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Pokémon:

Quest of a True Master

Chapter 15

KANTO ARC FINALE

-2 days remaining

After leaving the Indigo Plateau, Mark and Randy stopped in Viridian City to restock their supplies, having found out they were both low on medicine and food for both themselves and their Pokémon. With two days to spare before Mark was expected back in Pewter City, the two trainers were in no rush to leave the Pokémon center when they were done shopping, and so took the opportunity to have their Pokémon checked -especially Mark, who wanted to be certain he wasn't bringing anyone into something they were not ready to handle.

He had Vitesse checked first; more than any of his other Pokémon in the battle with Lance, she sustained the greatest injuries out of any of the group. Fighting Garchomp was difficult for her, and would not likely heal from such a battle without having a few marks as a memento of one of her toughest battles. Fighting a Garchomp with fists was like running through a thorn bush, after all. Still, they were not there for long; within the next few hours, they were on their way, entering Viridian Forest and making their way through with a spring in their step.

Although... Mark's thoughts continued to drift back to his first battle with Red. Even though Vitesse had Mega Evolved, she had been thoroughly trounced by Red's Charizard, who had been so powerful he had not even needed a Mega Evolution to defeat his Blaziken; despite having superior speed, she was overwhelmed by the sheer might of Red's Charizard. Even now, after defeating two of the most savage Dragon-types known to the world at the Indigo Plateau, Mark wondered if she was really prepared to battle such a powerful opponent again, when the only advantage she had was speed; Charizard could fly, was stronger at range, and far from being a slouch in speed himself.

But it was how Mark wanted it. He wanted it to be Vitesse who defeated Charizard; she had been his partner since he'd begun his journey, and Charizard was the same thing for Red. It was like a dojo master, who had trained two students the exact same way until, finally, pitting the two of them against each other in combat, to see which one had truly mastered his teachings -to find out for himself, who was the better student. Vitesse was to Mark was Charizard was to Red; his ultimate success as a Pokémon trainer.

No one else could fight Charizard but her...

As they walked through the forest, Mark and Randy let out a few of their Pokémon to walk with them; Mark released Fang, while Randy let out Velox, just in case they were jumped by any wild Pokémon -Viridian Forest was known for being filled with bug-type Pokémon that could be very territorial and could jump out unexpectedly from anywhere. Fang would smell potential ambushers coming, making him an ideal travel buddy in such a place, while Velox was so swift it could easily intercept any attacker. Plus, Velox had not been out of his Poké Ball much, and had begun to get rather cabin feverish in its confines.

Halfway through the forest, they stopped for a rest in a clearing next to the trail, letting out the rest of their Pokémon to enjoy a snack with them. Everyone ate quietly, but there were some who behaved a little restlessly; Coal was playing a game of chase with Velox, the Zangoose taunting him with his own speed that allowed him to move quicker than even the Charmeleon could keep up with. Siren and Gemstar both went to find a source of water to soak themselves, with Mark telling them not to wander too far away. The quiet one was actually Tanker, lying silently as he waited for the others.

"Hey Mark, I was just having a thought," Randy remarked suddenly.

"Yeah; what about?" Mark asked after swallowing a mouthful of his granola bar.

"Well, much as I hate to rub salt in his wounds, among all the Pokémon you used when you battled Lance, Tanker was the only one who lost a battle," Randy remarked. Tanker growled, leering at Randy. "I didn't mean offense!" he said defensively, putting up his hands defensively, before clearing his throat. "Anyway, as I was saying, Palm Tree also didn't even get to battle up there, though he didn't win against SkyClaw either."

"Both true, so what're you suggesting?" Mark asked.

"Why not have one last training battle with both of them?" Randy replied. "With our last training session, Tanker's battle was undecided because of... terrain issues, but SkyClaw and Thorn both won their battles, so I'll pit those two against Tanker and Palm Tree."

"Are you suggesting a double battle?"

Randy shook his head. "All of your battles with Red will be one-on-one, so practicing tag-team battling would be impractical," he replied. "I'll let you decide who to face, then you can heal them both when we get to Pewter City, and you'll be ready to take on Red. Squeezing in just one more bout of training could make the difference between winning and losing against him."

"I suppose you have a point," Mark agreed, nodding. "Alright, Tanker will take SkyClaw then, and Palm Tree will battle Thorn. We'll do the latter one first."

"Works for me," replied Randy, looking over his shoulder at his Sceptile. "You up for it, Thorn?"

"_Grak-uk,"_Thorn croaked in affirmation, stepping up beside Randy.

"Palm Tree?" Mark called.

"_Hsst!"_The Tropius hissed as he stepped up.

Mark glanced back at Randy. "Let's try and take it easy though; I'm going to need Palm Tree tomorrow so I don't want to push him too far."

"How about first to three hits wins?" Randy suggested.

"Works for me, and we'll stick to weaker attacks or matching elements, so that they don't take too much damage," Mark added.

"Deal."

Ushering the other Pokémon to the edges of the clearing in order to give them some room, Mark and Randy got themselves ready for the sparring match. Palm Tree and Thorn stared each other down, both of them silent; neither of these Grass-types had ever faced each other in a battle before, but Palm Tree had one distinct advantage of also being a Flying-type, which had an advantage over Grass. Still, Thorn had beaten Coal, who was a Fire-type, rather easily; Palm Tree was sturdy but not as powerful as Coal, meaning he would have to be careful and rely on his greater endurance to outlast Thorn.

"Ready?" Mark asked.

"Ready."

"Alright, Palm Tree; Fly!" Mark called.

Palm Tree hissed loudly, splaying out his large palm leaf wings and flapping them hard to take off into the air, soaring up over the clearing and peering down at Thorn, who glared up from below. Randy gave the first command for Thorn to use Bullet Seed, and with a growl, the Sceptile fired a flurry of seeds from his mouth; Palm Tree banked out of the way, avoiding the seeds, and Mark called out for him to use Fly attack; Palm Tree flew up higher, evading the continued barrage of seeds, and plunged towards Thorn from above, but the ever-quick Sceptile evaded him easily.

During the battle, Cairo and Vitesse glanced at one another, and quietly slipped out of sight of the rest of the group. Their departure didn't go unnoticed by Fang, however, whose ear twitched as they trekked out of the clearing. Tilting his head curiously, he got up and followed them into the trees, hopping over bushes and fallen logs as he tailed them. Of course, he lost sight of them eventually, but with a few sniffs of the ground, he was on their trail again, and padded along in the direction they had gone.

He reached a bush, and could hear them chattering on the other side. Sticking his head through the bush, he peered off into a glade, and spotted the two...

His face went red beneath his fur, ears falling flat against his head when he saw the Lucario and Blaziken holding each other like a romantic couple, propped up against a tree and with happy expressions on their faces as they embraced. The Mightyena backed away before he saw something he'd never forget, pulling his head back through the bush and turning around to leave before he was discovered, the Mightyena slowly padding away with his head lowered, wondering how long this had been going on...

~~~~~~

Surprising Thorn with an Air Cutter attack, the Sceptile was tripped up long enough for Palm Tree to swoop down and tackle him from above, pinning him to the ground by standing on his back. The Sceptile growled, trying to get free, but Mark called out that the air tackle was his Pokémon's third hit before the Sceptile could get free, indicating he'd lost that round. "Good work, Palm Tree," said Mark.

"Very impressive," said Randy as the Tropius let Thorn get back to his feet and return to his trainer's side. "Whatever training you gave Palm Tree at the valley seems to have paid off; he's like a bomber with those overhead attacks."

"Pretty much the idea," Mark replied. "A Tropius typically doesn't have much attack power but are evenly balanced in defense and have high stamina," he explained. "So, by teaching Palm Tree aerial maneuvers he can stay out of reach of ground targets while attacking from overhead, and even if they score a hit he's got the durability to take it." Mark reached up with a hand to pet Palm Tree on the back of his neck as he spoke. "It took some work, but this guy can hit the bullseye with his Seed Bomb attack every time."

Randy nodded. "Alright... now for SkyClaw against Tanker; suppose we should have them practice with their Mega Forms?"

"You sure that won't strain Tanker too much? As with Palm Tree, I'm going to need him," Mark reminded.

"It shouldn't, long as we don't make them exert too much. Same rule as before; three hits and a win," Randy stated.

Mark looked back at his Steelix. "Think you can take this dragon?"

Tanker rumbled low in response, dragging his body forward and glaring at the Salamence as she took her position, clearly confident that he could win. SkyClaw leered back at him, her competitive nature rising to the surface as her gaze met that of the Steelix. Subconsciously, Mark and Randy both could almost see a bolt of lightning from their eyes, meeting halfway between as they stared each other down.

Mark and Randy blinked. "Oooookay," they said in unison, before reaching for their mega stones.

With a touch, both Pokémon were quickly engulfed in the light of Mega Evolution, ascending to their more powerful forms of a Mega Steelix and a Mega Salamence. When Tanker emerged in his changed form, the crystals and metal fragments orbiting his body in the form of a ring shone brightly in the light beaming into the clearing, and he roared deafeningly as he prepared to battle for only the second time ever in his mega-evolved state.

SkyClaw appeared, changed noticeably in her new form. It was not the first time Mark had seen a Mega Salamence -Drake had used one at the Hoenn League, and he had soundly defeated that one with Fang, but last time he'd battled SkyClaw she'd been only in her regular form. Now, she was even more powerful. Her wings had fused into one gigantic wing on her back with sharp edges that looked as though they could be used as blades in a battle. The armoured scales of its now thinner body had formed a vest-like shell on her belly, allowing her actually tuck her front legs behind it for additional aerodynamics, while the upper pair of fins on her head, normally short, had grown to a foot long, angled like curved swords over the back of her skull.

'Okay... I know Randy prides all of his Pokémon as speedsters, but SkyClaw is an exception by the fact she's also a powerhouse, just like Thorn. She may use Special Attacks, but Tanker happens to also be capable of using her weakness; Rock-type attacks. Good thing I never stopped having Tanker practice Rock Throw and Stone Edge even after he evolved.' He frowned. 'Problem is, Rock Throw's hard to hit with and Stone Edge only works on the ground; nailing SkyClaw with them when she's always flying is going to be some trick...'

_ _ "Okay, SkyClaw," Randy began. "Let's go; Dragon Breath!"

"Tanker; Dig!" Mark called.

SkyClaw ascended into the air, breathing in deeply before exhaling a Dragon Breath at Tanker, but the Mega Steelix reacted just quick enough to avoid the attack, burrowing into the ground head-first and vanishing from sight, the orbiting fragments following it below as it descended beneath the ground.

"What'd you use Dig for?" Randy asked. "You know Ground-type attacks don't work against a Flying-type Pokémon."

"Maybe not, but it still leaves you guessing where Tanker actually is, doesn't it?" Mark asked, grinning smugly.

Randy's expression turned to one of worry. "Uh oh..." He mumbled, realizing Mark was right; Randy couldn't see where Tanker was, and neither could SkyClaw. Their battle also was not in an arena, meaning Tanker could come from absolutely anywhere!

'Element of surprise; only shot I've got if I'm going to beat SkyClaw,' Mark thought.

SkyClaw searched across the ground, looking for some indication of where Tanker could be, but the land was still, leaving no signs of the massive Steelix tunnelling beneath the Earth. Even if she was safe from a direct attack by Tanker while she was up in the sky, she couldn't find Tanker without descending, but if she even brushed against the ground then he'd come up from right under her... so what could she do?

But then, Mark suddenly called out. "Now, Rock Throw, Tanker!"

Tanker exploded from the ground directly below SkyClaw, and a swarm of boulders was hurtled into the air towards her; she tried to bank out of the way, but her wing was clipped by one of the stones, sending her into a spiral. She pulled out just in time to avoid a crash, and banked off towards Tanker, unleashing the same Dragon Breath attack she had failed to land earlier, this time striking the Steelix directly. Both of them had now scored their first hit, but SkyClaw was heading back into the air again.

Mark suddenly had an idea, and called out to Tanker but kept his voice a little low so that neither Randy or SkyClaw would hear. "Tanker; when SkyClaw comes back down, hit her with a Screech, then follow it up with Iron Tail."

Tanker nodded his large head in affirmation before turning to face SkyClaw's direction again, watching patiently as she fell into a dive, powering up for a Dragon Pulse attack at Randy's command; although Tanker had natural resistance to dragon-type attacks, Mark had already learned from battling Lance's Haxorus that he couldn't rely on Tanker's defense alone, and hopefully his strategy would be enough to catch SkyClaw off guard.

"SkyClaw, hit him hard and fast!" Randy urged her one, oblivious to Mark's tactic.

SkyClaw roared in fury as she plunged straight towards Tanker, ready to unleash her Dragon Pulse at Tanker so close that he'd never be able to avoid it, seconds from the attack...

"Now, Tanker!" Mark called.

Tanker opened his massive mouth and unleashed a deafening Screech, so sharp and loud it was like the whistle of a freight train. The painful sound made SkyClaw cringe, misfiring her attack and causing it to miss Tanker completely. Sticking to the plan, then turned himself about as fast as he could, slamming his tail directly into SkyClaw's side and sending her soaring towards the trees, too fast to evade them!

"SkyClaw!" Randy called. "Gemstar; use Psychic to catch SkyClaw!"

The Starmie sprang into action, and immediately unleashed the Psychic attack to grasp SkyClaw in telekinesis before she could hit the trees; she had shut her eyes, bracing for impact, until she felt herself come to an abrupt halt in midair. She dared to open her eyes, seeing her nose a mere hairs breadth from the trunk of a tree; less than a second more, and she would have been in for a world of pain...

"Man, that was close," Mark said, taking a breath before he looked back at Randy. "Sorry man; I guess that was overdoing it."

"We both got carried away, I think," Randy admitted as SkyClaw was carried back over to his side. "I guess the tension for tomorrow is starting to get to both of us."

Mark chuckled. "Yeah, that much is certain," he agreed as Tanker and SkyClaw both reverted from their Mega Evolved states back to their original forms. "So, I guess we call this one a draw for now?"

Randy shook his head. "Nuh-uh. That one is a win to you, man," he insisted. "SkyClaw took that hit and it would've knocked her out if Gemstar hadn't caught her." The Salamence glared at her trainer before aggressively clamping her jaws around his head -not hard enough to truly hurt, but enough to give him a scare. "Ow! Hey, okay; relax, girl!"

'SkyClaw's a little sensitive,' Mark thought, irking an eyebrow. "Alright... that concludes our practice then," he said with a nod. "Now, let's get back on the ro-" He paused mid-sentence as he glanced over to the Pokémon gathered at the edge of the clearing, doing a quick head-count only to realize two heads from the mix were missing -Siren and Gemstar had returned during the battle, hence why Gemstar had been there to catch SkyClaw when she nearly crashed, so the ones he wasn't seeing were not them. "Hey, where are Cairo and Vitesse?" He asked.

At the mention of their names, Fang's ears jerked fully upright and his eyes bugged wide open; the trainers hadn't even noticed the absence of the two Pokémon amidst the battle, and they were still unaware of the secret relationship between them. Worst of all they hadn't made it back before the battle was over!

Almost as if on cue, the sound of Vitesse clucking caught the attention of the group. They turned towards the trees, and saw both Cairo and the Blaziken stepping out from the shadows of the forest. Fang breathed a quiet sigh of relief, feeling like a bullet had just been dodged, as they entered the clearing.

"Now where did you two wander off to?" Mark asked.

"Chik," Vitesse returned, holding up both hands and showing her talons were loaded with blue Oran Berries. Cairo held out his paws, showing the same thing fill them as well.

"You guys went off to gather berries?" Randy asked. "Huh... well they do make a good snack for Pokémon, so I guess that was a good idea."

Mark didn't seem entirely convinced, but shrugged it off. "Eh, whichever; we've got a schedule to keep so let's get going."

The other Pokémon gathered around to be called back into their Poké Balls. Fang and Velox were left out -the same arrangement as before, and Cairo and Vitesse were last as they stored the berries they had collected into a bag and left it with Mark. Fang shot them a look before they were recalled -a look that said 'I'm on to you' to both of them, and they stiffened at the look in his eyes; they'd been discovered, but not by their trainers...

Before anything else could happen though, they were recalled to their Poké Balls, leaving Fang to return to Mark's side and walk with him as they continued on to Pewter City...

~~~~~

They had arrived.

The familiar lackluster appeal of Pewter City stood before Mark and Randy as they emerged from the Viridian Forest and entered the town. The absence of colour in this city never ceased to make Mark feel a little less than inspired while being here; the fact anyone who lived here could be a cheerful type of person surprised him, though he respected the vastness of its museum and how it was centered around fossils. Admittedly, Mark had always had a fascination with ancient Pokémon, and had even battled a few trainers using them after they were revived from fossils.

"So Mark," Randy spoke suddenly as they turned a corner, slowly making their way to Brock's house. "Have you worked out a plan to take on Red?"

Mark frowned. "Sadly, I can't come up with much of one," he replied. "I don't know what other Pokémon he's going to have with him, so it's hard to determine." He sighed. "It seems I'll be improvising the whole time and just planning as I go along."

"Well are there any you expect him to use, besides Charizard?"

"Let's see..." Mark thought back to all the battles he'd learned about while studying Red's battles to try and find a pattern to his method, one that he could exploit. "The only Pokémon I know of he's used consistently is a Jolteon."

"That's an Electric-type, so you've got Tanker to handle that one," said Randy.

"I do, but supposedly Red also captured the three Legendary Pokémon of Kanto," Mark replied. "Three legendary birds; Articuno, Zapdos and Moltress. He busts out those guys, I might be screwed; Moltress would tear Tanker and Palm Tree apart, and I've got nothing that can take on an Electric-type that's also a Flying-type, because Electric-types are the only Pokémon-type that has only one weakness besides Normal-types."

"Wait, that's not true; Electric-types are also weak against..." Randy paused mid-sentence, eyes rolling as he tried to think of some other type that electric-types were vulnerable to. But of the eighteen known Pokémon types, no other ones came to mind. "Oh... you're right. Electric-types are only weak against Ground-types."

"Precisely," agreed Mark, scratching his head in irritation. "If Red busts out Zapdos I may have no way to beat it, so I'm hoping he doesn't bring it..."

"Do you want to borrow Thorn?" Randy offered. "When he goes Mega, electric attacks don't affect him at all."

Mark shook his head. "Thanks, but no way. Thorn's your Pokémon; if I beat Red using him, I can't honestly say it was my team who won my way through my battles in Kanto."

"I suppose not," agreed Randy.

"Besides, Thorn's only immune if he goes Mega, like you said -he won't Mega Evolve if I'm using him; you're the one who can induce his evolution."

"Guess I didn't think of that one," Randy returned, rubbing his head and flushing with embarrassment at his forgetfulness. "And what about Articuno?"

"That one, I'm not too worried about; I've got two Fire-types and a Steel-type to handle an Ice-type," replied Mark. "And Moltress, I've got Siren to handle that one." Mark put a hand to his chin, thinking hard. "Red's a mixed-type trainer just like you and I, so he's not going to have more than one of the same type. He probably won't bring Moltress at all, since he's got Charizard. There are no Dark or pure Fairy or Steel-types in Kanto, so those I don't need to be worried about..."

Randy cast a sly look at his friend. "You keep doing all that thinking, you're going to hurt yourself," he said.

Mark jabbed Randy in the shoulder without even looking at him.

"Ow," Randy grunted, before grinning. "Worth it."

After a few more minutes of walking, the two trainers were in sight of Brock's modest home, and headed over to the front door to knock. Less than a moment passed after Mark rapped his knuckles against the door before it opened, the kind, knowledgeable face of Brock peering out at them. "Ah, you made it back."

"Sure did," returned Mark.

"How did your training go?" "It went excellent. I was even able to beat Lance."

"Really? So that wasn't just a rumor I heard."

Mark tilted his head curiously. "Rumor? You mean rumors of me beating Lance have already spread out this far?"

"Word travels pretty fast around here," replied Brock. "Especially when it comes to events up at the Indigo Plateau; a foreign trainer defeating the Champion spreads like a wild fire."

"But who the heck started the rumor?" Randy asked. "Nobody was watching that battle except me and the Elite Four, and none of them seemed like the type to gossip."

"You never know where word is going to spring from," a voice spoke from behind Brock, prompting the Pewter Gym leader to step aside and allow them to be seen. "But sometimes it finds the right ears."

Mark felt a tinge of excitement shoot through him at the sight of Brock's guest. "Red..." he said.

"Welcome back, Mark," returned Red.

"I didn't know you were back already," Mark admitted, "Thought I had at least one more day left."

"Well then, surprise," said Red. "So you battled Lance and won?"

Mark nodded. "I did. It was quite a battle, but I managed to beat him."

"Congratulations," Red complimented. "Lance is no pushover when it comes to battles; not many can beat him."

"No, but his own dragons can sure defeat themselves," Randy remarked.

Brock and Red glanced over "Say what?" Red asked.

Mark frowned sourly as he recalled that incident, before he went on to explain what Randy meant. "During the battle, he called out a Hydreigon that beat Coal, and when Vitesse Mega Evolved in front of it, it was overcome with battle-induced Outrage and almost went ballistic." Mark shuddered. "Seeing a dragon go nuts really sticks with you. Fortunately, she was able to knock it out before things got out of control."

"Lance had a Pokémon even he couldn't fully control?" Red asked incredulously.

"See for yourself," Randy said, producing his camera from his knapsack. "I got the entire battle filmed right in here."

Brock and Red walked over to stand behind Randy as he went to his saved video footage, fast-forwarding and rewinding as needed until coming to the scene where Vitesse performed her Mega Evolution, followed by Hydreigon's menacing gaze when it witnessed her power. The footage carried on to Lance's failed attempt to recall it, only for Hydreigon to refuse to obey him and go after Vitesse, missing her and nearly tackling Mark instead as it banked around. Playing on, it showed Hydreigon seemingly making a beeline right for Randy until he ducked under it with a yelp, and yelled at Lance. "Hey! Can't you control your own dragon?!"

_ _ "And pause," Randy concluded, tapping the pause button with his thumb before he looked over his shoulder at Brock and Red. "Ya see that? Thing totally lost its marbles and went after Vitesse like a Noctowl after a Ratatta."

"I thought there wasn't a Dragon-type alive that Lance couldn't tame," Red remarked, tipping his hat. "I guess even he can be overestimated."

"Well, Hydreigon's actually a Dark-type with a Dragon sub-type," Mark corrected. "A lot of Dark-types are naturally violent and when you combine that with the hot-bloodedness of a Dragon-type, you've basically got a berserker."

"Where are they usually found?" Red asked.

"They're native to Unova, mostly," replied Mark. "That's where you'll find them and the pre-evolution forms of Deino and Zweilous. But if you encounter one, make sure you have a Fighting, Ice or another Dragon-type to battle it with."

"I've got all those covered, should I ever go there," Red returned confidently.

"Don't forget Fairy type," Randy chimed in.

Red looked at Randy. "There's a Fairy-type?"

"You didn't know?" Mark asked, before he quickly corrected himself. "Ah, but maybe not so surprising; the typing was discovered only recently. Although it's been clarified that several Kanto Pokémon are also part Fairy-type; Clefairy and Jigglypuff are two examples, and of course their evolved forms."

Red nodded, impressed. "I honestly didn't know about that," he admitted.

"Yeah, Fairy-types are beasts against Dragons; they're actually immune to their attacks, and are also really effective against Dark-types," Randy went on. "They're only weak against Poison and Steel-types."

"Sounds pretty powerful," Red stated. "Are there any Legendaries of the Fairy-type?"

"I don't know of any," Mark admitted.

"Yeah, me either," added Randy.

Red nodded. Disappointed, but satisfied by having learned something new. He then turned to Mark, grinning at him. "So, after all that training you've been doing, you think you're ready to challenge me?"

Mark grinned back at Red. "You better believe it," he replied. He felt confident; nothing like how he'd felt on the way to Brock's house, where he was in a constant debate as to how he was going to win in a battle against Red. It was as if now that he saw his opponent there in front of him, the thrill he'd felt when he'd first challenged him was back once more. In the back of his mind, Mark still wasn't positive he could win, but he wasn't about to allow himself to get cold feet when he was so close to finishing his Kanto adventure. "This time, Red, you and I will battle with every Pokémon we've got. A full six-on-six elimination style until there's only one standing."

Red's grin widened, feeling a powerful, rising thrill in his chest. Even though Mark had disappointed him when they first battled, there was something about seeing him now after being away for almost a month and a half that made him feel like this time would be different, and that Mark would give him a real challenge. Not to mention, as Red was ever-so eager to see new Pokémon, he'd get the chance to see the Pokémon from Mark's journey around the Hoenn Region -Pokémon that Red had never seen before in his life.

"You've got yourself a battle," Red stated to Mark.

Brock actually irked an eyebrow at Red's expression, and could almost feel the tension between him and Mark. "Wow... I haven't seen Red that fired up in a long time," he said.

"I know, right?" Randy agreed, seeing how ready Mark really was for this challenge ahead. "This is going to be the most awesome battle that Kanto has ever seen..." He held up his camera. "And I'm going to get every damn second of it."

~~~~~

Since they were going to battle using all of their Pokémon, Mark and Red both agreed they needed a change of location for their match besides the Pewter Gym; somewhere that all of the Pokémon-types they were carrying with them would be able to battle to the best of their abilities. Although the area they were in would be suitable for most of the Pokémon they had with them, they both carried Water-types that would be better suited battling in a river or a lake. Unfortunately, there were no such locations near Pewter; the only bodies of water it had were a few creeks or shallow ponds -nothing large enough for a water type the size of Siren to battle in.

But then, Brock solved the conundrum, knowing the perfect place for them to battle. On the other end of Mt. Moon, near Cerulean City, was the Nugget Bridge, where countless trainers often battled to test their abilities. It was large enough for land-based Pokémon, sturdy enough for heavyweights like a Steelix and positioned right over a river where their Water-type Pokémon could battle, while still being close enough to land for Ground-types. It seemed like the perfect idea, and Red even volunteered to guide them to Cerulean himself. Travelling through Mt. Moon would take them several hours, even a day, to reach the city. But by air, it was much shorter -they would be there in only half of an hour.

However, before they decided to set out, Red invited everyone for dinner at his mother's house; a special kind of dinner to get them both ready for the events tomorrow. Mark and Randy both agreed that was an excellent idea, as did Brock -it would give him time to close down the gym so that he could go with them. He didn't want to miss this battle any more than the rest, eager to see how it would play out between the two. Within the hour, they were on their way over to Red's house.

Red's mother was nothing like Mark expected. Although... what exactly had he expected; some super model? Just because Red was one of the most famous trainers on Earth didn't mean that he came from some sort of star-born family. His mother was actually fairly ordinary, but pleasant through and through... and an excellent cook! She had her own special recipe for a dish called 'Cinnabar Volcano Burger' -the irony of that actually made Mark laugh, considering that she had once lived in Pallet Town which had been evacuated because of the volcanic activity on Cinnabar Island.

The burger lived up to its name. It was hot!

_ _ After taking their first two bites of the burgers, both Mark and Randy had been panting, trying to cool their tongues. The burgers were loaded with two kinds of spices that nearly brought tears to their eyes, yet once they adjusted to the spiciness, it was absolutely delicious, and Mark scarfed his down in almost record time, cordially asking for a second helping. She had even learned how to make Pokémon food since Red had become a trainer; after eating their share of food, she gave a bag to Mark and Randy full of her specialty foods that they could feed to their Pokémon.

Going out front and letting out their Pokémon to feed them, they quickly discovered the food was loved by each of them. Coal and Velox even had an eating race, which Coal won much to the annoyance of the Zangoose, since it had had to pause mid-bite due to a full mouth. After eating his own share, Fang joined them in a game of chase around the front yard for a little while, a game Velox excelled at thanks to his speed. Although, just to annoy them, Thorn actually jumped in to tag all of them before taunting them with a flick of his tongue, prompting all three to chase him.

He left Coal and Fang in the dust, but Velox was hot on his tail the whole time until they concluded their game.

Amidst the activity, Mark absently peered over the fence into the backyard, where he saw Red serving food to some of his own Pokémon. Due to the height of the fence in the neighbours yard as well as the placement of the house itself, he could not see what others Red had, but he could see Charizard seated right next to Red, dipping his head into a bowl of food held in his front paws while Red enjoyed the evening dessert -an ice cream bar, struggling not to let it melt from being so near to Charizard.

Soon, Mark's Pokémon would be battling that Charizard... and he knew it was going to be the toughest opponent he'd ever fought.

-Day of the battle-

The next morning, at the very crack of dawn, the group departed from Pewter City to head to their battle in Cerulean. They took to the skies after calling out their flying Pokémon -except Brock who didn't actually have one and had to ride on the back of SkyClaw with Randy, since she was the only one large enough to carry two, while Mark rode on Palm Tree and Red on Charizard. The former Kanto Champion seemed pretty keen on keeping Mark from seeing what other Pokémon he had, like there was something up his sleeve. It made him feel a little intimidated, constantly wondering what he'd face in the coming battle...

Palm Tree sensed his trainer's unease, glancing back at him and trying to look confident for both of them. Mark smiled at the Tropius and patted his neck, until he noticed Red beginning to descend, informing him that they were close to their destination. Patting Palm Tree's neck again he ordered him to descend; the Tropius fell into a slow, steady dive. Wind whipped around Mark's face as the ground began to become steadily closer, the sight of a city below -a much more colorful one than Pewter City- filling his gaze.

To his left, he could see the eastern foot of Mt. Moon, with a long, narrow river extending between the land and the heel of the mountain, before expanding into a wide lake over which an enormous bridge stretched to open lands beyond. The bridge was as big as Brock had described to Mark, extending at least a mile across and at least thirty meters wide; even during their battle, pedestrians crossing the bridge would be able to safely pass around them without fear of being caught in the middle of the clash.

Mark nodded his approval. "A good spot," he thought aloud.

A moment later, the group touched down onto the bridge. Randy and Brock were the first to land, and climbed off of SkyClaw to take their weight off of her back. Randy proceeded over to the railing of the bridge, peering out to the landscape beyond with awe, taking in the scenery. "Wow... I never imagined places like this in the Kanto Region," he said. "This reminds me of northern road near Fortree City, only less rainy."

"What are the best landmarks in the Hoenn Region?" Brock asked.

"Well there's the desert, just north of Mauville City," Randy explained. "Then to the north-west you've got Mt. Pyre, the largest volcano in Hoenn and then the islands in the South-East, where the Battle Resort and the Hoenn League are both located. But I'd have to say the place that stands out the most is Sootopolis city; really remote place inside of this big stone dome out in the middle of the ocean. Can sail right past it without ever knowing there's even a city in there."

"Interesting. I should pay a visit to Hoenn sometime."

"Drop me a line when you get there."

Mark watched as the two interacted, before he turned to face Red, who was standing across the bridge, minimum required distance for between trainers having a battle in the open; roughly twenty meters apart. Their eyes met, and already Mark felt tense as he stared into Red's eyes, feeling the anticipation for the coming battle welling up inside of him as they stared each other down.

"So Mark," Red called. "Now is your last chance to decide; are you sure that you're ready to take me on?

"I decided that when we met at Brock's house," replied Mark. "I've come too far to back out now; I'm going to battle, and I'm going to walk away from this either victorious or beaten."

Red grinned, already holding his first Poké Ball in his hand. "Well then, what're we waiting for?" He asked.

"Absolutely nothing," Mark replied firmly as he waited to see what Red picked first.

_ _ "I'll start with... Lapras!" Red called, tossing the Poké Ball into the air over the water; it popped open, and the Pokémon within emerged, dropping as a bolt of energy down to the water below and materializing on the surface.

The being that formed from the Poké Ball was unlike any other water-type Mark had seen; he'd heard of Lapras before but never actually seen one. It closely resembled some kind of ancient dinosaur, with blue skin and a pointed face with curled ears and a short, stumpy horn resting atop an elongated neck. Four flippers grew from its sides, paddling it through the water, and on its back was a heavy gray shell with numerous blunt knobs all over its surface. Two gentle, black eyes surveyed the waters around it as it unleashed a long, moaning cry with a light rumble in its throat.

"Wow... a real Lapras," Mark said, awe-struck by the beauty and exotic look of the Pokémon, finding himself wondering why he'd never seen one before. "Well then, we'll take this to the water," he agreed as he produced his first Poké Ball. "Go, Siren!"

The Milotic emerged from her Poké Ball after it was thrown, materializing in midair and squealing in delight before she dove towards the water, plunging through the surface with barely a splashing as Mark caught the Poké Ball back in his hand. Siren emerged from below the water's surface again with a splash, throwing water everywhere as she emerged, and turning to face Lapras.

"Water-type vs. Water-type, then," Randy stated as he found himself a spot on the railing of the bridge with his camera in hand to watch the action from above.

"Actually, Lapras is also an Ice-type," Brock stated. "Otherwise, Mark probably would've used his Tropius."

"Oh yeah; I actually knew that," Randy said, nodding. "Guess I forgot."

"This should be interesting... can Mark's Milotic use any sort of electric attacks?" Brock asked.

"None whatsoever, but she can take a big hit and get right back up," replied Randy. "Red's Lapras better be powerful or Siren will be able to outlast it easily."

Brock glanced at Randy briefly, before turning his gaze back down to the river to watch the battle.

"Okay Lapras, use Hydro Pump!" Red called.

"Siren, use Hydro Pump too!" Mark added, deciding to gauge Siren's power against that of Lapras.

The Milotic and Lapras unleashed their powerful water blasts simultaneously, the attacks meeting halfway and colliding with powerful force, creating a cloud of vapor that rose up over the bridge and dampened the groups hair -along with Randy's camera, forcing him to pull off his jacket to use as a veil and protect it from the water. Mark watched the two attacks as they powered into one another, trying to see which one had an advantage; Siren had been conditioned to endure heavy attacks but she was quite powerful on the attack as well, and it showed, as there was a slight amount of give in Lapras' attack. However, it wasn't enough to be called an advantage; Lapras was just strong enough to match Siren.

"Okay, Siren; break off and Dive!" Mark called.

Siren stopped spewing water, and immediately lunged to the side as Lapras' continued Hydro Pump raced towards her, submerging quickly and disappearing into the river. Red had seen a tactic like this before, clearly, as he hurriedly ordered Lapras to get onto a nearby rock. The dinosaur-like Pokémon raced over to the designated boulder and hopped out of the water, dragging itself onto the top of the rock and watching the water warily.

'So much for nailing this from below; I have to remember Red's really experienced,' thought Mark. 'Siren can't hear me now; I'll have to hope she can...'

_ _ His thoughts were interrupted as Red gave Lapras its next command. "Now, use Ice Beam to freeze the river around you!"

"Crap!" Mark hissed.

Lapras opened its mouth wide, rearing back its head as a white glow filled its mouth, before exhaling a stream of cold power that shot out like lightning bolts, but froze the water on contact, rapidly spreading the ice over the surface. Mark caught glimpse of movement in the water, seeing other water-types racing away, one of them being Siren herself, narrowly escaping the ice attack as it ceased spreading. 'That was close,' he thought.

"I can't see where Siren went," Randy said.

"Me either," agreed Brock. "But she certainly can't come up from below Lapras now with all that Ice in the way."

Red patiently stood waiting, as did Lapras safely perched on her rock, out of range of any surprise attacks from below by Siren thanks to that island of ice it had created around itself. The only way Siren was going to get at Lapras from that angle was to have her climb onto the ice and attack from there, but by the time she dragged herself onto the ice, Lapras would attack before she was in position to launch one herself, and Siren didn't have the strength to break through the ice.

'No matter how I look at it, the only way we can get an edge here is by getting Lapras back into the water, somehow,' Mark thought. 'As long as it's on that rock and surrounded by that ice, it's untouchable.'

_ _ Suddenly, he had an idea!

Cupping his hands over his mouth he hollered down at the water at the top of his lungs. "Siren, surface and attack with Twister!"

Not one second later, Siren burst out of the water, throwing droplets everywhere as she spun in midair, her head ribbons thrashing about like the rotors of a helicopter as she twirled; Red ordered Lapras to attack with Hydro Pump, but the Twister attack formed first, deflecting the water attack as it rushed over the water, onto the ice and raced towards Lapras, too swift for it to dodge; the Twister hit home, and Lapras was launched off of the rock, falling below the bridge where Red could no longer see it, and splashing back into the water.

"Now Siren, Bind attack!" Mark called.

Lapras straightened its posture again, bringing itself back to a proper upright position, but before it could even move, Siren erupted from the water at its flank, whipping around its middle and tightening her tail around its shell and belly before starting to squeeze, surprising the Lapras with her strength. She made another loop, wrapping her upper body around the base of Lapras' neck and began to constrict, forcing the air from its lungs.

"No you don't!" Red growled. "Lapras, Confuse Ray!"

Using the flexibility of its elongated neck, Lapras leered down at Siren, and its eyes glowed a bright violet before a flash of light shone from its eyes; Siren stiffened as that light filled her gaze, and suddenly felt tipsy and dizzy, loosening her tail around Lapras and giving the other Pokémon the chance to slip away, paddling frantically through the water as Siren's grip became lax, and swimming back out into view on the other side of the bridge, forcing both Mark and Red to run over to the other side where they could see their Pokémon again.

"Nice work, Lapras!" Red called.

Siren shook her head to clear it, but still saw lights dancing in front of her eyes from that confuse ray, shakily swimming after her opponent. "Siren; use Hydro Pump!" Mark called.

Siren heard her trainer calling her, but because of the effects of confusion she couldn't see what her target actually was, and launched the Hydro Pump in the wrong direction, missing Lapras completely and hitting the shore instead. Red retorted with the same attack, and this time Siren took a direct hit, blown across the water by the Hydro Pump and reappearing back at the other side again, forcing Mark to run back over to the previous side of the bridge once more, seeing her lying on the ice bed, slightly stunned.

"Siren; you have to move, hurry!" Mark called, knowing Lapras was likely in hot pursuit of the Milotic.

Hearing her trainer's call, Siren shook her head again, blinking harshly and finally freeing herself of the Confusion. She looked up as she heard Red order Lapras to use Ice Beam, seeing her opponent closing in and firing off the attack. Reacting fast, Siren dove back into the water, narrowly avoiding the attack and vanishing beneath the surface.

"Now, Lapras; hurry and get back on the rock!" Red called.

"I don't think so; Siren, Hyper Beam!" Mark called out.

The instant Lapras he climbed onto the island of ice and started sliding towards the rock, Siren emerged from beneath the waves and fired the Hyper Beam right at the boulder just as Lapras pulled itself onto it; the boulder exploded and Lapras was launched into the air, squealing in terror as it felt a sense of vertigo as it was sent skyward by the force of the attack, flapping its flipper futilely and trying to regain control as gravity took effect. If Lapras didn't hit the river, the fall would be painful, but the angle of its climb was sending it off course, and it immediately became clear that it was going to miss the river and hit the bridge!

"Lapras, come back!" Red called, aiming the Poké Ball at Lapras and sending the red beam towards it, striking it directly and converting it into energy before it was reeled back into the Poké Ball safely.

"That was a close one," said Mark. "Sorry, Red."

"That's okay," assured Red. "We both have some really strong Pokémon, so I knew this battle was going to get a little crazy. I'm just glad Lapras wasn't hurt by that fall; that could've been disastrous. But, first round goes to you."

"Man, that was some battle," said Brock.

"Only the first round and that looked like it really took all of Mark's skill and Siren's power to win it," agreed Randy. "And they've both got five Pokémon left; this battle's just getting started."

Siren slithered around one of the support beams for the bridge and used it to climb up, emerging over the rail and squealing loudly to announce her arrival as she moved over to Mark. He chuckled as she half-curled around him, draping her neck over his shoulders and nuzzling his cheek. "Great job, girl; you did me proud," he said, stroking the back of her neck, earning an affectionate lick from her in return.

"Your Milotic is amazing, Mark; good job," Red complimented. "But that was just a warmup; now things get heavy!" He threw his next Poké Ball forward. "Come on out, Snorlax!"

Out of the ball a huge, plump Pokémon emerged. Possibly one of the biggest Pokémon Mark had ever seen in his life next to a Steelix, it had a big, fat body of blue-green with a cream-coloured face, chest and belly, its eyes narrow almost to the point of being closed, with two fangs jutting up from its lower jaw. It had short, stubby but powerful-looking arms, equally short and stubby legs with cream-coloured foot paws, each one ending with three pointed toes. The big Pokémon rumbled lazily as it scratched its belly with one arm, before letting out a big yawn.

"Uh... he just wake up from a nap?" Randy asked.

"That's actually good for Red; it means Snorlax is at full strength and ready to battle," stated Brock. "And Snorlax has incredible physical strength."

"Siren, you okay to continue?" Mark asked the Milotic as she uncurled herself from him, getting a nod and a light whimper in reply. Mark nodded back to her. "Alright, first use Recover, just in case."

Siren turned to face Snorlax, her body glowing as she poured her energy to heal the slight injuries she'd sustained during her battle with Lapras; she hadn't taken too much damage in that battle, but as Mark thought, it was better to be safe than sorry; there were no Snorlax in Hoenn and so Mark had never battled one, but he did know they were a Normal-type, and therefore weak to Fighting-types. 'I gotta save Vitesse for later though; Siren should be able to handle this plump Pokémon no problem. It can't possibly be very fast.'

_ _ "Alright, big guy; go!" Red urged. "Hit it with a Rollout!"

Snorlax grunted before curling up into a ball and tumbling forward, picking up speed rapidly as he rolled towards Siren. He didn't start off very fast though, giving her the chance to get out of the way, but he already began circling back around to attack again. "Siren; Blizzard!" Mark called.

Siren reared back her head before exhaling a powerful stream of ice and snow from her mouth, barraging Snorlax with the attack, but it seemingly had no effect on the huge Pokémon, and the bulky Snorlax kept coming. She ducked out of the way again, and Snorlax uncurled, bouncing off of its backside before landing on its feet with enough force to make the bridge rumble beneath their feet and leaving Mark slightly off balance by the tremor.

"Whoa, quite a heavyweight!" Mark exclaimed. "Okay Siren, Blizzard again!"

Once more, Siren unleashed the attack, exhaling a huge blizzard again at the Snorlax. This time, Snorlax took the attack directly, as Siren attacked just as he was turning around. Snorlax was buffeted by the onslaught of ice and snow, boring into his chest with sheer cold and force...

Snorlax did not even move, or react to the attack.

"The hell?" Mark demanded, utterly stunned. "Uh... Siren, try a Hydro Pump!"

Red merely stared, amused and watching as Siren charged up the attack, putting all of her power into the Hydro Pump, slamming Snorlax with incredible force, but still the big Pokémon did not yield, leaving Mark and Siren both stunned and appalled at how it had taken two of Siren's heaviest attacks and had not seemed to move. "What the hell's going on here?" Mark demanded.

"Snorlax is resistant to Ice and Fire-type attacks because of the thick fat on his body," Red replied. "And he's also really strong against most Special Attacks."

'Screw me with a fire poker...' Mark thought in exasperation before he adopted a scowl. "Okay, let's put his defense to the test then!" He declared. "Siren, Hyper Beam!"

Siren squealed loudly as she put everything she had into her most powerful attack, firing the Hyper Beam at full power directly at Snorlax. As before, Snorlax was too slow to dodge it, taking the full force of the beam directly to the belly; Snorlax's face contorted with pain as he took the attack, pushed back across the bridge as he struggled to keep his balance in the face of such power. "Snorlax, Body Slam!" Red called.

Mark's jaw fell agape as Snorlax suddenly sprang, the deceptively powerful legs of the massive Pokémon launching him into the air higher than Mark dared believe such a large being could jump and successfully escaping the Hyper Beam! "Oh my freakin'...!" And then he realized Snorlax was dropping directly at Siren, who had stopped using the attack to catch her breath. "Siren, look out!" He cried, alerting her to the oncoming danger.

Siren looked up, eyes widening in horror as Snorlax began to fall towards her from twenty feet in the air, dropping belly first with arms spread out and a big grin on his face, calling out gleefully as he fell like a bomb. Siren shrieked in horror, turning and struggling to drag her drained body out of the way, but her lower half was caught under Snorlax's bulk, slamming down hard and trapping her tail painfully under the blubbery behemoth. Siren screamed in pain, trying to pull her tail free, but Mark could see the fatigue on her face; she couldn't use Recover again and that last Hyper Beam had been her strongest attack, yet it had still had not stopped Snorlax...

Mark grunted with displeasure, but he wasn't about to push Siren any further; without a second though he produced her Poké Ball and held it up. "Siren, return," he said, recalling her to the ball and releasing her from being pinned beneath Snorlax.

With that, Mark began to rethink how he was going about this battle... 'Just like when I battled Lance, trying to carry my Pokémon in to the second round didn't work; Red knows exactly which one of his Pokémon perform best against mine, so from this point on after each battle, I'm going to recall them and pick a new one based on what Red picks. If he's got one of those Legendary Birds with him at least I'll have options, and it'll keep him on his toes. I think that's the only way I'm going to beat this guy.'

_ _ Red had figured out just by battling his Lapras against Siren that the Milotic was a Special Attacker and Defender, and from there hypothesized that a Physical Attacker with high Special Defense would be his best option, and he'd been right; Snorlax was the best Pokémon for the job with that. Now Mark had to wonder who among his Pokémon could take on this ball of blubber before him. 'Can't use Fang against him; he's too small to hurt something that big,' he thought. 'Vitesse could floor this Snorlax in a heartbeat without him ever laying a paw on her but I've got to save her energy...' He looked over his shoulder at Palm Tree. 'Special attacks won't work, so I've got only one move to make.' "One heavyweight against another!" He called as he hurled the Poké Ball forward. "Go, Tanker!"

From the confines of his ball, the Steelix emerged, rising high on his tail to stand over Snorlax as he elicited a rumbling from his throat, glaring at Snorlax harshly with his deep red eyes. Red narrowed his eyes as he saw the Steelix, and suddenly Mark was expecting him to switch Pokémon -probably to a Fire or Fighting-type to combat the Steel-type Steelix, and a Fire-type means he'd be switching to Charizard, unless he had a second Fire-type at the ready, but Mark knew Red had a Hitmonchan or a Hitmonlee in his Pokémon collection somewhere; maybe he'd brought one of them to the battle...

However, Red did not recall Snorlax; he elevated his gaze, and gave the first order. "Alright, Snorlax, use Body Slam!"

Snorlax made that impossible jump again, soaring high over the bridge and dropping belly-first back towards Tanker as he had done to Siren, falling harder and faster than before...

He hit Tanker square in the face...

And thudded against him like a bug on a windshield.

"Brargh!" Snorlax grunted as he was stopped dead in his descent, laying flat against Tanker's face before sliding off and falling back down to the bridge and crashing down like a beached whale, groaning.

"What happened?" Red asked. "Snorlax weights better than a thousand pounds!"

"Normal-type attacks don't do much against Steel-types," Mark stated. "And Tanker is more than strong enough to take a belly flop from your Snorlax." Mark pointed at Snorlax. "Now, use your Iron Head attack, Tanker!"

Tanker rumbled loudly as he charged forward, lowering his head and slamming into the Snorlax as it tried to get back, ramming him like a bulldozer and sending him rolling several meters away, until he managed to right himself back onto his feet, glaring at the Steelix. "Snorlax, use Superpower!" Red called, calling out a Fighting-type move, evidently aware of Steel-types weakness to fighting types as well.

Snorlax charged, putting up both fists as he ran towards Tanker, every step shaking the ground like an earthquake as he charged. Tanker braced himself, not even waiting for an order from Mark, and simply let Snorlax make the attack; the huge Normal-type pounded his fists against Tanker's body and even his large head a couple of times, rattling even the sturdy Steelix as it took the onslaught of powerful punches. Even Tanker could feel the hits, but thanks to his incredibly tough body, he was able to take the punishment.

He took the hits until Snorlax ran out of breath and had to stop, and that's when Mark made his move. "Now, Iron Tail, full force!" Mark called.

Tanker roared and swung himself about, swinging his tail about and slamming Snorlax like a wrecking ball, sending him flying several feet in the air before he landed on the bridge with a crash that actually made Mark and Red's feet leave the ground briefly, a mark left on his belly where Tanker had struck him. Snorlax defiantly tried to sit back up, gritting his teeth as Red urged him to hold on, but due to the side-effect of using Superpower, Tanker's Iron Tail had done serious damage, leaving Snorlax winded and battered. After a moment of trying to get back up, Snorlax slumped, dropping thunderously back to the ground.

"Snorlax..." Red said, defeated as he produced Snorlax's Poké Ball and held it up. "Good job big guy; come back." And with that, the Snorlax returned to the confines of its Poké Ball, dematerializing into energy and pulled back inside.

"Nice work, Tanker!" Mark declared, getting a rumble of confirmation from the Steelix. 'Two down, four to go.'

"Your Steelix is tough, Mark," Red called. "I've never even seen a Rock-type take that many hits from Snorlax's Superpower attack and stay standing like Steelix did."

"Tanker's got a body hard enough to nullify just about any impact," replied Mark. "Even at type disadvantage, I'd wager he's got a good chance against any kind of physical attacker. He may not have been able to beat Lance's Haxorus, but I still believe he can take anything thrown his way."

Red grinned widely. "I'm about to put that belief to the test," he stated as he held up his next Poké Ball. "Alright; go!"

Out of the ball emerged a whole new Pokémon; a squat, quadrupedal creature with bluish-green skin, a brighter hue than Snorlax before it -Teal was the term, Mark recalled as he studied the new Pokémon. It had round, red eyes, half-lidded and stone-faced even as it opened its large mouth to roar. It had no tail, despite looking reptilian or perhaps amphibious, its four broad feet ending in three-clawed toes. Growing from its back was a huge, pink and white flower supported on a brown stem... or maybe stump; the 'stem' looked more like it was meant for a tree, and from the base grew four massive palm frond leaves, laying on top of its head, over its side and on its lower back.

"Hey wait, isn't that..." Mark reached for his PokéDex, opening it and aiming the scanner towards the new Pokémon.

'Venusaur, the Seed Pokémon: The evolved form of Bulbasaur and Ivysaur. Venusaur absorbs sunlight through the petals on its back, which are said to gain vivid colours after consuming enough sunlight, and stays constantly on the move to gather as much as possible. After rainy days, Venusaur's flower produces a stronger scent that attracts other Pokémon. Venusaur can use a variety of attacks, including Powder moves and its most powerful attack, SolarBeam. Venusaur genders are identified by the bud of its flower; if it is male, the stem is open, while a female has a seed lodged in the stem.'

_ _ "Where did Red get a Venusaur?" Randy asked.

"Well he is the first trainer to ever complete a regional PokéDex, you know," replied Brock, matter-of-factly.

Unknown to Mark and Red, so transfixed on their battle, a crowd had gathered to the side to observe; most of the people there recognized Red easily, remembering him as their former League Champion, but they did not know who he was battling. A few of them, however, had clearly heard the rumor of a stranger from another Region having beaten their current Champion, Lance, because having just recalled a Steelix and now sending out a Charmeleon, both of them Pokémon he'd used in his battle with Lance, it was starting to become easy to connect the dots.

Mark's attention was solely on the battle though. 'Just as I figured,' He thought sternly. 'Red's choosing his next Pokémon based on what I have out so he can take the second round; Venusaur's a special-attacker and a Grass-type, making it ideal for overcoming Tanker's high Defense. I'm not that predictable, though.' He raised Tanker's Poké Ball, using the recall function to call back the Steelix. 'Steel-types have no edge over Grass-types, not even a resistance, and Tanker's ground-typing will leave it weak to Grass-type attacks. Using him against Venusaur is not a good move.'

_ _ "I see you've caught on to what I've been doing," Red called, as if reading Mark's mind. "So, now that I picked a Grass-type, are you going to send out your Blaziken?"

'Trying to bait me,' Mark thought, but grinned deviously. "Vitesse's not the only Fire-type I've got, pal."

"What?" Red asked, clearly having not expected this.

"You're not the only one with a red-hot lizard on their crew!" Mark declared as he produced his next Poké Ball. "Come on out, Coal!"

Out of the ball, Coal emerged, growling eagerly as he emerged into open air and dropped down on all fours, grinning at Red and Venusaur as his sharp blue eyes met that of the latter.

"That's a... A Charmeleon," Red said softly, eyes widening as he slipped into a state reminiscence at the sight of the Charmeleon. Mark watched curiously as Red stared at Coal, unaware of the memories that raced through his mind as he laid eyes upon the fire lizard. "Wow... that really takes me back."

"You okay, Red?" Mark called.

"Yeah; sorry," returned Red. "It's just seeing your Charmeleon reminded me of way back when Charizard was still one himself. I took on the Vermillion Gym Leader, Lt. Surge, and the Celadon Leader, Erika, with him, and we even battled Team Rocket at the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town, along with the ghost haunting the upper floors."

"Sounds like quite a -wait... Ghost?" Mark repeated. "Not a Ghost-Pokémon, but an actual ghost as in a Pokémon or a person that died?"

Red nodded, his expression souring. "Yes... I'm afraid so. The ghost of a Marowak that died protecting a Cubone -its baby, from Team Rocket. They couldn't capture her and she wouldn't let them near her child, so they killed her. Just like that."

Mark scowled. "Sons of bitches..." He growled. "Well, they got what was coming to them, I trust?"

Red nodded. "They did. Team Rocket's been gone for five years now; nobody has seen them since Ethan from Johto stopped their return, and their former boss, Giovanni, hasn't been seen in years either."

"Good riddance," said Mark.

Randy looked at Brock, a bewildered look on his face. "Hang on... Red has seen an actual ghost before?" He asked.

"So he told me, but I wasn't there to see it myself so I don't know for certain," replied Brock, shrugging. "Red's not one for fantasies, though, so I don't doubt he saw something out there in Lavender Town."

"Huh..." Randy remarked, still not sure what to make of the idea behind an actual Pokémon spirit.

"Alright, let's get back to it," Mark stated. "You ready, Coal?"

"Garrar!" Coal growled in reply.

"Alright, Venusaur, use Vine Whip!" Red called.

Venusaur roared, and out from beneath the palm frond leaves on his back -the lack of a seed in the flower told Mark the Venusaur was male- several vines erupted into view and lashed out towards Coal. At Mark's command, the Charmeleon darted to the right, evading the vines even as Venusaur repeatedly snapped them out the ground, once again using that remarkable speed and agility to evade the attacks by Venusaur.

"Use Flame Burst!" Mark called.

Coal spat a fireball towards Venusaur, striking the ground near him and sending little embers blowing in every direction. Venusaur recoiled, shutting his eyes to protect them from the little flames. He didn't see Coal making his next move, and opened his eyes to find the Charmeleon standing right in his face, eyeing him deviously. Mark gave the next command, and Coal leapt back as he sent another flame burst right in Venusaur's face, blasting his forehead with fire and heat that left a burn where it struck, and several hot spots all over his back, leaving him growling furiously in pain.

"Nice hit, Coal!" Mark complimented.

"Venusaur, use Stun Spore!" Red called.

Mark's eyes widened. "Coal, get away!" He cried.

Not hesitating for even an instant, Coal turned and ran the other way from Venusaur as the shower of coppery-powder exploded from the flower on his back, raining all around him. Thanks to his swift sprint, Coal managed to barely get out of range of the powder, skidding to a stop and turning to leer at the Venusaur again.

"That was too close," Mark said, sighing with relief.

Red flicked the tip of his nose before he stood as if thinking of something. Mark couldn't tell what was on the mind of his opponent, but he noticed Red kept looking at Venusaur, and then at the sky, repeating this several times until he finally shook his head, and Mark saw him mouth the words 'too risky' before looking back at Coal. "Okay Venusaur, use Vine Whip again, and this time show him all of your vines!"

Venusaur roared in affirmation before he extended his vines. But there were not just two like this time; two, four, six... ten vines exploded from Venusaur's back, each one long, thick, and powerful, ending with a bulbous tip for additional striking power.

"Oh this is bad..." Mark muttered.

"Now, snap away, Venusaur!" Red called.

Venusaur roared and lashed all of his vines forward systematically, striking with one at a time and each one only a second apart from the last as they reached for Coal. Immediately, the Charmeleon started strafing, running to the side to avoid the dangerous snapping whips. Every snap of the vines sent a sonic boom through the air that made Mark and every spectator instinctively close their eyes as the sound waves emitted by the vine impacts reached them, while Coal struggled to evade what would no doubt be a painful hit if he didn't keep ahead of the vines.

Venusaur was not stupid, however; it quickly caught on to Coal's movement patterns, and shot one of its vines straight out into the path of his sprint, causing Coal to instinctively skid to a halt trying to avoid the attack. "Coal, above you!" Mark cried, but it was already too late for Coal to avoid it. A powerful vine came down like a hammer, and struck Coal right on top of his head, making stars explode across his vision as he took a direct hit, stumbling awkwardly backwards before falling onto his rump, eyes rolling and blinking furiously as Coal tried to recover from the hit.

"Now Venusaur, use your vines for a Bind attack!" Red called.

Venusaur growled and lashed his vines forward, the first two reaching Coal wrapping around his feet before both looped once around his legs, yanking him roughly towards the massive Pokémon before pulling the Charmeleon helplessly into the air. Coal instinctively thrashed, despite his vision having still not cleared as the vines wrapped around him, closing around his belly and trapping one arm against his side before a fourth vine whipped around his upper torso. The fifth one looped around his neck and then once around his muzzle, shutting his mouth and preventing him from breathing fire.

"No, Coal!" Mark cried as his Charmeleon was ensnared by the vines, helpless to get out of their grip even as he tried to grab at the one wrapped around his muzzle with his free arm, something Venusaur saw to prevent by wrapping a fifth vine around that arm and pulling it aside, successfully stopping Coal from using his claws to get free. Mark saw Coal's eyes widen as Venusaur tightened its grip on the smaller form of the Charmeleon, keeping him bound as the air in his body was forced out painfully through his nostrils, blowing smoke and futilely trying to get back his air.

'Shit, what do I do?!' Mark screamed in his mind. 'If I'd known his Venusaur could use its vines like that I'd have picked Palm Tree so he could stay out of reach!' He had to think of something fast before Coal lost consciousness or suffered other bodily harm, but what could he do? His mouth and limbs were all tied up except for his tail...

His tail...

The flames...

"That's it!" Mark exclaimed. "Coal, Ember attack!"

Coal, understanding his trainer's plan, forced his neck forward enough to allow him to see Venusaur, and made a whipping motion with his tail, hurling small flames from the tip to shower Venusaur's flower, repeating this again and again until Venusaur really felt the effects and roared painfully, his grip on Coal loosening ever so slightly, but enough that Coal was able to free his arm.

"Vensuaur, Slam him to the ground!" Red called.

Venusaur raised Coal higher, but before he could pull him downwards, Coal flicked another Ember at him again, making Venusaur wince as several flames were dangerously close to his eyes, and then Coal used a Slash attack to cut the vines with his claws, snapping them all and freeing himself. The vines that Grass-types used for attacks like Vine Whip or Power Whip, or in this case, Bind, were basically just appendages that grew from their bodies and not really part of the main body; they would grow back within days even if cut, and there was no pain or blood, hence Venusaur only knew Coal had been freed by the feeling that his vines were no longer gripping anything when he brought it down for the slam attack

'Never underestimate a basic attack used at the right time,' Mark thought confidently as Coal dropped to the ground, glaring at Venusaur angrily.

"Venusaur, use Sunny Day, and then SolarBeam!" Red called, throwing caution to the wind in order to bring this battle to a close.

Red had to have known Fire-type attacks were empowered by Sunny Day as well, but he was left without options; Coal would never allow himself to get caught by those vines again and he was too fast to hit with Powders or Razor Leaf. Red was putting everything he had into his Pokémon's ultimate attack. Venusaur raised his head and roared to the sky at the top of his lungs, the petals of the flower on his back splaying out wide and as the sunlight above suddenly began to intensify. The air became noticeably hotter, the bright light stinging the eyes of everyone present on the nugget bridge, brightening the land around and chasing away the shadows everywhere.

An even brighter light shone from Venusaur's flower as he opened his mouth widely, a green sphere forming in his great maw as he poured all of his remaining power into the attack. Thinking fast, Mark ordered Coal to use Smokescreen; the Charmeleon exhaled the curtain of black fog, but immediately after, Venusaur fired his SolarBeam, the bright golden ray of solar powered destruction surging forth from his mouth, racing through the smoke and blasting through the rail of the bridge, sending dust and debris exploding through the air as the SolarBeam lanced across the sky, illuminating the side of Mt. Moon before finally vanishing from side.

The smoke cleared, and Coal was nowhere in sight.

"Coal?" Mark called. "COAL!"

"Oh no... did I overdo it?" Red asked, clearly distressed by the idea that the Charmeleon might have been blown over the edge and into the river, where he'd surely never surface...

Suddenly, a red blur sprang up from over the side of the bridge, jumping into the direct sunlight and casting a shadow on Venusaur. It was Coal, unharmed and grinning broadly at Venusaur's surprise as he turned and saw the Charmeleon mere meters above his head, with the larger Grass-type Pokémon still catching his breath after using his most powerful attack.

"There he is!" Randy exclaimed.

"Coal, you god damn little imp!" Mark called, scoldingly, before he shook his head and grinned. "Alright, little guy; send this one off with Fire Blast!"

Coal had already been inhaling, and exhaled a ball of Fire that formed the five-pointed star, racing down towards Venusaur full-tilt; the large plant Pokémon could not hope to move fast enough to avoid the attack, and took it head-on right into his flank, roaring in excruciating pain as he tumbled over onto his other side, laying helpless and beaten by the impact, letting out only one final groan before losing consciousness.

"Whoo!" Randy cheered.

"Way to go, Coal!" Mark cheered.

The Charmeleon turned to Mark and ran across the bridge towards him, pouncing into his arms as he reached his trainer and wrapping his arms around Mark's neck to return his embrace. Mark was overcome with relief, having believed just for one minute that Coal might've had an accident in this battle; such things were not unheard of among Pokémon and their trainers -accidents in a battle that could result in permanent injury or even some fatalities were uncommon, but they could happen just the same; a reality all trainers faced, hence why it was up to the trainers to determine just how far they wanted the battles to go, and if victory was worth risking their partners.

Mark pulled Coal back from him, holding him under the arms to look the Charmeleon in the eyes. "Don't ever scare me like that again, alright?" He asked. "Next time you dodge a SolarBeam, make sure you're somewhere I can see you."

Coal simply blew a raspberry at Mark, flicking out his long pointed tongue right in his face. "Oh, you little turd!" Mark retorted before he hugged Coal again, feeling the Charmeleon lick his cheek. "I can never stay angry with you no matter how much I might want to."

Red smiled at the display before he walked over to Venusaur's side, checking him to make sure he was okay. He'd suffered a nasty burn on his head where he'd been hit by that Flame Burst before, and a bigger one on his flank from the Fire Blast. "You did good, Venusaur," assured Red, not sure if the fainted Pokémon could hear him even as he reached into his backpack, producing a burn heal and a Hyper Potion to spray both over the burns on Venusaur, giving him some much-needed early treatment.

"Hey Red," Mark called. "How's Venusaur doing?"

Red looked over, smiling appreciatively at Mark, grateful for his concern. "He'll be just fine," he said, certainly. "Just needs a good long rest; this stuff should help him recover and keep him comfortable until I can get him to the Pokémon Center."

Mark nodded. "He put up a great battle, right Coal?"

"Grak-uk-uk," Coal replied.

Red raised Venusaur's Poké Ball and recalled him to its confines, leaving him to rest safely before he turned to Mark, reaching for his next one. "I have to say, Mark, it's been a while since I had such a challenging battle; I'm already down to my fourth Pokémon and you've still got five of yours good enough to continue. Far be it from me to admit when I'm impressed."

'Every time someone talks like this before the battle carries on, it seems like they're positive they're about to turn things around. Red's got something planned...' Mark thought before replying. "Thanks; you've been quite an opponent so far too."

"When I met you the first time, I was quite excited," Red carried on. "But then when Charizard defeated your Blaziken so easily, I was honestly disappointed by how I had overestimated you. Now you've come back, showing you made use of all that time since our last encounter."

Mark set down Coal and ushered him to go stand over by Palm Tree, who up until this point had been quietly observing the battle; the two Pokémon glanced at each other briefly before turning back to watch as Mark's battle carried on.

"I think if I'm going to beat you, I need to turn the tides by force," Red carried on as he threw his next Poké Ball. "Go, Jolteon!"

Out of this ball appeared the smallest Pokémon that Red had used so far, standing only a couple of feet tall down on all fours. The Pokémon was mammalian, almost cat-like in appearance with its long pointed ears. It had bright yellow fur with a white ruff around its neck. Every inch of its fur was bristling and sparked with electricity as it growled and stared with jet-black eyes at Mark, digging its small paw into the surface of the bridge below it.

"A Jolteon," said Mark. 'Why would Red pick an Electric-type when he knows that Tanker can still battle? Something's not right here...'

_ _ "I think Red's taken a dip in the eggnog," Randy remarked. "Why would he pick a Jolteon when all Mark has to do is send Tanker back out?"

"Never assume the battle is over before it is over," Brock stated, plainly. "Red has a plan, of that I can assure you."

Mark retrieved Tanker's Poké Ball. "Alright, Red; you want to play it like that? Try this!" And with that, he threw Tanker's ball forward, calling the Steelix back out once again, rising up on his tail and towering over Jolteon. "But I'm quite familiar with a Jolteon, and I know there are no attacks it can learn that can take down a Steelix."

"He's not going to have to, because he's not sticking around," Red stated. "And neither is your Steelix! I knew that if I tossed out my Electric-type you'd throw him in, but there's only one of your Pokémon I want to battle now, and I'm going to make you bring it out. Jolteon, Agility!"

Jolteon rushed forward with blinding speed, moving in a zig-zag pattern as it charged straight for Tanker. At Mark's command, Tanker attacked with a Double-Edge, charging at Jolteon and attempting to slam into him, but Jolteon easily banked out of the way, rushing to the side and facing Tanker. "Now Jolteon, use Roar!"

Jolteon opened his mouth wide and unleashed a deafening yowl that seemed to shake the very air itself, making Tanker cringe at the noise. Without warning, Tanker suddenly dematerialized into energy and raced back to his Poké Ball without Mark prompting him to do so, leaving Mark a little caught off guard; he had not expected a Roar attack, but he was even less prepared when suddenly another of his Poké Balls popped open; Vitesse's ball had been opened by the roar, and a confused Blaziken appeared on the field, glancing back at Mark curiously as she had not heard herself being called out.

"Hey, what the...?" Mark demanded.

"Now, Jolteon, Volt Switch!" Red shouted.

Electricity exploded from Jolteon's body, surging across the battlefield towards Vitesse while simultaneously launching itself back towards Red. Vitesse braced herself and took the bolts, falling onto her back from the unexpected charge hitting her while Jolteon suddenly disappeared back into his Poké Ball -the side effect of Volt Switch, leaving Mark baffled and confused; what was Red doing?

"Now that I have your Blaziken out, it's time for the main event!" Red declared as he tossed out another Poké Ball that had been in his other hand. The ball flew forward, and Mark felt a pit in his stomach as he realized there was only one Pokémon that ball could be containing...

The ball opened, and out of its confines, Charizard formed, emerging in midair and landing on the bridge feet first with a mild tremor marking his arrival, before he threw back his head and roared to the sky. The sight of him left the ever-growing crowd of spectators completely awe-stricken, eyes wide and camera phones flashing to savor the moment they got to see the Charizard of one of the world's most famous Pokémon Trainers. When he stopped roaring, smoke poured forth from his nostrils as he leveled his gaze to look at Vitesse, recognizing her instantly and narrowing his eyes.

"Okay, didn't see that one coming," stated Randy.

"Looks like Red wants to speed this up," Brock stated. "I knew he was eager to battle Mark's Blaziken but I never imagined he'd pull a fast one like that."

"Fast one is right; that Jolteon was quicker than the eye, and Red made use of it. But why didn't he just send out Charizard to begin with? Mark's been wanting that rematch for a while now."

"Well Red didn't know that," Brock replied, irking an eyebrow at Randy. "How could he? For all he knew, Mark was waiting to use some other Pokémon to take on Charizard, but that Blaziken is his real target."

'Man, I thought for sure Red would want to save Charizard for last,' Mark thought. 'He's still got three Pokémon left and he already brought him out; he must want the two to battle as much as I do.' He chuckled light-heartedly. 'Well, so much for my strategy.'

_ "Chik?"_ Vitesse clucked, looking back at Mark uncertainly after she sat up.

"You okay girl?" Mark asked, and Vitesse answered with a nod. "Alright. You ready to battle then?"

Vitesse turned to face Charizard once more and rose to her feet; the Volt Switch hadn't been a very heavy one, as she hadn't suffered much damage from it. More of a surprise-attack than a harsh one, but it had the results Red had wanted; Roar could have just as easily brought Fang out instead of Vitesse, since he was also still in his Poké Ball, but luck had favored Red's gamble, and now the battle Mark had been waiting for was about to begin.

"Alright, Red," Mark stated, holding up the arm that held his keystone. "You ready to finally go all-out?"

Red reached into the inner pocket of his shirt, grasping something between two fingers and producing a shiny, round stone. "Been a while since I used this," he said as he tossed the keystone into the air, where it began to glow, along with the Mega Stone worn around Charizard's neck. By the time it fell back down and Red caught it, the light was shining so brightly it even pushed its way through the skin of his hand and illuminated his features. "This is going to be a battle to remember!"

"That makes two of us!" Mark returned as he tapped his keystone with his other hand before holding it high over his head, the Mega Stone worn on Vitesse's shoulder strap shining with it.

Both Pokémon became engulfed in violet light, shining so brightly it blinded everyone on the bridge as Vitesse and Charizard transformed to their ultimate forms. Vitesse appeared first, throwing out her arms and screeching to the sky as she became filled with power, and not a second later, Charizard appeared, looking nothing like he had before. His once red skin had turned as black as night, with its underbelly and lower jaw having both turned sky blue. Its legs had gained more muscle mass, while fin-like spikes had grown from its shoulders and elbow joints and two more below its horns, which had become sharpened and blue-tipped.

Charizard's eyes were closed when his transformation was complete, but when he opened them, they were not at all the same. They had not only turned red, but the pupils had turned white, his stare enough to send a shiver creeping up Mark's back. And as he growled, blue flames exploded from the sides of his mouth, and just sat there burning away, bathing his face in a blue glow that only added to how intimidating he had become. Last of all, this time when he roared, it was even more frightening to hear, deeper and more feral-sounding than before as he stared at Vitesse with the same kind of look Lance's Hydreigon had given her when she had battled him. The look of a dragon, hungry for battle.

"Ho...lee... shit," Mark said, eyes wide and heart racing at his first sight of a Mega Charizard. Never in his entire career as a trainer had he seen one before, or met any other trainers who had battled one, since Charizard was not often found in Hoenn. Even Mark finding a Charmander for himself as an egg had been pure luck, but Coal was still young and not quite old enough to become a Charizard yet. Even if he could, Mark didn't have a Mega Stone meant for a Charizard -better known as a Charizardite.

Mark had no idea what to expect from this new opponent... but somehow that only excited him more.

"Man that's one hell of a Pokémon!" Randy exclaimed. "I never knew that a Charizard's Mega Evolution was so... so... epic!"

"It's my first time seeing one too," Brock admitted. "And this is one moment I'm never going to forget."

After managing to calm himself a little, Mark finally managed to find some words to speak in regards to this sight. "Red... that is by far one of the most amazing Mega Evolutions I've ever born witness to," he said. "I have to thank you for considering me worthy to see it."

"Just don't make me feel like I'm overestimating you," Red returned with his arms crossed, grinning at Mark. "I only reserve Charizard's ultimate power for the best opponent, so you better bring it."

Mark couldn't help but grin back. "Consider it brought, pal. Vitesse, go get him with a Blaze Kick!" He bellowed as he pointed at Charizard.

Vitesse shrieked in reply and charged forwards, sprinting across the bridge towards Charizard, who roared back at her and took flight, soaring over the surface of the bridge to meet her charge. Mark watched closely as Vitesse leapt up, raising her leg for a kick; the limb went ablaze as she sprang, and left behind a trail of fire and smoke as she swung it at Charizard just as he reared back to claw at her, and scored a direct hit right to his chest; the force of the kick was enough to stumble Charizard back ever-so-slightly...

But when Mark looked at where Vitesse's foot had connected, he saw absolutely no damage had been left behind. "What the...?"

"You can't use Fire attacks against a Mega Charizard," Red stated. "You see, when Charizard Mega Evolves, it loses its Flying sub-typing and becomes a Fire/Dragon-type. Fire attacks are completely useless against him."

Mark's surprise abated at hearing Red's explanation, and he suddenly grinned again. "Dragon-type, you say?" He asked.

"Eh?" Red asked quizzically, wondering why Mark had suddenly become even more confident.

"Vitesse, Jump Kick!" Mark commanded.

Vitesse once more sprang towards Charizard, raising her leg high and delivering a powerful kick directly to his chest as she had before; unlike the Blaze Kick, this one had much more force behind it, and actually sent Charizard stumbling, waiving his arms and wings while struggling to maintain balance, nearly thrown off of his feet by the attack.

"Losing his Flying-type means he loses his resistance to Fighting-type, and Vitesse just so happens to have that for a sub-type!" Mark declared.

Red, after his initial surprise by how Charizard was hurt by the Jump kick, albeit only a minor injury, felt suddenly sheepish, as he had actually forgotten that would happen; that Charizard would become more vulnerable to Vitesse's own sub-typing. "Well, a mixup on my part," he said. "So, time to get to the real battle, now that I've got you sized up."

"Sized up?" Brock asked.

Randy grinned ear-to-ear as he looked up at Brock, his eyes half-closed by the width of that diabolical smile he had. "They're just trading warning blows now, buddy," he said. "I guarantee you, seeing two Mega Evolved Pokémon clash is not as tame as a simple battle."

~~~~~~

Meanwhile, flying over the Cerulean Airspace...

"Lieutenant Zane, we've confirmed that the last of Cinnabar Base's assets have been terminated and have now been relocated to our operations center in the Johto Region as you ordered. We are currently transporting Subject #5 across the channel and we'll be making our way to Olivine City, where it will be safely transported."

_ _ "It's about time," Kevin returned through the phone as he sat back in his personal helicopter, seething with irritation as he tapped his finger impassively on the arm of his chair. "Relocating to Johto should not have taken this long; it's been over a month and a half since I gave that order, and you should've been out of there within the week!"

"I'm... sorry sir; it was unavoidable. The police were everywhere along the coast; we could not risk moving until their patrols decreased. Operative Marvin has assured me that he's got the police chasing their tails now, and..."

_ _ "Whatever," Kevin interjected, shaking his head. "Just make sure you keep a muzzle on Subject #5 and ensure it remains sedated; it howls even once and Cinnabar Volcano goes up in flames again, and that's going to draw far more attention than we can handle, especially with us now being forced to move in the open. Tell Marvin I want him to keep the police off our trail until I tell him to return to the Johto base. I'm on my way there now." A thought crossed his mind at that moment, and he voiced his next question. "Also... is there news of the operations to capture the other two Legendary Pokémon I designated?"

"I am glad you asked, sir; it just so happens that the operative you sent to the whirl islands has just returned with news of success. Subject #6 has now been detained and is awaiting breaking."

_ _ "Excellent, but be careful with it," Kevin stated. "That Pokémon has power beyond your wildest dreams; it gets loose, and the whole base will be nothing but a wind-swept ruin, understand?"

"Yes sir; we're taking all the necessary precautions."

_ _ "Also, have we learned the location of the two other dogs?" Kevin asked.

"We are still searching for Suicune, sir, but we have located Raikou, the electric one. There's a complication, however."

_ _ "What?" Kevin demanded sternly.

"It appears someone else has already captured it before we could find it."

_ _ "Then what's stopping you from going after the trainer and taking Raikou from him?!" Kevin demanded, his voice raising.

"Nothing, sir... I-I-It's just that the one who has it is..."

_ _ "I don't care who has Raikou; it belongs to the Syndicate, so send every operative that is in the area after that trainer! They are not to come back without it!"

"With all due respect sir, I'm afraid that would be disastrous."

_ _ Kevin quickly took note of the sudden change of voice on the line, and glared into the phone as the conversation continued. "Who is this?"

"Your newest operative, Sir."

_ _ "Then explain why you are openly defying my orders immediately, Operative."

"I know the trainer who has Raikou in his possession, and I can state without a doubt that no one in this entire base has even a chance at taking that Pokémon from him; he's the strongest trainer on this entire continent, and it grants me no pleasure in admitting it but he's much stronger than even I am. I fear taking Raikou from him is impossible for any of us."

_ _ Kevin fumed for a moment as he heard the argument, wanting to explode on the operative speaking to him with such insolence, but a sudden spark of realization made Kevin pause his outburst before it began, suddenly catching on to what the operative he was speaking to was saying. "I see... very well," stated Kevin. "Continue searching for Suicune then. If it comes down to it, I will deal with Raikou's new owner myself."

"Yes, Lieutenant Zane; I'll see to Suicune's capture personally."

_ _ "Good. When I get to the base, I want to debrief you on your recent mission success; I'll be there by tomorrow morning."

"As you command."

With that, Kevin hung up the phone, pocketing it and leaning back in his seat, pondering the recent events with some distaste; operations to relocate to Johto had been nearly ground to a halt by the sudden onslaught of activity by the coast guard and the police, hindering their movements and nearly exposing their work in Kanto. Fortunately, they had not been caught, but Kevin knew the boss was not pleased by the sudden turn of events; even the best trainer in the Syndicate had someone to answer to, and he was the only one Kevin did not wish to invoke the wrath of. By comparison, even enraging Giratina would be preferable...

Kevin absently picked up a Poké Ball from the briefcase lying open in the seat next to him, looking at the one he'd picked. His specialty Poké Ball -a modified Master Ball, containing within it the most powerful and deadly Pokémon in his possession, yet even with the destructive power of this mighty beast, Kevin would never dare challenge the will of the Syndicate's leader. Not if he valued his life. Kevin had been entrusted with the Syndicate's ultimate goal of obtaining every Legendary Pokémon in the world, and had a hand in their mission to possess some of the rarest and most powerful species ever discovered. Besides the recent setback aboard the S.S Julia, thanks to the interference of two Ex-Champion trainers from Hoenn, his objective had not changed.

A sudden flash of light caught his eye, prompting him to turn his gaze back to the window, irking an eyebrow as he peered out. Down below, he could see Cerulean City, the sprawling metropolis where the Water Pokémon Gym of the Kanto region was located. He'd visited the city before, and knew of nothing there that could cause such an anomaly. "What is happening over there?" He wondered aloud, before he turned his gaze towards the pilot at the front. "Take us over there; find out what that light was."

"Yes sir," the pilot returned diligently before steering the helicopter towards Cerulean City, angling the flight path straight ahead as he aligned with the nugget bridge, where there seemed to be some activity.

The helicopter descended to a minimum safe distance where those on board could observe the happenings on the bridge without being heard by anyone there. Kevin scooted closer to the window overlooking the bridge, leaning into it and tilting his head back to stare through the tinted glass, recognizing the signs of a large-scale Pokémon battle immediately. What caught his attention in particular, however, was what Pokémon he saw on the bridge, making his eyes widen in honest surprise.

"A Mega Charizard and Mega Blaziken?" He asked, baffled. "How could anyone have those? There are no Mega Stones in Kanto..." His gaze turned to the front again, this time to the co-pilot. "Open the Syndicate database and identify the trainers possessing those Pokémon immediately."

Without question, the co-pilot opened the laptop that had been sitting idle and unused on his thighs for most of the trip, bringing it out of sleep mode and opening to a screen with the symbol of the Syndicate as the screensaver. Several moments later, he had opened the database, bringing a closeup of the Mega Charizard and the trainer it stood nearest to.

"Subject identified as Red of Kanto; the former Champion who left the Indigo Plateau six years ago and has been travelling abroad ever since," he reported, "Known as the only trainer in Kanto to possess a Mega Stone, which belongs to his Charizard."

"And the other; the one with the Blaziken?"

"Identified as Mark Taylor, former Hoenn Champion and..." The co-pilot paused mid-sentence.

"What?" Kevin asked, impatiently.

"According to this, he matches the description of one of the two Hoenn trainers who interfered with heist of the S.S Julia."

At that, Kevin looked at the co-polite hotly, his eyes wide with astonishment at his luck of finding one of those very trainers, but promptly turned his gaze back to the bridge and the battle taking place there. "What about the other one who was there; is he down there as well?"

After a moment, the co-pilot replied. "Affirmative; there's a trainer down there with a video camera who matches the description, identified as Randy Calvin, also former Champion of Hoenn, known abroad as the Speed Demon Trainer for his use of Pokémon possessing high levels of Speed, but he's also..."

"Spare me the details," Kevin interjected, but hummed with intrigue. "Seems my suspicions about the ones who interfered with the heist were accurate; it's no wonder Marvin was defeated so easily." He looked ahead towards the rocky slopes of Mt. Moon, a quick look spotting a small plateau large enough for the helicopter. "Land us over there, quickly."

"Sir, are you planning to make examples of them?" The pilot asked, mild eagerness in his voice as if thrilled by the idea of getting the chance to see Kevin battle. The pride of the Syndicate Lieutenant made him almost sorry to disappoint his 'fan' with the answer.

"No. There are far too many witnesses down there, as well as three Ex-Champions and, if I'm not mistaken, the Pewter City Gym Leader as well. Against such odds, not even I could win," replied Kevin. "Besides," he grinned as he saw the battle starting. "I'd very much like to watch this little spectacle..."

~~~~~~

Vitesse made the first move, lunging at Charizard and unleashing a flurry of kicks at him; Charizard backed away, putting up both wing and arm defensively to block some her powerful strikes, waiting until he could retaliate with a Slash of his claws, forcing Vitesse to back off as she felt some of her feathers torn by the razors growing at the end of Charizard's paws. Suddenly, it was him on the offensive as he switched from Slash to Dragon Claw, while Vitesse used Dual Chop, their arms a blur as they traded numerous attacks, deflecting and lashing out alike as they fought with all their vigour, driven on by the thrill of a challenging opponent.

After Vitesse managed to jump away from another claw attack, she raced at Charizard with blinding speed, built up by her time in Mega Form, and delivered a knee strike directly to Charizard's gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to belch several blue embers from his maw before gasping for breath. Fighting his way through the pain, Charizard tried to swipe at Vitesse with a Wing Attack -even without his Flying sub-type he could still perform the attacks he knew.

Vitesse ducked out of the way, a second that allowed Charizard to catch his breath before he opened his wings and soared into the air, evading the next oncoming kick from Charizard. Mark joined in, ordering Vitesse to do a Sky Uppercut; she sprang at Charizard from below, launching herself at him with her fist drawn back, but just as she swung at him, he banked out of the way of the attack, circling around and flying at her while she was helpless in midair, seizing Vitesse around the waist with his short arms and holding her tightly. Red commanded him to do a Sky Drop.

Charizard plunged towards the ground with Vitesse gripped tightly in his arms, but he wasn't heading back towards the bridge, but to the end of it; their air battle had taken them further and further from ground zero of their battle, and forced both trainers and the spectators to run across the bridge to catch up with them, though it'd be a few moments before they did, leaving both Pokémon to fend for themselves and battle as they saw fit until Mark and Red arrived.

Vitesse, seeing the danger she faced against a Sky Drop, struggled to get free, but Charizard was determined to hold on, and the ground was getting nearer. Thinking fast, Vitesse angled her feet towards the ground, bracing herself as they plunged, and nearly crying out as they hit ground with her feet touching first, digging her talons into Charizard's back for balance as she felt both of her feet skidding through the dirt, tearing up the very ground as she desperately tried to slow them both down, with Charizard struggling to keep moving forward.

When they had almost come to a stop, Vitesse raised both hands and slammed them hard onto Charizard's back, sending white-hot pain shooting through his body as one of her fists hit the joint of his wings, his grip loosening instinctively and allowing her to knee him in the chest again and break out of his grasp, leaping away. Growling with anger, Charizard opened his mouth and launched a Fire Blast at Vitesse, hitting her with such force she was sent flying through the air by the explosion upon impact.

She hit the dirt hard on her back, grunting as she felt herself slide over some rather pointed stones, before opening her eyes to see Charizard already coming from above, falling feet-first towards her. With panicked swiftness, Vitesse folded her arms over her chest and rolled out of the way, feeling the ground cave under Charizards mass and sheer power as it made landfall, crushing the grass beneath his feet utterly. Vitesse rolled onto her hands and flipped back to her feet, rushing at Charizard with a Flame Charge only to be batted out of the air by Dragon Tail, sending her flying involuntarily once more.

By this point, both Red and Mark had arrived at the scene as the battle continued followed shortly by their spectators, now numbering the hundreds. The trainers watched in silent awe, seeing Vitesse flying backward through the air, until she managed a backflip and landed on both feet, breaking her fall. Charizard stepped into view as well, growling ferally as he and Vitesse stared each other down, stopping to catch their breath.

At this point in the battle, the two were utterly laden with bruises and scrapes, baffling everyone that either one of them was still going. Mark and Red both wondered if they should stop the battle, but without a clear winner to be seen yet, how could they decide which Pokémon won the battle?

"Missed a lot of great footage there, dammit," Randy complained. "Still, this is the most epic clash of Mega Evolutions I've ever seen in my life!"

"On that, we're agreed," stated Brock. "This battle has become so intense I feel like my heart's going to leap through my chest any second."

Even Mark and Red were both feeling the stress of the battle catching up to them, the pounding of their hearts and the blood rushing through their veins leaving them both pumped with adrenal-induced energy the likes of which neither one of them had _ever_experienced before. Red could not remember the last time he'd seen his Charizard pushed so far and so evenly matched with another Pokémon, and Mark hadn't had a thrill like this since his battle with Steven Stone at the Hoenn League, when Vitesse had come face-to-face with Steven's all-powerful Mega Metagross. In fact, not even that, nor his battle with Lance, could compare to what he was feeling now. This battle had surpassed his expectations, and maybe Red's as well...

And it _still_wasn't over yet.

Both trainers ran to stand with their Pokémon. Vitesse was still panting even as Mark ran up alongside her, meeting her gaze as she turned to face him, a desperate look on her face telling him she could not last much longer. He put a hand on her neck, and gave her his most confident smile. "This is not over yet, girl; you can win this. You're strong, stronger than any other Blaziken; the strongest of all. You can do it, I know you can."

Vitesse stared at her trainer, feeling his confidence in her radiating from his body like an aura, sensing that he was not ready to quit yet. Her face hardened, and she returned to a straight posture, ignoring the screams of protest from her muscles as the ribbons of flame trailing from her arms reignited, burning brighter than before as she prepared herself for the final attack.

Meanwhile, the blue fires billowing out of Charizard's jaws had cooled, turning back to a red-hot colour instead of the burning blue they had been since he transformed, his fatigue apparent; he was almost at his limit, something that had not happened in so long, Red had begun to wonder if his Charizard even had a limit to how far he could go. "Hey, Charizard... remember that day in Cerulean Cave; our greatest battle ever since the League? You didn't give up then and neither did I; don't give up now. There's still a chance you can win."

Charizard rolled one eye to look at his trainer, before returning his gaze to look at Vitesse, his pupils narrowing as he glared at her. The flames in his mouth erupted, returning to their hot blue colour as he stood up, motivated by his trainer's words. Mark, Randy and Brock may not have known what event Red was referring to, but it clearly had worked because when Charizard roared, it was with renewed strength.

"The last attack," said Mark. "All or nothing, then!"

"Charizard, Fire Blast!" Red commanded.

Charizard reared back his head, inhaling deeply before spitting out a wad of blue flames that expanded into a five-pointed shape, racing across the ground towards Vitesse. Mark jumped aside to stay out of the way, while Vitesse jumped straight up and over the attack; the Fire Blast continued on until it blasted into a boulder several meters away, exploding upon contact and demolishing the boulder in the process.

Vitesse touched back down to ground. "Vitesse, charge in and use Dual Chop; finish this battle off!" Mark commanded.

Vitesse immediately broke into a run, focusing all of her remaining strength into her legs as she rushed towards Charizard, straightening her fingers as her talons began to glow. She was still fast, even while exhausted; Charizard wouldn't get the chance to use another ranged attack at the speed she was going.

"Charizard, Mega Punch!" Red called.

Charizard drew back his right arm, clenching its talon into a fist as Vitesse neared and delivering a powerful punch as she passed. Everyone watched in silent anticipation, waiting to see what the outcome would be...

Vitesse raced passed Charizard; they action of her attack was so instantaneous the eye could not follow it, and very suddenly, Charizard reeled, roaring out in pain and rearing backward. Red's expression turned to one of shock as he saw his prized Charizard begin to fall, time seeming to slow as he watched the collapse. Charizard hit the ground hard, letting out a long groan before it finally succumbed to its exhaustion.

Vitesse stood in a post-attack position with both hands held up high. The glow faded from her palms... and she slumped, dropping to her knees. Mark sprinted across the ground towards her, but wasn't fast enough to reach her before she too collapsed, having used up every ounce of her energy to defeat Charizard at last. When Mark knelt at her side, she was already starting to devolve out of Mega form, as did Charizard just as Red reached him. Coal and Palm Tree crossed the way to join Mark at Vitesse's side as he lifted her in his arms, supporting her head.

"Vitesse, you okay?"

She didn't answer. Putting an ear to her beak, Mark heard steady breathes of are entering and exiting her throat, laboured as they were. She was exhausted... understandably so. That had to have been the most difficult battle she had ever fought, but she had held on until the very end. "Great job, girl. I knew you wouldn't fail," Mark whispered to Vitesse as he reached for her Poké Ball and recalled her, letting her rest where it'd be nice and quiet so nobody could disturb her.

"Man, I didn't even see what happened," Randy remarked, blinking in confusion. "I mean, I saw Charizard go down but I couldn't see Vitesse strike him."

"Did your camera catch it?" Brock asked.

"I guess we'll find out later," replied Randy.

Mark walked over to Red, seeing him knelt down at Charizard's side, cradling his head in his arms. "Hey Red; how's Charizard doing?"

"He's okay," replied Red. As if on cue, Charizard opened one eye, glancing lazily up at Red, and then at Mark, until it shut its eye once more, eliciting a light snore. "Heh... wow. Passed right out in record time."

"I'm amazed he was even still conscious," Mark admitted. "My friend, that's got to be one of the toughest Pokémon I've ever seen in my life."

"Clearly not the toughest one of all, though," Red remarked, humorously.

Mark actually chuckled at that. "Nice one," he said.

After Red recalled Charizard to his Poké Ball, he stood up and turned to face Mark once again, speaking in a glib tone. "You realize, though, our battle is still not yet over."

Mark grimaced. "No, I suppose it's not," he said.

Randy gawked at the two as they exchanged words. "Man, that's some fortitude... even after that last battle they still want to continue."

"At this point, I think Red wants to see this battle through for the sake of pride," stated Brock. "But, make no mistake; he may be outnumbered now, but Red is far from being out of the game."

Randy eyed Brock incredulously. "I hate to disagree with you Brock, but I have to say the writing is on the wall. He's got two Pokémon left, and he just lost his strongest one while Mark's still got two of his toughest, Tanker and Fang, left to go."

Brock suddenly grinned at Randy. "Who says Charizard is the only powerful one that he's got?"

"Eh?" Randy asked. 'Oh shit, does Brock mean that Red's got one of those Legendary Birds with him?!'

"Go, Jolteon!" Red called out, alerting Randy that the battle had resumed. Once again, Jolteon emerged from his Poké Ball, yowling eagerly as he touched down on all paws, ready to battle for real this time.

"Fang, you're up!" Mark called, sending out his Mightyena; Fang emerged from his Poké Ball with a growl, crouching low at the sight of the Jolteon, anticipating a new challenge for him to face. Jolteon visibly twitched at Fang's growl, but Red didn't notice.

"A Dark-type, is it?" Red asked. "Alright then; Jolteon, Double-Kick!"

Jolteon charged forward, pouncing at Fang and turning himself around until his back was to the Mightyena, delivering two solid kicks to Fang's side as he attempted to dodge the attack and was sent stumbling by the kick. However, that was all it seemed to have done, despite the super-effectiveness a Fighting-type move like Double-Kick should have had. This, unlike Jolteon's earlier twitch, did not go unnoticed by Red.

"What happened? That should've done more damage," he stated.

"Mightyena tend to be rather intimidating to see even for the toughest Pokémon," Mark returned. "Plus, Fang here is conditioned to take Physical Attacks like a pro, so that he can outlast even Fighting-types if he has to."

Red chuckled. "Even your Pokémon that don't mega evolve are full of surprises!" He said gleefully before issuing the next order. "Jolteon, Thunderbolt!"

"Fang, Snarl!" Mark called.

Fang's hard gaze at Jolteon intensified as he unleashed his Snarl attack, the unseen dark matter emitted by the attack striking Jolteon and making him yelp, but he immediately shook it off and retaliated with the Thunderbolt attack, shocking Fang harshly, although thanks to the side-effect of Snarl, the Thunderbolt was weakened. Though, Fang's lack of Special Defense made up for that loss. "Fang, use Shadow Ball!" Mark called, prompting the Mightyena to charge up a ball of energy in his mouth; the Shadow Ball formed in seconds, and with a bark, he launched it at Jolteon.

"Thunderbolt again!"

The lightning shot out from his body, colliding with the Shadow Ball; the dark sphere of energy swelled dangerously before exploding, and the Thunderbolt attack carried on through, showing Fang's own level of Special Attack was no match for that of Jolteon's. However, Fang had not stayed in the same place after using Shadow Ball; he had already charged forward, off to the side and causing Thunderbolt to miss, and flanking Jolteon from the right. At Red's command, Jolteon tried to use a Double-Kick to stop the oncoming Mightyena, but a punishing Ice Fang to his foot left Jolteon yelping in pain, kicking Fang in the face to get his foot free, cringing from the chill creeping up his leg.

"An Ice-type attack?" Red asked.

Mark snickered. "Fang's special."

Red grinned back. "So are the Eevee Evolutions. Jolteon, use Pin Missile!"

"What?!" Mark demanded in surprise, not expecting that attack.

Jolteon's fur bristled into spikes, and the hairs of its mane angled forward, launching from its body like miniature darts at Fang. He tried to evade, but was too slow, and took numerous pins directly into his flank, making him howl with pain as he fell onto his side, thrashing over the pins in his side. "Fang, return!" Mark called, holding up the Mightyena's Poké Ball and recalling him where he'd have a quiet place to rest.

"That's one for Jolteon," stated Red.

"Okay, open mouth insert foot," said Mark, sheepishly referring to his earlier comment about knowing all the moves that a Jolteon could learn. "I had no idea a Jolteon could use a Bug-type attack like Pin Missile."

"It's the specialty of all Jolteon," replied Red.

"Well, that won't matter now," said Mark, reaffirming himself for the next round. "Come on out, Tanker!" He called as he threw his next Poké Ball forward, calling back out his Steelix once again.

Red stared up at Tanker as he stood up on his tail, rumbling noisily as he glared at Red. "I'll be honest, I expected you to use Tanker right away when I called out Jolteon," he said.

"Normally, I might have, but I guessed that if I did that, you'd just use Roar again and Fang would end up on the field anyway," Mark replied. "And, you'd just keep using roar until Tanker was all I had left, so that whatever your last Pokémon is could finish it off. Fool me once, Red."

"Huh? Does that mean Mark knows what Red's last Pokémon is?" Randy asked.

Brock chuckled. "Don't count on it."

"But you know?" Randy asked.

"I do, and that's why I guarantee Mark doesn't know what it is, because Red's sixth Pokémon is one of a kind."

Red watched Tanker with consideration for a moment, contemplating his next move. He was silent for several moments, just watching, deep in thought. Mark waited patiently to see what Red decided to do, but was surprised when he saw Red reaching for Jolteon's Poké Ball, aiming it towards Jolteon and recalling him. "No point," he stated. "Jolteon can't beat a Steelix, as much as I hate to just throw in the towel."

Mark's eyes narrowed; even to him, calling back Jolteon was the right move, as there wasn't a chance of it defeating Tanker with Pin Missile or any Electric attacks -such attacks didn't affect a Steelix. "So... it's down to this then," he said. "You've got one Pokémon left..."

"And this one is extra special," Red stated as he produced another Poké Ball, holding it up for all to see.

Mark took notice immediately of the colour difference of this Poké Ball from regular ones; the black top with the yellow 'U' in the center telling him it was an Ultra Ball. Mark's thoughts drifted back to his battle with Lance, the last time he'd seen an Ultra Ball; a Hydreigon had come out of that one, and Ultra Balls were necessary only to catch wild Pokémon that were already powerful before their trainers even caught them... Mark felt himself started to sweat as he wondered just what was going to come out of that Ultra Ball.

"This is it," stated Red. "You beat this one, Mark, and the battle is yours."

"Let's see it then, Red!" Mark retorted, his anxiety making him snappish.

"You asked for it," he replied, before he stood sideways, rearing back his arm for a wide swing as he threw the Poké Ball like a baseball.

It opened rather abruptly, and an energy that, even in a non-material form seemed powerful beyond belief, erupted from its confines and launched the Ultra Ball skyward, striking the ground like lightning before beginning to take shape, slowly solidifying and gaining colour, finally revealing the secret Pokémon dwelling within the Ultra Ball.

The Pokémon that appeared was completely new to Mark; it stood with its eyes shut as it appeared, standing perfectly still with a thin upper body sporting a rather defined, square chest -almost like a breastplate, and a muscular lower form. Its skin was a pale-pink, and it was humanoid in appearance but cat-like as well. On the top of its head were two, short, blunt horns -or maybe ears, with a tube extending from the top of its spine down to its upper back, between the shoulders and the neck , though what purpose that tube served was unknown. It had short, scrawny arms, ending with three fingered hands with bulbous fingertips, and below the waist it had thick, strong legs, a dark purple underbelly which extended between its legs and to its tail, which was thick, longer than the Pokémon was tall, and ended in an wide bulb like a whip, and it stood on two, delicate, two-toed feet with raised heels.

The eyelids of the strange Pokémon slowly opened, revealing two amethyst coloured eyes staring back at Mark and Tanker. That look was the scariest thing about this Pokémon, making Mark feel as if the creature was looking straight through him to his very soul, and he could swear he felt a shift in the very air itself when his gaze met that of the unusual Pokémon. He had no idea what Pokémon this even was! He'd never seen anything even remotely resembling it before in his entire career as a trainer.

"What the actual freaking hell is that?" Randy asked, aghast by this strange and unusual creature Red had called out.

"I have no idea," Mark called back to him as he produced his PokéDex, holding it up and raising the scanner to focus on the Pokémon, waiting desperately for an explanation.

'NO DATA'

"No data?!" He exploded. "This is a completed All-Region Pokédex! How can there be no data?" He looked at Red and his new Pokémon. "Is that thing even a Pokémon?!"

"It is," replied Red. "But I guarantee you, this Pokémon doesn't exist in any other part of the world; it's the only one of its kind, cloned from the genes of a Pokémon that some people don't believe even exists." At that, he glanced back at Randy, who blinked back in confusion.

"Wait, hold on..." Mark said, immediately catching Red's subtle hint. "You're seriously saying that Pokémon is a clone of Mew?!"

Randy's jaw fell agape at that.

"That is exactly what I'm saying," replied Red. "This Pokémon is Mewtwo, a cloning of Mew that resulted in the emergence of something else entirely. While Mew is regarded as peaceful and passive, Mewtwo is a warrior by nature and by ability -my secret weapon, and the last Pokémon I caught before I began to quest to find Mew."

Randy turned to Brock, gaping at him. "You knew all along he had that thing?!" He demanded.

"Well of course I did," replied Brock, grinning back. "But where would the challenge have been if I'd told you and Mark about it?"

"I am going to kick your ass..." Randy growled.

"For what? I had no obligation to tell you."

Mark found himself sweating even more than before he'd seen this strange new Pokémon. 'I can't even tell what type it is! There isn't exactly a colour-consistency among types... but it sure doesn't look like a Fire or Ground-type; physique is all wrong, and it's way too scrawny to be a Fighting-type... Maybe it's just a Normal-type? I mean, if Mew supposedly possessed the genetics of all Pokémon known today, then it couldn't have been any type specifically, right? That makes sense... If it's just a Normal-type then Tanker can take it.'

"Okay, Red; I may not know much about that secret weapon of yours, but I'm not backing down now!" He pointed at Mewtwo. "Tanker, Rock Throw!"

At the command, Tanker raised his tail and brought it down hard against the ground, several stones erupting through the grass around him and flying in an arch towards Mewtwo, each one larger than the last. But Mewtwo did not move or even try to dodge, simply waiting at the stones neared.

"Barrier!" Red called.

Mewtwo made a backhand waving gesture with is hand, and as the stones finally fell upon him, but did not touch him; they thundered loudly against an unseen force field, flashes of blue light emitting from each point of impact with the shield, while the stones fell uselessly to the ground around it, but left Mewtwo completely unharmed by the attack. "Now, use Psystrike!" Red called.

Mewtwo raised both of its arms, its eyes glowing like blue stars as it channeled its energy; a similar glow surrounded its body, becoming brighter until it unleashed a blast of pure kinetic force directly at the Steelix, faster than Tanker could hope to avoid. Every impact of each stone rang like a bronze bell upon colliding with the metal body of the Steelix, leaving visible dents in his metal skin and knocking him back several feet, sending him careening to the ground.

"Tanker! Are you okay?" Mark asked, before looking at Mewtwo. 'That was no Normal-type attack, that was a Psychic-type attack, but I've never heard of Psystrike; it must be this Pokémon's signature move, and that means it's a Psychic-type!'

Fortunately for Mark, Psychic-types were not very effective against Steel-types, and Tanker had withstood the attack, which had also apparently been physical damage; Tanker's immense durability had saved him from taking any major damage, and he was ready to continue. Red actually smiled when he saw Tanker preparing to attack. "Well, I'll admit you were right, Mark; your Steelix really can take any kind of Physical attack. Psystrike relies on Mewtwo's strength in Special Attacks but deals physical damage, and you just took it."

"Now it's our turn!" Mark declared. "Tanker, Earthquake!"

Tanker reared back his head before bringing it down heavily on the ground, sending a massive tremor ripping through the ground towards Mewtwo; the Psychic Pokémon staggered, caught off guard by the quake, and that's when Tanker made his move, rushing forward across the jagged earth and charging at Mewtwo while it was off-balance. It saw Tanker coming too late, before the Steelix delivered a powerful Double-Edge attack. A glass-shattering sound filled the air as Mewtwo's Barrier was broken by the sheer force of Tanker's attack, but the act of charging through it slowed him down drastically, reducing the damage and only sending Mewtwo skidding instead of flying.

Mewtwo looked quite hurt by the attack, but stayed on its feet. Tanker shook his head dizzily, groaning. The act of smashing through that barrier had taken a toll on him, but he was still staying upright, not yet ready to give up. "Good one, Tanker," Mark complimented. "Now, hit it with Iron Tail!"

Tanker growled furiously, and charged forward once more, rearing back his tail in preparation to attack...

"Mewtwo, Aura Sphere!" Red called.

"What?!" Mark and Randy both demanded simultaneously, before Mark called out in desperation. "Tanker, duck!"

"Wait, Mark; it won't work!" Randy called.

Mewtwo charged up the Aura Sphere in its hand, forming its own internal energy into a condensed ball of kinetic force and hurled it at Tanker. As ordered by Mark, Tanker ducked under the oncoming attack, and the sphere soared over his head. But it didn't go far; it suddenly circled back around as if having a mind of its own, and struck Tanker in the back, making the Steelix roar in pain and surprise at the unexpected hit, striking with such force, Tanker was sent smashing into the ground, a cloud of dust erupting where he hit ground.

"No way... Tanker!" Mark called.

"Down and out," Red stated.

"Hold it!" Randy shouted suddenly, sprinting over to Red, not looking very pleased. "I call foul; how did you do that?!"

Red blinked at Randy in confusion. "I... told Mewtwo to use Aura Sphere, and it did," he replied, gesturing to Mewtwo. "That's all that happened."

"But that's not possible; Aura Sphere's only useable by a Lucario!" Randy protested, rather defensively. "Just like a Blaziken is the only one that can use Blaze Kick!"

"Uh, actually, Randy," Mark called out. "A Lucario or Hitmonlee can learn Blaze Kick too. It's not a signature move."

"It's not?" Randy asked, before shaking his head. "Well either way, Mewtwo shouldn't be able to do that!"

"Well, he did," Red reaffirmed. "Now, will you please let us continue the battle?"

Randy growled, before turning his attention to Mark, who was recalling Tanker into his Poké Ball, having confirmed he'd been knocked out by the unexpected Aura Sphere attack. With startling speed, Randy crossed the battlefield, running over to Mark so fast that Mark wondered if his friend should try setting a new record for the hundred meter dash, before coming to an abrupt halt close enough to speak low to Mark without anyone else hearing him.

"Okay, Mark, now you've got to win!" He stated firmly. "That Mewtwo is a freaking hack, and I saw it needs to go down."

"Chill out, Randy," Mark returned.

"I will NOT chill!" Randy returned. "That punk Pokémon can use Aura Sphere; that's against the laws of nature, man! That is Lucario's move, plain and simple."

"Are you forgetting Mew is said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon?" Mark reminded. "Chances are, if that legend is true, Mew can probably use every kind of Pokémon attack there is, because most attacks probably began with it. If Mewtwo really is its clone, don't you think it makes sense that it might be able to learn all attacks too?"

"Screw that, man! Just watch out for it; Aura Sphere doesn't miss, because it homes in on the aura of its users intended target -it's like a heat-seeking missile. You can only evade it if it hits something else while in motion or gets cancelled out by an equally powerful attack."

"Okay, noted," returned Mark. With that, Randy returned to his previous position to continue recording the battle, while Mark faced Red, thinking carefully. 'Okay... this is a problem... if that thing can use Aura Sphere, Coal's speed won't mean a thing if the attack actually chases him down; he might be able to outrun it for a moment but sooner or later he'll have to stop to catch his breath, and then he'll take a direct hit. Palm Tree would be pretty resistant to it, but Coal's more powerful than him... but alone, neither one of them can possibly win against Mewtwo!'

Mark shut his eyes, his mind slipping back reminisce on his journey. 'Have I come all this way just to lose now? Am I still not strong enough to beat Red? I don't want to give up, but I don't know what I can do! I lost Fang against Jolteon though he'd never survive Aura Sphere, Vitesse would never be able to take on a Psychic-type as powerful as this, I lost Siren already and I just lost Tanker, my toughest Pokémon! How the heck do I beat this thing?!'

Scenario's from his previous battles with Coal and Palm Tree began to replay in his mind. His thoughts drifted back to his battle aboard the S.S Julia, where Coal had taken on Marvin's Magnezone, a powerful Electric/Steel-type, successfully defeating it and winning the battle against Marvin. He then fast-forwarded to his battle against Blue, the narrow victory he seized from Red's one and only rival, where Coal had outmaneuvered his Alakazam, blinding it with a Smokescreen before going in with one, powerful attack with which to finish it off, succeeding where even Fang had failed despite having a tremendous advantage.

However, Palm Tree had failed in his battle against Blue, having been beaten by his Blastoise despite also having a type and altitude advantage over it; he'd battered it up some, but not enough to win. Next came his battle with Lance; Tanker had been crushed by Lance's all mighty Haxorus, but the small and agile Coal almost literally ran circles around the much larger and stronger Pokémon before hitting it in the blind spot with his own special attack, Dragon Pulse, a move Lance had not expected an ordinary, first-stage Fire-type to know. It struck a chord of irony with Mark as well, considering Coal's father had supposedly been a Haxorus as well.

And then to the most recent battle, against Red's Venusaur -another example of turning a weakness into a strength. Even though Coal was nearly defeated by Venusaur's impressive power and the crushing strength of his vines, when Venusaur used Sunny Day to power up its own SolarBeam, Coal had used the energy boost from Sunny Day -as it was also capable of empowering Fire-types- to increase the strength of his Fire Blast, ending the battle then and there. Mark knew that Palm Tree could have just as easily made use of Venusaur's Sunny Day as well, and...

The realization hit him like a hammer on the head of a nail. 'Of course! Palm Tree is a Tropius and has the Chlorophyll ability; he gets faster when under intense sunlight, and Coal can use Sunny Day! With the training we did at the Valley, he might be able to wear Mewtwo down enough to win!' On a whim, after finding a Technical Machine for Sunny Day on his travels, Mark had decided to teach the attack to Coal, but prior to now he'd never even considered using it; he knew it'd come in handy one day, and if ever there was a time it might have, it was now. Venusaur's own Sunny Day had already expired, and so Mark couldn't keep making use of it, so it was up to them.

The gears in his mind turned in the cogs of a well-oiled machine as his brain hatched a new plan... it was only a gamble, but it was the only move he had left.

"Well, Mark, are you going to make a move?" Red called, impatiently.

"I sure am," replied Mark. "Get ready, Red, because this is going to be one for the books!" He looked over his shoulder at Coal and Palm Tree, nodding to them. "Coal, you first. I know it's been a while since you used the attack I'm going to ask, but this is our one and only shot to beat Mewtwo."

Coal nodded, growling with anticipation as he stepped forward, glaring at Mewtwo as he waited for his first order. To Mark's surprise, Red actually smiled when he saw Coal step forward. "You know, it was actually Charizard who helped me capture Mewtwo," he remarked. "But he had to Mega Evolve in order to beat it; I really don't want to hurt your Charmeleon, so I really wish you'd just stand down now."

"Not on your life, Red," Mark returned firmly. "I did not come this far to fail now; if I'm going to lose, it's going to be while giving it my all, understand?"

"That's the spirit," replied Red. "Alright, Mewtwo, use Psychic!"

"Coal, Smokescreen!" Mark called.

Coal exhaled a thick cloud of black smoke faster than Mewtwo could cast Psychic, losing sight of its target and feeling no impact when it cast the Psychic blast forth, blowing some of the smoke away and uncovering where Coal had been seconds before, but he was nowhere to be seen. There was another sound of the Charmeleon exhaling, concealed in the smoke, and the cloud thickened further until it engulfed Mewtwo as well, making it instinctively cover its mouth to avoid breathing in.

"Hey, that's the same trick Coal used when he beat Blue's Alakazam!" Randy exclaimed, remembering back to that day when Mark had battled Blue.

"He knows Coal can't win in a straight-up fight, so he's using the smoke for cover from which to attack," said Brock. "A simple, but effective strategy."

"Now Coal, use Sunny Day!" Mark urged.

Hidden in the smoke, Coal threw back his head and roared at the sky, deeper and stronger than he had ever done before, and with that mighty cry, the sunlight above intensified, beaming strong and bright down upon the battlefield, filling those present with warmth, but as the smoke cleared, filling Coal with something else; a sudden surge of power that almost seemed to make his eyes alight as well, and he glared at Mewtwo with a look of renewed vigour, eager to battle him.

"I didn't know Coal knew Sunny Day," remarked Randy. "Never saw Mark use it before."

"I see what you're doing," stated Red. "You're using the same trick I did with Venusaur; you're using Sunny Day to amplify your Pokémon's attack strength. That may be a good strategy, but it's not going to be enough to beat Mewtwo!"

"Talk is cheap; keep battling!" Mark retorted. "Go, Smokescreen again!"

"Aura Sphere!"

Coal exhaled a breath of smoke once more, enshrouding himself with the black fog. Red only grinned as Mewtwo launched the attack; a Smokescreen would not protect Coal from Aura Sphere -just as it had done when Tanker had dodged it, it would home in on Coal's aura and strike him directly. The Aura Sphere soared into the smoke, and Red waited to hear Charmeleon's cry of agony.

"GRAAH!"

That was not a yelp of pain...

A five-pointed star of a Fire Blast erupted from the smoke, soaring at Mewtwo uncontested and catching it completely by surprise; it took the Fire Blast directly and was blown clear off of its feet, flying three meters back before landing back-first on the ground, grunting as it hit. Red looked over at Mewtwo in complete and utter shock, barely able to comprehend what had just happened to Mewtwo, and gazed back at the smoke, mouth agape, watching in stunned silence as Coal stepped out of cloud of black, flashing a predatory grin.

"What happened?" Red demanded. "Aura Sphere never misses!"

"It didn't," Mark called. "Coal's Fire Blast cancelled it out; they collided in the smoke cloud, and Coal's attack powered through and went right for Mewtwo." He smiled broadly. "I don't think you realize just how much power Sunny Day gives a Fire-type under its effects... I'm just sorry I didn't realize it myself, or I'd have done this sooner."

"You're saying this is the first time you've used Sunny Day in battle?" Red asked as Mewtwo stood up, gripping its shoulder as it glared back at Coal.

"It is. Prior to now, I never needed it; I'd trained my Pokémon so thoroughly before the Hoenn League, they were able to power through without it," Mark replied. "I taught it to Coal after he first evolved to a Charmeleon, but by then I'd already left the League so I never got to try it out in battle, and Palm Tree was always able to fight without it. The only battles I've had with either of them since then have also been indoors or in a cave -I trained Palm Tree against Rock-types inside the caves around Hoenn, where I couldn't use it."

"I see," returned Red, nodding. "I can see how that could have prevented you from practicing with it. Still, it'll take more than that to win." He pointed at Coal. "Mewtwo, Psystrike!"

Mewtwo's expression contorted to a scowl as it carried out the command, powering up its strongest attack as it had during its battle with Tanker, that blue glow from before encompassing it once again. Mark ordered Coal to strafe, and he did, running at full speed to the side just as Mewtwo unleashed the attack; the Psystrike was so powerful, the disruption in the very air itself was actually visible as it tore its way across the ground towards the Charmeleon, but Coal narrowly escaped its range, and made a beeline right for Mewtwo before it could attack again.

When Coal was in range, Mark ordered a Slash attack, and Coal pounced right for the Psychic Pokémon. A backhand motion of its arm, however, erected another barrier, causing Coal to hit an invisible wall as hard as any concrete one, bouncing off of it as if he were made of rubber and dazing him. Much to Mark's surprise, though, Mewtwo actually lunged at Coal after, swinging its body around and whacking the Charmeleon across the face with its tail, making Coal yelp as it was hit, feeling like he'd just been snapped by a bullwhip.

'So it can fight up close, too; there's just no end to surprises with this thing,' Mark thought. "Coal, Flame Burst!" Mark called; Barrier only protected its user from Physical attacks like Rock Throw or a Tackle, but it would not protect Mewtwo from a Special attack.

Coal turned and spat a ball of fire at Mewtwo, narrowly missing the Psychic-type as it leaned out of the way of the attack, but it wasn't out of danger yet; the globe of fire hit the ground behind Mewtwo before exploding, showering it with small, searing hot fireballs that made it wince, and left a nasty burn on its flank where one of the bigger flames hit.

"Now, Coal, one more Fire Blast!" Mark called.

"Mewtwo, Light Screen, hurry!" Red called.

Mewtwo put up its hands, beginning to cast the Light Screen, but Coal was quicker; he couldn't have unleashed the attack before the screen was up, so he did the next best thing. He jumped forward, tucking in his body and rolling behind the screen just as it was erected, before he stopped back on his feet, turning and grinning deviously at Mewtwo. Both the Psychic and its trainer stared back in shock as Coal inhaled deeply, opening his maw wide...

Smoke.

Coal coughed as he tried exhaling the Fire Blast, suddenly losing his footing and stumbling backward, dropping to his knees and catching himself on his forepaws, continuing to cough as he struggled to hold himself up.

'Oh no... he's out of energy!' Mark screamed in his mind, horrified. Coal's underdeveloped body had reached its limit; the battle with Venusaur, all the damage he had taken, and all that he'd done in this fight against Mewtwo had pushed poor Coal right to his limit, and he no longer had anything left to give; he'd exhausted his flames, and now that he'd stopped, the fatigue in his limbs began to descend upon him as well.

Mewtwo did not miss the opportunity, turning on Coal and seizing him with Confusion, putting a near-suffocating force all around him before raising the Charmeleon into the air and hurling him away, releasing the telekinetic hold just as Coal reached the height of the throw. He went somersaulting through the air, limp and only half-conscious, unable to catch himself. Acting purely on instinct, Mark ran forward, jumping as high as he could and catching Coal in his arms before falling down to his knees, gritting his teeth as he felt a few stones scrape his knees through his pants, but never letting go of Coal until he came to a full stop.

Palm Tree, running on all fours, charged over to Mark and Coal, stopping at their side and lowering his head in concern to look at them. Mark cradled Coal in his arms, looking at his poor, exhausted Charmeleon with sadness, but a proud smile crossed his features as Coal opened his eyes and croaked weakly at Mark. "You did great, Coal," he said. "You take a good rest; Palm Tree can handle it from here."

Coal rumbled in his throat as he let his eyes fall shut again, laying his head against Mark's chest as he drifted off into unconsciousness, spent and just wanting to sleep now. Mark stroked the Charmeleon's cheek tenderly as he stood back up without the support of his hands, staring at him a moment longer before peering up at the sun, seeing it was still shining brightly in the sky above; Coal's last act had given them a chance.

He turned to Palm Tree, eyeing the Tropius expectantly. "It's all up to you now, boy," he said. "You're all we've got left. Just give it your best shot."

Palm Tree nodded, and watched as Mark stepped back, moving away from the battlefield, hearing Red calling out to the trainer. "I have to admit, Mark... your Charmeleon surprised me," he stated. "I almost thought he was going to take out Mewtwo."

Mark didn't reply; his only concern at that moment was Coal, whom he gently laid down in the grass, petting his sleeping head a few times before standing back up and turning back to Red. "This is it," he stated. "Palm Tree's all I've got left; by the time this is over, it'll be him or Mewtwo left standing."

"I agree," returned Red, his voice filled with determination but his eyes fixed on Mark, filled with strength but not for himself. "Whatever happens, Mark, know this: this battle is by far one of the greatest I've had, second only to the one I had with Ethan atop Mt. Silver. Even if you don't win, don't give up your quest; you still have what it takes to challenge the greatest trainers in the world." He raised his cap a little, letting Mark see his entire face as he continued. "So, no matter how this battle turns out, promise me you won't abandon your quest. You can always come back and battle me again -I'll gladly accept your challenge anytime."

Mark felt moved by Red's words, feeling honored that one of the best trainers in the world -one of the very people he'd set out to test himself against was being so supportive, despite the two having not known each other long. To him, it was like they were kindred spirits, both travelling the world and braving the wonders they would face in search of their respective goals, however different those goals were. Only at the start of his journey, almost at the end of his goals in the Kanto Region, and right now how they would turn out was anyone's guess.

Mark nodded appreciatively. "Thank you, Red," he said, honestly. "Now, let's finish it."

Red nodded, and then looked at Mewtwo, also nodding to him. Mewtwo straightened its posture, and its body began to glow again, obscuring much of its body from sight. Soon, however, the glow faded, and Mewtwo reappeared, looking much healthier than he had seconds before. 'Recover... god damn it, it used Recover,' Mark cursed in his mind, until he noticed a dark spot on Mewtwo's flank; looking closer, he saw that the dark spot was in fact a burn -a lasting reminder of the battle it had just had with Coal. Recover restored some of Mewtwo's energy and healed minor injuries, but severe ones like Paralysis or Burns did not fade away with Recover. That burn would remain a hindrance to Mewtwo for the rest of the battle.

'Plus, I think I noticed something else,' his thoughts continued, 'Mewtwo reacted pretty badly to those hits it took; it can really pour out the damage, but it can't seem to take as much of it either physically or specially; it's powerful, but it's a glass cannon. It's no wonder Red has taught it Recover and two shielding attacks, to make up for its inability to withstand damage. I have to use this to my advantage.'

"Alright, Palm Tree; you can do this!" Mark bellowed. "Now, take flight!"

Palm Tree hissed loudly, spreading his wings out mightily before he flapped the palm-frond appendages, carrying himself into the air over the battlefield, a fire seeming to rage in his eyes...

Mark noticed it immediately... Palm Tree was acting a bit differently, but even as he began to fly through the air, he took note that he wasn't flying any faster... 'What's going on here?' He wondered. 'Sunny Day is still in effect, so why's Palm Tree not flying any faster? I mean he's not slow, but still...'

_ _ "Aura Sphere!" Red commanded.

Mewtwo launched the attack upon commanded, sending the powerful energy sphere soaring at Palm Tree as he flew around overhead. Naturally, out of instinct, Palm Tree banked to evade it, but the sphere circled around and struck him in the back, nearly throwing off the Tropius' flight pattern, but it was able to correct itself; Aura Sphere may have been useful against Tanker, but Palm Tree was a Flying-type as well as a Grass-type, and therefore could resist the attack.

"Palm Tree, time to make like a bomber!" Mark shouted at the top of his lungs. "Go!"

With that, Palm Tree banked again, circling around to face Mewtwo before falling into a dive. Red ordered Mewtwo to use Shadow Ball this time, having noticed that Aura Sphere had done little damage to the Tropius; one after another, Mewtwo launched several Shadow Balls at Palm Tree, but with some steady maneuvering he evaded each one, pulling up at ten meters from terra firma and soaring at Mewtwo; he was fast, not at an enhanced level but the dive had given him the boost he needed.

"Mewtwo, Light Screen, hurry!" Red called.

Mewtwo put up its arms and quickly formed the protective wall of energy before himself as Palm Tree raced over its head, dropping several Seed Bombs in his flight path, spitting them one after another in succession. One fell short, detonating in front of Mewtwo and exploding with the force of a mortar shell, three more hit the shield with incredible force, and the last four detonated in a row behind Mewtwo; the first was close enough it felt some of the blast, while the last three detonated loudly and showered both Mewtwo and Red alike with dirt and ruined vegetation. With that pass, Palm Tree pulled up, beginning to ascend again.

Randy was wide-eyed as he saw the spectacle. "Was that Palm Tree or a god damn fighter plane?!" He demanded.

"I didn't know a Tropius could use such powerful attacks," stated Brock.

"They can't!" Randy exclaimed. "Tropius are buffs in both Defense types and in Stamina for migratory purposes; they're passive Pokémon that aren't really meant to be fighters, yet Palm Tree's doing some serious damage here!"

Even Mark was blown away by what he'd just witnessed; Palm Tree had performed the overhead bombarding maneuver they'd practiced just as Mark wanted him to, and he'd done it perfectly, but even after six weeks of training, Mark had never see Palm Tree's Seed Bomb attack detonate with such power, and yet still Palm Tree's flight speed hadn't increased. Somehow, it was his attack power that had boosted, but that shouldn't have been possible...

Unless Palm Tree did not have the Chlorophyll ability.

Meanwhile, high above the scene of the battle, Kevin Zane and his two pilots were watching the battle with keen interest, bearing witness to the awesome power of the Tropius against the rather strange and unique Pokémon employed by the world famous Pokémon Trainer, Red. Kevin was watching both Pokémon equally; at first, he'd only had eyes for the unusual pale-skinned one, but now the Tropius had bought his attention with its sudden and unexpected display.

"That's one powerful Tropius," the co-pilot remarked.

"Didn't that Charmeleon use Sunny Day? I thought that was supposed to make Tropius faster, not stronger," the pilot added.

"That's no ordinary Tropius," Kevin stated firmly, eyes keenly fixed on the battle. "I think that one may have a rare and awesome ability that only one in every five Tropius ever have."

"What's that, sir?" The pilot asked.

"The Solar Powered ability."

The Solar Powered ability...

All this time... two years, in fact, Mark had this Tropius he'd nicknamed Palm Tree, learning through experience how he excelled in both forms of defense, training him endlessly against wild Rock and Ground-type trainers and battling Wild Pokémon of the same types to EV Train his defense, and tempting fate by training him against certain Wild Bug-types and Bug-type trainers to raise his Special Defense, bringing both to their absolute peak to turn Palm Tree into an airborne tank.

Yet in all that time, Mark had never known his Tropius was so special, possessing the rare Solar Powered ability; a power that boosted Special Attack by almost double its normal level. The one drawback was that the ability cost its user stamina, but the boost in their power was so significant that it often did not matter; only Fire or Grass-types could have this ability, but it was uncommon to say the least -probably why Mark had assumed his Tropius was just like the common ones.

For once, as Palm Tree made another bombarding assault on Mewtwo, pushing the Psychic Pokémon further as it futilely tried to protect itself from the Seed Bombs, but Palm Tree was blanketing such a large area that Mewtwo could not completely protect itself, taking some minor hits from the blast waves and thrown debris of the Seed Bombs, and with Palm Tree flying up so high, Mewtwo couldn't easily land a counter-attack because by the time it found its target, Palm Tree was already high in the air again.

Mewtwo could levitate; it could use its psychic powers to carry itself airborne, but fighting a Flying-type in the air when Mewtwo could not truly fly would not give it any sort of advantage; Red knew this. "Mewtwo, stand fast," he stated. "Wait for my signal, and then use Psychic; hit Palm Tree with everything you got."

Mewtwo nodded in affirmation, standing still as it waited patiently for Palm Tree to make his next pass, watching him intently as he neared, with Red watching just as closely, waiting for the right moment.

Down came the Tropius, altering his flight pattern just slightly so that it would be a banking attack, attempting to flank Mewtwo. At Red's command, Mewtwo thrust both hands forward and cast the powerful Psychic attack, knocking Palm Tree out of midair with a powerful telekinetic blast; Palm Tree hissed furiously as he was sent flying backward, hitting the ground seconds later and nearly having the wind knocked out of him when he landed, not to mention feeling some mild whiplash and dizziness;-such a sudden change of direction from flying forward to then flying backwards was hard on the body.

Palm Tree, dazed by the impact but determined to continue, rolled onto his belly and pushed himself back up onto his feet, shaking his head to clear it before glaring at Mewtwo again, although his stance was shaky; that attack had scored critical damage on him, and left him feeling weakened, not to mention in his Solar Powered state, he was losing energy faster than he normally would as the cost of his amplified power.

Mark wasn't ready to quit, and he knew Palm Tree wasn't either. 'Good thing he learns this move naturally,' Mark thought before he shouted his next command. "Use Synthesis!"

Palm Tree raised his wings as best he could, turning his gaze towards the sun and rearing up on his hind legs, catching its rays as best as he could and consuming the nutritional solar energy, replenishing his strength. At Red's command, Mewtwo used Recover again, healing some of the additional injuries it sustained in Palm Tree's many bombing attacks. However, all those times of using shields to protect itself had drained Mewtwo, and it wasn't able to use a full Recover, replenishing its strength enough only to stand tall and ready to see this battle brought to its finish.

"Palm Tree, time to end this!"

"Mewtwo, everything you've got!"

"SolarBeam!"

"Psystrike!"

Palm Tree opened his mouth wide as a light, yellow-green sphere of energy began to form between his jaws, pouring all of the solar energy he had just absorbed into this final attack. Mewtwo stood at its full height, raising its arms high, a vein throbbing on its forehead as it focused all of its remaining energy into one more Psystrike, intent to bring this battle to its conclusion.

"I think this is it!" Brock exclaimed.

"Yeah; they're both ready to end this battle right now!" Randy added. "The suspense is killin' me man!"

The crowds behind them watched with eyes wide and mouths agape, unable to look away as they waited to see what the outcome of this battle between an unusually powerful Tropius and this unidentified Psychic-type, Mewtwo, would yield. Young trainers, adolescent trainers, some adults, even some people who were not even Pokémon Trainers at all had gathered to witness this climactic battle as it reached its close...

Palm Tree launched the SolarBeam.

Mewtwo unleashed its Psystrike attack.

The two attacks collided in midair, and pushed against one another; the unseen force of the Psystrike made the SolarBeam look like it was trying to push through an invisible wall, stopped completely in its tracks by the powerful Psychic attack...

But then, Palm Tree used every ounce of energy he had, it pushed through!

Mewtwo's eyes widened in horror as the beam closed in on him, erecting one last Light Screen in an attempt to protect itself, but it was futile; the SolarBeam smashed through the shield, and struck Mewtwo directly. For the first time since coming out of its Poké Ball, Mewtwo actually screamed from the attack, releasing a long wail that seemed to echo through the air itself as it took the attack, feeling the immense power of the SolarBeam, backed by Palm Tree's determination to win this battle for his trainer, he was finished...

Mewtwo was sent flying by the attack, pushed across the air until the beam finally waned, and it skidded through the ground, leaving behind a trail of dust as its own body tore over the grass. When it finally stopped, Mewtwo fell still, letting out one breath of exhaustion before slipping into unconsciousness.

A stunned silence fell over the field at that moment...

Kevin blinked with clear intrigue at the sight of Mewtwo being downed by the SolarBeam attack, his eyes switching between the two Pokémon. He had never, in his entire career as a trainer, imagined a Tropius -even one with the rare Solar Powered ability, to show such power and tenacity in battle. It went against everything he knew about the species, but it spoke volumes about the capabilities of its trainer. And to defeat such a powerful Psychic-type, one Kevin had personally seen defeat a Steelix and a Charmeleon in succession.

Still, the battle was over, and so was his reason for staying. He turned away from the cliff, glancing at the two pilots. "Contact base and tell them I want someone to find Mark Taylor and watch his every move until further notice," he stated. "Those Pokémon he has could be of use to the Syndicate; if I deem it necessary, we'll be taking them from him."

"Yes sir."

The silence carried on for several moments as Red crossed the battlefield to kneel down next to Mewtwo, checking his Pokémon to ensure he was alright. Mewtwo was still, but breathing normally. Mark waited, expected Red to call back out his Jolteon at any second to try and finish the battle... admittedly, Mark was worried by that, because Palm Tree was already exhausted, and if Jolteon were to jump back into the battle, he might not have been able to win. The effects of Sunny Day had already faded; he no longer had his Solar Powered boost, and Synthesis would not be as effective even if he used it now.

Red stood up from Mewtwo's side, taking out the Ultra Ball it had been contained in and recalling the mighty Psychic-type. Mark tensed, waiting for Jolteon to be summoned, and Palm Tree stood firm despite his fatigue, watching Red intently...

"This battle is over," Red stated.

"Huh?" Mark asked.

"You heard me," returned Red, turning around to meet Mark's gaze. His expression was... a contented one, void of any animosity or further determination to continue the battle. "We're done. You've won."

"What're you talking about; you still have Jolteon," Mark stated. "How can this match be over?"

"A big part of battling is knowing when to stop," replied Red. "You've defeated five out of six of my strongest Pokémon already; you've already proven you're the stronger trainer." He beamed at Mark, reaching up with a hand and lifting off his hat. "So congratulations, Mark Taylor. You're the winner."

Mark and Palm Tree both fell onto their hindquarters almost simultaneously and letting out breaths they had not even realized they'd been holding. The Tropius' wings slumped, one of them draping over Mark's back, while the trainer propped his hands on the ground behind him to keep from simply falling over onto his back, letting those words from Red sink in as he caught his breath. Randy and Brock both stared in mild astonishment; despite their faith in Mark's skills as a trainer, both of them had been fully prepared to see him lose this battle... yet he had surprised them, and the crowd behind them, by winning the battle, especially with Mewtwo!

Before they knew it, the crowd suddenly erupted with applause, Randy and Brock looking over their shoulders to stare at the group. Mark and Palm Tree both turned, surprised by the sudden uproar -especially since neither one had realized that such a massive crowd had even gathered to watch the battle, suddenly feeling a little humbled by the sight of so many people cheering for him, bringing back memories of his past glory of being the Hoenn Champion as he was suddenly once again the center of attention.

As if to make him feel even more inferior in the face of so many, suddenly Brock stood up, holding up his hands for the crowd to see, and calling out. "Let's hear it for the stranger from the Hoenn Region, everybody; give it up for Mark Taylor!" And the audience increased its applause, cheering Mark's name and raising their fists in the air.

Mark made a silent vow to yell at or even punch Brock later for putting him in that spot.

Turning away and letting out a long sigh, Mark leaned into Palm Tree's side, the Tropius lowering his head to allow Mark to bring up his hand and pet his crown tenderly. "That was one hell of a job, boy," he said. "I'm proud of you... you and everybody with us."

Palm Tree hissed lightly, leaning his head into Marks hand as the trainer petted him.

"Finally... we did it," said Mark. "We beat Red..."

~~~~~~

It was an overnight stay at the Pokémon center for both Mark and Red's teams; after examining them the nurses reported they would need at least a full day in the machines, which of course included their flying Pokémon, leaving them with no way back to Pewter City. Booking rooms at the local motel, they treated themselves to a celebratory dinner before turning in for that night.

Mark slept later than usual, the events of the past day giving him a long, restful sleep. In his dreams, he saw himself lying with his Pokémon in the valley where they'd done their training, just as they had all done during their first night's stay. He could almost imagine their forms all around him, resting his head on Siren's cool scales, blanketed by Palm Tree's leaves, safely encircled by Tanker's iron body and warmed by the body heat of Fang, Coal and Vitesse all laying against him...

Hey wait a minute... something warm _was_lying against him!

Mark awoke with a mild start, immediately trying to find who or what was intruding in his bed. It wasn't long before he spotted a little red glow behind him; turning over carefully, he saw the source of the glow was the flaming tail tip of a Charmeleon, the tail laid over it back to keep from accidentally setting the blankets on fire, sleeping peacefully. The red lizard was still wearing several bandages over scrapes and had some faded but clear bruises on his body, fresh from a very recent battle. It was all too obvious who this was.

"Oh, Coal, you little shit," Mark whispered, lifting his arm out from under the covers and reaching over, petting the sleeping Charmeleon. "You snuck out of the Pokémon center." He gathered that Coal must've slipped in through his open bedroom window, not wanting to be apart from his trainer.

At his repeated touch, Coal stirred, his eyes fluttering open before he raised his head and yawning, showing that fang-filled maw of his before his jaws snapped shut, glancing about lazily until he met the gaze of his trainer. 'Gra-ru...' He rumbled.

"Good morning to you too, mister mischief," Mark returned, rubbing a knuckle against Coal's head below his unseen ear, smiling at him.

Coal scooted closer to Mark, licking his face and bumping his nose under his chin, cuddling him. Mark's smile broadened as he draped an arm over Coal's back to pull him closer, letting the Charmeleon nuzzle his neck affectionately. This continued for a moment until Mark yawned as well, rolling onto his back. "Alright... guess we might as well get up," he said, dragging his legs out from under the covers before he swung them over the side of the bed, stretching his arms and planting his feet on the carpeted floor before he stood up. Coal stood up on all fours on the bed, stretching out like a cat before rising onto his hind legs and hopping off of the mattress.

He stretched again, this time his back, before he cast a glance at the clock, surprised to see that it was already almost noon! "Wow, shame on me," he said, shaking his head.

"Rik?" Coal clicked with curiosity, tilting his head as he looked up at Mark.

"I don't usually sleep in this late," replied Mark, chuckling. "I guess that battle yesterday took a lot out of all of us."

Coal nodded his head.

Mark glanced over at Randy's bed, seeing that the other trainer had vacated the room already, but a piece of paper, torn from a notepad on the nightstand next to the phone, was left under the beam of the lamp. Mark stepped over to the bed, reaching down and picking up the note to read it.

'Good morning, sleepyhead

Went to breakfast with Red and Brock; I'll bring you back something.

Randy.

P.S: I left you a bodyguard.'

_ _ "Wait, bodyguard?" Mark asked, quizzically. He looked down at Coal, raising an eyebrow at the Charmeleon. "Then, was it Randy who brought you here?"

Coal shook his head in reply.

Mark glanced about the room, expecting to see Cairo or Velox relaxing somewhere, but didn't see any others in the room. "Huh... must be outside," he said before he walked over to the bathroom door, pulling it open and starting to step inside...

He halted mid-step, looking at the coat hanger standing in the middle of the bathroom. "Now how the heck did that get in here?" Mark asked, irking an eyebrow.

'Bakk!' The coat hanger suddenly exploded in a cloud of black smoke, a vulpine face appearing from seemingly nowhere and yelping in Mark's face with barred teeth.

"Mother-!!!" Mark cried with wide-open eyes, running frantically backwards; Coal banked right to evade his stumbling trainer until Mark ran backwards into his bed, falling onto the mattress on his back and bouncing on the coil springs for a moment as they absorbed his weight coming down.

Scrambling to sit back up, Mark glared at the Zoroark standing in the bathroom, snickering like a little kid. "Shadow!" He exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing in there, trying to give me a heart attack?!"

Shadow's snickering turned into a fit of high-pitched laughter, holding his stomach as the effects of his little prank set in, having exactly the effect he'd wanted. Suddenly Coal began laughing as well, rolling onto his back and clutching his tail to his chest, rocking back and forth as he cackled. Mark growled and turned to face the door, clenching his fist as he yelled. "RANDY!!"

~~~~~~

Later that day...

Mark and Randy stood facing Red and Brock at the edge of Cerulean city, their clothing all packed up and their Poké Balls all holstered in their carriers, although Vitesse, Coal and Cairo were out of their Poké Balls, standing at Mark's side, just as Charizard was at Red's. After picking them up from the Pokémon Center -and assuring the nurse that Coal had not run away when she had discovered him missing from his bed that morning, the four trainers had spent the morning and earlier afternoon of that day with their Pokémon, treating them to some tasty food and even let them run around in that area beyond the bridge where Mark and Red's battle had concluded, giving them time to stretch their limbs before Mark and Randy left to continue their journey.

Now, however, after a day of enjoyment, they were packed up and ready to go.

"So, you're heading to Johto next?" asked Brock.

"We are," replied Mark. "The next person on my list to challenge is Ethan, and that's where he's from -since he wasn't at the Indigo Plateau I can only assume he's wandering around there somewhere."

Red nodded. "That sounds pretty likely. If he turns up here in Kanto, though, I'll let you know you're looking for him," he promised, tipping his hat to Mark.

Mark nodded to Red, smiling at him. "I'm sure going to remember this trip for a long time," he stated.

"My offer for a rematch still stands," stated Red. "Any time you want, I'll take you on again."

"I look forward to the next time," returned Mark.

"Before you go," Brock said suddenly, stepping forward. "I have something for you, Mark," he stated as he reached into his pocket, retracting a clenched fist and holding it open before opening his palm, revealing a small, green seed-like object...

"What's that, a sunflower seed?" Randy asked.

"A Miracle Seed," Brock corrected. "To give to your Tropius; if he has this seed in his possession it'll power up his Grass-type attacks. Although, if I can just give you a word of advice?" Mark nodded to him in confirmation. "Your Tropius clearly hasn't been conditioned for the power boost that his Solar Powered ability grants him; it exhausted him far too fast. I would suggest you do a little more training with him and get him used to the feeling of that power increase, or it may push him to a breaking point."

Mark nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I figured as much," he admitted.

"That power boost was freaking scary awesome though, not going to lie," Randy stated. "I almost wish Thorn could do that."

"I have something for you too, Mark," added Red, reaching into his pocket. "A little something I found when I was in Johto."

He handed Mark a sheet of paper produced from his pocket, which Mark looked at, studying its contents; it looked like an address, with directions leading to it. The address was located in Blackthorn City, at the north-eastern edge of Johto. "What's this?"

"Directions to a famous move tutor in Blackthorn," Red explained. "If Coal has evolved into a Charizard by then, you can take him and your Blaziken both to this tutor, and learn an attack called Blast Burn; it's the most powerful Fire-type attack in the world, stronger than even Fire Blast." He looked at Randy. "You can also teach a move called Frenzy Plant to your Sceptile."

"Actually, Thorn already knows that move," replied Randy. "I met a move tutor in Mauville City who taught it to him for me."

"Yeah, Randy beat me with it when he and I battled while Mark was away," Brock admitted, mildly embarrassed.

"Well in that case, have them teach Vitesse or Coal an attack called 'Fire Pledge', and Thorn an attack called 'Grass Pledge'."

"What do those do?" Mark asked.

"Let's just say that when you combine those attacks, the effects are a sight to behold, and can really turn the tide in battle," replied Red. "If we'd had a double battle, I could have used Charizard and Venusaur to show you."

Mark looked at the directions again, considering the offer as he pocketed the sheet into the breast pocket of his vest, nodding in thanks to Red. "Well then, this is goodbye for now," he said, holding out his hand to Red.

Red graciously accepted, shaking hands with his newfound rival. Vitesse and Charizard approached each other as well, bumping fists and giving each other a friendly, yet competitive look, both of them looking forward to a rematch, just like their trainers were; during that battle, the two had formed a rivalry bond, and were now standing at an even break with the two battles they'd had so far. They could not deny they were eager for a tie-breaker, but that would have to wait.

As Red and Mark released each other's hands, Red looked down at Coal, reaching down carefully to make sure Coal was okay with his approach, and petting him gently. "Take care of this little guy, Mark," he stated. "He's not far from evolving; after that last battle, he's got all the experience he needs. All he needs now is to just grow a little more, and before you know it you'll have your very own Charizard."

Mark nodded. "I know. But to be honest, even if Coal didn't evolve, I still love him just the way he is," he replied. "So, it'd be no loss to me if he stayed just as he is."

"I hear you," said Red, nodding. "So you'll be going by the magnet train?"

"That's the plan; can you tell us how to get to Saffron City?" Randy asked.

"Just head straight south, down this hill," Brock directed, pointing behind the two to a slant descending down to lands beyond, on the horizon of which, they could just make out the outline of the tall buildings of another city. "Follow the road until you get to the bottom of the hill, past the daycare; to your left will be an underground path that'll take you straight to Vermillion City, but if you keep going straight for a while you'll reach the city; you'll know it when you get there by the largest building in sight -that'll be Silph Co.'s building."

Mark nodded to Brock. "Understood. Thanks for everything, Brock -for helping me get my head back on straight after Red clobbered me."

"No problem," returned Brock.

"So long, Mark," Red bade.

With that, both Mark and Randy turned away from the two, followed promptly by their Pokémon, and set off down the road, leaving Cerulean City behind as they made their first steps into the next leg of their journey, onto the path that would take them to the Johto Region and to Mark's next challenge.

As they descended down the hill, Mark stopped only once, looking back up the hill towards Cerulean, a smile crossing his features as he saw the flying form of Charizard leaving the city behind. 'Kanto is home to some amazing trainers. Blue, Brock, Lance and especially Red, all of them masters of their trade,' he thought before he resumed walking. 'I simply can't wait to see what I find in Johto.'

END OF KANTO ARC