The next day, Flash and his friends again woke up to find a large number of trainers screaming their heads off in the reception area.
"This is an outrage!" One of them yelled.
"I thought you said it was fixed!"
"They're in even worst shape than yesterday!"
"I'm sorry," Nurse Redheart kept bowing, "I honestly don't know what happened, but I've already contacted Horizon Incorporated and they're on their way."
"You said that yesterday!" Lightning roared, slamming his fist into the reception desk, "Three of my Pokémon are in no shape to battle today! What if this next round is four or more?!"
"I'm really sorry," Nurse Redheart flinched, "I...I don't know what to tell you."
Flash and the others stared at the situation, all frowns on their faces. But before they could do anything, the center's doors slid open as Starlight, Sunburst and Cozy appeared, Sunburst holding some kind of broken device.
"You! You're from Horizon!" Lightning pointed at him. "What the heck is going on here?!"
"Our apologies," Starlight replied as they walked in front of the group and Sunburst placed the machine on the front desk. "It appears this place was hacked."
"Hacked?" Doc moved over to the device, "By this machine?"
"That's right," Sunburst nodded. "We don't know how, but someone found a way to tap into the recovery beds with this machine and force them to reverse their process. Instead of giving energy, they drained them."
"How is that possible?" A trainer asked.
"Those beds were created by reverse engineering the effects of the move Giga Drain. We originally designed them to drain energy, then simply reversed them. Whatever this machine is, it re-reversed the beds to take energy and transfer it to this device. Then they simply switched it off and caused the beds to return to their normal state, explaining why we couldn't find anything wrong with them."
"So it's not your fault," Twilight chimed in.
"Like heck it isn't!" Lightning yelled as he pointed at Starlight, "If you're gonna make a device that drains Pokémon, the least you can do is make it so that nobody can hack it!"
Flash and the others were about to tell him off, only for Starlight to sigh, "He's right. We're sorry for this." She then turned to Redheart. "Until we find the one responsible for this, it's best you don't use the recovery beds. Whoever they are might have more of these devices."
Redheart nodded as the trainers all growled at them, Starlight giving another apology and promising they would find out who was responsible bring them to justice. Some accepted this, but Lightning just stormed out of the place, the rest following him. As this happened, Starlight and Cozy left, saying they had a lot of work to do back at the company while Flash and the others focused on the device.
"So where did you find this thing?" Spike asked as Sunburst put it on one of the tables.
"It's a pretty interesting story," he replied, soon telling them about how he got an alert on his gauntlet and used his computer to track the signal before chasing the cloaked figure. "Then I headed over to collect it..."
"Weird," Twilight responded as they worked to take it apart. "Why would anyone want to steal Pokémon energy?"
"Who knows," Sunburst sighed as he removed one of the panels on the side. "There's still much about Pokémon that people don't know about. What we do know is that the very life energy of Pokémon, Infinity Energy, is like nothing anyone has ever seen. The energy given off when a Rattata uses Thunderbolt is enough to power a square block of houses for an hour. So pure, unfiltered, Infinity Energy? Who knows what you could do with that?"
"Maybe they plan on selling it on the black market or something," Doc suggested.
"It's possible," Sunburst pushed his glasses up as he removed another part of the machine. "The only thing I can't figure out is how they managed to hack into the recovery bed's systems. They have the best security systems we have. The only way to bypass them is with an executive pass-code."
As he said that, Spike pointed to the side of the machine. "What's this slot for?" They turned to see a hole in the side of the machine that had a screw-like design.
"The person using it was holding some kind of container," Sunburst added, "It wasn't big, but it looked like it was screwed into the machine. That's probably where they were placing the energy they stole." In that moment, he squinted his eyes at the machine, "Wait..." he dug around in the machine with a pair of pliers, "What's this?"
He removed a computer chip, Twilight going wide-eyed at this, "Wow..." she whispered, "That is really advanced."
"Extremely advanced," Sunburst nodded. "I should know. I designed it." They all went wide-eyed as Sunburst continued, "This shouldn't be possible. This chip is still being beta tested right now. There's no way someone outside Horizon could get their hands on it."
"But that means..."
"The one who made this is an employee," Sunburst sighed, "And if they were able to hack into the security system, they must be high up in the company." He put his hand to his chin, only for a light-bulb to go off in his head. "That's it!" He held up his gauntlet and began typing away.
"What?" Twilight asked, "What are you doing?"
"Even if they were able to bypass the security, the recovery beds weren't built with a way to transmit energy. That means they must have been upgraded by someone." He kept typing away, "But that kind of procedure couldn't have been done on the sly. So whoever did it must have done so when we were distracted by something else...like the Center's electricity going off."
The others quickly caught on, "So you're saying that whoever's doing this caused the Center's power loss?"
Sunburst nodded, "And then they pretended to help out in fixing it, all the while secretly upgrading the beds to connect to the center's transmitter so it could transfer the energy to this machine."
"Genius..." Twilight whispered.
Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "So...does that mean you can find out who it was? I mean, there wasn't many of you guys when you came to restore the Center's power."
"Exactly," Sunburst nodded as the holographic screen appeared, "This is a list of all the people that worked on the Center's power." The others crowded around him as he continued typing. "Now I'll run a check of all the people who have the pass-code needed to bypass the security." He did so and multiple names began to disappear from the list...except for one.
"No way," Twilight whispered.
"Why?" Flash asked as Sunburst just stared at the name, his eyes wide as he felt his heart split in two.
"Starlight..."
Meanwhile...
Starlight was in her lab, working on something at one of the desks. The sparking of a smolder filled the room, staring at a device beside a computer that had a bunch of schematics on the screen. And as the sparking stopped, she pulled back and lifted her goggles, lifting up a pistol-like device.
She squinted at the gadget before turning to her laptop and shutting it. She then opened a nearby drawer, pulling out a glass container full of the green liquid, which she screwed into the end. "Perfect," she replied with a giant smirk, "Now it can deliver the energy even faster."
Flash and his friends were now riding the transport platform with Sunburst, all heading for Horizon Incorporated as they tried to discuss why Starlight would jeopardize the reputation of the company and cause Pokémon to suffer the pain of having their energy stolen.
"So what exactly are we gonna do?" Spike asked as they drew closer to the building. "Shouldn't we...call the police or something?"
"I wanna talk to Starlight first," Sunburst replied, "This has to be a mistake. Or at least a reasonable explanation."
They then arrived at the company's office, the platform coming to a stop. Sunburst showed his pass to security, the five heading to an elevator next, Sunburst slotting his pass into it, allowing him to access the top room. But as soon as the elevator doors closed, the elevator next to it opened up and Starlight walked out with her bag over her shoulder. She smiled while heading out of the building, waving back to the many employees that waved goodbye.
As for the others, they continued to ride the elevator until it reached the very top, coming out into Starlight's office. "Starlight?!" Sunburst called out, "Starlight!" But there was no answer, making Sunburst wince, "That's strange. She said she would be working here."
The others began to look around the office, Twilight going into the lab section. She then found a nice shower in the back, but found no sign of Starlight. While this happened, Spike spoke up, "Hey, I just realized something." The others turned to him. "Why would Starlight wanna steal a Pokémon's Infinity Energy when the recovery beds were already full of the stuff? I mean...isn't that what they do? Give a Pokémon the energy they need so they don't need to recover it themselves?"
"In a way," Sunburst responded, "But the energy the beds radiate isn't organic Infinity Energy. It's a synthetic version that the company created. It's not as potent as the real stuff, but it's still able to heal Pokémon enough for them to not be in pain. Once that happens, the Pokémon generate organic energy and filter out the synthetic variant. Taking the synthetic stuff would mean there wouldn't be as much energy gathered. The best results always comes from pure organic Infinity Energy."
Spike and Flash stared at the scientist, their brains sparking as they were fried at the explanation as Doc spoke up, "And that energy can only be generated by Pokémon."
Sunburst nodded back before Twilight yelled, "Hey guys! I found something!"
They ran over to the lab, now seeing Twilight sitting at an open laptop, typing away. "What did you find?" Sunburst asked as Twilight showed him the computer screen. On the screen were a bunch of schematics that showed off a water-pistol device. "Strange," Sunburst replied, "I don't recognize this. Whatever it is, Starlight never told me about it."
"What is it?" Spike asked, Twilight glancing back at the files.
"It's some kind of energy expulsion device. It stores energy and then expels it, like the recovery bed. Only this device is a lot more powerful. It expels the energy at a much faster rate, plus it's portable."
"But it can't store as much energy," Sunburst added, "We found a way to convert Infinity Energy into a liquid form, which is what we use to contain and transport the energy used in the recovery beds. But with this, you could re-energize any Pokémon anywhere. Why didn't she tell me about this?"
"Maybe for the same reason she bypassed the recovery beds security and stole Pokémon energy?" Flash asked, making Sunburst grimace.
That is, till Sunburst said, "The container connection."
"What about it?" Doc asked while staring at the screen, "Isn't that the same connection that was on that machine you showed us?"
"That's right," Sunburst nodded, remembering back to last night and the container he saw the person holding. One which looked exactly like what was in these schematics. "Which means whoever built it did so with plans to use this device on the energy gathered."
"Does that mean what I think it means?" Spike asked, Sunburst slumping back in his chair.
"Starlight's the one gathering the Infinity Energy." He sighed, "But why?"
Over at the temple...
A certain cloaked figure was now behind the temple, glancing around to see there was no sign of any security. They tiptoed into the temple, quickly running up to the statue before taking out the energy gun. They took out the energy container and screwed it into place, firing the energy at the statue. The energy sparked around the stone construct for several seconds before getting absorbed, the liquid in the gun continuing to drain it away until it was completely empty.
But no sooner was the container empty that the figure replaced it with another full one, continuing to fire at the statue. They repeated several times until the last container ran dry, the energy expelled being drained into the statue. However, despite all the energy that had been given to the stone carving, nothing happened.
"Come on..." the figure whispered as they moved over to the statue and placed their hand on it. "Wasn't that enough?" But the statue remained silent, causing them to sigh. "You're close to waking, I can feel it." They then turned to the doorway, "But I can't gather as much energy as I could before." Under their breathe, they cursed Sunburst for informing the guards and taking her device. "Looks like I'll need to do this the old fashioned way." They spun the gun around before putting it back in their cape, soon running out of the temple in search of their next source of energy.
Back at Horizon Incorporated...
Sunburst was still in shock as the group rode down the elevator back to the lobby, having found no sign of Starlight. "So what now?" Spike asked, as the elevator hit the ground floor and opened up.
"I still wanna talk to Starlight," Sunburst replied, "But...I might have to get the police involved and call a meeting with the board."
"I just wish we knew where Starlight went," Twilight added as they passed by the front desk.
"Starlight?" The receptionist spoke up, making them turn around, "You're looking for Starlight?" They nodded. "She left around the time you all arrived. She said she was heading for the stadium."
This made them raise an eyebrow, Doc speaking up, "Let's go!"
"Yeah!" Sunburst responded as they ran out of the building, going to the nearest hover platform. The device was soon shooting for the stadium as Sunburst raised his gauntlet and accessed the television setting it had. As they did, they were greeted with the sight of two Pokémon doing battle.
It was Lightning's Androrg, who was battling against a Lilligant, the machine having trouble against the Grass-type. "Leaf Blade!" The trainer ordered her Pokémon, leaf-like arms glowing as it slashed at the Steel-type. It did practically no damage against the metal body, allowing Androrg to kick it away.
"Electro Blade!" Lightning yelled as Androrg raised its arm and made it spin, sparking as the machine fired a blade of crescent lightning. It struck Lilligant, but all it did was push the Grass-type back.
"Solarbeam!" Lilligant's flower headpiece began to glow as it drew in sunlight.
"Bullet Punch!"
"Androrg!" It charged and threw a punch into the Grass-type's chest, throwing it back. Lilligant cried out at this but managed to regain its footing, landing with a skid before leaping up as its flower finished charging.
"LIL!" it roared, firing the energy into a beam that struck Androrg. The machine cried out as it staggered back, the laser making its metal body begin to heat up. But when the light faded, Androrg just stood there, unfazed. However, Lightning was snarling at the sight.
"Return!" He held out his Pokeball and sucked Androrg back inside, then swapped it out for another. "Roglacier!" He threw it, "BATTLE READY!" In a flash, the Ice Fighting-type appeared on the field, "Ice Punch!"
"Row!" Roglacier zipped up to Lilligant, slamming its fist into the plant.
It screamed as it was sent flying, its trainer they yelling, "Solarbeam!" As Lilligant landed again, its flower began to glow.
"Blizzard!" Taking a deep breath, Roglacier pulled its mouth covering down and unleashed a blast of freezing air.
"LILLIGANT!" It cried as its body was bombarded by the cold, the flower stopping its glow while its arms began to freeze over. And when the Blizzard attack was complete, Lilligant was trapped within a block of ice with spirals in its eyes.
"Lilligant is unable to battle. Roglacier is the winner. Lightning takes the match!"
As cheering filled the air and Lightning walked off the battlefield, the group watching the screen found they were drawing closer to the stadium. The hover platform turned into the parking lot and came to a stop, the group hopping off as they ran inside.
They glanced around the reception area, only to find no sign of Starlight. "I don't see her," Twilight commented, "Maybe she's out in the stands."
"But she's not a battle fan," Sunburst replied.
But as he said that, Flash saw Lightning walking into the room, "Lightning!" Lightning turned to them and rolled his eyes at the sight, "Have you seen Starlight? She's supposed to be here."
"No," Lightning replied, "Haven't seen her. Wouldn't have noticed if I did. Now leave me alone."
With that, he walked past them, heading to the parking lot before leaving the stadium. He was gong for the Pokémon Center as he thought about the battle he had just had. "Just one more...that center better be fixed." He grumbled as he got to a park between the stadium and center.
He came to a stop and took out three of his Pokeballs before throwing them upward. Doing so revealed Gorillamp, Androrg and Roglacier. "Alright, listen up!" The three stood to attention. "We're one win away from taking this whole thing, but with the other three still out of commission, it'll be up to you three! I don't wanna see any lame as heck attacks like I just saw during the last battle!" He turned to Androrg, "That Lilligant should have been easy for you to beat. Its attacks couldn't do squat to you, and you still struggled! It was a Lilligant! Only a loser uses one of those! The fact I had to replace you with Roglacier is embarrassing!"
"Drorg..." Androrg glanced down, the other two turning to their teammate before a hiss from Lightning made them turn back to their trainer.
"We don't have much more time," Lightning growled, "The Equestria League is fast approaching and if we wanna win, then we need all the power we can get!" As Lightning said that, his mind showed him the image of Flash Sentry with a big grin on his face, making him shake as his face turned red, fire now in his eyes, "I am NOT gonna lose to a bunch of losers that don't take this sport seriously!" He yelled before pointing at the trio, "It's not enough to just beat anyone we face! We need to absolutely annihilate them!"
"GORE/AN/ROW!" The three nodded.
"Good. Remember that when we beat this tournament, the league, and Shining Armor!" Lightning finished before reaching for his Pokeballs. But as he did this, someone stepped out from behind a tree. It was the cloaked figure, making Lightning raise his eyebrow.
"My my," they told him, the person a distance away that Lightning couldn't even tell how tall they were. "Those are some pretty strong looking Pokémon you have there."
Lightning huffed at the sight, "A little late for Halloween, isn't it?" The figure laughed at him, "What do you want?!"
"I'm just interested in strong Pokémon," they replied, "And by the looks of things, yours' appear to be incredibly strong. You'd probably win the tournament if everything went right."
"Probably?!" Lightning hissed, "I will win the tournament!"
"No...I doubt that. Not when your Pokémon are completely exhausted." With that, they pulled out the energy pistol from their cloak.
Before Lightning could react, it fired a bolt of white energy. It struck Androrg, making the robot cry out as it was zapped, shocking them as the energy around him turned green along with the bolt that connected it to the gun. The figure smirked as the container began to fill with the energy, which morphed into a liquid state.
"What the heck?!" Lightning yelled before charging at the figure, only for the cloaked person to side-step around the teen. Lightning then saw the container attached to the gun, which was now half full as the sound of metal hitting the ground made him turn to see Androrg on its knees. It panted heavily, groaning in pain before collapsing with spirals in its eyes.
"NO!" He yelled before turning to glare at the figure. "What did you just do?!"
"I need energy," they replied. "So if you don't mind, I'll be taking the rest of your Pokémon's power as well." As they said that, Gorillamp and Roglacier charged at the figure. But before they could reach their opponent, the figure took something out of their cloak and threw it at the ground.
Within seconds, the park was full of dark smoke, Lightning and his Pokémon coughing. But as the smoke blinded them, a scream rang out, "GLAY!" They turned to the noise, Gorillamp now seeing a green light glowing through the smoke. Both Lightning and Gorillamp ran for the light, but it vanished before they could reach it. They then got to Roglacier, now laying on the ground as it was drained just like Androrg.
It was in this moment that the smoke started fading, revealing that the cloaked figure had completely vanished. "Where'd they go?!" Lightning roared, both glancing around. They then looked back at Roglacier and Androrg, seeing they had no physical injuries, but were suffering from exhaustion. "I don't know who you are...but you'll pay for this."
Back at the stadium...
Flash and the others had searched the entire structure, but found no trace of Starlight. They had asked around, but not one person had seen her anywhere. "Where could she be?" Sunburst asked as they met back up at the lobby, the final battle of the day going on at that moment.
"How do we know for sure she's here?" Flash chimed in, the others turning to him. "I mean, she's been keeping secrets. What if she was lying about where she went?"
"But why?" Twilight added, "That's the ultimate question."
The others just shrugged, only for Springer's ears to perk up along with his dangles as he sensed the aura he had been looking for. "RI!" He yelped before turning to the exit. He quickly ran off, the others following him as they got into the parking lot, only to spot the woman they had been looking for.
"Starlight!" Sunburst yelled as he saw his friend walking away.
"Hey guys," she replied as she turned to them, "What are you lot doing here?" She then noticed the frowns they all had. "What?"
"Starlight..." Sunburst came to a stop in front of her, "We know what you've been doing." Starlight raised an eyebrow at this. "We know you're the one who's been stealing the energy of the Pokémon."
"What?" Starlight replied, "What are you talking about?"
"Starlight, we know it was you." Twilight spoke up, "It was your pass-code that bypassed the recovery bed's security."
"And we found the schematics in your office," Doc added, "The energy gun you designed, using the same kind of glass container that the machine Sunburst found was designed to use."
"Energy gun?" Starlight raised an eyebrow before reaching into her bag, "You mean this one?" With that, she pulled out the device in question. "I've been working on it on the side."
"Yes! Why didn't you tell me about it?!" Sunburst yelled.
"What?!" Starlight flinched before glaring at him, "Like you tell me about everything you work on before it's ready! Might I remind you about the eternal fire stone?!" Sunburst grimaced at this before Starlight let out a long sigh, "Besides, I was gonna tell you about it later after I finished the final test."
"What final test?" Sunburst asked, only for Starlight to turn and see someone coming out of the stadium.
"This test," she ran over to them and Flash realized it was the trainer Lightning had beaten earlier. After a small talk, the trainer nodded and took out her Pokeball, summoning her Lilligant. Starlight then pointed the gun at it and fired, the green energy hitting Lilligant and its injuries began to vanish.
Once that was done, she and the trainer nodded at one another before Starlight returned to them. "What did you just do?" Doc asked as she put the gun away.
"Healed Lilligant," Starlight replied. "That's why I came in the first place. With what happened to the beds, I decided to make up for it by using that to heal them. But the trainers were already in their box by the time I got there and I wasn't allowed to talk to them. So I decided to head to a café I really like and have a drink while I waited for them."
"And that's where you've been this whole time?" Spike asked, getting a nod from Starlight.
She then turned to Sunburst, "Now what's this you were saying about my pass-code." Sunburst held up his gauntlet and showed her the list, explaining how she was the only one with a pass-code capable of bypassing the security. "That's impossible," Starlight whispered as she held up her gauntlet. "It wasn't me that undid the security." She typed away, "And I definitely didn't build that machine..."
"But it used one of our latest computer chips," Sunburst pointed out, "One that could only be given to someone if they have an executive pass-code."
"But it couldn't be-" Starlight stopped when her eyes went wide, the others blinking at her, "No way."
"What?" Twilight asked.
"My gauntlet's logs show that someone copied my pass-code from here a couple of weeks ago, then tried to wipe the log so that I wouldn't know unless I was looking for it."
"How could someone copy your pass-code?" Twilight asked, "Wouldn't they need your gauntlet to do it?"
"Yes," Starlight nodded, "And I never take it off. Well...unless I'm taking a shower. I guess it's possible someone could have snuck into my office while I was in there and copied it then...but who?"
Flash crossed his arms at this, "So...it's someone who worked on the recovery beds and had access to your office, right? There can't be that many people that can do both, right?"
Starlight and Sunburst nodded, Sunburst bringing up the list of people again. The pair stared at them, only for a single name to appear when it came to access to Starlight's office at the time she could have been in the shower. And it was a name that made them all go wide-eyed.
In another part of the city, a Psychick was flying over one of the parks. Despite being a nocturnal Pokémon, this one had had trouble sleeping, and was now flying around to try and tire itself out. But despite the flight, it was still wide awake.
And as the Psychick flew up to the tree that it called home and landed on a branch, it was suddenly struck by a bolt of white lightning. It let out a cry before flopping over, falling to the ground as the lightning continued to drain away more of its energy.
Laughter filled the air as the holder of the gun walked up to the now unconscious Psychick. They turned to a container connected to the gun, now seeing it fill up. "Perfect," the figure pulled off their hood to reveal a head of curly blue hair. Cozy Glow stared at the full container, a barrage of unconscious Pokémon behind her as she giggled, "Just perfect."
"Cozy Glow?!" Twilight gasped as Starlight typed away on her gauntlet. "You can't be serious."
"I hate to believe it too," Starlight sighed, "But Cozy's the only one that fits the bill with what's happened." She frowned as she stared at the holo-screen, "But to think she would do something like this is unthinkable."
"Maybe this is a mistake," Spike added, "I mean, we thought Starlight was the one who did this. Maybe we're mistaken again."
"I hope so," Sunburst nodded. "But we need to find her and figure this out." He turned to Starlight, "Where is she?"
"I'm looking now," Starlight replied as she pulled up a map, "Cozy said she had a dentist appointment, so I let her off early. I don't like using this, but I can track her gauntlet's signal." A flashing red dot appeared on the screen, "Found her...and she's nowhere near the city dentist."
"Where is she?" Spike asked, Starlight showing them the map and seeing her head for the edge of the city, "Where's she going?"
"It looks like she's heading out of the city...and to the stairs for the temple." Twilight commented, "You don't think...no."
"What?" Flash turned to her, "You figure something out?"
Twilight grimaced as she said these next words, "Starlight...if Cozy was able to hack your gauntlet, is it possible she could have gotten into your computer?"
"I guess. Why?"
"What if she found your energy blaster schematics and built one herself?"
"Why would she do that?" Sunburst asked, Twilight responding by pointing back at the map.
"I know it sounds crazy, but after everything I've seen since starting this journey, I've learned that sometimes the craziest ideas turn out to be the ones to consider." She glanced back at them, "What if she's planning to release Centirek?" Everyone's eyes went wide at this. "Think about it. You said you saw that figure in front of the temple when they were stealing energy. What if they were there because they planned to use the energy on the statue?"
"Why would Cozy try to awaken Centirek?" Starlight asked, "That's insane."
"No more insane then what Sombra tried to do with the Legendaries," Flash chimed in, "And that wasn't the first time we've found someone trying to use a Legendary for their own psychotic goals."
"He's right," Doc nodded. "As long as there's a source of power in the world, there'll be someone out to take if for themselves, no matter how dangerous it is."
"Ooookay..." Sunburst slowly replied, "But even if that's true...Cozy's not an idiot. She has to know that controlling Centirek would be impossible, especially for a little girl like her."
But as he said that, the others all hummed in agreement...except for Spike. He went wide-eyed as he remembered a certain moment, "Unless she had a Pokeball that couldn't fail to catch it."
The others turned to him, his friends' eyes going wide as Twilight whispered, "Oh no..."
"What?" Starlight asked.
"She has a Master Ball," Flash slowly replied, making Starlight and Sunburst go wide-eyed.
"She-WHAT?!" Starlight yelped, the others turning back to the map, Cozy's dot stopping at the edge of the crater.
"We need to get to the temple! NOW!" Flash took out a pair of Pokeballs and threw them upward. In a flash of light, Skyler and Astro appeared and flew down. "Astro, can you carry these two?" He pointed to Starlight and Sunburst, Astro nodding back. The others took out their Pokeballs and threw them, unleashing Owlicious and Flitanium.
The three birds flew down and grabbed their trainer's shoulders, Spike and Springer climbing onto Skyler and Owlicious' backs while Astro grabbed the last two. The four then shot into the air, following their trainers' directions for the mountain.
It took a while, but luckily Cozy was slowly taking the stairs. But as they got within view of the temple, they saw someone who had just got to the top of the stairs. Someone dressed in a cloak Sunburst recognized.
"Cozy!" Starlight yelled, the figure turning on a reflex and looking up at them. Though Starlight couldn't see her face, she knew in her heart that it was Cozy under the hood. And in her hand was the device she had built, Starlight gasping at the sight whilst Sunburst hit the button on the side of his glasses.
The figure sprinted into the temple, zipping inside as the Pokémon landed and the trainers hopped off. They told the flyers to stay outside, the group running inside. Here they saw the figure raising the gun up, ready to fire. "Springer!" Flash exclaimed, "Extreme Speed!"
"RI!" Springer shot ahead, bouncing off a wall and reached the short figure before they could fire. And with a swing of his foot, he kicked the gun out of their hand.
"HEY!" They yelped as the weapon hit the floor, Flash and Doc running up and grabbing her by the arm. Starlight then ran over and pulled the hood off the head, revealing her assistant.
"Cozy..." she whispered.
"LET ME GO!" Cozy cried as she squirmed, Sunburst picking up the gun and unscrewed the energy bottle. He then turned to Cozy.
"Do you have any idea what you could have just done?" Sunburst asked, "If you had awakened Centirek, there's no telling what could have happened!"
Cozy went wide-eyed at his words, only for her face to switch to puppy-dog eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. I just came to check out the temple again. I really love this place." She fluttered her eyelashes, but the others just glared at her.
"Nice try," Twilight replied, "But we know what you were planning."
"Yeah!" Spike crossed his arms, "You were gonna use your Master Ball to catch Centirek and use it for who knows what."
"Don't try and worm your way out of this," Starlight added as she reached down and removed Cozy's gauntlet. She started typing at it, sighing as she showed them all a sheet of numbers and letters, "You stole my pass-code and used it to hack the recovery beds."
They all turned back to Cozy, only to see her shine a sinister smile, "Well well well...you guys aren't as stupid as you look." They all raised an eyebrow at this, "Of course I was gonna use my Master Ball. That Sombra guy was a total idiot, planning to catch the Legendaries in those weird energy cages. They might be Legendaries, but they're still Pokémon. Just throw a Pokeball at them and they're yours. That's what I'm gonna do. And when I do, Centirek will be mine."
"Oh no it won't," Sunburst responded as he held up the energy container. "You might be young, but don't think you won't face criminal charges for stealing and meddling with our technology, causing Pokémon pain, and attempting to revive a monstrous Pokémon!"
Cozy just gave him a deadpan stare, "Oh yeah?" She then swung her leg upward, slamming her foot into Sunburst's leg.
"Augh!" He cried, the container flying out of his hand. Cozy then swung her leg around again, kicking the container...right at the statue.
Everyone gasped as they watched the glass smash into the stone of Centirek, the liquid instantly morphing into an energy that began to spark around the statue. They watched in shock as the lightning continued to zip around the body....only for the energy to die down, the statue remaining still.
They all sighed in relief, Cozy's eyes shrinking at this. They then turned to glare at her, Cozy letting out a little chuckle as she fluttered her eyebrows again, "Come on, I'm just a kid. I don't know any better."
"Oh please," Starlight hissed, "Don't try that with us. Just wait until your-"
THOOM!
She stopped as the entire temple began to shake, making them slowly look back at the statue. The whole thing was now vibrating, cracks beginning to appear around its body.
"No way," Spike whispered as they all began to backpedal.
Cozy smirked at the sight, "It's alive!" Her face became one of crazy joy, "IT'S ALIVE!" The shaking intensified, more and more cracks appearing along the statue before small pieces of rocks began to break off. Flash and Doc gasped at the sight, accidently loosening their grip on Cozy as she quickly pulled free.
She then ran for the statue as Starlight yelled, "Cozy, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"
"Of course I do," Cozy cackled, "With this Pokémon under my command, I'll be Equestria's greatest trainer!" More rocks began to fall away from the body, revealing a red and black skin beneath. "I'll become its champion...then everyone will realize I deserve to rule it! Eventually...I'll become the Empress of Equestria!" She laughed as more and more of the body was revealed, the arms of Centirek breaking off the rest of the body.
As this happened, everyone saw it began to grow bigger and more muscular, the same for the rest of its body. And as it freed itself from its rocky seal, its body buffed out, going from looking old and fragile to strong and robust. Everyone's gaze then shifted up to the Pokémon's head, gasping as they watched its horns grow and break out of the stone, transforming the tiny nubs into full-on horns, breaking away more rocks at the same time. And then, the stone masking Centirek's face began to crumble away.
The Cataclysmic Pokémon stared ahead for a second, only to shine a giant smirk that made everyone shiver. "Cent..." it whispered before thrusting its body forward, freeing it from the remaining rocks. It pulled its back half out of the wall, its body now free to grow to its heart's content. Within seconds, it had doubled its original size, now standing over twenty feet, its formerly wispy beard growing into a thick trail of hair. It barely managed to fit within the temple now, its large horn scraping along the ceiling as it glanced around.
"There's no way," Starlight whispered as the giant Pokémon began to move. Every step of its hoof made the building shake, pieces of rock falling from the walls or ceiling. As they did this, Starlight saw Cozy standing to the side of the giant. "Cozy!"
The girl didn't respond, instead going into a bag and pulling out her grandfather's last remaining item. "Centirek!" The beast seemed to hear her, making it look down at the girl, "I am Cozy Glow. It was I who freed you from your prison, and now, you will serve me and allow my dreams to come true!" The centaur's eyes narrowed at this, the Legendary moving its body to face her. She saw the glare it was giving, making her hiss, "What, you think you can refuse me?! Sorry," she held up the Master Ball, "But I'm not giving you a choice."
"DON'T DO IT!" Twilight screamed.
"Master Ball!" She pulled back before throwing the orb, "GO!" The sphere flew through the air and struck Centirek. Everyone watched in shock as the Master-Ball opened up and sucked the Legendary inside, snapping shut before hitting the ground. There was no way...
"YES!" Cozy cheered as the ball wiggled, "It's mine! Centirek is all mine! The ultimate weapon...IS MINE!" The ball continued to rock from side to side, the others staring at the ball as its wiggling slowed down. Then, it came to a complete stop, everyone expecting to hear a digging sound.
But it never came.
Instead, another sound filled the air. The sound of metal breaking apart, a large crack appearing along the top of the ball. Cozy's eyes went wide at this, her jaw hitting the floor, "That's...that's impossible!" More cracks began to appear along the ball, soon covering it in cracks. And when this happened, the whole thing exploded into a million pieces, the energy within now released.
Every eye in the temple watched as the red energy reshaped itself back into the familiar form of Centirek. And when it faded to reveal the Legendary, they could see it did not look happy. "CENTIREK!" It roared as a ball of energy suddenly appeared on its forehead between its horns.
It burned brightly before flying back into its head, the Pokémon opening its mouth to reveal another orb of light that exploded into a powerful beam that struck the ground and carved its way through the stone. The temple shook at this, the stone walls and ceiling breaking apart as the Hyper Beam destroyed the place.
Everyone screamed as they ran for the exit of the temple, dodging the falling debris from the collapsing roof. But as they reached the exit, Starlight remembered Cozy and turned back to the girl. But she had remained where she had been, looking completely horrified by the fact her Master Ball had failed.
"Cozy!" She screamed, attempting to run back in. But before she could, more of the ceiling collapsed, almost crushing her.
"LOOK OUT!" Flash yelled, Starlight feeling someone grab her by the arm and pulling her out of the way.
They all managed to get out of temple before the entrance collapsed, the group running to the side. And as they did this, the entrance of the temple exploded due to another Hyper Beam. Moments later, Centirek smashed its way out of the mountain.
"TIREK!" It roared as it leapt free of the rock, crashing down on the side of the crater and staring down at the city within.
All over Horizon, people came to a sudden stop when the ground shook, making them turn to the temple and see a large Pokémon staring back at them. The sight of it alone made everyone freeze, unable to believe what they were seeing. Centirek, the great beast of cataclysm, was free. And from the looks of things, it planned to complete the work it had started a millennium ago.