Equestria. Galaxy Tower. Day.
The Galaxy Tower. Galaxy Master's secret base which was located underground. Thanks to the help of Hoopa managing to find this place, Ash and many others arrived at this special tower while Galaxy Master was currently out, partaking in his usual mission.
And upon entering, most were met with two things. The wondrous design and activities of the base and the robots that resided here. Robots that had the colour scheme and visor of Galaxy Master appeared before them during their curiosity about this place. The robots only had one objective. Arrest them all.
Ash was currently the only one who hadn't encountered any of these robots as he came across a room that was ahead of most. He knew this place well since this was his creation. And upon entering this room, he was now in a Vestibule Room. A massive sculpture sat in the middle as it was of two individuals. Galaxy Master himself and another figure who seemed to be a lady wearing a superhero outfit that shared some similarities with Galaxy Master.
"Yeah...Just like how I envisioned it. Everything I thought about was made better once it became real." Ash closed his eyes as a small tear was starting to form. Something like this was enough to make him emotional as this was his childhood being brought back in a greater form than he made in the past.
"Pika-pi?" Pikachu noticed Ash's tears, asking if he was alright and worried about his best friend. But these were tears of joy, so Pikachu had nothing to worry about.
"I'm good, Pikachu. I'm really good right now." Ash responded, clearing Pikachu of any worries.
"Ash! Pikachu. There you are!" Entering the room as well was Fluttershy who finally caught up to Ash and Pikachu.
"W-Wait up...You're too fast!" Twilight breathed in and out as she tagged along. "Were you always this fast, Fluttershy?"
"Hey, guys. Check it out! Ain't this sweet?!" He immediately focused on the two sculptures of Galaxy Master and the mystery lady in another superhero outfit. Her identity was still unknown as she was the main focus.
"It is. Galaxy Master and...Who's that?" Fluttershy asked, curious about the lady who was posing with Galaxy Master.
"Is that another Galaxy Master?" Twilight flew over. "Has there always been a second one?"
"Well, ya see...I made Galaxy Master after my dad. And you can guess who this is meant to be?" Ash smiled as it already clicked with Twilight and Fluttershy. The identity of this lady was clear as day.
Delia Ketchum. This is who this was meant to be. Fitting that they were both made by their son though usually, it was the other way around.
"Aw, that's sweet, Ash. So what's her name?" asked Twilight. That's where Ash was stumped. There was one roadblock that he left behind as a child.
"Ah, the name...I never thought about a name, actually. Never went past the first book or finished it so a lot of stuff isn't even named or fully made yet." He chuckled, causing Twilight to pratfall.
"W-Well!" The Princess of Friendship cleared her throat. "If you're going to call her something, keep it to the motif of space. How does..." Soon, she was brewing up a name in her mind. All she needed to do was have something related to outer space and it would be a perfect fit. That's when it hit her. "I got it! How does Quasar Lady sound?"
"What's a Quasar?" Fluttershy questioned.
"You see, Quasars are regions at the centres of galaxies with a far higher luminosity, which isn't produced by stars. They're among the most luminous and powerful objects in the universe, as they put out thousands of times more energy than our entire galaxy and probably even the Pokemon Universe's galaxy, which contains between 200 and 400 billion stars. It's absolutely colossal! If there's anything to compare with the galaxy it's a Quasar. Trust me, Ash." Twilight explained.
"Huh...Yeah! That's a great idea! Quasar Lady it is then!" A new name had been given to this second superhero based on Delia Ketchum. Once again, keeping it space-orientated.
But this moment of peace was quickly disturbed by one of those robots. They once again appeared unexpectedly, moving past the walls that opened up. Twilight and Fluttershy were made aware, mainly Fluttershy and her Audino first thanks to their hearing.
"Ｕｎａｕｔｈｏｒｉｚｅｄ! Ｕｎａｕｔｈｏｒｉｚｅｄ!"
"W-Who are they?!" Fluttershy stammered as Raboot, Bayleef and Audino stood in front of her for protection. Espeon did the same for Twilight as they could sense danger was afoot.
"Robots?!" The alicorn bellowed, spotting just what these entities were. "Of course he'd have robots here..."
"Robots? You mean..." Ash repeated, slowly turning around to see the robots for himself. Once again, this was another of his creations as the design was too familiar to them. It was simple yet recognizable.
"He might know we're here," said Twilight. "That or the robots are the only ones keeping watch of this place."
"Hang on, Twilight. Let's not do anything hasty." But preventing Twilight from doing anything to these robots, Ash stepped forward, casually too. He didn't look bothered at all.
"Ash?! Hold on!" Twilight tried stopping him but there was no point. He shook his head, insisting that he handled this.
"Ｓｃａｎｎｉｎｇ." Upon getting close, the robots ran a scan on Ash Ketchum. In mere seconds, they gathered data on the Alola Champion, seeing what they could take from this. However, upon scanning him, instead of using what they learned against, the opposite happened.
"Ｓｃａｎ ｃｏｍｐｌｅｔｅ. Ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ Ａｓｈ Ｋｅｔｈｃｕｍ."
"Thanks, StarBots. Great to see you all. And in full 3D!" Ash was already showing familiarity with them despite encountering the robots for the first time. Treating them like his friends, he wrapped his arms around them both. "Twilight! Everyone! These are StarBots! Pretty cool looking, huh?"
"They're kinda cute with how small they are." Fluttershy gushed at the robots and their size. Each of them were around the size of a Lucariobut slightly shorter.
"Had me worried there..." Twilight sighed. "But I guess since it's you, they wouldn't be hostile. Even though you haven't been here before."
"It might be because those are his parents up there. So the robots maybe recognize him as their son. Isn't that nifty?"
"Sure is, Fluttershy. Hey, StarBots. These are my friends. No need to try and arrest them, okay?" Ash ordered.
"Ａｃｃｅｐｔｅｄ. Ａｌｌｉｅｓ ｏｆ Ａｓｈ Ｋｅｔｃｈｕｍ ｗｉｌｌ ｎｏｔ ｂｅ ｔａｒｇｅｔｅｄ."
"Awesome! But...what about everywhere else? The other StarBots are meant to be around the entire base after all." He asked. "Which means Cynthia and the others might run into them with the wrong idea in mind."
"Please tell me you gave them a function that lets them communicate with each other from afar?" Twilight pleaded, hoping Ash made it easy for them.
"Sorry. But I only thought about the energy handcuffs and how cool they would be to use." Sadly, that was not the case. Since he was younger back then, he only thought about what would be cool instead of what was practical.
"Of course not...Okay then. Fluttershy. Everyone. Let's hurry before all our friends are locked up by these bots. Or worse, they could fight back and absolutely obliterate them. Let's face it, they have the means to."
"Gotcha. StarBots. We'll explain everything later, okay?" Ash would leave, setting off to find the rest of his friends before the worst could happen. But right now, tension was already building across the base as different rooms with other StarBots already had intruders with a high abundance.
Food Stand Area.
"Under arrest?! Now hold on a second!" Pinkie Pie bellowed as the StarBot at the Food Stand was the first to issue this arrest against her and everyone else.
"Ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ ｕｎａｕｔｈｏｒｉｚｅｄ ｔｏ ｂｅ ｈｅｒｅ. Ｙｏｕ ｓｈａｌｌ ｂｅ ｐｌａｃｅｄ ｕｎｄｅｒ ａｒｒｅｓｔ ｉｎ ｔｈｅ Ｓｔａｒ ＰｏＤ."
"A Star Pod sounds fun. But uhh...sorry for barging in like this. We just got a bit curious, that's all." Pinkie Pie backed as the robot approached menacingly. "We didn't even know the place was occupied with robots. I just wanted something to eat too."
"M-Mew!"
"Ｕｎａｕｔｈｏｒｉｚｅｄ ｆｏｒ ｃｏｎｓｕｍｐｔｉｏｎ ｏｆ ｇｏｏｄｓ."
"Blocked from eating food? How cruel..." Pinkie lowered her head before bumping into another pony. The robots had backed them all up against each other by simply approaching at a menacing pace. Right afterwards, each of these robots generated energy cuffs to issue the arrest. But there was one downside.
The cuffs were too big for the ponies, meaning they would slip past them if they ever moved their hooves once. That prompted everyone to chuckle right at the cuffs. "You're gonna arrest us with those?" Thunderlane chuckled.
But soon after, the robots readjusted the cuffs to the size of the ponies. Whether they be stallion or mare. The laughter ceased in a heartbeat once the cuffs were readjusted.
"Can't we talk this out?"
"Ｔａｌｋｉｎｇ ｉｓ ａ ｒｅａｓｏｎａｂｌｅ ｇｅｓｔｕｒｅ．Ｐｒｏｃｅｅｄ." The StarBot surprisingly agreed with Pinkie Pie's suggestion, halting from going through with the arrest as these energy cuffs dissipated.
"Oh, really? Well, that's surprising." Even Pinkie Pie was shocked that the robot was willing to listen to her despite being so set on arresting her and everyone else here.
"Ｇａｌａｘｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｈａｓ ｐｒｏｇｒａｍｍｅｄ ｕｓ ｔｏ ａｌｗａｙｓ ａｓｓｅｓｓ ｔｈｅ ｓｉｔｕａｔｉｏｎ ｂｅｆｏｒｅ ｔａｋｉｎｇ ｆｕｌｌ－ｏｎ ａｃｔｉｏｎ."
"Looks to me like you were about to take on full action anyway..." Misty Fly uttered quietly.
"Alright! Glad we can talk it out!" Pinkie Pie slid over to one of the robots. "Hope it's not too much of a bother...but we're just here out of curiosity, that's all. Plus the food here smelled nice and too good to resist..." The earth pony began melting at the scent of this food.
"Ｓｃａｎ ｃｏｍｐｌｅｔｅ． Ｔｈｉｓ ｏｎｅ ｈａｒｂｏｕｒｓ ａ ｇｒｅａｔ ｓｅｎｓｅ ｏｆ ｈｕｎｇｅｒ ａｎｄ ｏｖｅｒｗｈｅｌｍｉｎｇ ｆｏｒｃｅ ｏｆ ｊｏｙ." It was then revealed that the robots scanned Pinkie Pie, assessing what she was like and possessed. They did the same for everypony else, spouting out what makes them unique.
"Gee thanks. But I wanna apologize for breaking in." Pinkie placed her hooves together. "The door just kinda opened up on us and uh...curiosity's a powerful thing, ain't it?"
"Yeah, we're not here to do anything wrong." Rumble chimed in. "Honest."
"Ｗｅ ｍｕｓｔ ｓｔｉｌｌ ａｓｋ ｙｏｕ ｔｏ ｌｅａｖｅ ｔｈｅ ｐｒｅｍｉｓｅｓ． Ｇａｌａｘｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｉｓ ｎｏｔ ｅｘｐｅｃｔｉｎｇ ａｎｙ ｖｉｓｉｔｏｒｓ ｅｓｐｅｃｉａｌｌｙ ｄｕｒｉｎｇ ａ ｍｉｓｓｉｏｎ ｔｏ ｒｅｔｒｉｅｖｅ Ｒｉｆｔ Ｅｎｅｒｇｙ． Ａｎｄ ｔｏ ａｎ ｅｘｔｅｎｓｉｏｎ， ｃｏｎｆｒｏｎｔｉｎｇ ｖａｍｐｉｒｅｓ．"
"About that...how about we give out a message to the guy?" Pinkie Pie winked. "Just something for him to hear. Uh, you can do that, right?"
"We are programmed to record messages. State your speech."
"Great!" She squeed before facing the other ponies. "Don't worry everypony. I got this. Ahem! If you're hearing this, then I've got something to say. You may not know about it, but there's a true history behind us the Rift. This is uh, Pinkie Pie speaking by the way. You may or may not know who I am. Hopefully, you do cause that would be sweet! Anyway! There's a lot I gotta share with you. First...!"
Armoury.
The Armoury Room. Currently, there weren't any weapons here that could be found. Not a semblance of them. Not even a Poke Ball. This room was surprisingly empty for something that involved combat.
But at the moment, Rainbow Dash had met with the robots much like others. She would've left the room by now out of boredom but the robots quickly staved that boredom upon appearing. She was joined by Scootaloo in this room.
"Pssh! You're not gonna arrest me! No one can. Not with my speed." She argued with the robots, hovering over them with the superior advantage of flight. Scootaloo couldn't fly so Rainbow Dash would have to hold her, keeping the younger pegasus away from these mechanical creations.
"Ｓｃａｎｎｉｎｇ. Ｔｈｅ ｍｕｌｔｉｃｏｌｏｕｒｅｄ ｐｅｇａｓｕｓ ｂｏａｓｔｅｄ ａ ｇｒｅａｔ ｏｒｄｅａｌ ｏｆ ｓｔｒｅｎｇｔｈ ａｎｄ ａｌｌ ａｒｏｕｎｄ ｃｏｃｋｉｎｅｓｓ."
"Thanks. I am pretty str- Hey!" Rainbow Dash took some pride and offence to that. She was complimented and insulted at the same time. The robots then went in for the arrest, throwing the energy cuffs instead of approaching considering where Rainbow Dash was.
However, with a quick zoom to the right, the first cuffs were evaded. Then along came the second and the third which forced Rainbow Dash to go higher while holding Scootaloo over her head.
"Missed me! Too bad for you, I've got someone else who stays up here and hits back. Go for it, Castform! Shock Wave!"
"Castform!" Out of her saddlebag came Castform, who stayed up even higher than Rainbow Dash. And at this range, Castform could attack. Mainly with Shock Wave. The weakness of an electric-powered creation is always electricity itself and sometimes water or even fire.
Luckily for Castform, he had those options as a spark of electricity came crashing down. Rainbow Dash was expecting them all to shut off as this was her approach. However, the second the shock wave of electricity crashed into one of the robots, nothing happened.
Nothing at all.
"Ｏｗ." All the robot uttered was a sound of pain. But it didn't sound that serious as it barely moved.
"Huh?!"
"Ａｐｏｌｏｇｉｅｓ ｆｏｒ ｔｈｅ ｉｎｃｏｎｖｅｎｉｅｎｃｅ. Ｂｕｔ ｗｅ ａｒｅ ｉｍｍｕｎｅ ｔｏ ｅｌｅｃｔｒｉｃｉｔｙ ａｓ ｏｐｐｏｓｓｅｄ ｔｏ ｏｔｈｅｒ ｍｅｃｈｎｉｃａｌ ｆｏｒｃｅｓ. Ａｓ ｗｅｌｌ ａｓ ｂｅｉｎｇ ｈｅａｔｐｒｏｏｆ ａｎｄ ｗａｔｅｒｐｒｏｏｆ."
"That's just unfair..." Rainbow Dash groaned as Castform's options had been erased the moment the robot spouted out what it was immune to.
"Ｇａｌａｘｙ Ｍａｓｔｅｒ ｓｔａｔｅｓ ｔｈａｔ ｌｉｆｅ ｉｓ ｕｎｆａｉｒ． Ｗｈｉｃｈ ｉｓ ｗｈｙ ｗｅ ｍｕｓｔ ａｌｗａｙｓ..."
"I didn't ask what he states!" She cut the Robot off.
"Don't worry, protege. I got this!" Hilbert suddenly arrived, entering this room to encounter Rainbow Dash and the others. He made his entrance with a boasting voice, bellowing at them all.
"Wow. You're his protege, Rainbow Dash?" Believing that Rainbow Dash was Hilbert's protege, Scootaloo gawked with amazement.
"I'm not his protege!"
"Ｓｃａｎｎｉｎｇ. Ｔｈｉｓ ｏｎｅ ｉｓ ｗｏｒｓｅ ｔｈａｎ ｔｈｅ ｐｅｇａｓｕｓ ｂｕｔ ｏｖｅｒａｌｌ ｓｔｒｏｎｇｅｒ."
"Heh. I am strong. You're looking at the number one trainer!" Hilbert boasted, completely ignoring the insult that was thrown his way.
"Ｓｃａｎ ｃｏｍｐｌｅｔｅ. Ｗｅｌｃｏｍｅ Ａｓｈ Ｋｅｔｈｃｕｍ."
"Ash?" Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo and even Hilbert said in unison. There was clearly something wrong here as Rainbow Dash added to the conversation. "Uh, aren't robots supposed to be super smart? That's not Ash."
"Yeah. Name's Hilbert Blair, ya know. What makes you think I'm Ash? I mean he's here but..."
"Ｄａｔａ ｓｈｏｗｓ ｔｈａｔ ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ Ａｓｈ Ｋｅｔｃｈｕｍ ｂｕｔ ｆｒｏｍ ａｎｏｔｈｅｒ ｗｏｒｌｄ. Ｙｏｕ ａｒｅ ｃｌａｓｓｉｆｉｅｄ ａｓ ａ ｃｏｕｎｔｅｒｐａｒｔ."
"Huh?! He's a counterpart to Ash?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "No way! That can't be right! Him?! Of all people?!"
"I am?" Hilbert, once again, didn't look too phased by it. "Hmm...I don't see it. Maybe the hair and the hat and the fact that we both rock blue better than anyone, but, eh. That's reaching."
"I agree with him for once. Ash is humble. He's not."
"Exactly. Hey!" Finally, Hilbert garnered a massive reaction, mainly to Rainbow Dash's words. "You're not so humble yourself. Which is why you're the perfect protege for me."
"I'm humble! For the most part..." The pegasus grizzled her teeth as she had a plethora of times when she boasted about herself. The robots even exposed it seconds ago.
"Ｓｈａｌｌ ｗｅ ｃｅａｓｅ ａｃｔｉｏｎ ｏｎ ｔｈｅｓｅ ｉｎｔｒｕｄｅｒｓ?"
"Oh, yeah. Totally. They're with me, so it's all good. But uh...mind sharing some important stuff with me? Since I'm technically Ash according to you guys." He then nudged one of the StarBots.
With that, he allowed the StarBots to let them go freely. This was a major advantage in Hilbert's favour. Rainbow Dash was somewhat dumbfounded but also not too surprised by this. As for Scootaloo, she was amazed by this revelation. She was already a huge fan of Ash and now Hilbert may soon be added to her list of icons that she looks up to.
Crime Lab.
In the base, there existed a crime lab. It was exactly what it looked like. A highly advanced forensics laboratory equipped with various computerized devices meant to dissect and investigate anything relating to a crime.
This was the room where Celestia, Luna and Cynthia ended up in. They were the most focused on what Rift-Related Objects could be found here. And as to be expected, they found some of them.
The Travel Spheres.
Celestia, held one of them up, noticing how the sphere had lost its familiar cosmic glow in the middle. All of them did. They lacked colour. They were completely dead as even when Celestia tried using them to open up a gateway, nothing happened.
"These Travel Spheres aren't responsive anymore. The book did show us Galaxy Maste giving all the power from the spheres to the Rift. That means they're no longer useful." Celestia explained. "Unless we were to put some Rift Energy back inside."
"Forget about that. Take a look at this." Cynthia made a discovery of her own that surpassed the Travel Spheres. By grabbing the attention of Celestia and Luna, they found a map of some sort. "This map shows what looks to be an entire galaxy."
"A map of a galaxy? Fairly similar to what Starmap from Pegalysium does, isn't it?" Luna added. Not many would make a map of space. The only one who made a map of this entire universe was Starmap and that was mainly because of her family line.
"Seems like there's more though." Cynthia then revealed that this map had two sides. She pulled the edge of the map as another sheet had been revealed, showing the galaxy of the Pokemon Universe. "And another one to this side." Cynthia continued, showing another galaxy that was pulled from the left edge of the main map.
"Oh! I know that Constellation!" Celestia gasped, immediately noticing one of these constellations. The entire map had some colour, making it easier to learn from. "That's my constellation right there. It's the Apollonia Constellation."
"You have your own constellation?" Cynthia asked.
"We all do. Luna and everyone in Equestria. It's meant to represent our birth."
"My constellation, the Apollonia, is Made up of eighteen stars. You can see that the Apollonia Constellation roughly resembles the shape of an eagle. If it was nightfall at a specific time, or if you happened to be in space, It can be seen most prominently high in the Northern sky just before the spring equinox."
"That's mine over there. The Selenia." Luna then aimed at her constellation. It's only made up of eleven stars. And it resembles that of a wolf. Mine can be seen most prominently above the Northern horizon during autumn."
"Interesting. Wish I had my own." Cynthia immediately thought about receiving her own birth constellation in this world. It would be wondrous to wonder what hers could be.
"But why does he have this? And why is there another galaxy in this?" Luna pondered. This map raised a few questions. To keep knowledge of it without taking it away, Cynthia quickly used her Rotomphone to capture an image.
"He would only have this for two reasons." Celestia held the map up. "It would be for his goal of separating our worlds forever...or something else." Celestia then did a test pushing the other two pieces back to where they came from. But right afterwards, she kept the map of the Pokemon Universe out.
With some experimenting, Celestia used her magic to hide the gaps and lines that separated the two universes. And by doing so, she revealed the other half of this map's potential purpose. "Perhaps, keeping our worlds together."
"Keeping them together? I thought he would want to separate it. Or rather, give as much energy back to the Rift as possible so that it can leave and reset everything back to how it was before." Luna added.
"That's still a possibility. But the book showed us how he reasoned with Pinkie Pie and the others. That well-meaning spirit of Galaxy Master probably has the other option in mind just in case. At least, that's what I'm thinking. I just hid the line with my magic after all."
"If that's the case, then what's this third map for?" Cynthia wanted to know more about the third map, pulling it out. The other maps were obvious considering they represented both worlds. This map didn't have any colour to it compared to the other two and neither were there any names on it.
"Strange...but it's nothing we can't solve. I know the pony who can help us with this." Celestia replied. "Let's go and visit Starmap. After we have the delicious food I sensed here. My nose doesn't lie when it picks up Cake."
"Now of all times? What if he shows up, sister? At this point, we've already intruded into his home without him knowing."
"I'm afraid I already know." In came a voice that responded directly to Princess Luna. This voice was all too familiar. It sounded like three individuals. That could only mean one thing.
Galaxy Master was here.
But more so than that. The Rift was once again controlling his body, letting out the two voices of Lucien and Sienna. And with some of its power restored, the control over Galaxy Master's body was prolonged. Celestia, Cynthia and Luna were now on high alert as they were caught in the act at the worse time.
Both Galaxy Master and the Rift were here now. But in this case, it wasn't Galaxy Master who was in full control. It was the Rift as the journey continues.
Chapter 906 End.