Pokemon: Radical Redux-Chapter 534: The worst case senario

Ash was eating a bag of chips and going for a walk. The gang had arrived in Verdanturf, and they all went off to do their own things. May and Max ran off to look for good anniversary gifts for their parents, while Brock wanted to restock on supplies.

Ash said he was going to get a hotel for them and probably run some numbers. When they asked what he meant, he just said ’Taxes’ which was a lie. Besides, he had Aki deal with those things for the ’Team Rocket’ accounts, and Damian handled his "official" ones.

Speaking of Damian, he did make a call to him to make sure he had done what he needed to do. Damian had managed to get the last 20% of the shares transferred to Ash. The reason why was that Damian didn’t want his dad, who was still in charge of the company, to know about the plan. If he did, he would definitely try to influence things more. Besides, Damian didn’t really need more money since he was about to inherit the company anyway.

Speaking of which, the Tauros plan was going smoothly. Damian managed to get a trade route set up over in Paldea, and that gave Ash enough of an excuse to send a few of the battle breed Tauros to him. When they started offering these through Tauros services, the money would start pouring in.

Now all Damian needed was for the Mauville Holdings revival plan to start, but that was a story for later.

And obviously, as for the Mauville Holdings revival plan, Ash had already sent the money and Wattson was working on it. Things were going well, and if everything kept going like this, it should be ready within the timeline Ash needed. Though he still hadn’t told anyone why he needed it done as fast as he did.

But that was all a story for another time.

For now, back to Ash.

He wasn’t actually in Verdanturf right now. Ash had lied. He had already booked the hotel room hours ago. In fact, he had booked it online before they even reached Verdanturf. The whole "I’ll go get the hotel" thing was just an excuse so he could leave without anyone asking questions.

The fools will never learn.

He had actually had Kirlia teleport him away so he could head down to the Valley of Steel. Why?

Well, he might as well go get his Torkoal. Having a sun setter would be really nice, and Ash had been meaning to build some more teams now that he had a good number of Pokémon. A sun team might be nice to have.

Though thinking about that really made him realize something, original Ash didn’t really use Torkoal for much. Didn’t Torkoal only win one battle in the anime?

Yeah, the problem was that Torkoal was a tanky, slow Pokémon, but Ash’s battle style was all about attack and speed.

He had that same problem with a lot of his Pokémon, like Torterra. He built a tank and then tried to make it fast, and after that Torterra never won a single battle after it evolved.

It really makes you think. Maybe it was a good thing he never evolved Bulbasaur and Squirtle. Otherwise, they might have become useless fodder.

But anyway, he was snapped out of his thoughts when a blur flew past him. Ash had just been walking with his hands in his pockets when the red blur shot by. He casually looked back and saw that it was none other than Torkoal slamming against a rock.

The ones that did it were a gang of Steelix and a few Skarmory. Ash looked at them casually and didn’t seem worried at all. Especially since Vee and Pikachu were just sitting on his shoulders like it was any other day.

As Torkoal forced himself to his feet, he started walking slowly back, ready for round two even after he had gotten his nonexistent pockets run.

Torkoal: [I didn’t hear no bell!]

Ash had to admit he respected the hustle, so he might as well help out. He walked over and looked down at Torkoal.

"Hey there, want some help?"

Torkoal blinked slowly and looked up at Ash.

"Tor? [Who, me?]"

"Yeah. You seem strong, though they don’t fight fair," Ash said as he tapped the sand with his shoe while looking at the gang of Steel-types, "So how about it? Let’s deal with this together."

Torkoal was so moved that his eyes filled with tears instantly, and thick smoke started pouring out of his nose as he cried tears of joy. Torkoal had a bit of an emotional personality.

It was honestly kind of cute.

Well, now that it seemed Torkoal was happy for the help, Ash could deal with the Pokémon in this desert. Besides, it might be good for some training, at least while he waited for his plan to get ready.

After all, you might be asking: where is Abby? Why did he use Kirlia when Abby is better at teleporting? All in due time.

—

{Back with Ashtwo}

D didn’t even try to be subtle. They all knew why they were here.

So D stepped toward a section of the submarine where he could push things from the inside out and let out Sharpedo. Remember that Carvanha Ash caught? Yeah, this was that one, he had evolved it.

And inside Sharpedo’s mouth was one of Muk’s clones.

Sharpedo swam up to the entrance, then opened his mouth. From there, Muk shot out, grabbing the big metal doors and forcing them open, allowing the submarine the group was in to enter.

As for the Muk clone, it was fine. It was just a clone after all, so it simply got washed away into the water, no harm done to the original.

They all got out of the submarine soon after, and D pulled Sharpedo back into his Poké Ball. Then they started running through the Team Aqua base.

But even though the red alarm lights were flashing everywhere, no actual alarm had been sent out. D had already taken care of that. He sent Porygon-Z ahead to hack everything, so there was no risk of Archie getting word about them being inside.

Of course, the grunts inside the base didn’t know that.

So they were running around thinking they could stall, or even beat, the intruders.

Which, by the way, the group had changed out of their Team Rocket uniforms and put on fake Team Magma uniforms.

D of course saw the incoming threats. There were two main groups: one where about five were coming, and another where there were at least fifty.

So he did the only logical thing.

He said he and Orm would take on the fifty, and the others could take on the rest. Then they walked off before anyone in the group could protest.

The others sighed and decided to just suck it up. If they hurried, they could run over and help.

{Five minutes later}

Domino slid behind a metal crate as a pair of Team Aqua grunts ran around the corner.

"Too slow," she muttered as she pulled out one of her black roses.

She spun it and turned it into its staff form, then swiped toward their legs, sending the grunts flying and slamming into the metal floor.

The two grunts hit the ground hard, their helmets clanging against the metal as Domino twirled the staff once and snapped it back into rose form.

"Clear," she said calmly, stepping over them.

"Wow," Annie muttered from the hallway corner, peeking around it, "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"You already are," Domino replied flatly. Then she called out, "How is your side?"

Enid was already walking back with Helena.

"Taken care of," Enid said casually, while Helena gave a quick nod.

Domino, Enid, Helena, Annie, Oakley, and Jay were already moving again.

"Come on," Jay said, gesturing down the corridor, "If D and Orm really took the big group, they’ll need backup."

Domino snorted softly, "Backup for who? Them or Team Aqua?"

Still, none of them slowed down.

But as they ran through the halls, they started seeing unconscious Aqua grunts sprawled against walls and slumped over consoles.

"Wow," Annie whispered while stepping over one, "they’re dropping like flies."

They rounded another corner.

Then they stopped.

The corridor ahead looked like a hurricane had passed through it.

Metal walls were dented inward. One support beam had been bent nearly ninety degrees. Several Aqua grunts were embedded in a pile against the far wall like someone had stacked them there.

In the middle of the hallway, D stood with his coat slightly swaying, one hand casually in his pocket, while Muk lazily oozed back into his sleeve. On his shoulder, a Crobat fluttered down and landed comfortably.

They didn’t even know he had a Crobat.

And for those of you back home, yes, it’s Ash’s Crobat. Since Ash could never really get a good strategy to use Crobat back in Johto with everything that happened, he just sent it over to D.

Next to him stood Orm.

The giant man slowly stretched his shoulders like someone who had just finished a warm-up exercise rather than a fight.

Around them, the rest of the Aqua squad was down. Every single one.

Jay blinked, "...We were gone for five minutes."

Orm rubbed the back of his head, looking genuinely disappointed as he walked over beside D, "Sigh..." he groaned slowly, "This is so-o-o boring..."

He glanced down at the pile of unconscious grunts scattered across the hall, "Team Aqua is...so weak." He nudged one with his boot like he expected it to get back up.

It didn’t.

Enid stared, "...You fought all of them?"

Orm tilted his head, "Well...yeah?"

Helena glanced at the wrecked corridor, then at D, "...How many did you take?"

D didn’t look back. He was already checking his communicator, "Thirty-two."

Jay blinked again, "...And Orm?"

Orm counted on his fingers for a moment, "...Eighteen."

Enid crossed her arms and looked at D, "You couldn’t have left a few standing?"

D finally glanced at the hallway behind them, "No."

Orm looked genuinely apologetic, "Oh...were we supposed to wait for you?"

Annie immediately raised a finger, "Yes."

Oakley grabbed her hand and shoved it down, "No."

Jay rubbed the back of his neck and laughed weakly, "Well...at least the path is clear?"

D finished working on whatever he was doing on his communicator, "Maybe, but we still don’t have much time. I disabled their communications for now, but I’d say we have about thirty minutes before anyone with a working brain realizes this base isn’t sending anything."

"Oh cool, so basically we have as much time as we need," Jay said, clapping his hands.

One of his Meowths jumped up and slapped him across the face.

Domino pointed her thumb at the Meowth, Ruddy, "I’m with him. Why do you talk?"

"Sorry, didn’t mean to jinx us," Jay said, rubbing his cheek as Ruddy huffed and crossed his arms.

D didn’t say anything. He just slid his communicator back into his coat.

"Thirty minutes," he repeated calmly, "That’s the window."

Jay raised a hand, "Right, so...step one?"

"Chaos," D said casually.

That got everyone’s attention. He gestured down the branching hallways of the base.

"Break equipment, sabotage storage rooms, release Pokémon, damage their vehicles, steal stuff if you want, anything that slows them down." Then he pointed to his jacket that had a Team Magma logo on it, "But leave evidence."

Domino smirked slightly, "Let me guess...Magma-themed evidence."

D nodded once, "Make it obvious. Burn marks. Magma insignias. Anything that makes Aqua think this was retaliation."

Orm tilted his head slowly, "So...we break things...but make it look like someone else broke things?"

D gave a small nod, "Exactly."

Orm brightened immediately, "Oh!" he said with a wide grin, "That sounds fun."

Annie leaned toward Oakley and whispered loudly, "See? I told you the big guy was growing on me."

Oakley sighed.

Domino twirled the black rose between her fingers, "Fine. Smash and frame. I can work with that."

Enid cracked her knuckles, "Let’s get moving then."

Helena quietly adjusted Stephen’s Poké Ball at her belt and nodded.

Jay raised both hands dramatically, "Operation: Break Everything!"

Ruddy immediately slapped him again.

"OW—HEY!"

Domino pointed again, "Still with him. Why do you talk?"

Orm looked between them all, "...Should we go break things now?"

"Yes," Oakley said firmly, grabbing Annie by the collar before she could wander off.

"You guys go. Orm, come with me, we’re going deeper into the base," D said, "If I can get to their main computer, I can start stealing their funds...but there will be more security down there."

"Do you think there will be strong trainers?" Orm asked, tapping his chin.

D just nodded.

Orm pumped his fist, "Okay!"

"So you’re going off alone...again..." Enid said blankly.

"Maybe try learning how to hack, and we can talk about more responsibilities," D said casually. He meant that too, having Enid go with him and Orm would cause too many problems.

"Besides," D quickly added, "I need you all here doing the main job. I wouldn’t have asked you all to come if I didn’t think you could handle it."

That made them all shut up. They opened their mouths, closed them again a few times, but no words came out.

Domino looked away, "Okay, fine. But don’t almost die on us again, idiot."

Enid scoffed and looked away, "We’ll deal with things here. But you better not lose to anyone until I get to beat you."

"Yeah, bro, we still need to go hang out again," Jay nodded, giving a big thumbs-up that he seemed to use to cover part of his face.

Helena bit her lower lip, then looked up at D.

"Please just stay safe. We can’t lose you again."

Orm was in the background standing next to Annie and Oakley. He pulled a tissue out of nowhere and wiped his eyes.

"It’s so beautiful..."

Annie joined him, also wiping her eyes with another tissue.

"I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s so nice!"

Oakley rolled her eyes at the two crybabies, "Sure, this is a nice moment, but can we do this later? We’re still inside an enemy base."

"Right. Let’s move," D said, looking over everyone again, "Let’s get this over with."

And with that, they split into groups and went in separate directions.

D and Orm stayed together, nodding to each other before running deeper into the base.

There were a few random grunts along the way, but nothing Crobat, or even Orm, couldn’t handle.

Yeah, by the way, Orm hadn’t used any Pokémon yet. He said his cute Shuckle needed more sleep, so he’d been dealing with everything with his own two hands.

Literally.

But that wasn’t too surprising. In the manga, Orm was strong enough to stop a Kangaskhan’s punch with just his hand.

Honestly, Ash would pay to watch a fistfight between Matt and Orm. He genuinely didn’t know who would win.

Shame Ash left Matt in a coma for a while.

But anyway, they kept running and eventually reached a room with a large monitor system. There were some grunts inside, but nothing a Muk tendril couldn’t deal with.

Soon enough, D had access to the monitors and started hacking into them while Orm stood guard, smashing a few monitors that D told him he could break.

As he did, Orm got curious and walked over behind D to see what he was actually doing.

He stared at the screen.

"Whoa...it’s like a map."

Orm didn’t understand a thing he was looking at.

"Yes," D said flatly.

Orm scratched his head.

"...How do computers know where everything is?"

D didn’t answer.

Instead, he opened another set of files and began copying them to a portable drive. At the same time, he set up a transfer to a Team Magma base while also copying as much information about Team Aqua’s plans as he could get his hands on.

Why was he doing so much, you might ask? Was it really to try and make Team Magma and Team Aqua destroy each other?

The easy answer was no.

In fact, D already knew that neither team’s goal involved destroying the other. The only reason they fought was the times they ran into each other. And D suspected that in the near future, Team Magma and Team Aqua were going to make a truce like they did in the manga.

Again, D didn’t know if Archie and Maxie already had the Red and Blue Orbs yet. If they did, then he had nothing to fear. But if they didn’t have them right now and were going to get them soon, that’s where the problems started.

Because if that was the case, there was a chance they would decide to stop fighting now that they had their end goal.

So everything D had been doing was a sort of contingency plan, basically to make sure that if Team Aqua and Team Magma ever did make a truce, they would never truly stop hating each other or stop planning to betray the other.

The best outcome was something he couldn’t guarantee, so he would focus on something he could control.

And that included sending Team Magma some fake emails from a Team Aqua system about the fake Pulse Sharpedo, making them think it was real.

Once he did all of that, he was more or less finished. He just grabbed one last thing: master access to the base, which Porygon got for him easily.

Now he would need Orm to leave him so he could go do the thing he really wanted from the base.

But before he could come up with an excuse, D and Orm heard the sound of someone walking.

It was casual, too casual.

And it sounded like someone walking barefoot.

D didn’t know of any canon characters other than someone like Phoebe who walked around without shoes.

But that question was answered when a woman walked in through the door.

She had long white hair and was wearing a tight wetsuit that showed off her figure, one that seemed to be modeled after Kyogre. D saw her and recognized her immediately. Audrey.

Audrey was supposed to only exist in Pokémon Insurgence as the leader of the Abyssal Cult. But she was here. Was she part of Team Aqua? Was she also infiltrating this place? D had questions he didn’t have the answers to.

But Audrey gave a small, almost condescending smile as she looked at D and Orm.

"Well, what is it we have here?" she said lightly, "Two little pests causing trouble in my base? Oh, that’s no good. I suppose I’ll have to take out the trash."

Orm immediately stepped in front of D protectively, "Who are you...?"

Audrey’s smile widened slightly as Orm moved to block her view.

She tilted her head, long white hair sliding across her shoulder.

"Oh?" she said softly, her voice dripping with amusement, "How chivalrous."

Her eyes flicked past him toward D for a split second, measuring him, before returning to the giant.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be?" she continued lazily, "The bodyguard?"

"Well," he said thoughtfully, "I’m Orm."

Audrey stopped for a moment and stared at him.

"...You just introduced yourself?"

Orm nodded, "That’s polite."

Audrey blinked once.

Then she laughed, actually laughed.

"Oh, this is adorable," she said, covering her mouth slightly, "I’ll enjoy tearing you apart,"

Her hand moved toward a Poké Ball at her hip, "Cloyster."

The Poké Ball burst open and the massive shell Pokémon slammed onto the metal floor with a heavy clang.

Its spikes scraped the ground as it rotated toward them, its sinister face grinning from within the shell.

Orm leaned sideways slightly to look at it, "...That’s spiky."

Behind him, D spoke quietly, "Orm."

Orm glanced back over his shoulder.

D had already stepped toward the hallway.

"I need about ten minutes," D said calmly.

Orm nodded immediately, "Okay."

Audrey raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Running away already?" she teased.

D didn’t even look at her. He simply walked past Orm toward the corridor.

Audrey’s smile sharpened.

"Cloyster," she said smoothly, "stop him."

Cloyster fired a barrage of spinning icicles down the hallway.

But then Orm moved, and Shuckle finally woke up from his nap.

Orm tossed Shuckle forward. Shuckle spun rapidly, using [Rapid Spin], crashing through and breaking every shard of ice against its hard shell before landing back at Orm’s feet.

Orm looked down at the broken ice, "...Rude."

D was already gone down the hallway.

Audrey’s expression flattened, "...You let him go."

Orm nodded, "Yeah."

She crossed her arms slowly, "And you think you can stop me from following him?"

Orm scratched his cheek thoughtfully, "...I mean." He shrugged, "Yeah. I’ve been looking for a strong trainer to fight."

He cracked his knuckles, "And I won’t let you hurt my family."

–

Meanwhile with D

D ran down the hall. He already had a map of the place, so he moved quickly, and if he ran into a grunt, he just knocked them out.

He needed to move fast.

He reached the holding cells and immediately opened the door using the master access Porygon had gotten for him, then ran inside.

The cells were empty.

Apparently when Team Aqua had prisoners, they didn’t really keep them down here. Now what they did with them, D had no idea, but he would bet they probably got sent to another facility where Aqua could better get whatever information they wanted from them.

But there was one cell that was occupied. Inside it was only one man. Professor Cozmo.

Just like he thought. As soon as Team Aqua tricked him and lost the meteorite, they had no more use for him, but they couldn’t let him go either, in case he exposed them. So they locked him up.

Professor Cozmo blinked in confusion as the cell door slid open and D stepped inside quietly.

Cozmo jumped.

"W-Who are—"

"Quiet," D said flatly.

Cozmo froze.

D looked around the empty holding area quickly before stepping closer.

"You’re Professor Cozmo," he said.

"Yes!"

"Good."

Cozmo blinked.

"...Good?"

D pulled out a Poké Ball.

Hypno appeared beside him.

Cozmo backed up a step.

"Wait, what are you—"

"You’re being rescued," D said calmly.

"...Oh." Cozmo stopped panicking, "That’s good then."

D pointed to Hypno, "Hypno will teleport you to a safe location."

Cozmo blinked again, "...That’s very convenient."

"You will remain hidden," D continued, "I will contact you later."

"But—"

D’s eyes flicked toward the hallway, "Time is limited."

Cozmo adjusted his glasses nervously.

"Are you...with the League?"

"No."

"...Team Magma?"

"No."

"...Team Aqua?"

"No."

"...Then who—"

D stared at him, "Not time for questions."

Cozmo opened his mouth, then closed it. Then he nodded, "...Fair enough."

D snapped his fingers and Hypno glowed as both he and Cozmo were covered in purple light. Then they popped out of existence as Hypno sent him away.

D turned back and started running again. The thing with Cozmo was something he needed, but for now he had to deal with the situation they were in, and that started with getting back to Orm.

And as for why Ash isn’t going to deal with Cozmo, well, it’s because he’s dealing with the other problem.

Remember, just because there were two problems happening at once never meant he was limited to only dealing with one.

After all, what do you think Abby has been doing all this time?

—

{Back at Mt. Pyre}

They’d been fighting for almost twenty minutes now.

Sweat ran down Tate’s face as he panted, clutching one of his Poké Balls. Solrock spun through the air, glowing brightly as Tate shouted, "Solrock, [Solar Beam]!"

A brilliant beam of sunlight erupted forward, slamming into Blaise’s Pokémon and forcing it back across the stone floor.

At the same time, Liza pointed forward, "Lunatone, [Psychic]!"

Lunatone’s eyes glowed blue as the opposing Pokémon were lifted into the air and smashed against the cavern wall.

The impact shook the entire chamber.

Zenith clicked his tongue as he watched his Pokémon crash down, "Well...this is embarrassing," he sighed.

Across from them, Tate and Liza stood back-to-back, breathing hard but holding their ground.

Even with the pressure, the twins looked determined, even as they were out of breath from the heat that was seemingly getting worse.

"We told you," Liza said firmly, "You won’t get past us!"

Tate stepped forward slightly, fists clenched, "We’re Gym Leaders for a reason!"

Blaise rubbed the back of his neck lazily, "Yeah, yeah...teamwork speech. Very inspiring."

Then he looked down at them, "But you’re slowing down, aren’t you?"

Liza bit her lower lip, then raised her arm again, "Lunatone, keep the pressure up!" Her voice was strained.

Lunatone’s eye flashed bright blue, "Lunaaa!"

A powerful wave of psychic energy slammed forward, lifting chunks of stone and broken candles off the ground and hurling them toward Zenith’s Pokémon.

"Camerupt, stop that," Zenith said with a bored wave.

Camerupt stomped forward.

And a massive [Eruption] burst outward from its humps, lava and fire blasting through the psychic wave and shattering it apart in midair.

The explosion rocked the chamber.

Liza staggered back a step from the shockwave, "Tch—!"

She wasn’t worried. She had a plan to get out of the way of this.

But before she could act, Tate was already moving, "Solrock, now! Use [Rock Slide]!"

Solrock shot forward, spinning rapidly. Chunks of stone ripped free from the cavern walls and rained down toward Camerupt.

Zenith finally pushed himself off the pillar, "Oh? Now that’s annoying."

The massive Fire/Ground Pokémon stomped once.

The falling rocks smashed against its thick body, but Camerupt barely budged. In fact, it seemingly did no damage at all. Smoke rose from its back.

Zenith smirked, "Your turn."

Camerupt’s humps began glowing bright orange.

Liza’s eyes widened, "Tate, quick! Tell Solrock to move!"

But Tate hesitated for just a split second. Because Magcargo suddenly fired another blast of flames straight toward Liza.

Tate’s eyes widened, "Liza, watch out!" Then, without thinking, "Solrock! Protect Liza!"

Solrock instantly darted in front of her. A Protect barrier flared into existence.

BOOOOM.

Flames exploded against the shield.

Liza stumbled backward from the heat blast, "Tate!" she said, because if he was doing this, that meant he was unprotected.

And just like she thought, the moment Solrock used Protect, Camerupt fired.

A massive blast of molten fire surged across the battlefield.

Solrock had no time to move.

The eruption slammed into Solrock head-on and sent it crashing across the chamber floor. The heat nearly burned Tate as well, since Solrock hadn’t protected him, he was sent flying back against a wall and slammed into it.

"NO!" Liza cried.

Solrock skidded to a stop, its body smoking as it struggled to float back up.

Blaise scratched his cheek lazily, "See? That’s what I was talking about."

Tate clenched his fists, his breathing ragged now. Sweat dripped off his chin as he stared at Solrock struggling to stay airborne.

And he wasn’t much better off himself. After that hit, Tate struggled to push himself up.

Liza looked at him worriedly, "Tate...you’re doing it again."

"I’m not," he snapped.

"You are!" she insisted.

That was the problem.

Tate was trying too hard to make sure Liza was safe. If they fought like they usually did, covering for each other’s weaknesses, they could definitely win.

But Tate was prioritizing protecting Liza over everything else. Even himself.

And with Solrock and Lunatone both so weak right now, they thought the only way they could get through this was if they changed strategies.

But that’s when the sound of footsteps started echoing.

They both looked up.

At the top of the stairs, they saw something that made them question everything.

A second Zenith was walking down cautiously, with the Red Orb and the Blue Orb in his hands and a smirk on his face.

"Yo, Blaise, that’s your impression of me?" Zenith said casually, pointing at the first "Zenith." "Not good, man. I’m way more handsome than that."

But he wasn’t talking to the Blaise on the battlefield.

Instead, he was talking toward a pillar behind the twins.

And sure enough, a second Blaise stepped out from behind it, rolling his eyes as he approached Zenith, "Shut your mouth."

Liza felt her knees buckle. This didn’t make sense, "How..."

Blaise looked back at her and rolled his eyes, "Simple. You kids haven’t been fighting us." He gestured lazily at the battlefield, "You’ve just been fighting my illusions."

He said it casually.

And now that they didn’t need to pretend anymore, Blaise snapped his fingers.

From around the stairs, Slugmas came out and slithered back to Blaise. That’s why it was so hot, Slugmas were making the area hotter, and Blaise had the ability to use fire to create illusions.

The reason the twins couldn’t sense that these were illusions was because they were not Psychic-based illusions. They were completely made of fire. The trick couldn’t be tracked by them. That’s why Blaise was their ultimate counter.

"We have what we came for. Let’s go," Blaise said, crossing his arms.

But Zenith smiled, "Now, now, Blaise, what’s the hurry?" He tossed the orbs casually at Blaise, and Blaise quickly caught them in both hands.

"What are you doing?" Blaise questioned.

"Well, we’ve got witnesses," Zenith said with an evil smirk, "We can’t let them get out with our faces now, can we? And if people find out we have the orbs, that could be a problem. So let’s deal with them."

It didn’t take a genius to understand what Zenith meant.

He wanted to just kill Tate and Liza right now.

Blaise’s eyes widened, and he was clearly far more hesitant, "This wasn’t part of the plan. And they are children."

"Meh. If they’re old enough to battle, they’re old enough to die. I think that’s how that old saying goes," Zenith said casually, not caring as he walked slowly toward Liza.

Tate, hearing this, tried to force his body to respond and get up to protect his sister. But his body was too exhausted.

Zenith stopped a few feet from Liza, tilting his head slightly as if examining an interesting insect, "Well...this is awkward," he said casually.

Liza forced herself to stand straight even though her legs were shaking. Lunatone floated weakly beside her, its glow dim.

Zenith slowly reached for one of his Poké Balls, "You know," he said lightly, "most people don’t know this fun little fact..."

The Poké Ball clicked open.

A swirl of ghostly fire spilled into the chamber as a Chandelure came out of it. The ghostly chandelier Pokémon hovered above him, its eerie purple flames flickering softly.

Zenith smiled.

"Did you know that the flames of a Chandelure don’t just burn the body?" His eyes gleamed with amusement, "They burn the spirit."

Liza’s breath caught.

Zenith continued walking forward slowly, "People say that when a Chandelure burns someone...their soul gets trapped in the flame."

The ghost Pokémon drifted forward, its blue fire growing brighter.

"And honestly?" Zenith shrugged, "I’ve always been curious if that’s true."

Behind her, Tate’s eyes widened in horror, "LIZA—!"

He tried to stand again but collapsed to one knee.

Zenith lazily pointed forward, "Chandelure...let’s test the theory."

The ghost’s flames began to burn brighter as Liza took a step back in fear. She felt her brain pulsing, like something was trying to make her do something she didn’t know how to do, and she was too scared to try anything.

She could only close her eyes in fear.

But before Chandelure could reach Liza, suddenly two figures blurred in, one brown and one yellow.

It was Pikachu and Vee.

They both slammed into Chandelure with a duo [Iron tail].

The hit sent the ghost Pokémon straight into the stone floor with a deafening crash, so hard the chamber shook.

Zenith blinked, "...Huh?"

For once, his confident expression fell. Before he could even turn, a figure appeared in front of him.

Fast.

Too fast.

Zenith’s eyes barely registered the movement.

A boy stood there.

His lower face was covered by a dark cloth tied across his nose and mouth like a makeshift mask. The only thing visible were his crimson red eyes. It was Ash.

In his hand was a swirling blue orb made of Aura.

Zenith’s pupils shrank, but before he could react, the boy used the ball of Aura like a Rasengan and slammed it directly into Zenith’s face.

The impact detonated like a cannon.

Zenith was blasted off his feet and launched across the chamber. He smashed into a stone pillar and crumpled to the ground in a cloud of dust.

He was still conscious, but he felt the warm sensation of blood dripping down his head. He reached his hand up and touched it.

When he looked at his hand, he saw blood. His own blood.

Zenith almost felt like laughing. He would have, if it didn’t hurt so much.

No one should have been able to see what had just happened. After all, this place was a secret. Not even the other Gym Leaders knew about it.

And yet here was someone else who had just appeared and taken Zenith down.

Blaise immediately clicked his tongue, "Dumbass."

He snapped his fingers, and all of his Fire Pokémon shot flames into the air, creating another illusion.

And even with Aura, Ash couldn’t see through a fire-based illusion, because it still hurt him being so close to the flames. All he saw was the fire rising upward. Then Blaise, Zenith, and all their Pokémon were gone.

Ash quickly made sure they were really gone. Now that the fire had died down, he checked with his Aura, and there was no one there. He didn’t know how they moved so fast. They might have had a Pokémon with [Teleport].

But it looked like the worst-case scenario had happened. Dang it. If only he had more information.

But he could think about that later. For now, he had two twins to deal with. He looked back at them, at the shocked Liza and the injured Tate.

Ash lowered his mask, pulling it off, and smiled at them, "Hey, you two," he said gently, "Let’s get you both out of here."