Kalos. Dahara City. The Pokemon Festival. Afternoon.
Ash was currently standing still, focused on doing one thing. Finding a way to break the Rift's stellar restraint that was potentially larger than anything Ash had to face. Hoopa was unable to get close enough to Ash and the other restraints that the Rift had put on him were unknown at the moment.
Thanks to the power of Victini, Ash would expand his Aura even further beyond, using Sir Aaron's staff as well while Pikachu, Twilight, Sci-Twi, Hilbert, Hilda, Bertha, Victini, Meloetta and Hoopa all watched.
"I've heard about Aura but I've never seen it be used like this before," Hilbert commented. "Didn't even know it could get so crazy."
"Ashkan can do this?" Hoopa leaned in before almost interacting with this omnipresent forcefield that was around him and Ash."Oooh."
"That's Ash's special Aura," Twilight replied. "No one has a bigger Aura than Ash. Not in this century. Isn't that right, Ash?"
"Pika-pi?"
But when speaking to Ash, there wasn't a response from him. Usually, Ash would've said something by now, but nothing was uttered. Only silence and the sound of Aura flowing. When Twilight took a closer look, wondering why Ash wasn't saying something or even moving, she flew over to look at his face, screaming his name.
"Ash!" Moments after Ash had tapped into his Aura and received a boost of energy from Victini, he immediately passed out. And It happened while he was still standing up and holding Sir Aaron's staff.
Twilight screamed out Ash's name once she saw that he passed out standing up. His eyes were still open but his pupils were so dilated and altered to the point where it looked like they were about to white out. It was surprising that he was still standing.
"Tini?!"
"Is he gonna be okay?!" Hilda asked as Meloetta shuddered.
"I've never seen anyone pass out standing up, aside from a Pokemon. But if he hasn't fallen over yet...that can only mean one thing." Bertha narrowed her eyes. "Ash is in a deep state of focus, far beyond what he was already doing. Look. His Aura is still active."
"You're right! It is!" Hilbert gasped. "Uh...that's a good thing?"
"I've never seen that before." Twilight was stunned. This was a major discovery. Ash's Aura never showed itself when he was passed out. It looked like he was in a state of Delayed Aura Ataxia, but his Aura was still active. "What's going on with Ash?"
"Pika..."
"Tini..." Victini felt guilty, knowing that his infinite energy was the cause of Ash's Aura being sent to an all-time high. Victini could only hope that Ash was doing well within his deep state of mind. Sharing some extra power would most likely be a bad idea.
"Meloetta." Meloetta patted him on the back, letting Victini know that it would be alright. At least, she hoped so. The only form of hope was Ash's active Aura.
"I'm heading in." Twilight's horn emanated a purple glow as the Princess of Friendship was already set to enter the world of Delayed Aura Ataxia once more. "I'm the only one who can also trigger Ataxia. Pikachu and I are familiar with the place too."
"Purple Ponyta's going to go inside of Ashkan's head?" Hoopa flew over.
"That's ri-" But in the midst of replying to Hoopa, Twilight realized that the Mischief Pokemon referred to her as a Ponyta. A purple one to be exact. "Uh...my name is Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." She gave out her full name
"Okay, Twikan! Good luck!" Hoopa saluted, giving Twilight a nickname as well.
"Let's go, Eve. Pikachu. Let's hope it's not as serious as we think it is. If you see Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie, inform them about this. You should all focus on keeping Ash safe since he's vulnerable right now." Twilight instructed, pleading for them to keep Ash safe.
Twilight immediately expended some of the Aura within her, using it to enter a new realm. It would mean that she would have to knock herself out as well. Pikachu and Espeon would join her as they each sat down, closing their eyes. By manipulating the Aura, Princess Twilight Sparke managed to enter the same state of mind as Ash.
As for Ash, he may have fainted, he was indeed somewhere else. However, he didn't end up at the 18 Realms of Delayed Aura Ataxia. Instead, Ash found himself elsewhere.
The Trainer from Pallet Town found himself floating in space which wasn't too new. He knew this was some rendition of space as he was breathing in it. His body started flying in the cosmos, unable to control his direction. Ash knew that he was most likely within a part of the RIft. He had already seen what was inside of a Rift Entity and it was revealed to be space of all things.
Ash passed by planets and stars that looked large from afar, but they were smaller when up close. At least briefly. He held his arm out, touching some of the planets and stars that he passed by and in return, his Aura reacted to them.
But there was something different about this space. It wasn't like the space that he saw from the Rift Volcano or even what he's heard about Cold Colt and the others. In front of Ash, a pathway had been formed.
A pathway made out of starlight and stardust, beautifully flowing in the cosmos with an ethereal appearance. The Alola Champion landed on the pathway as it also possessed colourful neon lights and decorative neon boards, with shooting stars and laser beams illuminating the dark skies of the cosmos.
"Is this the Rift's or something else?" Ash wondered while running on the starlight path. When trying to break this massive forcefield, he did not expect this to happen. It was all so wonderful to him as he felt a great sense of acceleration. Even in what seemed to be a serious situation, Ash found a way to smile through it and even have fun.
He looked up to see constellations forming. Constellations of familiar Pokemon and even some that resembled ponies too. It made him wonder about this realm even more.
"Check it out...I wish Pikachu were here to see this." Ash gazed at the constellations that continued to pop up. "But, I gotta stay focused. I need to help Hoopa. Just gotta figure out where I am and break out of here too. I can use my Aura to do that but maybe something related to Hoopa can be found here."
Ash would continue running on this starlight path, passing by stars, planets and galaxies galore. Just then, the pathway suddenly angled differently the further Ash went. It curved to the side while also being slightly upside-down. Ash managed to manoeuvre himself on it as the pathway went straight once more.
Ash then came to a screeching halt on the pathway as he saw something up ahead. It was too important for him to ignore and was certainly something he wasn't expecting to see here. His eyes stretched out a bit as he took gentle steps forward, marvelling at the sight of what stood before him and at the end of this Starlight Path.
A gigantic wall could be seen. A wall so large that it stretched across the cosmos itself, having a stupendously comically large length that was impossible for Ash to even think about.
This wall was made out of an unknown material that Ash had never seen before. This cosmos-expanding wall had a translucent, mirrorlike substance that was a mixture of ethereal blue and purple. The colours of the Rift. Seeing those colours made it clear to Ash that it was Rift related to the core.
He looked at it closer, seeing that this wall was not static at all. In fact, it was moving while also being stuck at one spot due to its astronomical length and size.
It seemed very flexible despite having a solid form, moving with the wavy motion of the sea itself. This material was also slick texture in solid form, making this a bizarre substance.
But more important, Ash saw that there was a plethora of things poking out of the wall. He was surprised to see that millions upon millions of objects and faces were sticking out of them, seemingly stuck.
"What is this...?"
"Ash! Ash!" Suddenly, a voice called out to him. Ash responded to this cry by turning around, spotting three familiar faces incoming. Twilight managed to reach Ash after using her spell. Now that she had access to Rift Magic, becoming a vessel for it, things were made easier for Twilight Sparkle as she brought along Pikachu and Espeon.
"Pika-pi!"
"Espeon!"
"Ah, there you guys are!" Ash held his arms out, happy to see that they made it here so soon. "I didn't think you'd find out about this place so soon. It's not the 18 Realms after all."
"You're right. This appearance only matches that of a Rift Entity." Twilight observed the surroundings. "This isn't what I was expecting when coming after you...But what's with this massive wall?"
"Pikachu..." Pikachu admired the dazzling sights before getting up on Ash's shoulder.
"Not sure. But it's got these faces and things on them. Are you thinking what I'm thinking Twilight?"
"I think so. This might be the massive forcefield that's preventing you from fully reaching Hoopa." Twilight deduced it, connecting the limitations and restraints that the Rift had created and linked it to this. "Not sure about the faces and objects...that's creepy. But this thing's definitely the key to it."
"So...if we do something about it, Hoopa's free, right? But what about everyone and all that stuff in it? Are they actually there?"
"I don't know, Ash. But we have to try something. Plus, what's with that material? I've never seen it before."
"It's not from this realm originally..." Just then, a voice had replied to Twilight. She looked over at the wall as one of the faces started speaking. The others looked over as the eyes of this person also moved, scaring Twilight to the point where she jumped up.
"Gaaaah!" Twilight screeched, clinging onto Ash's back while quivering in fear. Lo and behold, these faces were alive and sentient. The mystery behind this massive cosmic wall was just getting started for them.
Kalos. Out on a hillside. Underground. Afternoon.
"Torterra!" Meanwhile, Galaxy Master was still being pursued by Princess Luna and the Canterlot guards. Behind him, Excadrill, Gliscor and a lot of Golurks were hot on his trail. Torterra had leapt over an incoming Shadow Punch from the Golurks with such grace.
They raced through the underground as Torterra burrowed through many pathways only for Excadrill to do the same, making new pathways to try and cut Galaxy Master off.
"This might go on forever. We'll need to find a new way to lose them. The underground just won't do." Galaxy Master said as Princess Luna had caught up to him with ease, preparing a magical blast from her horn.
"Pikachu! Unleashing your lightning!"
"Pikachu!" By that, he meant Thunderbolt. Pikachu jumped off Galaxy Master's shoulder, unleashing a mighty blast of electricity that intercepted Luna's incoming blast. The two blasts cancelled each other out, forming a large smoke cloud in the process.
Luna growled, closing her eyes from all of the smoke and even slowing down from the impact. "Darn it all...Darkrai!" She then bellowed Darkrai's name.
Darkrai was around here. Wherever Luna was, Darkrai would follow and be there. As Excadrill dug through the walls, intercepting Torterra and tackling with him Horn Drill, Darkrai would emerge, assisting Excadrill. Galaxy Master held on tightly once Torterra was pushed back as Darkrai emerged from the shadows with his claws out.
"Great Galaxies!" Galaxy Master gasped once Darkrai emerged, unleashing Dark Void. Torterra couldn't evade this in time. Galaxy Master and Pikachu jumped off as Torterra had been struck by the orb.
"Tor...!" And that ended up being one of Galaxy Master's Pokemon knocked out and put to sleep as Torterra dropped t the ground.
"Torterra My friend!" Galaxy Master shouted as some Stone Edges from the Golurk were incoming at full force. "Pikachu!"
"Pika!" Pikachu knew what to do. He hardened his tail, swinging it and smashing the incoming stones to bits whilst Galaxy Master held his hand out, returning Torterra.
"Thank you for your assistance. We got far, my friend." He said to Torterra before looking up at Luna and Darkrai. "Princess Luna and Darkrai..."
"Be careful, Darkrai. He has the ability to always swing everything in his favour. Such is the natural law of a child's creation. So, stopping him will be difficult." Luna warned Darkrai about how Galaxy Master would seemingly constantly succeed.
"I know that. I won't let that stop me!" Darkrai advanced, going in for a Poison Jab as his claws were coated in Poison.
"Pikachu! Unleash your stream of water!"
"Pika...Pikachu!" By that, he meant Surf. Even when underground, Pikachu could gather some water, holding his hands out. In seconds, he managed to manipulate the seas from outside the underground that were close enough for him, causing them to fly in this direction.
Suddenly from the walls that had already been burrowed by Torterra and Excadrill, gigantic streams of water came blasting out from different directions, causing a loud sound as one of them pushed Darkrai away before he could reach Pikachu.
"Even from this distance?!" Luna gasped as one of the water streams had smashed into her, causing her to be carried along with everyone else. Excadrill, Gliscor and the Golurk received super-effective damage from this as they were being carried away by the water. The guards all screamed while Luna managed to recover herself by flying out of the water. However, the damage had been done. "Why you...Thunderbolt!"
Darkrai would use this chance to attack Galaxy Master while there was a large amount of water. He sent a surge of electricity through his body that affected the water. 100,000 volts of electricity came along, shocking Galaxy Master and his Pikachu, finally dealing some damage.
"Gah!"
"Pikachu...!"
"R-Retaliate with an even greater burst of electricity!"
"Pikaaaaa!" Pikachu would hit back with his own Thunderbolt, sending the energy back to Darkrai and the others as the water went crazy. Darkrai and Luna had been blown back by this massive flare of electricity as all of the water started flooding the place.
Luna and Darkrai growled once they were shocked, feeling a devastating surge of electricity flow through them. Galaxy Master saw that now was a good chance to escape. He took one of the pathways that had been opened up by the various destructive water streams, swimming through there as he and Pikachu submerged into the rising water to mask their pathway choice.
Luna and Darkrai recovered from this as they saw that it was getting dangerous to be underneath here. Many of the guards were starting to drown in the water. She unleashed a massive blast of magic, shooting it upwards and creating a hole to escape from in the process.
Afterwards, she used her magic to grab everyone here, saving them from imminent drowning whilst the Golurk and even her Excadrill had fainted from the water. Luna carried them all out, unable to continue pursuing Galaxy Master and Pikachu, who seemed to do just fine going through this massive flow of water.
"Another failure..." Luna sighed. "I suppose the odds are always in his favour. How do I get past something like that?"
Once she left the underground, she returned to the hillside, dropping everyone off. The guards were saved before they could drown, breathing in and out and gasping for air. Luna only cared about their safety, but at the cost of her losing Galaxy Master and Pikachu. The underground was flooded now thanks to this, but she wasn't giving up yet.
"No. I can still get to him." Luna then used the Underwater Breathing Spell, allowing herself and Darkrai to breathe for 20 minutes. "Let's go, Darkrai. He probably hasn't gone far."
Within an unknown realm.
"T-T-The face in the wall is talking!" Twilight shuddered while grabbing onto Ash's back, gripping it. This was the most unnerving thing she's seen so far.
"Ow! Twilight!" Ash groaned as the strength of an alicorn was harming his back.
"Apologies for scaring you." The face of the man continued to speak with a faint tone. "But I never thought I'd see someone else appear here without being pulled into the wall."
"Oh. So you're all real. And you've been trapped here too?" Ash questioned. The face tried to nod but that wasn't happening at all. "What happened here? And what's up with this super-sized wall?"
"This wall was originally made by us during the beginning of the two worlds coming together. We were made aware by the coming of the Rift by Arceus." The man within the wall said.
"Arceus told you?" Ash and Twilight both said.
"With the power that we gather from Arceus, we used it to make a forcefield that would block off some of the Rift's powers. But, the Rift was ahead of us and used our own wall against us. Not only that, but it made it large enough to span the entirety of this spatial realm. What you see before you is the Cosmic Wall. You are at the edge of this universe."
"We're at the edge of a universe?!" Twilight gasped. "That means it's the very end! I never thought I'd reach the end of a universe! It seems impossible!"
"So, wait. Are you guys from Arche Valley too?" Ash asked. "You said that you used the power of Arceus to do this, right?"
"Pikachu?"
"We don't come from Arche Valley, but we have relations to it. We could be considered disciples, studying about Arceus and connecting with him from afar. As for this wall, it is a mixture of both Arceus and the Rift's power combined, making it an astronomical force. All of us disciples were pulled into this large wall and since then, we've been unable to break free."
"So you've been here since the very beginning of our worlds crossing over. For three years..." Twilight's jaw dropped. "That's horrible. But both Arceus and the Rift's power? I guess they can coexist because I have the Twilightium Z."
"Alright. You can tell us all everything. Right now, we're gonna get you all out of here." Ash stepped forward.
"Don't come any closer!" He shouted at Ash. But it was too late. The wall already reacted to Ash's movements once he came close. Immediately, cosmic energy burst out of the wall, summoning something to confront Ash and Twilight.
Ash stepped back as an immense pressure that emanated a golden, blue and purple energy, reminiscent of Arceus and the Rift's colours had emerged. Pikachu and Espeon already prepared for the worst. But no one would expect what kind of entity would emerge out of the wall as a form of defence.
A burst of light and the sound of avian songs and draconic calls mark the coming of an entity. After materializing from nothing, a magnificent being with familiar eyes stood before them. These eyes were identifiable as they resembled either Dialga, Palkia, Giratina or even Arceus as it filled them with an immense sense of awe.
Those eyes belonged to a certain shape. This shape looked almost like Dialga before fulling revealing itself. Curved wings of pure energy had emerged from the back of this entity as it wasn't quite Dialga. It wasn't Dialga at all. The shape of Dialga had been more, creating an equine body that was clad in shining armour. This entity carried a sword and shield that had the Arceus symbol on it, levitating it. The size of it even matched Dialga to boot.
"What is that?!" Ash was stunned as he and his friends had practically seen the emergence of a divine entity. "Dialga? No..."
"Pikachu...!"
"It's the combination of Arceus and the Rift's power." Twilight could already sense it thanks to having the Twilightium Z and being a vessel for Rift Energy. "It's a new Rift Creation, but I never thought something like this would appear."
The Entity let out a roar that sounded just like Dialga's roar but was also packed with a horrific sound of the cosmos themselves, causing another wind pressure to occur. Ash and Twilight found themselves face to face with a new kind of enemy the likes of which they had never seen before.
"Please! Run while you still can!" The man pleaded, already believing that it was pointless to retaliate against such an odd yet majestic entity.
"No way!" Ash thought otherwise. While this Rift-Dialga Entity was fairy intimidating to look at, Ash wouldn't run even in the face of danger. "We're gonna get you out here and that's that. We won't let whatever this is stop us!"
"Pikachu!"
"I'm shaking right now but I'm with you, Ash." Twilight agreed as they looked up at the Rift-Dialga Entity. Its wings spread out even further, illuminating the dark universe and even the Cosmic Wall.
A shocking discovery and a shocking opponent. Ash Ketchum and Twilight Sparkle had found themselves face to face with an opponent the likes of which they had never seen before. An opponent that felt vastly otherworldly compared to what they've faced so far. They've already encountered otherworldly entities already. The goal was to still remove Hoopa's restraints, but it seems that goal was paved with some unexpected obstacles.
As the journey continues.
Chapter 852 End.