//------------------------------// // Separating Spirits // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Spiritomb's rampage continues. It was close to reaching its 108 spirit count. Once it did, its true power can be unleashed, causing it to cause as much chaos as it wants across the land. Now with many ponies from Ponyville inside of its body, its next location was none other than the ever-so-popular Canterlot. At Canterlot, Hollow had just come in for another usual Pokemon lesson. But he was completely unaware of the news regarding Spiritomb. "Afternoon, class. I've got some-" Hollow entered the room, holding a bag of various Pokeballs at his disposal. Once he entered the classroom, he noticed that the foals were in a bit of a petrified state. Some were even shaking in their hooves. All because Cadene had informed Celestia about the presence of Spiritomb and what it has currently done. "Hm? What's wrong? You kids okay?" "W-We're all okay here..." Sunrise squeed as his shaking was causing the chair he sat on to quake. "Mhm...There's nothing causing us to be terrified. Not at all." Sapphire had a wide grin on her face as fell off her chair. "Ow!" Dew Drops was more mortified than everypony else here. The news of Spiritomb travelled fast, Just fast enough for Celestia and Luna to inform all of Canterlot before Hollow got here. You can thank Pelipper for that. "Hm...Everyone's acting off today...First the citizens, the guards and now you all. What's going on here?" "Nothing at all! Let's learn!" A colt exclaimed as he stood up from his seat. "A-Alright...Uh...I was gonna continue off from yesterday. Learning more about certain Pokeballs. Cause there's a lot more to these little things." He placed the bag down, revealing many other Pokeballs of all kinds. "You all already know how most of these Pokeballs work right?" "Y-Yeah...The Quick Ball is the most effective for a first encounter, right?" Sapphire replied. "Right you are. They work extremely well when their first thrown. But after that, they just worse the more you throw em. So. How about today, I show you this?" Hollow held out two Pokeballs. The Friend Ball and the Luxury Ball. "Which Pokeballs are those?" Sunrise asked. "These are the Friend Ball and Luxury Ball. The Pokeballs that help you get closer to a Pokemon that you catch." "Get closer? A Pokeball like that exists? Isn't that cheating?" A filly wasn't too sure about this. "Not at all. Like the normal Pokeball, the inside is super comfortable. Almost like a hotel. The Pokeball changes mechanics inside to match the Pokemon inside. If I were to catch a huge Pokemon like Wailord, the inside of the ball would adjust itself to match the proper comfortable environment for Wailord." "Oooh...The Pokemon are so lucky to be inside something so comfortable!" A pony squeed. "Mhm. And the Friend Ball and Luxury Ball take that a step further. The Friend Ball helps ease anger and stress whilst the Luxury Ball helps to give the Pokemon some luxury inside. Both work the same in which your Pokemon will calm down. Works well on rowdy and aggressive Pokemon." "Wow...I guess it would work pretty well on the Spiritomb that's loose right now." A colt said. It took him a moment to realize that he had just bellowed the truth out of his mouth to the entire class, making Hollow aware. "A Spiritomb's loose?!" Hollow dropped the Luxury Ball. "That is indeed correct, Hollow." Standing alongside another Pokemon that lurks in the shadows was none other than Princess Luna who overheard the entire conversation. "I assume you know about this Spiritomb Pokemon, correct?" "Y-Yeah...Spiritomb's a serious Pokemon to be involved with. More so than most Pokemon. It's one of the very few Pokemon in the world that are inherently evil." "S-So it's an actual evil Pokemon?!" Sunrise hid under his desk. "Sadly, yeah. Spiritomb's are mostly formed in two ways. The first being the spirit of someone who caused an evil deed, forming into the body of a Spiritomb and absorbing other souls along the way. The second involved more than just one soul causing a horrible crime. The all 108 souls sealed inside the keystone would seek revenge." "So then this Spiritomb is formed by one spirit I presume? It attacked the Crystal Empire, absorbing 40 ponies into its body from what Princess Cadence told us." Luna asked. "Uh...I guess that's right. So it's somewhere around Equestria right now?" "Completely rampant. Who knows how many spirits it has absorbed? If only there was a way to track it down." Luna thought to herself. "Not that easy to track a Spiritomb down. Since it's Dark-Ghost, it blends in perfectly with the shadows and darkness, essentially becoming invisible." "So there's no way to find it, then?" "Well...You can still find it. Just not on normal levels. If anything..." Hollow pointed at Luna's Darkrai. "Your Darkrai has a better chance of finding Spiritomb. It's a Pokemon that blends with the shadows as well doesn't it?" "That is true." Darkrai looked at himself. "I could possibly detect Spiritomb's shadow if it closes in." "Excellent!" Luna suddenly exclaimed, startling the class. "We now have a way to drag out this Spiritomb creature! This is wonderful news!" "But...how are you gonna know when Spiritomb is gonna show up? If it's just going all across Equestria stealing spirits, then isn't it gonna be hard to find it in one spot?" Sapphire Flash asked. "You raise a fair point, Saphhire Flash." Luna pondered. "I suppose it would be erratic..." "Hm!" Darkrai suddenly gasped, feeling a shock within his body. "What's wrong, Darkrai?!" Luna turned her head. "It's here. I can feel it." "You can...? How?" The princess of the night asked. "Us Dark-Types can sense nearby cruel activities. Spiritomb's here in Canterlot." "It's here?!" A filly screeched, causing the young ponies to enter a state of panic and fear. Some were yelling about how they didn't want to be apart of Spiritomb's spirit count. "W-Where is it?!" Luna shifted her head to every side, searching for the Forbidden Pokemon. "Darkrai. Head into the shadows and see if you can spot it." "Right." The Pitch Black Pokemon did just that. Darkrai became one with the shadows, disappearing from everypony's sight with ease. It was up to him to find his fellow Dark-Type and hopefully put an end to it. But where in Canterlot was Spiritomb Spiritomb's first location was actually indoors instead of the streets of Canterlot. It made its entrance in the home of a completely unsuspecting pony who was just minding their business. The Forbidden Pokemon was slowly emerging from the shadows, preparing to pull another spirit into its body. However, one disadvantage that Spiritomb was cursed with which Darkrai thankfully had at all times was speed. Darkrai being the speedy Pokemon that he is, caught up to Spiritomb in no time, startling the Forbidden Pokemon. "Found you!" "Spirit?!" The pony indoors was completely unaware of the two Dark-Types in his home. He was just listening to music, passing the time with a calm mind. "Walking down this endless highway...Nothing but my friends beside me..." He sang to himself. "So, you've been busy stealing innocent spirits now, have you?" Darkrai spoke in an intimidating tone. "Spiritomb..." Spiritomb backed up as it flew up from the shadows, clearly intimidated by its fellow Dark-Type. But clearly, being a Pokemon that has a vengeful spirit within it, it wasn't about to just give up because of something much greater than it was standing in its way. Besides, it was so close to reaching its 108 spirit count, reaching its true power after so many countless years. "Tomb!" "Release the spirits from your body!" Darkrai hovered up, holding a Dark Void in his claws. His method of dealing with Spiritomb was just simply putting it to sleep in a nightmare state. Works most of the time anyway. "Spiritomb!" Obviously, Spiritomb wasn't just going to stop because someone told it to. It was a Pokemon that followed zero rules whatsoever. As a response, Spiritomb had used Shadow Sneak to retreat from the building, making its way to the outside of Canterlot. A retreat wouldn't stop Darkrai from chasing it down, however. Dark Voids were thrown towards the shadow of Spiritomb, attempting to put it to sleep. But despite being a slow Pokemon, it was crafty at the end of the day. So crafty in fact that it tricked Darkrai into hitting a pony with Dark Void, placing them to sleep. Spiritomb's shadow crawled up Canterlot Castle, forcing Darkrai to soar higher up. If Dark Void won't catch it, then perhaps an Ice Beam will. Darkrai had fired a chilling beam of ice, planning to freeze Spiritomb in its tracks. Ice Beam was generally faster than Dark Void anyways. It actually worked somewhat. It didn't freeze Spiritomb but it did force it to fly out of the shadows. "Tomb!" "Gotcha!" Darkrai found an opportunity to strike, sending a Dark Void towards the Forbidden Pokemon. Spiritomb took some time to recover from the Ice Beam, but when it did, the Forbidden Pokemon didn't get the chance to react to Dark Void. As such, the ball of dark energy made contact with the Dark-Ghost-Type dragging it into a world of total darkness, causing it to fall into a nightmare state. Spiritomb could be seen falling from above as its eerie body hit the ground, not making a single sound. Darkrai flew down from above, looking at the resting body of Spiritomb as Luna flew beside her partner. "Amazing job, Darkrai!" She exclaimed. "A potential grand threat has been solved already." "Not yet," Darkrai uttered. "The spirits are still trapped within it." "Oh, right. How do we separate them then?" "I'm not sure about that one. I don't have a clue on how to separate spirits at all." Darkrai shook his head. A problem that they thought was solved instantly, proved to have one major obstacle in the way. Darkrai definitely didn't have the power to separate spirits, but that would be cool. "Is there by chance a spell that can do so?" "Hmm...No. Unfortunately. Spirit absorption and separation are two completely new territories for me. And most definitely my sister as well." "In that case...We'll have to seek out help from my homeworld. Perhaps there are trainers out there who have knowledge of separating spirits from Spiritomb." And speaking of Spiritomb, Dark Void didn't last that long against it. Out of nowhere, it had suddenly woken up already, unleashing a devastating Frustration that forced Darkrai and Luna back. The ponies of Canterlot had been startled, galloping off since they already knew something major was about to occur if both Luna and Darkrai are out here. "It's awake already?!" Luna gasped. "How?!" "Spiritomb!" "It's vengeful spirit is so great and aggressive that nightmares are merely an inconvenience for it..." Darkrai hovered back, realizing why Dark Void didn't work fully. Spiritomb had vented out all of its anger in another move. One that wasn't frustration. Instead, it was a Dark-Type move known as Lash Out. Black tendrils flew out of Spiritombs body, aggressively striking Darkrai as he felt the force of Spiritomb's anger. "Darkrai!" Luna saw her partner smacked to the side by Lash Out, tumbling on the ground. "How dare you hurt my partner! Darkrai! Freeze it with Ice Beam!" Darkrai being the resilient Pokemon he is, recovered from his tumbling as a cold beam emerged from his claw, freezing Spiritomb in place. "Tomb!" But, surprisingly, Spiritomb broke out almost instantly, scattering the ice shards across Canterlot. "Spirit!" Spiritomb sent another Lash Out forward with the same dark tendrils chasing after Darkrai. "Dodge it and use Dark Pulse, Darkrai!" Luna commanded. The Pitch Black Pokemon thought quick on its feet...which it does have, evading the tendrils by outspeeding them easily. He cupped both his dark claws together, creating a wave of black and purple circles imbued with dark thoughts. Giving its retaliation, Spiritomb had also sent a Dark Pulse forward, connecting with its fellow Dark-Type. Darkrai's Dark Pulse proved to be stronger, however, making it clear that Spiritomb really didn't stand a chance against the Mythical Pokemon at all. "Spirit...Spiritomb!" Spiritomb's eerie body had been blown back, forcing it to fall on the ground. Hollow and the students looked outside to see Luna and Darkrai facing off against Spiritomb and how they managed to fend off against the Forbidden Pokemon. "Awesome!" Sunrise pressed his face against the window glass. "Luna's Darkrai is so cool!" "But that Spiritomb hasn't fainted yet!" Sapphire noticed as Spiritomb got back up immediately. "Shouldn't it be down already, Mr Hollow?" "Spiritomb's a pretty durable Pokemon. So it's not surprising that it can withstand hard-hitting attacks such as Dark Pulse and Ice Beam. "Spirit..." "This thing is certainly persistent." Luna had a small grin on her face. "It's a bit exciting. But our little game ends here! Darkrai! Let's finish this with Dark Pulse one more time!" Darkrai put one claw forward, preparing to send out Dark Pulse to finish this little bout. However, Spiritomb had one little trick that it can bet on. Similar to what it did back at Ponyville to throw Applejack and Rarity off guard by showing them the captured spirits of Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. It was capable of doing this since once it steals a spirit, it can dig deep into their memories, finding the ones that they love and care for. And it did exactly that. Spiritomb had shown the agonizing faces of Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom since they have their own little bond with Princess Luna and Darkrai. Their hollowed out screams caused Luna and Darkrai to pause all of a sudden. "Sweetie Belle!? Apple Bloom?!" Luna gasped. "Spirit!" Spiritomb used this opportunity to act. It knew that it couldn't hope to defeat a Pokemon like Darkrai. Not at all. However, even if it decided to hide in the shadows, Darkrai could just find it anyway. So the best option at the moment was to pull off another dirty trick in the form of Smokescreen. An obscuring cloud of smoke and ink had been released from Spiritomb's body, blocking out the vision of it from Luna and Darkrai. This was another of its getaway tricks. Using a move such as Smokescreen was perfect for escaping. And now, Spiritomb knew of a way to avoid Darkrai. As long as it doesn't hide in the shadows, Darkrai can't find it since the shadows are Darkrai's speciality. Granted, this means Spiritomb will be much more visible to anypony that passes by. But it's much better than being hunted in the shadows. However, what wouldn't be discreet was it spirit absorption. Once it gets back to doing that, somepony's gonna notice, especially Darkrai. "Where is it?!" Luna noticed that Spiritomb had up and left. "It's somewhere here in Canterlot. I'll keep searching!" Darkrai submerged himself in the shadows, continuing the hunt for the Forbidden Pokemon. The students, who were already terrified, had their fears built up to a much higher degree. Spiritomb was this close to being defeated. But unfortunately, it made its escape by playing dirty. "What do we do?! It could come after us next! I don't want my spirit taken away from me!" A colt screamed out in fear, pulling his mane. "M-M-Maybe if we stay extra quiet it won't find us?" A filly squeed. "M-Mr Hollow. What do we do?" Sapphire asked, shaking in fear. "Calm down. There's a way to deal with this." "There is?" All the students replied. "Yeah." Hollow held out a Pokeball, looking directly at it. "I'm counting on you to keep them safe. Out you come." The Pokemon he sent out was none other than his Mimikyu. "Mimi!" "Mimikyu. I need you to help me keep a lookout for Spiritomb, okay? It's loose somewhere in Canterlot. So if we find it, I can trust you to help us stop it, right?" "Kyu!" Mimikyu was up for it. It was ready to defend the children since it has grown an attraction to them over the past few months. Mostly because it loved how some of them found it cute despite its eerie appearance. It wasn't just Luna, Darkrai and Hollow who were aware and prepared for Spiritomb. Celestia was well aware of its presence. She was the first pony to gain news of Spiritomb's actions and how it absorbed 40 spirits at the Crystal Empire. Passion stood beside her as both were biding their time, waiting for the opportunity to stop Spiritomb. Celestia had recently been learning about Pokemon after all, similar to Twilight. With the Canterlot Library now gaining books surrounding Pokemon and various categories about the world and the creatures that inhabit it, she was well aware of the Pokemon known as Spiritomb. And speaking of Twilight, she and her friends were still in absolute shock and horror of what had just happened earlier. Rainbow Dash had now been taken by Spiritomb with her soul lost in its eerie body. What's worse, they couldn't track Spiritomb down anymore since it was no longer howling, causing Audino to lose its presence. There were very few ponies remaining in Ponyville. With some of them being Mayor Mare and the rest of the Apple Family. It's a good thing that Spiritomb is mostly satisfied when it obtains a certain amount of spirits, causing it to flee to another location. But, even still, Twilight was in a rough spot. She couldn't track down Spiritomb since it was such an elusive Pokemon thanks to its Ghost-Typing, not to mention she had no clue how to separate spirits at all. There wasn't a single spell in Equestria that could perform that. "What to do...What to do...?" Twilight groaned, covering her face with her hooves. The rest of her friends were feeling their own emotions at the moment. Pinkie Pie was comforting Fluttershy who was absolutely mortified by this whilst Rarity and Applejack were both distressed about their little sisters. "I don't know! I don't know what I can do about this?!" "T-Twilight?" Starlight stuttered. "Not now, Starlight! I can't think straight!" Twilight slammed her hooves on the ground, causing Starlight to move back. Fluttershy and Audino were also taking care of the Pokemon that belonged to Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and even Scootaloo's since they fainted whilst battling against Spiritomb earlier. "That dirty little spirit!" Rarity stood up. "It used our own sisters against us! We almost have it in our hooves!" "And it's no longer making those hollowing cries." Fluttershy sighed. "Who knows where it could be now?" "All of you." Mayor Mare spoke. "You're not thinking of quitting now are you?" "W-What? No! Our sisters are still in there!" Applejack exclaimed. "But...Neither of us got a clue on how to solve this..." "It feels like an absolute repeat of Ghetsis and the Ultra Beasts..." Rarity stomped her hooves. "Why is it that no matter how hard we try we can never overcome anything that involves Pokemon...It feels like we're just constantly hitting a brick wall that we can never breakthrough or even fly over..." "Even so, that won't stop you. It hasn't stopped you all before now, has it?" Mayor Mare asked. "Well...no..." Twilight rubbed her hooves together. "You girls have done so much for our town in the past. You've overcome difficult odds and even gotten yourselves out of struggles that you never won anyway. So surely, this is no different, correct?" "She's right...we've gone up against a lot of seemingly impossible odds in the past. Discord, Sombra and even Tirek." Pinkie Pie said. "Right! And remember when you all first met me?" Starlight asked. "It wasn't just you that stopped my plans but other ponies instead. So we can do the same for this Spiritomb thing, right?" "Not to mention how you managed to drive out that Nihilego Ultra Beast, preventing it from causing any more harm. You've accomplished a plethora of feats and achievements that guarantee the safety of our town and possibly even that of Equestria. I can safely say that you can break past this Spiritomb issue like the rest." Mayor Mare nodded along with Starlight. "You're right." Twilight removed her hooves from her face, standing up and spreading her wings. "We may not know about spirits and how to separate them...but after being involved with Pokemon for so many months and learning about them, I'm confident there's a way to free our friends." Twilight swallowed her fears, finally accepting that no matter what, Pokemon will always take them by surprise. But that doesn't mean they should just keep on feeling stumped about it. "Audi..." Audino's ears picked up on something. It sounded like humans talking. But instead of your natural gibber gabber about daily life and other simple things, the words these humans spoke were about Spiritomb. "Dino! Audino!" Audino spoke to Fluttershy, telling her about what she's hearing. "Hm...? Really?!" Fluttershy flew up. "What?! What did she hear?!" Rarity perked up. "Some humans nearby are tracking down Spiritomb apparently! I think she heard it from over there!" Fluttershy pointed her hoof over at the outskirts of Ponyville. Hearing that sparked up even more hope in Twilight and her friend's. This could be what they needed at the moment. The group with the inclusion of Mayor Mare had followed Audino who was tracking down the chatter. But who exactly was it that was mentioning Spiritomb? As they got closer, the ponies could hear their words clearer. From their appearance, it appeared to be the Shrine Maidens from Johto who were tasked with stopping Spiritomb. But the ponies definitely didn't know that. They just thought they were nicely dressed humans. "Spiritomb isn't too far from here. It seems it must've retreated North." "Right. Let's hope it hasn't reached 108 spirits yet. If it has, then defeating it will prove to be much more difficult." "They're after Spiritomb too?" Twilight whispered. "Maybe they know how to separate the spirits." "Who goes there?!" A Shrine Maiden managed to pick up on Twilight's words, startling the ponies. She held up a bow, shooting an arrow towards Twilight's direction at high speeds. This arrow was covered in a pink Fairy aura as it grazed Twilight's mane, colliding with a tree as it pierced through the thick tree. "Eep!" Twilight squeed. She was almost done in by an arrow. The maidens all turned their heads to see the ponies hiding behind a rock, blowing their cover immediately. "Ponies?" The maiden who fired the arrow raised her eyebrow. "My deepest apologies!" She gave a bow to apologize. "Uh...N-N-No problem." Twilight was still quivering from the arrow. "We just came by since we heard you talking about Spiritomb?" "You've seen it?!" The maiden exclaimed, startling the ponies as she still had the bow and arrow on her. "Seen it? We've experienced it!" Pinkie Pie replied. "That creepy looking circle thing came out of nowhere and started stealing the spirits of our friends!" "Our sisters and friend were all taken by that ghastly thing." Rarity shuddered. "And poor Scootaloo is still unconscious." "I see...Then we should've tracked Spiritomb down quicker. Apologies. We'll have to increase the amount of Fairy magic if it has consumed many more spirits over time." "Um, do you by any chance know how to separate the spirits from Spiritomb?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind her Audino. "Indeed we do." The maiden nodded her head. And there it was. The words they wanted to hear. There truly was a way to free their friends from Spirtomb. But it got even better. "There are only two ways to separate the spirits from Spiritomb's body." "There is?! What are they?!" Twilight flew up with joy packed inside of her wings. "The first is Fairy-Type magic. The only thing that is capable of going up against a Dark-Ghost-Type such as Spiritomb. Fairy magic is capable of purifying darkness as well as negating it. It is why we maidens carry weapons that have Fairy magic around them." She raised her arrows up as they were shown to have mystical pink sparkles around them." "Oooh..." Pinkie Pie gazed at the light. "Then...what's the second one?" "The second one is Aura." A word they didn't expect to hear. "Aura is capable of what Fairy-Type magic is but on a higher level. Only an Aura Guardian can perform this. So much so that even if Spiritomb was to reach 108 spirits and more, the Aura would be able to separate it no matter what. Not even Fairy magic can do that unless it is below 108. However, modern-day Aura Guardians are so rare that we just resort to Fairy-Type magic." "This is great news! Ash has Aura! He can help, right girls?!" Twilight squeed. "Oh that is true." Rarity nodded as they all remembered that Ash does have aura lying within him. "So you have a friend who is an Aura guardian?!" The maiden leaned forward. "Mhm. Ash and his Riolu are oozing with it. From what we've seen." Twilight replied. "If we can get Ash, we'll be able to separate everypony in no time! Oh, but Fairy magic works too." "I see. That's wonderful. However, even with all that said, the seal will not work unless Spiritomb is placed in this." She held out the keystone that the Forbidden Pokemon used to be in. "Isn't that...Spiritomb's keystone?!" Twilight recognized it from the books she's read. "Right. Every Spiritomb is placed inside of these keystones to restrain their power or to just simply seal them. This belongs to that exact same Spiritomb. With it being free from the seal, it is much more powerful than an average Spiritomb since its power is no longer restrained." "So all we need is this little thing? Do we chuck it at the critter?" Applejack asked. "Well actually, it needs to be surrounded by either Fairy magic or Aura in order for it to work. Then you can chuck it at Spiritomb. After that, we maidens will place the Pokemon near an ancient tree or a shrine to complete the seal." "It's best that we do not waste any more time. If Spiritomb has managed to absorb more than 108 spirits already, then our Fairy magic will be useless." Another maiden spoke. "Ah, that's right! We'll have to continue tracking it down." "But how can you find it if it's completely invisible at this point?" Twilight asked. "Us Shrine Maidens were trained to gain spiritual abilities that help us see even through the shadows themselves. Over there, Spiritomb's shadow tracks can be seen by us. And it seems that North is where it fled to." The Maiden pointed over at the direction Spiritomb went. They could somehow see the trails of shadows left behind by Spiritomb, making it easy for them to track it down. "North huh? That's where Canterlot is!" Twilight gasped. "Let's go. The sooner we stop Spiritomb, the better." "If Aura is much more effective than Fairy magic...then we'll have to get Ash just in case." Twilight flew up. "You girls can go along with the Shrine Maidens. I'll see if I can get Ash in time." "You're planning to come along with us?" The maiden turned to the ponies. "Indeed! Those are our friends and sisters in there. We cannot leave ourselves out of it." Rarity shook her head along with Applejack and the others. "I'll gladly give my assistance. They are my citizens as well," said Mayor Mare. "Hm. I suppose that's fair. Alright. You shall assist us since you know this world better than we do. See if you can retrieve the Aura Guardian in time, my little pony." "You can count on it! Vulpix, Eve, Minccy. Head off the others. I'll be right back!" Twilight flew off in order to find Ash pronto as her Pokemon waved goodbye. There was now a way to put an end to this Spiritomb situation. Two possible ways with one being much more effective than the other. However, if Spiritomb manages to reach 108 spirits, Fairy magic will be useless and Aura will be their only hope. But if Spiritomb manages to outplay Aura with its usual sneaky tricks, then the outcome might be catastrophic as the journey continues! Chapter 208 End!