Mackenzie dodged Zero's Beam sabre wearily, but expertly. All of her training was paying off. The few weeks she had been in Videoland and the expert training by her team has made her an even more formidable opponent, but it was exhausting work. Her team were used to being battle-ready. She was just a cheerleader, a teenager from North Hackettsville.
Zero nodded at her and sheathed his energy weapon. She grinned, tired and sweaty, and put her Wii Remote away. She turned and practically fell over Arthur.
"My lady!" He called to her. "Are you ready to continue?" Mack slumped her shoulders dejectedly.
"No, I need like 5 minutes, okay? We've been at it for like 16 hours now!"
She cut herself off sharply as the door to the training room opened. Eike slipped in, trying to be quiet.
"Eike!" Mack cried joyfully. "You're back!"
Eike walked up slowly. "Uh, yeah. Just got back a few minutes ago. Was just training with Charizard down near Viridian City..."
"Oh really? Did you check out that cave I told you about?" Mack sounded deliberately far too interested in what Eike was saying. Arthur shifted slightly, his armor clanging in retort to the shift in balance.
Eike nodded a little. "Yeah, it was right where you said. We did a little training in there too..." Eike trailed off. He remembered what Hacker said. If he told the Captain about him taking Mewtwo, Hacker would see that he would be taken care of. In his mind's eye he recalled the slicing motion across the throat Hacker had made. He swallowed hard at the thought.
"You HAVE to show me the pokémon you caught in there!" The Captain grabbed Eike by the arm and pulled him along, leaving through the Training room door, leaving Zero and Arthur staring quizzically at what just happened. As the door closed, Arthur's left shoulder plate popped loose and clattered to the floor loudly.
Outside, Mack was pumping Eike's hands in thanks. "Oh, my god, you have no idea how glad I am to see you, you just saved me from ten more hours of grueling training. I really appreciate it!"
She dropped his hands and turned to leave. Eike held up a finger to say something, but she was off like a bullet, putting as much space between her and the training room as she could.
So much for warning her anyway. Eike turned and walked in the opposite direction, thinking about what to do next.
***
Missigno, after seeming to get its bearings, rose up from the arena floor. It pulsated with a greenish energy that dimmed the lights of the arena as it pulsed. It cried out in a tinny, artificial tone, and began to move away from the battle, towards one of the walls. The ground below the creature turned briefly to grass, then steel, lava, water, and finally back to the polished hard wood as it moved out of range. Images appeared out of thin air and disappeared or warped into something else. Everything around it was pure chaos.
Eike stood in awe. No legendary pokémon could be this powerful. Was Missingno even a pokémon? This was probably beyond him. But there was no one else, and this abomination against all things was on the loose. Lucario and Charizard were tense, but ready. Team Rocket's borrowed Rayquaza disappeared back into its pokéball, either unwilling or unable to fight the monster-on-the-loose.
James meekly crept out. "Missingno, I command you!" His voice more a wimper than a command. Missingno stopped suddenly.
For just a moment, no one moved, and the air was at once heavy again with tension. Missingno cried out again, its Screech attack so loud that the room shook in resonance. Everyone, pokémon included clasped their hands to their ears in pain. Eike sank to his knees.
Missingno flew suddenly at James, plowing into him headlong with a Tackle attack. James was bowled over, already doubled up from the Screech attack, ending up at the foot of Team Rocket's Meowth Balloon. He scrambled into the basket. Jesse and Meowth rushed to get in as well. They dropped several sand bags from the basket and the balloon slowly rose from its perch in the bleachers.
Missingno glowed a bright blue as a powerful Hyper Beam attack erupted from the core of the formless creature, not only striking the balloon, but breaking through the arena wall, showing the bleak horizon of the unrenedered landscape outside of the Inverted Palace of Power.
The balloon popped and careened at the opening, completely out of control. Cries of shock and fear could be heard from inside the balloon.
Missingno was not done with Team Rocket yet though. It teleported directly in front of the dirigible and blasted it with a Solarbeam attack, blasting the basket and shredded balloon further. It teleported again, fired off a Bubblebeam and disappeared again. What was left of Team Rocket's transport lingered for a moment before gravity got the better of it and they began to free fall. Eike ran to the edge of the building to look.
Missingno flew up suddenly from somewhere below the basket and plowed into Team Rocket with a Superpower attack. The basket blasted upwards towards the horizon.
"Looks like team rocket is blasting off agai--" the troupe cried as they flew off beyond Eike's ability to see and hear. Missingno hovered in place, cooing in pride, or maybe anger.
Eike got a view of what was going on outside now. Nearby, a giant portal to the Real World was open and strange monochromatic creatures, troops more probably, and heavy weapons platforms were coming through. Eike could also see dozens, maybe hundreds of Video Land residents below fighting to stop their advance. Among them were the other Captains. He could see Captain Xbox, Captain Playstation, and even some of the lesser captains instructing their teams, weaving in and out of troops as they advanced, culling their foes with great expertise. How did they get here? Eike hadn't seen any of this when the N Team arrived earlier. He was instilled with a little confidence at the sight. They were covering for the N Team, and they were defending their homeland. If they could do it, so could he.
Missingno had moved off slowly in the direction of Team Rocket's failed balloon. Eike wasn't about to let him get away that easily.
"Charizard, we have to stop him. Lucario, you've done a great job today, but for now; Return." Lucario disappeared in a flash of light, retuning to the safety of his poké ball. Charizard spread his wings wide and lowered himself so Eike could climb on.
Charizard moved to the edge of the building and slipped off, his wings hungrily drinking in the air as they glided off to stop Missingno from hurting anything else.
It didn't take long for Charizard to close the space between them and Missingno. Once the creature realized it was being followed, it stopped suddenly. As Eike's Fire/Flying type closed the gap, Missingno fired off a powerful Thunderbolt attack, taking advantage of one of Chaizard's weaknesses. Somehow, Charizard withstood the crippling attack and glided right up its attacker. Eike himself had only a few times been in the way of an actual pokémon attack, and this hurt. A lot.
Eike braced himself on Charizard's back. "Charizard, use Seismic Toss!"
Charizard tightened his grip on the creature, folded his wings and dropped with Missingno towards the ground far below. As they built up speed. Eike found it harder and harder to hold on. He slipped free and fell into his own free-fall. Charizard dropped far faster with Missingno.
Down below, Charizard smashed Missingno into the ground with such force that the flat plains themselves caved in around them, forming a massive sinkhole and throwing dust and rock into the air around them.
Eike tried to remain calm, but with no parachute and his flying pokémon busy stopping Missingno, there was no way he could break his fall!
The dust cloud erupted up towards Eike almost as fast as he was falling. Just as he was about to fall into it, he caught a glimpse of flame, Charizard's tail! Half an instant later, Charizard flew up with a whoosh, snagging Eike's hands as he rose into the sky. Eike's arms nearly ripped out of their sockets form the strain, but he didn't care. He was safe now. He clung on for dear life and looked to the ground below.
As the dust cleared away, Eike was surprised to find the crater empty. Where was Missingno? He supposed he shouldn't be surprised. Since Missingno was not of any known type, there was no way to figure out what its weakness was, or if it even had any.
Charizard descended towards the ground and slowed as much as he could. He dropped Eike to the ground as gently as he could and came around to land himself.
A shadow fell upon Eike suddenly. Small rocks fell to the ground around him. He looked up just in time to see a massive boulder falling straight for him. For the second time that day. Chrizard hurled Eike to Safety only to take the blow himself. His double weakness to the rock type attack assured he wasn't going to get up. Eike recovered and pulled out Charizard's poké ball and returned him. Missingno cried out in victory from somewhere in the dispersing dust cloud.
"Three down, three left. No more revives left." Eike took a quick inventory of what he had left. If he were Super Mario, he wouldn't be having this trouble. He would just jump, backflip, shoot a fireball, and it would faint. If he were Link or Arthur or Zero, victory was only a few hacks and slashes away. Midna could have crushed it with her Spider form, DS could have copied its ridiculous power and given it a dose of its own medicine... We won't even talk about what Mackenzie could have done. All he had was a collapsible bicycle, a perfume case, a poffin case and a few tamed animals to fight for him.
"No, no. I can do this. I just have to burn him down..." Eike clenched his fists and reassured himself. He pulled out Lucario's poké ball and returned him to the field.
"Okay Lucario, it's your turn... I don't know if we can win, but we have to try!" Lucario nodded confidently to his master.
Missingno appeared from the dust cloud, slowly advancing on Eike now. Lucario interposed himself between the pokémon and his master. Missingno slowed and hovered in place for a minute. A chill breeze blew across the plain, and despite the battle nearby, Eike felt a silence that made him a little uneasy.
Missingno made the first strike. It rushed forward erratically, attempting to bypass Lucario and go straight for Eike. Lucario wouldn't have it and grabbed the pokémon as best he could and used his COunter move to throw it back away from his master. Lucario turned to face Eike, making a motion for him to run.
"You want me to run? We need each other, this is bigger than the both of us!" Eike retorted. Lucario frowned sharply and pointed towards the battle nearby and made the shooing motion again. Eike frowned back, but complied, slowly trotting away. Lucario nodded and turned back to Missingno, who was charging again. The dust gathered around them and the sounds of battle could be heard, but nothing seen. Eike broke into a run and headed towards the nearby battle for videoland.
There was an explosion behind him, so powerful he was knocked forward. As he turned to look, a flash of energy could be seen, as Lucario, having fainted, was automatically returned to his poké ball.
Missingno emerged again from the dispersing dust cloud. The battle behind Eike spilled into his field of vision and the carnage grew in intensity. In a matter of a few seconds, he had lost sight of the hacked pokémon. He scrambled back to his feet and ran further into the fracas, trying to buy himself a few minutes time to work out a strategy.
2 pokémon left. Eike smiled grimly. He was glad he saved these two for last. But there's a cost for using one of them. He's never used it since he caught it it way up on the top of Mount Coronet in Sinnoh, and it might be too powerful to control. He would only pull that one out if the next one falls too.
"You're up, We need to stop Missingno!" Eike tossed his fifth poké ball into the chaos behind him. In a flash of light, the psychic humanoid pokémon, Allakhazam appeared. Its eyes narrowed as it used its power to peer forward towards Missingno, who had not yet caught sight of him. It sized up its opponent carefully and waited.
Eike wasn't paying much attention to the fighting all around him, nor was it paying much attention to him. So far, he was well hidden. But he knew that somehow Missingno would find him sooner or later. It had been unstoppable so far once it had found its target.
"Okay Allakhazam, use Confusion!" Eike called out. Allakhazam's eyes glowed briefly in compliance. Missingno seemed to stop for a moment and contort upon itself, possibly trying to brace itself from the strong Psychic attack.
It forced off a watergun attack wildly into the crowd, causing the fight to become even more crazy. Several of the monochrome soldiers from the real world were taken by surprise and moved in on Missingno. 'that works' Eike mused. 'two birds with one stone...'
Eike motioned to Allakhazam to move with him through the crowd. If they kept moving and attacking, it would be harder to Missingno to pinpoint them. Or so he thought.
Missingno took on a metallic sheen for a moment and swiped at its approaching foes with a Metal Tail attack, felling the group in a single blow. It seemed that Missingno had virtually every ability any pokémon did. It stayed in midair, searching the crowd.
Without warning, a huge explosion rocked the very fabric of the world around them, and over by the Inverted Palace, an enormous hole had appeared, almost like a warp zone of sorts, going into another world. Eike knew time was short, whether the rest of the Team was still around or not, he had to get back to the palace and stop Hacker.
"Allakhazam, use Future Sight!" Eike called. Allakhazam glowed bright blue for a moment.
That was all Missingno needed to get a lock on Eike. It flew quickly and directly at him. Eike's heart beat furiously in his chest. Was this the end?
Allakhazam's eyes glowed brightly and Missingno stopped suddenly and dropped to the ground, grayed and stopped in place, its field of chaos seemingly stopping. Allakhazam's Disable attack had made its mark. Eike looked to his companion.
"Allakhazam... Thank you..." Allakhazam wasn't a pokémon he knew very well. He had traded for him from another trainer only a short while ago when it was only a Kadabra. It had evolved during the trade, much to his surprise. He had trained with him a few times, and he was capable in battle, very capable at that, but he never had stuck his neck out for Eike before, though he really never had to.
Eike took out his last poké ball and sent it onto the field to finish the job. A large flash of light gave way to a very large pearlescent draconic form. It roared in a primal fury, ready to fight. Palkia, master of space, revealed himself to the battlefield, and everything seemingly came to a halt. The other captains stopped and looked up at the monster, the Monochrome Army from the Real World looked on, stopped in awe.
Palkia took a few heavy steps over to Eike and looked him over. Eike stood fast, determined to show this pokémon he was in charge. It peered deeply into his eyes for what seemed like an eternity, and then nodded ever so slightly. It acknowledged Eike as his master, and Eike inwardly sighed in relief.
Missingno would not be denied what it wanted. It began to glow bright red and sizzle intensely. Eike had turned to look just in time to recognise the attack was a Selfdestruct attack. It was going to wipe everyone out!
"Allakhazam, Palkia! Stop him!" Missingno glowed more intensely and the ground began to rumble. Allakhazam tried to pin it down with a Psybeam attack, but it didnt seem to be working very well.
Palkia looked to Eike and scratched at him! Eike braced himself for the traitorous pokémon's attack, only to realize that the creature had torn a hole in the fabric of space with its claws before his master. Eike looked up at the Legendary Pokémon with awe. The dragon nodded. Wasting no further time, Eike dove through the Spacial Rend at the very moment that Missngno Selfdestructed.
***
Eike found himself on the cliff overlooking the Inverted Palace at the very moment of the explosion. It engulfed the entirety of the battlefield and a large swath of the palace itself. The heat and light was so intense, it was looking like the sun up close.
Shrapnel sizzled by and Eike had to dive for cover. Large pieces of masonry and even some small artillery flew by, crashing in the distance. Eike could have sworn he saw a single Koopa Troopa and Goomba fly by him at one point.
The intensity died down and Eike was able to look up and back at the carnage. Virtually nothing was left. At the epicenter of the explosion was now a deep basin of what looked like lava and molten glass. A large portion of the base of the Palace was missing, the tower itself teetering on collapse. The portal to the Real World was outside of the blast and seemed to be unaffected.
Hovering over the mess were two figures, Palkia and Missingno. They were locked in combat, but it was clear Palkia was losing. Eike looked to his poké balls and saw that Allakhazam had been returned to its poké ball, fainted from the battle. This was it. Either Palkia stopped Missingno or it was all over. He didn't stand a chance against it, not without his Pokémon. Charizard, Aggron, Pikachu, Lucario, Allakhazam, and now Palkia.
Missingno hit Palkia with an Ice Beam attack and followed immediately with a Dragon Rage attack. Palkia couldn't hold up to it. He fainted and automatically returned towards its poké ball after fainting. Missingno followed the energy trail, zooming in for Eike. It was slower now, seemingly exhausting itself finally. Not that it mattered. Eike had nothing left.
Eike turned to run and froze in place. Before him, bruised, battered and charred, but very much alive, was Hacker. His heart sank. It really was over. Hacker was not smiling though. Nor was he really looking at Eike. He was watching Missingno. Eike dropped to his knees, exhausted from the battle. Hacker glanced down at the young man.
"You did well fighting Missingno..." Hacker sounded strange to him. His voice had a genuine tone to it. He meant it.
"I'm sorry to have put you through all of this. I know it has been hard. Not all of it was my doing. But this abomination is my fault, and I intend to make amends."
Hacker unwrapped himself from his costume, and as the pieces fell away, Eike saw a familiar red and white jacket. It was emblazoned just as Mackenzie's was, with a large letter N on the left breast. The face he did not recognise though. It wasn't Kevin Keane, the former Captain. Who was this?
Hacker looked to the fallen boy again ever so briefly. "Mack will explain it to you someday..." With that he smiled grimly and leapt out towards Missingno. The two collided in midair, Missingno striking Hacker's Keyblade. He managed to push the chaotic creature off of him and point the weapon at it. It collided with the key and Hacker turned it suddenly and sharply. Missingno became quiet, its heart locked in place.
Hacker took out a poké ball from his belt. It was the same one that Missingno emerged from. He dropped it on the ground nearby. Missingno seemed to make an inquisitive noise.
"You're free now. No need to fight anymore. Go to your home and find a place for yourself in this place." Hacker spoke slowly and calmly. Missingno didn't move for a moment. Then it just seemed to fade away without so much as a sound. Hacker knew it was headed for Pokémon World, where it belonged.
Hacker turned towards Eike to find him laying on the ground, exhausted and beaten. He shook his head solemnly. He was just a moment too late. If he waited much longer now, it might be too late to save the Captain from the biggest threat Videoland had ever known, Trance Microelectronics.
He picked up Eike gingerly and teleported towards Pokémon World.
***
Eike awoke several hours later in a Pokémon Center. He had been bandaged and had an IV in his arm, giving him saline solution probably. He discovered he was suddenly very hungry.
He looked around the room and saw that his pokémon were safe in their balls, put away on his belt. His travelling clothes and running shoes were carefully folded on a nearby chair.
The door opened. Eike was relieved to see Nurse Joy enter with some soup for him.
"How are you feeling?" She asked cheerily. She hummed a tune while she walked over and put his soup down on a tray to cool. She looked at his stats on a nearby monitor before turning to him.
"I thought I was done for. I was fighting Missingno and--"
Nurse Joy felt his head. She was looking at him a little strangely.
"Missingno, huh? Haven't heard of that pokémon before..." She smiled. "You don't seem to have a fever. If you're feeling better we can ahve you out of here in a few hours."
Eike nodded. The nurse smiled and turned to leave. Eike thought to himself. What had happened to the Captain? or Videoland? Obviously it was still here, so Mackenzie must have done it. He laid back and let himself get lost in his thoughts. Had Hacker saved him? He wished he had the answers to his questions.
He was looking at his poké balls on the nearby table. Something wasn't right. He got up, careful not to unhook the machines he was up to and hobbled over as best he could. His legs were sore and stiff, but nothing was broken.
He was right. There was something wrong with his poké balls. There was one too many. He counted and figured out that which was the rogue ball. He looked it over in his hand and checked the information on it. The original Trainer was a Ryan Michaels. No one he knew. What pokémon was it?
Nurse Joy came back in just then. She starled a bit to see Eike standing up and over by his gear.
"Eike, Pokémon Master or not, you shouldn't push yourself so hard." She scolded. "You are still a kid, and you don't want to over do it."
Eike smiled broadly. "You're probably right... Hey, can you tell me what pokémon this is?"
Nurse Joy looked the Poké ball over. "This is Rayquaza I believe; the guy who brought you in said it was yours. Wow, you have been busy. Still, try to take it easy for a few days, okay?"
The nurse had started unhooking him from the IV and the monitors. Eike was dumbfounded. He had Rayquaza. Hacker's-- No Ryan's Rayquaza. The same one that had started this whole adventure. He had in his own way, beat Hacker. He had impressed him. He had beaten Team Rocket, endured the savage beating of Missingno, and impressed Hacker. He flet a great swelling of pride, knowing he really did stand up as a defender of Videoland, and as a valued member of Mackenzie Buffington's N Team.
Eike got dressed and left he pokémon center after thanking Nurse Joy again for her hospitality. He looked at the dusty road before him and tried to decide what to do next...
