Chapter 24
"Tera Blast,"
Ash had no idea what the attack was, but swerved to the left as soon as he felt the blast of fairy-type energy heading towards him. Ho-oh may be a fairy-type now, and he may have no idea how it happened, but nothing was going to stop him from winning this battle. He thought for a moment. Psychic attacks? No, Latios already proved those didn't work. Dragon? They did nothing to Fairy-types, thank Arceus for his training with Skye; using Dragon Claw would have been a big mistake. That energy from earlier… could he do that again? He gulped. Only one way to find out.
Ash charged at Ho-oh. He knew this was a risky move, but figured that, even if he wasn't able to use that mysterious energy, at least Tackle would do something.
"Toxic,"
Too late to dodge. Ash charged through the toxic gas like it was nothing and continued toward Ho-oh. If he got poisoned… well, that didn't matter right now. He was 10 meters from Ho-oh when a surge of energy flowed through him.
Eight meters. What was this? The attack building up was one completely unfamiliar to him.
Six meters. No time to think about it, all that mattered was getting to Ho-oh.
Four meters. Almost there.
Two meters. Another second and…
His body surging with energy, Ash froze in horror, inches away from Ho-oh. Why now? Why the paralysis now?
Nigel gave an evil grin. "Finish this. Sheer Cold."
Ash braced himself for what he knew was a guaranteed knockout. So this was it. All his effort, all his Pokémon's effort. Just to lose it all.
He closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.
Nothing. Ash opened his eyes. To his amazement, he found a giant web of electricity floating in mid-air, holding back the ice-type move. Ash knew it wouldn't hold for long, but it was long enough. Ash's paralysis subsided, and he flew out of the way not a moment too soon. Within seconds, the Electro Web broke, sending the Sheer Cold raining down right where Ash had been. But where had it come from? Ash knew the Electro Web was leftover from when Pikachu fought Dugtrio. But how had it gotten up here?
"Dragon Darts,"
No time to think. Ash gathered what remained of his earlier attack and launched it at Ho-oh, colliding with the Dragon Darts. To his amazement, his attack broke through, scoring a direct hit on the Rainbow Pokemon and… making it blink out of existence? That couldn't be right.
"Phantom Force."
Ash realized his mistake too late as he was rammed by Ho-oh, sending him crashing into a wall. The other had been a substitute. As his eyelids drooped from exhaustion and pain, however, he suddenly heard voices in his head.
"Come on, Ash, you can win this!" Pikachu.
"Crush those evil dudes!" Skye.
"I trust you, Ash. You can win." Latios.
"We all believe in you!" Latias.
"Ash, don't give up now!" Misty.
"You can do it!" Brock.
"Keep going!" Professor Birch.
"The battle is yours!" Professor Oak.
"You got this twerp!" Meowth.
"We know you can do it!" James.
"Just fight a bit longer!" Jessie.
As Ho-oh prepared the finishing blow. One final blast of energy empowered Ash. This wasn't about winning or losing; it was about freeing the Dark Pokémon from Nigel's grasp. This wasn't just another battle against another opponent. This was light against the darkness. He understood why Arceus hadn't told him how to free the Dark Pokémon; he had to learn by himself. It was the only true way to defeat Nigel.
Ash shot a beam of blinding energy at Ho-oh. But instead of hitting Ho-oh, it wrapped itself around the Rainbow Pokemon, covering it in sheets of light. Ash's mind screamed in pain, but he kept pushing the attack until it gave off a final blast of light, forcing Ash and Nigel to shield their eyes.
The attack faded, leaving Ho-oh on the ground. Just Ho-oh. No crystal heart, and, more importantly, no darkness.
That was it. He had done it! Ash would have flown around in excitement, but he was way too exhausted. As the orange eon watched Nigel return Ho-oh, he noticed that what he returned to wasn't a dark ball anymore. Instead, a regular Pokeball was in its place.
"Looks like I win," Ash paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Now, free your Pokémon from those Dark Balls."
"Did you think I would let you win that easily?" Nigel pulled out his last Dark Ball. "Don't you realize you've fallen right into my trap?"
Before Ash could react, Nigel tossed the Dark Ball at him, and everything went black.
~~~
"That… he just…" stuttered Meowth.
"Caught the twerp," finished James, "what do we do, Jess?"
"We act now! Meowth, James, you know what to do!"
~~~
Nigel picked up the Dark Ball and stowed it in his pocket. Better take those Pokeballs. He glanced over to the side of the battlefield. And that Pikachu, too.
Before he could, however, a large cloud of smoke filled the battlefield.
"Don't think you'll get away that easily!"
"You can't do something like that!"
"Yeah, give back da twerp!"
Nigel sighed in exasperation. These must be the idiots from before. Normally, he would just crush them, but he didn't feel like it after his long battle with Ash. "Look, there's no way you three weaklings are going to defeat me. I'll give you one chance, go now, and I'll let you leave without hurting you."
"Hear that, Jess? He wants us to leave," James flicked the rose in his hand.
"I guess we'll have to show him a thing or two," said Jessie.
"Yeah, let's tell him who we are!" said Meowth.
"Prepare for trouble,"
"And make it double!"
"To protect the world from people like you,"
"To unite all peoples, that's what we do!"
"To denounce the evils of taking the twerp,"
"To extend our reach and make you burp!"
"Burp?"
"I couldn't think of a rhyme,"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, fighting the void at the speed of light,"
"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"
"Meowth, that's right!"
"Woobefett!"
Nigel rolled his eyes and pulled out his new Pokémon. "Luster Purge. Get rid of them."
The Team Rocket trio gasped as they saw Ash. Desperately, Mewoth pressed a button, firing a volley of nets and bombs. Ash simply stopped them in mid-air and flung them back at the trio, causing a huge explosion.
Team Rocket was blasted off their feet and launched out of the cave, creating a large hole as they went. Nigel sighed. He could fix that later. He turned around and gestured for the orange Latios to follow him.
Jessie groaned. "We worked so hard setting up those things!"
Meowth pounded his fist. "And now Nigel has the twerp,"
"Guess we won't be heroes after all," James sighed.
"Team Rocket's blasting off again!"
~~~
Pikachu was horrified. How dare that man do something like that to his trainer! He wanted to charge in there and give Nigel a taste of his Thunderbolt. But… he was still tired from the battle and knew it would only get him captured as well.
Thanks to Team Rocket's distraction, he was able to get up, grab Ash's Pokeballs, and drag himself out of the room before Nigel noticed. He needed to get Latios, Latias, Skye, and himself healed. The electric mouse was still covered with aces and bruises from the battle, and he didn't know how much longer he could keep going. If he managed to get all of them healed, they could think of something to save Ash. If only he knew where to find some revives…
~~~
You still have one more chapter to figure out that riddle!
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