Equestria. Ponyville. Twilight's Castle. The Pokemon Festival. Day.
A new day has come. And waking up to this new day were the four Twilights. Each of them went through the same experience, encountering Twilight Luminaria in their dreams. When waking up in unison, each of the Twilights were currently free from Twilight Luminaria's control. For now.
Now, they knew that there was a chance for her to return, all thanks to Twilight Moonlight's magic growing to a high enough level. Opening her eyes, she met with Daisy and Paradise who stayed by her side since night.
"Are you alright?! You just fell over all of a sudden!" Paradise asked. "Were you sleeping or..."
"It didn't feel like you were sleeping. We watched you the whole night and you weren't snoring or anything like that." said Daisy.
"You waited all night for me to wake up?" The Princess of Friendship blinked. A smile formed on her face after hearing that. She was glad to have such good friends by her side, even if they see her as their mother. "Thanks. I'm fine now but...I have a lot more work ahead of me."
"Are you still taking the cloak with you?" Daisy questioned as her eyes followed Twilight's movements, seeing her pick up the Cosmic Cloak which would cover the plasma around Nate's body.
"Yes. Glad I didn't forget about it. But the dream I had, even though it was 100% real..." Before she could continue moving, Twilight came to an immediate halt. "I didn't think Twilight Luminaria would be like that. I thought she'd be an ally but...destroying his soul and making someone new from it? That can't be."
Now, she didn't know what to think. All four Twilights had Luminaria inside of her and at any moment, she could potentially take over just to try and reunite and merge them all. Twilight Sparkle thought that Twilight Luminaria would be something else. While her goal was seemingly noble, destroying another's soul and replacing it with a new being who will lose all memories of the past just did not sit right with her.
Twilight had to wonder if it was just the potential return of Prisma that was the problem. Perhaps, the return of these two individuals from a lost world was the problem. Stopping Prisma's return was still vital but now, Twilight Sparkle thought about stopping Twilight Luminaria's return as well
"Um...What do you mean?" Unfortunately, Daisy and Paradise were not caught up to speed. They weren't even aware about the whole Prisma situation, completely focused on doing their own thing.
"It's fine. I'll tell you all later. Right now, I have to get this to Nate. I'll be right back, okay?" Continuing on her way, Twilight Sparkle was off.
Manehattan.
As for Twilight Moonlight, who took the brunt of everything that happened last night, she was no longer in a magic bubble, but instead, she was given a bed to sleep on just so that she could heal. She soon woke up at the same time as Twilight Sparkle, meeting with the ceiling of the Manehattan Hotel. She didn't have to worry about her body being restrained, but now she had to worry about it being taken over. After seeing the ceiling, she then saw the face of Pinkie Pie and Applejack looming over her.
"Morning sunshine. Or moonlight." Pinkie Pie snickered. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine. I'm fine." She sat up. After recovering, Moonlight looked at her hooves, seeing no restraints or any sign of magic around her. She was a free pony. "I'm still out of the bubble? This is surprising."
"Princess Luna wanted you to get some sleep. She may be strict, but she never bothers anyone when their sleeping." Pinkie Pie explained.
"Where's Ash Ketchum?!" Immediately, she had to know where Ash was, wanting to capture him once and for all.
"Ash left. No use trying to look around Manehattan." But Applejack shut all possibility of Twilight Moonlight pursuing Ash at all. She was too late to do so.
"So...I've failed yet again." Irritated and frustrated, Moonlight gripped the bed sheets and clenched her teeth. "Impossible. I keep failing to catch him. How? I've trained so hard and yet he slips away from me every time."
"That's how it is. Ash is tricky like that. It was never gonna be easy taking him away." Applejack answered, taking her hat off and somewhat feeling for Moonlight. Working hard to get nowhere no matter how hard you try can be frustrating.
"That can't be though." But to Moonlight, that wasn't a good enough excuse. She has dedicated her life to this and now that she's finally had opportunities to enter this universe, back to back, Moonlight has failed her mission. It made her start to wonder. "Am I not as good as I thought I was...?"
"Hey, don't feel too bad about it." Pinkie Pie zipped over after seeing Moonlight's serious frown transformed into a doubtful one. "I mean, I'm not all for targeting my friends and everything, but you're doing your best. You're doing it all for the right reasons but going about the wrong way, that's all."
"There is no other way. I even heard it from Twilight Luminaria within the Dream Realm. Destruction is the only solution as violent as it may be. The option to further seal his soul won't do any good. I've been dedicated to stopping Prisma from the beginning and seeing him level my home even if I had no attachments, drove my dedication even further. Maybe if he was still his own separate being, I wouldn't have to target Ash Ketchum and the others. But I must."
"Can't think of anything else, can ya?" Applejack shook her head.
"You'd do whatever you can to protect your home, wouldn't you? In this case, your entire world."
"We would. And we have. But we never give up on the second option." Pinkie Pie explained. "I mean, sometimes when we try out the second option, it doesn't go so well, so option one works out in the end. But most of the time it works!"
"Tch. I haven't given up just yet. I'm not one to doubt my own abilities...but clearly, something is wrong. The first time was annoying, but I didn't think too much about it. But after that, I'm surprised the Arcane Institute didn't punish me at all. When I return to my universe, I doubt much will change."
"Ain't it obvious? They know how hard it is too." Putting on a wide grin was Applejack, who couldn't help but boast a bit.
"So...What methods do you even use?" Curious, Twilight Moonlight decided to ask something that's been on her mind recently.
"Well, usually, we try and understand each other. That's what we do. It doesn't always work which is a bummer. I don't think Ghetsis or Empress Twilight are gonna understand us. No way." Pinkie had to admit that it wasn't a sure-fire solution. There were just some individuals who were beyond understanding.
"Yup. That's when a good ol' Pokemon Battle solves everything." Applejack added.
"And you've succeeded every time, eh? I suppose it's your universe, so who am I to judge it?" Twilight Moonlight pondered for a moment. "Either way, Prisma isn't limited to one universe, even if all of them are starting to show up at this one spot. Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not doing this to destroy your world. I'm doing it to protect it."
"Mmm...Attacking the Tree of Beginning and other places doesn't seem like protecting, honestly."
"Because if my group never tackled them, it would've been too late. Prisma is a pre-emptive character, so we have to keep up and outpace him. Because of that wish Ash Ketchum made, everything from that Lost Universe will return. Destruction is all that we have on the table. As long as everything Prisma has set up is terminated, then the possibility of him showing up will leave his resources greatly crippled."
"Forget about it for one day." Pinkie Pie suggested. Hearing all of this gave Pinkie Pie one strong conclusion in her mind.
"What?
"Yeah! Destruction this, destruction that. You sound like you work a little too hard. Kick back, relax, take a load off. I mean, you didn't really do that even inside of that bubble."
"I don't have time to rest. I have time to continue my mission. Plus, Twilight Luminaria brought one other benefit and that's by giving me a longer time in this universe and I don't plan to waste it. Even then, it feels like I'm making zero progress. Everything in this universe is so difficult to deal with and I don't know why..."
"Then don't waste it. Have some fun." Pinkie nudged Twilight Moonlight, encouraging her to try something else entirely that doesn't involve capturing Ash. "I can tell. You're pretty tired~"
"Kh! You wish!" Moonlight leaned back. "I'm just...slightly bewildered. I went through quite the experience after all. Perhaps I need more time to rest and gather my thoughts. Then, I'll be completely fine afterwards."
"Excuses. It won't bite, I swear!" Pinkie thought otherwise, hugging Twilight Moonlight and pulling her off the bed. Twilight Moonlight gasped after being pulled away. Immediately, she tried using her magic to force the earth pony off.
"W-What the?! My magic?!"
"Well...Princess Luna still didn't wanna take her chance." Applejack revealed that while Luna didn't interrupt her sleep and let her rest peacefully, she was still cautious of Twilight Moonlight and for good reason. Twilight Moonlight groaned as she was currently powerless despite being able to move freely.
Thus, this left her in the clutches of Pinkie Pie. To many, that was a benefit. But to some, especially newcomers, it was shaping to be an overwhelming experience.
Pinnaculum Pegalysium. Second Wind's Palace.
"What?!" A thunderous shout came from the castle for many to hear. It was done by the Grand Queen Second Wind, who was hit with rather unpleasant news. It was only now that she received the news of a specific event that happened over at the original and true Pegalysium. "What do you mean it was attacked?! With that large of a numerical advantage?! How?!"
"S-Sorry...We didn't expect it at all." One of the soldiers said, absolutely intimidated and almost blown back by Second Wind's shout. "We didn't think they'd keep us that occupied too. We struggled to bring this information to you."
"My Rift Factory..." This was about Second Wind's Rift Factory. "Those intruders could've ruined everything. If I'm to have all the Rift Energy I need in this new world, losing even a bit will ruin all the progress! How badly was it damaged?"
"This woman who looked a lot like Ash Ketchum used a strange power to pierce through the factory's foundations with ease. Not only that, but the Unown had no effect on her. Their Hidden Power couldn't touch her at all. It was if she was immune and could say no to any damage or effect done by it."
"You have to be joking? Of course, the name Ash Ketchum had to come up in this conversation. I don't know how, but somehow, this is all his fault." Second Wind paced back and forth, thinking about what to do. "I get away from the island and days later, this happens? Paramount might even catch notice of this and my Rift Factory plan will be foiled even more."
"We can always repair it with the Unown's power." Another soldier suggested. "So the damage won't be too significant."
"Yes, I know that you fool! That's not the issue here! It should've been in absolute secrecy and judging by what you're telling me...they got away, didn't they?" She grizzled her teeth, hoping that for the soldiers' sake, these intruders didn't get away at all.
"T-They got away." Alas, they got away. That was not what Second Wind wished to hear. She was so irritated by that, her own magic started showing up around her wings as her mouth and eyes were rapidly trembling.
"Of course they did...You said one of them looked like Ash Ketchum correct? And the other four?"
"Unidentifiable, I'm afraid." Once again, Team Rocket proves to have near-flawless disguises that only get broken and torn off afterwards.
"Curse it! Daybreaker already has plans to advance on this world and crush our enemies, but she's taking far too long. If this persists, I'll have to take matters into my own hooves. But even so...I'm lacking the necessary firepower compared to before." Second Wind bit her hoof, rapidly thinking of a solution to this unforeseen issue.
Even though she got what she wanted, thanks to the efforts of Ash and his friends, she lost a great ordeal of things that would've made her unstoppable. The Rift Factory was meant to rectify that, but even that has suffered some damage. Second Wind still had plants to conquer the original Pegalysium and add it to her own while also exacting revenge on Equestria for getting in her way repeatedly.
"The best form of firepower we can possibly rely on is Necrozma. That Pokemon has titanic potential in every conceivable way. All it needs is enough light, but its hunger is so hard to please." Necrozma came to mind. Second Wind was turning to Daybrekaer's Pokemon in this scenario.
Before she could think of anything else, the Unown suddenly began to communicate with Second Wind. They interrupted her train of thought, sharing something vital with her. It was related to Lena Ketchum and how she managed to avoid the effects of Hidden Power.
"...What? You know why she was immune?" Second Wind translated. She was the only one who could understand the Unown. "You sensed a great ordeal of light in her possession, you say?" At that moment, a smile formed on her face. There was a golden opportunity. "I see. It relates back to the Creator Deity Arceus. That is how you were able to sense that power."
"You mean...the Creator of all things Pokemon?!" The soldiers gasped.
"But of course. Only the Unown would know about this. I always knew that Arceus had a plethora of light. More than any Pokemon in existence. Arceus has always been an end goal for all of us and we haven't crossed that bridge yet. But fragments of his power is another story. The woman was apparently harbouring enough light to feed Necrozma. It might even satisfy him."
"So...W-We're going back for her?"
"But of course. They're telling me she was holding some shards in her hand. That is what gave her the power to flee from you fools. We've been focusing on different worlds just to give Necrozma and not as much on our own world. As much as I'd like to avoid that, this might be the optimal choice. Tell me where this woman is? How far did she get? Even if she did get far, I'll make sure we track her down."
Pegalysium.
As for regular Pegalysium? They were not yet aware of the Rift Factory that was hidden somewhere. But it has definitely been seen by Lena Ketchum's group, who were more focused on finding the shards rather than foiling Second Wind's plans. Team Rocket knew about Second Wind and her actions, already aware of the things she has done and the Rift Factory was just another piece of information to carry.
Flying through the skies of Pegalysium, moving through the clouds was none other than Lena Ketchum herself. And she wasn't flying with Hisuian Braviary. Instead, she was flying by herself. Nothing else attached, except for a beautiful light blue aura around her body.
"This is amazing!" Lena chuckled, spinning through the air and moving through some more clouds. This was all thanks to the Flying-Type Shards she successfully found. Her senses were right, leading her to the shards which were hidden in Pegalysium. This is what it felt like to fly and Team Rocket and Diadora soon felt that same joy.
"Don't drop me! Don't you dare drop me!" Screaming at the top of her lungs was Jessie, who was holding onto James for dear life, even though she had the same aura around her.
"We can both fly...You won't drop!" James groaned as Jessie was clawing at his face and chest when holding onto him. James was already comfortable with flying and so was Meowth.
"Boy. This sure beats any other form of travelling." Meowth said with a relaxed sigh. "I'm the best of all the Meowth with this around.
"Thank you for telling me about the temples. Now we have three shards." Lena found them thanks to the ancient temples found over at Pegalysium. Now, her group possessed the Fairy, Bug and Flying Gems. "Next, let's try finding the Water and Normal Gems. My senses are telling me those should be the next ones. Probably easy to find."
"Mmm..." Diadora grumbled, looking at the sky below and everything else with a disgruntled face
"Is something wrong, Diadora?" Lena asked, hearing her grumble and already feeling her emotions.
"Uh. I didn't get to do much back there. Or anywhere else. Feels like I'm just tagging along." Diadora sighed, feeling a sense of unimportance. "Way to go telling me to join you. I'm wasting my time here."
"You wanted to exact revenge on me thanks to the past, right? I didn't think you had given up on that goal." Lena chuckled, still not bothered by Diadora's threats.
"At this point, I'm losing interest. I wanted to avenge my uncle, the King of Pokelantis and myself since you robbed me of gaining divine power by consuming that egg. I was lucky to be sealed inside of the Sea Temple to stay around for centuries. Even still..."
"Maybe revenge just isn't for you." Lena flew over. "Perhaps you'd better off with your people back at the Sea Temple. You were there for a long time, right? Best to be around them than me.
"Are you saying I don't have what it takes to defeat you?"
"Kind of!" Lena cackled, making Diadora snarl. "Even though I invited you, you don't have to follow us forever."
"Not yet. Besides, you said we should go for the Water and Normal Shards next, right? The Sea Temple might be the best place to be for the Water Shards. Everything about it is water."
"Glad to hear it!" Lena winked before accelerating through the air, knowing where she wanted to go next. Diadora gave an amazing suggestion that made the eyes of Team Rocket light up. The Sea Temple Samiya was still a goldmine to this day. Team Rocket would know. "The Sea Temple it is!"
It was off to the Sea Temple. Using the power of the Flying-Type Shards, they could also move through the air a lot quicker. The amazing power these shards possessed were truly coming into play the more they were gathered, especially in certain scenarios.
Universe 11. The Solar Empire. Daybreaker's Castle. Day.
Meanwhile, at the castle of Daybreaker, her plans were still being advanced on. And after going through many options, the Solar Queen, just yesterday, reached a conclusion after discussing things with Cozy Glow. The options for Daybreaker were numerous and not a single one slipped her mind.
The gateway that her Universe managed to summon was being charged up as another one was about to be used. They were still limited to just 5 days, but they would make the most of it.
"Dragon Matter and Fairy Matter are the new most valuable things we can set our sights on. But to make sure we can tap into that power that Cozy Glow accidentally made, we'll access the power of Mega Evolution.
"Mega Evolution? We're tackling that next? You can't seem to focus on one thing, can you?"
"Yes. But it all ties back to feeding Necrozma. Universe One is our best candidate, yet again. We'll be making a return to it once more, as soon as it is. Not just that, but Necrozma is rather upset about what happened earlier."
"Ready as always, your majesty." Supporting her was this universe's Spitfire along with Tempest Shadow. Behind them was an entire fleet of ships, ready to take out and enter Universe One. But they weren't attacking it. Only stealing from it.
"Good. Celestia managed to find out about us in the end. This was all thanks to that one Pokemon of Twilight Sparkle. Absol, was it? The power to sense a disaster is amazing. And we are indeed walking disasters." Daybreaker smiled, letting out a small chuckle. "Naturally, we need to avoid that at all costs. Only Ghetsis's Kingdom can evade detection from others, but we aren't going there. Malamar. I'm counting on you."
"But of course." Assisting her in this endeavour would be Malamar. Another member of this alliance. And by being a part of this team up, for the past months, Malamar has managed to expand his own resources.
Appearing over the horizon, Malar showed up riding what appeared to be a giant pod with his face on it. Malar was busy, gathering as much as he needed. And the result as a large pod that he could use as a vehicle, standing on top of it was it moved across the ground. This was given to him by the resources of the Solar Empire and the Twilight Imperium.
But not only that, Malamar had his own minions with him. Other Malamars. They creepily emerged from the shadows, riding their own pods. These pods were smaller than the main Malamar but still intimidating. All of them had their faces on it which gave off an uneasy feeling that even made Spitfire shudder.
The pods were made out of metal, but not only that, there were other Malamars inside of them. Not only could they be ridden on top, but also from within. Malamar had his own little army with him, possessing the might of a strange machine and the usual Psychic and Dark abilities.
"With my recent developments, I can absolutely nullify Absol's ability to detect any potential disasters on a grand scale. If you had told me about this Absol, I would've done it sooner." Malamar uttered.
"Yes, yes. Once you nullify it, we can make our move. We'll target as many places as we can when searching for light and Mega Evolution without needing Celestia breathing down our necks. As for the lab we encountered, we can leave that be for now. Prisma can wait another time. Open the gateway."
With her command, the gateway to Universe One was opened once again. The residents of the Solar Empire watched as they saw yet another gateway open up in the sky. Their ruler was once again heading out.
"I'm always used to sitting around instead of jumping into the action a lot of the time. But because of Necrozma, I have to." Daybreaker was a very active ruler, only because of Necrozma.
She could not trust Necrozma with anyone else. He was far too dangerous. He needed someone powerful to keep him steady. And Daybreaker was powerful enough. With a smile on her face, she was eager to jump back into Universe One. While having malicious intentions, a part of Daybreaker was rather excited, as if, visiting Universe One brought a unique feeling to all of it.
"Don't think you'll get enough rest, Celestia. It'll never be over, unless you become like me."
As the journey continues.
Chapter 362 End.