My Little Pokémon: Grander World

by Amarvax

Garden Climax

Equestria. Despair Plant Garden. Nightfall.

"What did we do?!" Ebony Rhyme said with high alert in her voice. She and Potion Nova had caused quite the stir here as seen by how the garden was falling apart, forming cracks, shooting out dark lightning and splitting apart the ground itself in different directions and areas. For two small potions, they certainly left a major impact. Potion Nova stood by her Rapidash while Ebony Rhyme held Banette close to her along with her box of potions.

"That was a bad call for us to do it at the same!" Potion Nova gasped, quickly explaining the reasoning for this. "The two potions and their effects are conflicting with each other, which in turn is making this happen. One part wants to grow while the other wants to falter."

"So what do we do?! I don't have a potion for this with me at the moment!"

"I don't think there's anything we can do! That was the last spare I had for the night." Unfortunately, both Potion Nova and Ebony Rhyme were out of potions that could work here. The damage they had done was too grand for anything to sort this out. All they could do was leave at once, backing away from the source of destruction.

However, they would pay attention to the core of the garden where most of the howling was coming from. The centre of it, where there was an open hole that led to an unseen darkness, was now brimming with magical energy from both potions, completely masking the darkness that once existed within it.

Potion Nova and Ebony Rhyme had left the scene, but both looked at each other, knowing they were going their separate ways. They would slow down their galloping to take a moment of silence before one of them spoke.

"You're still going back to Magehold?" Potion Nova said, stunned that even after the reunion and rather enjoyable potion feud they had, Ebony Rhyme would choose to go back to Magehold and stick with the Dread League. Unfortunately, with Rosa Maledicta now aware, she could no longer answer Potion Nova.

Ebony Rhyme didn't want to risk anything, thus, she left without saying a word with Banette following her. Potion Nova was rather gutted that Ebony Rhyme didn't answer her when leaving. The friendship she built with her seemed rather rocky now, which was a shame. Galarian Rapidash nudged Potion Nova's face, trying to comfort her as the Unique Horn Pokemon could feel her disappointment.

But before they could linger on this moment, a fierce eruption came from the ground, startling them all and separating more of the garden. That was a clear sign that they needed to leave at once. This was quite the reunion, but not the one any of them wanted.

---

Restraining Ash and the others were the combined efforts of Dimstar and a bit of Rosa Maledicta's magic. Dimstar's already vicious tendrils have been powered up thanks to Rosa, making this harder for Ash and his friends as Fluttershy was currently having a part of her being ripped out. The only ones free were Castform and Bayleef while the rest of them were trying to fight back and free themselves.

"Castform...! Try using Weather Ball! Save Fluttershy before us!" Rainbow Dash groaned as her neck was caught by the tendrils which were also exuding this chilling force that resembled that of the undead, courtesy of Dimstar. The only thing keeping her and the others active was their resilience. The same couldn't be said for Fluttershy.

"Castform!" Castform, aided by Bayleef, would focus on Fluttershy, choosing to save her first. She was in the most peril after all. He ascended into the air, gathering the power of the weather itself which was rather stormy thanks to the collision of potions. Helping Castform out would be Bayleef's unique ability to change fate with her leaves.

When one of the tendrils came after her and Castform, she would remove two leaves, making them touch her and Castform. With both being touched by the leaves, fate was changed, causing a bright flash that would reverse the movement of the tendrils. Dimstar found her tendrils being brought back into her body as if they never left.

Weather Ball was safe to travel because of this, going after the tendril that held Fluttershy. But it did not work at all. At best, it only managed to slow down the tendril's movements instead of removing it. Fluttershy was still being held up by it.

"Your ability is impressive, Bayleef. It's obvious why Opal chose to steal it. But since the Sun isn't up, you have no way to recover them, isn't that right?" Rosa Maledicta pointed out the crucial weakness of her special ability. Since the Moon was out, Bayleef had to be very careful with what she does, otherwise, she could lose her leaves rapidly and they would fail to regenerate afterwards.

"I-It's alright, Bayleef!" A strained Fluttershy said as her magical essence was gradually leaving her. It was only because of her own resilience that it wasn't done sooner, much like how Celestia resisted Rosa's attempts to pull Daybreaker out of her. "Don't think about it too much!"

"Bayleef!" But Bayleef would rather risk it all for Fluttershy as she extended her hidden vines from her body, sending them towards the pegasus. But the other tendrils would simply get in her way, knocking her vines to the side and bringing her further away from Fluttershy. Castform could only rely on his small size to evade the tendrils which was an annoyance for both Rosa Maledicta and Dimstar.

Watching this struggle were some of the Samiyans, hiding next to the remaining acre of trees that haven't been destroyed just yet. That involved Enola and Adriel as they witnessed the ferocity happening nearby. Even with everything collapsing around them, they couldn't help but admire their king, even if he was in a predicament right now.

"You think you're invisible, eh?" Catching them by surprise was the voice of Rosa Maledicta as she could also see the Samiyans. Startled by her voice, they were certainly not safe hiding in between the trees. And with her magic, shadows would burst out of the trees, grabbing ahold of the Samiyans.

These shadows were cleverly masked in the darkness, more than the People of the Water. They were still not free from this, despite managing to avoid Dimstar. With Rosa Maledicta having the full vision of the garden, it was impossible to avoid her. Thus, they were caught once more, this time being pinned down and restrained by the shadows.

"Man...!" Ash groaned as he was managing to resist with his Aura, utilizing it in this instance. However, with no one to assist him, the struggle was reaching a critical level for him. Eventually, with Rosa Maledicta's magic, one of the tendrils pushed through, latching onto Ash's chest. "GH!"

"No! Ash!" Rainbow Dash noticed Ash's chest being latched by the tendril as if it was a leech, making the King of the Sea wince.

"Hoh? There's something within you..." That's when Rosa Maledicta felt something within Ash, much like how there was something in Fluttershy. For Fluttershy, it was the remnant of her time as a bat pony who loved snacking on apples. For Ash, Rosa had to find out what it was now that she got a hold of him.

"P-Pika-Pi!" Pikachu cried out for his trainer while sparking his body with Thunderbolt constantly, using it to push back against the tendrils each time they grabbed ahold of him.

"Let's see what it is!" Rosa exclaimed before expanding the magic around that tendril to fully engulf Ash in a veil of darkness. Ash found himself caught by whatever magic Rosa was using as his vision was being altered immediately. It felt like he was going somewhere else with how the magic affected it.

---

Ash found himself in a landscape of darkness thanks to Rosa Maledicta. He was still in that uncomfortable position where he was fighting back against the tendrils but without them being anywhere at all. Instead, this was in a different space, much like what Celestia went through when Rosa tried interfering with Daybreaker.

Speaking of Rosa, she would enter Ash's mind, appearing as an ethereal force this time with her full body and everything. She had blackened Ash's mind, making it devoid of bright life as it usually was, thanks to those vicious tendrils. Ash felt weak, sweat covering every inch of skin and hands trembling out of control. Panic slowly took over as, for a moment, a way out of this pain began to seem more and more unrealistic with how powerful the Lich Queen's magic was when involved with seemingly anything.

"What's in you, Ash Ketchum? You were already interesting before and now you've elevated that." Rosa Maledicta said before looking at the projection of Ash.

"Whatever you're gonna find in me...I'm not gonna let you mess with it." Ash said, looking up at the Ethereal Force of Rosa Maledicta.

"But you can't do much about it, can you?" She said with a smirk. "Unlike Celestia and her Gardevoir, you don't have anyone to help you through this. But compared to Daybreaker, I Wonder if what lies within you is just as dangerous, if not more. I have a knack for sensing things like this. Things that can bring great ruin which I benefit greatly off of."

"I don't have Gengar out right now so no...There's no one." Ash groaned, before lowering his hands, no longer holding onto anything both in her and the real world. However, a smile would then meet his face. "But I've got someone in me who can help with that."

"Hm? Who might that be?" Rosa questioned before sensing that exact individual. She moved out of the way, avoiding a black smoke that was perfectly masked within the darkness which was rather ironic in a way, considering the circumstances. Rosa Maledicta narrowly managed to avoid this smoke which would soon take form after redirecting itself.

"He has me." Forming into his physical form, at least in this black landscape, was none other than King Sombra himself. The one individual with Ash who was using his body as a vessel and a way to stick around.

"King Sombra." Rosa Maledicta scoffed after seeing the former King of the Crystal Empire materialize. She didn't take him into account at all. No one did, honestly, except for Ash. Currently, two Kings were standing before a Queen, even if Rosa Maledicta did not know about Ash's status as a King.

"Lich Queen. It's a pleasure to meet you at last." Sombra bowed, appearing to be respectful of the Lich Queen, despite the fact that she threatened Ash, which by extension, threatened Sombra's life.

"Nice save there, Sombra." Ash panted before holding his chest, thanking the former King of the Crystal Empire.

"Why are you helping him of all people?"

"I need this one alive. I'm tied to him after I ended up entering the body of the wrong King. So, you won't be destroying him in any way."

"Gee. You're still on that?" Ash laughed, knowing that Sombra was keeping him around because he did make a friend out of him. But Sombra certainly wouldn't admit that. "Anyway. We gotta force her away from everyone else, especially Fluttershy. I don't think we have much time until this whole garden comes crashing down."

"Obviously. But she still has her disadvantages at the moment. Her magic can only be influenced by the environment and others instead of fully utilized. She's far too weak to come here at the moment." said Sombra.

"But look at what's happening. Is that too weak for you? You can only imagine what I would do if I could leave my healing chamber and come out there physically. But alas, circumstances have prevented me from truly going all out. But that won't stop me from taking every opportunity I can to complete my goals."

"What were you even planning with this garden anyway?!" Ash questioned. "It's not that impressive anyway."

"This garden, and the one before, would've served as the basis for a new civilization and landscape for the Dread League, but Galaxy Master just had to go and ruin the first one. And I'm not sure what is wrong with this one and why it did not attack you all in the beginning, but these are just slowing me down more than anything. The Black Crusade will happen but not before I get my licks in and crush those before me. Understand?"

"Listen well, Ketchum," Sombra spoke. "Your Aura is a good bet against her, that much is obvious. Especially if your Lucario is out. But right now, we don't have much time for that, so I'm offering another form of magic that's perfect for this. My own."

"I hear ya, Sombra." Ash adjusted his gloves. "What have you got?"

"I am an Umbrum. We have our connections to the Dread League and those at Magehold?" A cocky Sombra grinned with a devious look on his face. "I have the magic necessary for a Lich!"

"Hahaha! Don't be ridiculous, Sombra!" Rosa simply laughed at that statement before shooting out a powerful beam of magic from her ethereal horn.

Sombra would respond with his own magic horn, shooting out a black beam that met with Rosa's deep green and purple beam. It was an immediate clash of two within Ash's mind which was still darkened by Rosa's magic. However, once they both clashed, that would change as the darkness was lit up by this collision, even by Sombra's own magic which was initially dark.

Rosa Maledicta was shocked that Sombra was keeping up with her magic, despite his own condition. Sombra smiled, knocking he caught the Lich Queen off guard as the struggle between both beams was fierce and not instant like how Rosa thought.

"What?! You shouldn't have this level of magic at all, especially after your downfall?! What is this!?"

"Foolish of you to think that my magic decreased with my condition! I'm nothing like you, Lich Queen. This is your chance while I have her like this, Ketchum! Do what you did back at that Cosmic Wall!"

"Oh yeah? Good call!" Ash nodded in agreement. It was time to let his Aura shoot out while he had the chance. There were rare instances where his Aura was used as a weapon without Lucario. This was one of them. Ash dug deep into his own Aura, even deeper than his mind before letting the azure energy flare out of his body.

The Lich Queen gasped as a fierce outburst of Aura came out of Ash like a crashing wave. This flare of Aura would completely remove the darkness that she created within Ash's mind, bringing it back to life. Sombra pulled back from the magical clash, distancing himself from the flare of magic that emerged.

Rosa Maledicta would close her eyes as her ethereal form was suddenly smoking as if it was starting to sizzle. She screeched after being exposed to the Aura. And in return, Ash injured himself yet again but it was always worth it for the sake of his friends.

---

Outside, the Aura would expand from Ash, pushing away Rosa Maledicta's magic from the tendrils. And in addition, Sombra's own magic would fly out, influencing the outside. In fact, Sombra decided to finally show himself, appearing in his own ethereal form as always.

Ash only managed to free himself from the tendrils thanks to Sombra's help, but everyone else found themselves still stuck.

"As expected from Aura...It's incredibly versatile for something so simple." Rosa Maledicta spoke, impressed with the Aura. But with Aura out, Ash did not lower it. Instead, it was still visible and flowing, growing each second. This was all thanks to Sombra's involvement.

Sombra forced Ash's Aura to grow, allowing it to spread across the tendrils. Since most were connected, this made the Aura latch onto the others easily. Naturally, Ash was alright with this control since it meant saving his friends. Pikachu had felt his restraints loosen thanks to the spreading Aura, quickly slipping out of the grasp.

However, this came at a risk. Delayed Aura Ataxia. Sombra was pushing that risk with this control but with Ash allowing it, this was the only way seemingly and Sombra took full advantage of this. He pushed the boundaries of Aura, which were ever potent as always while mixing his own magic into it. The Azure colours of Aura were met with the darkness of Sombra's magic, creating a rather unique synergy between the two. The Brilliance of Ash's Aura and the Darkness of Sombra's Magic were carried by the Tyrant King, using its power on the smoke he left behind. In exchange, Ash would groan each time the Aura was pushed and yet, he would not fight back.

"Ash! You're okay!" Pinkie Pie said with joy before having both her hooves squeezed by the tendrils. Mew was managing to keep himself and Pinkie Pie around by using Psychic, retaliating against the powerful grip of the tendrils.

"I'll go after the pegasus," Sombra said before using his ethereal form to fly over to Fluttershy. Tendrils would obviously focus on him as well, just like how they were holding back Castform and Bayleef. However, the tendrils would soon phase through Sombra, failing to hit the Former King of the Crystal Empire. They would pass through him as Sombra would slither through the skies like a snake, passing by even Castform.

With this advantage, he could reach Fluttershy easier than most, placing his hooves on the tendrils that held her in place. And with his own magic, he combated against the Lich Queen once more.

"You dare defy the Umbra, Sombra?! Especially after the connections they have to the Dread League?!" Rosa roared at Sombra with a booming echo.

"Of course I do! I have no need for them anyway! My purpose is long gone now and I have a new one!" Sombra retaliated vehemently before exerting more of his magical power. "And unlike you, I've had enough time to recover my magic!"

With his magic, Sombra would bring his own darkness onto the tendrils, replacing Rosa Maledicta's magic immediately. This moment of control was beneficial in helping Fluttershy as Sombra removed the tendril from her. Fluttershy groaned as that magical essence from her had been greatly damaged.

"Her magical essence has already been damaged because of her," Sombra said before holding the pegasus with his hooves, descending gently with her. "But it's better than having a part of her leave her body."

"Thanks, Sombra." Ash smiled, adjusting his hat before then gazing at Dimstar. "The garden's only one area, so you're free to go anywhere. We'll take it from here."

But before anything else could happen, the destruction of this part of the garden had reached its critical point, immediately switching things up. One-half of the ground was descending. It was the half where Ash and his friends all were while the other half where Dimstar stood was beginning to combust with magic.

Dimstar gasped before backing away, avoiding a part of the ground being destroyed narrowly. "It is far too late to save it after all," said Dimstar. "What shall we do, your majesty?"

"There's no point to this garden anymore." Rosa Maledicta replied. "It's beyond saving. And frankly, I believe making them all perish in this destruction will do just fine. And with my magic, it certainly will be."

"Your majesty!" Crying out for their King were the People of the Water. They were still being held by Rosa Maledicta's shadows, unable to free themselves, even with the light from their eyes. When attempting to look at the shadows, they failed to break through them at all. Their light simply tickled the shadows more than anything.

"Everyone..." Ash heard their voices and cries before narrowing his eyes. A powerful splash of water would suddenly erupt into the scene, hitting parts of the garden. This was due to the seas being disturbed by this destruction. With the black lightning growing more and more vicious and abundant, Dimstar would start leaving the scene to avoid the destruction. She had a Cube to return to after all.

"Hey! Get back here!" Rainbow Dash yelled after witnessing Dimstar depart.

"It's pointless to stay here. Live with the fact that you failed to stop me." Dimstar uttered. "I will certainly live with the fact that your drive to resist is impressive. All of you."

"Fall with the garden. Perhaps your bodies can be retrieved afterwards." Rosa Maledicta cackled as the boom of thunder went off. Even if Dimstar would leave, the Lich Queen would still decide to throw her influence in here for more chaos.

"I don't think so! We're getting out here! Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

"Pika...Chuuu!" Finally free, Pikachu would use Thunderbolt once more, leaping into the air to generate 100,000 volts of electricity. But what was the approach for this Thunderbolt? With the electricity flying out of his body, Pikachu shot it right in Dimstar's general direction.

"You still want to-" Dimstar's sentence was cut off once the Thunderbolt passed by her. It was instead fixated on the People of the Water. The light from Thunderbolt surpassed the ones the People of the Water possessed, piercing the shadows. The volts spread across the trees before fizzling the shadows. Enola and the others gasped after feeling the electricity pass by them. They only received mild shocks from this attack.

"Even with the garden falling, you'd still choose to fight back against me?" Rosa Maledicta uttered, surprised to see Ash still resist her.

"It's for my friends. I'm gonna get 'em all out of here and I won't let you stop me." Ash replied before another half of the garden fell off. But he did not flinch at this destruction.

"Ash! Now's a good time to get going!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she was already leaving the area with how much destruction was spreading.

"Yeah! I wanna get back at them but now's not the time!" Rainbow Dash yelled before returning Luxray, Mienshao and Altaria back to their Poke Balls. Mienshao and Altaria had already fainted from the damage they received during this entire confrontation with only Luxray being active.

"I'd listen to your friends if I were you. But it's not like you have enough time to leave here."

"Watch me. You guys go on ahead! I can catch up!" Ash exclaimed before rushing off with Pikachu. He was focused on the People of the Water specifically. He was determined to save them especially since they had been injured thanks to Dimstar and Rosa Maledicta.

"Alright! Be careful, you guys!" Full trust was put into Ash and Pikachu. Rainbow Dash knew she could always trust those two, especially when it came to these daring moments. Trusting them, she would leave the area with Pinkie Pie as Sombra was carrying Fluttershy with her.

---

The seas from below were growing ever more violent, finally reaching heights that could touch the garden. These fierce crashing waves would beat on the garden and by extension, the Sea Temple, which was used to strong waves by this point. But the People inside were still vulnerable. Not as vulnerable as those on the Despair Plant Garden though.

"Well, time to go!" The other vampires figured that now was the best time to depart, choosing not to engage any further. They were previously facing off against Twilight Sparkle, her Espeon and by extension, Horizon Storm, who Twilight allowed to get involved with thanks to Sorrowful Rage Magic. At the same time, Twilight was protecting Daisy and Paradise.

The vampires left the scene once the destruction was getting too serious to deal with. This was all before Twilight could send out another Pokemon. However, some vampires were left behind, knocked out and slumped on the ground because of their battle with Twilight.

"Wait! You're just going to leave them here?!" Twilight yelled after seeing the vampires abandon their own.

"They'll be brought back to the chambers anyway! Sucks to be them!" They were right. The vampires would simply be brought back to Magehold by those chambers. They could easily blow themselves up to return and this destruction would only add to that.

"Mom...We can't leave now." Daisy suddenly said, spouting out a shocking batch of words.

"What do you mean?! It's not safe up here now! Is this about the Despair Plants?" Twilight questioned.

"It's not just them." Daisy looked down at the baby Despair Plants that she held in her hooves, including the ones at the Despair Plant Pod. "It's the garden itself. We can't leave it like this."

"I'm sorry, Daisy but with how things are...there's no saving this garden. It's great that your magic made it hold back its full strength, but we should go."

"We can't mom." Paradise stepped forward, sticking with Daisy. "Because we can still save this garden."

"We can?" There was a reason for them choosing to stay up here. In Paradise's own words, she and Daisy could save the garden. And by the looks on their faces, they seemed rather confident in that. "H-How?"

"You said we had a special form of magic that allowed us to affect the garden. It's the same thing that made these Baby Despair Plants, right? Well, if that's the case, then we want to use more of it. The garden is the one that invited us up here in the first place. It felt us." Daisy explained. "I'd hate to leave it like this, mom. Paradise and I could try something if you would give us a chance."

"We can save it from being fully destroyed. Whatever's left of it, anyway..." Paradise looked at her hooves. "So, please. Give us a shot, mom."

"You two..." Twilight paused for a moment, looking in their eyes. The two of them were very determined to make this possible, having full faith in their magic now that it's been brought up. Twilight sighed as despite being so new to the world, they were this eager to make great leaps. "Alright. Let's give it a shot. But how are you going to do it exactly?"

"The garden's telling us to go to the core. That's why it's crying. It needs someone to stop this pain." Daisy replied. "If we can get to the centre we can do something to stop it."

"It's been crying for minutes now, telling us to come for it," Paradise added. "But no one's done so yet or even knows why it's really crying."

"The centre, right? Okay then. If that's all then let's make it quick." Twilight nodded before throwing two Poke Balls out, summoning Togekiss and Absol.

"Absol!"

"Togekiss!"

"Togekiss. I need you to carry this pod of Despair Plant Seeds. Absol. You'll lead the way through the destruction. You're quite the expert when it comes to that." Twilight laid out instructions.

"Toge!" Togekiss saluted. She and Absol knew what to do. Protecting the pods and leading the way through the destruction of the garden. But they had to hurry. The garden was already being evacuated by everyone else who knew it was too dangerous to be up here.

The only place to flee now was the Sea Temple and for the vampires, it was back to Magehold. The only ones staying up here were Ash, Pikachu and Twilight's group. Crucial time was pressurizing them. They had to finish everything they could as soon as possible. It was a race to not only save the People of the Water in time but also the Despair Plant Garden itself, which also needed saving as the journey continues.

Chapter 79 End.

Comments

[cutting clouds]

are you going to adapt more episodes from season 7?

I miss this

[Amarvax]

11535707
Yeah, definitely. And other seasons onwards.