Iron and Copper Ep. 10 P. 2

Iron and Copper Episode 10: Sparring Up a Storm, Part 2/2

As the day goes on, the battles become more intense. Violet literally blazes through to the final rounds, and to the pleasant surprise of the kids, so does Lapis.
"Pi's lookin' good!" says Aang in delight.
"As Andy would say, 'Go figure,'" says Brock. "Where is he, anyway?"
"I don't know," says Danny. "But he'll come back for us, I'm sure."
"You think we should go to see the final round on front row?" asks Ash.
"Good idea," says Aang. "It's better than watching it on-screen."
So the kids decide to head off to the audience stands to watch the final round of the battle. Secretly, the Team Rocket members, complete with a still-fuming Jessie, decide to follow them.
Unknown to everyone else, though, Andy is on one of the benches in the waiting room. He has suddenly fallen asleep for some reason, and his dreams have suddenly taken a turn for the worse.

He is standing on a barren mountaintop. There is mist everywhere, in more ways than one. ...
Then the mist parts, and a long serpentine shape appears high above. With a screech, it lands right in front of him. Andy doesn't even flinch, even though the creature is 80 feet long, with huge wings that whip up cyclones around it.
Hello, Andrew. The booming voice echoes throughout the mountains, and it appears as though the dragon is speaking from its mind.
What's going on? Andy asks. Do you want to talk to me or something?
Andrew, the voice continues. You must hurry. Time is short.
What do you mean? Andy asks. But then he notices the ocean rising, turning the mountain into an island. Fifty-foot waves buffet the summit peaks.
My sister is enraged, the dragon says. You must do whatever you can to prevent the devastation to come.
Yeah right, Andy says. What difference does one little girl make to a whole city?
You shall not question fate, says the voice, a little more agitated now as the waves rise higher and higher around them. Storm clouds gather around the mountain top. And you shall not underestimate my sister's power. You must be ready. Should the girl endanger herself, Leviathide will manifest. And she will attack. It is your job to make sure everything is under control, before it is too late.
There is a flash of lightning, which strikes Zizclone's crown and illuminates his entire body, and Andy wakes up in a cold sweat.

"Andy?"
There is Pi, right in front of Andy, dabbing the sweat off his brow. "Are you okay?"
"I wasn't kidding when I said I was worried, at least," says Andy, "but that aside, everything's all right on my end."
"So," says Pi after a short pause, "will you be cheering me on?"
"Of course," says Andy, patting her on the back. "Just try not to get yourself hurt, all right?"
And so, Andy heads over to where the kids are sitting, at the front row of the crowd. Zach the Frimbella is waiting in Brock's lap, and he looks concerned. "Where have you been, Andy? I was getting worried about you!"
"Oh, I just took a short break," says Andy, taking Zach back into his arms again as he sits between Ash and Brock. "I wished Pi good luck. She's gonna need it."

"And now, it's time for our final battle!" cries Elena. "It's Violet and Tazminivil on one side . . . " She indicates Vi and Taz on one end of the stage. "And Lapis and Hiponea on the other!" She indicates Pi and Triton on the other end.
"Now, we've got five minutes on the clock! Let's go!"
The timer starts, and immediately, both Pokemon spring into action.
"Flame Wheel!" shouts Violet, and Taz revs up, flames streaming all over his body. With a roar, he tumbles towards Hiponea, who crouches and prepares to jump.
"Hiponea! Dodge it quick!" shouts Pi. Hiponea leaps into the air, spinning in mid-air in the process, and lands on his front flippers, his tail curving over his head. Vi's points drop. "Now, turn and use Water Gun!"
"Not so fast," says Violet, grinning. "Turn and burn, baby!"
Taz swerves around, the friction making a screech like a tire and leaving flaming skid marks on the stage floor. Before Hiponea can react, Taz slams into him, sending him flying! Pi's points drop dramatically.
"Hiponea!" Pi screams. But then she pulls herself together. "Water Gun!"
"Hipo . . . NEEEEEAAAA!!!" WHOOOOOSH! The Sea Horse Pokemon fires a stream of water with deadly accuracy, landing right in front of Taz's still-burning Flame Wheel and sending him skidding to a halt, sprawled upon the ground. Vi's points drop again. Now they both have a three-quarter score.
"Wow!" says Elena. "Hiponea managed to launch his Water Gun in midair and stop Tazminivil in his tracks! Literally!" Indeed, the scorch-marks where Taz's flame wheel blazed across the floor can still be visible.
Hiponea sails through the air, spinning like the guys in those Hoenn action movies, and lands right in Pi's hands. The two of them pose for the cameras. "A perfect catch!" Elena cries.
"Now Triton, let's try a more direct approach," says Pi. "Hammer Arm!" Hiponea crouches, and his owner throws him into the air. Her arm works like a springboard, and as he flies, he sprays a wet mist into the air, forming a perfect rainbow which he appears to ride as he readies his Hammer Arm.
But Vi grins evilly, chuckling to herself. Pi's expression suddenly turns fearful. "What the - "
"FIRE BLAST!!!" Vi screams at the top of her lungs, posing dramatically as Taz unleashes a nuclear firestorm, which heads for the still flying Hiponea.
Pi shrieks, but Triton's plight is nothing compared to what's coming. Hiponea's Hammer Arm deflects the Fire Blast . . . and the worst possible thing happens. The Fire Blast soars through the air with a loud WHOOOSH, heading straight for Lapis' heart!
Pi screams! Andy leaps off his chair, making to push her out of the way. But just when things can't get any worse, all hell breaks loose.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
The floor at the center of the arena explodes, sending Taz and Triton flying. All the water erupts from the pool, cascading into a whirlpool around Lapis. Within seconds, the whirlpool has transformed, taking on the familiar shape of a hideous sea dragon!
The crowd screams and stampedes as the all the clouds are drained from of the sky above the arena, sucked into Pi's vortex. As the water rises, her form becomes clear - the colors of her outfit have changed, now matching a different Legendary, with light and dark blue scales and white plates down her spine. The flaps hanging down the sides of her belt have become huge clawed fins, and the back of her gown has taken on the shape of an enormous tail with a spiked fluke and rows of blue shield-like plates running down the back. Her face is covered by a white mask, beautiful and terrifying, and her eyes are pure black - the only whites are from her irises, which gleam ominously even under the stormy sky.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!! Pi has entered full rage mode, and is directing her fury straight at a now thoroughly-terrified Violet.
Before the eyes of Andy and Vi, their friend has completely transformed. Her hair now hangs in a curtain of ocean-blue around her, rippling like the stormy sea. Her eyes gleam with malice, and when her lips part in a menacing grin, they reveal six rows of razor-sharp serrated teeth - more teeth than even in the Sharpedo that Taz creamed in the semi-finals.
"LAPIS!!!" Andy screams.
But Pi merely cackles, and her voice sounds different now, more grown-up, more silky, and more evil. 'You have defied the Queen of the Sea,' she purrs. 'You show no respect for the legends of old. And for that, Violet Parr, it is I, Leviathide, who shall have you destroyed!!!' With another bone-rattling roar, Pi starts floating in the air, surrounded by her whirlpool, as the ghastly water-sculpture of Leviathide swoops at the young Super, who screams and backs off in terror.
"LAPIS! NO!!!" Andy screams, spreading his leathery wings in front of three-thousand terrified spectators and erupting skyward to join the fray.
'Prepare for battle, faithless one,' Lapis croons in evil glee. 'Hiponea, Ice Beam!'
Leviathide's image breaks up into streams of water, hovering in the air before him. Hiponea, struggling to escape, has gotten caught up in the whirlpool, and now, in fear and desperation, he fires an Ice Beam, which hits the streams of water and freezes them into icicles. With a roar and a wave of her hand, Pi sends the icicles flying straight at Violet and Taz!
Vi screams and throws up a force field, and Taz uses Protect too just as the icicles hit. The ice shards shatter on impact, but the next wave is just as dangerous. A wall of water rises so high it clears the top of the stadium, and crashes down on Violet, Taz, and all the spectators in the stadium. Ash, Brock, Pikachu, even the Team Rocket members, who have led the way in the panicked stampede, are totally drenched. It is only Violet's force field and Taz's Protect that saves the two of them from drowning.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
The water forms into a mighty whirlpool at Pi's command, swirling and seething around Vi and Taz. There is no escape - if she lets her guard down now, she will drown. Then again, she can feel her force field getting weaker and weaker. The young Super closes her eyes, and waits for the end to come . . .
There is a flash of white light, and the water erupts into a spectacle of sparks just as Vi and Taz drop their force fields. Seeing the chance while Pi was distracted, Andy has swooped in and unleashed a lightning storm at the whirlpool. Channeling all his Avatar power through his body, his irises glow ice-blue and turn to white. At the same time, the air shimmers, and a second mask appears around his face - dragon-like, or rather bird-like, covering his forehead and jutting out in front of his nose, like the beak of a Fearow. The mask beak opens in a piercing screech as he dive-bombs Pi, his wings and clothes turning cream and scarlet, readying his deadly Dragon Claw.
The water, meanwhile, starts to dissipate, but Violet realizes that there is something else in store for her. She knows that the electricity has transformed the whirlpool into a gaseous tornado. A column of swirling hydrogen gas stretches into the sky, touching the storm clouds now gathering above them.
Andy, meanwhile, is engaged in a vicious battle with Pi. His claws have closed around her throat, as he speaks, in a deeper, more ancient voice, 'Sister! You cannot do this!'
'Do not interfere, little brother,' Pi's evil voice snaps back at him. 'I must destroy the ingrate before me! I cannot let her escape from desecrating the Sea Queen!' Like a wriggling Barboach, she slips out of his grip, and the two of them ascend into their namesake phenomena, the Malestrom and the Tempest.
Meanwhile, the gas tornado is starting to expand. Wider and wider it grows, edging dangerously close to the two brawling avatars.
Pi's hands touch at the fingertips, forming a sphere of water, and then they spread wide as the bubble stretches into a deadly javelin. Andy meanwhile clenches his fists, putting the sides of his hands together, and summons a longbow of wind, complete with a lightning bolt for an arrow shaft. 'She did not desecrate you,' says Andy as he poises the bow. 'No one ever intended to! There is no need to whiten the sea, sister. Return from your rage, before it is too late!'
'It is too late, you useless reptile!' Pi cackles, and with that she hurls her water spear, while at the same moment, Andy aims and loosens his lighting bolt.
Vi sees everything in slow motion, and realizes what is about to happen. She seizes her chance. "Now, Taz! FIRE BLAST!" Taz opens his mouth and lets loose another Fire Blast, aiming for the space between her two friends just as the two bolts collide.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
Andy, Violet, and all the spectators dive out of the way just as all three attacks combine, creating a massive explosion that ignites the gas tornado. A whirlwind of pure heat zooms skyward, lighting up the afternoon sky, and the clouds themselves are ripped apart by the blast front. The whole stage is incinerated, and it is only thanks to Violet's gigantic force field that the rest of the stadium escapes the same fate. Thrown aside by the explosion, Pi sails in a great arc across the stadium, and hits the ground hard, her Leviathide outfit and hair on fire.
The whole stage is in ruins. Burned and wrecked equipment is strewn everywhere. But the LCD screen that displays the two Coordinators' scores remains unscathed, and the results are clear - Vi has more points than Pi. The battle belongs to her.
As Lapis lies broken and traumatized upon the ground, Hiponea flops over to her side and tries to wake her. He gasps in astonishment as her smoldering clothes and Sea Queen hairdo seem to dissolve. They melt like ice, releasing a cloud of white mist, until only Lapis Lazuli, her Coordinator outfit, normal hair, and soft pale skin without a scratch. The last thing that remains of her rage mode is her mask, but that too evaporates, releasing an indignant snarl as it departs. Pi slowly opens one cerulean-blue eye, and then the other. And as she realizes what she has done, she buries her face in her hands and cries.
In the aftermath of the battle, the audience has reassembled to view the carnage. Andy rushes over to his friend, and then drops on his knees in front of her. "Lapis! Are you okay? You had me so worried!"
"What . . . was that?"
"I don't know," Andy starts to say, but then his eyes widen as he realizes that he does know.
"Well," says Ellena. "That's that, everyone. We are happy to present to you the clear winner . . . Violet!"
Violet, Pi, Andy, and the rest of their friends are the only ones that don't even look surprised.
"And for her brave effort and amazing skill, we are proud to present to her the prestigious Municiberg Town Ribbon!"
Violet recieves the ribbon and holds it in the air for all to see, Taz the Tazminivil and Lightyear the Torchaun by her side.
But when she returns to the lobby, she suddenly totters for a second, and then collapses onto a bench, completely exhausted.
Andy rushes over to her. "Are you all right?"
"Barely," she says, but shortly after he gets her straightened up, she glares at Andy with a look that makes him cringe. "Andy, can you come with me to my hotel? I want a word with you."

Fifteen minutes later, everyone's back at the hotel. Having changed into her normal clothing, Vi stomps into her room, Andy right behind her, and slams the door shut, glaring at her boyfriend.
"Andy, Fawkes, Tempest!" Violet says angrily. "What were you THINKING?!"
"What was I thinking? What were YOU thinking?! You should've known better than to try to kill her!"
"Is that my problem? She was the one who lost it!"
"She lost it because you pushed her too far!"
"Oh, so it's my fault?"
"Vi, I know it got out of hand, and I'm sorry I had to intervene. But if you want to drown yourself, then by all means, go on and piss her off!"
"So you're saying it WAS my fault!"
"Yes! Well, no, but . . . yes. It was. It was an accident, that's all."
"AAARRRRGGGH!!!" Violet shouts, seizing a pillow and smashing it into the wall so hard that it bursts open, sending feathers everywhere. "You shouldn't have come here, you winged idiot! You could've gotten yourself killed!"
"But I had to! I have to protect her, no matter what!"
"Protect her? You call that protecting?! You've just landed yourself on Kroel's Most Wanted!"
The two of them are shouting at each other so loud now that the other kids, packing their stuff, can hear from the next room. Pi presses her ear to the door, listening intently.
"How is this my fault?!"
"Your fault? You were the one who trusted her to battle me!"
"How could you hate Waterbenders so much, Vi?"
"I don't know! I just do!"
"But they're not all evil! I mean, come on! Look at Pi!"
"Lapis tried to kill me!"
"So? What's that got to do with it?"
"It has everything to do with it, Andy!"
"I never intended for this to happen! I can't leave her to destroy the world. I love her too much, and you know that."
"Oh, so that's what you're up to. You're trying to cheat on me, aren't you?"
"Violet, you KNOW I love you, and I wouldn't do that to either of you guys!"
"But you said you loved her!"
"I know what I said!"
"How could you say that?"
"Because she's my kindred by spirit! She is the incarnate of the Sea Queen. She is the incarnate of Leviathide."
The moment Lapis hears this, her face turns white as her mask, her expression conveying utmost horror. Tears well up in her eyes, and even as she runs off, she's already starting to break into sobs.
Back in her room, Vi suddenly stops looking so angry. Her face falls, and she looks out the door, thinking.
"I can't let her go out there alone," Andy continues. "I can't lose her, not after what happened . . . to Trehemorth . . . " Now shaken beyond control, Andy sits down on Vi's bed and starts to cry.
"Andy," Vi says as she sits next to him and pats his shoulder, "I'm sorry about your friend. He was a great hero, perhaps the greatest hero ever known. It's only natural to feel sad that he's . . . gone . . ." She pauses, appearing to be on the verge of tears as well, but then she stands up. "Wait right here," she says. "I need to talk with your friend." And with that, she's out the door and out of sight, leaving a horribly depressed Andy alone in his girlfriend's hotel room.

The evening rain pours long and hard over Municiberg City. Pi has sat down on a bench at the Sealeo pier. She is crying her heart out, her face buried in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks. The Sealeo have gone, all dissapearing into the rippling ocean. The realization that Pi is the incarnate of Leviathide has devastated her, big time. Now wonder things went so badly awry.
There is a bolt of lighting, and Pi yelps in fright. Far out over the gently rippling ocean, she can hear a plaintive roar, a roar she is sure belongs to her Legendary incarnate.
"Lapis?"
Violet is standing right next to her, her long black hair bedraggled by the rain.
"Yeah?" says Lapis.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"No."
But Vi sits next to Lapis anyway, combing the raindrops out of her hair. There is silence for a few moments, as the two of them stare out into the rain-fed ocean.
"I'm . . . sorry," says Vi.
"For what? For making me lose it?"
"For everything I said and did to make you miserable, in fact."
"Really?"
"I didn't know."
"About what?"
"About you being the Sea Queen and all that."
"You didn't know?"
"I always knew there was something different about you. Something special. But what really surprises me is that none of us actually knew who you really were . . . until today."
"Yeah. I guess so."
Violet pauses. "Andy was right. It really was an accident. I never intended for it to happen."
"Me neither. So in that case, I'm sorry too."
Another pause. Violet breaks it again. "Can I tell you something, Lapis?"
"Yeah?"
"I met a guy once, three years ago. He was the greatest hero I ever knew. He had as much problems as you did. The news reported a lot more earthquakes during his early days of training. Scary thing is, he was a lot like you, in many respects."
"How? Did he have the ability to blow stuff up?"
"Well, sort of. But he wasn't like you. He, well, couldn't control his powers very well. If it wasn't for my boyfriend, he would've ripped the entire Kroel region to shreds, and then some."
"And how would he do that? With a flood?"
"With an earthquake, more likely. He had the power of the land, like Trehemorth. He was your counterpart, basically. But he couldn't control his power so much. Eventually, we got attacked by Pokemon Hunter Alex during our travels, and he . . . " She breaks off. Pi realizes what happened.
"So he's gone?"
"Gone," Violet confirms. "Those Bloodbenders almost killed me and Andy too, but we both escaped with our lives. It was Trehemorth's sacrifice that saved us. Needless to say, we were never the same after that."
"I can see why you hated Water-types so much now," says Pi.
"I know. But I guess Andy was right, in a way. You're . . . different, in a way. You're not some vicious psychopath bent on drowning the planet, unlike SOME people . . ."
"But how do you expect me to believe that? I almost killed you."
"That was only because you couldn't control your power. That's what's more important. If you want to earn the five required ribbons for the Grand Festival, it would be nice to learn how to exercise some self-control."
"Really?"
"I'm sure you'll do better in the next contest. It will be okay. I won't try to kill you. I promise."
Lapis smiles. "Thanks Vi," she says. The rain stops pouring, and as the girls watch, the setting sun is soon visible again.

At the lobby of the hotel, Andy, Aang, and Ash sit together on one of the benches, pondering what happened.
"Andy?" asks Ash. "What happened? How did you know she was the avatar of Leviathide?"
"I knew," says Andy. "I knew ever since we first met. You recall the circus visit I told you about?"
"Yeah?"
"When we first locked eyes on each other, I could see the Aura inside her. I knew she was my spiritual sister, even though we hadn't even known each other until then."
"Amazing. But why did she choose her, instead of . . . well, anyone else?"
"It depends on who you are," says Aang. "I am the Avatar because Arceus chose me, above everyone else. I was born to the Air Nomads, the current stage of the cycle of the Avatar. He knew I was worthy of being his incarnate from a world away."
"But what about you, Andy?" asks Ash. "Why did Ziclone choose you as . . . his you-know-what?"
Andy pauses, thinking. "If anything," he says, "I think it's because he knew what had happened. He chose me because he sympathized with the state I was in. When Team Plasma attacked, when my father died, he took pity in me because he knew what they wanted. They were as faithless as any evil organization. He chose me because he knew I was the one to avenge them."
"Is that why you became a Pokemon Ranger?"
"Exactly."
Ash wants to ask more, but it is then that a familiar guy with a lab coat and an Aipom appears. "Ah, Mr. Tempest," says Dr. Lockwood. "I believe there's someone who wants to speak with you."
A moment later, the three boys have gathered around a videophone. On the other end of the line is a woman with blonde hair like wings, and a gray T-shirt.
"Andy!" she cries. "I saw the whole thing on TV - thank Arceus you're not hurt!"
"Thank Arceus NO ONE got hurt," says Andy, grinning. "Courtesy of yours truly."
"I knew you could do it," says Ash, clapping Andy on the back. "Who's that on the phone?"
"My mom," the winged Pokemon Ranger replies. He turns to the video screen and waves. "Hi mom," he says cheerfully.
"Where's Lapis?" asks Amelia. "Isn't she with you?"
"I don't know where she is, actually," says Andy. "But I don't think it's a good idea to talk to her right now."
"And why is that?"
"Well, today would be a good start," says Ash.
"Really?"
And Andy tells her everything about the Contest, from Violet's scathing remarks about smashing Pi like a pinata, to the epic battle between the two avatars, and the aftermath when Pi burst into tears. He even points out Pi's Legendary incarnate, at which Amelia looks stunned.
"But she - she - why didn't I find out sooner?"
"Why didn't anyone find out sooner? I stuck with her to protect her, Mom. You won't believe how many people out there want to kill her."
"But she needs to cut some slack, honey." Andy winces upon her saying "honey." "What she needs is a good lesson on self-control. She needs to learn how to keep her powers in check, like you do."
"Go figure," says Andy. "I would be happy to teach her myself, but I'm more into the sky and Flying types. Remember Argent Town?"
"The one with the rogue Primigon?" says Ash. "Oh yeah. You were the one who stopped him."
"Exactly," says Andy. "This, however, this is a different matter."
"So who's going to help her, then?" asks Aang. But Amelia looks at him, smiling, and he says, "Oh."
"So, you think you're going to make it back home alive, now that the world knows who Pi really is?" asks Amelia.
"With me around, that's a very high possibility," says Andy.
"Excellent. I look forward to seeing you, Ash," says Amelia, winking. "Take care of yourselves out there, all right?"
"Thanks!" the kids say. And with that, Amelia hangs up, leaving Andy to sigh in nostalgia.
Just then, Vi and Pi come in. "Where were you?" asks Andy.
"At the Municiberg Pier," replies Violet. "Don't worry, I already apologized. It'll be okay."
Andy smiles. "Good to know," he says.

That night, everyone gathers to say goodbye, at a bus stop the front of the CrimsonCrest Bridge.
"So," says Vi. "Where will you guys be going?"
"On," says Andy. "Of course, the first thing we need to work on is teaching Pi here some self-control."
"If she's the incarnate of Leviathide," says Aang, "then she's gotta be very powerful. There's bound to be a lot of jerks out there waiting to rip her to shreds."
"A lot?" Pi cringes. "You don't mean a lot?"
"You won't believe how many," says Vi. "The best you can do is defend yourself."
"I guess so," says Pi. "So in that case, I suppose I'll have to look for someone to, um, help me with my little problem."
"Then speak to me," says Aang. Pi stares at him. There's a hundred things she can say to brush him off, but all she manages to blurt out is, "You? . . . You're only twelve!"
"Correction," says Aang with a smirk. "A hundred and twelve. I've had plenty more experience than you have, you know."
"But - " Pi begins, but Vi cuts him off. "Lapis, Aang is right. If there's anyone who can help you with your problems, it's the Avatar. Or should I say, Arceus?" She turns to the Avatar. "Aang, can you be trusted to help Lapis master her self control?"
"That I can do," says Aang.
"That's great!" says Pi, her face breaking out in a grin. "I can't wait to get started!"
"Now hold on a second, Leviathide," says Andy. "Doesn't Aang here have something else on his agenda first?"
"Oh yeah," Aang remembers. "I almost forgot about that Gym Battle in Cauldron City."
Vi perks up at this. "You wanna go to Cauldron City?"
"I do to," says Ash. "I can't wait to battle there!"
"So, you wanna come too?" asks Danny.
"Nah," says Vi. "I'm off to the next contest at Stormsurge Town. I can tell you the way there, though, if you like."
Vi leads them to a lookout point over Municiberg Bay, and points out a river in the distance, snaking through the landscape. "You see that river? That's the Lernean river. The fastest way to get there is to follow it south until you reach the city. The pollution starts at around two miles from the industrial district, so if the land starts looking unhealthy, you'll know you're on the right track."
"Thanks!" says Ash. "You're a great help, Violet."
"I guess we'll see you again sometime?" asks Aang.
"Of course," Vi replies. "And as always, best of luck to all of you guys. You'll need it."
"Thanks!" the kids say simultaneously. "See ya!"
The GreyHoundoom bus is waiting for them at the nearest stop. The last few passengers are boarding, and the kids hustle inside with their luggage. But as Andy prepares to board the bus, the winged Pokemon Ranger pauses and stares out into the night sky, and Vi does the same. Will they be able to see each other again? And more importantly, will Lapis be able to learn to control her power as Andy did?
Then a thought occurs to Violet. "Andy!" she cries behind him. Andy turns round to see her rushing toward him, and is as surprised as everyone else when she locks her lips against his, sharing a passionate kiss with her departing boyfriend.

[Background singer:] You're here, there's nothing I fear
And I know that my heart will go on
We'll stay forever this way
You are safe in my heart
And my heart will go on and on

Andy shares the kiss with his girlfriend for what seems like an eternity. Eventually, the two of them separate, and Andy boards the bus, which closes its doors.
The winged Pokemon Ranger finds himself sitting next to Pi, who notices him blushing. "What's up with you?" she asks.
"Nothing," says Andy. "Just . . . another exciting day in the life of Zizclone."
Pi chuckles. "You're not the only one who's had an exciting Contest," she says. Because deep down inside, the spirit of Leviathide senses Andy's happiness. And smiles.

[Lapis:] "I may have lost that ribbon, but at least we've been reconciled with Violet. On that happy note, it's time to move on to the next item on our agenda. So now, it's off to Cauldron City, and Ash's first ever Kroel Gym Battle!"

And as Violet watches, waving in farewell, the GreyHoundoom bus drives off, ferrying the kids towards Cauldron City . . . and their next Pokemon adventure.

To be continued . . .