Back on the lower floor with the gang, they were fighting hard to finish this as fast as possible while also trying not to get cut down by these Pokémon.
Ash ducked underneath a Slash from the Zangoose before pointing forward.
"Shelgon, [Dragon Breath]!"
A burst of purple flames shot across the room and collided directly with Metagross as Ash's Metang pushed forward at the same time. The two Steel-types slammed against each other while Shelgon's flames exploded over the larger Pokémon's body, but Metagross barely moved.
"…Okay wow, that thing is tough," Brendan muttered while jumping backward to avoid Seviper lunging at him.
"Less talking, more battling!" Green shouted while her Wigglytuff tackled the Sneasel away from Wally before it could blindside him.
Wally adjusted his grip on the railing slightly before pointing ahead, "Gallade, help Ash!"
Gallade vanished in a blur and reappeared beside Metagross, slamming a glowing [Psycho Cut] directly into its side. The attack finally forced Metagross backward a few feet.
Anabel didn't react at all, but Metagross' eyes glowed blue. Suddenly, every loose piece of debris in the room lifted into the air.
"Oh come on!" Brock yelled.
The debris started getting launched toward them, so everyone immediately hit the ground to avoid getting hit by the broken chunks of metal and stone.
May also hit the ground, but as she put her hands over her head, she called out, "Swablu, [Safeguard]!"
Swablu created a shimmering barrier around everyone that stopped all the chunks of stone and metal, letting them get up and quickly recover.
Gary clicked his tongue and pointed ahead, "Electivire, full power!"
Electivire slammed both fists into the ground before unleashing a massive burst of electricity across the floor. The lightning surged through multiple enemy Pokémon at once, catching Delibird, Dunsparce, and Seviper in the blast.
Delibird and Dunsparce were sent flying backward immediately, both crashing hard into the walls before dropping unconscious.
"Two down!" Gary called out.
"Still too many left!" Brock shouted back as he barely ducked under a spinning [Shadow Ball] from Misdreavus.
Brock immediately pointed forward, "Marshtomp, [Waterfall]!"
Brock's Marshtomp ran forward and gathered water around his fist in a spiral before jumping directly at the Ghost-type, slamming his fist into Misdreavus the moment it appeared behind Brendan.
As Marshtomp's fist connected, however, he started struggling against the ghostly pressure. But Marshtomp pushed harder, and suddenly he began glowing and growing bigger, becoming a Swampert. With his new strength, he slammed Misdreavus away and sent it crashing into the wall.
"Thanks!" Brendan yelled.
"Don't mention it!"
Meanwhile, Seviper lunged again, jaws wide open, but Brendan finally grinned, "Alright, my turn now! Swellow, [Return]!"
Swellow flew out and spun through the air, and as its wings glowed brightly, it swooped down and slashed across Seviper's face, making the Snake Pokémon hiss and flail as it crashed into the nearby Sneasel.
Green immediately capitalized on it, "Wigglytuff, now!"
Wigglytuff tackled straight through both Pokémon at once, slamming them into the wall hard enough to crack it.
The Sneasel collapsed first, then Seviper shortly after, falling into a neat little pile.
Green smirked proudly, "And that's how it's done."
"Nice combo!" Brendan said, holding up a hand.
Green quickly high-fived him without looking, "Obviously."
Meanwhile, Wally's Gallade continued trading blows with Metagross, but every clash sent Gallade sliding farther backward across the floor.
Then suddenly, Zangoose came flying toward him from the side again.
"Wally, look out!" May shouted.
Swablu shot in front of him immediately, taking the hit itself before getting knocked backward across the floor.
"Swablu!" May cried.
The tiny bird struggled to stand again while Zangoose prepared another attack. But despite shaking, Swablu floated back upward protectively in front of May and Wally.
Then, as she glared, she began glowing. The glow expanded outward as Swablu's form began changing, growing larger and longer until finally the light exploded outward in a burst of feathers as she became an Altaria.
Altaria cried proudly before spreading its wings wide.
"You evolved," May muttered, then she snapped back into focus and pointed ahead, "Alright then, Altaria, [Dragon Breath]!"
Purple flames exploded from Altaria's mouth and slammed directly into Zangoose, sending the Pokémon flying back, but not knocking it out just yet.
But then Gallade looked over at Ash and gave a single signal with his eyes. He pushed Metagross back and slammed it into the ground before jumping back to Wally's side and sending a [Psycho Cut] into the wall where Zangoose was, finally knocking it out.
"Nice one, Wally!" May pumped her fist, and Wally just nodded along, only halfway paying attention since he was thinking about his inhaler.
But it still wasn't over on their side. The virtual trainers still had more Pokémon, so they returned the unconscious ones and threw out the next round. Everyone quickly refocused to keep fighting.
Meanwhile, that kind of left Ash alone taking on Anabel and her Metagross.
Metagross hovered silently across from him, its eyes glowing bright blue while Metang floated protectively in front of Ash and Shelgon stayed low to the ground beside him.
Then Metagross suddenly vanished, but Ash immediately snapped his fingers and pointed above, "There!"
Metang instantly shot upward just as Metagross came crashing down with its metal fists glowing white.
The two Steel-types slammed together midair with a deafening clang that shook the entire room. But Metang got blasted downward and bounced hard across the floor.
Before Ash could recover, Metagross' eyes flashed blue again as it used [Psychic] once more.
Shelgon suddenly got lifted violently off the ground, and Metagross swung its body and hurled Shelgon straight at Ash, sending them both sliding back into one of the pillars.
The pillar exploded apart in chunks of concrete and smoke.
"Ash!" May shouted from the background, although neither she nor anyone else in the gang could go help him since they were dealing with their own battles.
"I'm fine!" Ash yelled back, immediately standing up as he held onto Shelgon and let him jump back out to rejoin the fight. But as he stood up, he gripped his side. Based on that feeling, maybe two or three of his ribs were broken. Man, fighting without being able to rely on his Aura enhancement really was annoying.
But that's when he got an idea. If he couldn't use Aura, then he would just have to use something else.
So he thought in his head, Alright old man, you better be ready to pay some rent.
"Metang, pin it down with [Metal Claw]! Shelgon, support from the side!"
Metang boosted forward first, claws glowing bright silver as it slammed into Metagross head-on. The two locked together again, metal screeching against metal while sparks flew everywhere.
Then Shelgon charged in from the side with another [Dragon Breath]. Purple flames exploded directly across Metagross' body, but Metagross managed to tank the hit.
Then Metagross' eyes flashed again, and suddenly the entire floor beneath them ripped upward.
Chunks of steel and concrete floated around Metagross like a storm before shooting toward Ash from every direction.
"Metang!" Ash called out.
Metang spun rapidly and smashed several chunks apart with glowing claws while Shelgon lowered itself and tanked the rest head-on, rocks exploding across its armor-like shell.
But then Metagross suddenly appeared directly in front of Shelgon.
Its fist glowed white.
"Shelgon, dodge—!" Ash tried to call out, but it was too late.
Metagross slammed a [Meteor Mash] directly into Shelgon's side, launching it across the room so hard it skipped along the ground before crashing through another pillar.
Metang immediately lunged forward to stop Metagross from following up, but Metagross caught Metang's claw mid-swing. Metagross spun and hurled Metang directly into the ceiling.
The ceiling cracked violently before Metang crashed back down beside Ash.
Now both of his Pokémon were struggling, mainly because this wasn't the first battle they'd fought in. Ash had already used them in some of the earlier fights against the virtual trainers, so with that exhaustion on top of the fact that this Metagross was significantly stronger than any of the virtual trainers or rental Pokémon, this thing was minimum mid-Gym Leader level, maybe even high.
Ash slowly stood up again while breathing heavily, "Alright then, didn't want to use this yet," he said as he pulled his hand off his waist and brought his hands together.
Then darkness started flowing around his fingers.
Suddenly, it shot outward and formed a wall directly in front of him just as Metagross used another [Psychic] attack. The chunks of concrete slammed into the darkness and vanished.
Ash flexed his fingers slowly. That felt weird, but also not unpleasant. And the best part was that he could hear the king raging, but he just muffled him out. He'd deal with him later. For now, he had to finish this.
Metagross meanwhile shook its head and charged forward with a [Zen Headbutt] toward Ash.
But Ash called out, "Metang!"
He gestured, and Metang flew next to him, getting ready.
And just as Metagross got close, Ash pulled more darkness around his arm and solidified it before swiping upward, smashing Metagross directly on the head hard enough for Metang to rush in and tackle the bigger Steel-type, sending it flying backward.
As Metagross slowly started standing up, however, Ash's eyes shifted over to Anabel, and he saw that even though she still didn't have any expression on her face, she was starting to wobble, making Ash narrow his eyes.
"Let's end this now," Ash said, pointing forward, "Metang, hold it in place!"
Metang boosted forward immediately, claws glowing bright silver again as it slammed into Metagross head-on.
Metagross tried overpowering it instantly, but darkness suddenly erupted upward from beneath Metagross like chains, and the black restraints wrapped around its legs and arms.
Metagross' eyes widened slightly as they pulled it back to the ground, leaving its weak spot open.
"Now, Shelgon!" Ash commanded.
Shelgon roared and charged forward covered in purple dragon energy. But midway through the charge, he began glowing as his body transformed into a glowing sphere before rising into the air. His body grew larger, and wings burst out from his back as he evolved into Salamence.
Then Salamence came crashing down and slammed into Metagross with a [Dragon Rush]. The darkness restraints shattered from the impact as Metagross got launched across the room.
But then Metang flew after it immediately, and after catching up, it began punching over and over again as fast as it could using [Bullet Punch], driving Metagross into the wall while continuing the relentless barrage as the wall behind it began spiderwebbing with cracks.
Then, as its fists blurred, Metang also began glowing. The glow intensified as two more arms formed from its body, which it immediately used to continue punching. A golden X formed across its face as it evolved into a Metagross.
And with one final punch, Ash's Metagross slammed Anabel's Metagross hard across the head, finally knocking the Steel-type out cold as the wall behind it collapsed, burying it under rubble.
As soon as Metagross went down, Anabel immediately started wobbling again before collapsing toward the floor, but Ash quickly moved with his darkness and caught her before she hit the ground. And when he looked at her, he confirmed what he suspected.
She was already unconscious.
And when Anabel fell, the virtual trainers the gang had been fighting flickered out and disappeared. Then the Pokémon stopped and looked around in confusion. Since these were just rental Pokémon, they had only been doing what they were taught: fight anyone who came here and follow orders.
But now the trainers were gone, so what now?
Still, it finally let the gang breathe as they all looked over at Ash, who carefully set Anabel on the ground.
"Seriously?!" Green added while staring at Ash's newly evolved Pokémon, "What is with everybody evolving today?!"
May laughed tiredly while Altaria landed beside her, "I mean, I can't really complain about it."
Wally leaned against the railing while catching his breath, Gallade standing protectively beside him, while he took his second-to-last puff, "…At least we won."
Ash, meanwhile, barely reacted. He slowly knelt beside Anabel and carefully laid her flat against the floor. The others quickly moved over.
Gary looked down at her with a frown, "Is she okay?"
Ash was quiet for a second before nodding slightly, "Looks like her body couldn't handle the strain of being controlled by Guile anymore, so it just shut down."
May's expression softened immediately, "So she's alive?"
"She'll be fine," Ash assured her.
Then he carefully placed both hands over Anabel's head. A soft blue glow spread from his palms.
Everyone watched quietly as calm waves of Aura flowed into her body. The energy moved gently around her, and Anabel's tense expression relaxed.
Meanwhile, Brendan leaned over to Brock, "So are we gonna ignore the fact that Ash has superpowers…" since both he and Wally didn't know Ash could use Aura.
"Uh, long story, but that other thing he did with darkness? That's new," Green added for context.
Ash gave Anabel one more pulse of Aura, and slowly, her eyes opened.
For a second, she just stared upward blankly. Her vision was blurry.
Then she suddenly jolted slightly, "Guile—!"
"It's okay!" May said quickly, "You're safe now!"
Anabel blinked rapidly as the fog in her eyes slowly cleared. She looked around at everyone surrounding her, then at the destroyed room, and finally at Ash kneeling beside her.
"I, what happened…" she muttered, rubbing the back of her head, "And why does it feel like I got hit over the head with a frying pan?"
"Long story. We don't have the time. All you need to know is Guile is on the roof, the others are fighting, and we need to know if you're in or out," Ash quickly said.
Anabel's eyes widened, and she quickly tried to stand up, but she stumbled before Green caught her.
"Careful, you were being mind-controlled," Green said while studying Anabel.
Anabel rubbed her head again, her hand moving down to her cheek, "Mind control, no, but how did—"
Then her hand reached her neck and froze.
It was bare.
"M-my scarf, where is—" She quickly looked around on the floor, then down to her belt.
That's when she also noticed all her Poké Balls were gone from her belt.
She panicked for a second, but then everyone heard the sound of Poké Balls lightly tapping against each other.
Anabel moved toward the source. It was coming from a small closet.
When she opened it, she saw the scarf wrapped around something.
She quickly grabbed it and unwrapped it, revealing two Poké Balls: her Alakazam and Snorlax.
"Oh thank Arceus," she said, holding the two Poké Balls close before strapping them back onto her belt and wrapping the scarf around her neck again.
When she walked over and returned the unconscious Metagross to its Poké Ball, May looked at the scarf, "Is that scarf special?"
"O-oh, well, kinda. It belongs to a, someone special, and I want to give it back to him when I see him," Anabel started.
But Gary immediately interrupted by clapping his hands together, "Okay, can we save the sentimental stuff? We can talk after. We have to go help the others."
"That is a very good point. Let's go," Brendan immediately said as he pointed at the stairs, "Let's go."
—
{While that was happening}
The roof was in complete chaos, with everyone launching attacks nonstop. The sun was starting to set, so the sky was lit almost entirely by blasts from the Pokémon.
Deoxys moved again, appearing directly in front of Malde before anyone could even react.
Malde's eyes widened, "Again?!"
Deoxys' arm transformed into a spear-like tendril and stabbed forward.
Malde barely twisted aside in time, but the attack still tore straight through his shoulder, blasting half his torso apart in a spray of red and blue flesh.
Before Malde could regenerate, Deoxys' core flashed red, and it fired a point-blank [Charge Beam] from its chest.
The beam detonated across the rooftop and swallowed Malde completely. The explosion shook the entire tower, but the others could barely focus on that since they were still dealing with Guile.
Guile rushed forward with absurd speed, sword glowing bright gold as he swung directly toward Brandon.
"Regice!" Brandon called out, pointing forward.
Regice barely raised its arms before the sword slammed into it and launched the Legendary Pokémon backward across the rooftop.
Ice exploded everywhere as Regice crashed through part of a ventilation structure.
Then Guile suddenly twisted and blocked just as Claydol's [Psychic] slammed into his blade instead of his back.
The sword absorbed the energy instantly.
Spenser narrowed his eyes as he watched it, looking for an opening to strike.
Greta's Umbreon fired a [Hyper Voice] across the rooftop, the attack slamming directly toward Guile.
But Guile twisted sideways and swung his sword once, slicing the sound wave in half.
"Seriously?!" Greta shouted.
Then Guile vanished.
Noland paid attention to where Guile was looking, so he immediately called out, "Lucy!"
Lucy reacted instantly, "Milotic, [Aqua Tail]!"
Milotic spun around her in a spiral of water just as Guile appeared behind her. The glowing blade collided with the swirling tail, and a shockwave exploded outward hard enough to shove everyone backward several feet.
Lucy's eyes widened slightly.
Guile was still pushing forward.
Milotic cried out as the sword slowly began cutting through the water coating its tail.
Then suddenly, "[Dynamic Punch]!"
Brandon's Regirock came charging in from the side and slammed both fists directly into Guile's armor.
The hit detonated with enough force to crack the rooftop beneath them.
Guile finally got launched backward across the roof.
"Yes!" Tucker shouted from where he was sitting against some rubble. But then he immediately called out, "Behind you!"
A glowing purple arm punched straight through Regirock's chest from behind, breaking off chunks of stone from its body.
Malde grinned wildly as tentacles writhed across his body, "Oops."
Regirock staggered forward before Malde ripped his arm back out. The Legendary Pokémon crashed heavily onto one knee.
"Regirock!" Brandon called out.
But Malde didn't even look at him. He mainly hit Regirock just for the love of the game. His main concern was still Deoxys, who appeared directly behind him.
Its arm morphed into a blade and sliced downward.
Malde barely twisted aside in time, but the slash still carved straight through his back and sent half his body splattering across the rooftop.
But he had already started regenerating.
Deoxys didn't respond and instead flew forward again to attack.
You see, here's the thing with Malde: his mutation gave him incredible regeneration, but it was connected to his stamina and metabolism. The more he regenerated, the more energy he burned through, unlike Deoxys, who could effectively keep going forever as long as it didn't get knocked out in one hit or have its core destroyed.
But Malde himself was about equal in strength to Deoxys' base form. The problem was that Deoxys had multiple transformations while Malde didn't, so he was still no pushover.
The same went for Guile too. That armor and sword were way more broken than most people realized. With them, he could absorb and deflect attacks from even Legendary Pokémon. As long as it wasn't an A-tier Legendary or above, he could potentially beat it purely because of how busted that sword was.
So even after getting punched by Regirock, Guile slowly started standing back up and glared toward the Frontier Brains.
And immediately, all of them unleashed attacks at him at once.
"Claydol, [Psychic]!" Spenser commanded.
"Regice, [Ice Beam]!" Brandon called out.
"Milotic, [Hydro Pump]!" Lucy shouted.
"Umbreon, [Dark Pulse]!" Greta added.
"Ninjask, [Shadow Ball]!" Noland snapped.
The attacks all slammed into Guile at the same time, causing an explosion so massive it nearly blew everyone off the tower.
But they held onto Regirock since it was still standing, clutching its broken stone body as it slowly started rebuilding itself.
As the smoke gathered, everyone held their breath, wondering if they had finally done it.
But then a slash suddenly cut through the smoke as Guile's sword absorbed all of the energy and fired it right back at them.
The attack came hurtling toward the Frontier Brains and would definitely have killed them if it connected.
But Regice and Regirock quickly moved together and shielded the Frontier Brains with their bodies.
As the slash hit, both Regis were blasted backward violently. Huge sections of their bodies were blown apart, though that itself wasn't a problem since they could repair themselves later with more material.
The real issue was that the attack knocked both of them unconscious.
Brandon's eyes widened as both Regis crashed across the rooftop, "Regice! Regirock!"
The two Legendary Pokémon slowly stopped moving, their bodies cracked and shattered from protecting the others.
And that meant Brandon was left with only Registeel.
Guile stepped out of the smoke again, his armor scorched but otherwise mostly unharmed, "…Annoying," Guile muttered.
Meanwhile, behind them, another explosion erupted as Deoxys smashed Malde straight through part of the rooftop.
Malde's body skipped across the surface before stopping upside down against broken metal. His body twisted sickeningly before snapping itself back into place.
Then he stood up again, "…You are REALLY getting on my nerves!" Malde shouted.
Tentacles burst outward from his back like spears and shot toward Deoxys from every direction.
Deoxys' body instantly shifted into its Speed Forme, becoming slimmer as it vanished in a red blur.
Every tendril missed. Then Deoxys appeared above him and drove both hands downward like a hammer, sending Malde flying off the tower and slamming into the ground below.
But Malde recovered quickly and flew back up furiously.
Guile slowly raised his sword again while smoke drifted around him from the combined attack. The golden blade still glowed brightly with all the energy it had absorbed.
"…Pathetic," Guile muttered while looking at the exhausted Frontier Brains, "Even together, this is the best you can do?"
Meanwhile nearby, Deoxys and Malde crashed through another section of the rooftop in the background.
Malde screamed angrily while dozens of tendrils shot outward again like whips, tearing chunks out of the tower itself as Deoxys weaved around every strike in its Speed Forme.
Malde was getting angry and decided to call in his little trump cards, which were already starting to approach.
But as for Guile, just as he started approaching the Frontier Brains while charging up his sword, a massive shiny Slaking burst out of the stairwell entrance with terrifying speed.
Guile's eyes widened slightly beneath the helmet, "What—"
Slaking roared and swung its glowing fist directly into Guile's chest with a [Hammer Arm].
The punch detonated across the rooftop with enough force to crack the floor beneath them.
Guile got launched clean off his feet and blasted backward through two ruined ventilation structures before crashing across the rooftop in a shower of sparks and broken metal.
Everyone stared toward the stairwell. Even Deoxys and Malde paused for a second.
Then the rest of the group stepped out onto the rooftop: Ash, Gary, Green, May, Wally, Brock, and Brendan, with Anabel following behind them.
"Anabel?!" Greta shouted.
Noland nodded and smiled, "It's good to have you back."
Anabel looked around at the situation and lowered her head, "I see I caused everyone a lot of trouble," she muttered quietly.
"You can apologize later," Gary immediately cut in, "Right now, we've got bigger problems."
Green also looked up, and her hand instinctively went to her neck, "Oh no, it's that thing again," she said, pointing into the air where Deoxys was floating.
Wally also flinched, holding onto his neck like that alone would protect him.
"Don't worry about it," Ash said, raising his arm as he walked in front of them. He reached for his belt and held out only two Poké Balls, "I'll deal with that Deoxys. I have to pay it back for what it did to both of you."
Green looked at Ash's back as Pikachu and Vee gave her a thumbs-up while standing on Ash's shoulders, finally ready to fight too.
She wanted to say something, but she couldn't, so she just put her usual smile back on, "Alright then, we'll deal with the rest of these losers."
"Take your pick," Gary added while looking between Guile and Malde, "We've got more than we bargained for, but I've had about enough of this. I want to finish this, go home, and get some sleep."
Guile slowly stood back up from Slaking's punch, pieces of broken armor falling from his chestplate, "…So the children finally arrived," he muttered.
Gary rolled his shoulders, "Yeah, and we're already sick of hearing you talk."
Nearby, Malde landed on the rooftop again, his body still regenerating with disturbing snaps and twists. He looked significantly more irritated now than confident.
Deoxys floated silently above them. Its glowing eyes slowly moved across the group. Then it stopped, its gaze locked directly onto Ash. It didn't know why, but it felt something pulling it toward him.
More specifically, one of the Poké Balls on Ash's belt, the purple one, contained something that was calling to it.
So Deoxys shifted into Attack Forme and prepared to fight again. This time, it intended to finish things for good.