//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Returning Home...- Pt. 1 (Cyrus and Tirek Causing Trouble...) // Story: Pokémon - The Equestrian Chronicles: Land of Equestria Saga // by StrangeBehavior //------------------------------// -[Time Gear - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky]- Several days (maybe a week or two or more) had past since everyone heard Sean's story, and even now, they still cannot get over the fact that Sean had actually died in France, and was revived by some kind of god (who they knew now was, in fact, the Grim Reaper they met earlier). They saw that scar left by Lysandre and were amazed at the feats the trainer had accomplished in his life. Twilight could not understand how the Legendary Pokémon, particularly cases like Celebi or Diancie, who are practically Pokémon gods, are contained in these glimmering, ruby-like Poké Balls (called Cherish Balls), and are mailed to her trainer friends by a mysterious mail-person. More and more humans and Pokémon were found, but a majority of the strongest wild Pokémon seeming to gather at this dangerous mountain range in the east of Equestria. Many of the humans found were trainers, Rangers, and a few Pokémon Nurses, but the most significant of them was the ex-Leader of Team Rocket, Giovanni, who is now but a humble Pokémon Trainer who seeks battles to know once again what it means to be a Pokémon Trainer. Giovanni offered his services to Princess Celestia in locating Cyrus, by his prior experience in shady business, Rainbow Dash wasn't convinced despite having witnesses like Red, Rosa, and Sean vouching for him. Among the Pokémon found were several that belong to trainers, but the oddest was a little female Pichu with a spiky fringe on her left ear. The ponies got a fantastic surprise when they learned Latias and Latios could bend sunlight around their bodies to either turn nearly invisible or make an illusionary disguise in the likeness of humans, or now ponies. Mewtwo learned more about friendship by reading Twilight's previous letters to her mentor, and helping the Mane Six along with many of their adventures. Sean, having volunteered to investigate certain disturbances throughout Equestria, left the group to solve the mysteries involving these instances with Professor Oak and an adventuring pegasus that went by the name, Daring Do. Sean left Rosa and Fluttershy in charge of a majority of his Pokémon as he took nine with him. The group of friends missed the positive energy he gave off, but knew he'd be back as soon as he can. Twilight felt somewhat horrible that she has yet to find her own Partner Pokémon, with the rest of her friends already befriending five other wild Pokémon; a Sewaddle for Rarity, a Smeargle for Pinkie Pie, a Lapras for Fluttershy, a Pawniard for Applejack, and an Eevee for Rainbow Dash. The Cutie Mark Crusaders continue training their Charmeleon, Wartortle, and Ivysaur, per Sean's suggestion with May, Brendan, and Rosa, and learned from Apple Bloom's cousin, Babs Seed, that she and her CMC befriended their own 'Partner Pokémon' as well (a Froakie, a Chespin, and a Fennekin). It didn't exactly make the Alicorn feel any better, stacked on top of her uncertainty on what role she should play as a Princess. Even Discord eventually found his partner, an odd yet very festive Pokémon called Ludicolo. Cyrus was still at large, and his makeshift gang are rising as a business, while secretly, Cyrus plots to use the Nightmare Force for his own plans in creating a world without spirit. Rumors and sightings across Equestria differ in many ways, like some ponies seeing a silver whoosh wiz by at blinding speeds near the eastern seas, while ponies near the northwest found chilling sights on a few small areas of lush land grey and dead. These rumors sounded like Sean's Lugia and Yveltal to the trainers, but feeling a need to, remained in Ponyville with their pony friends, chatting about various things about Pokémon... "Really!?" -[Oldale Town - Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire]- Twilight couldn't believe what she was hearing, "You're telling me...that Eevee...can actually evolve into eight different forms...?" Rosa chirped proudly as she held her own Eevee, "Yep, you saw it yourself through Sean's story. But, you see, as far as we know, Eevee is a neat Pokémon to have, because of that uniqueness and its apparent unstable genetic makeup that makes it an especially difficult Pokémon to find." May added, "Yeah, each identified evolution of Eevee has various strengths and weaknesses that the trainer themselves have to choose on, as well as different methods to evolve Eevee into its evolutions. Like giving Eevee a Fire Stone will evolve it into a Flareon, a pure FIRE-Type Pokémon that excels in physical attacks, especially if it learns the powerful, but risky Flare Blitz attack. Or, by leveling up an Eevee during night time while having a high enough friendship with the trainer will evolve it into the DARK-Type, Umbreon, a Pokémon that is very defensive with high Defense and Special Defense..." Brendan then said as Sean's Sylveon 'moon-jumped' to Rosa's side, "Sylveon is the most recent identified evolution of Eevee that we trainers start dubbing, 'Eeveelutions'. I don't remember how exactly you evolve an Eevee into a Sylveon, but others include; the WATER-Type Vaporeon through a Water Stone, the ELECTRIC-Type Jolteon through a Thunder Stone, the PSYCHIC-Type Espeon through high friendship during the day, the GRASS-Type Leafeon near a Mossy Rock, and the ICE-Type Glaceon near an Icy Rock... Hashimoto-senpai can tell you more about them since he's got all the current Eeveelutions, or that Masaki Sonezaki (Bill) guy since he and his family raises a ton of Eevee..." Twilight cocked her head as she asked, "Masaki...Sonezaki...? Who's that...?" Rosa added, "You mean that PC Storage guy out in Kanto and Kansai? I didn't know he raises Eevees..." May answered for Twilight, "He created a storage system for trainers to store Pokémon, since most of the time, trainers are only allowed to carry six Pokémon at a time. He linked these PC units to the Pokémon researchers of any given region of the world to look after those Pokémon we trainers who catch more than six Pokémon at a time..." "Don't forget..." Brendan added, "...he's also an avid Pokémon Maniac...complete with helpers that manage the systems in certain regions, in the world..." Twilight thought aloud, "Huh...I'd like to meet Mr. Sonezaki someday..." Twilight slightly frowned when she saw her friends playing with all their Pokémon. She was feeling down about being the only one without a Partner Pokémon, which adding to her uncertainty of her role as princess, made her feel even more horrible. ~"Are you alright Princess Twilight...?"~ Sean's Mewtwo asked the lavender alicorn. Twilight responded, "Y-yeah...I'm fine, I was just trying to piece together all these things Sean and the others explained about their world. But, those 'dinosaur' creatures, I find those the most fascinating. The fact that Sean says that they know so much about them, while knowing so little at the same time, I think that is very interesting. Especially after seeing two species, the 'Tyrannosaurus' Xerneas is looking after in the Everfree Forest, and that uh...Did...no-no...Dig...gah, what was it called again..." ~"Diplodocus...?"~ Mewtwo asked/answered for Twilight. "Yes, right...Diplodocus...that one, I still can't believe such a gentle herbivore fought and defeated a fully-grown dragon with one strike..." Rosa added as she walked up, "Well, from what Sensei told me about that family of dinosaurs, they are usually safe from predators by growing to such gigantic sizes, but should their immense size not be enough to scare off their aggressors, they use their tails like giant whips and snap them against their attackers." "Uh-huh..." Twilight said. "PRINCESS TWILIGHT!!!" A mare shouted. "What is it?" Rosa asked for the princess. "There's something weird found near a house several yards from Town Hall! You've got to come and see it...!" She said to the humans and ponies... "Come on y'all..." Applejack said as her Roserade, Rose followed close behind, with the others following suit... -[Pokémon League - Pokémon X and Y]- Princess Cadence walked out of the Crystal Castle's doorway to see the Crystal Heart, as well as three new faces in the Crystal Empire... Earlier in the week, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, for some unexplained reason, stood guard over the Crystal Heart, as if they sensed some impending doom was going to befall it. They did an excellent job so far, keeping would-be criminals from stealing it, and fending off a few dragons who wanted to take everything from the empire. Cadence commented, "I still can't believe that they were Sean's Pokémon, and that they were really these 'Shiny Pokémon' I've heard about...don't you think so?" She looked beside her to see her Partner Pokémon, a small, but ferocious STEEL/FAIRY-Type, a female Mawile, who she named Kari. Her Mawile shrugged as she said in response to her trainer's question, "Wile...Maw-While...?" Cadence took a deep breath as she asked the Legendary Beast closest to her, Entei, "Excuse me...Noble Entei...?" The huge FIRE-Type turned his eyes towards her as she asked him, "...are you certain you don't need to be with your trainer? I'm certain he would need all of your strength from what I hear about the things going on lately, especially that...incident that my sister-in-law and all her friends went through with that house that appeared near the Everfree Forest..." Cadence expected silence as usual from the beasts, but was caught off-guard when Raikou spoke... "We trust Sean Hashimoto with our lives as he trusts us with his...he captured us so that we won't be put under the command of an unworthy trainer like Silver, son of Sakaki..." Suicune said afterwards, following up on her brother's reply, "He was worthy for us to give our strength for, and if he was older when it came time for us to seek a trainer worthy, Satoshi Ketchum would have been our ideal trainer. Sean didn't like the idea of someone stealing the Poké Balls we were captured in, so for us to be forever free to do what we need to do, gave us our Poké Balls to safeguard from the likes of those idiots from Team Rocket..." Entei finally said to the alicorn, "...We are given instructions from our master, and from our mother, to go to certain places to perform certain tasks. We can't always stick around our trainer for that, Hashimoto knew that the moment he caught all three of us. However, we will come to his aide whenever we can..." Cadence was pondering what the three legends said to her after recovering from the surprise, remembering that, aside from Zekrom and some of the smaller Legendary Pokémon, the other Legendary Pokémon simply come and go as they please. She asked hesitantly, "Uh...umm...what...uh...what are your instructions right now...?" Entei looked directly into her eyes, then looked away towards the direction of the Crystal Mountains, as Suicune answered for her brother, "We are given orders not to tell you, for we always have enemy spies watching all of us, no matter where in the multiverse we find ourselves in..." Cadence got a little paranoid from that statement, as she thought, M-multiverse? What in Equestria is that...? She saw a scroll magically appear in front of her from her aunts, Kari opened it up for her and handed it to the Princess. Cadence read the scroll as she said, "Well...if that is going to be the case, please try to not do anything rash while I'm away...My aunt Celestia want's me to set a few things up for a meeting here in the Crystal Empire...so...uh..." "What you mean to say is don't do anything stupid while you are gone...?" Raikou guessed for her. "N-N-N-NO! I...I d-don't mean it by...by t-that! I just...*sigh*...I'm going to leave before I say something I'll regret..." Cadence said defensively, trying hard not to offend them. -[Deep In Galactic HQ - Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]- Cyrus was following one of his subordinates to a warehouse somewhere near Manehatten. He was greeted by two of his commanders, Mars and Jupiter (wearing street clothes), but still every bit as loyal to Cyrus. Mars spoke to Cyrus, "The construction of your device is near completion, Master Akagi..." Jupiter followed suit, "But we have to be careful, that pony princess has got her eyes on our activities. I can't wait to get this plan into motion, I can no longer stand the sight of all those smiling, toy rejects, and having to play nice to them..." Cyrus simply stood silent, then ordered, "We will continue monitoring our enemies, especially since that cursed boy went off the radar eight days ago. We will wait until then..." Jupiter and Mars saluted as they said in unison, "Yes, Akagi-sama..." -[Mt. Pyre - Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire]- The ponies, humans, and Pokémon all arrived to the house to find much of the street in front of it completely dug up, with more of the strange thing mentioned earlier dug up... It was a huge statue of something, covered in dust and dirt, with green moss growing in certain places. It was clearly ancient, yet it looked like a giant, mechanized robot made to look fairly organic. It was a strange sight to the ponies... "What is it...?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind her Dragonite. "It looks like one of those Mobile Suit things from that Gundam anime Sean showed us...but...less, streamlined, and not very human-shaped..." Pinkie stated, sort-of answering her shy friend's question. "Heh...imagine if it was...that would be awesome..." Rainbow Dash said with her Pidgeot, Epsilon, right behind her... "I think..." Rosa said as she examined it closer, "...I think this is a statue of a Pokémon..." Rarity asked as she held Quartz, her Sableye, "What kind of Pokémon looks like that?" "It looks…familiar…but, I'm not entirely sure…" Rosa stated, as her eyes went to the feet of the statue, and noticed something of interest. Cynthia noticed it too as she said, "Right here at the base, there's a descriptive plate there." As she brushed the dirt away, instead of letters or ancient writing, there was… "What the heck!" Rainbow angrily shouted, "There's nothing but a bunch of bumps. What kind of trash is this!" "They look more like notches to me…" Rarity observed with Quartz nodding and chirping with agreement to his trainer. -[Sealed Chamber - Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire]- "Wait a moment, these notches...with how they're arranged, it must be Braille!" Cynthia said in surprise. "Uh...What in tarnation is 'Brayil', Shinora?" Applejack asked the Sinnoh Champion. "Braille..." May answered, "...is a special kind of tactile writing system created for those who are either blind or lost their eyesight, it was created in the year 1837 by a Frenchman named Louis Braille after he lost his eyesight in 1824." "Hmm…" Twilight cast a quick spell over the entire statue, and replied with a confused face, "If what you say is true, then I think somepony else got it first. This entire thing, statue and all, is over 3,000 years old, no doubt about it. I used a spell used to identify the age of the composition of the stone." "You mean like, carbon-dating? Doesn't that take like a few days for scientists to give an accurate approximation of the age of some relics, rock formations, or even fossils?" Kotone asked. Twilight let out a little chuckle as she said, "Well, yes, but if it's a writing system like you guys said, it may take me a while to piece it together…" "No need for that…" May said with a determined look on the young girl's face. "Wait! Can you read Braille, Haruka?" Twilight asked, eager to learn more... "Sure I can read Braille, Twilight-chan. But, the catch is that I have to be blind myself in order to read it properly...or just have a blindfold over my eyes..." May replied, slightly tired of the questions. "Since when did you learn to read Braille, Haruka-chan?" Brendan asked, but flinched as he began to regret asking as May looked ready to drive her foot up his butt. May sighed as she answered her friend's idiotic question, "*sigh*...I learned to read Braille when I had a friend back in Kyoto who was blind and had to read by Braille, she eventually started to feel numbness in her fingers, so I offered to learn to read Braille for her. I did succeed in reading Braille, but I was, unfortunately, only able to read Braille when I'm unable to see myself. That's how..." "Then why don't we blindfold you so you can read whatever that Braille inscription reads..." Rainbow Dash suggested as she grabbed the nearest blindfold in the area, a white one. Rosa suggested after looking through her bag, "A black blindfold might yield better results than a white one...Luckily, I have a black neckerchief that is the right size for the job..." She tied the black neckerchief around May's head over her eyes tightly, and got the a-ok from May when she can't see anything. "Alright, since I cannot see anything, you'll have to lead me to the inscription. And Shinora-chan...will you guide my hand over the lines so I can properly read the inscriptions?" May asked, to which everyone agreed. Right before May would begin translating, Twilight copied the inscription in Braille form on a notebook to be a written translation (look below to try and translate yourself...); ================================================================================================== ⠠⠁ ⠃⠕⠙⠽ ⠕⠋ ⠗⠕⠉⠅⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠁ ⠃⠕⠙⠽ ⠕⠋ ⠊⠉⠑⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠁ ⠃⠕⠙⠽ ⠕⠋ ⠎⠞⠑⠑⠇⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠺⠓⠑⠝ ⠞⠓⠑⠎⠑ ⠞⠓⠗⠑⠑ ⠁⠗⠑ ⠏⠗⠑⠎⠑⠝⠞⠂ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠅⠊⠝⠛ ⠎⠓⠁⠇⠇ ⠁⠏⠏⠑⠁⠗⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠓⠊⠎ ⠏⠕⠺⠑⠗ ⠺⠁⠎ ⠞⠕⠕ ⠛⠗⠑⠁⠞⠂ ⠎⠕ ⠺⠑ ⠋⠑⠁⠗⠑⠙ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠅⠊⠝⠛ ⠁⠝⠙ ⠎⠑⠁⠇⠑⠙ ⠊⠞ ⠁⠺⠁⠽⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠺⠓⠑⠝ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠃⠕⠙⠊⠑⠎ ⠕⠋ ⠗⠕⠉⠅⠂ ⠊⠉⠑⠂ ⠁⠝⠙ ⠎⠞⠑⠑⠇ ⠁⠗⠑ ⠏⠗⠑⠎⠑⠝⠞⠂ ⠊⠞ ⠺⠊⠇⠇ ⠗⠑⠇⠑⠁⠎⠑ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠁⠝⠉⠊⠑⠝⠞ ⠎⠑⠁⠇ ⠕⠝ ⠊⠞⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠋⠕⠗⠑⠧⠑⠗ ⠋⠗⠑⠑⠊⠝⠛ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠕⠝⠑ ⠺⠓⠕ ⠍⠕⠧⠑⠙ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠉⠕⠝⠞⠊⠝⠑⠝⠞⠎ ⠺⠊⠞⠓ ⠊⠞⠎ ⠃⠁⠗⠑ ⠓⠁⠝⠙⠎⠂ ⠊⠞⠎ ⠏⠕⠺⠑⠗ ⠊⠎ ⠞⠕⠕ ⠛⠗⠑⠁⠞⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠞⠕ ⠺⠓⠕⠑⠧⠑⠗ ⠉⠁⠝ ⠞⠁⠍⠑ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠅⠊⠝⠛ ⠕⠋ ⠃⠑⠁⠎⠞⠎⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠞⠓⠕⠥⠛⠓ ⠁ ⠎⠏⠊⠗⠊⠞ ⠉⠁⠝⠝⠕⠞ ⠞⠕⠥⠉⠓ ⠊⠞⠎ ⠋⠕⠗⠍⠂ ⠁ ⠎⠏⠊⠗⠊⠞ ⠕⠋ ⠁ ⠺⠁⠗⠗⠊⠕⠗ ⠉⠁⠝ ⠓⠁⠗⠍ ⠊⠞⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠞⠁⠍⠑ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠃⠑⠁⠎⠞⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠕⠄ ⠉⠓⠕⠎⠑⠝ ⠉⠓⠊⠇⠙⠲⠲⠲ ⠠⠞⠁⠍⠑ ⠞⠓⠑ ⠃⠑⠁⠎⠞⠲⠲⠲ ================================================================================================== "Okay..." May said as she silently mumbled to herself as she read the passage with Cynthia guiding her hand, "Body...three...king...fear...continents...spirit...warrior...child..." May finished and took off her blindfold, getting a sudden flash of blinding sunlight as she reacted, "Gah...too bright...jeez Rosa-chan...this thing really works well as a blindfold, a little too well since I am actually blinded for a little..." "Sorry..." Rosa apologized as she then asked, "So...what did it say...?" "There was a lot of it, but fortunately, I remember all of it, and I'll save you the ancient speech and tell you what it basically means..." the young Japanese girl said as her eyes were still shut tight trying to adjust to the change in light. "Its a statue of a Pokémon that was extraordinarily powerful in ancient times, described as being powerful enough to tow entire continents with its bare hands and some kind of special rope..." "Sweet Celestia! That has GOT to be an exaggeratin' right there!" Applejack exclaimed in disbelief. "I'll say, that thing sounds like big trouble if it winds up in Equestria!" Rainbow Dash added. "Well, ancient people were known to exaggerate greatly in old legends, but I don't think they were exaggerating with the words they've written, mostly because they described that they feared its power. It was sealed away for some child, most likely a Pokémon Trainer, to tame this 'beast' they called it." "Wait..." Twilight asked as she stopped translating the copy of Braille in her notepad, "...Haruka...are you saying that-?!" "Yep..." The girl said as she began to squint her eyes open, "The Braille inscription pretty much says that this statue of a Pokémon, is actually the Pokémon itself, sealed away in stone..." The ponies nearby who have been listening in on the trainers and Elements of Harmony, panicked immediately and started to board up their houses and the guards nearby were put on very high alert as they eyed the sealed Pokémon suspiciously, all of them afraid it was like Discord when he had to be sealed in stone. Everyone was silent for a minute as Barry finally broke the silence, "Man, talk about your jumpy townsfolk..." "Uh...y-yeah..." May added, unsure in reality. "But, what does it mean about, uh…what was it…hmm…'taming the beast'?" Twilight asked after looking through her notebook. May pondered as she then replied, "Well…we do know that this guy must be one of the Legendary Pokémon, the first few lines described that when three bodies made of rock, ice, and steel are presented before it, this 'king' shall appear." "It most likely means that if these three specific 'bodies' are around the statue, the seal that entombed it will be lifted…" Cynthia added. "If that's true, then what are these bodies the inscription describes? Maybe we need ponies that exemplify ice, rock, and steel perhaps?" Rarity asked Brendan had a bit of a nervous face as he replied, "I think the inscription means it in a literal sense…" "You sayin' we need bodies of those three traits on 'em?" Applejack questioned. Twilight responded in a tone of slight disbelief, "I…I think he means we need bodies made of actual ice, rock, and steel…like 100% rock, ice, and steel from the inside and outside…" "Huh…maybe we can get a Cragidile, cause their bodies are very rocky…and maybe get a Windigo cause their bodies are shivery cold, brr…" Pinkie Pie thought. "I say we go to the movies and blow chunks of barf all over the pirates and get their booty of CHOCOLATE SAILORS!!! They're mine! Keep your filthy mitts of me chocolate you scurvy bilge rats! I'm a lunatic and I'm not afraid to use the Moubai Shuffle to prove it! I have gingivitis! Kee-keh-keh-keh-keh-brou-ha-ha-haaa!" -[No Music]- *Insert tumbleweed blowing in the wind* Everyone looked at Sean's Porygon-Z with worried faces as the Virtual Pokémon all of a sudden, dragged his, uh, 'butt', on the ground like a dog and whistled Mozart's Moonlight Sonata in an eerily perfect form as if he was nine people doing just that (like an acapella). "Uh…" Rainbow Dash finally spoke up after an awkward silence, "Is anypony else getting a little freaked out about this guy as much as I am?" "The guy got a virus from diving too deep in the Internet, and trust me, there's some seriously messed up s*** in there…" Barry answered, "*shudders* I still have waking nightmares and that happened eleven years ago, and I just skimmed the surface of the inner depths of the Internet…" Barry then curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth while sucking his thumb, while humming a little nursery rhyme, which didn't really help alleviate their concern. "Anyways…" Fluttershy said to try to get back to the mystery at hand, "Are there Pokémon that have bodies made of rock, ice, and steel?" "Well…there are various ROCK-Type, ICE-Type, and STEEL-Type Pokémon that do have bodies made of those traits, but they all at least have some kind of organic component that, unfortunately, none of them seem to fit the requirements that unlock this guy's seal…" "I LIKE CEREAL!" Porygon-Z shouted in an obnoxiously irritating voice that caused some of the humans, Pokémon, and ponies shoot threatening glares at for a few seconds, then pondered to figure out the legend inscribed at the base of the statue. "What to do..." Kotone mused aloud...until... -[Friend's Theme - Pokémon X and Y]- "Maybe I can shed some light on your dilemma…" Everyone broke out of they're train of thoughts at the familiar voice behind them all, and saw Sean and Professor Oak, having returned from they're little investigation with Sean's Metagross following behind with clear scratch marks all over his body. "Hashimoto-san! Oakido-sama! You're back from your investigation...!" Kotone exclaimed happily as everyone went over to greet their friends. "So what did you find?" Twilight asked the two. Sean answered Twilight's question as he took care of his Metagross' scratches, "Well, we found ruins from our world that were misplaced by space. That Daring Do chick actually found a ruin that was supposedly connected to three others, using some info, Oakido-sama found that they were from the Kushiar Islands south of Mainland Japan, the region we were in when this dimension thing happened, it was just like what happened at that mansion that appeared in the Everfree forest's rim." Everyone shuddered tremendously with fear after that, place (the mansion), was mentioned, to which Rainbow replied, "Big deal, so what if they were some ruins…" Professor Oak laughed a little as he then replied, "Well, these ruins are tied with the Legendary Pokémon known to the ancient world as, Regigigas, the Titan that Pulls Continents…" Rainbow's jaw dropped as everyone gasped at the Pokémon's title, Rosa gasped as she exclaimed, "Regigigas! I know that name! No wonder that statue was familiar to me…I battled against a trainer at a tournament who commanded a Regigigas! The thing's not very strong when it is first sent out, but quickly becomes a threat if its strange ability in neutralized." "So…this statue, is this Regigigas fellow?" Twilight asked with a gulp. "Yeah…" Sean replied, "The bodies of those elements are indeed Pokémon, but they're referring to three specific Pokémon in truth. They are a trio of Pokémon that are known historically as the Legendary Titans of the Crusades…" "Hold on, are you talking about those three? Regirock, Regice, and Registeel?" Cynthia asked. "What are those guys?" Fluttershy asked, rather curious about the three names mentioned. "They're a trio of very old Pokémon unlike any other species of Pokémon out there, under the fact that they're more like machines that living creatures, and that their origin is unknown…" May explained. "Not unknown…" Oak replied, "…thanks to these ruins, we've learned that Regigigas and these three Pokémon have a larger connection than just having similar names. Hashimoto-san and I theorize that Regigigas may be the master or creator of Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, and a good thing we returned too…" They all were curious as they all asked in unison, "What do you mean by that?" "Fart Monkeys!" Porygon-Z shouted while making a snow-…correction, a 'dirt-angel' in the ground. -[Battle! (Regirock/Regice/Registeel) - Pokémon Symphonic Evolutions]- "Well, inside these three ruins, were puzzles that when solved, allowed me the opportunity to…obtain three more Pokémon…" Sean answered with a ecstatic smile. Sean tossed three Poké Balls (Timer Balls) up into the air and called out his three new Pokémon, the humans and ponies shielded their eyes as the three Pokémon landed with a tremendous thud and kicked up a lot of dirt and dust into the air. When the dust settled, everyone got to see the new additions to Sean's family… They were indeed Regirock, Regice, and Registeel, the three golems of legend of not only Kyushu, but also the Mediterranean world. Regirock really looked like a creature made entirely out of rocks, with pieces of sandstone and red clay making up the majority of its body. Regice had a similar motif like Regirock, but is instead made of solid ice, almost certainly arctic ice given it was not transparent in the slightest, but had a reflective surface like glass. Registeel did look like it was made of steel and various other metal ores, but among the three, Registeel looked the most organic looking as it was perfectly smooth, and what little movements it made were very fluid compared to the rigid, almost robot-like movements of Regirock and Regice. Twilight noticed that where she presumed faces would normally be, they all have a series of seven dots arranged in certain patterns unique to each of them, Regirock's were arranged in a H-shape, Regice's were a +-shape, and Registeel's were an O-shape with six dots with the seventh in the middle. The three stood perfectly still, much like statues, aside from a few brief movements that told onlookers they were not statues. Pinkie Pie, eager to make more new friends, and Fluttershy wanting to make more friends with more Pokémon, walked up to the three creatures to say their greetings. "Hello Regirock, Regice, Registeel! Welcome to Ponyville! I'm Pinkie Pie and I want to be super best friends with all three of you!" "Hello…I'm Fluttershy, it's so very nice to meet you…" The three golems turned to face the two ponies greeting them, and were silent as an empty room for half a minute, just staring at them with their…err…eyes??? The other Ponyvillians walked up to them to say their greetings, but were growing unsettled by the cold silence the three were giving them, they just stared, unnerving them as the three, they finally noticed, were inching slowly to them. "Uh…is there…something…wrong?" Twilight asked, to which the golems finally spoke, and the ponies did not like what they heard one bit… "ALERT! ENEMIES IN RANGE! USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE, CONSIDERED! CALCULATING THREAT LEVELS!" Regirock sounded in a VERY robotic-sounding voice. Regice added in the same, but slightly higher pitched voice, "THREAT LEVEL, THREE POINT FIVE! DEFENSE PROTOCOLS SEARCH! STRATEGY FOUND! FEINT DIVERSION FOUND! RECALCULATING THREAT LEVEL! THREAT LEVEL, NINE POINT NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE EIGHT FOUR!" Registeel finished in a deeper voice as it outstretched its arms and electricity started to gather into its hands, "CALCULATION COMPLETE! COURSE OF ACTION: DESTROY ENEMIES! CHARGING ZAP CANNON TECHNIQUE, PROGRESS, EIGHTY-SEVEN PERCENT! LOCKING ONTO TARGETS!" All three then said in unison at the cowering ponies and humans, "COMMENCING FIRE IN T-MINUS, TWELVE SECONDS! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR!" "AHHH!" the golems' targets screamed in fear as Sean and Professor Oak panicked and acted quickly… "Cease fire! Friendlies in line of fire! Stand down order, 45T8GUS56!" Sean shouted as he and Professor Oak got in front of the three Pokémon. The Legendary Golems deactivated their attacks as they lowered their arms, followed by heavy sighs of relief from everyone. Sean had sweat on his forehead as he thought in his mind, Holy S**t! I can't believe that actually worked! Professor Oak then said, "Commence data scan for registry of allies. Order B8720281ATB…" The three robotic Pokémon then scanned the lifeforms before them and then Regirock said, "ALLIES REGISTERED! ORDER SEARCH IN DATABASE, ORDER FOUND, COMMENCING REACTION STRIKE PROTOCOL!" Thank god that worked...we only guessed those numbers...got to make a note of that... Sean thought as he relaxed his tense muscles... The other two did the same as the ponies and humans sighed with relief, only to be followed by Rainbow Dash and Kotone replying angrily, "What the buck/**** was that all about!" "Well..." Sean began, unaware of what the trio of golems did after registering allies, "They have a mindset that is very...uh...robot-like, considering the time they were created..." "So they're freaking Terminator Pokémon..." Kotone said with a very flat and un-amused look on her face. "Yeah...you summed it up perfectly, albeit a little direct and blunt, Oakido and I figured it out while they-where'd they go...?" Sean said as the others looked around for the Regis. "Over there!" Spike shouted as he pointed to the three gathered around the massive statue that was found underneath Ponyville. "ああ、くそ！" Sean swore in Japanese as the three Pokémon then vibrated and said in unison... "OBJECTIVE REACHED! TRAINER'S STRENGTH COMPARABLE! RELEASING CREATOR, DESIGNATED: REGIGIGAS!!!" -[Battle! (Regirock/Regice/Registeel) - Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire]- The statue shook as the dark-ish color cracked off to reveal a white, gold, and charcoal black body that was surprisingly still covered in moss as the statue then started to come to life... "RRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!" The massive Pokémon roared at such a deafening volume that it caused the ponies not in the crater to panic and start to flee from the town in a frenzy much like a flock of scared chickens, including the guards pointing their spears at the Pokémon. The roar carried much distance as it frightened the creatures of the Everfree Forest, and Celestia jolted in surprise at the deafening roar that rattled all the windows in her castle, which caused her Aegislash to go on high alert. In the Everfree Forest, the Tyrannosaurus that Xerneas looked after stood up and let out a low call like an African Elephant in response. With an almost metallic shudder coming off of Regigigas as the Colossal Pokémon moved, it rose its arms up as if to slam them down onto the ground. Everyone readied to fight back if necessary, and then they saw Regigigas collapse to the ground like a man who ran an exhaustive marathon. When the NORMAL-Type Pokémon crashed, it caused tremors that could be felt for miles outside Ponyville's borders, almost a testament to the power it had. "Umm...Is it al-alright?" Fluttershy asked hesitantly, to which Rosa responded, "If it is anything like the Regigigas I encountered, It must be sluggish from being sealed away for thousands of years..." Regigigas got up and started to look around itself, eventually facing Sean as the trio it created stood in front of him. With a small discharge of electricity from Regigigas' massive hands, Regirock, Regice, and Registeel moved out of the way as the NORMAL-Type Legendary Pokémon lumbered towards the teenager, with a fist ready to strike. "I see, so that's what Haruka-chan meant..." Sean commented with folded arms, then said as he entered a fighting stance of sorts, "Alright Regigigas, you will help me reach my goal with your capture! Let's RUMBLE!!!" Rosa and Kotone saw the fire in his eyes, and knew immediately what that meant. Kotone said as she and Rosa pushed the others out of the hole, "Everyone, take cover! Immediately!" "What!? Why?!" Rainbow Dash asked as she was pushed behind a house from Regigigas. Cynthia figured it out and answered for Rosa and Kotone, "Because this fight is going to be an intense one...Smart call you two..." Sean moved out of Regigigas' fist thrust forwards, sending a shock wave that caused a tree several feet away to bend from the force alone. "Metagross, use Meteor Mash at Regigigas' legs!" Sean commanded, which the Shiny Pokémon understood with a nod. The Iron Leg Pokémon launched forward with a golden-yellow aura taking a star shape as he readied to strike the Colossal Pokémon's leg. Despite Regigigas' ability, Slow Start, it was quick to respond and readied a counterattack with a move of its own, Superpower. Regigigas reared its fist back and a bright aura surrounding the NORMAL-Type's body, collided the attack with Metagross' Meteor Mash. The two attacks collided with such force, that it generated a shock wave that caused the ground below to buckle and crack under the sheer force of the attack. The force caused some the houses around to lose some of their roofing and the windows cracked. Regigigas roared deafeningly as he grabbed Metagross' leg and hefted the STEEL/PSYCHIC-Type around like he was nothing and repeatedly slammed the half-ton Pokémon to the ground with earth-shattering force. "Metagross, return!" Sean called as he called back the Shiny Pokémon to his Poké Ball, and was thinking of what to do next. Twilight was observing with a dumbfounded face as she commented, "Metagross weighs 1212.5 pounds on average, that's over half a ton! And, Regigigas was swinging him around like he was a pillow! That thing's power is ridiculous!" "Yeah, and that Metagross is 50 lbs. heavier than average..." Rosa replied with a serious look, "And it isn't fighting at full capacity because when the battle starts, Regigigas' ability cuts its Attack and Speed in half until six minutes have past, which normally, is enough time for five consecutive turns to have past..." "That thing isn't even warmed up!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as the others had their jaws drop at Rosa's observation. "Uh...yeah...that's exactly it..." Brendan answered Rainbow's rhetorical question. Sean's Meloetta charged into battle to support her trainer, much to his surprise, and unleashed a Hyper Voice on the fellow legend. "Meloetta? You want to help?" Sean asked the Melody Pokémon, to which she replied, "Etta-ahh!" "Alright, since it's a NORMAL-Type, time to play on its weaknesses! Meloetta, Relic Song!" Sean said determinedly as Meloetta readied to unleash her attack. -[Relic Song - Pokémon Black and White]- "Le-le-lelele-le-le..." Meloetta began singing as some shockwaves that pushed Regigigas back a few feet as she sang her legendary song. Meloetta then began changing her appearance from her Aria Forme to her Pirouette Forme, turning the NORMAL/PSYCHIC-Type into a NORMAL/FIGHTING-Type, enchanting the surrounding living creatures of the beautiful, heavenly song she just sang. "Oh my, what a beautiful singing voice..." Fluttershy quietly said to herself. "Now that you changed forme Meloetta, time to capitalize on your new type. Use Close Combat at Regigigas' center!" Sean commanded. Meloetta leaped forwards and in a rhythmic dance, rapidly kicked and punched at the center of Regigigas' body, while using her graceful movements to dodge Regigigas' fierce (but slow) attacks... -[Battle! (Legendary Pokémon) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl]- Rarity picked up on the sudden change to Regigigas' movement, and commented, "Wait a moment! Did I see this Regigigas fellow's movements pick up speed, or was I imagining it?" The Pokémon Trainers noticed too as Rosa said with confirmation, "Yeah...you're not seeing things Rarity. Regigigas is indeed picking up speed, which can only mean one thing..." Sean ordered Meloetta to use Protect when he saw how much faster Regigigas got, as the Colossal Pokémon used a powerful Mega Punch. When the attack collided with Meloetta's Protect, the attack was stopped dead in its tracks, but the shock wave carried through and dug out a comparatively large trench. An abandoned house a few kilometers away was sent flying into debris as the building was reduced to rubble, a clear indicator that Regigigas' power increased exponentially from before. "...Regigigas finally got its act together, and is now fighting at full strength!" May finished as Sean caught a flying Meloetta and kept her from crashing into a rock, his back hit the solid stone pretty badly. Sean said to Meloetta, holding her in his arms, "Thank you for helping me, go back to the others. I'll manage from here on..." Meloetta flew back hesitantly as she repeatedly looked back at Sean who sent out Gengar to battle the Legendary NORMAL-Type. The Melody Pokémon had a look of disappointment on her face as Rosa offered to restore her to full health. ================================================= 40 Minutes Later... ================================================= The battle drew out until Sean threw an Ultra Ball with such force that when it made contact, Regigigas was pushed back several feet before vanishing into the Poké Ball. With several twitches, the Ultra Ball made a familiar 'Ding' sound and a few stars flew out from the button like confetti. Regigigas was captured and yet another Pokémon was added to Sean's massive Pokémon family. -[Victory! (Trainer) - Pokémon X and Y]- "Alright! I caught Regigigas!" Sean proclaimed triumphantly, as everyone left their hiding spots and ran up to him as the Japanese Trainer held the Poké Ball that contained the Colossal Pokémon. "Good work Sean..." Twilight said to the trainer as he then called out the massive NORMAL-Type to treat its injuries. Regigigas appeared from the ray of light and landed in a sitting position as the continent puller breathed deeply, then spoke in a low, masculine voice, "Grah...So, my creations have found the right person, after all these centuries? That is a relief..." "Wait! This guy can talk-?! What am I saying, he's a Legendary Pokémon, of course he can talk..." Rainbow Dash responded to the Pokémon's voice. "I am sorry for any distress I have caused all of you. I wasn't aware of myself when I awoke from that 4,000-year slumber. I am Regigigas, or more accurately, you are standing before a crafting suit I'm permanently bonded to..." "Huh? What are you talking about?" Twilight asked the legendary, to which he responded, "It is a long story, but to summarize; This form you see before you is actually a suit I've built to construct things like armor or weapons. I tend to spend a lot of time within it, and because of a compromise I made with the humans to be sealed, I am now permanently fused with my suit. As in, well, it's my flesh and blood now..." Everyone seemed to cringe at that statement, as Applejack commented while doing the pony equivalent of rubbing one's arm, "Golly...That sounds...a'mighty uncomfort'ble..." Regigigas laughed a little as he replied, "I suppose...but you get use to it after only two decades..." "Wow…" Spike said as he gazed at Regigigas' colossal frame, "How much could you lift with those arms?" Before the NORMAL-Type could answer, Spike suddenly belched fire and a scroll magically appeared. Regigigas grabbed the scroll and commented, "I've seen many dragons in my plus billion-year life, but I've never seen one do this…save the wise and mystical dragons of China…" Twilight rose a very curious eyebrow at the legend's statement as he handed the scroll to her, she wanted to ask him some questions later, but read the scroll's contents and rolled it up. "What did Celestia-hime say, Twilight-chan?" Sean asked as he treated his Gengar's injuries. Twilight answered the veteran trainer's question, "Well, she needs to see me right away with the other princesses to talk about something important for royalty only…I'll be seeing you later…" "Wait…what about me?" the little drake Spike responded, until Sean's Mewtwo interjected, ~"I wish to come along as well, I still wish to learn more about friendship with you since my trainer requested I learn to trust others…"~ "I wish to accompany you as well, to meet with the heirs to your king and queen's thrones, and pay my respects…" Regigigas added, which everyone gave him these funny looks. He asked innocently, "What is wrong? Did I say something odd?" Twilight laughed nervously as she said to herself, "If he's coming, then I have a lot to explain to him about how Equestria works, and from the sounds of it, he also needs to catch up on Earth's history from the humans…" -[Route 1 (Spring/Summer) - Pokémon Black and White]- Twilight, Regigigas, and Sean's Mewtwo sat in the train bound for the Crystal Empire, although, because of Regigigas' mass, the trip took longer. Sean stayed behind in Ponyville to continue tutoring the Cutie Mark Crusaders as Pokémon Trainers with Rosa. The admittedly longer train ride gave the alicorn princess time to explain how Equestria works, much to the ancient legend's confusion. Sean's Mewtwo filled in what happened on the 'Earth' side of things from what information she was able to get and explain. "I don't understand..." Regigigas questioned, "...how is Celestia the absolute ruler of your country, and still a Princess?" "Sean had told me how that works, or worked, in your world. And, honestly, I'm not sure about a king or queen, as Princess is a title of importance in Equestria..." "But it still doesn't explain how you can have a princess who should be queen..." Regigigas said. ~"As amusing as your debate on monarchy in Equestria is, I'm afraid that we've arrived..."~ Sean's Mewtwo said to the two telepathically. The conductor chimed in, "As of matter of fact, we've arrived at the Crystal Empire, and you're the only ones left on the trai-..." Sure enough, they saw that everyone else was off the train, with the conductor staring at Regigigas with dumbfounded eyes. "Oh..." Twilight said with a slightly shocked face, "...Hee-hee-hee...Uh, I'm sorry about that..." Mewtwo let out a sigh as she said, ~"We are running late, so I'll just teleport us to Celestia with my psychic powers..."~ Before Twilight could say anything, Mewtwo already teleported them into the Crystal Palace... ============================= Meeting Room #5 10 Seconds Later... ============================= -[Guildmaster Wigglytuff - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky]- Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were waiting in the room as a guard entered the room. "The train arrived in the city 4 minutes ago..." the guard began to say as in a flash, Mewtwo, Regigigas, and Twilight appeared in a flash of light. "Urf..." Twilight began to say, looking green in the face, "I don't feel...gragh...so good...Hurrp..." ~"Apologies..."~ Mewtwo said, ~"I forgot that your teleportation magic and the psychic teleportation I can use are different...You may feel a little..."~ *BLEEEHHH!* ~"...sick..."~ "You spoke too soon...Mewtwo, was it?" Regigigas said, as Twilight vomited on the floor. ================================= Meanwhile, Back at Ponyville... ================================= -[Aspertia City - Pokémon Black 2 & White 2]- *Groan!* Rosa pouted a little as she and Ash (mostly Ash) further explained Pokémon Training to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, mostly on how to have their partners evolve into Venusaur, Charizard, & Blastoise. Serena noticed and asked her gal pal from America, "...Mademoiselle Parker? Are you still upset with Monsieur Hashimoto not wanting you to come with him and Oakido?" Rosa said in a grumpy tone, "Yes...I am! Hmph...!" {FLASHBACK} 5 Minutes Earlier... +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ -[Your Choice: "Flashback"]- "Alright. Oakido-sama and I are off to the Castle of the Two Sisters!" Sean said as he put certain pieces of electronic equipment in his backpack and handed his Tyranitar a bulky radio like the ones used by national park rangers. "Can I come with you sensei?" Rosa asked, with Pinkie Pie chiming in, "Ooo-Ooo-Ooo! I wanna come too!" "No can do..." Sean explained, "There are Unown over there, these Pokémon are very tricky and unpredictable. Especially since they have a nasty habit of making people disappear or mess with their psyche or minds if you prefer..." Before Rosa could retort any further, Sean added, "Oakido-sama and I have had prior experience with them, we know what to expect, so I want you and Satoshi-san to mentor Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo on how to further evolve their Pokémon..." "Plus...I'm not taking Metagross because he never fought the Unown before...Unlike Raichu, Scizor, Tyranitar, and Typhlosion..." Sean said as he placed a hand on Pinkie's head, to which the Iron Leg Pokémon replied, ~"I'm not complaining, Unown are unpredictable, especially in large groups...and Sean has not thought that I am ready to face such peculiar Pokémon..."~ Rosa pouted a little, while Pinkie Pie was pretty visibly upset for not coming... "Rosa-chan..." Sean asked Rosa, "...Won't you please stay here and teach our friend's little sisters for me? I promise we'll be back..." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ {END OF FLASHBACK} -[Aspertia City - Pokémon Black 2 & White 2]- Argh...why did I say yes...! Rosa's expression soured a little, unnoticeable to everyone present, except for maybe Pinkie Pie, who was in a slightly similar state of mind. "I'm still unclear a little about the Unown..." Fluttershy asked as she rubbed her Dragonite's head, "...what about them makes them so, um, from what Sean said, dangerous?" "Hmph! I'm still mad at Sensei..." Rosa still pouted, ignoring her friend's question, which prompted Ash to answer Fluttershy for her... "Uh, from what I can remember from prior chats with Hashimoto-san...Unown on their own are actually considered the weakest of all Pokémon..." Ash explained, "...they are, really, only a considerable danger in large numbers, like in the..." Ash started to silently count his fingers, which caused Serena to giggle at her love's adorable display. The Kanto native then answered no less than 7 seconds later, "...40s to 50s range. From what both Hashimoto-san and Oakido-sensei told me, collectively, the Unown possess considerable psychic power that grows as more of them are present. Enough of the Unown can grant them the collective psychic power to warp reality itself or overpower all-powerful gods...as far as that was what they told me and what I can remember..." "Oh...!" Rainbow, Pinkie, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy said in unison, with Pinkie adding, "Okay...now it makes sense why they didn't want any of us to come!" Serena walked to Ash and then kissed him affectionately on the cheekbone, as she said, "Well, Monsieur Hashimoto knows what he's doing, same with Dr. Oakido...I don't think we have anything to worry, especially since Sean promised to be careful..." Ash nervously chuckled as his face was red from his girlfriend's kiss, fairly embarrassed about the ordeal and the ponies all giggled at Ash's silliness... Kotone had a flat expression and replied in a low tone, while chewing bubble gum, "...He better...or I'll kick his as-..." ================================= Back at the Crystal Empire... ================================= -[Sage Music - Best of DragonBall Z Vol. IV]- "Uh...Are you going to be alright, Twilight?" Twilight looked back to see the other Princesses looking at her with worry, then replying, "No-no...It's fine...I'll be alright...I just ne-need another-...urph!" Twilight dove back into the bucket and continued to vomit with Regigigas kindly offering to hold it and Mewtwo leaning against a column, ignoring the Colossal Pokémon said the usual things to people vomiting. (the "it's okay"s, the "let it out, let it all out"s, the "that's it"s, etc.) Mewtwo thought in her head, Huh, who would've thought Equestrians were so sensitive to teleportation via psychokinesis. I'll be sure to let Sean, and that Metagross know... Celestia and Luna exchanged nervous looks to each other and to Sean's Mewtwo, the PSYCHIC-Type Pokémon's power made them more nervous than the obvious bad news they had. It was still fresh in their minds from a few weeks ago, the Genetic Pokémon breaking through their mental barriers so easily and overpowering Discord. It was clear to them Mewtwo could easily overpower them all if it wanted, and she was thankful to Sean Hashimoto for taming such a creature... "If you say you're all right, Princess Twilight..." Celestia began, still looking fairly distracted by Mewtwo, "...then I believe you...I called this meeting into order over a vision I had last night, and later found out some terrible news..." Twilight's stomach finally relaxed as she thought, Hmm...when Sean told me I might want to take those supplements, I thought he was just being paranoid...good thing I heeded his words, and I better apologize for saying he's too prepared for everything... Regigigas asked for Twilight, "Does it have anything to do with the disappearances of ponies across the kingdom, your majesty?" Luna replied, "We are investigating that situation with Sean's cousin, the ranger Hajime, on it. Also on these reports of an unknown creature of fiery red eyes being spotted near the crime scenes. We do suspect they're connected, and both Ranger Hashimoto & Sir Gropius had confirmed that both are not related to Pokémon in any way..." "But there is something that came up recently that we must act upon now..." Celestia explained, to which Mewtwo asked, ~"I'm curious about this 'Tirek' you three had in your minds recently, and I know you're still uneasy with my powers. I didn't need to read your minds to know that, I saw your lip movements and guessed the words you were mouthing silently..."~ "Who's Tirek?" Twilight asked, with Regigigas adding (mostly to himself), "I could be confusing him for someone else, but I swear I've heard that name before, millions of years ago..." Princess Cadence pulled out a book as Celestia started her explanation, shortly after the book was placed on the table, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune stood out of the windows and listened in... -["Music from Clip Below (if possible)" - My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]- After Celestia explained Tirek's story, Raikou, Entei, and Suicune left and continued to guard the Crystal Heart on their own accord, while Regigigas mulled over how he can deal with the centaur or help bring him in... "We do believe he escaped when Cerberus left his post..." Luna said, which Twilight commented, "But, that was a long time ago. Easily a year after-..." "During that incident with 'Future Twilight', correct?" Celestia asked with a hint of playful teasing in her voice. "Well...yeah...he-heh..." Twilight blushed, Regigigas hearing that thought a little nervously, Troubling, if Dialga heard about this Time Travel incident, he'll be furious, and start going on a...err...rampage... "Well...on that note, why is Tirek only now stirring up trouble?" Twilight asked. "His time in Tartarus left him very weak, he is only now strong enough to use his dark magic..." Celestia answered, with Regigigas adding, "An Underworld environment is known to drain the power and energy of those that, unless they are a part of the world itself, or have a means to defend against the effects, everyone else would be affected otherwise..." "That is true...but, may I ask how you know that?" Celestia asked with a little skepticism, to which the Legendary Pokémon replied (unfazed by Celestia calling his knowledge into question), "There are planes of reality, pocket dimensions, etc. in plentiful numbers back in my home dimension of Earth, as I had constructed such items to defend one from such effects..." "Even so, Tirek regained the energy needed to steal unicorn magic, and with each passing minute, his power grows and grows...until he hoards all the power of ponykind from all of Equestria..." Luna explained regaining traction to the discussion at hand. "Perhaps I can help with constructing devices to help you all deal with this centaur, I am an architect in the hierarchy of the Dominion of Heaven. I've constructed various objects to slay creatures far more powerful and dangerous than beings like Tirek..." Regigigas offered, which Celestia respectfully declined, "...I appreciate your offer, but I don't really want to do anything like...uh...killing others..." "Understood...but I still want to help, given I was doing absolutely nothing for over-ver...3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-*THUNK~* 3,000 yea-years..." Regigigas said, with sparks flying off his suit's...err...body...? "*Sigh* I'll need to make more repairs to this suit...correction, body..." Regigigas said as he started to glow, most likely repairing the suit that is now his body. ~"The Hashimoto boys would probably know how to best handle Tirek, their family is well-known for their militaristic prowess and are expert strategists...Particularly Sean Hashimoto, the younger of the two..."~ Mewtwo said. "But he's back in Ponyville..." Twilight commented, "And I'm sure he and Dr. Oakido are busy with something the two want to investigate at your old castle, Princess...the 'Unown' as I think they called those odd Pokémon...?" "I think I know the best pony for the job of capturing Tirek..." Cadence said, her eyes focused on Twilight. Twilight responded with, "I accept this responsibility. If I am going to be the one to capture Tirek, then I-..." "I'm afraid I'll have to call another for capturing Tirek..." Celestia interrupted, "...I'll have Discord deal with Tirek...I would have Sakaki assist, but he's busy dealing with the search for Akagi for us..." "Discord?!" Twilight uttered, "B-b-but...why him...?" Celestia sighed as she explained, "He is able to sense any magical disturbance every time Tirek steals magic...so Discord will use that to track Tirek and capture him..." "So...what do I now?" Twilight asked, and Celestia answered, "For now, you and your friends are on standby...you can use this time to catch up on some reading, or maybe find out more about that chest, since Xerneas said the Tree of Harmony told him that you and your friends are the ones who need to open the chest..." ========================== Later... Back in Ponyville... ========================== -[Road to Cerulean City: Leaving Mt. Moon - Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen]- "Wait! Discord?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, with Applejack adding, "As in 'Discord' Discord?!" "Well..." Twilight replied with a slightly nervous smile, "...Yeah..." Twilight explained to her friends about Celestia's plan to have Discord capture Tirek. But she was a little surprised Sean and Professor Oak weren't back from the Castle of the Two Sisters. She also saw Rosa pouting, ignoring the hellos that our alicorn princess gave the American. Twilight thought, Maybe for now I'll keep the "Missing Ponies" situation under wraps for now, don't need to cause a panic...but, I do need Sean and Hajime's input on these incidents... "Well it's not too surprising, Discord can be really helpful at times..." Fluttershy said with everyone (mostly those who were familiar with Discord i.e. the Ponyville gang) had faces laced with uncertainty... "So, are you going to do anything about this Tirek person? Or..." May asked, slightly lowering her tone due to the severity of what she is about to ask, "...Or...about those ponies that went missing these past few weeks?" Twilight stiffened considerably as she asked, "H-How did you know about that?" The other ponies wore very concerned faces when they heard about that, as May answered, "Once, I overheard two guards talk about it, and against my wishes, my Medicham read your mind and fed it to me..." "Th-there are really ponies...dis-disappearing?" Fluttershy asked, knowing exactly what the tone implied, hugged her Dragonite tightly. Twilight let out a sigh as she explained, "Yes, but for now, so as not to insight panic, Celestia wants that to be kept under wraps, so please keep this a secret for now..." The others agreed as Brendan noted, "These disappearances are eerily similar to two things I've heard before, though I doubt they're of any significance. One is these historical accounts about a murderer in England's past called 'Jack the Ripper', and a story from back home in Japan about a malevolent spirit who kidnapped people who are never seen again, alive anyways." The ponies were unsettled about Brendan's explanation about Jack the Ripper and some malevolent spirit in Japan. With Pinkie adding, "Brr...Yūki, way to send chills down my spine, you've got to tell us over a campfire story or Nightmare Night for scary stories." "Oh...kay?" Brendan replied nervously, when he asked Twilight to change the subject, "Anyways, what are you going to do while Discord-san catches that Tirek guy?" Twilight looked disappointed that she isn't going after Tirek, which Kotone noticed and thought, Hmm...Twilight-chan is not very pleased with Celestia-hime's decision, I don't know Discord-san all that well, but from what I gather from their interactions, he's obviously someone you can't really trust. I think he's fine, but I'll keep my guard around him just in case... "Well, I'm heading to the old castle, to read up on some books..." Twilight managed to answer, "...and to ask Sean for advice on how to handle Tirek if for whatever reason, Discord fails to capture him...unless any of you need me to smile and wave here in Ponyville..." Twilight forced a smile and waved weakly as a way to prove her point just a little. "Well, we can come with you, to help out, and to keep you company..." Rarity said for the rest of Twilight's Ponyville friends, as they all agreed. Twilight chuckled a little as she replied, "Thank you, I guess I would like the company...and a part of me is, admittedly, very curious about the Unown after seeing them from Sean's memories and hearing about them..." Serena said to them, "You can take that path Xerneas created, he's made it easy to travel to the castle and from it since that day we arrived in Equestria. And, you wouldn't have to worry about any of those creatures inside causing you trouble..." Ash further added, "...Serena-chan and I will stay here to help Apple Bloom, Sweetie Bell, and Scootaloo evolve their Ivysaur, Charmeleon, and Wartortle. Oh, and please say hello to Xerneas-sama for me and make sure he's alright, sometimes I worry about him..." "We will Satoshi..." Twilight assured as they entered the Everfree Forest to the Castle of the Two Sisters... ========================= 15 Minutes Later... ========================= -[Route 8 - Pokémon X and Y]- The path Serena mentioned was created by Xerneas shortly after our friends from Ponyville and the Pokémon Trainers first met the Life Pokémon. It had numerous plants not native to Equestria, or the modern time (i.e. prehistoric plants), as one would describe the path as something ripped straight from a fairy tale book. Using his near limitless power, crafted a path that radiated so much of his life energy, that many of the Everfree Forest's creatures (like the Timberwolf or Manticore) don't go near it out of a feeling that is best described as primordial/animalistic fear. It enabled many ponies, humans, Pokémon, and animals to go to and fro at the Castle safely and unharmed. Though when a dinosaur, a Tyrannosaurus rex (Twilight & Company encountered it earlier), was found wandering the forest, and the Unown appeared, Celestia had guards stationed around the castle and at certain points along Xerneas' path to keep any ponies from disappearing into another dimension, or become the meals of a ravenous beastly animal. Twilight did take advantage of the path to try and restore the castle earlier in the past two weeks. Of course, this was before the Unown appeared, and any restoration efforts on the castle were halted until the Unown were dealt with properly... Which was why Sean Hashimoto & Professor Oak went to study them in the first place... -[Sage Music - Best of Dragonball Z Vol. II]- "*sigh*...I still can't believe we had to give up the Elements of Harmony..." Rainbow Dash said as they arrived at the castle, the Tree of Harmony visible from the cliff they stood upon...and they saw Xerneas leaving the gorge in the direction of the 'pen' he created for the Tyrannosaurus he was looking after, most likely feeding time for it. "We had do darling, or else the Tree wouldn't have made it..." Rarity said to Rainbow Dash as Quartz (her Sableye) sat on her back, chewing a long, thin, emerald-like gem like a Pocky stick. "I just hope a certain somepony doesn't make us regret giving them up..." Applejack remarked in a sarcastic tone. By chance, they saw a familiar 'green' Dragonite and as it landed, Rosa stepped off his back and petted the DRAGON/FLYING-Type's nose. "Hey wait...I thought you weren't comin' Rosa, on account that you were mad at Sean?" Applejack asked the American, to which she replied, "Who said I wasn't coming? I am a little miffed that Sensei seemed to be ignoring me as of late, using his assurances to keep me from following him to learn more about Pokémon..." "I think you just wanted to be close because you have a crush on Sean...!" Pinkie teased, which made Rosa blush brightly as she denied it fiercely to them. "No! It isn't like that at all, especially since Sakiyurai likes him that way, and I feel he does too towards her..." The ponies learned earlier, shortly after Kotone and Barry arrived from Giratina's efforts, that Kotone had feelings for Sean and was initially too stubborn to admit it outright. They (mostly Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie) also guessed that Rosa also hints she may feel the same way as Kotone does for Sean, but either wasn't aware of it or was trying to deny it herself. Twilight and Rarity pieced together that Sean was considered very attractive by his personality and a little in looks too, as he seemed to be really popular with the opposite sex. Undoubtedly, Rosa and Kotone developed very strong bonds with him, and in turn developed very strong feelings for him, well, at least one of them did. "SHHHHH! Keep it down, you're going to disturb the Unown..." Everyone was surprised at the voice and turned to the direction of the voice, finding who it belonged to... "Professor Oakido..." everyone exclaimed happily as the elder hushed them again, saying quietly, "Shh! You'll disturb the Unown...and put Hashimoto-san in danger..." "Okay..." they all whispered, but Rosa replied in a slightly threatening tone, "What do you mean 'put Hashimoto-san in danger' professor?!" Professor Oak jolted as he was on the receiving end of a very nasty glare from Rosa and quickly answered, "He and his Typhlosion are in the castle with the Unown, we're conducting an experiment involving the way these mysterious Pokémon communicate..." He motioned them to a table where all the radio equipment they brought was set up, he turned on one of the radios and unplugged a headset so they could hear what the two have heard. At the beginning, all they heard was static, but as Professor Oak turned a knob, everyone began hearing some strange, otherworldly sounds like bleeps and chirps mixed with the static at varying degrees. It sounded very alien, even to the ponies and humans present. Professor Oak then said in Japanese on a microphone, "こんにちは、橋本さん？ お入りください..." With a click, Sean responded in Japanese, #"はい桜井、私はあなたを読んでいます。 私は112.7から139.1までの周波数をチューニングして、コミュニケーションを理解できるかどうかを確認しています..."# "ありがとう、私は正しい周波数で何を聞くのかを見るために微調整を続けます。 上..." Professor Oak replied, as he later explained what he said and what Sean said. "Oh, I see..." Twilight exclaimed, "Sean mentioned earlier that he found out the Unown actually communicate with radio waves, and told researchers about his discovery some time ago. So you were figuring out how to communicate with them by first listening in on their conversations..." "Correct...He'll be out shortly to discuss with me his findings by observing the Unown closely..." Oak replied to Twilight's explanation. "Hey! Where's Rosa?!" Pinkie exclaimed, only for a familiar voice say, "Aww, you begin talking about me and then change the subject entirely immediately afterwards, that's hurtful..." Sure enough, there was Discord descending the sky in a garb that would resemble Mary Poppins (particularly Disney's version). He even was holding an umbrella like the one owned by Mary Poppins. "I'll go get Sean..." Spike said as he rushed into the castle before anyone could tell him otherwise. "How did ya' guess?" Applejack asked with a hint of bitterness, to which the Spirit of Chaos responded, "My ears were burning, and there was the fact I sneezed earlier, without anything to irritate my nose..." His ears were, sure enough, on fire as he then put them out with a splash of water he materialized from...nowhere... "It seems that my power gives me an important role in Equestria, perhaps they should make me into an Alicorn Princess..." Discord joked, only for Sean to say as he returned with Spike, Rosa, & Typhlosion, "I highly doubt that, regardless of your role in Equestria, Discord-san..." Discord teleported them to the Tree of Harmony as he stated while holding onto the Elements of Harmony's Friendship journal, "I'd curious as to what's in this curious chest of your's maybe it has what Twilight needs to prove her own worth in her role in Equestia..." "Maybe..." Sean commented as Discord added as he lazily flipped though the pages of the Friendship journal, "I've been doing a little light reading lately, and boy, have you ponies learned so much over time..." "Hey! Give that back!" Twilight demanded, which Discord replied, "Oopsie-doopsie, I almost took your little journal with me..." As he balanced the book on Twilight's horn, he said quietly, "I perused through it and marked a few sections that might help..." Twilight just looked confused as the Spirit of Chaos manifested some unusual vehicle (a moped to the humans' guess) and said before he and his Ludicolo vanished, "Now I have an escapee to capture...hold on Fiesta!" Applejack remarked, "Somehow, I think the 'Reformed-Discord' is more obnoxious than the 'Before-He-Was-Reformed-Discord'..." Rosa added, "I don't see how he caused so much trouble before you girls say he was reformed. He acts more like a mischievous sprite or pixie from old European folklore than someone who had to be sealed away in stone..." "Trust us Rosa..." Rainbow Dash said, "He was tons of trouble..." "Even so..." Sean added, "...the things you described him doing sound very harmless compared to some folks back home or in fiction have done, and they don't have the reality-warping power he has. They've done much worse, most common among them is murder..." The ponies looked sheepish as Sean did have a point from what they were told or shown about Earth, they knew as bad as Discord was, compared to folks like Adolf Hitler, Vlad Dracula the Impaler, or fiction's baddest villains, Discord was exceedingly harmless... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ As they try to find out the mystery surrounding the chest, other things have been happening in other parts of Equestria... Regigigas began constructing ancient machinations that were called 'golems' to reinforce security in Tartarus so nothing else escapes from that prison. While doing so, his suit/body short-circuited badly and he was forced to do more immediate repairs, saying it might take a long while before he can do anything. Cynthia left to the Crystal Empire to not only study up on certain aspects of Equestria, but to also protect the Crystal Ponies from Tirek if need be. Blue went off to train in the mountains near Canterlot, Sabrina went off with Cynthia to the Crystal Empire, and Steven Stone went off with Kellyn Hashimoto to investigate more on the disappearances of ponies with N assisting Giovanni with the hunt for Cyrus. Korrina stayed in Ponyville to deal with Professor Sycamore's request to study Mega Evolution... Eventually, Twilight found something interesting regarding the sections bookmarked by Discord, and found that they involved a very peculiar, but easily overlooked pattern regarding certain keepsakes by all her friends... But before she did, something troubling brewed and bad news reached Princess Celestia... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -[Your Choice: Urgent Message!]- "Your Highness!" Celestia was caught by surprise when one of her guards came running in with something on his back. She asked, "What's the matter?" The guard showed the thing on his back being Discord's Ludicolo partner, Fiesta, somewhat bruised and looked heartbroken. The guard replied as Chihiro the Pokémon Nurse and Red came rushing in, "Discord betrayed us and has joined forces with Tirek..." Red seemed shocked and confused, as Celestia said, "Are you sure?" The guard nodded, Chihiro asked while she tended to Fiesta's wounds, "Tirek...you mean this big bad guy I keep hearing about? Why would a fun-lover like Discord side with him...?" Red thought to himself as he headed out of the throne room, If what Sean told me about Discord is true, then I have a feeling how... Celestia grabbed a quill and paper and began writing in it...unaware that Red left the castle stealthily... ========================== The Tree of Harmony... ...10 minutes earlier... ========================== -[Tower of Mastery - Pokémon X and Y]- "I don't see how these can help us find the keys..." Twilight said, half asking Xerneas unintentionally, "...They look like ordinary, everyday objects?" Xerneas returned from the Tyrannosaurus' "pen" to figure out what the deal is with the objects the Element Bearers received. They were as followed; -Rainbow Dash with a badge she received from Spitfire. -Rarity with a spool of thread she received from Coco Pommel. -Applejack with an Equestrian bit she received from Silver Shill. -Fluttershy with a blue flower she received from the Breezie, Seabreeze. -And Pinkie Pie with a rubber chicken she received from Cheese Sandwich. "Even so..." Xerneas replied, "I detect a very similar energy flowing between these objects and the chest..." "C'mon Boneless! Give us that key!" Pinkie said as she shook her rubber chicken viciously, with said toy squeaking repeatedly... "Pinkie...I don't think tha-..." Before Applejack can finish her remark at Pinkie's failed attempt, Pinkie unintentionally threw Boneless over the farmer's head, and then the rubber chicken hit the mysterious chest. As suddenly as Pinkie's unusual appearances, a magical aura manifested and enveloped the toy chicken from the chest, then the chicken turned into a small gold key with a balloon-shaped handle like Pinkie's cutie mark. The key then smoothly slid into one of the six keyholes, the ponies looked at each other and Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity put their gifts on to the chest and sure enough, each of the items they received turned into similar golden keys themselves, and slid neatly into their appropriate keyholes. "All that's left is the key to the Element of Magic..." Twilight commented, voice slightly depressed, "...my element..." “Don’t worry Twilight dearie...” Rarity said comfortingly to the alicorn, “...Think, when have you accomplished a difficult magical task and in doing so, taught another pony the value of magic?” Twilight looked to her friends, and replied, “No, I haven’t, otherwise I would’ve written about it in the journal...” *CRASH!* Everyone became alert when they heard the sound of a large tree being knocked over and the sounds of birds flying away and screeching. Xerneas commented with a sigh, "The Tyrannosaurus must have gotten tired of being in a pen, and is trying to escape...I'll have to calm the animal down by tiring it out. It is one of the only ways to calm a cranky tyrannosaur down, by exhausting it..." "Alright, Xerneas-sama..." Sean said as Twilight finished, "We'll head back to Ponyville for now, we'll be back to discuss this further. Good luck with the...animal..." Xerneas chuckled a little as he said, "Of course, I'll put the Tyrannosaurus back in its pen by the time you return, and preferably, I'll do it alone. I don't want a repeat of Fluttershy provoking it again with her stare, and endangering anyone else like she endangered Hashimoto when he was making a good first-impression on it..." Fluttershy hid her face with her mane and tail with embarrassment and shame, she sadly made a bad first-impression on the Tyrannosaurus earlier in the past few weeks. She wasn't aware that her stare was not to be used on an aggressive species of dinosaur like the tyrannosaur, and aggravated the dinosaur to attack her as if she was another tyrannosaur to assert dominance. Sean was able to get himself and Fluttershy to safety unharmed, and witnessed how terrifying an angry dinosaur was until Xerneas calmed it down. The event did hurt Fluttershy's pride with making friends with all sorts of animals, and was afraid she wouldn't be able to make friends with dinosaurs again... "Don't let that get to you..." Applejack said to Fluttershy, as Pinkie added, "As Sean-ski said, there's a ton more dinosaurs out there besides that grumpy T-Rex, and said that there are some that are more friendly..." "Don't call me that! 私にそれを呼ぶのをやめて、今すぐ！" Sean said defensively, which did earn several laughs to lighten the mood. For now the gang headed back to Ponyville, to get food, learn how to be Pokémon Trainers with the CMC, and also try to help Twilight find a way to get her key for the chest. They also decided to wait till Xerneas takes proper care of the Tyrannosaurus before asking him for help... =============================== 4 Hours Later... =============================== -[Pokémon League (Day) - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl]- It was around nighttime when everyone returned to the Castle of the Two Sisters to discuss the connection all the Elements of Harmony with the mysterious chest with Xerneas. The ponies were hoping he could possibly explain where Twilight can obtain the final key, or maybe deal with Tirek using the dinosaur he's looking after (they had overheard Xerneas mention the Tyrannosaurus found was particularly strong against magic). "Anything yet...?" Sean asked the Element Bearers. The five ponies who had keys to their corresponding element tried to turn the keys, but they wouldn't budge at all without Twilight's key, wherever and whatever it may be. "I think this cements Twilight's earlier theory that all six Element Bearers are required to unlock this chest, without Xerneas' power to do it himself..." Rosa added, and when Sean looked at her, she turned her face away with a huff, acting somewhat like an angry girlfriend (which did not help with stopping the teasing she got from Kotone, Pinkie, and Rarity chiefly). "Not like he'll do it, since the tree 'asked' him not to..." Rainbow Dash added, making air quotes with her hooves, and the other ponies agreed. "Well, I apologize for me inconveniencing you of your next step in the evolution of your power..." Everyone turned to the cave's entrance and found Xerneas walking forwards, his tone was ordinary, not even condescending when he further spoke, "...I don't like to interrupt destinies yet to be fulfilled..." Twilight asked Xerneas, "Wait...what do you mean by; Evolution of our Power? You know something about that chest-..." She was about to continue with her question, until a boy's voice said... "Heh-heh...I thought it was you...Hashimoto..." Everyone twitched as they heard a voice call out Sean, to which the trainer couldn't help but feel it sounded...familiar... "I'll bite...who the hell are you..." Sean said in a kind of trademarked droll one would stereotype to goths or emos. Kotone thought about it for a bit, then said, "Why does that voice sound so familiar? I feel so...angry just hearing it..." -[A Rival Appears! - Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver]- "It's been too long...wimp..." the voice said again, with everyone turning around to see who's voice it was. They saw a human male wearing a black (in Rarity's eyes more of a dark-indigo) long-sleeved shirt with a rage-red colored accents. He wore bluish-gray pants that hid his socks, further hidden by purple sneakers with red soles. He wore a fedora on his head and had short red hair. "Who's that?" Twilight asked, not aware of Sean's face forming a cocky smirk that the ponies would normally see on some jerk like Blue... "Well well, if it isn't the a-hole I whooped so frequently it was a hobby for me...my favorite punching bag for my Pokémon..." Sean said in a very cocky manner like Blue. The red haired boy replied while taking his hat off, "...Well you're still a wimp as far as I'm concerned..." The two wore sadistic grins as lightning bolts fired ferociously from their eyes, everyone then recognized the red haired boy as... "Who kicked your sorry *** every time we clashed? Huh Silver? You prick!" Sean retorted in a very teasing manner, that border-lined between flat out harassment (bullying) and simple teasing some friends normally do... ================================= Manehatten Eastern District... ================================= -[Route 214 - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl]- At a pub in a part of Manehatten that could be compared to New York's own docks, many 'less-than-savory' ponies and other intelligent beings were either getting drinks or doing various 'thug-ish' things. The bouncer was pouring cider for his customers as he asked a human man in a black trench coat and fedora, "So, have I heard anything about that Akagi fella on the wanted posters?" The man replied, "Yes...say that I'm hunting for him for the reward, I know that there is an underground organization, and from what I've been told through rumors, is that he recruited several ponies and had them do shady work for him..." "Hmm, now that you mention it..." The bouncer thought, "...there were a couple ponyfolk that were mighty suspicious, and these two, I suppose 'human mares' doing some shady work in purchasing various metals and machines that I can't really think why they needed all those things together...unless it is to build a similar contraption these 'Team Rocket' punks used in Ponyville some days ago..." "Ah yes...Team Rocket...I know them well..." The man said as he pulled a box of these weird tubes of paper out of his pocket, "A defunct organization that dealt with shady businesses involving Pokémon. I'm familiar with the organization, on a number of levels, but I remember this trio of idiots who constantly gave Team Rocket too much spotlight." "How did you know about them?" the bouncer asked, to which the man pulled out one of the tubes and stuck a match, answering, "I was the boss, or leader, of Team Rocket, but thanks to two boys, I have no intention of going back to that life." "Oh...I thought you sounded and looked like a gang boss...but are you looking for Akagi because he is muscling in on your turf or something? If that's the case, here's the addresses of the purchases I'm aware of, and of these buildings Akagi may be hiding out in..." The man chuckled as he put the paper tube on his mouth, and put the lit match to the end of the tube, it lighting up in a hellish red glow as smoke blew from it. He replied, "No, he simply made it personal when he threatened one of those boys who I desperately want to defeat myself. I'm sure you've heard the name, Sean Takashi Hashimoto?" "Well, afraid I'm not familiar with the boy's name, and all for settling scores, but anyways if you're doing this for that reason and not for the money, I'll happily take it off of you. Tell me friend, what's your name, I'll put it on your tab for later payment." The man said as he stood up and handed the bartender a card, then said, "For reasons I'm sure you're aware of, I cannot tell you that, but you have my word that you'll be paid for your assistance." He left the pub and began heading out towards the closest of the addresses given, then he thought to himself, That punk, Tajiri, is a stubborn one for sure, but when compared to Hashimoto, he's quite agreeable. I hate punks of raw, natural talent like him or his apprentice...and yet, I can't help but smile at Hashimoto's drive to be a Pokémon Trainer like no other, I find him quite...inspiring, like that boy, Satoshi... The stallion looked at the card that the man gave him and using his co-workers unicorn magic, revealed that it had the man's name on it, along with a special seal that meant he was working directly under Princess Celestia. His name was; Sakaki Gozaburo... -[A Rival Appears! - Pokémon Origins]- "So that's the jerk from Sean's travels through Kanto and Kansai, Silver Gozaburo, son of Sakaki Gozaburo..." Rainbow commented to the group quietly as they heard Sean say, "So you finally cut your hair, you *****y little girl!" Everyone present (especially Fluttershy) were very shocked to hear Sean cuss every chance he could, when he's normally against such things... "He looks tough..." Ash said suddenly, surprising the ponies as he further added, "I can just tell from his energy..." "From his...energy...?" Twilight muttered quietly, then thinking, Wait, does that mean...Satoshi can also... Silver took notice as he said to him in an arrogant voice, "So you're Satoshi Ketchum? I've heard about you, and I can say, I'm not impressed..." Rainbow took offense on that and shouted, "You watch it! He's battled Sean to a draw before! Something from what we've heard about you, you couldn't come close to...!" "Dumb luck..." Silver replied immediately, "That's all there was with that battle at the Kalos Regional Tournament..." "YOU TAKE THAT BACK! SATOSHI IS A FAR BETTER TRAINER THAN YOU ARE!" Serena snapped venomously with Ash's Pikachu agreeing, both glaring daggers at Silver that made him back off somewhat with fear. "I don't take too kindly to others talking down on Satoshi myself..." Xerneas said as he looked down at Silver. Silver looked up at Xerneas' face with a neutral expression (though inside he was intimidated) as he said, "Despite that, Hashimoto, my Pokémon and I have gotten much stronger since we last met, and I am here to finally defeat you. I have already defeated Wataru, the Indigo Plateau's champion, a year ago..." Sean rolled his eyes as he thought, Does he know how much stronger we've become by that time? Shinora-san was leagues above Wataru-san in strength, and my Pokémon have gotten much stronger since then... "No thanks..." Sean said, "...I've got bigger things to deal with, so I can't even indulge you with my more inexperienced Pokémon for battle..." *"BELCH!/FOOM!"* Everyone (minus Silver & Xerneas) turned to Spike, having become accustomed to the noise as Spike receiving a letter from Celestia, and sure enough, a scroll manifested from the green flames. "It's from Princess Celestia...what does she need?" Rosa asked Twilight as she read the letter. Twilight said quickly and with worried eyes, "That Sean and I are needed in Canterlot right away!" "Hai!" Sean responded, then said, "Mewtwo! Teleport us to Canterlot now urgently!" "Hey! Wai-!" Rosa only uttered before the Genetic Pokémon stood up. Sean's Mewtwo understood and warped the two instantly to Celestia's castle. ======================= Meanwhile... 67 Miles from Canterlot... ======================= -[Your Choice; Trouble Growing]- Tirek had just sucked the magic energy of ten Earth Ponies, and grew bigger due to the magic he absorbed. Discord appeared out of thin air and roped in another 20 ponies. "This should be enough for our visit into Canterlot..." Tirek said confidently, with Discord smiling as he replied, "Oh most surely, that is, if the ones I warned you about stand in our way arrive there before us..." Tirek didn't pay it too much mind and as they started to head to Canterlot, they stopped when they heard a masculine voice proclaim... "That's far enough thief!" Tirek and Discord turned to face whoever said that, and Discord noticed the familiar red baseball cap and said, "Oh, if it isn't the one and only Red Tajiri..." Discord noted it was the same young man from a few weeks ago who caused a commotion in Canterlot, he looked confident in stopping them, but the Spirit of Chaos noticed that behind that confidence lies a small glint of uncertainty. The ponies around the town looked and from rumors spread by those in Canterlot began praising Red silently, hoping he can stop the dangerous duo... -[Battle! (Champion) - Pokémon Heartgold & Soulsilver]- "What is that?" Tirek asked, not pleased that this creature called him a thief. Discord answered, "Why that's a human, a male like you and me, since female humans look drastically different yet similar too..." "So that's what a human looks like?" Tirek replied, then commented, "Hmm...the form looks eerily familiar to my eyes, maybe I saw one before I was imprisoned in that wretched place..." Discord merely shrugged as Tirek asked, "So, if that's a human, then is he-" "Return the magic you stole from these ponies and turn yourself in quietly, or I'll take more forceful measures..." Red interrupted, though his Japanese accent didn't really help Tirek in considering the ultimatum. Tirek only laughed, while Discord knew better thanks to Sean, Discord then thought, That's strange, why is it that when I thought about Sean, and Fluttershy, my heart started to...ache...Wait! Is this what 'guilt' feels like? ~"Discord-san..."~ Discord perked up and saw Red with a disappointed face as the Japanese trainer asked with his mind, ~"I thought you were friends with Fluttershy-san, Hashimoto-san, and the rest of us? You got along famously with Hashimoto from what I've heard, to a point where the two of you bonded over that Dragon Ball Z Kai anime...what happened?"~ Discord realized that Red was speaking to him telepathically where Tirek couldn't overhear, while he verbally asked Tirek why he was stealing magic, to throw him off. ~"I know I haven't known you as much as those girls from Ponyville, or Celestia-hime...but, I know you're not a bad person, I see the goodness in you, the same goodness that Fluttershy-san saw in you..."~ Discord replied, ~"I'll admit, you humans are more accepting of my chaotic nature, and for that I am eternally grateful. But, the problem is that these ponies don't see me the way you humans do, and I don't turn ponies into stone and imprison them for a thousand years, despite how 'bad' I was back then. The only reason that I think you humans are more accepting of my being, is the fact I look like I could be a Pokémon like that Pikachu of yours..."~ "If you think you can stand against me..." Tirek said, which broke Discord's concentration, "...you are more foolish than I realize..." As Tirek readied to use magic against Red, the trainer got into a defensive position with a Poké Ball in hand, ready to dodge or throw his first Pokémon to protect against the centaur's stolen magic. "Wait a minute!" Discord said to Tirek, which surprised both Red and Tirek. Tirek asked bitterly, "Are you turning against me, Discord?!" Discord defended, "No, I'm just warning you that, when you steal the Princesses' magic, you'll need every bit of magic you already have, because they certainly won't make it easy for you...plus, you don't need to use magic on humans, they're too weak for you to even bother..." "Is that so?" Tirek grinned, "...I just need to use my brute strength to dispose of this creature? Then that's just what I'll do..." As Tirek charged forward to crush the human, Red was quick to react and threw his Poké Ball and in a blinding flash of light, Tirek was pushed back by a powerful torrent of water... -[Trouble Erupts - Dragon Ball SUPER]- Red sent out his Blastoise first to face Discord and Tirek, then shortly sent out his Venusaur, then the rest of his team; Pikachu, Lapras, Charizard, & Snorlax. "What are THOSE things!" Tirek exclaimed, which Discord finished his earlier statement, "...Those things however, might prove more difficult to deal with...I'll help you deal with these creatures the humans call, Pokémon..." Celestia-hime... Red thought as his Charizard tackled Discord with a Flare Blitz attack and his Snorlax knocked Tirek down with a Giga Impact, I'll buy you, Hashimoto-san, and Ketchum-san as much time as I can manage... ======================== Canterlot Castle 11 Minutes Later... ======================== -[The Legendary Pokémon Appears - Pokémon Diamond & Pearl]- Twilight flew as fast as she could to Celestia's Castle, a sense of urgency present with her every wing beat and breath. She eventually made it to the gilded city of Canterlot and rushed to Celestia's thrown room, ignoring all the guards who said hello to the alicorn. The two noticed that Luna and Cadence were there too, and Sean correctly thought that Shining Armor was instructing the royal guard to ready defenses, and maybe employ several Pokémon around Canterlot to help defend the capital city... "We got your letter! What happened?" Twilight asked, to which Celestia answered, "I'm afraid I've put too much trust on Discord and the affect friendship had on him..." "What exactly happened, Celestia-hime?" Sean asked, not knowing what happened with Discord. "Discord has betrayed the ponies of Equestria..." Luna explained, "...and joined forces with Tirek..." "What?!" Twilight exclaimed in surprise, then resentment, "How could he do this! I thought our friendship meant something to him! I thought he changed!" Sean thought in his head, I noticed a subtle feeling of frustration in his aura regarding his use of magic once when I asked him to demonstrate his power so I could see for myself. Twilight and the others either asked or told him not to, but whatever they said, I'm not that surprised if he betrayed them if Tirek promised him something like absolute freedom in using all of his power without restriction... Celestia elaborated further as she said with a bit of sadness in her voice, "Tirek has stolen enough magic that he now has the strength to steal flight as well. Without pegasi to control the weather, there will be no rain in Equestria. There's word he's gone after earth ponies as well, without their strength they will not be able to tend the land." Luna added, "Ponies will no longer be in control their world, and that power will solely belong to Tirek." Celestia continued her sister's statement, "There is no doubt that Tirek is after Alicorn Magic. With Discord by his side, we will not be able to stop him from taking it..." "I imagine it's a big deal if he gets the magic of you four..." Sean commented, looking not very amused, even bored surprisingly. Luna explained how serious the situation is to Sean, "Once it is in his possession, his power will know no bounds and all hope will be lost..." "It's far more serious than you think it is, Sean Hashimoto..." Cadence explained, "Alicorn Magic is much more potent than any regular magic, in a sense that it is a combination of Unicorn, Pegasi, and Earth Pony magic. It is also highly amplified on top to being able to control the sun, moon, and stars..." Sean's expression showed a little understanding as he exclaimed in a 'matter-of-fact' manner, "Oh! In other words, its basically magic comparable to a God! Or in a fantasy-fan's words, God-tier or Universe-tier magic..." Twilight only shrugged with an unsure face as he looked towards her to see if he was right. "There is one solution we can use, but..." Celestia said as she, Luna, and Cadence flew over in front of Twilight. "I'm guessing that it's a very drastic solution?" Sean correctly deduced with Celestia silently nodding and said, "It is only by making this sacrifice that Equestria and the lands or worlds beyond it might be saved..." "We must rid ourselves of our magic, before Tirek has the chance to steal it!" Celestia said with an affirmative voice, causing Twilight to only gasp in surprise. -[Spooky House - Pokémon Black 2 and White 2]- Along a forest trail out in the middle of nowhere (actually over 40 miles from Ponyville northwest), a lone human man with black hair was quietly walking along, the trail empty due to numerous ponies rather avoiding the trail due to rumors of it being haunted. He wasn't worried, he was surprisingly calm, despite the stars and moon being the only things to light his path, but he's certainly heading in the direction towards Ponyville. He wasn't told anything about heading over there, his reasons are more...mysterious... In the bushes along the trail, a monstrous creature eyed him carefully, quietly miming a snarl with hunger, it was the same monster that attacked the pony, looking for more prey. The monster thought in his head, Yesss...this human has a substantial level of Ki, meaning he's quite an experienced of the long forgotten martial arts of the past. He's begging me to devour him since he's radiating his aura to frighten away any animal seeking to pounce on him...but not me, he'll do nicely... The demon soon quickly and stealthily sneaked behind the man's trail, not making a single noise, a real testament to his skill. When the human turned his head around to see if any wild animal is tailing him, the demon quickly hid himself well, as if he wasn't even trailing behind the man. Said man only saw a rabbit bound away, obviously frightened by someone or something else. He noted that the air was filled with the type of murderous intent a person feels before they are attacked, but he didn't pay it any mind, and continued walking. His stalker came out of his hiding place and said to himself, "He's either brave, foolish, or aware something's hunting him...he'll be an excellent form for me to use on my targeted prey..." He continued to stalk the man more keenly and quickly before as he hissed about his desired prey... ...Alicorns... "That sounds like a REALLY bad idea..." -[Limit-Break x Survivor (Instumental Type C) - Dragon Ball SUPER]- Celestia ignored Sean's comment, as Twilight asked, "Rid ourselves of our magic?! Is that our only solution?" Sean further commented, "いい加減にして...I know enough about fiction, science or fantasy, to know that a universal constant is the phrase; Energy can never be destroyed, it can only be transfered or take on new forms..." "We never said we had to destroy our magic, like you said, it can only be transferred or transform itself..." Luna replied, "Tirek is set on the Magic of the Alicorns. When he eventually arrives, we cannot have what he is looking for." Celestia stated, "I've received word before you arrived, that Red Tajiri has just confronted Tirek and Discord with the intention to either stop them or slow them down. Giving us enough time to formulate some plan to counter Tirek's advances. Though I'm certain Red can defeat either Tirek or Discord individually, I saw that he knew he couldn't defeat the two of them at once." Twilight looked down on the ground with a slightly heavy heart, as Sean stated, "Gauging the comparative strength between them, at the very least, Red and his party of super-trained Pokémon will weaken them considerably, especially if he has a certain species of Pokémon I've heard rumors that he possesses. Plus, though I could only sense their Ki, I am sure that Giratina can easily defeat the two of them in a fight regardless of how powerful they are. He's the God of Anti-Matter, the polar opposite of our world of matter, so we can maybe hold off until Giratina arrives." "Sir Regigigas, is still making repairs to his...err...body...?" Luna shrugged, not used to the idea that his suit was his body, "And I've heard he won't be at his full strength until a week from now..." Twilight thought about it over and over in her mind, as she then said affirmatively, "I'm more than willing to do my part and give up my magic..." "You misunderstand..." Luna elaborated, "...our magic cannot simply vanish, like sir Hashimoto says, one must hold it all in these dire times..." "I don't understand..." Twilight replied, which Celestia elaborated, "We do not believe Tirek is aware that there are four Alicorns in Equestria now, we must use this opportunity to our advantage to keep him from stealing all of Equestria's magic." "B-but I'm only just learning to control my own Alicorn magic...to take in any more..." Twilight said, only for her sister-in-law to reply, "...I know if anyone can do it, it's you...you can do this..." Sean thought quietly, If Tirek was aware of three, and as far as I know, Celestia-hime and Luna-hime were around when he was first imprisoned, then Cadence must be much older than I thought...best not ask about that... Twilight let out a sigh as she said, "I accept this responsibility I must bear...and I know that with the help of my friends-" "I'm sorry, Twilight. Barring Sean Hashimoto, if you let your friends know about this, you'll put them in danger. For now, this is something you have to do on your own." Afterwards, with Twilight's acceptance of what has to be done, Celestia, Luna, and Cadence pooled their magic together, and Twilight absorbed all the magic inside. Hmm...the process reminds me of Goku's Genki Dama in that one film I vaguely remember seeing... Sean thought as Twilight descended to the ground. "It is done..." Celestia said with a tired huff. Twilight ran up to her mentor and hugged the regal princess tightly, and then she saw that Celestia's cutie mark had disappeared because of the energy transfer. Looking at her sister-in-law and Princess Luna, Twilight saw that their cutie marks had vanished too. -[Your Choice: Preparing for Battle]- "I'm no expert in how magic works in Equestria..." Sean said, "...but I think it is unwise for Twilight to house all that energy in her body. Because most of the time in science-fiction stories of something a little similar, containing more energy than what a battery can hold has a very nasty habit of backfiring into any number of ways...and there are a lot of ways it can backfire..." "Since you made a very valid point, and you seem to an expert with this situation..." Luna said with a little strength, "...perhaps you can stick close with Twilight and make sure she can control her newly enhanced powers..." Sean flinched at that statement, as he replied quickly, "Whoa! I'm not a magic expert, especially with Equestrian Magic! I'm the least likely person you should ask to watch over Twilight-chan and help her control that power..." "That leaves who can help me up in the air..." Twilight said, which prompted Sean to mull over something. "...Actually, it's possible...*snaps fingers*...I can't help you, but maybe Zekrom and Reshiram could..." Sean said at last, "...I'm sure they're familiar with this kind of situation, but if it is best if none of our friends find out about our latest alicorn's power-up, do I have to keep it a secret from Rosa-chan? She's Reshiram's trainer, and she's...eh...fairly mad with me lately...I feel like she deserves to know in on this stuff since she's my apprentice..." "I'd advise against it..." Celestia suggested, "...but if you feel it is necessary, then you may include Rosa...now go! Tirek will arrive in the mountains shortly...I'll try to inform Sakaki, Shinora, and the Rangers about the situation shortly..." With that, Twilight and Sean left, with Celestia asked Shining Armor as he entered the room, "I need you to locate one of the rangers and have them relay a message for me to reach Sakaki and let him know about a situation of the utmost importance..." -[The Great Tower Showdown 1 - Super Mario 3D World]- The demon pounced like a cat with a mouse onto the human man as he opened his mouth ravenously, arms stretched out to grab onto his target, but as his teeth were inches away from piercing flesh, something happened... The human man quickly decked the demon in the face with a fist laced with a blood-red aura, with black lighting bolts dancing around his body. The force was inhumanly strong, as it was enough to shatter a boulder as strong as concrete. "I thought I smelled something foul, I knew you were trailing behind me for a good 15 minutes demon, you can't hide your aura from me, now show yourself!" Im-Impossible! The demon thought as he struggled to get onto his feet, He can't be human, to deliver a blow powerful enough to fell a Giant Sequoia with ease! He stood up as he looked into his prey's eyes, and the man looked surprised to see him, then the man said maliciously, as his face contorted to anger, "You...!" The demon simply grunted as the man's aura suddenly grew, not only in size but in intensity, an aura far too familiar to the demon, who now was starting to get scared as he now knows who he was stalking. Back in the Everfree Forest, Xerneas stood straight up from his resting position and looked eastward, feeling the enormous pressure some distance away, thinking, It couldn't be...that's... "Y-you?!" was all the demon, reverted to his centipede-like form, could muster as the man suddenly was cloaked in a ball of energy colored blood-red, and grew. He noticed the surrounding plants started to wither and wilt, very close to being on the verge of death. The ball of energy soon dissipated and the man was replaced by a huge bird-like monster, one of the things he feared the most among his enemy's many underlings... The creature was black with a red underside that glowed an ominous red color, its wings looked like giant, clawed hands with a long tail that look like its wings. Its blue eyes showed more malice and hatred than his own eyes. The creature overall, looked more like a carrion bird mixed with the vicious wyvern types of dragons. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for a chance to kill you, Seta..." The creature said to the demon, now named Seta. Seta could only try to flee in terror, but his prey (now predator), caught him and threw him away from his escape route. Out of all of that bunch of siblings, I had to run into one of Death's most powerful students?! Yveltal himself?! Seta thought as he turned to face Yveltal, the Legendary Pokémon of Death & Destruction. Yveltal fired a powerful Hyper Beam attack that Seta narrowly misses, with the laser grazing the surface of Equestria's moon, and destroyed a meteor twice the size of the moon. Yveltal growled as he was upset that he missed, while Seta looked and saw one of his left legs was obliterated. The demon fired a dark ball of Ki energy and detonated it before Yveltal could easily dodge or reflect it. "I have to get away from this monster..." Seta whispered to himself, "Regardless of what's in my collection, the buzzard's not going to make it easy at all to defeat him...he'd destroy 3/4 of my collection before he's defeated, or I give up..." As Seta began to run away Yveltal quickly flew past the smokescreen and tackled the centipede down, tumbling along the trail. Yveltal pinned Seta down (like an eagle with a dead rabbit) as the DARK/FLYING-Type Pokémon said venomously, his aura flaring like a wildfire, "I will avenge his death at your hands, and the pain you caused to everyone by killing him! My only satisfaction in this...is that I'll be the one who will do you in and end your miserable existence, filthy insect..." Seta remarked, "In the event I run into a persistent monster like you...I'm glad I taught myself this technique..." Seta quickly shifted from his centipede form to a humanoid form and shouted as he held his arms over his forehead with fingers splayed out, "Taiyōken!!!" Yveltal screeched a horrifying, blood-curdling cry as he was blinded by a flash of intense light and shielded his eyes with his wings. As Seta made his escape, he shifted into a black creature with beady yellow eyes, and slunk into the forest as flat as a shadow, while thinking, S***! Yveltal really is a monster if his cries make even MY skin crawl, that was exceedingly careless of me... Seta wasn't the only one, animals and various other creatures fled in sheer terror at the spine-chilling cry of Yveltal. After Yveltal used Recover on his eyes, he took to the air and looked for the demon and also search out his Ki in the event he couldn't see him. Drawing up nothing on both ends, Yveltal let out a frightening call that carried over for miles, reaching as far as Ponyville barely... Yveltal then turned his head further down the direction he was originally walking as he thought, That aura...it must be those two...Reshiram and Zekrom...if so, then that means that they're here, along with...my brother... He considered flying to the direction of the collective aura he's sensing, but noted that his brief battle prior with Seta would put every living thing on high alert. So, he opted to resume his human guise, and still feeling an urgency to head to the location, 'cheated' his disguise by utilizing superhuman speed. He ran so quickly that he generated fairly strong gusts of wind, though he can reach hypersonic speeds easily, he consciously pulled himself back so as not to generate a sonic boom, with such a noise easily drawing attention from unfriendly natives, or alert his escaped enemy of his presence... -[Your Choice - "Villain Wins"]- Tirek's magical might alongside the Spirit of Chaos himself, overwhelmed the "Original" Pokémon Trainer's Pokémon, as all six were defeated. He called back his Charizard as Tirek tried to steal the 'magic' Red and his Pokémon possessed, but all it did was make Red comment to the centaur... "ああ、男！Your breath reeks! たわごとのような匂い！" Discord automatically translated Red's Japanese and burst in laughter hysterically, which prompted Tirek to ask, "What's so funny?" Discord regained his composure and answered, "Oh, its nothing that he should get crushed over, but to abide by his comment..." He magically manifested a comically large tube of breath mints and continued, "...When you take the Princesses' magic, do them this little favor, just to show a little class. After all you'll have an audience with royalty." Tirek understood what Discord said, more-or-less, and gave Red a murderous glare, then said, as he popped five breath mints, "So Discord...is this one you warned me about, and why can't I take his or those creatures' magic?" "No...he's the one who defeated this guy, and certainly he's our biggest threat to our plans...as for why you can't take their magic, the answer is easy in that it isn't magic at all, just advanced, other-worldly technology or some kind of spiritual energy. Which is why the one I warned you about, is our biggest threat. Especially if he brings out the big cannons to stop us..." Tirek grasped Red as he demanded, "Where is the human named...Sean Takashi Hashimoto...?" Red coughed a little as he spat a little blood out of his mouth, then replied, "No idea, honest, Tirek-gomi-sama, last I heard, he was with Oakido-sama...don't know where..." Red smirked cockily as he said, "With the friends he's made...you will die if you cross Hashimoto-san or his friends...a slow agonizing death at the hands of a goddess who can break you in half as easily as you would me...He's strong, not to be underestimated at any moment, same with my cousin, Satoshi..." Red made an unsettling face as he finished ominously, "Those two, have a way to take down anyone, no matter how powerful they may be, and defeat them...Discord-san, I can tell he can be redeemed, but you...you're different, Tirek-gomi-san. When I see into your eyes, I can see someone...who is going to die very soon...meeting an end befitting of your greed..." Tirek readied to crush Red and kill the young man, but Red's body enveloped in a bright light and vanished from Tirek's hand and appear beside a form that made Discord nervous, the familiar silhouette of Mewtwo. Both it and Red vanished in a flash of light. The two headed off to Canterlot on their singular mission, to steal Alicorn Magic, and any magic along the way... To Be Continued...