Pokémon Eclipse

by moviemaster8510

Chapter 33 – R&R Resort

Standing over a large picnic bench on the sandy Hano Beach, Sam held two large metal bowls in each hand, one containing small bone-in cuts of pork and the other containing peeled and julienne-cut potatoes. One after the other, Sam tossed the oil and seasonings with the contents in both bowls.

Sam’s cutting board and knife sat on the table, both filthy and coated with loose bits of various chopped, sliced, and minced foods including cabbage, parsley, and dill. Beside it with a wooden spoon in it was an even larger bowl of coleslaw with a long, thick baguette resting next to it in a paper bag. Lined on one of the ends of the table were small half-empty bottles of dried herbs and spices, the largest among them being paprika. On the end seat of the bench was a large paper bag filled with trash accumulated from the preparation of the meal about to be made. Behind them, on a patch of grass near the stairwell to the hotel entrance was a small metal grill with an even spread of charcoal burning bright beneath the grates.

Gladion sat on the bench opposite from Sam and his makeshift station, watching intently as Alice and Kaj, both in their bikini swimsuits, played and splashed about in the water with their Pokémon and the ponies about ten feet from the shore. Chasing Kaj on the back of Rông was a pink-and-cream colored kitten with a thick hand-shaped appendage on the end of its tail.

Mohuku finally caught up to Kaj, tackling her into the water, leaving Rông and the kitten to dogpile the both of them, quickly getting off so they could both get up to breathe.

Kaj and her Pokémon laughed as Alice, Noibat, and Pikachu approached her. “I can’t thank you enough for inviting me to hang with you!”

Humbled, Alice couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m glad you had a little bit more time for us.”

“Are you kidding? I’m hanging with three of the coolest people I’ve met in ages helping out a bunch of–”

“Aaahhh, ixnay on the oniespay!” Alice bared her teeth in fright whiled tracing her finger across her neck.

“Oh, right, sorry!”

“And we certainly don’t mind the company!” Rainbow Dash and the other ponies paddled to them, panting as they continued trying to stay afloat. “Besides, I think we all needed a little night at the beach to take our minds off of everything.”

“But what about your other friends?”

“They’re fine!” Pinkie Pie leapt from the water and balanced herself perfectly on Rainbow Dash’s back, nearly submerging her head past her face. She began to point to the other ponies, starting with herself. “There’s one, two, three, four of us, we know Applejack and Rarity are hiding in a cave south of here, and Twilight and Spike are safe with Gladion’s friends! I have a feeling we’ll be going home in no time!”

“That’s great news, and I’m very happy for you!”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t handle Pinkie Pie’s weight anymore, rolling her off into the ocean and gasping for more air. While Starlight led the group in laughing, Pinkie Pie quickly emerged back up, but when everyone turned to face her, they noticed something odd clinging to her mane. It was a small, soft, black mound the size of a potato with six equally plushy pink spikes on its side, as well as a puffy white tail, two small pink dots for eyes and a fleshy flap for a mouth.

Pinkie Pie couldn’t seem to understand the perplexed looks on her friends’ faces. “What? Do I have something in my teeth?”

“Sun, you can’t be serious!” A distressed Lillie looked through the screen of her Pokédex at Sun, who continued to be stone faced in his decision.

“I am serious,” he said, “and I want nothing more than for you to bring them over here, but I’m concerned that their presence might aggravate Solgaleo and Lunala again.”

“But… can’t you just keep them in their balls when they arrive?”

“Didn’t you say that you wanted Twilight and Spike to meet them? That might make hiding them difficult.”

Lillie was stumped there, and she looked off to the side shamefully as she’d soon have to tell the alicorn and baby dragon in the other room what Sun had told her.

“Listen.” Sun sounded quite pained. “I’m aware we’ll need to bring all eight of them over eventually, but we can’t jeopardize their return home by shipping them all here on a whim. I’ll run some tests tonight with Solgaleo and Lunala and see if–”

“You’re seriously not planning on doing another excursion, are you?”

“I have to! I need to be certain that it’s their world that bothers them and not the ponies themselves.”

“But… what if–”

“If the ponies are the cause for their meltdowns, then we’ll have to try something else. We can go to Mossdeep for an alternate solution if it comes to that. I don’t care about sharing our research with them so long as the ponies get home safe and sound.”

Cornered, Lillie breathed out a defeated sigh. “Okay… I just hate disappointing them, I feel its all I’ve been doing today.”

“You’re the furthest thing from a disappointment, Lillie. I’m sure they’ll understand everything if you tell them, so you should do it now.”

“Okay… goodbye, Sun.”

“Bye, Lillie.”

Her Pokédex screen shut off, the chat ended. She slowly turned back down the hallway, eyeing the side of the doorway where Twilight and Spike were waiting. With another deep breath, she summoned the strength to walk forward and enter into the dining hall where they, along with Amy and Noah were.

Twilight and Spike turned to her. “What did Sun have to say?” she asked.

Lillie bit her lip and moved a stray strand of hair back that draped over her brow. “Amy, Noah, could you please step outside for a couple of minutes?”

The two children looked to each other nervously. “Is it about Twilight and Spike leaving?” Noah wondered.

“Wha–?! N… No! What gave you–”

“Twilight and Spike told us while you had your call,” Amy explained.

Lillie could tell from Amy’s and Noah’s faces that they were hiding devastation in their frowns, and she couldn’t fight it as well as they could. “Noah, Amy, I’m so sorry–”

“Please don’t be,” Noah interrupted. “Twilight and Spike wanted us to be sure we knew that they wanted to go and that you weren’t trying to taking them away, it’s… just that we didn’t think it would happen so soon.”

Lillie shut her eyes tight, unsure which duo to disappoint, until… “They aren’t going anywhere now!”

“Huh?”

“The escort’s been canceled!” Twilight’s ears and wings fell limp at the declaration, Spike slapping his hand over the pang that shot into his heart. “Sun just called me to let me know that he didn’t want to risk another accident with you two being there.”

“But…” Twilight let out a huff of insane humor. “We would have to go there eventually… with all of our friends, right?”

“I know. He said he’s going to run a test tonight with Solgaleo and Lunala to make sure it’s not you or your friends that aggravates them into opening another wormhole.”

“But… what if it is?” Spike hugged Twilight’s leg with worry. “Does that mean we can’t go home?”

“Of course not! There’s another city far east of here we can take you to bring you back home another way. I’m sorry this whole thing’s been so messed up, guys. I’m really trying my best here.” Lillie walked over to Spike, knelt down and picked him up, allowing him to hug her neck and let her place her hands on his back. “I want you to trust in us that we’ll bring you home, because I promise you that I will.”

Lillie couldn’t help but wheeze when she felt Spike’s clutch on her become even stronger. As she gently nuzzled her chin onto Spike’s shoulder, Twilight slowly came over and wrapped her arms around her waist, Lillie moving a hand to stroke her mane. Noah and Amy, feeling all was becoming right again, walked over and joined Twilight, Spike, and Lillie in the embrace.

Applejack sighed wistfully as she looked up through the clearing of the Ruins of Life, sitting between Rarity and Tapu Lele. The stars were beautiful in the Alolan sky, but with Team Prism now on their trail and the possibilities of reunion or a safe return home appearing more and more doubtful, she couldn’t possibly appreciate the view.

“I wonder if our other friends can see this view,” Applejack breathed. “It ain’t Luna’s sky, but this certainly gives it a run for its money.”

“I bet they’re all doing fine.” Rarity crept her arm around her friend’s back. “You shouldn’t worry.”

“I really appreciate it, Rarity, but to tell you the truth, I can’t help but feel scared that one of our friends had a run in with those Prism hoodlums, and…”

“Applejack, perish the thought! Do you really think somepony as skilled with magic as Twilight, or even Starlight for that matter, would let them fall into their clutches?”

“I… guess not.”

“And would someone as fast as Rainbow Dash, as resourceful as Pinkie Pie, or as quick to run from danger as Fluttershy be prisoner to them?”

“I don’t think so. It still doesn’t make the feeling go away any faster. I only wish we weren’t all alone in here.” Tapu Lele leaned over to look into Applejack’s eyes, wanting to assure her with its presence. “I meant you too, Tapu Lele.”

“You don’t need to.” Tapu Lele turned its head with the ponies to see a hooded figure walking into the ruins’ temple with a large backpack stretched to the brim with the stuff inside it hung over her shoulders.

Though the ponies were frightened by its appearance, Tapu Lele continued observing the figure curiously. As they stepped into the ruins, the moonlight revealed their hoodie to be a light blue. Just as the ponies realized that it wasn’t another Prism grunt, the person unveiled themselves to reveal that she was in fact Olivia.

“Olivia!” Both ponies cried in shock.

“Whatever are you doing here this time of night?” Rarity wondered.

Olivia looked down to the ground with noticeable shame. “I couldn’t leave you out here alone like I did. I feel especially crummy knowing it took me this long to apologize, but yes, I’m so sorry for the way I left you this morning.”

“Uh… It’s okay, sugar.” Applejack stepped forward. “Tapu Lele’s been keeping us real safe.”

“Does this mean that you’ll be taking us back to the shop?” Rarity asked with restrained excitement.

Olivia’s eyes closed halfway. “Not tonight.” The response seemed partially devastating to Rarity. “I really don’t want to risk running into more of those Prism guys tonight when it’s just the three of us.”

“What if Tapu Lele came with?”

Applejack looked back to the guardian, only to feel dismayed as it backed away slowly while wringing its hands nervously.

“As much as I’m sure she would like to,” Olivia answered, “even Tapu Lele has her weaknesses. From what I’ve heard about them, they like to fight in large groups, and they’ll make mincemeat out of both of us if we try and handle a group like that alone.”

“So… what do we do then?” Applejack wondered hesitantly.

“Well, I’m certainly not leaving you alone tonight, and I thought you’d be hungry, so I made some egg sandwiches for us to eat.” Olivia slid her bag off and let it bang on the floor and stand upright for her to kneel before and dig into. “I just scrambled them with some chive, mushroom, tomato, and cheese. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all!” Rarity and Applejack both sat down as they prepared for their meal. “Eh, what kind of cheese?”

Applejack couldn’t resist lightly knocking Rarity in the back of the head for her remark. “Don’t be rude, she’s feeding us!” she hissed back as Rarity rubbed the sting away with a hurt expression..

Olivia began to pull the paper-wrapped sandwiches one by one. “It’s Swiss. I thought it would go well.”

“And go well it shall!” Rarity chirped. “Swiss is a great choice.”

“Good.” Olivia turned back and took two of the sandwiches from the floor and tossed them to the ponies, Rarity catching them and handing one to Applejack. As Olivia turned around with another sandwich in hand, she saw as Tapu Lele rested its bottom shell beside Rarity, hoping to join. “Don’t think I forgot you.”

Olivia threw the sandwich over her head and let Tapu Lele catch it, who already began tearing apart the wrapping like a present. Finally, she grabbed the last sandwich from the bag and scooted herself to face her three friends.

After tearing off half her wrapping, she held her sandwich out to them. “Here’s to a speedy reunion.”

“Here, here!” Applejack reached out with her sandwich balanced on her hoof, putting hers beside Olivia’s.

Tapu Lele put its sandwich against the other two, leaving the three of them to look at Rarity, expecting her to add her sandwich to theirs.

Rarity smiled as she rolled her eyes, levitating her meal into her other friends'. “Cheers.”

At once, they all began to eat, and for a beautiful moment amongst the chewing and tasting, the world had begun to feel right again.

Sam quickly overturned the pork shanks, fries, and thick slices of fire-toasted bread on the grill, seeing that each of them had a lovely brown char that he was certain would look perfect on the other side in just a few minutes time.

“Hey, Gladion!” Sam kept his eyes on the grill and waited for Gladion to listen. “You can start calling everyone in. It’s almost time to eat.”

As Sam began to already remove the quickly cooking bread from the grates, Gladion hopped off the seat from his bench, which was now free from utensils and bits of food and now set with paper plates and silverware, along with the coleslaw that his Weavile held to keep cold.

Gladion watched as Alice and Kaj played carefree in the waters; he could tell they could go all night if they wanted to, and the thought brought a warm grin to his face. Still hearing the grill behind him, he refocused. “Girls! It’s almost dinnertime! Be sure to dry yourselves and get as much sand off of you as possible.”

“Yeah, yeah!” Rainbow Dash flew over Gladion and shook her body loose of seawater, Gladion growling as his clothes were soaked and caked in bits of the sand.

As Rainbow Dash flew closer to the table as Sam began constructing sandwiches out of the potato slices, she suddenly flew through a circular, glowing red ring with a hazy space inside of it. Surprised, she stopped and looked at her body, feeling that it was completely dry and free from sand. Turning and looking back down, Starlight’s horn lit up as other circles appeared before Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Alice, and Kaj as they moved to pass through them, also leaving them dry, clean, and initially surprised.

Starlight finished with herself, walking up to Gladion when she was finished. “Sorry about Rainbow Dash. Here…” Starlight scanned Gladion with another of the spells, drying his clothes and removing the sand from them.

Gladion nodded in thanks to her. Together, the two of them led the other five to the table where Sam was just finishing plating the food.

The four ponies and four humans clinked their glasses of lemonade together as they declared cheers. Each human had one or two shanks on their plates with the coleslaw, while the ponies each had a potato sandwich and slaw. Beside them at the table, Lady, Comfey, along with all of Sam, Alice, and Gladion’s Pokémon all sat close together with various foods and treats from various-sized plastic dishes.

“Nice job here, Sam!” Pinkie Pie scooped one sandwich half up in her hooves and gave it a hard whiff. “Smells awesome too! What even is this?”

“They’re called chip butties,” Sam replied as he already ate a freshly-cut bite of his pork. “They’re actually quite popular in the bistros of Lumiose City; our own restaurant sold them on the lunch menu.”

“Whuuoh!” Rainbow Dash’s mouth was much more full with food, swallowing before taking another breath to speak. “You ran a restaurant? I mean, it makes sense and all, because this is really good. The coleslaw too!”

“Yes, Sam,” Starlight added, “everything is delicious.”

“Yes, thank you for preparing the meal.” Gladion took a small sip of lemonade. “You really didn’t need to do any of this; I would have been happy to take us all to the restaurant here.”

Sam shrugged as he swallowed another bite. “Well, this is the first time I’ve been able to cook something since we got here, and truly, I wanted to.”

“Also,” Alice interrupted, looking to Starlight, “Sam didn’t run the restaurant, our parents did.”

“Alice…” Sam hissed into his sister’s ear. “Don’t be stealing my thunder in front of the ponies!”

“Regardless, they taught him much of what they knew before he decided to become a trainer.”

“Cool,” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash said in unison.

The two ponies looked to each other, and suddenly, a smile appeared on Pinkie Pie’s face as she was reminded of something. “Hey, Gladion! Do you think Twilight’s busy? Does she know we’re with Starlight and Fluttershy?”

Both the aforementioned ponies slowly turned to Gladion, knowing he knew what Pinkie Pie was hinting.

Gladion sighed as he whipped his napkin from his lap and onto where he sat as he stood up. “Hold on while I get my Pokédex.”

Twilight laid on her stomach, reading a book that was supported up by the front frame of her bed. The pages she fixated on featured pictures of a Pokémon Gym and the photographs of its two identical twin gym leaders. Spike lied on his stomach with his hands holding the back of his head, relaxing after an interesting day.

Flipping the page, her eyes widened slightly as the next pages featured pictures of the Mossdeep Space Center. Just as she began to read the first few paragraphs of this new section, the sound of the sliding door opening alerted her, only to breathe a small sigh of relief when she saw Lillie holding her Pokédex with the screen held against her stomach.

“Sorry.” She approached them without fear of invading her privacy. “Someone really wants to talk to you.”

Spike raised himself by his stomach woozily. “Is it Sun?”

“Nope! Even better!”

Handing the device to Twilght, she held it in her magic and allowed the camera to pick up her and Spike’s faces as they looked to the screen. To their utter shock and delight, Starlight was on the screen, giggling gleefully to see more of her friends safe and sound.

“Starlight!” Spike screamed, wedging himself in between Twilight and the Pokédex. “You’re okay too!”

“Oh my gosh, Spike!” Starlight was close to tears to see him, only for the screen to tilt with Rainbow Dash’s arm obscuring part of the view.

“And look who else!” Rainbow Dash moved aside to let Twilight and Spike and Fluttershy see each other through the video.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy dove forward and hugged the Pokédex tight, tears cascading down her cheeks. “Oh, it’s so good to see you!”

“Be careful!” Gladion’s off-screen voice snapped. “If you break that, we won’t be able to talk anymore.”

“Oh, sorry!” Fluttershy slunk from the device, Starlight still holding it with her magic.

“Where are you guys?” Twilight asked.

“Oh yeah!” Rainbow Dash then swiveled Gladion’s Pokédex so Twilight could see Sam and Alice sitting together on the bench. “Twilight, Spike, this is Sam and Alice. They’re the ones that picked up Starlight and Fluttershy and helped bring them here.”

“Oh, wow.” Alice glanced between Twilight’s horn and wings. “You’re a pegasus… and a unicorn?”

Twilight giggled. “I’m what is called an alicorn, and yes, I can fly and use magic. I also know exactly who you two are. Professor Burnet told me about you guys yesterday. I can’t even begin to tell you how grateful Spike and I are for your bravery.”

“Aw hell…” Sam pushed his distracting half-empty plate back. “Bravery has nothing to do with it. We’re more than happy to help.”

“I still greatly appreciate it. I hope we can meet together soon so I can extend my thanks personally.”

“No kidding!” Spike added, putting a thumbs up to the camera. “You two are awesome!”

Lillie stood outside the hallway as Twilight and Spike guffawed over the sight of their unharmed friends through the screen.

“Oh yeah!” Lillie could hear Alice’s voice from the speakers. “Starlight, Fluttershy, did you want to show off your other new friends?”

“Other friends?” Twilight wondered.

Lillie continued watching as Twilight and Spike were held in suspense before their eyes and mouths shot open upon seeing Lady and Comfey.

“What are those?” Spike exclaimed.

Lillie hugged her arms close to her breast and forced a smile. While happy to see Twilight and Spike happy, she could tell it might lead to something dangerous.

“Begin.”

On Sun’s command, Sogaleo and Lunala began to brighten the swirling water in the pool until the space beneath the surface revealed the starry expanse of space. As before, the planet containing Equestria was far below and safely out of reach. Lusamine kept a close eye on the electrodes stuck to both Pokémon’s bodies, as well as four bulky Pokémon with blue skin and four arms standing on either side of them.

“Solgaleo, Lunala,” Sun instructed, “face the north pole of the planet.”

With the planet as the anchor, the view of the space rotated up and over so that Sun could see a small patch of white rather than green and blue.

“Carefully,” Sun said, “descend.”

The planet began to get closer into view, Sun watching as the edges began to eclipse the perimeter of their window. “Lusamine?”

“They look fine,” she responded quickly.

“Good. Solgaleo, Lunala, stop.”

The planet’s enlargement stopped, and Sun kept closer watch to ensure that both Pokémon had listened.

Sun grimaced, knowing that they had. “Okay… down again slowly.”

As their view got lower, breaking through the atmosphere and being blocked by thick, grey clouds, Lusamine looked at Solgaleo and Lunala as they suddenly began to sway in exhaustion. “Sun, they’re losing consciousness again. Should I–”

“Solgaleo, Lunala, stop!”

They continued going lower, breaking through the clouds to see a small city coming into view, a large towering palace directly in the middle.

“A city this far north?”

“Sun!” Lusamine screamed.

“Not yet!”

Their view went through the tip of the castle and continued downwards, quickly passing though a royal chamber too quickly for him to see the pink alicorn mare and white unicorn stallion running to the end of the hall with an orange unicorn stallion in a blue, starry cloak.

Passing through the floor, Sun suddenly spotted a gem rapidly spinning in between two crystal spikes jutting from the floor and ceiling underneath the palace, which was glowing brightly and shining harsh light in all directions while dozens of concerned ponies stood by and watched. Lusamine gasped as she saw the blue light in Solgaleo and Lunala’s heads begin turning pink.

Sun wanted to see for a few seconds more, but knew he had no more time. “Okay, pull the plug!”

“Machamps, now!” Lusamine’s desparate cry quickened the Pokémons’ paces, and with a hard pull, the four Machamps tore the electrodes off Solgaleo and Luanda’s bodies.

The pink light suddenly became a bright white as they both let out ear-piercing shrieks up into the sky. The water in the pool glowed white as well before it violently rose out in a tall, massive pillar. The light in both Pokémons’ heads went out and they fell unconscious to the floor, causing all of the suspended water to fall down, most of it splashing outside of the pool and washing everyone and everything near it back in a shallow, but powerful wave.

Sun, thrown down to his stomach, quickly got up to see Lusamine crawling to her hands and knees as she coughed up as much water that she had swallowed.

“Lusamine!” Sun shot up and ran on all fours to her, supporting her back and chest as her coughing became less severe. “Lusamine, are you okay?”

“Solgaleo… Lunala…” she breathed heavily, “don’t mind me, go to them.”

Sun ran to Solgaleo as the four Machamps swept into the side walls and computers at the edge of the room all got up. Thrusting the side of his ear to Solgaleo’s side, he breathed quickly as he struggled to find a heartbeat. After feeling and hearing one, he inhaled and exhaled slower, pulling out a Poké Ball and returning Solgaleo to it.

“Sir!” Wicke ran in, picking up her feet as high as she could to avoid wetting her shoes and feet. “Sir! Is everything okay?”

Sun pulled out a second ball from his labcoat and returned Lunala inside of it before handing both balls to her. “Take them down to the ICU, I want to know everything the same time you do.”

“Uh, yes sir!” Wicke snatched both balls and ran to the lift, which was also flooded slightly with water.

Sun slowly approached the pool, leaning tiredly over it and stared at the surface reflectively. He didn’t seem to care about Wicke as she heard her screams from the water that drained down from the floor onto her as she went down, or for Lusamine’s stray cough as she joined Sun’s side.

There was a piece he was missing to this puzzle, and he knew that without it, he could not in good conscience bring the ponies home quite yet.

Comments

[Purple Pony]

I've got it! I know how this whole thing started, and why they're having trouble with Equestria! Celestia and Luna! They are two different entities representing the sun and the moon. The Pokémon pass out because their control is literally stolen from them! Does that make sense?

[Supertoe]

I'm calling it now, team prism is responsible for Solgaleo and Lunala losing control and bringing the ponies to this world