pokemon Fighting Dreamers

"My name is Akari."

"I-I...Dawn, if this one of your puns then it is not funny at all." Johanna gave her daughter a worried look. "You know I've never liked The Parent Trap to begin with."

"Mom, I can totally assure this one isn't on me." Dawn answered with a similar look.

"Please, excuse my...m-my..." Akari suddenly fell forward but Dawn ran at her and caught before she hit the floor.

"Hey, it's alright, I...I got you." Dawn then took the girl to a couch and helped her sit down, Akari was now sweating and panting and her Zorua jumped to her lap worried. "What happens? Do you feel sick?"

"I don't, I..." She tried to answer with difficulty. "I was fine a few moments ago." Akari held her head again. "T-This headache came out of nowhere..."

"You don't look fine." Johanna said. "I'll bring you a glass of water, okay?"

"E-Excuse my request, but perhaps you could bring me chocolate milk instead?"

"Uh...sure, give me a second." Johanna quickly went to the kitchen and brought back a glass of chocolate milk, Akari took it and quickly drank all of it.

"Thank you." Akari said as her headache stopped.

"Uh, that worked." Johanna said. "I'll bring you another one of those, okay?"

"I'd appreciate it." She nodded as Johanna left to the Kitchen again.

"At least you feel better now." Dawn said. "You say your name is Akari?"

"Correct, my name is Shō Akari." She answered with another nod, Johanna came back with the second glass of chocolate milk and she quickly drank it all again. "This milk is really good!" She exclaimed.

"Well, my name is Dawn, this is my mother Johanna and my partner Piplup."

"You say your family name is Shō?" Johanna asked.

"Yes ma'am." She answered. "Thanks for the hospitality, this is my Zorua by the way."

"Wow, I've never seen a Zorua like that." Dawn tried to approach the fox, but this hid behind Akari.

"Please excuse her, she's not that fond of other humans." Akari took Zorua in her arms again as Piplup approached her.

"That Zorua...Where do you come from again?" Johanna kept asking. "Hisui, was it?"

"You are...telling me this isn't Hisui?" Akari gave a worried expression.

"I'm afraid so..." Dawn said. "I've never heard of Hisui actually."

"But how could that be?" Akari asked.

"Hmm...Dawn, I'll be back in a moment." Johanna started walking upstairs. "Take care of...our visitor."

Zorua then went to play with Piplup and the two girls simply looked at each other in silence for roughly half an awkward minute.

"..."

"..."

"So...which one of us is going to say it?" Dawn finally talked.

"Say what?" Akari asked.

"Have you looked yourself in a mirror?"

"Oh, you mean that...It is quite unusual indeed, we're just so similar..."

"This is just weird, I mean I've met with a doppelganger of me before, but-"

"I'm afraid she's more than a doppelganger, Dawn." Johanna called her walking downstairs while reading a book, she then stood in front of their guest. "Shō Akari, first daughter of Shō Rentarō and Shō Shizuka, am I right?"

"You are." Akari assured her.

"How do you know that, Mom?"

"You remember that time I told you about our family history book? Well, this is it, this girl looked familiar so I decided to check the first pages and..." Johanna showed them the book, which had a picture of Akari and her Zorua on it.

"THE WHAT?!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Oh my..." Akari trailed off.

"This says you were part of an expedition, right?" Johanna read the book again.

"Correct, I am a member of the Galaxy Expedition Team, we study the Hisui Region."

"According to this, Hisui was the name of the Sinnoh region when it was first discovered and settled, Akari was the first woman of our family to live in Sinnoh, she arrived here around 500 years ago."

"Goodness, that-"

"H-HOLD UP, MOM!" Dawn shouted. "This can't be like that, l-look at that photo, it's way too clean and has exact color, like it was taken with a phone, it has to be fake!"

"Oh, but I have that exact picture." Akari said pulling out her Arc Phone and showing them said picture. "I took it a few days ago actually."

"THEY HAD PHONES 500 YEARS AGO?!"

"Why, yes..." Akari answered unfazed. "You scream a lot, Dawn."

"Very well, Dawn, this is obviously beyond my reach." Johanna said. "I think we should call the authorities."

"Authorities?! Mom! There's a whole franchise of movies that tell you why that is a bad idea! They would kidnap her and dissect her to study her and all that!"

"I don't know what that dissect means but it doesn't sound exactly lovely." Akari said. "Please don't call the authorities, Miss Johanna."

"If she's our ancestor then that means anything that happens to her could affect you and me!" Dawn continued. "The fact that she's here in the present is already dangerous! We could even stop existing!"

"...As I told you, Dawn, this is far beyond my reach, how about we call Ash?" Her mother suggested. "Doesn't he deals with this kind of things everyday?"

"I...no, Ash just left Sinnoh some days ago, he must be too busy with the Gym challenge in Galar, I can't ask him to just come back like that." Dawn answered as she thought. 'And considering what May just offered...I really don't want to talk with Ash at the moment...would I really be willing to 'share' him with another girl?...' Dawn then remembered the time they met with Maylene and she thought she was already sharing Ash with Bea and Flannery. 'Ash...Ash is not a womanizer by any means, but...he does have a lot of prospects...May does have a point, but would Ash really consider that to make us both happy? ...I don't want to lose him but-"

"Uh, earth to Dawn." Johanna called her daughter who has been wandering in her mind for a while.

"S-Sorry! I..." Dawn shook her head and looked at Akari again, she had to focus in the current problem. "Do you have any idea of how you ended up here? You mentioned a weird blue light."

"That's all I have unfortunately, I was doing some field research, then there was the light and next thing I know is that I'm next to your house."

"Sounds like some sort of time portal." Dawn said.

"But what should I do now?" Akari asked.

"...Look Akari, you'll stay with us until we can find a way to return you to your time, fine?" Dawn took her by the shoulders.

"And how are you gonna do that exactly?" Johanna asked.

"I..." Dawn wasn't sure about that, at all. "M-Maybe I could ask Chloe for help, but-"

"Dawn, I do not wish to be a burden for you and your mother."

"No need to worry." Dawn took both of Akari's hands. "One way or another, you're family, letting you stay is the least we can do, but if any of the neighbors asks, you are my foreign cousin who came for a visit, alright? We don't want people to freak out."

"Understood." Akari nodded.

"Fine Dawn, have it your way." Johanna called her again. "But she's staying with you in your room, I really don't think we should leave her alone."

"Of course, now come with me, let's get you some clothes from this century." Dawn took one of Akari's hands and guided her upstairs, she took the girl to her room and she sat in Dawn's bed while she looked in her closet for some clothes.

"May I ask who was that Ash that your mother mentioned?" Akari asked. "You seemed to think a lot when he was brought up."

"Ash is... he's my best friend." Dawn answered with a slight touch of doubt in her voice, a touch that Akari noticed, but decided to ignore. "He's also one of the strongest trainers in the world and he has traveled a lot, he has been in this kind of situations some times, but he's kinda far away now and I don't want to bother him."

"So that's why your mother suggested him, he's quite experienced it seems."

"Ash is quite a fine young man too." Johanna added from the door.

"What?" Dawn asked.

"Is that so?" Akari asked interested.

"Of course." The woman smiled at her. "Too bad Dawn doesn't seem to be trying that hard to get him. Who knows? If things have played out differently maybe even I would have-"

"M-Mom!"

"I'm just saying, your father's dead anyway."

"G-G-GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" Dawn exclaimed, Johanna simply laughed.

"My, I'm just kidding Dawn, I know he is aaaaaall yours." Johanna teased as her daughter slammed the door flustered to look at Akari again.

"...Sorry about that."

"Oh, it's no problem." Akari said. "But I'll admit that now I'm kinda interested in meeting this Ash as well."

'Ash Ketchum, I love you, but if you make my 20xgreat grandmother fall for you I swear I'll kick your nuggets.' Dawn thought, considering she would eventually need to ask Ash for help once she has made up her mind about May's proposal. 'Ash...how am I even supposed to look him face to face now? I'm...so embarrassed, I can't actually consider that, can I? ...now that I think about it, that time we were celebrating May's victory, when we were saying our goodbyes and he hugged both May and me at the same time...I...liked it, there we so many people there, but once he hugged us, it felt like there was no one else, it felt like it should be like that, just the three of us...I'm disgusting myself.'

"Are you okay?" Akari asked noticing the frown Dawn was making.

"I'm fine, just...still processing all of this...hey, no offense, but you seem to be way too chill about the fact that your traveled 500 years in the future."

"Chill?" Akari raised an eyebrow. "I don't feel cold at all, my clothes are quite warm actually."

"That's not what I mean, aren't you scared or worried?"

"I'll admit I was mildly concerned, but coming to think about it, this is not that different from the first time I arrived in Hisui, I'm sure we'll all learn from this experience, besides, I feel safe with you, if you really are my descendant then I'll trust you, Dawn."

"Thanks, I... I'll get you back somehow, I promise, Ak-...uh, should I call you grandma or something now?"

"That's not necessary, I'm not even a mother yet, Akari will do."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Dawn admitted with a laugh. "Now that I think about it, your history must be in that book Mom had, wouldn't you like to know about your future? You know, who's gonna be your husband and all that?"

"As tempting as it sounds, I'm afraid I'll pass, I would like to know what the future holds, but I prefer to find it out by living it as a surprise."

"I guess you have a point."

"So...how are those clothes going?

"Oh, right! I have something you'll love!"

"Well, surprise me darling."

Meanwhile in Galar, after their encounters with Allister and Sabrina, Ash and Bea returned to the Stow-on-the-Other-Side Center, Ash called Professor Oak and did some training with his Pokemon, while Bea went to her room in the Center and Cinderace finally came out of her Poke Ball.

"..." The rabbit simply looked at her in silence for a moment. "Did you tell him?"

"No, I didn't..." Bea answered coldly.

"You have only one day left." Cinderace stood firm with her warning.

"Why are you doing this? Why can't you just let me be?"

"I'm just worried about you! About what will happen when Ash finds out!"

"He's not going to find out!" Bea shouted. "I'm not going to tell him! And you won't either!"

"Saito!"

"Shut up!" She interrupted. "Why am I even doing this?! You're just a Pokemon! I am the trainer! You have to obey me! And I order you to stop acting like a stupid overprotective paranoid!"

"Paranoid?! Have you forgotten who you are? What you've done? You should be the one always looking over her shoulder!"

"That doesn't matter!"

"Of course it matters! He'll find out one of these days and this tower of lies you've been building will all crumble to dust!"

"I told you to shut up! everything is going to be okay!"

"Saito, listen to m-"

"NO! Not anymore! I was already sick of people telling what to do every second of my life! I won't listen to you! I DON'T NEED YOU!

"...I...I..." Cinderace shed some tears with those last words, but she quickly dried them off and stood in front of the girl. "I...I always wondered how this was meant to be...you and me, I mean, we somehow just met exactly when you got that hairband, we could communicate, there was this weird magic, I knew I had to stay with you, you were a little lonely girl with troubles and I had no one else, since then I've been trying to be your guardian, I've...I've tried to take care of you as much as I could, but... if that's how you feel...if you really think I'm just another Pokemon and you don't need me...then it's fine...you're not seven anymore, you can take your own choices... but there's something deep inside me that just wants to help you, something that makes me want to protect you no matter what and that means that I have to make sure you do the right thing even if that's not what you want to do...I'm just trying to help."

"...I don't want your help, Cinderace." That was all she answered.

"I-I know you don't mean that." Cinderace smiled at her and tried to hold back her tears again. "Y-You're just scared, people say...p-people say dumb things when they're scared."

"Return...now."

"...ok..." Cinderace simply took her Premier Ball and returned herself.

"I just...I just want to be happy..." Bea said to herself as she started to shed tears as well. "Why can't I simply have that?"

"Uh, Bea?" Ash called her from outside the door

"A-Ash?"

"Are you alright? I heard you shouting from my room."

"I'm...fine..." She answered. "...Everything's okay, Ash."

Next day, 06:00 PM

It was almost dusk, Ash and Bea were now in front of the Stow-on-the-Other-Side Gym, he has been training with his chosen team all day, while she spent most of that day inside her room, simply thinking.

"Bea...you look under the weather." He told her.

"Do I?" She asked trying to fake a smile. "It's nothing, really...I felt kinda sick in the morning so I stayed in bed, but I'm fine now...so, is Pikachu staying with me?"

"Uh, yes, he is." Ash looked at his partner who jumped to Bea's shoulder. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it." Bea cheered on him as she walked to the stands. 'But I surely do.' She thought giving a frown, which Pikachu noticed.

"Welcome folks!" The announcer began his presentation. "My name is Mclarty! The night has fallen and it's time for the showdown! Our Gym Leader has received a visitor that's been under everyone's eyes lately, but will he be able of keeping up with his ghosts? Why don't we wait and see? Say hello to our Gym Leader, the silent boy of mystery! ALLISTER!"

As the crowd cheered the boy entered the field walking slowly with his upper body tilting almost like a ragdoll.

"And to try and bust that badge! enter! ASH KETCHUM!" The crowd cheered again and Ash waved at them as he walked to the battlefield, he had to admit he liked the feeling.

"Let me tell you my secret now..." Allister said to Ash once they were both in front of each other in the middle of the battlefield in front of the referee. "I see dead Pokemon."

"Who cares?" Ash quickly answered.

"Uh..."

"This will be an official Gym battle between the Gym Leader Allister and the Gym challenger Ash!" The referee began. "It will be a four on four battle with switches and Dynamax allowed and the Challenger is forced to use at least two Ghost Types, did I make myself clear?" The two trainers nodded and the referee continued. "Trainers, take your position and release your first Pokemon!" Ash and Allister then walked to their respective side of the field and prepared their Poke Balls.

"You go first...Runerigus..." Allister tossed a Dusk Ball calmly, releasing an irregular clay slab with a red serpent design on it, some parts of the slab then broke off and were held by shadowy tendrils, forming two arms and a tail, the section with the eye of the serpent broke off as well, as its single eye turned bright purple and looked at Ash.

'Runerigus, the Grudge Pokemon, never touch its shadow-like body, or you'll be shown the horrific memories behind the picture carved into it.' Ash Room Phone gave its explanations.

"So literally any ghost type...Alright, Drakloak, I choose you!" Ash called onto his newly caught dragon which flew around him and then to the battlefield.

"A lonely Drakloak?" The announcer said noticing it didn't have a Dreepy on his head. "Well, he's not gonna take Physical attacks that well."

"If both trainers are ready then the battle begins now!"

"Let's start with Shadow Ball!" Ash made the first move and Drakloak charged the attack.

"Imprison..." Allister said calmly as Runerigus' eye illuminated a pink seal appeared in front of Drakloak stopping his attack. "As you can imagine...I expected your Ghost Types to know that move...Shadow Ball..." Runerigus was the one to make the move hitting Drakloak successfully.

"Fine then, Steel Wing!" Drakloak flew at mach speed, Runerigus closed his runestone and took the hit, receiving quite some damage but standing much unfazed.

"Brutal Swing..." The tendril that mimicked a tail flew at Drakloak and wrapped around him, the dragon did his best to break free but he couldn't escape from the grip, Runerigus then crashed him against the ground a few times and then raised him in front of him. "You won't get away...I won't let you...Rock Tomb..." Runerigus freed his arms again as these illuminated and he snacked them against Drakloak several times.

"Dragon Claw!" The energy coming from Drakloak's claws was just enough to break from the grip and he escaped in time to not be smacked by both rocks at the same time.

"Brutal Swing again..."

"Hydro Pump! Don't let him get close!"

Runerigus tried to reach Drakloak with his tail and arms, but the dragon kept dodging in the air and shooting Hydro Pumps to keep him away, one of said Hydro Pumps landed a clean hit on Runerigus knocking him to the ground, but he quickly stood up again.

"Hmmm...you're fast..." Allister looked up at Drakloak for a moment. "And Runerigus can't move much, that's true...very well, Dragon Pulse..." Runerigus laughed and returned his tendrils, closing into his runestone form again, the dragon painting on it suddenly roared and turned purple as it flew out of the slab, turning into a flying serpentine drawing that floated in the air surrounded by dark energy.

"What the-"

"Runerigus' soul...has been transferred to the paintings in the wall." Allister said. "This technique is experimental, but...I'm glad you're the first person to face it...Brutal Swing..."

The painting roared again and flew at high speed wrapping itself around Drakloak before he had time to react, it then spun the dragon around tossed him to the ground. "Dragon Pulse..." The painting opened his mouth expelling a dragon-shaped beam of energy down at Drakloak, but the lizard flew away to avoid it just in time.

"Steel Wing!" Drakloak successfully landed the attack and cut the painting in half, but this quickly put itself back together again. "That's..."

"Well, it's still a drawing..." Allister said. "There's not much to touch, is it?" The boy let out a short giggle. "Shamed and defaced...scathed and disgraced...tainted by hatred and can't be erased." Allister sang swaying slowly from left to right as the painting attacked with Shadow Ball again.

"Then let's use Hydro Pump!" Ash tried to use the move to 'dissolve' the painting, but the serpent curled up and the ghostly energy surrounding it acted as a shield. "Dragon Claw!" Drakloak approached to attack once more cutting the drawing in pieces, once again, the attack didn't do much, the painting put itself back together and wrapped around him, tossing him away again.

Drakloak was hurled against the now motionless and clean slab, however, this impact caused the painting to cringe in pain, both Ash and Drakloak quickly noticed that.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking?" Ash asked and Drakloak nodded, the dragon quickly flew back at him and charged back against the slab with an Steel Wing, the painting tried to fly down to the slab before Drakloak could, but he wasn't fast enough, Drakloak broke through the slab turning it into pieces, the painting screeched and dropped itself in the ground, slithering back to the rubles, the painting then returned to where it would be in the pieces and the part with the eye could be seen fainted.

"Runerigus is unable to battle! Drakloak is the winner!" Just as the announcer said this, the imprison seal appeared again in front of Drakloak and broke, eliminating his block on Shadow Ball.

"Interesting..." The Gym Leader said. "I've had ignored the slab while we practiced this move, I had no idea it could become a weak spot, thank you for showing me..." Allister recalled the pieces of Runerigus to their Dusk Ball. "Next is...Cursola..."

Allister tossed another Dusk Ball, releasing a Pokemon that looked like a white Cursola, the shell of the Pokemon then broke open and his white core rose is the air forming various branches around him with ectoplasm.

'Cursola, the Coral Pokemon, Be cautious of the ectoplasmic body surrounding its soul. You'll become stiff as stone if you touch it.'

"Alright, no touching then." Ash said looking at his Room Phone. "Watery Grave!"

Drakloak formed a Shadow Ball and tossed it at the enemy, he then attacked with a Hydro Pump causing the Shadow Ball to go faster and explode onto Cursola.

"So he practiced Gloria's technique." Bea said. "Geez, if she saw that she'd go crazy."

"Vic! Mar-Mar! Gloria passed out!" Roxie exclaimed as they watched the battle.

"Perish Song..." Allister said as Cursola let out a cursed screech that sent red waves around the battlefield and surrounded Drakloak in red energy. "Cursola's ability is Perish Body, it'll make a Pokemon faint after a while if they touch her, but most people know that you shouldn't touch Cursola anyway, so we can always use this, your Pokemon could faint any moment now...as for Cursola, she doesn't need to worry, there's no effect on her, after all, you cannot break what's already broken...now the question, can you take the risk?"

"I...Drakloak, return-" Ash was about to recall him to his Poke Ball, but the dragon jumped to his shadow instead. "Listen, I don't think that will help you this time, back to your Poke Ball." Drakloak sighed and let his head off the shadow so Ash could return him. "Alright, Weavile, I choose you!" Ash released the weasel who stood in the battlefield arms crossed.

"Perish Song..." Allister said again as the scene repeated. Weavile simply looked back at Ash and shook his head.

"Guess we'll take the risk." Ash said. "Ice Beam!" Weavile opened his mouth and a light blue beam was fired at the coral.

"Scald..." Cursola expelled from her mouth a stream of boiling water that melted the Ice Beam, the move kept going, but Weavile moved away in time. "Power Gem..." Cursola's body illuminated firing varios orbs that turned into sharp stones as they flew at Weavile.

"Use Whirlpool!" Weavile spun around on his place, summoning a whirlpool from beneath and using it to stop the rocks, Weavile then tossed the Whirlpool at Cursola, and although he landed a clean hit, Weavile suddenly stopped and was surrounded by red sparks.

"Don't forget the count is still going on..." Allister said. "Tick, tack, tick, tack."

"Weavile!" Ash called out but the weasel shook his head again.

"Strength Sap..." Cursola's branches suddenly elongated and turned into translucent whips that tried to reach Weavile.

"Night Slash!" Ash ordered and Weavile countered as he could, one of the whips managed to wrap around him and drain some energy, but Weavile cut it in half setting himself free and causing Cursola to hiss in pain and retreat the attack.

"Night Slash!" Weavile jumped forward and attacked several times, the darkness on his claws keeping him from having direct contact with Cursola.

"Scald..." Cursola responded the aggression and pushed Weavile away with the boiling water and the red sparks surrounded Weavile again.

"That's enough!" Ash searched for is Poke Ball and recalled him, but Weavile jumped out of the way of the beam. "You..."

"Weavile just won't listen to Ash!" The announcer said.

"Well, Weavile belonged to an evil organization." Bea thought on the stands. "I guess backing down from a fight is not exactly his style."

Back in the battlefield, Weavile looked at Cursola while charging two Night Slashes. "Sigh, fine! Go for her!" Ash finally gave him the go ahead and Weavile ran at her.

"Power Gem..." Cursola attacked but Weavile broke through it and slashed the coral again. "Strength Sap..."

"Whirlpool!" Still with the Night Slashes on, Weavile spun around and smacked the whips away, hitting Cursola like a slashing top. "Ice Beam!" Weavile used the move around him and the Whirlpool froze, crashing against Cursola.

"Weava!" Weavile suddenly raised one of his claws as he was surrounded by green energy, five green orbs appeared next to him and each one of them shot a different attack, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Stone Edge, Moon Blast and Shadow Ball, Weavile then joined the moves with his own Ice Beam and the six attacks exploded onto Cursola together, leaving the coral defeated.

"What was that?" Ash asked his Rotom Phone.

'That was Beat up!' The phone answered. 'The user burrows the power of the rest of the team to attack, since you have a VIP pass it randomly selected five of your Pokemon powers, it sounds good in paper, but I don't suggest you to spam it, it takes a lot of energy to use it.'

Ash could definitely see that was true as Weavile was down in the ground, panting exhausted.

"Cursola is unable to battle! Weavile is the winner!"

"And Ash has already taken out half of Allister's team!" The announcer cheered on.

"You're strong..." Allister recalled Cursola. "But we aren't finished... Polteageist..."

Allister's third option was a white cracked teapot, the teapot then levitated in the air and revealed a purple ghostly Pokemon hiding inside it.

'Polteagesit, the Black Tea Pokemon, when angered, it launches tea from its body at the offender's mouth. The tea causes strong chills if swallowed'

"Thanks, Weavile, you did great." Ash returned him and then changed Poke Balls. "Gengar, I choose you!"

The Kanto ghost was the next to stand in the battlefield, looking back at Ash and giving him a grin.

"So you got a Gengar too...?" Allister asked. "How nice..."

"Show me what you got, Gengar!" Ash cheered on him as Gengar floated in the air laughing. "Let's start, use Lick!" Ash ordered as Gengar laughed and stuck out his long tongue, smacking Polteageist with it as a whip several times.

"Hmm...Teatime." Polteageist hid inside his teapot and shot a purple orb of tea from the spout landing it on Gengar's mouth who quickly tried to clean it because of its sour flavor, Allister then let out another short laugh. "Keep that tongue away, would you?"

"Heh, Shadow Punch!" Gengar pulled back one of his arms, he then brought it forward punching the air and firing a black energy fist.

"Withdraw..." Polteageist returned to his teapot as a blue energy shield surrounded him and blocked the hit. "Stored Power..." Polteageist charged up energy and fired a pink beam from the spout of the teapot, hitting Gengar cleanly.

"Poison Jab!" Gengar's arms were surrounded by purple sparks and he flew at Polteageist, punching him a few times.

"Teatime..." Polteageist shot the tea again, this time Gengar closed his mouth before it touched his tongue, but the attack still caused an explosion on his face. "Stored Power..."

"Use Lick!" Gengar whipped Polteageist with his tongue causing him to lose focus and miss the mark. "Ice Punch!" Gengar's fists were surrounded by icy energy and he once again jumped into the attack.

"Withdraw..." Polteageist returned to his teapot but that didn't stop Gengar from punching until his enemy was frozen solid.

"Shadow Punch!" Gengar punched the ice chunk to the wall, setting Polteageist free, but causing some big damage. "Poison Jab!"

"Stored Power..." Polteageist shot several times, but Gengar used his speed to avoid them and landed the jab successfully poisoning Polteageist.

"Lick!" This time Gengar wrapped his tongue around Polteageist, preventing him from moving and trying to stall him out with the poison.

"Teatime..." Polteageist managed to stuck the spout of the wrap, firing the tea right on Gengar's mouth and this time it tasted even worse due to Polteageist being poisoned, Gengar quickly returned his tongue, setting Polteageist free once again.

"Gengar, use Poltergeist!" Gengar's eyes illuminated as Polteageist's teapot was surrounded by wisps, Gengar then brought his hand down and Polteageist was brought down the ground, Gengar then laughed and moved his hands in differents directions, smacking Polteageist all around the battlefield. "...We should've started with that." Ash said.

"We're out of options..." Allister said. "I only have two Pokemon left against four...I'm sorry, old friend, but I can't let it end like this...Memento..." Polteageist nodded and was surrounded by a dark aura, he then then expelled a huge wave of energy that heavily damaged Gengar and lowered his stats, afterwards Polteageist felt knocked out in the battlefield.

"Polteageist is unable to battle! Gengar is the winner!"

"And in an unprecedented course of event, Ash has Allister cornered 3-0, how unexpected! Polteageist was sacrificed to slow down Gengar, but will that be enough to stop Ash?"

"You did your part." Allister returned Polteageist and showed a Moon Ball. "My very last Pokemon...How lonely...how frightening...but for me... or for you?" Allister called out a Gengar who came out of the Poke Ball in a flash of sparkles, said Gengar's color was slightly different from Ash's, the two Gengar looked at each other and laughed.

"Child's play is over...Now let the shadow falls..." Allister activated his Dynamax Band and absorbed the surrounding energy, he then returned his Pokemon and tossed the ball up as it grew in size. "Gengar, Gigantamax...Shallow everything in Darkness!" He finally shouted as his ace changed shape and size and his color went from purple to white.

"I see..." Ash looked up at the Gigantamax. "What do you say Gengar? Should we try that out?" Gengar nodded and Ash mimicked the motion, but his Gengar came out with normal Dynamax instead, something that slightly disappointed the Ghost Type. "I guess it makes sense since you and I never got a chance to be that close." He said. "Alright, Max Phantasm!" Ash's Gengar nodded and charged a giant Shadow Ball infront of him.

"Max Ooze..." Allister's Gengar raised his arms and summoned a sludge of poison from underneath Ash's Gengar, stopping the Phantasm and raising his own special attack. "Again..." Gengar repeated the attack, but this time it was even more powerful thanks to the boost.

"Max Hailstorm!" Ash's Gengar opened his mouth, shooting a giant blizzard that pushed the Gigantamax back just slightly since it was weakened by the Memento.

"One more time..." Allister's Gengar sent a third Max Ooze boosting his special attack to the max, however, despite passing the 3 move limit, Allister's Gengar continued to be in Gigantamax form.

"What is that?! Allister's Gengar has already used 3 Max moves, but his Gigantamax is still on!" The announcer exclaimed.

"Hmm...G-Max Terror then." Allister's Gengar roared and caused a burst of darkness to explode onto Ash's Gengar, in fact, he used the move on his own three times and finally returned to his base form before his enemy had any time to react due to the overwhelming power caused by the triple boost, Ash's Gengar then returned to his normal size as well and fell knocked out in the battlefield as the shiny landed safely with a laugh.

"G-Gengar!" Ash called out.

"Six Max moves...?" Allister asked himself. "How odd..."

"Ash's Gengar is unable to battle! Allister's Gengar is the winner!"

"Ash's Gengar is out! And Allister's has been boosted to the max with all those oozes!" The announcer shouted as Ash recalled his Gengar.

"Gengar...we can still win this..." Allister's Gengar again laughed and flew to him, phasing right through the boy, Gengar then stood behind him and Allister's mask suddenly changed, it was now a smiling face and it had a black spot on its forehead. "As I mentioned...I saw your battles with the other Gym Leaders...you really know how to push people to their limit...but I won't blunder." Allister took a Key Stone and a Gengarite out of his pocket, putting the Key Stone on the forehead of its mask, making it look like a third eye, he then tossed the Gengarite up and the ghost/poison floated up and shallowed the stone. "Let's see...if you can escape our darkness..." Allister pressed his Key Stone and Gengar laughed out loud and the process started, a yellow third eye appeared on his forehead and then his whole body illuminated in white and pink revealing his new form. "Prepare for the horrors...this night will keep repeating over and over...and over, until you make it til' the end..."

"Hmp, Weavile, I choose you!" Ash released the Dark/Ice again. "Use Beat Up!" Weavile raised his claws again the same five moves attacked and he joined them with an Ice Beam once again.

"Focus Blast..." Gengar's third eye illuminated, it then fired a massive orange orb and energy that broke through the combined attacks and landed onto Weavile, defeating him instantly.

"Weavile is unable to battle! Gengar is the winner!"

"As you see...my Gengar is not something you should underestimate." Allister said while Ash recalled Weavile.

"Yeah, I can see that." He answered. "Drakloak, I choose you! Shadow Ball!"

"Shadow Ball..." Gengar opened his mouth, both attacks clashed, but Gengar's was far larger and it quickly engulfed Drakloak, the latter barely avoided the move by flying away.

"Sludge Wave..." Gengar swinged his arm around as a rush of purple poison was hurled from it.

"Steel Wing!" Drakloak used the Type immunity of the move to pass through the wave without being hurt and he landed the attack right on Gengar's face.

"Dazzling Gleam..." Gengar's third eye illuminated again, this team firing a pink beam that Drakloak wasn't able to dodge, the dragon then fell defeated just as quickly as Weavile.

"Drakloak is unable to battle! Gengar is the winner!"

"Allister has somehow equalled the match!" The announcer continued. "It looks like Gengar has become an unstoppable force! Will Ash's final Pokemon be enough to stop him?"

"There's only one way to find out! Ash exclaimed. "Krookodile, I choose you!"

Ash's Unovan ace was his last option, jumping in the battlefield with his trademark sunglasses and a confident smirk.

"Do your best...Dazzling Gleam..."

"Let's do this! Stone Edge!" Krookodile crossed his arms and two rings of sharp grey rocks formed around him, he then spun around firing the rocks at Gengar, both attacks passed each other and landed on their target, leaving damage on both Pokemon.

"Use Crunch!" Krookodile jumped over Gengar as his turned deep black and be bit down one of his arms.

"Sludge Wave..." Gengar hurled the poison with his free arms right on Krookodile's face, causing the crocodilian to let go and set him free.

"Krookodile, Scorching Sands!" Krookodile swoop his tail along the ground, sending a gust of burning sand at Gengar, which fell right onto his third eye and caused him to scream desperately. "Now Dragon Claw!" Both of Krookodile's claws were surrounded by light blue energy and he ran at Gengar slashing him several times.

"Shadow Ball..." Gengar opened his mouth and shot of barrage of orbs at Krookodile who did his best to cover himself.

"Dazzling Gleam..."

"Dragon Claw!" Krookodile aimed at Gengar's third eye to try and stop the move, but he wasn't fast enough and the Dazzling Gleam pushed him away. "Use Stone Edge!"

"Focus Blast..." The Fighting Type move easily broke through the rocks, Krookodile tried to counter it with a Dragon Claw, but the orb exploded onto him, sending him flying back a few meters again.

"Krookodile!" Ash called out, Krookodile stood up with difficulty, but still willing to keep fighting, he then noticed his glasses were missing and started to detach them with his sight, Krookodile finally found them and picked them up from the ground, but then he noticed they were broken after that huge impact.

"K-Krookodile..." Ash trailed off worried, considering that as a Sandile and Krokorok, he would get timid after losing his glasses.

"Dile..." Krookodile took his broken glasses and walked to Ash, he gave the glasses to him and then walked back to the battlefield, glaring at Gengar. "...DIIIIIIIIIIILE!" The croc shouted in anger as he was surrounded by a burst of dark energy.

"What do you know? I think someone's got an Anger Point!" The announcer said. "Krookodile's attack has been boosted to the max!"

"To the Max...Hey, Ash!" Bea called him from the stands as she searched for something on her backpack "Catch this!" She tossed a black disc as a frisbee and Ash caught it with his hand.

"Power Trip." Ash read the name on the disc.

"I'm sorry challenger, but using TRs mid-battle is not allowed." The referee told Ash.

"Yeah, but Gladion could switch Silvally's memories mid-battle, right?" Ash replied annoyed.

"I'll allow it..." Allister said. "After all, it would only be fair if we both do our best...go ahead."

"Thanks, Allister." Ash said. "Here, Krookodile!" Ash threw the disc to him and Krookodile caught it, absorbing the move and smirking.

"Focus Blast..."

"Here it goes, Power Trip!" Krookodile roared as his whole body turned pitch black and he rushed against the attack at an aggressive speed, he ran through the Focus Blast and crashed against Gengar in a explosion.

"Stone Edge!" Krookodile roared and this time, three giant rock slabs emerged from the ground and fired against Gengar, the mega barely had time to destroy them with Focus Blasts, but while he was distracted with that, Krookodile jumped forward with a much larger Dragon Claw and slashed him down.

"S-Sludge Wave..." Gengar spun around sending several poison waves at Krookodile, knocking him back for a moment, but Krookodile quickly stood up again.

"Scorching Sands!" Krookodile roared and slammed both his claws on the ground, summoning a huge wave of sand behind him, the wave fell onto Gengar and spread all across the battlefield, causing the place to look like a desert.

"Gengar, use...wait, where is he?" Allister looked around and noticed Krookodile disappeared after the attack.

"Power Trip!" Ash shouted as an dark explosion occurred beneath Gengar and the Dark Types jumped up from the sands and to him with the attack, Krookodile then bit down Gengar's arms and brought him down to the sands, which were still burning.

"No one mess with my glasses!" Krookodile exclaimed still biting Gengar as he started to rapidly roll back to belly, trashing Gengar around the burning sands.

"G-Gengar! F-Focus Blast." Allister tried to call out but due to being in the middle of the roll he couldn't focus.

"Dragon Claw!" Krookodile stopped rolling and raised Gengar in the air, smacking him against the sands several times, he then tossed him up and jumped slashing Gengar with both claws at the same time, Krookodile then landed safely on the sands, Gengar stood floating in the air for a few seconds, his mega evolution disappeared and he finally fell knocked out.

"Gengar is unable to battle! Krookodile is the winner and the battle goes to Ash Ketchum!" The referee gave his announcement and the crowd cheered on.

"He ain't afraid of no ghost!" The announcer laughed. "Congratulations, Ash!"

"Thank you Gengar." Allister recalled him as he walked to Ash. "That was... wow, quite an intense match, don't you think?" He asked as his mask suddenly fell off. "GAH!" The boy quickly covered his face again with the first mask he was wearing as the crowd cheered on him. "...sigh...I can see your skill for what it is." The Ghost expert kept walking until both Ash and him were in the middle of the battlefield and he offered the badge. "You proved yourself, here, the Ghost Badge, now you're halfway through your challenge, congratulations...sorry about your glasses too." He said looking at Krookodile who was standing next to Ash.

"It's alright." Ash assured with the glasses on hand. "I'm sure they can be fixed."

"Well, good luck with everything and tell your friend I say hi." Allister then left Ash alone and he simply glared at the boy.

"...yeah."

After the battle, our two heroes returned to the Pokemon Center, Ash called Professor Oak and returned Krookodile, he told him about the glasses and the professor said he'd find a way to fix them, next day, Ash and Bea prepared their things and he made the call to Sabrina.

"So?" Bea asked.

"She's not answering." Ash said with his Rotom Phone on hand.

"That's because I'm already here." Sabrina appeared behind him.

"GAH! Stop doing that!" Bea exclaimed.

"Well, at least you called me on my break." Sabrina replied, she was now wearing her usual clothes, a pink crop top that showed her midriff, a pair of long white pants, black shoes and also a pair of bracelets, which now that Ash noticed, she was wearing those with her costume as well.

"Thanks Sabrina, Gengar helped me win the battle." Ash offered her the Poke Ball.

"I know." She answered taking it. "I managed to see the fight, you've become really strong, although I'm not sure if I'm one to judge that, considering you and I never had a proper battle."

"Well, I'd be glad to have an actual battle with you when you get some free time.

"Sounds great, but Gengar will be on my side when that happens." She accepted the offer while releasing the ghost. "How did you behave?" Sabrina asked at Gengar as he laughed.

"He did great." Ash assured her. "Thanks again, Sabrina."

"It was my pleasure, Ashley." Sabrina winked at Ash again.

"You..."

"Hey, it's not my fault...seriously, I think you gave Erika a fetish."

"Would you tell me who this Ashley person is?" Bea asked.

"Should I?" Sabrina asked smiling.

"No, you shouldn't!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ash!" Allister called from the door of the center as he ran at them. "Ash, you're still here, thank goodness."

"Allister, what's wrong?" Bea asked.

"T-There's someone trying to destroy the ancient mural, please, I need you to help me stop him!"

"I...of course." Ash nodded. "Take me there."

"Follow me." Allister started to run outside of the center.

Allister guided Ash and Bea to the northernmost part of the town, going up two flights of stairs and ending in front of a colorful mural on a large stone wall which Bede was ordering a Copperajah to destroy.

"That guy again..." Bea said annoyed.

"What is he doing?" Ash asked.

"W-We have to stop him!" Allister stuttered.

"You know I could I have just teleported y'all here, right?" Sabrina asked appearing next to them.

"Stop doing that!" Bea shouted.

"Bede! What are you doing?!" Ash exclaimed.

"Oh my, you again?" Bede asked looking at Ash. "Begone, this is my special mission from Rose."

"T-That's not possible." Allister said. "This mural is a historic landmark of Galar, the Chairman would never want it to be destroyed."

"And what do you know about what the Chairman wants?" Bede asked with a laugh. "I am his protege! His chosen one! This is what he ordered me and I shall do it! Copperajah!" Bede ordered and the elephant rammed against our heroes.

"Coalossal, I choose you!" Ash called onto the Rock/Fire who stopped Coalossal's run, the goliath then expelled a Fire Blast, pushing Copperajah back to Bede.

"Why are you trying to destroy the mural?" Ash asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Kanto boy?" Bede released his Hatterene and then activated his Dynamax Band. "Hatterene, Gigantamax!" He exclaimed as the Pokemon enlarged her size and her shape changed. "Get rid of this nuisance!"

Hatterene raised her tentacles and started to smack the wall with them, various Wishing Stars started to fall from the cracks. "Just like I suspected." Bede laughed taking one of the objects.

"That's enough!" Ash shouted putting on his Dynamax Band. "Pikachu, Gigantamax!" He pressed the band, but just like last time, it couldn't gather enough energy. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" He exclaimed.

"Didn't see that coming?" Bede asked with a grin. "Unlike you, as a Chairman protege I do know about Galar, the Dynamax energy in this area is only enough for one user at a time, that being my dear Hatterene."

"Can't you use Flabébé's Aromatherapy to calm her down like you did with Coalossal?" Bea asked.

"That wouldn't work." Allister said. "I've fought Bede before, Hatterene's ability is Magic Bounce, I wouldn't suggest any status move."

"Finally someone with a brain." Bede laughed. "Now why don't you all simply let me do my work?"

"I really don't like this dude's attitude." Sabrina said. "Let me try something." Her left hand was surrounded by pink energy and she extended it at Hatterene, the giant was then surrounded by the energy as well. "Listen to me." Sabrina tried to use her psychic powers to control Hatterene, but thanks to the Gigantamax, she easily resisted then, the giant witch then shot an energy beam at Sabrina from her tentacles and Ash quickly raised a shield infront of the group to protect them.

"Well, looks like I'm not the only one with tricks." Sabrina smiled looking at Ash.

"A lot of things happened since we last met." Ash answered.

"They sure have." Sabrina giggled and looked again at Hatterene as she kept smacking the mural along the Copperajah. "I could go for the trainer, but nothing assures me Hatterene won't attack me meanwhile..." Sabrina looked down at her bracelets and then looked at Ash. "I need your help."

"Help with what?" Ash asked as Sabrina offered her wrists to him.

"There's a green button in each of my bracelets, I need you to press them at the same time."

"What's gonna happen if I do that?"

"You'll have to trust me." Sabrina gave him a warm smile.

"Alright then." Ash nodded and quickly found the two buttons at the bottom of the bracelets, he pressed them at the same time, the buttons scanned his fingertips and they opened as handcuffs, Sabrina then took a deep breath and took them off, leaving the bracelets with Ash. "Stand back...and keep those things close." She said taking a step forward and looking up at the Hatterene, the Saffron Gym Leader then took another deep breath as she closed her eyes.

"Well, have at ya." Bede said mildly annoyed, Hatterene raised one of her tentacles again and tried to smack them onto our heroes, seeing Sabrina was standing still Ash was about to summon another shield, but Sabrina raised her hand first, her hands blazed with green light instead of pink and Hatterene stopped flat as she was outlined by green energy as well. "Ah, so you think psyche is your ally?" Sabrina laughed. "You merely adopted the powers of the mind. I was born in them, molded by them...allow me to show you."

Sabrina extended her palm at the Gigantamax and the latter was forced to move by her, wrapping her tentacles around Copperajah to stop him from destroying the mural.

"W-What are you doing?!" Bede exclaimed.

"Ash, when you mentioned strong psychic powers..." Bea looked at him and Ash simply nodded.

"Now burn..." Sabrina said as Hatterene used Max Flare on the Copperajah, knocking him out. "How about you?" She extended her palm at Hatterene again, causing the Pokemon to hit herself with her tentacles until it fainted and returned to her normal state. "Anyone else...?" Sabrina asked to Bede as her eyes turned green as well.

"..." Bede simply returned both Pokemon, took as many Wishing Stars as he could and started to escape. "I'm not running! This is a tactical retreat!"

"Not so fast." Sabrina caught Bede with her powers and brought him close to her. "All that's left is this little troublemaker, what should I do with you?" Sabrina closed her fist slightly, asphyxiating Bede with her powers.

"S-Sabrina, that's enough!" Bea shouted but she didn't listen.

"Sabrina!" Ash called her as well, but she didn't listen either, he then looked down at the bracelets. "Keep those things close.." Ash quickly ran at Sabrina, taking advantage of her being distracted with Bede and he closed the bracelets back on her wrists. "Sabrina!" He called her again and her eyes returned to normal, Sabrina looked around and blinked a few times, she then lowered Bede slowly and the latter started to shiver in fear once he was in the ground.

"I..." Sabrina tried to reach out to Ash, but he flinched a little, this action let Sabrina quickly understand what she just did. "It happened again..." Sabrina sighed. "Please, tell me I didn't hurt anyone."

"You didn't." Ash answered looking at Bede, he was still recovering air, but he was fine. "You just took down Hatterene and Copperajah."

"Thank goodness...I thought I finally had it, but..." Sabrina looked down at her bracelets. "Thank you, Ash."

"What was that?" He asked.

"You know what that was, my psychic powers are strong, but that's part of the problem, they just keep growing and growing, these bracelets help me contain them."

"But why could I open them?"

"It wasn't you in specific." Sabrina started to explain. "They react to any fingertips but mine, just to make sure I don't remove them if I'm alone, I need to have someone besides me if anything happens."

"So you're always wearing them?"

"It's better that way...you just saw what happens, I can keep it together for a short amount of time, but it all falls down rather quickly, Erika has been trying to help me, but I haven't done much progress, without these bracelets I'm...I'm dangerous...Ash, you know I've done things...I scare myself sometimes."

"It's alright, I know that wasn't your intention, you'll surely be able of controlling them soon."

"I hope so...before I end up hurting someone."

"Argh! How dare you?!" Bede shouted. "I am a man on a mission! Who cares for some ancient ruin when the next thousand years are in stake?!"

"Next thousand years?" Ash asked.

"SHUT UP!" Bede shouted again and kicked the mural, the wall started to rumble and it finally gave in, Ash's Coalossal's quickly ran at Bede to protect him from the rubble as it all fell down.

"The mural!" Allister exclaimed running at the ruins once the rock slide ended.

"Uh...smell ya later!" Bede exclaimed running away.

"This is...this is a disaster...and it happened under my care..." Allister said kneeling next to the now fallen mural. "How shameful of me."

"Oh, you might want to look up, little guy." Bea said standing next to him.

Allister looked up and gasped, the collapse of the mural revealed a hidden chamber with four statues on it, two humans dressed as kings and two armored wolves.

"These statues..." Sabrina trailed off.

"Zamazenta?" Ash asked.

"Zacian too." Bea added.

"And those two must be their original heroes." Allister stood up as Ash and Bea looked at each other.

"These are their Crowned Forms, they access them when they're using their sacred objects." Bea said.

"Should...we go in?" Ash asked her and she nodded.

Ash and Bea entered the chamber to take a closer look at the statues while Allister and Sabrina followed them from behind, the group then noticed there was an inscription in the lower part of the statues.

"To let our shattered dreams become this world's reality." Bea read.

"And what would that mean?" Allister asked.

"Hmm..." Sabrina looked up at the Pokemon statues and noticed their eyes illuminated with white light. "Uh, guys?" Sabrina called them and they all looked up, the Zacian and Zamazenta statues suddenly started to and stood in their four legs, they then howled looking at our heroes and approaching then slowly.

"Uh, should we be worried?" Sabrina asked.

"I'm not sure..." Bea said.

'Zamazenta, are you there?' Ash tried to call him on his mind.

'Ash? What's wrong?' The Legendary responded.

'Look, we're in Stow-on-the-Other-Side, there are these living statues of you and Zacian.'

'Statues...Y-You guys have to use your weapons, quick!' Zamazenta shouted.

"On it!" Ash summoned his shield and the Zamazenta statue stopped infront of him, the statue stopped his movement and looked at him, its eyes then turned light blue and it sat down as dog. "Phew, Bea call upon your sword!"

"I-I..." Bea tried to focus as a frail energy formed on her hands, but this vanished away. "I can't do it!"

'Bea says she can't.' Ash told Zamazenta.

'That's not good!"

The Zacian statue suddenly roared and tried to jump onto Bea, but Ash stood in front of her with his shield, the statue kept hastily attacking the barrier while Ash did his bed to hold on.

'The statues reacted to the presence of the heroes, but if she doesn't shows her sword, the statue won't calm down, those things are invulnerable, I really don't suggest you to fight them."

'Can't Zacian help?'

'Uh...' Zamazenta looked at his sister who was sleeping. 'I'm sorry Ash, but this one is up to her.'

"Bea, we need your sword!" Ash called her again as he kept blocking the statue's attack.

"But I can't! It doesn't work!"

"B-But why not? M-My shield comes up when I need it, why is it so hard to to you?"

"Because I...I'm...I don't know."

The statue finally broke down the shield, but Ash called upon a way bigger one.

"B-Bea, I can't hold this forever, you have to do it!" Ash struggled and his Coalossal tried to help him push the shield.

"J-J-Just what are you two talking about!" Allister exclaimed as Sabrina ran to Ash and tried to enforce the shield with her powers.

'Maybe...' Bea thought. 'Maybe all I need to do is tell him true, that's what has been holding me back all this time...but I can't do it...why can't I do it?...his life is at risk, I told myself I would protect him, I...I'm so pathetic.' Bea knelt down in the ground and started to cry, Ash lost focus because of this and the statue destroyed his shield once more, Sabrina then took cover with Allister and Coalossal did his best to stop the statue as Ash ran at Bea.

"Bea, what's the matter?!"

"I...I am...this is all my fault." She answered between tears. "I've been...I'm sorry...I-I can't even stop crying...I'm so weak."

"...Bea, people don't cry because they're weak, they cry because they have been strong for too long..." She looked up to him. "I can tell something bothers you, why can't you just tell me?"

"Because...Because if I tell you...then you'll hate me forever..."

"B-Bea!" Ash suddenly hugged her as tight as he could. "I-I could never hate you! Come on, just tell me, it can't be that bad!"

"Ash, I can't..." Bea broke off from the hug and pushed him away just a little.

"I'm sure it's a solvable problem!" He then took both of her hands. "I Promise I'll do the hardest part with you...I don't care if the things get rough."

"Ash..."

"Cause I'm sure that you and I can make it through! Bea! Please, just let it out! I'm here for you!"

"My..." Bea looked down at their hands and then up to him. "My name is Saito." She finally gave in, she could feel the weight of all the guilt in her shoulders, but she knew she was already too far to back down.

"...What?" That was all Ash could mutter.

"My name is Saito Beatrice Shinka." The girl tried to clean her flooding tears to no avail. "I'm from Stow-on-Side, I'm the daughter of a Gym Leader." She did her best to talk, but her voice kept breaking more with each word. "I...I've been lying to you since we met...you don't know me...Bea doesn't exist."