Manehattan.
Currently the unfortunate victim of a Nihilego attack. The Parasite Pokemon had managed to seep its poison into most of the ponies here, causing them to turn violent in one night. Due to the violent poison infecting them all, Manehattan had become a bit of a destructive and negative zone. If you even dared set hoof in it, chances are, you'll be met with carnage.
Nihilego's poison can make anyone act savage and ruthless. As if they were wild creatures going on a rampage. This was because the poison makes your body squirm with unbearable pain. And it is that exact pain that causes them to turn violent. The actions they cause is nothing more than them trying to get rid of the pain. But clearly, that wasn't enough. What they needed was something that could heal the poison.
Adagio at the moment was loving this. All this negativity, this hostility that filled the city was practically a gourmet feast for her.
"This is incredible! I didn't even have to do anything for this! This Pokemon thing isn't so bad." Adagio was being fueled by all this chaos and carnage. The magic within her was overflowing to an overwhelming degree. Not even her mother or the other sirens could ever hope to cause this much negativity. If anything, Nihilego had beaten the sirens in their own game.
She took a little stroll along the streets of Manehattan, avoiding the destruction that filled the streets. Everywhere you looked, windows were broken, bags were thrown all over the place with all their items flying out, violent ponies chasing down other ponies who haven't been infected by Nihilego and some Pokemon just acting savage and aggressive, climbing up buildings or tearing things apart.
"When Ghetsis gets here...I can already tell he'll establish his rule here in a second."
Adagio's Kricketot peeked out of her mane, seeing the entire carnage for itself. The sight of it was enough to terrify the small Cricket Pokemon, forcing it back inside Adagio's huge and playful mane. But this carnage wouldn't last forever.
Along came Twilight and her friends with the cure. In the form of Fluttershy's Audino, who had the move Refresh. The answer to this entire problem. Adagio spotted Twilight along with Starlight in the mix, anticipating their arrival.
"And of course, she'd be here with her rag-tag group." Adagio scoffed at Twilight's direction.
As for the girls, they had no idea what to make of this. Nihilego had left an impact on Manehattan. The entire city was coming apart with destruction following everywhere. The city almost had a post-apocalyptic appearance to it with all the cracked buildings.
"This is worse than I imagined." Twilight's jaw dropped with her eyes shifting across the city.
"They're tearing each other apart...Coco!" Rarity gasped, splitting from the group as she ran off.
"Rarity! Wait!" Twilight and the others attempted to chase after her, but they were separated from their unicorn friend via a violent Gurdurr who slammed its steel beam near them.
"Gurdurr!" Gurdurr was being affected by the unbearable pain of the poison. This pain only aggravated the Muscular Pokemon more, increasing its aggressiveness with each passing second.
"Sorry Gurdurr! Psybeam!" Twilight apologized to the Muscular Pokemon, having her Espeon take the Fighting-Type out in one hit. But a single Gurdurr wasn't all they had to look out for. After all, the Pokemon were all hostile. It didn't help that the ponies, whilst not as berserk as the Pokemon, definitely dealt some damage and attacked innocent bystanders as well. "Where's Rarity?!"
"I can't' see her!" Rainbow Dash attempted to fly up, but she was blocked by some attacking Swellow's. "Woah!" The pegasus had evaded the incoming Swellow's. Some of the Swellow's had crashed through the windows of buildings due to how fast they were moving.
"There's too many of them!" Starlight yelped, avoiding an incoming vase from afar. "How are we gonna cure them all if every last one of them are trying to tear each other apart?!"
"You won't!" Bellowing at Starlight's response was none other than Adagio herself, standing on top of some rubble. "You all aren't changing a thing here."
"Adagio!" Twilight turned her view towards the half-pony-half-siren who stood atop the rubble of Manehattan.
"Hello, Sparkle. And I see that Starlight is with you and your merry band of goody-two-shoes. What's the matter Glimmer? A slave to friendship as well?"
"That's enough, Adagio! Stop all of this!" Twilight commanded.
"Stop it? I didn't cause this. That Nihilego thing did. I'm just enjoying what it left behind." Adagio giggled. "And to be honest, if I had known there was a Pokemon that could do all of this, I would've caught an Ultra Beast as well."
"As well...does that mean?" Twilight feared the answer.
"Correct, Twilight Sparkle." Of all the worst possible times, he was here. Ghetsis. He had finally come face to face with them all. This was their first time meeting Ghetsis in person. And boy was he as intimidating as they made him out to be in the news. He had made his arrival to Manehattan due to the fact that he had his own plans for it, similar to Saddle-Arabia.
"G-Ghetsis..." Twilight stepped back along with her friends. Fluttershy hid behind Rainbow Dash, who was also coerced by Ghetsis, despite her bravery. Ghetsis was the last person they expected to come across today.
"Hello, my little ponies. So. You 6 are the ones that I have heard so much about. The Elements of Harmony as you're also known as."
"What are you doing here?" Twilight was the only one brave enough to speak to Ghetsis, but even she was shaken up. So shaken up that Horizon Storm could come out at any moment now.
"Is it not obvious? I'm here to take this city as well. Add it to the Harmonia Kingdom. But I can see you're here to try and stop me, aren't you?"
"Espeon..." Eve snarled at Ghetsis.
"We won't let you do what you did to Saddle-Arabia as well!"
"Will you now? Are you sure that all of you are capable of doing so? Look at you. You're quivering in fear from just my presence." Ghetsis pointed out some of their quaking hooves. "How do you expect to face me if you are constrained by my mere presence. And even my name."
"We-We're not scared..."
"Actually...we are." Applejack spoke.
"I already know enough about you all. And what you represent. Loyalty, Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness and Magic. All culminated together to create harmony...What a bunch of nonsense!" Ghetsis stabbed his staff on the ground.
"Hey! It's not nonsense!" Pinkie raised her head up from the ground. "They're 100% legit! And they've-"
"Silence." Ghetsis spoke, causing Pinkie Pie to cease her words. "I could care less about your Magic of Friendship. Honestly, it sounds like something a child would dream up. At least...that is what I would say. But so far, from what I've seen...you ponies have managed to weaponize friendship, turning it into a mighty force of power. I must say...that is impressive."
"We didn't weaponize friendship!" Twilight denied that.
"Oh. You haven't. But your other self has."
"Other...self?"
"Correct. Clearly, you haven't forgotten about my ability to travel between various universes, have you?" Ghetsis held his hand out, generating cosmic energy. "With this power at my disposal, I can travel to a multitude of universes, each with their own outcome and possibility. And I must say, from the ones I've seen so far...they disgust me. But there was one universe that caught my attention. A world where you reigned supreme." Ghetsis pointed at Twilight.
"M-Me...?"
"Oh, indeed. In that world, you've brilliantly established your rule as Empress over your entire world, becoming the definitive ruler. The entire planet...no...the cosmos bow to your very will. Anyone that stands in your way is rightfully punished and dealt with without a single ounce of forgiveness. A perfect display of authority. And the most surprising part of it all, you managed to achieve this with friendship. By weaponizing it into pure power. Witnessing that, your alternate self and I rightfully formed an alliance due to our goals being similar."
"It disgusts me that a second Twilight is on our side...but she's far better than you." Adagio smirked.
"You're lying!" Applejack yelled.
"Not at all. Perhaps it would be best if I showed you." Ghetsis outstretched his arm out. Using his Aura, he gave the ponies a projection of what the alternate Twilight appeared to look like.
And there she was. Empress Twilight Sparkle.
The sight of her reminded Twilight of what she saw back at the Pokemon Festival at the last moment before the portals had all closed. It was indeed true. Ghetsis was being honest. There was a universe where Twilight had become a tyrannical empress that ruled over all of Equestria.
"I could say that this is you at your very best."
"T-That can't be right." Twilight shook her head.
"Hard to accept, isn't it? Don't worry. You won't have to wait in order to accept it. Because you'll be apart of all of this. If I can weaponize this world's friendship...then I will have access to yet another amazing power on my side. But before that...I suppose I'll have to start what I came here to do." Ghetsis held out a Beast Ball. A Pokeball that was unseen to everypony here. Out of the ball came another Ultra Beast. This time, it was a parallel to another Ultra Beast. It goes by the codename UB-02 Beauty. Otherwise known as Pheromosa.
"What Ultra Beast is that?!" Rainbow held out her dex.
"Pheromosa. The Lissome Pokemon. One of the Ultra Beasts. A life-form that lives in another world, its body is thin and supple, but it also possesses great power. Get too close and you'll feel the force a locomotive attack you with its ground-shattering kicks. It has been spotted running across the land at terrific speeds. It refuses to touch anything, perhaps because it senses some uncleanness in this world. Although it’s alien to this world and a great danger here, it’s apparently a common organism in the world where it normally lives."
"I'll leave you to it, Pheromosa. Go wild and do whatever you want. But make sure that you keep the ponies alive. How else will I weaponize their friendship?"
"I'll be leaving then. Buh-bye." Adagio cackled, walking off to fuel herself more whilst Ghetsis stayed behind.
"Mosa." Pheromosa stomped its feet on the ground, intimidating the ponies and their Pokemon.
"What do we do? Rarity's somewhere in all this mess." Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't-" Without any warning, Twilight's sentence had been cut off in an instant. Pheromosa had moved at jaw-dropping speeds, coming face to face with the young alicorn. Twilight hadn't seen her arrive yet nor did she feel her presence. But what she did feel was a swift kick to the face, sending the Princess of Friendship across the streets.
"TWILIGHT!" Her friends yelled, shocked at what they had just witnessed.
"Phero!" Pheromosa was a Pokemon that didn't waste time at all. If it wanted to get rid of you, it will get rid of without hesitation. The Lissome Pokemon stamped its feet on Starlight's back, forcing her onto the ground. Faster
"Sta-" Fluttershy was met with lightning-fast Triple Kick, causing the pegasus to rocket all the way into a pile of rubble. Fluttershy felt the hard rubble make contact with her body, causing a few of her bones to take damage. Pheromosa had shifted its head, aiming for its next target.
None of the Pokemon could even react fast enough to spot Pheromosa's movements. Soon, Pheromosa had attacked them as well. Treecko attempted to fire a Dragonbreath her way, but all that he saw was a blur. From above, Pheromosa had stepped on his head, knocking the Wood Gecko Pokemon out.
"Espeon!" The Sun Pokemon took out all her anger towards Pheromosa. She clearly wasn't happy about what happened to her trainer. A Psybeam was sent towards UB-01. But yet again, the speed was too insane to keep track of. And soon, Eve had been taken out in one hit from a single kick. Pheromsa's kicks were no joke. Once you get hit by them, you will without a doubt feel the impact, no matter what.
Rainbow Dash was fast enough to see the next move coming, so she purposely tackled Pinkie Pie out of the way since that's who Pheromosa was aiming for next. It was a lucky save. Pheromosa almost struck its feet on Pinkie Pie's face, cleaving the rocks behind her.
"That's enough from you! Braviary!" Rainbow Dash quickly sent out Braviary to fend off the lightning-fast Ultra Beast.
"Braviary!" Braviary spread his wings out, letting out a battle cry. The others had run over to both Fluttershy and Twilight's side, hoping that they were alright. Both had taken heavy damage thanks to Pheromosa.
Both Twilight and Fluttershy's face had been bruised from the Pheromosa's devastating kicks. They had never felt something like that before in their entire life. The kicks were so vicious that they almost made both of them pass out from injury.
"You're gonna pay! Braviary! Brave Bird!"
"Braviary!" The Valiant Pokemon had surrounded itself in Brave Energy, planning to take Pheromosa out in one hit.
But the Lissome Pokemon was prepared for this. It had a certain move that could fend off Braviary's super-effective moves. Braviary had bolted at its opponent, thinking that it was about to be a clear hit.
"Pher!" Pheromosa gave Braviary a fake-out. It had the move Electroweb in its possession, just for the Normal-Flying-Type. Sparks of lightning filled the Lissome Pokemon's, indicating that it was ready to fire.
"Look out, Braviary! Fly up!"
Bingo. That's what Pheromosa was betting on. Braviary had flown up in order to elude Electroweb, believing that Pheromosa would unleash it at him. But in reality, its actual target was Rainbow Dash. The Bug-Fighting-Type dashed over to the multi-coloured mane mare, throwing her off guard. Before she knew it, Rainbow Dash felt a stomp on her back. Pheromosa had stamped its feet on Rainbow Dash's back, forcing her to the ground.
"Brav?!" Braviary gasped, seeing her trainer being stepped on by the Ultra Beast.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she held up Fluttershy.
"G-Get off of me!" Rainbow Dash strained. But the more she struggled, the more Pheromosa stomped on her, writhing and twisting its feet on her back.
"Braviary!" The Valiant Pokemon was prepared to save its trainer by charging straight at Pheromosa with Brave Bird.
However, Pheromosa was cunning enough to expect this. So as a threat, the Lissome Pokemon had threatened to shatter Rainbow Dash's neck if Braviary made any sudden movements. Her foot was right there as well. So at any moment, with the right amount of force, that could be it for Rainbow Dash. Braviary had no choice but to cease his attack, fearing that she might end his trainer if he even dares tries anything. Even Pinkie and the others were stopped from trying anything.
"Phero..." The Ultra Beast had them both right where she wanted them. She kicked Rainbow Dash over to Braviary, causing her to crash into the Valiant Pokemon. "Mosa!" As if that wasn't enough, she sent down an Electroweb to the both of them, trapping the trainer and Pokemon duo. All according to her plan.
"Braviary!" Braviary attempted to break free, but Pheromosa sent out a second electroweb, stacking the two nets of volts. The ruthlessness this Pokemon had was unreal.
"Leave them alone!" Pinkie sent out her Spinda. "Spinda! Secret Power!"
"Spin-" Not a chance. Pheromosa kicked the Spot Panda Pokemon its cute adorable face, sending it into the sky as a result. It wasn't going to let a single one of them get the chance to lay a hoof on it. The Ultra Beast appeared behind Pinkie Pie, stomping its feet on her tail.
"Hey! Ge-" Once again, Pheromosa's ruthlessness kicked in. She shut Pinkie Pie up by using Triple Kick on her face. Pinkie was left flabbergasted by this. The impact given to her face was enough to evoke her mind to go numb for a bit.
"Pi-" And poor Applejack was unfortunately struck as well. If anything, she got the worst of it. Pheromosa had instead targeted her neck, aiming for throat. Applejack gasped. Her entire voice had been cut off by the sheer force of Pheromosa's kicks. Applejack, at this very point in time, at this very moment, could no longer speak. And to add insult to injury, Pheromosa gave a slap to her face with a kick, knocking the farm pony out.
Every last one of them had been taken out by a single Ultra Beast. They could barely do anything due to the staggering speed it wielded. Their wings had been damaged, their voices lost, their minds numb, their backs aching. Pheromosa had proven the huge power gap between them.
"Phero."
"C-Can't...M-Move..." Twilight groaned, trying to get back up.
Castform flew out of Rainbow Dash's saddlebag, terrified of Pheromosa. It had seen its trainer badly injured along with its teammate. What's worse was that they were encased within a double-layered Electroweb, eliminating any escape.
Ghetsis walked over to the defeated ponies, looking down at each of them. Honestly, he was disappointed that they were taken out so easily. He expected more from the ponies who are oh-so-popular across Equestria.
"Pathetic." Ghetsis slammed his staff near Twilight's head. "This is the best you can do? Then again. What did I expect from children who are still new to Pokemon?" Ghetsis had grabbed Twilight by her neck, raising the young alicorn up in the air. "But perhaps when I turn your friendship into power, you will all live up to your expectations."
"Gh..." Twilight groaned, attempting to break free from Ghetsis's clutches.
"Don't worry. I'll leave it up to your alternate self. She seems to understand this friendship concept better than me anyways...Pheromosa."
"Phero."
"Grab the others."
"Mosa." Pheromosa took Ghetsis's orders, heading towards Pinkie Pie and Applejack. It seemed like this was the end. They had been defeated easily in a few minutes by one beast. The Lissome Pokemon came close to grabbing the two Earth Ponies until...
From the corner of its eye, The Ultra Beast had pulled its hands back, avoiding a lightning-fast slash. It looked to be from a sword. But that was because it was indeed a sword. Two swords.
Cobalion and Keldeo had arrived.
They heard the news of the carnage happening over at Manehattan. And as their duty as Swords of Justice, they rushed to the scene.
"Tch. You again." Ghetsis snarled at the swords whilst still holding Twilight.
"Unhand her." Cobalion ordered.
"You wish I would."
"Then, in that case, we'll force you." Cobalion readied his sword. "Keldeo."
"I'm on it!" The Colt Pokemon had unleashed water from his hooves, causing him to fly upwards into the air. The plan was to attack Ghetsis from above with Hydro Pump. Pheromosa clearly wasn't going to let that little plan play out. The Lissome Pokemon took the skies, prepared to take the Colt Pokemon out as well.
But, as they should all know by now, whenever one Sword of Justice is here, that means the others are nearby as well. Such as Virizion, who deterred Pheromosa's kicks with her sword. Virizion was known for her speed, so she was enough to keep with the Ultra Beast.
"Now, Keldeo!" Virizion gave Keldeo the opportunity to attack whilst she handles UB-02.
"Right!" Keldeo without hesitation had blasted Hydro Pump towards Ghetsis.
Ghetsis had attempted to block it by using an aura barrier, but that didn't last. Hydro Pump proved to be powerful enough to break right through it, causing the high pressure of water to hit the leader of Team Plasma directly.
Twilight had been dropped from Ghetsis's clutches, being saved by Terrakion who caught her on his back.
"I gotcha, princess!"
"Accursed swords!" Ghetsis roared. Pheromosa had been sent back to the ground by Virizion's exceptional strength, proving to also be a match for her.
All four Swords of Justice had gathered. Ready to defend and put an end to this carnage.
"Virizion and I shall handle that Pokemon. Keldeo. I can trust you and Terrakion to get these ponies to safety, correct?"
"You can count on us, Cobalion!" Keldeo nodded.
"Good. Now. Are you sure that you want to challenge us, Ghetsis?"
"Hmph. You just can't help getting in the way of my plans can you?" Ghetsis grabbed a hold of his staff. He and Cobalion had a staredown. Both their eyes clashing against each other. Ghetsis knew that with the Swords here, this complicates his plans further. So the best option was to let Pheromosa handle everything else whilst he heads back to Pyrestar's world in order to continue developing his plans. "Pheromosa. Destroy this entire city if you have to. Just get rid of those swords." Ghetsis summoned a portal behind it, walking through the cosmic gateway. It was all Pheromosa now.
"Phero!" The Lissome Pokemon got into a running stance, prepared to attack all four of them at the same time.
"All together now!" The Swords of Justice had each stayed firm on their hooves, anticipating Pheromosa's movements. "Now!" The four swords had each brought upon their swords at the exact same time. The combined efforts of the Sacred Sword was not only enough to block Pheromosa's attacks, but they were also powerful enough to damage the Lissome Pokemon's leg. Its greatest asset had been injured.
"Mosa?!"
"Gotcha!" Keldeo followed up by shooting a Hydro Pump as a continuation. The pump of high pressured water forced the Ultra Beast to tumble through some rubble.
"Time to go Keldeo!" Terrakion said as he picked up Applejack and the Fluttershy.
"Oh, right!" Keldeo followed his senior, picking up Rainbow Dash.
Twilight was losing consciousness along with her friends. This was similar to how things turned out with the Shadow Triad. But on a much worse level. The last thing Twilight saw was Cobalion and Virizion facing off against Pheromosa until her eyes had blacked out. Terrakion and Keldeo had carried them all to a safer spot, along with their Pokemon. As for Rarity, they were all still worried about her at the moment. But they were powerless to do anything. So for now, all they could do was let the Swords of Justice handle everything as the journey continues.
Chapter 192 End!