Malamar had such a large advantage. With the princesses on his side and everpony else in the chambers, even the number difference didn't matter.
"Well I'd say the odds are stacked against you. In terms of power anyways. Your ragtag group of ponies is no match for the combined might of alicorns and my wonderful psychic draconic powers."
"Oh for goodness sakes, do you always have to boast about yourself?" Rarity was getting tired of all his ego being blurted out of him.
"We've got both strength and numbers on our side, Malamar." Ash said as he got out a pokeball with Sceptile in it.
"Hm. Sure boy. Celestia. Luna. Chain them up. They wont be working under me due to how.. irritating they are proving themselves to be." Celestia and Luna followed his orders as they began tearing the floor apart by moving it with magic. The entire floor was ripped apart as they all started falling.
"Sceptile! Help!" Ash tossed his Pokeball as Sceptile had emerged.
"Sceptile!" The forest pokemon said. Rainbow and Fluttershy caught Rarity and Applejack while Sceptile used vines to grab onto Ash, Twilight, Pikachu, Staraptor and Pinkie Pie. The huge debris from the floor fell down to the lower levels of the castle as there were chunks everywhere. All of them had safely landed down as the two controlled sisters looked down on the group.
They came further down as Twilight and Luna's heads were twitching.
"T-Twilight.." Celestia said suddenly.
"Princess Celestia!"
"Listen. Me and Luna are close to breaking free of this mind control.. but I don't know how much longer its going to take. If you can, do your best to avoid us until we break free."
"Right Princess! You can count on us!"
"Good.." Celestia's short time of gaining consiousness was gone as she instantly released a magic beam at the group, grazing Rarity's hair.
"Sceptile! Don't hurt the princesses too much! Use Leaf Blade!" Luna and Celestia both struck their horns forward as Sceptile used leaf blade to block them. "Twilight! Everyone! I can keep the princesses busy until they snap out of it. You all go and find everypony else. Oh so that's what it feels like to say it."
"Alright. Come on girls!"
"Be careful Ash!" Fluttershy said.
"I got this! Alright Sceptile! Keep holding them back if you can!" Sceptile was doing its best to hold them back. He was putting up a good fight, but he was starting to get overwhelmed a bit. "Pikachu! Use thunderbolt on Malamar!"
Pikachu released a thunderbolt upwards as Malamar easily avoided it. The overturning Pokemon teleported to Ash, grabbing him with his fins.
"Nice try. But if y-" Malamar was interrupted by Pikachu who knocked him back with an iron tail to the head. "Oof!"
"You talk too much! Electroweb!" Pikachu let out his electroweb as it encased Malamar in, shocking him in the process. Malamar broke free from this by using Darkrai's phasing ability. He then charged up a dragon pulse, ready to blast the two.
"Thunderbolt!" Both the pulse and bolt met as they cancelled each other out. Smoke was in Malamar's way, blocking his sight of them. Sceptile had managed to push Luna back but was struggling against Celestia. Celestia's attacks were starting to wittle down. The hypnosis was losing its strength.
"Where are you, boy?" Malamar said looking for Ash in the smoke.
"Right here!" Ash revealed himself as he was holding Sceptile's Pokeball, making Malamar think he was going to catch him and that it was just unused pokeball. Malamar had used psychic to stop Ash from apparently capturing him.
"Hah. Capture me? Like I'd let you."
"Heh. I'm just the diversion."
"Hm?" Malamar turned around as was met with a devastating thunderbolt. This time Pikachu didn't stop firing it as it was left to shock Malamar. Malamar screamed as Ash was dropped. Luna had broken free of the hypnosis first, regaining her consiousness.
"Where are we?" She said, holding her head in confusion.
Celestia was next as she also managed to break free from the hypnosis, giving Sceptile time to breathe.
"Finally. We broke free. Thank you Ash."
"No problem, Celestia!"
"We can take Malamar from here."
"But what if he controls you two again?"
"He only managed to control us because he put us in a deep sleep and then had some sort of hypnosis to control us. We won't let that happen again." Malamar had recovered from the thunderbolt, still feeling the jolts from it though.
"How frustrating!" With his anger building up, he whacked Pikachu away with his sharp fins as Sceptile caught Pikachu. "You are all botching my plans! Get lost!" Malamar began firing a frantic dragon pulse as it was going all over the place with no sense of direction. The castle was falling apart due to all of this. The paitings on the walls were being destroyed as well. Malamar had lost his cool.
"Sister! To the Elements!" Celestia pushed Malamar back as the two sisters flew off to find and retrieve the Elements of Harmony.
Twilight and the gang had kept moving on as they had finally found the main entrace to the chamber. Deep below the castle.
"Everypony's in there for sure." Rainbow Dash said.
"Stand back ya'll." Applejack turned around as she bucked the door down with ease. Once that door was kicked down, the first thing they saw were ponies who were under Malamar's control as well. They were mindlessly walking out of the chamber, obviously off to do Malamar's bidding.
"What is this?!" Rarity screamed.
"Malamar's got them ALL under his control!" Rainbow replied. The swarm of ponies had budged past the girls and spike like they weren't even there, pushing them aside in the process.
"Their minds are completely devoid of thought. I don't think they're strong enough to fight it off like Celestia and Luna." Twilight explained to them.
"Well then how are we gonna get them out of that hypnosis stuff?" Spike asked. The ponies all walked up the stairs in unison with no signs of stopping at all costs. However, surprising to not just them but the mane 6 as well, they could feel everything falling apart. Malamar's rage was tearing the castle into pieces one by one.
"It sounds like insanity up there." Rarity said as small debris were falling from above.
"We can't stay around here for too long! We'll have to carry everypony out in the meanwhile!" Twilight said, preparing to user her magic. However even she couldn't teleport that many ponies out.
"No way Twilight! Thats one too many to teleport! We gotta find another way!" Rainbow Dash stopped here. Just then, from above, a huge hole was created by the dragon pulse above them everypony. And from above, fell Sceptile who managed to save himself by using a vine to grab onto the edge.
All the way at the top, the frustrated Malamar was still letting loose.
"This dragon pulse is gonna bring the entire place down! And that means Twilight and everypony else will be crushed!"
"As they deserve to be! It won't be too much of a loss. I'll just find another population of ponies to ensalve. The ones here are just dust in the wind! Along with you and troublesome pokemon!"
Celestia and Luna opened the chest that contained the elements of harmony... however one was missing. The element of magic. The one that Malamar had stolen and had made the base for his crown.
"The Element of Magic.. Its gone!" Luna said as both her and her sister were shocked to find out that there were only 5.
"Then the 6th one is.." Celestia turned around, noticing that the crown that Malamar had was similar to the Element of Magic's crown. Only difference being is that the base of the crown has dragon scales all over it. "So that explains a few things. Luna. We have to get that crown of off him. Before he realises just how powerful it can really be with the other elements." Her sister nodded in response. The new plan was to remove the corrupt crown.
Malamar spun around as his sharp fins were cutting apart the walls itself. Ash had protected Pikachu and the still injured Staraptor from getting hit by the debris as Malamar saw this as an oppurtunity to strike. However, that was promptly stopped by Celestia and Luna restraining the dark psychic pokemon.
"Accursed Princesses!" He yelled out in anger, trying to break free from the magic.
"Ash! Help us get that crown off of him!" Luna yelled.
"The crown.." Ash looked at the crown on Malamar's head. Knowing what he must do. "Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Pikachu jumped up, swinging its iron tail towards the crown. It landed however it wasn't enough to get it off. However, the iron tail managed to leave a crack in the crown, which actually helped a lot. The mind control on the ponies on the lower ground was dwindling due to the crown being damaged and Malamar's hypnosis wearing off due to how much he's being weakened during the battle.
"No good! Sceptile! Leaf Blade! Pikachu! Iron Tail!" Sceptile jumped back up from the hole as both him and Pikachu struck their two up close and personal attacks onto the crown. Celestia and Luna kept holding Malamar there, not letting for one second. Malamar couldn't phase through it with Darkrai's dna since the magic wasn't physical. Pikachu and Sceptile kept attacking the crown, breakign it apart. The hard scales of the dragon fang made it a durable thing, but thanks to Iron Tail it could dent it.
"This can't be happening! I won't allow it!" Malamar began focusing as hard as he could, sending a pulse of darkness around the magic field he was contained in. It pushed the two alicorns back a bit but not by much, but it did push Pikachu and Sceptile back more.
Twilight and the gang saw the battle from the hole upstairs, seeing how much they were all struggling to stop Malamar.
"We don't have much time! Everypony still won't move fast enough!" Twilight was beginning to panic. She didn't want the ponies of Canterlot to be crushed underneath all the rubble, but the hypnosis made them as slow as a turtle. But what they didn't know was that the crown being damaged meant that the hypnosis was wearing off. And like that.. a few ponies actually managed to be freed of the hypnosis.
"Oh my.. what was I doing?" A unicorn said.
"I don't remember a thing... are we in the castle right now?" Another unicorn retorted.
"They're breaking free of the hypnosis.. Its wearing off!" Fluttershy said with a smile on her face. They could all feel the shaking and rumbling of the conflict upstairs as they took a minute to realise where they really are.
"Everything is falling apart! Run!" The ponies who were free of hypnosis ran off, aiming to get out of here as fast as they can. And with one final hit from Iron Tail and Leaf Blade, the crown had not only been knocked off, but it was split in half too.
"NO!" Malamar yelled in anger as the crown dropped the ground. Celestia quickly picked up the crown as she saw the damage done to it.
"Its been damaged. But the gem inside is still intact. That's all that matters." Luna let Malamar down as the 6 elements surrounded the two sisters. Malamar turned around to see the circling elements obviously saying that his doom was upon him.
"I won't go down like this!" Malamar used the rest of his own strength by using psychic on the element of kindness, sending it aside.
"You dirty little-" Luna's eyes twitched on how cheap Malamar played.
"I don't play fair, missy! Dark types never play fair!" And with a mighty dark pulse he dealt the finishing blow to the castle as it finally all came crashing down. Luckily most ponies who had broken free of the mind control had escaped out into the city, so no one underneath was hurt. Celestia and Luna flew up, avoiding the tumbling castle as Ash held onto Pikachu and Staraptor and Sceptile holding them close. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack and Spike had escaped but Twilight was the last one behind.
"Hurry Twilight!" Rainbow cried out. Where Twilight was standing had been demolished, as the purple pony fell from atop. She began screaming as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy attempted to fly in and save her. But there was too much in their way. All the huge debris falling from above was blocking them from their friend.
"TWILIGHT!" Ash saw this as he jumped down to risk his own life just to save a friend. All the ponies gasped at this as Pikachu's eyes widened. Ash caught Twilight luckily but they were still falling down.
"ASH YOU IDIOT!" Twilight yelled at him.
"I can't let a friend go down like this!" He replied. To save both their friends, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gave it more than just 100%. Everypony moved away from the huge falling debris that crashed on the ground as Rainbow charged through the rubble just to reach them. Staraptor had recovered to a good enough state to fly downwards to save his trainer. Sceptile held Pikachu close with his vines as Malamar just watched this ensue. He began laughing, knowing that two potential threats would be gone from this world forever.
"Haha! Serves you right!"
What he didn't know was that Celestia and Luna had already retrieved the element of kindness back and had fully charged up all the magic. And with one single shot, they fired the signature rainbow beam towards Malamar. Malamar turned around, noticing the light, however he couldn't react fast enough. And with that, the elements struck him.
"NOOOOOOOO! Ma-MALAMAR!" Malamar screamed in defeat. The only thing he could say was his pokemon name since the leftover power of the crown had faded away. His entire body turned to stone completely. He fell into a lake, with his stone body sinking deep down. That was Malamar's defeat.
As Ash held Twilight close, Rainbow and Fluttershy managed to save them both along with Staraptor who knocked away any debris from hitting them with close combat.
"Staraptor!"
"Fluttershy! Rainbow!" Saved. They landed down safely on the ground with no harm being done. And with that.. Disaster Averted.
"Everypony began cheering in joy as all that chaos was finally over. Ash let out a sigh of relief along with Twilight. Pikachu ran towards his trainer, giving him a hug as he was so glad he was okay and not smushed on the ground.
"That was risky Ash!" Twilight yelled at Ash, giving him mouth for that crazy stunt he did.
"Heh. I've done worse. Besides. I couldn't let you fall ya know."
"Oh you.."
"I'm just glad its all over!" Rarity hugged Twilight along with Spike and the rest of the girls. Staraptor joined in on the friendly hug as Sceptile just stood back and watched. Celestia and Luna decided to come down and congratulate them all for helping save Canterlot. Even if most of the castle has been absolutely obliterated. Everypony bowed down to them, respecting their presence.
"Ash Ketchum. Twilight Sparkle. All of you. Against all odds you helped prevent the mad conquering of not just our world but other worlds by stopping Malamar. Not only that, but Ash. You showed a selfless act by putting your own life on the line just to save a friend."
"Ah geez. Thanks. But ya know you helped too. Defeating Malamar and all." Ash retorted.
"Hehh. Yeah we did." Celestia and Luna got a bit cocky since they were proud that they dealt the finishing blow on Malamar. But they had every right to be.
"I'm just glad everypony's safe and sound from all of this." Fluttershy said.
"And I'm sorry if my world has guys like that around, Celestia and Luna."
"You don't have to apologise for anything Ash. There will always be darkness around every corner. No world is perfect and pure. But isn't that why we're here to help and save others?" Celestia said to brighten his and everypony's spirits up. Everypony nodded in response to this.
"Now then. A celebration is needed don't you think Pinkie Pie?" Luna said to Pinkie.
"Of course! We'll make it huge! But uh..one problem." Pinkie pointed at the now destroyed Canterlot Castle.
"Oh right." Luna replied.
"No need to worry! We still have Ponyville don't we?"
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed with his partner.
"Of course. A celebration in Ponyville it is then!" Everypony cheered on as it all finally came to an end.
Hours passed as the party in Ponyville was going well. Celestia looked over the gateway from this world and the pokemon. Curious. Ash and Pikachu walked out to see her looking in the distance.
"Ash. Pikachu."
"Yeah Celestia?"
"If I may.. hope I'm not being a bother. I want to see your world."
"Really?!"
"Yes. A whole new world is just waiting across that rift. I may be a princess.. but I love to have fun too."
"Well of course! You can visit our world any time! You'll love it!"
"PIka-Pikachu!"
"Thank you Ash. And thank you for helping save everypony else."
"No problem. To be honest, compared to the other things I've saved, this is just as dangerous as saving my universe. Well almost as dangerous."
"Universe?" Celestia said, confused. And from above, came Arceus.
"That is correct. Ash here has saved the world countless of times. He and his friends have gone through so much to protect and save the world they love. Including helping save me.. which save all of our existence from being wiped out." Arceus explained.
"Oh so we have a real veteran on world saving now do we?" Celestia nudged Ash. "You know I've done my fair share of world saving here and there. I should tell you about the time me and Luna stopped Discord."
"I can see you are all fine. I just came here to tell you that Palkia senses when the rift's next actions will take place."
"Palika? The alicorn asked.
"Palkia's the creator and guardian of space. It's his job to know stuff like this." Ash explained to her.
"Palkia senses that the rift will cause trouble in 8 days. Be careful all of you."
"We shall. Thank you Arceus." Celestia, Ash and Pikachu bid farewell to Arceus who left via wormhole to his realm. "Now then Ash. Mind telling me about this certain Pokemon called Milotic? I've been hearing a lot about it from ponies who apparently saw it."
"Oh Milotic? Well lets see.." As they went back to the party, talking away the Malamar event comes to an end.
On the other side.. the Pokemon World.
There sits the Swords of Justice, looking for a certain Pokemon who had just gone missing.
"Where is he..? He just up and left." Virizion said. The pokemon in particular was Keldeo. Who had ventured off. Apparently sensing a familiar presence nearby. An old friend.
Chapter 15 END