The atmosphere was tense as Guile stood there, just laughing at the Frontier Brains. Ash also narrowed his eyes at the situation and grit his teeth, putting a hand on Pikachu and Vee's heads, stopping them from immediately shooting a [Thunderbolt].
For one, this was the first time he was seeing Guile. Before this, he didn't even think he would still be around since Sird was taken care of, but it looked like she had set this up beforehand, and that was a bit of an annoyance because it raised the question: who was in that armor if it wasn't Archie?
But that could come after. The main thing was that Ash also knew what that armor did. The armor itself was called Eternity. Its main ability was that it slowed down time for anyone wearing it, but it was also implied that it slightly affected the wearer's mind and enhanced their physical abilities.
But the main thing was the sword, Instant, which could reflect any attack. That reflection also combined with the armor, so if you hit either the armor or the sword, the attack could still be reflected.
And Ash knew that, so that was why he didn't immediately launch a frame-one attack, but that didn't mean he wasn't planning just in case Guile showed up. He had prepared for the small possibility.
But back to the scene at hand, Greta was the first to speak up, "No! Guile captured Jirachi!"
Green, who was across from her, looked confused, "Wha-Guile?" she asked, but not just her; everyone from Ash's group also looked confused. But with the situation they really didn't have the luxury to ask questions, so instead everyone got ready to throw out their Poké Balls just in case.
But Guile didn't seem to take anyone seriously. Even as he was surrounded, his eyes instead went over to Noland.
"Hmm, you're someone new," he said mockingly.
"Very funny," Noland narrowed his eyes, "I've been meaning to meet you to get my revenge for what you did to me when you stole all the rental Pokémon."
Guile laughed, "Oh, I nearly forgot about that. After all, the rental Pokémon made things so much easier."
But before anyone could say anything, Tucker snapped.
"You bastard!" Tucker roared, "Salamence, [Hyper Beam]!"
Salamence raised its maw and fired out a bright blast from its mouth toward Guile, but Guile saw it and, with one hand on his sword, raised it and parried the attack. Then he swung it around, shooting out a sword beam that slammed into Salamence, sending the big dragon flying and slamming against the arena wall.
The crowd screamed as Salamence crashed into the wall hard enough to leave a crater, rubble raining down around it.
"Salamence!" Tucker shouted, his eyes widening for just a second before anger replaced it again.
Guile lowered his sword slowly, the blade humming with strange energy as bits of reflected light faded off it.
"You people never learn," Guile said mockingly.
"What the heck…" Gary muttered as he started trying to analyze what was going on. He was about to look over at Ash to see his expression.
But then Brendan called out, "Ok, so that sword deflects us, then that just means we have to hit him hard before he can block us, right?" He incorrectly assumed it was just the sword.
"Wait—" Brandon tried to call out to Brendan to tell him that's not how it worked; it worked on the armor too.
But it was too late. He quickly threw out his Breloom and called, "[Mach Punch]!"
Breloom's arm stretched out, and it moved so fast through the air that it hit Guile across the face and made him slide back. And sure, it did damage. That was why Guile preferred to block with his sword.
But then the kinetic energy transferred to Guile's sword, and he swung it at the ground, causing the earth to shockwave upward and erupt under Breloom, sending the Grass-type flying.
But the sole fact that Guile got staggered, even for just a second, gave the Frontier Brains an idea, since, remember, they never actually managed to get a good hit on him in the cave.
While Brendan went to Breloom's side, all the Frontier Brains got in position and grabbed another Poké Ball. They did train for this specifically.
"We're going to give you one chance. Release Jirachi," Brandon said, gripping Regice's Poké Ball.
"Ha, funny, but I already have Jirachi," Guile said slowly as he started floating. Then, from behind him, the sounds of Poké Balls opening rang out, and eight Starmie flew out and at the same time shot [Hyper Beam].
The beams struck the ground and immediately caused the stadium to shake, and they also hit the Frontier Brains, sending them to the ground before they could even release their Pokémon, because there ain't no rules here. He would attack them before they could pose a threat.
As the Frontier Brains fell to the ground, the main gang quickly stepped up beside them, throwing out some of their Pokémon, while Ash sent out a message with his Aura to a certain someone who was about ready to come back.
Guile looked at the gang and just thought they were kids, because let's be real, the oldest of the group was Brock, and he wasn't even an adult yet. Instead, the Starmie flew out in front of him to tank the hits and fight them for him.
So while that battle was going on close by, Guile's eyes went up to the crowds of people all looking at him, and he even saw some people pulling out phones to record.
"Well, I have no reason to be subtle now. Once Jirachi grants my wish, I will be invincible," Guile said as he looked over and saw that Ash, now that he was done sending the message, had Pikachu and Vee use [Thunderbolt] together and basically one-shot all the Water-types.
Not only that, but the Frontier Brains were starting to stand up and get ready to throw out their own Pokémon to join the fight.
Guile, while still in the air, put his hands on his armor and opened it, "I have no need for these now. You can have them back."
Then he opened it further, and from it Poké Balls began falling out.
Yeah, he left some of the rental Pokémon back in the cave, but that was not all of them. He still had more, and here, as the Poké Balls touched the ground, the frenzied Pokémon immediately popped out and started running frantically like wild beasts since he did a certain something to them earlier.
And he didn't just throw the Poké Balls into the field, he threw most of them up into the stands where the spectators were watching, and they started screaming in fear.
Lucy was the first to call out, "No, the spectators are in danger!"
And while none of them liked this, they had already made the choice beforehand that their main objective was to protect the spectators that came here. So while they didn't want Guile to get away, they all turned and started running toward the stands.
And May, Brock, and Wally ran with them since Max was in the crowd too and was also in danger, and Nora also joined them since she wanted to protect people too.
In that moment, Guile laughed and raised his arms, "Now once I get my wish, the first thing I'll do is send the Battle Frontier to the bottom of the—"
But as he said that, Ash saw his chance and stopped his helpless act, immediately picking up Pikachu and throwing him at Guile in the air.
Pikachu already knew the plan as he charged up an [Iron Tail] and soared through the air. While he did this, Ash whistled, and Vee understood, shooting out a [Thunderbolt] directly at Guile.
You see, Ash knew he couldn't hit the metal of the armor, but he wasn't aiming for that. The thing he was aiming for was the leather straps located below the armpits of the armor. If Pikachu could slice that piece of leather, the armor would start falling apart.
And that's why, at the same time, Vee shot out a [Thunderbolt], since if Guile reacted and blocked Pikachu, he would get shocked, and the armor may be special, but it was still made of metal, and that made it one hell of a conductor.
Guile's eyes widened behind the helmet.
Instead of blocking Pikachu, Guile twisted his body sharply in midair, trying to dodge, but Vee's [Thunderbolt] was already there. The blast slammed into the side of the armor, and electricity exploded across the metal plating.
The shocking pain didn't give him enough time to lower his arm, so Pikachu flew through and, with his [Iron Tail], sliced into the leather strap between the chestplate and the shoulder pad. That made the shoulder pad fall off and the arm guard slide down. It didn't fall off yet, but it did expose his shoulder.
As the Frontier Brains ran up, they saw that, and immediately Greta looked at them, "Why didn't we think of that?" and they didn't really have a good answer.
Meanwhile, with the rest, Green, Gary, and Brendan saw that there was a chance, so they commanded the Pokémon they had ready. Blastoise, Venusaur, and Breloom quickly launched their attacks of [Hydro Pump], [Solar Beam], and [Rock Tomb].
Guile used one arm to try and keep his armor on, but when he saw the incoming attacks, he let it go and slashed with his sword. Since he had taken that hit, he had some charged-up electricity stored from Vee.
But as the electricity charged and then shot out, Pikachu redirected himself in the air using that trick he learned from Captain Pikachu. Using his tail, he glided down in front of the electricity and happily absorbed it. When it was all gone, he gave Guile a cheeky smirk before gravity did its thing, and he fell down right in time for the three attacks to fly past him and slam into Guile.
Guile tried to block, but because he lost half of his strength enhancement from losing his left arm's armor, not to mention since he was flying he had no leverage, he ended up getting pushed back and slammed into a wall.
Guile pushed himself out of the cracked wall, but as he did, Ash's Grovyle and Combusken appeared behind him and did a duo [Blaze Kick] + [Leaf Blade] into Guile's back, sending him back to the ground.
Now the armor absorbed most of the damage from all those hits, but Guile did take some damage since he now had a weak spot.
Noland, Greta, Tucker, Lucy, Spenser, and Brandon looked back at the scene as they were starting to move people to safety. They looked at each other and nodded, so they split the party.
Brandon, Greta, Tucker, and Noland ran down to stand with the gang to fight Guile, while the rest continued the evacuation.
But as they got to the ground, Guile got back up and glared at all of them with hatred.
"Useless, it's all useless. I'm going to send you all to the bottom of the ocean."
Then he raised Jirachi's Poké Ball, and it started glowing, and then his sword started glowing too. Jirachi inside looked like it was in pain and was tapping on the ball to try to get out. You see, Guile at the moment couldn't get Jirachi to grant his wish, and he knew this, so instead he used another power of his sword and started siphoning Jirachi's energy to charge up his own sword.
Ash immediately called out, "Now!"
Pikachu and Vee began running fast at Guile, Green, Gary, and Brendan commanded their own Pokémon, and the Frontier Brains that jumped down to help them threw out their Poké Balls to join the fight.
But Guile raised his sword.
"I have everything. I mastered fate, and I wish you gone!" Guile shouted as he slammed the sword into the ground.
Then bright light burst out right before Pikachu and Vee got to him. Then Pikachu, Vee, Ash, Green, Gary, Brandon, Greta, Tucker, Noland, then up in the stands Lucy, Spenser, May, Brock, Wally, Nora, then all the spectators, then all the Pokémon, they all began glowing, and then everyone disappeared.
Guile let out a breath now that he was alone in the stadium. With the power he siphoned from Jirachi, he could only make a minor wish. He couldn't outright get rid of them. The best he could do was move everyone around all over the Battle Frontier, and he likely couldn't do that again because of the fatigue on his body, but he wouldn't need to.
Guile looked down at Jirachi's Poké Ball, "Now let's go somewhere proper to grant my wish," he said as he began floating again and flew up to the tallest point, which was the Battle Tower.
"Now, Jirachi, will you give me your power now?" Guile asked as he hovered in the air, but Jirachi seemed exhausted after getting its energy stolen and also vehemently shook its little head, making Guile narrow his eye.
But before he could say anything else, he heard a voice.
"Perhaps we can be of help then."
Guile immediately turned his head toward the new voice, and then he saw someone flying behind him. It was someone he didn't recognize from the crowd, but the most notable thing was the red and blue across his body. It was Malde, but the mutation on him had mutated even further, so now both arms looked like Deoxys'.
And behind him, there was someone else, a boy with white hair: Damian. But now he had a blank look on his face, and he seemingly was also infected, now looking like a quarter-Deoxys man, but he just floated there like a doll.
Guile narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on his sword, "Who are you?"
"Does that matter?" Malde said simply, "But I noticed you have Jirachi, and I have a wish I want granted as well, so are we going to help each other, or will I need to take Jirachi from you?"
Guile narrowed his eye, "What wish could you possibly want?"
Malde smiled and spread his arms, "Of course, I want to turn everyone like us so we may heal the world. Look at my companion." Malde pointed at Damian, "He may not talk anymore, but he is much happier."
But Guile narrowed his eyes. In his mind, Malde's plan to make everyone like him was just another way to put himself as the ruler, and Guile wouldn't allow that. If anyone was going to rule the world, it would be him.
"Go to hell!" Guile cried out as he swung his sword with no energy this time.
But Malde quickly caught it, wrapping his tendrils around the blade, "That isn't very nice. I'm trying to be civil here."
But Guile didn't even hear him, "Jirachi is mine and mine alone!" he said as he finally activated the stored energy, and the blade lit up and exploded right in Malde's face.
Malde flew back and his arm got ripped off in the explosion, but it quickly regenerated, and he looked at Guile, "How rude. Fine then, I'll just tear Jirachi out of your cold dead hands," he said coldly.
Then he turned back toward Damian, "Why don't you go 'help' everyone? I'll deal with him."
Damian didn't say anything. He just kept his blank look and flew down toward the Battle Frontier, leaving Guile and Malde in the sky together glaring at each other, all for Jirachi.
—
{Meanwhile in Space}
Deoxys floated there, just looking down at the Earth. Thankfully, it seemed like the Rayquaza that attacked it and its friend when they came to Earth was either asleep or busy with something else, so it was free to stay here.
For some reason, ever since that day, it hadn't been able to sense the signal left by its companion. It had just been floating in space waiting. It felt some disturbances, but it would lose them soon after, never being able to pinpoint where they came from, like there was something blocking it.
But today, as it soaked in the space rays, it felt something. It wasn't its companion, but it recognized that energy. It was that faker reliving its power again. Looks like last time it didn't finish him off, so it would go correct that mistake.
But that's not all. Around the same area as the faker, it wasn't its companion, but it was something else that was causing it to want to go down there. It didn't know what it was, but it might as well check it out after it killed the faker.
So Deoxys turned its body and switched to Speed Forme, then began flying down toward those energy readings, whatever they were.
—
Meanwhile with everyone else, the party got split into different areas of the Battle Frontier. Ash opened his eyes and found himself in a dark area, but when he looked around, thankfully he had all his Pokémon with him: Pikachu, Vee, Grovyle, and Combusken. He recalled Grovyle and Combusken to their Poké Balls for now, but he would need them later. Then he whistled at Pikachu.
Pikachu understood and jumped up on Ash's shoulder, using [Flash] to give them light. The walls looked like they were made of stone, and there were multiple rooms around them.
But as he looked around, he saw someone lying on the ground near him. It was Pyramid King Brandon, hurt and barely conscious.
Ash went over to him and helped him up, patting his back. He would have tried to give him a little healing himself, but he had to preserve as much Aura as he could. He couldn't go wasting any when he was going into this at only half his max. So instead, he let out Clefairy and had her heal Brandon a little.
Brandon groaned quietly as Clefairy's [Heal Pulse] washed over him, the soft pink light pushing away some of the pain in his body.
Ash let out a small breath when he saw Brandon's eyes finally open.
"There we go," Ash said while helping him sit up against the wall, "You alive?"
Brandon blinked a few times, clearly trying to get his bearings, "…Unfortunately for Guile, yes."
"That's the spirit," Ash snorted.
Pikachu gave a small "Pika," while Vee peeked out of the bag curiously.
Brandon rubbed the side of his head before looking around at the darkness surrounding them. The only real light came from Pikachu's glowing cheeks, illuminating the stone hallways around them.
"Where are we?" Ash asked, since Brandon was the expert here.
Brandon slowly stood up, one hand against the wall, and his expression immediately shifted into annoyance, "Of course."
"What?"
Brandon crossed his arms, "The Battle Pyramid."
Ash blinked, "Seriously?"
Brandon nodded once, "I'd recognize the structure anywhere. The stone walls, the shifting corridors, the artificial darkness, this is definitely inside my Pyramid."
"So Guile scattered everyone around the Battle Frontier…" Ash muttered.
"Likely," Brandon agreed, "And if we're inside the Pyramid, then others may have ended up in the other facilities too."
Ash clicked his tongue, "Great."
Brandon's eyes shifted toward him, "It's a good thing you have that Pikachu for light, or we'd have to try and get out of this maze in complete darkness. At least we can see where we're going."
Then Brandon looked down the hallway, "If this really is the Pyramid, then there's only one way out."
Brandon pointed deeper into the maze, "We're gonna have to find our way out the old-fashioned way."
"Can't we just get a Psychic-type to teleport us out of here? I mean, if Guile teleported us in, can't we get out the same way?" Ash asked.
"Unfortunately not," Brandon said, crossing his arms again, "The Pyramid was designed with lead lining to prevent that, so challengers couldn't cheat. The teleportation method Guile used on us is probably different from a Psychic-based teleporter."
Ash sighed, "Just peachy."
And so Ash and Brandon started walking through the Pyramid. Thankfully, Brandon knew some shortcuts, and since they could actually see, it made things ten times easier.
As they walked, Brandon pointed forward, "There should be a split corridor ahead."
Sure enough, after another minute of walking, the hallway opened into a circular chamber with three branching paths.
Ash looked between them, "You sure you remember this place?"
"I designed it."
"Fair point."
But before Brandon could choose a direction, a mechanical noise echoed through the room.
CLICK.
Then several red lights flickered around the chamber.
"You've got to be—" Ash started, but he didn't get to finish.
Out from hidden panels in the walls, several humanoid figures stepped into the room. They looked almost like trainers, but slightly off. Their movements were stiff, expressions blank, and eyes glowing faintly red.
"Robots?" Ash asked, with his hand on his hip.
"Virtual Trainers," Brandon corrected, "They're used during Pyramid challenges."
One of them raised an arm.
"CHALLENGER DETECTED."
Ash groaned loudly, "Seriously?"
Then Poké Balls opened around them.
A Hariyama slammed onto the ground, a Dusclops floated silently beside it, then a Steelix burst from beneath the floor with a roar.
And if that wasn't bad enough, from behind them they heard rumbling. Crashing through the hallway were three more of the frenzied rental Pokémon that Guile had released on everyone. Looks like some of them were in here too.
Brandon sighed and adjusted his coat, "This is going to be annoying."
Ash just cracked his neck and stretched his arm, "You can say that again. You wanna take the holograms? I'll take the wild ones."
"Alright, just don't use too much energy," Brandon said as the two stood back-to-back to deal with their respective problems.
"Nah, they're too weak to make me try," Ash said. Instead of letting Pikachu or Vee tire themselves out, he reached for his Pokéball belt and pulled out another ball to handle this.
Meanwhile, Brandon didn't use his heavy hitters yet either. He instead grabbed one of his spare Pokémon instead of one of his Regis.
They were getting out of this place, even if they had to fight their way through it.