//------------------------------//
// Madness in the Mansion 
// Story: My Little Pokémon 
// by Amarvax 
//------------------------------//

Olivine City. Afternoon. Hollow and Jewel's mansion home.

Currently, the pursuers have found Ash's current whereabouts and ended up destroying parts of the mansion to get to him. But, Ash had great friends by his side who were there to stop the influenced ponies and Pokemon from getting their hooves, hands, claws, feathers or whatever appendages and limbs they may hold.

Hollow's Houndoom had created a field of smoke to block out the view of the pursuers, allowing Ash to escape downstairs while his friends take care of everything else.

"Passion! Draw them all in with Psychic!" Celestia ordered.

"Gardevoir!" Passion put her arms together with her eyes flashing blue. Then, with her mind, Passion managed to hold multiple ponies and Pokemon, lifting them off the ground.

"Leavanny! String Shot!" Rarity ordered her 12 Leavanny to try the same tactic they used at Saddle Lake. Each of the Leavanny shot thick silky strings out of their mouths, wrapping around the ponies and Pokemon that Passion held.

The influenced ponies and Pokemon were already told by J's Desire about how that tactic was a problem and could easily stop this revenge plan if it carried on.

So obviously, the next thing to do was to eliminate the Leavanny and their String Shot so that couldn't have the chance to restrain any further. As well as Passion and Eve who can use Psychic to further hold them including Ash's Gengar.

Some trainers turned their focus towards the Leavvany, shooting Rock and Fire-Type moves towards their direction including Rarity too.

"Minccy! Block it with Aqua Tail!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Cinccino!" But, Twilight's Cinccino got in the way by using Aqua Tail to block both attacks by jumping in front of the 12 Leavanny, protecting them from harm.

"We'll pick them out one by one!" Rainbow Dash held out some of her Poke Balls, sending the rest of her Pokemon out to help with her Luxray. Out came Whirlipede, Braviary, Altaria and Mienfoo while Castform flew out her bag.

"Whirlipede! Charge through with Rollout! Braviary! Clap your wings with Superpower!"

"Whirlipede!" Whirlipede rolled on the spot, dashing towards the many targets right in front of him. Or rather, all around him. By using Rollout to charge forward, the Curlipede Pokemon bashed through and knocked over his targets as if they were bowling pins.

"Viary!" Braviary took the skies as he would handle everything midair. The Pokemon who could also fly followed the Valiant Pokemon in the air to try and prevent him from doing anything.

But, in terms of speed, aside from Rarity's Pheromosa, Braviary outclassed them all he immediately covered his wings in energy before clapping them together with Superpower.

One clap and Braviary managed to emit a powerful shockwave that incapacitated the nearby Pokemon, knocking them clean out of the sky as well as the ones below.

The pursuers decided to switch things up by having their Pokemon clutter the indoors of the mansion. Some chose to use Rock-Type moves to do so since it would make sense to clutter it with large piles of rocks while others used their Ghost-Type Pokemon to try and sneak around inside the mansion and find Ash.

The pursuers all entered the mansion instead of just continuing to stand outside as the entrance was now blocked. All entrances. Including the large holes that had been blasted through. Some were even sneaking about, making sure that they wouldn't be spotted by Hollow and the others.

"Things might get too cluttered from here on." Hollow backed up as he observed the situation and noticed some of the Ghost-Types moving through the mansion. "Let's all split up and head different ways."

Nodding in understanding, everyone went their separate ways to try and avoid the overcrowded area. There, they'll be able to deal with the rest without having to worry about any cluttering problems.



Downstairs at the lower levels of the mansion.

Ash and his Pokemon reached the lower section of Hollow and Jewel's mansion. Down here, a fairly long corridor could be found. One that rivals the length of Canterlot's corridors.

"Alright. Where to?" Ash looked at the corridor, seeing how there were different doors here, each leading to a specific room. He wasn't sure which one he should choose since there were so many and he was currently being hunted down by most of Equestria.

At the same time, he could hear all the battling happening upstairs. He knew that his friends were trying their best to keep him safe.

"Pikachu..."

"Stay sharp you guys." Ash and his Pokemon were on high alert now. Even if they were downstairs and away from the action, that didn't mean his pursuers couldn't search the rest of the mansion.

Ash chose to enter one of the closest rooms here for hiding. The one on the left. He opened the door as his Pokemon looked behind him for clarity and warning. So far, no one was here and the downstairs was safe for now.

When opening the door, Ash and his Pokemon were met with a somewhat comfortable room from the aura it was giving off. He and his team quickly came to discover that this room was seemingly a baby's room.

It was obviously decorated in a childish manner, perfect for a baby, with cloud wallpaper and floor covering as well as there being many toys strewn about the area. A large cradle was in the middle of the room as well as many posters of various Pokemon, including Pokemon Champions from across different regions.

Interestingly enough, the poster of the champions were all in the form of silhouettes, but Ash could tell them all. Except for two silhouettes of champions which he couldn't identify. Most likely from other regions he hasn't been to yet.

This room had a fresh feeling to it. It felt like it hadn't been used yet. Everything was perfectly neat and tidy with little messes.

"A baby room?" Ash gawked as he walked closer.

"Pika-Pika?" Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder as all of his Pokemon started to wander the baby room. Seeing the baby room for themselves and feeling the atmosphere, it was clear what this all meant. And Ash put the pieces together in a few seconds.

"Oh! They're having a baby!" He exclaimed. "Nice, nice. Looks brand new too."

"Pika!"

"Do we hide in here? Nah. Don't wanna risk harming a place like this. Let's find somewhere else, you guys." Ash chose to hide somewhere else instead of the baby room. A room like that needed to be safe and clean until the baby arrived. Then it would just be a mess afterwards.

They all left the room, gently closing the door, making sure not to cause too much noise. Even if all that noise was being blocked out by the upstairs noise coming from the battle.

Unfortunately, those that had Ghost-Type Pokemon had easily caught up to Ash and his Pokemon by just simply using the mansion walls and intangibility to their advantage.

"Dusk!" From the walls themselves, a Dusknoir emerged, phasing through and holding its hand out to try and grab Ash with its amazing grip.

"Ah!" Ash gasped as he turned to the left to see Dusknoir appearing.

"Gengar!" But, Gengar was there to protect him by using Shadow Ball to fend off its fellow Ghost-Type. The blob of shadows hit the hands of Dusknoir, dealing super-effective damage and forcing the Gripper Pokemon to phase back into the walls.

"N-Noir!"

"Thanks, Gengar!" Ash thanked Gengar before looking at his surroundings. Now they were no longer safe downstairs.

Coming through each of the walls, four Ghost-Type Pokemon emerged before Ash and his Pokemon. A Banette, Chandelure, the Dusknoir from before and a new Ghost-Type that Ash had never seen before.

Emerging from the ceiling above, an odd-looking and brand new Pokemon to Ash's eyes had appeared. It gently floated down as Ash and his Pokemon were frozen by what they were witnessing.

"Runerigus..."

"What is that...?!" Ash gawked as he took out his Pokedex.

"Runerigus. The Grudge Pokemon. A powerful curse was woven into an ancient painting. After absorbing the spirit of a Yamask, the painting began to move. Never touch its shadowlike body, or you’ll be shown the horrific memories behind the picture carved into it."

"You mean...this is the opposite to Cofagrigus?!" Ash gasped.

"Pika?!"

"Rune!" Runerigus cried out as the Ground- Ghost-Type dashed towards Ash and his team with its eyes flashing a dark purple. The Grudge Pokemon seemed to be going for the move Shadow Claw.

"Gengar! Ice Punch!"

"Gar!" Gengar flew forward, getting in front of Ash and preventing Runerigus from harming him. The Shadow Pokemon covered its arms in ice, thrusting its fist forward before colliding with the Grudge Pokemon's claw. 

Two different super-effective moves collided against each other as they equalled out. However, the effects of the moves still passed through as both Gengar and Runerigus could feel the Ice and Ghost Energy through them after the impact as they were both pushed back.

"Banette!" Banette moved in by using Shadow Sneak, making its body a part of the shadows as it went directly for Ash.

"Farfetch'd!" Ash took out his Poke Ball. "Come out and use Night Slash!"

"Far!" Farfetch'd was sent out of its ball, immediately raising his leek as he smashed it down on Banette's shadow path with darkness surrounding his leek. "Fetch'd!"

"Nette!" With a super-effective move, Banette was knocked out of the ground and shadows, tumbling back while Dusknoir shoved Banette out of the way, going for a Thunder Punch.

"Dusknoir!" 

"Dragon Claw!" Ash pointed at Dusknoir, ordering Dragonite.

"Gonite!" Dragonite covered her claws in draconic energy as she swung them forward, colliding with Dusknoir's electrified fist.

"Lucario! Grab onto Dusknoir's back!"

"Lu!" Lucario moved in. Since none of his moves could do anything against the Ghost-Types, it was best to just try a different approach. And he knew exactly what Ash was planning.

While Dusknoir was at odds with Dragonite, the Aura Pokemon then caught the Gripper Pokemon by surprise by hopping onto its back.

"Noir?!" Dusknoir gasped as it had let its guard down because of Lucario's sudden grab. With its guard down, Dusknoir was wide open, allowing Dragonite to land a second Dragon Claw onto the Gripper Pokemon's face. "Dusk!"

"Here goes!" And of course, for this to be made possible, Ash would need to also add his Aura in as he rushed over to Dusknoir, also jumping onto its back and joining Lucario. "Now, Lucario!"

"Lucario!" Lucario closed his eyes as he and Ash stared pouring his Aura onto Dusknoir's body. This was obviously a tactic meant to try and free Dusknoir from the control of the Desire.

Ash and Lucario's Aura started showing as it immediately interacted with all of the Rift energy that influencing Dusknoir. The Gripper Pokemon winced as it was still recovering from Dragon Claw. But it wouldn't have enough time to do anything back since Ash and Lucario's Aura were already working their magic.

"D-Dusknoir?!" Dusknoir's eyes were flashing blue as it was very close to being freed from the Desire's control. And in little time too because of how the Desire had been weakened during this entire debacle.

"Chandelure!" Chandelure wasn't about to let that happen with Inferno since it was the only Ghost-Type that was standing back instead of approaching. Ghostly blue flames started forming as the Luring Pokemon locked onto Lucario who was still on Dusknoir's body.

Ash looked back, knowing that this would definitely harm Lucario more than it would harm him because of the Steel-Typing. So he needed to act fast. "Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" Pikachu bolted forward, jumping onto Dusknoir's head, using it as a way to get some higher height. The Electric Mouse Pokemon curled into a ball, surrounding his body in electricity afterwards.

"Lure!" Chandelure then sent an intense blue flame from its body as Pikachu intercepted it with his own ranged attack. Pikachu yelled as a blast of 100,000 volts came flying out of his body, clashing with the blast of fire. Pikachu's Thunderbolt managed to break through Inferno which threw Chandelure off guard.

The blast of electricity obliterated the Fire-Type move before hitting Chandelure, smiting and electrocuting the Ghost-Fire-Type. The Luring Pokemon had been knocked clean out of the air from Pikachus' Thunderbolt, showing which Pokemon had the superior strength in this.

"Lu!" Lucario growled as he covered Dusknoir in Aura, completely breaking down the Rift Energy and of course, further weakening J's Desire.

"D-Dus...!" Dusknoir's eyes and body flashed blue as Lucario hopped off the Gripper Pokemon's back. With that, Ash and Lucario knew that the process had been done.

Once the light faded away, the Aura could be seen destroying the purple particles from the Desire. That meant only one thing. Dusknoir was free.

"Dusk..noir?" Dusknoir was back to its senses as it held his head.

"Welcome back, Dusknoir!" Ash spoke to the Gripper Pokemon. "You feeling better now?"

"Noir." Dusknoir nodded as it thanked Ash and Lucario for helping out. And speaking of helping out, now that Dusknoir was free, it could be on Ash's side now, giving its assistance.

"Nette..." Banette got up from the ground, not taking too kindly to Farfetch'd's Night Slash. And speaking of Farfetch'd, he was still pursuing Banette with Brutal Swing covering his leek as he ran towards the Marionette Pokemon. "Bane?!"

"Far!" Farfetch'd roared as he jumped up, ready to slam his leek onto Banette's head.

"Banette!" Responding quickly, Banette used Telekenises, suddenly holding Farfetch'd in place and preventing him from smashing that leek down with Brutal Swing.

"F-Farfetch'd?!"

"Bane-Bane!" Banette cackled.

"Far...!" Farfetch'd growled, a bit irritated that Banette was holding him there. However, Farfetch'd knew how Types worked. And one thing's for sure when it comes to Dark-Types, Psychic moves are useless. And since his leek was still covered in Dark energy, Farfetch'd knew exactly what to do.

The Wild Duck Pokemon, instead of smashing the leek down, decided to instead through the Darkness-covered leek towards the Marionette Pokemon. Telekinesis was unable to hold it.

"Nette?!" Banette gasped as it had been hit in the face by Farfetch'ds large leek and Brutal Swing as well, taking super-effective damage once more. The Ghost-Type cried out as it had been knocked onto its back with Farfetch'd breaking free of the telekinetic hold.

"Far." Farfetch'd landed down as he walked over to Banette, picking his leek back up. The Wild Duck Pokemon asserted dominance by stabbing leek down on the ground. Right next to Banette's face too.

If Banette tried anything, Farfetch'd would use Night Slash or Brutal Swing to deal with it. Chandelure was also down and out from Pikachu's Thunderbolt via being paralyzed. Ash and Lucario quickly saw this as they went over to Banette and Chandelure, ready to free them from J's Desire.

"Runerigus!" Speaking of other Ghost-Types, Rungerius had put its long arms together, using the move Stone Edge by creating sharpened crystal stones between them.

"Dusk!" But, Ash had extra help now. With Dusknoir free, it could go against its fellow Ghost-Types who weren't in their right minds. Dusknoir moved forward while Runerigus shot the stones forward at high speeds.

The Gripper Pokemon quickly countered by using the mouth on its belly. Dusknoir's belly is similar to its mouth when it used to be a Dusclops. It acts as a black hole. When opening its belly mouth, Dusknoir absorbed the crystals of Stone Edge, sending them to another dimension. The afterlife, that is.

"Rune?!"

"Awesome!" Ash cheered as he looked back before placing his hand on Banette's head and his other hand on Chandelure's candles with Lucario. "Now, Gengar! Shadow Ball! And Dusknoir help out!"

"Gen...!" Gengar raised his arms, creating a ball of shadows, hurling it at the Ground-Ghost-Type.

"Dusknoir!" Dusknoir would use the physical variant to Shadow Ball. That of course was Shadow Punch. Dusknoir's hands became surrounded in a shadowy aura, as it reached its arms out. Two fists in the shape of Dusknoir's were fired out of Dusknoir's fists. The fists also had a grey trail that connected to Dusknoir's fists.

Shadow Ball flew ahead of Shadow Punch as Runergius quickly used Night Shade with black and purple bolts shooting out of its arms. All three Ghost moves met with Shadow Bal and Shadow Punch trying to break through Night Shade.

At the same time, Ash and Lucario had just freed Banette from the Desire's control by simply putting his palm on the Marionette Pokemon's head.

"Chandelure?"

"B-Bane?" Banette and Chandelure felt a bit woozy and off after being freed from J's Desire. They looked up to see Farfetch'd and Lucario standing next to them.

"Lu." Lucario and Ash helped the Marionette and Luring Pokemon up while Farfetch'd pulled his leek away. He no longer had a reason to attack Banette or even Chandelure. Both Ghost-Types thanked Ash, Lucario and Farfetch'd for freeing them.

And as a great bonus, they too would help Ash and his friends. As a way to show their gratitude and to get some payback on the Desire.

"Glad to see you guys are okay. Alright, let's finish!" Ash stood up, pointing directly at Runerigus. "Chandelure, use Inferno! And Banette, sneak up from behind with Shadow Sneak!"

Even commanding Pokemon that weren't his, Ash was taking complete charge as all the Pokemon, minus Runerigus were on his side following his command.

"Nette!" Banette snuck into the shadows while Chandelure unleashed an intense blue flame from its body.

The Fire-Type move merged with Shadow Punch and Shadow Ball, assisting Gengar and Dusknoir. Runerigus was finding it difficult to fight back. Two Ghost-Type moves were enough, but a third one just made it worse.

"R-Rigus!" The Grudge Pokemon couldn't hold the attacks back much longer as its own attack was starting to dwindle. Things couldn't get worse for Runerigus.

Except, they could.

Banette was the ace in the hole. With Shadow Sneak, the Marionette Pokemon appeared behind Runerigus in an aura of shadow from below while it was occupied with three moves.

"Banette!" Banette then struck its arms and shadow aura onto Runerigus's exposed back, dealing super-effective damage.

"Rune!" Runerigus gasped after being hit. And that prompted it to lose its guard. With that, the three moves could finally connect. Dusknoir's Shadow Punch struck Runerigus in the face, Shadow Ball engulfed it and so did Inferno. All three moves did what they needed to do.

Inferno wasn't super-effective but it still did some damage. However, Shadow Punch and Shadow Ball are what really helped in all of this. And with all those moves connecting onto Runerigus, an explosion mixed with black and purple shadows and fire emerged from it.

Ash and the others covered their eyes after the sudden bright explosion as Dusknoir's arms retracted into its body after using Shadow Punch.

"R-Rune...Rigus..." Once the smoke cleared, Runerigus fell to the floor, immobile.

"Whew." Ash wiped the sweat off his forehead. "That's that. Thanks, you guys." He then thanked the Ghost-Types before approaching Runerigus.

But first, Ash knew that he had to be careful. The Pokedex had already given him a large warning about what happens when someone touches Runerigus.

"Never touch its shadowlike body, or you’ll be shown the horrific memories behind the picture carved into it."

"Can't touch it but..." Ash looked at his hand. "I gotta get rid of the Desire still."

"Pikapi?"

"Oh, well. I'm gonna take that risk anyway." Ash decided to go for it. Even if he would witness the horrible memories waiting for him, he would try and power through them. The trainer kneeled, looking at the defeated Runerigus in the eye as Lucario walked beside him, ready to also the risk.

"Rune...?"

"Hold on," Ash said as he placed his hand onto Runerigus's body as well as Lucario. Upon contact, Runerigus's curse started coming through, affecting both Ash and Lucario.

The two wielders of Aura suddenly froze on the spot as their eyes widened. In just mere seconds, they were given the sight and memories of Runerigus and what happened when it was a human before.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu was worried for Ash as he tried to do something about this. But Dusknoir promptly stopped him. After all, Pikachu would just be affected as well. This was something Ash and Lucario had to overcome currently.

"Noir." Dusknoir shook his head.

"Pikachu..."

"Ugh!" Ash closed his eyes as he was witnessing every horrific moment of his Runerigus's life. Even when it was a Galarian Yamask. Ash and Lucario both showed their Auras coming out of them, connecting with the Desire.

The two of them held their breath in while viewing the horrific memories. However, these memories weren't actually enough to stop Ash and Lucario, considering what they've experienced before.

Both were able to calm themselves down as their Aura saturation was changing due to them being calm. Their combined Aura then grabbed a hold of the Desire, eliminating it as Runerigus's whole body let out pillars of Aura.

And thus, Runerigus had also been freed from J's Desire as Ash and Lucario stood up.

"R-Runerigus...?"

"There." Ash sighed. "You feeling better now?"

"Rigus!" Runerigus stood back up, feeling better than ever after losing the Desire inside of it.

"Great." Ash nodded, proud that another was free.

However, all of a sudden, he had just lost his balance. Using Aura constantly for a single day was starting to really take a toll on him. The Delayed Aura Ataxia disorder was kicking in even more to the point where it could render Ash immobile instead of the influenced ponies and Pokemon. "Oh...man..."

"Pikapi?!" Pikachu ran over to Ash, gasping as he witnessed his partner fall to the ground, fainting. Ash had used too much Aura in one day. The ataxia took a massive toll on him.

Right now, Ash was unconscious, making him a perfect target. However, his Pokemon wouldn't allow it. But even still, this pursuit seemed like it would never end. Time goes on with the afternoon slowly coming to an end as everyone on both sides are doing their best to either eliminate Ash or protect him.

As the journey continues.


Chapter 399 End.