//------------------------------// // Light of Hope // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Equestria. Ponyville. The Pokemon House. Nightfall. Arriving to sort out Zecora's disease was Ponyville's local Doctor, Dr. Horse, sent here by Fluttershy. After coming down with an illness along with her Zebstrika and Weavile thanks to a Despair Plant, the medical team was greatly needed. This involved the creatures of the Everfree that were also afflicted by this Despair Plant. "All right, Zecora. Let's have a listen to the old ticker." Dr Horse would begin examining Zecora and her Pokemon. Fluttershy stepped back to watch the doctor at work, hoping that it really was just a common disease that could be cured. After all, anything involved with Magehold that has diseases in them results in something that was difficult to cure. "Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.." He muttered. Judging by the widened expression on his face, he found something that wasn't to be taken lightly at all. "Do you think it's serious, doctor?" Fluttershy asked. Well, that wasn't a good sign. You said a plant did this?" "A Despair Plant. One from Magehold that ended up in Everfree. Zecora says that it summoned common illnesses all of a sudden. But I don't recognize this one on her, Zebstrika and Weavile." "Well, this isn't common at all. I'm afraid you have a very rare disease called Swamp Fever." "Tell me, doctor. What should I do? I've never heard of Swamp Fever, mind you." Zecora asked. "Unfortunately, very little is known about the disease. Except, of course, its symptoms – change of coat, coughing bubbles, shock sneezing, confusion, and the last stage, the afflicted turn into the very trees that drop the disease-spreading flower. But in this case, this was because of a Despair Plant, so...maybe you'll become one?" "She will?!" Fluttershy gasped, fearing that Zecora might turn into a Despair Plant. "Maybe. I'm not sure. But if this thing could summon Swamp Fever onto you, you might want to remove it from Everfree or anywhere near here." "Well, that's what we hope to do. But Despair Plants are so hard to manage. Roseluck's getting the elixir that can affect them but I'm not sure what it can do to a Despair Plant. What about a cure for Swamp Fever?" "A cure has yet to be discovered. I'm sorry, Zecora. But I can still tend to the others who've been hit by this plant. They're all in Everfree, right?" "Right. But it might end up coming to Ponyville next and summon other diseases." "Oof. Heading into the Everfree Forest...And taking care of the creatures there..." He shuddered. The Everfree Forest was still a terrifying place for many ponies even after everything that has happened. Its legacy was impossible to ignore. "Well, it's my job, so...bring them in if you can. I'll see what I can do. As for Swamp Fever, that's a hard wall to climb. I'll leave you all to it and wait for the other patients to show up." The Doctor would then walk off, but he would choose to stay here at the Pokemon House. He was expecting the Creatures of the Everfree to show up eventually and it was best to be around here. "It's going to be okay, you three. At least this isn't something that comes from Magehold, so I believe you'll be fine." Fluttershy said, relieved that this wasn't a Magehold-exclusive disease. "I don't know if it can summon Magehold diseases but I'd rather not test that out. There has to be somepony who can cure you of Swamp Disease though even if it's rare." "Oh. There's a healer of legend who never would fail. But I only know her from ancient folktales. Mystical and masked, she came in the night and cured everything from hoof cough to fur blight. What became of the healer, nopony knows, for she disappeared ages and ages ago." Zecora added. "The Mystical Mask! Of course! My parents would tell me about her whenever I was sick in bed." That's when it hit her. Fluttershy's memories struck something thanks to Zecora's words. Her childhood had been brought back for a moment and it involved something rather crucial. "There's so many accounts of her power to heal. She can't just be a legend. I think she's real." Zecora continued. She certainly had a point. In this world, Legends are usually real instead of being forever shrouded in mystery. The Pokemon were pure proof of that. "If that's who we need to cure you, then I'm going to find her! And I know just the pony who can help! But...she's elsewhere right now. Ash has gone to see her." Fluttershy referred to Twilight Sparkle, who she could always count on when it comes to a vast array of knowledge. "I can visit her library and try to find the book. Wait right here, Zecora!" Fluttershy flew off to Twilight's Castle, hoping to find something about this Mystical Mask. Staying behind were Audino, Raboot and Bayleef as they would keep an eye out for this Despair Plant Bullfrog. There was no telling how close it was to eventually going after Ponyville. And with so many Pokemon here, they were all at risk of being infected. Out in the countryside. Meanwhile, arriving at the scene was Ash along with his partner Pikachu and Dragonite. They had just shown up to see Twilight confronting the Vampires and the Despair Plants, all of whom were within this dark magical wall that weakened Twilight's magic and Espeon's Dazzling Gleam. Twilight was especially happy to see Ash while currently wrestling with the vampires. "Dragonite! Use Hyper Beam!" "Drago...Nite!" Holding her breath in, Dragonite charged up a powerful attack packed with high amounts of Infinity Energy. Her target was that circular wall that enclosed Twilight, Espeon and Absol into a rough spot. Afterwards, a mighty beam came roaring out of her mouth, shooting down like a meteor. The vampires gasped as the beam broke straight through the Magical Wall, hitting the Despair Plant Chimera. A fierce explosion erupted around Chimera's body, causing it to cry out. The shockwave of the Hyper Beam, as well as hitting it from the outside, blew away the Cobras that cornered Absol and Espeon. The vampires, along with Twilight Sparkle received the same treatment. The magical wall was obliterated by this outside force as everyone in it would tumble and roll on the ground. Twilight included. She wasn't safe from the force of the explosion, but she would rather take this than anything else. A crater was now formed where the magical circle once stood and yet this level of destruction was not enough to stop the Despair Plants. The vampires felt their eyes roll as they fell into compromising and uncomfortable positions. Their eyes certainly did not deceive them. Ash was here. And in light of recent events, he was a figure that the vampires always felt like they needed to be careful around. His knowledge of Pokemon is mainly the reason for that. "Twilight! Are you okay?!" Ash said, descending with Dragonite. He hopped off the back of the Dragon Pokemon, rushing to Twilight's side. "I am now...Nice aim by the way." Twilight chuckled before being helped up by Ash. With Ash's arrival, Twilight saw her chances elevate. Whenever he's around, she always feels a sense of security and guaranteed hope. Immediately, Despair Plant Chimera would unleash a furious roar, not taking that long to recover from the explosion. Even though it was the one who took the full force of that attack, it got up faster than anyone else did. Ash faced the Despair Plant Fusion, coming across one for the very first time. "Ash...I still need to get to the Crystal Empire, but I can't at this rate. The Despair Plants will end up following me there. What I need is a chance to use my Z-Move on all of the Despair Plants and they have to be in one spot. I don't have to worry about the vampires." Twilight pleaded. "I need this opportunity." "No problem. We'll give you that opportunity. You just need 'em in one spot, right? Got it." Ash grinned, aiming to grant that wish for Twilight. "Pikachu!" "Dra!" So did Pikachu and Dragonite. They heard Twilight loud and clear and would do whatever they could to give her an opening for her Z-Move. "Leave it to us!" Ash then held out all of his remaining Poke balls before throwing them into the air. Entering the scene were Gengar, Lucario, Sirfetch'd and Dracovish. At the ready, they performed their signature poses. Twilight would get behind Ash as he was now the one in charge of the battle. This was all for an opportunity to have Twilight unleash her Z-Move on every Despair Plant here. Ash and his Pokemon would be vanguards for her. "Do we need to take him in as well?" A vampire asked after seeing Ash., bringing up the possibility of the Lich Queen wanting Ash in Magehlod as well. "I've heard he has something similar to the alicorns. But her majesty hasn't requested for Ash Ketchum at all." "Need me for what?" Ash questioned, unaware of why they truly wanted Twilight before they destroy her. "It's a lot like what that Gardevoir did, Ash! They're shooting for my lifespan as an alicorn just so the Lich Queen have it!" said Twilight. "So that's it, huh?" Ash turned to face the Despair Plants and the vampires. The vampires noticeably stayed behind the Despair Plants the same way Twilight shielded herself with Ash's presence. "As if that's gonna happen." Immediately, the Despair Plant Fusion would lash out at Ash. Its massive root arms that also had mouths on the end of them came swinging in with such fury it forced the other Despair Plants to duck. "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt! Sirfetch'd, Fury Cutter!" Ash yelled as two of his Pokemon would take action against the massive mouth arms. Both leapt into the air, intercepting the roots with a blast of 100,000 volts and a leek sword. The Thunderbolt crashed into one of the arms, causing it to stop for a moment whilst Sirfetch'd cut another one in half. This then prompted the Cobras to slither in for an attack, now having Ash and his Pokemon as targets. "Gengar, Ice Punch! Lucario, Force Palm!" "Gengar!" Gengar laughed, flying in front of everyone as he stuck his tongue out at the Despair Plants. Gengar taunted them with his tongue out, wanting the Cobras to target him. And it certainly worked as they were aggravated by Gengar's taunt. The Cobras collectively lunged forward, aiming to bite the Shadow Pokemon, only to be met with a nasty surprise. Gengar utilized his Ghost-like properties, causing the Cobras to phase through him. Their attacks phased through him, prompting Lucario to take advantage of this. "Luca!" The Aura Pokemon stood behind Gengar, waiting for the opportunity. With his palm being powered up an orange energy, Lucario thrusted it forward, striking it onto the faces of one of the cobras. With this single collision, he expanded the energy of the Force Palm, adding some of his Aura into it. The aura enlarged the energy and formed it into a pulse, blowing the Cobras away. But it didn't stop there. Gengar followed up Lucario's attack, zipping to the Cobras. With his arms covered in an icy aura, he swung them both onto two Despair Plant Cobras. The impact would cause the grass bodies of the Despair Plants to freeze over while the rest were simply knocked back. Two Despair Plant Cobras were restrained, not destroyed. Even if they were only highly weak to one form of power, they would still have some of the weaknesses plants share. And that was already proven once thanks to Princess Celestia. And with his knowledge of Pokemon, Ice was a top contender next to Fire and other elements. "That's the ticket!" Ash grinned, having a way to halt the movements of the Despair Plants. The vampires would soon widen their eyes at this. Gengar rubbed his cold hands together, eager to freeze them all. "Go after the big one, Gengar!" "Gengar!" Gengar went for Chimera, planning to freeze it all over. The Shadow Pokemon targeted one of the roots that came off, placing his cold hands on it. He expected to freeze the Chimera as soon as possible, but that wasn't the expected outcome. Instead, the ice only managed to freeze the roots and could not go any further. That was where they stopped, surprising Gengar. Despair Plant Chimera had a greater durability than the regular Despair Plants and it certainly showed here. In retaliation, the Despair Plant Chimera would regrow one of its lost arms thanks to basking under the Moonlight, using it to slap Gengar away. "G-Gen!" Gengar cried out before recovering in midair with his rather rotund body. "This one's tougher, huh? Okay..." Ash grinned, up for the challenge of taking down the Despair Plant Fusion. "While he's busy...let's focus on getting Twilight Sparkle. He doesn't matter at all." The vampires would take the opportunity to try and retrieve Ash while he handled the Despair Plants. They used the shadows to mask themselves. "Boy...They're trying to evade you." However, another master of Shadows already saw through this. And that ended up being Sombra, speaking within Ash and assisting in his own way. "Thanks, Sombra." Ash thanked the former King of the Crystal Empire. "Dragonite! Dracovish!" "Dra!" However, Dragonite and Dracovish refused to let that happen. Understanding Ash's request just by looking at his eyes, the duo of Dragons intercepted the vampires, getting in front of them. The members of the Dread League gasped as they were already caught without much time being spent. With Sombra on Ash's side, the shadows could be capitalized on and observed. The Despair Plants continued their attack, this time with the Cobras scattering to try and strike from different sides. Some of them had already surrounded Sirfetch'd. "Use Detect!" "Sir!" With a flash of light in his eyes, Sirfetch'd zipped to the side, evading the vicious lunges from the Cobras which resulted in some of them crashing into each other. "Now, use Iron Tail!" "Pika! Pikachu!" Meanwhile, Pikachu would swing his hardened tail at the Cobras, slapping one of them in the face with the weight of steel. That one Despair Plant was knocked to the side before the rest returned the favour by collectively slapping Pikachu with their own tails. "Pika...!" Pikachu groaned before being caught by Lucario with one palm. The FIghting-Steel-Type saved Pikachu from falling to the ground before throwing him into the air. "Use Aura Sphere! Then use Thunderbolt!" "Luca!" It was another coordinated attack. Pikachu and Lucario combined their strengths from different positions. Pikachu became a ball of light in the air with another ball of blue energy forming into the paws of Lucario. In unison, Thunderbolt and Aura Sphere were thrown, travelling at the same speed. The two attacks met with each other, merging to form an Electrifying Aura Sphere which blew through the Cobras as if they were bowling pins. But the attack didn't stop there. It simply knocked the Cobras out of the way while focusing on Chimera, the biggest one here. In response, Chimera used its root mouths to counter this unified attack. Both mouths would merge to form a large mouth, connecting the two roots as the Chimera bit into the attack. The Lightning Aura Sphere came to a halt in front of these merged mouths which made a larger one. Despair Plant Chimera, after struggling with it a bit, completely crushed the attack with its fangs, causing it combust inside of it. The Chimera then separated its merged mouths, making them individual once more. Afterwards, both mouths would reveal that they did more than just bite. They unleashed poisonous beams as well, going straight for their targets. "Luca!" Lucario was perfect for this. He leapt right in front of the attacks, using his immunity to Poison to overrule the attacks. The beams blew up in front of the Aura Pokemon, stopping there. And as to be expected, they did nothing to Lucario. He stood there, unphased by the attacks. Lucario blew away the poisonous smoke before glaring at the Despair Plant Fusion with his crimson eyes. But his eyes quickly focused on the Despair Plant Cobras that approached him. The Aura Pokemon put his arms up, blocking the next attacks they brought along in the form of strong tackles and tail smacks. The attacks were heavy, even for Lucario. He felt parts of his arms tremble each time the Despair Plants struck at him. One of the Despair Plants did more than just hit Lucario, it went for something better. The Cobra opened its mouth wide to try and bite into Lucario's body, aiming to poison him. And those teeth definitely connect, pushing through Lucario's furry skin. "Hah! How do you like that?!" One of the vampires exclaimed after witnessing Lucario receive a bite from the Despair Plant. She and the other vampires firmly believed that Lucario was now another victim of Magehold's terrifying diseases. "Now your Pokemon is-" "Ca...!" But that was quickly shut down the moment Lucario blew away the Cobra from his mouth with a pulse of Aura. The Aura made the Cobra hiss out in pain as it flew into other Despair Plants. As for Lucario, the bite that entered his skin was non-existent as well as the main effect from the Cobra, showing no signs of poison. Not a trace of it was leaking out even though that was a direct hit. And not only that, Lucario looked completely fine. He shook his arm for a bit before standing there with his imposing glare and Aura, ready to continue brawling with these creations of Rosa Maledicta. "W-What?!" The vampires collectively gasped. "Sorry! But Lucario's immune to Poison!" Ash grinned, turning his hat to the side. The vampires were met with a disappointing fact. It should have already clicked when Lucario took the hit from the Chimera. Lucario and other Steel-Types scoffed at the presence of Poison. And this only showed how little the Dread League knew about Pokemon Typings. It was at this moment that they wished they actually paid attention to Fantina. The children of Magehold certainly know more about them when it comes to Pokemon and that was rather painful to their pompous and cruel hearts. If only they knew about Corrosion which was something that these Despair Plants certainly didn't possess. "We're gonna need a bit more if we can try and freeze it. But paralyzing doesn't sound too bad either." Ash adjusted his hat, aiming to go for the second form of elemental restraint. "Ready, everyone?!" "Pikachu!" Pikachu and his teammate were most certainly ready. It was time to go all in on these Despair PLants just so Twilight's chance to use her Z-Move could come. "Pikachu, use Makeshift Volt Tackle! Lucario, Double Team! Sirfetch'd, use Brutal Swing!" "Pi!" In a flash, Pikachu advanced, combining Thunderbolt and Quick Attack to form a temporary Volt Tackle without the recoil damage it brings. Following him was Lucario, who duplicated himself multiple times as Sirfetch'd was right behind them both. The Cobras responded by slithering while Chimera laid out those poisonous beams once more. Even though they don't affect Lucario, they can certainly affect the others. Pikachu leapt over one of the Cobras with his breakneck speeds, avoiding its venomous fangs while only focusing on Chimera. He even zigzagged past the other Cobras, evading them faster than they could bite at him. The clones of Lucario would occupy some of the Cobras, bashing their shoulders onto them. The Lucario clones would fade away after coming into contact with the Cobras but they were only there to distract them. The Cobras were focused on so many Lucarios that were unable to comprehend the fact that these were just clones. This allowed the real Lucario to continue moving without worrying about the Cobras all that much. And the same went for Sirfetch'd, who took advantage of this confusion. He swung his sword at the Cobra who had just witnessed one of the Lucario clones fade. The Cobra never saw Sirfetch'd's leek coming, receiving a fierce swing to the face which knocked it over. Sirfetch'd then raised his shield, seeing one of the poisonous beams approaching him. The Wild Duck Pokemon protected himself from the fearsome poison as it would explode right in front of him. It was a successful defence even if the outburst pushed Sirfetch'd back. His body even trembled a bit, struggling to keep his legs active as they slid on the damaged ground. "Gengar! Ice Punch on the ground! Everyone, jump!" "Gen...Gar!" As for Gengar, he kept the Ice approach going. Once more, he used Ice Punch, slamming his chilling fist onto the ground. A flash freeze occurred, quickly freezing the grass and encompassing most of the area. This frozen ground threw off the balance of the Cobras. Their slithering was ruined thanks to the ice, causing them to slide instead. As for Pikachu, Lucario and Sirfetch'd, they leapt into the air, avoiding the ice while Pikachu kept his speedy momentum. With his Makeshift Volt Tackle still active, Pikachu became a moving lightning bolt, lighting up the sky as he ascended. And as for Chimera, the ice only slightly affected its body, freezing small parts of it, but not enough. It flailed its powerful roots, hitting the frozen ground and cracking some of the ice. "Aim for the top of Chimera! Aura Sphere!" "Luca...!" Lucario held an Aura Sphere in his paw, joining Pikachu in his goal to hit the top of Chimera's body which was the flower with fangs in the middle. It was practically asking for something to go through it. Or in this case, crash into it. Pikachu zoomed through the air, soaring down and leaving behind a powerful flash of lightning that cracked in the air. Joining his descent was an Aura Sphere that was thrown by Lucario. The sphere passed by him, going for Chimera first. Despair Plant Chimera's centre was hit by Aura Sphere as it perfectly fit inside of its massive mouth. The Aura flared within the mouth of the Fusion, lingering there. It was until Pikachu arrived that it was finally set off. The Mouse Pokemon slammed the full force of his body into the centre, releasing a powerful electric explosion which was then followed by an azure explosion. Aura Sphere and Thunderbolt were both set off, summoning a truly fierce explosion. This explosion was so fierce that it reached the other Despair Plants that were still down on the ground thanks to the ice. Before they could take the opportunity to get back up, the explosion already reached them in a brilliant flash that Ash and his Pokemon experienced. Meanwhile, while Ash had his fierce battle with the Despair Plants, this whole time, Dragonite and Dracovish had been keeping the vampires at bay, preventing them from reaching Twilight for even a second. "Dragonite!" Dragonite used Hurricane, throwing off their balance in the air. With the vampires losing their aerial movements thanks to Dragonite's Hurricane, they would drop like flies, hitting their faces against the ice-cold ground. But those who didn't take flight tried pushing through Dragonite. Alas, Dragonite's strength far succeeded theirs. She even decided to bless them with her signature hug. Dragonite did love giving out hugs but this one had a different feeling to it. Instead of warm and soft, this hug was fierce and rough. The vampires grimaced, having their eyes nearly fly out of their faces after Dragonite gave them a power hug. Physical contact with Dragonite failed as she pushed them back with hers. One vampire climbed up Dragonite's back, digging her fangs into the Dragon Pokemon's neck. "D-Dra...!" Dragonite winced. But even this would not slow her down. Dragonite roared, throwing the vampire off her body by performing a swift yet strong spin. "Draco...Vish!" As for Dracovish, he supported Dragonite from the back, shooting out Water Guns to soak the vampires and hold them back even further. He was definitely far away from the vampires, being the ranged support while Dragonite took care of everything up close. But the one who was truly far from the vampires was Twilight Sparkle. Ash and his Pokemon had done an amazing job at keeping them away from her. Their tenacity matched that of Absol's, allowing them to fight back against the Dread League and keep them on their hooves. And this recent attack from Pikachu and the others was the moment Twilight was waiting for. After the explosion settled down, all of the Despair Plants had been paralyzed. Their bodies were twitching as lightning crackled out of their body. The Cobras could no longer slither as fast as they usually could. Not with this frozen ground and the paralysis. Even Chimera was stunned. The ice may have not worked but the paralysis did. The force of that attack was strong enough to bring the Despair Plant Fusion to a much slower state. "Okay! Just to be safe, use Electroweb!" "Pika!" With one more attack, Pikachu created an orange-yellow orb of electricity on his tail which was larger than anything he's made so far. He then flung the orb, which then transformed into a circular net of yellow electricity wide enough to hold Chimera and the Cobras. As if they weren't slowed down enough, they now had a massive net of electricity to hold them back even further. The next trapped them all, giving them an extra shock in the process. Now they were truly trapped, unable to break free at the moment. "Okay, Twilight! It's all you!" Ash turned to the Princess of Friendship, giving her the cue to use her Z-Move. "Okay! Thanks, everyone!" Twilight already had the Twilightium Z out. She had all the time in the world to unveil it and with the Despair Plants trapped, the chance to strike them with their greatest weakness as now. With the Z-Crystal entering her Z-Ring the power of Alola and Arceus would flare out, flowing through her body. "I'll prove right here and now that these things aren't indestructible!" With her powerful voice, The lights started flowing in the direction of Espeon and Absol. Twilight moved her hooves around in two different ways. The motion of water, swishing from left to right as well as making an arch shape with her hooves. After making the arch, she then spread her wings out as they became a part of the pose too. The Princess of Friendship had then put both her hooves forward. Espeon and Absol felt their bodies glow with the Magic of Friendship exuding out of them along with drops of Arceus' power. Twilight's eyes opened as her voice suddenly echoed throughout the night. Just like before, the golden figure of Arceus materialized behind her, growing to such a height that it could be seen from afar by anyone from the countryside. Twilight then pulled off the star pose by putting both her front hooves out, maintaining her balance. That was the end pose as the lights then reached their peak. "Eve! Absol! Harmonic Twilight Starblaze!" "Espeon!" "Absol!" Millions of Cutie Marks that represented Twilight's appeared, flowing into the sky before then merging into one super-sized version of Twilight's Cutie Mark. Espeon and Absol then jumped into the air as they were pulled into the Cutie Mark. Their bodies resonated with it as the star started vibrating rapidly, letting out stardust. After crying out with all of their might as a devastating purple blast was shot out of them with brilliant radiance, blazing through the air. Unable to move, the Despair Plants took the hit. And as a bonus, the vampires were stunned by the light of the attack Both by amazement and the fact that it was harming them even when they were away from it. The Despair Plants felt the power of Arceus punish their bodies. A light unlike anything they've ever felt before was flowing constantly. They were powerless to stop this or even break out of it. As such, they were disintegrated by the light, vanishing after the attack blew up. And this time, a seed wouldn't emerge from their defeat. There was nothing left to do so. The explosion was fierce but the aftermath was gentle, leaving behind light particles that gently flew away into the night sky. "T-They destroyed the Despair Plants?! I-Impossible!" The vampires were flabbergasted, bewildered, confused and perplexed by what they had just witnessed. The seemingly indestructible Despair Plants had been destroyed. And with the usage of the Z-Move, the Z-Crystal's power would fade, needing time to recharge. But if Twilight had the opportunity to use this power repeatedly, she would. "Hah...That gets them off my back..." Twilight was still greatly relieved with this. The Despair Plants would no longer chase her down now that they were gone. That was one problem that she managed to stave off. "Awesome, you three. Now..." Ash, after praising Twilight, Espeon and Absol, faced the vampires as they were still there. "I wanna get my chance to finish things off." Ash and his Pokemon had more energy left in them than Twilight did. The vampires hissed at the group, showing little fear. But it was still there as seen by how they slowly backed up. Pikachu smirked, already lighting his body up with electricity. Espeon even had some more in the tank left with the chance to use Dazzling Gleam once more, this time with full brightness. "Curses! It's just a strategic retreat!" The vampires would then take flight, leaving the scene instead of confronting them any further. They didn't even need to combust to flee. "We'll get you for this." They chose not to engage further with the group and changed their plans immediately. "It's not like we were gonna go after them anyway." Ash sighed. "We're just going for the Crystal Empire, that's all." "Right. There might still be enough time to get there before something awful happens." Twilight went up to Ash. "And I also need to help Togekiss. That poison could be the end of her if something isn't done." "No need to worry. We'll figure something out, okay?" Ash reassured her. For now, they just had to focus on reaching the Crystal Empire. With no one chasing Twilight down now, she was free to keep moving. And considering where the train was originally headed, all they had to do was follow the tracks via aerial flight. Twilight's Castle. Meanwhile, over at Twilight's Castle, Fluttershy had just arrived, counting on Twilight's library to have something involving the Mystical Mask. In Fluttershy's mind, now that she's been brought up, she might have left behind something that could cure Zecora, Zebstrika and Weavile of Swamp Fever. And by extension, Chrysalis. At least, that was what she was hoping for. But it wasn't Fluttershy that showed up at Twilight's Castle. As said before, Roseluck came here as well. The earth pony showed up to use the elixir that once belonged to her big sister Rosa Maledicta but was now remade by Twilight and Zecora. Fluttershy and Roseluck ran into each other in the exact same room where piles of books could be found. "Did you get it?" Fluttershy asked. "I did," Roseluck replied as her partner Roserade was holding the elixir. Since it was larger than what it previously was, Roserade had to carry this with most of her might. This would usually require the magic of a unicorn or alicorn to do so. "All that's left is to pour this thing on the Despair Plant. I don't know what it'll do though. It brought two plants to life and that's about it." "That was just an accident that happened. And it was a great one too. Twilight and Zecora wanted to try calm them down more than anything." Fluttershy replied. She understood Roseluck's worries since this would be the first time the elixir was tested on a Despair Plant. "Oh! Maybe you can bring Daisy and Paradise with you!" "Those two? Are you sure?" "Mhm! They spoke with the Despair Plant Garden once! Since they're Flora Ponies, they're more connected to flowers than anyone. They even made the garden hold back on us which was for the better. If the elixir goes wrong, you can have them help out." "Okay...I guess that can work." Roseluck nodded in agreement. Fluttershy was greatly onto something. And since she was already in Twilight's castle the Flora Ponies were bound to be here. "I'll ask them for help! What about you though?" "I'm looking for a book about the Mystical Mask. I hope it's in time since it could give me an answer for the illnesses Zecora and her Pokemon are facing. I really need Twilight here though to find that exact book. She'd know which is which." "Just ask Starlight and Spike for help," Roseluck suggested before walking off. "I bet they can help you find that book. Celestia knows I really need them to help carry this thing." Those were her last words before she left the room. Roseluck left Fluttershy with her own good suggestion. Starlight and Spike could make up for this. Granted, they were asleep right now but during this event, sleeping was the first thing that shouldn't be done. The Black Crusade was not a silent event even if it creeps up on others. But this was just the beginning. This was only the first night of the Black Crusade. It was a young night and the vampiric forces would only continue showing up. All the while, the threat of Yveltal's destruction was lingering in the air. As the journey continues. Chapter 129 End.