Out in the big city. A Juvenile Detention Centre. Afternoon.
It was total pandemonium within the centre so far. Due to Shuppet's Will-O-Wisp, spectral flames were spreading with ferocity. All as an attempt to sneak some keys away from the guards, only for this sudden eruption of chaos to result in a frenzy so great that even Shuppet couldn't contain it. Not only were the keys taken by some inmates who took advantage of this frenzy, but many of the guards were trying to catch the other inmates. There was no use in them leaving since the whole place was in lockdown.
"Shuppet? Shuppet." Shuppet gulped, realizing the damage it had done while still hiding from everyone. In the solitary room where Sunset Shimmer and another unknown inmate were residing, they could hear the noise coming mainly from the cafeteria but soon everywhere else.
"What is happening out there?" Sunset Shimmer wondered.
"Sounds like a riot maybe. Wouldn't be the first time this has happened. And it won't be the last either." The inmate from the other room spoke.
"I hope Shuppet's doing okay out there...What am I saying? It'll be fine. It's a Ghost-Type and I doubt anyone here knows that much about Pokemon." Sunset Shimmer had a nervous chuckle.
"Oh none of us do. Except for the warden. She has one of those Pokemon creatures with her."
"She does?!" Sunset Shimmer quickly went back to worrying after it was revealed that the warden owned a Pokemon. That could cause problems.
"Mhm. Some owl thing. I don't know its name. But it's a big watcher. Especially at night. Sneaking around isn't 'as easy as it used to be anymore. I mean it never was in the first but that owl made things hard for everyone else."
"Owl...It could be either the Noctowl line or the Decidueye line..." She uttered. "Green or brown?"
"Both."
"So it's both Owl-like Pokemon...That's not good at all..." Sunset Shimmer sat down, biting her hand. "If one of them...especially the Decidueye line is fully evolved, Shuppet's in trouble..."
"Relax...Since when do you panic Sunset?"
"I told you, I'm not your Sunset Shimmer, I'm-" Sunset realized t was pointless to try and convince anyone at this point. They all believed that she was the counterpart. "Nevermind...You won't listen to me. No one will...I just have to put all of my faith in Shuppet..."
"Shuppet!" Speaking of Shuppet, it was currently moving across the building, seeking the keys. At the same time, feeding on the remaining malice that was wafting in the air. Many were scattered, causing Shuppet to search closely. The best option would be to find whoever was near the doors.
However, during its search, the Puppet Pokemon had soon noticed something. Something fierce. And the rest of the inmates did so as well. In fact, upon seeing this, they had immediately paused with the emotion of shock gracing their faces.
Standing alongside a Dartrix and a Noctowl was the warden of this place. And her appearance, aside from the typical warden attire, resembled a familiar face in Equestria. Her face matched that of Tempest Shadow.
"W-Warden Tempest!" One of the guards gulped upon seeing Tempest Shadow, holding onto one of the inmates as everything came to a standstill just from her presence alone. This was her Human Counterpart.
"Shuppet?" Shuppet looked onward, noticing how Tempest Shadow had keys on her as well. It made sense for her to have some plus, she was the closest too.
"Hm." Tempest observed the scenario around her. "First I hear that Sunset Shimmer has already come back and now all of this?"
"The fire won't go out, warden! What do we do?!" One of the guards started hyperventilating as the flames of Will-O-Wisp were unaffected by the fire extinguisher. The lunch lady shrugged, seeing that it was pointless to keep trying as she tossed the fire extinguisher aside.
"Calm down." But Tempest remained calm throughout all of this. "Noctowl. Control those flames."
"Noctowl!" She would have her Pokemon solve these issues. The Owl Pokemon was revealed to know Psychic. Its eyes flashed blue as it had used its telekinetic mind to manipulate the spectral flames. Everyone watched in awe as the intensity of the flames had not only been calmed down but were also being directed. Mainly towards the inmates.
The inmates gasped, fearing that they would be hit by the flames. Except they weren't. Noctowl had made the flames spiral around them, keeping the inmates trapped in a fiery prison with the guards and lunch lady free.
"Stay there. Dartrix, can you detect the rest?" Tempest asked the Blade Quill Pokemon.
"Trix...Dartix!" Dartrix could most definitely sense them. Dartrix after all is a Pokemon that is extremely sensitive to other presences in the area and has high-level detection which would explain Decidueye's amazing precision later down the line in evolution.
The rest of the inmates had been sensed as Dartrix flew in a specific direction out of the cafeteria, guiding Noctowl and Warden Tempest Shadow.
"Put them all in their rooms. I'll be right back." Tempest ordered the guards as they had all saluted. She then left the cafeteria to handle the rest. Shuppet knew who to follow next. The only person here that owned Pokemon, making her both the easiest to approach and the hardest to steal from.
"Shuppet."
Dartrix zoomed across the centre, spotting inmates who were currently loose while some more flames of Will-O-Wisp were still around. Noctowl would focus its Psychic hold onto the flames, controlling them. The inmates, upon seeing Warden Tempest, quickly changed their mood from energetic to absolutely terrified.
"Oh!" One of them even had his heart skip a beat as he tried pulling on the doors, banging them aggressively in a desperate attempt to escape before Warden Tempest would catch him.
"Dar!" Dartrix prevented the inmates from going anywhere by using Razor Leaf. Sharp-edged leaves were launched, striking their uniforms. The leaves had pinned each of them against the walls upon meeting with their uniforms. Just like that, Dartrix had taken out multiple birds with one stone. Although, this was a reverse considering that Dartrix was a bird.
Tempest casually walked as other guards had come over to cuff the inmates despite them already being pinned to the wall thanks to Dartrix. But there were some more to cover. Luckily, with Dartrix's detection, that wouldn't be an issue.
"If only it was night. Then your vision would've been made far better, Noctowl." Tempest said to the Normal-Flying-Type.
"Owl." Noctowl agreed At night, it was a worthy equal to Dartrix. In their own ways, they were experts at detection and finding their prey.
Shuppet's head had poked through the walls of the centre while its appearance was still transparent. Shuppet found the best time to grab Tempest's keys. Shuppet found a different approach to doing this. It wouldn't use Will-O-Wisp again considering the pandemonium it had temporarily caused. Instead, Shuppet would use a more discreet move.
Shadow Sneak.
The Puppet Pokemon extended its shadow, causing it to slither down the walls like a snake before touching the tile floors. Shuppet controlled the momentum of the shadow, focusing on Tempest's belt. With how no one had noticed it so far, it looked like this would be a successful grab. Shuppet could do this.
"Dar...TRIX!" That is until Dartrix had also used a Ghost-Type move. Specifically, Astonish. It had turned around, facing the shadow of Dartrix and letting out a startling shout that caused Shuppet to flinch.
"Shu?!"
"Hoh?" Tempest soon took notice of the Puppet Pokemon after Dartrix alerted her. "What do we have here? A new Pokemon? I certainly don't remember you being here or anyone bringing you here."
"S-Shuppet?!" Shuppet gasped as its cover had been blown. Now that the Puppet Pokemon was out in the open, it went straight for the keys, hoping to grab it in a flash.
"Hm! Noctowl! Dartrix!"
"Noct!" Noctowl and Dartrix took action once Shuppet approached. Dartrix had used Leafage while Noctowl used Air Slash. Shuppet was in immediate danger, quickly using its intangibility to phase through the floor. It had narrowly evaded the cutting blades of wind and leaves.
It had decided to leave for the moment as the mission to receive the keys was currently a bust. But it wasn't out of the question yet. Tempest narrowed her eyes, kneeling to face the tile floor. "Good job, you two. At least now, we know we have another troublemaker lurking around here. All of you, if you see that Pokemon around anywhere here, alert me at once. Either Dartrix or Noctowl will make their way here."
"Yes ma'am!"
All the inmates that attempted to escape had been restrained, sent back into their rooms with disappointment in their hearts and on their faces. As for Shuppet, it was returning to Sunset Shimmer's solitary room to break the news. Eventually, all the pandemonium within the centre had died down. All thanks to Warden Tempest Shadow and her Pokemon.
But Tempest had one last thing to do before heading back to her office. Seeing Sunset Shimmer. She walked off, heading straight for the solitary room.
Speaking of the solitary room, Shuppet moved as fast it could, returning to Sunset Shimmer. It had phased through the walls, letting out a relieved sigh as it had almost been taken out by two Pokemon right on the spot. There was no telling what else would come ext.
"Shu...Shuppet..."
"Shuppet are you okay?" Sunset Shimmer approached the Puppet Pokemon. Shuppet was just happy to be safe. Sunset could see the worry in the Ghost-Types eyes, realizing that it had gone through something fierce. It also had a saddened face since it had failed to get a single key. "Hey, it's okay." Sunset Shimmer then went to comfort the Puppet Pokemon, hugging it.
"Shu?" Shuppet looked up.
"You did your best. Sorry that you had to go through that just for my own troubles..."
"Pet. Shuppet." Shuppet admired Sunset Shimmer's kindness towards it. Shuppet mainly feed off of resentment, jealousy and malice but something like this, while they don't feed off of it, they can enjoy as it soothes their spectral spirit. Shuppet grew to like Sunset Shimmer because of this. And due to this, Shuppet felt like doing better as it had ascended.
"Pet. Shu-Shuppet!"
"You want to try again?" Sunset Shimmer tilted her head as the Puppet Pokemon nodded in response. "Okay. Y-" However, their conversation was cut short once Sunset Shimmer heard footsteps. Heavy ones too. The sound of boots stomping on the floor. "Quick! Hide!" She whispered to Shuppet.
"Shupp!" Shuppet phased through the walls, hiding momentarily. Right on time as the footsteps had ended. Just then, the door to Sunset Shimmer's solitary from started opening. She braced herself, unsure of what could happen next.
And opening door was the Warden. Tempest Shadow. She appeared before Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer had never seen her face before, not recognizing her as any counterpart. Especially not a counterpart who was allied with the Empress.
"Sunset Shimmer." Warden Tempest said. "You're back surprisingly soon. Couldn't stay out of trouble for a bit, could you?"
"..." Sunset Shimmer didn't respond as no one at this point would believe her about the counterpart thing. So she didn't even try.
"I heard you caused the destruction and theft of the city's mall weeks back. Not even that far from the aftermath of New Year's Eve. You've done a lot but this kind of destruction is new for you. These Strange and Wonderful Creatures are the reason for that, aren't they?"
"My Pokemon would never do such a thing." She finally replied. "And where are they?"
"They're at the city's police station, being kept with the Poke Balls of other troublemakers such as yourself. They will be kept there with all of the Pokemon within being free to roam."
"What?!" Sunset Shimmer stood up with her heart skipping a beat after this revelation. "You can't do that! Those are my friends!"
"Pokemon shouldn't be allowed to be at the disposal of delinquents such as yourself. That much is agreeable. If those Pokemon are lucky, they might get caught by another person out there. A better person, unlike you." Tempest smirked.
"Why you...!" And this boiled Sunset Shimmer's blood. It wasn't bad enough that she had been blamed for something she hadn't done, causing her to be placed here, but her Pokemon would be released from their Poke Balls, no longer being under the ownership of her. Malice came from her as this would be perfect for Shuppet. But Shuppet grew attached to Sunset Shimmer to do such a thing.
Sunset Shimmer now showed resentment towards Tempest Shadow and even greater resentment toward her counterpart. Tempest stood there unaffected by Sunset Shimmer's rising anger. Sunset Shimmer was on the verge of lashing out, only for her to realize that it would be pointless with Dartrix and Noctowl's presence.
She sighed in defeat, sitting down. Sunset Shimmer thought things couldn't get worse. And they did. Knowing this, tears started forming once more. Tempest didn't react much to her tears. Only a slight eye squint.
"You're not one to cry. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean the return of your Pokemon." Tempest uttered before walking off, closing and locking the door afterwards. Sunset Shimmer took this opportunity to continue crying.
Tempest heard the whimpering coming from the room. She stopped for a moment instead of leaving the scene and returning to her office. Just then, Tempest had rolled her eyes before using her keys to unlock the door. A distraught and tearful Sunset Shimmer looked up to see Tempest Shadow return.
"Get out. I'm running a juvenile detention centre, not a jail. I can't have you or anyone cry, especially in rooms such as this. Go over to the relief room and calm yourself down. Your favourite activities can be found there." Showing some form of sympathy, Tempest Shadow offered to cease Sunset's tears, guiding her to another room. Shuppet peeked its head out of the floor, wanting to follow Sunset Shimmer.
"Could I get out now, Warden?" The mysterious voice in the next room answered.
"No Colastamp..." Tempest sighed, revealing the name of the other inmate.
"Shuppet..." Shuppet stuck within the walls, not exposing itself. Or else Dartrix could Astonish it once more. The keys weren't needed at all. It was Warden Tempest who ended up freeing Sunset Shimmer from that room. But she was still in this centre, trapped as an inmate.
The Police Station.
Meanwhile, over at the police station, everything seemed natural. Except for 4 oddities. The Dazzlings and their mother Vivace. They were currently focused on one thing. The Poke Balls.
One of the Poke Balls belonged to Sunset Shimmer but it was hard to find out which. So, to successfully retrieve them without drawing too much attention, they would use the Shift Stones. They had harnessed the power of the Shift Stone, transforming themselves into police officers. Mainly the ones they saw through the window.
Once they took the disguise of these officers, it was time for them to find those Poke Balls. The lady at the desk didn't suspect a thing so the disguise was already working well. They walked past her before entering another room.
"Alright. This place does seem large. Let's all cover different areas to make it easier and quicker for ourselves. Make sure not to break your disguise at all." Vivace ordered her daughters.
They nodded in understanding before splitting up. Kricketot was currently hiding underneath the police hat to stay discreet. But he had raised it a bit to take a gander. But to get around the place, some doors required more than just a push.
Vivace and Adagio could excel in that. When coming across some of the officers, they had used their magic to their advantage. Some humming would do instead of singing with words. They had passed by some of the officers, using their magic to make a relaxing melody. The melody met with the officers' ears as they already felt a warm and relaxing emotion.
They made silly faces as Vivace and Adagio quickly performed some pick-pocketing, grabbing their keycards. The officers rubbed their eyes before dropping to the floor. They had taken a nap immediately, laying their heads on either the walls or floor as Adagio and Vivace continued on their way.
"Hm?" One of the officers saw their fellow workers taking a nap. "You're taking a nap now?! Wake up!"
Once they got those cards, they could traverse the area easily. As for Sonata and Aria, they still didn't have their magic fully back, so there wasn't a chance of them putting anyone to sleep. But Aria had a solution to this aside from magic. Her Brionne. She hid behind a corner, holding out a Poke Ball. As she threw it, out came Brionne. "Brionne!"
"Brionne. I need you to do something for me...Sing a melody. One that can put someone to sleep on the spot. Use the one you sing at night sometimes." Aria instructed.
"Brionne." Brionne saluted as she knew what to do. She took a peek around the corner before gasping upon what he had seen. It seemed that the sirens weren't the only ones with Pokemon around here.
The officers had some as well. One of them had a Herdier, causing Brionne to immediately zip back, hiding behind Aria. Aria took a peek around the corner as well to see Herdier and the officer. "Great..." She uttered before walking out of the corner. Brionne latched onto Aria's leg, trying to stay discreet.
"Oh. What Pokemon is that?" The officer stopped, gazing at the Pop Star Pokemon.
"Uh..." Aria froze before getting into character. "Oh, her? This is Brionne. She's a Water-Type. I-" Just then, Aria's mind sparked an idea. "Wait a second...I've got an idea." She hid her face, forming a devious grin afterwards. "I think she's attached to me, as you can tell."
"Aw, she's adorable." The officer kneeled as Herdier went to sniff Brionne. Brionne made sure to keep her distance, climbing up Aria's leg away from the Normal-Type. "Is she yours?"
"Well...Since she likes me, I was hoping to keep her. Or I'd just end up...you know...I could've just sent her in the room with all those Poke Balls." Aira formed the words that mattered. The location of the Poke Balls. "Uh, where is it again?"
"Oh, it's at the Evidence Room. But why would you wanna leave this adorable thing?"
"Bingo." Aria had her answer. Faster than any of her sisters. Even her mother. "Nah. I wouldn't. Isn't that right, girl?" She then looked at Brionne.
"Bri! Brionne!"
Herdier and the officer went on with their day. Aria then pumped her fist, glad that she had found the room to be in. All it took was playing it cool. Now all she had to do was tell her family. But that would mean going around the station once more.
Aria walked off, ready to find her sister or mother. However, the moment she approached the door, she realized she could not open it. Aria felt some rebound upon trying to push the door. She adjusted her hat before trying again. This time with some more Oomph to it. However, it was a failure.
That was when it was revealed that this was a door that only activates under a special card. One that Aria did not own as she soon came to find out. However, instead f panicking and worrying about things, Aria had the second-best solution to this.
"Hm. Oh well." She shrugged before pointing at the door lock. "Brionne. Drop some water on it."
"Bri." Aria was well-equipped for this scenario. Brionne climbed onto her shoulder before spraying a tiny stream of water from her mouth. But that tiny stream managed to instantly mess with the electricity inside of the door lock. It had been fried instantly, causing the function to fail. And because of this, the door had opened, granting Aria access.
"Hah. This'll be easier than I thought." A confident Aria said before entering the next room. Who needs a keycard when Aria was an easy way to go wherever.
As for Sonata, she had a similar idea to Aria. It was the most obvious idea. Currently, she was holding Vaporeon, using her water to override the door lock, forcing the doors to open. "Good job girl."
"Vaporeon!"
"This'll be too easy!" Sonata chuckled.
The sirens found all of this to be fairly easy. With the manipulation of Adagio and Vivace to the obvious choice of Water Pokemon with Aria and Sonata plus the revelation of where the Poke Balls could be, Sunset Shimmer's Pokemon could come back to her fairly soon.
However, watching from the shadows of the late afternoon sun were peering eyes. Wide eyes too. They were on top of the walls, moving around. These eyes belonged to the same Pokemon that had caught the thieves back at the mall and proved to be excellent for security in a bombastic way.
Aipom.
"Aipom..."
Sunset Shimmer's counterpart's apartment.
Meanwhile, still focused on the big city, Twilight and her friends were approaching Sunset Shimmer's apartment. hey had taken a train to the city, making the trip easier for them.
They knew that the Human World Sunset lived in an apartment which was fitting since the Sunset Shimmer they knew also lived in an apartment. However, this one was far taller. The city had its fair share of apartments and this would make finding Sunset Shimmer's harder considering they were plentiful as they were tall.
"Okay uh...W-Which one is hers?" Pinkie Pie scratched as they were all gazing at the apartments. Zorua was currently hiding inside of Twilight's bag, shutting herself away from everyone else to avoid major public notice.
"We could just wait for Ash. He knows where it is," said Fluttershy.
"I'm asking him now." But Twilight was already ahead of it, using her Xtransceiver to contact Ash once more. Ash himself was already on the move, wanting to see Sunset Shimmer and ask her something. He had answered as he was revealed to already be in this world. "Ash. Which apartment belongs to her?"
"Uh...I kinda forgot myself. I've only seen it once, honestly." Ash chuckled as he didn't have the clear answer that they needed. They all pratfalled afterwards. "Are you guys near there?"
"Principal Celestia told us to gather all the proof we need to help Sunset. And once we revealed to her that she has a counterpart just like me, she wanted us to try and prove that as well. So we chose to come here." Twilight explained. "You know this counterpart more than us it sounds like. Can you tell us anything else?"
"And is it safe to be around her?" Rarity asked.
"No need to worry. It's totally safe. But I didn't think she'd do all of that. I wanna talk to her and know what happened." Ash saw things differently. He wanted to speak to Sunset as a friend instead of someone there to expose her.
"Yeah, well, we're not wasting any time standing here." Rainbow Dash also thought differently, going for the more upfront approach. "Let's head in there already and ask which one she's in."
"Nothing too brash, okay?" Rarity and Applejack both said.
"Bah, you worry too much." Rainbow Dash shrugged, putting on a grin. But Rarity and Applejack put on faces of doubt.
"Hold on, Ash. Maybe we can do something." Twilight promised before hanging up on him. Ash moved in a hurry while Twilight and everyone else would head for the apartments as they were the closest to it.
There was also this looming sense of danger that some of them had. Mainly Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. The Sunset Shimmer counterpart from what they had heard of was bad company, making them nervous of even showing up in front of her. But they would go with it either way, for the sake of their friends' freedom.
They stopped by the front of one of the apartments as Twilight rang the doorbell. Upon ringing it, she spoke through the speaker. "Uh, hello?"
"Hello, hello?" A voice replied to her.
"We're here to see Sunset Shimmer. Is this the right apartment?"
"Oooh...Yes. You're in the right place. You'd best come in then. Head to the fourth floor and second room." The voice her location as they were welcome inside. The door had been opened for them.
The fourth floor was where they needed to be. They took the elevator instead of going with the stairs. Something about stairs looked far too rickety either way.
Arriving on the fourth floor, their eyes locked onto the second room. Fluttershy kept her distance as she was already feeling tense. She mainly hid behind Rainbow Dash to keep herself safe. "S-So...Pyroar is a full-grown lion is Litleo is anything to go off of, right?"
"Maybe? But don't you love lions or anything related to them?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not when they're being used for something awful..." Fluttershy had her priorities straight. Cute or not, being too careless around a Pokemon that can do more harm than good is never a great approach, especially one that breathes fire.
"Let's just hurry and ask her some questions..." Twilight held her breath before knocking on the door. But with the first knock came no response. So Twilight tried again. And the second knock came with no response either. "Hm? I-Is she home?"
"Door doesn't look too shut..." Applejack noticed as she poked the door. Upon poking it, the door had been opened slightly, revealing the interior. Thankfully, there was no fire-breathing lion waiting for them inside. But there was no one inside. Just an empty room that was a mess. "No one's her. That explains it."
"She certainly keeps her rm similarly to a criminal..." Rarity grimaced at this sight. It was hard to say when this room had been kept tidy the last time.
"Maybe she's gone out?" Fluttershy wondered.
"I don't think so." But Twilight said otherwise. "Since she's wanted for what happened at the mall, she wouldn't show herself in public. Then again...how come no one else here noticed her?"
"Oh, so you're saying she ran away then?" said Rainbow Dash. "Figures." Her eyes were then averted to a neat looking vinyl that caught her attention.
"Most likely. And I think this might be proof." Twilight found a letter on Sunset's bed. She picked it up, noticing the extensive words on it. Everyone zoomed in as Zorua and Spike took a peek outside of Twilight's bag. Twilight's eyes followed the words before noticing who this was for. "This is for Ash! It's a goodbye letter!"
Sunset Shimmer had already left weeks ago. Ever since the mall incident, she made up her mind, going off on her own with Pyroar by her side. Twilight and everyone were just too late to know about all of this. Not only did this mean that the counterpart was out there, free as a bird, but their friend was locked up. A horrible trade.
As the journey continues.
Chapter 682 End.