All was quiet in the stadium that day...... okay, I'm lying. It wasn't. At all. The shouts, cries, and cheers from the audience in the stadium were stupendously loud. As a result of bad behavior from his previous mission, Aribar was forced to battle Mewtwo one on one... but instead faced Marley, Max's #1 Pokemon. After a few rounds against the massive Nidoking, Aribar was cast down, short another life... even WITH some rather mysterious help that was sent his way... but the big question is, was that actually HELP?
The answer: No. As Aribar hit the ground beneath the stadium, a man glided in on mysterious metal wings, which promptly morphed into a cape as he landed. His skin was noticeably pale, and his eyes were blood red... as if THAT weren't enough to give away his true nature, he also had a pair of fangs.
"You stupid beast! You've ruined my plan!" Marley was none too happy to hear this, so he rushed at the Vampire with great ferocity... big mistake. Before he could land a blow, the man had disappeared... and reappeared behind Marley. With a quick sweep of the arm, his cape became like a razor-sharp pair of steel wings once again, and he slashed Marley into critical condition. As he did this, shocking the audience, Mewtwo, Kinnin, and Metal all showed up.
"Who are you, and what exactly are you doing here?" Mewtwo asked.
"...You may call me Meier Link." Mewtwo and Metal didn't seem to care much... but Kinnin seemed to recognize that name... and wasn't very pleased at all with this turn of events.
"I'd suggest you leave right now, Meier, or else..."
"Hmmhmmhmm... taking on a Vampire at night is a mission for morons and fools. Which are you?" Meier retorted. Mewtwo quickly struck, but Meier dropped down underneath the Stadium... just as Doctor Mario was about to take Aribar's body to the sick bay.
"Hey-a! Who-a do you think-a you--AHHHHHHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!" The good doctor was sent flying as Meier lashed out at him. He knelt down before Aribar's body, and picked it up. He opened his mouth, bearing his fangs, and was about ready to sink his teeth into Aribar's neck... when he was struck by a few gunshots.
"I don't think so..." Kinnin stepped forward, gun smoking, gun trained on the Vampire. "I think you ought to drop him now."
"And I think you ought to run away screaming in terror."
"It'll be a cold day in Hades when I run from a fight..." Kinnin said as he was joined by Mewtwo and Metal. Alys ran in as well, but only to grab Aribar and make a mad dash for the sick bay to keep him out of harm's way.
Meier proved to be an amazingly powerful foe; even Mewtwo had difficulty in battling him! Everyone became especially nervous when he used Shadow Ball to try and blast him, and he actually deflected it. It was lucky for Mewtwo that Meier's deflection didn't hit. Meanwhile, Metal was trying to contact Oak and get him to bring the Sword of Light down to the arena... only to find that the professor was using it to make popcorn.
After dropping Aribar off in the sick bay, Alys made her way back to the arena as quickly as she could... stopping off at the lab first to grab Metal's sword, of course. It was unfortunate that when she arrived on the scene, she was too late; Meier was already retreating... with the words that Star Steel and Aribar were both already gone from the sick bay! Everyone rushed back there, only to find Star and Ari lying on top of each other, being carried off very slowly as if by ants carrying picnic baskets. Alys put them both back in their beds... revealing a stoat, a ferret if you will. It looked up at them, smiled nervously, and said "um... bye?" Mewtwo attempted to confuse it, but instead wound up punting it... through miles and miles of bedrock, much to Kinnin's surprise.
A few days later, Aribar and Star Steel were released from the sick bay, thanks to an early Christmas present from Alys. Meeting Max in R&R, they couldn't help but challenge him to a battle... one that would prove to be the most climactic and terrifying in any of the Questers lives.
Soon, Tempest, Gibby, Roybert, Aribar, Star Steel, and Supamushroom were all standing on a platform elevated above Final Destination, and Max on one at the opposite side of the platform. Supa went first against Max's Umbreon, who he claimed saved him from defeat at the hands of Lance's Charizard when it was but an Evee. It proved to be an agile opponent, but Supa defeated it nontheless, only to face a Raichu, who, to many peoples' surprise, was female. Pikachu, who was in the audience, was quite taken with her. After smacking Supa around a little, he was sent flying out of the arena, and the next opponent stepped into the ring in his place: Tempest. He managed to bring her down, but was beaten badly by Max's Blastoise, a brutal foe with a lethally powerful Skull Bash attack. Roybert had more luck, and was able to bring it down...
"That's it! Now I'm MAD! TYRANITAR! GO!" Max tossed in an Ultra Ball, releasing a Tyranitar of colossal proportions. He soon punted Roybert halfway to the moon... it was Aribar's turn to step up to the plate. He had a lot of trouble against the monstrosity of a Pokemon, but was able to trick it into running off the ledge. It nearly pulled itself back up, but Aribar sent it down anyway. NOW Max was ready to burst... Marley, who was by his side, leaped into the arena, attacking Aribar with what was later described as a "rocky rollout" seeing as it combined the traits of Rollout and Rock Slide. It proved to be a very effective combination, too, and in the end, Aribar was defeated once again by Marley. Gibby entered in his place, and much to everyone's surprise, the little marshmallow succeeded where Aribar had failed; he defeated Marley! Max, feeling despair at seeing his #1 monster defeated at the hands of a puffy pink creature with a sword, withdrew three Master Balls, and held them out.
"I'm offering you a choice... pick one of these, and that will be the Pokemon you fight..."
Gibby selected the one on his right... and as Max tossed it in, a terrifying sight erupted from within, and the sight of Max's Lugia, Ghagael, greeted him. Ghagael made short work of him, releasing a massively powerful Aeroblast. Finally, StarSteel took his place in the arena... and much to the crowd's dismay, he was being beaten UTTERLY. As it seemed that he was about to lose, he called his Star Board into action... to find that a pair of magnetic boots had been equipped to it for this fight thanks to Fox. He soared into action, the playing field now more even... but not even enough. Although they were now both capable of flight, Ghagael still retained his incredible advantage. Finally, it all came down to an Aero-fly (a combo similar to Marley's rocky rollout, only with Aeroblast and Fly) vs. a stomp. Both combatants collided in mid-air in a burst of wind and energy, and both landed beneath the stadium... Star Steel reduced to 0 HP. Ghagael quickly began to try and tear Star apart, but was called back by Max, who later admitted that he had virtually no control over Ghagael and was going to make sure he had his rabies shots. Meanwhile, Alys took Star Steel to R&R, and everybody relaxed after a horribly clallenging battle. Although the Questers lost, they were still awarded some hefty EXP for a good try. Perhaps some day they would be able to re-challenge Max... and next time... they might just win.