Chapter 30:Revaluation
Ash stood transfixed on the spot, half of him on the brink of losing it, considering that Dusclops as about to openly murder the Gengar of an Elite Four. The other half of him was horrified beyond comprehension with the ease with which the Gengar had used that… that vapour-like state to penetrate into Dusclops, following a powerful Explosion. Not only that, the purplish fumes had conglomerated back into a grinning Gengar, almost as if the explosion hadn't hurt it at all in the first place. Where initially there stood a murderous Dusclops, now lay half of her, with most of her upper extremities dispersed into ghostly energies that were slowly trying to condense back into the physical form. For a moment, Ash feared that the ghost pokémon was-
"She's not dead." Agatha explained, as if she had heard his thoughts. Then, realizing the pun in the statement, she corrected it. "Well, not that ghosts can die, anyway. She's just… incapacitated beyond comprehension."
If she had meant those words to be some sort of consolation, she had failed dismally. As it was, the pale visage of the teenager remained as it was.
"Dusclops will heal back to how she was, as will her unfortunate disposition to murder anything that moves." Agatha replied with a frown. "Please put her back into her pokeball."
Without hesitation, Ash did the same, the red light sucking in the semi-condensed form of the murderous ghost. Then, he turned and subconsciously took a step back, meeting the inscrutable stare that the Elite Four Ghost-mistress was giving him.
Ash felt his throat go dry, as he tried to bring what he felt into actual words. "Is she…?"
After several seconds, Agatha spoke. "Your Dusclops needs work. A lot of work. I would advise you to let her stay here for the foreseeable future. In time, when her primal nature is repressed down to proper standards, you can have her back."
"How long?"
The old crone seemed to consider it. "Give or take a couple of months at the very least, I would say. It all depends upon the degree of damage done to her. A good thing that she is a ghost type, and not something else."
Ash didn't want to ask it, but he couldn't stop his curiosity from getting the better of it. "Why… would you say that?"
Agatha pursed her lips. "Most types would simply give up living than face the pain." A grim, cruel smirk floated on her lips. "Being an interdimensional traveller can be a curse, more often than not. It is a pity most people do not comprehend that."
Ash tried his best, but could decipher nothing by what she meant by that cryptic statement.
"My brothers and sisters tell me that you are in possession of a third ghost as well." She paused. "A significant achievement, taking your experience and age."
Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "A Trevenant, and the only one I caught. Gengar joined me on her own accord, and Dusclops… was a special case."
"And modest too?" Agatha teased. "Perhaps I should just hand over the title of Elite Four to you right away."
Ash felt his ears turn red with embarrassment. Elite Four? He had been enough times on the receiving end of Cynthia's attacks to understand just how frighteningly powerful the Elite Four could be. Being the Champion was simply the next level up.
"And something tells me that Dusclops is not the end of your problems."
Ash felt a tad embarrassed. "It doesn't seem I'm good enough of a trainer to control ghost pokémon right now. I can work with Gengar because she wilfully accepts my commands. Trevenant… has his own issues, though progress has been made."
"How much?"
"… Some." Ash confessed. "I was hoping if I could get some tutelage regarding how to train ghosts the correct way. Someone made me understand that training a ghost is unlike anything else."
"A mature person, I am sure." Agatha exclaimed, to which Ash nodded agreeably. Cynthia was the Champion of Sinnoh for a reason after all. She gave him a scrutinizing stare. "And you just expected to waltz in here and demand tutelage from an Elite Four?"
Ash took a step back. "Not… quite. I was hoping to get some tutelage in understanding what I am doing wrong with Trevenant and Dusclops. Professor Oak said that you are the foremost authority when it comes to ghost-types."
"And now you try to flatter me." Agatha returned with a voice dripping with condescension. "Very well. Not sure about the learning part, but I will attempt to remove some of the false assumptions that keep you from comprehending what ghosts are. Your reaction to my Gengar using Explosion tells me that you suffer from quite several of them."
Ash didn't even try to come up with an answer.
Agatha inspected the boy lazily from his head to his shoes, before casting a casual glance at the deceptively calm Ninetales standing by his side. "Very well. You brought me my lost kin, and salvaged an old wound by giving me answers to the mystery of my father's disappearance. You have also brought in suitable information in regarding to the security of Kanto, and that is not counting your efforts to aid the League back on the cruise. I suppose… in the light of those events, I can… afford to grant you some tutelage." She paused for a second, as her tone sharpened, "though be advised, I am not enthused by slackers. Should I deem you unsatisfactory, you will be leaving my sanctorum, no strings attached. Is that clear?"
Ash swallowed, before nodding his head.
Agatha, it seemed, was far from done. "I should inform you that the ancestral home of the Ainsworth name is a haven to ghost-kind. They hold greater right to be on these lands than either you or me, so be sure not to forget this distinction. They are the residents, and you, a trespasser granted temporary asylum."
Ash bobbed his head again.
"This manor is home to several locked doors and chambers, and they are locked for a reason. You will not try to open them. By any chance, should you ever, find yourself standing in a room filled with large mirrors, you will, without delay, run out of the chamber, if you want to save yourself from a gruesome death. The Tower is also connected to the entrance of a graveyard, so should you ever… find fresh, wet grass beneath your feet, you will not move, and instead, yell loudly for me. Lastly, there are no humans inside this entire mansion save myself and now… yourself as well, so in case you ever meet another human inside this house, do not do anything they ask you to do. If you abide by these rules, then I can assure you, you will leave this mansion, healthy, and knowledgeable about the otherworldly ones."
Ash swallowed.
Meanwhile in Hearthome city, Sinnoh.
The entire arena seemed absolutely flooded with flash lights all around. The grand arena boasted of a Bermuda-grass pitch, covering an area of two thousand square feet, with a gallery holding a housing capacity of two thousand, and by the looks of it, the place was overwhelmed with spectators, who had, despite not getting seats, chosen to stand against the archways if only to get a chance to spectate the grand event that was to be this oncoming match. The final and last attempt at beating the current Sinnoh Champion off her champion status.
"All right, battle fans. It's time!" The MC yelled over the megaphone, his voice almost hoarse with the constant commentary over the last few days. "The battle we have all been waiting for, is finally here. On the red end, we have the defending Champion Cynthia, who shall be defending her status as Sinnoh Champion. Will she be able to maintain her hold? Or will Lucian, Psychic Master and Elite Four, claim the throne for himself?"
Cynthia stood in her impeccable black robes, staring calmly at the figure of Lucian, the new winner amongst the Elite Four, and the competing trainers over the series of events that had happened over the last months, and finally was in, to challenge the Champion herself. Should Lucian be able to defeat her, her Champion status would be provoked, and she would remain as an Elite-level trainer. However, if she managed to defend it against Lucian and his team of psychics, her position as Champion would be solidified for a year, and more importantly, the Elite Four and the Ace Squad would rightfully accept her as their new leader.
And between her and that outcome, was a single match. A three on three battle, between herself and Lucian.
And I will shut all mouths, and prove myself.
She cast a casual glance at the top tier of the gallery. Even from this distance, she could see several of the Elite from other regions standing beyond the glass wall, staring into the battleground beneath them. She knew for a fact that Lance and Steven from Kanto, Wallace, the Champion of Hoenn, Lorelei—Kanto Elite Four, and Diantha, the Champion of Kalos were present there, to name a few. All of them were standing there, some with ulterior motives in mind, some for support and some like Steven, for pure entertainment.
"And the challenger, Lucian of the Elite Four, will be choosing first." The MC announced. "This will be a three on three battle, with no carry-overs, no substitutions."
Lucian, a crimson-haired man, with matching sunglasses, wearing flamboyant robes and a half-arrogant grin on his face, lifted up his first ultraball- before holding it up in Cynthia's direction. "Bronzong, I choose you."
Why am I not surprised? Cynthia mentally drawled. That Bronzong, in question, was Lucian's signature pokémon, much akin to how Garchomp was for herself. For ninety percent of his formal battles, Lucian always allowed Bronzong to deal with his opponents. The steel/psychic type, was his sweeper, his front-line assault, a pokémon powerful enough to deal overwhelming damage to most opponents down the line. It was indeed, a rare occasion, when Bronzong took significant damage, or worse, had fainted mid-battle, only to be substituted with the next in line.
If not for his battle against Flint, I'd have thought Bronzong was his most powerful.
"Are you ready to truly face the wrath of an Elite four, girl?" Lucian taunted.
Cynthia rolled her eyes. Apparently, the psychic master had forgotten that to become a Champion in the first place, one had to defeat all of the Elite four, and then the reigning Champion. Then again, that was over four months ago, and Lucian would probably have some new aces up his sleeve.
She lifted up her pokeball. "I choose you, Garchomp!"
With an earth-shattering roar, Garchomp slammed his feet onto the ground, materializing out of the ultraball he was kept in.
"And Cynthia has chosen her Garchomp to battle against Lucian and his Bronzong. Who will win?" The MC continued.
"Bronzong has a dual advantage against your Garchomp. Is this your magnanimity or have you already accepted defeat?"
Nah, I just decided that even when against the tide, my pokémon can wipe the floor with yours. Cynthia didn't say.
Lucian had been, not that she needed any reminding, one of the most vocal in opposition to her status as Champion after she had defeated the previous Champion. Ironic, considering that Lucian had been the Elite that she had defeated most soundly back during her working through the Elite circuit.
"Let the Battle begin!" The referee announced from his safe position. After all, only an idiot would prefer to stay in the middle of a battle waged between two monstrosities. And considering that the pokémon battling were both elite-level, 'monstrosity' was one way of defining them.
Lucian raised his right arm. "Flash Cannon!"
Bronzong raised itself upward, before revealing its hollow bottom, which seemed to get saturated with blinding, white light, before propelling the energy out as a concentrated, wide-area beam toward the dragon.
Cynthia's expressions didn't betray her inner thoughts. "Fly up and use flamethrower."
Garchomp roared, before leaping off the ground, and sending out torrential flames towards Bronzong. The powerful Flash Cannon missed its target as it passed underneath towards the periphery.
Lucian smirked. "Relocate."
Bronzong let out a mechanical noise, as a bluish aura outlined the powerful steel-type attack, literally deviating it from its path, incrementing it to unbelievable speeds, as it shot towards the dragon. Meanwhile, Bronzong simply teleported from its location, avoiding the flamethrower attack by a significant distance.
Garchomp leapt to his right, and the flash cannon followed, making the dragon leaping and flying all around the arena, with the powerful steel-type attack right behind him.
"Looks like Bronzong has Garchomp dancing to its tune." The MC went on.
Cynthia arched an eyebrow. It seemed like this relocate had locked the flash cannon attack on Garchomp. "Garchomp, show Bronzong what super speed is like."
And Garchomp vanished.
"And it looks like Garchomp has somehow teleported. Is that even possible?" The MC asked no one in particular.
Even the relocated attack had been too overwhelmed, and had crashed
"Not possible." Lucian muttered under his breath. "So then where is it?"
Almost as if in answer to his question, several illusory versions of Garchomp appeared all around the arena, all of them surrounding Bronzong, the scythe-like protrusions on their arms glowing with draconic power.
Sense the dragon. Lucian commanded. And relocate confuse ray. He mentally smirked. Bronzong was notoriously mechanical in their dealings. Just like a supercomputer, they followed every single command to the Tee and executed it without an error percentage less than three places of decimal.
So obviously, Lucian was completely blown out of his mind, when he saw Bronzong form a powerful confuse ray attack, before dispersing it into twelve separate fragments, firing them successively.
Why did you do that?
Bronzong fired at the dragon, as master ordered. Came the mechanical voice in his mind.
What the-?
"Checkmate." Cynthia's clear voice was heard from the other side of the battleground, as the apparently-illusory forms of Garchomp, none of them even registering the effect of the much-weakened Confuse ray, delivered successive dragon-claw attacks on Bronzong, who was thrown off from his position, tumbling, bruising his way through the grassy floor.
"Flamethrower." Cynthia calmly ordered.
"Gaaah!" The several illusory forms of the dragon roared, before throwing in a frightening amount of scorching flames from their maw, all of them converging into Bronzong, causing an explosion, proving that all of them were in fact, original flames, and not mere illusions.
"But…. How?" Lucian almost stammered. "They were illusions. They have to be."
"If you say so." Cynthia mused, as the apparent non-illusions faded, revealing a single Garchomp, standing in the middle of the arena, looking downright formidable and menacing. "Use fire blast."
"Chomp!" The great dragon summoned its inner flame to a superlative degree, before throwing a formidable fire blast, head-on towards the fallen Bronzong, who looked already exhausted.
Light screen. Lucian commanded hurriedly, as Bronzong created a light screen in front of itself, as the wall of fire slammed into it. Just like with light screen, it reduced the attack power by at least fifty percent, which in case of someone like Bronzong, became a little more than ninety percent.
"Incinerate. Don't let it get control."
And Garchomp did the same. With the efficiency and control that would send any self-respecting fire-type into a massive inferiority-complex, Garchomp kept on throwing in a continuous shower of never-ending torrential flames, right ahead on the light screen, which served its purpose perfectly.
"Your flames will not burn my Bronzong." Lucian returned.
Cynthia smirked. Of course, Lucian was right. Light screen was a perfect counter to a special attack like Incinerate, and there was a little more than zero chance that it would burn someone as powerful as Bronzong. But that didn't take into account the other part of the equation.
"Who said anything about burning it?" Cynthia asked.
And sure it was. Bronzong was safe from the scorching flames, courtesy to the powerful light screen. But as powerful as the psychic defense was, it lacked certain fundamental attributes.
Like the attribute of protection against raw, overwhelming heat.
Not a good thing for a pokémon with part-psychic typing.
A thin smile twisted its way through her lips. "Sunny day."
And overwhelming sunlight descended into the stadium, increasing the power behind the Incinerate attack by another overwhelming fifty percent, enough to literally melt its way through the defenses.
"Enough!" Lucian bellowed. "Use payback, and return with solar beam!"
It was a testament to Bronzong's incomprehensible innate strength that the bronze bell-pokémon was able to use Payback, doubling the remnants of his declining power reserves to form a powerful hyper beam, aiming it straight at Garchomp, who was currently using incinerate on him. The effects of Sunny day only hastened the process.
"Use substitute, and finish it." Cynthia calmly ordered.
The solar beam came in, and smashed into a life-sized illusionary decoy created by Garchomp, created at the cost of his own power, as the real dragon vanished again, only to appear right behind Bronzong at incomprehensible speed, before spearing the two blades into the steel-type from behind.
"Solo meteor." Cynthia calmly muttered, as Garchomp literally belched out an orange blob onto Bronzong, covering it with a bright, sticky orange semi-solid, before throwing it high up into the air.
"What was-?" Lucian's words remained behind inside his throat, as Bronzong exploded alongside the orange substance, as smaller Draco meteors began to fall down to the ground, one of them being the form of a smoking, and completely unconscious and broken Bronzong.
"Bronzong is unable to battle." The commentator announced. "Garchomp wins the battle. First point to Cynthia."
The crowd cheered madly.
One down. Two to go.
Back at the Ghost Tower.
Ash found himself standing in the middle of a desolate room, with nothing more than a single bed, a wooden rocking chair, with four dimly glowing lanterns placed on four corners of the room, emanating soft light. Apparently, the ambient otherworldly energy pervading the castle had a negative interference with electricity, and thus, despite the changes in the world outside, the residents of the Ghost Tower—the number now reduced to one, simply lived without it. Then again, with the ghosts saturating the castle, the entire atmosphere gave a slight chill. There was no breeze, just some filtered sunlight through the window panes, and the light chill, whose source could be deduced by any self-respecting trainer.
Gengar.
He glanced on the bed, upon which the golden Ninetales had already claimed a large area for herself, and was now stretching her limbs, as she coiled herself for a long, relaxing sleep.
At least someone is comfortable.
Don't get jealous. Aoi mocked back.
"I expect everything is up to your standards?"
Ash spun around, facing the reverent crone who was standing right behind him. A part of his mind couldn't help but wonder how the old crone had managed to walk her way without making a single sound—the exhaustingly creaking stairs came to mind. There was no way she could possibly have-
"I am called many things. Telepathic is not one of them."
The sudden snarky comment threw Ash off his mental tangents. "I'm… sorry. What were you saying again?"
Agatha gave an irritated sigh. "Is everything up to your standards?"
Now Ash might be a teenager, albeit one more impressionable than most. But that didn't mean he was oblivious to a trick question when it hit him in the face.
"Uh… yes. Thank you."
The old crone cackled. "Humility. How boring." She looked squarely at his face, her left eye glinting in the soft light in the room. "I have requested the ghosts to spare you, should you not goout, looking for them."
Ash gave her a confused stare.
Agatha cackled. "What do they teach in school these days? Tell me boy… do you even understand why the ghosts at the forest attacked you so viciously? Despite what… it might seem to you, people do get in and get out of the forest, with a captured ghost under their belt."
The apprehensive stare continued.
"Fear for life, boy, or rather, the lack of it on your part." The ghost mistress explained, her tone hinting condescension. "For some reason, you seem to have trace to no amounts of fear for your own life—you have a fear of loss, fear of getting hurt, fear of losing someone, fear of defeat, fear of… but yet, you seem to lack the fear of losing your own life."
Ash didn't know whether to feel insulted or complimented.
"A ghost is a devourer of mortal fear, and thus, would not only be… apprehensive about you, but also… vengeful, to an extent, since you embody something that mocks their entire existence."
"My lack of fear about my own life?"
Agatha's lips twisted into something that was almost but not quite a smile. "Yes." She glanced at the sunlight filtering through the window sill. "From what my brothers and sisters tell me, Gengar and her compatriots waited for a long, long time, hoping that the ambience would be enough to instil fear in your heart. They only made an attempt upon your life when that expectation crumbled down to nothingness, especially after your victory over the elder tree."
Not for the first time, Ash wondered who these 'brothers and sisters' were, since the ghost mistress had claimed that she was the sole resident in the entire mansion. He had previously thought that the little girl he had met outside the mansion was perhaps… not a resident of the mansion, and perhaps, lived close by. But… what was it with these invisible people in the first place? Where they people at all?
"Contrary to what fools believe, a ghost doesn't want to kill people, boy. No, not at all. A ghost would catch you unaware, and get you screaming in fear, and relish it. It would… taste your fear, and devour it with great delectation. It would continue doing so until it had had its meal, and then… it would allow another of its kind to continue the same."
The picture was downright scary, but the unsaid implication was clear.
"But not kill me?"
Agatha's grin twisted. "Not kill you. Killing the prey would end the entertainment… and entertainment these days," she paused, as if suddenly nostalgic, "—is in short supply. No, they would rather, you survive, and continue screaming and fearing for your own life." She paused again. "It takes a rare psychopath to make a wild ghost go ahead for the kill… or…"
"Someone like me." Ash admitted.
Agatha smiled.
"Is that why… Trevenant is so… hateful of me?"
Her expression shifted into a scowl. Not for the first time, Ash wondered what was with her and rapidly shifting expressions.
"The emotions of ghost-kind are warped, boy. Do not think your little mind can comprehend it all." The crone snapped. "I expect you let out the tree out?"
Ash nodded. He had let out Trevenant to loiter around the castle, expecting that the elder tree pokémon would probably appreciate staying around his own kind. Ever since the incident at Mount Hideaway, the elder tree had been more… understanding of his current situation, and ceased attempts at hostility.
Now it was only indifference.
Over the week that Ash had spent in Pallet Town, Trevenant had kept his association limited to Gengar, who had reciprocated interaction in return. The forest around the ranch had provided for a good residence for the elder tree, and without the occasional presence once or twice a day, Trevenant had been an absolute recluse. Interestingly enough, the ghost hadn't even interfered with the residents of the forest, from what Professor Oak had told him. If anything, the elder tree seemed to… dote, for lack of a better word, on the Sudowoodo and the forest-dwellers in there.
Taking that as a positive note in his book, Ash had made it a point to release Trevenant and Gengar out for the night when he had put tent with Misty, after leaving Pallet Town.
"I have let him out before taking the stairs. I hope that won't be… a problem?"
"Ghosts are always welcome to the Ainsworth mansion, boy. More so, than humans."
Ash didn't know what to make of that statement.
The old crone seemed to be deciding whether to say something or not. Then, making up her mind, she continued. "I will let you stay for the day today, and see for my own… curiosity, if you can manage it. Should you be in a condition to continue your stay at the Tower, then we shall begin your tutelage about ghost-kind." She paused. "Be assured, even if Gengar should decide to stay back with her kin, I shall not go back on my word."
She swiftly turned around, as walked away, as Ash stood, transfixed, his mind going over and over at the unsaid implication.
He had come in with three ghost pokémon in his team. Out of them, Dusclops would stay back, if only for healing—or whatever its counterpart was, for ghosts anyway. If and when Dusclops would return to being… normal, he supposed, whatever normal meant for a ghost- only then Ash would be getting her back—if she wanted to leave the confines of the mansion to come with him that is.
Gengar, was more complicated. Now, after all this, Ash could somewhat comprehend the conflicting expressions on the shadow pokémon's face- Gengar must have known that after getting back with her kin after such a long period of time, it was only prudent that she would like to stay with them, in an environment that brought her memories of her original and true master. Her association with Ash, however significant, was brief at best.
That left Trevenant. The elder tree ghost only associated with Gengar, and it was obvious, that it only maintained its indifferent attitude towards Ash because the contrary would not be taken well, not even by Gengar, who was ferociously protective of him. With Gengar choosing to stay back, there was a good chance that Trevenant would opt to stay back at the mansion- the ambient ghost-environment would probably be a preferable alternative, and almost as good as the forest back in Hoenn.
Not for the first time, Ash wondered if he had come all the way to Lavender Town with his ghosts, only to lose them all.
Back in Hearthome city.
"And both Spiritomb and Malamar are unable to battle." The commentator roared into the megaphone, his voice now completely strained and hoarse, but no less excited. "What a battle, ladies and gentlemen! And now, one more battle left. Should Lucian be able to defeat the reigning Champion, then the battles will continue. Should Cynthia manage to overpower Lucian, she would seal her name as the official leader of the Sinnoh Elite Four, and Ace Squad. So what will it be, ladies and gentlemen? Lucian's conquest, or Cynthia's continuance?"
"I choose you, go Alakazam!"
"And Lucian chooses Alakazam. Will Cynthia's pokémon be able to battle against Alakazam to score another victory?"
Cynthia, for all intents and purposes, knew what was coming ahead. Lucian's ace in the hole. And she knew just what she needed in case that came to pass. She had been rather… conflicted about using it in public, but if push came to shove, she knew she would have no choice but to go ahead with it.
She raised her last ultraball, and unleashed her last battler, one she had complete trust, to overwhelm Lucian's Alakazam.
"I choose you, Charizard!"
The creature that appeared in front of her, and stood, facing Alakazam was a ten-foot behemoth, with wings raised on either side, each spanning a length of over eleven feet, literally changing the status quo from being the next battler to the most intimidating presence in the entire arena. With a snort, it belched out crimson flames from its snout, stared at the pitiful excuse of a psychic that had the guts to stand and face its mighty wrath.
With an incredible roar, Charizard declared war on Alakazam.
"I'm not done, yet." Lucian uttered audibly. "Allow me, to show you my latest acquisition." He lifted up his right hand, upon which stood a ring, with a spheroidal pearl-like substance glinting in sunlight.
A meganite stone. Cynthia confirmed. Just as I expected.
Now that she noticed, even Alakazam had a similar pearl, on one end of the spoon in its right hand.
"Alakazam," Lucian commanded in a high tone, bright light emanating out of the pearl. "Time to exterminate that Charizard. Mega-Evolve!"
And Alakazam roared.
Its moustache increased by copious amounts, as its overly large head magnified in size. Its arms and legs atrophied considerably, as it now sat, cross-legged, levitating in the air, with five spoons of pure silver, floating in a half-corona above its head.
And the audience went mad with hysteria.
"Oh my word. It seems that the conspiracy theories were actually true! A second form of evolution, mega-evolution, is actually, a possibility. Alakazam has indeed, evolved into a further and higher advanced stage, Mega-Alakazam." The commentator yelled himself hoarse.
Above in the glass-walled balcony, several of the spectators were watching the entire thing with a varying range of expressions. From interest in Steven's face, to outright scowl in Lance's, to pleasantly surprised in case of Diantha. Lorelei, who had yet to see a mega-evolution in the face, seemed dead curious.
"What is that idiot thinking?" Lance muttered furiously. "Demonstrating the power of a mega-evolution in such a public event? Does he even want to give away every card we have up our sleeve?"
Diantha, who was standing just next to him on the right, seemed to be more understanding of Lance's fury. "I can understand. This will attract all sorts of negative attention on meganite research."
"Lucian must have been really pushed, if he has resorted to this." Steven muttered. "But you are right, this will have a greater impact on the state of affairs."
Meanwhile, a person sitting far, far away from Hearthome city, far from Sinnoh as a whole, couldn't help but smirk at Steven's words. "My word, you are more right than you know, Deputy Champion." His lips twisted. "You are more right than you know."
Cynthia observed the Alakazam, now Mega-Alakazam, levitating in the air, its psychic aura giving her slight creeps. Now, she wasn't a psychic by any accord, but judging by what she knew about Mega Evolution and Alakazam in general, there was a high possibility that the Mega-evolved psi was scanning her Charizard, inside out, and the more she allowed Charizard to be in its direct psychic gaze, the more his secrets would be milked out.
I need to end this quickly.
"Charizard, use dragon pulse."
Charizard lifted his maw up, before releasing a powerful burst of spectral energy, which automatically shifted into the shape of a large, spectral dragon before shooting towards Alakazam, who didn't seem at all concerned.
Rip control, and send it back. Lucian commanded.
"Kazaam!" The psi type muttered, as the five silver spoons floating above it shone with eldritch power, forcibly containing the dragon pulse back into a sphere of compressed energy, before propelling it back to Charizard.
Charizard raised his left arm, the claws elongating as draconic energy seeped in, before swatting away the incoming attack to the right. The redirected dragon pulse slammed into the ground, created a terrific explosion.
"Take to the skies." Cynthia warned, as Charizard flapped his wings, pushing himself into the air.
Use psycho cut. Lucian commanded.
Instantly, several psycho cuts appeared in front of Mega-evolved creature, who sent them towards the fire-type, said fire-type easily dodging them, and if not, countering them with dragon claw. Not that it mattered to Alakazam, it had all the psychic energy in the universe to harness and use for this battle.
Analyse. Precision set. Successive fire. Came the next command.
Instantly, a dozen psycho cuts reappeared in front of Alakazam, as the psi-type instantly calculated the possible flight patterns as demonstrated by Charizard, depending upon its own analysis of Charizard's own height, weight, body movement, move sets, shape and length of wingspan, and hundreds of other statistical data that Alakazam had gathered via its psychic scan on the fire-type. In less than a second, all that information was matched with the flight patterns that Charizard had just demonstrated, and the trajectories were created, and set, taking wind movement and probability distribution into account.
Set. Fire.
All twelve psycho cuts shot into the air, and despite all of Charizard's weaving through the air, several of them slashed into the great behemoth, making him fall down to the ground, roaring in pain.
"And Mega-Alakazam makes the first strike. Will this mean the defeat of Charizard?"
"Don't stop." Lucian ordered. "Repeat fire."
"Kazaam!"
Another set of psycho cuts appeared in the air, their trajectories now taking into account Charizard's injury and position on the ground, before being projected into towards the pseudo-dragon.
"Incinerate." Cynthia ordered calmly, as the fire-type lifted his maw, to unleash hellish flames towards the psi type, directly in the face of the psycho cuts, creating an explosion that destroyed nine of them. Two of them moved away, one to the right, and one to the left, spinning like a boomerang, as they attacked Charizard from both angles.
"Slash them away with dragon claw."
And then the third and remaining psycho cut slammed into Charizard from amidst the smoke, scoring another head-on strike.
"And Lucian scores another." The commentator roared madly. "Mega-Alakazam is playing with Charizard."
"No one plays with my Charizard." Cynthia whispered, as she cast a sideways glance towards the glass balcony. "No one."
She touched the tear-drop ornament on her neck, as she cupped it with her palm, before beginning to whisper, what sounded like chanting. "Keystone, respond to my heart. Beyond Evolution… Mega-evolve!"
And the arena was inundated with overwhelming, bright light.
The Charizard-line, were a rather peculiar line, even amongst fire-types. For one thing, there existed no other pokémon to date, whose genetic constitution matched so closely to draconic DNA, as it did in case of Charizard. One only needed to see a Charizard to understand the draconic parentage in them, what with their entire body anatomy being better suited to draconic species than most dragons out there.
And yet, they were classified as a fire/flying-type species.
Initially, the official record about their classification had generated much negative public opinion. After all, if it looks like a dragon, flies like a dragon, belches flames like a dragon, it must inevitably be a dragon. The answer to that conundrum came from a research report submitted by Lazarus White, a reclusive pokémon researcher from north-east Johto. His grand-daughter Liza, is presently the current head of the family and the caretaker of the Charicific Valley, a haven for Charizards. The protection and maintenance of the Valley has been with the White family for several generations now.
According to Lazarus, the Charizard-line came showed direct descent from two very specific draconic DNA—the first is Tyrantrum, a fossil pokémon species whose remnants were excavated out in Kalos around ninety years ago. The second, unbelievably so, was Moltres- as was discovered after detailed analysis of one of its feathers that was apparently gifted to the Wataru Clan some two centuries ago. It is not clear how such a genetic combination came into being, though it is believed, that the amplified potency of the Fire nature in Moltres was somehow able to dominate over the draconic nature in Charizard, giving higher priority to Fire typing than Dragon. The exact answer is still a subject of research, but it is clear that the Charizard line, is the only fire-type in the world of pokémon, that is, to put in more crass words, not a glass cannon, like most fire-types generally are.
While the draconic DNA turned recessive, it did impart the physical strength and might of dragons to the Charizard-line, a fact that becomes extremely distinct with each successive evolution. As a Charmander, almost nothing save a dragon dance, or a paltry dragon breath was what it was capable of, but on further evolutions, a Charizard was capable of performing almost everything that a pure dragon could do.
And yet, its innate Fire nature didn't give way to Dragon to establish dominance.
The answer to this quandary came in the form of Mega-evolution.
Apparently, when flooded with Mega-Evolution energy, the two segments of Charizard's DNA reacted differently. Apparently, on evolution to Charizard, the draconic genes became almost at par with the genetics it had obtained from Moltres, enough that both had equal chances of evolving further. The theory, that there existed not one, but two co-dominant genes that had the ability to establish themselves through Mega-evolution, had initially shocked the world, and had been taken in with a pinch of salt by researchers throughout the world.
And then, Mega-evolution had slammed the truth to their faces, as two independent forms of Mega-Charizard were obtained. X and Y.
Mega-Charizard X, a type where the draconic DNA got access to further evolve, and become much more active than the extremely potent Moltres DNA, gave rise to the form of a black draconic Charizard with a dragon/fire typing. It was, in essence, a quintessential specimen with equal aspects of Fire and Dragon, both enhanced to massive proportions. The other, was Mega-Charizard Y, where the Moltres DNA attained further evolution, making the form the ultimate fire-type, second only to the might of the original legendary itself. Its fire-power and abilities were superlative, a clear indication that its origins lay in the primordial personification of Fire itself.
And that was what Cynthia's Charizard had chosen to evolve into. Even as a Charmander, it had a Monster egg-group, and not a dragon-one, and thus, had always been larger, stronger and mightier than those with dragon-egg bearings. Even as a Charizard, it had been trained to unlock its innate Fire-nature, using it to a superlative degree. The power of Mega-evolution, flooding its tissues and nerves, now only unleashed it from any and all chains holding back the power descendant from the primordial fire-bird.
Mega-Charizard Y let out an earth-shattering roar.
And every single sound in the entire stadium was silenced, all of them in awe of the magnificent pokémon that stood, head and shoulders taller than the tallest Charizard, with a whooping thirteen-foot height, and twice as large wing-span. The entire body seemed much more reptilian than before, though several blade-like protrusions were visible on its body, right from the head to the appendages to the tail, at the end of which, burned a massive, scorching flame bright enough to light up the entire battleground by itself.
"You have a meganite stone too, huh?" Lucian forced it through his teeth, not at all expecting such a come-back. Sure, the girl was good, very good in fact, for a generalist that is. But to have a meganite-stone and a pokémon that responded to it, to such perfect levels, was something the psychic master had not anticipated.
Clearly, I evaluated her wrong. He admitted to himself, the confession leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. "Still… let's match the powers of me and my Mega-Alakazam, who can divine nearly almost everything by nary but a single gaze, against your powerhouse of a Mega-Charizard, and the best commands that you can give him."
Cynthia grinned. "Let it be so. Charizard, bring in the heat!"
And the entire arena seemed to be submerged with searing, intolerable heat, as if they were all standing in the midst of an active volcano, spewing out magma from its depths. For someone like Alakazam, whose entire existence was maintained by psychic energy, the intolerable heat seemed to provide an extremely annoying distraction, as he forced his power to forcible create convection, in an attempt to seep away the heat towards the sky.
"My Mega-Charizard Y's ability is Drought. I'm sure you know what that means?" Cynthia asked rhetorically.
Lucian cursed under his breath. Drought, his ass! He knew Drought. His Ninetales could bring the effects of Drought into battle, enhancing her own Fire-type attacks better than Blaze under a Sunny Day. This? This seemed like a monster made out of a dozen Droughts at the same time.
"Raze the field, Charizard." Cynthia commanded. "Multi-spin."
What the heck is that? Lucian thought in worry.
Mega-Charizard Y, it seemed, knew just what to do. It flew high into the air, before summoning a mother of all Fire Spins, before unleashing it into the battlefield, before flying up higher and higher, its wings glowing bright, spinning as it went, before manipulating its momentum effortlessly to send repeated strokes of powerful air slashes into the fire spin raging on the ground beneath, literally slicing it apart with such precision that it would make any self-respecting Metagross die of jealousy. Sliced apart, the fragments of the Fire spin reformed, and now, there were six independent fire-spins, raging all across the ground.
"Your Alakazam can calculate Charizard's trajectory. I can admit that. But… can it do so while escaping from these?" Cynthia waved at the multiple fire spins, that razed the battlefield, independent of everything else, making it difficult for the mega-evolved psi to even concentrate in the battle, its entire concentration engrossed in maintaining convection to clear out the heat from wherever it stood at any moment.
And just like that, the tables had turned.
You can run, but you cannot hide. Cynthia smiled.
Alakazam, use psycho cut on Charizard. Lucian commanded, inwardly feeling that the battle had once again, turned into the same as his Bronzong against that Garchomp.
"Shadow claw." Cynthia commanded, as Charizard's claws got engulfed with ghostly fumes, the very antithesis of psychic power, before it slammed said claws head-on into the incoming psychic barrage.
"End it. Use blast burn."
The fire-type let out a furious roar, before slamming its forelimb into the ground, literally uprooting the entire arena, as rocks and liquid magma were pulled out of the ground, the hellish flames ascending upward al across the battleground, allowing no place where Alakazam could stay unaffected from its unbridled fury.
After the smoke receded, only a single draconic creature remained standing in whatever remained of the battle arena. A wounded and completely unconscious Alakazam, now devolved back into its natural form, lay fallen on one of the rock boulders.
Silence pervaded the stadium for a while.
"Alakazam is unable to battle. The winner is Charizard." The commentator whispered, his voice slowly gaining strength. "And with that, CYNTHIA has solidified her position as the Sinnoh Champion!"
Said champion turned towards Lucian, who seemed completely exhausted, and was staring back at her, as if seeing her for the first time. Then, the corner of the man's lips twisted into a content smile, as he nodded at her. It was as if, a misty glass between them had dropped, and now the man was realizing something that he had missed spotting in the first place.
No words were said, and yet, something far more precious was admitted.
And Cynthia smiled back.
Back in Lavender Town.
The Ainsworth Mansion was still like what Gengar had remembered it, even all those years ago. The same silent corridors, with Chandelure and their kin on the walls and ceilings, with trapped souls of the damned burning in their cursed light, creating an eerie atmosphere, just like she remembered, during her own time as a Gastly. Like all pure ghosts, she didn't truly know when it was, that she had… manifested inside the world, but it must have been sometime after the congregation of otherworldly fumes had shifted, and she had finally gained slight amounts of conscience.
It had not been for several moons, before she had even begun to recognize the mansion that was her abode. All that time passed as a congregation of gases, she had not even come close to comprehending the existence of the world that lay out of the reach of her senses.
She remembered the first time she had stepped out into the expanses of the vast, expansive, alien world… a real world, and not just a myriad of dimensions interweaved into each other by chaotic energy. The real world had strings, had rules governing its motion, its activity and its existence. It had been a rather… odd sensation when the rules of the real world- physics, she had later learnt the term—trying to bend her, a creature of chaos to follow its laws. She remembered the first time she had been powerful enough to phase through objects, proving her might, making her first stand against this alien world in which she, and her master.. Ethan, was a part of.
And of course, nothing beat the experience of facing a psychic for the first time.
Funnily enough, it had been a newly evolved Ninetales. The feeling of the psychic trying to force its power on her, and the initial… reaction that had occurred when her own half-assed attempt at a shadow ball, had met with a Psybeam… it had been…. Interesting.
Gengar grinned.
She had been wit Ethan for a couple of years, slowly gaining more and more dominance over the powers of chaos, before she had grown confident enough to embrace the eerie power that evolution brought in with itself. It had felt odd, transforming into something much more solid, and yet… much more gaseous… becoming larger, and yet… much more condensed… having a proper face, with eyes and that gash, and yet, her awareness spreading out over a larger extent than it did as a Gastly.
A Haunter. More powerful, more potent, more playful. More ruthless, more terrible, more… cruel.
Then Ethan had returned to the mansion, and how… different, everything had seemed to her senses. When she had left, the mansion had felt like a nest weaved with chaos. Now… if only she could describe it. It was like knowing the world only by its tangibility for years, only to see it with open eyes for the first time.
It had been… fascinating.
And when Ethan had left, he had taken two more Gastly with him, kin that was now Haunter's to take care of, to aid them grow, to make sure that they too, would ensure that Chaos dominated over the world humans called their reality.
Gengar's grin deepened.
She slowly levitated through the shadows past the ancient pipelines, her tiny claws touching the sink, imbibing the residual energies on the surfaces, with every speck, every shade, telling her a story of the time she had been away, a story she should have been part of… had that… incident not have happened.
The grin deepened.
The death of her trainer had been… a metamorphosis for herself. She had found herself condensing, shifting, morphing into something sinister, something that slowly manifested into the darkness that had been her abode, and her existence.
And it had taken a void-user and a human, to pull her out from that blackness.
The shame… the shame….
Her body halted in mid-air, as something else attracted her attention.
It was the elder tree. The protector of her forest back there in Hoenn. The ghost that her trainer… Ash Ketchum had captured… the ghost that had attempted to kill her trainer. The ghost that she had slowly grown to… associate all over again, over the last few moons.
She should have had seen it coming.
She gazed at the newcomer.
What… do you want?
An unnecessary question… since it was more than clear what the Elder tree ghost had wanted. During the little amount of association she had had with him back at the forests in the Ranch, the elder tree had been… indirectly hinting at it.
It wanted to be with its own kind. With ghosts. And now, inside this mansion, he had found a suitable alternative. The problem was… Trevenant wasn't hinting at his own decision to stay. No, he was trying to convince her to stay back as well.
The elder tree made a rough, incomprehensible sound that gave the impression of frustration. Frustration at Gengar taking so much time accepting a decision that shouldn't even have taken more than a single thought at all. The choice between staying back with her kin, with her master's family, with other ghosts… and going back with a human she had only associated for a brief time period.
There was no choice at all.
Right?
Meanwhile, with Ash.
You are just going to let the otherworldly ones, leave? Just like that?
Ash gave Aoi a confused stare. "Why shouldn't I? I did give yourself a choice, as well. Didn't I?"
Said pokémon rolled her eyes, as she pushed her snout into his abdomen, stretching her hind legs as she did. Yes, but they joined you, and by conquest, they owe you their loyalty. The shadow at least, after all the time you spent in training them.
The answer was ready.
"Yes, and in return, Gengar protected me, first from Trevenant, and then… well, at your island." He wasn't oblivious to the sudden twitch in her golden fur as he mentioned it. "And then… she has followed my every order, and also fought for me, not once but multiple times, going ahead to choose to explode, if it meant acquiring me a win. I say that is more than enough repayment."
Then what about the steel behemoth? The dragons? The tadpole? Would you also… let them go, should they find newer pursuits that do not align with yours?
Ash couldn't help but scowl, as the disheartened and indifferent face of Shelgon appeared in his mind once again, one that quickly succeeded by Magnus, Metagross and almost each and every pokémon that was a part of his team. And amidst all of them, a single voice, and a single line… reiterating through his mind.
On evolution… should a pokémon find its trainer not acceptable enough, it often revolts against him.
He wasn't sure what he would do if Shelgon decided that he hadn't been a good enough trainer. Considering the present situation, he wasn't sure he could even blame the little dragon if he did. That, led him to another troubling thought.
All Metagross are part of the Hive, and the Hive is a part of all that is Metagross.
Could he bear it? Could he simply let it go, if Shelgon, Metagross and the others decide that he wasn't worth it anymore? Could he just do that?
His fingers tightly gripped the bedsheet, as he tried to reign on his fears, his emotions…
Could he… just let it go?
It was just like watching the G.S. Ball shattering in front of him, tearing apart into two pieces. Could he… just watch his heart… tear all over again?
You too have a right to be selfish, Ash. Everyone has a right to be selfish.
"But…?"
Do you think the team… the same you care for so much, joined you out of altruism? The baby dragon wants to spread out wings and fly. The steel behemoth wants to attain true strength and precision. The black dragon wants to achieve a meaning for its scarred life. The dark feline… she craves for acceptance, the rogue crustacean, for strength… Even me too, I have my own desires. Each and every one in your team has their own, and those that are too young, will gain a desire to achieve through their association with you…
Then why can't it work the same way for yourself? Don't you too… deserve… to have your desires fulfilled?
"My desires…. Fulfilled." Ash muttered, more to himself, than to Aoi. Many and oft, he had faced with the same question again and again, only the person asking that changed with time. The answer to that, however, had never wavered. Not once.
But now…
You too deserve to be selfish….
As nasty thought entered his mind, something he had never known existed, as it crawled out of the deepest trenches of his heart.
Even your mother has kept you ignorant about your father all this time, despite knowing how much you wanted to know about him. Delia Ketchum knew that your happy face was just a mask, and yet… she kept on the façade, as long as everything appeared happy and delightful. So why should you?
He shook his head, as if doing that would send the negative thoughts churning in his head away from distracting him. He never noticed the strange way Aoi was staring at him as he did that.
Anything wrong?
"No…. I just… I just need some time alone."
I should come with you.
Ash simply raised a hand. "I need to… think it through. You being there… would only convince me that it is you trying to make me think like that, and not my own…"
But…?
"Please?" Ash begged, and as unhappy as she was about it, Aoi couldn't say no to his distressed outlook. Very well. Please take care.
Ash chuckled mirthlessly. "I'll survive." He twisted the knob of the door, leaving the room to walk out into the corridor, never noticing the unnatural blackness of the shadow his form produced, despite the dim light in the room.