Equestria. Canterlot. Day.
With both worlds united and now forming to make one Super-Earth, it was only natural for a new map layout to be formed. And the one to oversee this was Princess Celestia. The moment the two worlds found themselves becoming one united world, the cartographers got work, taking what was already established with their world and trying to add on the Pokemon World.
"So, Equestria is right between Unova and Kalos." Celestia viewed the first map that was given to her, spotting Equestria's current position. Unova was the closest while Kalos was the furthest. "That's easy enough to understand but everything else..."
The rest of the map and previous locations that were closer to Equestria had been switched up thanks to Jirachi. Places outside of Equestria were unknown at the moment. For now, only the location of Equestria was known but even that had its own problems thanks to this expanded Earth.
"This only means it'll be harder to find Reshiram, unfortunately. But perhaps, with Starmap's help, we can get the new layout of the world." Celestia added before spotting Luna flyby with three saddlebags on her. "Luna. Where are you going?"
"To explore this brand new world, of course. Now that both worlds have become one, I can multitask as a Pokemon Trainer and control the moon as well! The best of both worlds!" Luna only saw positives with this change. Previously, when being active as a Pokemon Trainer, heading over to the Pokemon World was rare since she could get caught up in the excitement and forget about her duties. Not anymore.
"Oh. Well, have fun then. As for me...I think I'll set out as well. To find Reshiram. Zekrom is already out there searching as well and yet there's still nothing about him."
"You will find him eventually. Reshiram trusts you enough to the point where he will most definitely come back when he leaves his recovery state. Anyways, I'm off!" In a flash of magic, Luna would transport herself out of her via teleportation, leaving to explore this new world.
"She's right. He'll find me. Whenever he shows up. Right now, I have a lot of work to do...." Celestia couldn't slow down now. Not when she had to sort everything out thanks to Jirachi's power.
Out in the Marshlands.
Somewhere in a marshland, the two Rift Humans, Lucien and Sienna could be found. Being that they are what the Rift originally looked like before merging to become one cosmic entity, it was only natural for them to be flabbergasted by the success of Ash and his friends.
They beat the Rift before it could even leave this connected world. And yet, the Rift wasn't gone. Not yet at least. Not when it promised to show them all something grand later on.
"So, they won. Now what? What do we do?" Sienna asked. By this point, there was no reason for them to try and prevent them from getting to Jirachi because they have already done so. Not only that, but all Jirachis are now free once more.
"Well, we're still here. The Rift hasn't called us back yet. Not because it trusts us, but because we're it. I hope I said that right." Lucien replied. "Not much we can actually do except be little troublemakers as always. But by this point...they've gotten stronger and the Dread League is a whole other can of worms I'm too afraid to tackle."
"Bah. So we're stuck, are we? That blows." Sienna sighed, resting on a mushroom. "We can at least wait for the Pillars to show up again and see how that turns out. But I don't wanna do nothing for a while...Cold and Jade are so lucky to have all the fun they want with them."
"I'm not gonna be friends with them if that's what you're thinking. Instead, we can try something else." The Rift Human would then turn his head, putting on a devious grin. "I think it'll be even better than that body swap we did with Ash and Ghetsis."
"Doubt it but...go ahead." Sienna would summon some popcorn in her hands. "What is it?"
"You and I both know this. The true ace in the hole." Lucien would then put his hands together, forming a pulse of Rift Energy before then expanding his arms. From this expansion, he formed a Rift Oval. "It might be time for us to use this. Or at least, after that whole Dread League thing gets sorted out."
"Still rooting for them, huh? But are you talking about..."
"That's right. We can ask the Rift to try and bring this back if it wants to. Before the worlds crossed over, just before the light enveloped them all, the Rift already did what every single Jirachi did but differently. It made a custom universe where everything was already together. And that universe had two power players there."
"Those two? I don't know...Bringing that world back along with those two would just make things bloated."
"I get that. But we're not gonna do that. We'll let that world remain gone. But, what do you think about bringing those two into the fray? Sounds fun, doesn't it?"
"Hmm..." She had to ponder for a moment. In her mind, they were taking another huge risk that would affect many. But by now, they were used to it. Sienna's own Desires are proof of this. "I've got something better!" She would stand up, having a brainstorm.
"Yeah? What?"
"How about we bring back his spirit? And after his spirit comes back then maybe his whole body will show up. The same goes for her. But she'll be a bit harder to find."
"Good idea. But there are only four of them compared to the other eight. And yet they'll be harder to reach. But it's settled. We'll ask the Rift to bring back their spirits. Let's hope it's not occupied."
"They're in for a big surprise..." Sienna giggled. This mysterious plan of theirs was yet another attempt to throw the world off balance just for the fun of it. And now that both worlds are combined, it would be easier to spread whatever chaos they wish to do.
Ponyville. Twilight's Castle.
Speaking of counterparts, back at Twilight's Castle, she received some gifts from her own counterparts across different worlds. They were mainly for how their own worlds had been freed from Empress Twilight's control. By far the most devious of them all.
All of these gifts would be stacked up by her, Espeon, Starlight and their Pokemon, placed next to some of the bookshelves. These gifts just ended up being more books as each Twilight knew exactly what the other wanted.
"Late Hearth's Warming gifts but I'm grateful to them," Twilight said, viewing all the unique books from each world. Since most of them had different origins and were of different species, each book would have something new to offer, making Twilight all too eager to check them out.
"How come I don't have a counterpart that shares something with me? All I have is an evil one." Starlight felt jealous that Twilight had these counterparts to support her.
"Ah, I'm sure you have good ones out there. We just haven't seen them yet. Anyway, now that it's a new day in a new world, how about we get out there?" The Princess of Friendship suggested that they start exploring. "Starlight. With both worlds now as one, it'll be easier for you to catch a Pokemon."
"I guess so. I kept thinking that I wanted one from the Pokemon House but...nothing piqued my interest. I've never been all that into Pokemon honestly, except for Hatterene. But what about you? What are you going to do with all of this?"
"What will I do? Well...I'm still just a Pokemon Professor now. But this whole time, I've been thrust into this role because of BigTime Ben. I still want to learn more about Pokemon in this role. Even if I'm...not a well-known professor. I want to help my own human counterpart as well with her whole Alpha Pokemon mission. And there's more. I want to see those aliens and learn more about that space city that's hidden at Pegalysium. I also just want to visit every other world out there. There's so much for me to choose..."
"Hm. Sounds like a hoofful. Personally, I couldn't keep up with all of that. But that's why you're so good at it. Pick whichever one you like and I'm sure it'll turn out great."
"Thanks, Starlight. Which is why we're continuing on as research fellows. Let's get rolling and research the Holon Region! There are more Delta Pokemon I wish to see!" Twilight found what she wanted to do next. The Holon Region was chosen.
"Back to Holon? Ah, that place is a bit surprising. It'll just change the types of our Pokemon again and we'd just end up battling with the wrong Pokemon."
"I know. But I'm prepared for type switch-ups. Plus, we might find something about Reshiram there. He's still missing and his last appearance was at Holon when he tried to stop the Dread League from capturing Yveltal. I think we can find out what happened afterwards with the Time Flower."
"Oh. So that means Ash is coming along, isn't he? I guess this isn't an excuse for you to bring him along this time." Starlight grinned, teasing Twilight and her previous moments where she would make excuses to stick around Ash.
"Fair play...If we can find out what happened to his Light Stone once he took that form, we can possibly track him down. Where is Ash, by the way? You were outside previously, Starlight."
"He said he was going back to the Rota Kingdom. It's about Sir Aaron's Staff."
Kanto. Rota Kingdom. Cameran Palace.
The Rota Kingdom. Located in Northern Kanto and near a mountain range where Pewter City and Mt. Moon could be found, this medieval-style town was home to the prestigious Queen Ilene and where the Legendary Aura Guardian Sir Aaron once lived. Over at Cameran Palace, Ash, along with Goh, arrived at this castle concerning Sir Aaron's Staff.
"Here. It's kinda in a bad shape." Holding out the staff to Queen Ilene was Ash. Previously, he used the Staff as a way to combat the Strange Dimension's Rift-powered attacks. The staff had suffered the most damage possible to this day. "Sorry about that."
"Don't worry, Ash." Ilene would hold the staff next. "You did what you had to do. It was for the sake of everyone's happiness and memories after all. It was only natural that the staff would suffer from something like this, unfortunately."
"Can you fix it? Is this the first time something like this has happened?" Goh asked, wondering if there was a way to reverse the damage. "We tried using magic to fix it but...that didn't work either. The crystal on top isn't damaged but the wooden parts are."
"That's because the wood here's been enchanted to bypass any magical effects. It can't be damaged by magic but it also can't be affected by it in any other way." Ilene explained, revealing the specialized immunity of this staff. "But there is a way to repair it. There's an Aura Chamber for something like this."
"Aura Chamber?" Both would repeat. This was also new to Ash. He had never heard of an Aura Chamber when he first showed up here.
"Come with me and see." Ilene would gladly show them this chamber that kept with the consistent theme of the Aura Guardian. The Staff and the Time Flowers weren't the only Aura-Related forces out there.
Naturally, since it was a chamber, it would be located at the lower levels. But it was lower than what Ash and Goh were expecting when looking at this castle in its entirety. Deep within the castle, there would be an old dungeon. A wide granite door with moss covers the entrance to this dungeon.
Beyond the granite door lies an unused dungeon that had no prisoners whatsoever. It was covered in crawling Bug-Types and the cobwebs of a Spinarak and Ariados family. With a torch out from Ilene, it allowed them all to see a broken statue part of a fountain, busted and spoiled by time itself.
"These dungeons haven't been used for a long time except for when my ancestor Queen Rin was in power. For the longest, the Pokemon have made this their home. The chamber itself has also been unused for a long time."
"So what was it for then?" Ash asked. "Is there Aura in there?"
"It's said that Sir Aaron would try and look ahead to the future. Knowing about the sudden number drop of Aura Guardians, Sir Aaron thought of ways to ensure that the Aura would be preserved in the future, especially from the one who would be responsible for the disappearance of the Aura Guardians."
"He knew about that Gardevoir before then?" Goh added.
"He did. But he didn't know of a way to stop her because no one found a way to enter that realm. Not even his only closest relative at the time, Rye. Until you all discovered it. Before you found that realm, he found a way to preserve the Aura in the future, by minimizing it into something new."
Further ahead is a single path. Its twisted trail leads passed long-lost rooms and soon the group entered a dank area. There were several blue braziers scattered around, somehow they were still burning, or burning again. And this was because of the Aura around them. Ash and Goh witnessed how the Aura resembled that of fire instead of its usual wavy appearance.
They would move onwards, deeper into the dungeon's secret passages that many have not witnessed. They passed countless passages, each seeming to go on forever, leading to who knows what. Eventually, Ilene, Ash and Goh made it to the end, standing before one final door that looked cleaner than most.
"This is the final room in the castle and the deepest part as well. Watch." Ready to show them what Sir Aaron left behind, Ilene would open the door, revealing a new kind of Aura sight to them all. The eyes of Ash, Goh, Pikachu and Grookey would light up as they would immediately see the wonder that waited for them.
Inside this chamber were millions upon millions of tiny Aura Spheres. They had a lighter appearance than the usual Aura Spheres, only appearing as a light blue instead of Azure Blue. These spheres were constantly floating, perfectly lined up in an orderly fashion. The sound they exuded differed from what Aura Sphere usually sounds like. To Ash, it almost sounded like the song from Samiya. The signature song that the People of the Water sing.
"Awesome! Look at all those Aura Spheres!" Ash gawked with amazement.
"Pikaaaa!"
"These aren't Aura Spheres, Ash. But I suppose anyone could see them as such." Ilene blew out the torch as the Aura was bright enough to provide light. "These are Sir Aaron's own creations of Aura. He called them Aura Wisps."
"Aura Wisps?" Ash would approach one, gazing into soothing light. Being near them felt like being near an open fire on a wintery night.
"Sir Aaron wasn't one to let his fellow guardians suffer. After learning about the Aura Vampire Gardevoir, he made sure to converse a piece of those who perished. What you're looking at are the Auras of all those who suffered from Delayed Aura Ataxia."
"A-All of this?!" Goh was stunned by this. He knew a lot of Aura Guardians were affected by the Ataxia but not to this extent. Something about this felt spectral to him.
"To ensure that she'd never fully have her way, these spheres were made in retaliation. To those who have come and gone, the remaining Aura they once had is kept here."
"Huh...But I thought they were all free after we beat that Gardevoir." Ash pondered why these were still here if they were made to retaliate against the Shiny Gardevoir.
"Delayed Aura Ataxia still exists, so these will remain until it's completely gone. But you've done an excellent job at stopping her. Though that place was her prison, she still managed to affect the outside world. Have you been suffering from Delayed Aura Ataxia recently?"
"Not really. It doesn't show up a lot anymore when I use Aura. It's still there but I can get back up sooner than before."
"Does this mean she's weaker when she's outside?" Goh questioned.
"That's right. From what you shared with me, she was gathering as much Aura from the remaining Aura users in the world, such as yourself. Since she was sealed away, it's likely Gardevoir would've found a way to break out and use what she's stolen to her advantage. But by forcing her out of the realm and locking her out, she can't access her own creation anymore. You successfully held her back."
"Huh. She never did show up there again now that I think about it." It clicked with Ash. He hadn't seen a slither of that Gardevoir ever since. On top of that, cases of Delayed Aura Ataxia have only been targeted towards him mostly but that was via his own actions. "I didn't think that place would give her strength. I thought it was the other way around, ya know."
"Pikachu."
"It was. Until Sir Aaron changed that. He knew that if she were to return to the real world, she would have an easier time stealing Aura for her own lifespan. Sir Aaron and Lucario reversed what would've been. Their Aura was just that powerful."
"Man! Those two were so cool!" Ash got all giddy. "I'm glad to have met Lucario when I did! What a duo!"
"Pika-Pikachu!"
"Now, about your staff. These wisps can also heal them. Just hold the staff near it and the Auras would recover it all." Ilene revealed that these wisps were the key to mending the broken sphere.
"Gotcha-" But before he could do so, an Xtransceiver call came through. Quickly digging into his pocket, Ash would see that the Xtransceiver call came from Twilight Sparkle. This was centred around Holon. There was even a subject underneath Twilight's name that specifically said 'Head to Holon'. "Oh. Looks like we've got something else to do after this."
"Back to Holon?" Goh looked over at the subject. "Eh, that place again? Catching Pokemon there isn't what it's cracked up to be from what I've seen and heard..."
"All the more reason why we gotta keep exploring it!" Ash was eager to check it out compared to Goh.
A new adventure in this combined world was waiting for him as he would answer the call. This was only the beginning of something amazing. No matter how short or long each adventure would be. "Hello. Twilight?"
As the journey continues.
Chapter 2 End.