Rainbow Dash landed upon the snowy summit of Mount Lanakila as Pinkie Pie dismounted her. The two trainers guarding the doorway to the Pokémon League were confused by their appearance until Luna, Trixie, and Thorax also landed close behind them. They galloped up to the door with the look of fear in their expressions that the trainers only partially understood.
“What’s wrong?” the left trainer asked. “Where are your other friends?”
“We must speak with Molayne and the others!” Luna spoke. “It is of the utmost importance that we waste no more time, so please, let us in at once!”
Nodding frantically, the right trainer pressed the buttons on their wrist devices that began to open the door.
“I’ll also inform the Elite Four of your arrival.”
“Yep, thanks!” Rainbow Dash zipped inside the door the moment there was enough room for her to fit through.
Thorax and Luna did the same, followed by Trixie and Pinkie Pie as they stepped onto the glass walkway. The door began to close on them once again, the cold from outside giving way to the warmth inside. By the time the echo of the door’s mechanics died down, there was an uncomfortable silence that followed and lingered for over a minute.
“Come on, already…” Thorax whimpered. “Get up here.”
“It is late after all,” Trixie reasoned. “They’re probably just getting woken up now.”
“The end of the world sleeps for nopony!” Pinkie Pie put her hooves on both sides of Trixie’s face as she put hers close to it. “And nohuman too, it seems.”
Finally, the teleportation pad in the center began to whir to life. Right as it reached full brightness, a flash shone from it as Molayne stepped off onto the walkway in a pair of matching pajamas, blinking several times at the Equestrians standing before him.
“Luna, Rainbow Dash, Pink…” He realized he was only wasting time by trying to refer to each one. “What are you all doing here?”
“It’s horrible!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying and hovering up in front of him. “Team Prism is going to destroy our worlds if we don’t do something!”
“Rainbow Dash!” Molayne grabbed hold of her hooves and gently pulled her back down to the ground. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand what you mean. What’s happening with Team Prism?”
Just then, three more consecutive flashes came from the pad as Guzma, Acerola, and then Kahili stepped off, each of them in their various sleepwear as well.
“You guys!” Acerola came up and hugged Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. “What are you doing here? W– Where’s Twilight, or, anyone for that matter?”
Pinkie Pie zipped between each trainer as she tried to explain the story to each of them. “They’re getting the other Kahunas and Trial Captains on the other islands and rescuing Sam and Alice who were captured by Team Prism along with Sun, Lillie, Gladion, Hau, and Dexio, oh and Burnet is the leader of Team Prism, and she–”
“Yo, yo, hold up, Cotton Candy!” Guzma shouted, silencing her. “That was way too much for my old-ass brain to process all at once!”
“Is that true?” Kahili sounded incredibly scared. “Professor Burnet was the mastermind behind Team Prism?”
“And what do you mean Team Prism captured Dexio?” Acerola asked. “Isn’t he one of them?”
“Apparently not,” Thorax answered. “It turns out he was spying on Team Prism to get information for us.”
“Information? What kind of information?”
“Mostly motivational information,” Luna replied. “It seems that Prism’s primary goal is to restore the powers of an immensely powerful creature called Necrozma.”
“I’ve heard that name before! I read about it once in the Malie City Library!”
“And get this!” Pinkie Pie popped before the four trainers. “It turns out that Solgaleo and Lunala were created by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna over a thousand years ago by stealing Necrozma’s power!”
“What?!” All four trainers shouted at once.
“You’re seriously telling me those two are from your world?” Guzma sputtered. “And that they’re a part of this Necrozma thing?”
Luna bowed her head, unable to pick it back up to complete the nod. “And now Burnet has stolen them from Sun and Lillie and restored that much of Necrozma’s power, and if we don’t stop her, there will be little else to stop her from destroying our worlds to create its new one.”
“That’s nuts!” Acerola shouted. “There’s no way Burnet could be Team Prism’s leader!”
“You better believe it!” Rainbow Dash groaned. “And the more time we spend here blabbing our gums about it, the less time we have left to stop her!”
“That’s why the rest of us aren’t here,” Luna added. “They’re headed to the other islands either gathering the Kahunas and other Trial Captains or going to rescue Sun, Hau, and the others. We came to do the same.”
“Alright.” Acerola backed up to the teleportation pad. “I’ll give Nanu a ring and let him know!”
“And I’ll call Plumeria,” Guzma said. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to go out and save the world at the butt crack of midnight.”
“And Sophocles might be up himself,” Molayne mentioned. “I’ll call him and tell him to meet up here. You two should do the same.”
“Got it!” Guzma and Acerola ran back to the teleportation pad, only for a flickering of each light to brighten and darken the area, forcing the two to stop just short of the platform.
Kahili looked about, the sudden bright to darkness giving her anxiety. “What’s happening?”
The center of the pad began to spark and short, Guzma, Acerola, and the others stepping away from it even farther. To their surprise, the bands of electricity continued stretching out, beginning to form what looked like a nervous system as more plasma formed a three dimensional image of a bipedal cat. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie suddenly grew wide smiles as the familiar creature’s body turned bright before it flexed the light off of it, Zeroara revealing itself to the stunned humans and trainers.
“Zeraora!” Thorax called. “What are you doing here?”
Zeraora smirked as he straightened and relaxed his body, stepping off the platform at him and his friends. “I do remember a promise I made to you mere hours ago.”
The power returned to the building, the lights and the teleportation pad reactivating once more.
Starlight flew high above the western edge of Akala Island, her magic keeping herself, Lady, Applejack, Rarity, and Shining Armor high above the ground with her. Discord flew beside them, his body waving about like an eastern dragon as his smaller wings tried to stabilize his flight. Both Lana and Flannery hugged onto his back as they saw Konikoni City not too much farther.
Flannery winced as she felt Discord’s body twitch and tremble underneath her hands and thighs. “Not that I don’t mind getting the massage seat, but could you ease up on the vibrations a little? I’m having trouble holding on.”
Discord scoffed, both tired and agitated by the remark. “These wings aren’t quite good for flying, and I still need to use some of my magic to keep myself level and you from falling off and turning into a pancake, which I prefer with butter and mustard, and not bits and pieces of Pokémon trainer!”
“Discord, cool it!” Starlight barked behind her. “We’re almost there.”
Coming around the lighthouse north of the town, they landed at the T-intersection of the northernmost vertical street. Lana and Flannery hopped off Discord, who felt free to stretch his body and neck out to make a tight wave, numerous cracks and pops erupting inside of him like he was twisting bubblewrap.
“Yeesh,” Lana moaned, “that’s gross.”
“Forget it!” Applejack exclaimed. “Let’s just find Olivia and Mallow and skedaddle.”
“Let’s try the restaurant first,” Rarity mentioned as she and her friends ran south through the town. “Perhaps we can catch her before the place closes.”
Going down the street, Starlight was relieved to see that the business lights were still bright and people were still visible enjoying their late night libations. Practically skidding past the building upon turning toward the front door, Starlight and Lady burst in, followed by Lana and Flannery.
As the other three ponies and draconequus came in, Applejack and Rarity were both elated to find Olivia sitting at one of the tables with another person, laughing over some humorous anecdote one was telling. Starlight was glad to see that person was in fact Kaj, who was finishing off a plate of spiced chicken wings with Olivia. While Kaj had a three-quarters-full glass of a fizzy orange drink before her, Olivia had a few beer bottles next to her, two of which were empty.
Kaj glanced out of the corner of her eye, mildly curious by who would enter the restaurant at such a late hour, but upon recognizing the unmistakable look of Starlight and the other Equestrians, she turned her full body to face them.
“Starlight! Oh my gosh!” Springing off her chair, she ran at Starlight with her arms wide open.
Unable to deny her friend a small moment of compassion, Starlight stood up on her hind legs and put her arms around her as Kaj did her. Applejack and Rarity ran to Olivia, who finally turned to face her two friends as they approached.
“Abblejak? Raradee?” Olivia was blushing harder than she already was as she struggled to appear as strong and sober as possible, hugging both ponies as they came to her. “Whad’r yer all doin’ here?”
“We actually came to pick up Mallow,” Rarity explained, “but seeing as you’re here too, that works out quite well for us!”
Olivia tapped her finger on the spaces above the heads of the other Equestrians, pointing at Shining Armor and Discord twice as she realized she did not recognize them.
“And Lana and Flanry?” She went to her now warm glass of ice-water and took several chugs. “What the heck is going on here?”
Kaj looked amongst the Equestrians, blinking several times at the two she didn’t recognize. “Guessing you’re from their world too?”
“Yes.” Starlight wanted to make this quick. “Kaj, this is Shining Armor and Discord. Guys, this is Kaj. We met her a few days ago while we were on this island.”
“What are you even doing here? Where’s Fluttershy? Or Pinkie Pie?”
“We’ll get to that in a little bit.” Starlight then walked past her and walked up to Olivia. “Olivia, have you seen Mallow around?”
“Not in a while,” she said, her speech slurring much less than before, “but it sure sounds like we’ll need to be paying our tab soon.”
Grabbing her two empty bottles, she tapped them together to produce a loud clanging sound that echoed throughout the restaurant. It wasn’t much longer until Mallow strode in with a server’s tray underneath her arm.
She took both the empty bottles between her fingers. “Careful, Olivia. I know you’re the Kahuna, but I may have to cut you off…”
She then couldn’t help but notice the familiar sight of Starlight, Lady, and her fellow Trial Captains standing amongst the other Equestrians, her face filled with questions.
“Starlight! Lana, Flannery! I, uh… take it that you’re not here to share a table?”
“Not at all,” Starlight said. “And I’m sorry for keeping you all in suspense, but the long and short of it is we need to get to Melemele Island right away.”
“What?” Olivia wondered. “Why?”
“Team Prism,” Shining Armor explained, “they managed to steal Solgaleo and Lunala and are going to use their power to bring Necrozma back!”
“Hold on, hold on!” Mallow placed her tray on Kaj’s empty seat and ran her hand through her hair. “You need to back way up here. You’re overcooking my brain with information!”
“You remember Professor Burnet?” Olivia and Mallow both nodded. “As it turns out, she’s the one who’s been leading Team Prism this whole time.” Olivia and Mallow jerked their heads to one another, sharing their equally frightened expressions. “We also learned that Solgaleo and Lunala were actually created by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna over a thousand years ago to stop Necrozma when it first came to take over our world. Somehow, they found their way here and has been using Burnet to try and reclaim its powers.”
“I’m sorry,” Kaj butted in, “but I have no idea what any of those things you just said were.”
“Urgh!” Starlight grunted. “We can explain on the way there, but right now, we need to go to Ten Karat Hill on Melemele Island right away!”
“Is that where Burnet’s going to be?” Lana wondered.
“It’s the only clue we have, but we believe so.”
“Are Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie going to be there?” Kaj wondered. “What about Sam, Alice, and Gladion?”
“We hope so. We split up to gather the other Kahunas and Captains so we can all work together to stop her, but we need to leave now!”
“Well…” Olivia shrugged. “It looks like we’re all dressed. I’m a little drunk myself, but I should be sobered up on the flight there.”
“I can keep the tab open for tomorrow morning and you can pay it then.”
“I’m coming with too!” Kaj picked her bag up off the back of her chair and dropped it onto her shoulder. “This sounds like a battle where you’ll need all the help you can get!”
“That’s real nice of you, sweetie, but if what I remember readin' about Necrozma back in the day was true, this may be a fight you don’t want to be a part of.”
“Did I stutter?!” She then picked her drink and chugged it down before slamming it back down on the table. “My friends are in danger, and I don’t want to sit around hoping that you won or not! Besides, I have a couple Flying-type Pokémon on me, so you couldn’t stop me from coming along if you tried.”
“Hmm, quite a feisty one.” Discord grinned as he stroked his beard with his eagle’s talon arm. “I think she may grow on me.”
“Okay!” Applejack shouted. “You can come with too. Just don’t let us regret it, ya’ hear?”
“Hold on!” Mallow scooped up the plate of chicken bones and Kaj’s empty glass and quickly returned to the back. “Let me just set the tab up real quick!”
Kaj watched her go off before turning excitedly to her companions. “Okay, who needs a lift with me?”
Flannery quickly raised her hand.
Hau kept his eyes firmly on the small speck of light that was Kukui’s lab near the southern beach of Melemele Island. With their destination nearing, Fluttershy began to pick up her pace, outflying Hau’s Charizard.
“Fluttershy, wait!” Hau called with an outward reach.
“It’s okay! I’m going to get Kukui and Ilima!” Diving down quickly with her Comfey closeby, she pulled up before her body could collide with the water beneath her.
As she passed over the sand on the shore, she kept her wings open as they pushed against the air resistance and slowed her down to a speed that she could safely gallop at. Landing on the grass, she ran as fast as she could up the stairs to the lab and began furiously knocking on the door.
“Kukui!” she cried. “Ilima! Come out, please! We really need your help!”
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps jogging up to the door on the other side, she took a couple of steps back as Ilima opened the door, taken aback by her presence.
“Fluttershy?” Her being alone with her Comfey only unsettled him more. “What has happened? Where are Hau and your other friends?”
Just then, the whoosh of beating wings sounded from above as Hau’s Charizard landed outside the porch with Hau, Hapu, and Mina climbing off of it. Ilima’s confusion peaked as Kukui came to the doorway as well, also perplexed by who was there to meet him. As Hau spotted Kukui there, he clenched his teeth as he tried to prepare the awful truth for him.
“Hapu, Mina!” He tried to greet them warmly. “Shouldn’t you two be on Poni right now?”
“Whatever reason they’re not, it must be a good one,” Ilima responded.
Hau then bowed his head and began to sob, unable to look Kukui in the eyes.
“Hau, what’s wrong?” Kukui’s eyes then widened, a terrible idea coming into his mind. “Don’t tell me. Burnet… they–”
Hau shook his head violently. “No, it’s far worse than that!”
“Far worse than…” Kukui began to struggle as he tried to think of a scenario worse than the death of his beloved. “She isn’t… she isn’t the leader of Team Prism, is she?”
Hau let out a particularly choked-up wail, not the confirmation that Kukui expected. In fact, it sounded more like an elaborate joke, and he let out a nervous chuckle.
“Ha… Hau, that is… that isn’t funny.”
“Do I sound like I’m joking, Professor!?” Kukui took a big step back, alarmed by Hau’s volume. “Burnet is the leader of Team Prism! She’s been going after Fluttershy and her friends, she faked her kidnapping to make herself look more innocent, and then when the time was right, she stole Solgaleo and Lunala and their powers! Please, I didn’t want to be the one to tell you, but it’s the truth! I’m so sorry, Professor…”
Hau let out several more unrestrained sobs as his tears fell to the ground. Mina rubbed his back as she looked down on him, hoping it would comfort him in some way. Ilima looked to Kukui, whose head was bowed down as the shadow of his visor obscured his face save for his mournful frown. He then saw as his clenched fists began to tremble.
“Professor Kukui?” Ilima asked as kindly as possible.
He then picked his head up, his eyes now dead and lifeless. “Come inside. I want to hear everything.”
“And she’s able to transfer an aura to her Pokémon that makes them even stronger!” Hapu explained, sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of coffee in her ungloved hands. “We couldn’t beat her with that kind of power, so Hau, Mina, and Fluttershy and I all flew here to warn you while the Twilight and Spike took Sun, Lillie, and Gladion with Dexio and those two kids down south; probably to the Aether Paradise.”
Kukui’s hat was on the table as he gripped his hair with one hand while holding his own coffee mug in the other. “All this time…” he breathed out. “I thought I knew her so well.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Fluttershy said. “It didn’t sound like she’s been this way for that long.”
Kukui whipped his mug toward the sink, where it hit the corner of the counter and sprayed coffee and porcelain shards out along the room, making Fluttershy squeak and hide under the table. Hau, Mina, and Hapu looked to him, appalled that he could do such a thing.
“And now my wife’s hellbent on destroying a world that I love almost as much as her, so forgive me if I hardly consider that a consolation.”
“Not to sound incredibly insensitive here,” Mina said, “but your wife is on her way here right now to finally finish what she and Necrozma started. Until the others arrive from the other islands, we’re this world’s only line of defense against her, and we have to stop her. You understand that, right?”
Kukui sunk even further onto the table, placing both balled hands there as he choked back the urge to cry in front of them. “How could I possibly do that? She’s still my wife, dammit. I don’t think I could bear to see her like that.”
“Professor, please!” Hau begged. “If you don’t help us, think of all the people, Pokémon…all the Equestrians that will die because of this world she’ll help create…”
Kukui lifted his head up only slightly, unveiling the two small puddles his tears created on the table.
“Professor…” Fluttershy stood out of her chair, “Lillie was willing to kill Solgaleo and Lunala to ensure that Necrozma’s plans failed. Knowing how much those two meant to her, do you think that was an easy decision for her to make? We need you to make the same decision not just for our sake and everyone that exists between our world and theirs, but for her too. Do you really think the woman that you love, the woman you chose to marry would want to see a world like Necrozma’s come to life?”
Kukui stood up with his hands supporting him on the table, sliding his chair back. The four trainers and pegasus sitting at the table stared at her, floored by the strength and resolve of her speech. They then looked to Kukui, uncertain if a breakthrough had been made.
He stood slowly and pushed off the table, his rear pushing his chair back as well. “I don’t know what to think anymore… Excuse me, please.”
With slow, weak steps, he walked out of the kitchen and around to the other room.
“Kukui, wait!” Hau went to follow him, only to be stopped by Fluttershy’s hoof.
“This is a lot for him to take in,” she cooed. “Please, give him a little time. He deserves that much.”
Ilima grimaced as he put his hands to his hips. “Time isn’t exactly a bountiful commodity right now.”
“Either way,” Hapu remarked, “we can’t do this without his help. Hopefully he’ll make a decision soon.”
Kukui went to his desk and sat at it with his arms and chin resting upon it. He reached for a framed picture to the right of his computer’s monitor. In it, he was dressed in a light-grey tux and a jacket with short sleeves and black cuffs and lapels. His hair was tied back neatly into a bun and he was without his glasses. Burnet looked lovely in her white dress, the bangs in front of her ears curled and holding a bouquet of pink roses.
It was the happiest day of his life, and yet, he could no longer think about it anymore without the pervasive thought of Burnet’s smiling face and the anguish she must have caused the ponies over the course of the week. Placing his hand atop the picture, his hand shook as he nervously came to his decision. Finally, he placed the picture face down, unable to look at it any longer.
With a now determined face, he got out of his chair and kicked it back, pulling open the drawer beneath the center of his desk. Inside of it was a belt clip containing five Poké Balls and a Z-Ring with a deep-blue crystal with a round paw-shaped icon inside. After slipping the clip onto his belt, he fastened the Z-Ring around his left wrist and walked back toward the kitchen.
Upon facing the four trainers, pegasus, and her Comfey, they looked up to him, reserved with the decision he knew he made. “Let’s go guys. I need to have a heart-to-heart with my wife.”
Burnet reached the top of the stairs at long last. Dexio and Sam and Alice were close behind, Sam panting as he was finally able to put his sister down. Once he recovered, he could get a fuller look of the legendary Altar of the Sunne, which Alice stared at in equal awe.
Along with the large square platform on the first level, the next one up featured two smaller sections separated by a gap in the structure. Water streamed and pooled over around these sections in a square shape. On each outer side of each section, there stood a statue featuring a sun icon while the other was carved with a moon.
“Perfect! We made it!” Producing the two obsidian Poké Balls inside her gloved hands, she threw them out at each of the upper sections.
Upon opening, both Solgaleo and Lunala stayed still upon their respective sections. Dexio looked pained to see the blue starry aura that once filled their heads was now an evil magenta, completely under Burnet’s control. As if the earth they stood on compelled them, they both roared up and into the sky, the water in their pools shining brightly. The blue stone that went up, crossed over and encircled each half of the massive circular door also lit up from the bottom, and once it reached the top, a rumbling was heard and felt in the ground beneath everyone’s feet.
“What’s going on?” Alice whimpered.
“Nothing good, I’m sure,” Sam could only say.
A bright light then began to fill the area, and as they looked up, Sam, Alice, and also Dexio were staggered as the stars above them lit up far brighter than they had ever seen in their lives, filling them with both incredible calm and insurmountable dread. A white aura then began to enflame Solgaleo, Lunala, and Burnet as the stars’ energy connected with them.
“Yes!” Burnet groaned in pleasure, her eyes milking into black. “!cosmoS !return to me the power that was ripped from mE !i command iT”
Reaching up at the door, the possessed Burnet conjured its aura around the large door, where each quarter began to open up only partially until it made an X shape that spilled out a blinding light. Burnet struggled to close her hands, even with Necrozma’s influence inside her. With an inhumanly piercing shout, it balled its fingers around its palms.
A stream of light swirling and snaked its way through the corners of the X and melded together to form two larger streams that began to cover Solgaleo and Lunala. As more and more of the light formed around them, Sam and Dexio noticed as the sky above began to dim back to its normal luminance, the light being drained from them. Alice could only notice as the light began to spread over Lunala and Solgaleo upon making contact, transforming their bodies into two shapes of pure whiteness.
As the last of the streams’ light seeped into their bodies, Solgaleo and Lunala changed before Sam, Alice, and Dexio’s very eyes. A gold-plate formed over the top of Solgaleo’s head that grew a pair of antennae at the sides. More gold dust appeared from nothing as it converged into plating on its front paws. Finally, golden armor covered its sides that were mounted with two large crystalline arms that flexed as they came into existence.
Two light blue gem-shaped plates appeared on the outer bars of Lunala’s wings as well as three more on the bottom of its tail. With a helmet similar to Solgaleo’s forming on its head, a large V-shaped chest plate formed onto its chest that came over its shoulders and branched off like a sparrow’s tail. From the bottom of its armor, two arms exactly like the ones on Solgaleo’s back formed, whose stiff fingers stretched outward.
Finally, they became light again before it shattered off of them, revealing their new forms to the three dumbstruck trainers. The armor they had been granted was an obsidian black like the stone that Burnet held in her necklace. Any other color of their original forms was now mostly removed, Solgaleo reduced to a white and gold body while Lunala’s was two shades of light blue. The only remarkable colors on their bodies now was the sinister red glow in both Lunala’s eyes and the four spots on its chest, the blue glow in Solgaleo’s eyes, and the triangular markings on their foreheads that appeared to be made of blue, green, yellow, and purple shards
Alice shuddered out a devastated breath. “What have you done to them?”
With the ritual complete, Burnet relaxed herself as the white of her pupils returned to her eyes. “Necrozma gathered the remains of its power that it had lost among the cosmos in its last defeat and infused it into those two Pokémon. They are now no longer Solgaleo and Lunala; they are simply two more powerful fragments of Necrozma that now need to rejoin the husk that they were ripped from back on Melemele Island and become whole once again.”
“Melemele…” Sam suddenly understood. “Ten Karat Hill! That’s where Necrozma’s actual body is, isn’t it?!”
Burnet chuckled. “What a bright mind you have, Sam. Such a shame that you, your sister, and your double-crossing friend will not be joining me there.”
With a whip of her arm pointing at the Altar, Sam, Alice, and Dexio were thrown onto the bottom platform and rolled to a stop. Sam picked himself back up and charged at Burnet, only to crash his body into an impervious barrier that threw him back hard on the ground.
“SAM!!” Alice watched as her brother squirmed on the floor before looking to Burnet. “What are you doing?!”
“Sun and his friends all got extremely lucky that I wasn’t able to pull them back in my weakened state,” Burnet explained. “Now they will not be subject to the fate that you will experience now.”
With a glimmer in Burnet’s eyes, the corrupted Solgaleo and Lunala brightened their bodies as the ground beneath Sam, Alice, and Dexio began to turn a bright blue, pulses of light traveling beneath them and traveling inward.
“No…” Dexio stammered as he began to understand what she was doing. “You’re… you’re throwing us into a wormhole?!”
“What?!” Sam huffed. “No, NO! NO, FUCK!! You can’t be serious!”
“Relax, you two,” Burnet lightly chided. “If you’re lucky, whichever world the end of the wormhole sends you to will be added to Necrozma’s empire soon after I help regain its body. That is, if you can survive long enough on it.”
“SAM!” Alice screamed.
“ALICE!” Sam hopped up and dove to her and Dexio.
“Goodbye.” Burnet poked her index finger downward as a brighter blue point formed where the pulses converged.
The gravity in their space grew immensely heavy as the center of the platform pulled downwards as well as the floor around it, creating a wide, gridded tunnel inside an ethereal, starry space that Sam, Alice, and Dexio were shot down into, their screams of terror silenced as they entered into the vacuum.
Sam could barely see the portal above close back up as the wormhole curved and spiraled about through the expanse of space, tumbling him, Alice, and Dexio about. The only thing they could hear were each others screams that were quickly deafened as their sound was pulled away into the ether.
“Sa–” On her sister’s cry, Sam flipped about in just the right way to see an electron ball hurdling toward him, and he thrust himself backward so that it could just barely pass his chest.
As their terrifying fall through space continued on, they found a red, swirling portal up ahead that they suddenly felt themselves pulled through. Sam closed his eyes and prayed that whatever waited on the other side was somewhat pleasant.
“Guy–” As the wormhole curved about and the portal came at them. Sam suddenly felt a strong pull away from the portal.
He also noticed that his spinning and flipping began to stabilize. Now falling face-first in the direction of the wormhole, he could finally see what had rescued him: Dexio’s Metagross with its trainer and Alice holding tight to the sockets of its arms. Metagross pulled Sam close to it to grab hold of one of the other two. With a means of travel, Sam, Alice, and Dexio faced forward as they dodged each electric orb and new portal that they passed, each one a different color than the last.
“We– can– kee– doin– thi– forev–” Sam got the gist of what Alice was shouting, and knew she was right.
Dexio just continued looking forward, hoping to find some means of escape or some sign of safety. Just then farther away in the tunnel, he spotted what appeared to be a sparkling magenta portal, completely unlike anything they’ve come across so far.
“Hey–” he shouted, pointing at it. “I thin– tha– may– be– ou– bes– bet–!”
It was a gamble, certainly, but with no other option available, and with Metagross’s speed beginning to noticeably decline, Sam and Alice nodded in approval. Metagross, its eyes also on it, focused its sights on the portal and made an extra push forward. Avoiding more electricity and wormholes, Metagross whined as it struggled to resist each one’s pull.
With one more turn, they’d be directly headed for it. Suddenly, another wormhole tore open before them, this one colored white with its grid colored green. Metagross tried to dive beneath it, only to rattle as it was pulled into its gravity. Dexio huffed and closed his eyes, dejected by his failure.
“Go– Rai–chu–!” Alice’s Poké Ball opened in her hand as her mouse shot out from it. With the wormhole fast approaching, Raichu charged its body and those of the trainers and Metagross. Raichu soared beneath the newly formed wormhole as Metagross and the trainers were pulled beneath it as well. Now, the tunnel was a straight shot right to the portal, which to Dexio’s terror was simply a cloudy nebula with an opening too small for either of them to fit through.
“Metagro–!” Dexio shouted as loud as he could.
Pulling as much inner strength up through its body, Metagross reached forward as its arms glowed magenta, the energy hitting the portal and widening it up, but still not large enough. Raichu then screamed as loud as it could as it summoned as much of its psychic power as it could to widen the portal even further. Getting it just wide enough as both Pokémon and the three trainers were sucked inside.
Gravity began to return as the turbulence threw Sam, Alice, and Dexio off Metagross as they, along with Metagross and Raichu, spun about in the pink smoke that began to sparkle brightly until they were all covered in harsh, tingling light. They immediately felt a pull down before landing on a cold stony surface as the light gave way to clear surroundings.
Sam gulped in air while Alice let out a hoarse, whooping yell as she felt safe to breathe once again, causing several of whomever was inside to shriek. Dexio panted more calmly as his Metagross and Alice’s Raichu weakly got up, too woozy to grasp where they now were.
As he looked up, he found him and his friends sitting on a large, crystal table inside a large purple chamber also made of crystal. Glancing further around, he spotted Celaeno and her crew recoiled in terror at the sight of such alien creatures that had clearly just appeared from nowhere. He then spotted Fizzlepop leaning her head to Starswirl, clearly trying to ask him a question but too shocked to actually speak anything.
The other creatures that stared at him, his friends, and their Pokémon with abject horror didn’t really matter to him at this moment, because he could tell exactly where they had just landed.
“Huh…” He couldn’t help but subtly grin. “It’s our lucky day…”