Ash sorted through his Poké balls. "Okay, we're going to have to move fast. Most of her kit is designed to handle attacking an enemy, not defending. Normally her stealth kit's enough for that. Dexter, anywhere we can get into that thing?"
There's an entrance on the underside, it's only defended by one cannon – one of the petrifaction ones. I can scramble it for a few seconds, but that'll alert them to my attack and from then on I'll need physical contact to hack their computers.
"Good." Ash took the Gracidea and glanced around, then put it back in his backpack, the pack hidden behind a bush and clipped everything he needed to his outfit. "Charizard!"
"I heard. We have trouble, then."
"You said it alright. Cover us when we attack, then try and draw out that Salamence of hers and keep it busy. Pidgeot, I'm going to have to ask you to get us onboard."
"Not a problem in the slightest."
He jumped back on Pidgeot's back, and glanced to Shaymin. "Stay out of trouble, you hear?"
Pidgeot and Charizard shot skywards.
"You monster!" Misty shouted. "You actually kidnap Pokémon for no other reason than profit? At least Team Rocket have redeeming features!"
Hunter J chuckled. "Like I need to listen to someone like you. I thought I was being hospitable enough to let you know what was happening next, but then you just go and throw it back in my face. Guards, do make sure they cause no trouble."
"Aye, aye, Ma'am." The faceless goons saluted, and took up posts by the entrance to the brig.
Misty bashed her hand on the bars, then turned to Brock in an adjacent cell. "And do you have any good ideas?"
Brock shook his head. "Not really, I'm not very good at this sort of situation. I know who is, though."
Misty brightened. "True."
"Skipper! The Pokémon from before, a Pidgeot, has appeared accompanied by a Charizard!" The images of both appeared on the main screen. "It seems that they are both in the possession of a Trainer!"
Hunter J's lips quirked. "Very good. Guns, weapons free."
The Gunnery officer replied in the affirmative and his hands flew over the keyboards. Then, he gave a curse. "Sir, the ventral gun is rejecting the targeting solution!"
Her head snapped around. "What?"
"It's just not firing, I don't – Ah, that can't be good. The cameras report that the opposing trainer has boarded!"
The tactical officer activated a ship schematic, and the external screens flashed with a pair of targeting reticules. "Enemy flyers are outside petrifaction gun range, enemy trainer is in cargo three!"
Hunter J gave a sigh that spoke volumes on the incompetence of personnel. "Right, release Salamence to handle the enemy Charizard, focus all ship external guns on the bird. All ship."
"All ship, aye."
"All hands, stand by to repel boarders. Find and neutralize a young trainer wearing blue clothes, a cape, gloves and – " her lip curled, "A very silly hat. Also immobilize any invading Pokémon. End all ship."
"Skipper, I've managed to get the guns working again – it was some kind of virus. I shut down all external data links."
An explosion rocked the ship.
"There we go, that's what I'm talking about! Big target, no need to hold back, just maximum fire power!" Charizard roared. "Take this!" He spat a bolt of fire that detonated against an almost-unseen shimmer in the air.
The shimmer replied by sleeting laser bolts towards him for a second, then as he closed one wing to dive out of the way they retargeted to Pidgeot and a dark shape dropped from the cloaked air battleship.
Pidgeot wove a triad of air control layers and lensed the lasers through unusually dense air to refract the shots away from her.
Knowing that this was only a temporary measure, she converted one to a Tailwind, another slapped the first missile broadside into early detonation, she swept back her wings… feeling for the nearest thermal, she twisted the hot air from Charizard's shot into a spiralling updraught, swept close in too fast for the guns to track… and climbed high, high, outside the area that the guns could comfortably fire.
Flipping a wingover, she regained her equilibrium and flew north.
This would take a bit of buildup.
Charizard dodged away from the crackling fangs of a rabid Salamence. Accepting the challenge, he cloaked himself in fire and charged. Salamence met his Flare Blitz with a Dragon Rush, the blast from impact blowing away the thin cloud and doing almost nothing to the combatants.
"What the hell! Why are you following her?" Charizard asked as he grappled with his foe, trying to pin Salamence' limbs with his own more manoeuvrable arms.
"Because it is my duty!" shouted back Salamence, sinking a Thunder Fang into Charizard's neck. Charizard grimaced, but long sparring with Pikachu had helped; he barely flinched from the pain. The fire dragon detonated a Flame Burst to win free, and once more doused down Salamence in flames. Seeing it wasn't having much of an effect, he channelled his draconic nature and converted the fire into Dragonfire. That worked, Salamence was driven back by the more mystical flames.
"How can it be your duty?" Charizard fired another burst of strange energy in a Dragon Pulse, which Salamence punched through with a Hyper Beam that scored a deep line along Charizard's side.
"I have served her faithfully since birth. That is all I will say." The dragon seemed tired from the effort of the Hyper Beam, but shook it off annoyingly quickly and lunged in again.
Ash ran through the bowels of the Air Battleship, looking for wherever there might be something to break. Pikachu flashed out Thunderwaves at anyone who tried to impede them, and Riolu jogged ahead punching through the doors. Dexter floated alongside, giving Ash a running update on what he learned.
They're still using the radio to communicate, but they've encrypted it again – I can't get anything useful. Looks like the ship structure has the main cargo… second left!
Riolu launched a vicious kick at the door, almost knocking it off its' hinges. The group poured through, to be met with an astonishing sight.
Hundreds of Pokémon in crackling force field cages, all of them seemingly unmoving and frozen in time by some fantastic technology.
Riolu shivered. "This is what she was going to do to me?"
Pikachu frowned. "Any idea how to undo the freeze?"
Dexter hovered over to a console. I can't reverse it, looks like the stasis lock relies on the force field cages to stay in one piece.
"Right. Ash, Riolu, Dexter… stand back." Pikachu reached deep inside himself, touching his electrical power.
Deeper… He touched his Light Ball's strange mirror effect on his energy wells.
Deeper… The electrical Aura in his heart.
Deeper still… and there it was, just as he thought. A tiny spark of Zekrom's massive power, that touched his very soul back in Isshu.
"I think I can only do this once… but it's going to be something to remember." He coaxed that little spark to come forwards, detaching it from his soul, bringing it up slowly and gradually. He was vaguely aware of a Tri Attack stopping a Raticate from reaching him, felt a pulse of Aura as a Purugly went flying, saw through half-closed eyelids as Ash hit someone over the head with the Staff of Sir Aaron before he released another Pokémon… but none of those seemed important.
The spark grew, blossomed and expanded to massive proportions as it drank in his own power.
Pikachu hadn't had his electricity taken by Zekrom, he'd just been saturated by power too rich to use thanks to his Lightningrod ability – but, well, he was stronger now.
"Bolt Strike!"
Every single cage in the room exploded.
Hunter J clenched her fist hard enough to cramp it as she saw a years' work destroyed, in the moment before the cameras in the room failed.
She turned from the main control dais. "All ship order."
"Aye, all ship."
"Lethal force authorized on the invader. Lock down the entire brig. The Pokémon I want recaptured, NOW!"
She stalked from the room, preparing her own Pokémon. This was now personal.
Just as she left, the ship shuddered again. "Ma'am! The cloaking field has failed completely!"
What? Oh, of course! The Altaria did that before… damnation!
"All weapons ready and on computer control. Engage the internal bulkheads. Flood the number one hold with the gas."
Riolu looked around in alarm. He'd been watching the massive numbers of Pokémon captured by Hunter J understand what was happening, some of them having not been conscious in over a year following a defeat, when he heard a hissing.
On seeing some of the Pokémon starting to fall over in slumber, he'd started up his Airslip Aura trick, essentially holding clean air near his body and preventing the gas from affecting him – but he had to stop it somehow, and he had no idea how.
Think, Riolu, think… He racked his brains, trying to come up with a solution before the clear air he had ran out (normally that would be less of a problem, but then normally the air was only full of sand or rain that he could filter out easily.)
Oh, hang on, that might just work.
He ran over to the slumbering Altaria near the centre of the room, and for lack of other options hit him with a Wake-up Slap.
"Ow! What was that… for…"
"Please, dragon, use Uproar and Defog quickly!"
The Altaria trilled for a moment, then emitted a high, piercing shriek, pulsing out a wave of clear air at the same time. Not finished, the Altaria then wove in Perish Song to the shriek as Pokémon awoke, smashing the hidden emitters and rupturing their gas canisters. The wave of soporific gas was then handled by a second Defog, and the after effects of the drug began to dissipate.
"Phew… that was a close one…"
The ship heaved yet again.
Pidgeot, far in the distance, had seen the cloaking effect fail and began her attack. She'd spent the last five minutes building a tornado over a kilometre up in the atmosphere, and now sent it spinning towards the airship at high speed. In front of it, she rode at the centre of a Razor Wind, itself surrounded by another Razor Wind rotating the other way, and so on for no fewer than four more layers.
As Charizard had said, it was an opportunity to really let loose, as the battleship was enormous.
Once she was sure that the drilling razor wind was going to hit, she flared her wings and dropped out of the airstream, heading to help Charizard – who was currently struggling as his opponent had managed to steer the battle close enough to a hill for a Stone Edge.
To the crew left on the bridge, it was like being hit by a natural disaster.
First a blur of speed flashed past, smashing into the battling Salamence with a huge Brave Bird attack and piledriving him into the floor, the blur pulling out at the last second and resolving into a Pidgeot which began circling tiredly.
Then something invisible hit the front of the ship hard enough to knock it backwards, grinding apart the centre of the point it hit and cracking through much of the armour at that location, before finally destabilizing and falling apart.
Next, when they thought it couldn't get much worse, a tornado snaked down from the sky and smashed into the top of the ship, driving them into the ground and tearing apart some of the port main battery.
Upon noticing that the ship now no longer had all around cover and that there was a fracture in the armour, the infernally strong Charizard began attempting to melt through the damaged portion.
Ash staggered. "Dexter! Any idea where the humans are – and for that matter how long we're going to still be in the air?"
Analysis complete. I found them. Oh, and about ten more minutes at most.
"Right. Where-"
Ash ducked under a vicious Posion Sting that would have taken his eye out.
"Well, well, well. It seems that there's a pest on board my ship. Pity, really, as otherwise the pest might have lived. They can be in a cave, or on the water, or the long grass… but no pests are allowed inside. Only people." Hunter J casually strode into the room, utterly unconcerned by the hundred or so Pokémon filling the hold. "So, what will it be? Die standing like a person… or on the ground like a pest?"
Ash slowly got back to his feet, and spared a glance at his Pokémon. "Guys, you're tired. Dex, Riolu, Pikachu, get these Pokémon safely to their trainers." He took his last two active Pokémon, and looked from J to her Drapion and Ariados. "I'll handle her."
Dexter hesitated, then hovered out of the room and headed for the brig, the Pokémon following. After a few seconds, Pikachu and Riolu followed.
"Look after yourself, Ash."
"Hey, you know me." Ash chuckled, then set himself. "Last chance to back down, J."
She raised her arm and fired a shot from the petrifaction cannon at him, and everything happened very fast.
Ash ducked into a forward roll, flinging one Poké ball out to each side and coming up again far closer to Hunter J. Her two Poison types began to try and stop him, but Ivysaur slammed a Power Whip into Drapion and Squirtle sent a Watergun to knock Ariados back.
Ash lashed out with a spinning kick born of infuriation more than any actual technique, and managed to knock the cannon off her arm. She grimaced at him, tapped her goggles and began a combination of blows that were clearly rehearsed. Every move Ash tried to make, she shut down with relative ease – somehow reading his movements to divine what he was trying to do and throw it off.
This is just brilliant. I'm fighting someone who's better than me. Again. Seriously, why can I never have to beat up someone who's an easy target?
Oh, right. That would just feel wrong. Go me.
Ash caught the next blow in the elbow, sending him badly out of place. Having no choice, he generated a Protect field to prevent her follow-up attack breaking his neck.
She froze for a moment in shock, off balance from her blow being interrupted, and Ash kicked back with an Aura-infused foot.
Something gave.
J staggered away, clutching her damaged rib and shaking her head. "You… but… right." She refocused. "Drapion, Ariados! We're leaving! The client never mentioned an Aura adept was active in Kanto."
The two Poison types spat a shower of gunk in unison, the force blasting Ivysaur away from his opponent and forcing Squirtle to take cover. They then took their Trainer between them and scuttled off towards the boat bays.
A series of tearing explosions rocked the ship, and Ash stumbled before he'd properly got up. "That can't be good. Come on, guys, we better get to the brig."
They'd barely made it halfway before a voice came over the speakers.
Welcome to the Final Solution programme of this airship. Self Destruct mode engaged: plasma build up commenced; venting in 5 minutes.
Ash said something not meant for polite company. "Psycho! She's willing to do that to get rid of me?"
Another voice, this one more familiar, came over. Ash! I can't stop the buildup, and most of the heavy hitters are exhausted! We need to get out of here – save ourselves and the Pokémon. I know it'll do horrible amounts of damage to the forest, but we have to.
Ash pounded a fist on the floor. "Damnit… well, I suppose there's nothing we can do." He began running, unshed tears starting to shine in his eyes. "I hate this. I hate that I can't make a difference, can't make everything okay… I'd give my life if it would help, but it won't. I… I don't like being powerless."
Nobody likes being unable to make things right, Ash.
Ash said nothing more. Not as everyone left on board the ravaged ship began congregating in the ruptured hold, not as Maurice and Tyl gave him space to evacuate with them, not as Pidgeot and Charizard, tired but triumphant, took up station either side of the Altaria.
Then he saw something shining off to the south.
Shaymin felt ill.
Having taken the Gracidea's blessing shortly after the Trainer left, she'd just about managed to fly - unnoticed by the titans battling above - to the toxic city, and had drunk in all its' pollution. Now she was bloated with the poisons in the water and the air, almost too much for her to handle.
But she could do this. And the boy who'd taken her here, so careful and polite and kind, was fighting someone in the airship.
Narrowing her eyes, she saw that there was a vast gaggle of Pokémon leaving the listing ship. At the back was a familiar Pidgeot.
She'd never leave without him. He'd never leave anyone else. The airship's empty.
Well, at least she could contribute.
"Seed. Flare!"
The packet of energy shot forth, all that pent up poison being converted instantly to the power of creation, and of destruction.
The destruction went first, piercing right through the airship and doing what a tornado had failed to do, breaking its' back, turning it into a tumbling, burning ruin.
The plasma flare buildup had been interrupted, but the area was still in danger of fire. So the creation activated.
Using that huge amount of energy supercharging her from cleansing Gringey City, she span out the network of life and held it. Held it until the last burning fragment had fallen to the ground – and then released it to do its' work, regrowing the whole area into a verdant vista of flowers, bushes and even small trees.
The effect spread as far as the city itself, which found itself changed in a day from a poisonous hell-hole into a fragrant and comely settlement.
Property values almost instantly tripled.
Ash slumped in relief over Tyl's back. "It's ok… we won…"
Tyl crooned encouragement. Maurice smiled warmly. "Yeah, he's right. Very few people could do what you just did. I mean, look at me! Captured off dragonback in an air battle!"
"I guess… heh, probably better watch that, I don't want to end up too depressed."
"What you don't want to end up is emo. Seen it happen."
Ash chuckled. "Fair point."
Dexter hovered over, and returned to his standard format. Not to mention, you going on about not being able to change things? Don't make me laugh.
"And why shouldn't he?"
I don't have a mouth. The synthesized voice sounded hurt. Wait to make me laugh until I have a firmware upgrade.
Misty, now that the crisis was over, felt safe to try and lighten the mood. "Well, once more Ash gets to save the day, and we get nothing! It's not fair!"
Brock sighed. "I think maybe we should head to the ground soon. I don't think Psyduck can hold us much longer."
Whoever said that ducks were the fastest level flyers was a hack. I can barely hold you lot in the air, and you don't want me headache-boosting.
The small flotilla of air craft from the boat bays sped onwards. J thought hard about what had happened.
An aura adept, down here? I thought they were only around in Sinnoh, but this one's even got a Riolu companion.
He's got some damn strong Pokémon, too. They even beat Salamence, albeit two of them working together. He'll have to improve before I fight that adept again.
And now I lost the airship, too. Well, at least the goggles worked against another human. I loved being able to see exactly what he was about to do – better watch for Pokémon-style attacks from him in the future, though.
She broke out of her musing. "Chief of Boat, set course south for the Orange Archipelago.
We're going to go visit my dear brother…"
AN: So. Hunter J. So far as that scarily competent person is concerned, it is now personal. Ash broke her ship.
Anyone guess (who didn't get told) who her brother is?