//------------------------------// // All Together Again // Story: Celestia's Rocket Adventures // by Snake Staff //------------------------------// In the darkest depths of the night, with a massive grey and black cloud stretching off in all directions, hundreds of Pokemon were huddled underneath the forest canopy. Many were nursing injuries or tending to those of their kindred that needed it. A few, such as a small group of Stunky, were secluded in a dark mood. For others, it was the opposite, and even the torrential downpour couldn’t shake their enthusiasm over victory. There was boasting and mourning in almost equal measure. It made Luna feel strangely nostalgic. “We won’t let this stop us,” Skuntank was vowing to her. “We’ve seen loss before, but something like that…” he shook his head. “No human or Pokémon has ever done that here for as long as I’ve lived. I won’t let it happen again. They have to be defeated. Those of us still in thrall must be freed.” “Your courage does you and your kindred great credit,” Luna told him, in a low and solemn tone. “Go then. Be among your folk and keep their spirits raised. Mourn as you would, but never lose heart. The perpetrator is no more, and we have powerful new allies.” She looked him right in the eyes and spoke with utter conviction. “We will be victorious.” “I understand,” he nodded. “Good,” Luna’s expression softened, and she spoke gently. “Then you ought to go to them. They will need you.” Skuntank nodded once again, and then turned and set off into the night. He disappeared rather quickly into the dark, wet underbrush, but Luna had every confidence that he and his kindred would still be there come dawn. She found herself getting oddly nostalgic once more – courage in the face of dire peril always did have a way of getting to her. “You handled that quite well,” said a soft voice from on high. Luna looked up to a branch hanging high overhead, a dark silhouette just visible amongst all the soaked leafage. “I do my best,” she said to her sister. “If I am to be entirely honest it feels rather like leading an army in the old days.” “Some things cross dimensions. Battle, unfortunately, is one of them.” Celestia shook her head sadly. “But there are better things here as well.” “I assume that you mean friendship?” the dark alicorn asked. “Well, that and dessert.” Luna snorted, then smirked. “Speaking of friends, you might want to know that our new friends are on their way back now. Even in this weather you can hardly miss that mech of theirs.” The white princess shook her head again. “I swear Lulu, you ought to have seen the looks on their faces when they walked into that warehouse. ‘Foals on Hearths Warming Morn’ doesn’t begin to describe it.” “I find it to be rather overdesigned,” Luna replied. “But it does appear as effective, so I shall not complain greatly.” Celestia hopped down from the tree branch, landing with barely a sound with a sling graceful flap of her wings. Luna briefly wished that she could do that. “I think you’ll like them, once you have the chance to meet properly. They’re kind, if a bit… eccentric.” “Would you not say that the same holds true for me? I am somewhat of an anachronism on occasion, am I not?” Celestia frowned. “I don’t think I would put it like that.” “No, I am certain you would find a more eloquent means of informing me that I maintain certain affectations a millennium past their time,” Luna chuckled a little. “Take not offense, dear sister, I merely indulge in a jest at my own expense.” “You don’t need to be self-depreciating with me all the time,” she took a few steps forward. “You have a lot to be proud of. What you’ve done here means a lot to these Pokémon. I have no doubt the situation here would be much worse if not for you.” “Well, putting that aside for the moment,” Luna couldn’t help puffing out her chest a little, even as she coughed politely. “You were informing me about these friends of yours?” “Yes, Jessie, James, and Meowth.” “I have heard their names. I doubt there is anyone for ten miles that has not.” “Yes….” Celestia scratched behind her head. “They’re a bit silly at times, but good-hearted in the end I feel. But…” “But what?” Luna frowned. “You ought to know that they maaay technically be a part of a band of thieves.” Upon seeing her sister’s frown deepen, the white alicorn hastily went on. “But so far as I can tell they have yet to successfully commit any crime of note despite many wasted and foolish efforts, and they have sworn it off for now. As I said, I believe them ultimately to be good people pushed into the wrong herd by poor circumstances. I believe they very much can change for the better, and once this is through I’ll do all I can to help make that happen.” She flashed a winning, if strained, grin. Luna tapped a hoof on her chin, face expressionless. Seconds passed in silence, and she was unsure if it was just rain trickling down her sister’s face. “Oh, very well,” Luna nodded, then grinned slightly a split second later. “I should be quite the hypocrite if I denied another a chance for reformation, should I not?” She shook her head. “They came to our aid when it was sorely needed, and for that I vow I shall hold no prejudices against them.” “Thank you,” Celestia smiled faintly. The sisters embraced. Robo Mega Meowth 9000 touched down with all the grace one could reasonably expect from a giant mecha in the middle of a forest during a thunderstorm. That is to say it only snapped one tree in half and didn’t step on anyone. The giant robot’s chest armor slid open once again, and stairs descended to the wet forest floor. First out were an assortment of tired-looking Poliwag and Poliwhirl, led by a dark blue Poliwrath. After that came a purple alicorn princess, who raced immediately towards her elders. “Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” she bowed her head briefly, to nods from the others. “I’m happy to report that there won’t be any more threat to this woods from that quarter. The forest fire is well and truly out!” “We noticed,” Luna said in a perfectly serious tone, while rainwater dripped from her sopping wet coat. “Well done, all of you,” Celestia nodded at her apprentice and the Water Pokémon, then frowned at the mecha. “Where are the rest of them?” “Well, they… uh…” Twilight scratched behind her head, and thunder boomed in the sky. “They decided to spend the night indoors.” As if waiting for some kind of cue, the mechanical stairway retracted itself back into the robot’s chest, armor plates sealing shut behind it with a loud clang. Out in the darkness, the downpour if anything seemed to double in intensity. All three alicorns stared with dawning realization and just a touch of envy. “Perhaps they are not quite as foolish as you thought, sister.” “…should we knock?” Twilight wondered. “Nay!” Luna declared immediately. “In times of war, a leader must endure the full privations alongside the very lowliest of her troops, that she might not forget the pain and sacrifice of even the least amongst them! Tis only right that we set such an example here!” “A very… noble sentiment,” Celestia agreed, while her mane sagged down over her face. “She’s right, of course. We ought not to indulge in unnecessary luxuries when others go without. Not at a time like this.” “Being dry is a luxury?” Twilight asked. “It is tonight,” her mentor informed her. “And besides,” Luna put a leg around Celestia and Twilight’s necks. “This gives me the opportunity to regale you with tales from our last war!” Is it too late to knock? Celestia wondered. Many hours later, Lysandre and Malva returned to Team Flare’s headquarters via helicopter, dirty and beaten yet triumphant. Lysandre in particular had a very rare genuine smile on his face as the two descended in the elevator, the expression of a man who knows his lifelong dream is on the cusp of fulfilment. They reached the observation level without incident, and Lysandre strode past rows of grunts and scientists working behind computer banks, calibrating and recalibrating, double-checking calculations, estimating energy output and the destructive radius of shots of varying power levels. The future of the world was riding on everything being absolutely perfect, they couldn’t afford even the smallest error in their numbers. “It’s finally about to begin,” Lysandre said, arms behind his back as he stared down at the dormant crystal flower. “This beautiful world… will not just fade away.” “I know just how you feel, sir,” Malva said from behind him. “A perfect, undying world…” she smiled. “Sounds magical, doesn’t it?” “It will be real very soon,” he smiled back at her. “Thanks to you.” He turned away from the weapon, towards the Team Flare members still hard at work. “Thanks to all of you! Without your hard work and dedication, none of this would be possible! I can’t find the words to properly express my gratitude to each and every one of you, but rest assured I shall spend as many centuries as it takes to invent them!” There were cheers, a few chuckles, and a light round of applause from the men and women gathered there. Lysandre stood there, genuinely happy for a brief moment. As the grunts and scientists slowly sat back down and returned to their work stations, a side door opened from a deeper level and a white-suited admin came out. “Sir,” he said with a salute. “I’m glad to see you and lady Malva back safely.” “As am I,” Lysandre nodded. “How are things here?” “Sir, both Mable and Celosia’s teams returned to base while you were away.” “Excellent!” he smiled again. “Then everything went well?” “Sir, they… they failed to destroy their targets.” The admin cringed at Lysandre’s sudden frown. “And there’s more. Mable and Celosia… they didn’t come back. From what we can tell, sir, they’re gone.” Lysandre recoiled as if physically struck, eyes wide. Team Flare’s leader took one step back, then another. His frown grew far deeper, and he squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his fists simultaneously. Malva took a few steps forward and laid a hand softly on his shoulder. When he opened his blue eyes again a second later, a tear trickled down his cheek. “I should have destroyed her that night in the factory,” he muttered, clenched fists trembling. “But I dismissed her too easily, and now good people have suffered for my mistake.” “You didn’t know,” Malva said gently. “You couldn’t have foreseen what would happen.” “I should have known, it’s my responsibility,” Lysandre sniffed once, then brushed away his tear with a dirty sleeve. “But they will all pay,” he held his clenched fist in front of his chest. “And pay dearly.” “Should I hunt them down, sir?” Malva asked immediately. “If you want, I’ll go out and destroy them right now.” “About that…” the white-suited admin again looked hesitant. “We’ve lost almost the entirety of our motor vehicles. Mable’s team members returned on foot, as did most of Celosia’s. Something about a giant metal Meowth. We don’t have many left in the garage.” “I’ll walk I have to, to avenge the honor of Team Flare,” the pink-haired woman declared, but her boss shook his head. “No. We’ve underestimated their true threat too many times now and lost far too much for that mistake. I’ll not make it again.” “Then what should we do, sir?” “Send out the recall signal. Order every agent of Team Flare, covert and overt, across the whole of Kalos to return to base at once. They may do whatever they require to avoid unnecessary suspicion, but they are to make their way to our location as swiftly as they can. As soon as we have accounted for everyone, we proceed without delay.” Lysandre’s eyes blazed. “The alicorns will burn in the light of our ultimate weapon.”