//------------------------------// // Towards a New Year with those so dear // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Kanto Region. Pallet Town. Ketchum Household. Day. New Year's Eve was approaching. Everyone knew the usual by now and they were ready for it. Nothing else to it. It was straightforward for both worlds. However, it would be fairly important in the eyes of everypony in Equestria since it would be another year with Pokemon. Many didn't think they would make it this far considering how destructive the Pokemon seemed to be at first with all of the earth-shattering things they were capable of and the events that followed. Even events that were not Poke-mon based. An invasion from another universe, a ghost that absorbs spirits, a 500ft electric monster, uncontrollable Psychic energy almost ripping both worlds and much more. And that is exactly why many were hoping for a more peaceful series of events in the new year. Or rather, fewer series of events. Going through another global-scale threat was something they felt exhausted from. The Tyranitar already made that difficult enough. Over at Ash's home, Rainbow Dash was currently hanging out with him, playing some video games in the process. Their Pokemon cheering them on in the process. "So, Ash! What are you gonna do for the rest of today before New Year's Eve?!" Rainbow Dash asked while aggressively moving her hooves and wings on the controller. "Nothing, really. I'm good for today!" He replied whilst having the same momentum as Rainbow Dash. "Nothing? But you're always doing something!" "Yeah. But I think I'm gonna take it easy this time. Sometimes doing nothing and relaxing is pretty good, ya know?" "Fair enough." Rainbow Dash shrugged as she and Ash managed to complete the level of the game they were on, succeeding together. "Yeah!" "Nailed it!" Ash and she cheered along with her Pokemon. "Ah, that got pretty rough at the end. Knew I could count on you to help me out." "Always." Rainbow Dash held her hoof out as Ash shook it. "So, anyway. You're just gonna relax here then?" "That's right. Besides, Twilight and mom are gonna yell at me again if I do something crazy that puts y life in danger. Hahaha!" Ash chuckled as Delia peeked into the room with a suspicious gaze, making Ash, Rainbow Dash and their Pokemon shudder. "See you around then. We're heading to the Holon Region soon, right?" Rainbow Dash hovered, holding out her Poke Balls to return each of her Pokemon. "Sure are. Can't wait for that..." Ash was already thinking of the Holon Region and what he could discover there. The possibilities are always endless with the Pokemon World. After that, Rainbow Dash had left, returning to Equestria. As for Ash, he was going to do what he intended to do in the first place. And it started with Ash jumping on his bed and laying on his back. Pikachu did the same but on Ash's stomach. "Aaah...Another year's passing with this, huh?" said Ash, looking at the ceiling. It kinda feels like it's been 3 years instead of two, huh? Weird." "Pikachu..." "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. As long as our friends are all here." Ash then raised his arm, transforming his hand into a fist. "And when we get to Jirachi, we'll keep everyone's promises intact, won't we buddy?" "Pika-Pikachu!" Equestria. Canterlot. Day. Also ready for the New Year was the Royal Family. A new year meant new things to come for Equestria that Celestia was prepared to deal with. Especially with how everything was expanding. Forming a new alliance with not just multiple universes with parallel outcomes but even the Changelings and Queen Chrysalis. Plus the Dragon Lands with Dragon Lord Ember and beyond. Celestia was surprised that she hadn't done the same for any kingdoms in the Pokemon World. Then again, the only kingdom she knew that was still around was the Kingdom of Rota in the Pokemon World. Aside from that, entering the throne room was Derpy Hooves, accompanied by a Canterlot guard. She had a parcel in her mouth, approaching Celestia. "Hm?" Celestia leaned forward. "Hello there, Derpy. Is that for me?" "Morning princess. Package for Premium Polish right here." Derpy greeted, holding out the package. Celestia used her magic to bring it over, before noticing how not only was it for Premium Polish but there was another name below it. "From Skyblue Shine?!" Celestia read out as this was a motherly gift. "Yep. I was just with Wooper the other day when a gateway popped out of nowhere with Skyblue Shine showing up. She told me to give this to Premium since it was a late Hearth's Warming Gift. I think she forgot when it was." Derpy answered, explaining how it led to this. "I see. Thank you, Derpy." Celestia thanked her before observing the package closely. While Derpy left with a salute, Celestia saw that it was relatively small. And the only gift that Skyblue Shine could give. But it was a gift nonetheless. "This'll be great for her." Celestia knew that Premium Polish would love this. She hadn't heard from her mother in a few months after the kidnapping event occurred. She felt an empty void within her. Even though she enjoyed Hearth's Warming this year, without a family member, something was off about it. And via teleportation, Celestia appeared before Premium Polish's guest room which had been transformed to look just like her personal room. "Princess Celestia?" "Morning. I'm just here to give you this." Celestia showed the package to the little unicorn, ready for that uplifting response. Premium rolled off of her back and onto her stomach, crawling over to the package on her bed. Up close, that was when she saw that it was for her. A smile met her face as having a gift would make any child happy. But more than that, she then noticed how it was from her mother. "Wait? This is from mom?!" "Mhm. It seems to be a late Hearth's Warming Gift. But it would be best to open it either way. Straight from another universe." "Oh! Okay!" She nodded before grabbing ahold of the present. Even if it wasn't the holidays, she still felt excited to open it either way. Once it had been opened, the contexts and appearance of the gift had been revealed. It was simple and nothing extravagant. The size gave it away in a sense. But even so, to Premium Polish, it was extravagant. It was an artwork of Skyblue Shine and Premium Polish standing together, drawn by Skyblue herself. Her artistic skills were impressive once Celestia saw it. But not only did she draw them both, but she also drew their Pokemon as well. And there was one extra individual there. An unidentified pony. A stallion that Premium Polish had never seen before. But it was easy for Premium to make out that this was meant to be a conceptual father figure if she had one. Premium wanted a father in her life, of course, so seeing this brought an even bigger smile to her face. "I love it!" She held the drawing close to her with a tear forming. "Thanks, mom." Celestia didn't need to do anything else. Premium was happy and that was all that mattered. She then left the room, leaving Premium Polish to admire the drawing even longer and place it somewhere fitting. As Celestia left the room, returning to her throne, she would attempt something similar to what Ash was doing right now. Relax. Then again, she was the ruler of Equestria so that required some incoming hurdles to overcome. But before she could relax, there was something else that she had to solve. Pyrestar. Even after speaking with the Universal Alliance, none of them knew why Pyrestar and her universe weren't seen that often. She even thought back to their conversation. "I haven't seen Pyrestar as of recently no." An alternate Celestia shook her head. "Neither have Reshiram or Zekrom. She's usually the one who helps them with multiple gateways." "It has been two weeks now. Do you think something happened there?" An alternate Luna asked. "Not sure. It's impossible for us to know since we can't reach that universe anymore, unfortunately. It's as if something is blocking us." "Could it have been Ghetsis? The last time I checked, he managed to block off many of our gateways in my world. Only Ash could negate this with his Aura." Universe One's Celestia replied. "But even so, there isn't an existing gateway to lead to her world if that's the case." "Hm..." Celestia pondered. "That is troublesome. I hope you're doing well out there, Pyrestar." But that was when Celestia recalled something. "Oh! The gateway in Twilight's Castle!" Universe 3. Canterlot. Day. Speaking of which, the blockage still existed in Pyrestar's world, unfortunately. Try as she might, Pyrestar could not break through with her magic. Despite her being the fusion of two alicorns. Celestia and Luna. However, despite this blockage from the other universes, this did not affect the morale of this universe. It had already been through enough with Grogar sealing away all the pegasi and earth ponies and hope was already at an all-time low. It didn't help that Ghetsis and Team Plasma used to rule this universe as well. But, on the day that Ash and Pikachu helped save this universe and when it was revealed that the natural nature of this world was returning, slowly breaking the seal, hope had been restored. And that hope remained. Pyrestar knew that she was powerless to do anything, but she did not give up hope at all. Seeing how there were those who could help her, she stayed positive. And because of this, she was able to enjoy Hearth's Warming with everypony else. And it was wonderful considering it had been centuries since any of them have had a meaningful and jolly Hearth's Warming. Even then, Pyrestar still hoped for a way out of here. And her hope mattered. Because immediately, in the far distance, a golden light shot into the sky. Her eyes gawked after witnessing this light, but she knew it wasn't hostile. Pyrestar recognized this. "Celestia?" 7 minutes before the golden light. Universe One. Equestria. Twilight's Castle. Day. Within Twilight's Castle, there was a room that had a gateway leading to Pyrestar's world plus a base that the Mane 6 owned. It existed to not only help bring life back to Pyrestar's world but also a quick way of spying on any ongoing activities within the world. It was also used during Ghetsis' reign. This was the one gateway that connected to Universe 3. Much like many of the gateways in Equestria that connect to the Pokemon World, this one was corrupted by Ghetsis as well. But that would not be the case for long. Celestia had given the rundown to Twilight while also fetching Ash. Despite him wanting to relax, Ash was eager to assist his friends either way. Rest was thrown out of the window in the meanwhile if it meant helping another. "Sorry if I interrupted your relaxation, Ash," Celestia said to him. "I was thinking of doing the same until recalling this." "No need to worry. A friend is in need after all. We've got a chance to reach her this way." "But you also won't get your chance to rest today when interacting with the gateway. It still harms you whenever you touch it," said Twilight to him. "That'll mean potentially hours or days without waking up." "Yeah. Still risky even when I sometimes manage to resist it." Ash closed his eyes, nodding in agreement. "But I think I can find a way to prevent that." He then held his hand out, calling for Sir Aaron's Aura Staff. Popping out of thin air and enlarging was Sir Aaron's staff as Ash gripped it. "This staff's the only thing that can make Aura work in different ways that I can't do without it. I can add Aura to it...but I wonder if I can take it away." "Take it away?" Celestia and Twilight repeated. "Yeah. Maybe for just a moment. Or else I'll be entering the Aurascape again without me wanting to." "About that. I thought of something myself." Twilight spoke, bringing a book her with her magic. "Have you noticed something? From all the passing out and what Olympia taught us?" "Such as...?" Celestia asked, waiting for Twilight to answer. "The Aurascape. The Mindscape and even the Cerebral Training. Not all of them are connected, but I figured we can do that. What if we can all connect with each other's minds at all times?" "Seriously?!" Ash boomed after hearing that. He and Pikachu's eyes sparkled as that sounded amazing to them. "And there's a spell for that." Twilight opened the book, placing it down. "Hold on, Twilight. Are referring to the Mind Link Spell? Are you sure?" Celestia stepped forward. "Wait. Is it bad to use that?" Ash then faced Celestia. "Pikachu?" "More like it hasn't been used for a long time. Apart from Luna's ability to connect dreams with each other, it is the only spell that connects everyone's minds together. It essentially works as advanced telepathy. Works with those conscious and even unconscious as well. I myself have never used it once." "And I think now might be a good time to do so. And it should be done with us? Princess Celestia. You, I and also Princess Luna know about the Mindscape because of what Ms Olympia taught us. And Ash, you just found out about your Aurascape a few months back. In both those worlds, we can essentially find help one way or another. So what if we could do all of that in one place? An entire world inside of a mind." "I see what you mean...That could work." Celestia pondered. "But it's hard to say if it can be done. This spell rarely sees any usage. Zero from me. I believe only my parents have ever used it. Plus, putting our minds together to make one large world of different realms does sound dangerous." "Y-You're right." Twilight stuttered with her head lowered. "I could've gotten carried away there." "We'll come back to that another time, Twilight." But Celestia quickly comforted and reassured her. "If it's to help us better in these cosmic-related endeavours, we will give it a shot when we're ready." "Yeah. But right now..." Ash looked at the staff then back at Celestia and Twilight. "I need your guys to protect me. If I'm gonna make it through this without passing out or getting hurt badly, I need your magic to shield me." "Understood." Both ponies said Ash stood before the gateway. Celestia and Twilight would use their magic to protect him while the staff would do the same. With his eyes closed, Ash's body was coated with the azure colour of Aura. And with the assistance of two alicorns, a golden and purple magical aura added to it, giving him triple-layer protection. And with one hand holding the staff, Ash used his other to touch the gateway. Ghetsis' Dark Aura had a violent reaction to Ash's Aura as always, shaking the room itself. Ash stayed still, not allowing the corrupted aura to push him away. Celestia and Twilight groaned and strained as they could feel the Dark Aura leeching onto them the moment it wrapped around Ash. The staff trembled, however, Ash's theory proved to be correct. The power of the staff and the way it amplified Aura made the protection greater than ever. Soon, Ash could breathe better and even feel himself maintaining balance. Sir Aaron's Staff was truly the key to resisting this. And with this revelation and extra power, Ash's amplified Aura managed to break the corruption around the gateway, freeing it of Ghetsis' magic. It could now be accessed once more. "Oh!" Ash gasped with his body having a slight jitter before calming down. "What a rush! This staff worked like a charm!" "Ow..." Both Celestia and Twilight's horns twitched after that brief struggle. "At least the gateway is available. Thank you so much for this, Ash," said Celestia. "Now rest away as you wanted to." "Gotta see if Pyrestar is okay first before I do any of that." But Ash, once again, thought of only his friends. And these actions are what led to the present day in another universe via a golden light. Universe 3. Once witnessing the golden light, Pyrestar had to head there, recognizing it as Celestia's magic. She is one-half Celestia after all. She spread her wings, taking flight from the balcony of her castle. Many other ponies noticed this golden light as it was akin to a flare. Typically used to signal anyone that sees it. And it certainly worked as Pyrestar was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Seeing that light brought her hopes up even higher. And she was right to do so. Once she showed up, waiting for her there were her friends. Ash, Pikachu, Twilight, Espeon and Celestia. All standing there as the magical glow from Celestia's horn had faded away. Pyrestar was overjoyed to see them. "You...You all came! I knew you would!" Pyrestar exclaimed. "We certainly did. Apologies that it took us a few weeks to notice, Pyrestar." Celestia replied, bowing her head. "What happened? Did something block you?" "Yes. Something did block my world. Unexpectedly, the clouds and sky started transforming with the sun trembling and all of a sudden, a powerful Rift blockage had occurred. Powerful enough to remove my ability to open gateways and even affect the Rift blockage as well. Now the skies are nothing but Rift energy. I tried many things but was unable to get past it." "Rift Skies?" Ash and Twilight looked up, witnessing the cosmic aura flowing everywhere from above. "So then it couldn't have been Ghetsis..." Celestia shook her head, knowing that Ghetsis could only be responsible for the gateways. Not the skies. "Curious...Well, we're just glad that you are doing well. We were all so worried about you." "My worries faded away when I knew you would come for me. I lost hope for my world before, but you all rekindled it when we met. I shouldn't else hope ever again and always find a way. You've all taught me that." said Pyrestair with a gentle smile. "Aww geez." Twilight felt embarrassed by that compliment as well as Ash and Pikachu. "Pika-Pikachu." They had solved this one issue. Pyrestar's world was now free to travel once more. At least with this gateway. Anything else would not suffice. But now, they had more to look out for with these Rift Skies. In the meantime, they were just happy that this had been solved. And it wasn't difficult to boot. Universe One. Canterlot. Afternoon. The day continued. Everything was natural here. Nothing major was ongoing. The only major thing that would eventually happen would be fireworks for the New Year. But other than that, it was a peaceful time. But, Celestia decided to celebrate another year of Pokemon and how the worlds were together. She was there to make a speech about it over at Canterlot. "As you know, it will soon be another full year with these Strange and Wonderful Creatures known as Pocket Monsters. Or Pokemon for short." She spoke with a bit of her Royal Canterlot Voice. "Sometimes it feels like it's been 3 years instead of 2 honestly. Aside from that, I want to say that everypony has done an amazing job at making it this far. Not just ponykind. But for the dragons, yaks, griffons and even our new allies the changelings. It was certainly terrifying and intimidating what we have all gone through and seen. I doubt any one of us will ever forget these moments. Whether it be from the Storm Behemoth, Team Plasma, the Empress or whatever cosmic force is lurking out there. But of course, we could've never accomplished major achievements and gone through all of this without our wonderful friends." "Gardevoir." Passion and Arcanine came over once Celestia said that. "Arcanine!" It's not just the Pokemon. But the humans from the Pokemon World as well. Thanks to them, we were able to understand and befriend Pokemon. Overcoming fairly devastating odds that would've been practically impossible even with our numbers. But, even with the help of the humans and Pokemon, the amazing bond we share with them also brought us here. And even though the lingering threat of the Rift leaving and erasing any memory of this dazzling union still exists, we'll make sure that never happens again. All of us. So, with an enthused heart. I won't say another year to all of this. Instead, here's to eternity with this union!" And with that everyone applauded Celestia's speech. It was wonderful and it put them all in high spirits. That was all Celestia wanted. To see her subjects happy and enthralled. "Beautiful. I wish I could make speeches as excellent as her..." Mayor Mare teared up at this speech with Ms Harshwinny giving her a napkin to cry on. Afterwards, Celestia walked off with Passion giving a thumbs-up despite having only three fingers that barely looked and functioned like fingers. Luna also praised her sister for giving a good speech. Darkrai too, but he was hidden in the shadows away from the sun. And hearing this speech was well were the Twin Dragons Reshiram and Zekrom. They nodded in approval of Celestia's conviction. The way she can lay out the truth and shoot for her ideals as well. Reshiram and Zekrom saw great promise in her and were proud to have her on their side. They also saw the same in Luna with what she had been through as well. That was all Celestia would do for today. It was off to her throne room now for some downtime. Kanto Region. Pallet Town. Nightfall. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu enjoyed the silence and how calming it was. They felt like falling asleep from this comfortable feeling. Entering the room was Delia, seeing her son and his electrifying partner be in absolute nirvana with the way they were laying. "Look at you two. Laying like royalty. Then again, you are the King of the Sea now apparently." said Delia. "My boy. A king. How wonderful! I bet this means I'll have premium choices being your mother, won't I?" "I guess so." Ash shrugged while on his back, laughing. "Well, I shouldn't interrupt you two since you're so peaceful. The most I've seen you in years when you were just a baby. All of this Delayed Aura Ataxia and multiple universe shenanigans can be overwhelming, can they? I'm not even a part of it all and yet I feel overwhelmed just thinking about them. It makes me so happy to see you at ease." "Mhm." "Pika." "Now that we're entering a new year soon...I swear it's been more than 2 by now..." Delia had the same thought as Celestia and a few others who felt as if time had passed differently. "What will you be doing?" But Ash didn't respond. Instead, he closed his eyes, smiling at his mother. He could give an answer without saying a word. And Delia could understand it. She nodded in understanding, knowing what her son would say. "That's just like you." Then, she gave him a kiss on the forehead before walking outside. "Goodnight, you two. See you tomorrow morning." Ash and Pikachu then allowed themselves to drift away even further, letting the silence and calm aura of the air comfort them. True peace. Something that they can get used to. Time had passed and midnight was approaching. The New Years fireworks would go off. Ash and Pikachu, despite having their eyes closed, stayed up to listen to them. And with the countdown being heard outside, they could still be part of the usual fireworks launch. Just like that, the fireworks were unleashed, shooting up into the night sky as a New Year was here. Lights flared through the windows, colouring the land due to the various fireworks that were set off. The same went for Equestria. Giving an already colourful area some more colour. "I'm all cool now...But next time, I'm gonna go wild." Ash spoke whilst looking at his best buddy. "I'm really excited for our next adventure, buddy. Are you?" "Pikachu." With a new year here, time went on. But time would be given multiple memorable moments depending on what everyone does and how outcomes would turn out. They would etch out history with their actions as it has always been since the beginning of time. And of course, with the assistance of dearest friends and family as the journey continues. Chapter 635 End.