Chapter Fifteen
The plan was to split up and attack the three locations simultaneously. Everyone had been given the counter-spell that would block Total Control’s attempts at hypnotising them, but it was just a single defense. There was no knowing if he had other tricks up his sleeve.
“Just hold on Seth,” Selena said as they headed out. “We’re coming.”
~~~
Seth himself was safe… for now anyway. After escaping the alley via a Sandslash’s tunnel, he wound up in a large warehouse, somewhere in Canterlot. Being unable to go outside meant he couldn’t confirm where he was, though he didn’t know enough of the city to figure that out anyway.
Once he’d arrived, several Zubat had taken the Jewels and flown off somewhere, and that was something that didn’t sit right with Seth. Was the Control pony planning something?
Well, he was about to find out. He’d been following the Sandslash this whole time and now that they’d finally emerged into this warehouse, Seth got a good look at just who they were dealing with.
He was a tall, but rather skinny Unicorn stallion. His fur was a light beige colour and his mane and tail were as black as night. His eyes locked onto Seth the moment he had walked into the room and a small smirk crossed his lips. So this was the Pokemon that was trying to interfere with his plans. He certainly was an imposing-looking creature, and that would work perfectly for his plans. What could be better than turning this creature on the Royal Guards?
“Well then, let’s get started shall we?” he said in a low tone. “Soon enough, your mind will be an open book... one I may enjoy reading.”
Seth kept the blank look on his face, and prayed to every deity that Celestia’s spell would work as well as advertised...
*~*
Titania slowly approached the area that had been designated, ‘Deceiver’. What awaited her here was unknown and she sorely missed the back up of her comrades right now.
“What I wouldn’t give for one of Xavier’s strategies...” she muttered under her breath. Well, she had some of the Royal Guard with her, but she had the feeling they wouldn’t amount to much. None of them had faced a Pokemon before, if that’s what was here.
“The others will be in position shortly,” Grissom's voice came through loud and clear, thanks to Mewtwo’s mental link. “So don’t go jumping the hurdle just yet.”
“Feh, who do you think I am?” Titania scoffed. “I am a professional.”
“Indeed,” came the amused reply. “I’ll give the signal when it’s time to go.”
Titania looked at her surroundings. It was in the North Quarter, where most of the noble houses were situated. The building in particular was an abandoned mansion, it’s derelict appearance and boarded up windows making a striking contrast against the other houses.
“What do you suppose waits inside for us?” She asked nopony in particular. “Powerful Pokemon? Dastardly thieves? A combination of both perhaps?”
“We have just finished a scan,” One of the Unicorn guards approached her. “We detect only one life sign.”
“Just one?” Now that was interesting. “Either they are very confident or hopelessly delusional. Or perhaps they thought they would only be going up against ponies?” Titania wasn’t a firm believer in luck though. This was a trap and she wouldn’t be so foolish as to get caught in it.
Or maybe... what did Weiss used to say? Make out you’re going left, then go right? Something like that... she never really listened to him half the time.
So, set off the trap and get it out of the way? Or take the time to go around and try to catch the enemy off guard? Decisions, decisions.
“Okay, we’re all set. GO!”
Titania grinned, she knew what she had to do.
*~*
Malamar had just one wish, a very simple and pure wish.
That every Pony, Pokemon and all the little creatures on Equus be under his control. See, simple right? But there was one little, teensy wensy problem... THAT THEY WEREN'T!!
Why!? Why weren’t they all bowing before him? Because you’re not like that!
Why did he even desire control? Because you’re not you.
What should he do? Help, not hurt.
“SHUT UP!! Shut up shut up, shut up!!” Malamar raged, thrashing about and destroying furniture. “Get out of my head me! I don’t want you, I don’t like you!!”
“Well, is someone having a temper tantrum? That’s quite childish!” Malamar turned when he saw a Florges standing in the doorway, a small smirk on her face.
“A child?” Malamar’s voice dropped and became eerily calm. “I am no child little Miss.”
“The greater the denial, the bigger the child,” Titania retorted.
“I. AM. NO. CHILD!!” Malamar raged, unleashing a Superpower attack at the Garden Pokemon. She deftly avoided the attack, but it obliterated the wall, causing the whole house to shake.
“Oh my,” Titania giggled. “You really should play nice. “Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?”
Malamar’s gaze went blank for a second, as he tried to process information that simply wasn’t there. “M-my parents... I... what?”
Titania frowned, what was wrong with this Pokemon? How did somthing so... off kilter, even make it to Equestria.
“Are you alright?” she asked, a little concerned. Perhaps he was being controlled by this pony as well?
“I’m... FINE!” he grinned as he unleashed a powerful Psycho Cut at point blank range. Titania barely had time to guard with Flower Shield as the attack launched her across the room, throwing her slender form through a wall.
Once she picked herself up, she narrowed her eyes at the Pokemon in front of her. “Apparently so...” Something was very wrong with this Pokemon.
“Heh, so the little baby has some bite,” she taunted. “But a Baby Pokemon’s attacks don’t really hurt much~”
“If attacks don’t work...” A manic grin spread across Malamar’s face as several pieces of furniture begun to float. “Then how about we clean house?”
“Oh dear, this may not be good.” She suddenly had to duck and weave as he threw chairs, tables and even paintings on the wall at her. “Well that’s one way to do it,” she muttered, “But I have another!” She powered up a Moonblast and fired, sending the hollering Malamar through another wall.
“Aw, did the little baby get a boo-boo?” She said out loud and then screamed as a freaking piano came soaring through the gap.
“Heh, classic,” Malamar laughed as he surveyed the damage, “Did that hit the right ‘note’? Was my attack on key’? Perhaps you’d like another ‘lesson’?”
“Even your jokes are childish,” Titania groaned. This Malamar was clearly unhinged, so how was she supposed to deal with him?
“Do you require assistance?” Mewtwo’s voice rang out.
“No, I can handle this myself.” Titania replied, her pride would not allow her to lose this battle. She focused her mind to the stallions and mares waiting outside. “Alright listen up! I have a plan but it all hinges on you lot being competent enough to pull it off, so listen closely...”
Malamar danced around the room, Flinging various bits and pieces around the mansion, the building creaked and groaned under the assault. Titania tuned it all out as she focused her mind, calming herself.
“I’m afraid I can’t let you do that!” Malamar growled, before his voice rose a few octaves and he giggled. “What fun is life unless you make it Topsy-Turvy!?”
Rather than getting stronger, Titania found herself getting weaker. “Oh right, they can do that, reverse stat growth.” No matter, she still had her type advantage and she was still sane. “So why are you here by yourself?” she goaded, “Didn’t Control trust you enough to play with him?”
“My FriEnD?” Malamar said with strangled speech, his face twisting. “This is a trap and he trusts me to do it by myself!!” Using Superpower, he ripped a beam out of the wall and swung it like a bat, Titania barely ducked in time, narrowly avoiding having her head removed. And to make matters worse, Malamar’s special Ability made it so he got stronger every time he used that attack.
“Aw, poor little dear, that just means he doesn’t trust you with the important things.” Titania cooed. “After all... who’d trust a little child to do anything important?”
That was the final straw, Malamar snapped, slamming the beam down on the floor and shattering both, sending the Pokemon crashing to the bottom floor of the mansion. Once he picked himself back up, Malamar rubbed his eyes and squinted through the cloud, hoping to see a broken Florges. Instead, he saw dozens of them, floating around the room, posing on broken furniture, playing pattycake in the corners of the room...
“Weak.”
“Child.”
“Fool.”
“Broken.”
“Can’t be trusted.”
“Shutup!” Malamar growled, lashing out at the illusions, “Shut up, Shut up!” He struck again and again, hitting the Florges images and shattering them one after another, the constant chanting in the back of his mind. “SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUPPP!!”
Only one remained, sitting comfortably in a high-backed armchair. “Oh my, done already?” She stood up and thrust her hands forward, sending out a wave after wave of Petal Blizzards. Malamar swung his tentacles about, trying to clear the blinding petals. But for all his brute strength, he lacked speed and the attack kept pushing him back, until he was forced to flee through a window and out into the courtyard at the rear of the mansion.
“I’ll kill you, I’ll break you and then I’ll-” he stopped as he realised that he couldn’t move, his whole body was paralysed. “W-what did you do to meeeeee?”
“I didn’t do anything dear,” Titania said, stepping through the broken window. “It’s what these lovely little ponies did.” She motioned to the squad of Guard surrounding the courtyard, their horns glowing as they held a Spellbinding Circle.
“It seems you activated my trap dear Malamar, and that’s where I will call ‘Check’!”
The psychic squid strained his powers, trying to break free. But his mind raced at a mile a second, unable to concentrate even on a basic Confusion attack.
Titania leapt into the air, Luna’s moonlight bathing her body. “You are a broken Pokemon, and I will do my best to help you... but you must sleep now, so this is ‘Checkmate’, my dear Malamar.” She fired a double handed Moonblast straight down, hitting the Malamar dead on and exploding powerfully.
“And that as they say is tha-?” She noticed a dark circle underneath her and chuckled. “Oh! clever boy,” she whispered as the Destiny Bond took effect, and her world fell into darkness.
“Alright men, move it!” The Captain of the unit assisting Titania called. “We have two down, get the evac unit to get them to the hospital, double time! Move it!!” He looked at the two fallen Pokemon, and then to the crumbling mansion. “Just how are we supposed to deal with this if it becomes a regular occurrence?”
*~*
Diantha and her Gardevoir arrived at their chosen location, that of the ‘Champion’. It was a shipping yard, used for large freight airships. It was very similar to the ones back on Earth, with dozens and dozens of metal shipping containers littering the area. She gazed at one of the logos on the containers.
“PegasusAir, a fitting name I suppose.” she mused. “Well Gardy, do you sense anything?”
“Nothing yet Mistress, though something here feels... off.” Though her voice was merely a telepathic projection, it failed to hide the worry in her tone.
When her Gardevoir was worried, then it was cause for concern. Just what the heck was waiting for them here? Who was this ‘Champion’?
“Okay, we’re all set. GO!”
That voice was drowned out as a container screeched as metal tore against metal and then exploded, as a deafening roar filled the air...
It was only due to Gardy’s quick response that both she and Diantha teleported out of the way as a shipping container exploded and an enraged Tyrantrum emerged. One that was very familiar to the Champion and her Pokemon.
“T-that’s, it’s Tyra!” Diantha exclaimed. It wasn’t a ‘Champion’ they were fighting, but a Champion’s Pokemon, her Tyrantrum. “Tyra, please listen!”
The Tyrantrum responded with another roar, using Dragon Tail to send a massive container flying at the two gardevoir and their Guard escort. Gardy once again Teleported, along with Diantha and as many Guard as she could take, but some were not so lucky and the container slammed into them.
“Tyra! NO!” Diantha screamed, but by the luck of the gods themselves, nopony had been killed. Some had broken limbs and countless cuts and bruises though.
“Mistress, if we do not fight back, more will get hurt.” Gardy stated, but Diantha shook her head.
“He doesn't know what he’s doing, that awful Control must have done something to him.”
Gardevoir sighed and looked at the remaining Guards. “Please keep Tyrantrum distracted for a few moments, I’ll see if I can get him under control.” The Guards gulped, but nodded. The Pegasi flew at him, buzzing past his head as she snapped at them while the Unicorns fired blasts of magic bolts, but they seemed to have almost no effect.
Gardy focused her mind on Tyrantrum’s. She didn’t like hacking straight into another living being’s mind, but this was somewhat of a special case. She was silent for a moment before she screamed in pain, clutching her head.
“Gardevoir, what happened? Please tell me you’re still you!” Diantha didn’t want to have to fight two of her Pokemon.
“Guh, s-something is blocking me, like the Alakazam only much more powerful.” Gardevoir shook her head as it throbbed in pain. “I don’t know if I can help him right now.”
Tyra roared again, now flinging around Ancient Power at the flyers. The magic users were no threat, due to the anti magic wards that Control had placed on him. The flyers were annoying though and then there were the ones that betrayed him, the ones he thought he trusted. He would crush them all!!
Mewtwo!” Diantha cried, We need your help!” There was a moments pause before the Legendary Pokemon responded.
“I see, it is like the Alakazam, but his memories have been replaced, overwritten by new ones. I can help fix it... but it would take time. Render the creature unconscious, that will make it easier.”
“Knock him out?” Diantha replied, that was easier said than done. Perhaps if she had Hawlucha or Goodra...
“Do you doubt my power Mistress?” Gardy said, sounding a little hurt.
“What? No, of course I don’t... it’s just, well...”
“Mistress, if you have reservations about fighting your own Pokemon, keep in mind that we are trying to help him.”
“No, it’s not that... A few weeks before we arrived in Equestria I-” She was cut off as the last Pegasus went sailing above their heads, courtesy of a Dragon Tail. Now that the distractions had been dealt with, he looked at Gardevoir and Diantha and his massive jaw opened, his razor-sharp teeth dripping with poison as he activated Poison Fang.
Gardy sighed and gave her Mistress a deadpan stare. “You taught him anti-Fairy moves didn’t you?”
“Yes, Diantha smiled sheepishly as she and Gardevoir Teleported out of the way again.
“Of course you did,” muttered the Psychic type. Well, nothing she could do about it now... but having her Mega form would have been a boon. “I will try my best to defeat him, like old times Mistress?”
“We’re really calling ten days ago ‘Old times’?” she chuckled. “And yes, Use Moonblast!:
Gardevoir nodded, seeing the familiar fire in her trainers eyes. She focused her power and fired the ball of Fairy energy at Tyrantrum. The dragon opened his massive jaws and bit down on the attack, shattering the ball like it was nothing.
“W-what?” Diantha was shocked. How the heck was that even possible? He should have taken a lot of damage from that attack.
“He used Poison Fang to weaken it’s power, but I don’t know how it did nothing,” Gardevoir said. Then it clicked, his body had shone for a second when the attack struck, like it did when the Unicorns were attacking him. Were her Fairy moves being regarded as magic? And that caused his antimagic coating to activate? That was just plain unfair.
“I think we might be in trouble,” Diantha said as the Tyrantrum stomped closer, licking his lips as he stared hungrily at the two morsels.
Gardy tried Psychic, Shadow Ball and even Hidden Power, but they all had the same reaction, doing little to no damage at all.
“Alright, let’s try indirect then!” She flicked her wrist and flung a shipping container at him. Rather than just taking it like her previous attacks, he used Dragon Tail to knock it aside, the metal knocking off a few scales when he struck it.
But the wards didn’t activate.
“Interesting,” Gardevoir smirked and Diantha noticed it too.
“So either those wards block all Pokemon attacks, or just Special Attacks. Physical moves might work...”
“Except that I don’t know any Physical Moves,” Gardy finished. “Unless...” She raised her hands and used Psyshock, raining dozens of conjured stones down upon Tyrantrum, the attack causing him to roar in pain.
“Finally! Something that works!” Gardevoir cheered, a cheer that quickly died when Tyra opened his maw, building up dark purple energy. “EVERYONE TAKE COVER!” She screamed as Tyrantrum dug his claws in and fixed his tail as a counter-weight for the recoil, and then fired a massive Hyper Beam attack.
The beam ripped apart the ground as it blasted away the area where Diantha and her Pokemon had stood only seconds ago, several Unicorn’s banded together to shield their comrades, barely holding up against it with their combined might.
“Attack now, while he’s recharging!” Diantha called out, and then looked on in horror as the ancient Pokemon turned towards her, already charging another attack.
“Tyra... no...” She closed her eyes as everything seemed to move in slow motion, the previous attack had stunned Gardevoir monetarily, she would be unable to Teleport in time. This was it, this would be the end of them, no-one would be able to save them in time...
“DRAGON BULLET!” A high velocity ball of energy struck Tyrantrum back, causing him to stumble and lose concentration, the Hyper Beam attack petering out. Something heavy landed on the ground near Diantha and she opened her eyes, praying that it wasn’t another enemy.
Her vision was filled with the sight of gentle flames and large, orange wings. The Charizard they belonged too glared at Tyrantrum and then looked down at Diantha.
“Are you alright?” he asked, rather gently. “You’re not hurt are you?”
“N-no, we’re fine... but-” The Charizard smiled and nodded.
“Good, my brother would have my head if something happened to his friends.” He looked at the Tyrantrum, who was stunned by the last attack, but was getting to his feet, the wards having lessened the damage he would have taken.
“Tch! I thought that would have knocked him out.”
“He’s protected, against Special Attacks,” Diantha explained, helping Gardevoir to her feet. “Who are you?”
The Charizard smiled, “I’m Ignis, brother to Seth!” he declared. “Now stand back, I’ll handle this one.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gardy snapped. “You’re a Fire/Flying type, you stand no chance against a Rock/Dragon like Tyrantrum!”
Ignis didn’t speak, instead he opened his mouth and roared, one so powerful that it shook the ground and pushed Diantha back with just force alone.
Tyrantrum responded with a far less impressive roar, but still terrifying to those still conscious. Charizard rocked forward, propelling himself using his wings and uppercutted the Dragon right in the jaw, sending him sprawling across the ground.
“D-did he just punch a Tyrantrum... in the face?” Gardy asked.
“I believe he did,” Diantha replied, equally as stunned. “Come on, let’s help the ponies while Ignis deals with Tyra.” Gardevoir nodded and the two of them backed away from the clashing titans.
Tyrantrum was confused, who was this new Pokemon? Why was he protecting those traitors? Well no matter, Tyrantrum was stronger and Tyrantrum would win.
‘CRACK!’ the dragon went down again as Ignis slammed him with his tail. Mewtwo had given him the rundown the second he had gotten close enough to Canterlot. It had been a bit surprising to hear a voice in his head like that out of the blue. But Mewtwo informed him of what was happening, and directed him on where he was needed most. Igis was worried about Seth, but right now he needed to stop this Tyrantrum.
“Rraagghhhh!!” Tyrantrum roared, getting to his feet once more. This Charizard will fall! Tyra slammed his head into the ground and large spires of stone erupted forth as he used Stone Edge, though Ignis simply took to the skies to avoid the attack.
“And here I thought a Champion’s Pokemon would actually be a challenge,” he sighed. He opened his mouth and fired a barrage of Dragon Pulse attacks, weaker than a normal one, but the numerous blows took their toll. Tyrantrum’s wards held their own, lessening the damage but the force of the impacts impeded his movements.
As Diantha helped heal the Guards, she also kept an eye on Ignis, noting that he was battling differently compared to the last time she saw him. He expertly avoided attacks, quite gracefully actually, before unleashed a well-timed counter attack. Whereas when she was training him to get used to Mega evolution, his tactic would be ‘Burn it till it stops moving’.
“So you want to explain why you’re attacking your trainer?” Ignis asked his opponent. “Just because Rock-types are generally stupid, doesn’t mean you have to prove it.”
“They are traitors and I will crush them!” Tyrantrum roared and opened his maw. Power could be seen building and Ignis’s eyes widened, was he really going to do that?
“Draco Meteor!” he roared, sending the draconic attack soaring into the sky. Ignis had to do something, he could easily avoid it, but the ponies and Pokémon on the ground? Not so lucky. His Dragon Bullet still wasn’t powerful enough to counter it, but he still had a few tricks up his metaphorical sleeve.
He held an item that he received from Red, a small red jewel. Crushing it in his claw, it vanished and he felt an infusion of power as the Fire Gem kicked in, ready to bolster the strength of his next fire move.
“Heat Wave!” He opened his mouth and fired a stream of white-hot flames, then flapped his wings and fuelled the attack with air, until it looked like the sky itself was on fire. The meteors incinerated upon impact, Ignis gave a weary sigh as the Fire Gem wore off, leaving feeling a little drained. That was probably the reason he didn’t avoid the incoming Ancient Power attack…
Well, that hurt Ignis grunted as he hit the ground as Tyrantrum buried him under a Rock Slide attack.
“Hah! And you thought you had a chance,” Tyrantrum roared triumphantly.
The rock pile exploded outwards, revealing a bored-looking Charizard, caressing one of his shoulders until it gave a satisfying ‘pop’. “Whoa, all that training with Eclipse did wonders with resisting my weaknesses.” He looked at the Tyrantrum and narrowed his eyes. “You’re a bit more dangerous than I thought, so I’m afraid I’ll have to end this little game.”
He flew into the air as he began to power up a Dragon Pulse. Tyrantrum merely smirked. That wouldn’t work, his wards would protect him. And Diantha noticed that too.
“Ignis, what are you doing? Special Attacks won’t work, even super effective ones!”
“I know,” Ignis replied. He had an idea, once, many years ago, he and Seth had visited the Sinnoh region. At some small town they had come across, there was a local festival that had proven to be quite fun as well as the most outrageous battle they’d ever seen. A Battle Frontier trainer named Palmer had been up against some young teen boy and his Grotle. The Grotle had swallowed its own Energy Ball to bolster its attack power!
So that’s exactly what he did. Once the Dragon Pulse was charged, he bit down on it… and the effect was quite interesting. Draconic energy surrounded his head, taking the shape of a dragons’ mouth.
“Dragon Fang!” Ignis roared as he swooped at Tyrantrum, biting down on him as the wards lit up, before failing completely as the attack overwhelmed them, and drove Tyra into the ground with a massive thud.
“Ignis! Tyra!?” Diantha ran over to them, concerned about their safety, only to find Ignis sitting atop the fallen dragon with a satisfied smirk on his face.
“I’m fine… Tyrantrum? Not so much. What do we do with him now?”
“A section of a local hospital has been set up to take care of any Pokémon and ponies that have been injured or subjected to magical alteration.” Mewtwo’s voice rang in their heads. “I have sent the directions to Gardevoir, do you require assistance in transporting the injured?”
“We have it under control, thank you Mewtwo.” Diantha responded. She looked back at her unconscious Pokémon and sighed. “Why did this have to happen?”
“The unexpected happens,” Ignis shrugged as he hopped down. “You just have to do your best to deal with it and make the best of the outcome.” He flexed his wings a few times to make sure he had no lingering injuries, but Gardevoir used Heal Pulse on him anyway, earning a thankful nod from him.
“Okay, I’m going to help Seth, you ladies will be fine here?”
“Yes, and now that those wards on Tyra have worn off, even if he does wake up, I can put him back down if necessary.” Gardevoir confirmed, Diantha just looking at the ground.
“The one who did this, make sure they face justice,” she said quietly and Ignis nodded.
“Yeah, this bastard won’t get away with this. Count on it.” He gave a resolute nod and took to the skies, heading for Seth’s location and praying that he wasn’t too late.
*~*
This was it, this would be the moment that Control’s world would come tumbling down around him. A low growl escaped Selena’s throat as she stared at the warehouse that presumably held Total Control, and Seth.
“So what do we do?” Apple Fritter asked. “Just charge in and rescue Seth?”
“That… you’ve never done this before, have you Fritter?” Selena said with a deadpan tone.
“Go up against fruit bat crazy Unicorns that’r brainwashin’ mah friends… can’t say that ah have,” Fritter snarked back.
“To be fair, neither have we,” Rika added. “First time for everything huh?”
“Well, the Princess’s spell should protect Seth from being brainwashed, but given that magic is what got us into this mess…” Selena groaned. Arceus had brought them to this world for an easier life... how was this easier exactly? “I’m not banking on it working forever. We need to come up with something.”
“Okay, we’re all set. GO!”
There was a sudden flash from the windows and the tell tale crack of thunder told them that time was probably up.
“Okay, Fritter’s plan sounds good now, Let’s go!!” Selena said and the three charged into the warehouse, not expecting what they saw…