A Journey's Link

Chapter 69 - Descent

"Greninja, use Water Shuriken!" Ash yelled, mimicking the move himself. Greninja quickly charged up a few shurikens and sent them straight towards the Shadow Ball, each move canceling each other out. "Use Cut!" Ash quickly commanded, trying to get the upper hand before Giovanni could answer next.

Greninja produced a long white blade and dashed over to Mewtwo, catching it off guard with his absolute speed. Greninja struck Mewtwo, causing it to get pushed back slightly, but ultimately doing little damage. It's strong! Ash thought in surprise. Stronger than it was before. Did that core actually do something?

Giovanni grunted and sent out his Rhyperior. "Use Earthquake!" He commanded as the large Drill Pokemon appeared, causing the ground to rumble as it charged up the Earthquake. Ash was about to command Greninja to use a move when he saw a few objects in his house beginning to fall off of the counter.

Without hesitation, Ash sent forward Lucario and quickly said, "Use Force Palm to push Rhyperior out of the house!" Lucario nodded and jumped behind Rhyperior. His hand began glowing yellow as he pushed Rhyperior towards the front door, breaking a hole in the wall as it toppled down the stairs and fell on its back, defenseless.

"Quick, use Aura Sphere!" Ash commanded, pointing out of the house towards Rhyperior. Lucario sprinted outside while charging its Aura Ball towards Rhyperior as Giovanni yelled, "Rhyperior, use Drill Run to stop it!" Rhyperior swiftly got itself up and revealed an already glowing drill as Lucario released the Aura Sphere directly at Rhyperior's face.

The sphere made an impact, pushing back Rhyperior a little and causing it to fall on one knee. Ash wasted no time in knocking it out while it was down, so he ran towards the front door, away from Giovanni, and commanded, "Force Palm, now!" Lucario jumped over the steps and leaped right towards Rhyperior, who looked up in surprise.

Lucario pushed his hand right into Rhyperior's head, causing Rhyperior to fall backward and land right on its back, creating a large thud on the front yard, right next to where Mimey was, who was still unconscious. Lucario used the impact to hop backward and land on his legs near the stairs in a battle-ready pose.

He relaxed, however, whenever he saw Rhyperior on the ground completely fainted. "Nice, Lucario!" Ash exclaimed victoriously. Lucario nodded at Ash, also in high spirits. Their moods changed when they heard some thuds from inside the house, as they had both completely forgotten about the main threat.

Ash ran back inside and saw an intense situation. Sycamore, Clemont, and Bonnie were all trapped on one side of the room, while Raboot and Braixen had both recovered and were fighting alongside Goh and Serena against another one of Giovanni's Pokemon. "Scizor, remove them with X-Scissor!" Giovanni commanded, still right next to Mewtwo.

"Use Ember!" Goh exclaimed to Raboot, who kicked up a rock and sent it straight at Scizor, its flame burning behind it. Scizor deflected it by swiping it away with X-Scissor, nullifying both moves. Serena saw the opportunity and yelled, "Braixen, fight it with Flamethrower!" Braixen brought out her stick and charged fire at the end of it, sending it straight towards Scizor.

It made contact, damaging Scizor. "You can't let them just hit you, idiot!" Giovanni roared, still preoccupied with Greninja, who was doing small amounts of damage to Mewtwo and dodging its Shadow Balls. "Use Double Team then take them out with Slash!" He added angrily. Scizor shook its head and focused harder, as it wanted to please its owner.

Goh and Serena watched cautiously as multiple clones of Scizor began appearing, making a circle around them and their Pokemon. "What do we do now?" Goh asked nervously, seeing the many Scizors surrounding him. Serena felt a sweat drop roll down her face. "I'm not sure," she said, her mind drawing a blank in this treacherous situation.