My Little Pokémon: Grander World

by Amarvax

Return of Everfree! Approaching Terror

Equestria. Ponyville. Nightfall.

Peacefully, Rarity was in a healthy sleep, unbothered by anything. She was having her beauty sleep, surrounded by various accessories that were meant for PokeStar Studios. Sleeping outside of their Poke Balls would be some of Rarity's Pokemon. Ampharos' body was giving off a faint light. In this instance, he was a lamp for everyone, still being able to control his light even when asleep. All was calm for Rarity and her home.

At least, that's how it would seem for a while. It started with the sound of some strange rumbling, followed by the sound of her pet cat Opalescence crying out. "Ugh...What is it?" She would sit up, interrupted from her wonderful sleep. The sound of this rumbling would continue as it sounded as if something was starting to grow.

But Rarity wasn't the only one disturbed by this. Others across Ponyville would wake up to this sound. This disturbance would prompt them to either look out of their windows or head outside to see for themselves. Absol, along with other Pokemon who stayed awake during the night, were the first to witness and hear what was truly going on. However, Absol's horn did not tremble. This was not something that warranted a disaster.

Rarity and all of her Pokemon would gaze at the event that woke so many of the townsfolk up and it was an event that was long overdue. Over at the Pokemon House, Zecora was the most stunned and excited about this. Still working on that elixir, she would halt all work to witness the home she once knew return.

The Everfree Forest had finally finished healing.

The roots and ivnes of this forest would add the finishing touches, making the earth itself tremble. At last, Zecora could return and rebuild what she had lost.

"Isn't that wonderful, Zecora?" Fluttershy, who awoke to the emergence of the Everfree Forest said. Judging by the look on Zecora's face, it was already wonderful.

Granted, some would consider the Everfree Forest as the least-hospitable place to live in. But for Zecora, she preferred it that way. Apart of this new combined world, the Everfree Forest was finally back to how it was after months of healing.

"Oh, is that all that was? Alright then..." Rarity groaned before shutting the windows. She thought it was something of great importance. For her, it wasn't all that important. It was back to bed knowing what all the fuss was about.

Seeing that Zecora's home had returned, Roseluck was waiting for the elixir to return before Zecora could head back. After all, she'd rather not head into the Everfree Forest.

---

Canterlot. The Pokemon School. Afternoon.

Over at the Pokemon School, lessons went by as always until the late afternoon came by. By this time, many would return home but some would stay behind.

Such as Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. They would show up for Valerie's afternoon classes, mainly focused on Fairy-Type Magic. Valerie was looking better after the events over at Hearthome City.

"You're looking better, Valerie." Fluttershy pointed out. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?"

"Not anymore. I was healed up, thankfully." Valerie added. "As for everyone else, we're glad to have so many Ghost-Type specialists. It took us two days to return everyone's souls to their bodies but thanks to Grimsley of the Unova Elite 4, it worked out well for us."

"Those weird plants are still around though. What about them?" Pinkie Pie asked, bringing up the Despair Plants. They were still ever-present and should not be ignored in any way, considering how much trouble they could cause.

"I haven't seen them yet. But what about your friend Roseluck? She said she had a way to stop them. She hasn't even shown up to school because she's still busy working on it."

"Roseluck? Well, she said that Zecora's the one really making it. It's not as easy as she hoped it would be." Fluttershy explained. "It's been a few days and she's still working on it. On the bright side, we know what it does."

"That's right!" Pinkie exclaimed. "It soothes the plants and calms them down! Isn't that perfect? Those freaky plants won't be flailing around anymore when they get a dose of that elixir."

"Is that what it does? Oh, that's wonderful then!" Valerie clapped her hands. "I wasn't sure myself what that elixir could do when I heard about it. But...I hope it works. Those Despair Plants might be too difficult to soothe."

"How come?" Pinkie Pie questioned.

"When I encountered them, the amount of aggression that came from those plants was unlike anything I've ever felt before. Without even saying anything, I knew that I wouldn't be able to calm them down no matter how hard I tried. I didn't even bother to try because of that. This elixir...how big is it?"

"Umm...It's pretty small." Unfortunately, Fluttershy revealed that the elixir was not that big at all. She held her hooves out, picking up a nearby pen. This pen was around the size of that elixir. And considering how large the Despair Plants were, especially when they fused, this did not bode well.

"Oh, my." Valerie gulped. She didn't have high hopes for this elixir if it was that small. Unless there were multiple of them, only one of the Despair Plants could be affected. And that wasn't good enough.

"But I'm sure she has it covered. We should never underestimate Zecora. And with the Everfree Forest back, she can get back to rebuilding her old home and gathering whatever she can from that forest." Fluttershy tried reassuring Valerie, bringing a brighter look into this. "Hopefully."

"Hmm...Those plants haven't stuck around other cities compared to Hearthome City." Valerie turned, looking out of the window to witness some foals playing around with their Pokemon. "That worries me. They occupied that city for so long and nowhere else is worth their time at all."

"Is that a bad thing?" Pinkie scratched her mane. From what she could gather, the Despair Plants and their constant movements weren't as horrifying as how they stayed in Hearthome for months.

"I already spoke about it with Olympia. But there's a chance that they're not finished with us. Those plants could be coming for us." Valerie revealed before taking a seat, shuddering for a bit. "Because we managed to escape compared to everyone else, those plants are like predators, attempting to find us and finish what they started. And unless they find the right city or town, they won't stop."

That made Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy stay silent for a bit. Valerie, despite healing up, wasn't fully feeling safe at the moment for obvious reasons. The possibility of the Despair Plants finding her again was one of them. "Ever since that...I haven't been able to erase it from my memory." The Kalos Gym Leader would hold herself for a bit, unable to get the plants off her mind at all. "We barely managed to escape from them...They were just so powerful. More so than what we ever expected. If they find us again then-"

Fear was approaching Valerie. The Despair Plants and their existence were enough to inject it into her. It was a reasonable fear to have. At the moment, only Cobra and Cordyceps were seen as of recently with Scorpio supposedly being out of commission after what happened back at Michina Town.

"Hey, cheer up!" Pinkie Pie would immediately get behind Valerie, forming a smile by touching her face. "Those plants aren't gonna hurt you anymore."

"They aren't?"

"Nope! Because I've got an idea! Why don't we just pour all of that elixir on you and you'll be free from any harm! Those plants aren't gonna wanna hurt you if they feel calm!" Pinkie Pie suggested. "Not a bad idea, huh?"

"Uh...That's nice but I don't think it would last that long by the time they find me. Whenever they find me." Valerie chuckled as Pinkie Pie managed to lighten her spirits with that suggestion. "Good idea, though."

"Get your mind off of it then." Fluttershy was ready to throw in her own suggestion. "This week, Rarity invited us to see her act in an upcoming PokeStar Studios movie. We could bring you along or is there something else that could work for you?"

"PokeStar Studios? Well...I guess so..." Valerie pondered about it for a moment. "It wouldn't be too out of place for me. After all, I am a fashion designer."

"You are?" Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie both said as this was new information to her. Valerie wasn't just a Gym Leader, much like every other Gym Leader.

"Mhm. I originally come from Johto, actually but I came to Kalos to pursue my career. But...I haven't designed for any movies but it would be fun now that I think about it." Valerie added. "So, yes, please! I'd love that! I might have to ask for a day off then if it's on a weekday. That includes my Gym."

It was decided. For Valerie, to get her mind off of those Despair Plants, it was off to PokeStar Studios when that day comes. However, despite being eager to get there, a frown formed on Valerie's face while her students babbled on. That fear was still there and Olympia's words should not be taken lightly.

---

Hoenn. Dewford City. Nightfall.

Nightfall had graced the Hoenn Region. Especially for Dewford Town. A tiny island in the vast blue sea that is the Hoenn Region. New trends are always the rage among the inhabitants of this small island town. This was home to Brawly. Dewford City's Gym Leader.

Brawly had just finished up for the day. And judging by the number of water bottles beside him, he worked hard, as usual. He would leave the beachside before gazing up at the beautiful night sky and the moon. After a hard day at work, Brawly would clock out at last.

With mostly everyone asleep for the night in this town, tomorrow was ready to be tackled by Brawly. However, not everything was how it seemed. When heading back to his home, carrying his surfboard, Brawly could hear a violent sound for a split second. He swivelled his head as that sound came from the sea. But very soon, it would vanish. The tired-out Brawly scratched his hair, wondering what on earth could've made that sound. It certainly wasn't a Wailord. It came from underwater, thus, its cry was somewhat obscured and hard to recognize. Once he returned home, that's when something poked out of the sea.

One of the Despair Plants had arrived. It was Cordyceps. Tracking down Brawly's scent had led to Cordyceps arriving at the Hoenn Region. After battling Brawly and the other Gym Leaders, all Gym Leaders were now trackable. And Cordyceps wasn't alone.

Emerging out of the sea was a swarm of Cordyceps. Much like how Scorpio duplicated, Cordyceps was not an exception as the night sky was flooded by these demonic plants, ready to strike at the unsuspecting people and Pokemon of Dewford Town. And of course, Rosa Maledicta had a clear vision of this place thanks to her control over the plants.

She eyed down the town, seeing how peaceful it was. But the Lich Queen could care less about the peacefulness of Dewford Town.

---

Rustboro City.

It wasn't just Dewford Town. The nearest city, Rustboro City, would be targeted as well, home to the Gym Leader, Roxanne. Roxanne was involved with that event that happened over at Hearthome City, thus, her scent had been traced as well. The city that was known as the main hub of industry in the Hoenn region, with the Devon Corporation as its beating heart, was now a target for these Despair Plants.

And as for Roxanne, since she was asleep, she was unaware of what was coming her way as one of the Cordyceps had already eyed down her home.

Sleeping peacefully, it looked like Roxanne couldn't be interrupted by her wonderful slumber. But the Despair Plants could certainly disrupt it. The swarms of Cordyceps were all that filled the skies of Hoenn tonight, approaching these two locations with explosive seeds ready to be dropped.

Roxanne's home was the first target as most of the Cordyceps would hover over it. The same went for Brawly's home once he was ready to lie down. Above their respective roofs, these seeds would be dropped by the Despair Plants as a barrage of explosions was seemingly imminent. No one could predict it and no one could react to it in time. Both civilizations looked like they would be set ablaze by the seeds.

At least, that's how it seemed at first. A large field of magic would appear over both cities from great distances. These fields of magic appeared the moment the seeds got within the range of some of the taller buildings. Explosions went off, only touching the shields instead. But the sounds of these explosions couldn't be ignored. Not when they were loud enough to wake up the citizens.

"What...?" Roxanne woke up from this as to be expected. Her pleasant dream had been interrupted along with many others. A barrage of commotion would go across Rustboro and most likely, Dewford Town as well.

"Who dares?" Rosa Maledicta's voice echoed through the sky once she saw that this barrage of explosive seeds had been blocked.

"We do." Three voices spoke out to the voice in the sky. While Rosa Maledicta was not here, her expression would most likely show confusion and possibly even a stunned expression. Mainly due to the three voices that replied to her. Or in this case, technically two.

The ones responsible for this had shown themselves by flying high above the rest of the Cordyceps. The swarm of Despair Plant Cordyceps would gaze up to see the radiant figure of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Rosa Maledicta, all the way from Magehold, gasped once she saw the Two Sisters appear before her.

But it wasn't just those two. There was one more pony responsible for protecting Dewford. That would be Nightmare Moon, who was split from Luna, becoming her own entity that only shows up during the night. And this was the perfect time to show up as her barrier shielded the town from the explosive seeds.

"You two..." Rosa growled. "How did you anticipate this?"

"You can thank the combination of Xatu and the Hyperdream for that," Luna smirked. "Ever since that stunt you pulled on Hearthome, the nightmares that these people had involved a vicious attack on their homes. I couldn't ignore that, especially with what Twilight encountered back at Michina Town."

"As for me...I just tagged along." Celestia shrugged. "We can't have things going wrong in this new world, after all. Everything's still so new and the last thing anypony needs is a sudden attack, Lich Queen." The Sun Princess called out Rosa Maledicta's title.

"Tch. Fair enough. First I met Princess Twilight and now I've met both of you. You're already shaping to be grave annoyances, just like her."

"You'll call off your plants and their rampant attacks," Luna ordered. "They're not as indestructible as they seem after all."

"My darlings won't stop until they've found their targets and currently, you're in the way of two of them and are only adding yourselves to the list of prey that they can claim. In this case, I'll have them bring you to me. How wonderful would it be if I had both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna over at Magehold?"

"They'll stop. After all, we now have certain ways we can shut them down. And as a bonus...Roseluck's elixir seems to be coming up nicely from what we hear."

"What did you say?!" By mentioning Roseluck and the elixir, Rosa Maledicta would roar, making not just the clouds wobble but also causing the Despair Plants to shake just from her exclamation. Celestia definitely struck a nerve there.

"You should call it off soon before it's completed or we can just finish it here." Celestia continued before facing Luna. "Luna. You know what to do."

"I know, sister." Luna nodded. "Nightmare Moon should as well. We should keep all damage at a low level when dealing with these plants. But are you positive that your magic will be fully effective on them?"

"It's not Arceus' light but it should do something." Celestia looked over at her Boundless Cutie Mark, which had her main Cutie Mark visible while every other Cutie Mark was incredibly small and repeatedly cycling at high speeds.

"Just for bringing those two up...I'll see to it that you're crushed from the beginning!" Rosa Maledicta yelled as Celestia definitely chose a strong pair of words to rile her up. So much so that she chose to have her plants go all out from the start. That same dark light surrounded their bodies as they would crash into each other.

Fusion was arriving once more.

"Is this the fusion they spoke about?!" Luna squinted at this horrific light that emerged from the Despair Plants.

"You'd best believe it! My darlings...By the darkness of those summoned, I call upon you! Shatter the light and smother the world, make them bask in your dreadful glory! Come hither and descend into beautiful chaos! I fuse all of my Cordyceps to create this! Despair Plant Triphyophyllum!"

New fusion Despair Plants had emerged on both sides. Celestia, Luna, Nightmare Moon and the citizens from Dewford Town and Rustboro City would witness this unification and the emergence of this new Despair Plant species.

This Despair Plant had the stature of a dragon, more akin to that of a Garchomp's stature. Two large heads appeared from its neck while the main neck in the middle stood tall. It almost looked like a hydra with this appearance. With its entire body being made out of hard and rugged plants along with the wings on its back, it had two flytraps on the top of its wings while possessing thorn-like claws. This Despair Plant was the closest to a dragon and by far the fiercest looking.

"Is that even a plant anymore...?" Celestia gawked at this Hydra-like plant. With these Cordyceps all fusing, there were fewer Despair Plants but they still had a ton of deadly strength to exude.

"Prepare yourselves, princesses! Try and stop what comes next!"

As the journey continues.

Chapter 20 End.

Comments

[GamePlayer64]

They heard the victims through their nightmares... than whose to say they can't use Hyperdream to find Xerneas? I mean both Xerneas and Yveltal were sleeping until the world ends and begin again. Why not use that to convince Xerneas to save its fate sibling?

[Amarvax]

11484931
Because Xerneas, much like most Legendary or even Mythical Pokemon, don't make it that easy. They can find Xerneas' dream but reaching Xerneas is harder than it appears because at times Xerneas is awake and at times, it isn't. And it's never a day or night thing as seen by the show because these rare Pokemon don't sleep at consistent times compared to everyone else and they are usually protected by something when asleep.

[Somewaythere]

11484943
and it doesnt help that xerneas moves around a lot right? How does the hyperdream work?

[Amarvax]

11484950
Right, Xerneas is always moving too so there's that problem. As for the Hyperdream, Luna used it to decide where to go. She can't just enter the dream and pop out of the real world and arrive there. As useful as the Hyperdream is, there are a few things to take into consideration.

[GamePlayer64]

11484943
Really, what about daydreamers?

[Amarvax]

11485048
Daydreams are a strange one because that's never been explored in this story or the show so I don't know what to do about that yet.

[GamePlayer64]

11485071
Really, but it's an interesting theory for Luna to try?

[Amarvax]

11485098
It sure is.