Equestria. Route 10. Day.
"Alcremie!" An Alcremie was currently being chased down by a swarm of Pokemon that reached the hundreds easily. Possibly even more with how Alcremie has been moving across Galar. Celestia and her Pokemon witnessed this swarm of Pokemon chasing down Alcremie, who was currently a snowball. Celestia had to think fast on her hooves now. As for Alcremie, she was rather dizzy with her face poking out of the snowball that she was unintentionally forming. This snowball would soon gain the delicious scent of this Cream Pokemon as it affected even the environment.
"Goodness!" Celestia would quickly move out of the way, avoiding the rolling snowball that was Alcremie. However, avoiding the swarm of Pokemon was another story. Quickly, Celestia used her magic to hold Alcremie and the snowball, preventing her from going any further.
The snowball stopped, no longer growing in size. Alcremie's eyes spun, trying to process what just happened. Gently, Celestia would bring the snowball back as it would melt in the presence of Arcanine, who was using his body heat at the moment.
"Are you alright? I didn't think I'd meet one this quickly and like this..." Celestia asked as Alcremie was now free from the snow. And yet, she was still shivering. Alcremie tried recollecting herself as she would immediately see the faces of Celestia, Gardevoir and Arcanine. But that was soon shifted to the swarm of Pokemon that were still after her.
"C-Cremie!" She bellowed with horror in her eyes.
"Bol! Boltund!" A Boltund got ahead of every other Pokemon, looking extremely happy and hungry. The only way this hunger could be satisfied was by consuming the cream from Alcremie. The Flying-Types kept up with Boltund, approaching at a faster pace than most Pokemon.
Celestia pieced it together as quickly as she could, looking back at Alcremie and the Pokemon. She would pick up on the delicious scent Alcremie gave off, figuring out that it was the cause of these Pokemon being so rampant. The Pokemon got too close at this point, prompting Celestia to put up a shield. This golden shield formed instantaneously, blocking the Pokemon that came zooming in.
Boltund crashed into the shield, pressing its face against it before sliding down. All other Pokemon that were eager to get a bite out of Alcremie were stopped by the shield as well. However, even after being stopped by the shield, they were persistent.
Passion was the first to feel it thanks to her ability to sense emotions. She immediately sensed the powerful emotions coming from the Pokemon as they were all tied to hunger. Alcremie's scent was so potent that it drove them mad and they had to take a bite out of her. Celestia grimaced as the Pokemon were all acting crazy, pressing themselves against the barrier even if they could not break through it.
"That has to be at least 100 Pokemon or more! They're completely entranced by this scent!" Celestia exclaimed.
"A-Alcremie." A terrified Alcremie hid behind Celestia, having a moment of safety, even if her pursuers were close. However, this swarm of Pokemon that originally came from the Wild Area weren't the only ones chasing Alcremie down.
More Pokemon would approach. Specifically, the ones here at Route 10. Alcremie's delicious vanilla scent was strong enough to affect a town or city after all but within a wide radius. At least, this Alcremie had that speciality, which was a massive detriment.
"Darumaka!" A group of Galarian Darumaka would rush up the mountain, followed by some Klang that hovered across the air. Behind these Pokemon were a Rhydom, Glalie, Snover and Beartic. All of them wanted a bite as they came from different directions.
Alcremie grimaced as she was in great peril just because of her enticing aroma. But it didn't stop there. Tremors came through that originated from White Hill Station. Celestia gasped as some Pokemon broke through the Train Station, coming straight for Alcremie.
Celestia was flabbergasted by the number of Pokemon that were showing up. It wasn't just Pokemon from the Wild Area or even Route 10. Since she's been through different parts of the Galar Region, her aroma has racked up plenty of pursuers that would not stop until they got a bite. They were certainly more active than the people who were just daydreaming about Alcremie.
Speaking of the people, even after some Pokemon broke through the Train Station, the people there were daydreaming about Alcremie, ignoring the damage. Just as Melony said. The aroma was so strong that it rendered cities and towns inactive and it was certainly showing here.
Rosy cheeks, flustered faces, crooked smiles and closed eyes. Those were the common traits of those under Alcremie's delicious aroma. It was like some form of mind control but without any of the horrible traits. This was the most pleasing form of mind control ever even if it was giving the controller trouble that she didn't ask for.
"It's not safe here." Celestia shook her head as the best thing to do now was to flee the scene. This many Pokemon would certainly push through her shield eventually. But since they were coming from different directions, especially through train stations, the only way to exit was underneath. "Arcanine! Use Flamethrower on the ground!"
"Arca...Nine!" Arcanine would aim his head at the ground, unleashing a fierce flare of scarlet flames. The flames not only melted away some of the snow, but a hole was made. It was strong enough to create a deep hole that they could exit through.
Arcanine would then jump through the hole, followed by Passion. Celestia would be the last to enter as her shield would drop. But in exchange, she used her magic to patch up the hole that Arcanine made, reinforcing it. Her magic would replace the snow that had been melted away as the Pokemon broke through, trying to enter that same hole. However, the magic Celestia left behind would repel them, having an elastic nature to it. The moment a Corphish tried jumping in, the magic would rebound, launching the Water-Type into the air as if it was on a trampoline.
"Corphiiiish!" Corphish yelled while flying through the air. However, as proven by the shield from before, they could care less about what stood in their way. It was all about getting a bite out of Alcremie. With this many Pokemon and the aroma of Alcremie being potent enough to last for a long time, eventually, this magical patch would not last. But it would give Celestia and the others some time.
Circhester.
Back at Circhester, the aroma that Alcremie left behind here was also still present, leaving the People and Pokemon absolutely inactive for the most part with Melony being the only one snapping them out of it from time to time. However, even if she yelled with her megaphone, it was not enough to break the trance that they were all in. Something else was needed.
And Applejack seemingly had the solution. The earth pony figured that making something else that was delicious would do the trick. After all, this vanilla aroma put them all under a spell or mind control due to how they were acting. But in Applejack's case, she would be the controller, using her food to try and sway them to her side. Only then would she be able to cancel the aroma out and satisfy these stomachs. They haven't eaten at all because of Alcreime's aroma, leaving all of the food within Circhester untouched, especially within the restaurant.
Speaking of the Resturant, Applejack was currently working there, using what she could to make some apple pies. She had full faith in her apple pies, believing that they would be delicious enough. As for the aroma, Melony stated that someone with a strong willpower can resist it while also enjoying the scent. Applejack couldn't take any risks, so she had a mask on her face as protection. As for the ingredients, Galar was not short of apples at all. She had the Applin to thank for that.
With the apples present here at the restaurant, Applejack got to work, baking apple pies. With her skills, she already managed to make a plethora of them, placing them on the table while the actual cooks of this restaurant were daydreaming. They didn't even care that Applejack was suddenly working here.
There were enough apple pies here to feed a town. But not a city. Applejack wiped some sweat off her head as she exhausted herself making this many. Usually, she has her family to help her out when it comes to making plentiful apple pies, but she went solo for this one. If only Sceptile knew how to make them.
"Ah, that looks lovely!" Melony gazed at the three Apple Pies Applejack managed to make. She would use her Rotomphone to capture a picture of the food in its purest and cleanest form. "I'd love a bite out of it as soon as possible!"
"Thanks. But..." Despite making three already, it wasn't enough. She looked over at the cooks who did not acknowledge Applejacks' Apple Pies at all. They had Alcreme on their mind. "It ain't working right now unless we make 'em know about them."
"How can it not?" Melony bent over to get close to the Apple Pies, already wishing to have some. Applejack nodded her head, allowing Melony to have one Apple Pie. The Ice-Type specialist would not hesitate, immediately grabbing the pie with elated eyes.
It was time to spread these pies out to the people and Pokemon of Circhester. Applejack would first send out all 12 of her Golett to spread the pies faster along with her Delta Riolu. "I need ya'll to help me share these pies with everyone here. Get it all up on their faces, alright?" Each of them were assigned to hold the pies and share them with the citizens of Circhester.
"Riolu!"
"Golett!" They saluted Applejack, immediately getting to work. Riolu would leap onto the table, snagging an apple pie. The Golett, in an orderly fashion, would march, picking up the pies one by one. However, being out of their Poke Balls meant that they were susceptible to the aroma. Sceptile already felt the aroma minutes ago and was doing his best to stay strong, having some impressive willpower. He's always had good willpower ever since he was a Treecko.
"R-Rio...?" Delta Riolu felt it as he paused his moments immediately. The Embalming Pokemon had a flustered face, gaining those rosy cheeks as well. "Riolu..." Such a wonderful feeling. It made him want to stop everything he was doing and think about the vanilla. Riolu would then shake his head, having the will to press on, even if the aroma was enticing. He used his Aura as a means to resist, walking along with the Apple Pie. The Golett unfortunately fell weak to the aroma, sitting down.
"Not you guys too!" Applejack gasped as her little helpers have been enchanted by the vanilla aroma. The only ones resisting were Sceptile and Delta Riolu. Quickly, Applejack searched for more masks to give them but the one she had on her face was the only one.
"S-Sceptile." Luckily, she had Sceptile who could rectify this. The Forest Pokemon used his vines, grabbing all of the Golett and the Apple Pies. It was up to him now to carry them all outside.
Applejack would then hold up one of her pies up to the noses of a cook, hoping that he would respond. She had to feed the entire city and if they couldn't be attracted to her pies, then snapping them out of Alcremie's trance would be harder than it appears.
"Hm, that smells good." He did acknowledge it as his eyes opened for a moment. Applejack smiled, believing that her pies would have an effect. "But I wonder how Alcremie's cream would taste on it? It would be so much better in every way."
Dissappointment. Alcremie's cream was still the dominant factor here. Despite the fact that Applejack's apple pies were fully made and ready foods, the vanilla cream flavour, despite just being a flavour, was favoured. And the same went for the outside. Sceptile managed to spread the Apple Pies to everyone here and yet they would not bother.The pies might as well be invisible to them. Across Circhester, it was only Alcremie that mattered and nothing else.
They would either shove the pies away, ignore them or look to the side, much to the disappointment of Sceptile and Riolu. These two Pokemon have tasted Applejack's pies before and they wished everyone else could know just how wonderful they truly were. Alas, this one Alcremie had an iron grip over their noses and minds.
And the worst part of it all was that there were other locations that were going through the same thing. Circhester was just one area and it was already hard to conquer. Dealing with every area Alcremie has been at was a challenge that no one expected to deal with.
"Rats!" Applejack swung her hoof. "I gotta do better. Might have to make more apple pies and take a book out of Granny Smith and my family."
"Mmm. Granny Smith Apple Pie." Melony gushed, thinking about the other apple pie variants. "I think Milo knows how to make those. Hopefully he's not afflicted either. If you can make enough that can snap them out of it, then you'll need to work even harder for every area Alcremie's been at. After all, this has been going on for 5 days now."
"5 days?!" Applejack gasped. Alcremie has been wandering for five days and that did not install confidence. She would have to work hard enough to the point where it would take her five days. And five more when travelling across the Galar Region.
"Lucky for you, I know which places have been hit. But it will still take a while." Melony shrugged while continuing to devour the apple pie. "Mmm! Splendid!"
"I might tucker myself out before that. I can't make all those pies on my own for that many days." Applejack pondered. "I'm gonna need all hooves on deck for this one. The whole family! At least, most of them." Applejack was going all in. She would take her Xtransceiver out, immediately calling for Apple Bloom.
The entire family was needed. Applejack didn't think she would have to do this but with how things are, this was the best option. Her family was coming to Galar.
Wild Area.
"W-Where are the Pokemon?!" Ash bellowed. The Wild Area, a place once bustling with Pokemon at every area and corner, was empty. Completely devoid of these Strange and Wonderful Creatures. The Rolling Fields, the Giant's Cap, Axew's Eye, Lake of Outrage, North Miloch and everywhere else. All of them were devoid of their respective Pokemon.
"This place is always busy. What happened?!" Goh gasped.
"I can only see footprints here. They must've all left." Fluttershy gazed at the plethora of footprints that could be seen at the Wild Area. Many of them overlayed each other but Fluttershy could easily identify them because of how many Pokemon she lives with back at the Pokemon House.
Her eyes followed the footprints, seeing where they led to. From what she could see so far, they led to the path of Hammerlocke which was in the distance, but Fluttershy wasn't too sure at the moment. It was rather odd being here at the Wild Area now. Without any Pokemon, it was awkward.
There was an uncomfortable silence. The sound of wingbeats were gone with all airborne Pokemon elsewhere. Not a cry came out and not a howl or squeak, big or small. The only things that stuck out here were the Dynamax Power Spots and the light they emitted.
"Minccino!" But there was one Pokemon left here. A Pokemon that has yet to leave the Wild Area but also had that flustered and pleased look on its face, attracted to the Vanilla Scent. That Pokemon ended up being a Minccino. Audino would be the first to hear its little footsteps approaching.
"Ah! There's one! They're not all gone!" Rarity pointed out, alerting everyone else to the Minccino.
"Um, excuse me!" Fluttershy called for the Normal-Type, getting its attention. Minccino, who was swooning around for this delicious scent, would face the pegasus and her friends.
"Ccino?"
"Where are you going?" This was her chance to ask one of the Pokemon of the Wild Area what exactly happened.
"Ccino! Mincino!" Minccino would jump around, explaining the wonderful scent that it and many others have discovered. It made it short, wanting to head for Alcremie as soon as possible. The only way to do that was by following the footprints the other Pokemon left behind.
"Oh my. That's not good at all!" Fluttershy scrunched her face after hearing what Minccino said. The contrast between Minccino's happy tone to Fluttershy's dismayed tone was stark as it did not bode well for her friends.
"What? What's wrong?" Rarity asked.
"All the Pokemon here are following the scent from last night since it showed up here at the Wild Area. That's why they're all gone. And the worst part is that they really want to take a bite out of Alcremie." Fluttershy translated, revealing why all of them were gone. "Right now, all of the Wild Area Pokemon are out there somewhere."
"Since last night?!" Goh exclaimed. "T-That's way worse than we thought. Where are they?"
"Wherever Alcremie is," said Ash. "They've just gotta follow that scent and most Pokemon are pretty great at tracking down scents. I didn't think it'd get that bad. But if we can follow that Cinccino, then maybe we can find Alcremie. Hopefully she hasn't been bitten yet."
"Dino..." Just then, Audino's ears would react to another sound. She would focus as hard as she could as her eyes also followed the Minccino. She saw that the Minccino was heading for Hammerlocke. And the sound she heard came directly from Hammerlocke. From what Audino could hear, something was going on over at Hammerlocke. And most likely, it had something to do with the Alcremie Scent. "Audino."
Underneath Route 10.
At the moment, Alcremie was safe. Celestia brought her underground where no other Pokemon could be found. The Cream Pokemon at last had some time to breathe and relax, no longer having to worry about being chased by many Pokemon.
"You're safe for now." Celestia said to the Fairy-Type. "That was a frightening sight, wasn't it? Those Pokemon looked dedicated and relentless in reaching you."
"Cremie..." Now that she was at peace for now, she would look up at Celestia before bouncing towards her. "Alcremie!" The Cream Pokemon was grateful. Very grateful. No one else had managed to free her from this pursuit until now as she would hug the neck of the Sun Princess.
"Oooh! Alright!" Celestia felt a sensitive reaction when Alcremie hugged her neck. After all, she was still cold and Celestia certainly felt the chill. "You are freezing, aren't you?! Y-You're welcome by the way!"
"Arcanine." Arcanine would do the honours of heating Alcremie up. He continued to use his body heat, melting away the frosty ice that littered her body. Alcremie would close her eyes, allowing the body heat of Arcanine to rise up and envelop her.
"Al..." Alcremie sighed, feeling the cold energy leave her body. This was very much needed as she had been cold even when she showed up at the Wild Area and Route 10 didn't make it any better. Alcremie was practically melting at this heat. Thankfully, not literally, as she would slide down Celestia's neck, dropping to the ground. "Alcremie."
"Great work, Arcanine," Celestia uttered before nudging the Legendary Pokemon with her head. Arcanine would pant, nudging her back as Celestia got a faceful of his fur. "But I'm curious...How did this happen exactly?"
"Cremie?"
"From what I could tell and picked up in the air, the reason they're chasing you is because of the delicious vanilla scent you let off. And well, I've met Alcremie's exactly 2 days ago and neither let off such an aroma before." Celestia brought up the Alcremies that Opal had.
None of those Alcremies left behind a powerful aroma that left everyone starstruck. The best they did was help make many of the cakes back at Ponyville taste absolutely wonderful, especially Ash's cake. But this one Alcremie, who did not have a sweet on her head, surpassed them all to the point where she was being hunted down by those who wanted a bite out of the Cream Pokemon.
"A-Alcremie." Alcremie twiddled her fingers as judging by her reaction, there was indeed a reason for it. And Alcremie was aware of it.
"So something did happen. And you don't have a sweet on your head either." Celestia noticed the lack of a sweet on this Vanilla Alcremie. The Ruler of Equestria then turned to face Gardevoir as the two would nod at each other. Gardevoir already knew what she needed to do.
She would take a crack at her Psychic abilities, attempting to use that to understand what Alcremie went through and how she got to this point. She kneeled, facing her fellow Fairy-Type before placing her hands on Alcremie's face. "Aaaa...!" Alcremie squealed with a bright smile on her face, giggling after Gardevoir touched her.
With her Psychic power, Gardevoir shared a telepathic message with Celestia, allowing her to know everything. Information flooded her head as it was limited since it was only what Alcremie knew. Celestia closed her eyes after the messages came through before reopening them. It was a rather swift transference as Gardevoir's hands were now messy.
"Garde?!"
"Ah. So you come from a place known as the Isle of Armor." Celestia said to the Cream Pokemon. "Along the way, you passed a chilling area known as the Crown Tundra and eventually, you ended up here at the mainland of Galar. As for your taste, you said that it happened on the day you evolved from a Mlicery."
"Cremie! Cremie!" Alcremie nodded in confirmation before pointing at her head. She pointed directly at the place where a sweet would normally be.
"Right. Milcery does need a sweet to evolve into an Alcremie and you evolved without one. All you had to do was spin without it." Celestia uttered with curious eyes. "And this happened at the Isle of Armor first, right?
"Alcremie." Alcremie nodded in confirmation. But Celestia still wasn't sure how this Alcremie managed to bypass one part of its evolution method. One thing was for sure. This evolution was responsible for her scent, making her distinct from every other Alcremie out there.
"Hmm..." Celestia thought for a moment, taking it all in and what to do next. "I see. I see. And I imagine you want to rectify the damage you caused here. But that's difficult since everyone else is after you."
"Cremie." Indeed. Fixing this was a challenge for sure. Alcremie sat down, taking in what she's caused. The Cream Pokemon has already passed by different areas and rendered them inactive. The further she went, the harder it would be to stop this. It doesn't matter what she went. "Alcremie."
"Ah, don't sulk, little one." Celestia walked up to the Fairy-Type, here to comfort her. "This can be undone, I assure you. It is rather shocking how much of an impact something like this made but it can be salvaged."
"Cremie?" She looked up at her, unsure as to how Celestia could fix this. Gardevoir and Arcanine would also look at her with those confident eyes. If Celestia had something in mind and planned to fix something, then her Pokemon had high levels of confidence that she could get it done.
"They want a bite out of you and I imagine that's the only way they can be satisfied. So I believe that a way to stop this might be-" Before Celestia could continue, she was interrupted by the walls on the underground being blown apart.
"Rhydon!" The Rhydon from before had found its way underground. Even when enchanted by the cream, the Pokemon did not lose their natural advantages and skills.
"Diggersby!" Joining Rhydon underground were other Ground-Types such as Diggersby, Piloswine, A Galarian Stunfisk and more. Eventually, the Pokemon would catch and they certainly did. The ones above would follow the path Rhydon make, using it to reach their target faster.
Celestia, Gardevoir and Alcremie squealed after being surprised by the Pokemon. Seeing how they were all travelling through the underground, they were getting closer by the minute. It was time to keep moving as Gardevoir would pick up Alcremie.
Rhydon would pave the way, using its body to widen the hole, allowing other Pokemon to pass through easily. But immediately, Rhydon and the others were met with an outburst of fire that was made by Arcanine. "Arcanine!" The Legendary Pokemon used Flamethrower on the ground once more, this time creating a wall of fire that covered this part of the underground. The flames were fierce, startling those who nearly got close to it as Arcanine gave Celestia and the others enough time to flee as well.
So far, nowhere was seemingly safe for Alcremie. Everyone wanted to eat her but Celestia would not give up on her. And despite the fact that she loved cake with all of her heart and vanilla was even her favourite flavour, she had the willpower to toss that aside for the safety of this Pokemon.
It was a rather delicious mess. The people and Pokemon yearned for one thing. A bite from Alcremie. But there were so many of them that wanted the same thing that it'd be impossible for them all to be satisfied. And this singular Alcremie just had to have the most powerful and unique vanilla scent out there. Plans to put an end to this problem before it gets too out of hand were already being hatched and thought of. For Applejack, it was those apple pies and her family chiming in and for Celestia, her plan had yet to be revealed when on the run as the journey continues.
Chapter 88 End.