//------------------------------// // Reshiram vs Zekrom // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The Changeling Hive, Afternoon. "You're going to give her some of the alicorn magic?!" Chrysalis gasped. Right now, Adagio had a plan that could be considered grandiose. The jar used to absorb Empress Twilight's many alicorn magic essences would now be used on the fainted Princess Celestia herself. "Only major thing I can think of. If we're gonna hope to stop Zekrom, best give some of that magic we took to Celestia." Adagio said as she was ready to open the jar while pointing it at Celestia. "Are you sure? Won't it be overwhelming?" Chrysalis wasn't so sure about this gift of magic. Since Empress Twilight had so much magical power within her to the point where she seemed unbeatable and hard years to master them if Celestia were to retrieve it all without having the same buildup as the Empress the results could vary. "It's fine. Just a bit will do." Adagio narrowed her eyes as she was going through it anyway. Chrysalis backed up, allowing Adagio to take it from here. The pony-siren hybrid had opened the jar, utilizing its other function other than siphoning. To send magic to another individual. Out of the jar, the magical essences of several alicorns came flying out. And just like before, the force it exhibited was furious. When it was used against Empress Twilight, it acted like a black hole, pulling the magic with the intense force of a black hole to the point where the Empress herself was being pulled. In the case of releasing magic onto another, it had the force of an object moving at lightspeed through the sky or space. Adagio closed one eye as her large mane was being blown by this tremendous force. And the same went for the changelings, Fairy-Type Pokemon, Arcanine and the captured forces in the cocoons. Chrysalis held on tight to Anthophilia while some other changelings held on to Arcanine for dear life. The jar made a howling sound whilst all of the magic was filling Princess Celestia, granting her several essences and counting as Adagio was losing her footing. She felt like she had given Celestia enough magic. So far, a total of 50 different alicorn essences had entered Celestia. And more would enter if the jar was not closed. But Adagio herself was finding it hard to close it. All of this contained magic power being released was too much. Chrysalis moved in to help Adagio close the jar as she put her hooves on the object of power. Both of them could feel the unnatural and overwhelming pressure coming from the jar as they both used their magic to try and hold it in place. The whole hive trembled from the force. And if this kept up, everything might be blown back by it. "I-It's too much!" Adagio groaned as all the other changelings chimed in to help out. They all collectively put their hooves on the jar, making it a team effort to close it off before more leaks out. Even the Fairy-Type Pokemon joined in. Everyone added their strength to it, using all of their bones and everything they had to close this jar. Celestia's eyes suddenly opened, flashing a heavenly white light as her body was outlined in it as well. With great team effort, everyone was able to close the lid as they fell on their backs. The jar tumbled on the ground, rolling to the side as the amount of magic remaining inside was still plentiful. Around the millions to be exact. So far, only 100 of them had left the jar. But that 100 performed a miracle. Everyone groaned as they felt a bit befuddled and numb after closing the jar and being next to all those flowing magical essences. They either sat or got off the ground, holding their heads and recovering. But, once they all regained their balance, they had witnessed something bright filling up the hive itself. They saw stars fly by. Stars that looked like they came from the cosmos themselves. They flew through the air gently with light movements. They even made sounds that were similar to bells chiming. Adagio and everyone watched these stars fly by as they decorated the hive. Anything they came in contact with immediately latched onto them. Then, they all collectively looked to the source of the stars as they saw the unexpected. A floating Celestia with cosmic energy surrounding body along with heavenly white energy. Her eyes were giving off a blue colour as millions of light rays shot out of her. But they didn't seem to make any contact. At this point, with all those alicorn magical essences flowing in her, Celestia had essentially ascended. "Oh my..." Adagio's jaw dropped. "Celestia..." Chrysalis finished her sentence. Before they knew it, the awoken Celestia had descended to the ground, gently touching the surface. Upon contact, her bright light spread out with billions of stars rising from the ground, flying through the hive and filling the air. Anyone outside would witness cosmic stars everywhere. Almost as if it was still nighttime. However, this didn't last as Celestia's heavenly white aura and cosmic energy had faded after her body adjusted to the overflowing magical essences. Afterwards, Celestia groaned, holding her head and descending back on the cocoon, laying down on it. "Ugh...Oh..." Celestia then took deep breaths in. "Are you alright?" Chrysalis went over to Celestia to see her condition. Even if she was awake, having all that magic in her would be overwhelming. "I'm..." Celestia blinked repeatedly before looking at her hooves. She then realized how she felt and it was another kind of feeling. "I still feel a bit off and weak but...I also feel wonderful actually. Better than ever. This is amazing. How did this happen? What spell did you use?" "No spells." Adagio shook her head before pointing at the Magic Siphoning Jar. "I sent some of the magic from that jar inside to instantly heal you. Looks like it was worth it." "You used the jar? Then..." Celestia soon realized why she felt so wonderful and powerful at the moment. Celestia was a bit fearful of overwhelming power due to how easily it can corrupt someone. "How many magical essences came out?" "Not sure. It got too hectic." Adagio responded. "I had to heal you somehow, ya know. Guess it wasn't a full recovery. Sorry if that's not what you wanted or anything." "It's fine. I understand. But having all of this magical power is just something I would've never thought I'd obtain. Well...aside from that one time in Passion's own world inside her mind." "Well, it's splendid that you're awake. But there are larger problems. Zekrom and the invasion, remember?" Chrysalis reminded the alicorn of the Deep Black Pokemon and the invasion. "Oh, right...!" Celestia gasped. "We were meant to stop Zekrom's rampage! Where is Zekrom now?!" "Right now, it's most likely heading towards Ponyville to destroy it. And after that, it could arrive here soon in an hour or less." Adagio explained. "However, it's not a guarantee that it'll arrive here after that. But if Zekrom aims to destroy everything, then eventually, it'll arrive here. It moves in some sort of zig-zag pattern like an actual lightning bolt." "I see." Celestia bit her lip before turning her head to face Passion. "Passion." She muttered, seeing that the cocoon was still healing her. Unfortunately, since Passion wasn't an alicorn, the magical essence wasn't given to her. Only Celestia. However, Celestia needed her partner now more than ever. "Chrysalis. Adagio. I'll still need time to rest along with Passion. In the meantime take-" Celestia was about to use her magic to grab something. But that's where the spectacle began. Because of Celestia having the might of 100 alicorns plus her Boundless Cutie Mark, the effects of her spells had been amplified to a horrifying degree. When she lit her horn up, rather than showcasing its usual golden light, it gave off something greater. A mixture of two different kinds of lights. While her original golden light was shown, alongside it, a cosmic light akin to that of the deep reaches of space flared from her horn as Celestia herself had been started. Plus everyone else. The light expanded to the point where it consumed the entire hive in less than a second, brightening the hive and anything near it. Even the skies themselves had been lit up by Celestia's solar cosmic light. Celestia herself hovered uncontrollably above the cocoon from this overwhelming flow of magic. "Not even simple usage of magic can contain it?" Celestia put her hoof over her horn, perplexed by how powerful she's become. She sat up, trying to take all of this in. "Everything you do seems to be extravagant," said Chrysalis. "Well, it's not my fault the jar is super reactive to alicorn magic." Adagio shrugged. "Well then..." Celestia sighed before laying back on the cocoon. She then started making out her next plans once she recovers. "At least I'll recover quickly. And then...I'll personally head to the Empress myself. If she's at a weaker state with less magic and I myself have new magic...well I'm sure you know the rest. And then afterwards, I'll see if I can block out the gateways to her world with my own magic and the Travel Sphere." "Hopefully before Zekrom shows up. If it arrives here, I could lose another home and-" Chrysalis whimpered, lowering her head and fearing for her subjects. Thinking about her new hive's possible demise reminded her of what Ghetsis had done to the previous hive. "You won't lose another home." Celestia suddenly intervened, giving a hopeful smile. "Zekrom's rampage will be stopped. I know of one Pokemon who can do so." "Who?" Reshiram. Over at Ponyville, Reshiram was facing off against Zekrom, aiming to stop his fellow dragon's rampage. Reshiram knew that Zekrom wasn't in his right mind. The purple glowing eyes made it very clear. Right over at Ponyville's shelter, Team Rocket and everyone else in the shelter were peeking through the open parts of the underground shelter, witnessing the two dragons face off against each other. And before they knew it, they engaged in battle. The two of them charged at each other first, causing double sonic booms from their movements. And just like that, the Dragons of Truth and Ideals clashed heads with each other via a double head smash. As a result of the two of them butting heads, they emitted their own shockwaves from the collision. Shockwaves great enough to blow away the clouds, shatter the windows of Ponyville and such. Team Rocket and everypony immediately ducked after seeing the shockwave spread out and kick up dust. They separated after their head collision. They both barely felt the collision of their heads and took little damage from it. Reshiram looked to the side, noticing the ponies, Team Rocket and other Pokemon in the shelter underground. The Vast White Pokemon knew that he had to both snap Zekrom out of it and protect innocents from being harmed. Easier said than done considering he and Zekrom are equals, no matter which universe it may be. But Reshiram was dedicated to doing his best. The Vast White Pokemon then flew into the skies, aiming to get Zekrom as far away from innocent lives as possible. Zekrom chased after him, moving at the same speed he was. Reshiram ascended higher into the skies to avoid having his wing flaps obliterated the buildings below. After ascending high into the sky, Zekrom had shot out a flurry of blue volts to try and shoot Reshiram down. Reshiram looked back, noticing the lightning bolts flying his way as he then sped up, using his speed to try evading these blue bolts. Reshiram spun around some of them, keeping his head in one direction instead of turning around or looking back at all. And for the lightning bolts that Reshiram evaded, they crashed into some nearby hills in the far distance, levelling them in the process. Anything that Zekrom does will result in something being destroyed. Reshiram kept spinning, ascending and descending to avoid the incoming bolts as large grey smoke clouds cluttered the skies from all of Zekrom's bolts missing and hitting the land instead. Reshiram flew through the large smoke clouds as more bolts came crashing through them as well with Zekrom roaring. Zekrom could fire as many bolts as he wanted to while also flying towards Reshiram, giving chase to the Dragon of Truth. Some of the bolts flew alongside Reshiram, racing against the Vast White Pokemon to try and catch him. But Reshirom eluded those by making his flying patterns unpredictable. Eventually, Zekrom had summoned enough lightning bolts to the point where even Reshiram couldn't evade them all. Zekrom's tenacity kept growing with each passing second. Seeing this, Reshiram decided to then deflect some of the bolts by using his wings to do so. The Vast White Pokemon could most certainly keep up with lightning, let alone one that comes from his equal as they are both halves of the world's strongest Dragon Pokemon after all. But, Reshiram had successfully driven Zekrom away from Ponyville from their chase. At least for now. After doing so, Reshiram deflected the last of the lightning bolts as he was ready to retaliate against Zekrom. The Dragon of Truth then let out his own roar as he was finally about to strike. By using Dragon Claw, Reshiram's wing lit up with a scarlet energy as Zekrom had bashed into Reshiram's chest before he could pull it off. While Reshiram did stagger from that head-on bash, he still went through with Dragon Claw. The Vast White Pokemon swung his wing as he slapped Zekrom directly in the face with it. Now it was Zekrom who staggered as Reshiram delivered another slap with his other wing, moving Zekrom's face to the side. Zekrom roared as he was given one last Dragon Claw to the face by Reshiram and this one just ended up knocking him away from his counterpart. The Dragon of Ideals hurled through the air, breaking through the clouds and revealing parts of the summer sun as Reshiram soared upwards, chasing after him. The Dragon of Truth opened his mouth, ready to use one of his signature moves, Fusion Flare. Reshiram instantly, without any build-up, fired a large sphere of flames with two rings surrounding it from its mouth at the Deep Black Pokemon. Zekrom, after recovering through the air and trailing towards Reshiram, had swayed his body to the side, evading the giant sphere of Fusion Flare in the process. After evading it, he continued to fly after Reshiram as Fusion Blare blew up in the sky, separating the grey clouds. The Dragon of Ideals then used Zen Headbutt, lighting his head up with mental energy as he smashed it right onto Reshiram's head. And this time contact with the held actually did something as Reshiram cried out whilst being swatted away. But after Zen Headbutt, Reshiram immediately retaliated with Fusion Flare, opening his mouth and releasing the same violent sphere of flames once more. Zekrom was closer this time, so swaying away to avoid it wouldn't do. Instead, he put up his wings, using them to block the giant sphere. The smoke emerged with Zekrom immediately flying through it. When emerging from the smoke, the Deep Black Pokemon had used Fusion Bolt in retaliation. His tail had already been lit up with its blue energy as he smashed the giant sphere of electricity around his body onto Reshiram, sending 20,000,000 volts through his body while also tackling him. Reshiram himself had been rocketed like a slingshot towards the ground. In just 3 seconds, despite how high he was, the descent was so fast that he was close to ground level. However, Reshiram recovered from this knockback, flapping his wings before he could hit the ground. He was just a few metres away from it as the dust blew from Reshiram's arrival. Zekrom wasn't done yet. The Deep Black Pokemon was still approaching with Fusion Bolt as he moved at high speeds. Reshiram turned around to see Zekrom's approach as he responded to Fusion Bolt with Fusion Flare. This time, there was a bit of a buildup with this one as Reshiram's tail revved up like an engine. Right when Zekrom was close to Reshiram, just by 2 metres, the Vast White Pokemon then released Fusion Flare forward. The two Fusion moves met with each other with Zekrom crashing into the giant sphere of scorching flames. The result was a paroxysm of explosive plasma energy from the two elements colliding and reacting to each other. Plasma filled the atmosphere as the air itself had been burned away, removing all life from it. But that didn't matter to these two dragons. From the explosive outburst, both Reshiram and Zekrom had taken damage. Fusion Flare managed to match Zekrom's Fusion Bolt in power, knocking the Dragon of Ideals back while Reshiram himself was knocked back by the explosion that was birthed by the two moves blowing up. Now this time, Reshiram was definitely sent to the ground while Zekrom went further into the sky. Both had flames and electricity surrounding their body after the resulting explosion as Reshiram crashed into the ground. The Vast White Pokemon tumbled a bit, leaving some craters behind from his impact as Zekrom was able to recover quicker since he was airborne. He watched the Dragon of Truth roll around as he pursued him, even if he hadn't recovered yet. Reshiram broke through some trees with how fast he was sliding across the ground. Eventually, he was able to recover but not until he crashed into a large hill. The Vast White Pokemon groaned with electricity sparking around his body. Reshiram stood up from the hill as it had crumbled behind him. After getting up, he was immediately tackled by Zekrom who rapidly moved through the skies. Zekrom with his high-velocity tackle, sent the Dragon of Truth through the rest of the hills, crashing through them and driving Reshiram away from this landscape. The Dragon of Ideals then placed his claw on Reshiram's face, dragging him through the ground. The Deep Black Pokemon had also covered himself in electricity while also tackling Reshiram, sending 20,000,000 volts through his other half. Reshiram groaned as Zekrom kept pushing him through the land, breaking through as many mountains and hills as possible while the sparks from Zekrom's electric aura flew everywhere, burning the grass and leaving huge holes in the process. Eventually, Zekrom had driven Reshiram to the one place Reshiram hoped to avoid. Ponyville. Team Rocket and the others within the shelter could see that Reshiram and Zekrom were heading back here but this time on a ground level as a giant trail had been made from Zekrom continuously dragging Reshiram. "Awesome!" Scootaloo was too busy fangirling over this to notice the approaching danger as Jade's Rift energy was showing itself in a faint light. Once more, it seemed like Jade could respond to incoming danger, another one of her capabilities as a Rift Pony. Even if she wasn't aware of it. Jade herself didn't have the horn of a unicorn for protective magic, however, unbeknownst to her, thanks to her Rift abilities, she placed a protective cosmic aura around everyone and Ponyville itself. Something within her knew that most of Ponyville would be demolished when Reshiram ends up being dragged here. Everyone noticed the protective magic surround their bodies and town but no one quite knew where it was coming from. Since they were all covered with it, it was hard to tell which pony originated it. Eventually, Reshiram and Zekrom had arrived here with the Deep Black Pokemon dragging him across the grounds of Ponyville. Reshiram's eyes flashed blue as he didn't want any innocent lives being harmed. With some extra strength, the Vast White Pokemon kicked Zekrom's stomach a few times, causing the Deep Black Pokemon's grip to loosen. And when losing his grip, Reshiram put both of his legs on Zekrom's stomach, pushing them upwards and forcing the Dragon of Ideals off of him. But after being pushed off, Zekrom then fired Thunderbolt from his mouth in response. Reshiram quickly responded by using Flamethrower. Two equally powerful moves met as a beam struggle between Flamethrower and Thunderbolt occurred. The flames and sparks started flying out as the intense heat from both of their attacks were so great that not even Jade's protective Rift magic could fully protect the town. But, it was still effective in holding some of the magic back. Seeing the sparks and flames fly out, landing everywhere on Ponyville while Jade's magic was trying to hold everything back, everypony within the shelter figured that now might be a good time to run off as the flames and sparks were even raining near the shelter. "Time to go!" Jessie gulped as she jumped out of the shelter. She was the first to realize that not even this underground shelter could protect them from the battle of two dragons. Let alone two halves of the world's strongest dragon. And she made the right call! She, Team Rocket and everypony else immediately started evacuating the shelter as one of Zekrom's lightning bolts crashed through the ground, entering the Ponyville shelter. The clash between Flamethrower and Thunderbolt came to an end with both attacks cancelling each other out, resulting in an immediate explosion. After the large smoke emerged, Zekrom went on the offensive once more, catching Reshiram off guard with an up-close Dragon Pulse. Reshiram's eyes widened as he had been blasted by a giant dragon-shaped shockwave. After being staggered by Dragon Pulse, Zekrom followed up by using Dragon Claw, returning the favour of Reshiram slapping him earlier. But Zekrom stepped it up, after slapping Reshiram, he then used Dragon Claw to hold Reshiram's head of all things. The Deep Black Pokemon had Reshiram in a hold as he then used his giant knee to strike Reshiram in the stomach. Reshiram cried out with a roar as Zekrom repeated this process a couple of times. After taking a few hits in the stomach from Zekrom's knee, Reshiram then lit his body on fire, increasing the heat to match that of magma itself. Now it was Zekrom who cried out after healing the intense heat of Reshiram's flames, forcing him to let go of the Dragon of Truth. Afterwards, once he was free from the hold, Reshiram then bashed into Zekrom, forcing him into the skies and further away from innocents. Everypony looked up, witnessing the battle of dragons take place as so far, none of them were affected or harmed in any way. But that possibility could still play out as Zekrom had bit onto Reshiram's wings as a surprise attack. After biting onto Reshiram and Reshiram himself wincing, Zekrom spun around whilst holding Reshiram's wing with his teeth. The Deep Black Pokemon then tossed Reshiram towards the ground by letting his bite go. Reshiram hurled through the sky, regaining his balance as he yet again, showed that he would do what he could to protect innocents. After being pushed away, Zekrom decided to manipulate the skies themselves. The thunderstorm rumbled as Zekrom had summoned an array of lightning bolts from the skies as they flooded the entirety of Ponyville. Reshiram looked up as everywhere he looked, thunderbolts were raining down from the grey clouds that Zekrom had made. Too many for him to really fight back against. However, that wasn't what was important to Reshiram. While he flew around, avoiding some of the thunderbolts, he noticed that these bolts were threatening not just the buildings but the ponies and Pokemon that lived here. Everyone started screaming in fear as 500,000 volts of electricity crashed onto the ground, leaving craters everywhere as they even broke through Jade's protective Rift magic, damaging the buildings themselves. Some of the aerial Pokemon were in for a bad time with all of these bolts raining down as screams of fear and panic filled the area. Some ponies were being knocked off their feet from the crashing thunderbolts as it felt like they were being caged in. No matter where they went, lightning rained everywhere. The Pokemon were helping their trainers up each time they got up, but they took the risk of being electrocuted. "Wobbuffet! Do something with Mirror Coat!" Jessie screeched as she picked Wobbufet as a shield. "W-Wobbu?!" Wobbuffet gasped as he witnessed a multitude of lightning bolts crashing towards him. He used Mirror Coat by covering his body in a rainbow aura as he also shook his head, not wanting to feel the force of all of those lightning bolts hit them. Once those lightning bolts struck, the Patient Pokemon felt the brunt of it all as he took all of the electric shocks of a thunderstorm within his body, causing him to jitter about. However, it wasn't in vain as Mirror Coat had been initiated. Once everything had simmered in, Wobbuffet's body flashed as he reflected all of the lightning bolts thrown at him back at Zekrom. At the speed of light, the Deep Black Pokemon had been struck by his own attack, which certainly took him by surprise as he roared. Reshiram gave Wobbuffet an approving smile, thanking him for the assistance. The Vast White Pokemon then put on his serious face once more as he noticed that some of the lightning bolts were aiming for the Cutie Mark Crusaders next. The three little fillies, while they had outsped mostly everyone else because of their young age, unfortunately, made them victims of the lightning bolts that would fall in front of them. The three of them gasped as they came to a screeching halt when eight lightning bolts crashed in front of them before their very eyes, leaving craters. They even jumped since they had a fear of thunder. And considering that there's a constant thunderstorm going off, it wasn't a pleasant time for them at the moment. But the moment they came to a halt, that allowed the other lightning bolts to close in as they were about to strike the three little fillies. There was no way for them to evade this. They could not move at the speed of lightning even if they wanted to. All they saw was the flash of light cover them as it felt like everything was slowing down. Scootaloo herself had her mouth slowly open and her eyes widen as she was the only one who realized what was coming their way, even if she wasn't fast enough to evade it. Until... Reshiram came flying in, standing over the Cutie Mark Crusaders and using his body as a shield. As a shield, Reshiram had taken the lightning bolts for the three of them as all of those volts had crashed onto his back, causing the Vast White Pokemon to close his eyes. That's when the three fillies gasped as they turned around, realizing who was behind them. They heard the sound of thunder crash as they looked up, witnessing the Dragon of Truth protect them. Reshiram had smiled before the three little girls as his back was smoking. "Are you three alright?" He asked them. "Mhm!" The three of them nodded. "Find a place to hide as soon as you can. I will make sure to snap Zekrom out of it and prevent the destruction of your world." "But it's really hard to hide somewhere! There's like a bunch of ships probably everywhere and-" "You don't have to worry about that. There's a reason why I took so long to eventually find Zekrom." The Dragon of Truth knew something deep within as he stood up tall, facing Zekrom and the thunderbolts raining down in the sky. "Now go. All of you. If more of those invading forces show up through those gateways, I will come and hopefully with Zekrom by my side." "Alright! Thanks, Reshiram!" Sweetie Belle said as the ponies and Pokemon kept moving onwards. Reshiram continued to act as a shield for the innocents, protecting them from the lightning bolts. Reshiram saw that this could go on forever. He and Zekrom were practically equalled in strength. Either one of them could lose at any given time. The Vast White Pokemon had to put an end to this as soon as he could. After the ponies, Pokemon and Team Rocket plus Zecora had gotten a good distance away, Reshiram took the skies at hyper speeds, leaving a shockwave and sonic boom behind. Zekrom himself roared as he was going for a Dragon Claw. But Reshiram quickly shifted into Giga Impact, covering his body in an invisible white aura before crashing into the Dragon of Ideals. Afterwards, Reshiram pushed Zekrom into the sky, entering the thick grey clouds. And that was the last the ponies of Ponyville saw the two dragons as a red and blue spark could be seen glowing in the grey sky. At least, that was the last time for now. Pyrestar's world. The aftermath of Ash and Ghetsis' clashing Aura and Rift energy together was something to behold. After the flash of light, the area before them was clear. All that remained as an appropriately sized crater that matched the sheer scale of the flashing light. The gateways had all vanished but their presence was still there. As for the unicorns that live here, they had been shielded by Ash's Aura through all of that, including Pikachu and Lucario. "Pi...Pikachu?" Pikachu rubbed his eyes, witnessing the rest of the smoke clear. "Pikapi?!" He then saw Ash's silhouette through the smoke, standing there with the staff still in his hand. But also through the smoke, Ghetsis' silhouette could be seen as he was also holding his own staff. The two of them stood still as once the smoke cleared, they were in pretty bad shape. Overexerting all of that energy had done a lot to them. Ash and Ghetsis were both breathing as they were barely able to move. Ash couldn't let go of the staff since it kept him stable and balanced. The same went for Ghetsis. Ghetsis himself wanted to use his Dark Magic to strike Ash down since he could barely move at all, but Ghetsis couldn't move either. And if he did, he took the risk of falling off balance. They had practically used everything they had. However, Ash hasn't entered the state of Delayed Aura Ataxia. The staff was keeping him stable, plus his own Aura had been suppressed, so Ash was just on the verge of it. "M-Man..." Ash groaned. "That's it for me." "C-Curses...If I could just move..!" Ghetsis growled, trying to summon some crystals. But everything he had been expended. Behind him, the castle was falling. And why wouldn't it? Everything was starting to crumble down as the unicorns started fleeing from the collapsing castle. "Lucario!" Lucario quickly took the Travel Sphere from Ash's pocket, seeing that everything was about to come apart. He immediately thought of the place that would be the safest to retreat to. "Lord Ghetsis!" Colress said, holding a box of all the Poke Balls that contained the Legendary Pokemon. He also had his own Travel Sphere ready, opening the gateway. "We need to leave now! We can retreat to the other world and recoup!" "Not until...I end that brat once and for all!" Ghetsis roared as he was attempting to walk forward. But, at the pace he was moving at, the castle would crush him before he could even get there. Seeing this, Colress and the Shadow Triad held Ghetsis back, preventing him from going any further as one of the Triad Members spoke. "Lord Ghetsis!" "Let me go!" Ghetsis yelled as he had been pulled inside of the gateway with Colress retrieving Hydreigon with Ghetsis' own Poke Ball. Lucario had carried Ash over his shoulder, as he and Pikachu were entering their own gateway. "Ash Ketchum...! I will-" And that was that. Ghetsis' voice faded away in the background as he had fully entered the gateway. Afterwards, the gateway had closed on both sides. The unicorns had all gotten a safe distance as they witnessed the castle finally fall. After so long, after all these years, it had finally given out. This was the end of this world's Canterlot Castle. But not for Canterlot overall. And with one large crash, the castle was done for as everypony gave their respects to this once great building of royalty. Afterwards, they went off, feeling a tad bit refreshed after seeing Ghetsis and Team Plasma being driven out. That wasn't the only thing that refreshed them. When one of the unicorns turned around, she noticed and felt something brush up on her hoof. Something that didn't feel like the hard stone she and her fellow unicorns have been trotting on for years. Instead, it felt like something that had been missing for years. And soon, she and the other unicorns felt it as they all looked to the ground to witness the force of nature itself restoring itself. Grass. This world was given grass once more as tiny blades of them were gradually popping out of the ground, giving green tints. It was slow but it was there. Everypony gasped as seeing grass again was essentially the most beautiful thing they've ever witnessed. And for a good reason. And now the ponies knew that Ash was telling the truth. Their world truly was being restored by other ponies from the other world. With that, the unicorns could do nothing else but thank Ash as they were going to remember his promise. They were even expecting him to return soon. Equestria. Out in the mountainside. Afternoon. "Ah!" Starlight Glimmer had just woken up with her heart beating fast. She had just recovered from her unconscious state not too long ago. Immediately, the unicorn turned her head around to see the area around her. She felt a rush of uncontrollable fear and adrenaline going through her. "W-Where am I?!" "Starlight! It's okay!" Just then, one of her friends calmed her down. Goh was the one who did so. Turns out, he was awake as well. Earlier than Starlight. It wasn't just him. Next to Goh were Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Trixie and their Pokemon. As well as a certain changeling that brought them in for safety. "Goh?" Starlight breathed in and out as she had witnessed her friends here. If they were here then she did not need to worry. Her heart slowed down as her panic subsided. She took a moment to assess the area around her. "Oh...You're all...we..." "Still here. This is like the second time we've been hit by a super big blast." Pinkie Pie giggled. "Mew here saved us by doing one big teleport! But uh...we got separated again." "Mew!" "Again..." Starlight sighed. "At least we're still safe...Where are we now?" "Well, it's a cave for starters. And we were saved by Thorax and Zorua over here." Rainbow Dash spoke, pointing her hoof at the two responsible for bringing them all here. "Hi." Thorax grinned while giving a wave with Zorua doing the same. "Zorua!" "Thorax? Oh. Th-Thanks..." Starlight nodded as she needed some more time to breathe. "Is the invasion over?" "No." Throax shook his head. "Far from it. It's just getting bigger. Zorua and I have been avoiding all the conflict so far and just helping others in need." "Zoru." "And Zekrom?" "Mm?" Rainbow Dash shrugged. "That jerk's gonna pay for shocking me ten-fold. Plus it kinda fried my Xtranseicer." "Mine took a pretty bad beating too from that teleporting." Pinkie looked at her own Xtransceiver. "But the voice message thing still works." "Now we've got a big problem of Zekrom rampaging around..." Goh sighed. "How are we gonna deal with this?" "Not sure but..." Starlight scrunched her face before concluding on something. She then recalled something Twilight brought up that they could do during the invasion. "We may not be able to stop Zekrom, but we can save lives." She suddenly stood up. "Thorax and Zorua saved us right? Then there are most definitely other ponies, Pokemon or even other changelings that need rescuing. Some of them may not have taken shelter yet." "Ooh...!" Pinkie Pie and Mew nodded in agreement. "If there's anypony we can find then...we can bring them to safety to the Pokemon World, right?" Starlight said. "Guess so," Goh responded. "But that's gonna be a lot of species to save and everything." "I know. But we have to try. Besides, we can get creative with the gateways, can't we?" Starlight stepped forward. "You all can do that. I'm gonna see if I can try and stop this invasion still." Rainbow Dash chose to take a different approach to all of this. "Anyone else?" "We can chime in." Pinkie and Mew looked up at Rainbow Dash. We should probably get back to helping free Discord too. He'd be some really big help in all of this. What about you, Goh and Trixie?" "The Great and Powerful Trixie has some students that live here. I can't let them get hurt from all of this. I need to make sure they're okay, after all." "I'll help out with saving others. Not sure I can handle another adrenaline rush like that. Unless..." Goh thought for a moment. "Got it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Pinkie took out her Xtransceiver to give Twilight and the others a voice message. "And Thorax?" "I think I'd prefer helping others. That sounds nice. But there's also my hive and I want to help out there but...Not sure they're gonna be happy with me if I return." "No need to worry." Pinkie put her hoof around Thorax. "I'm sure they'll be happy to have you back." "Mew! Mew-Mew!" And Mew agreed by spinning around in the air. "Hmmrgh..." Thorax had a small little whimper as he wondered if they would accept him back. He's heard that the Changelings are different from what they used to be, so the chances look different than what he thought. "Let's go." Starlight walked forward as she looked at the Poke Ball that had Hatterene inside. "Hopefully, Hatterene doesn't harm anyone this time." "See you soon!" Rainbow Dash already took off with Mew transforming himself into a Garchomp for Pinkie to ride on. The pink pony jumped onto the back of the transformed New Species pokemon as Mew himself took off like a rocket. "Garchomp!" Everyone had their own jobs to do now. Rainbow Dash was going to help stop the invasion since she is a Wonderbolt and the rest of the Wonderbolts are doing what they can as well, Pinkie Pie was in the same boat but she would also search for her friends. Trixie was aiming to help others alongside Starlight, Goh and Thorax, plus her students that naturally come to her Great and Powerful Magic School could be in trouble. It wasn't a guarantee that everyone had found shelter. After all, the invasion happened all of a sudden at an unexpected time. Meanwhile. Kingdra Durance. As for Twilight's group, they were following the black clouds that were made by Zekrom, hoping to track the Deep Black Pokemon down. Unfortunately, Zekrom had been moving all over the place so rapidly that it was hard to tell where he was now. Audino was doing her best to hear for him, but so far, she got nothing. Twilight's group specifically were more focused on stopping Zekrom from causing any further destruction to the world that they love. But they also thought about the many forces still standing in the invasion. Over at Kingdra Durance, they had witnessed an overwhelming sight over at the large sea that surrounds Kingdra Durance. There, many of Celestia's forces were facing off against the Empress' forces. As usual, those giant ships were in the sky, giving the Empress' forces the aerial advantage. They had already defeated the Probopass which were major players in a situation like this. All that was left were the Golurk and other Pokemon in this area. However, another advantage was coming. While the forces of Celestia could deal with their aerial opponent's thanks to Probopass, Golurk and the others, there was one other world-based threat they had to deal with. Forces from the sea. Gateways boomed out from the sea themselves. Not the sky or the land. From the gateways, the Empress had forces that could cover the sea as well and anything on it. And what came out was the other kind of ship. The ship that governs the waters. More specifically, in this case, battleships. Each of them standing at a stupendous 227m length and a beam of 31.5m at best. A total of 45,000 long tons graced these battleships as each were equipped with 14 cannons on the side. Noticeably, each of the ships had these strange metal wires everywhere on each part. Even on the deck. It was a bit of an unusual look for a ship to have something that looked like a cage. The ships themselves looked like they were being caged by these metal wires anyway. "Look at the size of things!" One soldier said as the rest gawked at the ships. "Pssh. They're sitting ducks." Another soldier said. "One Electric-Type attack and they're done for. Observe. Golurk, Thunder Punch on the water!" "Lurk!" One Golurk did just that by sparking up electricity around its hand. After doing so, the Automaton Pokemon struck its electrified fist onto the water, immediately spreading 50,000 volts at rapid and frantic speeds. Anything that touches the electricity while the water might have a bit of an unpleasant result. And the soldiers within the battleships saw this. However, they weren't worried for a second surprisingly. And for a good reason. Once the electricity reached the ships, all of a sudden, instead of just frying the ship itself or causing substantial damage to it, the result ended up being a block out. Zero effect. "...That's not supposed to happen." The soldier said, a bit flabbergasted on why the ships hadn't taken any damage from the effects of Thunder Punch in the sea. "Those are wires block out the electricity!" Twilight exclaimed, alerting the soldiers. "See?!" "They do?" The soldiers then turned around before witnessing the cannons of the battleships charge up. And of course, they had magic rays as well. But this time, their explosion levels were far more volatile than the aerial ships and one difference was that they were in the shape of spheres. Out of the cannons came the spheres as up in the skies, the aerial ships also started firing. Soon, there was a bombardment of two different magical attacks. One in the sky and one in the sea. The soldiers and the Pokemon immediately took cover behind the Golurk wall that had been formed. Walls of Light Screens, Protects and Reflects were formed. Plus even a Wide Guard in there. The Golurk acted as the perfect defence for any incoming ranged attacks and their own bulky defence helped against that as the magical attacks blew up in front of them. "How do we get past those wires then?!" A troop asked. "We'll just break them, of course!" Another troop replied. "Wait...What is that?" Fluttershy noticed each of the ships open up hatches on the side. All of them had hatch doors, similar to the aerial ships above. And much like the aerial ships above, a giant box emerged from them. This box was floatier than the rest as it could float above the water instead of sinking deep down. And of course, if there's a box coming out of the Empress' ships, then something troublesome is inside. And in this case, it was another robot as the doors of the box opened up, revealing a new robotic creation from within. Twilight and everyone, while hiding behind the Golurk, peered their eyes and head over to see what was emerging from the box. And out of it came a serpent-like figure that slithered out of the box and onto the sea, creating waves ripples along the way whilst also swimming. They had metallic fins with green spheres on the side. Sharp lizard-like eyes that were made out of crystals plus their tails were so long that not only could they hit anything from afar without even looking at their targets, but there was a sharp end to them. And of course, they had those wires too. "It's like a sea serpent!" Rarity gasped. "They really made robotic models out of every creature from the Everfree Forest, didn't they?" Applejack gawked. "No time to be gazing! Look!" Twilight pointed her hoof at the serpents, noticing what else they were doing once they came close to shore. The Robotic Sea Serpents jumped out of the water as they had sprouted legs of all things, much to everyone's chagrin. Not only did they have oceanic coverage but even the land as well was covered. After coming on land with a hard descent, the Robotic Sea Serpents used their ridiculous length, causing a tail whip by turning around. The giant array of tails scraped the ground, kicking up some of the sand along the way. But more importantly, the fore and speed of these tail swings were so strong that they managed to break through the defences the Golurk had made, shattering the protective screens. "Golurk!" Each of the Golurk cried as the tails also struck them, launching them away. Soon after, once they sent the Golurk away, the Robotic Sea Serpents then focused on the troops and rest of the Pokemon while still facing the other way. The sharp tip of their tails started spinning around as they swung them vigorously, trying to hit their prey. The troops and the Pokemon made a run for it as their defences had been dropped, allowing for the cannons to pass through. They ran away from the approaching explosions of magic and the large metallic serpents that were after them. Twilight and her friends took cover as some of the rays and spheres landed near them. They had just recovered from Zekrom and now there was a chance they could faint again. "What do we do!?" Spike asked. "Do we go after the wires first or...!" "That's probably for the best. They're large... but yikes are they fast." Twilight gulped. "Those wires will block out any electric attacks we try. They're like Faraday Cages." "Faraday Cages?" Her friends each said. "They're cages that can block out electromagnetism. Even if the Probopass are down and out, their own magnetism abilities won't do it for this." Twilight explained as she covered her ears from a nearby explosion. "Our best option is to shatter the wires. They aren't immune to Fire, Fighting and Ground after all. Anyone that has a Pokemon with Fire-Type or Fighting-Type attacks should either go up close or afar." "I can-" Spike was about to speak until one of the Robotic Sea Serpents broke through the sandy hill that they all hid behind. Twilight and everyone screamed as they had been startled. The serpent opened its mouth wide, ready to crush the ponies, dragon and Pokemon in its metal jaws. And inside was a black void to replicate its stomach. Twilight covered her friends in magic, successfully teleporting them away from the serpent before they could be bitten. However, even if the serpent missed, it had one other trick. It re-opened its mouth with the spheres on the side of its fins glowing. And within its mouth, a purple sphere of magic could be seen. These robots can utilize magic as well. Twilight gasped as she then put up a protective dome of magic around her friends as the robotic creature unleashed a ray of magic. The magic ray crashed into Twilight's protective dome, resulting in the serpent being forced to try and break through it. Twilight didn't let her shield down since if she did, one hit from that magic ray could harm her friends. And that's a risk she couldn't take. To make matters worse, more of the serpents were getting close with the ships each approaching at a closer distance. Celestia's side was starting to feel the pressure as many troops and Pokemon had fainted. While the serpent kept firing magic onto Twilight's shield, another one was coming up from behind. And this one had swung its metallic sharp tail onto Twilight's shield, dealing further damage to it. Twilight gasped as she was surrounded on both sides. And soon, it might as well be all sides as more serpents began flooding the beaches of the Kingdra Durance. Once the ships got close to shore, the troops within the battleships were ready to jump out and engage while the rest handle the cannons. The magic ray and tails kept striking the barrier as everyone was trying to figure out a way out of this. That is when some unexpected but somewhat expect guests arrived as some voices echoed out. "Heracross, Close Combat!" "Probopass, Earth Power!" "Houndoom, Flamethrower!" "Garbodor, Focus Blast!" From the distance, a scorching red flame came flying forward along with a giant yellow sphere of mental energy. From the ground, giant rocks made with the earth itself sprouted out as next to those rocks, a speedy Bug-Type Pokemon came dashing forward. "Hera!" Heracross had arrived, smashing its horn onto the serpent that was attacking Twilight's dome from behind, shattering the wires and forcing the robotic creature to the ground. The rocks from the ground emerged, bashing into the body of the serpent that had used magic to pressure Twilight's shield, breaking some of the wires and knocking the creature on its back. The wave of flames and the giant mental sphere had struck the battleships specifically and some of the serpents that were unfortunately in their path. The troops who were planning on jumping out had their ships take head-on damage as some of their wires had either been crushed or melted. But they were still there since most of them covered the ship. "Huh?" Twilight's heart could slow down after witnessing these sudden attacks arrive. She and her friends picked up on those voices, recognizing them immediately. They noticed the angle the attacks came from. Right behind them. So, when turning around, who exactly were the cause of these attacks and had just arrived? Hollow, Brawly, Roxanne and Roxie, of course. Teachers from the Pokemon School had just arrived as the smoke cleared, revealing their appearances. Along with their Pokemon too. "Oh!" Twilight and the others stood up. "T-Teachers...You're here?!" "Sure are," Brawly said with a thumbs up. "Sorry for the late timing." Roxanne apologized. "We weren't expecting it to happen at this time." "But we're here either way, right? It's fine, don't worry about it." Roxie cackled. "The rest of us Teachers are out there helping right now. Figured we'd come here to the Durance first, ya know?" Hollow said. "Sweet!" Spike clapped his claws together. Backup was still arriving. Seems that Ash and Goh weren't the only humans helping to stop this invasion. The teachers of the Pokemon School were chiming in too. They had friends here as well of course they had to help. And there were other teachers out there in Equestria assisting. The invasion, while ramping up, seemed to be reaching its boiling point. Only one side is winning this as the journey and fate for this world continues. Chapter 460 End.