Pokemon: Arceus' Champion

"EVERYONE INSIDE, NOW!"

People looked around in confusion as my voice rang out, and it must have triggered something in the Champions, Rangers and professors as they too realized what I had.

"Listen to him! Get inside where its warmer!" Steven yelled out as he, Iris and Nemona began urging them.

As they tried to mobilize people, I spread my aura senses out as much as possible to figure out which direction it was coming from.

"Ace! That way!" Lady Ilene shouted suddenly, pointing out past the front of the ship into the distance.

Following her finger, I noticed a faint aura that was rapidly growing in strength as it got closer.

"WE NEED ALL FIRE TYPES THAT ARE ABOARD THE SHIP!" I roared out as the temperature began to plummet, sending out Charizard, Chimchar, Houndoom, and Ditto, who readily Transformed into Charizard to assist as well. I wish I could have used Rolycoly, but he didn't know any fire type moves just yet.

"Charizard!"

"Dragonite!"

"Hydreigon!"

"Arcanine!"

"Magmortar!"

"Ninetails!"

"Camerupt!"

"Typhlosion!"

"Blaziken!"

One after another fire type pokemon and pokemon who knew fire type moves appeared on the deck of the ship, each prepared and ready to go as they waited for their commands.

By this point the snowfall had increased to the point that a coating already covered most of the deck, prompting most people to pull out their jackets and outerwear. Those who didn't have outerwear on them, or were wet from getting in the water earlier, were amongst the first to rush inside, such as Misty, Hudson and the rest of the trainers who had fought against Team Aqua.

"Talk to me Giana." I ordered her as she and the rest of her subordinates began to move.

"Articuno was being kept on standby during the attack with the second in command of Team Rocket, Archer. I had hoped that they wouldn't be called to provide backup, but someone must have gotten the signal out." Giana said as she sent out a pokeball, producing a humanoid pokemon covered in blue flames with bladed arms.

"???"

"Ceruledge." Giana answered my unasked question, as I had never seen THAT pokemon before.

"Right." I said, before turning my attention to all of the fire types that were now standing on the deck, at least a hundred of them, if not more.

"All of you listen up!" I called out to them and their trainers, drawing everyone's attention to me as Aritcuno steadily approached us. "Articuno is approaching us as a secret weapon of Team Rocket! She will be MUCH more powerful than Beedrill was, so we all need to work together if we want to survive! When we give the signal, we need your pokemon to unleash their strongest long-distance fire type attack at the same time!"

I noticed Lorelei looked conflicted as I barked battle plans to combat her Lady of Ice, but she said nothing since she probably knew this was the only way for us to try and help her.

"I have an idea as well!" Declared an old man dressed in shorts and a floral shirt, Blaine.

"Several of our pokemon have the Flash Fire ability! So lets have those who aren't as powerful, or don't have many long-range attacks, power up the others with their fire type moves!" He suggested loud enough so that everyone could hear him.

"Excellent! Let's do it!" I immediately agreed before turning towards my own pokemon.

"Ditto, Chimchar, I need all of you to use your strongest fire attacks on Houndoom and Charizard! Power them up as much as you can!"

My aforementioned pokemon cried out in affirmation, before they began doing just that as Chimchar peppered Charizard and Houndoom with his Ember attack, and Ditto used Charizard's own Flamethrower on them. Even Giana's Ceruledge joined them in being bathed in the flames, apparently also having Flash Fire.

All over the same scene was playing out as people arranged attacks on their own pokemon to power them up, while the temperature continued to drop and the snowfall increased until it was almost a blizzard.

"Sir, I have something to tell you about Archer." Ariana said as she approached me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Archer is second in command of Team Rocket for a reason. He's cruel and sadistic to a fault, and has had no qualms about stepping on others to get what he wants. But he also has a habit of 'playing with his food', so to speak."

"How so?"

"How long he's taking to get here for one. He knows we know he's coming, there's no way that the League would be ignorant of the sudden shift in weather. But he's taking his time to let us stew before he swoops in for the attack, either to let us panic longer, or mount a defense just so he can crush it and destroy our spirit."

"So what are you saying?"

"That we should use that. He thinks he'll be untouchable due to Articuno, that no one here has experience with combating Legendary pokemon. So let's use that arrogance to our advantage."

I looked Ariana over briefly before realizing what she was getting at.

"Haaa... How much do you know?"

"All of it. Sabrina has been keeping tabs on those ladies you surround yourself with, and informing Giana of your going ons. Giana then informed me when she recruited me to her new Team, so I'm placing my bet on you."

The look Ariana gave me when she said that said in pretty much every way except verbally that she was interested in more than just my ability with pokemon, which she then emphasized when she gently touched my arm with her hand, running her fingers over my muscles.

I cocked a brow at her actions, since even I knew this was neither the time nor place, to which Ariana just smiled while oozing sensuality.

Yeah, I'll probably tear that up when this is all over.

But first thing first.

"How far out is she, Ilene?" I asked the queen while simultaneously sending my own aura senses out as far as possible.

"Not far." The queen replied worriedly.

"My lady, we need to get you to safety." Stated the older Aura Guardian beside her, while the others nodded in agreement.

"I think not." She stated while keeping her eyes on the horizon where Articuno was coming for us. And we could all feel her at this point.

The power she radiated was an entirely different league than that of Beedrill, reminding me of when I had met with Zapdos back on Thunder Ridge. Except while Zapdos felt like a ticking time bomb, primed and ready to unleash devestation at the slightest provocation, Articuno felt like the long, drawn out silent killer.

She wasn't power that would explode at any given second, she would alter entire landscapes, and could decimate entire civilizations on a whim by blanketing them in endless snow. But, that didn't mean she was incapable of incredible power.

"!!!"

"EVERYONE ATTACK!"

I roared out while channeling my aura as I felt a sudden build up of energy coming from Articuno's direction.

Instantly heat filled the air to rival the growing cold, as every single pokemon that had spent the last couple of minutes powering themselves up expelled their most powerful ranged fire type attack at the exact same point that I was directing them to. At the same time, a blue beam of pure coldness suddenly shot down directly at us from the clouds.

*DOGOOOOOOOOOOON!*

The fire attacks and Ice Beam collided in mid air to create a literal explosion of steam that filled the air around us, instantly making the night foggy as the tempurature plummeted even more.

"KEEP IT UP!" I yelled out to the fire type pokemon, even as they continued their collective attacks. Some were using Flamethrower, while others were trying to spam Fire Blast repeatedly.

However even that felt like it would not be enough, as the massively powerful Ice Beam continued to push against the multitude of fire type attacks and advance towards us.

"And this is with a type advantage?!" Iris exclaimed with notable fear in both her voice and aura.

"Unfortunately..." I groaned in reponse, before noticing something. Professor Oak's Dragonite wasn't here.

"DRAAAAAAAAAAG!"

All of us looked up upon hearing Dragonite's roar, as he charged at the place where Articuno was while flames coated his body.

"Dragonite can't learn Flame Charge, but I think we can recreate it well enough by adapting Fire Punch. Don't you think?" Professor Oak asked me suddenly, a confidence radiating from the old man that he didn't usually carry.

"Let's hope." I said since, if any one of us were to have a shot of actually defeating Articuno, it was probably Dragonite. Especially since apparently he was undefeated.

We all watched anxiously as Dragonite shot across the sky like a burning comet towards Articuno, before disappearing into the clouds above.

*BOOM!*

Light illuminated the sky as Dragonite attacked the Legendary pokemon, finally ending the drawn out and powerful Ice Beam to allow our fire type pokemon a brief respite.

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

Numerous flashes of light illuminated the cloudy night sky as Dragonite battled against Articuno, doing what I thought was a better job than he had against Mewtwo.

All around me I could hear people praying, muttering encouragment and hope, and even a running commentary as Gabby and her camera man continued broadcasting despite the ongoing struggle and previous battle. And then, it fell silent above.

"..."

Everyone waited with bated breaths for the result of a battle that could very well determine ALL of our lives. Until a voice hesitantly asked,

"Did Dragonite win?"

"!!!"

"YOU MOTHERFUCK-!"

*CRASH!*

Just as I was about to curse out Falkner for jinxing us, AGAIN, a large block of ice came falling out of the sky to hit the deck of the ship, a completely frozen Dragonite.

"""!!!"""

"SHIT!" I yelled out in panic, right as ANOTHER Legendary Ice Beam came out of the sky.

*KER-KRACK!*

In an instant the entire area where the fire type pokemon were was frozen as well, encasing almost all of them in a layer of ice while forcing the rest of us back.

"Shit! Lucario!" I quickly turned towards my partner, who immediately tried to use Brick Break and Rock Smash to shatter the ice.

"I wouldn't bother if I were you!" Declared a voice from above, before an ethereal blue bird descended from the clouds that had been previously concealing her.

Articuno was not called the Lady of Ice for no reason, as she appeared to elegance personified as she descended, were it not for the robotic pieces on her body. Her head was encased in a helmet that covered even her eyes, leaving only her beak visible, and her talons were equipped with numerous razor-sharp looking barbs to increase the damage they could deal. To cap it off, she was also equipped with a robotic chest piece that also held a saddle, in which a man with extremely short cut light blue hair was sitting as he directed a contemptuous sneer down at us.

I did NOT miss the robotic circlet adorning his brow.

"Well, well, well. Giana, Ariana and Domino, the traitorous trio!" The man, presumably Archer, sneered as he focused his attention on the trio of women. From the sound of it, it seemed as if Articuno's armor was equipped with speakers to project her 'rider's' voice.

"Hello Archer." Giana said up to him, though I noticed her tensing just ever so slightly.

"So what reason shall I give Giovanni for your betrayel when I present him with your corpses?" Archer asked them.

"Tell him we decided to side with a REAL man. IF you get back to him." Ariana replied this time, while I fingered the ring on my finger.

"PIDGEOT!" I cried out to my bird.

*BOOM!*

*BOOM!*

"GEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With sonic booms proceeding him, Pidgeot swooped out of the sky as he was encased in a sphere of multicolored light that shattered to reveal his, even larger and more colorful, form.

Archer, and Articuno, both looked up to see where Pidgeot was coming from, but both reacted to his speed too slowly as he unleashed a powerful Hurricane at them to keep them occupied.

"DAMN!" Archer swore as he was buffeted by the powerful winds, distracting him long enough that Pidgeot swooped down to the deck beside me.

"You all try to free them from the ice! Pidgeot and I will distract them for as long as we can!" I told them while hurriedly jumping onto idgeot's back, thankfully his harness still fit him in his larger Mega Evolved form. Barely.

"Ace-!"

"Whatever it is, tell me later." I told the professor, cutting him off as I quickly adorned my goggles and face mask before we took off.

"YOU!" Archer snarled as Pidgeot and I swiftly flew up above the ship.

"ME!" I shouted back, fully intending to get his attention solely on myself.

'Stay moving. We don't want them catching us with a single attack!' I mentally told Pidgeot as he propelled us higher as fast as he could go,

"GEO!" He chirped back, before going even faster despite the risk to the harness. But if all we lost in this battle was an old harness, then that would be a light payment.

The wind roared in my ears as Pidgeot flipped around so that we were diving all of a sudden, aimed directly at Articuno and Archer. I pressed myself down as closely to Pidgeot's body as possible to reduce wind resistance, while Pidgeot began to spin at high speed to create an even more powerful Hurricane than before to engulf Articuno.

'Focus your attacks on Archer specifically. He's the one controlling Articuno, so if we separate them then it will be easier to free her from his control.'

"PI!"

Swooping out of the dive at the last second, Pidgeot and I hurried away before Articuno could retaliate.

"Damn thing even froze the ocean..." I uttered in disbelief as Pidgeot and I flew over the frozen waves, the tips of his wings skimming over the ice.

"DAMN IT! KILL THEM ARTICUNO!" I heard Archer roar behind us.

"!!!"

*CRASH!*

The next thing I knew another Ice Beam was being fired at us, creating massive pillars and arches of ice that we had to bob and weave through.

"Hmph. Even if he's got a Legendary on his side, it doesn't mean much it she's limited to his own reactions." I muttered as we dodged another attack.

If I understood it right, Archer must be using that circlet on his head to control Articuno via his thoughts, a much better system than what they apparently used with Beedrill. Except, it meant that Articuno was being limited to Archer's own reaction time as she tried to attack us, as well as the capacity to use her own powers.

We can definitely use that to our advantage.

We swooped around the powerful Ice Beam and soared upwards once more, before flipping as Pidgeot started to spin in the air once again. This time however, instead of Hurricane, Pidgeot blasted Articuno and Archer with several dozen Air Slashes. They may not have gotten through the armor, but it was still enough to bug Archer.

"OH SHIT!" I yelled out when I suddenly felt a surge of power from Articuno, before said power was unleashed in a snow storm that practically blinded us.

'Powder Snow?!' I mentally exclaimed at the 'unreasonable' attack, which blanketed a thick layer of powdery snow over everything around us.

"GO PIDGEOT!" I urged my bird, trying to keep us ahead of the attack entirely. He then put out so much speed that I could feel the harness starting to creak and strain.

"DON'T THINK YOU CAN GET AWAY THAT EASILY, ACE KETCHUM! ICICLE CRASH!"

"!!!"

Immediately the snow falling around us turned into razor-sharp icicles, which fell in every direction to refuse us a single avenue to escape.

"Protect!" I urged Pidgeot, who conjured the shimmering shield around us.

*CRASH!*

*CRASH!*

*CRASH!*

The sound of the icicles shattering on the Protect filled our ears, and made both of us even more nervous since each hit increased the likelihood of the Protect failing altogether.

"Faster Pidgeot! We have to clear these icicles before Protect fails!" I urged him on, and Pidgeot sped up while putting even more strain on the harness. Unfortunately, that also made it to where the icicles were hitting the Protect even harder than before.

"Come on..." I uttered, even as I saw the first crack appear in Pidgeot's Protect.

"Come on...!" I groaned as it began to spread.

"COME ON!" I shouted, right as several things happened at once.

*KER-CRACK!*

The Protect shattered completely, exposing Pidgeot and I to the razor-sharp icicles raining down upon us.

*SNAP!*

The harness that I had made for Pideot by hand so long ago snapped, throwing me from his back.

"!!!"

Then, instead of biting cold shards of ice that I had been expecting to tear through us, I was wrapped in an embrace of softness and warmth even as pain still sprouted in me. No.... Not ME.

*CRASH!*

I could feel the impact as Pidgeot and I crashed into the frozen ocean, sliding through the snow before we both came to stop and his wings unwrapped me.

"Pidgeot?" I uttered worriedly, while scrambling to stand. And when I saw Pidgeot, it was as if someone had torn my stomach out of me.

"Pidgeot!"

Laying in the snow, not moving in the slightest, was Pidgeot.

Several shards if ice were sticking out of him, and patches of red dotted his feathers that I couldn't even tell if they were apart of his Mege Evolution, or fblood from the wounds he had sustained protecting me.

"Y-You're going to be ok!" I told him resolutely, pulling my bag off of my back as I did so to try and find something that would help him.

"P-pi..."

"Don't talk like that! You're going to be fine!" I told him sternly, while also frantically looking for something to help him. And I couldn't call Chansey out either, as I left her to help Joy and the other Nurses.

"There has to be something.... I HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING!" I yelled while pushing aside the useless things in my bag in my search for medicine, but nothing I had was strong enough for the injuries he had.

"HAHAHAHAHA! THAT IS A FITTING LOOK FOR YOU, ACE KETCHUM!" A voice sneered from above victoriously, making my blood go from chilled to boiling instantly as I looked up to see Archer and Articuno.

"YOU-!"

"ME!" Archer taunted.

"I LAID YOU LOW! I DEFEATED THE PEST THAT HAD NEARLY WIPED OUT TEAM ROCKET!" Archer yelled with a touch of sadistic insanity to his voice, his every word making my blood boil even more.

"AND WITH YOU OUT OF THE WAY, WE WILL REBUILD TEAM ROCKET TO BE BETTER THAN IT EVER WAS BEFORE! NOT EVEN THE CHAMPIONS WILL REMAIN AFTER THIS NIGHT TO STAND IN OUR WAY!"

Then, once he seemingly finished his speech, Archer turned Articuno the other way.

"Stay here Ace Ketchum! Stay and watch your precious bird die while I go and kill all of the others on the SS. Anne! Stay and know that your sacrifices meant NOTHING before I bring you to the Boss! I know he had such DELICIOUS plans for you!"

"ARCHER!" I roared at him, even as Archer directed Articuno to fly away, back to the SS. Anne.

Torn between my rage towards Archer, and my concern for Pidgeot, I focused on my pokemon as I once again started digging through my bag. This time I knew exactly what I needed to get.

"There you are!" I said as I pulled out what I was looking for, a pink pokeball.

It was a Heal Ball, a unique pokeball designed to help transport pokemon that were critically injured. They didn't actually 'heal' the pokemon within though, they simply sustained them through a mechanical replication of the move Heal Pulse. However, if the injuries that were sustained were too great, then the pokemon within could still die if they go long enough without treatment.

"Just wait Pidgeot! I swear, I won't let you die!" I told my bird while tapping the Heal Ball to him, sucking him inside even as his lifeforce continued to weaken.

I then looked back in the direction Archer had gone with Articuno, and felt my blood boil once more as I channeled all of my remaining energy into rage.

"Archer..." I growled, and heard a slight rumble overhead.

"Archer!" I snarled, and a flash of light went off in the distance.

"ARCHEEEEEEEEER!" I roared, and sky roared back as lightning rained down around me to create numerous massive fissures in the ice.

"SCREEEEEEEEEEYAAAAAAAAAA!"