//------------------------------//
// Chapter 78 – Fading Into the Aether 
// Story: Pokémon Eclipse 
// by moviemaster8510 
//------------------------------//

The grunts stood behind Chrysalis patiently, along with their two Kadabras, two Espeons, two Metangs, and a Bruxish, Starmie, Slowbro, Slowking, Hypno, and Oricorio between them. They were all more than comfortable with letting their admin make the first attack this battle. With the roar of the water wall’s flow outside and the crackle and whoosh of the enflamed trees and bushes inside the conservatory, it only served to make the atmosphere even more taut.

Chrysalis threw a Poké Ball off her belt, breaking the tense stillness of the standoff they and the others created. “Vespiquen, use Attack Order on Decidueye!”

Chrysalis’s ball came open, unleashing a bee-like Pokémon with an abdomen shaped like a large gown. Swinging her abdomen forward, a swarm of smaller bees flew out from underneath it that all directed themselves toward Sun’s Decidueye.

Sun knew he had to act quickly. “Decidueye, attack Vespiqueen with Brave Bird!”

As Sun’s Pokémon took to the air, Vespiquen’s swarm chasing it up, Spike threw out his next Beast Ball. “Go, Buzzwole!”

With the ball opening up, Spike’s muscular insect taur stood before Chrysalis and her grunts, flexing its arms threateningly. Twilight sent out her Poké Ball next.

“Let’s finish this, Lilligant!” From her Poké Ball, her leafy wide-bottomed Pokémon emerged to join her other friends’ Pokémon in this last battle.

Decidueye reached the glass ceiling before arcing over and falling into a dive. The bees generated from Vespiquen’s body that did not catch up nevertheless flew down to meet Decidueye at its intended path. With its speeds, Decidueye blasted through the line of bees like a car driving through pouring rain. Though many of the bees’ stingers pelted its face and wings, it did nothing to stop Decidueye from flying at Vespiquen and bashing its head into its gut, throwing it back.

“Starmie!” a young female grunt with short, white hair shouted. “Attack Decidueye with Ice Beam!”

The grunt’s Starmie blasted its cold laser attack out at Decidueye, striking it in the chest and crashing it into the railing of the walkway before landing on the grass outside.

“Lilligant!” Twilight shouted. “Attack the other Starmie with Giga Drain!”

With both its body and the Starmie’s body glowing green, dozens of small, orbs of light were pulled off of Starmie and were absorbed by Lilligant, the Starmie trembling in pain as its life was sucked away.

Lillie threw her pointed arm at the grunt’s Starmie as it bent over, greatly hurt by Lilligant’s attack. “Starmie, use Power Gem!”

With the red jewel in its center glowing, small red shards began to fire out from it, showering into the other Starmie’s body and pushing it further back away. Once Starmie’s attack ended, the grunt’s Starmie supported itself on its rear star; it seemed it was good for one last attack.

“Buzzwole!” Spike shouted. “Hit Vespiquen with Ice Punch!”

On its small wings, Buzzwole flew up at Chrysalis’s queen bee Pokémon and threw its closed fist at it, its knuckles and fingers frosting over before it collided into its face and upper chest. Chrysalis watched fearfully as her Pokémon was hurled back and landed far behind her near one of the raging fires. With a charge of her horn, Chrysalis disappeared to rescue her Pokémon from a sweltering demise. 

Rotomdex frantically came out to face Spike on his level. “Zzzpike, why did you attack Vezzzpiquen zz-zzt? We had their Zzztarmie on the ropezzz zzzt!”

“No, he has the right idea!” Twilight spoke. “Chrysalis and Faba are the only ones who can teleport multiple grunts and Pokémon at a time. If we beat them first, we can probably escape!”

At that moment, Chrysalis teleported back to her original spot, but she had a different Pokémon beside her now, one that had a small black clay body with a large round head that had big red eyes that covered its outer perimeter.

“You'll never defeat us again!” Chrysalis sneered. “Claydol, attack with Dazzling Gleam!”

With all of its eyes beginning to turn white, a bright light burst out from them, showering each Pokémon around it with the same harsh, oppressive flash. As the light faded, a muscular grunt with short, black hair saw as Buzzwole struggled to stand up, whipping its head around with its vision apparently obscured from the light.

“Oricorio,” he shouted, “attack Buzzwole with Air Slash!”

Spike rubbed the stars and spots from his eyes, able to see just as the grunt’s Oricorio swung its wings in, creating a pair of blades of wind that soared right at his vulnerable Pokémon. “Buzzwole, watch out!”

Buzzwole only looked to recover just as the blades struck its pectorals, hitting it hard enough to send it flying into the water outside the walkway to Spike’s right.

“No!” Rainbow Dash cried. “Naganadel, hit Claydol with Dragon Pulse!”

Naganadel aimed its stinger at Chrysalis’s Pokémon, firing a bright ball of swirling blue-and-orange energy. The attack connected with Claydol’s stomach and pushed it back a few feet with a large burst, but it was strong enough to stay floating up in the air, Chrysalis giggling comfortably at this.

“Kadabra!” a female grunt with long, purple hair cried.

“Hypno!” an older, skinny grunt commanded.

“Use Psychic on Naganadel!” they both ordered at once.

Their Pokémon reached their arms out, their energy enveloping the dragon and holding it in place as it screeched in fright and discomfort.

A female grunt with ice-blonde hair reached out at Naganadel. “Metang, finish it off with Zen Headbutt!”

Her metallic disk Pokémon rocketed at Naganadel, mashing the front of its body into its thin waist with a wave of magenta energy washing over its body. The grunts’ Kadabra and Hypno let the Ultra Beast go to let it fall onto the walkway where its arms splayed out, too tired to lift them back up.

Rainbow Dash froze up. “Oh no!”

Just then, both Decidueye and Buzzwole lifted themselves back up onto the walkway to rejoin the battle, standing close to Lillie’s Starmie and Twilight’s Lilligant.

A female grunt with purple bobbed hair smirked. “You didn’t need to remind us that you were still in this thing. Bruxish, finish Decidueye off with Ice Beam!”

“Slowbro!” A brown-skinned man with dreadlocks shouted. “Take Buzzwole out with Fire Blast!”

Both of their Pokémon came forward and shot their individual attacks, the Bruxish’s cold beam hitting Decidueye in the gut while the Slowbro’s star-shaped flame attack crashed into all of Buzzwole’s body. Both Pokémon were knocked back hard, flying over their trainers and landing on the floor behind them toward the lift tunnel.

“Decidueye!” Sam yelled.

“Gyah!” Rotomdex screamed. “He’s gonna’ fall!”

With the last of its strength, Buzzwole pressed its fingers into the ground and stopped itself before the hole, allowing Decidueye to crash into its arm and stop short of the shaft. Though both Pokémon laid still shortly after, Lillie and Twilight both sighed in relief that they still remained safe.

“Over here, ponies!” With the humans and Equestrians turning back around to face the grunts, they found that five of them had already stepped forward with their Pokémon, ready to take their next turn. “We’re not through yet!” the red-haired female grunt added, her Espeon awaiting her next orders.

“But you and your friends soon will be.” A tan-skinned grunt with yellow hair pointed at Lilligant for his Slowking to set his sights on. “Slowking, attack with Ice Beam!”

“Metang!” A male grunt with short blue hair exclaimed. “Attack her too with Sludge Bomb!”

Metang pointed its arms out at Twilight’s Pokémon, the claws and wrists of them glowing purple before it fired a glob of a thick slimy substance that seemed to be conjured out of thin air. The muck hit Twilight’s Pokémon with a loud whine, the alicorn only able to create a strong enough shield spell to cover herself and let the drops that splashed near her hit it instead.

The inside Slowking’s mouth began to frost over, quickly firing it at Lilligant as it struggled to wipe the sickly grime off of it. Upon the beam connecting with her, Lilligant cried out even louder as the substance still stuck to its body began to freeze over, the unbearable chill filling the rest of its body too. By the time Slowking finished its attack, Lilligant was already slumped over and unconcious, its bottom half stuck in place by the frozen sludge.

“Grass Knot!” The red-haired grunt ordered to her Espeon.

With Espeon’s red forehead gem glowing, several vines burst through from under the walkway, grabbing onto one of Starmie’s upper arms and pulling it down, keeping it firmly planted to the ground no matter how hard it struggled.

“No, Starmie!” Spike shouted.

“Nice!” A spiky-black haired grunt pumped his fist to his waist. “Kadabra, hit it with Charge Beam!”

With a swing of its spoon, Kadabra sent a small bolt of electricity shooting out at Lillie’s Pokémon, where it washed over its entire body upon striking it right into its bejeweled center.

With Starmie’s resistance getting weaker, a male grunt with a brown fauxhawk pointed his hand at it. “Espeon, finish it off with Shadow Ball!”

The Pokémon’s gem lit up as a dark-purple orb formed before its open mouth. With a huffing cry, the Espeon sent the spectral ball into Starmie, the force hard enough to rip it free of its plant bondage and throw it back, pinballing weakly off the walkway’s railing before it slid and spun to a stop into the bodies of the fainted Buzzwole and Decidueye.

“Starmie…” Lillie whimpered. “Oh…”

At once, the two humans and five trainers returned their Pokémon back into their individual balls, their misery giving Chrysalis and her squad of grunts extra satisfaction. Right as Sun turned to look back at his enemies, a blaring notification ringtone began sounding out of Rotomdex. As if compelled to do so, Rotomdex floated before Sun’s face, its screen showing a message bar in its center.

“Zzzorry, Zzzun!” he stuttered. “But you have a mezzzage from Adam T. from the Mozzzdeep Zzzpazzze Zzzenter zzzt zzzzt!



'The jet encountered zzzome tailwindzz and arrived earlier than zzzcheduled. Whenever you rezzzeive thizzz mezzzage, we are ready to collect you, your friendzz, and these ‘Equezzztrianzz.'”



Having heard the message, Chrysalis let out a louder evil laugh. “Help is so close, but yet too far. Of course, you can go ahead and try to contact them, see if they reach you in time before we’re finished with you!”

Lillie glanced backward, catching Gladion’s battle with Faba. His Alakazam had Crobat held in a tight, forceful Psychic that it could no longer fight against. After a few more seconds, Crobat went limp and fainted in his Alakazam’s grasp, Faba’s Pokémon letting it go once it realized this. The red beam of Gladion’s Poké Ball connected with Crobat and converted it to a similar energy before its body could hit the ground.

Gladion stared into Faba’s annoyingly cocky eyes as he put Crobat’s ball back, taking out another and throwing it out to face him and his Alakazam. “Go, Porygon-Z!”

As Gladion’s smooth, round bird appeared from its ball, Faba pulled a Full Restore from his robe pocket, spraying it generously over his Alakazam’s body.

“Choosing to waste your turn, bastard?” Gladion growled. “Just fine with me. Porygon-Z, attack Alakazam with Dark Pulse!”

Pixelating before its beak was a blobby black mass that shaped itself into a perfectly round ball, and with a wide spreading of its wings, Porygon-Z fired the orb out. Faba’s Alakazam prepared to block the attack by crossing its spoons, but upon the orb hitting it, it burst open and spread over its body like a visible sickness, also managing to push it closer to its trainer.

With snide slowness, Faba applauded Porygon-Z’s efforts. “Well done, you two! You two have certainly grown since I’ve left the Foundation. However, I didn’t spend all my time drinking alone in cheap, seedy bars before Burnet gave me a new lease on life.”

Gladion winced in anger. “What good’s a life if you spend it ruining everyone else’s?”

“If only you’d live to see it, but this building is due to reach the ocean’s depths shortly, and my army and I want no part of it. It’s time to end you once and for all, you brat!”

Faba crossed his arms in front of his face, his artificial Z-Ring lighting up and a bright aura outlining his Alakazam as well.

“What?” Lillie gasped. “He’s using his Z-Move now? But why?!”

Gladion stoically stood still as Faba and his Alakazam continued their motions together, finishing with the two of them tapping their index fingers to their temples before reaching out with their left hands and sliding their left feet together with their right. Red Z-Energy spilled out of Faba’s back and streamed into the body of his Alakazam, the aura around it now flaring with the same sinister color.

“Idiot,” Gladion breathed out. “Your Alakazam knows Focus Blast and you chose not to use a Fightinium Z?”

“Oh, you’ll find out in time, Gladion, my boy!” Faba reached his arms out, loving the way the sleeves and the back of his robe gently floated about him as if caught in a strong, constant breeze. “Though it should be noted that you and your friends don’t have much time left at all! Alakazam, attack Porygon-Z with Shattered Psyche!”

With Alakazam clasping its spoons tight, it punched them out to wrap Porygon-Z in a magenta glow that flared like its synthetic Z Power. Gladion and Lillie both fearfully watched as Porygon Z was whipped to the left toward the room’s wall, only to crash hard into an invisible barrier that protected the interior of the space from any damage.

Porygon Z was already visibly hurt by the attack, but Faba’s Alakazam yanked it over to its right this time toward the other wall, once again crashing into an invisible barrier that did no damage to the building itself. With a zigzag motion, the Alakazam bounced Porygon-Z up a series of smaller barriers until it crashed Gladion’s Pokémon into a larger one just short of the broken glass ceiling. Finally, the Alakazam threw both of its arms down, plunging Porygon-Z toward the floor, having it crash through the last barrier before it was slammed to the ground.

Gladion felt his fists involuntarily clench seeing his Pokémon’s body lay flat on its stomach, hardly moving. “Porygon-Z!”

To his and Lillie’s minor surprise, Porygon-Z managed to float itself back up with a weak, but determined flap of its wings.

Gladion then smiled as Alakazam’s legs went wobbly with the red sparks shooting all over his body. “And like that you wasted your Z-Move! What do you plan to do now?!”

Faba kept his smile up as he turned to his left to face one of his grunts. “Do any of you have Psychium Z already equipped?”

“Sir!” The sandy-haired grunt already began unclasping his Z-Ring off his wrist, Faba doing the same with his.

“What?” The realization slowly dawned on both Gladion and Lillie, turning their mild, rising confidence into one of terror. “No…”

The grunt threw his Z-Ring to his leader overhand while Faba gave him his with an underhanded toss. By the time Faba was putting the grunt’s Z-Ring onto his wrist, Lillie all but understood.

“He’s just going to use a succession of Z-Moves to beat him down,” she muttered. “He still has eleven grunts with Z-Rings they never used against us. There’s no way he’ll… no, we’ll stop…”

Lillie turned back to her friends, feeling more anxious to see that they knew what her expression told them: escape and even survival were impossible.

“Lillie?” Twilight spoke in a pitiful attempt at bravery. “Come on, we have to do something, otherwise we’ll…”

“Perish?” Chrysalis sadistically interrupted. “Sounds lovely! Why don’t we get back to it then?”

Chrysalis’s Claydol, along with the grunts and all of their Pokémon shifted forward on Lillie and her friends. With nowhere to go, Lillie and her friends could only stand their ground as they pressured them to send out their next Pokémon. She then glanced to Rainbow Dash, followed by Spike, then Twilight, and then Sun and Rotomdex, friends she would never trade for anything. Lillie then stretched a grimace across her face, Sun and Twilight certain that her thoughts were as desperate as their situation.

“Lillie?” Spike nervously wondered. “What are you thinking?”

Lillie breathed out through her nose. Though this was buying her time against Team Prism, there was nothing that could stop the seawaters rising from floor to floor, soon to reach them in a matter of time.

“Rotomdex!” Intrigued, the possessed device heeded her call.

“Eh zz zzt? What izz it, Lillie?” it replied.

“I need you to respond back to that guy from Mossdeep!”

“Ha!” Chrysalis chortled. “You’re still going to send out that useless distress signal?”

“I’m zzztill lizzztening!” Rotomdex assured her. “What did you want to zzzay zzz zzzzt?”

“Tell them that we have a QR code for the security camera in the front to scan that will let them in.” Sun and the others loudly murmured to themselves, uncertain of what she was planning with her obvious lie. “Then send yourself as an attachment titled ‘AH_QR_CODE, all-caps. The moment they open it, I trust you’ll know what to do from there.”

Rotomdex glanced upwards, working to get as far ahead as Lillie was. After a few moments, he brightened up, now on the same page. “I think I know what you’re thinking zzzzzt! Alrighty, all I need izz an approval from–”

“Just do it!” Sun shouted.

“Gyah, yezzz zzzir zz zzzt!” With a final salute, the Pokédex’s arms and feet folded back into its sides as the button eyes became lifeless and mechanical, any sense of life on its screen now replaced with a soulless flat glow.

Lillie caught the now normal Pokédex and monitored the message that Rotomdex had already generated, seeing every word in there as she had dictated, along with a file attachement labeled exactly as charged. With a quick press of the blue arrow button on the lower corner of the screen, the message was sent out to Adam from Mossdeep.

“I believe in you,” she whispered to the screen.

“Again, what did that do?” Chrysalis bellowed. “Do you truly think you can outlast us until they arrive?”

Lillie stared Chrysalis dead in the eyes. “We’ll just have to see…”After frisbeeing Sun’s Pokédex back to him, she detached a Poké Ball from her belt, looking out at the over-dozen Pokémon all ready to attack whatever was soon to come out from it. “Alright guys, I only have a single shot at this, and I’m going to need you to cover me while I do it. Can you do that for me?”

“Easy…” Rainbow Dash took out her next Beast Ball along with Spike, Twilight and Sun also taking their next Poké Balls out. “…peasy!”





Four people, three men and a woman, stood outside a large, white shuttle jet parked near the Aether House in matching white-and-blue uniforms. While the early morning weather was cool and comfortable, all four of them were annoyed by the sleep they were losing waiting on Sun’s response to their message.

“If we’re done taking in that ‘nice, Alolan air,’” one of the male Mossdeep employees spoke, “I’d like to get back in the jet and sleep off the next couple of hours.”

A short ping then sounded off in the pocket of one of the other male employees. “Hold on, I think Sun just responded back.”
Pulling out his phone, the employee opened the message that Lillie sent on Sun’s behalf.

“What’s up?” the female employee asked him, looking over his shoulder.

“Oh, perfect! He sent us some code that’ll let us right in! Hold on a sec…”

Clicking the attachment box beneath the message, it began to open before his entire screen went white, deeply peeving him. Before he could verbally state his annoyance, a pair of lightning bolt limbs shot out from the sides, making him let it go with a yelp.

Finally, Rotom’s eyes and mouth appeared on the screen, realizing that he had woken back up. “Hehey, I made it zz zzzt!”

“What the hell is going on?” the fourth employee shouted, he and his other three co-workers standing away from the now floating phone.

“Zzzorry, guyzz zz zzzt! I gotta’ borrow the plane for a bit, no time to exzzplain zzzzzzt.”

Rotom zipped out from the top of the phone and into the nose of the jet. With the employee’s phone now a regular phone again, it began to fall to the ground, its owner diving forward to catch it. The four of them then heard the jet turn itself on, turning around and watching as the lights around it lit up. Then to their shock and amazement, the front windows clouded up into a solid blue light as a disembodied mouth formed beneath the nose. As Rotom affixed itself to its massive new body, it let out a giant yawn before turning on the thrusters beneath him.

The female employee felt the thrusters’ gusts bounce off the ground and blow into them, realizing that it was leaving them behind. “No, wait!”

As she ran forward towards it, Rotomjet lifted itself slowly off the ground, the winds becoming too strong and hot to force herself against. Shifting the thrusters right, Rotemjet began to slide right toward the ocean, and once it felt it was safe far and high enough away from the Mossdeep employees, it spun itself to the southwest and activated the jets behind it, thrusting it forward.

“Hold on, Zzzun!” the four of them could barely hear Rotomjet shout as it flew away. “I’m comiiiiiiiiiiing…”

The four Mossdeep employees could only stand still, wondering what in heaven’s name would allow this to happen.





“Alright!” Lillie threw her Poké Ball out. “Go, Nidoqueen!”

Lillie’s ball came open, and forming from its white energy was a reptilian creature with large ears and a bulky blueberry-and-khaki colored body that looked to be made from hardened sand.

“This is your big plan?” the short white haired grunt guffawed. “Sending out a Poison-type to fight us?”

“So that’s why Lillie was so hesitant to send it out that one night!” Twilight realized.

“But what is she planning?” Spike wondered.

“Whatever it is, Spike, we have to protect her.”

“You aren’t protecting shit!” the white-haired grunt spat. “Starmie, attack it with Hydro Pump!”

With the Starmie’s gem glistening up, a hefty torrent of water came blasting out at Lillie’s Pokémon, who nervously awaited for it to come.

“Bewear!” Twilight threw her Poké Ball out in front of Nidoqueen. “Take it!”

The pink and black bear emerged from its ball with its arms crossed over its head already, taking the full force of the water and sending it spraying off to the sides and away from Nidoqueen.

“You pest!” Chrysalis barked. “Claydol, finish it with Psychic!”

Pointing its round floating arms in at Bewear, it let out a loud groan as it was covered in the psychic energy, growing tired as it struggled to resist the pain.

“Stakataka!” Rainbow Dash threw a Beast Ball high up into the air. “Cover her!”

Rainbow Dash’s next Ultra Beast emerged from the ball, falling down on top of Nidoqueen and lowering its body over it to provide it with a sturdy sanctuary, its many bricks spinning around to both survey the area and continue giving Nidoqueen fresh air to breathe.

“Primarina, you’re on!” Sun shouted, throwing his Poké Ball out.

Sun’s majestic sea lion popped out from the ball, using the wet floor to scoot itself near Bewear as it began to lose consciousness.

“No you don’t!” The grunt with the ice-blonde hair screamed. “Metang, Bullet Punch!”

In the blink of an eye, the grunt’s Metang appeared before Primarina and drove its clawed arm into its gut, the pain stopping Primarina in its tracks.

“You too, Metang,” ordered the male grunt with the short blue hair.

The second Metang instantly appeared beside the other and also jabbed Primarina hard, this time pushing it back and off course from Bewear, who had finally succumbed to Claydol’s attack. Despite this, Primarina brought itself up, looking right at Chrysalis’s Pokémon as it brought its attention to it.

“Primarina,” Sun ordered, “attack Claydol with Ice Beam!”

With a melodious shout, Primarina fired a cold beam and hit Claydol in the head, knocking it back hard as patches of ice formed on it. Chrysalis flew up high and caught Claydol before it could fly out behind her again, lowering its limp, heavy body to the ground before returning it back into its ball. As Twilight returned her fainted Bewear, she couldn’t help but stare at Chrysalis’s act with sheer intrigue.

Chrysalis quickly took out her next Poké Ball and threw it out to continue the fight. “Gourgeist, finish Primarina off with Seed Bomb!”

The Poké Ball opened up, a brown gourd-shaped Pokémon emerging from it with long pink leaves for hair along with a brightly-lit jack-o’-lantern smile and eyes carved into the lower part of its body. From the carving’s mouth, Gourgeist lobbed three large pits out at Primarina, where they landed on the floor and exploded to frag it with even smaller seeds, blasting it further back and away before it rolled to an unconscious stop on the floor. Sun looked back, hissing over the loss of his last Pokémon.

Behind them, Faba and his Alakazam were already finishing the motions to activate Psychium Z to use against Porygon-Z for a second time. Meanwhile, the female grunt with the black ponytailed hair saw as Sun’s Primarina was returned to its ball by its red beam. She quickly reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a Revive.

“Slowking!” The yellow-haired grunt exclaimed. “Hit Stakataka with Brick Break!”

“Get ‘em with Hydro Pump, Slowbro!” the brown skinned grunt with dreadlocks added.

Gallons of water came shooting out of the Slowbro’s mouth and at the brick-laden Pokémon keeping Nidoqueen safe. Stakataka flipped all of its blocks in, letting no water pass through the gaps though failing to hold its ground as it was pushed back inch by inch. The Slowking then leapt out at Rainbow Dash’s Ultra Beast, telekinetically propelling itself at it with the tip of its crown pointed at its head. Upon bashing its helmeted head into it, Stakataka was thrown back with help of the last of the Slowbro’s Hydro Pump. Stakataka became too weak to compose itself, its bricks tumbling into a scattered pile. Rainbow Dash quickly called it back, freaked out by the morbid sight.

As Nidoqueen fearfully looked back at its fallen protector, the long purple-haired grunt and the spiky black-haired grunt saw their chance. “Kadabra,” they both shouted, pointing at Lillie’s Pokémon. “Use Psychic!”

Just as both Kadabras held their spoons up at it, a Beast Ball was thrown out into the fray, the energy exploding out from it until it formed the massive, rotund, and intimidating shape of Guzzlord as it appeared between Nidoqueen and its assailants. To both Kadabras’ horror, their Psychic attacks simply bounced off its body and rippled away into nothingness.

“Yeah!” Spike cheered with a punch of the air. “Nice one!”

As Guzzlord leaned in toward the Kadabras, the male grunt with the brown fauxhawk and the female grunt with the red ponytail directed their Espeons’ attention to the obese dragon. “Dazzling Gleam!”

With their gems shining bright, they flashed into the side of its waist with enough intensity to throw the towering creature up and over Spike’s head and back toward Gladion. Hearing the crash to his right, he looked over to see Guzzlord laying still in the part of the conservation area it demolished with its landing. He then looked forward again upon hearing his Porygon-Z hit the ground for the final time, having succumbed to Faba’s Alakazam’s second Shattered Psyche. As more red sparks covered it, the Alakazam let out a loud groan before falling to a knee, hardly able to take the aftershocks of the fake Z Power.

“Get up,” Faba quietly demanded. “We don’t have much more left.”

“Good.” Gladion returned Porygon-Z into its Poké Ball before taking out another off his belt. “I’m counting on it. Let’s end this, Silvally!”

After tossing his next ball out, Gladion’s chimeric beast stood guard of its trainer, empowered by the telling signs of weakness Faba’s Alakazam showed. With a roar from it, Faba recoiled a step back for the first time the entire battle.

“One of you,” he shouted, “I need a Fairium–”

“Espeon, Grass Knot!” The black ponytailed grunt threw her Poké Ball out, letting her Espeon out of it.

Faba quickly glanced over as her Pokémon’s head gem lit up, vines from the surrounding trees and plants snaking onto the walkway and quickly grabbing hold of Silvally’s limbs. With a troubled yowl, Silvally’s back was then wrapped up and then pulled down on, forcing it to its stomach in complete immobility.

“Silvally!” Gladion screamed.

Impressed, Faba smirked over what his loyal grunt had done before shifting his gaze to Nidoqueen’s behind. “On second thought, give me an Icium Z.”

“Sir!” As Faba began undoing the grunt’s used Z-Ring, the male grunt with the black emo haircut began unclasping his from his wrist.

Gladion looked back at Lillie’s battle, watching as the Bruxish belonging to the purple bobbed-hair grunt rushed into Nidoqueen and bit down hard on its right breast with its Psychic Fangs attack, roaring painfully as the energy was pumped from its teeth into its body.

“No!” Lillie shrieked. “Nidoqueen!”

Nidoqueen tore the fanged fish off of its body and threw it back to its grunt. Lillie hopped forward and sprayed the contents of a Hyper Potion over it, the mist raining down and soothing its wounded spot before its trainer hopped back to safety. The young muscular grunt with short black hair trembled his clenched fists as victory was in his grasp. 

“We got her, Oricorio!” he yelled. “Now, finish her with Revelation Dance!”

The bird waved its arms in a gentle wave-like fashion before spinning around and lashing its wings at Lillie’s Pokémon, sending out a pair of bright, magenta blades that threatened to hit Nidoqueen. Lillie reached out for Nidoqueen just as the white energy of a Poké Ball formed in front of it. To Lillie and even Nidoqueen’s surprise, a Kadabra formed from the energy with its spoon held out at the two oncoming blades. To the shock of both the grunt and his Oricorio, both of them crashed into an invisible barrier that destroyed them on contact with it.

“What?!” Chryalis threw her head about as she searched the space. “Who’s Kadabra was that?”

She then noticed as Sun clasped the Poké Ball he held closed, staring at her as he did so. “It was Wicke’s, but it’s in far better hands now.”

“You of all people would just use another’s Pokémon like that?”

“Would you have preferred that I left it with her to perish?”

Chrysalis gasped, stunned silent by his logic. Her rage took her again as she whipped her head toward the older, skinny grunt.

“You,” she demanded, “do something!”

“Got it!” The grunt pointed at Wicke’s Kadabra with his outstretched hand. “Hypno, attack Kadabra with Shadow Ball!”

Swinging its purple-glowing pendulum like a sling, Hypno shot a dark, ghastly orb with a more purposeful whip. The attack hit Kadabra in the chest, knocking it into Nidoqueen, though it was quick to stand back up on its feet and continue standing guard of it.

“Lillie!” Twilight shouted, turning to her. “Now’s the time!”

“Right!” Lillie clenched her fists and brought her arms to her side, her plan nearing fruition. “Nidoqueen, use–”

“Go, Slowbro!” Lillie and Nidoqueen froze up upon hearing Faba’s crisper, louder voice as if it were directed right at her.

Turning around, they saw as the Poké Ball opened up and let Faba’s Slowbro out from it to stand behind Gladion and face Lillie and Nidoqueen.

“What?” Gladion gasped. “That wasn’t meant for me?”

“Of course not!” Faba honked in laughter. “Of your two Pokémon, which is weak against Ice-types?”

Faba began to walk forward, crossing his arms in front of his face. With the black emo-haired grunt’s Z-Ring activating, Faba’s Slowbro began to mimic its movements. After putting their arms down and crossing them back out, they both thrust their flat-palmed hands upwards in a diagonal motion three times. Coming to a stop beside his Pokémon, Faba and Slowbro finished their motions by throwing their arms out before swinging them in, their palms within inches of contact.

Faba yelled up to the sky as Z-Energy flowed out of his body for a third time, swirling in a twister around his Slowbro before they settled into its body, flaring up in a tremendous aura that left Lillie petrified.

“Lillie?!” Spike screamed.

“Lillie!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Come on, snap out of it already!”

Nidoqueen turned to Lillie and put its hand on her shoulder. It then threw her aside, far from the range of the attack it was about to take on. 

“Lillie!” Gladion shouted.

He glanced between his sister and her Pokémon, followed by looking behind him to his entrapped Silvally. Suddenly, at that moment an idea came to him, compelling him to run between Faba and Slowbro and out toward Nidoqueen.

“Quickly,” Faba chuckled, “while he’s in range… Slowbro, finish Nidoqueen and Gladion with Subzero Slammer!”

A bright, frigid orb of energy began to form before Slowbro’s mouth, the cold of it nearly extinguishing the fires covering the plants surrounding it. Gladion refused to look back, only forward, jamming his hand into his hoodie pocket. Slowbro fired a tremendously wide beam of solid ice at Nidoqueen, which began to reach it and Gladion as he took his hand out of his pocket, reaching for Nidoqueen as it reached for whatever was in his hand.

“Gladion, no!” Lillie reached for her brother.

Lillie could only watch as Faba’s third consecutive Z-Move connected with her Pokémon, causing a tower of ice to shoot up into it and around it, the spikes jutting out from it throwing Gladion off the walkway and into the trunk of a burning tree.

“Gladion!” Rainbow Dash soared over to him and quickly began fanning away the flames catching on his clothing as charred leaves fluttered down onto him.

Gladion and Rainbow Dash then looked out at Nidoqueen, who was trapped inside the tower of ice Slowbro had created, which quickly began to melt with the heat of the room. Sun, Spike, and Twilight stared sadly as Nidoqueen’s body came forth from the thaw, Chrysalis, Faba, and both sets of grunts on both sides eager to watch Lillie’s last hope slump over and faint.

However, upon the ice melting off of Nidoqueen’s right arm, Faba and Slowbro realized a bright glowing emerging from its hand. Peering closer, they saw a red cloth kept in its grasp that began to turn to ash as it blew away into the breeze. Then, to his complete and utter shock, Nidoqueen began to straighten its stance, its eyes opening to face it.

“That was…” Faba stammered. “That was…”

“A Focus Sash!?” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Where did it get that?”

Gladion picked himself onto his feet, chuckling over his successful assistance. “Do you remember when Kaj gave Sam one?”

“Wait, you… that’s awesome!!”

“No!” Faba squealed. “God dammit no!”

“Lillie!” Sun bellowed. “NOW!”

Lillie nodded, the last of her seconds running out. “Nidoqueen, use Earthquake!”

Nidoqueen tilted its head to the sky and let out a thunderous roar as the ground beneath it began to rumble slightly. Soon, thin cracks began to stretch and spread over along the ground, spreading quickly as they traveled underneath the walkways and through the grass, beneath the water, and through the remaining simulated habitats.

The cracks reached the outer edges of the conservation area, at which point, a bright blue glow seeped up from them and the entire building began to shake hard enough to force those without wings onto all fours. The grunts and Pokémon that tried to hold on to the railing were quickly thrown off as they bounced and rocked about.

Finally, an even larger rift and burst of light began to divide the room from one side to the other, slowly spreading apart as the entire building began to separate behind Sun and his friends. Spike yelled in fear as he was snatched up by Twilight before the gap could swallow him.

Spike suddenly glanced backward in realization, seeing Guzzlord still lying still and unaware of the building beginning to come apart. Grabbing its Beast Ball, he aimed the center button at it and successfully connected its beam to it, returning it inside. Silvally, still bound by the Espeon’s Grass Knot, was finally able to pull itself free, running back to rejoin its trainer. With the building spreading further out, Sun and Lillie returned Wicke’s Kadabra and Nidoqueen back into their Poké Balls as Silvally was quickly brought back into its ball by Gladion.

As Sun and his friends, as well as Faba, Chrysalis, the grunts, and their Pokémon watched in bewilderment as the place came apart, the smaller cracks that had formed began to pull out as well, many of the grunts and Pokémon standing right over where they would soon fall. Several of the grunts screamed as their bodies seized up, unable to pick one side or the other as they slipped into the gap, falling in along with their Pokémon.

Along with the grunts, Chrysalis gasped loudly as the floor beneath her Gourgeist gave way, leaving it to fall. “Gourgeist!”

With as much agility as she could, Chrysalis aimed her Poké Ball at her Pokémon, the red beam catching it and pulling it back inside the ball to safety. As she drew a sigh of relief, Twilight, despite the chaos around her, couldn’t keep her mouth closed.

Chrysalis looked down into the fissure to see the seawater filling into the sinking building much quicker than before, the grunts and Pokémon unlucky enough to hold their ground still fortunate enough to fall into the water. As the pooling, rushing waters dragged them into its undertow, the grunts and Pokémon struggled to bring their heads above the surface. Just then, several of the Bruxishes from the water wall began to swim into the ruined building, finding the grunts and grabbing several at a time with their psychic powers and holding their heads above the water. With the same swiftness as they entered in, the Bruxishes dragged the grunts outside to relative safety.

Faba witnessed as several of the grunts on his side were rescued in the same way by the Bruxishes, looking across the gap to see the rest of them standing as far away from it as possible. “Everyone, just jump in and let the Bruxishes take you!”

Looking down themselves, the grunts were initially hesitant, the plunge too perilous to seemingly make. With the waters continuing to rise below, several of the grunts decided not to wait much longer, jumping in to be rescued by the triggerfish awaiting them below. As more of them made the ultimate decision, the rest were encouraged to do so, joining their comrades in being ferried away. Chrysalis saw as Faba’s side of the building emptied themselves into the gap, looking back over to find some grunts and Pokémon who were still too fearful to do so.

“You too!” she ordered. “Call your Pokémon back and jump in! The Bruxish will carry you out!”

At once, each grunt returned their Pokémon inside of their balls save the grunt with the purple bobbed hair and the one with the short white hair, who jumped in right away with their Bruxish and Starmie.

Sun pulled his Ride Pager from his pocket, Faba, Chrysalis, and their grunts too preoccupied with their own forms of escape. “Guys, call your Charizards! Let’s escape while we can!”

“Right!” Lillie and Gladion both shouted, obtaining their own and scanning through them.

Rainbow Dash and Twilight flew up higher as their friends’ three Charizards were summoned from their balls. With a strain of her magic, Twilight swung Spike around for her to mount her, watching as Sun, Gladion, and Lillie quickly mounted the red dragons, who anxiously stepped about as the Aether Paradise fell into disarray. With Sun’s Charizard leading, Gladion and Lillie’s steeds flew out to meet them, soaring through the broken ceiling and climbing up to the clear and open top of the water wall.

As Twilight and Rainbow Dash came close behind, Twilight couldn’t help but glance backwards as Chrysalis and Faba kept their eyes on each remaining grunt on their watch until they all jumped into the gaps. As she watched them, Twilight noticed a large piece of the glass ceiling come undone and fall right over Chrysalis’s head.

“Chrysalis, above you!” Chryslis looked up to see the large shard fast approaching.

She attempted to cast a barrier spell, only for the glass to break through what she could conjure up in the moment and hit her in the head, knocking her unconscious and throwing her to the floor. Sun and his friends, all witness to this, couldn’t help but jolt as her body crumpled to the floor. With more than three quarters of the building now submerged and sinking faster still, the knot forming in Twilight’s gut was too wound up to ignore.

Lifting Spike back off of her, she placed him on Rainbow Dash’s back before turning to face her friends a final time. “I’m sorry, but… I have to do this!”

With a roll of her body, Twilight dove down back into the ceiling, her body obscured by the smoke from the fires that still ravaged the flora inside.

“Twilight,” Lillie cried with an outstretched hand, “no!”

The female grunt with the black ponytail returned her Espeon into its ball before she jumped into the gap, the last of her group to do so. As he turned back to see how Chrysalis was doing with her group, he noticed the alicorn dive back into the building and gallop over to Chrysalis. Baring a toothy frown, he stormed his way toward her, his Slowbro following him. Twilight leapt over the gap separating her from Chrysalis, already getting to work trying to lift her onto her back. Even as Chrysalis stirred awake, Twilight refused to stop.

The changeling, realizing who was there helping her, felt her body tense up in sheer confusion. “Twilight Sparkle… what are you doing?”

“Exactly what it looks like,” Twilight replied, shifting her more onto her back. “I saw the way you were looking after your Pokémon during the battle. If you can show enough affection to them like you did, perhaps there’s something in you similar to what Spike saw in Thorax.”

Chrysalis let out a sigh; she’d probably never understand the unconditional love these ponies shared for both their most cherished friends and most hated of enemies, but she was thankful for the help all the same. Her sights then caught two shapes in the smoke. Feeling a rush of adrenaline in her blood, Chrysalis climbed off of Twilight and shot to her hooves.

“Twilight, Faba–” Twilight’s sharp yell cut Chrysalis’s warning off as she began to be pressed down on by Slowbro’s Psychic energy.

Chrysalis looked at Twilight as she sunk to her shins, feeling her magic and strength deplete. As she looked back at Faba, his angry scowl morphed into a sadistic gleeful grin.

“You… ponies…” Each consonant crackled with contempt. “Have ruined our plans… For the last fucking time!”

Chrysalis, unable to see any more of this, scowled herself as she pulled a ball from her belt with her teeth and tossed it out of her mouth. “Hydreigon, Brutal Swing!”

Upon her three-headed dragon appearing from her Poké Ball, Faba and Slowbro stopped their assault on Twilight, completely floored by this new treason. With the dragon flying in and swinging both its arm-heads at them, Slowbro and Faba were struck in the head, throwing them to the floor where they slid to an unconscious stop. Chrysalis panted nervously as she peered down on Twilight, whose legs wobbled as she struggled to stand back onto her hooves.

The changeling looked up to her dragon. “Carry her out. I won’t be far behind.”

With all heads nodding, the dragon stood over Twilight as Chrysalis leapt over the gap and walked over to Faba and Slowbro, still immobile. With a cold and uncaring stare, she pulled the clip of Poké Balls off of Faba’s belt with her horn, flicking them up gently to catch them in her front hooves. She then pulled Slowbro’s ball off of it and held it over its body, the red beam connecting with its head and pulling it into the center button. Glancing upwards, she saw her Hydreigon ascend through the broken glass ceiling with Twilight safely cradled in its arms. With a one final glance toward her fellow Prism admin, she fluttered her own wings and took off after her Pokémon, putting Slowbro’s ball back onto the clip.

With Sun, Lillie, Gladion, and Rainbow Dash still waiting outside, they finally saw Hydreigon emerge from the billowing smoke, at first frightful, and then perplexed upon seeing Twilight in its gentle grasp. Only a second later, Chrysalis appeared beside her Pokémon, filling them with even more confusion.

“Twilight’s fine,” Chrysalis explained. “Faba got to her before she could escape. I understand this doesn’t make much sense, but I can explain at a less precarious time! Right now, we need to get to land!”

Chrysalis’s face then morphed into confusion as she tilted her body sideways to see past Sun and his friends, leading them to have their Charizards turn around to see Rotomjet quickly flying up towards them. As it rotated to present its right side, the loading door slid down open for them, confusing them further.

“Get in, zz zzzt!” Rotomjet shouted. “Thizzz izz the final boarding call for the Rotomjet bound for Ten Karat Hill zzzzzt!”

Sun and Lillie chuckled over its impeccable timing. With their Charizards flying toward it, Gladion, Rainbow Dash, Chrysalis, and Hydreigon all followed them inside, the air-conditioned interior giving them immediate relief. Below, the Kadabras on the Aether yacht began to tire out, losing the strength to continue holding the wall up without the Bruxishes’ assistance. Seeing the height of it where it already was, all eight of them looked back on each other and resolved to let it go, using their abilities to begin rotating the ship to face opposite the wall as it suddenly began to collapse, its entire mass falling at once.

Inside the conservation area, Faba crawled back onto his feet, patting the side of his waist to find that this Pokémon had been taken from him. With a sad and exhausted whine, Faba limped his way over to the nearest gap. Standing with his heels on the edge, he saw that he now only faced a three-story drop from the water. His feet wiggled further in towards the brink; perhaps there was a Bruxish still waiting to pick him up.

That’s when he heard the loud metallic groan beneath him, prompting him to look up through the glass ceiling as the water wall fell downward to rush inward and converge into the center. The massive waves struck the Aether Paradise on all sides, flinging Faba off his feet and out into the gap. As he fell through, the two sections of the broken building were forcefully pushed together, Faba realizing he would be caught right between them.

“Aiye–”





Outside, Lillie, Gladion, and Sun watched from the cargo hold windows of Rotomjet as the water wall came together in a titanic splash. As the center of it rained down to create a series of massive ripples, neither of them could see any trace of the Aether Paradise any longer, claimed forever by the ocean’s depths.

Lillie put her hand upon the window, taking just a few seconds more to watch as her home and life receded into the blue. “Goodbye, mother…”

Gladion put his hand to her shoulder, having her turn to face him. After looking into each others eyes, they each let out a sob before hugging each other tightly, tears streaming down both of their cheeks. Sun let the two be as he ascended a small flight of stairs in the center of the hold and walked through the door at the top.

He found Rainbow Dash and Spike both stroking Twilight as she recuperated from her injuries against Faba, laying on a plush reclining seat that matched about thirty others down the length of the jet. Also standing over them, but from a further distance was Chrysalis, who Sun still found suspicious looking so concerned.

“Chrysalis.” As Sun approached them, Rainbow Dash and Spike looked his way as well, Twilight easing herself up to see what he wanted with Chrysalis as well. “You betrayed Team Prism to save Twilight just now. Why?”

“Dude,” Rainbow Dash squawked, “does it matter? Twilight nearly died, and you want to focus on–”

Chrysalis stopped the pegasus with a hoof on her shoulder. “It’s perfectly alright, Rainbow Dash, it is indeed a valid question. The truth is, I’ve betrayed more than just Team Prism. I’ve betrayed my world… this one as well.”

“What do you mean by that?” Spike asked.

“When Thorax and the rest of my changeling hive had defected and reformed, I thought I could never forgive you ponies for taking everything that meant anything to me away from me. I planned a third takeover with my sister when you and your friends disappeared, and when I disappeared as well, I willingly joined Prism and went along with their plans, knowing full well that it would result in the destruction of my world and everything on it. I was just so angry that I didn’t care.

“It wasn’t until Faba had granted me a Pokémon team of my own to use against you that I began to realize… realize the love you ponies share with each other every day… realize the love that you humans and your Pokémon share. I finally understood what it felt like to have someone be by my side not because they needed to… but because they truly wanted to.”

Sun nodded, feeling that Chrysalis’s change of heart was genuine. “Pokémon are certainly incredible creatures like that.”

“It actually wasn’t until Faba began attacking Twilight that I fully understood this. His Bruxish and Slowbro were still perfectly healthy; he could have easily escaped with his group, but instead, he chose to use his Pokémon to get revenge against those who slighted him. In all honesty, it was something I would have done myself before today. But I couldn’t allow Pokémon that must have loved him the way mine do to die needlessly for his recklessness. And by extension… I couldn’t allow this world… or my own world to die for Prism’s recklessness.”

Chrysalis then walked closer so that she could directly face Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike moving aside to let her continue speaking. “I’m truly sorry for everything I’ve done to you since our paths first crossed, Twilight. And when we find them, I will extend my apologies to Starlight, Thorax, and your brother as well. If you could ever find it in your–”

“I forgive you, Chrysalis.” Despite the new respect she found for Twilight and her friends now, the changeling couldn’t help but gasp over her answer and her honest smile. “Like Spike had once taught me, even a changeling can change, and I truly believe every word you have said to me. I think Equestria will become a much better place if you share the same love to others the same way you do with your Pokémon.”

Chrysalis closed her eyes, two tears tumbling out of them. Breathing in with a sob, she took a deep breath, trying to contain the emotions that were suddenly hitting her like a wave.

“I shall…” she sniffled. “And… thank you.”

“So it’s official, then?” Sun put his hand out to her. “Truce?”

Chrysalis grinned slyly before putting her hoof in Sun’s palm, allowing him to shake it. “No truce. Ours is a pact of true friendship…”

Spike beamed as he patted the changeling’s other foreleg. “Yeah! Welcome to the team, Chrysalis!”

“Oh boy!” Rainbow Dash squealed. “Just wait until we see the look on Starlight’s face when she sees us rolling out with our new friend, Queen Chrysalis! Wow, that already sounds great!”

Chrysalis continued smiling, the platonic love she felt from the four of them filling her with a happiness the likes of which she never felt. At that moment, Lillie and Gladion came up from the cargo hold, Lillie coming to the side of Twilight’s chair and kneeling beside it.

Overwhelmed to see Twilight in such a lax state, she threw her body over her friend and sobbed. “You and your big, stupid heart!”

Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle, slipping her arms around Lillie’s back and patting it consolingly. Gladion approached Chrysalis indifferently before shifting his eyes to Sun.

“So she’s on our side now or something?” Sun nodded, and with his hands moving to his waists, he smiled to her. “Lovely.”

“Yes…” she responded. “It truly is.”

With a click on top of the ceiling, Rotomjet came on the intercom. “G– guyzz zz zzzt?! You may want to look outzzzide zzzzzt!”

At once, the pleasant air that filled the room had turned chillier. Looking out their nearest window to the north, Sun and the others could see a wide pillar of light erupting out of Ten Karat Hill and expanding out. Sun could only come to a single conclusion.

“It’s begun…” He shot to his feet so suddenly that all eyes were drawn to him despite the terrifying phenomenon outside. “Everyone, hand me your Poké Balls. There are healing bays aboard this. We’ll need to be as strong as possible to stop what’s next. Rotom, fly us to Ten Karat Hill immediately!”

Without a word, Rotomjet rotated to face the second island to the west before powering its rear thrusters, carrying them forward. With Lillie and Glaidon helping Twilight and Chrysalis, Sun received the clips from each person and Equestrian nearby him. Hugging his friends’ Poké Balls to his chest, he ran to the back of the jet and went through a small door, a small laboratory on the other side of it with six folded-up stations hanging from the walls. He wouldn’t have much time until Rotomjet arrived, giving him only that much time to heal everyone’s Pokémon for the final battle ahead.