Twilight's castle, afternoon.
"Alright. That should be enough training today. Let's go over your new moves, everyone." Twilight said to her Pokemon as she took out her Pokedex. Just recently, she's been training with Eve and the others to help improve their skills. Not only that, but they had also learned some new moves in the process while replacing some old ones.
"Espeon. The Sun Pokemon. Psychic. Dazzling Gleam. Quick Attack. Shadow Ball."
"Absol. The Disaster Pokemon. Night Slash. Dark Pulse. Counter. Giga Impact."
"Cinccino. The Scarf Pokemon. Tri Attack. Aqua Tail. Focus Blast. Thunder."
"Ninetales. The Fox Pokemon. Mystical Fire. Extrasensory. Energy Ball. Hidden Power Dragon."
"That looks good." Twilight nodded. "It took a while for us to learn that Hidden Power Dragon. Who knew it had to be so specific to receive it?"
"Tales!"
"Toge?" Togekiss, who was in Twilight's lab at the moment until she's brought back to Delphox's hut, had witnessed the entire training sequence for herself and how long it took.
She took a slight interest in it considering how Twilight and her Pokemon train. They don't really train like normal Pokemon Trainers. Like Ash, she and her Pokemon have their own style of doing things.
"Hm?" Twilight turned to face Togekiss, seeing how she was gazing at everyone. "Oh, Togekiss. Are you interested?"
"Togekiss." Togekiss wasn't so sure. But she did enjoy the sight of Twilight and her Pokemon bonding. She's still a baby mentally in the body of an adult. Togekiss was just here for the ride, honestly.
"Wonder what your moves are?" Twilight checked Togekiss's moveset.
"Togekiss. The Jubilee Pokemon. Sky Attack. Dazzling Gleam. Psyshock. Aura Sphere."
"Oh! That's impressive!" Twilight's eyes flared. "You're already fit for Pokemon battling. But um...I guess you wouldn't want that, would you?"
"Kiss." Togekiss shook her head.
"Oh anyway. You'll be heading back to Delphox very soon, you know. I've just about got the hang of how both our worlds making a new kind of magic works. At least...I hope so. All that Rift energy still makes it so complicated and..."
Twilight kept rambling on, talking about all the progress she's made from start to finish. At the same time, her Pokemon decided to rest. Togekiss herself decided to take a walk or fly around Ponyville for a while.
And at that moment, Sunset and Starlight came barging into the lab.
"Twilight! Big news!" Both unicorns exclaimed.
"Hm? What is it?" Twilight asked.
"They've found a major lead on Team Plasma and Empress Twilight!"
"Huh?!" Twilight shot up after hearing that as all of her Pokemon also shot up. "Seriously?!"
"Seriously!" Both unicorns nodded.
"One of Princess Celestia's guards managed to find a specific spot where Team Plasma frequently shows up when he was patrolling." Sunset stepped forward. "Princess Celestia should be arriving right about-"
Before Sunset's words could be finished, the part about Celestia arriving was 100% true. Because right in-between Twilight, Sunset and Starlight, Princess Celestia had teleported in along with Passion and the guard that Sunset mentioned.
"Twilight! Have you gotten news of it yet?" Celestia said.
"Oh! Um, yes!" Twilight nodded. "Sunset and Starlight just told me when they came in. Guess you were going to do the same just in case. So is it really true that you've found a major lead on Team Plasma?"
"Certainly." Celestia stepped forward. "And we have this guard to thank. His outdoor patrolling has really given us a great benefit. Would you kindly tell them what you witnessed?" Celestia asked the guard.
"Understood." The guard stood firm, ready to tell them all everything. "It all happened two days ago leading up to today."
2 days ago. During the night.
I was off on an outdoor patrol with the rest of my fellow guards. A common thing we're ordered to do. This time, during that week, I was patrolling around a place known as Meganium Meadow until...
"I wish I could join the Equestria League. That'd be something." The guard said as he arrived at his assigned location.
But that was to be expected in a place such as this. The most common Pokemon Type here is Grass, mainly Meganium of course along with a few other Grass-Types. Plus some Normal-Types, So peace is to be expected. Grass-Types are considering the most relaxing Type next to Fairy.
This meadow also had Dynamax dens littered around. But there weren't any Dynamax Pokemon present so it only added to the absolute silence. It was also unbelievably wide. It looked like it would take up most of Equestria because of the sheer scale of it. There were roughly millions of Pokemon here. Enough to fill a city.
However, even for Grass-Type Pokemon, there was something unusually silent about this place. When the guard arrived, he could already feel the still air flowing through this entire meadow. As if something rather ominous had previously infected it and was still lingering.
Not only that, the guard witnessed the current emotions and actions of the Pokemon living here. Many of the Pokemon seemed to be trembling in fear and cowering as if they were hiding from something. None of the Pokemon were out in the open.
"Hm?" The guard was thinking that he was the cause of them being terrified. Perhaps, they were fearful of ponies in a way. So the guard simply stepped, however, he didn't get a reaction out of them. They didn't run away or start screaming in fear.
They could actually tell that the guard meant no harm. Mostly because he wasn't the reason they were so afraid. But there was a reason. And it did involve someone.
"Is something here?" The guard started moving his head around, searching for whatever maybe scaring the Grass Pokemon here. The meadow was fairly flat, so there wasn't much for the Pokemon to hide behind. Other than the trees and surprisingly tall flowers for camouflage purposes.
Feeling suspicious, the guard now had a possibly larger reason to patrol this area while his fellow guards patrol other parts of Equestria. But at this moment, that's when the unexpected happened. Something even a Royal Guard of Canterlot wasn't prepared for.
A gateway had opened up.
Out of nowhere, a gateway had just popped up in the middle of the meadow as all the Pokemon started whimpering. They then rushed off to find better places to hide. This gateway seemed to be the major reason why they were terrified in the first place.
And the guard was certainly startled. He wasn't expecting this during his outdoor patrol. He was only expecting to see Pokemon frolic in the night and maybe a random Pokemon battle or two. Not this.
This was something the guard was both prepared and unprepared for at the same time. His first thought was that if a gateway had suddenly opened up here, that means someone had summoned it. And the only two who are capable of doing so are Ghetsis and Empress Twilight.
Having that knowledge, the guard didn't want to deal with either of the two intimidating and powerful forces. Whether he'd be crushed or taken captive. So, much like the Pokemon living here, he decided to hide behind the nearest tree.
And he had the right instinctive decision. Because out of the gateway came ten Team Plasma grunts. But they didn't have Ghetsis with them. Most likely, Ghetsis simply opened the gateway for them.
Either way, the guard had a lot of reasons to be nervous right now as he made sure to stay completely hidden behind the tree along with the Pokemon.
"This place again?" One of the grunts spoke. "We've already been here two times in a row? What's the point?"
"Don't complain to me. Colress keeps ordering us to come back here since this is where the most amount of Dynamax energy can be found." Another replied. "If you want to complain, then go talk to Colress."
"Let's hurry it up already." A grunt held out a Poke Ball as they had an artificial Dynamax band made by Colress on them. "Do you sense any Dynamax Pokemon?"
"Hmm..." One of the grunts also held out a radar device made by Colress. One that tracks Dynamax Pokemon and more importantly, Gigantamax Pokemon. "This place still has a lot of Dynamax particles around here. But none of the Pokemon seemed to have Dynamaxed yet."
"Duh. They're obviously scared of us after last time." One grunt chuckled. "They don't want to end up like their friends we took. What say we force them to Dynamax like before?"
"Already one step ahead of you." Just then, a third device made by Colress came out. But it was more along the lines of a mechanical glove. The grunt put the glove on her arm as it fit perfectly. This device also had something to do with Dynamax and Gigantamax. "Get your Poke Balls ready."
The grunt then raised her arm into the air, causing the glove to activate. From the glove, red and purple Dynamax energy waves were pulsating out. This one glove was capable of letting out the same energy that comes from the dens and even Eternatus as it made a ringing sound that only the Pokemon could hear.
All of the Grass Pokemon here could feel the rumbling and pulses coming from the glove as the red and purple energy went through their bodies. It felt like something was eating away at them from the inside.
This was probably worse than Eternatus forcing Pokemon to Dynamax. This form of Dynamax harmed the Pokemon greatly as opposed to Eternatus's energy which only forces them to Dynamax against their will. This glove does the same thing but worse and with added pain.
And even worse, when the Pokemon were Dynamaxed, the sharp pain coming from the glove were causing them to become immobile To avoid them fighting back obviously. Colress really made sure to make everything convenient for Team Plasma.
The pain was equal to a super-effective move. The Pokemon couldn't do anything to stop it. And any struggling just made it worse for them. It was like they were being hit by the Paralyze effect from an Electric-Type attack. But less pleasant.
I witnessed the Pokemon around me being Dynamaxed against their will. They had also lost all form of movement, allowing for Team Plasma to easily capture them without any resistance. The sight just shocked me beyond belief. But hearing about how they've been there before because of how many Galar Particles were in those meadows made me think that they'd return more frequently there. I reported to Princess Celestia to let her know what I saw. So in the morning, Princess Celestia and I along with other guards immediately arrived at the Meadows to rescue all of the Pokemon there, bringing them to Canterlot for safety.
"That leads to today. We haven't engaged Team Plasma yet. Ghetsis is the one keeping the gateway open. We can't risk interacting with him at the moment. He's just as dangerous as Empress Twilight." Celestia said.
"They made a glove that does that?!" Twilight's jaw dropped.
"Those poor Pokemon..." Starlight pouted.
"What about the meadows?" Sunset asked.
"Since we've brought back all the Pokemon there, Team Plasma won't be appearing for a while. That is until they apparently finish that device that Colress individual was building. Then, they won't need to capture Pokemon again. I also came here because I was hoping that Cold Colt has improved and found a way to control gateways. We'll need his stellar Rift magic to help us in this."
"Oh, um. Not yet." Twilight shook her head. "He made one but it's an unknown gateway and he did it by accident. Recently, his magic has been a bit erratic so we're not sure if he's mastered it yet."
"I see." Celestia nodded. "Well, at least you're aware of this. I can imagine that Ash won't ignore this like I haven't."
"Oh yeah, Ash! Why don't we just send him to deal with it? I mean, he's got a major history with Team Plasma and he was even a part of freeing Saddle Arabia from them, right?" Starlight said.
"Ash and Pikachu are obviously the best against Team Plasma. Alongside the Swords of Justice and Hollow. I've already informed the Swords of Justice of this. They're preparing themselves for whenever they get the chance to pass through the gateway."
"If only there was a faster way to get through them. Or at least get a gateway working." Sunset sighed.
But hearing that made Twilight think of something that could actually work. It obviously involved Cold Colt but there was someone else involved in her thinking. After pondering, Twilight came to a stunning conclusion.
"Of course!" She exclaimed. "We'll have Cold ask Emerald Aura!"
"Who?" Celestia, Sunset, Starlight and the guard each said.
"Emerald Aura. She's another Rift Pony like Cold. And they're good friends from the looks of it."
"Oh yeah, her!" Starlight remembered.
"She actually has great control over her Rift energy from what I remember. She could be the one to help! And if we're lucky, she can probably open a gateway. Maybe."
"That's excellent, Twilight!" Celestia leaned in. "Where is she?"
"Well um...She's wondering the world right now, so we're not really sure." Twilight scrunched her face. "But, your parents could find her. They see everything right?"
"Um...A bit. My parent's don't actually see everything in Equestria. Their vision is outstanding sure, but they can only alternate between locations. In fact, they mostly oversee Canterlot if anything else. However, they can certainly help."
"Will she help us though?" Starlight asked. "She doesn't really seem like she likes us. Only Cold actually."
"If Cold can convince her then probably." Twilight nodded. "We'll tell Cold right away, Princess."
"Wonderful. I can already guess my parents are working on finding her. Luna and I are always the ones they love to watch. I wish they wouldn't do it so much actually."
The decision had been made. There was a potential way to access a gateway to Pyrestar's world. And that way was from Emerald Aura. A close friend of Cold Colt.
Sunlight and Eventide were already working on finding her. It was true. They always oversee their daughters and Canterlot. Their vision has limits at the end of the day along with other things.
Major progress was being made now. The guard finding the grunts in the meadows was what they needed. They now had a major lead on Team Plasma.
And Team Plasma knew that.
Colress, who had obviously littered most of Equestria with his spycams, was aware of Celestia and her guards rescuing the Pokemon from the meadows. In fact, ever since they were rescued, Colress had ordered the grunts to stop heading to the Meganium Meadows until his device was complete.
"Well, they seem to be getting in the way more often. Equestria of course." Colress spoke to Ghetsis. "What do you suppose we do, Lord Ghetsis?"
"Hmph. I'll deal with that myself. I refuse to let them have the opportunity of accessing a gateway here. Anyway, there are other important matters in mind." Ghetsis scoffed.
"Other? Ah...you mean..."
"Shadow Triad." Ghetsis summoned his three greatest and most loyal members of Team Plasma as they appeared from the shadows.
"Yes Lord Ghetsis." The three of them spoke.
"There is only one month left for us to prepare. Do you remember the task?"
"Of course." The middle one stood up. "We are to head to Crystal Empire and retrieve the baby alicorn known as Flurry Heart."
"Excellent." Ghetsis smirked. "We're taking her by any means necessary. All that power she holds will belong to me very soon. I have plans for that baby. I'll come with you by then. You'll need a great force to counter that much alicorn magic. If any of those Crystal Empire fools try to stop us, eliminate them. Understood?"
"Understood." The triad nodded as they disappeared into the shadows once more. They and Ghetsis had a sole mission to steal the Royal Baby Flurry Heart from the Crystal Empire.
"Empress Twilight can have her invasion. I want something more." Ghetsis held his hand out, sparking up some Dark Magic around him. His mission to steal Flurry Heart seemed like it would be happening on the same day the invasion happens.
A mission that Ghetsis was waiting to see finalized ever since he was made aware of Flurry Heart's amazing magic. Any form of power that is discovered, Ghetsis will want it.
No matter what.
As the journey continues.
Chapter 385 End.