//------------------------------// // Wail, Wailord! // Story: My Little Pokémon: Grander World // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The Wailord Galaxy. Inside the Spaceship. When searching for a way to help the Wailmer, Ash, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash came across one of the many rooms in this alien ship. A wide room with many other sections, coupled with apparatus' and other items. "What is this stuff?" Ash asked when looking at the apparatus on the desks. Nothing was in them at all. Most likely, when the aliens last left this ship, any kind of liquid had outright vanished over the years. "This place kinda looks like a lab." The air was heavy with the scent of unfamiliar chemicals, making it clear that this room was indeed some kind of laboratory. Even after all of these years, the scent was still present. "If I could just read this stuff..." Rainbow Dash grumbled when looking at the symbols. In front of her, there was an alien language, potentially explaining what this room was. But alas, it was pointless. Not even the Pokemon could read it. "Some of this stuff has to do something. Let's try one of these rooms." Ash opted to take a swing at the rooms. Open entering the one in the middle, the door would automatically open up in response to his presence. Ash and Pikachu squinted their eyes as a blazing hot pressure came their way and was felt by the others. And past that light and heat, the room was dominated by a large, circular hearth at its centre, surrounded by towering pillars of a material that resembled obsidian and flame-licked walls adorned with odd fire. This fire emitted a radiant energy, pulsating with vibrant colours ranging from crimson reds to sapphire blues. This was certainly not ordinary fire and once Ash and Pikachu stood in the room, the heat they felt before was no longer there. Instead, it had an innate warmth despite showing no signs of it. "Wow..." Ash gawked at the fiery area. "Pikachu..." So did Pikachu, taking in the warmth of this place. The hearth itself was a mesmerizing spectacle, possessing some sort of molten substance that resembled lava. Unlike lava, this substance casted an eerie greenish light that was as bright as a lampost. "What is this stuff?" Ash said when getting close to the substance. His body was also near the fire which was soothing to be near. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash soon felt it, taking it all in as it had a welcoming presence to it. And when looking at this room a bit longer, they saw that it was some kind of forge. It seemed that even the aliens possessed their own forgery and they could be found on a ship of all things. Some kind of anvil with an odd shape was seen as well as bizarrely shaped tools. "It's a forgery..." Fluttershy gasped once she got a better look at it. But there was something else that caught her attention. Two other things to be exact. Nearby was a row of what appeared to be seats. Rows of them that were still intact to this day, implying that the aliens would take a seat away from the work. But for what reason? In Fluttershy's mind, there was only one possibility. And right in the middle of it all, At the heart of this forgery lies a massive Crucible of those unique flames, a massive vessel forged from the obsidian-like material. "This must be some kind of classroom!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Maybe aliens came here to learn. Like how we used to with Design and Technology when we were young." "Ugh. I hated D&T." Rainbow Dash already had unpleasant memories of such classes. She never wanted to be in something like that ever again, but lo and behold, it happened once more, this time in outer space. "A classroom and a forgery, huh?" Ash thought for a moment. "So there's gotta be instructions here somewhere! We can start making something that could help!" "How about...that?" Fluttershy's fixated her eyes on the walls of the room as eight glowing buttons could be seen floating in midair, not even touching the walls. They also moved across the walls and ceiling, never staying in one place. Ash and the others could see that they were interactive, so they immediately went for it. Pikachu leapt off Ash's shoulder, lunging forward and outstretching his paw straight towards one of the buttons. "Pi!" With impressive precision, Pikachu pressed the button, being the first to interact with it in centuries. And from it, an eerie light would fly out of it, summoning what appeared to be a screen. The light would then scan Pikachu's body, then Ash and Fluttershy's, going up and down before showing something on the screen. On it, the visage of an alien showed up. Most likely one of the aliens that used to be on this ship. The way this was laid out looked to be some sort of tutorial video and after the alien spoke, it was confirmed. "Hello! You've selected an alternate language for this tutorial. Most likely, you are from that blue marble known as Earth. Welcome to the Larstar Xyreflame Forgery Class, dedicated to the exploration and manipulation of elemental forces at their most fundamental level." "Elemental?" Ash repeated before looking at the bizarre flames. "This Tutorial will show you how to forge Xyreflamess and Nethcore. With this, you'll be able to make items for your daily leisure. Or, to any earthlings watching this such as the one they called Windkiss, to you, they can be items that can revolutionize many things." "Windkiss was here too?" Ash said after Windkiss's name was brought up. "Items that interact with an entire world, or the cosmos themselves. For any earthlings watching this, we will make it simple for you and show you a tutorial on how to make a miniature Cloud Stopper. If you wish to cease all functions from a cloud and store it yourself, here's how it's done." "Cloud? That's a good start!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as her job as a pegasus was dealing with clouds after all. "If we add clothes, we can get somewhere!" "It won't be like how we usually create clouds." Fluttershy pointed out. Since this was outer space and all the planets were devoid of so many things, there was a lack of any clouds anywhere. "Let's go bigger than that." But Ash wished to go bigger than just clouds, wanting the Wailmer to be fed well at once. At that moment, the light from the screen reacted to Ash's request, scanning him. "If you wish to advance to the next stage so soon, a foolish mistake." The alien said with a chuckle. "But for any Earthling foolish enough to proceed in such a way, here are the recipes for various items of this stage." From the screen, projections of multiple environments would show up. There was one specific theme with them that Ash and the others noticed. Since this tutorial was geared to those from Earth, everything on the screen was related to that planet. The letters shown underneath these items were translated for them instead of being in the alien's natural language. "Check it out! Grass Generator! Cobblestone Constructor! Floral Forger!" Fluttershy began listing off the items that could be made. "These are all things back on Earth. How'd it know...?" "Since Windkiss was here and we all found the ship back on Earth, that's gotta be how they know about what we have." Ash answered. It was all being clear to them now. This whole ship may be advanced but it wasn't impossible to understand. "Okay! Let's get to work!" Now, they had something they could do. And when looking at this room, they started to realize that the other rooms most likely follow the same principle. The items on the table now made sense as Ash picked some of them up, not needing any gloves. In fact, no gloves, goggles or other gear were needed for this. The Xyreflames didn't seem to be dangerous due to their warmth and nature. They could do this as they were now. Excited to start their work, Ash, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash carefully followed the instructions laid out in the tutorial. This was all alien to them, but they weren't about to let that deter them. For the sake of the Wailord, they could make it work. With the assistance of the alien technology and the guidance provided, they began to manipulate the unique flames of the forge, shaping them into the desired forms. Back at that mysterious planet that was nothing but Water, the Unown just couldn't do anything. Their Hidden Power brought no powerful change to the planet and already, they were exhausted. They just couldn't keep this up. Exhausted, they flew back to the ship to recover. "No good?!" Pinkie Pie bellowed. "Now what?!" Twilight and the others gathered around, their faces reflecting worry as they observed the tired Unown. They had put so much effort into trying to help the planet, yet it seemed their powers were not enough to bring about the desired change. "We could wait for Ash, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash to come back, but there's something else I want to try." Twilight said, having one other option on the table. "From her saddlebag, she revealed her two Z-Crystals. The Normalium Z and her exclusive Z-Crystal, the Twilightium Z." "Are you going to use the Z-Crystals on that planet, darling?" Rarity questioned. "Will that even work?" "I hope so. The Normalium Z should do something." Even Twilight wasn't 100% sure. "The Twilightium Z will be my backup and if neither of those two work, then I'll try another plan." "I don't know...Z-Moves ain't that strong, Twilight." Applejack shook her head. "Even if it's just a small portion..." Twilight gazed at her crystals, wanting this to work. But before she could try it out, after the Unown had unloaded a ton of Hidden Power onto the planet, something was happening to it. Everyone's eyes were fixated on the planet that was pulsating. Could it be that Unown managed to succeed? Not at all. Instead, this was something else. Something rather terrifying. From the planet, one of the Astral Projections were appearing once more, but this time, with the element of water. Huge claws emerged from the planet itself along with its terrifying face. It was also taking the shape of something else that started to cover the entire planet. Everyone looked as an Aquatic Astral Projection of a Wailord was created. But this was not their father. Instead, it was but a corrupted version of him, being yet another example of Wailord's fear for his family taking form. This time, the form of this fear looked a lot like Wailord. As the corrupted Aquatic Astral Projection of Wailord emerged from the planet, a wave of shock and concern washed over the group. They watched in horror as the twisted manifestation of Wailord's fear took shape before their eyes. "What... what is that?" Pinkie Pie gasped, her eyes wide with alarm. The Wailmer were especially terrified, knowing that was not their father. "That... that ain't Wailord!" Applejack exclaimed, her voice trembling with fear. "It's... something else...!" "It's his fear," Twilight realized, her expression grave. "Wailord's fear of his family are just getting worse. And now it's taken the shape of him..." The corrupted Wailord let out a deafening roar, its monstrous form casting a shadow over the entire planet. Its eyes glowed with a malevolent light as it turned its gaze toward the group, its intentions clear. But there was a reason for such a fear. Equestrian Wailord was already worried for his family after all and those fears were only growing from here. But from the outside, Wailord noticed something. Thanks to his astronomical size, the Equestrian Variant saw something in the distance. Right before his very eyes, the Solar Sword of Daybreaker was seen. The Galactic Pokemon already saw how dangerous it was from a first glance. And from his own eyes, he saw what this ship was capable of. In the way of the ship was the wall of Galaxies, which was a blockade to the galaxy they all knew of. Breaking this would mean one step closer to that galaxy. At this very moment, Daybreaker's forces were close to Ash's group, all thanks to Wailord's gigantic size. "Pierce through it," Daybreaker ordered, wanting that wall of galaxies out of the way. With the ship's engines thrumming with power, the Solar Sword positioned itself before the fracture. With a surge of energy, the ship activated one of its most potent weapons. The front of the Solar Sword suddenly ignited, gaining a blazing aura around it and living up to its name. The entire ship was set on fire, but it did not cause any harm to those inside and neither did they feel warm at all. With a solar-like burst, the ship would speed up, going straight for the Galaxy Wall. Cozy Glow screeched as she braced herself for the astronomical impact. With just one hit, cracks spiderwebbed across the surface in a second as the ship had enough power to deal such massive damage to it immediately. With a deafening roar that reverberated throughout the cosmos, the barrier gave way. A blinding burst of light erupted as the Solar Sword pierced through the Galaxy Wall, shattering its once-impenetrable facade. Wailord was in awe and absolute horror. He had just witnessed a wall that was in between two galaxies fall apart. While he wasn't exactly knowledgable on the wonders of space, he knew that it was disgustingly dangerous either way. And unfortunately, his fear of what could happen next kicked in. He feared that he was next. Wailord was as large as a Galaxy. He could even see other galaxies from afar. The Galactic Pokemon was worried that this massive weapon could target him and by extension, his children and Lapras. He had no idea if they were fine at the moment which only added to his fears and worries, leading to such a problem happening back inside his own galaxy. "What is that..?" And of course, it didn't take long for Daybreaker's forces to spot Wailord. Instead of the usual galaxy they knew, the one standing in their way seemed to be Wailord's galaxy. Jaws dropped at the size of this Pokemon. It was bigger than any Pokemon they have ever seen and possibly ever will see. "That's not it. But the signature of this galaxy is similar to ours." One of the crew members said when looking at the screen. Indeed, the Galaxy of the Milky Way and Wailord's Galaxy had a somewhat similar design and layout but with differences here and there. "That Galaxy's a Pokemon..." Daybreaker looked on in astonishment. It was impossible to miss it since Wailord's Galaxy was absolutely gargantuan. They all recognized it as a sentient entity, recognizing the look of a Wailord anywhere. "Actually...Since that is a Wailord...The amount of light energy from it must be outrageous." Being the opportunist that she was, Daybreaker also saw this as a way to feed Necrozma some more. She hit the jackpot truly by finding Wailord. Not that he was hard to miss either way. "You're gonna have Necrozma absorb that?! No way!" Cozy Glow saw it as outlandish. Even those on Daybreaker's ship felt the same. This was larger than anything Daybreaker has had to tackle. "Y-Your majesty?! Are you sure?!" "Positive. You all need to have some faith." Daybreaker chuckled. "Look at that thing. No matter the size or shape, it is a Pokemon. Therefore, it has light energy. And I can bet this one has among some the highest out there. Second to maybe Arceus himself." "Does he even know that we're here?" Gardevoir said when looking at Wailord. She closed her eyes, using her Psychic abilities to read Wailord from afar. Her vision travelled across the cosmos, reaching Wailord's massive size and looking straight into his mind. Immediately, the Embrace Pokemon felt one thing only. Fear and Worry. Two things powering the horrors within his galaxy. "Oh...He definitely knows we're here." "So it actually is alive?!" Some ponies didn't think the Wailord Galaxy was actually sentient. Now, it was confirmed. "Let's not battle it, shall we?" Daybreaker got off her throne. "Let's take a different approach. How about a capture? I tried that with Rayquaza but was a bit too late to take a swing at it. This one will be different." "You're going to catch that thing?!" Cozy Glow pointed her hoof at the Wailord Galaxy. "Look at it! I can only see its eyes and teeth!" "Why yes. Ready a Master Ball." Daybreaker ordered and immediately from the roof of this room, a hatch would open, dropping a Master Ball to the ground. "With a target that big, I can't miss." "Where will we keep such a Pokemon after we catch it, Your Majesty?" One pony raised a good point. If successful, this would be the biggest catch of all time but where would Equestria Wailord even be? "Our own Universe, of course," Daybreaker answered that easily. "Many of the planets in the South Galaxy have been cleared out and destroyed. We can replace it with Wailord. Get me into range." With the order, the Solar Sword was directed straight towards the Wailord Galaxy, much to the Galactic Pokemon's chagrin. Now, he was a target. He let out a gigantic cry that was louder than any Pokemon cry in existence, opening his mouth wide and shaking the cosmos themselves. "WAILORD!" He would generate a sound wave of astronomical proportions, with an intensity far beyond anything experienced on Earth. The cry of Equestrian Wailord would reverberate throughout its entire galaxy, reaching every corner of its cosmic domain. Additionally, the sound waves could potentially propagate beyond the borders of the galaxy, echoing across neighbouring galaxies in the cosmic expanse. "Ngh!" Daybreaker grunted as everyone in the Solar Sword and the other ships felt the cry. The sheer magnitude of Wailord's cry would be incomprehensible to most beings. It could induce awe and wonder in those who hear it, evoking a sense of reverence for the cosmic forces at play. The force of it was altering the fabric and time and space itself. Clearly, this was the first time Wailord has ever let out such a cry when knowing what was coming. The planets trembled, the stars would pulsate and the nebula and other cosmic forces out there would fluctuate in response to this cry. Cozy Glow screamed in terror of this horrifying noise as this was far too much for someone her age to hear. Shielding her from this was Daybreaker, who used her magic to generate a Sound-Draining Field. It enveloped all the ships near and far, making sure no one else would have to hear this horrific sound. Or at least, cushion the sound. And indeed she did. Daybreaker's Spell was powerful enough to shield their ears as the sound of Wailord's cry resembled that of a million thunderstorms. Still incredibly loud but not as loud as it actually was at the very moment. Milky Way Galaxy. Planet Earth. Equestria. Deerling Forest. Late Afternoon. The sound was so titanic that it managed to pass through the gateway that led to Equestria, hidden in one of the ships. Granted, it was delayed but still prominent. The Deerling, Sawsbuck and other Pokemon that were enjoying their day were immediately disturbed by this cosmic sound. "D-Deer!" Some of the Deerling groaned while others went flying. The many Pokemon here were caught off guard by this and no one saw it coming. Not the trees, not even the sky and especially not the Pikachu Highlands which were nearby. Thankfully, it only reached those areas but it was still detrimental. Wailord's cry of fear began crushing the trees and causing earthquakes that would reverberate across the land. The Pokemon all looked over at the gateway, wondering what on Earth was going on in there. As for the gateway itself, because of Equestrian Wailord's cry, the destructive nature of it becoming its own vortex would accelerate. It had been disturbed and was shaking violently. Empress Twilight's Ship. With the sound going through all the ships, all those in Empress Twilight's ship felt the intensity of the cry. Even those who woke up were woken up by it. Jackie was still holding the Empress as they both heard the cry from outside. Not only that, they also saw the Equestrian Variant from afar, only spotting his face. That was the most they could see due to how large he was. He was so large that his eyes were similar to Black Holes and the front of his body was just one big star cloud. And yet, they could still tell that it was a Wailord. "The size of that fella!" Jackie whistled. "Too bad we might not get to see it for too long unless we stop that gateway!" "Jackie...What's going on?" One of the rangers asked after getting back up along with some of Empress Twilight's soldiers. All of them were waking up now. "We don't have much time to explain it all. But all you gotta know is that our gateway's out of control and might swallow and crush us!" Jackie gave a simplified explanation. And he wouldn't have to explain any further. The gateway was doing it for him. Right before their very eyes, the Vortex Gateway was tearing down this entire shape, destroying everything that had been built around it. Many items were being crushed and lost to the Rift as it was now accelerating thanks to Wailord's actions. Seeing this, the Rangers and Empress Twilight's forces immediately ran off. They still had to find a way out of here before the vortex takes them all. That includes Daybreaker's group since it would not stop at just this ship. But so far, no one has been able to figure something out. All they've been able to do see it and run. This ship was already beyond saving, unable to start up or more anymore with some of its engines being destroyed. The only other option was to head to the other ships and find a way out of this galaxy. However, standing in their way was none other than Sunrise Sparkle, unbothered by what was going on outside. She was joined by other ponies who came from Daybreaker's ship just to deal with the threat of the Vortex Gateway. "Ah, finally! What took you so long?!" Empress Twilight groaned. Sunrise took a look at the scenario, gazing at the incoming vortex and the Equestrian Wailord outside. "Pathetic" Sunrise Sparkle scoffed at such a scenario. "Unable to easily solve such an issue? To think you and I are the same pony." "What was that?!" The Empress roared, attempting to trot up to Sunrise Sparkle, only to feel her wings tremble. She couldn't be hasty since she hasn't received proper care and treatment. "All of you Pokemon Rangers...You'll be left here to perish with the vortex." Sunrise spoke with a cold tone. "And only then will we stop it." "As if." Jackie chuckled, refusing to let that happen. "We don't have much time. That gateway's getting faster and faster!" "He's right. It's moving at a quicker rate than before." Moondancer pointed out. "It looks like it's gotten stronger as well!" "In that case...We can afford to lose a few bodies." The way Sunrise Sparkle said that was rather haunting. With a flash from her eyes and horn, she suddenly cast a spell that created a propelling force. It was used on a wide radius in front of her, directed towards Jackie and his group. But this also meant Empress Twilight''s forces were affected too. The force travelled far, immediately reaching the gateway. Moondancer and the other unicorns would cast the same spell, merging it with Sunrise Sparke's. "W-What do you think you're doing?!" The Empress looked behind her and then back at Sunrise's group. "The only way to stop it is to condense the gateway. But of course, this will have massive reprecussions. An explosion is inevitable." Sunrise Sparkle explained. "There is a high chance all of you will be crushed in the explosion or the vacuum of space will finish you off either way." "You're trying to take me out as well?! How dare you?!" "Not quite. I'm not interested in keeping you around. If anything, I can be better than you will ever be. I have no idea why the Empress decided to put her trust in you, especially after your Empire took a colossal hit. You are an absolute weakling. After all, you used to be Human." "Ghh...!" Empress Twilight snarled as Sunrise referred to when she was Sci-Twi who eventually became Midnight Sparkle. "The Empress does want you around. It could be so easy to let you perish here." Sunrise Sparkle revealed her dark tendencies, actually thinking of letting Empress Twilight suffer here. "I could become the new Empress Twilight one day. My own Empress, side by side with her majesty. But she does want you around either way." "You were a fool to tell me such a thing." Empress Twilight would not let any of that pass, especially now that she knew what Sunrise Sparkle's intentions were. As the vortex continued to swallow the ship, the Pokemon Rangers and the ponies were feeling their bodies leaving the air. The pull of the vortex was intensifying to the point where they were starting to feel it. Seeing this, Empress Twilight, despite being weakened, immediately used magic to try and propel herself forward. She closed her eyes, enveloping herself in a magical aura. However, she had little control right now and thus, the aura enveloped Jackie too. The gateway behind them was slowly being condensed thanks to the force as Jackie was starting to move forward. "You're going to pay for this!" Empress Twilight's irritation led to exacting vengeance on another group closer to her. "Hold it!" Jackie halted the Empress from doing anything else. "You'll take yourself out being so reckless! Let's just get out of here! And this spell you've cast is pretty useful!" Using this to his advantage, Jackie would run, managing to ignore the pull of the gateway in the distance. He would have to help the rest of his fellow rangers and even the troops of Empress Twilight. No matter what, Jackie wasn't letting anyone perish here. Sunrise Sparkle felt differently. Seeing Jackie move, her eyes would glow as she unleashed a blast in Jackie's general direction, scraping his jacket and leaving a hole in it. Jackie grimaced as the alter-ego of Twilight Sparkle was dead-serious. She believed she could stop the gateway while also taking care of the Pokemon Rangers at the same time. Truly terrifying and befitting of the Solar Empire. As the journey continues. Chapter 425 End.