//------------------------------// // Free as you can be // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Holon. Holon Settlement. Afternoon. "Ooh..." Just recovering from a bit of a mind blast were Professor Pine and her assistants. Their faces said it all. Though Twilight freed them from the Trickster Dragon's grip, they needed some time to recover. Professor Pine would also gaze at a slight bit of destruction on her walls. But that was mainly thanks to Espeon making her own entrance when faced with seemingly endless stairs. She would then gaze at a nearby mirror which showed her bed hair and how out of it she currently felt. "My lab...Oh, but I think I like my hair like this." "Sorry, professor. Maybe I harmed your minds a bit too hard." Twilight helped each of them up once they were in better condition to stand. "Ah, it's fine, Twilight. Do what can, after all." Professor Pine chuckled. "Did you find that demon though?" "I have a pretty good guess. I enveloped his mind as well and got the chance to see a few things. That involves the inside of the Box." Twilight explained as she managed to catch a glimpse of the Box of 100 Demons' insides. "For this...I'll take a page out of Olympia's book. Having Eve as a partner gives me access to a few Psychic-Type tricks after all. Right now, there's one other problem just outside." The Holographic Starlight was still an issue but certainly led to some entertaining music. Mainly from the hologram and not from Ash's group, who were all inexperienced with instruments. Pikachu would slide back after nearly being struck by a cascade of musical notes from the Holographic Starlight. "Pika...!" "We're getting some hits in, but that hologram is still up," Ash said. "Wonder what it's made out of?" "It's obvious why you aren't doing that much to be." The Holographic Starlight playfully giggled before summoning a large conducting stick that she would hold. "Your music is just downright awful. If you maybe had a bit more talent, you would get a decent groove going on. Otherwise, what good is those instruments you were given if they can't be used to the fullest?" "I can't play the drums though..." Goh sighed, slamming his head on a drum. "Or anything! This is so not fair! Why can't Grookey manage these but I have to?" "So we gotta play better to do more damage. After this, I think I'll ask Rainbow Dash or Roxie for some guitar lessons," Ash added. "But I'm pretty sure even if we aren't that good, we can still take you on. Just gotta hit that sweet spot." "Just try and show something new!" The people shouted. "Put your Heart and Soul into it!" "Easier said than done." Ash looked down at his Electric Guitar. "I can think of a few tunes, but I can't pull 'em off that well." "Too bad. You're looking at a genuine musical expert here. I once played the Xylophone with style!" The Holographic Starlight bragged. "Unfortunately, she's right." The real Starlight would vouch for her projection who was keeping her trapped. "Just hurry up and defeat her already!" "The pain you receive is only going to get worse from here so be careful, okay?" The projection teased. "Hmm...I got an idea!" Ash found a better solution to all of this. At least, in his eyes. And judging by that grin on his face, Goh and Starlight were expecting another one of his wild tricks. Suddenly, Ash would run, approaching the Starlight Projection with his guitar still playing. "Wait! Ash! How come you're rushing in?!" Goh questioned. "Just watch! Pikachu! Croagunk! Help me out here! Use Quick Attack!" "Pika!" Pikachu and the Delta Croagunk would join Ash who had yet to reveal his wild plan. The Starlight Projection would sway her conducting stick, creating new notes that strung together an energetic melody. With it being upbeat, the notes were faster, fast enough to keep pace with Pikachu. "Pi! Pi!" Pikachu would zig-zag past these notes while the Croagunk would stick to using Fire Punch. Goh would provide support by drumming away. However, with such poor drumming, the full effects of these instruments could not be unleashed. However, they would make do with what they had. Especially with what Ash was planning. Ash would get ahead of the Pokemon, getting up close to the Starlight clone by using the surrounding rubble as pedestals. "P-Pika!" Pikachu would then grin before suddenly slowing himself down. He allowed some of the incoming notes to hit instead of evading them. This was followed by Ash's grin as he and Pikachu planned this. Once Pikachu took the notes and Ash got close to the projection, the effect of Pikachu's damage would come back to Ash. Just like before, the Electric Guitar would shock Ash. But this time, the Starlight Projection would receive some of those volts too. And compared to everything else, this looked to be the most effective as the volts would leave the projection more stunned than before. Ash's plan worked in exchange for his own well-being. "G-Gotcha...!" Ash grinned once his plan worked. The effect of his own pain was larger than anything that had been thrown at the projection. "Worked like a charm!" "That worked?!" Goh gasped as Ash nearly dropped to the ground before being caught by the Croagunk. "Ghhh! Mmm!" The Starlight Projection would suddenly jitter constantly with magical sparks flying out of her. Clearly, that shock worked better than expected. Even more so than Pikachu's Thunderbolt. "This guitar's pretty handy." Ash laughed a bit. "Those shocks I felt are pretty strong. So I just used what Pikachu felt from all those notes and gave it back to her. Whatever I take...I'm just gonna make her feel it too!" "That's risky...but it works!" Starlight agreed with this approach. The previous one was a bit safer and more straightforward but this one seemed to have extra efficiency with greater risk. "Keep doing that!" "Y-You shouldn't! Tha-That's not safe!" The projection stammered before attempting to regain her smooth words. Thanks to Ash's interruption, Pikachu and Croagunk successfully struck the projection with Quick Attack and Fire Punch, going for the hooves, mainly. It was Pikachu's job to take the hits and let Ash take the pain as well. That would then lead to a direct collision with the projection. "Pikachu! Electroweb!" "Pika-Pika!" Pikachu would follow up, throwing an orb of lighting which would soon form into a web, quickly wrapping around the giant's hooves. The large Starlight Projection found herself losing balance thanks to Pikachu's Electroweb before nearly dropping her conducting stick. In response, the stick would shoot out heavy and low tempos that were as heavy as steel. "One more time!" Ash was going in for another self-harming attack. Even against these heavy notes, Ash would take the risk. And the same went for Pikachu. "Quick Attack! Croagunk, get me close!" "Pi!" Pikachu left the ground at light speeds, approaching the heavy notes. At the same time, the Croagunk would come together to pick up Ash, while being powered by Goh's drumming. The Croagunk would then throw the Alola Champion right at the Holographic Starlight. As if he was a missile, right as Pikachu collided with the heavy notes, Ash felt his pain, causing the guitar to act up once more. This time, it was right in the middle of the projection. The Croagunk, after throwing Ash, would be knocked down by these heavy notes once they touched the ground with their staggering weight. But it was worth it as this tactic from Ash was working out for the better. "Well, I can't argue against Ash's tricks..." Goh chuckled slowly after seeing the Starlight Hologram stumble and bump into the neon-coloured buildings. "Knock it off..." The hologram groaned before summoning a protective music sheet around herself. But this sheet would soon be burnt away by the flames of the Coragunk who would use Incinerate. Appearing in the scene was Twilight who was just about finished with her own musical problem which didn't last long at all for her. She mainly focused on the mutated townspeople who were enjoying this musical battle. Though, it wasn't much of one. Only Starlight's projection generated pleasant music while Ash and his group were just playing frantic sounds that had no consistent beats at all. But that did not stop them from taking control of this battle in the strangest way thanks to Ash's many bizarre strategies. The people looked too focused to even notice Twilight's appearance behind them. Just what Twilight wanted. She could always count on Ash and Pikachu to make a scene. "Just stay right there..." Twilight had her spell ready before unleashing a stream of magic which would soon divide into multiple streams, latching onto the backs of everyone's heads. The people suddenly found themselves frozen in place by Twilight's magic, unaware that she was right behind them. "Oh...Oh." The Starlight Hologram held her head, attempting to recover her digitally-magic self as soon as possible. "Why can't we just jam out together? At least with pleasant sounds from both sides." "Croa!" Three Delta Croagunks would then hit her hoof with Fire Punch, knocking the conducting stick off. The stick would fly up as the projection attempted to recover it as soon as possible. "Okay, Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash saw the moment to attack naturally. From all those shocks he took, his clothes were smoking along with his hair. One of his eyes even looked half-open. But to Ash, it was all necessary to get the job done and he was ready for that pay off. "Pika...!" Pikachu, who also looked tattered from the damage he intentionally took, would take to the skies with impressive air-time, ready to use his best Thunderbolt. "Here goes nothing!" Goh would give out the most support that he could. He would continue to hit the same two drums continuously for a more consistent effect, going as fast as he could. This would boost Pikachu's Thunderbolt as the real Starlight was slightly worried. She wanted to be free, of course, but from the way this was building up, this Thunderbolt could strike her as well. Not just her holographic projection. "H-Hold back a bit!" Starlight grimaced. "Chuuuu!" Pikachu released Thunderbolt which would crack through the azure skies, going straight for the Starlight Projection's chest. A direct hit. But it was more than a direct hit. The Thunderbolt broke through the Hologramm, causing a piercing effect. And with an extra drum from Goh, he guaranteed that the Thunderbolt would leave a stronger effect before finishing things off. The Starlight Projection's bright eyes would suddenly turn off, losing those stars. The projection would have one frozen pose before failing to keep herself visible. "Aw..." The projection made a disappointed sigh before fizzing out with electrical jolts flying out from all directions. The real Starlight would find herself floating in midair for a bit before dropping. The Holographic Starlight had been taken out with a little bit of self-injury on Ash and Pikachu's part. If it works, it works. That was the way Ash and Pikachu did things. Starlight levitated herself, preventing any harm. The unicorn could rest easy knowing that this musical scuffle didn't last as long as it needed to. As for everything else, Ash's hands would finally feel something else. The welcoming air. The Electric Guitar, drums and neon buildings would cease once the deed was done. The buildings returned to their normal appearance instead of vanishing like the guitar and the drums. The only thing remaining was the sound of a quiet melody, fading into the background. "Guess that's that." Ash looked at his hands which were free once more. He fiddled with the air, still imagining himself playing that guitar. Though he sucked horribly at it, he found enjoyment in playing with it. And like what he said earlier, taking lessons from Roxie doesn't sound like a bad idea with how much of an expert she was. Ash wished that Roxie was here to really spice things up. "Ah, finally..." Starlight sighed. "I thought she was never gonna go. But she did have nice eyes...and more energy than I could ever muster. Thanks for saving me you, two. But your musical talents are horrible. At least...when it comes to instruments. Ash, you're a pretty good singer. Goh, I can't say much about you." "Gh!" Goh flinched once he could properly move instead of being stuck to a drumset. "You don't have to say much at all..." But Goh himself wouldn't try and change her mind. "Croa..." The Croagunk helped put a stop to this obstacle, it still wasn't their main boss, Delta Toxicroak. Everything here was about to wrap up nicely with Twilight finishing things off by freeing the minds of the townsfolk. However, there was still no way for her to undo their mutation. "Well, we're just about done here," Twilight said after casually bewildering the townsfolk with a magical flash. But they would recover, thankfully. "Almost. That Trickster Dragon's the last problem." "And finding Delta Toxicroak," Ash added. "We gotta deal with that too, ya know." "Pikachu." "Oh, I think we can do two in one," Twilight smirked, stepping forward before looking at the azure skies. "I know where he is. We'll skip ahead and find our target right away." "You do? where is he?" Goh asked. "Settlement Juliet. He's hot-blooded instead of cold-blooded it looks like. Plus, Settlement Juliet's a blocked-off area that only Professor Pine can grant access to." "Only from her? It really is a small region..." Starlight whistled. "And wait! Goh, you were right about the Settlement Juliet part!" "I-I was!" Goh stuttered, realizing he suspected the demon to be at Settlement Juliet earlier. "Hm-hm! Don't I have great perceptive skills!" "We're heading to Settlement Juliet, then? Okay! We're ready!" Ash pumped his fists, ready to enter a new settlement. "Nope. We aren't heading to Settlement Juliet. I had a chat with the Trickster Dragon in the mindscape and I figured I'd speed things up." Twilight chose to do it from this spot instead of heading elsewhere. But technically, she would be elsewhere. "I'm grabbing his attention and stopping him from here." "Here? How?" Goh questioned, wondering how Twilight would even pull something like that off. "Watch. Eve. Help me out here." Twilight closed her eyes along with Espeon as the two would synergize for this. Everyone stood back, allowing Twilight to work whatever magic she had cooked up. With such vast magical knowledge, she could go for anything. However, for this, Twilight would take a page out of Olympia's book who was also her teacher. She fixated on her bond with Espeon which resulted in a pool of Psychic energy that was waiting to be used. Now was the time. Twilight used her Psychic Abilities, gaining the same blue flare that Espeon has in her eyes. Both of them would open their azure eyes, currently synced. And with this vision along with the usage of Rift Magic, Twilight would pick up on the Trickster Dragon's presence in the distance by homing in on it. The Rift Magic allowed her to detect the magical power of the Trickster Dragon which was naturally vast for both a demon and a draconequus. Settlement Juliet's wintery appearance wasn't too far thanks to how the Trickster Dragon switched up the settlements and biomes. It was to his own detriment and to Twilight's advantage. The Trickster Dragon's visage was spotted hanging around the cave of Settlement Juliet. The Trickster Dragon's eyes were suddenly caught by the combined might of Twilight and Espeon working in unison. "Oh!" The demon gasped once she was found. His eyes would also flare from this reach. It was mainly the Rift Magic behind this feat and the benefit of Holon being so small. With the Rift Magic, she could enhance her vision to great lengths while also adding a Psychic Boost. "You found me?!" The Dragon suddenly felt stuck in place, mainly with his eyes. It felt like a chain was holding him back, or in this case, a chain around his eyes. Twilight and Espeon growled, using two different forces to keep him where they wanted him. Twilight would even use telepathy to speak with this dragon once he spoke back. "Your freedom only troubles others...!" Twilight strained as keeping the Trickster Dragon in place while using Rift Magic was responsible for this. "I saw everything I needed to see when I enveloped your mind, so I'd rather stop this before you suddenly make this worse than what's inside the box!" "As if! Anything is better than that place!" The Trickster Dragon attempted pulling his own eyes out to be free, only for Twilight to force them in as if she was smashing a nail in with a hammer. The dragon would squeal and twitch from this direct push before bumping into the back of the cave. "Plus, you still aren't the best with that Rift Magic of yours. Do you want to keep using it right now?" "Of course!" Twilight would gladly use a lot of it right now. The Trickster Dragon would soon remember that he was dealing with a persistent group of friends who would go to extremes to get something done. "Whatever! You honestly can't expect me to stop what I love doing, do you?! You said you weren't taking me to the box, which means...there's something worse. I can't have myself locked up in any place! Not at all! "I wouldn't!" Twilight exclaimed as her hooves dug into the ground from this struggle which felt like a tug-of-war game. The Trickster Dragon would even elongate his body to resemble a rope. "You told me that there are more demons in that box as intelligent as you...that want more. Eventually, they'll reject going back into that box whenever it's their turn." "And your point?" The demon attempted sawing off his own eyes as Twilight was going somewhere with this. "I want to find a solution for that. A way for you to have all the freedom you want without being fearful of that box. That goes for all those other demons in there since that's what they want. Of course...there's still a lot to consider, but demons are their own species, just like everyone else on this planet. Who am I to ignore that?" "You would grant me a way to have freedom without knowing what it is?" "I would. I suppose the best thing I could do...is have you meet with Discord. You haven't met another draconequus before. You've only heard of them and yet you've been stuck in that box of centuries. Discord is the one you want to talk to you. He'll understand." "He will?" The demon paused for a moment. "He will. The best kind of freedom is the one with those you can talk you. Friends." Twilight would then look back at Ash, Pikachu, Espeon, Starlight, Goh, Grookey and even the Croagunk who were still new. "You're jealous of Discord, aren't you? Why don't you go and tell him that yourself?" "The other higher demons are the only ones I could ever talk to when trying to pass the boredom. But in that box, it was all so dry so what else could we do with our powers suppressed?" "You can change that with Discord. Next to Ash, he knows how to get around." Twilight sighed as her eyes were starting to turn red from straining them. "Please. Just consider it. You're not that bad, are you? I mean you are..." The Trickster Dragon took the time to hear Twilight out. And after everything she told him, there was one consistent choice. He would never return to that box. More importantly, he feared the Dread League finding him, especially Rosa Maledicta. Discord was a big option for someone so similar. He also knew a thing or two about freedom. "Anything is better than that box...Never again do I wish to enter it." The Trickster Dragon would choose anything over the box, without a doubt. "I will take up your offer and try that. But you honestly can't expect to defeat me. Do that...and I will return to the box." "I know of a place...You'll only return if you take major damage, just like every other demon we've met and known about so far. So...maybe this will be better!" Twilight found something better than major damage. With this Psychic connection, attacking the Trickster Dragon's mind was the better option, even if it meant harming herself. Ash harmed himself for an advantage and Twilight was no different. She would unleash a Psychic blast to herself and the Trickster Dragon, causing them both to feel a sharp pain. The two of them would grimace before having their eyes return to their natural colours. Just as she expected, by harming herself with this mental power, Twilight would drop to the ground, except for Espeon. But it was worth it to down the Trickster Dragon. "I-I didn't even show you what I did with the other settlements..." The Trickster Dragon gave his last telepathic comment before passing out. "It was about to be a massive band...." "Hey, Twilight!" Ash rushed over along with the others. When picking Twilight up after seeing her drop, the young alicorn had a stunned expression on her face which was still capable of forming a smile. That was the smile of someone who did what she needed to do to succeed. And that success would further show itself eventually. The mutated townsfolk, who were still feeling fuzzy and out of it, would look at their mutated bodies for a moment, still remembering that they had these thanks to the Trickster Dragon. However, these past months of having these mutations and trying to get used to them had been expired. With the demon downed, his magical focus and effects went along with him. The old man would gaze at his arm which would soon return to what it originally was. The same went for others who would lose their claws, tails, horns, wings and other Pokemon limbs and attachments. The magic was dropping now that the main victim was not maintaining it. "Great work, Twilight." Ash would look down at the stunned and passed-out Twilight, congratulating her. While his group managed to deal with the giant projection, Twilight essentially handled everything. There's a trainer for every situation. Or in this case, a pony. As the journey continues. Chapter 8 End.