Ein was continuing to rummage around within the deep labs of Aether. Since Marcus and the others were currently busy pinning down Petrel, it meant that the two Cipher admins were able to roam about freely so long as they weren't too noisy. After what felt like eons, Ein finally found what he was searching for. "About time. I knew they existed, but to see them for myself…"
Dakim was staring at Ein, curious as to the object he had on him. "Whatcha got there? Quit hiding the good stuff already!"
Ein turned around, presenting Dakim with a Beast Ball. "This."
"That supposed to be some Pokeball?" Dakim stared at the capsule curiously.
"This is a Beast Ball. A special pokeball developed by Lusamine to capture Ultra Beasts." Ein explained. "There are plenty here as well. If my plan works out without any issue, this will be the exact tool we need to bounce back."
"And how exactly is that going to help us?" Dakim was lost.
"Simply follow me." Ein told his muscly comrade. "This will be our moment to strike back."
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"Steelix, Iron Tail!" Venus exclaimed.
"Arbon, Poison Tail!" Ariana shouted. Arbok and Steelix swung their tails forward, the fierce collision causing a shockwave to boom out, uprooting some of the flooring within the corridor. Considering it was crowded with RR grunts, Venus, Ferma, Ash, Ariana, Rotom, and Gladion, this area was simply in danger of collapsing all together.
"The danger within this area has skyrocketed to 100%!" Rotom panicked, sticking close to Ash and Gladion.
"We're aware of that!" Gladion shouted. The situation had him a bit tense and understandably so. "Umbreon, Dark Pulse! Silvally, Air Slash!" Umbreon and Silvally jumped forward, firing off their respective attacks towards the Rainbow Rocket Grunts. Since Venus and Ariana were currently fighting each other, he and Ash were going to have to split the effort and take everyone down accordingly.
"Melmetal, Flash Cannon! Incineroar, Fire Blast!" Ash told his two heavy hitters. Melmetal's eye lit up and it fired a bright beam of steel energy into a crowd of Rainbow Rocket Grunts, watching as it scattered their Pokémon. Just as Incineroar was about to unleash Fire Blast, however…
"Low Sweep!" Ferma made her command, issuing Ambipom to attack. The twin tailed primate ducked low out of Incineroar's vision, sweeping its ankles out from under it. This prompted the Fire Blast it was going to release to strike the ceiling! The fiery explosion then caused the ceiling to collapse! "Oops."
"Quick, Pikachu! Electro Web!" Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulders on his hasty command. Leaping into the air, Pikachu reared its tail back and flung it forward, releasing a web of electricity that stuck to the ceiling, keeping the debris from falling. But that was only a temporarily solution and wouldn't hold for much longer. "That was close…"
"We can't keep entertaining this madhouse much longer." Gladion told Ash. They were on the clock, but it was hard to make any progress since they found themselves in the middle of this mess. "Silvally, Multi-Attack!" Throwing a Ground Memory into Silvally's disk reader, the beast killer's quills turned brown. He was going to dive into the beast and attack both Venus and Ariana! Silvally leapt forward, clawing at Arbok and knocking it to the side. Before Venus could comment, Silvally jumped forward, clawing at Steelix with enough force to make it recoil.
"Nice!" Ash grinned. That surely had to hurt!
"Oh! How rude!" Venus placed her hands on her hips, glaring at Gladion. "Oh, aren't you the one who beat Ardos? Well, you should know I'm far from his skill level; I'm more dangerous. Don't you know it's impolite to interrupt two ladies when they're fighting!?" As she raged, Steelix slammed its tail on the ground, the impact causing most of the Foundation to quake. This was an Earthquake!
"Oh great, now you just made her mad!" Ferma groaned. Not only was this Earthquake dangerous to a majority of the Pokémon present, but it also caused a good section of the building to topple, causing the Electro Web to ultimately fail, debris now falling everywhere.
"Watch out!" Several RR grunts shouted in fear, fleeing the scene before they were caught up in the destruction.
"Whoa…!" Ash was barely able to keep his footing and dodge the falling debris. Melmetal and Incineroar didn't appreciating being grounded as that earthquake occurred and the damage racked up on them rather fast.
"Someone has a poor temper!" Ariana remarked as Venus had Steelix rampage on her behalf.
"Great, I only made her more annoying to deal with…" Gladion was cursing under his breath.
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Moon, Lillie, and Lusamine were up against the strongest person present in the Aether Foundation: RR Giovanni and his Mewtwo. The man who threatened to overtake both worlds. This was their chance to stop him but it wasn't going to be easy. Despite that, they had to stop him. "Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Pikachu started off by sprinting at full throttle, electricity flaring around its body as it lunged ahead to slam into Mewtwo's chest.
"Barrier." RR Giovanni said calmly. Mewtwo held its hand out, creating a barrier for Pikachu to slam into. Pikachu fought hard to break the barrier, and it did, but not in its favor. Pikachu was ultimately thrown back unable to push past Mewtwo's defenses.
"Absol, Night Slash!" Lusamine exclaimed.
"Drapion, Pin Missile! Kommo-o, Drain Punch!" Moon shouted. Drapion aimed its stingers up, firing a multitude of sharp pins down onto Mewtwo, while Absol darted forward, sprinting through the Pin Missile which was actually clever cover for it.
"Shadow Ball!" RR Giovanni shouted. Mewtwo pointed one hand forward, firing Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball at Absol. Unfortunately for it, the Pin Missile caused the Shadow Balls to explode prematurely, the smoke serving as cover. Absol then leapt from the smoke to Mewtwo's right, swinging its claw down at Mewtwo, but it was caught in one arm. Kommo-o approached from the left, throwing its fist forward, but it was also caught just as fast. "Did you really think you could get the drop on us again?" As RR Giovanni asked this, Mewtwo tossed Absol and Kommo-o to the side, but right as it did…
Snowy was in its face! "Ice Beam!" Lillie yelled. Just as Mewtwo finished throwing the two attacks away, Snowy fired off an Ice Beam that struck in the chest! Mewtwo didn't stagger back, but the fact the A!Vulpix was in its face so fast did surprise Giovanni.
"Using the weak one to attack? That will only get you so far! Shadow Ball!" RR Giovanni scoffed at the notion. Mewtwo pointed its hand forward…
"Iron Tail!" Moon's Pikachu was coming in from above, spinning around to slam its tail on Mewtwo's skull! Mewtwo brought its arm up to block the hit, a shockwave booming out due to how strong the collision really was. Pikachu flipped back, landing on all fours with electricity sparking from the red marks on its cheek.
"I don't know if we did any damage to it…" Lillie was hesitant to admit that.
"Nobody said it was going to be easy." Moon grit her teeth. This was an uphill battle if she ever fought one. "Nebby would be great right now, but we have to use what we have."
"Psychic." Mewtwo's eyes flashed blue, raising its hand into the air as its overwhelming psychic abilities tore off large chunks of the wall, just to throw them at the trio!
"Hail!" Lillie needed to set up Aurora Veil again, but there wasn't going to be enough time at this rate.
"Razor Wind!" Lusamine had an idea. Absol closed its eyes, a fierce gale swirling around its body. It only needed a few seconds to prepare. The disaster pokemon then opened its eyes, swinging its sharp horn forward, releasing a cutting wind that sliced through the debris like butter, sending chunks scattering in all directions.
"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Using the rubble as footing, Pikachu zipped up high into the air, unleashing a potent bolt of lightning towards Mewtwo. It held its arms up to block against the powerful attack, leaving Pikachu in a freefall forwards the ground.
"Psychic." Mewtwo's eyes lit up, once again grabbing a telekinetic hold of the rubble, using it to entrap Pikachu in a sphere that then exploded!
"Pikachu!" Moon hurried to catch Pikachu before it hit the ground, though her dive was a bit rough, the landing no better. "Are you okay!?" She stared worriedly at her injured partner, gritting her teeth at her own failure. "I'm sorry…"
"Moon, look out!" Lusamine warned.
"Huh?" Moon turned, only to see Mewtwo preparing another attack.
"Swift!" Mewtwo swiped its hand in the air horizontally. This prompted numerous stars to appear and shoot out towards all opposition with violent intent.
"Aurora Veil!" Now Lillie had time to set up their defenses. Thanks to Snowy's help and the hail, damage reduction barriers appeared around her current team, allowing them to tank the incoming Swift with ease. They were still a little beat up because this was a Mewtwo, but they were proving that they weren't going down so easily.
"Kommo-o! Clanging Scales!" Kommo-o's scales began to vibrate intensely, shooting out another wave of sound towards Mewtwo. While this did run the risk of lowering its Defense, Moon had a greater purpose in mind. The loud nose wasn't meant for damage, but to simply cause great auditory pain, which made both RR Giovanni and Mewtwo recoil a bit from the intense sound. "Now, Drapion! Shadow Rush!" Drapion used this chance to violently rush ahead, slamming its body into Mewtwo's. Due to the nature of Shadow energy, this was an effective hit that made Mewtwo stagger a bit.
"Night Slash!" Absol used this opening to claw Mewtwo while it was open! It took a great deal of effort, but they finally managed to land some damage on Mewtwo! "It's progress…" Lusamine said. Slowly but surely, they could at least inflict pain on it. But that didn't mean this battle was over. Far from it.
"I commend your struggle. But that's precisely what this farce is for you: a struggle." RR Giovanni snapped his fingers. Mewtwo shrugged off the damage it took, lifting itself into the air while raising a hand. It formed a single Shadow Ball, which then exponentially grew in size to something much larger. The eyes of the trio widened as this gigantic Shadow Ball was thrown at them. A humongous explosion occurred, blowing out the walls of the building and shaking the entire Foundation a little bit as a result. As the smoke cleared, Lusamine was seen clutching Lillie in her arms, taking the brunt of that explosion. Moon was off on her own, groaning in pain while all their Pokémon were heavily damaged. Aurora Veil was the only thing keeping the Pokémon conscious.
"M-Mother…?" Lillie was surprised that her mother took such a hit for her. "Are you okay!?"
"As long as you're safe, I'm fine…" Lusamine gave Lillie a weary smile.
"Do you see now how impossible it is to stand against me or my empire?" RR Giovanni placed a single hand in his pocket, slowly sauntering towards Lillie and Lusamine with Mewtwo. "Now…how should I…"
"Wait…please don't hurt them…" Moon coughed. She couldn't bear the thought of being unable to protect Lillie a second time.
"If you don't wish for them to be harmed…then hand it over." RR Giovanni turned his attention from the mother and daughter duo and went towards Moon.
"Moon, don't…!" Lillie went to reach out to Moon, but she was more injured than she realized, even with Lusamine's protection.
Moon clutched the key to the machine in her hand, but RR Giovanni stepped on her hand and made her release it. She cried out and he knelt down to pick up the key. "History repeats itself, even in other worlds. Which means that no matter how hard anyone tries to stop me, they will always fail."
"I'm so sorry…" Moon mumbled. "I couldn't do it after all…"
RR Giovanni approached the machine and stuck the key inside, causing it to flare to life! He grabbed the handle and pulled it, causing an Ultra Wormhole to appear directly behind him and Mewtwo. "This is the moment I've been waiting for since you escaped me last time. This time, my Rainbow Rocket Empire will flood this Alola and rule this world as well! Now come!" There was tense silence as everyone awaited Rainbow Rocket grunts to flood the area but…that didn't happen. "What's taking so long?"
"Nebby, now!" A voice called out from the other side of the Ultra Wormhole. In the next instant, a gigantic blue laser shot from the Ultra Wormhole, slamming into Mewtwo's back and was not relenting anytime soon.
"Huh!?" All eye's widened as this happened. "What's happening!?" RR Giovanni was unable to look back into the Wormhole, lest he risk getting hit by this Moongeist Beam.
"Nebby?" Moon's jaw dropped. "Lillie, is that you…!?"
"Yeah!" Ultra Lillie replied from the other side of the Wormhole. "We're here to help you Moon, any way we can! We fought through Aether in case this happened!"
"Lillie…" Lillie was…pretty stunned at what was happening. That was the other her? The one Moon had a strong bond with?
Mewtwo was struggling at the moment. The sudden, super effective ghost type attack continuously slamming into its back made it difficult to focus. It was slowly managing to pull itself free. "To the left more!" Moon sudden shouted. Nebby followed suit and shifted its aim accordingly, keeping Mewtwo pinned in place.
"My grunts were defeated in a siege!? This can't be!" RR Giovanni was rather annoyed at this outcome. "You should've stayed where you were, now you're forcing my hand!" Giovanni pulled out his Mega Ring. But before he had a chance to use it, another attack came in and struck Mewtwo's chest, now keeping it pinned between two beams! "What!?"
"Apologies for being late." It was Scott. On one side, he had Abra, on the other, it was Lillie's family's Magearna, using Fleur Cannon to keep Mewtwo at bay. "I had to run a quick errand."
"Scott!" Lillie smiled.
This couldn't be happening! RR Giovanni was one step away from greatness! "Mewtwo!"
"I wish we had more time to talk, but you have to act fast, Moon! Push them back into this Alola!" Ultra Lillie shouted. "Nebby can only hold out for so long!"
"What!?" Moon shook her head. "But that's…!"
"We'll be fine, I promise. We came all this way to help you…and that first starts by making sure you can come home to the same place you left." Ultra Lillie said softly. "If you're worried about what's happened, don't be! Because I've know that you aren't the kind of person to let failure stop you! No matter how far apart we are, I'll always do my best to help you! I'll reach my hand out across worlds just for your own!"
"….Lillie…" Moon managed a soft smile.
"…." Lillie, however, wasn't sure how to feel. But now wasn't the time for such feelings. Instead she slowly managed to stand up and looked to Snowy, who was able to give it one last push. "I'll help too! Come on, Snowy!"
"Huh…?" Ultra Lillie heard her own voice, which confused her for a moment.
"SUB ZERO SLAMMER!" Lillie wasn't going to waste any time. It was odd, but even though she hadn't met the other her…the fact she went so far to do what she could to help Moon from across worlds spoke to her. What kind of friend would she be if she couldn't even muster enough energy to help Moon when she was in the same room as her! Snowy let out a howl as a large glacier appeared under its feet, rising high into the air where Snowy could fire off a potent beam of frost at Mewtwo, who was already having difficulty from Fleur Cannon and Moongeist beam slamming into it!
"Gh…!" Seeing how this situation was turning for the worst, RR Giovanni thought about calling another Pokémon to help out. But as he did, Scott appeared next to him thanks to Abra using Teleport.
"And where do you think you're going?" Scott lifted his leg, kicking RR Giovanni just hard enough to send him staggering towards Mewtwo, now putting him in the crossfire. Giovanni had enough freedom to try and escape, but was stopped cold when Scott's psychic powers kept him in place.
"W-What is this…?" RR Giovanni grunted as he couldn't move.
"Something to make sure you don't move." Scott said. This was taking all his focus so he couldn't spend too much time talking. "If you go back, so do your goons. That means all we have to do is push you back to where you came from and we win."
"It's not enough! Mewtwo's not budging!" Ultra Hau shouted from the Wormhole.
Moon wasn't sure what to do. Not until Pikachu weakly walked up to her, giving a firm stare. "Pikachu…okay." Moon nodded and had to change Z-crystals. The Pikanium-Z was firmly placed into the slot and she crossed her arms, Pikachu mirroring her movements as they did a bit of a dance. "I can do something right here…! I have to trust Lillie and the others. They came this far for me, so I can't let them down! Pikachu, I'm counting on you!" She picked up Pikachu and tossed it high into the sky, made easier since Mewtwo tore off the roof earlier. "CATASTROPIKA!" There was a large electric aura around Pikachu's body, much, much larger than that of Volt Tackle. This large aura completely encompassed Pikachu's body as it dove down right into Mewtwo, serving as the final push! It was a brief struggle, in the end, the heroes came out on top, knocking Mewtwo and RR Giovanni off their feet, pushing them back into the Ultra Wormhole!
"NOOOOOOOO!" RR Giovanni screamed as he was forcefully pushed out of the world with his Mewtwo, the Wormhole closing behind them.
"And stay out!" Moon screamed, only to fall to her knees, completely exhausted after that. But she did manage to high five Lillie after.
"That was close…" Scott sighed. "We'll be seeing you soon, so sit tight." He then paused… "Wait…this isn't right….? Something's coming…"
Lusamine rushed over to her desk, checking security to see if the Rainbow Rocket Grunts were vanishing. Luckily, they were! With Giovanni kicked from their world, the Rainbow Rocket Grunts followed suit! "They're gone…!" Now all that remained were the Cipher remnants. But wait…Lusamine noticed several more Ultra Wormholes opening up…within the Paradise. This made her heart sink, because this was not the work of a person, no. "This can't be…!"
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RR Giovanni landed back in Ultra Alola, much to his chagrin. "You…!" He wasn't pleased with what the group from this world managed to pull off.
"Is there a problem? Don't like gettin' kicked out like the invasive species ya are?" Guzma asked threateningly. "I don't care what Pokémon you got, I still know how to beat down and not let up!" Funny he should say that, since Mewtwo was looking a bit exhausted, and they had a Lunala on their side.
"I told you that you'd pay, didn't I?" Lusamine narrowed her eyes.
"I won't forgive you for hurting Moon." Lillie stared at RR Giovanni.
"You don't have anywhere to run!" Hau said.
RR Giovanni composed himself and sighed. "I don't think you understand your position here at all. This is just a temporary setback. Shadow Ball!" Mewtwo bounced back pretty fast despite its injury, firing a Shadow Ball towards Lillie out of frustration for what just happened. But a Silvally jumped in its path, taking no damage since its type was normal. "What now!?"
"I don't know who you think you are…but if you think you can get away with hurting my family, you've got another thing coming." Gladion was standing at the entrance of the room, glaring at RR Giovanni.
"Gladion!" Lillie and Lusamine exclaimed together.
"Nuisance after nuisance…" RR Giovanni had enough, truly. But before this battle could go any farther, the entire room darkened. No…the sky itself darkened considerably despite the fact it was noon! "…What?"
"W-What's going on…?" Lillie looked out the window and saw a pitch black sky.
"It wasn't dark a second ago?" Gladion just got here and he was as confused as anyone else!
"HEY! WHO TURNED OUT THE LIGHTS?!" Guzma yelled, as if anyone had an answer.
There was an unspoken ceasefire as everyone's confusion reigned supreme. Lusamine ran to look out the window and saw something horrifying. A black prism quite literally consuming all of the light Alola had to offer. Not just Alola, but at this rate, the world!? "Necrozma…!?"
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"We've got you on the ropes, lady." Takeba told Matori. The Ultra Guardians outside all but managed to beat back Matori's grunts, though it was a tough battle. It wasn't over, but it did swing on their side heavily.
"Give it up." Kasumi flipped her hair.
"…No." Matori shook her head. Defeat as Giovanni's secretary wasn't acceptable. But all fighting came to a halt when an Ultra Wormhole opened up in the sky again. While most of them did close, the fact that more were opening was an omen. This wasn't by a man made effort either. "Hm?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" A guttural, ugly cry echoed from the Wormhole.
"What the heck was that!?" Grace stared up at the sky.
"No…not now…!" Mallow's face paled as she recognized that cry.
From the Ultra Wormhole, a black creature crashed down from above, roaring out loudly into the heavens. "AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Guzzlord's cry echoed in the sky, causing everyone to cover their ears.
"AAAAAAH!? WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!?" Takeba screamed in fear and hid behind Grace.
"Guzzlord…!?" Kiawe, Lana, and Sophocles all shouted in both surprise and horror.
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"Hey, where'd they go…?" Ferma was surprised as Ariana and her grunts suddenly vanished.
"It doesn't matter!" Venus flipped her hair. "Less annoyances to deal with! Now it's just these brats…"
"I guess they won…which is great." Gladion would be smiling, but they were still in a situation.
"Yeah, we have to finish too." Ash gave a firm nod.
"…!" Silvally's eyes widened and it started barking and growling suddenly.
"Is the reject you call a Pokémon panicking?" Venus snickered.
Gladion knew what this meant. He frantically glanced around until he saw it. "No! Now!?" An Ultra Wormhole opened up directly above them. It must have been some sort of chain reaction to all the Wormholes opening so suddenly because of RR Giovanni, but…
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Another Guzzlord dropped down from above, its weight causing the floor to cave in under everyone, sending them plummeting to the depths of the Foundaiton.
"WHAT IS THAT REPULSIVE THING!?" Venus felt like she was going to throw up just looking at it!
"A Guzzlord!?" Ash gasped. Before any more commentary could be made, they all landed in the lower labs near Marcus and company, Guzzlord standing between all of them.
"OH HELL NO!" Marcus pointed at Guzzlord. They didn't even have time to question Petrel's disappearance before this happened! "THAT THING SCREAMED LIKE A PERSON!"
"WHAT IS IT NOW?!" Elizabeth stared at Guzzlord as it used one of the claws in its mouth to rip out a piece of a wall and eat it like nothing. "…I think I'm starting to hate this region."
"GAAAH!" The Team Rocket trio and Acerola just panicked as they were witnessing another Guzzlord attack.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Two Guzzlors, perhaps even more, invading Aether Foundation at the worst possible moment. Just when the battle with Team Rainbow Rocket came to a close, the chain reaction brought forth beings that could consume the entire world if not stopped…
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Next Time: Consumer of Worlds.
