Chapter 589: Mirage Island
In the split second that the light covered everything, Ash was still trying to move. He knew a bright light was probably coming, but with a little Aura in his eyes he could still see, and kept directing Latias.
In that moment, he saw Archie and Maxie getting flung back, and in the air he could see the Orbs floating. Now granted, even though he could see the world in slow motion and Latias was moving as fast as she was, that did not mean Ash’s movement speed was good enough. And remember, all of this happened in probably the five seconds that the explosion of white light lasted.
Anyway, Ash tried to get Latias to fly him to the Orbs so he could grab them, but just as his hands were about to touch them, they flew away from him and went directly toward May and Brendan, colliding with them both and making them fly back.
Ash really would have preferred if that didn’t happen. It would have been easier if he could have taken the Orbs himself, but it didn’t matter Ash had anticipated this just in case. That’s why he had everything set up earlier.
Latias already knew the plan, of course. She was the one flying him, so in less than a second she flew up to May and Brendan and grabbed them both, along with their Pokémon. Since Ash couldn’t do it himself, even though he could see what was going on, that did not mean he could do anything about it.
After checking everyone and making sure none of them would get flung back, and adjusting people’s positions so they didn’t fall, Latias then decided to fly away. All of this happened in less than four seconds yeah, Latias is just that fast.
As for where they were going, it was someplace that only appeared at certain moments if the timing was just right: Mirage Island. Latias didn’t even need Ash to tell her where it was; it was one of her favorite places to play, so she knew the direction like the back of her hand.
–
When May opened her eyes, she felt groggy. She remembered the white light, then she blacked out. But what surprised her was that, while her eyes were still trying to adjust, she felt sand on her cheek. Then she realized she was on the ground.
She pushed herself up and rubbed her eyes. Finally, her vision cleared, and she saw that there was sand underneath her. Then she looked around.
The first thing she noticed was that she was sitting on a beach or at least on an island with a beach and off in the distance she couldn’t see anything at all.
For a few seconds, her brain simply refused to process what she was seeing, "...What?"
She grabbed a handful of sand, "...Why am I on a beach?" The grains slipped through her fingers, confirming it was real she wasn’t in some illusion or anything.
May immediately stood up, "Hello?!"
She spun around, searching for anything familiar. Instead, she spotted a lump half-buried in the sand, "...Brendan?" Sure enough, Brendan was lying face-first in the beach, visibly snoring. A few feet away, Swampert was sprawled out on its back with a dazed expression, while Blaziken was similarly flattened on the sand nearby, both of them knocked out of their Mega forms.
May quickly ran over, "Brendan!" She got down and tried shaking him awake, but he kept snoring peacefully. She tried again, shaking him gently, but no use. Finally, she grabbed his shoulder and shook him, "BRENDAN!"
"WHA—" Brendan suddenly shot upright, immediately looking around wildly, "WHERE’S GROUDON?!" He jumped to his feet and spun in a circle, "WHERE IS IT?!"
May pointed downward, "We’re on a beach, I think."
Brendan blinked, "A beach?"
"Yes."
"Why are we on a beach?"
"I was hoping you’d know."
Brendan looked around, "What happened?" he asked.
"I don’t know."
"The last thing I remember was the white light."
"Same."
"Did we...lose?" Brendan asked, looking back at May. I mean, it didn’t look like there were any islands nearby, "Maybe we died and this is the afterlife."
May smacked him over the head with a stick she found.
"OW!"
"Don’t say things like that!" May crossed her arms. She refused to think like that.
"I’m just brainstorming!"
Before May could respond, her nose suddenly twitched, "...Do you smell that?"
Brendan blinked and sniffed too, "Yeah, it smells good. What is that?"
But May didn’t respond because she recognized that smell. It was a smell she had gotten used to over the months traveling with Ash. She quickly found that she still had her Poké Balls and returned Blaziken to its ball, then began running.
Brendan quickly returned Swampert and began jogging after her, "Wait for me!"
They ran into what looked like a forest and moved through the trees together, but ironically enough they didn’t see any Pokémon around the area yet. They kept moving through the trees, then as they pushed past another set of bushes, they saw where that smell was coming from.
In the middle of a peaceful clearing sat a small campfire. A metal pot hung over it while steam slowly drifted upward into the air. Pikachu and Vee were laying nearby happily munching on berries, both of them looking completely relaxed.
And sitting on a log was Ash, stirring the pot and cooking something while looking a little too casual.
"Ash?" Brendan said blankly.
Ash looked up from the pot, "Oh." He waved casually with the spoon in his hand, "Good, you’re finally awake."
May and Brendan stared at him in disbelief.
Behind Ash, leaning over his shoulder while watching the cooking intently, was a girl they had never seen before. She had long red hair, bright golden eyes, and was practically hovering behind him while staring into the pot with complete focus.
"Who?" Brendan whispered.
The girl blinked curiously at them, then smiled brightly before immediately going back to watching the food intently.
May pointed dramatically, "WHO IS THAT?!"
Ash blinked once, "Hm?"
"The girl!"
Ash looked behind himself, "Oh right. You guys don’t know each other."
The girl waved happily, "Hi!"
"...Hi?" Brendan answered automatically.
Then Brendan suddenly snapped back to reality, "WAIT, NO HOLD ON!" He pointed around wildly, "What is going on?! Where are we?! Did we lose?! Are we dead?!"
"No," Ash answered calmly while stirring the pot again, "No and no."
"Can you maybe elaborate a little more than that?" May asked.
Ash shrugged, "The battle’s still going on."
Then both of them yelled at once, "WHAT?!"
"So, you guys gonna calm down a bit or—" Ash started, but May cut him off.
"ASH!" May shouted, "We got blasted by weird light and woke up on a mystery island while you’re over here MAKING SOUP!"
"It’s stew, actually."
"That’s not the point!"
Ash finally set the spoon down and pointed at the two empty spots around the fire, "Sit down first. They probably heard your yelling. They’ll be here in a second."
May opened her mouth to keep arguing, but the smell coming from the pot hit her again and her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl.
Brendan immediately pointed at her, "HAH!"
"Shut up!" she said, looking embarrassed as she went over and sat down on a log next to Pikachu.
And Brendan did the same, looking around, "So...considering that we’re not dead, this place does look pretty nice."
The red-haired girl nodded enthusiastically, "Right?! I like it here too!"
May blinked at her again, "Seriously, who are you?"
Before Ash could answer, another voice suddenly echoed from behind them.
"Ah, you’re both awake finally. Buenos días! Welcome to your final training place."
May and Brendan turned around immediately.
Standing nearby was Juan, calmly stroking his mustache while Tate and Liza stood behind him.
"JUAN?!" Brendan exclaimed.
Juan adjusted his coat dramatically, "Indeed."
Tate gave a small wave, "Hi."
Liza nodded, "Welcome."
Brendan looked between all of them rapidly, "Okay, somehow this is getting weirder."
Juan chuckled softly before gesturing around them, "We are on Mirage Island, or at least that is what many call it. I do not know its official name. It is an island within Hoenn, but strangely isolated from the outside world."
May looked around again in awe, "Mirage Island..."
"And the next question you probably wish to ask," Juan continued calmly, "is what the current situation in Hoenn is."
Ash finally spoke again while stirring the stew once more.
"The battle’s still going on," he explained, "We’re just somewhere else. Remember that white light? It blasted both of you, but I managed to grab you...or rather, she did." He pointed toward the red-haired girl.
She proudly puffed out her chest, "I’m very fast, UmU."
"...Right," Brendan said slowly.
"But why are we here?!" May immediately asked, "If the battle’s still happening, then we should go back and help!"
"Exactly!" Brendan nodded, "Everyone’s fighting out there!"
But Juan raised one hand calmly, cutting them off, "There is no need to worry about wasting time."
The two blinked, "...What?"
Juan smiled slightly, "Time on this island flows differently."
"...Excuse me?" Brendan asked.
"If I had to guess," Juan continued, "on the outside world perhaps only two seconds have passed since you awakened here."
May’s jaw dropped, and Brendan stared blankly.
"I am not an expert in this field," Juan admitted while adjusting his coat again, "but I do know one thing."
His expression became more serious, "You have time here to properly do one thing."
"And what’s that?" May asked carefully.
Juan looked directly at them, "To train."
Both of them froze.
"Train?" Brendan repeated.
"Wait, why us?" May asked immediately, "And why now?"
Ash looked up at them and rested his hand on his knee, "Look at the backs of your hands."
May and Brendan blinked in unison and slowly lifted their hands. They were both wearing gloves, so they had to take them off.
Then both of their eyes widened instantly.
On the back of May’s hand glowed a bright blue Alpha symbol.
And on Brendan’s hand burned a crimson Omega symbol.
"The Orbs went into you guys after I knocked them out of Archie and Maxie," Ash explained.
May and Brendan immediately froze, then both of them started panicking at the exact same time.
"GET IT OFF!" Brendan shouted as he started wildly shaking his hand.
May was doing the exact same thing beside him, "WHY IS IT IN ME?! GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF!"
The glowing symbols only continued shining, no matter how much they shook their hands.
Brendan looked horrified, "ARE WE GONNA TURN INTO PUPPETS LIKE ARCHIE AND MAXIE?!"
"ASH FIX THIS!" May yelled while trying to scratch the symbol off her hand, like that would work.
Ash watched them for a second in silence while Pikachu casually continued eating berries beside him.
Then Ash finally sighed, "You guys done?"
"NO?!" they both shouted.
Ash pointed at them with the spoon still in his hand, "Okay, but are either of you acting insane right now?"
"...What?" Brendan blinked.
Ash shrugged, "You’re both still yourselves. Don’t you think if you were gonna turn into puppets you would have done it already?"
Ash leaned back slightly on the log, "Honestly, I don’t fully get it myself yet. I tried grabbing the Orbs before they hit you guys."
"You WHAT?!" May exclaimed.
Ash ignored her, "But they flew straight past me and went directly to you two."
They still seemed to be trying to process everything Ash had just said.
Then May pointed at herself, "...Why me?"
"And why me?!" Brendan added immediately after.
Ash shook his head, "Don’t know yet. But whatever the reason is, it means you two have something special that made the Orbs choose you."
May stared down at the glowing Alpha symbol, and Brendan looked significantly less comforted than Ash probably intended.
Then Ash reached beside him and grabbed an old journal.
May immediately recognized it, "Wait...that’s the journal from the abandoned ship!"
Ash nodded and flipped it open, "Yeah. Turns out it had way more important stuff in it than I thought."
Juan stepped closer while Ash flipped through several pages. Ash tapped one of the pages, "According to this, the Orbs themselves have the power to energize and calm Kyogre and Groudon, and they themselves have a mind of their own."
"But the important part is this." He pointed toward another line in the journal, "To truly control the ancient Pokémon, the Orb and the person must become one."
Juan stepped forward then, calmly placing one hand behind his back, "Which is where your training comes in."
May and Brendan looked toward him.
Juan smiled slightly, "The two of you are now connected to the Red and Blue Orb, and since you both seem to have a gift that is allowing you to not be overtaken by Groudon and Kyogre’s power, that means you two may even be able to control Groudon and Kyogre themselves."
Both of them froze.
"Excuse me?" May asked.
Tate crossed his arms confidently, "You’re connected to the Orbs now."
Liza nodded, "So you can resonate with the ancient Pokémon. Dunno what more you need to hear."
"And," Juan added, "if Hoenn is to survive this disaster, then both of you will need to work together perfectly."
He gestured toward Tate and Liza, "That is why they are here. They’re here to help teach you both skills you will need if you are to control Groudon and Kyogre’s full power."
Then both twins suddenly stepped aside dramatically at the same time.
"And to help you," they both said together, "we brought these guys!"
Suddenly two tiny figures jumped out from behind them: a Plusle and Minun. May immediately looked at both of these Electric-types with surprise and relief, because she recognized the two goobers they were the same ones that were at the Abandoned Ship.
The two Pokémon immediately recognized her too and rushed forward excitedly.
May dropped to her knees as the two Electric Pokémon practically launched themselves into her arms, "It IS you guys!" May laughed in disbelief while hugging them tightly, "You’re okay!"
May smiled brightly while the two Pokémon clung onto her shoulders happily, but then she paused and realized something, "...Wait."
She looked back at Ash, "Ash, what about you?" she asked, because Juan didn’t say anything about Ash doing anything to help.
Ash shook his head, "I’m not staying here. I did my part with bringing you guys here and setting all this up."
The redhead, who was Latias, nodded, "Yeah, and we need to go back out there to finish up one more thing~"
Ash sighed, pushing Latias back slightly, "But I figured I should see you guys off before you spend a few days training here. I don’t know how long Juan is gonna keep you guys here, or how long time is gonna pass, but I did figure I should leave you guys with one last decent dinner."
Ash finished the stew and put the spoon down, "Since I know both of you guys are pretty hopeless at cooking, and you both know I’m right." Ash shut them down before they could even say anything else.
May and Brendan both looked embarrassed and looked away from Ash, making him snort, "So after this, you guys better prepare yourselves for an all-berry diet for the next few days." Ash said as he stood up, patting his knees.
Brendan shivered, "I’m going to miss you..." but he wasn’t saying it to Ash, he was saying it to the idea of having real cooked food and probably meat for a while.
Meanwhile, the red-haired girl suddenly perked up excitedly, "Oh! Are we leaving now?!"
Ash nodded once, "Yeah. We should get moving before too much time passes outside."
The girl immediately started bouncing in place excitedly, practically vibrating with energy, "Yay! Flying time!"
Pikachu jumped onto Ash’s shoulder while Vee climbed onto his head happily.
May stared at the girl again as she happily spun around Ash. She had been ignoring this long enough because apparently waking up on a magical time island and learning that ancient apocalypse orbs were fused to her hands took priority, but now that things had calmed down slightly...who was this girl?!
And she totally wasn’t only asking this because she seemed to have no concept of boundaries as she leaned on Ash’s shoulders any chance she could no, it has nothing to do with that.
May crossed her arms immediately, "Okay, seriously," she said while pointing dramatically at the girl, "Who are you?"
The girl blinked innocently while Ash looked over.
"Oh," Ash said casually, like this wasn’t important at all, "She’s Latias."
"Yeah, okay," Brendan nodded slowly, "And I’m Rayquaza."
Latias looked at Brendan suspiciously, "Hmmm, no. Rayquaza is a lot angrier and longer." She crossed her arms.
"Of course I’m not being serious," Brendan sighed, looking exhausted.
"Um, I am also curious, who is she?" Liza asked, raising her hand slightly.
"He already said it, I’m Latias," Latias put her hands on her waist and looked up proudly.
"Is she right in the head?" Tate asked Ash.
Ash sighed and looked at Latias, then gestured to everyone. Latias blinked, then remembered oh yeah, she was still in human form. So she began shining and transformed back into her Pokémon form, and waved at everyone.
Immediately everyone blinked in surprise, finding it hard to speak. Even Juan needed a few moments to process it. He had just thought she was a friend Ash brought along, since no one took her seriously when she announced herself as Latias.
As everyone’s brains were busy taking a hard reset, Ash started walking off to go to the beach and fly off with Latias, since she was his ride out of here, "Good luck, guys. The plan relies on you."
He turned back and smirked, "You said you wanted me to rely on you guys more, right? Well congratulations you guys have the most important part in this plan."
"Wow, no pressure..." Brendan muttered.
"I-um, Ash..." May seemed like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself and instead asked, "What about you? What are you gonna do?"
Ash smirked, and his hand went into his jacket pocket, "Me? I’ve got my own part to play, and when I do it, you guys will know." He pulled out the Jade Orb and held it out, "Let’s do our best together."
–
{At the Sky Pillar}
Wally and Norman finally managed to climb to the top of the tower. Wally was breathing hard and nearly fell over, but Norman managed to catch him.
"Easy, we’re here..." Norman said, setting Wally down.
Just then, in a flash, Ash teleported nearby with Gardevoir, who had followed them to get here, "I see you guys made it," he said, crossing his arms as he started walking toward them.
"Ash..." Wally said, still a little out of breath, but he tried to stand up.
Ash shook his head, "Calm down, Wally. We still need you for the most important part," Ash said, pointing behind him to the center of the tower. Ash couldn’t do it since he teleported up here if he did it, Rayquaza wouldn’t think he was worthy and Norman couldn’t either, so it was up to Wally.
Norman nodded at him, as if expecting him to show up, "How are things with Groudon and Kyogre?"
"They are still fighting, but I set the final step in play. From here we just need Rayquaza," Ash smiled, "May’s doing her part, too."
Norman’s cold expression scoffed ever so slightly, but he tried to keep his stern face, "Very well, then let-" he tried to say, but then suddenly the tower started shaking, making them all grab onto something to keep their balance.
"Their battle must be destabilizing the tower," Norman concluded, "We have to hurry."
Ash nodded, but he stopped Norman and looked at him seriously, "Do you know someone named Jaern?"
Norman’s eyes flashed with shock and anger, "How do you know that name?"
"So you do know him," Ash concluded, "He’s coming here, and apparently he has a copy of the Green Orb."
Norman’s eyes widened, and the thought of getting an explanation for how Ash knew Jaern’s name was pushed aside. His focus shifted to the fact that Jaern was coming here with another Green Orb. He clicked his tongue and looked at Wally, "Wally, we need to move now!"
"Wha?" Wally blinked in surprise, but Norman didn’t elaborate.
He looked at Ash, "Do you know where he might be right about now?"
"No, but I’m going to go down the tower to see if I can find him," Ash explained, "But right now both of you try and finish it. We can’t afford to slow down just because he might show up around here. And also-" Ash looked at Norman and gestured upward with his finger, and Norman understood.
"Right. We can’t slow down. If he shows up, I’m going to break that orb over his head," Norman said, clenching his fist so hard his knuckles turned white. He wanted nothing more than to punch Jaern across his smug face.
Since the reason Norman insisted that Ash take both May and Max with him for their protection was because Jaern, when this whole thing started, sent that representative to speak to him but it was also a sign telling Norman that Jaern knew about his family.
So during this year, he’s been doing nothing but preparing for the second Jaern shows his face in front of him.
Ash nodded, as he returned Gardevoir, then walked towards the edge. He looked back at the duo and saluted before taking a step back and free falling, where Latias was waiting to catch him.
But meanwhile up there they didn’t see it, Wally was about to run to the edge, but Norman stopped him, "Ash is strong, he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t know he could save himself."
"You’re right," Wally admitted, as he looked back at the circle, "So what now?"
Norman took a breath and took off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, "Stand at the circle, and don’t use your Pokémon," he said as he walked to the side.
Wally listened, watching Norman walk. When Norman got to the edge, he reached and grabbed what looked like a chain attached to the side of the tower, then putting it over his shoulder, he began pulling with all his might.
Immediately, a light shined over Wally and he began floating, catching him by surprise, "What’s going on?!" Wally cried out.
As Norman continued pulling, he grit his teeth, "Wally, it’s up to you now. You must awaken Rayquaza. I need to stay here, so go!"
Wally gulped, but he slapped himself on the cheeks, then pulled up his mask again and looked up into the light, "Okay, I’ll try my best!"
–
Meanwhile, off the side of the building, Ash flew on top of Latias as she held Pikachu and Vee for him. As he started flying down with her, Ash poured Aura into his eyes and looked into the tower, searching for any sign of a human.
As he did, he only found one human Aura signature in the tower, so Ash tapped Latias’s head and pointed at the floor. Latias nodded and flew him closer.
When he got to the window, he jumped in along with Pikachu and Vee. Then he turned to Latias, "Get ready just in case," he said, as he pulled out a Poké Ball and handed it to her.
Latias nodded and flew away, making Ash take a breath before turning and heading toward where he sensed the Aura.
As he went up and looked ahead, he saw that it wasn’t Jaern it was actually a girl, Zinnia.
She was standing in a room with some murals, looking at them like she was reminding herself of what she was fighting for. She tilted her head the moment she sensed him, "...Oh?" she said brightly, "So you’re the one sneaking around. Took you long enough." She said it confidently, but unfortunately it seemed like she confused him for Wally or Norman, since he had just arrived.
Ash didn’t answer immediately. His eyes narrowed slightly, "So you’re Zinnia."
That made her blink, then she smiled, "Oho...so you do know me. That’s rare." She leaned forward slightly, studying him like a puzzle, "Hmm...you’re kind of cute, actually."
Ash, Pikachu, and Vee blinked in unison, as Ash slowly spoke, "Thank you?"
Zinnia immediately straightened up, coughing once into her fist like she hadn’t said anything, "Ahem! Ignore that. Focus. Important mission. World-ending meteor stuff."
She stepped sideways, gesturing grandly at the murals, "Look at this place. The Draconids didn’t preserve this history for fun. They preserved it because the sky always comes back to take things away."
Ash’s eyes flicked to the carvings that very clearly had a green dragon on them, "So, Rayquaza."
"Correct!" Zinnia said, almost too excited, "And you’re standing right on top of the only thing that can stop it from going wrong."
Ash’s tone stayed calm, "So you’re here to wake it up."
"I’m here to save the world," she corrected, then paused, her smile softening for just a second, "And...yeah. Wake it up."
Zinnia said, keeping her usual smile, then she looked up at the sky and her eyes softened, "I want to see her...I want to be with her again..." she murmured quietly, almost to herself.
Then she shook her head quickly, snapping back into her usual energy, "Anyway! You should leave. Seriously."
Ash didn’t move.
"That wasn’t a request," Zinnia added, her tone sharpening, "It’s advice. You’re in the way."
A red flash erupted beside her, "Noivern!"
The Dragon Pokémon unfurled in an instant, flying next to her and waiting for Zinnia’s command.
Zinnia pointed toward the stairs without even looking at Ash anymore, "I’m going to summon Rayquaza. You’re going to get in the way of that. And I don’t have time for ’heroic misunderstandings,’ okay?"
Her eyes flicked up toward the broken sky above, "...I’ve already lost too much time."
Then, softer again, almost under her breath, "...Just a little longer..."
Ash frowned, "That’s not gonna happen. Listen, I need to ask you-" but she didn’t give Ash time to finish what he was saying.
Zinnia flicked her arm forward and Noivern flew directly toward Ash, but with a flick of Ash’s wrist, Aggron jumped out and caught Noivern by the head, stopping it from flying forward.
"Noivern, get back!" Zinnia snapped.
Noivern struggled, wings flaring, but Aggron held firm metal scraping against Dragon scales as both Pokémon pushed against each other with raw force.
Ash exhaled once, eyes narrowing, "You’re not really trying to listen, are you?"
Zinnia didn’t even look at him. Her attention was already half on the murals again, half on the battle, "Listen? I am listening. I just don’t have time to step aside for someone who’s going to get in the way of destiny."
She commanded Noivern to attack again, but again Aggron caught it and blocked it before it could reach Ash.
And as the clash continued, Ash narrowed his eyes and looked at Zinnia. She may be crazy and need severe mental help after everything she went through and yes, after all of this, Ash was probably going to personally drop her off at a psychiatric hospital so she could get the help she needed but even like this, she wasn’t technically evil.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, she did bad things, and that is inexcusable no matter what her end goal was. She still did it. But that’s not what he’s saying. What he means is that Zinnia’s actions are genuinely for a good cause she just did it the wrong way.
Unlike what he knew from Jaern, from what he had been told and what he had read, he could piece together that all Jaern wanted was to take over the world with Rayquaza’s power. So in a situation like this, he had to choose his enemies, and unfortunately that meant that, in the bigger picture, Zinnia was the better option here.
As Ash was about to say something, suddenly both of them felt it a pulse and a flash of green coming from the top of the tower. Zinnia immediately stopped and looked up, realizing Ash wasn’t the one climbing the tower.
And as she did that, Ash sensed something with his Aura. His eyes darted outside. He saw another human Aura, and he immediately groaned in frustration, already sending a message to Latias to activate the plan.
Meanwhile Zinnia was trying to process this. She quickly returned Noivern, "Sorry, looks like you weren’t who I was looking for. Um, but still, you can’t be here. Bye!" Zinnia said as she was about to start running.
But Ash called out, "Wait, someone else is coming," he explained.
Zinnia rolled her eyes, "Oh fun, sure, but it doesn’t matter. Whoever shows up I’ll just-"
"It’s Jaern," Ash said.
Zinnia’s smile froze as soon as Ash said that. She slowly turned to him, and her expression fell into one of pure anger and hatred. She jumped down, taking three full flights of stairs in a single motion, landing in front of Ash.
She stood up and looked Ash directly in the eyes, "Where..." she said, looking angry.
—
Back up top, when Wally broke through the light, he was allowed to come back down to where Norman was still holding the chains. However, as soon as they did, green light began glowing around them and ozone began surrounding them.
Thankfully, Wally had his mask so he was fine, but Norman wasn’t as lucky. Still, he wasn’t letting go of the chain.
"Wally, do it now!" Norman called out, "All you need to do is create a hole in the ozone!"
But here’s the thing, Wally didn’t even know what he was supposed to do. However, as he thought about it, his Poké Ball opened and Gallade appeared, standing next to him.
Wally looked at him, "Gallade, no, you should stay in your Poké Ball," Wally said, looking worried. After all, ozone is very toxic, and he is right in the center, meaning Gallade was breathing it in.
But Gallade didn’t stop. He just put a hand on Wally’s shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up, making Wally’s eyes tear up as he looked down.
He began speaking, "I never used to be able to play outside. I didn’t even have my own Pokémon or my own dream, but now I can finally be useful! I can help stop the battle that’s tearing Hoenn apart!"
He pulled on his necklace. It wasn’t finished, it was supposed to be shaped like Gallade’s face, but the details weren’t done. But it didn’t need to be perfect, just like him.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Key Stone and the Mega Stone Ash gave him. He passed the Mega Stone to Gallade and placed the Key Stone into his necklace, then he looked at Gallade and nodded.
"Gallade, Mega Evolve!" he said, pressing the stone, and the ozone was pierced by a bright light. As it cleared, now standing in the center was Mega Gallade.
"Gallade, [Psycho Cut!]" Wally commanded.
Gallade listened, and with one swipe of his blade, he struck upward. Immediately, the force of the slash split the ozone, creating an opening toward the sky, and that was finally enough.
The ozone began to swirl, and flying down from the sky was none other than Rayquaza. Now the green Legendary was in front of Wally and Norman.
"Wally!" Norman said as he could finally let go of the chains, "You did it, you earned Rayquaza’s recognition!"
"I really did it..." Wally muttered, looking up at the dragon. As he slowly grabbed his mask and lowered it, he took a deep breath, and for the first time in his life, he didn’t feel like it was hard to breathe anymore.
"Now we can-" Norman was going to say something when suddenly Rayquaza’s eyes opened and it began flailing and roaring.
Norman and Wally were shocked, but then they heard slow clapping. When they looked over, they saw a smug-looking Jaern stepping off a Salamence as he walked into the top of the tower, while in his hand he held a Green Orb.
"Yes, quite a good job. You outdid yourself. Now I finally have the power of Rayquaza," Jaern said with a cold smirk.
"You..." Norman growled. He was about ready to go and beat the teeth out of him when Jaern shook his finger.
"Now, now, Norman. I have Rayquaza now, and besides, it would be a shame if anything happened to your lovely family, so be a good boy and sit," Jaern said mockingly.
Now what Jaern didn’t know was that his monologue was the biggest mistake of his miserable life. Because if Ash knew Jaern was coming, why would he not set something up just in case? And that’s where Latias came in.
High above the clouds, Latias was holding a Pokémon in her hands, Ash’s Kingdra, with a wide lens on it. She just got the command from Ash through Aura, so Latias nodded at Kingdra.
Kingdra closed one eye and aimed carefully, then took a deep breath and finally fired a [Snipe Shot]. But he wasn’t aiming at Jaern, he was aiming at the Orb.
Just as Jaern was about to continue his monologue, a beam of water struck the Green Orb, and it shattered in his hand.
Immediately after, Ash and Zinnia teleported up with Gardevoir again, and as soon as they did, Zinnia actually growled, looking at Jaern, "You!"
But Ash stopped her from jumping at him and pulled her back slightly. He just smirked, "Oh, what’s this? So you’re Jaern? Gotta say, you look more pathetic than I thought you’d be. What’s wrong, did I break your orb~?"
Jaern’s expression turned cold, "It was you. Do you know what you did? I’ll make you pay for that."
Ash put on a curious expression, "Really? Oh, but I think you have bigger things to worry about." He pointed behind him.
Jaern froze and slowly turned around, and there, now that he wasn’t flailing, was Rayquaza looking directly at him. And based on the look in Rayquaza’s eyes, it remembered him from that mission five years ago.
And now, for all his power and influence, Jaern was in a situation where it was all useless and this time, he couldn’t worm his way out.
