellers, and hovered by the hole. "All aboard!"
Pikachu took the Fire treasure from Ivysaur, who let himself be returned, and hopped onto Pidgeot's back. He scrambled up Ash's backpack and slipped the treasure into it, then clung on as Pidgeot moved away again.
"Do we need to pick up Riolu?" Pidgeot asked.
"What – oh, you didn't hear," Ash grinned. "He's Lucario, now."
"Really?" Pidgeot cooed, interested. "Good to know. Do we?"
"Don't think so," Ash said, after a moment's thought. "He should be fine."
Below, the Hikokyu finally came to a stop, canted a little over on one side. Smoke plumed up from the destroyed bits, and there was a long trail of destroyed and abraded parts stretching into the distance of the crash scar.
"Probably," Ash amended. He closed his eyes, switching to Aura sight. "Yep, there he is. Looks fine to me."
"Right." Pidgeot circled once, then headed back along the route the flying machine had been taking. "We're looking for something, right?"
"That's right, the lightning treasure. No idea where it went."
Misty looked around from watching the chaos overhead at an enormous splash.
For a moment she couldn't see what had happened, as the wave hid her view. Then, as it subsided, she saw a large aircraft settling into the shallow water just off the beach.
The cockpit exploded off, and three familiar shapes climbed out of it.
"Well, dat lasted a lot longer than the usual stuff does..." Meowth commented, helping Jessie up. "I tink I'll miss it."
"Hi, guys," Misty called, waving. "Need help?"
"We're good, thanks," James said, splashing into the water and wading ashore.
"What happened up there?" Tracey asked, as the other two followed him. "We couldn't see."
"We helped!" Meowth said with a grin.
James elaborated. "Ash got on board, then things started exploding. We didn't see exactly what was going on, but it didn't look good for that guy. Or for J."
Misty blinked. "J? Hunter J is there?"
"Now you mention it, that was the most surprising bit," Jessie admitted. "Except when she tried to shoot Ash."
"What's she doing here?" Misty muttered. "Oh, great..."
She frowned. "Wait. Did you hear that?"
"Yeah," Meowth agreed. "Kind of a-"
Tracey pointed. "Look!"
Water bulged up underneath the battling legendary birds, then erupted into a gigantic tornado of water.
To the accompaniment of high-pitched, wordless song, the waterspout rose as high as the birds, coming up between them and separating them simply by being there.
Then it exploded, revealing Lugia.
"Now that's an entrance," James said admiringly.
"Could have done with a motto, though," Jessie added.
I have no idea why you three keep doing this, Lugia said, hovering in mid-air with far fewer wingbeats than it should have taken. What was it this time?
"Articuno and Moltres abandoned their islands!" Zapdos told Lugia quickly. "Therefore, I'm the-"
"Shut up!" Moltres cut across him. "I am-"
Articuno curved around Lugia's position, and fired on both his fellow birds.
You three are impossible! Lugia declared, sweeping a wing around. Stop this at once, before you cause enough chaos to wreck the climate.
The trio considered that for several seconds. Then gave their answer to the Trio Master.
Lugia barely got his Light Screen up in time.
Alright, that's it. The Diving Pokémon flared his shield, and pumped his wings. You're not going to listen to reason, so I'll make you stop.
A Flamethrower went past his shoulder, barely feet away. He rolled slightly towards it as soon as it stopped, and a Thunderbolt shot past where he'd just been.
Articuno accelerated, flying ahead and above Lugia. He countered by diving, trading height for speed, and the Aurora Beam that speared down from above failed to hit him.
Lugia focused his powers into an Agility, building on his speed advantage. The other Legendaries took a few seconds to match him, and he was some way ahead by the time the range stopped opening.
The weather overhead roiled, as the three Birds each tried to manipulate the weather to their own advantage. The Hail, Sunny Day and Rain Dance attacks added to the general meteorological chaos, and Lugia winced slightly.
It would take such a long time to sort all this out...
At least one good thing had come of it, if you wanted to see it that way. They weren't arguing any more.
The feathers on his spine prickled, and Lugia slid sideways away from a Thunder attack. The Blizzard which followed it went wide, though it hit the surface of the water ahead of him – and, thanks largely to the sheer power that Articuno had pumped into it, created a chaos of icebergs and floe fragments. They almost immediately began to crash into one another, the stormy waves beating them together with stunning force.
Lugia smirked slightly. He built up another psychic charge, caught the Fire Blast attack that Moltres launched at him, and crushed it to smother the flames.
He wanted that ice intact.
His wing-fins folded in, and a Reflect formed around him – barely above skintight.
Then he folded his wings, reducing his cross section.
A gap between two icebergs loomed up, shards of ice falling into it as one of the icebergs disintegrated. He dove through with barely a foot of clearance on either side, then jinked in the chill air and passed through a narrow 'tunnel' formed by earlier damage to one of the floes.
Back up into clear air for a second, and then he went in again. This time, the chosen route was a long and twisting tunnel with multiple bends barely within his ability to turn into.
Roll left. Yaw. Slide right. Wings flaring, brake just enough to avoid hitting the walls with bone-jarring force and drop through a hole. Wings back in. Roll again.
The path ended in a hole leading to the open sea. Lugia dove into it without hesitating, and burst back out under the stormy sky four seconds later.
He glanced back over his shoulder to see the results of his handiwork.
Nothing happened for two seconds. Three. Then a great orange globe of fire erupted through the final iceberg, and Moltres – looking considerably worse for wear – emerged through the dripping hole it left.
Articuno came next by battering through the ice with glowing wings of steel, looking better off than his Fire-typed compatriot but just as annoyed.
Finally, Zapdos emerged from somewhere around the middle of the chaos. By the looks of things, he'd finally remembered that they didn't have to follow Lugia through the icy labyrinth.
Pity it took so long.
More attacks lanced out at Lugia, who turned inside them and began heading back towards Shamouti – the better to fight on familiar ground.
"Now that is a fight," Charizard said, shading his eyes with a clawed hand. "It's amazing to watch Legendaries going all-out against one another like this."
"Yeah!" Squirtle agreed, arms folded. "It's as badass as I imagined it would be! There's a bit less Drill than I was hoping for, though..."
Charizard half-heartedly aimed a kick at him. "How obsessed are you?"
"Enough to be awesome!" Squirtle replied, matter-of-factly.
The ice-encrusted Salamence groaned something incomprehensible.
"Shut up," Charizard added, looking at their prisoner. "You're lucky we fished you out of the sea."
Lugia did a quick weave in mid-air, decoying his pursuers and wrong-winging them, then flared his wings up and around in a quick wingover.
Screeching in rage, Zapdos and Moltres piled after him, Articuno a few lengths behind.
Suspecting something was up, Lugia slowed to a halt in mid-air and turned to face them.
"Got you!" Zapdos crowed. Lightning sparked off his jagged feathers. "Now!"
With that, the lightning crested and speared out towards Lugia, accompanied by similarly large blasts of ice and fire.
All three attacks cannoned into Lugia's Light Screen, eroding through it in seconds and reaching his slick feathers.
Which flashed silver.
The Mirror Coat bounced back all three attacks, considerately moving them around. Articuno got hit by the Heat Wave attack, Zapdos by the Ice Beam, and Moltres found himself on the receiving end of a Discharge.
Adding to their problems, Lugia stooped down on them with a translucent Reflect ball crackling around him and knocked them physically away before resuming his flight.
Recovering, the trio of Birds plunged after him.
"No sign of it," Ash said, blindfold over one eye. "Where is it?"
"The waves are pretty nasty," Pidgeot volunteered. "It could have gone almost anywhere – if it floated. If it didn't..."
"They're hollow, right?" Pikachu checked. He hefted the fire sphere. "Feels pretty light... I'm fairly sure this would float."
"That's one good thing." Ash leaned further over, then sputtered as spray caught him. "Okay, maybe we're a bit too low. Climb a bit, girl."
"Got it." Pidgeot duly trimmed her tail a bit, regaining height.
"Thanks, I-" Ash paused, looking up. "Hey, look! There's Lugia!"
"About time," Pikachu grumbled, bracing himself on Ash's shoulder. "Where was he when the giant flying fortress was around?"
"Actually," Ash said, then broke off. "Pidgeot, if we haven't found it by now we're looking in the wrong place. Take us up to Lugia, maybe he can help."
That done, he turned back to Pikachu as the Flying-type gained height. "You've got to admit, if he turned up every time there was a giant flying fortress he'd never get any rest."
"Our life isn't typical, Ash," Pikachu countered. His cheeks sparked. "Okay, Pidgeot, don't panic... this should help out."
Yellow-blue electricity danced out from his ears, cheeks and tail, forming a static charge across Pidgeot's feathers.
"If I've got this right, you now basically have my Lightningrod ability," Pikachu informed her.
"Thanks!" Pidgeot replied with a chirp.
Ash pointed. "Wait, I remember this bit..." He fumbled at his waist for one of the currently-empty Pokéballs that had held his team.
A red beam lanced out from it towards Ice Island.
The three birds were around Lugia, now, and a long way apart. They inhaled, then spat long streams of their elements.
The attacks crossed in front of Lugia, and he was forced to stop to avoid running into them. A Mirror Coat formed across his feathers, but the three birds – cannier now – held their fire for a moment.
Inevitably, the Mirror Coat had to drop.
A Light Screen went up to replace it, backed by a Protect, but the attacks came closely sequenced enough that the Protect collapsed. Then it was only the Light Screen-
Ash threw the Pokéball as hard as he could. "Now!"
Charizard emerged into the air, roared, and launched off a Fire Blast directly at Articuno. The Freeze Pokémon had to stop attacking and dodge wildly, with Charizard following him with fire seething in his maw.
Pikachu released a potent Thunder attack straight at Moltres, leaning on his Light Ball to keep the shield protecting Pidgeot up. The Flame Pokémon was hit by the attack, raising a screech of pain, and his attack went wide.
Pidgeot called a war-cry and charged. Zapdos broke off the attack, leaving Lugia singed but broadly safe, and switched targets with a potent Zap Cannon attack.
The blue-white sphere of electrical energy dissipated as it reached the thunder-armour, and Pikachu gasped as a flood of energy hit his Lightningrod. Cheeks crackling, he buffered it enough to start absorbing it, and then both he and Ash went flying as Pidgeot hit her target with Brave Bird.
Neither boy nor Pokémon fell more than a few feet.
My thanks, Lugia said, eyes glowing as he levitated the two. I am sorry, I could not catch your hat.
"That's okay," Ash said, wincing. "Should have guessed."
An explosion below heralded Charizard wrapping himself in Fire Spin. He directed it up at Zapdos, forcing him to clear away from Pidgeot, and Ash's two Flying-types started working together – flying in crisscross banking patterns to scratch one another's tails.
Ash watched for a moment, concerned, then looked up at Lugia. His eyes closed for a moment, then opened full of determination. "Can I ask something?"
You may, though make it quick. Lugia gave a concerned look to the trio. I am not sure how long your Pokémon can hold out against three legends.
Ash nodded. "I know. And – I need to touch you."
Lugia blinked. An unusual request, but I suppose... well, if we are to save your Pokémon, you must ride me anyway. Chosen one.
"You know?" Ash asked, then shook his head. "Sorry, silly question."
Ho-Oh has spoken of you, Lugia informed him, levitating Ash and Pikachu onto his back. I must say, I-
Ash made contact.
-believe him completely, Lugia finished in a rather different tone. You're better prepared than last time.
"Yeah," Ash agreed. "Sorry, I lost track of the Lightning treasure. We don't know where it is."
I'm sure we will find it, Lugia reassured him. Hold on tight!
Charizard rolled in the air, turning back in on himself with a flap of his wings, and exhaled a roaring gout of flame. His target, Moltres, broke off an attack on Pidgeot and easily evaded the reaching fireball.
Now Articuno was on his tail. He rolled back the other way, right wing pointing nearly straight down between flaps, and hauled himself around – trailing Articuno, who was forced to give up an attack run to avoid a Sky Attack.
He wasn't in the best shape for this.
The fight with Salamence had been close – closer than he liked to admit – and now he was thrown into a battle with three legendaries.
Worse, he was slowing Pidgeot down. She was holding out well so far, but... she did best when able to use her massive speed, and she wasn't able to while she was working with him instead.
Decision crystallized.
"Pidgeot, get out of here!" he shouted, wrapping himself in a Fire Spin and body-slamming Articuno. The blue Legendary screeched in pain, and replied with a pulse of intense cold which snuffed most of the Fire attack in a second.
Charizard dropped a hundred feet before righting himself, and blinked. That had been close – the Sheer Cold attack had nearly dealt with him in one blow...
A Razor Wind hit Moltres as he tried to line up an attack on the dragon, and knocked him wide. The attack had been hastily put together, though, and disintegrated in short order.
"I'm not leaving you to face three legendaries alone!" Pidgeot countered, rolling around an Ice Beam from Articuno and spinning air control layers around herself. "You're already tired, you need help!"
"Not if-" Charizard snarled as a Flamethrower clipped his wing. "Gah!"
Even a Fire-type wasn't immune to the heat of Moltres's flames.
"Charizard, you stubborn idiot!" Pidgeot called. She did a complex wiggling move, and two Double Team doubles split off from her. The three Flying types diverged quickly, one of them flying up high for greater distance while the other two stayed close in.
"I just need to hold out a bit longer," Charizard replied. "And..."
There was a muted whump. Charizard's tail flame brightened, and tinged with blue.
"There we go!" he said, pleased. "Blaze, right on time!"
Another Fire Spin formed, this time held as a Counter Shield. Articuno aborted an attack run and began to circle, eyes on Charizard, while Moltres began trying to hit the Pidgeots.
"Wait," Charizard said suddenly. "Where's Zapdos?"
"This is so much fun!" Ash called, clinging onto Lugia's back with blue-glowing hands and knees.
"It's a bit fast for me," Pikachu commented. "Can you-"
Lugia's eyes glowed, and the windrush died down to a light breeze. Sorry, I'm not used to riders. Is that better?
"Much!" Pikachu patted Lugia's back. "Thanks!"
"I was enjoying it..." Ash said, with exaggerated unhappiness. He swallowed, and his ears popped with the climb.
I'm sure there'll be time for fun later, chosen one. Lugia swept his wings back and climbed further. Thanks to your gift of knowledge, I now know we must solve this quickly.
The great guardian's feathers began to glow. Pikachu – do you think you can launch a powerful electrical attack at Articuno?
He frowned, and the glow vanished. Aim to knock him out in one blow, if you can. It seems we must use the great song, which means that I can – for once – give them a well deserved thrashing.
"That, I can do." Pikachu began to concentrate, lightning sparking from his cheeks and growing into an aura around him as he Charged repeatedly. "Give me about ten seconds' warning."
Ash looked down, squinting at the tiny figures of the Legendaries below. "What about me?"
Zapdos has broken off from the others. I believe we must follow him, but first your Pokémon should be made safe.
Lugia turned to look Ash in the eye, and gave him a solemn nod. Keep an eye on Zapdos for me, Ash. Pikachu and I are going to be rather distracted.
Ash nodded back, determined, and his eyes sought the tiny yellow-black dot that was Zapdos.
Another glow suffused Lugia's feathers, and then faded.
Get ready, he warned, and banked slightly. Then the right wing went vertically up, the left wing went vertically down, and he turned over into a screaming dive straight down towards the flash and fury of the battle below.
Ice traced a line along Charizard's middle alar phalange, stinging with freezer burn. He snatched the threatened wing away, breathing fire on it to slow the chills, and grimaced as it remained a little stiff even after his prompt action.
That was going to be a problem.
Charizard had to face it – he was losing. Slowly but surely, the Legendary Pokémon were outlasting him, and Pidgeot was looking worse for wear as well.
His Blaze boost wasn't going to keep him in the fight forever, that was one thing that was certain. Already the blue tinge to his flame was fading, signalling that fatigue was overwhelming it.
A roar, and he bathed Moltres in Dragonbreath. The mystic fire burned like normal fire would not have, and caused a screech of pain and rage.
Mostly rage.
Charizard turned inside Articuno, managing to exploit the Ice-type's blind spot, and cuffed him with wings cloaked in fire-spin. He lunged forwards after that contact, trying to get a grip on his opponents' wings, but Articuno dropped and evaded his attempt at a Flaming Seismic Toss.
Flame lanced at his side, scorching some of his scales.
Snarling, Charizard lashed out with a tail cloaked in steel, and clipped Moltres's wing. Then he started to charge a Dragon Rage.
If he was going down, he was damn sure he wasn't going quietly.
-and a ball of opalescent energy materialized off his right shoulder, shot into motion from a standing start, and hit Moltres in the face.
He blinked, staggering in the air as he lost concentration, and a second ball – one which he thought looked a lot like Future Sight – appeared over his left shoulder to smash into Articuno.
Aeroblast.
There was a sound like a piece of paper the size of the Hall of Origin being torn in half. A red beam of light lanced down from overhead, starting to the rear of Moltres and then sweeping across him. The impact was only glancing, but it sent Moltres flying like a rag doll in a storm, tumbling out of control.
"Volt Crash!"
This was more familiar. Articuno had had a little more time to recover, as well, and managed to dodge a little, but the attack still caught him on one wing and dealt a serious blow.
Charizard saw his chance and took it. A full Fire Blast roared forwards, hitting the lamed Legendary in the breast, and exploded into a cloud of smoke.
The panting dragon waited just long enough to see Articuno drop limply from the base of the cloud before succumbing to exhaustion.
Pidgeot took his shoulders in her talons, dissolving her double Double Team team. "Come on. Let's get you somewhere safe."
She looked after Lugia, who had shot past around the time Charizard fired his final attack. "Good luck, Ash."
In the back of her mind, she wondered if she'd get a chance to speak to Lugia after the battle. That had been the most amazing Flying-type attack she'd ever seen.
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票