My Little Pokémon

by Amarvax

Not-so-Civil War

Holon Region. Holon Pyramid. Afternoon.

A civil war was currently ongoing within the Holon Pyramid. Originally ordered by Delta Torchic, the Psychic-Type Prince Pokemon, the Lucario and Espeon were sent to capture Ash. All because Torchic's infatuation with Twilight didn't matter considering that Twilight was far more interested in Ash. Struck by jealousy, the order to capture Ash was driven by that reason.

However, after sensing Ash's amazing Aura and how vast it was, the Lucario, out of sheer respect for a powerful Aura wielder, could not bring themselves to do. While on the other side of the spectrum, the Espeon could as they weren't bound to Aura as effectively as Lucario.

This, led to this conflict with the Lucario being on Ash's side while the Espeon stuck to Torchic's side. Naturally, a civil war between these two species could lead to some unpleasant outcomes, and there to try and solve this before it could get out of hand was Ash himself along with his friends.

"Now hold on! Let's all slow down here!" Fluttershy stood in-between the two sides. "How about we calm down and talk this through, why don't we?"

"Rrr!" The Lucario growled.

"Esp!" While the Espeon howled. Two opposite expressions yet similar in context. It was essentially turning into a dogs vs cats situation. Trying to reason with them at the moment would prove troublesome as they were close allies with different choices on the matter.

"Sombra. You're a king. You got any idea on stopping this?" Ash spoke to King Sombra from within. Sombra stayed silent for a moment with his eyes closed.

"Oh! I know!" At the same time of Sombra's pondering, Fluttershy had an idea. The same idea she had used when the Pikachu over at Pikachu Highlands had a royal dispute. "Audi! Use Heal Pulse at full strength!"

"Audino...!" Audino spread her arms out, allowing the healing energy from within her body to flow. The green energy that it was always exhibits was sent into two directions. The direction of the Lucario and the direction of the Espeon.

"Uh...How's Heal Pulse gonna help?" Heike questioned, scratching his hair in confusion. Heal Pulse seemed like the last move he would think of ever being used in this scenario since no one was harmed.

"Heal Pulse can be pushed so far that it can make anyone feel relaxed. You can sometimes use it to stop your opponent from battling." Ash explained.

"Oh...Well that's just unfair." Heike replied, stunned by the extra usage of Heal Pulse. However, despite Heal Pulse's potential, it did not stop their discourse even with this soothing aura of healing energy. For a split-second, it did prove to make them feel relaxed, however, it quickly faded due to the Espeon pushing it away with their Psychic abilities. They weren't up for having Heal Pulse surround them at the moment.

"Audino?!"

"Why didn't it work?" Applejack asked.

"I don't think they want Heal Pulse right now..." Fluttershy scrunched her face as her second approach failed. It was time to slide back into the first approach. Talking it out. "Okay. Let's just keep trying to reason with them."

"Nah. You gotta go beyond that." Ash went up to Fluttershy. He then nudged his head over at Fluttershy's mane, which contained one special item. Fluttershy then knew what Ash meant by that.

"Oh, right!" Fluttershy dug into her mane, pulling out her Mega Ring. And more importantly, the Audinite. Heal Pulse could certainly go beyond Audino's normal limitations. However, she and the others were cut off once one of the Espeon had used Shadow Ball, throwing a blob of shadows across the room. Fluttershy squeaked, flying back as a Lucario had whacked the ball away. The Shadow Ball ended up hitting the walls, causing an explosion as it was safe to say that this argument was starting to escalate.

Escalate to the point where physical action would take place. One of the Espeon tried using Psychic on Ash to grab him, only for a Lucario stand in the way, taking the Psychic instead and cancelling it out with its Aura. Lucario, provoked by this, decided to take action as well.

One Lucario had already summoned up an Aura Sphere in its palms. This was noted by Ash as he attempted to stop any more moves from being thrown. "Wait a sec!" He shouted out, right as Lucario had thrown Aura Sphere. Ash had been hit by the attack the moment he got in the way, causing him to go flying. "Ough!"

"Pikapi?!" Pikachu and the others gasped as Ash could be seen flying in the distance. The Aura Sphere certainly carried him far as Pikachu pursued his best friend.

"This ain't going too well..." Applejack sighed, lowering her hat. Things were only going to worsen as Fluttershy ducked for cover, quickly activating Audino's Mega Evolution. Heike simply stood back, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire.

Sceptile tried holding some of the Lucario back from advancing with Audino already preparing a much better Heal Pulse than before. The Mega Evolution process went off with Mega Audino entering the fray. "Audino!"

"Here goes! Audi, use Heal Pulse one more time!"

"Audi...No!" Powered up to a new level, Mega Audino puts her hands in front of her body as a light pink ball of energy appears in between them. Audino then opened her arms and the orb breaks apart into multiple light pink sparkles, releasing waves of light pink energy with light pink sparkles in it that expand outward.

This was far greater than her normal Heal Pulse in everywhere. And it showed as the Espeon were unable to get rid of this energy. The Lucario and Espeon were perfectly calm now, however, this would not stop their squabble. Only tone it down so that no one would get hurt in the process.

For the meantime, everything had been toned down between both sides. Heike was amazed that Heal Pulse could do that when pushed to its best. "A-Are we sure it's a healing move...?" He stuttered, finding it hard to believe that Heal Pulse can just prevent physical conflict. Unfortunately, not much for the other kinds of conflict.

"Okay...Let's talk about this." Fluttershy sighed, sitting in-between the two species, ready to put an end to this conflict as fast as she could. Heike pondered, having something in mind.

"I've got it!" Heike placed his massive backpack down, already looking into it. "This can help take all that conflict out of the window. I'm sure of it. I mean, who doesn't love..." He dug into the backpack before finding what he needed. "A board game!" Out of the backpack came a boardgame that Heike had on the go.

"Ooh! Smart thinking, Heike!" Fluttershy clapped her hooves.

"This'll get their attention. The Pokemon Labyrinth Game! Big enough for a lot of players." He dropped the boardgame down as all the Lucario and Espeon locked their eyes onto it. They weren't sure what they were looking at. The concept of a boardgame was lost on them.

Treecko helped open the boardgame, revealing its full look to everyone. As the name suggests, the board itself was modelled after a labyrinth. A fairly massive one as the boardgame expanded once the box was opened, as if it was a balloon.

Along with this massive labyrinth, a plethora of figures could be found. All of them were modelled after different Pokemon as there were plenty to go around. "Okay. How about everyone grab a piece? I'll explain things on the go." Heike said.

"Come on." Fluttershy convinced them. "You're all relaxed right now, aren't you? Best to get things off of your mind. Mainly um...capturing my friend."

"Rr...Rrr!" The Lucario and Espeon were convinced. Thanks to Mega Audino's Heal Pulse, they were related and calm enough to give this a go. Immediately, they all went for the pieces within the bag, choosing their personal favourites.

Fluttershy and Audino would join in no doubt. It interested them enough. Applejack shrugged as she and Sceptile indulged themselves in it. Not only was this a great way to ease conflict and get them all to bond, but it was also a great time killer to boot. Truly, Heike's backpack so far was showing that it had objects prepared for some tricky scenarios.

"Rio..." While everyone was grabbing figures left and right, whether with their paws, hands, hooves or even Psychic minds, Delta Riolu stood mostly away from it. The Dark-Type watched as everyone was involved, all except for him. Riolu scrunched his face before being noticed by Applejack.

"Hm?" The farm pony looked over at the Embalming Pokemon. Riolu then looked up at her as Applejack gave him a smile and a slight chuckle. "What are you all shy for? Come over here, little guy."

"Rio?" Delta Riolu pointed his paw at himself. He was surprised to see that Applejack would allow him to join. Applejack nodded in confirmation as the Dark-Type felt less nervous when being ordered by her. Applejack's Aura helped to convince him in this instance as well.

Riolu then smiled as Applejack held a figure out to him. "Here. How about you be the Scorbunny figure. Sound good?" She spoke, grinning at him. Riolu found another reason to be safe around Applejack. He gladly took the figure as he was now involved.

"Rio!"

"Alright!" Heike clapped his hands once as the game was about to begin. "Rules are simple. Let's just try and have fun here, okay?

---

Meanwhile, Ash had been carried elsewhere in the pyramid with Aura Sphere's guidance. He continued yelling before finally coming to a halt via a nearby pillar. The pillar trembled as the Alola Champion was then dropped. But not before being met with an Aura explosion that damaged the pillar. Ash fell flat on his face with pieces of the pillar coming off.

Pikachu managed to catch up to this best friend after seeing him be flung a great distance.

"Woah man..." Ash sat up as the rubble dropped onto his head. Despite all of that, he seemed unphased. "That could've gone better..."

"Are you indestricuble or something?" Sombra spoke, stunned by how durable Ash proved to be. Ash stood up, stretching before getting his balance back.

"Those Lucario and Espeon aren't gonna stop unless something happens to me." He pondered. "But Audino's Heal Pulse in Mega could calm them down. We just gotta figure out how to stop this..."

Upon his pondering, seconds later, that same mysterious figure from earlier that seemed to constantly lurk in secrecy while having a green glowing eye was right nearby Ash. Seconds ago, it was close to the conflict between Lucario and Espeon and now it was right here.

Ash and Pikachu gasped as they felt the presence of this Pokemon. Swivelling around, they saw those glowing eyes within the shadows. And in that split-second of seeing it, this strange Pokemon left the shadows before approaching Ash. Pikachu quickly jumped in front of Ash, using Iron Tail. "Pika!" Pikachu's Iron Tail was used at the right time as this figure had sent a kick in his direction.

The figure was then revealed to be identical to Blaziken. This was Delta Blaziken to be exact. Wearing the same white Nemes with blue patterns that Delta Torchic wore but this time, extra clothing could be found on it via a white half-pleated kilt with those same blue patterns. Delta Blaziken also had wings this time. And they were a radiant gold as they had that same emerald orbs inside of them along with a belt above the kilt. To top it all off, a nice headcloth was around its neck too.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped back along with this Delta Blaziken. Ash gawked as yet another new Delta had been found, plus he had seen the statue for it when he arrived here.

"Oh! Blaziken!" He took out his Pokedex.

"Delta Blaziken. The Horus Pokemon. It soars to amazing heights, storing power that it draws from the sun. Even when it cannot be seen from the ground below, it keeps a watchful eye on those it protects."

"Blaziken." Blaziken lowered his foot before ceasing any other attacks that could've possibly come next after that incoming kick. Pikachu was expecting some more of it.

"A Psychic-Flying-Type too." Ash continued to observe Blaziken from the Pokedex. "Awesome!" His eyes lit up.

"Enough with admiring it. It attacked you, didn't it?" Sombra uttered.

"Ken. Blaziken." However, Blaziken shook his head, essentially saying that he wouldn't attack Ash for a second time. Ash understood Blaziken thankfully. Blaziken then nudged his head over at the walls, showing Ash some Unown Hieroglyphics for him to read.

"Oh, those?" Ash then faced the wall of hieroglyphics, putting his hand over it. The Aura from within enhanced the size of the Unown Hieroglyphics, allowing for him to read it. Ash read them out, discovering that it was Blaziken telling him something. "Uh...That's an A at the beginning so..." He squinted, trying to make out the Unown letters.

"I thought you knew about this Pokemon. Why the struggle all of a sudden?" Sombra asked.

"It's been a while since I've seen all the Unown, ya know. Hey that kinda rhymed!" Ash laughed, finding enjoyment out of this as Sombra shook his head. Ash then concentrated on the Unown symbols, using the best of his knowledge to make out these letters. After observing them, Ash managed to read them out, albeit in a slightly slow tone. "About the Lucario and Espeon...It's all happening because of my son. Your son?"

"Ken." The Horus Pokemon nodded in confirmation. He then looked up, peering his eyes through the stairs of the pyramid. Obviously, his son was at the very top. And Torchic was the only conclusion to that. More hieroglyphics appeared as Blaziken pointed Ash in the direction they came in, allowing him to read them.

"Let's see...This isn't the first time this has happened. My son Torchic has caused squabbles in the pyramid a handful of times." He read out. "Oh. So a Torchic is behind this. Wonder why it wants to capture me then?"

"It must be for a good reason. Perhaps it knows about your kingly status." said Sombra.

"You think so?"

"Blaziken." Blaziken shook his head before pointing towards the stairs. Ash looked up as Blaziken was essentially telling him and Pikachu to go up them. Ash and Pikachu did just that, but it was more than just letting them advance to a higher floor.

Appearing on the walls with purple lights were new images. This time, they weren't Unown. Instead, Ash and Pikachu had bore witness to essentially a timeline imagery. The first image to pop up was of him and Pikachu. And next to that were Twilight, Starlight, Fluttershy, Heike, Applejack and their Pokemon, showing up in what was an image replication of the pyramid.

"Hey, that's us!" Ash stopped to take a closer look at the images.

"Pika!"

They continued up the stairs as more image-based hieroglyphics were being shown. Soon, Ash and Pikachu figured out what this all meant as the next visages were of them finding the Espeon and Lucario. All of this was down in the style that perfectly befitted the pyramid. Truly ancient. They then saw Twilight, Starlight and Espeon separately from the others as they stood next to a visage of Torchic.

"So that's Delta Torchic..." Ash gawked. "But what's happening there?" He couldn't quite make out the scenario between Twilight and Delta Torchic. He knew that somehow, in someway, Torchic was the cause of the conflict happening between the Lucario and Espeon, but it was hard to know the reason for it.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sombra chimed in. "Your alicorn friend over there must've done something to instigate his reasoning for wanting to come after you. And I can only imagine the main reason..." King Sombra already had a good idea and it made him groan. Most definitely, it was a petty reason.

"Gee. Guess Twilight riled him up, huh? Hahah!" Ash, oblivious to the reason, only revelled in it. "But maybe we can go and talk to Torchic. That could fix everything. But Twilight's already handling it right now, I bet!"

---

Throne room.

Twilight was indeed trying to handle this. But Prince Torchi's stubbornness was too resilient, much to Twilight's annoyance as the many Lucario and Espeon were still guarding the exit.

"Alright. This could go on forever. I don't know how many times I have to say this, Torchic..." Twilight groaned. "And you trying to capture Ash prove it's failed so far. I don't hear him coming up here."

"Tor...!" Torchic pouted before trying another approach to convince Twilight. He pulled out the signature puppy-dog eyes while also flashing his eyelids at him, trying to use his cuteness as first-stage starter Pokemon to his advantage. "Torchic!"

"..." But Twilight wasn't buying it. She just gave an expression of annoyance as Torchic jerked back. Torchic tried the next approach that was close to the puppy-dog eyes tactic. Crocodile tears.

"Tor! Torchic!" Torchic started crying crocodile tears to make Twilight feel bad. He even laid on his back, rolling on the floor to boost this. Starlight's Poke Ball was suddenly trembling as Hatteren could feel the fake yet powerful emotions coming from Torchic.

"No, Hatterene...Now's not the time." Starlight kept the Poke Ball at bay, preventing Hatterene from trying anything to make things worse. As for Twilight, she didn't buy it either.

"Nice try. But that level of sadness doesn't work on me." Twilight stated as Torchic was blown back by this. All of his best attempts have failed. Bribing her and even giving her great luxury meant nothing to Twilight. "This place is nice and all, but I've got my own castle anyway. And I'd rather be anywhere else but here, honestly."

"Chic?"

"Twilight. All of these words are great and all but...How are we going to leave with all of them in the way?" Starlight asked.

"Hm...There's only one option left." Twilight knew that Torchic wasn't going to let them go. As the Prince Pokemon, he had that rule just present at all times. Thus, Twilight had one choice that could change that. But, Torchic thought the same thing.

"Tor! Torchic!" Torchic then sat up, ordering some of the Lucario to raise his special podium. Once doing so, Torchic made a declaration against Twilight. And this time, it was simple to understand because of one thing. The hieroglyphs. "Tor...!" Torchic had used the full force of his Psychic abilities to make some Unown Hieroglyphs appear on the wall for Twilight and Starlight to read.

However, with no Aura users here, that would prove to be difficult to see them enlarged. Twilight approached them either way, ready to do her best to read it. And once she got close, thankfully, the hieroglyphs were short as she read them out.

"Let us have a battle to decide it." Twilight revealed that Torchic would have a battle against her. Seemingly the final option. "Just what was on my mind. If I win, you're letting us go."

"Hold on!" Starlight interjected, raising her hoof. "If you agree, won't you end up being stuck here?! You know how these things go!"

"You've got a point but, we have this chance right here. Torchic won't listen to reason so a Pokemon Battle is the way to go and put an end to things." Twilight chose to go along with it. "Eve. Delta Torchic's a full Psychic-Type. I'll have Absol deal with this, if you don't mind."

"Espeon." Espeon was fine with it. It would be the quickest way to do things. She stepped aside as Torchic hopped off his podium, preparing for battle. Twilight stood before the Prince Pokemon, using her magic to send out Absol's Poke Ball.

Torchic felt confident in himself. He stuck his chest out, putting on a smug grin. He believed that since he was royalty, things would work in favour for him. However, that was instantly crushed once Twilight sent out a Pokemon that he would never be prepared for.

"Go for it! Absol!" Out came the Poke Ball as the Disaster Pokemon emerged.

"Absol!" Upon emerging, Absol asserted his dominace by letting out a mighty roar. A roar that trembled the entire throne room while also causing Torchic's feathers to rustle. The Prince Pokemon had a look of distraught and despair as the Dark-Type immediately locked eyes onto him.

Usually, Torchic looks down on others due to the podium being raised high. But in this case, Absol was the one looking down on him. Torchic's confidence had suddenly been obliterated the instance Absol came into the fray. Just the menacing and horrifying disposition Absol carried was enough to terrify the young prince.

This high sense of fear was once again triggering Hatterene from within as Starlight had to keep trying to hold the Poke Ball back. As for Twilight, she knew how petrified Torchic was. And with a smirk on her face, she loved it. "So. Do you want to battle or not?"

"Tor..." Torchic was left speechless. He was also having second thoughts about this. However, his subjects, AKA the Lucario and Espeon were cheering him on. "Tor?"

"Rrr! Luca!"

"Espeon!" They encouraged Torchic to battle Absol, believing that he would win as he was the prince of the pyramid. This was where Torchic's nervous nature started showing. Now that his subjects were rooting for him, he couldn't make himself look like a coward.

"Torchic..." Reluctantly, Torchic faced Absol, deciding to battle him despite the utter fear he felt. Torchic then gulped before deciding to make the first move. "Tor...Torchic!" Torchic had gone for Peck, lighting his beak up and lunging at the Disastr Pokemon. "Toooor!" He made a battle cry to put some effort into his attack and make him seem mighty.

However, that all went down the drain once Peck connected. Absol was barely phased by it as it hit his head. The best it did was just make one eye of his twitch. Torchic did little damage as he backed away slowly.

"Absol. Night Slash."

"Ab...Sol!" Absol, on the other hand, gave a great impact. He lit his horn up, coating it in darkness. It was a bad day to be a Psychic-Type right now as Absol smacked his horn onto Torchic, dealing super-effective damage and launching the Prince Pokemon far as if he was a ball.

One shot. Torchic was done for in one shot as he tumbled on the floor. He had fainted as all of the Lucario and Espeon stood there shocked. Starlight and Espeon weren't surprised as this was the expected outcome. It was safe to say that in terms of battle experience, Absol had Torchic outclassed by a milestone. And the fact that Delta Torchic was a Psychic-Type, unfortunately for him.

"T-Torchic..."

"That's that. Thanks, Absol." Twilight returned Absol to his Poke Ball. With this victory, Twilight was a free princess now. It was all fair game as she simply walked off, not bothering to say something final to Torchic.

"Chic..." Torchic sat up, gazing at Twilight as she was now departing. However, despite Twilight's clear victory, Torchic saw it as unfair. Does, he broke off the deal, shouting and ordering the Lucario and Espeon to block the entrance yet again. "Tor!"

"Hm?" Twilight noticed how the Lucario and Espeon gathered once more, standing in her way as she was once again prevented from leaving. "Are you kidding me?!" She groaned, turning around. "Stubborn little...!"

"Well, you know how young royalty is like?" Starlight tried sweetening the mood, chuckling nervously. But Twilight was having enough of this. Her patience was being tested at this point. And that was only provoking Hatterene some more as Starlight couldn't hold her back forever.

But then, as if everything had calmed down, the Lucario near the entrance suddenly relaxed themselves with their faces all having shocked expressions. They felt something. Something massive. A powerful Aura was present here. And an Aura that grand that could make them all halt belonged to no one other than Ash.

Ash and Pikachu had shown up here after walking up the massive flight of stairs. The Lucario parted for Ash to be seen by Torchic. Twilight, Starlight and Espeon soon saw their friends afterwards as Ash lowered his head, taking a moment to breathe.

"Stairs..." Ash panted as Pikachu was safe from the stairs due to lounging on Ash's shoulder. "They're always a huge problem, aren't they?"

"Pikachu."

"Ash!" Twilight's annoyance quickly faded once she saw Ash. Torchic's annoyance had only just now arrived along with disappointment once Ash arrived. This basically confirmed that the objective to capture Ash had failed miserably.

"Hey, guys..." Ash raised his hand before stretching. He approached the throne room as the Lucario allowed him to pass. Al conflict cease with his Aura radiating. Torchic stood up, clearly frustrated at Ash considering that Twilight leaned more to him than the Prince Pokemon.

However, while Torchic was about to do something about it and only the Espeon were exempt from any Aura connection, he and the Sun Pokemon would cease with the presence of another. Walking right behind Ash and Pikachu was the higher-up of this pyramid. Far more important in hierarchy than Torchic.

Delta Blaziken.

"T-Torchic!" Torchic gasped as his father had shown up. Everything that he was about to say had been silenced as the Espeon had no choice but to do the same, backing up.

"Nice place you got here..." Ash admired the scenary as Delta Blaziken approached Delta Torchic "What did you guys do here anyway?"

"That Torchic is all kinds of stubborn." Twilight shrugged. "Maybe even more stubborn than you, Ash. He wouldn't let me leave for a second. But it looks like that's changing finally."

"Hattrene oculd've torn things apart if you didn't show up. But...what's that Pokemon? Is that Blaziken?" Starlight questioned.

"Yep. Looks like Blaziken owns the place. He told me all about Torchic and how he's caused confilcits like what's happening back downstairs before." The Alola Champion explained. "It isn't the first time it's happened. HE even said it won't be the last."

"Is that so..." Twilight grumbled.

"Did you find out what those hieroglyphs meant?" Ash asked.

"No, but I'm working on it. Wrote them all down so I'd remember to keep them all.

"Blaziken...!" Blaziken clearly wasnt' too proud of his son at the moment. He crossed his arms, showing disappointment. This was yet another civil war he had caused over minuscule reasons.

"Torchic..." Torchic shuddered, lowering his head in front of his father. The Prince Pokemon could not talk back or show his tough attitude in the face of the Horus Pokemon.

"Blaziken!" Blaziken scolded Torchic, raising his voice as it caused Torchic to close his eyes. While they couldn't understand what he was saying, Ash and his friends knew that Blaziken was berating Torchic with the force of a parent, no doubt.

"Blaziken." Despite this scolding, Blaziken knew that this was the one major flaw of Torchic. He was still young. A prince after all. He let Torchic know that Twilight was far out of his league in every category. Torchic was a growing Pokemon as Blaziken kneeled to pat his son on the head.

"Tor! Torchic!" Torchic let out some tears once more However, these were genuine tears instead of crocodile tears. Delta Blaziken held his son up, hugging to comfort him.

"I guess...he wanted to teach him a lesson?" Starlight tried making sense of this. "Either way, isn't that adorable?"

"Mmm. The crocodile tears from earlier ruined it for me." Twilight couldn't find much sympathy for Torchic after everything that had transpired. But a semblance of it was still there for her.

"I don't get it..." Ash was still out the loop as Twilight intended to keep it that way. It took Twilight, Absol, Ash's Aura presence and Delta Blaziken to put an end to Torchic's petty actions. Everything had been resolved. Until a crash echoed throughout the pyramid. "Huh?"

"What was that?!" Starlight gasped as Ash and the others quickly rushed to the direction the crash came from.

---

It came from the same room where the boardgame was currently being played. Conflict between Lucario and Espeon resurfaced whilstp laying this game. One Lucario held a Snorlax figure, aggressively pointing at Espeon, shouting at it. "Lu! Lucario!"

"Espeon!"

"Now, now!" Fluttershy was once again interjecting to stop the arguments. "I'm sure Espeon didn't mean to go on that space, Lucario. Let's just solve this okay?!"

Indeed, it was a game of Pokemon Labyrinth going awry. Arguments even emerged during this fun time as game rules were always bound to spark some controversy. Boardgames can not only bring others together, but they can also tear them apart given the right circumstances.

"Just when we were all having fun..." Applejack sighed, putting her hat over her face. She heard the Lucario and Espeon constantly bicker, trying to debate on what was illegal and what wasn't. Heike was the only one who could make that rule as his voice was being drowned out by the shouting.

"Rio." Delta Riolu patted Applejack on the back. Applejack looked over as now Riolu was the one comforting her. Albeit under a different scenario. "Rio-Rio."

"Thanks, little guy." Applejack felt somewhat at ease. But it wasn't enough to stop all this arguing.

"Hah...I guess it's Heal Pulse again..." Fluttershy sighed in defeat, knowing that Heal Pulse would have to be utilized once more. "Audi-"

"Blaziken." Thankfully, that wouldn't have to pass as a figure important enough to end this boardgame squabble had arrived after hearing the crash. Delta Blaziken, along with Ash and the rest of his friends.

"Lu!"

"Espeon?!" Espeon and Lucario promptly stopped what they were doing to face their ruler. The Pharoah stood before them as the Sun and Aura Pokemon bowed before his grace. The boardgame had ended as Heike could be seen sitting in the corner, destroyed.

"Figures that this would happen..." Heike muttered. "It's ust like my family reunion last year."

"Oh, Heike! Don't worry!" Fluttrshy tried cheering Heike up after his boardgame plan failed.

"Blaziken." Blaziken spoke to his subjects, letting them know that this was all over. There was no need to capture Ash anymore. It wouldn't even go well in the first place with the opposing sides. Torchic had also been brought here, nervously hiding behind his father.

Thanks to Blaziken's order, all the conflict was now, without a doubt, truly and definitively over. Nothing else left to solve at all. Although, Torchic's apology was something. As the boardgame was being put away, Torchic approached Twilight, being his head to her.

"T-Torchic..." Torchic apologized to the Princess of Friendship. It was small but honest.

"Alright." Twilight accepted it. She understood that Torchic was just young and naive at best. "You're forgiven. But, don't lose hope. There'll be someone out there for you. Maybe when you evolve then things can be different."

"Torchic...?"

"Is it over? Oh thank Celestia." Fluttershy was glad that it was all over. Audino's Mega Evolution had also ended up bring definitive closure.

"Audino..."

"I think we're just about done here. At least, I am." Twilight said. "There might be some hieroglyphics that I've missed out on that I can learn."

"I'd rather we just go..." Starlight couldn't wait to leave. But she knew that the adventuring spirit of Ash would lead to the entire pyramid being explored.

"Ah, sure. If you guys are feeling tuckered out from it, then we're off." Thankfully, that wasn't the case. Starlight felt a great stress taken away from her. "But coming back here's not a bad idea, is it? Right, Blaziken?"

"Blaziken." Blaziken would allow them back here at any time. Minus the conflict that would surface from it.

"Rio." Riolu, hearing that they would be departing from the pyramid, ran up to Applejack. He then place both his paws on his legs, nudging him. "Rio! Rio-Riolu!"

"Oh. What Pokemon is that?" Twilight and Starlight were seeing Delta Riolu for the first time as Applejack faced the Dark-Type.

"What's up, Riolu?" AJ asked.

"Ri! Rio! Riolu!" Riolu raised his arms, speaking rapidly to Applejack while also jumping up and down. Something crucial came to his mind. After spending some time with Applejack, in the tomb and during the boardgame, Riolu felt something. And the Aura certainly helped with that.

Riolu puffed his cheeks, trying to find the strength to explain things to Applejack. But he wouldn't need to. Not even Fluttershy's translation came through. Applejack understood clearly as she picked up the Embalming Pokemon. "Yeah, yeah. I hear ya."

"Rio?"

"You wanna come along, don't ya?" Applejack read him like a book. She knew that Riolu desired to come along with her, becoming Applejack's next partner. And judging by the smile on his face, Applejack guess right. "Well, I don't have a problem with it. Sceptile."

"Tile." Sceptile dug into Applejack's saddlebag, pulling out a Poke Ball. He then tossed it in the air for Riolu to interact with. The Embalming Pokemon was then thrown into the air by Applejack, allowing him to gain some airtime.

"Up you go!"

"Rio!" Riolu headbutted the Poke Ball as it had then pulled him in, shrinking him to a microscopic size. Applejack then caught the Poke Ball on her back as it started shaking.

1...2...3...Gotcha! Delta Riolu was caught!

Applejack's newest teammate had been gained as Delta Riolu emerged out of the Poke Ball, sitting on Applejack's back. The party of friends had now been increased. "Riolu!"

"Welcome to the team, Riolu!" Applejack laughed, glad to have another Pokemon on her side. And truly, for certain, this was the final closure in the Holon Pyramid. There wasn't anything else left.

With that settled, they could leave the pyramid. The group departed from the Holon Pyramid with Blaziken bidding his farewell to them all. The Lucario and Espeon were ordered to do the same. It was the least they could for all their conflict and previously trying to capture Ash while also forcing Twilight stay behind for minutes.

There was just the Holon Marsh to go through and finally Settlement Oscar would be up next. Afterwards, the group would decide what to do next as the journey continues.

Chapter 703 End.

Comments

[ArcticAce01]

Amazing! With them leaving the pyramid. AJ got herself a Delta Riolu now which is amazing to see her have

[Magic135]

I knew Applejack was going to get Riolu.

[Rider09]

i love how they barely managed to stop the Civil War with a Boardgame
it was hillarious!