The current situation had intensified.
Surrounded by Team Plasma grunts and the high ranking Shadow Triad, Ash and Hollow's mission to save Cold Colt was a struggle. But it wasn't for nothing. They had managed to shut off all of the power and electricity in the Harmonia Kingdom and the Swords of Justice had freed the ponies of Saddle-Arabia. Now all that was left was to get their pony friend back and high tail it out of here.
"I can't get too caught up in a battle right now. I have a friend to save. Dragonite. Chase after Hydreigon and get Cold Colt back. The rest of us can handle this." Ash commented. His Pokemon nodded in understanding, as the Dragon Pokemon took the skies, heading back to the castle to save the young pony.
"So, you're Ash Ketchum? I find it hard to believe that he's one of the people that stopped Lord Ghetsis long ago. He looks like just an average boy to me." The left Shadow said.
"Heh. Believe it. N, Iris, Cilan and my friends totally got the best of Ghetsis. And I'd be glad to do it again here." Ash smirked.
"Ash. Don't get all caught up in this, or you'll be too distracted," said Hollow.
"I know. I'm not thinking of battling right now. I just want to take my friend back home and carry on having fun. I know Dragonite wants that too."
Speaking of Dragonite, it had entered the castle, chasing down Hydreigon. The Brutal Pokemon was easy to find since it was heading back to its trainer, Ghetsis. Dragonite tracked it down easily, immediately attacking its fellow Dragon-Type. Hydreigon had dropped the young pony from its mouth hands as Cold Colt rolled on the floor.
"Ow!" He placed his hoof on his back in pain. The young pony was finally free...again. But he had to get a move on if he wanted to be free for good and not get snatched up by Team Plasma again. Whilst Dragonite took care of Hydreigon, he made a run for it. This was actually his best chance. With the Shadow Triad and Team Plasma distracted with Ash and Hollow, Cold Colt had a chance to get out of here. But the castle was a bit too big for a little pony for him to navigate in. "Finally. Whew." He sat down at the nearest corner, taking a small rest. "This universal travel and Pokemon stuff are too much for me to handle. Now how do I get out here quicker? I can't jump through those walls...I don't have wings."
"You won't need to." A familiar voice called for Cold Colt. The young unicorn turned around to see an old accomplice there. Emerald Aura had shown up. "Hey, squirt."
"Emerald? Aw, don't tell me you're teaming up with them?" Cold Colt groaned.
"No way. Ghetsis is way too intense for me. I'm just here to get you back to Ponyville."
"Wait...you're here to...rescue me? Seriously?" Cold Colt put his hoof on his chest. "Why would you want to save me?"
"Well...I kinda feel sorry for you. Just a bit. You seemed pretty happy at Ponyville. And to be honest, it's kind of a nice feeling seeing someone be happy with others. Not that I care anyways." She scoffed
"Oh. So you see me as a friend then?"
"A friend? As if. We're acquaintances. Nothing more. So don't get it twisted." Emerald turned her head as Cold Colt noticed.
"Hah! That means you do see me as a friend a bit! You're a softie deep down!" Cold Colt extended his hoof at her. The emerald whacked him in the head with her hoof. "Ow!"
"Let's just get you out of here. This place is too hectic." Indeed it was. The sounds and tremors of two Dragon-Types going at it could be felt around the castle. "Hold on to me." Emerald extended her hoof, ready to teleport Cold Colt away from here. But, familiar magic had prevented it by shocking Emerald's hoof. "Ow! Who the-?"
"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" Obsidian walked up to them.
"Obsidian? Now is not the time for this!" Emerald exclaimed.
"Emerald! You're not supposed to be the one who frees him! He's supposed to be saved by everyone else! Like a human or pony! This isn't your role!"
"Role? Who cares about roles at this point? I've just been following you around because you keep dragging me into your crazy antics! I don't even know what my point is anymore!"
"Uh, duh. You're the same as me. We're supposed to play the villains. We're the ones who cause events to occur so the Rift has something to enjoy. That's our role. As for him. He kinda just fell flat." Obsidian turned to Cold Colt.
"Hey! I only fell flat because everypony actually cares about me. I've only been created for a few months and I've already experienced some compassion. Unlike you."
"Pssh. Yeah right. The only reason why you're in Ponyville is that you're attracted to Apple Bloom. Well news flash, pal. If you've forgotten, let me refresh your memory. Once the worlds return to normal...we cease to exist." The words that Obsidian spouted made the young unicorn's heart sink. "Yeah. Forgot huh? We're just cosmic creations meant to fill specific roles. We aren't even meant to exist. So the moment all worlds return to normal, you're relationship with Ponyville will cease to exist, along with us. Harsh truth ain't?"
"S-So. I'll never exist again." Cold Colt looked down on the floor. Realising that the relationships and memories he's made with everypony that actually give him happiness and joy, despite how short they are, will vanish from history as a whole. And so will he. The thought of it terrified him. Just suddenly ceasing to exist was enough to mortify the young pony. Emerald looked back at Cold Colt, seeing how terrified he was. It was at this moment that Emerald's empathy increased. Slowly but surely, her heart was matching that of a kind-hearted individual.
"Anyways. There are more Rift ponies that are coming by soon. The Rift will plant them in a month or two. Stakes are gonna reach an all-time high with them. And if that's no good then maybe those Rift humans can do something, I don't know." Obsidian shrugged. "Now. Let's book it and let the good guys solve it themselves."
"So. There's more than one of you." That's when a voice that none of them hoped to hear had reached them. All 3 Rift ponies turned their attention to the voice. Standing there was Ghetsis himself. And with that smirk on his face, that meant that he was up to something.
"G-Ghetsis!" Both Emerald and Cold Colt said.
"Excellent. This actually creates easier situations for me. Now that I know that there are more than one of you cosmic ponies, I have the wondrous opportunity to accelerate my Planewalking abilities even higher!" Ghetsis chuckled, walking towards them. Emerald got in front of Cold Colt, protecting her the same way Twilight protected him back at PokePark. "Now. I assume you two are vastly superior in magic than the child."
"Yeah, I'm not up for this. Peace." Obsidian was about to teleport himself away, but to his dismay, Ghetsis had halted him via his aura. Ghetsis grabbed onto Obsidian's horn, filling his body with Aura as was blocking out the cosmic energy. "Hey! L-Let go!"
"You already show much more promise than the blue one. You will be an excellent vessel for Planewalking." Ghetsis's Aura wasn't just blocking the cosmic energy from Obsidian, it was even blocking Emerald's. She was attempting to transport away from here with Cold Colt, but the emanation of Aura was interfering. Soon, Ghetsis had managed to render Obsidian unconscious by sending a pulse of Aura through his body. And with ease as well. "Your turn." He tossed the unconscious pony aside, walking towards his next victim.
Emerald knew that she was no match for Ghetsis who was brimming with Aura. Not at all. Her only option right now was to ensure that Cold Colt was able to escape from here. So she was actually willing to give herself for his protection. Before Ghetsis could grab her, she used her magic to grab Cold Colt, launching him to a far distance. She felt Ghetsis's hand grab onto her neck. Now she was in his possession. The young unicorn looked back to see Emerald being knocked out as he began to gallop. No time to sightsee. Ghetsis now had two ponies who had heaps of cosmic energy that was flowing within them.
"This doesn't mean you're going anywhere. You are still an essential reservoir for Planewalking." Ghetsis sent out his Toxicroak to catch the young pony. "Grab him." His Toxicroak immediately dashed forward, outspeeding Cold Colt. Before he knew it, the little unicorn had been grabbed by the Toxic Mouth Pokemon, once again being in Ghetsis's clutches.
On the outside, most of Team Plasma's grunts had been defeated. They didn't really stand a chance against two elite trainers and the Swords of Justice. But the Shadow Triad was another story. Delphox had been knocked to the ground by Accelgor. The Shadow Triad were proving to be a major obstacle for them.
"Bisharp. Night Slash!"
"Pikachu! Iron Tail!"
Both attacks met as they evened out in strength. The Shadow's Banette attempted to try and hold them in place with Psychic, however, Delphox interrupted with her own psychic prowess. There were two ongoing battles right now. The one on ground level, and the destructive one being caused by two dragon Pokemon. Hydreigon had blasted Dragonite out of the castle, sending the Dragon Pokemon flying. Dragonite quickly recovered and retaliated via a Hyper Beam that shot towards Hydreigon. The Brutal Pokemon flew away from the beam, however, Dragonite made to move its head so that the beam was chasing Hydreigon. The castle was coming apart as the rest of the grunts were evacuating.
"I have to get in there." Ash looked up at the castle. He realised that it would be difficult to battle against the Triad and save his friend at the same time. So he was leaving it all up to Hollow and the Swords of Justice for this one. "Hollow! Guys! Can you please handle this one? I have to make sure that Cold Colt's okay!"
"We'll let you have as much time as you want, Ash." Hollow nodded as did the swords.
"Awesome! Thanks!" Ash ran off with Pikachu, but the Shadows weren't going to let him just casually run in there. They attempted to stop him, but they failed to realise that Hollow and the others wouldn't just let them stop him. Terrakion had halted their movements by using Stone Edge in front of them. Whilst they keep the triad occupied, Ash and Pikachu made their way to the castle, which was pretty beat up and ruined thanks to Dragonite and Hydreigon. Ash decided to make his way to the top. Since that's where they were last time. As he and his buddy were running in the castle, they could feel it all come down. Huge chunks of rocks were falling from above, almost crushing them even. It wasn't long until the pillars that held the castle up would come crumbling down.
Ash's Dragonite was getting overwhelmed actually. Hydreigon and its vast arsenal of moves were proving to be difficult for it to handle. Dragonite was on the floor with the walls coming down on it. Hydreigon hovered over the Dragon Pokemon, claiming victory for itself. It was about to finish off Dragonite by unleashing a Dragon Pulse. Dragonite knew that it was in a tough spot right now. So to improvise, it took what Ash taught it back when he and Dragonite battled Korrina and her Lucario. Dragonite began using Dragon Dance by spinning around. Hydreigon didn't think too much of it, unleashing Dragon Pulse. It ended making contact, destroying this part of the castle in one go. But to the Brutal Pokemon's surprise, Dragonite was still standing. The spinning from Dragon Dance had protected it once more. Dragonite then returned the favour by flying at Hydreigon, using Dragon Claw on its fellow dragon. Hydreigon bit onto Dragonite's arms, holding on with sharp grip as it was dragging it with it. The stairs underneath them were being demolished by their rapid movements. Soon they ended up coming across Ash and Pikachu.
"Dragonite!" Ash exclaimed.
"Pikachu!"
Hydreigon tossed Dragonite aside, sending it to its trainer. Ash ran over to Dragonite, placing his hands on his fallen Pokemon. He and Pikachu looked up to see Hydreigon staring them down.
"Hydrei..." The Brutal Pokemon cackled.
"You've gone through a massive amount of trouble to get this one pony back, boy." Ghetsis had arrived to the scene, standing beside his Hydreigon. "The only real progress you've made was causing mass destruction and a power outage to my kingdom."
"I can do even better if you want." Ash replied. "I'll destroy everything even if means to save my friends."
"Predictable response from a child. The only destruction that will be occurring will be your precious ideologies of your pony friends and their Magic of Friendship nonsense. Once I conquer every universe, the only idealogy left will be mine! And with my Aura rising evermore, I will be able to transcend that of a normal human!"
"You have Aura?!" Ash pulled back.
"Oh? You know of it? Then you should also know how potent it can be. With just a single command, I can open up a gateway to another world. In fact..." Ghetsis put his hand out, opening up a gateway. "I'll trap you in this world forever! And there will be no way for you to escape!"
The gateway led to the world of Pyrestar which now belonged to Ghetsis. Ash realised that if he got stuck in there, he wasn't getting out. So there's only one thing left to do. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"
"No you don't!" Ghetsis pointed forward, sending his Hydreigon to grab Pikachu with its head mouths. Pikachu was caught by Hydreigon The Brutal Pokemon was ready to toss him into the gateway, trapping him there. "Say goodbye to your Pikachu!"
"No!" Ash took off from the ground, rushing in to save his buddy. He outstrecthed his arm, going for Pikachu's tail. Ghetsis wouldn't let that happen either. He extended his only arm forward, attempting to prevent Ash from saving Pikachu.
That's when the unimaginable happened.
Because both Ash and Ghetsis had opposing Aura's, and there was cosmic energy present in the form of the gateway Ghetsis formed, it caused a dilapidation. Both of their aura's bounced off each other and the gateway. The friction of this was so potent that it actually slowed down time for a small moment. That's when a pulse of aura blew the two of them back along with their Pokemon. A pulse so grand that it reached the outside, affecting even the Triad, Hollow and the Swords of Justice. The ponies of Saddle-Arabia were not safe from this at all. Even all of Equestria felt it. Not even just Equestria, but the entire world along with the Pokemon World. Celestia got a strange tingling sensation that made her uneasy. Arceus on the other hand knew what this meant. This pulse of aura had spread out so far that it was disrupting the gateway, controlling it in a way.
Hydreigon had fainted from this pulse, as did Pikachu. Ash and Ghetsis recovered, rubbing their eyes. What they saw next surprised them. The aura's had actually created more gateways to other worlds. But it wasn't just another group of gateways to alternate Equestria's. No.
These were gateways to other Pokemon worlds. Ash and Ghetsis were both shocked at the same time. Unsure of what to make of this. However, due to the erratic collision of both Aura's the gateways didn't last as they were closing. The last thing Ash saw were these two trainers. One who resembled his old rival Gary Oak and another who resembled him but wearing red instead. And thus, the gateways closed, even the ones on the outside.
"What was that?" Ash gasped.
"So. There are alternate worlds similar to ours, eh? Interesting." Ghetsis grinned. "Not only that, but you seem to possess a potent Aura as well, boy. Looks like I won't be using just the ponies this time."
"I don't get what happened. But I won't let you use me as well. None of my friends." Ash picked up Pikachu.
"We'll see." Ghetsis held out his Pokeball, ready to send out another Pokemon since Hydreigon had fainted.
"Quick Dragonite! Hyper Beam on the floor!" Ash gave off a risky command that even surprised Ghetsis. Dragonite unleashed a Hyper Beam, point blank on the floor. The impact caused an area of explosion that knocked Ghetsis far back. In fact, it made Ghetsis fall down deeper in the castle as the rubble beneath him was falling with him. Dragonite had shielded Ash by using its own body, saving its trainer.
"You brat!" Ghetsis exclaimed as he could no longer be seen once he entered the dim parts of the castle with the chunks of rubble blocking any sight of him. Ash quickly got on Dragonite's back, holding Pikachu close to him. It was time to leave. But not without his friend.
"Dragonite! Head on upwards!" Ash pointed up. Dragonite nodded, soaring onwards. The castle was finally reaching its breaking point. The Hyper Beam from Dragonite sealed the deal. Cold Colt and the other ponies were currently stuck, bound to the same table that Cold Colt was bound to with the same metal cuffs. The young pony was terrified as he could feel everything crumbling down. Emerald and Obsidian were still unconscious thanks to Ghetsis, so they couldn't transport away. He noticed that the ceiling was coming apart as well, ready to drop on him. That's when it gave out. The huge ceiling from above fell as the young unicorn lowered his head, mortified. But his fears were quickly erased by the arrival of Dragonite and Ash. The Dragon Pokemon grabbed Cold Colt, breaking through the ceiling like it was nothing, destroying it as well. It even got Cold Colt out of the cuffs just by its pull alone.
"Ash!" The young blue unicorn said with glee in his voice.
"You okay?"
"Yeah! Wait, Ash! Save Emerald!" Cold Colt aimed her hoof at Emerald.
"Huh? Really?"
"Please!"
"Alright. Dragonite! Dragon Claw!" Dragonite turned around, heading back to the room. It slashed the cuffs off Emerald, freeing her as well. Now she was along for the ride. "Use Dragon Claw on him too!" Ash suddenly decided to save Obsidian, which confused Cold Colt greatly. Dragonite freed Obsidian as well. Now all Rift ponies had been saved. And it was about time to actually get out of here.
Dragonite exited the castle as it had finally crumbled into billions of pieces, eliminating the entire Harmonia Castle.
Finally, Equestria had gotten the upper hoof on Ghetsis's kingdom. His castle had already come apart.
"Not good. We have to retreat for now." The Shadows realised that this had already gotten ugly enough, so it was time to retreat. They returned their Pokemon and as usual, they disappeared in an instant, moving at the same speed as a shadow. The Swords of Justice took some time to breathe as Keldeo sat down.
"Finally." Keldeo sighed. Did you get your friends back, Ash?
Dragonite landed down as Ash hopped off with the other ponies and his buddy. "Safe and sound. Man, that was close." Ash caught his breath, finally escaping from the ruined castle.
"What of Ghetsis?" Cobalion walked over to Ash. The second Cobalion even mentioned him, a burst of Aura erupted from the ground rubble, grabbing everyone's attention. There was Ghetsis, still standing along with his Hydreigon. Aura had protected him from. He didn't' even have a scratch on him.
"You brat!" Ghetsis exclaimed, stomping his foot. The Aura around his foot made the entire ground tremble. "How is that you have managed to ruin everything once more?!"
"I'm not just great at battling. But destroying stuff is my speciality too!" Ash grinned.
"Pika!" said the slightly recovered Pikachu.
Ghetsis wanted to obliterate them all so much right now. His rage had built up to an insurmountable degree. His Aura was enough to shatter steel due to his anger currently. But he realised that he had just lost one part of his kingdom. As much as he would love to take his revenge, with the current scenario and how he's outnumbered, the best option was to retreat and take revenge at another time.
"This isn't over, boy. I'll be back." Ghetsis summoned a gateway behind him. "Don't think this is your lucky break! This isn't over!" Ghetsis returned Hydreigon back to its Pokeball as he made a run for it, entering the world of Pyrestar where he had a spare kingdom. The gateway had closed as a moment of silence filled the atmosphere.
The ponies of Saddle-Arabia took a moment to realise what just happened. All that destruction, all that chaos actually led to their entire home being set free. Ghetsis and Team Plasma had been pushed back and their home had returned to them. All they could do was let out a sigh of relief and cheer. Cheering for the Swords of Justice, Hollow, Ash and their Pokemon.
"Phew. That was a bit aggressive." Hollow sighed. He and Ash sat down as they finally finished this rescue mission. All that was left on Ash's mind was Emerald and Obsidian.
"Cold. What do you want to do with these two?" Ash asked.
"Cold? I like that nickname. And uh... I want you to leave Emerald alone if that's cool with you. She's actually really nice to me. Even if she doesn't show it...I don't know about Obsidian though. He's gonna escape anyways."
"Y-You're right I am..." Obsidian had woken up, no longer unconscious. "Hehe. The good guys ended up doing the saving instead like it was meant to be." He chuckled, holding his head. "My work here's done. Sayanora...suckers." Obsidian smirked as is body rippled away, disappearing to who knows where.
"There he goes. Ugh. I need a nap." The young pony fell on the ground, tired and exhausted. They all were. Even the swords. Ash and Hollow had completed their mission. It was a wild one, but it was a success.
The ponies of Saddle-Arabia decided to throw a party to thank the heroes that ended up freeing them from Ghetsis and Team Plasma. Their entire home may be a bit ruined, but they still had the essentials to throw a party the way they know-how. Ash couldn't stop thinking about what he saw back there. The gateways that revealed multiple alternate versions of his world instead. The two trainers who reminded him of Gary and himself couldn't escape his mind. He was wondering. Are there other world's where he's a completely different person? The thought was just filling his head. Pikachu ran up to him, clearing his buddy's mind of any of those doubts. He decided that now was a good time to head home and get some rest.
He deserved it.
Chapter 128 End!