A/N: Thanks again to everyone who has put up with my procrastination. I apologize profusely for that. XD As stated last chapter, this will be the last chapter I post for awhile on account of I'm going to write the whole thing out; and then, I'll post two chapters a week. I promise to do so. You can keep track of my progress at the website.

Chapter XI: Chaos in the Coliseum

Darkness – that was the only thing he could see now. He was lost in the catacombs of the unconscious mind; no matter how hard he searched, he could not find the light that would get him out of his dormant state. Suddenly, he felt a liquid substance slowly slide down his throat. It had a distinctive fruity taste. It reminded him of the paopu fruit juice he used to drink on a hot summer's day. Moments later, he started to regain control of his voluntary muscles. In fact, it felt like all the sore spots completely vanished without a trace.

He then heard some familiar voices.

"Sora, can you hear us?" Luigi said.

"Is Sora okay?" Yoshi asked with a light whimper.

The boy slowly opened his eyelids, and after his eyes took a moment to adjust, he saw the worried expression of Luigi, Yoshi and Toadsworth. Sora slowly sat up and rubbed his face.

"Oh man," Sora grunted. "What a ride."

"Sora!" Yoshi cried happily.

Yoshi ran into Sora's arms and licked his face rapidly. Sora started laughing hysterically.

"Okay, okay!" Sora laughed. "I'm fine, Yoshi! Stop it!"

Yoshi stepped back from the key bearer to give him some space. Sora rotated his shoulders to get feeling back in them.

"Hey, how do you feel, paesano?" Luigi asked.

"I feel…pretty good, actually," Sora said, slightly surprised. "I thought I wouldn't be able to move for a week after getting beatin' up."

"Well you would have been if not for this elixir I found," Luigi said as he held up an empty bottle. "Brings you back to full health in a few seconds."

Sora glared at Luigi skeptically, "Um, I'm almost afraid to ask, but where did you find that?"

"Not too long after you fell to the ground from the attack," Toadsworth explained. "We ran over to see if you were okay. While doing so, we merely looked away for a second and saw the potion. Interestingly enough, it looked like someone situated it there for you."

A horrified look appeared on Sora's face, "And you just gave it to me? What if it was poisoned? "Did you even consider that possibility?"

"Of course we did, Sora," Luigi assured him. "We're not stupid. But, at that point, we were worried you might never move again. You took quite a beating."

"Furthermore, I believe the residents of the castle left it for you," Toadsworth added. "And based the way they've been treating you, it sounds like they don't want you to die."

Sora could not argue with that. If they wanted to end his mere existence, they would have done it by now.

"I guess you guys got a point," Sora said. "It must've been the Castle Oblivion guys. I'm sure Cloud didn't leave it on account of…"

Sora realized something, "Wait a minute! Cloud! I forgot about him!"

"Gracious, you're right, Master Sora!" Toadsworth exclaimed. "I surmise he's almost at the finish line!"

"C'mon! We got to stop him!" Sora said anxiously.

"You sure you're up for it?" Luigi asked.

Sora grinned, "Yeah. I feel great right now! We'll worry about this drink thing later!"

The group exited the area, hoping they were not too late to stop Cloud.

---

As Sora and Toadsworth hurried to the finish line, they were intercepted by the heartless. Sora did what he could to expedite through each encounter. Unfortunately, the heartless were not about to let the key bearer breeze by each battle. They came at him from all corners. Sometimes they ambushed him from behind, and tackled him to the ground. Sora still retained his strong fighting spirit and managed to fight them off. If anything, Sora's undying desire to help his friends only made him stronger. The heartless fell just as fast as they appeared.

With the help of his friends and his sleight abilities, Sora was able to fend off the plethora of heartless he encountered. Soon enough, Sora and Toadsworth arrived at another gold door. Wasting no time, they ran through it

---

Sora's group arrived at an arena that's ground was covered by healthy, green grass. The group looked ahead to see that they were too late – Cloud had already beaten them to the finish line. Worse of all, he was in the midst of battling Ash's pokemon – namely Pikachu. The little mouse was on the ground, worn out and mortally wounded. He was currently lying on his stomach. Sora noticed that the poor creature had many cuts and bruises. Cloud, on the other hand, was only slightly fatigued. Sora assumed Cloud did not get a chance to recover from their battle.

Pikachu slowly tried to stand on his four feet. He whimpered lightly from the pain he felt in his muscles, as he desperately tried to move them. He fell back down seconds later. Cloud just stared at the creature with a raised eyebrow.

"I can't believe I wasted my time with this runt," Cloud muttered to himself. "I could've already got my memories back by now."

Cloud eyed Ash, who worryingly watched his Pikachu suffer.

Cloud smirked, "It's time I put an end to this."

"Not so fast, Cloud!" Ash shouted bravely. "You haven't won yet! My other Pokemon will deal with you."

He looked down at his injured Pokemon, "Pikachu, let me get you out of there. I'll let Charizard take it from here!"

Ash gasped in surprise to see his Pokemon slowly get back on all fours. Pikachu took a moment to catch his breath from all the physical exertion. Moreover, electricity started to discharge from his cheeks. Cloud was slightly surprised by this. It still wanted to fight?

"Hm, quite stubborn for a Pokemon," Cloud said. "No matter. I'll end this quickly."

"Pikachu, are you crazy?" Ash exclaimed. "You can hardly stand up! Run while you can!"

Pikachu turned to his owner and shook his head in refusal. Ash noticed a familiar sparkle in Pikachu's eyes; it was the same sparkle of determination. Whenever Ash saw that look, he knew that Pikachu would not quit unless his body gave out on him first.

"Pikachu, I know you want to win it for me, but no tournament is worth this!" Ash argued, raising his voice. "I'm not only saying this to you as your trainer, but as your friend: concede this battle!

Pikachu once again shook his head. Ash gritted his teeth in frustration; his patience was becoming tarnished by his Pokemon's stubbornness. Why did Pikachu want to take such a risk to win? Both he and Pikachu knew this tournament was not meant to be taken seriously. Ash started to run towards Pikachu; the Pokemon noticed this and released a small jolt of electricity. The small jolt bounced over towards Ash's foot. The trainer noticed this, and lifted his foot to avoid the jolt.

Cloud could not help but smirk, "Wow. You must be a terrible trainer if your own Pokemon won't obey your command."

"Hey!" Ash said, offended by the remark. "Mind your own business! My Pokemon have free will. I don't force them to obey anything. They're my friends!"

"That so?" Cloud said, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't force a Pokemon to do anything, then why does it look like you're forcefully taking your Pikachu out of the battle? You're not respecting his wishes."

"Because he'll get hurt!" Ash argued.

"Well, that may bother you, but he doesn't seem to mind it," Cloud said. "Sounds like you're enforcing your ideas on Pikachu instead of letting him exercise HIS own free will."

"But…I…"

"Ash!" Sora cried.

The trainer looked to the right of Cloud to see Sora and his friends running towards Cloud. The stoic warrior glanced over his shoulder to see them as well.

"What? I thought I took care of those meddlers," Cloud thought. "Whatever. I'll make sure they don't try to intervene."

Cloud spun around and fiercely swung his blade at the four, once again producing a powerful wind that sent them flying into the wall. They all felt their backs collide with the solid concrete.

Luigi winced in pain as he rubbed his back, "Okay, that's getting redundant."

Sora quickly got to his feet.

"C'mon, we can't give up." Sora grunted.

"Sora!" a familiar voice called out.

The group turned to their right and saw Professor Oak running up to them.

"Are you alright?" the professor asked. "What happened?"

"Well…let's just say that Cloud wasn't a friendly competitor." Sora said.

"It's worse than you think, Sora," the professor said grimly. "Turns out that Cloud is in alliance with Team Rocket."

"Who Team Rocket?" Yoshi inquired.

"A crime syndicate that specializes in abducting rare Pokemon, which they illegally sell for profit," Professor Oak explained. "And their ultimate ambition is to take over the world."

"Of course," Luigi groaned. "It's always the same cliché."

"But what would Team Rocket want with Ash's Pokemon?" Sora asked.

"Not all his Pokemon; just Pikachu," Professor Oak corrected him. "He appears to have a hidden quality that fascinates them."

"How do you even know this Cloud guy is with Team Rocket?" Luigi asked suspiciously.

"Because we've apprehended Cloud's accomplice," Professor Oak said. "The same person that tried to sabotage your efforts in winning the competition."

The group heard the sounds of grunting and yelling; they looked to the right of the professor to see a dog-like Pokemon with black fur approaching them. The group noticed its mouth was latched onto the neck of a certain feline Pokemon.

"Hey, put me down, ya big mutt!" Meowth clamored. "You can't do dis to me! I got my rights!"

Yoshi gasped, "That Pokemon speak English?"

Professor Oak shrugged, "Sadly not even I can comprehend such a feat."

Ash and Cloud looked over see the cat Pokemon flailing around in the air.

"Meowth?" Ash gasped in surprise. "So, Team Rocket is behind all this!"

Meowth heard Ash, and abruptly pointed at him, "Dat's right, twerp! Dis time you're gonna feel da true wrath of Meowth. So you better prepare for trouble, and make it double. To protect da world from…aw, who am I kidding? HELP!"

Pikachu also took wind of Meowth's presences. The little mouse then spoke up.

"Pika, pika, pika. Pika, Pi." Pikachu said.

"What's dat? Translate for you?" Meowth scoffed. "In your dreams! Not even if you were da last Pokemon on earth! I don't care how important it is!"

Sora's group walked over to Meowth, and surrounded him, giving off threatening glares.

"If you won't translate for Pikachu, then we'll have to take matters into our own hands," Sora said.

"Give me your worse." Meowth said boldly.

"That gold coin on your head looks pretty valuable," Luigi said with a sinister grin. "I hope you don't mind if I…borrow it, do ya?"

Meowth shrieked in horror upon hearing that. He clasped his hands over his coin in fear.

"NO!" Meowth cried. "Not my coin! Anything but dat! Okay, okay! I'll translate! Just leave my little gold coin alone!"

Sora turned to Pikachu, "You heard the cat. Go ahead!"

Pikachu turned to Ash, and started speaking sincerely to him.

"Ash, listen. I wanna keep fighting him because I can, at least, severely weaken him," Meowth translated. "In his current state, he could easily harm our friends. He's that strong. I can never forgive myself if something happens to dem, especially since I now know dis guy is after me. If I can weaken him, you can easily finish him off. You just have to trust me, Ash. I'm doing this to protect you because…well…I love you."

Tears started to slowly roll down Ash's cheeks. Pikachu was a true and loyal friend, willing to sacrifice himself to protect the ones he cared for. But Ash was worried that something terrible would happen to Pikachu if he pursued this daring tactic.

"But…you're my best pal," Ash said worryingly. "I don't want to fear the worse, but…"

Pikachu interrupted him.

"If I truly am your best pal, then you'd trust me," Meowth said. "Please, let me fight him."

Pikachu smiled warmly.

"And don't worry about me," Meowth said, starting to choke up. "No matter what happens, we'll always be friends."

Meowth whispered to himself, "Such a brave little rodent."

Ash clenched his fist. Emotions burst through his mind. He did not know what to think or what to do. Everyone waited in anticipation for Ash's response. Even Cloud, determined as he was to get his memories back, was showing honor by letting Ash make the next move.

Finally regaining his composure, Ash looked at Pikachu with a smirk.

"Go get him, buddy." Ash said with a confident attitude.

Pikachu happily nodded, and turned back to face Cloud, bravely staring death right in the eye sockets.

"Fine. I won't be showing you any mercy." Cloud said as he drew his blade.

"Hope he knows what he's doing." Luigi said.

"Let's hope." Sora added.

Pikachu ran at Cloud, and leaped right at his chest.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.

Cloud swung at Pikachu, but the Pokemon performed an extraordinarily fast dash, and leaped over Cloud's attack. He then quickly latched onto the warrior's back. Cloud desperately tried to get Pikachu off, but the Pokemon was like a leech; it would not retract. The onlookers watched in suspense, wondering what Pikachu would do.

Ash, on the other hand, knew what he needed to do. It was the only plausible move Pikachu could initiate in this situation. However, hesitation was firmly grasped around the trainer's conscience. He was not sure if he would regret the next course of action. Pikachu noticed the dubious look in his trainer's eyes.

"Pika, pika, pi!" Pikachu cried.

"Don't worry about me," Meowth translated. "Give the command!"

Ash hesitated before finally saying, "Use Thunder with all of your might!"

"No!" Cloud cried.

Pikachu conjured up every ounce of electricity in his body, and unleashed a giant bolt of lightning that struck both of them.

"Pikachuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!"

Cloud screamed in pain as felt the surge of electricity penetrate every part of his body. To say that it was painful was an understatement. Everybody else shielded their eyes from the intense brightness of the attack. When the commotion finally died down, an exhausted Pikachu released his grip from Cloud, and fell onto the ground, severely wounded. Cloud also fell onto the ground from the immense pain. The warrior was left in complete bewilderment; how did a little mouse best him in battle?

Ash hurried over to his Pokemon. Sora turned to Luigi and Yoshi

"Let's go help!" Sora said encouragingly. He turned to the Professor and Toadsworth, "You guys stay here in case Cloud tries to pull a fast one."

The two complied, and Sora's group hurried over to offer their assistance.

"Gee, things look pretty rough over there," Meowth said, showing concern. "Maybe I should go over there and help out."

The dog Pokemon softly growled at Meowth, who felt the subtle vibration of its voice box.

"Or, I could just give moral support from back here." Meowth said timidly.

Sora's group arrived to see Ash gently pick up Pikachu and cradle him in his arms.

"Pikachu…are you alright?" Ash asked.

Pikachu slowly opened his eyes with what remaining strength he had. He looked to see he was in the comfort and safety of his best friend's arms. Without even saying a word, the little mouse gently licked Ash's cheek. The Pokemon trainer became misty eyed; he could have not asked for a better friend. He felt so relieved. Sora and his friends were relieved as well.

"Man Ash," Sora said. "Pikachu is something else. That was risky. I'm just glad he's okay."

The group suddenly heard the grunting of Cloud. Everyone darted their heads around to see that he was starting to stand up. Ash quickly ran back a few feet to get away from his executioner. Sora, Luigi and Yoshi got into their fighting stances.

"Mama-mia!" Luigi exclaimed. "This guy never quits!"

Cloud finally stood up, fatigued but still mobile. Despite the current detriment he was in, the warrior was not going to quit.

"We're not done yet…" Cloud said breathlessly.

"Not done yet?" Ash said incredulously. "You're worn out. I'm not going to fight you while you're down."

"Besides, we're here to back Ash up," Sora added. "It would be pretty one sided."

Cloud, however, refused to believe the irrefutable truth.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Cloud said angrily. "I'm going to finish you, Ash, obtain your Pikachu, and get my memories back."

"Your…memories?" Sora asked curiously

"Now, now, Cloud," called a voice. "We wouldn't want to spoil the big plot twist."

Everyone looked to see that Giovanni and his Pokemon Persian (the evolved form of Meowth) have entered from the other side of the arena. Ash narrowed his eyes at the sophisticated, yet pretentious leader of Team Rocket.

"Giovanni! You!" Ash said with a seething glare.

Meowth was ecstatic to see his 'messianic' leader.

"Boss, thank goodness you're here!" Meowth exclaimed. "I knew you'd come to save me! These mooks have been driving me crazy! Now get me out of dis mess!"

Giovanni adjusted his tie, "Looks to me like you oversold yourself, Cloud. Sure, you may have knocked him unconscious, but you managed to weaken yourself in the process. That doesn't look good for your performance rating. Let me try to be as blunt as possible with what I'm saying: you, my spiky-haired friend, are finished."

Cloud was taken aback by what he heard. He did everything in his power to fulfill Giovanni's deepest, darkest desire – illicit as it was – and it was all in vain?

"But…my memories," Cloud said. "We had a deal!"

Giovanni laughed, "I find it amusing that you actually believed you could reacquire your memories. Well, wake up, Cloud – life's not fair sometimes.

Cloud angrily ran at Giovanni, "Why, you! You'll pay for your deceit!"

Giovanni pulled out a black tulip from his pocket, and lightly sniffed it.

"I think not." Giovanni said with a sinister smirk.

Giovanni threw the tulip right into the ground; the stem's edge impaled the ground. As Cloud stopped right in front of it, the rose discharged a powerful surge of electricity. Unfortunately, Cloud got caught in the midst of it, and screamed in agonizing pain.

"Nothing like opening up an old wound, eh, Cloud?" Giovanni grinned evilly.

When the attack finally died down, Cloud started to fall backwards. Sora dashed over to Cloud and grabbed a hold of him before he could fall.

"You are no longer useful to me," Giovanni said. "This time I'll take care of Ash 'Ketchup' myself."

Sora could not believe how monstrous he was. Giving Cloud such false hope, and then injuring him. It just filled Sora with disgust.

Meowth looked at the readers sadly, "I don't think I'm going be rescued, ain't I?"

Meanwhile, Ash held onto Pikachu tightly. He could not battle Giovanni while Pikachu was in such a critical state.

"You'll never get away with this, Giovanni!" Ash said angrily.

"Spare me the clichés, boy," Giovanni replied. "There's no way you can escape this time. Not when I have a new, secret weapon."

Suddenly, two giant hovering machines (who flew in from the entrance Giovanni came from) flew right next to their master. One was colored red, while the other one was blue. They were both parallel to each side of him. The two machines unleashed a powerful force of electricity, and hit Cloud, startling Sora in the process. Unlike the last two times he got hit, however, they weren't harming him. Rather, a round, purple energy field started to form around him. They proceeded to lift the warrior into the air, and as they did, they threw Cloud all the way to the other side of the arena. The others were left awestricken by the machines' incredible power. But they were also concerned about Cloud.

"That should keep him out of the way." Giovanni chuckled. "And don't worry; my machines merely 'escorted' your friend away."

"What are those things, anyway?" Sora asked.

"Twin machines capable of crushing even the most powerful Pokemon," Giovanni explained. "Through many scientific tests, they have proven to be just as strong as the legendary Pokemon: Mew. Cloud might have failed to defeat you, but you're in no position to fight with an injured Pikachu. Also, running is useless. My machines can easily catch you."

Giovanni was right, Ash thought. There was nothing more he could do. With Pikachu in his arms, he was incapable of using his other Pokemon. To him, it felt like all hope was lost.

"Say farewell to your Pikachu," Giovanni said with a smirk. "And any hopes you had in becoming a Pokemon Master."

Giovanni, Persian and the machines slowly started to approach the vulnerable Pokemon trainer. Before Giovanni got the chance to go on the offense, Sora and his friends got in front of the aspiring Pokemon trainer; they were in their battle positions.

"Not so fast!" Sora cried heroically. "We intend to keep Ash's dream alive!"

"Sora, no!" Ash exclaimed.

"Come on, Ash," Sora said with his famous grin. "How are we supposed to have our match if you're pushing up daisies?"

"A valid point," Giovanni said with a sinister smirk.

He took out another black tulip, and the edge of it grew about five feet tall, making it analogous to a fighting staff.

"I guess you'll just have to join him!"

Everyone but Sora, Giovanni, and the machines disappeared from the arena. The two machines turned to face each other, and they created an electric stream in the middle. They moved towards Sora at an alarmingly fast rate. Sora leaped over the stream, landing right in front of Giovanni. The Team Rocket leader thrust the edge of the tulip staff at Sora, who parried the attack with his keyblade. Giovanni tried twice more, aiming in different directions, but Sora prevailed at blocking them.

After bringing the tulip back, he quickly swung the other side of the staff. Sora ducked to avoid it, and quickly brought his blade up to block a downward strike from the tulip staff. The two struggled for a brief moment before Giovanni kicked Sora in the chest, knocking him back towards the stream – which was approaching. Sora almost lost his balance, but he was able to regain it. Giovanni ran at him and swatted again. Sora rolled under his attack, and got behind him.

Sora tried to strike Giovanni with a diagonal, downward slash, but Giovanni turned around and brought his staff up to intercept the attack. The two held their locked position for a second. Sora quickly broke the lock by moving the keyblade upward, bringing it in from the other side, and knocking the tulip away. Giovanni tried to trip Sora with a sweep kick, but the boy did a back flip over the attack. When he landed, he did a second one to get away from the Team Rocket leader.

Giovanni glanced over his shoulder to see the stream was only a few feet away from him. He put as much weight on his feet as he possibly could, and, amazingly, performed a huge back flip over the stream. Sora was astonished by Giovanni's acrobatic abilities. Pretty impressive for a guy wearing a business suit, Sora thought. Upon landing, Giovanni's staff regressed back into a normal tulip. He shot three balls of energy out of the tulip. Sora deflected the first two attacks, and rolled away from the third one. As he turned right side up, he tapped three cards, and unleashed the Strike Raid ability.

The keyblade flew right at Giovanni, who defensively put the tulip up (which he turned back into the staff). Unfortunately, the force of the attack knocked the staff out of Giovanni's hand; it flew about fifty feet away before landing on the ground. Sora went on the offense, hoping to strike while the Team Rocket leader was unarmed.

Giovanni urgently called out to his machines, "Get him!"

The two machines flew right at Sora, who dived onto his stomach to avoid colliding with them. Sora got back onto his feet, keeping his eyes focused on the machine. The two machines turned back to Sora, and unleashed the electric streams at him. The machines rotated around him, increasing the likelihood of hitting him. Sora jumped, jerked, and twisted his body any way he could to avoid the attacks. At one point, Sora did a side flip between the two streams. When he landed, he turned to see Giovanni running at him, with his staff tightly grasped in his hands. Giovanni threw the staff like a spear at the boy. Sora turned around, leaped into the air, and landed on top of one of the red machine. The blue one flew up to Sora's eye level, and fired its stream at him. Sora leaped off of the red machine and landed on the blue one. The red machine quickly flew over Sora's head; it was preparing to fire.

Sora leaped onto the edge of the bleacher to avoid the incoming attack. After landing, he quickly spun around to see the two machines aiming right at him. Sora did a front flip off of the edge, narrowly avoiding the streams. They did manage, though, to hit some of bleachers, completely destroying them in the process.

Sora landed on the ground and ran right at Giovanni. The leader of Team Rocket prepared for Sora's incoming assault. Sora swung his blade at Giovanni, but the leader blocked with the stem side of his staff. Next, he swung the other side of the staff in to knock the keyblade away. Giovanni spun around and tried to stab Sora with the stem side. Sora made the blade part of his weapon face the floor, gripped his free hand onto the tip of the blade, and brought it in to block the attack. Sora subsequently pushed the stem part away.

Giovanni moved his hands to each edge of the staff, having it akin to the way Sora was currently holding the keyblade. The two then thrust their weapons back and forth, almost like fighting with sticks. However, after a few seconds of repeating this maneuver, when Giovanni tried to attack again, Sora kicked the Team Rocket leader in the stomach, and followed through by ramming him right into the ground. Despite feeling the sudden jolt in his back, Giovanni did not get a chance to recover. Sora brought the keyblade down, forcing Giovanni to block the attack with his staff.

Putting all of his energy into his feet, Giovanni kicked Sora in the back, knocking the boy away. Giovanni managed to get into a kneeled position before seeing Sora run at him again. Giovanni used the flower part of the staff to knock Sora's incoming attack way. He then swung the stem part in order to trip Sora's feet. The boy did a small leap to avoid the attack, and brought the keyblade down again, only for Giovanni to put his staff up.

"How monotonous." Giovanni grunted, as he struggled to keep Sora at bay

Sora suddenly felt a powerful shock in his back, causing him to yelp in pain. Assuming it was the machines, Sora rolled out of the way to avoid further damage. The boy clenched his fist in frustration; the machines only made things harder. If only he could dismantle them. However, Sora did not have ample time to formulate a strategy. Giovanni swatted at Sora with the staff, and the boy ducked underneath it. The man tried to attack with the other side, but Sora put his keyblade up to defend. Sora pushed the staff up with his blade, and spun away to get some room.

The two clashed their weapons back and forth for the moment; neither fighter lost momentum. Before Sora could get in another hit, he felt the shock of the machine's stream again. To make matters worse, the other machine hit him before he got a chance to move. Sora's entire body was paralyzed by the electricity surging through him. Soon, Sora's vision got covered by a violet color. He was trapped inside of the force field, and he was being hoist into the air.

Giovanni could not help but laugh at Sora's misfortunate.

"What a shame," Giovanni said evilly. "You've proven to be an admirable opponent. Unfortunately, you were no match for me. With my scientific resources, I am simply invincible."

Sora struggled to form words, "Your…your scientific resources make you nothing more than a big coward. Hiding behind your lame technology only shows how weak you truly are."

"You are in no position to call me weak," Giovanni smirked. "Especially when you are incapable of moving."

Giovanni pulled out another tulip from his pocket, and aimed the stem right at Sora's chest. Summoning every ounce of his strength, Sora brought his hands close to one another. He tapped one of the cards on chain of the keyblade, and summoned Ness to the battle.

Giovanni threw the tulip at Sora, and before it got the chance to strike him, Ness's PK fire intercepted and incinerated it. Giovannni angrily spun around to face his new challenger.

"Can't I enjoy my day without such annoying inconveniences?" Giovanni said, growing irritated.

Giovanni fired a myriad of energy balls at Ness. The young psychic summoned his PSI shield to block the incoming projectiles. Giovanni threw his tulip staff at Ness, but the boy rolled out of the way. Ness pulled out his yo-yo, and threw it at the red machine, which tightly wrapped itself around it. Ness pulled on the string, and pulled the machine away from Sora. The key bearer was able to regain movement, he and pushed himself out of the force field.

Sora turned to see, "Thanks pal!"

"No problem," Ness replied. "Now let's get him!"

The two ran at Giovanni, in hopes of ending this battle. Giovanni was not finished, though. He picked up a green card that was on the floor.

"Sorry, but you're not the only one who likes to play card games!" Giovanni cried as he held up a card.

Sora and Ness stopped dead in their tracks as a bright light emerged from the card. Simultaneously, since Giovanni performed a card break, Ness was forced to retreat to Sora's chain. The boy did not know what to expect – until he saw Giovanni's Persian leap at him. Sora fearfully put the keyblade up just in time, as the Persian bit down on the blade, and tackled Sora to the floor. Sora tried to get the Pokemon off, but it was far too strong. He had to think of something fast. He could feel Persian's warm breath on his neck; he also heard the low, threatening growl right against his ears. Thankfully, the key bearer saw a Yoshi card right next to him.

Sora grabbed it, "Two can play at this game!"

The key bearer held up the card, and the Persian disappeared from the arena. The ferocious feline was replaced by a familiar green dinosaur.

"Hey, Sora!" Yoshi greeted his friend.

Yoshi helped the key bearer up, and two turned to face Giovanni. His two machines were approaching them from behind.

"It doesn't matter how many of you there are," Giovanni said. "You're still going to lose."

"I don't think so!" Sora cried. He turned to Yoshi, "Let's give him maneuver number eleven."

Yoshi winked, "Got it."

Yoshi leaped high into the air and curled himself into a ball. The green ball proceeded to transform into a giant egg with white spots. Sora held his keyblade similar to that of a baseball holding a bat. When Yoshi got to Sora's eye level, he swung at the egg, and hit it right into Giovanni. The Team Rocket leader put up his staff to block the incoming attack, and pushed the dinosaur back to the ground. When the egg hit the ground, Yoshi popped out of it, and stuck his long tongue out. The red, slimy tongue wrapped itself around Giovanni's staff, completely taking Giovanni by surprise. Yoshi then pulled it out of his hand, and swung his tongue around the stem part of the tulip impaled itself on the red machine.

Sora ran over to it as Yoshi released his grip, and pushed the tulip all the way through the machine, ruining all of its wiring and causing it to malfunction. Sora pulled the tulip out, threw it to Yoshi, who ate it, and spat it right into the other machine. The stem's edge went through most of the machine, and caused it to malfunction like the other one.

Giovanni gasped in horror, "No! My machines! They were supposed to be perfect!"

Sora finished both machines by throwing the keyblade into each one, which caused them to explode. Giovanni's staff went flying straight into the sky. Giovanni was dumbstruck; all his plans fell faster than an airplane. He was in so much shock about failing that he did not pay attention to Sora and Yoshi. The two came in and kicked him right to the ground. The force from the attack knocked a black card out. Sora grabbed a hold of the card, put the keyblade away, and caught Giovanni's staff.

The Team Rocket leader looked up to see Sora pointing the tulip right at him.

"Not so mighty without your technology, are you?" Sora grinned cheekily. "So, you give up, or are you thirsty for more?"

Giovanni lowered his head in defeat, "I surrender."

"That's what I thought you'd say.

---

Everyone was gathered in the main hallway not too long after Giovanni's defeat. Sora was talking with Ash and Professor Oak, while Luigi, Yoshi, and Toadsworth watched the police escort Giovanni (in handcuffs, of course) out of the building. The latter of the six then witnessed the police carry Meowth and Persian out in two separate crates. Being the expressive Pokemon that he was, Meowth was rambling and raving.

"You can't do dis to me!" Meowth shouted. "I'm a civilized Pokemon! Fangirls squeal at the sight of me! You better stop it! I've got friends! Though, knowing dem, they're probably stuck in a hole again! Why me!"

Meowth continued his nonsensical outburst all the way out the door.

Luigi groaned, "Mama-mia! What a fake and annoying Brooklyn accent. Did he pick the shortest straw when it came to choosing a voice, and he got stuck with the fake accent?"

Meanwhile, Sora was saddened to hear a few unfortunate words from the Professor.

"What? The games are canceled?" Sora said. "How come?"

"Team Rocket's interference has left everyone fatigued," Professor Oak explained. "Physically and mentally."

"But, what about my match with Ash?" Sora said, disappointed.

Sora glanced at Ash's face, and saw the distressed look that was plastered on it. Sora felt his heart slightly drop; he perfectly knew what it was like to worry about a friend – a friend that stuck by you from the beginning. One you laughed with, one you always hung out with, and one that filled your spirit with confidence. He would give the trainer his space.

"Y'know what," Sora said with a warm smile. "I don't mind taking a rain check."

"Sorry, Sora," Ash said despondently. "I…

"Hey, when I want to face someone in a match, they have to bring their A game," Sora grinned. "I don't want to face someone who's worried about their closest friend. It wouldn't be right."

Ash and Sora shook hands.

"Thanks Sora," Ash said, feeling slightly better. "I knew you'd understand."

Ash then smiled whimsically, "But when Pikachu is better, you're going down!"

"Ha! Yeah, right!" Sora laughed.

"Master Sora!" Toadsworth called out. "He's regaining consciousness! Come quick!"

Sora said his good-byes to the Professor and Ash, and hurried over to his friends. Sora looked to see that Cloud was slowly rising to his feet.

"You okay?" Sora asked.

Cloud stood up and brushed himself off, "Yeah."

The group did not know what to expect next. Cloud may have been terminated from the ranks of Team Rocket, but they still were not sure if he would pose a threat.

"Sorry if I ruined your games." Cloud said.

The warrior grabbed his sword and slowly started to walk off.

"Hey! Hope you get your memories back!" Sora said with a smile. "Forget about what Giovanni said. Sometimes the tiniest thing can make you remember stuff you forgot years ago. If it's an important memory, there's no way it could ever be gone forever. That's what I think, anyway."

Cloud stopped dead in his tracks, and went through his pocket until he pulled out a card. He threw the card at Sora, who caught it. He looked at it to see a picture of Cloud's face.

"That's for you," Cloud said. "For helping me out."

Sora put his arms behind his head, "Sure you just don't want to come with us instead?"

Cloud flicked his hair and let out a small smile.

"Sorry. Not interested."

The group watched as Cloud slowly exited the arena.

"All's well that ends well, right?" Yoshi said happily.

"For them, maybe," Luigi pointed out. "But like Cloud, we are searching for something, too."

Soon enough, the magic portal appeared behind the group, and they made their way back to the castle. Sora, however, turned back to where Ash and Professor Oak were. He looked concerned. Yoshi noticed that Sora was not coming, and turned to him.

"What wrong, Sora?" Yoshi asked.

"I'm still worried about Pikachu," Sora said. "Hope he's okay."

"He'll be fine," Luigi assured him. "We have to keep moving if we want to find Riku and my brother."

Sora sadly nodded, and walked over to the portal. Before they got a chance to enter, the group heard the sound of laughter. Turning back, they saw Ash embracing Pikachu (who was brought out by the Pokemon Nurse), extremely elated to see his Pokemon alive and well. There were some minor injuries, but he looked okay. The two could not be happier to see each other. Now reassured about Pikachu, Sora left the coliseum knowing that, while the games were canceled, everybody won in the end.

…except for Team Rocket.