The Chaos Realm.
"So, you're saying it's not a Magical Imbalance?" Ash was speaking with Discord after coming to meet with him here at the Chaos Realm. But what he saw surprised him as Discord was going crazy, struggling to keep up with everything happening out there.
"I wish it was," Discord said. "Thinking about it now, it isn't a Magical Imbalance."
"It isn't? Then what is it?"
"Well, there's still an imbalance but it's more like a mishmash," Discord explained to the best of his abilities. "Usually, if it was an imbalance, then it's just obvious what's wrong."
"Yeah. Like with Tirek, right?"
"Not sure when it happened, but whatever you and your friends have been getting yourselves into, everything is spiralling out of control." Discord would poke Ash's face. "Perhaps you can tell me when it happened?"
"Not sure." Ash thought for a moment. "A lot's happened ever since we all met each other. I wanna say it was when the Rift showed up but I don't know."
"If you ask me, I think it's because of her." Discord held his paw out, summoning a sculpture of Empress Twilight Sparkle, blaming her for how things were turning out. "If she never caught wind of us, we wouldn't be in this situation. We're facing a Magical, no, a Cosmic Crisis."
"A Cosmic Crisis?"
"Worse than a Magical Imbalance. Because there is barely an imbalance. Too many parties are too loaded at the moment, whether it's in this universe or another." Discord shook his head, bringing Ash to his home which was currenly stretched out. "Even things from other universes are leaking through, causing trouble for us. Which, I'm not too oppossed to, but..."
"So this involves everywhere else then?" Ash asked when entering his home. "Is this the first time something like this happened Discord?"
"Pika?"
"Mmm..." Discord would think for a moment as his head was expanding, bulging up due to his thoughts swirling. That's when he remembered a similar situation to it. "Aha! It has!" His head would explode, unleashing an energy of thoughts while his head regrew.
The energy of thoughts hovered over to Ash and Pikachu, gently landing in the hands of the Alola Champion. Touching it felt like touching a soft pillow and thorns at the same time.
"I don't usually tell anyone this since it doesn't matter to me, honestly. Now it does. As the Spirit of Chaos, I've been around here for years, even before you were conceived. And during my time, I was lucky enough to experience what's known as a Cosmic Crisis. And it involved those angels up there."
"The Angels?" When holding the energy, Ash would see the images inside.
"Them and a few other parties." Discord shrugged. "Some folks were causing trouble across the vast universe, just throwing things off balance for their own reasons. Even for Chaos, it was getting a bit out of hand, if you ask me."
In it, Ash saw a massive clash that happened across the cosmos between the Angels and some mysterious entities. It was obviously a battle for the fate of the universe, happening away from Earth. Among the angels, he noticed Strident Heart's face in there as she was present during that time. Even Luceras and other familiar faces were spotted.
But above all else, Ash noticed someone. A being larger than the rest who resembled a pony. More specifically an alicorn. In fact, she looked like she came straight from Equestria with her appearance, being a citizen from it, but there was clearly something different about her.
"Hey, who's that?" He asked.
"The equivalent of Arceus in our world before we met. Writing Glory's the name. Even I don't dare to mess with her. As you can imagine, they won and sent those things back to the Abyssal Depths." Discord continued. "A Cosmic Crisis came to an end, and no one had to worry about it ever again. Even with Cosmos being around, she never came close to what happened back then."
"But now it's happening again, right?"
"Exactly! Too many factors are at play right now. Daybreaker alone makes up most of those factors. And aren't you still dealing with Team Plasma or whatever?"
"Yeah. And a piece of the Moon is missing."
"What did you say?!" Discord's eyes and mouth left his body once he heard that. Now he was aware of what happened to the Moon. "Hm. Maybe you and everyone else are better at raising chaos than I thought."
"Yeah. That's why we came here. I was wondering if you could fix the Moon. Putting the piece back or replacing it."
"Well, of course, I can fix it, Ash, my boy!" Discord clapped his hands before gearing up, wearing construction clothes. "What a silly question. Anything for a friend and I can make it possible."
"Awesome. I'll tell Celestia and Luna about this Cosmic Crisis, since it's happening again." said Ash.
"No, no, no." But Discord refused to let Ash do that, hovering to his side. "Ash, look at me. I can see it in your eyes. You went through quite the event, didn't you?"
"Yeah. Guess you noticed." Ash chuckled. "It just happens a lot."
"Leave it to yours truly." Discord was up and ready. "I'll get that Moon done in no time. I'm sure it's not too much damage for me to worry about." Discord strolled towards the gateway, already passing through it and ending up in Equestria. Standing there with Pikachu was Ash who would stare into the chaotic void.
There was a moment of silence for him even with all of this noise around him. After having these few seconds and looking at the Fairy Egg, Ash would approach the gateway as well, ready to leave.
-
Outer Space.
The vastness of space. Not too long ago, it was filled with a fearsome clash of great powers with one threatening to summon the Moon Beast known as Lunala. Instead, the result was the Moon itself losing a piece of it. There wasn't even any rubble floating around.
From the Planet Earth, extending from it with extraordinary length was none other than Discord. He stretched his body, leaving space and immediately appearing in space. The lower half of his body would retract once he ascended, returning to its normal size.
"Hmm. Not even any rubble? Goodness." Even Discord was amazed by what he was seeing. "It looks like someone took a bite out of this thing. Not exactly destruction."
Indeed, the damage done to the Moon looked more like a bite than something smashing against it. The way it appeared matched a bite mark done on an apple or an orange. Discord simply shrugged it off, knowing he had to make a new part of the Moon.
Raising his finger, he would aim at a Moon in the far distance. There was another Moon resting on its own, smaller than this one that everyone has come to know and love. To Discord, that would do just fine as he managed to grab the other Moon by pulling it via a massive chain.
Once he grabbed this Moon, Discord would rapidly move his hands around, messing with it and giving it a makeover. For starters, he changed its colour which was originally dark green. But now, it possessed the same colour as the Moon everyone knew. That goes for the extra Moon that comes from the Pokemon World's side.
After changing its shape, Discord would take a huge chunk of this Moon away. A chunk that was just large enough to fill that hole while this other Moon would never be the same afterwards. But since it was so far from Earth, Discord knew no one would care or know.
Taking this chunk, Discord would carefully fit it in as if it was a jigsaw puzzle. Before that, he was sweating bullets, making sure to be as gentle as possible so that the Moon doesn't suffer more damage. The sweat he was exuding would start summoning rain that would float there thanks to zero gravity.
Thankfully, he managed to repair it, making a new part of the Moon. It was as good as new, almost as if it was never destroyed in the first place." There. A job well done."
Proud of his work, Discord gave himself a pat on the back, summoning another claw from his back, just to pat it. It definitely was not as difficult as it could be and he knew it. Discord was done here, immediately teleporting back to Earth.
Equestria.
As for those in Equestria, they immediately cheered upon seeing the Moon repaired, especially those at Canterlot. They could rest easy knowing their Moon was whole once more. And it was fittingly the night of a Full Moon. But Luna just couldn't shake a bad feeling off her body when looking at this.
"Sister...If they succeeded in damaging the Moon in some way, isn't that a clear sign that they're gradually getting better?" Luna uttered.
"I know. I've already decided to keep up with Daybreaker not too long ago. And yet, it feels like they're still ahead of us." Celestia had the same thoughts as her little sister. "I still have to catch up with every other universe she's attacked while we were deprived of gateways all while worrying about our own."
"So...What do we do? She won't stop with just this. She might come back to the Moon yet again." Luna questioned when facing her big sister. "And she'll certainly be expecting us."
"..." Celestia closed her eyes, thinking for a moment. Because of how hard it was to reach Universe 11, she couldn't really do anything to stop their advances all that much since they were so swift. But something was boiling in Celestia's mind. She knew that Daybreaker was still her, so all she had to do was keep on making similar moves to her.
But when looking at the Moon in the night sky, despite knowing that Discord could fix it, in reality, Celestia was worried of what might come next. The celestial body of the Moon was no joke and anyone that can threaten calls for extraordinary danger. Danger that even Celestia fears might be too much to handle.
The Next Day.
Despite the Moon being repaired, the effects the missing piece brought were still present. They weren't going to vanish overnight. Something like this needed more time. And unfortunately, for the Hippogriff Students, that was unfortunate.
The next day, the young Hippogriffs were already complaining, wanting to go to school since they generally enjoyed the Pokemon School. Queen Novo needed her subjects to be safe until this all blew over since she couldn't do anything about it after all.
These complains did not stay at Mount Aris as a message was sent to the Pokemon School all the way over at Equestria via Pelipper. This Pelipper came from Mount Aris, immediately delivering it to one of the teachers, that being Windflash.
"Oh. All the Hippogriffs can't come." Windflash spoke when looking at the letter. But it wasn't just this letter, there were other letters around her as she was the one receiving them mostly.
Letters from the Griffons, Letters from the Yaks and Letters from the Changelings, all from locations that were far from the Pokemon School. The only students who managed to show up were ponies who were either from Canterlot, Ponyville or any nearby locations.
There were some Dragons among them, however as they were able to get into school today. Probably due to them being used to rough environments.
"So, what now? Do we still learn?" Silver Spoon asked.
"I mean, yeah. So what if they miss a class?" Diamond Tiara shrugged. "They can just catch up alter."
"That's a shame though." Windflash frowned, knowing that the students genuinely loved these lessons. Alas, with Potion Nova still not back, some classes will be empty without a doubt with the only teachers here being Windflash and her family. Plus, the elusive Tobias.
"How did you guys even get here in the first place?" Scootaloo turned to the Dragons who were the only other species here.
"We don't have to worry about any oceans or whatever." Smolder and the Dragons said proudly, having that advantage over the other species. "It was easy for us to show up here."
"Today we're supposed to have an Outdoor Expedition. Are we still having that even with what's happening outside?" Sweetie Belle had to know, wondering if the lessons today were about to be void.
"What do we do, miss Windflash?" Questions would bombard the descendant of Windkiss as they needed an answer. Their love for this school was strong as they wished to do something as soon as possible. Questions were flying her way, passing through her ears and sparking concerns.
"I think you might be overwhelming her, ya'll." Apple Bloom said, worried that Windkiss wouldn't be able to handle all of these questions from the students.
"It's fine." However, Windflash was not overwhelmed. Not in the slightest. This surprised Apple Bloom who saw how composed Windflash was. "I know what we can do."
"Y-You do?" Apple Bloom stuttered.
"Mhm. I'm used to this. I have a large family after all." Windflash's large family was one massive advantage for her. Since she was the older sister of them all, she was naturally capable of handling multiple individuals younger than her. It also didn't matter if they weren't pegasi.
"Aw. No fair." Apple Bloom pouted. She had a large family too, even if extended and made up of cousins, uncles and aunties but she certainly couldn't handle all of them. Not even Applejack or Big Mac could. Perhaps Granny Smith could but Apple Bloom has yet to see that happen.
"I can just do this." Putting her hoof in her mane, Windflash would tap into that amazing magic she possessed. Since she was the direct descendant of the first Destiny Pegasus, her magical capabilities were stellar and unique to her and her family. Once more, it would be shown to the students in all of its splendour.
From her mane, Windflash would unleash a sky that she held in her hoof. The students looked in amazement as Windflash was casually holding a sky.
"Miss Windkiss! What's that?! Is that Sky?!" Diamond Tiara bellowed.
"Oh, yes. This is a Pocket Sky." She explained. "It helps me see into another part of the sky and different locations. It's pretty nifty when needed. If I try hard enough, I can have this look into the rest of my students."
"How?" Sandbar questioned.
"Well...It only ever works on those I care for. For my brothers and sisters, that's never been a problem since I love them so much. But I care for you all too, so it'll work without a doubt. Everyone, grab some Pocket Skies." She didn't stop there. From her mane, she pulled out four more Pocket Skies, available for the other species.
Scootaloo cooed at the Pocket Sky, picking one of them and so did Sandbar, Smolder and Silver Spoon. In their hooves, they all held a Pocket Sky which had a bizarre feeling to it. It felt like a pillow and water at the same time. "Eugh." Smolder shivered a bit when touching them. "How do you manage this, Miss?"
"Alright. With this, I'll be able to teach them." Closing her eyes, Windkiss's wings would suddenly flap. The coloured tips on her feathers would glow, unleashing her signature magic. The students looked in awe as the magic particles flowed into the Pocket Winds.
By doing so, the students she taught would have their own locations tapped into. Coming into view were the Changeling Lands, Mount Aris, Yakyakistan and Griffonia.
"That's a bit creepy, don't you think?" Diamond Tiara pointed out.
"Hello? How is everyone?" Windflash made her way to the Pocket Sky of the Changelings, startling all of them. Chrysalis screeched along with all of the Changelings since a massive face of Windflash was seen in the sky. It felt like a giant had come before them.
The sound of her entering her face in this world was alarming too as it made the skies rumble. Some changelings immediately fainted at the sight of this.
"Miss Windflash?!" A stunned Ocellus said.
"Oh, sorry. I'm used to doing this with my siblings." She said to them all, using her old habits. Her voice was made to be as loud as possible since her head was in the sky. Like a divine being speaking to them, her voice reverberated across the azure skies. "I just wanted to let you all know that we can still continue our lessons."
"These are the kind of teachers you have?" Chrysalis said to her children while covering her ears.
"Today, we'll be having an Outdoor Expedition and Principal Twilight's agreed to let you all come to Pegalysium. Very high up, but that won't matter since you'll be at home. But I can still teach you from afar. Today's lesson will be extended to 3:30 instead of 12:00 this time. I'll give you all time to get ready."
She would then pull her head back, removing it from the Pocket Sky and leaving it there to linger. Some of the Changelings sat and stood thre stunned while the children let out elated cries. Chrysalis grimaced at the sound of these cries as she watched all the Young Changelings jump for joy. They would get to learn after all, albeit from home.
Pegalysium. Soaring Valley.
Soaring Valley.
A breathtaking expanse of land nestled between two towering mountain ranges, where the winds dance freely and the sky stretches endlessly overhead. The valley earned its name due to the powerful updrafts that sweep through the canyon-like terrain, creating perfect conditions for flight. It is a place of unparalleled beauty and a haven for those who seek the freedom of the open sky.
It was also a place for Pokemon to call home and the one to see this for herself was none other than May. She climbed up some of the terrain, gazing at the sights before her.
"Wow..." May gawked. After climbing the cliff, she found herself in an area known as the Aetheric Archways are natural stone formations that span the width of Soaring Valley, forming intricate arches and bridges.
"It was worth coming here. I bet I could get all kinds of ideas for my next contest." May was here simply for inspiration, wanting something new for her contests. And Pegalysium was scratching that itch for her.
May continued her trek through the canyon, marveling at the beauty of it all. The air was crisp and fresh, the sun was shining, and the breeze was gentle and pleasant. But most of all, there was a sense of freedom and tranquility that seemed to permeate the entire area,
The Pokemon that called this place home would appear, either in the sky or on the ground. They were all unique, each one a different species, but they shared one thing in common. A love for the open skies.
As May explored the area, she saw a glimpse of a Pokemon in the distance. The Pokemon were already getting adjusted to this place, especially a spot known as the Skyward Lake. It was a vast lake situated in the middle of the valley, its crystalline waters shimmering in the sunlight. The sight was truly breathtaking.
"And all of this is just up here?" May whistled. "Lucky...But I haven't seen many pegasi yet. I guess I'm pretty far from civilization right now."
While continuing on her path, May was immediately alerted to the sight of these strange flowers that were as tall as trees, just up ahead. She came to a halt, her eyes scanning the flowers. "They're so big...What kind of flowers are these?"
They were giant red, yellow, and blue flowers with large petals, which had the appearance of leaves. These flowers were the size of trees. They were beautiful and majestic, but they were not the singing flowers. Instead, these flowers did something else rather than sing to what was currently happening.
Wanting to take a picture, as May dug in her bag, she suddenly heard laughter. May paused for a moment, lookng at her surroundings, but there was no one there. She then turned her attention back to the flowers before digging in her bag once more. It happened again. The laughter was heard once more.
"Hmm..." May grumbled, observing her surroundings, before looking at the flowers. In just a split second, she managed to spot one of the flowers laughing before it stopped. But May definitely saw it.
"The flowers laugh? No way." May gawked at them. Her first viewing of these sentient flowers and it wasn't the ones that sing.
"Hey!" A voice called out, causing May to gasp, before turning to see a boy approaching her. "What are you doing here?"
"Oh, sorry!" May said, startled by the sudden appearance of the boy. It was a young pegasus who was rather disheveled with bed hair. He was one of Windflash's siblings.
"Those are Dreamweaver Flowers. You almost got caught by them." The boy said.
"D-Dreamweavers? What do you mean?" May asked.
"They're dangerous flowers. They like to make up false dreams and they're really good at doing it." The boy answered.
"False dreams?" May was confused by the notion of these flowers giving out fake dreams. "They're flowers, though. I don't get it."
"Yeah, well, they're not just any flowers."
"Hey!" A voice called out, causing May to gasp, before turning to see a boy approaching her. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I'm sorry." May said, startled by the sudden appearance of the boy.
Any longer and they would've made you chase a new dream that you don't want." He shook his head. "If you came across them at night, that'd be way worse!"
"Worse how?" May asked.
"You'd be instantly put to sleep without even knowing it. Even if you're awake, they'll try to make you see something that isn't there." He explained.
He explained. "Some of my brothers and sisters got caught by it once and started chasing some random dream. We snapped them out of it, but it was pretty annoying having to deal with it."
"That's weird." May replied, not understanding the idea behind the flowers. "They can do that...Wow...That's amazing!" May's eyes lit up. Thanks to her time with Ash in the past, she's grown to love the obscure and bizarre things out there and this was one of them. "Do they make dreams of anything or just the ones people want?"
"You can ask them yourself. If you want." He pointed his hoof at the Dreamweavers. "But I wouldn't get too close. They're jokesters too."
"Thanks." May nodded at him before heading towards the flowers, while the boy watched. As she approached them, she was curious to know more about them. "Hello? Can you hear me?"
The flowers giggled at May before suddenly dropping themselves into the ground, lowering their length. This caused May to stumble in surprise as the flowers avoided her. "Ah, hey!" She was too late to properly converse with them.
"But most of the time, when someone figures out what they're up to, they just hide in the soil." The boy shrugged.
"Huh. I wonder why." May mused.
"Dunno. Maybe because they're shy. Or maybe they're just afraid of getting in trouble." The boy shrugged, before the flowers rose up, causing May to stumble again. "My name's New Breeze. Who are you?" The young pegasus walked around May, noticing that she was a human. "Oh, are you one of those Pokemon Trainers?!"
"That's right. May. May Petalburg." May introduced herself. "It's my first time visiting Pegalysium. I was psyched to visit this entire nation in the sky and it's already so great. You know a lot about this place, don't you?" She kneeled to face New Breeze.
"Mm. My brothers and sisters and I live in the wild, so we know a lot about what's here." New Breeze nodded. "I'm the second youngest in my family!"
"How many brothers and sisters do you have then?"
"Umm..." New Breeze would use his feathers to count. "A lot. I never count how many we have."
"Really?" May was surprised by this.
"Yup. But you can ask my big sister, Windflash. She's the oldest in our family. She got a job at a Pokemon School down at that land called Equestria. She's coming up here today for a class."
"Oh, that's awesome! Is she the one who taught you everything about this place?"
"Mm-hmm. She taught all of us!" New Breeze exclaimed. "Big Sister Windflash knows a lot. A lot, a lot. Since we all live out here in the wild away from the towns and cities, we're pretty used to it and no one's better at it than Windflash."
"Oh wow. So your big sister must be a pro at this stuff."
"Uh-huh! And she's super smart, too. She knows all about the plants and the animals, the weather, the water, everything!"
"What about the Pokemon? How much does your sister know about them?"
"Well, big sister doesn't know that much about Pokemon. We're still new to them here in Pegalysium. That's the one thing she doesn't know a lot about and that's why she wanted to go to that school."
"Well...You're looking at a pro as well." May nudged while wiggling her eyebrows. "I'm a pretty great Pokemon Trainer if I'm being honest. If there's anything you need to know, you can ask me. I'll fill you in."
"Oh...You'll be like the one they call Ash Ketchum! The one who's helping Equestria!"
"Ash? Did you say Ash?!" May gasped upon hearing that familiar name. "You know him?!"
"He's a hero back at Equestria.
"He's a hero back at Equestria from what I heard." New Breeze responded. "He started teaching everypony down there about Pokemon and they got amazingly strong so fast! That's what I heard though."
"Typical Ash." May chuckled, before smiling fondly. Hearing that made her heart warm, knowing that Ash was still as active as ever even after all of these years.
"If my sister is good at living in the wild, then I want to be good at Pokemon! I'll be great at that instead!" New Breeze declared. Being a young spirit, he had his own dreams. It was similar to those back at Equestria, wanting to be an adept in Pokemon. It was just too enticing not to try.
"I think I can help with that." May offered.
"You will?! Thank you, Miss May!" New Breeze cheered. The young pony then turned around, suddenly using magic on May by flapping his wings. May gasped as her body was surrounded by an enigmatic aura. "I'll take you to my sister right now! I think she should be up here now!"
"H-Hold on!" May yelled, suddenly finding herself being flown off by New Breeze. He carried May across this island at an impressive speed for his age. His magic was also surprisingly strong for his age as May was much taller than him.
May would see the sights from above as she was taken to where New Breeze's older sister was. This island was massive and full of various terrains. She would be flying through the canyons before coming across this area of the island that looked like the ocean. The edge of this island was seen up ahead, making May scream.
"S-Slow down! You'll fall!"
But New Breeze didn't seem bothered. He flew straight towards the edge and jumped, diving down with May in his grasp. The young pegasus and his companion fell before they would enter the sea of clouds.
"Wow! You're not scared of falling like this?!" A stunned May uttered when seeing New Breeze advance.
"I was the first time. But never again." New Breeze smiled while effortlessly soaring through the air. He would descend lower, going towards another island. He knew Windflash wasn't too far, located on another island. May was in for a wild ride as her own journey up here took a turn. A rather enjoyable one though.
All the while, there was a crisis looming over them all. Even with the Moon repaired, that sense of devastating power was in the air. Whether here, or somewhere else.
Chapter 445 End.