Twilight and Spike slept soundly in their bed, their Fortree City ambience keeping them still and calm save for their breaths. Their surroundings, as artificial as they were, were so tranquil that they couldn’t be bothered to wake up to the knocking at their door.
On the other side, Guzma and Acerola took several quick, fearful glances down both ends of the hall, unsure if an Aether employee would have heard them.
“Okay, seriously,” Guzma hissed, “how out are these two?”
“I don’t know,” Acerola responded, “but unless we get a key to their room, I don’t see us getting them up without alerting someone.”
“Then perhaps I can be of some assistance?” Guzma and Acerola jerked their heads to the same side, seeing Lillie approach them with Nanu and Burnet behind her. Acerola breathed in slight disappointment, but grimaced harder as she struggled to find something to yell at Nanu about.
“Lillie? Nan… What are you all doing up?” she asked, slightly louder than before.
“Probably the same thing you two are doing,” Nanu replied. “That is, unless you’re not planning on helping Twilight and Spike get out of this place.”
Acerola continued to force her frown, but seeing Nanu at that moment, cleaned up and ready to help her, couldn’t help but smile. “Lillie? That key?”
“Oh, right.” Lillie haphazardly fished through her coat pockets and handed Acerola a key card by its lanyard.
Guzma crossed his arms as Acerola tried to find the right side to insert the card into. “You think your mom and boyfriend are going to be happy about this? Sneaking them off again the very night after almost getting them taken by Prism?”
“I think Twilight and Spike have spent enough time here.” Lillie’s answer was confident and without concern of reprimand. “Now, are you going to help us out, or do I have to try and leave with them alone again?”
“Uh, Lillie?” Guzma and Lillie glanced down as Acerola nervously shook her hands as a numbered keypad appeared on the flat surface of the doorlock, the card key sticking out from the bottom of it. “I don’t know the code, so I’m going to need your help!”
“No problem, I have it.” Lillie knelt down and began to press in the digits. “Can’t be too careful after last night, can we?”
While Guzma and Acerola both frowned over the irony of Lillie’s statement, they looked back at Burnet and Nanu still waiting for them, relaxing over the reinforcements she would receive.
After pushing in the last numbers, the door finally unlatched and slid open. Taking the key from the lock, she and Acerola slipped inside, both seeing Twilight and Spike stir awake, sitting up to see Lillie and Acerola approaching him.
“Hey, guys!” Lillie sheepishly laughed as Twilight and Spike stared in annoyance at both of them. “You wouldn’t mind giving this… one more try?”
“So, uh…” Spike wondered as the seven of them wandered the halls. “What’s the plan this time?”
“It’s going to be a bit longer of a journey,” Lillie said, “but it should be much safer than before.”
“Yes.” Burnet pointed forwards. “There’s a tram that will take us to the landing pads for the helicopters.”
“And we’re picking one up?” Spike’s voice became much louder.
“Shh!” Lillie hushed. “I couldn’t get one before, and I certainly wouldn’t be allowed one after last night. No, we’re going to head north.”
Walking through another doorway, Lillie lead everyone inside the atrium, the tram railway just up ahead.
“There.” Burnet pointed at a tram that awaited them at the station. “That’s what we’re taking up.”
“Oh, neat!” Spike began to run ahead, only to run his chest into the back of Nanu’s heel as he held it up to block his path.
“Hold on.” Holding his arm and hand up, the others were unsure exactly what they were supposed to be seeing or hearing that he was.
Twilight looked around, unable to find anything. “Nanu? What are you–”
“Quiet…” Twilight continued looking about, not about to speak another word.
It took an agonizing amount of time before the echo of Twilight and Nanu’s voices died down, none of them moving a muscle. After several moments, the softest sound of a heavy cloth or fabric waved from high up.
Nanu closed his eyes, almost as if accepting the situation. “Twilight?” he spoke with full volume. “You wouldn’t happen to know some kind of flare gun-like spell, would you?”
“I… I can make a flare.” Twilight looked up to the top of the ceiling, squinting as she measured the height. “Why do you–”
“Just do it, hurry!”
Nanu’s sudden severity forced Twilight to act quickly, and with a charge of her horn, she shot a bright orb of light high up, where it settled just inches below the ceiling. With a light shining all throughout the space, everyone could finally see what Nanu was afraid of. On the second and third floors of the atrium on both sides, a dozen hooded Prism grunts stood out of their crouch looking down on them, giggling with anticipation.
As Twilight and Spike slunk down in fright, the five humans formed a tight ring around them, each one grabbing a Poké Ball from their belt.
“Go, Sableye!” Acerola shouted, tossing out her Ultra Ball.
“Come on!” Guzma threw out a similarly colored ball of his own. “Golisopod!”
Along with Guzma’s massive shelled bug, the Pokémon popping out of Acerola’s ball was a small, purple imp with two blue gems for eyes and an angular mouth housing a row of razor-sharp fangs.
From the left on the second level, a dark-skinned Prism grunt pulled the hood off her head and black hair, smirking as she took a Poké Ball from his belt and tossed it out. “Kadabra, Dazzling Gleam!”
Another grunt, a muscular one on the third level to the right also unveiled themselves and their spiky black hair before tossing out a ball of his own. “Oricorio, hit Golisopod with Air Slash!”
The Kadabra appeared first, and as it fell to the first floor, it held its spoon up, where it began to glow. The other grunt’s Pa’u-style Oricorio swooped down, ready to attack.
“Nuh-uh!” Guzma threw his hand out toward Kadabra. “First Impression!”
Right before the Kadabra could even land, Golisopod appeared before it in a flash, punching it in the gut and sending the Kadabra flying into the glass wall of an office, the strength enough to leave large cracks in the glass as the Pokémon fell limply to the ground, fainting instantly.
“Sableye!” Acerola snapped her fingers.
Before the Oricorio could reach Golisopod, its wings glowing and ready to strike, Sableye hopped up into its path and opened its mouth wide to devour it. Oricorio’s eyes went wide as it quickly banked away from the ghost’s maw and flew back to its trainer in a panic.
“Nice one,” Acerola complimented, her Pokémon forming a thumbs up in appreciation.
The doors behind them suddenly slammed shut and locked themselves with a heavy bang, frightening them into looking back at the trap they had been ensnared in. The crack of hands clapping sounded ahead, and jerking their heads towards the tram, they saw as a black-shirted man walked out from the tramway tunnel, applauding them in mockery as an Espeon walked beside him.
“After barely surviving our assault last night, you go out and try again as though we wouldn’t be waiting?” The man returned his Pokémon to its ball and put it on his belt before putting both hands on his hips, revealing the Z-Ring on his right wrist and the Mega Ring on his left.
“Dexio,” Guzma growled.
Spike tugged on Twilight’s tail, getting her attention. “That’s who they were talking about this morning!”
“I figured, Spike,” she hissed back.
“Why?” Acerola whined to him. “Why would you go along with these guys?”
Dexio opened his mouth to say something snarky, but realized something. “Oh… we never actually told you, have we?”
“Told us what?” Lillie shouted. “All we know is that you’re trying to take them! At least have the decency to tell us why!”
“Hmm… Well, it’s going to come whether we take them tonight or not. You see, I’ve experienced a lifetime of life-changing discoveries and events: Mega Evolution, AZ’s ultimate weapon, the discovery of Ultra Space. But, these ponies… These ponies are something else entirely.” Dexio reached his arms out to Twilight and Spike, making them shy away despite the space between them.
“And what’s so special about us?” Twilight’s eyes began to well with tears. “Why do you need us so badly?”
“It’s simple really. Ultra Space was simply a hostile environment filled with hostile creatures. You and your world, on the other hand, are Aether’s latest and greatest discoveries, and all we want from you is for you to unite our worlds into one!”
Lillie and Twilight’s eyes shot open, the latter shivering and clenching her teeth, a very telling response to Dexio. “Oh? So, wait, you were trying to do the same thing as us? Well, wow! It’s almost as if we’ve been working together on this the whole time!”
“Cut the crap!” Burnet shouted. “If that were even remotely true, what makes you think they would ever form an alliance with the likes of you?”
Dexio grinned confidently. “You misunderstand me, Burnet. Lillie and her ilk at the Aether Foundation may seek peace and diplomacy with these ponies, but our wants and desires go far beyond such… simple, silly things!”
“Whatever it is you want,” Twilight shouted, “you won’t have any of it. I won’t let any of you so much as step foot on my world!”
“This is getting ridiculous!” Guzma growled. “And you’re in our way! Golisopod, Liquidation!”
“Sableye!” Acerola shouted. “Shadow Claw!”
Both Pokémon charged at Dexio with alarming speed and fury, though Dexio refused to yield or show any sign of fear.
He removed an Ultra Ball from his belt and tossed it out casually and cooly. “Metagross, Protect!”
Sableye’s pointed fingers began to form a tail of purple smoke as water flew off Golisopod’s claws as they got closer. Dexio’s four-armed metal-disk Pokémon flew out of its ball, tucked its arms up over its head, and tilted down to face the two oncoming Pokémon with the flat top of its body. Both Sableye and Golisopod’s attacks struck at the same time, only for a sideways dome of purple energy to hold them at bay and bounce them back.
“Hmm…” Dexio crossed his arms. “So much for diplomacy.”
“Oh, shut up!” Lillie lobbed a Poké Ball out over her friends. “Let’s go, Rapidash!”
Lillie’s fire horse came out from its ball, standing in between Sableye and Golisopod as they retreated back toward their trainers.
“Yep, might as well.” Nanu flicked an Ultra Ball out underhanded. “Go, Krookidile.”
His red-and-black bipedal crocodile emerged from the energy that burst from its ball, standing beside Sableye.
Burnet tossed out a single Poké Ball. “Let’s do this, Reuniclus!”
Her green gelatinous Pokémon came out of its ball and floated above Rapidash and Sableye. The muscular grunt’s Oricorio flew back down and perched itself atop of Dexio’s Metagross. At once, the remaining ten grunts pulled their hoods back and each tossed out a Poké Ball out over Dexio and his Pokémon.
Appearing all around Metagross and the muscular grunt’s Oricorio in a shower of white energy were two Espeons, a Hypno, a Starmie, a Slowking, a Metang, a Bruxish, a Starmie, and another Kadabra. Joining them was a large, bipedal Slowpoke much like Slowking, although a shell, similar to Slowking’s crown, had its entire mouth around its tail.
Lillie, though intimidated by the small army Team Prism had mustered, maintained a brave face. “Hang on you two. We’ll get you out of this.”
“You’re quite funny, Lillie,” Dexio spoke to her. “You’ve always been funny. Now, my fellow trainers, you may begin the hunt!”
“Espeon!” a two female grunts with red and black ponytails ordered in unison. “Use Dazzling Gleam!”
“Kadabra!” a male grunt with sand-blonde hair shouted. “Hit Krookodile with Energy Ball!”
“Rapidash!” Lillie cried out. “Hit Metang with Flare Blitz!”
The gems in the Espeons’ heads flashed brightly, filling the atrium with light as a plethora of colored beams shot around, hitting every Pokémon inside. When the lights died down, both Krookodile and Sableye buckled in pain, the latter falling to the ground and fainting.
“Sableye!” Acerola cried.
Golisopod looked back to Guzma, who understandingly returned it to its ball and threw another one out from his belt. “You’re up, Pinser!”
Appearing from his ball was a large, bipedal brown beetle with two spiked pincers like horns atop its head and long flat teeth along the sides of its mouth.
Rapidash galloped forward, a cone of flame forming at the tip of its horn before enveloping its entire body. It then drove its horn into the Metang, throwing it back into the tramway where it rolled and clattered to a stop.
The blonde-haired grunt’s Kadabra charged a bright green orb as it held up its spoon, shooting it out and hitting Krookodile in the chest, slamming it on its back where it fainted beside Sableye.
A pale skinned grunt with a dark-blue Mohawk looked down behind Dexio and seethed at her fainted Metang. “That bitch…”
“Starmie!” a female grunt with short white hair shouted. “Hit her Rapidash with Hydro Pump!”
“Oricorio!” the muscular grunt bellowed. “Attack Pinser with Air Slash!”
“Bruxish!” the female grunt with the bobbed purple hair commanded. “Use Ice Beam on Pinser!”
First, the Starmie’s gem began to glow before it shot a tremendous, continuous blast of water into Rapidash’s face and chest, flushing it down the floor back to Lillie where it laid still, too exhausted to continue. Next, the Oricorio swooped in and threw its wings at Pinser, both blades of air striking the beetle hard. The Bruxish then shot a beam of chilly white energy at Pinser, who leapt to the right to avoid the attack, frightening the grunt in control of it.
“My man!” Guzma shouted proudly. “Now, hit Hypno with X-Scissor!”
Pinser charged out, pushing its way past the near-dozen Pokémon that remained. After finding the Hypno among them, it squeezed its pincers in and then flexed them out, the points slashing against Hypno’s chest.
Dexio growled at his minions’ missteps. “Metagross! Attack Burnet’s Reuniclus with Meteor Mash!”
Metagross hovered above its Pokémon companions and with a tuck in of its limbs, it rocketed out at Reuniclus, forming a celestial tail around its body. Reuniclus mewed loudly as it bounced upwards, narrowly avoiding Metagross as it passed beneath it, making Dexio scowl harder.
“Don’t worry, boss, I got them!” A messy brown haired grunt threw his arm out toward his enemies’ Pokémon. “Hypno, hit Pinser with Fire Punch!”
The grunt’s hypno wrapped its pendulum and chain around its fist as it ran forwards, the talisman on the end glowing red with heat. As it threw its arm forward, it went alight with flame, striking Pinser on the left cheek and knocking it to the floor.
“No!” Burnet cried. “Reuniclus, use Shadow Ball on Hypno, now!”
With it just hovering over its target, Reuniclus put its hands together, spreading them out to create a dark-purple aura that grew larger in the space between its hands. Throwing the orb down, Hypno was flung face first to the ground and settled on its stomach, closing its eyes.
Without warning, another Shadow Ball soared right into Reuniclus, hitting it dead on in the face and throwing it back. Burnet gasped, looking out into the Pokémon before her to see which one attacked hers. She then noticed an Oranguru holding out its hands as they smoked with purple, revealing itself as the culprit.
“Nice hit,” a cocoa-skinned man with long dreadlocks complimented to his partner. “Slowbro, take out Pinser with Fire Blast!”
The pink Pokémon took in a deep inhale, flames spilling past its pursed lips before it puffed out a star-shaped fire at Guzma’s Pokémon. Running forward, Pinser slipped its legs forward and slid between the bottom ends of the star, avoiding its attack.
“God dammit!” a skinny red-haired grunt screamed. “You’re not getting lucky again, old man! Slowking, take that big bug out with Flamethrower.”
Having approached it to avoid the last attack, Pinser was suddenly caught by the grunt’s Slowking as it breathed fire in a steady stream, oscillating its head to ensure it could not avoid it from any direction. The flames flowed onto Pinser, and the sheer heat made it swoon back and faint before it hit the ground. Guzma hissed as he brought his Pokémon back, each of the other trainers doing the same.
“Not sure what your endgame here is,” Acerola shouted, “but you’ve lost three of your Pokémon already. You do know who you’re fighting here, right?”
“You don’t need to remind us, we did so last night.” Dexio pointed a threateningly contorted finger at her and scanned it amongst her friends. “It won’t be nearly as easy now that no one else can come to help you!”
Dexio began cackling maniacally, disheartening the five trainers despite their strength and numbers. Lillie was compelled to look down where Twilight and Spike were, only to find that they were no longer there.
The messy haired grunt also took notice from his vantage point. “Hey, boss! That pony and dragon aren’t there anymore!”
Dexio’s laughter ceased immediately, instantly looking frightened and concerned, then becoming angrier as he realized. “Ugh, that damned Dazzling Gleam… Keep an eye out for them! They could be anywhere!”
The grunts looked about their space, unable to see anything or anyone resembling the alicorn and her baby dragon, looking concerned themselves.
Dexio’s face was so tight with fury that the muscles in his face trembled. “Where did you go?”
Twilight and Spike silently but quickly slunk up the tunnel of the tram line, finally stopping to take a breath, comfortable that they were where they couldn’t be seen.
Spike panted heavily, both out fear and physical exhaustion. “Where are we going, Twilight? Shouldn’t we go back and help?”
“Lillie and the others have that covered. We should see if we can find a way to alert the staff, or even find something that can help our friends back there.”
“Okay, good thinking.”
“Come on, we don’t have much time to lose!”
Twilight and Spike continued their steep ascent up the track, keeping their breaths and grunts as quiet as possible.
“Let’s go, Ariados!” Guzma tossed out another Ultra Ball, his large black-and-red spider with gold-and-purple legs emerged to join Burnet’s Reuniclus.
“Alright, Dhelmise, you’re up!” Acerola’s anchor Pokémon appeared from its ball, landing beside Ariados.
“You got this, Blissey!” Lillie shouted, her wide pink-and-white Pokémon plopping down beside Ariados.”
Nanu nonchalantly tossed another ball from his hand. “Looks like you’re up, Persian.”
Appearing beside the other three Pokémon was a rather large, but muscular bluish-grey cat with a large head, small, puffy jowls, and a blue gem on its forehead.
“Ha!” the female red-haired grunt barked at Guzma. “You brought a Poison-type Pokémon to this fight? What is wrong with you?”
“Nothing,” Guzma responded, unflinching, “It’s Bug against Psychic. I might be a trainer-school dropout, but I’m pretty sure that still puts you at the disadvantage.”
“Let’s see then. Espeon, Psyshock–”
“Ariados, Sucker Punch!”
With a backward shift in its legs, Ariados was ready to move as the gem in the Espeon’s head began to brighten. Just then, Ariados disappeared in a flash and appeared before its target, its front right leg already reeled back. Before Espeon could even register the spider’s appearance, the tip of its leg jabbed into its face, sending it flying back toward Dexio where it fainted.
“You bastard!” The red-haired grunt gripped the banister she stood before. “You tricked me!”
“Ah, but it’s what I do!” Guzma purred.
“And now it’s wasted its attack!” the black-ponytailed grunt shouted down. “Espeon, hit it with Psyshock!”
The remaining Espeon charged the gem in its head, shooting a ray of purple energy into Ariados, sliding it along the ground until its legs buckled beneath it and was brought to its stomach, unable to battle.
The short white-haired grunt then pointed down at Acerola’s Pokémon. “Starmie! Hit Dhelmise with Ice Beam!”
The gem in the Starmie’s body glowed bright enough to turn white before it shot a beam from it, striking it dead-on at the center of the wheel, flinging it back into the wall with a loud, unsettling bang.
“Dhelmise!” Acerola shouted. “Are you okay?”
Dragging its body to rejoin its comrades by spinning its wheel and pulling forward on the ground with the spokes, Lillie and Burnet sighed in relief.
“Don’t think we forgot about your other friends!” The blonde-haired grunt leaned over the banister before pointing down to its intended target. “Kadabra, hit Blissey with Psyshock!”
Thrusting its spoon out, Kadabra blasted bolts of black and purple lightning, striking Blissey in the stomach. Though it doubled over, it didn’t give Kadabra an inch of ground. Blissey looked back to Lillie to assure its trainer that it could take it, and Lillie chuckled and nodded, glad for her Pokémon’s endurance.
“That’s fine!” the muscular grunt proudly proclaimed, clenching his fist. “Oricorio, hit Dhelmise with Air Slash!”
The purple-haired grunt threw her pointing arm down. “Bruxish! Hit Blissey with Psychic Fangs!”
Oricorio flew over toward Acerola’s Pokémon and flapped both wings hard, creating another pair of wind blades that spun about as they came toward their target.
“Come on, Dhelmise, you can dodge them!” Encouraged by Acerola’s words, Dhelmise twisted to the left, avoiding the first blade as it whizzed past, leaning down as the second passed over it. “Yes! Nice!”
The purple-haired grunt hissed as her fish swam over and successfully clamped its razor-sharp fangs into Blissey’s stomach, making it scream in pain. “God dammit. If I had known his attack would have missed…”
Dexio pointed out to Nanu’s Persian. “Metagross! Hit Persian with Brick Break!”
With a push off the ground, Metagross leapt out towards Nanu’s Pokémon.
“Persian, Dark Pulse!” The cat opened its mouth, forming a shining black orb before its face as Metagross descended down with its arm held up. “Hit Slowbro!”.
Dexio’s face contorted in unpleasant surprise as Persian’s attack shot out beneath his Pokémon and struck Slowbro in the face, knocking it down on its butt. Undaunted, Metagross slammed the end of its arm down on the top of Persian’s head, forcing it down onto its stomach screeching in pain.
“No, Persian!” Lillie’s terrified screams were soon settled as she saw Nanu’s Pokémon quickly stand back up on its paws.
“Oranguru,” a male grunt with ice-blue hair spoke, “hit Reuniclus again with Shadow Ball!”
“Blissey!” Lillie commanded. “Hit Starmie with Charge Beam!”
Oranguru formed a purple ball of aura in its hands before throwing it out at Reuniclus, striking it hard in the face once again and sending it flying back. Blissey rubbed its arms together, forming static on the tips before shooting them out as larger volts, striking Starmie where they spread all over its body, making it convulse as every muscle in its body spasmed and tensed.
“Alright, Dhelmise, take out the Bruxish with Power Whip!” Acerola’s Pokémon leapt up and spun flatly above the ground. With the kelp on its body holding on, Dhelmise’s anchor swung far out into the fray of opposing Pokémon, taking the floating fish it was about to hit by complete surprise. The anchor slammed into the entire left side of the Bruxish’s body, sending it flying into the glass wall below, producing more, larger cracks on its surface before it flopped limply to the floor.
The purple haired grunt slammed her fist onto the banister, the sharp pain she felt in her bones serving as her punishment. “NO! Dammit!”
Burnet grimaced as she looked out over the Pokémon that still remained. “Let’s get one more out for the road. Reuniclus, hit Slowking with Infestation!”
Reuniclus happily clapped its hands causing many sparkles to appear before it that transformed into a swarm of insects that flew out at the Slowking, biting and stratching its skin much to its sheer displeasure.
“Yeah, whatever!” the dreadlocked grunt roared. “Slowbro, Fire Blast on Dhelmise, now!”
With a heavy huff, the Slowbro shot another star-shaped plume of fire out of its mouth, this time managing to hit its target with the flames engulfing it.
“Dhelmise!” Acerola watched as her Pokémon dropped down from the fire and landed and clattered hard onto the floor. With a shuddering breath, she had no choice but to bring her Pokémon back into its ball.
“Slowking, take out Blissey with Psyshock!” On the skinny red-haired grunt’s orders, Slowking managed to fan enough of the Infestation bugs away from its face and head to shoot a ray of light-purple energy from the gem in its crown. Upon blasting into Blissey’s body, it was thrown back crying and flipped over onto its stomach right in front of Lillie.
“Blissey! Blissey! Are you alright?” As Lillie rolled it over, she winced to see Blissey’s eyes closed restfully and her mouth slightly open and relaxed, fainted. With a rueful sob, Lillie stood back up and returned her Pokémon into its ball. “Twilight, Spike. I don’t know where you’re hiding, but we could really use some help now.”
Twilight and Spike finally came close to the top of the lift hill, stopping abruptly on hearing two voices accompanied by their footsteps. Crouching low and peering over, both of them looked to see a pair of grunts idly pacing about. Both of them were unhooded and were muscular in stature: a middle-aged darker-skinned woman with black hair arguably shorter than Acerola’s and a tan-skinned man with yellow-as-corn hair.
“What do you think they’re doing?” Spike whispered.
“Either standing guard or waiting for us.” Twilight was quick and just barely intelligible. “Now please be quiet. I’m trying to make a plan.”
Twilight glanced between both grunts, unsure of who to deal with first. Before Spike could even offer a suggestion, Twilight charged her horn and vanished in a bursting bubble of light. The magical popping sound alerted both grunts to the lift hill, and as both of them looked, Twilight suddenly appeared beside and above the male grunt in another shimmering appearance. As the grunt turned to see, he was stopped by Twilight’s back right hoof driving into the side of his head, knocking him unconscious before he hit the ground.
The female grunt gasped as she turned to see her partner falling and Twilight disappearing again. Quickly falling into a wide-stanced crouch and dodging Twilight’s assault once she appeared behind her, she tore her Poké Ball off her belt and threw it out, then rolled away to avoid Twilight falling at her with a stomping hoof.
“Hypno! Psychic–” Twilight blasted the grunt down to her back with an orb of magic.
It was then that she suddenly felt herself lifted up off the ground with the all too familiar feeling she felt the previous night. Screaming for her life, her body was turned around so that it faced the Hypno holding its left hand up while the right one swung its magenta-glowing pendulum. Spike felt his limbs fail him as he slunk down at the sight of Twilight helpless to the whims of the grunt and her Pokémon.
“Frosslass, go!” Appearing from Acerola’s next ball was a floating white apparition whose body resembled a kimono, it’s arms draping down from the bottoms of the cheeks of its mask-like head covering its purple face.
“It’s your time again, Golisopod!” With a toss of his ball, Guzma’s plated insect reappeared, eager to fight once more.
“Okay, Parasect, you’re up!” Lillie threw her next ball out, her mushroom bug appearing from the energy inside of it.
With the next new round of Pokémon out, Acerola made the first call. “Froslass, hit Oricorio with Ice Shard.”
With a fast wave of its arm, a chunk of ice was flung from Froslass’s draped sleeve and struck the pink bird in the gut, knocking it off Metagross and grounding it.
“Golisopod,” Guzma shouted, “use First Impression on Starmie, now!”
“Persian,” Nanu shouted, “take the Oricorio out with Power Gem!”
The gem in Nanu’s cat’s head began to glow before shooting out small comet shards from it at its target while Golisopod virtually warped before Starmie with its speedy attack. As the glowing rocks struck Oricorio, Golisopod’s claw punched into Starmie’s gem center, both Pokémon being thrown back by Dexio where both fell down and fainted with limp rolls.
“Okay, that’s it!” The black-ponytailed grunt crossed her arms in front of her face, revealing her synthetic Z-Ring with a dark-purple gem inside of it. With a spark from both her device and around her Espeon’s body, she put her arms down and then crossed them forwards.
She then went down into a crouch with her hands pointed down and placed over her mouth, slowly getting back up while swaying her body left and right, finishing by thrusting her face and upper body forward while throwing her arms to the side. Red energy poured out from behind her and flowed into her Espeon, leaving it flaring with the fake Z-Power.
“We aren’t going to lose this one this time!” she shouted. “It’s time to use our Z-Power and finally finish this! Espeon! Take out Froslass with Never-Ending Nightmare!”
The gem in Espeon’s head filled with purple before glowing intensely. To the fears of Lillie, Burnet, and Acerola’s Pokémon, a gurgling fountain of dark, oily sludge began to flow out from the ground beneath Espeon, pooling over underneath Froslass. Suddenly dozens of black hands breached out from the liquid and each grabbed hold of Froslass, making its escape impossible despite its attempts to break free. The hands then raised themselves and Froslass up before they all slammed it back down, exploding into a blast of purple smoke that cleared the battlefield before disappearing.
Acerola ran and slid down to pick up and cradle her Froslass in her arms, looking out to Espeon to see it buckle forward in discomfort as red sparks shot off its body like firecrackers.
Acerola bared her teeth in unbridled spite as she brought her Froslass back into its ball. “I’ve heard about your artificial Z-Rings and the fake Z-Power, but it honestly looks worse than I thought it would.” Espeon whimpered as it got back to its feet, the last of the sparks fading from its coat. “You cowardly bastards.”
Spike shivered as Twilight cried and begged to be let down, trying to reach out to the Hypno standing several feet from her. Spike’s breathing began to smoothen, but intensify as his mouth formed a toothy scowl. With a shrill roar, he ran out into the room right at Hypno with reckless abandon. As Hypno turned to face it, Spike blew out a stream of green fire that caught on Hypno’s fur.
Hypno screamed and forced itself to let Twilight go as it rolled about on the floor and put the fires on it out. As it got to its knee and patted out a stray flame on its shoulder, Twilight kicked it in the head once it had fully extinguished itself, leaving only the dark-skinned grunt weakly writhing on the floor.
“What…” She found that the most she could do was twitch her fingers off the floor. “What did you do to me?”
“Immobilization spell.” Twilight and Spike walked up to her. “Don’t worry. It will wear off in about fifteen minutes. Now, tell me where we can find some kind of emergency signal!”
Twilight and Spike were unnerved by how quickly the grunt was to laugh at her inquiry. “Did you really think we’d storm this place without preventing any attempt at calling for help?”
“What are you saying?” Spike demanded sternly.
“The House’s emergency systems. Communications with Paradise. All other signals. All disabled and jammed. That’s what my friend and I were here for, that is until you…” The grunt moaned, finding her continued immobility extremely bothersome.
Twilight pursed her lips, wondering what next to do. “Spike. Fish out her pockets.”
“Huh? Stop! What are you doing?” Spike slowly came over and reached over her.
“Kadabra!” The blonde haired grunt clenched his fists, anxious with the gamble he was going to make. “Focus Blast!”
Kadabra held its spoon vertically with a brown-edged white aura forming above it, confusing the purple-haired grunt. “What are you doing? Just use an All-Out Pummeling!”
“No! He’s already weak. I don’t need it yet.” Kadabra shifted its aim so that the orb it was creating was locked right onto Nanu’s Persian. “Alright, fire!”
Kadabra wound its arm back over and behind its head before throwing it out at the exact same time, sending the ball flying out in a perfect path into Persian’s head, the force of the blast throwing it and several bits of the tile floor off the ground. Nanu gasped as his Pokémon was hurled back toward him. Widening his stance, he opened his arms wide and caught Persian below its arms before settling him down slowly. From the relaxedness of its muscles, Nanu could already tell what had happened, giving it a final pet down its body before returning it to its ball. He then looked back up at the blonde-haired grunt with a mixture of contempt and respect as he slowly stood back on his feet.
Dexio smiled as the tide was suddenly showing signs of turning. “Let’s not miss this time, eh, bud?” Metagross clanged the ends of its two front arms together in readiness. “Okay, Metagross, take out Reuniclus with Meteor Mash!”
Metagross hopped up above its remaining comrades and shot out at its target like a shooting star. Reuniclus squealed with joy, ready to dodge as it had done the last time. However, Metagross began to barrel roll in its approach, appearing as a much larger ball that Reuniclus suddenly knew it could no longer avoid.
Not even bothering to move, Reuniclus took the attack dead center along the length of its entire body. Though its gelatinous body was able to cushion most of it, it didn’t help Reuniclus as it was thrust back into the wall above the door, it’s eyes closing and letting out a last tired sigh before losing consciousness.
“Reuniclus!” Burnet quickly took her Poké Ball out as Reuniclus was about to fall, and with a well-timed aim, the red beam from the ball touched her Pokémon and safely returned it inside.
The ice-blue haired grunt looked over to the other side of the atrium where the dreadlocked grunt stood. “You got the Parasect?” Upon receiving a nod from his teammate, the grunt looked back down on his Pokémon. “Oranguru, take out Golisopod with Thunderbolt!”
Oranguru interlocked its fingers above its head before shifting them away, holding them up parallel to the ground. The ceiling of the atrium was suddenly replaced with dark, flashing clouds as thunder ominously rolled through them. Oranguru then clapped its hands, sending down a massive bolt of lightning down that engulfed Golisopod entirely. With several parts of its body pouring with smoke, Golisopod swooned and fell forward onto its stomach, settling down and lying still.
Lillie turned from the last of her allies to fall and stared daggers down at the Slowking that stood with the other Psychic Pokémon. “Parasect! Take out the Slowking with X-Scissor!”
The dreadlocked grunt began crossing its arms over his face, sparking up his Z-Ring and Icium Z attached to it and connecting with his Slowbro. The two of them then threw their arms down and crossed them back out. They both then jabbed their arms upward in a crisscross motion thrice before throwing their arms out and quickly fanning them in, holding their palms just inches from each other.
As the grunt’s sinister-red Z-Power shot out from him into his Pokémon, Parasect leapt out toward Slowking, who continued futilely swatting away the bugs still nipping at him from the last attack. With a dual crossed slash of its claws, Parasect threw Slowking back, the bugs swarming it lighting up and bursting away in bright sparkles. With it’s arms splayed and head rested to the side, the skinny red-haired grunt pounded his fist on the banister in defeat.
“I hope you enjoyed that!” The dreadlocked grunt clenched his fists, both out of rage and with the energy coursing through him. “That was your last attack! Now, Slowbro, finish off the Parasect with Subzero Slammer!”
With mist pouring out of its mouth, the Slowbro was suddenly raised up by a column of ice, keeping its eyes trained on Lillie’s Pokémon below. Lifting its head up and then throwing it down, the Slowbro blasted a massive beam that pummeled down on Parasect before another tower of ice exploded out from where its stood, entrapping the bug with it. Both the column and tower shattered letting Slowbro fall down to its feet as Parasect slunk down, its legs unable to carry it anymore. Lillie looked angrily at Slowbro as it stood up straight again, fighting the red sparks dancing on and piercing its skin.
Taking her Poké Ball out and returning Parasect into it, her fellow trainers and opposing grunts doing the same to their fallen, she then looked back up to the dreadlocked grunt. “Like she said. Cowardly bastards.”
“It worked though, didn’t it?” The grunt leaned over the ledge of the banister, gloatingly grinning at her. “Now, send out your next round of Pokémon! Unless, you want to stop now!”
Nanu, Guzma, Acerola, and Lillie each detached their next set of balls from their belts, Burnet uncomfortably and guiltily hugging her arms. “Burnet?” Acerola asked. “What are you–”
“I’m sorry, I’m out!” She jerked her body away, ashamed to look at them. “I didn’t think we’d be ambushed tonight, at least, not like this…”
“Forget it!” Acerola was shocked to hear Nanu be Burnet’s voice of comfort. “There aren’t many left. We’ll make short work of them.”
Acerola grinned, her respect for the Kahuna beginning to blossom again. “And how! Go, Palossand!”
The energy from her thrown ball formed into her anthropomorphic sand-castle, which settled and sparsely spread itself along the ground.
Guzma tossed out his next ball with added oomph, also invigorated by Nanu’s words. “Let’s do it, Masquerain!”
Appearing from his next ball was a small, white insect with four small wings along its body that kept it hovering still above the ground and two large semicircle-shaped antennae that gave it the appearance of a pair of angry eyes.
Lillie chucked her ball out next. “Go, Starmie!”
With her purple ten-pronged star joining the others, even Nanu found the strength to toss his ball out with gusto. “Sableye, you’re up!”
His own purple spritely spirit appeared beside Palosand and beneath Masquerain and Starmie.
Lillie pulled her left sleeve up to her elbow, also revealing a natural Z-Ring with Waterium Z on her wrist, surprising the other grunts. “You’re not the only one who can use Z-Power!” She crossed her wrists over her face, and with her Z-Ring shooting up with light, her Starmie tried to replicate its trainers movements using the arms two down from the topmost one. “Unlike you, I’ve earned the right to use mine!”
After putting her arms down and crossing them back out, she gracefully swayed her arms to the left like ocean waves and then swung them to the right, allowing her golden, organically-colored Z-Power to burst from her body and become absorbed into Starmie’s.
“I beat four of you guys on my own last night. What chance did you think you had against me, a Kahuna, and half of the Elite Four?” As Lillie looked to the last remaining Espeon, it appeared to read its intentions, attempting to shy away from the onslaught it knew it would soon receive. “Go, Starmie! Take down the Espeon with Hydro Vortex!”
With its gem sparkling bright, Starmie spun and flew out at Espeon’s feet, flipping it high up into the air. Now hovering just above the ground face-up, Starmie increased the speed of its spin, droplets of water flinging off of it until fountains were coming out, forming a tornado of water between Lillie and her friends and the grunts.
With no way to avoid it, Espeon was thrown into the whirpool, quickly being thrown about. Starmie also began shooting small beams of light into the twister, which were carried inside and collided with Espeon before it was finally flung out onto the same side and level of the atrium that the black-ponytailed grunt was.
“No!” The grunt watched as her Pokémon clipped the edge of the banister and was flung onto the floor beside her. With a disappointed moan, she took her Poké Ball out and returned her fainted Espeon inside.
“Okay, that’s it!” The blonde-grunt crossed his arms and activated his Z-Ring as well, he and his Kadabra, also performing the moves to activate his Ghostinium-Z.
Nanu watched as the red Z-Power began to shoot out from the grunt and toward his Kadabra. “Sableye, quick! Use Fake Out!”
Though Kadabra could clearly see Sableye still standing close to Nanu, it was unprepared to see it hop up close to its face, its mouth wide open and snapping closed. In shock, Kadabra dropped its spoon, the Z-Power shattering like glass and evaporating away the moment it clattered to the floor.
“What?!” The grunt gasped. “Shit!”
“Hey, since everyone’s using their Z-Power…” Guzma crossed his arms with his Z-Ring and Buginium Z inside, his Masquerain unable to mimic him in its position. “…why not me?” After setting its arms down and crossing them forward, he slid his right foot back and swung his arms up from the right with his hands smoothly curved down. He then swung his left arm to his left side and swung his right arm in a wide scooping motion, holding his arm back up to the left.
His Z-Power shot out of him and into his Pokémon, leaving a flaming aura seeping off its body. “Your ape may be big, but it won’t be match for my winged boy. Masquerain! Take down Oranguru with Savage Spin-Out!”
Masquerain began vibrating its antennae as a thick strand of web shot out of its mouth, covering the Oranguru up into it until it was fully encased in a thick, egg-shaped cocoon. With the end of the web still stuck in the flying insect’s mouth, Masquerain shot down and up into the air, taking its prey along with it. It flew around the upper part of the atrium, crashing the Oranguru against and along the walls and sharp corners, breaking off pieces of the wall that fell down onto the grunts on the upper levels.
Flying back low, Masquerain swung the Oranguru up into the air before soaring back up and slicing the ape out of its prison with the edges of its wings, managing to cut into it as well. As Masquerain flew back to join Guzma, the two watched as Oranguru landed hard on the ground, taking a hard bounce before laying still.
“Hmm,” Guzma purred, holding his fist up for Masquerain to quickly brush against with its wings. “Nice one.”
Suddenly, the blonde-haired grunt began to get worried. “Dexio!”
“Okay!” Dexio shouted, now serious. “Metagross, hit Palossand with Meteor Mash!”
Metagross flew out at Palossand in another brilliant shot of light. With Palossand’s stationary stance, Metagross had no problems blasting through it and breaking it apart, leaving nothing but the base of the left tower. Acerola and her allies all blocked their faces as Palossand’s remains sprayed into them before settling on the floor.
Acerola looked back to see what had become of her Pokémon. “Palossand?”
As if on cue, the sand that had been spread back behind its spot, as well as some that was left on the hair and clothes of Acerola and her friends, began to rejoin, forming a good-as-new castle that now looked angrily at its foes.
“Awesome, Palossand!” Acerola crossed her wrists over her face, put them down, and crossed them out, her Z-Ring flaring up. “Now, let me show you how you really use Ghostium Z!” Widening her stance, she got down low with her hands and spread-out fingers held over her face, wobbled back up, and then popped her face out with her hands held off to the sides.
Her Z-Power burst off from her back and chest and swirled around Palossand, entering inside each hole in its body before seeping in through the rest of it. Jerking her head at Kadabra, the blonde-grunt jumped back away from the banister, frightened for what was coming.
“You’re not worthy of wielding this power!” she cried out. “I’ll show you just how worthy a trainer like you is! Palossand! Decimate Kadabra with Never-Ending Nightmare!”
Unlike with Espeon, the black liquid of the attack began to bleed out from the outer edges of Palossand’s base, slowly making its way to Kadabra’s feet. The terrified Pokémon tried to back away, only to find that it was somehow running in place, unable to escape it as it pooled around its ankles.
One by one, large, shadowy hands burst out from the surface and grabbed hold of Kadabra, pressing it into the ground as they melded into a single mound. Kadabra screamed through the ectoplasmic sludge as it reached up for one final cry for help, the mound beginning to break and crack apart with harsh purple light shining out from them.
Finally, the mound exploded into a mushroom cloud of purple smoke, blowing the residual liquid and itself away before quickly evaporating. Kadabra was already lying face-down and motionless where it had stood.
“And then there were two,” Guzma quipped. “Kind of thinking about offering a chance to surrender to you, but you guys have really been pissing me off as of late, so the deal’s off!”
“There was never any deal, you idiot!” The dreadlocked-grunt shouted down. “Also, I still haven’t attacked yet! Slowbro! Knock her stupid castle down with Ice Beam!”
With a breathe in and out, Slowbro struck Palossand with a chilly stream of white. Palossand did its best to weather through it, but with its towers getting unbearably cold and hard, its center tower was blown back as a single solid piece, breaking like a clay jar upon hitting the hard floor, the yellow lights of its eyes fading out as it lost the will to continue on. Acerola screamed in anguish as she had to call her Palossand back, several grunts also bringing their Pokémon back.
“Ace, it’s okay, we got this!” Guzma slapped a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
“You have to protect her.” She was careful not to let Dexio or the other grunts understand her fully. “This plan goes to hell if they take her out.”
“And we won’t let that happen,” Lillie promised. “Just send her out and have faith in us.”
As Acerola put Palossand’s ball back onto her belt, she took out her last remaining Pokémon and stared at its ball nervously. She didn’t have much time to dwell, and she sent the ball out to let her Pokémon fight. “We’re almost there! Get ‘em, Drifblim!”
Popping out from the ball’s energy was a Pokémon resembling a purple, basketless hot-air balloon with four light-purple arms, two red dots for eyes and a yellow X for a mouth, and a white, cloudy puff on the top of its head.
“Oh…” Dexio sighed. “I see now.”
“You guys had your chance tonight!” Lillie shouted. “But now it’s time to end it. Starmie, use Swift!”
“Masquerain!” Guzma exclaimed. “Hit him with Bug Buzz!”
Starmie spun about, star-shaped lights shooting from its arms and the gem in its center, while Masquerain flapped its wings harder than before, creating repetitive green sonic pulses that joined in with Starmie’s attack. The vibrating pulses and stars of light both collided into Slowbro, and with a tired shout and huff, it fell onto its bottom and slumped over, succumbing to exhaustion. Its grunt called the Pokémon back before backing into the glass wall and leaning against it.
With Dexio and his Metagross now all alone, he growled in frustration. “Metagross! Hit Drifblim with Zen Headbutt!”
A layer of purple energy formed around the front of Metagross’s body, and with a leap and thrust forward of its head, another aura in the same shape of Metagross appeared before Drifblim and struck it between the eyes, puffing half the air out of its body. As it began to sink down, Drifblim quickly inflated itself back up and gently landed beside Nanu’s Sableye.
Acerola turned to Nanu and grinned confidently. “You ready, old man?”
“Always.”
“Hmph.” Acerola kept smiling. “Liar.”
“You’re right.”
“Alright then! Drifblim!”
“Sableye!”
“SHADOW BALL!” they both shouted together.
Holding their arms up, they both formed a dark, purple ball of insidious aura between their hands. As their trainers had announced, they both threw their attacks out at the same time. As they got closer, they converged, forming a larger sphere that was even bigger than Metagross.
Dexio’s Pokémon could only move its arms before its face before the attack struck it, hurling it back over Dexio’s head as globs of the Shadow Ball splashed over it. Landing upside down five feet up the tram hill, it then slid back down to the flat surface, too weary to even attempt to move its arms and bring itself back upright.
Dexio turned and bowed his head, lethargically bringing his Ultra Ball up to bring Metagross back.
“Okay, Dexio!” Guzma shouted. “Consider the floors wiped with you and your goons! Get out of our way before we do to you what we did to your Pokémon-”
“Hey, whoa, whoa, whoa!” Dexio dramatically spun around to face them. “Just because you beat one of my guys doesn’t mean you beat them all! Besides…” He detached another ball from his belt, hushing to just barely louder than a whisper. “…we have a mission to complete. Go, Alakazam!”
Appearing from its ball, Dexio’s fully-evolved Kadabra landed before the remaining four Pokémon, twirling both spoons in its hand in anticipation.
Spike held two Revives in his hands as Twilight strained to charge her horn, sweat soaking the fur on her face.
“You won’t leave this island without us!” the dark-skinned grunt growled before forcing a laugh. “You’re so screwed!”
Suddenly, Twilight vanished in a flash of light and reappeared beside Spike, feeling elated that she could now do that much. “Yes! Alright, Spike! Let’s get back to the action!”
Spike stood closer to Twilight, and with another charge of her horn, a bright bubble formed around them and popped just as quickly, leaving the incapacitated grunt alone, the growing silence making her whimper in fear.
Twilight and Spike appeared behind their friends in another bright bubble, alerting them and Dexio.
“Guys!” Lillie shouted. “Where were you?”
“We went up the tunnel,” Twilight explained, panting. “A couple of grunts were waiting for us up there. We took care of them, but they already disabled the emergency systems and blocked all communication.”
The group felt disheartened, but were still thankful for Twilight and Spike’s safety and what they still managed to accomplish.
“Twilight! Spike!” Dexio yelled across the room. “So glad you could come back down! I was just about to show you guys a very nifty trick!”
“We know about your Z-Power, you cretin!” Twilight shouted.
“Yeah!” Spike shook a cocky fist at him. “You’re not even all that with it!”
“Ohoho…” Dexio held his left arm with his Mega Ring up, the Mega Stone inside facing his opponents. “I sure do love surprises.” He then placed his fingers upon the Mega Stone, making it glow and shine out harsh rays of technicolor light. “Respond to my heart, Key Stone! Beyond evolution! Mega Evolve!”
The rays of light then warped and bent about, forming the shape of DNA as they spiraled about and showered Alakazam with its energy, shocking and frightening Twilight and Spike. They and their friends continued to watch as Alakazam’s body glowed bright like the lights coming from the Mega Ring before it transformed into its larger, bearded, more wizened form. Folding its legs and sitting two feet above the ground, the light covering it burst away as its five spoons arced over it.
“Wha…” Twilight struggled to find the words. “What happened to it?! It just turned into a completely different Pokémon!”
“Not exactly,” Guzma huffed. “That’s it’s Mega Evolved form: Mega Alakazam.”
“Really?” Spike strangely sounded bemused. “Thought it would at least have a cooler name to boot.”
“Oh?!” Dexio’s voice brimmed with eagerness. “My Pokémon isn’t cool enough for you! Then how’s about this?!”
Dexio crossed his right wrist over his left, his artificial Z-Ring and Psychium Z bursting with light.
“What?” Twilight exclaimed. “And he can use Z-Power!”
“Oh yeah! And it gets worse!” Dexio and Mega Alakazam threw their arms down and crossed them back out before swinging their arms to tap their temples with their index fingers, reaching forward with their right hands, and Dexio stepping his right foot beside his left. Red Z-Power flowed out from him and into Mega Alakazam, its body swirling violently with the energy.
“If we can’t beat you fair and square,” Dexio further explained, “at least we can strand you here until we can heal back up and have another go at you! Now, Mega Alakazam! Take down Drifblim with Shattered Psyche!”
Reaching out at its target, Mega Alakazam’s five spoons formed a disc out before it, a ring of pink energy forming around Drifblim. Throwing its arms up, down, and to the side, Drifblim was hurled up to the ceiling, thrown down to the floor, and then bashed side to side against invisible barriers that pulsed with blue light when Drifblim’s completely deflated body hit them.
Finally, with one last throw up, Mega Alakazam slammed the helpless balloon into the ceiling, leaving Acerola close to tears as it’s flattened body floated down. More angered than upset, Lillie, Guzma, and Nanu stepped forward at Dexio and Mega Alakazam, their Pokémon also marching forward. Even as Mega Alakazam’s anguished face pleaded for mercy as its skin sparkled and crackled with red, its opponents and their trainers showed little sympathy.
“Starmie,” Lillie spoke, “Brine.”
“Masquerain,” Guzma quietly ordered, “Bug Buzz.”
“Sableye,” Nanu said, “Dark Pulse.”
Starmie shot a stream of water into Mega Alakazam’s chest, exacerbating the stinging it felt there. With a flap of its wings, Masquerain assaulted Mega Alakazam with hundreds of sonic pulses that hurt it further. Finally, Nanu’s Sableye hurled a bow-shaped aura of black energy that split through Starmie and Masquerain’s attacks and hit Mega Alakazam in the face, sending it flying limply back.
Before its body could hit the ground, its body and three of its spoons shone bright before it shattered like glass and the pieces evaporated. The now regular Alakazam’s back hit the ground and its body laid still, its two spoons clattering to the floor above it. Dexio, now certain that victory was out of his reach, clenched both fists and kept his ground.
Behind the chaos, Acerola caught and cradled her Drifblim as it finally came down, sobbing with anxious cries, not only at her failure to protect her Pokémon or Twilight and Spike, but that she couldn’t protect herself.
Twilight and Spike approached her. “Acerola. Are you alright?”
Acerola sniffled. “Well, unless one of us has a Revive on them, we’re anything but alright.”
“Uh…” Spike held up one of the Revives in his hand. “This wouldn’t be one, would it?”
Acerola’s breath trembled as she practically tore the crystal from Spike’s hand, placing it over her Pokémon’s X-mouth and watching it dissolve. To her shock and elation, Drifblim began to inflate, and though it appeared to be a bit tired, it was still awake and well.
“Twilight, Spike!” Acerola threw her arms around her friends, hugging the life out of them. “You literal lifesavers!”
Dexio looked past the trainers and Pokémon facing him and watched as Drifblim also began hugging Twilight and Spike, thanking them for saving it. “What?! Where did you get a Revive?!”
“Those Prism guys each had one in their pockets!” Spike loudly explained. “I thought they would come in handy!”
“Yo, so you robbed us?!”
“Oh, please! You were just about to kidnap us!” Twilight shouted. “Don’t try taking the high-ground now!”
Dexio could not argue that point, left only to become a seething, growling mess. “Don’t just stand there!” he shouted to his grunts. “Heal your Pokémon and stop them!”
Burnet looked all about her fearfully as each grunt called out their fainted Pokémon, reaching into their pockets for their own Revives.
Acerola quickly grabbed Drifblim by one of its arms. “Welp, time to go!”
She ran with Drifblim, passively letting her pull it along, Burnet, Twilight, and Spike running by her side.
“Stop!” Dexio reached for another Ultra Ball as they quickly approached. “You’re not going–”
Nanu silenced him with a quick punch to the jaw, knocking him out of their way so that he, Lillie, and Guzma could make their way up the lift with Burnet, Acerola, Drifblim, and Twilight and Spike following very close behind. Dexio weakly stood up, pushing against the wall for support. As the cries of the grunts’ revitalized Pokémon sounded behind him, he wiped his hand along his bottom lip, both angered and impressed with the blood that he saw streaked on his palm.
Lillie and her group made it up the stairs and to the helipad, Nanu quickly tossing a ball out from his belt once he reached the top step. Popping out from his ball was a large black bird whose large breasts, puffy white chest feathers, and another crest atop its head like a fedora hat made it appear very formal.
“Honchkrow!” Nanu exclaimed. “Over to Route 15! Hurry!”
Holding his right arm, Honchkrow flew up and clutched Nanu’s wrist, taking him up and beginning to soar down to the grassy part north of the coast. Lillie, Guzma, and Burnet were already holding tight to Drifblim’s other three arms as Spike mounted Twilight, one hand on her mane and the other clutching the other Revive.
“Ready?” Twilight shouted.
“No time!” Burnet cried. “Just go!”
“Okay, Drifblim. Up!” With another inflation of its body, the four of them were lifted up off the helipad, Twilight pushing Drifblim from behind to guide it behind Nanu and Honchkrow.
Neither of them had the courage to look back to see how close or far behind Team Prism was, only concerning themselves with the ground just a mile out. Twilight flew as hard as her wings would allow, just edging up on Nanu and Honchkrow.
After a couple minutes that felt more like an hour, the seven of them landed just outside a Pokémon Center and a small, abandoned laboratory beside it. Upon landing, Nanu and Acerola both immediately returned their Pokémon to their balls, thanking them for the safe journey. They all then followed the dirt path north, running as fast as they all could into a forest. Dexio, several grunts, and their Pokémon watched them from the helipad, Dexio’s awoken but exhausted Alakazam standing beside them as more grunts and Pokémon ran up to join them.
The group ran over a boardwalk trailing over a field of red flowers with the trees of the forest surrounding them. With Nanu trailing behind, he suddenly slowed to a stop and bent over to catch his breath, the rhythm of his footsteps alerting Acerola, Twilight, and Spike, all of whom skidded to a halt and ran back to him.
“Nanu!” Twilight hissed. “Why are you stopping?!”
“Come on,” Acerola begged, “we’re almost there!”
“I know.” Nanu turned away and began walking back. “They certainly won’t catch you if you keep going. Just go on without me!”
“Nanu, quit screwing around, we have to–”
“YOU need to leave! Don’t you understand what I’m doing here? Run!” He then shot a look to Twilight. “You especially! You’re the one they want!”
“Nanu…” Spike felt afraid, possibly more so than he was in the Aether House.
“I am the Kahuna of this island. This is what I was chosen to do. Please. Do this old man one last favor and run!”
Acerola and Twilight kept still as Nanu continued walking back to the entrance to the forest. He was suddenly stopped by a voice.
“Nanu! Catch!”
Hearing Spike’s command, Nanu turned around and instinctively snatched the last Revive that flew from Spike’s hand to his. After looking at it, he glanced up to Twilight and Spike, the latter of whom began to turn to run off.
“Thank you, Nanu!” Twilight cried out before she galloped faster to catch up with Guzma, Lillie, and Burnet.
Acerola continued standing there, Nanu frightened and saddened to not know why. “What are you waiting for? Go with them–”
“I forgive you.” Despite their predicament, Nanu’s whole body relaxed as if he was suddenly floating, his eyes shot open and his mouth hung wide. Acerola nodded again to confirm what she said. “Everything you’ve done, I forgive it all. Thank you, Nanu… for being there.”
She then spun around and sprinted off, seeing Twilight and Spike disappearing into the trees at the other end of the meadow. Nanu watched over her until she too vanished into the shadows of the forest. He then looked down at the Revive in his hand before hearing the whooping voices of the grunts that had landed on the shores of Route 15 like they had.
With his scowl becoming determined and serious, he lobbed a ball from his belt, his fainted Persian popping out of it. As he slipped the Revive into its mouth, he pulled out a rectangular spray bottle with a green liquid inside, spraying his Pokémon with it just as it began stirring awake. With the liquid from the bottle fully healing it, Persian sprung to its feet and purred, happy to join its trainers side. Looking to the south, he saw the first several grunts begin to run at him on the boardwalk, the Bruxish, an Espeon, the Oricorio, and Metang all coming at him first.
“Okay then…” Nanu crossed his left wrist over his right before his face, his Z-Ring with Darkium Z lighting up.
After putting his wrists down and crossing them out, he slumped down with his hands and arms hanging forward. Jerking himself up with his wrists, he faced the Prism forces coming with just a few more yards away. Leaning back, he then threw his body forward with his hands up.
Guzma and Burnet both sped away on a pair of jet skis due east of a walled off town settled on the coast, Acerola and Lillie both hanging onto their riders for dear life as they avoided as many crests and waves as they could. Twilight soared alongside them both with Spike hugging tight to her neck.
Acerola turned to look back at Ula’ula island, wondering about Nanu’s well-being before facing forward to Akala Island, just hoping that Nanu’s sacrifice was enough.
A tired older woman at the front desk of a very modest hotel sat slumped over the counter, wondering to herself what use her being there that late in the night accomplished. Looking to the clock on the waiting room wall, it read that it was three o’clock, still a few hours from sunrise.
She was suddenly jolted awake by the sound of the sliding doors opening up, five humans, an alicorn, and baby dragon walking through them and standing in the lobby dirty, half-soaked, and just fighting to not collapse on the floor.
“Hey,” Burnet breathed heavily, “I know it’s pretty early on a Sunday morning, but do you have any rooms available?”