With Misty, Surge, and Blaine, the crystal wall sealed them in. Since this was made by Suicune, it wasn't just ice or anything fragile, it was closer to hard crystal. Pryce wouldn't be able to break it easily.
As Pryce looked around, the Gym Leaders didn't give him the chance to find a way out, "Now!" Surge yelled, his voice echoing in the enclosed space. "Raikou, [Thunderbolt]!"
Raikou's mane flared with golden light, discharging a lance of lightning that shot toward the masked man, but his Mamoswine leapt into the air and tanked the blow.
Pryce's eyes narrowed. "Fools. You think cornering me will make any difference?"
"I've gotten just about sick of all this," Blaine snapped, jabbing a finger forward. "Entei, [Sacred Fire]!"
Entei roared, a pillar of blazing flame bursting from its body and shooting outward, heat rippling around Pryce and his Pokémon.
"Persistent as ever," Pryce muttered. "Our turn." His voice was a whisper as he tapped his finger on the ice. He had trained all his Pokémon to understand silent signals, ensuring no one would know his next move. That gave him his own advantage.
The ice beneath Entei's paws erupted in a flurry of [Ice Shards] launched by Cloyster. Entei roared, batting them aside with its massive paws, but they were more a distraction than an attack. As Entei's attention was held, Weavile, a black-and-purple blur, shot past it, lunging straight toward Blaine.
Weavile's claws glinted as it struck, aiming not for Entei but for Blaine himself.
"Like hell!" Surge barked, snapping his arm forward. "Raikou, [Extreme Speed]!"
In a golden flash, Raikou intercepted the strike, slamming shoulder-first into Weavile and sending it skidding across the crystal floor. The legendary beast snarled, arcs of electricity snapping across its fur.
Pryce didn't even flinch. His single visible eye gleamed from behind the frozen mask. "Houndoom. [Flamethrower]."
The hellhound leapt forward, spewing a torrent of fire that clashed violently with Entei's Sacred Flames. The crystal dome glowed with reflected firelight, the battlefield turning into a searing inferno.
"Two can play that game," Blaine said, sweat running down his brow. "Entei, [Flamethrower]!"
The flames collided, roaring upward until they cracked against the top of the crystalline dome.
But Pryce's voice whispered again, and a shadow oozed up from the floor behind Misty. Gengar emerged with a wide, jagged grin, its eyes glowing.
"[Shadow Ball]," Pryce ordered.
The [Shadow Ball] streaked toward Misty with a crackling pulse of darkness.
"Suicune!" Misty cried, and in an instant Suicune created a [Light Screen] that protected her as the orb exploded against it.
Pryce's chilling laugh echoed. "How amusing. It looks like you three are holding them back from using their full power. And you say you were chosen to fight alongside them? What a joke."
"Don't flatter yourself, old man," Surge shot back. "Raikou, keep the pressure on!"
Raikou roared, its body sparking as it unleashed another [Thunderbolt]. This time Pryce's Walrein slid forward with surprising speed, the orb of electricity striking its blubbery body and crackling uselessly across a shimmering [Protect] barrier.
"Walrein, [Surf]," Pryce whispered.
The floor erupted with a tidal surge, saltwater crashing through the dome like a summoned ocean. Misty braced herself, teeth gritted.
"Not good—!" Blaine began.
"Suicune, [Aurora Beam]!" Misty countered.
A radiant beam of rainbow light lanced forward, splitting the wall of water in two before it could swallow the Gym Leaders whole. Steam hissed where the beam struck, leaving the battlefield slick and gleaming.
But Pryce wasn't done. Ariados clattered forward on long, spindly legs, anchoring threads of webbing across the dome, trying to weave an entire room of webs. With a screech, it fired [Sticky Web] at Suicune's legs, trying to pin the legendary in place.
"Not happening!" Misty shouted. "Suicune, jump! Then [Ice Beam] those webs!"
Suicune leapt and twisted midair, its mane flowing as it spun. A chilling beam shot downward, freezing the webs mid-flight. They shattered into glittering shards, while stray strands clung to Ariados's abdomen, blocking more threads from spewing out.
Blaine seized the moment. "Entei, [Sacred Fire], burn them all down!"
The blazing inferno engulfed Cloyster and Ariados at once, the crystal shell glowing molten red as heat rolled off it in waves. Pryce's Pokémon staggered under the flames, but none fell.
Still, the Masked Man didn't flinch. His ice mask shimmered, and with another faint gesture, Delibird fluttered up. The little Pokémon's sack glowed ominously before it hurled a glittering present right in front of Entei.
"Get back!" Blaine barked.
The present exploded with a concussive blast, knocking Entei off balance and showering the field with icy shrapnel.
Blaine snarled. "That damned bird—!"
Surge slammed his fists together. "Fine, no more games! Raikou, [Wild Charge]!"
The electric beast cloaked itself in lightning and barreled straight through Walrein, slamming it into Cloyster with a thunderous crash. Both water-types reeled, skidding across the soaked crystal floor.
"Do it now, Suicune!" Misty cried.
Suicune howled, the sound resonating like glass bells. Its eyes blazed with cold light, and suddenly the dome shifted. A second, smaller crystal barrier began forming inside, rising around Pryce himself.
The Masked Man glanced down, realizing too late what was happening. Still, he lunged forward, his icy body rushing toward Misty. His arm stretched out, fingers clawing for her throat. Misty stumbled back in fear, certain he would reach her before the crystal sealed.
But just before Pryce's hand touched her, the crystal curved upward, encasing him apart from his Pokémon.
"Ha…" Misty gasped, catching her breath. The Masked Man's hand was frozen inches from her neck. "This is it. We won. You can't get out of here. Suicune formed the wall around you, if not, you'd have been split in half. You can't move anymore, can you?"
Surge laughed, folding his arms. "Looks like he got a little too confident. Worked just like you said it would, Blaine."
Blaine adjusted his dark glasses as he stepped forward, facing the imprisoned man. "It's over, Pryce. You're finished."
But Pryce's eye gleamed through the frozen mask. "Hehehe… don't make me laugh."
As he spoke, smoke began to seep from his cloak, curling around the battlefield. But it wasn't mist. It wasn't smoke at all.
None of them realized what it was, this was a Gastly that was spreading out under them
—-
{In the sky}
Ash, Green, and Gary were flying around, weaving evasive maneuvers to avoid attacks from Ho-Ohtwo and Lugiatwo, while Pikachu and Vee clung tightly, fur whipping in the wind.
"They're mad now," Gary muttered, squinting at the way the two began weaving tighter patterns in the air. "They're not letting us separate them this time."
"Good." Green grinned, brushing windswept bangs from her face. "That just means they'll both go down together."
Articuno dipped low, wings shimmering with ice.
"How about we save the trash talk for after we know we won't die in one hit!" Ash snapped, leaning forward.
The surviving Lugiatwo screeched and dove, wings glowing as it built up another [Aeroblast]. At the same time, Ho-Ohtwo's feathers ignited, its beak blazing with another [Sacred Fire]. The two clone legendaries released their attacks together, fusing into a single, massive strike.
"Do it now!" Ash barked.
Zapdos darted left, Moltres soared upward, and Articuno swerved into the gale. But the fused attack tracked them, curling like a vortex to meet their flight.
"Not fast enough!" Gary hissed. Sparks leapt across Zapdos's wings. "Zapdos, [Agility], now!"
In an instant, Zapdos blurred, dragging Gary through the air like a comet. The flames just barely missed him. Moltres dove through the slipstream with Green clinging to its feathers, heat rolling off in waves.
Ash, however, didn't dodge. Instead, he raised his hand. "Articuno, [Light Screen]!"
A shimmering barrier formed, cracking and shuddering under the impact, until,
"Pikachu, you're up!!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu leapt from his shoulder, cheeks sparking before blasting a [Thunderbolt] that struck both clones. The electricity didn't hurt them much, but it achieved something more important: it stripped away their legendary resistance.
Green whooped. "Ha! That's our Ashy!"
But Ash wasn't done. "Vee, your turn, [Baddy Bad]!"
Vee's eyes glowed darkly, spreading a field of inky shadows through the air, forcing the birds to falter mid-flight.
As the clones staggered for a few seconds, the chance finally opened.
Zapdos shot upward in a blaze of electricity, Gary pointing forward. "[Thunder]!"
Moltres swept low, Green throwing a hand out. "[Flamethrower]!"
Articuno spun between them, wings flashing icy blue as Ash raised his fist. "[Blizzard]!"
The three attacks collided, spiraling into a massive beam that crashed into the legendary clones. Ho-Ohtwo and Lugiatwo shrieked as the vortex enveloped them.
The blast carved through the clouds in a great arc. The two clones were torn apart, one side of each body ripped open, leaving gaping holes. They barely managed a final screech of pain before melting into gray sludge.
Gary let out a long breath. "And that's the last one, I think… The other Gym Leaders should've taken care of the rest."
"Oh yeah, nothing like being an annoyance to evil guys, especially when he's the source of my trauma!" Green said dramatically, enough that Moltres gave a helpless sigh.
"Right. But we're not done yet, are we?" Gary said, glancing at Ash.
"No. If they haven't broken out of the crystal dome by now, something's gone wrong," Ash replied, narrowing his eyes.
As if his words triggered it, the crystal cracked, then shattered, shards scattering. Ash, Green, and Gary sighed in unison.
"We doing this?" Green deadpanned.
"Yep…" Gary answered.
The three exchanged a look, then, without another word, dove down to see what had happened.
—
{Back a few seconds ago}
Pryce laughed as gas filled the floor. Misty had already gotten back on her feet, taking a few shaky steps backward, while Blaine and Surge moved to shield her, even though Pryce was still trapped inside the crystal.
But then Pryce stopped laughing. He lowered his gaze to them, his voice sharp. "Get…" The crystal around him began to crack. "OUT OF MY WAY!!!"
The Masked Man burst free, shards flying, and lunged forward. He grabbed Surge and Blaine by the throats, slamming them hard against the ground. His Pokémon loomed nearby, watching in silence.
"Blaine! Surge!" Misty cried, her eyes wide, stunned at what just happened.
Entei and Raikou immediately stood ready to intervene, but Pryce's Pokémon suddenly turned and blocked them, keeping the legendaries pinned down. Strangely, none of them paid the slightest attention to Misty or Suicune.
Misty didn't question it. She thrust out a hand. "Suicune, we need to help them—!" But her words faltered when she turned and saw Suicune staggering, its legs trembling as it struggled to stay upright.
"W-what? Suicune… why?!"
"Hehehe… why don't you take a closer look," Pryce said, stepping forward after choke-slamming the other two. Misty's gaze darted around until she saw the purple smoke coalescing into a Gastly.
"G-Gastly?!" Misty blurted out, eyes wide. "So, you used Gastly's [Curse]!"
The Masked Man's footsteps crunched against the cracked floor as he drew closer. "Your first mistake was creating this barrier. You see, when Suicune forms this dome, only Suicune can undo it. That means you lost your only way out."
Then, with a sudden motion, Pryce lifted his ice-covered leg and kicked Misty across the face. She tumbled back, the crystal dome fracturing even more as Suicune fell to its knees, weakened and desperately trying to purge the curse.
The battlefield grew heavy, suffocating. After all their fighting with the legendary beasts, the air itself turned thick and hard to breathe, choked with smoke, freezing frost, and scattered shards of crystal weighing down around them. No one had the strength left to escape.
Pryce exhaled, his frosty breath clouding in the cold air. He recalled his Pokémon one by one, then seized his Delibird, which fluttered upward with him. "I told you… you can't defeat me. Stay out of my business."
They could only watch helplessly as Pryce flew away. They wanted to shout, to stop him, but the air was so thin that every breath felt like only a quarter of what it should be.
Surge lay slumped against a chunk of crystal. Blaine's sunglasses were cracked, one lens shattered, his body face-down on the ground. Misty weakly tried to pull herself up, but her vision blurred with every movement.
She let out a faint, helpless smile. "Guess… in the end, I'm not strong enough, huh? Same as always… just the one who supports everyone else…" A single teardrop slid from her eye.
Her consciousness began to fade. But before everything went black, she saw three figures descending through the sky, Ash, Gary, and Green, she thought hazily. But there was something else.
Something yellow.
Her vision was too blurred to make it out, but she heard one word, clear and small through the haze:
"Pika…"
—
{With the Johto Gang}
"[Earthquake]," Giovanni commanded.
His Nidoking slammed its foot down. The shockwave tore through the battlefield, a jagged crack ripping open beneath Machamp and Scizor. Both toppled instantly, thrown off balance as rubble swallowed their footing.
Giovanni didn't give them time to recover, or Archer time to react. "[Thunderbolt]."
Electricity surged through the fissures, erupting upward in a violent blast. Machamp howled as arcs of lightning coiled around its arms, while Scizor screeched as sparks fried its metallic wings. Both collapsed in a single stroke.
Archer snarled, his teeth clenched. He couldn't even form words that mattered, the mind control twisted his thoughts, made him believe Giovanni was never the Boss, that the Boss had always been the Masked Man. Still, his body forced him to fight.
"Houndoom, [Flamethrower]!" Archer barked, the command spilling from his throat.
A pillar of fire roared across the battlefield, aimed straight at Giovanni. But Nidoking didn't move. This wasn't the first time Giovanni's Nidoking had fought Archer's Houndoom, and every time, Houndoom barely made a scratch.
"[Earth Power]," Giovanni intoned.
The cracks from earlier glowed gold, then erupted like geysers. The ground exploded around Houndoom, sending the hellhound tumbling across the dirt. Its flames washed over Nidoking harmlessly, he tanked it without flinching.
"Whoa…" Ethan breathed, raising an arm to shield himself from the blast. "That's… insane!"
Silver stared at Giovanni. This was his first time seeing his father, and right now, Giovanni was saving them, looking as if he wasn't even trying.
Archer staggered back, fighting against the control enough to choke out one last command. "Gyarados, [Hydro Pump]!"
The serpent lunged, jaws parting to unleash a torrent of water.
Giovanni's eyes narrowed. "Nidoking. [Thunder]."
Lightning split the heavens, slamming directly into Gyarados's open maw. The torrent twisted into steam with an ear-splitting explosion that shook the battlefield. Gyarados convulsed, roared, then collapsed into the rubble, twitching.
Archer's Pokémon were writhing in pain, battered and broken, but somehow, every one of them still stood, ready to keep fighting.
As Giovanni prepared to make another attack, the Johto gang finally snapped out of their stupor. They were about to jump in to help take Archer down when the crystal dome shattered open, and they saw the Masked Man leap into the sky and fly away.
Giovanni narrowed his eyes. That was a problem, a big one. He didn't know what Pryce was planning, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Still, he couldn't afford to pursue him. Not with Archer standing in front of him.
Even though Giovanni was stronger than Archer, this wasn't going to be a clean sweep. Archer's Pokémon were resilient; they could take a beating and keep coming back. That was what made Archer so dangerous in both Johto and Kanto, he was one of the few trainers Giovanni couldn't simply one-shot when he got serious.
And Giovanni knew he couldn't leave the Johto gang alone with Archer. The man was far stronger than them; even if there were twice, no, three times as many of them, they would still lose. Which meant Giovanni had to be the one to take him down.
He knew what he had to do. Glancing back at the group, his eyes lingered on Silver, "All of you, go. I recognize that look in your eyes. I'll deal with him. You stop the Masked Man."
"W-wha—but, sir—!" Kris started, but Giovanni cut her off.
"I said go! Whatever he's planning, it won't be good for any of us. I'll catch up as soon as I can!" His gaze shifted to Silver, his voice firm. "And stay safe."
Silver bit his lip. Should he protest? Obey? The look in Giovanni's eyes left no room for argument. Even less so when Kris grabbed his wrist and pulled him along, "Come on!" she urged.
Silver stumbled after her, sputtering, "R-right!"
As they left, Giovanni turned his full attention back to Archer, eyes narrowing, "Archer… what happened to you? Stand down. That's an order. Or I'll have no choice but to get serious."
"And what, sit at your desk more?" Archer taunted, sneering.
Giovanni exhaled slowly. "Fine. Looks like you're truly lost…" His hand went to his belt, pulling free a Pokéball, Beedrill's Pokéball. A faint smile touched his lips, "Good. That means I don't need an excuse to hold back."