Equestria. Despair Plant Garden. Nightfall.
"Oh...That might've been a bad call..." Holding her head after a confounding collision of potions and attacks was Potion Nova. She sat up alongside her Galarian Rapidash. Both of them had their eyes roll, feeling truly bewildered in many ways. Potion Nova readjusted her head quickly, attempting to stand up tall. But standing up was even more difficult as she would stumble and wobble. Her mane also appeared differently, being frizzed because of the outburst. Surprisingly, it was a nice fit for her in a way.
As for the aftermath, it was rather uneventful. For such a massive outburst, the surrounding area looked the same. All of the gardens' decorations were still together from the trees, hedges, flowers and thorns. There was seemingly no trace of the potions left. Not a drop of their liquid. The only thing different was some mild destruction here and there but that was about it.
"Ebony. Are you alright?" Even after going up against Ebony Rhyme, she still saw the vampire as her friend.
"I'm fine...But..." Ebony Rhyme was also still in one piece despite the outburst. Her Banette had returned to its normal size, lying flat on its face. "That didn't go according to plan."
"I guess we tied." Potion Nova took a deep breath as she and Ebony looked at each other. Both realized that all of their potion squabbles led to them being equal. Both were reactive in time, both had answers to everything and neither could 1UP the other. If anything, this struggle was pointless as they both failed to win the challenge.
Afterwards, the duo of potion makers would chuckle. To them, that back and forth was rather enjoyable. Both got to test out their potions and see what emerged from this encounter.
"I can't believe my first time testing my potions outside of Magehold turned out like this!" Ebony Rhyme laughed. "But it only makes sense that you'd be the one to do it. How are you so quick to react like that?"
"I should say the same for you. I have magic and you don't but you threw out potions like it was nothing. Great going!" Potion Nova laughed. "You've improved greatly since we last met."
"As a vampire, I just come with the natural physical advantages. That also makes up for my lack of magic." Ebony Rhyme shrugged before helping Banette back up. "And yeah. I improved on my own back at Magehold without anyone to help me. It was rough learning on my own since nopony else would want to come near me but...it paid off it looks like."
"Mhm. I knew you'd improve. It's way different than when I first saw you and we first made potions together. I'm glad after all these years, you never stopped. Neither did I."
"Right. Throwing those potions around with you...was really fun. It reminded me of the old days." All of that was rather nostalgic to Ebony Rhyme because of how messy things got. It was like they were children once more but with better accuracy and aim now. "But...that still doesn't change the facts about all of this."
"I know." Potion Nova lowered her head. "You're still with the Dread League. But do you have to be? You were never like that Ebony. This only proved that." The unicorn did not see Potion Nova as evil. Not in the slightest.
"You can think that but I know where my loyalties lie. At least for the most part." Ebony replied, staying loyal to the Lich Queen but also swaying towards the side of Fantina, aiming to free her. "I'm not the biggest fan of Magehold or the Dread League at all. But I'm doing this for a reason and I have to succeed or else."
"Or else what? You can tell me, Ebony. I'd like to understand if that's okay with you."
"Well..." Ebony Rhyme thought about it. Fantina wasn't her friend. It has always been Potion Nova. And much like Fantina, Potiion Nova did not care for EBony being a vampire and only saw her as a friend. "You always were one to hear me out and listen to me more than anypony back at Mareflower. So...I'll tell you. But there's one thing I want to know from you as well."
"What's that?"
"My parents. Where are they? Back at Magehold, when two ponies have a vampire child, one is a vampire and the other is an average pony. There's a lot of half-vampires running around and I know have the same. You still live at Mareflower, don't you?"
"I do. There's records of them being there. Their names are Steel Road and Lila Love. But...I haven't seen them at all. They left the same day you left Mareflower."
"That's a shame. Oh well...At least I got something out of that. But as for the core of the garden..."
"I've spent up the necessary potions for this since I didn't expect to show up for this. I planned to clock out for the night until this garden came about." Potion Nova sighed, gazing at the core of the garden. "What did our potions even do? It looked like they went inside of the core."
"The effects should kick in soon. But I'm not sure what those two potions can do when smashed against each other. I'm just hoping for the better and I need to leave as soon as possible. I should tell you the reason why I'm doing this. It's for another friend I made back at Magehold. Her name is Fantina."
"Fantina? You mean that Fantina!?" The name Fantina was recognizable to the ears of Potion Nova. "The Top Coordinator?!"
"R-Right. That one. You know about her?"
"Well, I know she's skilled at contests and shows up to watch them. And she's apparently a Gym Leader too. What's up with her? And how'd you to meet in the first place?"
"About that...What you need to know is that I have to get Fantina's memories back. If anyone deserves to be free from Magehold it's here. She shouldn't be there. Even if she's made everything livelier than it used to be." Ebony Rhyme grumbled, focusing on bringing back Fantina's memories so that she can live her life once more. The way it's supposed to be."
"Her memories? W-What happened?!" Potion Nova stood up. And the moment she did, the effects of the two potions had finally kicked in as a terrifying roar and howl came from the core of the garden, startling them both.
One potion was meant to shut down the garden while the other was supposed to grow it. And these two different elements had caused a colossal reaction to the garden, especially since it was at the core. They felt the garden rock and shake, throwing them off balance. Potion Nova would fall flat on her face.
"What's going on?!" Ebony Rhyme gasped, attempting to stand straight. The effects of these two potions have certainly impacted the garden, but in what way?
Sea Temple, Samiya.
Back at the Sea Temple, the large vines from the garden that were holding it back were starting to shake. This was related to the effects the potions left behind on the garden. The Samiyans gasped as the vines were gyrating violently, having lights flare out of them.
Naturally, they were greatly confused by this sudden outcry from the vines and the garden above. The large vines would then start moving at last, rocking the seas themselves with their strength. With the seas being affected by the strength of the vines, this made the Sea Temple rock as well due to how connected it was to the Sea.
"What is going up there?!" Alo, who was at the Treasure Room, exclaimed after feeling the trembling. With the seas shaking at the might of the roots, strong waves were rising, splashing onto the Sea Temple. Many backed away when the waves splashed inside but since the temple was so used to the water, it wasn't that big of a deal. But getting hit by a strong splash of water was a big deal.
"Alo! Sir!" Running into the room was none other than Donoma, the Temple's Seer as she had her crystal ball in her hands. "We have a problem! You need to see this!"
"What is it?! Did you see something?!"
"I did! I looked into my crystal ball and saw some outcomes that originate from the garden above us. It seems that the Sea Temple will be swished violently across the seas." Donoma explained what she foresaw. "Another one is that the temple will be launched from the sea, crashing elsewhere. Something's happening up there."
What Donoma saw involved the Sea Temple getting involved and potential harm to those on it. Alo found this rather uneasy before looking back at the crystal that guided them here. It stopped glowing long ago after they came across the Despair Plant Garden.
"Perhaps...something is upsetting the balance of the garden?" Alo theorized. "It was not like this before so that must mean something set it off. Whatever did this will bring dire consequences to us, unless we hurry and try to stop it."
Despair Plant Garden.
Feeling this too would be Ash's group and Dimstar as well. Pinkie Pie would immediately lose her balance, slipping over and falling on her back with Mew dropping out of her mane. Ash would hold onto Fluttershy and Audino, keeping them steady while DImstar used her tendrils to maintain her balance.
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I fear that the garden could be ruined before I can have the chance to eliminate you all," Dimstar commented. "The garden might be unsalvagable with all that's happening so far."
"So you'll leave us alone then?" Fluttershy squeed, believing that Dimstar would simply just leave because of how much damage the garden was receiving, along with all of this rocking.
"Eventually, I will leave. But I will be taking you as well, Fluttershy. I sense a vampire within you after all." Dimstar eyed down Fluttershy, referring to the one time she became a Bat Pony. Even to this day, the Dread League have not given up on trying to recruit Fluttershy. Fluttershy gulped, hiding behind a stumbling Ash.
"With how the garden is turning out...it might be hard to recover. But that won't distract me. Not one bit." She then raised her tendrils, ignoring the trembling just to attack Ash and his friends while she had the chance. "If anything...that means I can get as destructive as I want against you all!"
"Here she comes! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Luxray, Discharge!"
"Pikachu!" Together, Pikachu and Luxray would release volts of electricity from their bodies against the tendrils. In Luxray's case, it was a flare of electricity that moved like a whip. With the attacks colliding, a visible white shockwave emerged from their impact. It was quite off the scale with how vast it was, lighting up the area and blowing the trees themselves. With all of this rocking, the battle only elevated that, forming cracks in the ground.
Both Pikachu and Luxray would slide back after the outburst with the tendrils of DImstar being pushed back as well. Some of them even managed to be destroyed by the light of the Electric-Types.
"Darn Electric-Types...!"
"This getting more than just rocky!" Fluttershy gasped, noticing how parts of the ground were splitting up. Cracks continued to form, separating parts of the garden and leaving gaps in the process. Dimstar scoffed before putting her invisible tendrils together. They weren't invisible any more thanks to Luxray's X-Ray Vision, allowing him to see the tendrils that were masked within the night sky.
With those tendrils put together, in the middle of them, a violent sphere of magic would form. It would crackle with the intensity of thunder before growing in size. Dimstar narrowed her eyes, putting some effort into this. The destructive force of this sphere was already showing itself with how it was rumbling parts of the area.
"She must be nuts if she thinks we'll sit back and watch! Use Discharge!"
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
"Mew, Aura Sphere!"
"Pika-Pikachu!" Once more, Pikachu and Luxray would attack and this time, they had Mew to back them up. Lightning and Aura flew at the vampire who possessed the powers of a Lich, attempting to interrupt her buildup. But surprisingly, that buildup was also a defence mechanism.
The sphere that was in the middle of the tendrils would grow to a size where it absorbed the attacks. The Aura Sphere, Thunderbolt and Discharge were all pulled in by this dark sphere, surprising Ash and the others. They didn't see that coming and what made it worse was that it allowed the sphere to grow even larger than it originally was.
Dimstar strained when increasing the size of this sphere some more. Clearly, it was taking a lot out of her and that only made it all the more dangerous. After reaching a size she could muster, the vampire would use her tendrils to throw the sphere at them all.
The gigantic sphere of Dark Magic would burn the ground, lighting up the area with its colours as the grass would be incinerated into nothing. Nearby trees would even start cracking and falling apart just from the energy this sphere radiated.
"Yikes!" Rainbow Dash screeched as this sphere would certainly leave quite the damage on them if it landed. And throwing something else at it could potentially make the sphere grow.
"Oh! Quick, Audi! Protect!" Fluttershy, who managed to regain her balance, quickly blurted out.
"Audino!" Coming to their aid was Audino as she got in front of her friends. She did what she does best. Protect those she loves. With her hands out, she would gather all of Infinity Energy into one point, forming a barrier that covered everyone. The moment the Dark Sphere arrived, it crashed right into the barrier. The collision would form a violent smoke cloud, creating a pressure equal to that of a tornado.
"A-Audino...!" Audino groaned as the sphere was so powerful that it was managing to stay around even when Protect had been pulled off. She felt her hands tremble as this form of magic could potentially get through her shield, which, for the most part, always works when pulled off the first time. But now, it looked like the first time wouldn't be enough. "Audino!" Audino knew she couldn't keep it in this position forever, so with her own strength, she would raise her arms and in addition, also raising the sphere since she was so close to it. Audino was practically holding the sphere.
The sphere would be launched by Audino, who also expanded her barrier to give her a boost. She managed to get rid of the sphere as it ascended once pushed back. Audino's hands were smoking. With the sphere flying into the air, it seemed like they dodged a bullet there.
But with a smile on Dimstar's face, something was off. The sphere above would suddenly stop in midair, no longer ascending. It didn't even explode. It just sat there. Suddenly, the sphere would descend and that was all thanks to the tendrils Dimstar used to grab them, fixating her attention on this destructive form of magic. Many of her tendrils would grip the sphere, forcing it back down for an even bigger impact than what it would've originally done.
Each of them grimaced at this sight before running as fast as they could to avoid this incoming sphere from above. The sphere would crash back down to the garden, leaving behind a catastrophic combustion.
This part of the garden was lit up by the sphere's colour, reaching nearby areas and even being seen by the Samiyans back at the Sea Temple. The sphere dug into the earth of the garden before finally blowing up, being as destructive as Ash and the others thought it would be.
Dimstar simply stood there while the explosion went off, smiling deviously at her prey. Ash and his friends managed to gain some distance, avoiding the outburst, thankfully. But they knew more of this was bound to come with how destructive Dimstar was. And it was mainly due to the powers of the Lich she possessed.
Ash was the only one who managed to stand tall when the garden was rocking, gazing back at the devious Dimstar with a serious look on his face. The night sky, which was already dark, started darkening some more because of the energy sphere. The power of it was so stellar that it changed the atmosphere and skies completely. The stars themselves were being masked by the emerging darkness as only the clouds and the Moon remained.
"What's going on?! If this is a dream, I'm ready to wake up!" Nearby, Adriel and the other People of the Water were screaming when witnessing this destruction and changing atmosphere. They found a hollow path that allowed them to hide from DImstar for a bit. But in reality, Dimstar was only occupied by Ash's group, focusing on them instead.
"Is that her doing? Did she find her majesty?" Enola said while peering through the acre of trees that were rumbling and shaking. More of the ground would split apart, making this whole garden even more dangerous than it was originally meant to be.
On her own was Fantina. She was the only one going solo in all of this, just enjoying the garden for what it was. The flowers were the most appealing to her as she had already picked some of them, holding the flowers in a bunch. The Hearthome City Gym Leader walked across the garden happily, only to soon recognize all of the rumblings.
But for Fantina, the rumbling wasn't too close to her. She got off lucky, appearing in an area that wasn't as disturbed as the others but the tremors were still nearby. Fantina sat down, looking up at the darkened sky where the stars had been covered and masked as she placed the flowers on her lap.
"Oh dear... the stars are all gone." Fantina sighed as the beautiful stars were no longer seen. During the night, the stars and the moon were the most beautiful things to witness. At least the moon was still out. "Hmm...Something is amiss here. I should probably check up on Ebony. She would love a flower decoration."
Fantina, who had no care in the world at the moment, would try and reach Ebony Rhyme, who was partially responsible for this titanic shaking. The Gym Leader would start interacting with the flowers, attempting to form something for Ebony Rhyme to wear. She had such a sweet smile despite the atmosphere and sky changing and all of the shaking across the garden.
Not only that, but the sphere Dimstar unleashed also caused lightning to spark out. Dark lightning would fly out of the clouds, roaring with volatile intensity. Even then, Fantina did not mind it at all. Perhaps that was her greatest strength. Her happiness was truly grand, being only rivalled by few others. For the most part, no one would notice Fantina since she was so alone and away from the destruction for the most part.
That is until someone was nearby. Up in the skies, a Dragonite was soaring through the darkness.
But that wasn't just any Dragonite. That was Galaxy Master's Dragonite. On Dragonite's back was Galaxy Master himself and his Pikachu, of course. But then, there was also Rarity and Applejack, who had also taken a ride with him. Meeting up with Galaxy Master was a blessing as they had a spectacular defender with the.
"Oh! Down there! Isn't that Fantina?!" And when moving through the skies, Rarity would be the first one to spot Fantina, sitting around a group of flowers.
"Oh, my stars! It is Fantina!" Applejack gasped as Fantina had quite a unique appearance. No one had an appearance quite like Fantina which is what made her so recognizable in the first place. And the fact that she was here stunned them. It has been a long time since they've seen Fantina.
The last time they saw her was before the third Pokemon Festival began. Ever since then, her whereabouts were unknown, but it was theorized that she was at Magehold, captured by the Dread League. And at last, she had been spotted by those who knew her.
"Is that a friend or foe of yours?" Galaxy Master asked.
"Friend! Definitely friend! Could you please take us down there?!" Applejack requested.
"You can count on me to help out, ladies! Let's go, Dragonite!"
"Dragonite!" Dragonite descended, changing his direction as he would approach Fantina. Fantina herself would hear the wing flap of a Dragonite along with that signature cry.
The presence of another Pokemon was felt and for once, it was not a Ghost-Type. It has been quite a while since Fantina has seen other Pokemon of various types due to how Magehold prioritized Ghost-Types and occasionally Dark-Types. So with her head being raised, she saw the arrival of the Dragon Pokemon and those on it.
Dragonite would make a clean landing, coming to an abrupt halt in front of the Hearthome City Gym Leader. Galaxy Master would immediately hop off the Dragon Pokemon, sticking a superhero landing just for style points. Rarity and Applejack would simply hop crawl off the back of the Dragon Pokemon who once powered through their Pokemon back at the Galaxy Tower. Mainly Rarity. But now, Dragonite was an ally now that Galaxy Master was back to his true self.
"Fantina! Oh, it's wonderful to see you again, darling!" Rarity excitedly said, running up to the Hearthome City Gym Leader. These two did have a bond. They shared the same interests and Fantina did tutor Sweetie Belle with Contest tips so that connection was definitely there.
"Oh. And who might you be, my little pony?" Fantina said, catching Rarity off guard at once more. Rarity would gasp, sliding on the ground and falling over after hearing Fantina's response. She fell past Fantina, rolling on the ground.
"W-What...?" A stunned Rarity said. "Who am I?"
"Are you alright? Is your beautiful mane okay?" Fantina asked, acknowledging Rarity's dazzling mane. Both shared the same hair colour and had unique hairstyles so of course, she had to complement it. But really, Fantina has always known about it before she was sent to Magehold.
"Fantina! You're looking better." Applejack went up to her. "What are you doing up here? And what's going on?"
"I'm just here for a friend. But who might you all be? You're...very different to the ponies I've seen." Fantina noticed how none of them had vampire wings or fangs at all. She noticed how Rarity had a horn which no other vampire had, except for the Lich Queen Rosa Maledicta.
Her memory was affected that badly. Knowledge of her other friends have been stripped away because of the Lich Queen.
"Fantina, it's us. Rarity!" Rarity stood back up, crying out her name. "You know...The one who has a sister you help out from time to time? Mm? You would often pass tips to her and come and view some of her contests."
"Mmm?" Fantina shrugged, having no clue about that. Rarity's jaw dropped. "I do love contests though! I'm glad to hear someone else bring them up before I can start my own!"
"She doesn't remember?" Applejack uttered, scratching her hair. "That doesn't seem right. We meet her again after all these months and she doesn't remember us. What happened to her after all these months?"
There was a lot they do not know at the moment. Everything Fantina has done at Magehold has yet to be blurted out. And at such a destructive time, this reunion is not what they expected when meeting up with the lost Gym Leader of Hearthome City. The Despair Plant Garden was seemingly on its last legs with all the destruction that was going on. And the effects of the two potions were certainly the cause of it. With Donoma having a vision of the outcome, just what will happen to the garden and by extension, the Sea Temple? As the journey continues.
Chapter 77 End.