Outer Space. Galaxy Tower.
The struggle against the Rift continued up at the Galaxy Tower. As of now, the scales tipped in the favour of the Rift with what it's managed to amass. From the controlled body of Galaxy Master to the summoning of various Pokemon, including the Rift-Dialga and Rift-Palkia.
But those two weren't the only ones to worry about. There was Dragonite who was on a rampage, currently with the Mythical Psychic Trio, Garchomp who was still under the Rift's control and finally Passion, who was equally as big of a threat as them all. Speaking of Passion, she was also under the Rift's control, currently on the verge of losing it after seeing Celestia injured.
"Gardevoir!" Outraged, Gardevoir expressed this was a flare of magic coming from her body. Everyone fled the scene after this magic expanded. It didn't matter which side they were on. Passion's magic grew and grew in correlation with her vast potential and anger, making her, at this very moment, the most dangerous force.
Celestia, who tried reaching Passion, was unable to do so. Once that flare of magic shot out, the Sun Princess was forced to protect herself via a magical shield. The flare tore through parts of the tower with the ferocity of a meteor, ripping the walls to shreds. The Beheeyem tried fleeing, only to be caught by this flare.
Pinkie Pies group was nearby, potentially in the vicinity of this erupting flare. When hiding from some of the opposing Pokemon, they heard the sound of Gardevoir screaming and something tearing through the tower.
"What's that?" Pinkie Pie said while hiding in a cabinet with Mew. At the same time, the Pokemon were searching for the ponies after losing sight of them, only to then find something greater than them.
The outburst ended up reaching this spot, engulfing the opposing Rift-Controlled Pokemon. The energy reached the cabinet, carrying it away including Pinkie Pie and Mew without them knowing. Everypony else who were in hiding were unable to hide for long as the outburst found them too. But right after it went a certain distance, the outburst ended, nearly grabbing the other ponies who scattered to hide away.
Due to her outburst, an entire area of this tower had been destroyed, leaving only smoke and rubble behind. The Beheeyem who were responsible for igniting Gardevoir's outburst were all defeated. Their bodies dissipated, turning into cosmic stardust that flew off.
"Ugh..." Pushing away the rubble was Princess Celestia. She previously tried calming Passion down, only to be caught in the destruction. "Passion."
"Gardevoir...!" As for Passion, she was currently stuck in one spot. After defeating the Beheeyem, the Embrace Pokemon started breathing in and out deeply, constantly having this burning aura of magic to represent her anger. But after letting it all out and defeating those that harmed Celestia, she just stood there, perplexed.
She glanced over at Celestia before then getting on her knees. Quickly, Celestia rushed to Passion's side despite knowing she was still under the Rift's control. Using all of that power in that outburst exhausted her to the point where even the controlling energy of the Rift wasn't enough to make her attack Celestia.
"It's okay, Passion." Celestia comforted Gardevoir right after the raging energy faded away. Gardevoir closed her eyes, tearing up from what she had done. Despite being outraged that Celestia was harmed, she was just as upset with herself since she also put Celestia in danger by attacking everything.
In the end, Passion felt as guilty as the Beheeyem but Celestia was there to make sure that was not the case. Celestia looked to see that the energy from the Rift wasn't fizzling out at all. But now that Passion was finally stationary and not constantly moving, the Ruler of Equestria could do something about this.
"Hold still, please." Celestia took the time to use her magic on these cracks. Apart from Aura, Celestia's level of magic was able to interact with this cosmic power. A golden veil wrapped around the cracks, coating them with the warmth of the Sun.
However, these cracks fought back. The Rift Energies within began wrestling with Celestia's magic, refusing to give up Passion as a puppet. These energies were smart enough to know how powerful and useful Celestia's Gardevoir was, so giving her up would be a waste.
The two energeis started clashing against each other, harming Passion in the process. It felt like a wound was being tampered with multiple times. The wound was trying to be healed via Celestia's magic while the source of the wound was making it worse. This is what it felt like to Passion.
"What's with these cracks?!" Celestia gasped, putting more of her magic into this struggle to fend off the Rift Energies. Passion grabbed Celestia's arm, but to not harm her. Instead, she was trying to ease the pain by grabbing ahold of someone she loves dearly.
"Hang in there, Passion! Wrestling with these is challenging!" Celestia narrowed her eyes, witnessing how the Rift Energies, in usual Rift Fashion, would haphazardly move around in a frantic manner, making them hard to read. But Celestia wasn't about to let these troublesome energies make her partner suffer any longer.
For something so small, it was exceptionally troublesome. Forced to use more of her strength, Celestia blew away the last of the energies with one big attempt that made Passion grimace. But it was worth it as the Rift Cracks around her body were ripped apart, dissipating in the presence of Celestia's magic.
"Gardevoir..." But even with the cracks diminishing, Gardevoir was still utterly burnt out. With deep concentration, Celestia healed what was harming her partner with no one else to interrupt her. Just the silence of space.
"Voir..." After that, Passion closed her eyes, unable to stand back up. She then started whimpering and crying, laying her head on Celestia's hooves to try and wipe those tears away. While her outburst was brief, it was still effective.
"It's alright, Passion. You didn't mean it." Celestia patted her on the back. "I'm alright now."
"Garde..."
"Luna's nowhere to be found. We were already separated in the confusion." Celestia noticed that her younger sister was nowhere in sight. Everyone's battles had spread out, entering elsewhere. "Come on. Let's try and find Cynthia and Arcanine next. You should rest and avoid any battles, alright? Let Kommo-o handle it."
For now, Gardevoir was out of commission in her state. It would be Celestia's Totem Kommo-o who would handle everything else. Aside from Arcanine who was with Cynthia, Kommo-o was the only Pokemon she had to help out.
"Ko!" Speaking of Kommo-o, Cynthia's own Kommo-o was facing off against her Garchomp who had yet to be freed from the control of the Rift.
Kommo-o grabbed Garchomp's arms when she went in for a Dragon Claw, restraining her. It wasn't just Kommo-o holding her back. Alpha Heracross did the same from behind. "H-Hera!"
"Garchomp!" But with superior strength, Garchomp pushed them all off. She exerted all her strength into her arms, pushing Kommo-o and Heracross and sending them flying.
"Togekiss! Air Slash!" Cynthia commanded her Togekiss.
"Pikachu! Quick Attack!" Following up with that was Sci-Twi and her Alpha Piachu as it was many Pokemon against one Pokemon.
"Pikachu!" Pikachu moved in first, using Quick Attack to tackle Garchomp in the chest. Joining him was Arcanine with Extreme Speed as they both moved at equal paces. But a second later, they were then knocked away by a vicious Dragon Claw in retaliation. "Pika!"
"A-Arcanine!"
"Toge!" Then there was Togekiss' Air Slash, raining down on the Mach Pokemon repeatedly. Garchomp growled at this as Togekiss was hoping to get a flinch from this Air Slash. But all it ended u getting in return was Stone Edge which was shot all around from the Mach Pokemon's body. "T-Toge!" Togekiss received some of these hyper-fast stones, knocking the Jubilee Pokemon out of the sky.
"Gar!" So far, Garchomp took control of this battle as trying to free her from the Rift's control was only getting harder. After knocking Togekiss down, Garchomp advanced with Dragon Claw, targeting Sci-Twi next.
"Intercept with Dragon Claw!"
"Ko!" Standing in her way was Kommo-o, clashing directly with its fellow Dragon-Type with its own Dragon Claw, resulting in another fierce physical confrontation.
"Heracross! Megahorn!" Heracross joined in, using Megahorn with rapid swings. Garchomp could handle two of them at the same time, engaging in a fearsome physical struggle. Horns and claws were clashing against each other repeatedly with Heracross being pushed back the most. Even as an Alpha Pokemon, the strength of Cynthia's Garchomp was difficult to handle.
Only Kommo-o could handle it as it stood its ground, holding both of Garchomp's claws once it found an opening. But instead of hitting back, Kommo-o kept Garchomp there. "Gar!"
"This is our chance! Now, Twilight! Use your Rapidash! I'll use my Spiritomb!"
"Rapidash? Oh, right!" Sci-Twi quickly knew what Cynthia was suggesting. Rapidash's Hypnosis came to mind as the Poke Ball of the Fire Horse Poke Ball was soon launched. Putting Garchomp to sleep was the best option. Two Pokemon could do so. Alpha Rapidash and Cynthia's Spiritomb as they were both sent out.
"Rapidash!"
"Spiritomb!"
"K-K-Kommo-o!" Kommo-o was struggling to keep Garchomp at bay as the Ground-Dragon-Type was starting to overpower the Dragon-Fighting-Type.
"Heracross!" Heracross was still in this, grabbing Garchomp once more. This time, he would make sure it wouldn't end in failure. Togekiss got back up, flying around Garchomp to do the same.
"Togekiss!" Her wings were wrapped around Garchomp's head and her eyes too, blocking her vision. But not for long. That vision was needed for what was coming her way.
"Hypnosis!" In unison, Rapidash and Spiritomb used Hypnosis together, sending a dual spiral of hypnotic waves. Right then and there, Togekiss removed its wings, giving Garchomp her vision back.
"Gar?" The hypnotic waves instantly caught her attention. They entranced the Mach Pokemon, keeping her steady while pulling her in. This is just what they needed to keep Garchomp stable.
However, that's when the cracks responded to this. Much like Gardevoir, they wouldn't give up a strong vessel. However, unlike Gardevoir, Garchomp wasn't suffering from an outburst, making her healthier. And thanks to this, the output of Rift Energy was greater. A burst of Rift Energy flew out of Garchomp which had then pushed back the hypnotic waves while also forcing all three Pokemon off her.
"Togekiss!" Togekiss and everyone were forced away in different directions thanks to this outburst of Rift Energy that came from the cracks. Sci-Twi was hit by this too before being caught by Cynthia, saving her from taking a hard fall.
"It... wasn't enough?" Sci-Twi groaned after being caught by Cynthia.
"Not quite. Look." Cynthia said otherwise. After the outburst ended, the cracks around Garchomp started pulsating. In response, this made Garchomp grimace. It truly was just like a wound. "Those cracks may let out power and control Garchomp, but they're also a detriment. Either it's from Garchomp's hesitation or a result of power output. So...the best thing to do is..."
"Force more of it out? That could work!" Sci-Twi finished Cynthia's sentence. To them, the key to winning this was to force Garchomp to work more to the point where the Rift Cracks would have to get involved and expend her stamina. At least, that was the plan.
"All together now!" Cynthia raised her arm, commanding all of her Pokemon to gather around Garchomp just for this plan to succeed. Togekiss, Rapidash, Pikachu and everyone rushed in. Minus Spiritomb. It was staying back as it was too slow to rush in. But it had something that could work from afar aside from Hypnosis.
"Gar!"
"Spiritomb!" Spiritomb quickly intercepted Garchomp's attack by using Sucker Punch. It stretched its shadowy body at a great distance, bashing the Mach Pokemon which caused a stagger. That stagger was enough to give the others all the time they needed.
Kommo-o struck first with Dragon Claw, dealing the first super-effective blow. This was then followed by Heracross slashing past Garchomp, continuing the stagger and not letting the Mach Pokemon rest at all. Togekiss would add to that by using Air Slash.
These slashes came in fast and finally, they managed to flinch Garchomp. Garchomp didn't get a chance to attack at all as this was then followed up by Alpha Pikachu using Quick Attack. And finally, there was Alpha Rapidash with Dragon Pulse, shooting out a super-effective move.
"G-Gar...!" Sensing that Garchomp was being pushed back, got involved once more. This time, they ended up shooting frantic waves of cosmic energy out of Garchomp's body to try and protect hey. These waves acted like tendrils, harming Garchomp once they emerged but became a new way to attack.
"Arcanine!" Arcanine would burn these tendrils away with the ferocity of Flamethrower, breathing out these scorching flames. This kept the tendrils occupied, allowing Spiritomb to be as free as it can be.
"Perfect! Hypnosis, Spiritomb!" Once everyone was dealing with the tendrils and Garchomp was being drained, this gave Cynthia the chance to capitalize.
The tendrils were being held back by mostly Kommo-o and Heracross to even reach Spiritomb. Hypnosis was unleashed, passing through all the tendrils and Pokemon just to reach Garchomp. Once they passed through, they captivated Garchomp's eyes once more.
The tendrils retracted just to try and defend Garchomp, but they were immediately held by the teeth of Rapidash and the arms of Heracross and Kommo-o combined. This allowed for Hypnosis to finally hit its mark. The cracks got desperate, expending all the energy they could to prevent the effect from fully going through. This is just what Cynthia wanted.
Garchomp's stamina correlated with the Rift Cracks, putting her in a flurry of pain. But it was worth the risk as the cracks tried pushing Hypnosis away once more.
"Outrage!"
"Ko!" But along came Kommo-o, smashing its claws into the cracks to keep the energy on edge. The Rift Energy went wild in response to this, fearing that Garchomp might truly fall from this.
So, instead of taking the loss, it did something else. The energy retreated. Right before Garchomp was put to sleep. The cracks slithered away in fear of losing Garchomp, forming into a Rift Wisp that flew out of the Mach Pokemon's body.
"Gar..." Garchomp was then put to sleep right afterwards. And this Rift Wisp was now without someone to control.
"Sorry about that, Garchomp." Cynthia went up to her sleeping partner, quickly returning her to let her rest. But it wasn't over yet.
The Rift Wisp wanted someone else. Someone new to control. It already lost Garchomp so now another powerful Pokemon was needed. And for this, it would choose Kommo-o, flying right at it.
"Ko?!"
"Heracross!" Heracross quickly pulled Kommo-o out of the way, saving it from being captured by this devious wisp. Even without a body, this thing was fierce.
"It's still active?!" Sci-Twi gasped.
"It wants someone else to take control of..." Cynthia added, eyeing down the wisp. "But it's not getting anyone else. Togekiss! Air Slash!"
"Togekiss!" To put an end to this wisp, Air Slash was used by Togekiss. However, this wisp was quick as it was fierce. It zigzagged past the Air Slashes, evading them thanks to its small appearance.
"Thunderbolt!"
"Pika...Chuu!"Then there was Pikachu, using something faster than Air Slash. By using Thunderbolt, 100,000 volts crashed in, intercepting the wisp after it avoided all those Air Slashes. Those volts moved fast enough to tag it, shocking the wisp of Rift Energy. Alas, with such a small body, it was obviously fragile.
Upon being struck, the Rift Wisp dropped to the floor, greatly weakened by Alpha Pikachu's attack. Those rapid movements ceased and so did any antics from this wisp. It dissipated, vanishing from thin air without even becoming stardust. That was definitely another part of the Rift that had been wiped out.
"Whew...Finally." Sci-Twi sat down, exhausted. "That went well. I think. How many times have I run out of breath now?"
"Good work everyone," Cynthia said to them all. "But, I'm afraid we can't rest yet. Not until this is over."
"I was afraid you were going to say that." She sighed, much to her dismay, the scuffle wasn't over. There was more to do and more to achieve, especially considering they were all in space. "Is there any way we can at least leave this tower?"
"As it stands now, no. There could be another wisp we have to deal with. But if we want to resolve this, we need to find Ash." Cynthia helped Sci-Twi up. "If we can find him, the Rift will have something to worry about. And of course, leaving this place before we potentially suffer in space."
"Great...Love to hear it." She pouted. "Please tell me we're close to Ash anyway."
"We'll see. We only have Arcanine to count on. And the trail of destruction too. We don't have anywhere else to heal Garchomp or the others right now, so let's choose our battles carefully, Twilight. If there's conflict, let's engage in a minimal amount of it. Don't overwork your Pokemon."
"Right. Got it. But...I'm still worried about Bertha. Will she be alright?"
"In all of this mess, maybe." Cynthia didn't have a positive answer for this. "But, we'll have to wait and see. Come along. There's no time to waste."
Outer space.
Waiting and waiting for anyone to notice her was none other than Applejack. Stuck in space with her sister and partner, she looked over at the tower, watching various lights flash out of it. All this conflict and Applejack was stuck here thanks to the Rift.
She slumped on the barrier, waiting patiently for something to happen while also hoping for the safety of her friends. No one could hear her in this orb anyway, especially not in space.
"After this...Might check up on James. He ain't so bad after all." Applejack said to herself with a dismayed expression. "Plus, he's good friends with Apple Bloom. Yeah. Letting him hang around ain't a bad idea."
This was starting to drive Applejack a bit mad. The absolute dead silence and the small space that she was in were utterly painful. She curled in the orb, feeling so weak at the moment with nothing to do. After being here for so long, even her hooves were becoming weak to lift up. She wanted it to end. She wanted to reach her partner and sister.
"This is so annoying! Why am I so weak right now?" Applejack shouted out of pure frustration, pulling her mane. "I can make it out of this mess, I know I can. So why am I still here?" It frustrated her even more. No one was there to respond to her. This tight space was getting to the earth pony so much that she blurted out rants.
"Sceptile." The only one there to watch her was Sceptile. Apple Bloom was still unconscious.
"I feel so lonely..." She continued before then lying on her back, looking up at the stars in the cosmos. "All this wouldn't be half as bad if I just had somepony to talk to...maybe somepony to hold me. Why hasn't anypony found us yet? Are they even looking?"
At this point, it was getting harder to even stay inside of this orb. Applejack felt like she was in one room with nothing else to it. She could only gather strength back at this case or even go to sleep. Sleeping in space didn't sound like a bad idea at the moment. If anything, it sounded somewhat peaceful to her.
But this peace would be broken once something showed up in space. Applejack sat up with her ears twitching. There was a sound coming through space. Something that rarely happens unless it was from a cosmic force. But this was not a cosmic force.
This was a ship. The Rocketship. Team Rocket's Stolen Rocketship arrived in space, piloted by Pokemon Ranger Jack Walker AKA Jackie. This ship was tailor-made to go into space after all, so it didn't take too long for it to show up.
"A ship...? James!" Applejack's smile returned to her face after witnessing the arrival of this ship. She expected James to be inside as well as the other Team Rocket duo. But instead, it was a whole other group. Applejack started waving, hoping they would recognize her. The orb was even vibrant enough to not be a star within the cosmic skies.
"There it is. That's the structure." Jackie said, laying his eyes on the tower. "So, it looks to be a tower. That's where we'll find them all.
"Was it always there?" A Changeling said. "What else is up there in space?"
"Princess Luna has a Moon Garden on the Moon. So there is a lot to see in space." A Canterlot Guard quickly said before spotting the three orbs before anyone else. "Like uh...those three things!" When facing the three orbs, they spotted someone inside of them.
An orange figure, aka Applejack, was waving rapidly, jumping around like a Madmare to grab their attention, hoping they saw her. They did. With all those movements, how could they not? They couldn't hear her but they could definitely see her. Jackie quickly equipped some glasses before then spotting the individuals inside the orbs. Applejack, Sceptile and Apple Bloom.
"Oh! The tower's gonna have to wait!" Jackie prioritized the safety of these three first, directing the ship toward the orbs. His space gear was already on as well as everypony and changeling who equipped the armour left behind by the Empress' forces. Each were all ready for space, including Chrysalis who received armour big enough to fit her.
Of course, she had to adjust the size of the armour to her own stature to make it work.
Applejack felt relieved. Someone did show up after all. She feared no one would know her current position since the tower lacked any windows, but outside sources say otherwise.
Now, Applejack could be at ease. But from all that panicking and claustrophobia she received, once there was a moment of peace, she then collapsed inside of the orb, falling unconscious from all the energy exertion, which was a common theme happening inside the tower and even out here. But even when unconscious, she could rest easy, knowing that there were those who would show up to help from the outside as the journey continues.
Chapter 913 End.