Equestria. Vanhoover. Afternoon.
The mansion of Skyblue Shine and Premium Polish. Now it was being used by Lena Ketchum. And at this moment, she had invited Team Rocket to her home after saving them from the cold. Wearing outfits from the past to keep them warm, the indoors were also warm. It only made sense considering where it was built but Skyblue Shine and Premium Polish, it was impossible for them to get cold.
"Hey...Ain't this that android's home?" said Meowth, remembering hat home the two of them used to have before things spiralled out of control.
"I use this place as my temporary base. If I wish to solve these issues, I need a place to stay. This place was rather vacant and free so I decided on it." Lena explained. "Modern-day housing is truly impressive."
"Mmm1 Great choice!" Jessie's eyes lit up. She was in something so luxurious and fancy. It was one of her many dreams and thanks to tagging along with Lena Ketchum, she could now live here. She never even thought about the option of just taking the house. She believed it was under Celestia's watch but it turns out, that was not the case.
"Eh." James wasn't really feeling the same way. This reminded him too much of his home. His many homes ot be exact. Whether it was the one in Hoenn or Sinnoh, he could do without the luxury as he focused on what was important. "What do you even do, Lena? What issues do you even have on your plate?"
"Well...All I have to do is fix the Space-Time Distortions that have suddenly appeared at a rapid pace. After all, I came through a Space-Time Distortion myself."
"Is that how you showed up to the modern day?" James questioned once more.
"I came here to the present by accident. But I also showed up in a different time before this. I come from an era beyond just 100 years. I was dragged from my home because of a Space-Time Distortion and ended up in an era more advanced than what I once knew. And it happened once more except this time, I appeared in the modern day."
Lena has been through this more than once. Realistically, she wasn't even supposed to be here. She was far from the era she once lived in. On top of that, she was picked during a time where she was still rather young. For what reason? That was unknown.
"But! That is what I hope to figure out!" Lena raised her arm. "The sooner I solve it all, the sooner I can enjoy everything else!"
"All by yourself?" Meowth noticed that since she was on her own, it looked like Lena was doing this solo with no assistance whatsoever.
"Well, yes All I have to do is retrieve the shards that were scattered." Lena sat on the couch. "These special shards are key to my mission and finding them will take some time. But I suppose doing it myself only makes it harder on myself. I do love a good challenge, however."
"Did you say shards We'd love to help out." Jessie slid over, rubbing her hands together. She was already thinking of riches since shards have been brought up.
"You would actually help me?!" Lena sat up, gasping at what she was hearing.
"Of course! It's the least we can do for the one who saved our lives. Right?" Jessie shifted her eyes, gazing at James and Meowth.
"Oh, yes, yes!" They collectively nodded, agreeing with Jessie. They were mainly doing this for the advantage of reaching Ash's Pikachu and it looked like all their chances were starting to rise up. They would have to mask their names since they would be around Lena. Jessie and James would take on new personas and perhaps a slight hair change. The outfits they were currently wearing were rather helpful.
"Amazing!" Lena got off the couch, raising both her fists into the air. "This is a most wonderful day! This will help me greatly! Oh, I have not been around people from the present until now. This will be absolutely fun to explore."
"You look like you've gotten a head start with those clothes you're wearing." James pointed out Lena's modern-day clothes.
"Oh, these? I was lucky to have found them. They do match me very well. Will I have to speak differently now that I am interacting with you?" Lena questioned. She was rather unaware of the modern-day customs since she's been going solo ever since she showed up here.
"Not really. But It's not like you can learn modern-day language that fast." Jessie laughed at that notion.
"Hmmm..." But much like Ash, Lena was up for the challenge. She closed her eyes, taking in everything she's heard thus far. From the way Jessie, James and Meowth talk to even how Akari, Arezu and everyone else she knew during that era communicated. "I'm pretty positive I could totally do it."
"Gh!" Jessie pulled back, stunned that Lena learned so fast. Lena then put on a wide grin as she felt like she was going to have a lot of fun with Team Rocket. Without a doubt.
"Since we'll be working alongside each other, here is the plan!" An excited Lena Ketchum said, pulling one more thing out of her massive bag. This bag as truly all purpose, having everything she needs. Especially for this mission she was on. And in this bag, after digging for a few seconds, she found what she needed.
Lena slammed a piece of paper onto the table. This paper was none other than a plansheet, showing off what Lena had to do. On it, drawings of the shards were shown off as they all appeared in 18 different colours. But there were way more than 18 of them around. Team Rocket leaned in, gazing at this plansheet which also involved the Space-Time Distortions along with someone else who they couldn't quite make out. Now that they were looking at it, Lena was prepared to lay out the game plan for them.
"So...here is what we'll do."
Meanwhile, making their way to Vanhoover was Ash's group, consisting of Flurry Heart, Raleigh, Skystar, Shooting Star and all of their Pokemon. Trying to stop them but failing to do so was Kimia's Gardevoir who was right behind Passion They were very much far from Canterlot by this point.
And the way they were travelling was by sea. Specifically, as bodies of light. At this very moment, Ash and his friends were all covered in a golden aura, allowing them to take flight. The same golden aura that was used by the King of the Sea himself. Ash was obviously flying with it but just like when he first obtained it, he had the power to bestow it upon others.
Multiple golden lights were zooming through the air, illuminating the land below. Various Pokemon and ponies would look up to see these lights, believing that they were shooting stars in the azure sky. Well, one of them was certainly a Shooting Star.
"Ash! This is amazing!" Raleigh said, flying through the air. "You can just do this?!"
"Well, not always. I gotta get to the Sea Temple to make this happen." Ash explained while putting his hands behind his head, looking completely casual. "Pretty cool, huh?"
"I can do this naturally, but this is much faster!" Skystar uttered. She was already capable of taking flight and going underwater but the speed that this power gave her surpassed her natural flying speed.
"I can't breathe underwater so it's a bonus for me!" An excited Flurry Heart said, twirling through the air.
"Gardevoir..." Kimia's Gardevoir sighed, lowering her head while also focusing on flying. Meanwhile, Passion was having the time of her life, twirling through the air.
"Pika!" Zooming past the two of them as Pikachu who was trying to get ahead. Competing with Pikachu were Dragonite and Gengar, going at their best speed. Dragonite, combined with this mystical power, made for a rather swift Pokemon. Dragonite ended up overtaking them all. Normally, Dragonite could go across the globe in just under 16 hours. At this speed, it was way less.
"I think by now, we should be somewhere near Vanhoover." Flurry Heart uttered, knowing her geography.
"Great! Here I come, grandma!" said Ash with a wide smile on his face. Eager to see his ancestor, his speed suddenly increased, Ash moved at greater speeds than before, even passing Dragonite, which greatly shocked the Dragon Pokemon. The King of the Sea was way ahead of everyone else.
"H-How are you-" Shooting Star stammered.
"Sorry! As the King of the Sea, I get a crazy boost in speed!" Ash shrugged, hiding this from the others until it was time to show it. And he certainly surprised them. "See ya there!" He would continue moving ahead of them, gradually becoming just a yellow glint in the air. The others try keeping up with Ash, soon involving themselves in this race.
The golden lights in the air were faster than ever now, getting closer to Vanhoover. The distance to Vanhoover has certainly increased now that the world was bigger. A bigger Earth meant that lands were stretched out, although some remained the same, having zero changes to their size.
In the distance, Ash could see some snow, confirming to him that Vanhoover was just up ahead. He was very much close to his grandma without a doubt.
Vanhoover.
At last, they had arrived at Vanhoover. When arriving here, they kept the golden lights around them. They certainly couldn't afford to land since if they did, they would have no way to access it again. The Sea Temple was back near Canterlot after all. So now, it just looked like multiple golden lights were in the air constantly. That is until Ash slowly descended towards the one place his ancestor was said to be. The mansion.
He still kept himself in the air when descending, making sure to keep the Power of the King of the Sea active. He would try looking inside the mansion. His face pressed against it along with Pikachu. The two of them rapidly moved their eyes all over the place, gazing at the interior of this mansion and how clean it appeared. Even after all of this time, it was in tip-top shape with no form of vandalization whatsoever.
"Hmm...No sign of her yet. Maybe she's upstairs?" Ash wondered.
"Pikachu..."
"Luca..." Lucario would try sensing Lena's Aura inside the mansion, closing his eyes and focusing only on the mansion. Everything turned dark for him except for the Auras of everyone else. However, he would soon find out that her Aura was non-existent. It could not be found in the mansion at all. "Rrr."
"Not here, huh?" Ash looked over at Lucario. "Man...So, grandma's already gone?"
"How far do think she's gone? If she's been coming back to the mansion, then your ancestor might return soon." Raleigh replied, looking at the other possibility.
"Probably. Okay! We'll wait here until she comes back!"
"Gardevoir!" Kimia's Gardevoir thought otherwise. There was no way they were going to stand or rather hover around here just to wait for Lena Ketchum to show up. They have already left Canterlot while the Royal Phantasy was ongoing and this was not the time to waste even more time.
"Voir. Gardevoir." But Passion reassured her fellow Gardevoir that it would be fine. Passion was rather used to scenarios such as this. Although, she is usually with Celestia. All the other Pokemon would press their faces against the many windows. Gengar would even phase through the mansion, looking at the upstairs rooms. But of course, Lena was not present at all.
"What are you doing, Ash?" Naturally, this brought attention to them. A nearby Vanhoover resident carrying some boxes in a carriage would take notice of this.
"Hey. Have you seen someone that looks a lot like me? She's my ancestor and I was hoping I could meet her. Luna said she'd be around here..."
"Oh, her? Yes, she does look a lot like you. It caught us all of guard when we first saw her." He slowly nodded his head, remembering the day Lena Ketchum appeared at Vanhoover. "She's been going back and forth, heading to maybe the Delibird Snow Fields."
"Is that where she is right now?" asked Flurry Heart.
"Probably. But there are other places nearby besides that area." The stallion continued. "I think I saw her leaving with three others this time, so at least she's not going at it solo."
"Delibird Snow Field? What else is next to that?" Ash turned to Flurry Heart, hoping he could find out as soon as possible.
"Uh...let's see. This is a cold region, so there's a lot of shivering areas. There's Horsea Caps, Whitemane Berg and the Ceaseless Field. That's all the cold regions here."
"Works for me! We haven't lost her yet!" Ash pumped his fists. He could still catch up to his grandma, especially with the power of the Sea on his side. "And uh...who were the other two she was with?"
"Beats me." That was all the Vanhoover resident could share as he continued on with his day. But at least he shared something valuable with them. Lena was bound to show up again but there were other places that she was potentially at. Ash wasted no time, leaving the scene with his golden aura. He'd much rather head to Lena's whereabouts rather than wait for her.
Whitemane Berg.
In this case, Lena was at Whitemane Berg. But now, she was no longer alone. She had Team Rocket on her side. After laying out her plans to them, they were already on their first mission with Ash's Ancestor. The goal was to find these shards which were the key to these Space-Time Distortions apparently. There was something of great importance with them especially since they had colours that appeared as all 18 types. Currently, Lena's Team could be seen standing on top of an icy cliff.
"What are we even doing here? Can we even find those shards?" Jessie said, watching her step as she was pretty high up. One wrong move could be very much fatal.
"I've looked all over the cold regions, but so far, I haven't found any. Perhaps other areas will have what I need. With you three with me, it might be easier." Lena explained.
"Yeah, but why up here?" Jessie still couldn't see the point of being so high up on this icy peak. Especially since there was a massive lake below that would most likely freeze any of them in a flash.
"Watch this." Lena winked at them. From her pockets which were rather large, the ancestor of Ash would pull out something that was never in her All-purpose bag. From her pocket, she revealed a flute. It was a rather old flute too. "The Celestica Flute. With this, I can get around at an easier pace."
"What's a flute supposed to do?" All of Jessie's questions would be answered as soon Lena started playing the flute. She carefully played, focusing on nothing else but the flute. The sound that the flute made wasn't exactly a full song. It was rather short, sounding more like a melody than anything else. The sound of the flute caused an echo across the snowland and it certainly wasn't strong enough to cause an avalanche. Suddenly above them all, a mystical and divine flash of energy went off. This was thanks to the flute which wasn't ordinary. Not at all.
Out of this divine crack in the sky emerged a Hisuian Braviary.
"Braviary!" Lena had just summoned a Braviary by playing this flute which greatly caught Team Rocket off guard. And since they were bewildered, this allowed Lena to instantly to cling onto the Hisuian Variant.
"Thank you, Braviary. But we will be having some new passengers." Lena said to the Hisuian Braviary, who she has already formed a bond with. But it didn't seem to be her Pokemon since there wasn't a sign of a Poke Ball being used. Instead, it as a flute.
"H-How did you do that?!" Jessie stuttered, needing new answers immediately.
"You can summon Pokemon?!" James's jaw drop as it looked like he hit the jackpot. He and the rest of the Team Rocket were now starting to believe that Lena was an easy way to get new Pokemon.
"Only a few of them. The Noble Pokemon that come to my aid are good friends of mine that I can count on. And they've helped me move across the land. Braviary here obviously gets me through the skies." Lena would then rub Braviary's feathers, making him put on a face of pleasure. "With his help and the help from the others, we can find the shards."
"Viary!"
"Mmm...We've definitely struck gold~" Jessie was all giddy like a kid in a candy store. She didn't waste any time, performing an impressive leap that allowed her to get on Braviary's back. Thankfully, Braviary was large enough to carry anyone on his back while also holding on to Lena from below. James would do the same as Meowth would be right at the front since he was the smallest. Team Rocket were already about to be in for a ride. And this as the first of many based on Lena's words.
"Alright, Braviary! After we finish our search around here, take us to another area! This time, let's head to the place known as the Changeling Lands."
"The Changeling Lands?!" The Trio collectively bellowed. Their ears did not deceive them. Lena's new destination was about to be the Changeling Lands, located in the Faye Mountains. Definitely a leap from Vanhoover. But before they could say anything, Braviary already accelerated, leaving the cliff.
Lena's search was already looking to be all over Equestria. These shards were hard to find for her and even with extra help, there was still a level of difficulty considering they have been scattered. And shards definitely don't appear in colossal sizes that often. But she wasn't the only one searching for them. At this very moment, tracking down his ancestor was Ash Ketchum as the journey continues.
Chapter 261 End.