Why even bother?! Just SUBMIT!

Ash grumbled with strain as Cynthia’s Spiritomb, her ace in the hole, hovered before him. Neither gas nor liquid, the sinister apparition seemed to radiate an intense mixture of emotions, insanity and hatred chief among them.

That… thing is insane! Where did Cynthia even find it?

He had planned for a lot of things, anticipated Cynthia to use many of her strongest Pokemon, but he never knew she owned a Pokemon as rare and malevolent as Spiritomb. Ash had only once before encountered a Spiritomb, and it had been a troubling experience to say the least. This particular Spiritomb looked a lot more evil and powerful compared to the one he faced so long ago in Sinnoh.

This wasn’t going to be easy, Ash reckoned as he swallowed audibly, Pikachu was in a terrible state and even though he knew little about Spiritomb and its power, he knew that the wickedly grinning Ghost/Dark type wasn’t vulnerable to any other Pokemon type. Taking him down, Ash realized, would be the toughest challenge this championship battle had to offer.

“Pikachu, are you okay buddy? Think you can go on?” his trusted starter had trouble going through the motions, but he nodded his little head determinedly nonetheless. He eyed his ghostly opponent and felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Biting back his doubts and fears, he braced himself to act upon Ash’s first command, bursting into the field when his best friend ordered him into a Volt Tackle.

Yes! Bring it on then, little mouse… Hurt us like you mean it HIHIAAAARRGH!

To the shock of both Ash and Pikachu, the Volt Tackle passed through Spiritomb as though he wasn’t even there. If anything, the only thing Pikachu accomplished was that the malevolent creature was laughing even louder, sending shivers down everyone’s spine as the ghostly sound of dozens of voices laughing hysterically filled the arena.

Pikachu came to a jarring halt after his Volt Tackle, turning around immediately in shock. The laughter assaulted him with a vengeance and he had to fight the urge to jam his fingers in his ears. Instead, he cringingly flattened his ears before charging at Spiritomb again.

This time, the determined electric type tried a melee approach, using Iron Tail in swift cuts all across Spiritomb’s ghostly body. It didn’t seem to have any effect though. Every time Pikachu slashed, his brightly shining tail passed through the ghost as if through vapor. The ghostly laughter increased in pitch, evolving into manic giggles while Spiritomb’s ghostly form seemed to dance and weave around Ash’s rapidly tiring Pokemon.

Stop it, you’re tickling us hahahar! If this is your plan, little mouse, you have already FAILED!

Exhaustion finally forced Pikachu to stop his attack, sinking down in his knees he was breathing hard as he felt every muscle in his body protest. Above him, around him, within him… Everywhere he looked there was only Spiritomb. He tried in vain to summon the power for another Thunder, but found he lacked even the energy for a meager Thundershock, pathetic bursts of static erupting from his cheeks.

Awww… Tired, little mouse?!

Spiritomb’s high-pitched, taunting giggles echoed through his mind and now he no longer resisted, with a yelp he folded his ears down in an attempt to shut the ghostly intruder out. Around him, the gassy vapors that made up Spiritomb’s body suddenly became a lot darker, becoming almost solid as the malevolent spirit’s cacophony of voices took on a much darker tone.

Time to sleep, little mouse… Sleep… sleep… sleep FOREVER!

Spiritomb cackled maliciously as Pikachu suddenly found out he couldn’t move. Some unseen force kept him rooted on the spot as Spiritomb’s ghostly body swirled around with him in the middle of it. Pikachu let out a strangled cry as he felt the dark ghost assault his mind, body and soul. It wasn’t that Spiritomb attacked him physically. The malevolent collection of spirits attacked him mentally, invading his mind so intrusively that Pikachu had nowhere to run, nowhere to protect himself in the recesses of his being as Spiritomb filled his mind with one terrible vision after the other.

He was on an island, in a stadium much like the one he was fighting Spiritomb in. Ash lay before him, encased in cold hard stone and no matter how many tears he cried, his beloved trainer would not wake up.

Darkness claimed him and a loud cry escaped his mouth as he saw Ash again, his body bloated and his eyes glazed over as his corpse was retrieved from the sinking Temple of the Sea.

Nothing left… NOTHING LEFT

A red orb shone brightly, covering a destroyed Hoenn region in a blood red light as he himself directed an endless stream of electricity into his beloved trainer. Ash roared and cried until his voice gave out, yet Pikachu wouldn’t –couldn’t- stop. Not until Ash moved no more and only a charred body remained, the smell of burning flesh heavy in the air as Pikachu cried out in terror and disbelief.

All gone… Everyone… EVERYTHING!

Rain fell down as when Pikachu next came to. He found himself on a dark, drizzled graveyard, surrounded by black-clad people. In the middle of the group, a short distance away from him, was Misty, a black veil over her face as she cried without restraint, clutching her stomach.

No… It can’t be… N-… Not that…

Everyone…

Besides Misty, on the tear-stained grass, lay a coffin. A tiny little thing, hardly big enough to hold a baby.

Everything…

A baby… Or a Pikachu…

NOTHING LEFT!

Pikachu caved in, he felt himself break as with a final cry, Spiritomb released him. The dark ghost giggled softly as it regarded Pikachu’s limp form. The little electric type was out like a light. One gassy eye filled with a dark sense of pleasure stared at Ash as the young trainer stepped onto the battlefield, completely aghast.

Such a lovely little meal, that was, heehee! So many hopes and dreams… such strong feelings! Please, trainer, give us more! We have hungered for soooo long, HIHIYAAARGH!

Ash gave the dark ghost a foul look as he cradled Pikachu and made his way back to his side of the field. He gently scratched his partner under the chin, but the electric type gave no response at all. Ash’s eyes hardened and his lips turned into a hard pressed line.

“You were amazing Pikachu. I-… I don’t know what it is that Spiritomb did to you, but I won’t let him get away with it!”

Gently, he laid his fainted companion down near the sideline, before straightening himself and grabbing a new Pokeball from his belt. He eyed the red-and-white container with determination. This was the last powerhouse he had left, with Gabite already wounded and his final sixth Pokemon an option he didn’t want to consider for Spiritomb, whatever was going to happen now had better put some serious hurting on the malevolent ghost.

“SPIRITOMB!” he cried out with a growl. “I don’t know what it is you just did to my Pikachu, but I know I’ll never forgive you for it!” Spiritomb continued to giggle in a maniacal pitch, completely unimpressed by Ash’s statements.

“Pikachu was weakened, hurt… You could’ve finished him in a single blow, yet you chose to torture him! You tormented his mind for nothing but your own dark pleasure!” the dark-haired trainer continued nonetheless. “And now, I’m going to make SURE you’ll live to regret it! Blastoise, I choose you!”

A white flash illuminated the field, giving everyone a brief respite from the pressing darkness that had enveloped the arena when Spiritomb was summoned.

Oh, lovely! Turtle soup! If we had a mouth, this is where we would start drooling…. HIHIYIAAARGH!

Still, Spiritomb taunted, still he laughed, filling the air with the sound of a hundred-and-eight voices cackling. Blastoise couldn’t surpress a shudder before he got a grip on himself again. He clawed the rocky ground with his feet and placed his trusty sunglasses on his head as he readied the cannons in his shell. In a flash, he was gone, charging Spiritomb with a speed that greatly belied his bulk. Blasoise’s heavy tackle proved useless though, as he passed through the evil spirit without effect, Spiritomb simply reforming its gassy body into a hazy whole again.

Undeterred, Blastoise rammed his fist into the ground, turning around rapidly and losing none of his speed as he charged Spiritomb again, this time aiming the cannons on his back straight at the giggling ghost.

“Water Pulse!” Ash cried out, and Blastoise was all too happy to oblige, shooting two short but massive bursts of water at the ghost. Spiritomb  let out a resoundingly evil laugh as a pulse of pure darkness emanated from him, pushing back Blastoise’s Water Pulse and knocking the large water-type on his back.

“Dammit! That pulse knocked Blastoise on his back!” Ash gasped in shock. His Pokemon was flailing around wildly, trying to get back on his feet, but neither his claws, nor his feet could reach the ground. He was helpless and Spiritomb knew it, silently hovering towards him like a malevolent predator. Clods of pure darkness formed in the air above Blastoise, taking the shape of a dark, lethal looking knife, accompanied by an equally lethal fork.

Blastoise cried out in sudden pain as Spiritomb chuckled loudly, a thin ray of darkness shooting out of the smaller of his lopsided eyes, burning Blastoise’s unprotected belly. Like a Miltank getting prepared for slaughter, the crazed spirit used its dark laser to paint a pattern on the unfortunate water-type’s belly. The spirit Pokemon eyed him cruelly as it raised the dark instruments it had created high into the air, ready to strike.

Ladies and gentlemen… Dinner is SERVED!

“Blastoise, use Hydropump and get out of there!” Ash yelled out in desperation. Blastoise quickly reacted, tucking his head, arms and legs into his shell before letting out an almighty torrent of water from his cannons, shooting him off just as Spiritomb’s dark knife would pierce his belly. The crazed ghost let out a haunting roar, filling the stadium with the angered cries of a hundred-and-eight voices as its meal got away. For good measure, it sent a dozen shadowy orbs after the water Pokemon, but all of those missed their target as Blastoise came out of his burst of agility with a spinning turn before once again shooting a massive torrent of water Spiritomb’s way.

No thanks! Hee hee – We already  had our shower this millennium!

Cackling like a maniac, Spiritomb’s gassy body took on a purple glow as Blastoise’s Hydro Pump seemed to simply bounce off the crazed ghost. Keeping up its Psychic attack, Spiritomb redirected the torrent of water back towards it original owner, circling the surprised water type until he was surrounded by a dome of rushing water 5 meters wide and 5 meters high. With a sneer Spiritomb suspended the water in mid-air, so that every droplet was clearly visible, and behind every droplet Blastoise’s face showed a mixture of fear and angered determination.

Don’t you just love it with it all comes CRASHING DOWN?!

With malicious glee, Spiritomb pushed the water towards Blastoise, intend on crushing the hulking tortoise with his own element. Just before the water hit him though, a bright flash filled the area. Spiritomb let out a feeble giggle until it saw what happened, its lopsided grin turning into a terrible snarl. The dome of water that had surrounded Blastoise had been turned into ice.

Cynthia let out a surprised gasp, her eyes widening in awe.

“Ice Beam… Very clever… But is it clever enough to do anything to Spiritomb, I wonder?”

The answer came swiftly and strongly, a thunderous bang resounded through the stadium as a thick block of ice was smashed from the dome, hurling towards Spiritomb courtesy of Blastoise’s powerful tackle. With a bang, the ice block made contact with Spiritomb’s keystone, causing the crazed spirit to let out a strangled cry of pain, a high-pitched wail that forced everyone in the stadium to cover their ears. Triumphantly, Blastoise emerged from the flash-frozen dome, unscathed. Spiritomb, on the other hand wiggled and shuddered in pain, a look of pure hatred on its vapory features as it quickly started to swirl at an alarming rate.

Why, you scaly son of a BITCH! You’ll PAY for hurting us!

“Blast… TOISE!” Blastoise roared defiantly, making his intentions crystal clear. Bring it on!

Spiritomb retaliated with a vengeance, hurling a Shadow Ball twice his own size at the deviant water type. The shellfish Pokemon was on a roll though, and he was going to make it count. With a roar, he unleashed a powerful Ice Beam, catching the incoming Shadow Ball and sending it back towards it owner. Only a hastily summoned barrier of psychic energy protected Spiritomb from the devastating explosion that followed, cloaking the battlefield in dust and debris again.

“Keep it up Blastoise! You’ve hurt him once, you can do it again!” Ash cheered with a jump as he looked on from the sidelines. “Use the dust to stay out of sight, then take him out!”

Suddenly, the eerie silence that had dominated the battlefield was split with a ghostly cackle as Spiritomb’s multitude of voices spoke.

You think, just because we can’t SEE you, you are SAFE?! HAH! Silly little boy!

Cold sweat suddenly streamed down his back as Ash did his best to try and see through the thick layer of dust that was slowly falling down on the battlefield. No matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t see Spiritomb, nor Blastoise.

We don’t need to see you, little turtle. Not when we can FEEL you!

A loud bellow echoed across the stadium, followed by a sickening ghostly laughter as a burst of psychic energy cleared the dust and debris in a flash.

“No! No way!” Ash cried out as he spotted Blastoise. His water Pokemon was standing in the middle of the battlefield, hunched over as though in pain, as all around him tendrils of Spiritomb’s gassy body enveloped him. He violently shook his head as he let out another bellow, the pain he was suffering was evident as Spiritomb assaulted his mind even as it had assaulted Pikachu’s earlier. The shocking loss of privacy as the evil ghost penetrated every fiber of his being and his mind, it was all too much for the giant water type. When the malevolent spirit started to flood his thoughts with images of his worst fears, Blastoise cried out a final time, his voice hoarse, before crashing down to the ground.

Ash gasped in defeat as he called back his fallen friend. Eyeing Blastoise’s Pokeball caused him to feel an immense sense of guilt and he had to force himself not to throw up on the spot. Again, one of his Pokemon, one of his friends, had fallen victim to Spiritomb’s dark mind invasion. And for all Blastoise had done, he had only managed to deliver a minor hit to the malevolent dark ghost.

I… I don’t know if I can do this…That Spiritomb… That MONSTER! It’s too strong, too brutal. Do I really want to risk putting my last two Pokemon in danger like this? Maybe-… Maybe I should just… give up…

A single tear ran from his eye down his cheek, where it dripped off after a few moments of suspension, before crashing into oblivion on the rocky surface of the arena. Five years of training, five years of isolation, of fighting the elements and fighting stronger Pokemon than he had ever met before… Had it all been in vain, just because of this single, malevolent dark Pokemon?

Suddenly, a rapid shock of electricity shot through Ash’s body, causing him to yelp in surprise. By his side, staggering on his little feet, was Pikachu. Even though it had taken him visible effort to awaken from Spiritomb’s cruel coma, the electric type was on his feet.

“P-… Pikachu, you’re awake!” Ash gasped feebly, eyes wide in surprise.

“P-… Pi-… Pika-chu! Pika-pi…”

Pikachu looked as though he could faint again any minute and it was an obvious struggle for him to form words, but even though Ash could not directly understand them, he knew exactly what Pikachu had said.

Whatever you do… Don’t give up, Ash…

The young trainer managed to catch his ailing Pikachu before he hit the ground as unconsciousness claimed him again. Tenderly, he lowered the little mouse on to the ground before raising himself back up again, his eyes locking in contact with the screaming madness that lay within the lopsided eyes of Spiritomb.

“This isn’t over yet, Spiritomb! We’ve hurt you once, and we’ll do it again! Gabite, I choose you!”

With a bright white flash, Gabite made his return to the battlefield. He was still wounded from the nasty cut Roserade had given him, but he wasn’t going to let that little scratch stop him.

“All right Gabite, here we go! Hit it with everything you’ve got and, whatever you do, do NOT allow yourself to doubt anything! DRACO METEOR!”

Immediately, Gabite rushed forward, sending orange orbs of immense power towards Spiritomb. The cruel spirit cackled crazily and responded with equally powerful orbs of darkness, causing huge explosions to rip across the battlefield whenever their orbs met.

Before the dust even settled, Gabite rushed through the cloud closest to Spiritomb, suddenly appearing right before the ancient evil, catching it off-guard.

“Now Gabite, Dragon Claw!” Ash cried out. A cracking sound split the air, followed by an ear-piercing hollow cry as over a hundred different voices shouted out in anger and pain. For the first time since Cynthia had summoned the dark spirit Pokemon, Ash allowed himself to hope. Maybe, just maybe, Cynthia’s terrible champion could be beaten. The keystone that housed Spiritomb’s multitude of ghosts glowed an angry red as a dark liquid leaked from the sizable crack Gabite had cut into it.

AUGH! You… You cracked us… CRACKED US?!

Spiritomb’s disembodied voice  echoed across the field and Gabite raised his claws in a battle-ready stance, smirking defiantly as his yellow eyes narrowed. A ghostly rumble filled the air as Spiritomb seemed to seethe with hatred, both lopsided eyes fully focused on Gabite. The malevolent spirit’s usual purple body – for lack of a better word – turned a deep shade of red as it spoke again in a voice filled with malice.

You’ll pay for this, filthy lizard! You may have broken our body, but we will BREAK YOUR SOUL!

Unleashing his crazed cackle with renewed fervor, Spiritomb sent a pulse of pure darkness towards Gabite, with a speed that startled both the dragon-type and his trainer.

“Look out Gabite! Dodge, then try to retaliate with Dragon Pulse!” Only a split second after uttering his command, Ash had to take cover himself, hiding behind a rock with Pikachu in his arms as Spiritomb’s Dark Pluse raged past them. To his relief, the young trainer saw his Gabite had jumped high into the air in the nick of time, completely evading pulse of darkness as purple energies gathered within its mouth.

Don’t even think about it!

Just as Gabite was about to unleash his attack a boulder, Psychically controlled by  Spiritomb, came in hard contact with his jaw, forcing his mouth shut. An explosion that reverberated through the air followed and Gabite came down with a crash, his face blackened with sooth and a nasty burn on his lower jaw and throat. A whistling sound alerted him to two more boulders flying his way at the behest of the crazed spirit. With a roar Gabite was on the move again, deftly doding the two new boulders as he sprinted towards Spiritomb, brandishing his sharp talons.

Two more boulders came his way, but he sliced through them as if they were butter before a third, massive piece of rock at least five times his size forced him to jump in the air. There, he swiftly cut through two more boulders, not losing his momentum at all, until pain suddenly flared in his stomach and he found that a small, dense rock had impacted on his chest hard. The air forced out of him he landed on shaky legs and dropped to a knee when he made contact with the earth again.

What’s the matter land shark!? I thought you liked a little land from time to time?!

“No… Gabite… BE CAREFUL!”

Despite his trainer’s warning, Gabite rose to his full height, hissing loudly at the malevolent spirit on the opposite side of the field he readied himself for battle once again.

Just then, two slabs of rock suddenly rose out from the ground and slammed into Gabite with force, dealing devastating damage and knocking the wind out of him all over again. On his claws and knees, the damaged dragon-type coughed and gasped, dark blood dripping from his mouth as he looked at Spiritomb with determination and anger in his eyes. He wasn’t going to give up… Not to this mere shade of a Pokemon. He was a Gabite, a warrior! Unmatched in strength and speed, feared on every battlefield he set foot on! He… Would not… FAIL!

A sickening crunch filled the stadium as Spiritomb silenced its draconic opponent, dropping a final slab of rock on top of him. As the dust settled, only a mountain of rubble remained, hiding what could only be the shattered body of one of Ash’s most powerful companions.

“No way… This-… can’t be…” the stunned trainer mumbled. He couldn’t believe it. One moment, Gabite was on top of his game, damaging Spiritomb in ways Blastoise never got the chance to. But then, the next moment Spiritomb had cruelly finished him off. There was something profoundly sickening in the way his mighty dragon had gone down, felled by simple stone, dropped on top of his head from great height.

Ash felt tears fighting within his eyes as he fumbled with Gabite’s Pokeball. Just as he was about to point the container at the mountain of rubble a loud roar echoed across the stadium. A bright white light erupted from within the rubble, illuminating every single piece of rock in stark detail before exploding in a sea of light. Dust obscured Gabite’s tomb next, until a deep purple blast of energy parted the clouds and hit Spiritomb straight in his ghostly face.

Then, as the crazed spirit cried out in pain again, the dusts parted completely to reveal a Garchomp roaring in victory. Spiritomb snarled in fury, focusing both lopsided eyes on his opponent.

So the little land shark has evolved, huh?! Fine… If we can’t break the body, then we’ll have to simply settle for the SOUL!

With that, Spiritomb let out a high-pitched cackle as his gassy body seemed to expand, drifting off and spreading across the battlefield. With every corner of the field surrounded in Spiritomb’s ghostly essence, it would be a mere matter of moments before the angry ghost took a hold of Garchomp, and then his mind would be lost! Garchomp let out a low rumbling roar as he saw what was heading for him, his bright eyes swiftly moving around looking for a way out.

“Garchomp, don’t let him surround you! If he catches you, you’ll be a goner!” Ash cried out from the sidelines. He was about to shout more orders to his faithful dragon-type when a sudden, bone-chilling feeling washed over him. He felt the air leave his lungs as he sank to his knees, an icy cold voice ringing in his ears.

Ah-ah-ah, little trainer! Your pet lizard is OURS now… You will NOT intervene!

Ash hit the ground face first as Spiritomb’s cruel darkness forced him into submission. As much as his mind struggled and screamed, his body simply couldn’t respond and he was forced to wait in dreadful silence as Spiritomb turned its attention to Garchomp. The dragon-type let out an almighty roar of anger when it found out what the crazed ghost had done to his trainer, bloodlust pulsed in his veins and he longed for nothing more than to break the evil spirit. But with its essence spread out across the entire battlefield, save for the small circle in which he stood, Garchomp knew delivering that final blow was impossible. As the fogs suddenly advanced on him, he took the only way out, Digging himself into the ground rapidly, sinking into the hard surface like the land shark he was.

 Don’t run lizard, you delay only the inevitable! There’s no place you can go where we won’t FIND you!

And with that, cackling darkly, Spiritomb’s dark essence followed Garchomp down into the earth, shutting off the dragon-type’s only escape in the process.

Here sharky sharky sharky… Come out where we can see you, so we can crush your soul and be done wi-YIIIIIIAAARGH!

A bright orange flash blasted out from the hole Garchomp had dug, carrying a large part of Spiritomb’s essence with it. At the same time, some distance away, the lethal dragon-type emerged from the earth in a shower of pebbles, landing right next to Spiritomb’s keystone. With the bulk of its consciousness distracted by his Draco Meteor, Garchomp smiled victoriously as he saw the look of complete shock in Spiritomb’s gassy little eyes.

And then he brought his claw down upon the keystone, cracking it fully as the malevolent spirit that housed in it let out an ear-piercing scream so loud and powerful nearly every piece of glass in the entire stadium cracked and shattered. Spiritomb let out a final squirm, its hundred-and-eight voices crying out in pain as sudden winds waved in across the field, rapidly gathering speed as they carried the essence of the ghost back into the keystone. A low rumble marked the end of the dark ghost, a feeble, wavering voice not quite unlike that of a young baby quivered from the stone before it went inert completely.

Mommy…

With the spirit gone, warmth and light suddenly returned to the stadium’s battlefield, bathing Ash and his Pokemon in their radiant glory. Slowly, almost carefully, someone in the audience started applauding, and it didn’t take long for the rest of the people in the stands to join in. Ash got up with a groan, wiping dust, pebbles and shards of rock out of his face as he stared at his Garchomp. Victoriously, he stood before him, grinning from ear to ear and baring all his teeth in the process, a gesture anyone else would’ve found terrifying, but Ash knew exactly what his companion intended. He let his actions speak, rather than his words, and embraced Garchomp even as the tall dragon embraced him.

“Garchomp…” he choked. “T-thank you… You were absolutely amazing!”

Just then, a certain gentle kind of applause caught his attention and lured Ash into looking behind Garchomp, finding Cynthia standing there and applauding his victory like the rest of them. In all the terrible darkness that had plagued them not so long ago, Ash had nearly forgotten the blonde-haired champion was there at all. A sudden fury came over him as he watched her recall Spiritomb’s dormant keystone back into her Pokeball.

“CYNTHIA!” he growled with force. “What the HELL was that all about?! That Spiritomb was crazy! Look what it did to Pikachu and Blastoise! That thing attacked their MINDS, their very soul… and you knew it would do that… Why? Why did you use him? Are you really so desperate to win this battle that you would use a demented creature like that?!”

All throughout, Cynthia remained impassive, stoically applauding on until Ash seemed too lost in his anger and out of words to vent it. When she answered, her voice was remarkably bright, such a far cry from the crazed high-pitch Spiritomb had thrown around so carelessly.

“You are angry Ash, and rightfully so. Rest assured that Pikachu and Blastoise will make a full recovery, you have my word. But using Spiritomb was a necessity I simply couldn’t ignore…”

“A necessity?! Really?! You call using that… THING… a necessity?!” Ash responded, finding the words again to vent his anger. He could hear the blood rushing in his ears and unbeknownst to him his hands were balled into tight fists.

“Yes Ash! It was unpleasant, and I regret it deeply. But it was necessary! Think about it… You’re fighting me here today for the title of Pokemon Master. Say, you beat my last Pokemon now and win, then what?” the blonde-haired champion saw how Ash faltered, her question hitting him unprepared.

“A-… after this? I… I… dunno actually. I never thought about it like that… But what does THAT have to do with you using Spiritomb on my Pokemon?!”

“Pokemon Master is more than just a title Ash… Those worthy of the honor also become guardians of a sort to the region they settle in. As a Pokemon Master, it would fall to you to protect your region from anything that could threaten it. Remember Team Galatic? Something like that could happen again, and I needed to know if you were up to the task… And you were, Ash, you pulled it off and for that I congratulate you!”

Ash slowly started to feel the anger drain from him, his fists relaxing and his head clearing as he let out a much too long held breath. Cynthia’s explanation, as much as he thought it still didn’t justify it, it sort of made sense. Who knew what kind of dark Pokemon, or crazed organization, could emerge? As a guardian he would need to be ready…

“Hmpf, fine…” he sighed and straightened his stance, returning to the determined state he had lost when Spiritomb made its appearance. “I guess you were right, challenging me like that… But that doesn’t mean I approve of your methods! You’ve got a lot of work to do if you want to make this up, especially to Pikachu and Blastoise…”

Then, a familiar determined grin spread across his face as he readied himself.

“But enough talk… If I’m not mistaking you still have one last Pokemon left, so this battle isn’t over just yet! Garchomp and I are ready, so what are you waiting for?!” Cynthia smiled, pleased to see that Ash didn’t fester in his anger, but moved on to focus on the next challenge.

“You’re right Ash, I’m down to my last Pokemon, while you’ve still got two remaining. But let me tell you, I saved the best for last…” The young man from Pallet Town narrowed his eyes but otherwise showed no signs of being intimidated.

“Bring it on then! This battle has gone on long enough now, let’s finish this!” he challenged.

“Very well then… He’s an old friend and I’m pretty sure you’ve met him before, I’ve been dying to introduce you two again, especially now that your Gabite evolved…” Cynthia murmured as she fondled her final Pokeball. With a sudden firm grip she took hold of it before throwing it out into the field.

"Garchomp, I choose you!"