Story Notes:
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon
Spirit Duel
Mew disappears completely avoiding the pouncing Umbreon and reappears above him spinning rapidly and slams Umbreon with her tail sending him crashing into the cave wall making his body disappear into the rocks by the sheer force. Then silence as Tara keeps her eyes locked on the newly made hole in the stone wall. Mew is silent and floats back to her original position and locks eyes with Tara as if to say 'Call your next Pokemon'. Mew is suddenly blasted into the wall opposite Umbreon's by a Dark Pulse attack and Umbreon bursts from the rocks pinning Mew to the wall and he bites down hard on the Psychic Pokemon's shoulder pulsing darkness through her body. Mew flinches from the attack and blasts Umbreon away with a Focus Blast. Umbreon is blasted away but plants his feet on the wall and uses the sheer force of the attack to stay pinned to it as he runs across the ceiling leaping down at Mew and slamming full force into the wall behind her as Mew teleports out of the way now looking slightly amused. Umbreon shakes off the impact and leaps forward tackling Mew to the ground. Meanwhile Tara looks on with concern as the two Pokemon battle,
(The force of Mews attacks are too much... if he doesn't win soon I'll have to return him...) Tara then blinks as she sees Umbreon flash her a slight smile, (I know you want to do this for me. I have faith in you.) Mew smashes Umbreon back into the cave wall with her tail and follows up with a Superpower attack slamming her fist into Umbreon's gut causing him to cough up blood. Tara quickly takes out Umbreon's Pokeball but he glares at her,
"I can do this!" Tara nods slightly but keeps the ball in her hand as she watches Umbreon unleash a powerful dark pulse blasting Mew away and suddenly a translucent full moon appears in front of him and Umbreon leaps through it before charging Mew and slamming his entire weight into her. He follows up with another Dark Pulse and Mew releases a Focus Blast from her hands. The two attacks collide and begins pushing against one another both trying to overpower the other. The two attacks move a few inches back and forth before finally stalemating for a minute. Then there is a large explosion that fills the small arena with black smoke but through the smoke many, many silver streaks can be seen. Then nothing, complete silent fills the room and Stratos lets off a small Aeroblast that disperses the smoke. Umbreon stands across from Mew and both combatants look incredibly weakened although Umbreon is covered in cuts and bruises from the constant impacts to his body. Mew smiles lightly before floating back over to Will and she turns back into her human form. She leans against him with a smile and appears to go to sleep as Umbreon collapses falling unconscious. Tara picks Umbreon up into her arms and she looks up at Will who simply nods with a smile and he and Mew shimmer and disappears in a bright flash of light. In front of everyone the wall rumbles slightly and rises revealing the path. Tara looks back at everyone with a smile,
"Come on, we're almost done." Everyone nods in agreement and the group begins walking down the tunnel. Stratos walks behind everyone with Neo and Luna at either side of him,
"So which one of us do you think is next?" Neo looks at the Lucario with a smile,
"You're up next I'm sure of it."
"How do you know?"
"Espeon DNA. I used Future sight so see which one of us was going next and it's you. Can't say who you're up against though, I want it to be a surprise." Stratos nods and cracks his neck before adjusting Drake's hat on his head,
"Well, whoever it is I'm sure they'll have their hands full with all of us." Stratos pats one of the pokeballs on his belt as he says this and hears Neo chuckle,
"Just do your best and you're sure to win. Don't doubt in yourself or the abilities of those who walk alongside you and there won't be a single enemy any of you can't overcome." Luna giggles,
"But even allies can be pit against one another and become enemies for however short a time." Stratos nods as he flashes her a smile,
"I'm looking forward to our fight. Give all those people a great show." Luna smiles deviously,
"Just don't make me feel like I wasted all that time training you, Squirt." Stratos chuckles,
"Trust me, you won't have."
Twenty minutes pass before Latias walks next to Stratos and she looks down with concern,
"Hon? Are you sure you're ready for this? The trials so far haven't been easy for any of them..." By this time Luna and Neo have all walked ahead to leave Stratos with his thoughts and Stratos looks up at his mother with a smile before he takes all of the pokeballs from his belt and releases all of his Pokemon from them,
"Don't worry. All of us together can take down whoever thinks they can test us." Arcanine chuckles,
"Don't underestimate the spirit of Victory road. I don't even think I could have done as well against Mew as Umbreon did. Who knows what we'll have to deal with?" Stratos nods and blinks as he looks forward to the next sealed area in the tunnel,
"Looks like we won't have to wait much longer..." Everyone stops and Vecransyh lets out a short chuckle as he gazes at the form the spirit has chosen,
"Well that was kinda predictable." Drake looks up with a smile and brushes a small amount of hair out of his face,
"Miss me?" Stratos catches up to the others and blinks looking completely dumbfounded,
"D-Dad?!"
"Ready for your test?" Stratos nods and smiles with a glint in his eye,
"Forgot you were the spirit for a minute." Drake chuckles,
"Well since I've been formed completely from your memories I'm the closest thing to the real one." Stratos looks to his left and right as Latias, Ren, Roze, Arcanine and Swampert approach him at his sides,
"So what's my test?"
"A battle." Stratos nods,
"Alrighty then--"
"I wasn't finished. This is a special kind of battle. To pass this test you must battle each of my six Pokemon with the corresponding one. Example: Arcanine to Arcanine and so on." A spirit Arcanine forms next to Drake as he says this, "Let's begin." Arcanine walks out in front of Stratos and he smirks as the room begins to expand forming into the battle arena,
"Battling a memory of myself? I'm way stronger now then back when you were alive." Drake chuckles,
"They're formed from Stratos' memories not mine; which means they're exact copies so-to-speak. One more thing son: to pass this test in total you must get at least 3 out of six wins. Any less then that and you will fail." Arcanine goes into a pouncing position,
"Then go ahead and chalk one up for Stratos right now!" Arcanine lunges and his double mirrors the movement. The two Pokemon slam into each other with full force and Arcanine lands sliding a few feet before he rushes forward in an Extremespeed slamming Arcanine into the wall behind Drake. He continues using the force of the attack to jump back only to plant his feet and leap forward continuing to slam into the spirit Arcanine driving it farther into the wall. He continues doing this around fifteen times before he meets a Solarbeam to the face knocking him back. Arcanine skids backwards and shakes his head rapidly a few times before looking ahead to the heavily bruised and battered Arcanine spirit, "One down." Drake takes out a pokeball and the spirit Arcanine disappears into it,
"Well you weren't kidding about giving Stratos an easy win. Seeing as how you were always the strongest besides Latias it was inevitable." Arcanine smirks,
"Or maybe it's because I keep my fighting style random and I always fight my hardest so not even a copy of me formed from Stratos' memories could be a match for me. You mustn't know but Stratos was separated from us all for eight months so he has no knowledge of the extensive training we all went through." Drake begins to radiate with a red aura as he folds his arms,
"Oh really? Well then I suppose I'll just have to give everyone a power boost to match this training you all went through. I choose..." Drake releases a spirit Floatzel from the couple's ball at his belt and Roze walks forward with a confident smile as Arcanine steps back,
"Nice going Arcanine you just made this way harder then it should be." Arcanine sits and scratches his ear with his hind leg,
"Yeah that would be my bad. At least we have a win so far. 2 more and we'll be in the clear..." Arcanine and everyone else then watches as Roze is rushed by the spirit Roze and she slams into the cave wall coughing up blood on impact. Drake chuckles as he continues to radiate the red aura,
"I think that'll be a good enough boost to make this harder for you all." Roze punches the spirit Floatzel in the face and it flies back skidding across the floor but it jumps up instantly and rushes back slamming its fist into Roze's gut giving her no time to react. It then proceeds to spin slamming its tails into Roze as they glow a silvery white color and then it goes into an uppercut sending her flying into the air. The Roze spirit punches the wall hard and a spiraling crack follows Roze up to the top of her assent and the ceiling begins cracking before rocks begin plummeting down as well as her. Roze hits the ground hard with a yelp of pain and disappears into the couple's ball as the large, jagged rocks fall around her burying where she once stood. Stratos lets out a held breath and he looks to Ren at his side as the Roze spirit disappears into the couples ball and the Ren spirit is released,
"You ready? Dad's fighting style has gotten pretty brutal since Arcanine won." Ren walks out in front of Stratos and nods his head before going into a pouncing state,
"He hurt Roze." Ren begins radiating with energy as he leaps towards his spirit self but it dashes out of the way and slams into him fully knocking the wind out of the Luxray and he hits the wall with a thud. Ren leaps from the wall and dashes in an extremely fast burst of speed barreling into his spirit self before smashing into its torso with a full-contact Superpower. Ren leaps forward and sinks his teeth into the spirit pulsing Dark energy through its body and he's sent flying across the room with incredible force from an immensely powerful Superpower to his gut. Ren gets out of the wall and wobbles a little bit as he looks at his opponent who looks fairly winded himself. Ren and his spirit self charge each other and make a dust-clearing boom when their heads meet and they begin pushing the other back both of them radiating with energy. Both battlers skid backwards and roll across the ground before they come to a stop around thirty feet away from one another. Ren stands weakly and looks over to his collapsed opponent with a small smile, "I did... it." Drake returns the spirit Ren to the couple's ball and claps his hands as the Swampert spirit appears from his next pokeball,
"That's two wins for you. Hopefully you'll get your third quickly because if Swampert can't defeat herself your mother will be the one fighting next." Stratos narrows his eyes,
"I have faith in them all. They won't lose to copies." Swampert passes him and cracks her knuckles as she looks across at the spirit form of herself,
"So these things are as Stratos remembers us but pumped up. Should be interesting." Both Swamperts rush each other and lock hands and simultaneously unleash Hydro Cannons that spiral around one another for a split second before exploding raining water all over the field. The Swampert spirit looks around quickly before it looks down and punches hard into the ground making an earthquake that shoots up sharp rocks all over the field for a moment before they all recede back and the ground reforms, "Yeah! That would have worked if I was under you!" The spirit looks up in shock and receives a Focus Punch to the face making it crash to the ground with a boom. Swampert readies a finishing blow but suddenly takes a powerful kick to the gut making her recoil and step back gasping for air. The Swampert spirit stands weakly and punches Swampert in the face making her fall over backwards. The spirit turns to Drake and nods before Drake chuckles adjusting his hat,
"Never turn your back to your opponent." The Swampert spirit blinks and turns back around into a Focus Punch that delivers incredible damage to its gut fully knocking the wind out of its lungs and Swampert follows up with a Hammer Arm to the top of the spirit's head sending it to the ground. Swampert breathes heavily as she watches the spirit Swampert begin to try to stand up but suddenly both Swampert collapse to the ground unconscious. Stratos blinks as he looks at the battle's outcome and Drake returns the spirit Swampert to its pokeball,
"So... does that count as a win?" Drake chuckles and takes out a decorative pokeball with tiny wings on it and a blue triangle,
"Come on kid, since when has tying ever resulted in a winner on either side?" Stratos returns Swampert back to her ball followed by Arcanine and then Ren. He looks to his mother with concern and she gives him a reassuring smile,
"Don't worry Stratos. Remember when we fought together? I'm more then capable of taking down a spirit of myself." Stratos nods with the same look of concern,
"Just be careful. Remember what those things have done to everyone. They're only slightly less powerful then us if not exact." Latias nods,
"You forget I have a major type advantage although... so does the spirit." The spirit Latias rises from its pokeball and gazes upon her true self with anticipation, "I promised I'd help get my son to the Pokemon league and you're not going to stand in my way!!" The spirit Latias' eyes light up as it smirks and suddenly both Eon Pokemon disappear in two flashes of light the only visible piece of the two are only the occasional flash of light from an impact but as far as anyone can see the two Pokemon are moving faster then the eye can possibly hope to track. Drake folds his arms as his eyes zips back and forth like he's actually watching the entire fight,
"Hehe, you're still as powerful as I remember you to be; even stronger really." Both Latias suddenly appear and smash into opposite walls after a brief explosion of power is unleashed by the two. Latias flashes a smile at Drake,
"And you're just as handsome as I remember you. To bad it's not really you." The spirit lets out a laugh,
"You always were flirty. But that is beyond my power... or physical capabilities." Latias blushes heavily,
"Say what?!" Drake points to the spirit Latias,
"Keep your mind out of the gutter and back to the fight" Latias glares at the spirit Latias and the two Latias return to their invisible speed state slashing away at one another before the spirit Latias hits the wall again and is instantly blasted by Dragon Pulse. Latias lets out a breath and looks over to Stratos as the Spirit Latias returns to its ball and blinks when she sees him looking slightly disappointed,
"What's wrong hon?"
"I didn't get to fight." Drake scratches his head as he shrugs,
"Do you want to? Your test is done but you could fight if you wanted." Stratos looks back to everyone,
"Is that okay?" He then sees Luna fold her are with an intrigued look on her face and no one objects to the fight. Stratos looks ahead and nods as Drake takes a black pokeball that's striped with white and he smiles as it opens releasing the spirit version of Stratos and Stratos takes a step back when he sees a spike on its chest, "But... I don't have a spike!" Drake smirks,
"I know. This is a test for you alone. To see how you've progressed so far against how your perfect form has progressed." Stratos takes a breath before he locks eyes with the spirit version of himself. There is a silence before both Lucario nod and they both reach out their arm and slash the air ripping a hole in space and they both walk through the portals becoming lost from view as the portals close. Kazamaru folds his arms,
"Aww, we don't get to see the fight?!" The wall behind Drake rumbles and slides down revealing the road to the final trial,
"Obviously he didn't want anyone who he might be fighting in the tournament to see how he fights... Luna." Luna lets out a small laugh as the Drake spirit disappears,
"Smart move Squirt."
In the other dimension there is, what looks like, a spotlight on both of them instead of their shadow and all around them is stars and they both stand on a platform that floats freely in the space they both stand on,
"So you're me?" Spirit Stratos shrugs his shoulders before folding his arms,
"In a sense. I'm your perfect state and therefore, you cannot defeat me." Stratos goes into a battle stance with an angry scowl,
"We'll see about that!!" Stratos rushes forward unleashing an Aeroblast and perfect Stratos doesn't even flinch as the attack blows by him and he takes an uppercut to the face only lifting his head and the rest of his body doesn't move. He looks forward to a surprised-looking Stratos and shakes his head,
"Strike one." Stratos begins unleashing a rapid flurry of punches into the Torso of his perfect self but suddenly Stratos lunges forward to find that his spirit self is gone. Stratos looks around keeping his guard up as he scans the arena, "Strike two."
"Show yourself!!" The voice seems to come from everywhere,
"Are you sure? You can still quit now and not have to suffer the pain I'll put you through." The spirit materializes and folds his arms, "Of course you're going to fight how could I have thought otherwise? You're still too stubborn to admit when you're beaten." Stratos scowls and begins forming an aura sphere in his hands that begins to fade to red then mixes with blue,
"Now that I've met you maybe I don't want to become 'perfect' as you call yourself. I'm a real overconfident jerk when I'm in perfect form." Stratos' perfect self smirks at the comment but says nothing as Stratos throws his attack, a mixture of Aeroblast, Sacred Fire, and every other attack in his attack arsenal, "You're finished!!!" Spirit Stratos closes his eyes and holds out his arm and when the sphere closes in he throws his arm to his other side cutting the attack in half and it flies off behind him exploding in a rainbow of colors,
"You still have so much power to gain, so much to learn." He raises his paw above him and energy begins forming in it, "I'll make your lesson a long one so it's drilled into that thick skull of yours." During the time he says this the energy has been absorbed into his body making his fur solid silver,
"Wha...?!"
"Here is the speed you can master!!" Stratos takes a step back and watches as his spirit self vanishes and reappears a few moments later in the same spot. Stratos blinks and opens his mouth to say something before he suddenly feels his body surge with pain and he falls to his knees with cuts and blood covering his body, "Here is the strength you must acquire!!" Stratos looks up in shock and his spirit self disappears for a split second before appearing in front of him and punching him in the chest knocking the wind out of him and blasting him a good eighty feet in a straight direction before he begins to plummet downwards. Spirit Stratos cuts two dimensional rifts one under the falling Stratos and one in the center of the platform and Stratos hits the ground hard coughing up a large quantity of blood as he writhes in pain. Spirit Stratos reaches down and picks him up by his neck and releases him keeping him suspended in air by a crush grip that prevents his movements. He takes a few steps away and his fur begins to darken as the silver color moves to his paws and they begin to radiate with energy, "And finally... here is the power that you will experience first hand..." Stratos' eyes widen as he looks at the energy radiating in his perfect self's paws. He turns around and throws both of his arms into the air. The energy begins to build and the brilliant silver color lights the entire area. Stratos begins struggling against the attack but it only becomes tighter as he feels his ribs begin to crack under the pressure. Suddenly he feels himself released from the Crush Grip and he lands face-down breathing as well as he can and he looks up as his spirit self throws his arms down raining the light down upon him, "LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU!!!" Stratos closes his eyes tightly and lets out a scream silenced instantly by the explosive sounds of the Judgment attack on his body.
(The force of Mews attacks are too much... if he doesn't win soon I'll have to return him...) Tara then blinks as she sees Umbreon flash her a slight smile, (I know you want to do this for me. I have faith in you.) Mew smashes Umbreon back into the cave wall with her tail and follows up with a Superpower attack slamming her fist into Umbreon's gut causing him to cough up blood. Tara quickly takes out Umbreon's Pokeball but he glares at her,
"I can do this!" Tara nods slightly but keeps the ball in her hand as she watches Umbreon unleash a powerful dark pulse blasting Mew away and suddenly a translucent full moon appears in front of him and Umbreon leaps through it before charging Mew and slamming his entire weight into her. He follows up with another Dark Pulse and Mew releases a Focus Blast from her hands. The two attacks collide and begins pushing against one another both trying to overpower the other. The two attacks move a few inches back and forth before finally stalemating for a minute. Then there is a large explosion that fills the small arena with black smoke but through the smoke many, many silver streaks can be seen. Then nothing, complete silent fills the room and Stratos lets off a small Aeroblast that disperses the smoke. Umbreon stands across from Mew and both combatants look incredibly weakened although Umbreon is covered in cuts and bruises from the constant impacts to his body. Mew smiles lightly before floating back over to Will and she turns back into her human form. She leans against him with a smile and appears to go to sleep as Umbreon collapses falling unconscious. Tara picks Umbreon up into her arms and she looks up at Will who simply nods with a smile and he and Mew shimmer and disappears in a bright flash of light. In front of everyone the wall rumbles slightly and rises revealing the path. Tara looks back at everyone with a smile,
"Come on, we're almost done." Everyone nods in agreement and the group begins walking down the tunnel. Stratos walks behind everyone with Neo and Luna at either side of him,
"So which one of us do you think is next?" Neo looks at the Lucario with a smile,
"You're up next I'm sure of it."
"How do you know?"
"Espeon DNA. I used Future sight so see which one of us was going next and it's you. Can't say who you're up against though, I want it to be a surprise." Stratos nods and cracks his neck before adjusting Drake's hat on his head,
"Well, whoever it is I'm sure they'll have their hands full with all of us." Stratos pats one of the pokeballs on his belt as he says this and hears Neo chuckle,
"Just do your best and you're sure to win. Don't doubt in yourself or the abilities of those who walk alongside you and there won't be a single enemy any of you can't overcome." Luna giggles,
"But even allies can be pit against one another and become enemies for however short a time." Stratos nods as he flashes her a smile,
"I'm looking forward to our fight. Give all those people a great show." Luna smiles deviously,
"Just don't make me feel like I wasted all that time training you, Squirt." Stratos chuckles,
"Trust me, you won't have."
Twenty minutes pass before Latias walks next to Stratos and she looks down with concern,
"Hon? Are you sure you're ready for this? The trials so far haven't been easy for any of them..." By this time Luna and Neo have all walked ahead to leave Stratos with his thoughts and Stratos looks up at his mother with a smile before he takes all of the pokeballs from his belt and releases all of his Pokemon from them,
"Don't worry. All of us together can take down whoever thinks they can test us." Arcanine chuckles,
"Don't underestimate the spirit of Victory road. I don't even think I could have done as well against Mew as Umbreon did. Who knows what we'll have to deal with?" Stratos nods and blinks as he looks forward to the next sealed area in the tunnel,
"Looks like we won't have to wait much longer..." Everyone stops and Vecransyh lets out a short chuckle as he gazes at the form the spirit has chosen,
"Well that was kinda predictable." Drake looks up with a smile and brushes a small amount of hair out of his face,
"Miss me?" Stratos catches up to the others and blinks looking completely dumbfounded,
"D-Dad?!"
"Ready for your test?" Stratos nods and smiles with a glint in his eye,
"Forgot you were the spirit for a minute." Drake chuckles,
"Well since I've been formed completely from your memories I'm the closest thing to the real one." Stratos looks to his left and right as Latias, Ren, Roze, Arcanine and Swampert approach him at his sides,
"So what's my test?"
"A battle." Stratos nods,
"Alrighty then--"
"I wasn't finished. This is a special kind of battle. To pass this test you must battle each of my six Pokemon with the corresponding one. Example: Arcanine to Arcanine and so on." A spirit Arcanine forms next to Drake as he says this, "Let's begin." Arcanine walks out in front of Stratos and he smirks as the room begins to expand forming into the battle arena,
"Battling a memory of myself? I'm way stronger now then back when you were alive." Drake chuckles,
"They're formed from Stratos' memories not mine; which means they're exact copies so-to-speak. One more thing son: to pass this test in total you must get at least 3 out of six wins. Any less then that and you will fail." Arcanine goes into a pouncing position,
"Then go ahead and chalk one up for Stratos right now!" Arcanine lunges and his double mirrors the movement. The two Pokemon slam into each other with full force and Arcanine lands sliding a few feet before he rushes forward in an Extremespeed slamming Arcanine into the wall behind Drake. He continues using the force of the attack to jump back only to plant his feet and leap forward continuing to slam into the spirit Arcanine driving it farther into the wall. He continues doing this around fifteen times before he meets a Solarbeam to the face knocking him back. Arcanine skids backwards and shakes his head rapidly a few times before looking ahead to the heavily bruised and battered Arcanine spirit, "One down." Drake takes out a pokeball and the spirit Arcanine disappears into it,
"Well you weren't kidding about giving Stratos an easy win. Seeing as how you were always the strongest besides Latias it was inevitable." Arcanine smirks,
"Or maybe it's because I keep my fighting style random and I always fight my hardest so not even a copy of me formed from Stratos' memories could be a match for me. You mustn't know but Stratos was separated from us all for eight months so he has no knowledge of the extensive training we all went through." Drake begins to radiate with a red aura as he folds his arms,
"Oh really? Well then I suppose I'll just have to give everyone a power boost to match this training you all went through. I choose..." Drake releases a spirit Floatzel from the couple's ball at his belt and Roze walks forward with a confident smile as Arcanine steps back,
"Nice going Arcanine you just made this way harder then it should be." Arcanine sits and scratches his ear with his hind leg,
"Yeah that would be my bad. At least we have a win so far. 2 more and we'll be in the clear..." Arcanine and everyone else then watches as Roze is rushed by the spirit Roze and she slams into the cave wall coughing up blood on impact. Drake chuckles as he continues to radiate the red aura,
"I think that'll be a good enough boost to make this harder for you all." Roze punches the spirit Floatzel in the face and it flies back skidding across the floor but it jumps up instantly and rushes back slamming its fist into Roze's gut giving her no time to react. It then proceeds to spin slamming its tails into Roze as they glow a silvery white color and then it goes into an uppercut sending her flying into the air. The Roze spirit punches the wall hard and a spiraling crack follows Roze up to the top of her assent and the ceiling begins cracking before rocks begin plummeting down as well as her. Roze hits the ground hard with a yelp of pain and disappears into the couple's ball as the large, jagged rocks fall around her burying where she once stood. Stratos lets out a held breath and he looks to Ren at his side as the Roze spirit disappears into the couples ball and the Ren spirit is released,
"You ready? Dad's fighting style has gotten pretty brutal since Arcanine won." Ren walks out in front of Stratos and nods his head before going into a pouncing state,
"He hurt Roze." Ren begins radiating with energy as he leaps towards his spirit self but it dashes out of the way and slams into him fully knocking the wind out of the Luxray and he hits the wall with a thud. Ren leaps from the wall and dashes in an extremely fast burst of speed barreling into his spirit self before smashing into its torso with a full-contact Superpower. Ren leaps forward and sinks his teeth into the spirit pulsing Dark energy through its body and he's sent flying across the room with incredible force from an immensely powerful Superpower to his gut. Ren gets out of the wall and wobbles a little bit as he looks at his opponent who looks fairly winded himself. Ren and his spirit self charge each other and make a dust-clearing boom when their heads meet and they begin pushing the other back both of them radiating with energy. Both battlers skid backwards and roll across the ground before they come to a stop around thirty feet away from one another. Ren stands weakly and looks over to his collapsed opponent with a small smile, "I did... it." Drake returns the spirit Ren to the couple's ball and claps his hands as the Swampert spirit appears from his next pokeball,
"That's two wins for you. Hopefully you'll get your third quickly because if Swampert can't defeat herself your mother will be the one fighting next." Stratos narrows his eyes,
"I have faith in them all. They won't lose to copies." Swampert passes him and cracks her knuckles as she looks across at the spirit form of herself,
"So these things are as Stratos remembers us but pumped up. Should be interesting." Both Swamperts rush each other and lock hands and simultaneously unleash Hydro Cannons that spiral around one another for a split second before exploding raining water all over the field. The Swampert spirit looks around quickly before it looks down and punches hard into the ground making an earthquake that shoots up sharp rocks all over the field for a moment before they all recede back and the ground reforms, "Yeah! That would have worked if I was under you!" The spirit looks up in shock and receives a Focus Punch to the face making it crash to the ground with a boom. Swampert readies a finishing blow but suddenly takes a powerful kick to the gut making her recoil and step back gasping for air. The Swampert spirit stands weakly and punches Swampert in the face making her fall over backwards. The spirit turns to Drake and nods before Drake chuckles adjusting his hat,
"Never turn your back to your opponent." The Swampert spirit blinks and turns back around into a Focus Punch that delivers incredible damage to its gut fully knocking the wind out of its lungs and Swampert follows up with a Hammer Arm to the top of the spirit's head sending it to the ground. Swampert breathes heavily as she watches the spirit Swampert begin to try to stand up but suddenly both Swampert collapse to the ground unconscious. Stratos blinks as he looks at the battle's outcome and Drake returns the spirit Swampert to its pokeball,
"So... does that count as a win?" Drake chuckles and takes out a decorative pokeball with tiny wings on it and a blue triangle,
"Come on kid, since when has tying ever resulted in a winner on either side?" Stratos returns Swampert back to her ball followed by Arcanine and then Ren. He looks to his mother with concern and she gives him a reassuring smile,
"Don't worry Stratos. Remember when we fought together? I'm more then capable of taking down a spirit of myself." Stratos nods with the same look of concern,
"Just be careful. Remember what those things have done to everyone. They're only slightly less powerful then us if not exact." Latias nods,
"You forget I have a major type advantage although... so does the spirit." The spirit Latias rises from its pokeball and gazes upon her true self with anticipation, "I promised I'd help get my son to the Pokemon league and you're not going to stand in my way!!" The spirit Latias' eyes light up as it smirks and suddenly both Eon Pokemon disappear in two flashes of light the only visible piece of the two are only the occasional flash of light from an impact but as far as anyone can see the two Pokemon are moving faster then the eye can possibly hope to track. Drake folds his arms as his eyes zips back and forth like he's actually watching the entire fight,
"Hehe, you're still as powerful as I remember you to be; even stronger really." Both Latias suddenly appear and smash into opposite walls after a brief explosion of power is unleashed by the two. Latias flashes a smile at Drake,
"And you're just as handsome as I remember you. To bad it's not really you." The spirit lets out a laugh,
"You always were flirty. But that is beyond my power... or physical capabilities." Latias blushes heavily,
"Say what?!" Drake points to the spirit Latias,
"Keep your mind out of the gutter and back to the fight" Latias glares at the spirit Latias and the two Latias return to their invisible speed state slashing away at one another before the spirit Latias hits the wall again and is instantly blasted by Dragon Pulse. Latias lets out a breath and looks over to Stratos as the Spirit Latias returns to its ball and blinks when she sees him looking slightly disappointed,
"What's wrong hon?"
"I didn't get to fight." Drake scratches his head as he shrugs,
"Do you want to? Your test is done but you could fight if you wanted." Stratos looks back to everyone,
"Is that okay?" He then sees Luna fold her are with an intrigued look on her face and no one objects to the fight. Stratos looks ahead and nods as Drake takes a black pokeball that's striped with white and he smiles as it opens releasing the spirit version of Stratos and Stratos takes a step back when he sees a spike on its chest, "But... I don't have a spike!" Drake smirks,
"I know. This is a test for you alone. To see how you've progressed so far against how your perfect form has progressed." Stratos takes a breath before he locks eyes with the spirit version of himself. There is a silence before both Lucario nod and they both reach out their arm and slash the air ripping a hole in space and they both walk through the portals becoming lost from view as the portals close. Kazamaru folds his arms,
"Aww, we don't get to see the fight?!" The wall behind Drake rumbles and slides down revealing the road to the final trial,
"Obviously he didn't want anyone who he might be fighting in the tournament to see how he fights... Luna." Luna lets out a small laugh as the Drake spirit disappears,
"Smart move Squirt."
In the other dimension there is, what looks like, a spotlight on both of them instead of their shadow and all around them is stars and they both stand on a platform that floats freely in the space they both stand on,
"So you're me?" Spirit Stratos shrugs his shoulders before folding his arms,
"In a sense. I'm your perfect state and therefore, you cannot defeat me." Stratos goes into a battle stance with an angry scowl,
"We'll see about that!!" Stratos rushes forward unleashing an Aeroblast and perfect Stratos doesn't even flinch as the attack blows by him and he takes an uppercut to the face only lifting his head and the rest of his body doesn't move. He looks forward to a surprised-looking Stratos and shakes his head,
"Strike one." Stratos begins unleashing a rapid flurry of punches into the Torso of his perfect self but suddenly Stratos lunges forward to find that his spirit self is gone. Stratos looks around keeping his guard up as he scans the arena, "Strike two."
"Show yourself!!" The voice seems to come from everywhere,
"Are you sure? You can still quit now and not have to suffer the pain I'll put you through." The spirit materializes and folds his arms, "Of course you're going to fight how could I have thought otherwise? You're still too stubborn to admit when you're beaten." Stratos scowls and begins forming an aura sphere in his hands that begins to fade to red then mixes with blue,
"Now that I've met you maybe I don't want to become 'perfect' as you call yourself. I'm a real overconfident jerk when I'm in perfect form." Stratos' perfect self smirks at the comment but says nothing as Stratos throws his attack, a mixture of Aeroblast, Sacred Fire, and every other attack in his attack arsenal, "You're finished!!!" Spirit Stratos closes his eyes and holds out his arm and when the sphere closes in he throws his arm to his other side cutting the attack in half and it flies off behind him exploding in a rainbow of colors,
"You still have so much power to gain, so much to learn." He raises his paw above him and energy begins forming in it, "I'll make your lesson a long one so it's drilled into that thick skull of yours." During the time he says this the energy has been absorbed into his body making his fur solid silver,
"Wha...?!"
"Here is the speed you can master!!" Stratos takes a step back and watches as his spirit self vanishes and reappears a few moments later in the same spot. Stratos blinks and opens his mouth to say something before he suddenly feels his body surge with pain and he falls to his knees with cuts and blood covering his body, "Here is the strength you must acquire!!" Stratos looks up in shock and his spirit self disappears for a split second before appearing in front of him and punching him in the chest knocking the wind out of him and blasting him a good eighty feet in a straight direction before he begins to plummet downwards. Spirit Stratos cuts two dimensional rifts one under the falling Stratos and one in the center of the platform and Stratos hits the ground hard coughing up a large quantity of blood as he writhes in pain. Spirit Stratos reaches down and picks him up by his neck and releases him keeping him suspended in air by a crush grip that prevents his movements. He takes a few steps away and his fur begins to darken as the silver color moves to his paws and they begin to radiate with energy, "And finally... here is the power that you will experience first hand..." Stratos' eyes widen as he looks at the energy radiating in his perfect self's paws. He turns around and throws both of his arms into the air. The energy begins to build and the brilliant silver color lights the entire area. Stratos begins struggling against the attack but it only becomes tighter as he feels his ribs begin to crack under the pressure. Suddenly he feels himself released from the Crush Grip and he lands face-down breathing as well as he can and he looks up as his spirit self throws his arms down raining the light down upon him, "LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU!!!" Stratos closes his eyes tightly and lets out a scream silenced instantly by the explosive sounds of the Judgment attack on his body.