//------------------------------// // The Crusade will Come // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Holon. Settlement Foxtrot. The Pokemon Festival. Nightfall. It's already been one day since that incident. Midnight had come and gone. And during this night, Professor Pine, along with many Holon Researchers, came here to discover what exactly happened. And when they all showed up, they saw the result of this battle. Craters could be seen all over the place with destroyed mountains. The cliffs that masked the pathway to the Mysterious Island were obliterated, exposing it. But Yveltal's Cocoon was no longer there and neither was Yveltal. Signs of Reshiram had also vanished. There was no trace of the Vast White Pokemon anywhere. No trace of the Dread League and no trace of the Solar Empire at all. They were all gone, leaving only this aftermath of destruction. The Pokemon from the Mysterious Island would be nursed back to health thankfully. Over at Professor Pine's lab, she got records of the destruction, but nothing else. And that truly bothered her. She would never get the chance to witness the events and how they played out. "What happened over there? It's strange how everyone involved just up and vanished without a trace. Reshiram wasn't even seen flying away at all. And those ships in the sky were gone too. But...I do have this." Professor Pine did manage to gather something. In her hands was a purple puff of hair. More specifically, hair that possessed Rift Energy. The cosmic stardust flowed out of the hair as there was even a burn mark on it, indicating that fire interacted with this. Not only that, but she even received a white piece of fur that was unlike anything she had ever felt. It was so smooth and warm. This, of course, belonged to the Vast White Pokemon Reshiram, explaining the appearance and the warmth it gave off. This was the only trace of Reshiram that she managed to grab. "These are the only things that were left behind. Not sure how this puffy piece of hair survived, but maybe it's all this Rift Energy around it. All the more reason to study it~!" Even though she didn't get much or see much, Professor Pine was excited to work on these while she had the chance. If there was something unique about it, it would be researched. Such was the drive of a Professor. The piece of hair containing Rift Magic was the first to be investigated and the one that Professor Pine would focus on the most. But as Professor Pine began investigating the Rift Hair first, aside from the Poke Balls within the lab that held Delta Pokemon and other Pokemon that were currently asleep, she was not alone. Or at least, she wasn't the only one awake. The lights in her room suddenly turned off with the swift movement of a crooked hand as her vision had been obscured. She immediately paused her work to look up, witnessing how abruptly the lights went off. The finger that did this moved swiftly yet again, this time appearing with a rather tall figure. This shadowy tall figure escaped Pine's vision before she could even see it. Professor Pine shifted her eyes before focusing back on her research. But the moment she turned around, she saw that there were claw marks on her table. Professor Pine pulled back a bit as these claw marks ran deep. It was strange since she didn't hear the sound of the table being clawed. None of the Pokemon in here were responsible either since they were all asleep. She wondered how this was possible before then navigating her head around the room. Uneasiness filled the air for her. Who or what could be causing this? She held the fur and hair close to her, hoping that they wouldn't be targeted as well. That's when she felt something above her while also close to her. When she slowly looked up, she noticed that something was touching her shoulder but she couldn't feel it at all. Her eyes dilated before then following the arm and where it came from. She discovered that the arm was comically long, having a length so great that it reached the ceiling. And speaking of the ceiling, intimidating eyes peered through the darkness, becoming visible as the wrinkly arm connected to that body. This long arm and creepy movement belonged to none other than the Trickster Dragon. One of the individuals who was involved in the Holon Mountain Incident. It was still here and was not within the Box of 100 Demons. "Hello there." "Gyaaaah!" Professor Pine screeched once the Trickster Dragon spoke. She nearly fell over the table, flailing her arms around after she was touched by the Trickster Dragon. "H-Hello...! Can I help you?" "Forgie my intrusion. Or don't. But I couldn't help but come here first before anything else." The Trickster Dragon crawled on the ceiling before then moving across the walls, revealing its intimidating height. "You want to know everything that happened there, do you?" "Y-Yes." Professor Pine stuttered. "W-Who are you? What are you? Do you know what happened back there?" "Oh, of course. I was involved in it." The Trickster Dragon fiddled with its fingers, making bone-cracking noises from it which just irked Professor Pine the wrong way. I saw mostly the whole thing. If you already know enough of the Dread League, I'm one of the 100 Demons that they summon. My name is Nyzzaghaidenunxulbiad. But Trickster Dragon is preferable, thank you." "Oh, that's good to know. A demon...but at least you saw it all since you were there yourself." Professor Pine chuckled, not sure how to take all of this, especially since she found out that a demon was in the same room with her. Late at night too, no less. "But um...why are you still here then?" "Why? Well, that's simple. I'd rather not go back inside that box. You have no idea how dull it is in there. All the screaming, howls and roars. It just gets redundant after a few centuries. You know what I mean, right?" "Sorry. I can't relate." "Of course, you can't. You'll be in the next life before I lose my wisdom teeth. But aside from that, I refuse to experience all that boredom again, when there's this massive expanse of worlds to explore and interact with." The Trickster Dragon said gleefully while also having a something menacing laugh. "And now that I'm free without any of those vampires knowing I'm gone...I can do whatever I want. And I do tend to get very playful. I'm feeling a great surge of fun coming through." "Is that so? W-Well then..." Professor Pine chuckled nervously. "And I figured I'd start here of all places. With you, especially. You don't mind, do you? Of course, you do." The Trickster Dragon crawled up to her. "I can mess around with you in any way I like. What kind of randomness can I form with my magic? Let's found out, shall we?" Just like what Opal Vivacity said, the Trickster Dragon will lose control if it's out of the box for too long. And it's definitely been too long at this point. "B-Before you do that!" Professor Pine stopped the Trickster Dragon. "Can I at least work on this? I mean, Rift Magic is equally as random. Wouldn't it be interesting to know what would happen?" "Hmm...Yes. What's this Rift Magic all about?" This caught the Trickster Dragon's attention as Professor Pine managed to halt it. She would continue with her research this way, albeit with a creepy Dragon in her presence. "J-Just you wait and see. And uh, maybe you can kill some time while I work on this." "Very well. I expect something unexpected. Especially since that mane belonged to that one vampire." The Trickster Dragon crawled back before forming a sofa on which it landed on. Professor Pine sighed as she had to live up to her promise and try to outperform whatever randomness the Trickster Dragon could bring. However, she also somewhat wanted the Trickster Dragon to stay behind, just because of what it saw back at the Holon Mountain Incident. Because as far as it goes, not many could say what happened there on that confrontational day. Equestria. Magehold. Nightfall. Over at Magehold, after successfully bringing Yveltal here, Rosa Maledicta's victory was being celebrated by the vampires. They picked nightfall of all times since it was their preference. To them, obtaining Yveltal was the greatest victory possible as it would bring them closer to the Black Crusade. However, as for Rosa Maledicta, she did indeed return to Magehold after that bright flash, but not in the best condition. Right now, the Lich Queen was in her throne room, still suffering from one thing. Her right hoof was still affected by Yveltal's power, appearing grey and withered with cracks around it. Bits of her hoof have already fallen off, leaving visible holes. Not only that but some extra damage had been made. There seemed to be burn marks around her. There was only one individual responsible for this. Daybreaker. She could hear the sounds of her subjects cheering while also looking at Yveltal's Poke Ball, which was kept in a glass container for the moment. As for her condition, she would be healed up. This would be done by one vampire instead of multiple. There were no nurses or doctors here but the vampire standing before her could be considered one. "Ah...I knew I could count on you to solve this little issue, Ebony Rhyme." Rosa Maledicta spoke, facing the vampire in front of her who had some potions at her disposal. "Your majesty. You were lucky to only have half of your hoof affected." Ebony Rhyme poured a black liquid from the potion bottle around Rosa's hoof. Smoke came out of it as the potion wrapped around the Lich Queen's damaged hoof, performing a healing process. "This potion might've needed extra work. Way more time than I already spent on it." "Ah, but all that doesn't matter now. I got the Pokemon that I needed. Of course, controlling it is the next step before we can start the Black Crusade. Now, we don't need to carefully navigate through Equestria or even the Pokemon World." Rosa raised her hoof as the black liquid ended up healing her hoof, removing all the cracks and repairing what had been done. "By the way, what happened there?" Ebony Rhyme asked. " heard that Daybreaker appeared. "Daybreaker." Rosa sighed before shaking her head. "Even at the last moment, she managed to get a hit in. The burn marks are proof of that. But...I'm still somewhat worried about Daybreaker. Even with Yveltal, she also has a Legendary Pokemon on her side. I'll be sure to watch for her. Speaking of Reshiram, I have no idea where that White Dragon even is. After that white flash, him, those ships, Daybreaker and even Opal managed to disappear. I only soon found myself in my throne after the flash" Indeed. Rosa Maledicta didn't even know where Reshiram was. In fact, Opal Vivacity was gone too along with Daybreaker and her ships. But the Lich Quen was positive that this wasn't the end of them at all. That light didn't serve that purpose at all. "Okay then. But...what about our other plans? Are those gone now that we have Yveltal?" "Of course not!" Rosa scoffed. "Yveltal will be hard to control, I hope you realize that. I felt it back there when I battled against it. To be honest...the only reason I was able to catch Yveltal was because of a blindsided strike. The power it exuded made it clear that it far surpassed anything I expected. If I hadn't caught it by surprise, I'm not sure even I would last long. The Dark Aura is proof that Yveltal is the strongest force we currently have here in Magehold. And will ever have. That's why everything else is still needed in case things go wrong. The Pony of Shadows. The Necropillars. The Overload of Life and many more. Before we can control Yveltal, we need substitutes." "I get it, I get it." Ebony Rhyme replied. "So. Is there anything I can do? Apart from healing you, your majesty." "Your potions are the best I've ever seen, Ebony. I didn't even know you could make one for something like this." Rosa flailed her right hoof. "Now that we have Yveltal...taking control of it will take some time. It has the means to defend itself. So...why not start having fun with Equestria and the Pokemon World?" "Fun?" "Yes!" Rosa giggled, hopping off her throne room before summoning those Cursed Thorns once more, using them to create a platform for her while Ebony Rhyme watched with an unchanging expression. "We don't need to go searching anymore! For years and years, the vampires have been in hiding, waiting for the day when they can come out. The previous Lich King failed to do so ever since the Black Crusade was never achieved at all. So, they waited until that crusade could be fulfilled. And I'm the newest Lich Queen who will carry out that goal and make sure it comes true! But..." "But...?" Rosa repeated before having the thorns tickle her face. She immediately slapped the thorns away, preventing them from getting too close to her. The thorns would comply, surprisingly. "That all changes now. I already ordered them to do whatever they wanted at the Pokemon Festival...now, let's remove those limitations. Let's have fun. Let's have them roam each world, doing what they do best. The Black Crusade will come but it will take some time. And what better way to wait than to have fun? No matter the region, no matter the land. Whether it's the Earth, the land, the sea or sky, they'll be there. They'll frolic about and unleash their Curse Magic as well! It's time for both worlds to see a Vampire Resurgence! An Age of Vampires!" She cackled maniacally as thunderstruck in the skies with a fitting moment. Ebony Rhyme wasn't moved by her speech at all. But she nodded in approval of it. "That's cool and all, but what about that Fantina lady? What do we do about her?" "Fantina? I still need her. She's already proving to be a valuable asset with what she's teaching. But very soon, she'll fall weak to the Black Crusade." Rosa then hopped back to her throne. "I already have under my control after all. Anyway, you can do whatever you want. I look forward to seeing what kind of mess can come from this. Make sure it's surprising and when they all least expect it." "Hmm...I've got some potions that I've wanted to try on pony life." Ebony Rhyme turned around, trotting out of the throne room. When leaving the room, Fractured Note saw Ebony off, bowing to the Potion Maker. "Your majesty. Are we really free to do whatever we want now?" Fractured Note walked inside. "And what about my little sister?" "You were always free to do whatever. But now, your boundaries have been shattered and the world is now your playground. As for your little sister, Opal...eh. I'm not too worried. Not when she has fate on her side." Kalos. Out in the wild. Nighfall. "Xatu!" Out in the Kalos Region, Nightmare Moon, Team Rocket and the rest of Luna's Pokemon were currently searching for Aurorus, who had gone missing. It had already been three days without any sign of her. But while searching for them, Xatu saw into the future once more. And this time, the premonition was shocking. In his eyes, he saw the Dread League along with Yveltal, already knowing what the future could possibly bring as for the first time, the Mystic Pokemon shuddered. "What's the matter with you?" Nightmare Moon questioned, noticing how Xatu was shaking at rapid speeds. "He saw into the future. What did you see, Xatu?" Darkrai asked. "Xatu..." In those few seconds, Xatu saw a lot. Even though he knew the Dread League existed, it was only just now that he saw a future vision of them. Whatever it entailed had yet to be seen but even Xatu was clever enough to know that nothing in any way shape or form could come from this. Unova. Aspertia City. Nightfall. Over at Aspertia City, Ash and his friends had shown up here, continuing their time at the Pokemon Festival. Of course, they enjoyed themselves so much that they fell asleep under the night sky. All except for a few. Nocturnal Pokemon were still awake and especially Absol, who was always staying up to keep an eye on things. And while awake, guarding everyone while eyeing down the area, his horn started vibrating. "Absol?!" Immediate danger was picked up by his horn. A disaster was coming. Absol could sense a terrifying disaster just like how Xatu could sense the future. Both of these Pokemon knew that whatever comes in the future was bound to leave a devastating result. Absol looked to his left and to his right before navigating the area, wondering where it could be coming from. But that's when he realized it was everywhere. In every direction, he could sense it. Absol knew what this meant. The disaster could come from any side and from anywhere. And potentially, it wasn't just one. Absol stood next to a sleeping Twilight Sparkle who was unaware at the moment as his horn started vibrating. But even though the horn stopped shaking, that didn't mean Absol would let his guard down. At any point, he felt like the disasters could happen. Whenever it happens, he'll be ready. Those that were still awake looked up at the night sky. Mainly Princess Celestia. To enjoy her human form some more, she quickly entered the human world and returned in this form yet again, finding it too fun to spend little time with. When looking up at the night sky, she was in deep thought. "Reshiram...where did you go?" Celestia thought about Reshiram while holding a resting Premium Polish in her hands. Despite finishing everything that happened back up at the Galaxy Tower, Celestia felt that things weren't slowing down at all. Even this moment of peace had something off about it. She then looked over at her subjects, who she considered her friends even more so than just the individuals she rules over. Even though some of them don't live in Equestria. Celestia worked hard to keep them safe but up at the Galaxy Tower, that barely happened. A lot of things went out of control, especially when Passion started losing it. Princess Celestia tried to get it out of her head but she couldn't. Her love for everyone here was too strong after all. "It's not just my love for them that's growing. I need to grow my strength as well." Celestia looked over at Passion and even Luna. "I have no idea what could be waiting for us out there. It feels like we've only scratched the surface of Power that can be seen. Which is why...I need to catch up as soon as possible." Apart from the grim outcome over at Holon and the victory of the Dread League, there was a ray of hope. And there was no better individual to fit that than the one who represents the Sun itself. And there was no need for her to worry. Not when those who can help her grow were right here. "But...first thing in the morning, of course." It required some rest first as Celestia would doze off, looking up at the night sky. Those stars in the sky were the best way to drift away. As the journey continues. Chapter 932 End.