My Little Pokémon

by Amarvax


Ash's fury

The Crystal Empire dungeon. Day.

"How dare you!" Cadence roared at high volume at the man who tried to take her own child away from her while also injuring her wing. Ghetsis. Never before has she been this furious. Not even Chrysalis made her this mad. At least Chrysalis had boundaries.

Ghetsis regained an unchanged smirking face while looking at Cadence. He wasn't worried in the slightest as Hydreigon growled at Sylveon. Flurry Heart was being held by her daughter as all of the citizens who took shelter here were down on the ground. Even the guards were down trying to protect Flurry Heart.

So enraged, Cadence started by unleashing a giant blast of magic from her horn, one intended to engulf both Ghetsis and Hydreigon. Ghetsis, unbothered by this, had Hydreigon get in the way, using Hyper Beam to counter this. Out of Hydreigon's three headmouths, a pitch-black beam of darkness came flying out, clashing with Cadence's horn before they cancelled each other out.

"Sylveon, use Moonblast!" Cadence ascended into the air along with her partner. Sylveon opened her mouth, gathering energy from the moon itself as she summoned a moon-shaped sphere made out of Fairy magic. At the same time, Cadence and Sylveon unleashed their own magical attacks towards Ghetsis and Hydreigon.

"Tch. Hydreigon, use Fire Blast." Ghetsis scoffed as he put his hand out. He used his dark magic to create a shield of darkness around him while Hydreigon fired a giant symbol-shaped blast of fire from his main mouth.

Cadence's beam had hit Ghetsis' power with the full wrath of a mother. Something that even Ghetsis had to acknowledge and be cautious of. Ghetsis' shield had been pushed back with him in it but he was able to resist Cadence's magic. As for Hydreigon and Sylveon, Fire Blast had consumed Moonblast in its raging flames before engulfing and blowing up around the Intertwining Pokemon.

"Sylv!" Sylveon fell from above after being hit.

"Sylveon!" Cadence gasped, looking at her partner. The moment she looked away, Hydreigon took the chance to attack Cadence himself. The Brutal Pokemon, after knocking Sylveon out of the air, flew towards the alicorn princess. "!"

"Drei!" Hydreigon roared as he used Dragon Pulse from all three of his mouths. Cadence gasped as she instinctively flew to the side, barely avoiding Dragon Pulse as three dragon-shaped shockwaves hit the wall, creating large holes in them.

"Be careful. Don't harm the child too much, Hydreigon. I still need her in one piece." Ghetsis said while Hydreigon chased Cadence down. The Brutal Pokemon used all three of his mouths to use different moves. The right head used Flash Cannon, the left used Dragon Pulse and the main one used Dark Pulse.

Cadence flew around the dungeon, flying at her absolute best speed to evade these ranged attacks. But as she did so, the dungeon itself was taking immense damage with many holes being blown everywhere from Hydreigon's attacks. She did all this flying while Flurry Heart latched onto her mother's back.

However, Hydreigon's destruction across the dungeon had caused large chunks of rocks that this whole place was built from to start falling. And with the citizens and guards of the Crystal Empire down here, they were at risk of being crushed. And Cadence saw that. Huge rocks were falling from above, ready to crush the fainted ponies.

The alicorn princess took immediate notice and attention to this. She used her magic to blow up the large rocks with a long-distance beam. She then moved that single beam around, using it as a means to obliterate any rock that even got close to her subjects.

"Gotcha." Ghetsis said as he pointed his finger at Cadence, performing the same trick he pulled on Flurry Heart that had injured her wing. That same bolt of black magic came shooting out but it seemed to be bigger this time.

Unlike her daughter, Cadence had a faster reaction time. By the corner of her eye, she was able to avoid the bolt just in time. However, with Cadence avoiding the bolt, Hydreigon capitalized as he had gotten close enough to Cadence to attack.

Cadence wanted to destroy the rocks that were threatening her subjects while also avoiding Hydreigon and to an extent Ghetsis. But multi-tasking with all of that while having a baby on her back was an issue. The alicorn princess quickly put up a defensive shield around her body, blocking Hydreigon's three beams simultaneously.

After successfully doing so, Cadence expanded her magical barrier, creating a pulse of magic that had blown not just Hydreigon away but all of the rocks as well. It had covered the entire dungeon as Cadence made sure that they only harmed hostile enemies and not her subjects. Even Ghetsis had been pushed back but he resisted by coating himself in dark magic.

Speaking of coating, Cadence placed Flurry Heart in a magic coating, protecting her from any potential harm. The baby alicorn began whimpering as this was overall a scary situation for her. The baby alicorn then crawled away since her wing had been damaged. But she didn't want to leave her mother or Manaphy. Especially when her own mother was in great peril. This was Flurry Heart's first biggest decision of her life. And at such a young age too. She worried that Cadence might end up falling here. Whether it was from Ghetsis' merciless tenacity or Flurry Heart being here in general as a liability.

She at least had to get Manaphy back. To keep someone in her life safe.

"By the time I'm done with you, you'll be nothing but dust in the wind!" Cadence growled with her eyes flashing purple. Sylveon had just gotten up after taking a fairly hard Fire Blast.

"Sylveon!"

"Hoh...scary." Ghetsis taunted. "Show your motherly anger all you want...I'll still have that child either way."

"No, you won't!" Cadence's eyes let out a bright light as she flew towards Ghetsis with her horn glowing. She was going to close the gap between her and Ghetsis by unleashing a magic ray from her horn while flying forward.

"Dreigon!" Hydreigon suddenly got in the way by flying towards Cadence. The Brutal Pokemon used Brutal Swing with his two headmouths. Cadence gasped as the Dark-Dragon-Type whacked her with his left headmouth, forcing the alicorn princess away. Cadence cried out after being hit by Brutal Swing as she went crashing into a wall.

As if that wasn't enough, Hydreigon was about to follow up with Hyper Beam so that he could obliterate Cadence on the spot until she was nothing but dust.

"Veon!" Sylveon wouldn't allow that. The Intertwining Pokemon ran forward, standing in front of Cadence as she used Quick Attack, hitting Hydreigon square in the chest before he could pull Hyper Beam off.

"Hy!" Hydreigon looked down as he barely flinched from that Quick Attack. In response, he used one of his head mouths to grab Sylveon, biting right into her skin.

"S-Syl!"

"Toxic." Ghetsis ordered.

"Drei!" White biting into Sylveon, the Brutal Pokemon then generated poison in his headmouth. The poison immediately seeped through Sylveon's skin, giving her the badly poisoned status effect.

"S-Sylveon!"

"Sylveon!" Cadence gasped as she got up, immediately generating a sandstorm-shaped magical attack that even acted like one.

"Drei!" Playing dirty, Hydreigon held out the poisoned Intertwining Pokemon with his headmouth, using her as a meatshield. Instead of hitting Hydreigon's cadence's spell had hit Sylveon instead, harming her own partner.

"Sylv!"

"Oh!" Cadence shot up with another gasp. Hydreigon then used two of its head mouths to unleash a unified Flash Cannon while also throwing Sylveon forward. Out of his headmouths, one of his Flash Cannon had hit Sylveon while the other went for Cadence.

Sylveon tumbled on the ground as she had fainted after being hit by Flash Cannon. She had taken a harsh punishment from being blasted with fire, bit into, poisoned and even hit by her own Trainer's magic by accident.

Cadence quickly used her magic to put up a reflective shield. The second flash cannon bounced off Cadence's barrier as it was reflected right back at the Brutal Pokemon.

"Hy!" But Hydreigon quickly countered this by using Fire Blast to melt away the Flash Cannon, preventing himself from being hit by his own attack.

"Tell me if this looks familiar!" Ghetsis exclaimed as he used one of the many tricks he had learned after obtaining dark magic. Ghetsis has been dedicating himself to master this form of magic since it chose him. And so far, it has taught him a few new tricks.

One of which was something that wasn't new to the Crystal Empire. Something that belonged to the previous ruler of this Empire. Kingdom Sombra.

Out of the floor and from the command of Ghetsis' own hand movements, he had summoned pitch-black crystals from below. Cadence immediately recognized those crystals, knowing of their previous user. With her quick instincts and reaction time, the alicorn princess was able to avoid the crystals that popped up. But one of them grazed her mane.

"Sombra's Crystals?!"

"Hahaha!" Ghetsis cackled as he moved his hand around wildly, summoning a plethora of crystals from the floor below, frantically flooding the dungeon room. Cadence flew back while also using her magic to obliterate the crystals. This spelt bad news mostly for the subjects.

Since they were all down on the floor, they were at great risk of being hit by these crystals. Cadence went for the same trick she did against the rocks. Create one single continuous moving beam and use it to destroy the crystals. However, unlike the rocks, the crystals were grouped and were thicker as well.

But Cadence could always increase the potency of her magic. Left and right she started blowing up crystals all around, preventing them from touching her or any of her subjects.

Ghetsis increased the height and width of the crystals, blocking out Cadence's view of Hydreigon. With Hydreigon masked, the Brutal Pokemon was ready for a sneak attack while Cadence was distracted.

Hydreigon bashed his body through one of the crystals, moving at high speeds before appearing in front of Cadence. The alicorn princess just now noticed the Brutal Pokemon in front of her Hydreigon had used Brutal Swing to hit her onto the ground.

"Agh!" Cadence cried out as she crashed into the ground with a hard impact due to how vigorous Hydreigon's hit was. Now on the ground, the Brutal Pokemon descended, hovering over Cadence as he one of his headmouths to bite onto the alicorn princess' wing.

Cadence's pupils expanded as she could feel Hydreigon's teeth sink to her. As if that wasn't enough, Hydreigon used his other headmouth to grab Cadence by her hoof, biting into it as well. The Princess of Love winced as Hydreigon's main head closed in on her.

Hydreigon, while biting onto Cadence, used Thunder Fang, sending 50,000 volts of electricity through the alicorn. Cadence screamed as her body was being shocked by these volts, frizzing her mane and making it hard for her to properly break free.

The Brutal Pokemon then opened his mouth, using the move Flamethrower to breathe scorching hot scarlet flames onto Cadence. Reacting quickly, Cadence put up a magical shield in front of herself. The flames of Flamethrower poured on the barrier as the alicorn closed her eyes, with the flames splitting after interacting with the circular protective screen.

Drei!" Seeing that he couldn't melt the protective shield, Hydreigon then decided to slam Cadence against the wall instead, harming her against the rocky crystal exterior. Cadence coughed as Hydreigon continued to do this while still biting onto her hooves and wings.

The Brutal Pokemon repeated this, continuously slamming Cadence around like a ragdoll without any mercy. All the while, Ghetsis watched this. Cadence lit her horn up, trying her best to escape. The alicorn used her magic to create a flash of light that temporarily blinded Hydreigon.

"Hy!"

"Ugh..." Cadence groaned as her hoof and wing were now damaged thanks to Hydreigon. Not only that, but after being slammed around, her back had been hurt along with her stomach, Her regalia was also close to breaking.

"You alicorns certainly have stellar defence and resistance, eh? No matter." Ghetsis put his hand out as he outlined Cadence in a black aura.

"Huh?" Cadence looked around, noticing the black aura outlining her. Before she knew it, Ghetsis had pushed her against the wall with nothing but a telekinetic push. Or in this case, a magical push. "Agh!"

Ghetsis cackled as he continued to do this by pulling Cadence forward and smashing her back into the wall repeatedly. Each hit was worse than the last with the walls around the dungeon breaking apart.

Hydreigon, after regaining his vision, chimed in by also attacking Cadence. He had used Thunderbolt, shooting out three bolts of lightning from his mouth. While Ghetsis was moving Cadence back and forth, the bolts from Thunder had struck Cadence, shocking her already shocked body further.

Cadence was taking a horrible beating as Ghetsis then redirected his movements, slamming Cadence to the ground, face-first. The alicorn princess groaned while her body was twitching with unbearable pain. But despite all of this, she could still go on. Ghetsis tried to pierce through her by summoning crystals, but she still had the reaction time to put a magic coating around her body, blocking them.

"Not bad." Ghetsis was impressed by Cadence. "This is exactly why I'm going to raise your daughter myself. You alicorns are certainly something. Alright, let's finish this and get going. Draco Meteor."

"Hydreigon!" Hydreigon then opened his mouth wide as he shot a single black ball into the air. Cadence gasped as that black ball was about to erupt into giant meteors. This was something that Cadence had to find a way to prevent.

If she could.

By closing her eyes, the alicorn princess used all of the magic that she had to cast a behemoth of a protective spell. One that could hopefully save her subjects. And her daughter as it had also covered Flurry Heart, Manaphy and Sylveon each.


Meanwhile.

And with Shining Armor and his guards, they were still up against the Shadow Triad who were capable of dealing with multiple guards and Pokemon with just three Pokemon on their own.

As trainers, they dwarfed the guards in skill as many of the Golurks had been defeated by Accelgor and Banette. Whether it was from Accelgor's amazing speed or Banette's unpredictable antics, the Crystal Empire guards were struggling. But reinforcements were coming so they had to hold out for as long as they could until the Shadow Triad were stopped.

However, the one struggling the least was Shining Armor. While the rest of the guards dealt with the two members of the Shadow Triad, Shining Armor was handling one on his own. More specifically, the Triad member who owned a Bisharp.

"Night Slash, Bisharp!"

"Use Fury Cutter again, Doublade!"

"Bisharp!"

"Dou!"

The two Steel-Types have been clashing blades together for a few minutes now. Doublade rapidly swung his double-bladed bodies, trying to directly hit Bisharp. The Sword Blade Pokemon, being made out of blades everywhere could take swings as its body was protected by a plethora of blades.

"Split up, Doublade!"

"Blade!" Just then, as Bisharp was going for another slash with Night Slash, Doublade suddenly separated himself instead of sticking together. Once doing so, Bisharp had missed and only slashed the air as the two halves of Doublade hit Bisharp from behind, knocking the Sword Blade Pokemon over.

"Sharp?!"

"Now! Sacred Sword!"

"Doublade!"

"Dodge it, quick!"

"Bish!" Bisharp gasped as it recovered by sliding on the ground. Doublade approached the Dark-Steel-Type with a red and orange aura surrounding his bladed body. The Sword Blade Pokemon jumped over Doublade, just nimbly avoiding Sacred Sword.

"Split!"

"Blade!" However, even when avoiding it, the right part of Doublade separated from his other self, catching Bisharp off guard and hitting the Sword Blade Pokemon square in the back once more, dealing super-effective damage. Doublade hit Bisharp so hard that it actually went flying towards the Triad member.

"!" The Triad member gasped as Bisharp had crashed into him, forcing them both to fall to the ground.

"Nice, Doublade!" Shining Armor nodded, praising Doublade. Their training with Cobalion had really paid off for them.

"Dou!"

"He's not so weak as the other ponies..." The Triad member said as Bisharp got off its Trainer. The Sword Blade Pokemon was a bit staggered because of Doublade's super-effective hit.

"Let's finish this! Sacred Sword again!"

"Doublade!" The Sword Pokemon went for one more Sacred Sword in hopes of defeating Bisharp for good. Now the Triad member could expect Doublade to split up as a trick.

"Bisharp! Payback!"

"Sharp!" Bisharp, after being hit by a heavy Sacred Sword, decided to return the favour to Honedge. Its bladed arms were coated in darkness as he ran towards Doublade.

"Doublade!" Doublade, by himself, split up with Sacred Sword to catch Bisharp off guard again. But this time, Bisharp was ready for this trick.

"Spin around, Bisharp!"

"Bisharp!" Bisharp then started spinning around while using Payback, creating a whirlwind of darkness around him. Due to it spinning in all directions, not only was the Sword Blade Pokemon able to prevent Doublade's sneak attack, but it also managed to clash with him on both sides.

"Doublade?!"

"Night Slash!"

"Sharp!" After successfully blocking Sacred Sword from both sides, Bisharp then jumped into the air as it rapidly slashed the air, sending black cutting waves downwards, raining them on the Sword Pokemon.

"D-Dou!" Doublade was being bombarded by the waves of Night Slash, taking super-effective hits each time as punishment. On the plus side, Doublade is known for his great defence considering what he eventually evolves into. But this still stung.

"Doublade!" Shining Armor gasped.

"Finish it with Dig!"

"Blade!" Bisharp then dived downwards with its sharp arm out as it dug into the ground, creating a hole in it. Bisharp had burrowed through as it was now moving through the ground.

"Stay sharp, Doublade! Get ready for the right moment to use Sacred Sword!"

"Dou!" The two blades looked around the area, seeing Bisharp's digging path on the floor as the crystals were all moving. They lit each other up, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The Triad member narrowed his eyes as Bisharp had emerged from the floor, shattering the crystals. But instead of going for a direct hit, the Sword Blade Pokemon had hit the large shattered crystals directly at Doublade.

"Dou!" Doublade took attention to this as he immediately started slashing away at the crystals that came his way.

"Night Slash!" The Triad member commanded but this time, he pointed directly at Shining Armor instead of Doublade.

"Sharp!" After distracting the Steel-Ghost-Type with the crystals, Bisharp then lit its bladed arms before rushing towards Shining Armor to attack him.

"Oh!" Shining Armor gasped after seeing Bisharp directly approach him.

"Blade!" Doublade saw that his trainer was in imminent danger. He destroyed the last crystal before using Shadow Sneak to move within the shadows. It was the quickest way for him to reach his trainer since Bisharp's running speed was swift.

"Bisharp!" Bisharp raised its dark-coated arms, ready to cut the armour off of Shining Armor and to an extent his entire body. Shining Armor didn't have the speed to avoid this as a pony cannot keep up with a Pokemon most of the time. Especially the nimble ones.

However, by using himself as a shield, Doublade emerged from the shadows, appearing before his trainer to protect him from Bisharp. But at the cost of risking himself.

"Doublade!" Shining Armor didn't want Doublade to suffer the damage. So, in a reverse situation, he pushed the Sword Pokemon out of the way, taking the hit himself. Bisharp had slashed through Shining Armor's armour, breaking all of it in one single hit.

Shining Armor's eyes widened after being hit by the armour. He could feel the staggering force of Night Slash go through him, but he wasn't going to let it be in vain. "Now! Sacred Sword!"

"Blade!" Shining Armor's sacrifice allowed Doublade to get off a hit as the captain of the Royal Guard fell to the ground, tumbling. And with that, Doublade swung his double-bladed body, hitting Bisharp with all that he had, right in the stomach too.

"B-Bisharp!"

"Doublade!" And Doublade did more than just stagger Bisharp. Not only did he launch him away, but Bisharp, after taking the full brunt of that attack, had fainted. Now it was just an unconscious Pokemon flying across the room as it had crashed into the wall as the final movement.

"Impossible!" The Triad member turned around, witnessing his Bisharp fainting before his eyes. "You beat my Bisharp!"

"I-It was worth the risk." Shining Armor grinned as he got up from the ground. "Training with Cobalion doesn't just help Doublade out. But boy, does it smart! Those Bisharp blades are no joke!" As a drawback, Shining Armor had cut marks over him, but it was worth it.

"Doublade!" Doublade cried out in victory.

"Hmph." The Triad member returned his Bisharp. "Not bad. You're certainly better than your sister...But how can you fare against my other Bisharp?"

"Other?"

"You didn't think I had just one Pokemon, did you? We make sure to always train each of our Pokemon to their top condition. So that there aren't any deadweights." The Triad member revealed his second Poke Bal. Fittingly, the Shadow Triad all had three Pokemon at their disposal each, making it a total of 9.

"We can't take another one at the moment. Let's regroup, for now, Doublade!" Shining Armor chose to run off instead of continuing to engage the Shadow Triad.

"Dou!"

"You won't escape!" The Triad member suddenly disappeared into the shadows, as if he had become one with it. Since Shining Armor was the father of Flurry Heart, focusing on him was a good option in the eyes of the Triad member. He could get some answers out of him. Of course, Shining Armor would never reveal the location of his own daughter to them at all.

Shining Armor ran through the hallways of the Crystal Empire, unable to see the Triad member anywhere. It was like he became completely invisible when entering the shadows.

"Where'd he go?!" Shining Armor wondered, moving his eyes everywhere. All he could see were swift blurs moving in the shadows, most likely the Triad member.

"Doublade!" But Doublade could definitely see him. Being Ghost-Type, anything that was within the shadows could be seen by his eyes.

When running through the corridor, Shining Armor could hear the ongoing battle of his guards and the rest of the Shadow Triad. So far, it sounded like his side was losing.

And this further showed when a Golurk came crashing through the castle walls with a Crystal Empire guard alongside it. They had fainted after taking a nasty attack from either Triad member. More and more were being defeated by the Triad. However, due to how many soldiers there were, there was a chance that they could overwhelm them. And that was the main strategy.

"Accel!" Accelgor, despite its great speed, was being overwhelmed by the amount of Golurk appearing. The main goal was to overwhelm the Triad members until their Pokemon faint. However, there were still other Pokemon that the Triad could use. And just their first Pokemon were giving the Crystal Empire guards a hard time.

However, there was the looming threat of the rest of the invading forces heading towards the Crystal Empire. And if this carries on, the Crystal Empire will be the one that would be overwhelmed.

"You all!" Shining Armor called for the guards. "Make a-" However, all of this battling would be quickly put on hold as some rumbling from below could be heard.

Shining Armor stopped in his tracks along with the rest of the guards. And how couldn't they? All this trembling was fairly potent and seemed to be getting closer.

There was a moment of pause. Even the Shadow Triad stopped for a bit. Closer and closer, the rumbling could be felt. The castle shook with crystals crumbling. The further they got, the more Shining Armor recognized those sounds as explosions. In fact, before the explosions went off, there was a descending sound added onto it.

It took a second for Shining Armor to quickly realize what that sound was and where it was coming from. The Crystal Empire Dungeon. Where his subjects, wife and child were.

"Oh no...Cadence! Flurry-" Shining Armor turned around, wanting to see if his loved ones were alright. But before could head over there, through the walls, an explosion emerged, blowing the unicorn, Doublade and any other nearby ponies back, including the Golurk.

The Shadow Triad backed away by moving in the shadows with their superhuman swiftness. So did Accelgor and Banette as they were safe from this explosion. But it wasn't just one. It was multiple. Multiple of them went off continuously as the sounds flooded the entire castle.

Witnessing this from the outside was stellar. This was the result of Hydreigon's Draco Meteor. Since it was used indoors, the results were more catastrophic than normal. Soon, half of the Crystal Empire castle had been obliterated by Draco Meteor with many rooms lost in the process.

The explosions came to an end finally since Draco Meteor could only go for so long. But even with its end, it left a horrible result. A half-destroyed castle and some injured ponies and Pokemon in the process.

However, despite all of that, it was revealed why the entire castle wasn't just blown away. That was because Cadence managed to defend half of it with her magic.

She had placed a large magical dome with all that she had to try and defend her subjects. Unfortunately, using so much magic power to defend against an attack as violent and destructive as Draco Meteor was truly difficult.

Cadence's figure could be seen within the thick smoke by Shining Armor's eyes. Shining Armor and Doublade slowly got back up after that horrible collection of explosions. The captain of the Royal guard had witnessed his wife in a horrible state.

Hydreigon was currently holding her. While Ghetsis held Flurry Heart.

"Cadence!" Shining Armor yelled.

"U-Ugh..." Cadence groaned as Hydreigon was biting deep into her neck. Cadence's regalia had been broken thanks to all the destruction around. Ghetsis himself was holding Flurry Heart.

"Pathetic." Ghetsis scoffed as Hydreigon tossed Cadence to the ground like she wasn't worth his time. The alicorn princess tumbled on the floor with her crown falling.

"Why you...!" Shining Armor growled at Ghetsis and Hydreigon. "Put her down! Doublade! Swords Dance!"

"Doublade!" Doublade, still having some energy in him, lit his bladed body in a white aura before rushing towards Ghetsis and the Shadow Triad.

"Fire Blast."

"Drei!" But one with one instant Fire Blast from Hydreigon's mouth, Doublade had been caught in the explosive blast of fire. That one Fire Blast, coupled with the damage he had already taken from Bisharp had caused the Sword Pokemon to faint.

"D-Doublade..."

"Doublade, no!"

"Let's go." Ghetsis put his hand out, creating a Rift.

"D-Don't..." Cadence groaned.

"I won't let you!"

"Dragon Pulse."

"Hydrei!" With a quick turn around, Hydreigon fired a short-burst Dragon Pulse that had struck Shining Armor, preventing him from trying anything. With a single Dragon Pulse, Shining Armor, who wasn't armoured in this situation had fallen, lying next to his wife and soldiers.

"Time to go." Ghetsis looked at Flurry Heart before tossing the baby alicorn into the gateway with cries echoing. One of the soldiers opened their eyes, witnessing Ghetsis throwing Flurry Heart into the gateway without any care. He could barely move and do anything to fight back.

But there was one thing he could do. He slowly took out his Xtransceiver with his hooves shaking. When turning it on, the soldier looked at Trainer numbers before him. Two of them belonged to Shining Armor and Cadence. But the third one next to them was Ash. He selected Ash's Trainer number before sending a voice message.

"Ash...We need help...Ghetsis..." But he was too weak to speak onwards. However, even if he couldn't finish his sentence, the Xtransceiver had sent the message to Ash either way. And after that, Ghetsis passed through the gateway while the last soldier fainted.

Ghetsis had won.


Out in the wilds.

Speaking of Ash, he was currently in the air, riding on Dragonite's back with Pikachu. Ash had already defeated some of the Empress' forces alongside his Pokemon. Ash isn't a stranger to taking on multiple forces at once after all.

While in the air, searching for the next place to help, his Xtransceiver was ringing. Ash took out the device from his pocket to see who it was. He was expecting either Twilight or any of his friends to be the callers. But when he saw the screen, it was revealed to be from the Crystal Empire.

"The Crystal Empire?" Ash looked at the screen before answering it. Instead of a call, it was a message. A massage of assistance. Ash heard these exact words echo from the device.

"Ash...We need help...Ghetsis..."

And that was that. No more. The soldier fainted afterwards as the video message had ended.

"What?!" Ash immediately shot up after hearing that. That was by far the most unusual call he's gotten. One that was of great importance. And it didn't spell anything good if Ghetsis was involved. "Dragonite! Head for the Crystal Empire! Full speed ahead!"

"Dragonite!" Dragonite nodded as she sped up, boosting through the air. Their next destination was the Crystal Empire. They were hoping they weren't too late. But in reality, they already were.


The Crystal Empire.

With Dragonite's great flying speeds, it took them 20 minutes to arrive here. Ash, Dragonite and Pikachu had witnessed the result of the Crystal Empire during the invasion and Ghetsis' arrival. Half of the castle was in ruins while some of the guards were down on the ground. Both on the inside and outside.

Remains of the Empress' forces could be found here from fallen ships. The Dynamaxed Sableye, before Ghetsis even showed up inside of the castle, had been taken out by the Shadow Triad, fainting and returning to its normal form.

And there they laid. The fallen Pokemon, guards and Shining Armor and Cadence themselves. Dragonite descended as Ash and Pikachu had hopped off.

"Cadence! Shining! Guys!" Ash cried out as he ran towards them.

"Pika-Pikachu!"

"What happened?! Where's Ghetsis?!" Ash went over to them, seeing how bruised and injured most of them were. Especially Cadence. Ash kneeled, trying to get a response from everyone. He then heard the sound of Cadence crying as she raised her head, looking up at the Alolan Champion.

"Ash..." Cadence wept with tears flowing out her eyes. "He took Flurry Heart."

"He what?!"

"I couldn't stop him..." She sobbed as she felt guilty for failing to protect her own daughter. Shining Armor himself groaned with his weakened and strained body. Without his armour, he was vulnerable which was why Dragon Pulse did him in so quickly.

Ash contained his anger as he wouldn't allow it to completely overtake him. But he was certainly furious as he tightened his fist before standing up. He had a new goal that strayed away from the invasion for the time being. Retrieve Flurry Heart from Team Plasma.

"I'll get her back." Ash declared as he took out a Travel Sphere. "You all should rest up in the meanwhile."

"By yourself, Ash?" Cadence whimpered.

"I'm not alone. I've got my friends with me." Ash turned around before opening the gateway to Pyrestar's world. Shining Armor and Cadence both got back up, witnessing Ash open the gateway.

"W-We're coming too." Shining Armor stuttered. Flurry Heart was her daughter and he couldn't ignore her being captured. Even if he was injured. Ash looked back, knowing that if both Cadence and Shining Armor went with Ash in the state they were currently in, they would put themselves in even more danger. They were struggling to even get back up. But Ash knew that was their decision.

"Okay. Just stay close to me, alright?"

"Sylveon..." Sylveon got up along with Doublade. Shining Armor and Cadence mustered the strength to get up from the floor as they were the only ones who could do so. Sylveon and Doublade were exhausted themselves since they had fainted earlier. They certainly weren't back at full strength right now.

"We will." Both Cadence and Shining Armor nodded and spoke in unison.

"Alright. Hang in there, Flurry Heart. We're coming."

"Pikachu."


Pyrestar's World. The Harmonia Kingdom. Colress' lab.

"Behee!" Right now, Colress' Beheyeem was hovering in front of the baby alicorn. Flurry Heart was being kept in spherical prison made by Colress himself that could fit most small Pokemon inside. And certainly a baby pony.

Beheyeem was trying to use its mind-wiping abilities to erase Flurry Heart's memory of her parents so that Ghetsis can start everything over and raise her himself for further pursuit of endless power. But so far, it wasn't going smoothly. Flurry Heart was seemingly negating Beheyeem's actions.

"Behee?"

"Why hasn't it gotten through her yet?" Ghetsis spoke to Colress.

"It seems that she has a strong mental resistance to Beheyeem's ability. Most likely from her magic. Whether she's doing this consciously is hard to say since she is a baby after all." Colress explained.

"Magic, eh? I can handle that." Ghetsis smirked as he put his hand over the sphere, covering it with Dark Magic. Since Ghetsis can counter Flurry Heart's magic with his own, he believed that wiping her mind would be easier if there's no magic to block her mind.

However, Ghetsis soon found out that Flurry Heart was giving out more magical power than she usually does. By closing her eyes, her magic shined so bright that it fought back Ghetsis' dark magic and burnt his hand a tad bit.

"Gh!" Ghetsis grimaced as he pulled his own arm back. "Tch! Why you little...Your power is truly inconsistent, eh? No matter. When we're done with you, I'll make it consistent through and through. Keep working on wiping her memories."

"Of course. She's still a baby. There are many limitations that she can do." Colress shrugged, believing that Flurry Heart wouldn't be able to block out Beheyeem's power for long.

"Now then...about that invasion. If Twilight ends up winning it, then it would seem that our main plan will go through. But if not, then our second plan should-"

"Lord Ghetsis!" A Team Plasma Grunt burst into the lab of Colress.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Bad news! It's Ash Ketchum! He's here!"

"What?! He's alive?!" Ghetsis exclaimed as he had thought he destroyed Ash in the blimp just 2 weeks ago. Now he has just found out that Ash Ketchum was still alive.

And he was more than just alive, he was enraged. Right now, within the indoors of the castle, which still resembled Canterlot Castle considering who the original owner is, Ash was going on his own rampage to find Flurry Heart.

Left and right, Team Plasma Grunts were being defeated along with their Pokemon in the span of either seconds or one minute. All the while, Cadence and Shining Armor stayed close to Ash. Mostly Dragonite who kept them safe.

None of the Team Plasma grunts stood a chance against Ash and his Pokemon. Especially when they were furious. Mostly Ash. Lucario would just blast any Dark-Type out of the way with Aura Sphere, Gengar performed a variety of actions like freezing, confounding, holding opponents in place or even using the shadows themselves. Dragonite was just demolishing everything with Hyper Beam. Farfetch'd wasn't as furious as his teammates, but he was willing to help Ash out either way.

"Stop! You won't go any-" A grunt and a few others tried to stop Ash with her Drapion alongside her fellow grunts.

"Move! You're in our way! Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped into the air, blasting 100,000 volts of electricity from above, not wasting any time as Drapion and the grunt had been struck. One hit and they had been knocked out without even a battle.

"Where is she?! Where's Flurry Heart?!" Ash grabbed a downed Team Plasma grunt by grabbing her torso.

"I don't know!" The grunt was actually terrified of Ash. His eyes were full of rage but not enough to overtake him. After all, Ash has full control over himself due to his past experiences.

But if this was Ash when he was younger in the Kanto, Johto and Hoenn days, the results for the grunts would be less than stellar.

"Tch!" Ash dropped the grunt as he kept moving. "Let's head for the throne room!"

"Pika!"

They pursued their goal Anyone that stood in Ash's way would be trampled by his Pokemon. Lucario created an Aura Sphere, placing it on the floor and launching it as if it were a bowling ball. The sphere travelled through the floor, tearing it apart while blowing up after coming in contact with some grunts.

Some Pokemon tried to attack Ash from above, but Dragonite and Gengar wouldn't let that happen. Dragonite used Dragon Claw, smacking away the airborne Pokemon while Gengar used Psychic to either hold them in place or toss them aside. Pikachu used Quick Attack to knock away the grunts that came from the side while Lucario leapt over the Electric Mouse Pokemon, using Force Palm to finish the job.

Ash wasn't giving Team Plasma any time to breathe. And for good reason. Dragonite breathed Hyper Beam across the ground, preventing any Team Plasma grunts from even getting close. One by one, many of them were being defeated faster than they can counteract.

Farfetch'd used his leek to smash doors down, searching for the room where Flurry Heart could be. Gengar did something identical by phasing through the walls. It had the best chance of finding Flurry Heart.

"Tell me where she is!" Ash went up to another downed grunt with Dragonite hovering over the grunt.

"S-S-She's at the lab!" The grunt felt too intimidated by Ash and Dragonite, mostly Ash to negate. He feared that Ash would do something horrible to him. Lucky for him, that wouldn't be the case.

"Lab, huh? Let's find that lab!"

Eventually, something like this had to be dealt with. After hearing about Ash being alive and how he's rampaging through the kingdom, Ghetsis sent the Shadow Triad to deal with him.

And speaking of which, they showed up from the shadows, standing in front of Ash and the group. Unlike ordinary Team Plasma grunts, the Triad were nothing to scoff at. And Ash knew that as he came to a screeching halt.

"Stop!" The middle Triad member said with his Bisharp in front of him. Bisharp had been healed up after its battle with Doublade minutes ago. "That's as far as you go, Ash Ketchum!"

"Get out of our way! Lucario! Force Palm! Gengar! Ice Punch! Dragonite, Dragon Claw!"

"Lu!" Lucario lit his paws up before rushing towards the grunts while Dragonite and Gengar flew beside him.

"Guillotine, Bisharp!"

"Accelgor, Water Shuriken!"

"Banette, Phantom Force!"

"Luca!" Lucario and Bisharp clashed their arms together before looking each other in the eyes. Lucario's Aura was responding to Ash's Aura. And his anger matched up with Lucario's. With that anger, Lucario overpowered Bisharp by pushing him back.

"Sharp?!"

"Lucario!" Lucario then struck his glowing paws onto the Sword Blade Pokemon's bladed chest, sending all of his energy into Bisharp. With a single thrust, Lucario launched Bisharp far back, causing it to tumble on the ground.

"Gen!" Gengar saw Banette descend into the shadows, knowing that it was going to pop out at any time. But Gengar was ready with its own sneaky trick as it conserved Ice Punch.

"Bane!" Banette emerged from the shadows, thinking that it was about to land a hit on Gengar. But, without having Ash make the commands, Gengar chose to personally switch moves.

"Gar!" Gengar used Night Shade instead of Ice Punch, shooting out a black and red ray out of its eyes that had struck the Marionette Pokemon.

"Banette?!" Banette didn't expect that. It was only expecting Ice Punch. Afterwards, Gengar did eventually use Ice Punch as it smashed its frozen fist onto its fellow Ghost-Type, freezing Banette.

"Gor! Accel!" Accelgor started throwing multiple shurikens of water at the Dragon Pokemon. It used its amazing speed to zigzag across the area, trying to catch Dragonite off guard. But Dragonite never lets her guard down. She was taking all of the Water Shurikens from all sides when Accelgor zipped constantly.

Eventually, when Accelgor got a bit too close, Dragonite found her opportunity, she used her tail to whack Accelgor, striking the Ninja Pokemon right in the face. "Drago!"

"A-Accel?!"

"Dragonite!" After smacking Accelgor in the face, Dragonite used Dragon Claw, clawing the Bug-Type and forcing it to the ground like it was a fly.

"Let's finish this! Aura Sphere! Shadow Ball! And Hyper Beam go!"

"Lucario!" Lucario then raised his paws, generating a large Aura Sphere while Gengar made two Shadow Balls in each of its hands. Dragonite ascended into the air, holding her breath in as she charged up a behemoth of a Hyper Beam. "Ca!"

The three of them then unleashed their attacks with Lucario hurling the Aura Sphere. Gengar did the same, adding Shadow Ball into Aura Sphere while Dragon unleashed a giant beam that boosted the speed of the merged ball-shaped attacks. Now the attack had the properties of Fighting, Ghost and Normal in it.

"Counter with Psychic, Banette!"

"Use Bug Buzz, Accelgor!"

"Bisharp! Night Slash!"

"Bisharp!" Just like their opponents, the three of them unleashed their own attacks. Bisharp slashed the air, sending white cutting waves from just the air movements while Banette and Accelgor just sent energy balls of green and purple colouring.

"Pikachu!" Pikachu added his own strength into it via Thunderbolt. The Electric Mouse shot 100,000 volts worth of electricity, merging it with the combined attack, making it stronger than ever.

And with that extra strength, the merged attack consumed the other attacks without fail. Bisharp, the other Pokemon and the Triad had their eyes widen as the attack approached them.

"Oh my..." The middle Triad member said as the last thing they saw was the merged attack blowing up in front of their faces, blowing the Pokemon back and eventually them.

Afterwards, the Triad hit the wall with their Pokemon fainting collectively. Their Pokemon even landed on them as they went to the corner. But the Triad themselves hadn't fainted. They were still up and could continue and send their next Pokemon out. But that attack knocked the wind out of them so they didn't have enough time to get back up.

"W-What strength.." The left Triad member groaned. Afterwards, Ash and the others moved on, searching for Flurry Heart while Gengar phased through the walls.

There was a frenzy within the castle. And the other group that noticed this were the residents of the kingdom. The ponies who had been taken over by Ghetsis and his team noticed all the destruction and chaos happening over at the castle. They weren't quite sure what it was and frankly, they didn't care considering the years of suffering they've had to go through trying to maintain balance in this world.


Colress' lab.

With pure strength, Lucario smashed the door open as they had finally found the lab to Colress' room. Since this castle resembled Canterlot Castle, it was fairly easy for them to get around quickly.

The door went flying as it flew past Colress, almost hitting him. Colress himself gasped as he witnessed the door crash through the glass window before turning to face the entrance.

Ash and the were here.

"Mama! Papa! Ash!" Flurry Heart said whilst inside of the sphere.

"Flurry Heart!" Shining Armor and Cadence said.

"There she is! Gengar, Psychic!"

"Gar!" Not wasting any time, as usual, Ash echoed the command as Gengar used Psychic to mentally hold the sphere that Flurry Heart was in. The Shadow Pokemon was going to simply carry the sphere this way for an easier time.

But, of course, it wasn't as easy as it seemed. Instead of Colress interrupting Gengar by just grabbing the sphere or sending his own Pokemon out, someone else did it for him.

That, someone, was Ghetsis who anticipated someone coming for Flurry Heart. He just didn't think that Ash would do it since he believed that he perished in the blimp explosion. Obviously, he expected Cadence and Shining Armor to show up without a doubt.

From the shadows themselves, Ghetsis shot a black bolt towards Gengar, breaking the Ghost-Poison-Types concentrating as Gengar's Psychic hold had been broken.

"Gar!" Gengar was knocked back by something that seemed so small as the sphere Flurry Heart was kept in had been dropped.

"Ah! Gengar!" Ash looked back at Gengar before looking in the direction of where the bolt came from. Out of the shadows, Ghetsis had walked out with his Hydreigon beside him. "Ghetsis!"

"You're just persistence and stubbornness in its rawest form, aren't you, boy?" Ghetsis spoke to Ash. "Every time, you somehow manage to bounce back and show yourself. You should've perished long ago. The fact that you've come this far is fairly frustrating."

"Save it! We're here for Flurry Heart!" Ash responded.

"Pikachu!"

"Like I'm giving up all of this potential power. Prodigies such as these deserve to be raised in the best possible way. Not for something weak like love."

"So stealing our own child is just your way of getting more power?!" Cadence growled.

"Yes." Ghetsis admitted with honesty and not a single care in his voice. This made Cadence and Shining Armor make a face of disgust while Ash's anger was only boiling up even further. "But I won't stop with just this child. I'll go even further. Anything that can even advance my rise to endless power, I will pursue it without a second thought. And I won't stop until I'm at the very top of it all forever!"

"You're insane..." Shining Armor gasped. "Forever...?"

"Oh yes. And I'll make sure I live forever. And Ho-oh will be the Pokemon that will guide me to that everlasting rule for all eternity!" Ghetsis declared.

"There's no way that's going to happen!" Ash denied. "Ho-oh wouldn't let a guy like you live and rule forever!"

"Hah! And you supposedly know what Ho-oh thinks? The only thing you need to rule is power! And I will gain absolute power when I'm granted eternal life! I will be an immortal God among all species and with rule over not just this collection of worlds but other worlds and universes out there!"

"It'll be wasted on you because you don't know the first thing about life!" Ash stomped his foot while stepping forward.

"I know how to end it! And I'll start by ending you for good!"

"Lucario! Force Palm on the floor! Gengar! You know what to do!"

"Luca!" Lucario raised his palm as he smashed them on the ground, not only creating a visible crack, but also a giant smoke cloud that filled the lab immediately, blocking out Ghetsis' and everyone else's vision.

But not Gengar's.

"Gengar!" Once more, Gengar used Psychic to outline Flurry Heart with its mental mind. Gengar pulled Flurry Heart and the sphere towards it and thanks to its Ghost properties, it could easily see through the smoke.

"Tch! Hydreigon! Blow the smoke away with Air Slash!"

"Hydreigon!" Hydreigon began swinging his headmouths around, forming cutting waves of wind. At the same time, Ash had used the Travel Sphere to open up a gateway right behind Cadence and Shining Armor each.

"Go!" Ash said to him as Gengr had successfully brought Flurry Heart over. Hydreigon had cleared out the smoke in seconds thanks to Air Slash as Ghetsis had witnessed Flurry Heart and the gateway.

"What?!"

"Alright!" Shining Armor grabbed Flurry Heart, holding the sphere in his hooves.

"No, you won't! Dragon Pulse!"

"Hydrei...!"

"Thunderbolt!"

"Pika...!"

One wanted Flurry Heart to stay while the other just wanted her to get back home safe and sound with her family. Pikachu and Hydreigon both unleashed their standard go two ranged attacks as 100,000 volts and a dragon-shaped blast had clashed against each other. They were equal as the result was the typical smoke explosion. Ash had given Shining Armor, Cadence and Flurry Heart enough time to pass through the gateway.

But noticeably, Ash didn't go through the gateway either. Instead, he personally closed it as he chose to stay behind here.

"Ash! Come through!" Shining cried out as his appearance was disappearing once the gateway started closing.

"You go on ahead! I'm finishing this right now." Ash turned to face Ghetsis. "Tell Twilight and everyone I'll be back!"

"Ash!" Cadence yelled. "Oh...why are you like this?!" Those were the last words she said before the gateway had finally closed. Ash had done the simple task of getting Flurry Heart home.

Now there was one final task. Dealing with Ghetsis.

"You..." Ghetsis clenched his fist as his dark magic and aura were showing. "Yet again...you prove to be nothing but a consistent nuisance! Time and time again! I refuse to let my plans be foiled by some kid from Kanto!"

"Sorry to disappoint." Ash gave a cocky response. "But I'll thrash your whole kingdom right here. It wasn't even yours, to begin with!"

"Pikachu!"

"You won't stop me any further! Not anymore! I'm going to obliterate you for good this time! And then, I will be the one given Ho-oh's eternal happiness! And so on!"

And with Ghetsis' declaration, only a grin appeared on Ash's face. By this point, he and his Pokemon were in pure enemy territory. Instead of dealing with the invasion, Ash was going to end the Team Plasma operation here first. But he wasn't just going to battle Ghetsis to do it.

Ash was going to level the castle itself. " Sorry about this Pyrestar..." Obviously, this would mean Pyrestar's castle would be gone. Which was the major drawback. But Ash was still going through it.

"Bring it on!"

As the journey continues.

Chapter 455 End.