As Ash moved forward into the battle, he realized he and his Pokemon were absolutely unbeatable. He could see down below that his Pokemon were taking out Team Flare Pokemon one by one with single hits. He saw Oshawott strike down a Sycther with his razor shell, Snorlax take out a Hydreigon with an ice punch, Krookodile knock out a Maganium with a dragon claw. In the skies it was no different. Swellow and Staraptor teamed up to take out a Tropius. Noivern and Gliscor put down a Salamence. Talonflame, Unfezant and Noctowl struck down a trio of Skarmory. Nothing could stop them.

When any enemy Pokemon got close to Ash, it was maybe even more lopsided. Charizard, Pidgeot and Pikachu deflected anything that was even remotely close to him. A hyper beam from a Tyranitar rushed towards Ash, but Pidgeot was able to slap it down with a steel wing. A hydro pump from a Feraligatr headed towards Charizard's tail, but Pikachu's thunderbolt jolted right through it. There was trio of Dusknoir that sent of three shadow balls and Charizard played a little bit of baseball and sent them all back with dragon tail. The way they were fighting, they couldn't lose. Ash knew that if he ever brought this kind of power to the Kalos League, he'd be absolutely unbeatable.

Ash noticed the Butterfree army was making quick work of the bug Pokemon Team Flare had sent up. He could even see his own Butterfree among the group, easily taking down any enemies that came near him. A Ninjask barrelled towards him and Butterfree struck him with a surprise psybeam. Ash smiled, seeing that clearly his old Pokemon had been keeping his battle skills in tip top shape.

It wasn't even the just the battles around him, that Ash could see. He closed his eyes a few times, and watched as Greninja crushed what he knew to be Mable's Weavile and Houndoom. The frog-ninja Pokemon was stronger than ever, despite his injuries.

It wasn't long before it became crystal clear that the reinforcements Ash had brought were too much for Team Flare to handle. Ash could even see quite a few were fleeing, while the police were rounding up a few others. A few battles still went on, but he knew that overall, the battle was pretty close to being over. At least, the battle with those he didn't care about. The battle with Lysandre was still very much alive. Ash had Charizard stop and he looked towards Prism Tower, seeing that Zygarde was carefully watching him. Ash knew that Lysandre was well aware of what was going on and that was exactly what he wanted. Let him know how strong I am. Let him see that he has no chance of beating me. Let him know that no matter what he does, he's getting a painful dose of Ash Ketchum.

Then, Ash noticed Zygarde move from his spot above Prism Tower. He flapped his wings and flew higher into the sky and then moved forward. Apparently, Lysandre was making a move. Zygarde seemed to move in slow motion as he flew and then he stopped, hovering in front of Lumiose City, just above the battlefield. Then, Lysandre spoke, using some kind of speaker from the top of Lumiose City.

"Welcome, Mr. Ketchum. I see you've brought some friends to the party." The voice caused everyone to stop battling. Although, there wasn't really that much left, with Ash's Pokemon having already wiped out most of Team Flare's Pokemon. "An impressive entrance. You have quite the army at your disposal."

Ash narrowed his eyes. He wasn't stupid. Lysandre wasn't complimenting him, he was taunting him. Lysandre was hinting that Ash's Pokemon were no match for his Zygarde. And I guess he's actually right about that. Ash thought. But that doesn't matter. I won't give up until Serena's safe.

"I suppose you actually wish to fight me." Lysandre said. "You seem to be quite upset. If you don't mind, I'd like to know why."

"He's just taunting you, Ash, don't answer." Ash jumped. He'd almost completely forgotten Dawn was behind him. She'd joined him on Charizard's back so that Pidgeot could perform his gust easier when they'd arrived.

Realizing this, Ash looked over at Pidgeot, who was hovering near them. "Pidgeot, take Dawn to my friends. Bring Greninja back up with you." Pidgeot nodded and hovered just beneath Charizard, in position to catch Dawn. Ash didn't feel great about doing it, but since Dawn was already starting to protest, he had to do it. He pushed her off Charizard and she landed on Pidgeot's back. Pidgeot immediately started whipping towards the ground, Dawn cursing at Ash from his back.

"I'm waiting." Lysandre suddenly said, causing Ash to jerk his head back towards the city in front of him. He was suddenly noticing how quiet it was. It was like everyone below him was holding their breath.

"Give Serena back and I'll go easy on you!" Ash yelled. He felt his mind flare up with power. He somehow knew that his voice could be heard in Lysandre's mind as well. Perhaps everyone around the city, as well.

"Serena?" Lysandre asked. He actually seemed to be quite confused. It was like there was real curiosity in his question.

Ash wasn't buying it, though. Lysandre had threatened Serena way back in Geosenge Town. He was perfectly willing to stoop to those tactics. "Don't try that with me." Ash said. He realized he didn't have to yell. He knew he could be heard. "You attacked her. You attacked her Pokemon. You hid like a coward and ambushed her when she was all alone."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Lysandre said, his voice almost making Ash believe him. He really did sound like he was confused about what Ash was saying. "I admit, I might have considered doing something like that, but I was busy with other matters."

"Don't lie to me." Ash growled. "This is your last chance." He closed his eyes. He could see Pidgeot landing. Dawn was getting off. Greninja was getting on. "The easy way is to give her back. The hard way is for me to come and get her."

Lysandre started to laugh. "Very well. If you want to make excuses to fight me, I won't argue." He was silent for another moment and then his next words signalled the real fight to begin. "Zygarde, dragon pulse."

"Pikachu, thunderbolt! Charizard, flamethrower!" Ash yelled and he knew he had more. He could sense they were close enough. "Pidgeot, gust! And Greninja, water shuriken!"

Ash knew Zygarde's power was likely almost unbeatable, but he also knew he was almost unbeatable. This was going to be a battle of wills like nothing before. The dragon-shaped beam of energy shot forward from Zygarde and it grew bigger and more ferocious as it approached. Charizard and Pikachu were quick to launch their attacks in answer. Their most powerful fire and electric jets shot forward. Ash smiled with satisfaction, seeing them miraculously clash against the dragon pulse, somehow holding it at bay. However, it was clearly not enough. Charizard and Pikachu were using everything they had, but the power of the dragon pulse was still too much.

Then, a brown shape shot up next to Ash, with a blue Pokemon on its back. Immediately, Pidgeot started flapping his wings ferociously. It seemed to give new life to Pikachu and Charizard and they forced out just a little more from their attacks.

And finally, Greninja stood up straight on Pidgeot's back. Ash narrowed his eyes and then saw throught Greninja. He pulled back his webbed hands and could feel the water forming within them. He thrust them both out, still holding the water shurikens and then shoved them together, creating and even larger one. He then pulled it back once more and threw it forward with all the force he could muster. Pidgeot's gust carried the giant water shuriken, which was spinning with incredible speed, and it combined with Pikachu's electricity and Charizard's fire. It spun through the attacks, starting to become a rapidly spinning star of fire, electricity and water and then it struck hard against the dragon pulse. Immediately, the attack was forced back, the shuriken crackling against it, now powered up by the other attacks. Then, bit by bit, it forced its way further along.

"Full power!" Ash yelled. "Keep it going! One more!" His Pokemon all repeated their attacks and another fiery, electric water shuriken was whipped forward, picking up speed from Pidgeot's gust. It slammed into the other shuriken and the two attacks struggled against the dragon pulse with even more force. Then, the speed increased and they shot forward.

As the attacks slammed into Zygarde, the screech pierced through the ears of everyone around, and likely for people in cities miles away. It was launched backwards and Ash instantly felt guilty, seeing the top of a building get crushed by the massive Pokemon. He shook his head, though. He had to focus on defeating it. Lysandre was too powerful with it in his control.

There was a small cheer from down below. Apparently people thought that landing the single attack was enough to win. Ash appreciated the support, but he knew things were far from over. He'd only made Zygared angry. Maybe that would help it get free from the restraints Lysandre had on it, but it was likely going to make him more dangerous at first.

Lysandre then spoke again, and Ash could hear the irritation in his voice. "Impressive, Ash Ketchum. It seems as though your Pokemon are capable of quite a lot. They'll be valuable additions to Team Flare once I'm done with you."

Ash ignored him and instead looked at Greninja. "Ready?"

"Ninja!" Greninja nodded and pumped his fist.

"Good." Ash said. "Charizard, Pidgeot, go!" The two flying-types responded immediately and launched forward. Ash knew they had to get close. They needed to finish this fast. Zygarde was too powerful to give time to recover. Ash knew it wasn't in control of what it was doing, but he couldn't let up on it. Zygarde could cause too much damage.

Lysandre quickly ordered an attack. "Land's wrath." Zygarde managed to right himself extremely quickly, stunning Ash. It whipped into the air and spread its wings and glowed in a bright, green light.

Ash's Pokemon stopped as everything seemed to shake around them. His eyes widened, realizing what was going to happen. "Run!" He yelled down to everyone below him. "Get out of here!" It was too late, though. Pillars of stone began shooting out of the ground. Ash saw people and Pokemon go flying in all directions. He noticed flying types, even from Team Flare, were flying around in an attempt to catch people, no matter what side they were on. Charizard and Pidgeot spun past a pillar and then Ash looked down towards where he knew his friends were.

His eyes widened when he saw that his old friends were there. Misty, Brock, Gary, May, Iris and Cilan. They'd all come to help. He knew now what Dawn's secret plan had been all about. He saw Iris and Cilan were on Iris' Dragonite and that they'd pulled Dawn on as well. Alain and Mairin had taken Bonnie. Ash needed to get down there and help. He looked around and saw Noivern and Gliscor.

"Noivern! Gliscor! Help me out." The two looked towards where he was pointing and whipped down, closely followed by Charizard and Pidgeot. Gliscor landed in front of Brock, who quickly hopped on his back, joined by May. Gary and Misty got on Noivern. Greninja grabbed Delphox and pulled her up behind him and Ash grabbed Clemont and pulled him onto Charizard.

Ash then noticed Goodra, who was just barely struggling to his feet. "He was poisoned." Clemont explained. "He was helping Bonnie. I don't think she had his pokeball."

"Ash!" Ash turned and saw Keanan, flying on the back of a Swanna that was presumably from the Wetlands. He had something in his hand and he threw it. "Goodra's pokeball." Keanan explained and then flew off.

Ash caught the ball and quickly recalled Goodra. He then noticed Squishy, glaring up at the sky where Zygarde was causing all this destruction. He suddenly knew what he needed to do. He turned to where Greninja and Delphox were hovering. "Greninja, you need to come with me. Clemont, you go with Pidgeot and Delphox." Clemont didn't argue and with surprising bravery, he jumped onto Pidgeot's back as he flew beneath Charizard, while Greninja leaped up onto Charizard's back. "Pidgeot, go with the others." Ash ordered. Pidgeot hesitated a moment, but then nodded and flew off.

Ash then looked at Squishy. He somehow knew what he had to do. Lysandre's Zygarde had gained its complete form, because Lysandre had been able to use something from Ash and Greninja when they had transformed. Maybe...he could do the same for Squishy. It was a long shot, but it was their best hope right now.

"Squishy!" Ash called and the snake-like version of Squishy turned his head and looked at Ash. "Greninja and I can lend you our strength. The only way to beat Lysandre is if we stop Zygarde. It's your friend, right?" Squishy nodded. "Well, we can help free him together. You need to free him from what's controlling him. Your friendship can do that." Squishy nodded again. "But you need to be stronger." Ash explained. "You need to be like him."

Ash closed his eyes and he knew Greninja was doing the same behind him. He instantly saw the dark world with the blue lights and moved his mind towards where Squishy was. The power was alarming at first, but he could also sense its purity. Squishy had no evil in him. Ash focused hard and reached out to the blue light that was Squishy's aura and then he instantly felt a connection.

When Ash opened his eyes, it was to the scene of Squishy glowing in a bright, green light. He could feel that their powers were linked. He could feel the power coming from Greninja as well. Squishy suddenly became much larger and expanded. Finally, the light dimmed and his complete form was revealed.

He was about twenty feet tall. He had two massive legs and two massive arms, each extending ferocious looking claws. He had huge, powerful wings extending off of its shoulders and long flat tail out of his back. One wing had a pattern of blue while the other had red. The rest of its body was black with some areas filled in green and also blue in some spots. On its chest was a thin stripe with rainbow colours. His head was surrounded by spikes which gave it the appearance of wearing a crown. However, unlike his fellow Zygarde, the spiky crown was red in the three middle spikes. Ash realized this was due to Squishy's connection with him and Greninja. The blue spots mixed with the green throughout his body also signalled that.

"Ready to go?" Ash asked. Squishy roared and nodded. "Let's go!" Ash yelled and Squishy and Charizard shot into the sky.

As they flew up, a pillar of stone shot up from the ground and headed straight for Squishy, but he simply kicked it with his massive foot and it crumbled underneath him. Ash got the feeling Squishy might be even stronger than Lysandre's Zygarde. Squishy had both Ash and Greninja helping him. Charizard and Pikachu were there as well and they weren't going to make it easy on Lysandre either.

Eventually, after dodging and destroying a few more stone pillars, they managed to get up into the sky again. When they did, they were within a stone's throw of Lysandre's Zygarde. Apparently Lysandre could see that Squishy was in his complete form, because his voice was heard from the speaker near the top of Prism Tower. "Are you willing to destroy Lumiose City just to beat me?" He asked, amusement clear in his voice.

"We'll beat you before that." Ash growled. "Squishy, dragon pulse!" He knew Squishy would listen to him. The only reason they had been able to connect their powers was because they trusted each other and Squishy had to trust that Ash knew what he was doing in ordering an attack on Zygarde.

Squishy flapped his wings and shot up higher into the sky. The attack formed in his mouth and then he shot it forward. Zygarde responded in kind and the dragon pulse attacks smashed together, creating a massive shock wave of wind and energy that knocked Zygarde, Squishy and Charizard back. Greninja held on to Ash tightly, while Ash did the same with Charizard. It was like being in the middle of a hurricane. The power of these two Pokemon was unbelievable.

"You think that you're a great trainer, just because you can command Z-1?" Lysandre asked. "You're weak, Ketchum. The power that Z-1 has, could be used to do so much. If he truly is willing to listen to you, you could use that power to take anything you wanted."

"All I want is Serena!" Ash yelled. "Squishy, extreme speed!" Squishy launched himself forward and closed the gap between him and Zygarde in an instant. He slammed into Zygarde and launched his copy backwards. "Now, bind!" Ash could sense that Squishy understood exactly what he wanted. He launched forward again and grabbed Zygarde and wrapped his wings around it.

"What are you playing at?" Lysandre hissed. "Zygarde, break free. Outrage."

"Hold tight, Squishy!" Ash called out. "You can do this." Zygarde was thrashing about wildly and Ash could already see that Squishy was straining. He could barely hold Zygarde when he wasn't using such a powerful attack, but now that he was wildly thrashing about, it was that much harder. He looked back at Greninja. "Use water shuriken."

"Ninja!" Greninja nodded and leaped into the air. He pulled back his hands and formed a single, powerful water shuriken behind his back. He lifted one webbed hand, holding the watery ninja star and then thrust it forward with all his power. It spun rapidly towards Zygarde and struck him in the jaw. The massive, legendary Pokemon roared in pain, but momentarily stopped his struggle.

Ash tried to concentrate. He had to think of something to get Zygarde out of Lysandre's control. It was the only way to beat Lysandre. He moved his eyes towards Prism Tower. He knew Lysandre was there. Maybe, if he beat Lysandre, he could stop whatever it was that was controlling Zygarde. He looked at Squishy, who was still struggling with Zygarde. "Squishy, if you can hold him for a few more minutes, we'll be able to free him. I need to fight Lysandre." He saw Squishy slightly nod. "Alright Charizard, let's go." Charizard nodded and flew towards Prism Tower.

XXXXX

Serena watched the video feed with wide eyes, barely able to believe what was happening. Ash had brought...an army. He must have had everyone of his Pokemon. There were about thirty Tauros, fifty Butterfree and large assortment of others. Had he actually brought all of that...for her?

"Well...how about that?" Giovanni said, looking amused. "Looks like Ketchum is quite motivated. I wonder why..."

"That army is coming for you, next." Serena muttered, not looking at him. "And I'm looking forward to seeing it."

Giovanni didn't answer and the two of them continued to watch as Ash sent his army of Pokemon forward. It was amazing to see as they easily overwhelmed Team Flare. On one screen, she could also see Greninja, in his Ash-Greninja form, easily defeating a Weavile and a Houndoom and sending them crashing into their trainer, a woman with blue hair, Serena recognized as Mable.

Serena then looked to see how Ash was doing. He was easily fighting through the skies. Either his flying types around him, Charizard or Pikachu would easily deflect any attacks sent towards them. It was flawless.

And then a few minutes later, there was Zygarde. Serena clenched her fists as it launched its dragon pulse at Ash. However, Ash's Pokemon miraculously fired off a tremendous counterattack. Charizard's flamethrower, Pidgeot's gust, Pikachu's thunderbolt and Greninja's powerful water shuriken. Serena could barely believe that those four, as strong as they were, could match up against the power of a legendary Pokemon.

When Lysandre's Zygarde started using land's wrath, Serena struggled to keep her eyes open. She clutched the ribbon Ash had given her and willed his Pokemon to avoid the hits. She was again, impressed as Ash's Pokemon avoided the pillars of stone that shot up towards him. It was incredible to watch.

She breathed a sigh of relief as Ash managed to get his friends out of the way, getting them onto his flying Pokemon. She smiled, seeing Delphox fly safely away with Clemont and Pidgeot. However, seeing Ash stay made her feel panic. Of course, what she saw next, made her unsure what to think and feel.

Ash seemed to be focusing on Squishy and instantly, the snake-like Pokemon started to glow. He glowed like that for a few moments and then his body grew and expanded. He looked almost exactly like Lysandre's Zygarde, but there were some slight differences. It also had some features that were similar to...Ash-Greninja, like the red spikes and the scattered blue around his body.

"What was that?" Giovanni suddenly leaned forward, eyes wide with something Serena was pretty sure was fear. "Did Ketchum do that?"

"Why, are you scared?" Serena taunted.

Giovanni looked at her a moment, unable to keep his clueless expression off his face. The shock from what Ash had just done had surprised him too much. Eventually, he was able to recover and glare at her. "I just need to know what I'm getting into. It looks like Ketchum is more valuable then I thought. By using you, I will be able to take that power for myself."

Serena rolled her eyes and continued to watch what was happening. Ash seemed to actually be ordering Squishy to attack. Squishy launched a dragon pulse, which was countered by Zygarde using the same move. Suddenly, every screen cut out, each of them going black. Serena realized that the power of the two legendary Pokemon attacks had overwhelmed Giovanni's drones.

"Fascinating." Giovanni said. "The power of those Pokemon..." He stared outside the helicopter, smiling to himself. "I must have it."

"In case you didn't realize," Serena said, "Ash and Lysandre are the ones controlling them. I don't think you've got any say."

"They're tiring each other out." Giovanni smirked. "And with Ketchum, I happen to have leverage. In case you didn't realize." He thought for a moment and then nodded, as though answering a question he had asked himself. "We're moving in. As of now, this is a three way battle."