Pokémon and Ponies

#73-The Pokemon Festival 2

The second Pokemon Festival is here.

Everything has already been set up across Equestria. From Canterlot to the Crystal Empire. Even major areas that had been affected by the Darkest Day had been patched up thanks to the hard work of Pokemon, allowing those locations to take part in the festival.

But this year, it's different. Instead of humans, ponies and Pokemon, this time, the cast of species has increased. Now dragons, yaks and even griffons have been added into the mix. Plus the neat addition of the Pikachu's from Pikachu Highlands.

Going beyond the last one's single week, this festival aims to go on for 2 weeks with more to explore and do and hopefully, there are absolutely no universe hopping shenanigans like last time.


Canterlot.

Where the real meat of the festival is. With the Pokemon Festival officially starting, it was already lively with a plethora of Pokemon being here. The layout of Canterlot's part of the festival was similar to the first one but now there were new attractions added into the mix.

The relief zone where many of the Pokemon come here to relax and feel some relief was here too along with the addition of more than just lush green jungles.

Needless to say, it was looking more promising than the first one.

Celestia opened up the windows to gaze out at the festival as she already saw many ponies, humans and Pokemon having as much fun as they can. Her Gardevoir and Arcanine joined her to see the festival, mainly Arcanine, who has never heard of the Pokemon Festival before, so this will be his first time experiencing.

"I have an amazing feeling about this year's festival you two," Celestia said to her partners.

"Gardevoir."

"Arcanine."

"Let's not waste any time. Arcanine. This will be your first Pokemon Festival. Are you excited?"

"Canine!" The Legendary Pokemon licked Celestia's face in response. "Arcanine!"

High hopes filled Celestia's spirit. She was looking to enjoy herself in this festival to the very end with her friends and nothing else. Plus, during the festival, her parents will show up. Although it's unclear which day they will arrive.


And of course, the two who were looking forward to this the most were Ash and Fluttershy. They already had a ton of enjoyment in the last one, so they were bound to get some more and beyond.

The train was heading over to Canterlot with Ash and his friends apart of the ride since they didn't want to miss out of the second festival.

Joining them on the ride was the addition of Chloe, who was very hesitant to come along since she felt like it would get in the way of her school work. But when she found out that some of her friends from school would be joining the festival along with her teachers, she decided to give it a try.

"Pika..." Pikachu laid on Ash's lap.

"2 weeks this time, huh?" Ash spoke. "We can get a lot done in 2 weeks, ya know!"

"That is if we're not too caught up in one particular city." Rarity replied.

"I'm psyched to see Ember and the other dragons since they're joining in as well." Spike grinned.

"Did they set up the festival at the Dragon Lands...? How would all of that look...?" Pinkie Pie wondered what an area like the Dragon Lands would look like in the style of the Pokemon Festival."

"Yeah well, you guys think about all the stuff you're gonna see." Rainbow Dash smirked. "I'm in it for something different."

"Like?" Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.

"My fifth Gym Battle. I found out that the Gym's been added into the Pokemon Festival for trainers who wanna enjoy the festival and earn their gym badge too. So I'm shooting for that one."

"That's a pretty nifty shortcut." Applejack nodded.

"Shortcut? Nah." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "It's been a long time coming anyway."

"Well I don't know about you all, but I'm in it for the Pokemon," said Goh. "What about you, Chloe?"

"Hm?" Chloe looked up at them with her yamper on her lap. "Me? I guess I can enjoy myself a little bit."

"Little bit?" Pinkie appeared behind Chloe. "Come on! This'll be a blast! Who wouldn't want to go to a festival with Pokemon?!"

"I mean, it does sound promising..." Chloe rubbed Yamper's belly.

"Yam! Yamper!"

"Chikorita. This will be your first festival. Are you excited?" Fluttershy said to her Chikorita.

"Chiko!"

"Can we even clear all of Equestria in 2 weeks?" Applejack wondered as she was being held by Sceptile. "Festival's pretty big after all."

"Watch us." Rainbow Dash flew up. "We'll enjoy the whole thing in no time!"

"Come to think of it. Rainbow Dash. Your Castform and Mienfoo. This'll be their first Pokemon Festival along with yours as well Starlight."

"Yeah. But um...I'm worried that Hatterene might go a bit crazy." Starlight winced. "She's not a huge fan of happy vibes, remember?"

"Well, she's around us a lot. So I'm sure she's managed to control her composure." Fluttershy responded.

"Hehe...yeah...hopefully." Starlight chuckled nervously as she looked outside the window, noticing how they were close to Canterlot. Very soon, they would involve themselves in the second festival.

But they had no idea how many familiar faces would pop up in this year's festival.


Canterlot.

They had finally arrived at the real flair of the Pokemon Festival. Compared to everywhere else, Canterlot seems to have the most going for it with the festival.

That's not to say that the others are lacking. They have their own flash and uniqueness that can give anyone a great time. But Canterlot just has a lot more going for it.

The first thing that caught their eye was the gigantic balloons that were modelled after the Swords of Justice as they were floating high above the skies of Canterlot.

"Looks like the swords are getting more recognition, huh?" Twilight looked up.

"Mhm." Ash nodded.

"We're finally here!" The CMC's dashed out of the train, rushing off to do whatever they can in the festival as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon just walked instead, following them.

Celestia and Luna flew over to greet Ash and the others as they seemed to have their regalia off. Mostly since they want to enjoy this festival without feeling important.

"Everypony. You made it." Celestia said.

"Princess Cel- Where's your regalia?" Twilight asked.

"Hm? Oh, we've decided not to wear them at all. We're going to experience this festival as fellow ponies without having any source of importance following us." Celestia explained.

"Correct," Luna responded. "Besides...they get a bit hard on the neck sometimes..."

"Besides. We're feeling a bit adventurous today. And we can't wait for our parents to show up and join us. It will be an amazing catching up session of 2 weeks!" Celestia pranced on the spot.

"Then let's get started. I wanna see if there are any battles to be found." Ash did a chipper stride as Pikachu hopped off his shoulder.

"OH! I wonder if Victini is back!" Fluttershy flew off to the relief zone.

"Let's get that 5th Gym Badge! Where is it?!" Rainbow Dash flew up, navigating her head around Canterlot.

"Rainbow Dash! Wait up!" Pinkie Pie bounced after her.

"Already, they've split up. Starlight. Mind sticking with me?" Twilight asked.

"Hm? Oh uh, sure." Starlight nodded. "You know this festival better than me anyway."

"And I'll be enjoying all the cake this festival has to offer!" Celestia squeed as she pranced off.

"Perhaps if I play things quietly this time during my battles..." Luna looked around, walking off to do whatever she plans to do.

"Well. It seems that it's just us now, Spike. Come along then. I have a rematch with that Lopunny." Rarity and Spike were paired up.

"Rematch? You mean dancing? Aw, I don't wanna dance though..." Spike followed her. And that was the last of it. All of them had split up to their respective areas.

While Canterlot was where all the flair and main attractions are, across Equestria, new and exciting experiences can be found there.

But in Canterlot, something new has decided to involve itself in the festival. That being the teachers of the Pokemon School of course.

Hearing about this Pokemon Festival piqued their interested. Since they teach at the Pokemon School in Canterlot, it's relatively close at all times.

And as a bonus, they won't have to worry about their roles as Gym Leaders since the festival will be lasting 2 weeks. So they'll have enough time to be at their gym and come back for more of the festival.

After all, they're young, most of them anyway, so they must create new adventures by having fun. And something as lively as a festival is just one of those many possibilities.

"Pretty nice synergy going on here, huh?" Brawly commented.

"Mhm." Roxanne nodded in response. "It's nice to take a break from being a teacher and just enjoy yourself."

"Well, I'm already off to enjoy myself in the best way possible!" Roxie exclaimed as she brought along her band from her gym to cause some noise.

"Hm? Are you planning on playing here?" said Roxanne.

"Yeah?" Roxie turned around.

"Your music's a bit too...rough for Equestria don't you think?"

"Pssh!" Roxie scoffed. "Duh! It's meant to be rough! These ponies have already seen some tough Pokemon so they can handle it, no problem!"

"No use trying to convince her, Roxanne." Brawly placed his hand on Roxanne's shoulder. "We should just have as much fun as we can, okay?"

"I suppose. But...you might want to help me with that."

"Hm? Why?" Brawly wondered.

"All my life I've been teaching others about Pokemon non-stop whilst partaking in Gym Battles. I'm a bit caught up in the zone I need some help to freshen up my experiences."

"Gotcha covered on that." Roxie slid over to Roxanne. "I know how to have some real fun! Leave it to me!"

"Oh, yeah. We're experts in having a blast." Brawly grinned. "We can get started right now."

"You two? You're both always on edge..." Roxanne winced. "But I'll learn from both of you."

"Great! Here, hold this!" Roxie gave Roxanne a guitar.

"Eh?" Roxanne looked at it.

"Let's see you jam out with us!" Roxie pumped her fist into the air.

"Jam out? I can't play music at all!"

"That's why I'll show you the ropes miss busybody!" Roxie patted Roxanne on the back, dragging her along. "Brawly! You can jam out with us too if you want!"

"I only ever played the drums when I was young though..." Brawly put his hand on his head as he followed the duo to rock out wherever they can in Canterlot.


Relief zone.

The relief zone made a pleasing return with all the Pokemon from before coming back with new ones showing up as Fluttershy was eager to see if she could find Victini here again.

"Victini!" Fluttershy called out. "Victini, are you here today!" Her voice only attracted other Pokemon that weren't Victini at all. "Do you hear Victini, Audi?"

"Audino..." Audino couldn't pick up the familiar sounds of the Victory Pokemon anywhere.

"Guess I shouldn't expect Victini to be here immediately. Maybe tomorrow.." Fluttershy giggled.

"Audino." So did Audino. But that's when she heard something unusual. "Dino?"

"What did you hear, Audi?" Fluttershy hopped on Audino's back.

"Audino!" Audino pointed over North as she ran towards the source of the noise with Fluttershy on her back and Chikorita following behind.

Fluttershy and Chikorita believed that it could be Victini since Audino described the sound as a crunchy sound. And Victini does love to eat those macarons.

However, when they got to the north section of the relief zone where there was a small lake, they quickly found out that it wasn't Victini who was eating.

But instead, it was Adagio, snacking on some Lava Cookies.

"Mmmrgh." She chewed on the cookie before noticing that she was being watched by some new faces. "Hm?"

"A-Adagio?!" Fluttershy gasped.

"Audino?!"

"Chikorita?!"

"Oh, it's the shy one." Adagio finished her lava cookie.

"W-Why are you here?" Fluttershy hid behind Audino, whimpering.

"Why? Well, I promised Sonata and Aria that I'd spend some more time with them someday. And this whole festival thing's a pretty lucky way to do that." She used her magic to grab another lava cookie which was inside of a box full of them.

"Oh." Fluttershy peeked her head out. "That's all?"

"Why? You scared of me?" Adagio stood up as she flashed her eyes and magic at Fluttershy, startling her. Adagio laughed at how easy it was to make Fluttershy jump. "Haha! Too easy to scare!"

"Mrrgh!" Fluttershy pouted. "Well, as long as you're here to see your sisters and not anything bad."

"Feh." Adagio sat back down. "I'm not in the mood right now. I just want to see my sisters. That's all. But these lava cookies know how to occupy a girl."

"I thought it was Victini eating here..." Fluttershy lowered her head.

"Victini? You mean that V-shaped thing from earlier?"

"Ah! Yes!" Fluttershy shot up. "You saw it?!"

"Mhm. Just missed it. I have no idea where it is now." Adagio devoured another Lava Cookie.

"Aww...I knew I should've shown up earlier."

"Probably. But I was lucky to get some of these from Victini." Adagio referred to the box of lava cookies.

"Victini gave you that? Oh...Victini must be so sweet if it even trusts you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Adagio shifted her eyes at Fluttershy

"Eep! S-Sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"Hah!" Adagio chuckled. "Kidding. I should probably do this to your human self one day. Anyway..." Adagio sat back down, ready to consume another lava cookie. "Get lost and go back to your little loud festival, anyway."

"Oh um okay. But won't you technically be apart of the festival too since you're seeing Aria and Sonata?"

"Please. I'm not going out in public. Everypony here already hates me so I'm only talking to my sisters in private. You should know what I mean." Adagio bit a cookie.

"Well...I don't hate you as much as I do now."

"Hm?"

"Well, you still scare me with your very...sharp teeth and...sharp eyes." Fluttershy gulped. "But if Victini trusts you and you're here to spend time with your sisters then-"

"Don't say it." Adagio turned around. "Don't you dare!"

"I won't." Fluttershy giggled.

"Tch." Adagio scoffed.

"But you know..." Fluttershy sat down next to Adagio. "I saw your battle with Rarity at the Canterlot Tournament and how it ended. I think that Rarity found some respect for you."

"Hm? Oh, right that. I guess I respect her too. It was a pretty good battle, I'll admit." Adagio nodded as she noticed that Chikorita was attempting to eat from her box of lava cookies. "Hey! Sneaky little-!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita ran over to Fluttershy. "Chi..."

"Sorry about that. Chikorita can get a bit greedy sometimes."

"You could at least ask. Here." Adagio used her magic to give Chikorita a lava cookie for the hungry Leaf Pokemon.

"Rita!" Chikorita grabbed the lava cookie, chomping on it as she laid on her back.

"Just don't get greedy." Adagio held the box close to her. "And why are you still here?"

"Oh. Sorry. I guess I got a bit caught up talking to you. And I still think that Victini is just invisible right now. Maybe that's why I haven't seen it yet."

"Well, if that's the case, you might wanna explore this entire zone. Might find that little thing."

"Ah, that's right. More areas were added from what I heard. I wonder how they're able to create new land so easily." Fluttershy pondered.

"Probably some Psychic shenanigans. Now go."

"Alright. Thank you, Adagio. Good luck with your sisters." Fluttershy hopped on Audino's back. "Audi! Chikorita! Let's get rolling!"

"Audino!"

"Chikorita!"

As Adagio watched the three of them walk off, that same golden light that rarely shows up appeared once more as it outlined her entire body, making Fluttershy, Audino and Chikorita feel at peace all of a sudden.

Adagio continued to eat her lava cookies as she was waiting for the right time to meet up with her sisters. More preferably, night, when most ponies will be asleep and it'll be less populated.

Just like the first festival, things were going smoothly in the beginning with enjoyment filling the air as it was only going to get more exciting in the coming days.

But much like the first festival, something was approaching. Something that could ruin the entire festival in mere minutes depending on the situation.


Lake Valor. Sinnoh.

A peaceful lake where the Legendary Pokemon Azelf resides.

But this peaceful lake has one horrifying result that still somewhat lurks in the lake to this day. What lies in this lake, other than Azelf, was something terrifying.

So terrifying that the Rift itself had arrived here with a blue and purple cosmic dome filled the lake itself. And it all relates to what it saw back at the secret base underneath Ponyville.

"You're not as horrifying as Ghetsis...but you're cruel enough to entertain me even further. It's time for you to return to the land of the living."

Stardust from the Rift's presence filled the grass of Lake Valor. The Pokemon there could sense an ominous energy rising as they all fled in fear.

And rightfully so. The stardust, while beautiful, had malice embedded within it. Malice that only seeks to cause chaos as the stardust was suddenly creating the form of a human.

The human figure was being materialized out of thin air as if the Rift was forcing life into existence. Or rather, it was bringing life back to the land of the living.

Not just any life.

"I look forward to seeing what interesting scenarios might come up with you involved."

"Pokemon Hunter J."

"Ah!" J gasped as her eyes widened with shock and adrenaline rushing through her body.

A human that was long gone from this world had been revived. J, for many years, could finally feel her body once. An odd experience to wake up to.

She looked at her arms and legs, noticing that her entire body was here. Not only had she been mysteriously brought back, but she also noticed that she was completely healthy.

As if she's only been gone for a few minutes.

"W-What happened...?" She muttered under her breath. The last thing she remembered was how her ship had crashed into Lake Valor when it had been hit by a Future Sight attack from Uxie and Mespirit.

"That's right. My ship crashed." J clenched her hands together, getting familiar with her body once more. She also noticed that the gadgets she carries on her were also in one piece.

Her arm cannon that allows her to turn Pokemon and humans into stone, putting them in a permanent state of petrification unless someone uses Hidden Power or they're placed in a special case.

The cases she uses to carry the Pokemon she turns to stone as they were laying on the ground around her.

And her goggles with many abilities, which allow her to detect heat and camouflaged or transformed Pokemon as it was on the ground next to her.

Even her Poke Balls had been brought back by the Rift.

However, one important object that hadn't been brought back was her airship. The ship that she used to travel the Pokemon world with her crew.

The ship and the crew had perished in the crash along with the many petrified Pokemon that were still inside of the ship. They had all met their end as the Rift decided not to bring them back.

Confused and perplexed on how she came back, J knew one thing that only mattered right now. Since she was alive once more, she could finally pick off where she left off.

"I don't know how I'm alive but...If I'm getting a second chance, I'll take it." J stood up. She then noticed that at the corner of her eye, a gateway was close to her.

This only confused J even further. First, she comes back to life, second, all of her equipment and Pokemon are back minus her crew and ship and third, she's still healthy as if nothing had happened to her.

She believed that some mysterious force was the cause behind this. And she'd be right. J was curious about the gateway. She thought that perhaps it might relate to her sudden revival.

Having no ship to fly, J decided to travel through the gateway to see where she would end up. Once she did, Hunter J ended up in Equestria for the first time.

The current location she was in was Appleloosa. One of the many locations involved in the Pokemon Festival. Which was something J wasn't expecting to see.

But what she also wasn't expecting were ponies.

Being brought back, this was an entirely new view for her. The appearance of the ponies confused her greatly. They were all so colourful with marks on their flanks along with the fact that they were standing alongside Pokemon, something that J was greatly familiar with.

it would take a lot of time to get adjusted to a sight such as this, especially considering her sudden awakening. But one thing that caught her attention really made J's befuddled energy shift drastically.

By heading over to a stand that sold Pokemon-themed toys of either random Pokemon or famous trainers across Equestria, one toy caught J's attention.

An Ash toy.

She came up to the stand, putting her hand on the toy as she picked it up. Even if she was gone for years and had just woken, she could never forget the face of the boy she despises so much.

"Uh...that'll be 5 bits, ma'am, for the Ash toy." A stallion said to her.

J tightened her grip on the toy, popping its head off as it landed near a young filly who was planning on buying one of the toys as the filly screamed, running away.

"Hey! You cant-"

J cut him off by giving him a steel-piercing gaze that forced the stallion to jerk back into his stand. J dropped the Ash toy as her confusion transformed into anger. She could tell that Ash was somewhat famous in this other world from how many toys of him there were.

This angered J greatly. She was unsure how long she was gone for but she knew that with all that time, Ash has been out there, making a name for himself whilst she seemingly met her devastating end.

But, that rage quickly transformed into confidence as she found an opportunity. If this was a completely different world with the creatures here co-existing with Pokemon, then she can continue her work here as well.

"You." J turned to the stallion.

"Y-Yes?!" He stammered.

"Where is your nearest airport?"

"W-What's an airport...?"

"Are you daft? I asked where your airport was!" J slammed her hand on the stand.

"I-I don't know! Only the Pokemon World has those, that's all I know!"

"Only..." J turned around to face the gateway she came through. Hearing how there wasn't an airport in this world and how the ponies here were so small as she towered over them and how this town was very old-fashioned, even more so than Johto in most cases, J came to a brilliant discovery.

This world was potentially easy to take advantage of as she smirked. "I see. Thank you for that." J walked off, leaving the toy stand as the stallion was no longer shaking uncontrollably.

J was a bit of an opportunist, at least in this situation.

This world being somewhat old-fashioned and less advanced than the Pokemon World meant that J, with her vast knowledge, could possibly get what she wants in this world whilst also seizing many opportunities with ease.

She hadn't forgotten her role as a Pokemon Hunter. She petrifies and steals Pokemon and adds them to her collection, which no longer exists due to the crash.

Which meant that she can potentially steal the Pokemon here from these ponies. And considering how tall she is in comparison, J knew that this would be like taking candy from a baby.

But first, she would need more than just her gadgets and Pokemon to get around in this new world.


Canterlot.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu suddenly shuddered as he felt an odd chill run down his spine.

"You feel it too, buddy?" Ash said to his partner.

"Pika." Pikachu nodded.

"Yeah...Weird. I guess it's still winter though. Come on. If we hurry we can see Rainbow Dash's Fifth Gym Battle happen. It's just up ahead!" Ash ran off as Pikachu followed.

Rainbow Dash's Fifth Gym Battle was apart of the festival surprisingly. The gym was originally located at Las Pegasus, but the festival decided to move it here so that trainers can advance in the Equestria League and enjoy the festival at the same time.

A perfect balance.

The gym didn't come with a building. Instead, to make it work with the Pokemon Festival, it was set in the Canterlot Gardens since it had essentially become a free battlefield at this point.

The Gym Leader whose entire theme is all about the weather was none other than a familiar face to Rainbow Dash. That being Soarin, of all ponies.

"Soarin! It's you?!" Rainbow Dash screeched.

"Yeah. It's me." Soarin nodded.

"B-But...I thought you were joining the league! How did you-"

"Oh that. Yeah, I'm still taking part in the league even though I'm a Gym Leader."

"How? Are you just gonna give yourself the Gym Badge?"

"Nope. You see, there's a spare Gym Leader who can also take my role. And she's just as skilled as me. So if I'm not available, she'll be the Gym Leader instead."

"Ooh..." Rainbow Dash nodded. "That's pretty nifty. But anyway! I came here for my fifth badge! So let's rumble!"

"Ah! I'm already going up against this little guy here." Soarin went over to a colt. "You're gonna have to wait until I'm done Dash."

"Urgh. Fine. I'll just watch." Rainbow Dash groaned as she flew over to the bench to spectate. If she watches the battle, she might get some insight into how she could approach Soarin when it's her turn.

Ash and Pikachu arrived to get a look at this outdoor Gym Battle due to them being hungry for battle like Rainbow Dash. Although, Ash couldn't really participate in this since he's not in the Equestria League. So the best he could do right about now was watch.

But he'll take that too.

"Did you finish your Gym Battle, Dash?" Ash went up to Rainbow Dash.

"Not yet. Gotta wait for this one to end. If I'm lucky, I might find the other gyms across Equestria during these 2 weeks. I'll skyrocket to the league!"

"That does sound like a good opportunity." Ash nodded.

"Pikachu..."

"Oh, I almost forgot. I pro-" Just then, Ash could feel that ominous chill run through his entire body as he could hear a familiar voice ring through his head.

"Hm? You say something, Ash?"

"...Azelf?" Ash uttered.

"Azelf?" Rainbow Dash tilted her head.

"Ah, it's nothing. Nothing. Thought I heard an old friend." Ash chuckled. But he had a suspicion that it wasn't just some random noise that came back to his memories.

This ringing was very familiar and current as it was capable of making Ash connected with someone familiar on a psychic level.

But it wasn't new to Ash.

He could tell that this ringing belonged to Azelf. The Willpower Pokemon.

Ash and Azelf share a powerful psychic bond. Azelf chose to connect with Ash because of Ash's strong willpower to protect Pokemon.

Much like how Twilight is learning about the capabilities of a trainer who owns a Psychic-Type Pokemon with hidden potential, Ash and Azelf have already reached that level long ago. Even if Ash doesn't know that yet.

Ash could tell that somewhere in Lake Valor, far away from here, Azelf was trying to communicate with Ash. But it was very faint and weak to reach him at the moment considering their distance from each other.

The Pokemon Festival was just beginning. With the first 20 minutes being a blast, everyone has a lot to look forward to for 2 whole weeks. But they should also be cautious of what is lurking around Equestria in the form of Hunter J as the journey continues.

...

...

The second Pokemon Festival is currently underway.

With only 20 minutes passing by, humans, ponies and Pokemon are already enjoying themselves. A whole 2 weeks of this sounds good to them.

With all the groups going on their own little adventures in the festival, it can be hard to keep up with it all due to how gigantic it is. And this is just Canterlot.

Scootaloo's group being the more adventurous group out of the others arrived at one of the many attractions plastered across the festival, specifically the ones in Canterlot at the moment.

Or rather, it couldn't be seen as an attraction, even though it was. The attraction that they had decided to take their interest in was something known as the Pokemon Camp.

"Pokemon Camp?" Scootaloo said as she and her friends gawked at the sight of this attraction.

"Hm." Sweetie Belle looked over to see what this Pokemon Camp was all about. "Curry-Cook-Off? What's that?"

"I think it's that." Diamond Tiara pointed her hoof over at a table full of the bizarre food known as curry. Bizarre to them at least. "Looks tasty but..."

"Can we even cook?" Silver Spoon said.

"Says here we don't need to know how to cook." Sweetie Belle read the instructions. "It's pretty simple. Just toss the ingredients inside, fan the flames, stir and...pour all your heart into it?"

"Well, if it's that easy, I wanna know what that stuff tastes like." Scootaloo went up to the table. She looked at the curry as she got a good whiff of it. It was already making her hungry as she almost took a bite out of it.

"Ey." The man running the curry stand grabbed her attention. "If you wanna eat it, you'll have to cook it first."

"Oh, sorry." Scootaloo backed up.

"You five. You interested?"

"Mhm!" They nodded in unison.

"Well, in that case, you can take part in the cook-off. If you want, that is. No pressure."

"Oh, sure! If it's that easy to just make some curry, I'll take it!" Apple Bloom slid past her friends.

"Hah! Then you'll have to bring your A-Game. Cause you'll be going up against someone who's been doing pretty well in this even though she just started."

"Who?" They asked.

"Her." The man pointed over at a very familiar face to all five of them. That familiar face was the pony from Manehattan. Babs Seed.

"Hm?" Babs shifted her attention to the five of them whilst having some curry in her mouth. Right beside her was what seemed to be her partner Pokemon. A Chespin.

"Babs?!"

"Mrrmph!" Babs had a mouthful of curry, rendering her unable to speak at the moment. "Mrrmpmrp!"

"W-We can't understand you." Apple Bloom shook her head.

"Mrrr!" Babs closed her eyes as she swallowed the entire curry down, gasping afterwards. "Aah...I said how ya doing?"

"Oh great! Wait, you're in this too?"

"She sure is." The man replied. "It's only been 12 minutes since she started and she's already a natural. This curry right here is her's." He pointed at the curry.

"It's pretty easy and nice, ya know." Babs nodded her head. "But I kinda learned a thing or two about cooking back home too."

"Chespin!"

"They weren't kidding when they said so many familiar faces would be here." Diamond Tiara whispered to Silver Spoon.

"Oh. Well if that's easy, let's get started! What do we use?" Sweetie Belle looked around.

"Right there." The man guided them towards a large cooking pot. "Curry is a great delicacy in the Galar Region. We couldn't go a day without it!"

"Hm?" Scootaloo noticed that there were a plethora of various ingredients used for the curries. The most common were berries of all kinds. "This stuff is used to make curry?"

"Oh yeah. All the ingredients you need are here. And each one of them can make something interesting." The man picked up a bag of pasta. "For this contest, you'll have to shoot for the highest class."

"The highest class?" Apple Bloom turned to him.

"Mhm. There are 5 classes. Koffing Class. Wobbuffet Class. Milcery Class. Copperajah Class. And the big one, Charizard Class. Depending on how good your curry is, that's the class it'll be determined by."

"Oh, so you're gonna taste them and judge them?" Silver Spoon said.

"Nah. You and your Pokemon are the judges. You're each gonna have to make some curry and let your opponents eat it to let them judge. That's how it goes."

"I tasted a bunch of 'em and a lot of 'em weren't all that." Babs shook her head. "But mine tasted pretty good. Check it out." Babs held out a Copperajah Class medal, showing how good her cooking was.

"Oooh!" They all gawked at it.

"I'm trying to get that Charizard Class medal. So I'm gonna keep cooking until I get it!"

"So. Now that you know how it goes, you all ready to compete against each other?"

"Yeah!" They all shouted in unison, ready to get this cook-off started.


All of their Pokemon had been sent out since the Pokemon are the judges as well. They all gathered up on separate tables with no teams. The CMC couldn't partner up in this so they had to go against each other for once.

They each grabbed themselves their own ingredients that they believed would be very effective and delicious and would surely get them either a Copperajah Class medal or a Charizard Class medal.

Scootaloo chose a boiled egg as her main ingredient.

Apple Bloom chose a fancy apple.

Sweetie Belle went for a salad mix.

Diamond Tiara selected a large leek.

Silver Spoon decided on mixed mushrooms.

And finally, Babs chose instant noodles.

"I want some spicy food!" Scootaloo then held up some Cheri Berries. Simple berries that are easy to use even for novice cooks. It's spicy hot taste is addictive. Scootaloo dumped the berries into the stew whilst her Pokemon watched.

Ponyta, Cyndaquill and Horsea were looking forward to tasting something hot, but Pachirisu, not so much as the EleSquirrel Pokemon was trembling.

"Is this berry sweet, spicy or sour?" Diamond Tiara looked at a Lansat Berry. A very rare berry that is said to bring joy. It has an intriguing flavour that makes it distinct. "Oh well." She tossed it in the pot anyway as her Purrloin watched.

"Granny told me that sweet's always the way to go!" Apple Bloom chose some Papaya Berries. A berry with a sweet flavour and juicy fragrance. The rounder the berry swells, the sweeter and juicier it gets.

"Hm..." Sweetie Belle was looking at what some might consider the rarest berry of them all. A Starf Berry. A berry that's considered a myth. It's said to have extremely strong power. Its delicious flavour is otherworldly.

Not knowing what this berry was capable of, she tossed it inside anyway out of curiosity.

Speaking of curiosity, Silver Spoon used Enigma Berries as her extra source of ingredients. The enigma berry is rare and a completely enigmatic berry. It doesn't have a specific set taste as it's always random. "Works for me!" She slammed it in the pot.

As for Babs, she went for the Babiri Berry. A berry that's incredibly hard and spicy. It was used as medicine in the past. They all placed their final ingredients inside, finalizing their decision.

Now it was time to fan those flames.

"Ponyta. Cyndaquill. Ember." Scootaloo chose her Pokemon to start the fire.

The two Fire-Types sprayed out flaming projectiles onto the rocks beneath the cooking pot as a fire started to boil from underneath. Everypony else just used traditional fire to start it up.

To fan the flames, they would use a giant Magikarp fan to do so as they used their mouths to move the fan. Although, Sweetie Belle used her magic instead.

Most of them weren't sure how fast they were meant to fan the flames to really make the curry pop, so they either went a very slow pace or just moved like lightning.

Babs knew what she was doing so she fanned the flames at a medium and perfect pace.

Scootaloo wasn't sure if she was doing it right. Fanning the flames whilst using her mouth was a bit tricky, especially if she's trying to focus. She looked at her flames and decided that they weren't big enough.

"Hmm..." Scootaloo dropped the fan. "Needs more fire maybe. "Ponyta. Cyndaquill. Another Ember."

"Pony...?"

"Cynda?" Ponyta and Cyndaquill looked at each other, unsure if more fire was the right decision. But, they listening to their trainer anyway as they added more fuel to the fire by shooting Ember.

The flames underneath began to rage as they grew in size, causing Scootaloo to back away. "Oh, yeah! That'll do!" Scootaloo then began fanning the flames as fast as she could.

As for the others, Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon had reached the stirring stage. They bit onto the stirring stick to hold it in place, although, it was going to be a bit tricky to stir the stick due to them being smaller than the pot.

"Glameow." Silver Spoon's Glameow used her springy tail to help her trainer up so that she can stir at the right height.

"Thanks, Glameow!"

"Emol!" Emolga picked Apple Bloom up, allowing her to stir whilst Emolga floats in the air.

"Good thinking, Emolga."

Sweetie Belle reached that stage but all she had to do was use her magic. And even if her magic wasn't strong enough to stir, her Espurr will help her out with its own psychic capabilities.

Scootaloo, however, was going to town on the pot by rapidly stirring the pot faster than all of her friends. She was stirring so fast that some of the stew flew out as Pachirisu jumped up to taste it.

"Pachi!"

The rest of the flying stew managed to end up inside of everypony else's pot without them even noticing. The curry they were all making attracted many of the ponies nearby.

It had pulled them all in like magnets as the ponies were intrigued by this beautiful scent. Some of them being Pinkie Pie and her Slurpuff's with their very sensitive noses. The ponies had stopped what they were doing to come and see if they could get a bite out of these curries.

"Oooh! Watcha doing?!" Pinkie bounced over to Scootaloo's pot.

"Making curry! I need a ton of focus right now!" Scootaloo was stirring at an aggressive speed as some of the stew got on Pinkie's face.

The pinky pony licked it, getting a quick taste of what the full thing might be like. "Mmmm! Can't wait!"

The ponies stood by, watching the six of them make their curries as they were already feeling the urge to eat some, even if they weren't competing.

12 minutes later, after fanning the flames and stirring the stew, and apparently pouring a ton of heart into it, however that worked, the five curries had been made.

Scootaloo made a Spicy Boiled-Egg curry. The spicy taste of the curry roux helps to bring out the abundant umami in the egg. One of the ultimate curries.

Apple Bloom made Sweet Apple Curry. The meeting of sweet curry roux and sweet apple. The sweetness strikes the tongue and heart so profoundly, it leaves the individual feeling almost numb.

Sweetie Belle made what seemed to be ordinary Salad Curry. But due to the strange nature of the Starf Berry, it was unknown what it might taste like.

The same can be said for Silver Spoon's curry. Thanks to the Enigma Berry, her Mushroom Medley Curry was unpredictable. Could it be spicy, sour, bitter, dry? There was only one way to find out.

Diamond Tiara had made some Leek Curry. Thanks to Lansat Berry, it was now Spicy Leek Curry. The fruit-like sweetness of the savoury grilled leek creates an exquisite balance with the spicy curry roux.

And finally. Babs made some Spicy Instant Noodle Curry. A taste preferred by young people. The spicy curry roux and the instant noodles create an unexpectedly good match.

"Ooh, these look good." The man observed. "What does everyone else think?"

"Mhm!" The crowd nodded as they were drooling by the mere sight of these curries. They wanted to taste them so badly right now.

"Now that you've made your curries, it's time for the taste test. Swap your dishes around and grade each other. Everyone else can have a taste later."

"Alright. I'll give you mine." Sweetie Belle swapped with Scootaloo's, Apple Bloom swapped with Diamond Tiara whilst Silver Spoon swapped with Babs Seed.

At the same time, they took deep breaths, feeling a bit nervous about what each of these dishes could taste like. They could either be wonderful and enchanting, mediocre and average or downright horrendous.

For them to physically eat, Sweetie Belle could easily use her magic whilst the others would have a bit of trouble. Luckily, they had their Pokemon to help.

Glameow used her springy tail to hold the spoon and scoop up the curry as the others did the same. At least, the ones who could stand in a bipedal position.

And if that didn't work, Sweetie Belle's Espurr had their back with its psychic levitation. By having the curry near their mouths, they collectively took a bite out of their curries. Although, they did have alternative approaches as some decided not to use the spoons.

The first to experience true bliss was Silver Spoon and Glameow who instantly fell in love with Babs' curry, showing just how good she was at this.

"Mm!" Silver Spoon began going to town on the curry by rapidly slurping up the noodles.

"Glam! Glameow!"

"Hm..." Sweetie Belle noticed that Scootaloo's curry had a bit of heat coming out of it. It was probably from either the effects of Ember or the Cheri Berries. She scooped up the egg curry, seeing that spoon was melting.

Quickly, she bit the egg along with her Pokemon. And the result was as expected. The moment her taste buds responded to the curry, Sweetie Belle's face suddenly turned red in a heartbeat.

"M-Mmmm!" She whimpered as she was sweating bullets along with her Pokemon. "HOT!" She breathed fire from her mouth, torching the face of the man.

Her Pokemon experienced the same thing as the aggressive heat of Ember and the Cheri Berries revealed themself. But despite that, it was still pretty delicious either way.

The other experiences were fairly normal. Diamond Tiara chomped the apple in front of her without having to rely on a spoon.

The apple curry Apple Bloom made was almost comparable to the apples back at Sweet Apple Acres. But they were a bit lacking as the sweetness was too much. Despite that, it was still pretty good. "Mmhmm!"

Apple Bloom looked down at the leek curry on the spoon, seeing how the effects of the Lansat Berry were almost melting the leek itself due to its spicy nature.

It was best to eat it quickly before it all melts. And that's what she did. She had never eaten a leek before, considering that this leek belonged to a Galarian Farfetch'd due to its large size, so when she did, she found herself a brand new favourite food to eat from now on.

"So good..." Apple Bloom slumped on the table, chewing the rest of the leek. She then ended up devouring something as large as the leek as if she was a bird gulping down its food.

Babs enjoyed the mushrooms by slamming her face onto the plate and scarfing it all down with ferocity. Her Chespin was a lot like her in which he did the same. Both of their faces were now a mess. "Pretty good!"

"Pin!"

And finally, Scootaloo, who slammed the table, causing the salad to fly into the air. She opened her mouth wide, letting the salad fall into her mouth like some sort of mailbox.

When she ate the salad, the effects of the Starf Berry kicked in. For a split second, Scootaloo could feel her mind accelerate along with her eyes suddenly flashing repeatedly.

From her reaction, it was safe to say that the salad was great. But the question was, how would they rank each of them?

Each of the 5 classes will dictate how good the curry truly is.

Koffing for downright bad.

Wobbuffet for decent.

Milcery for pretty good.

Copperajah for great.

And Charizard for outstanding.

"So...what are your decisions?" The man asked as everypony leaned in. They wanted to know the quality of the curries so that they could taste the right ones when they get the chance.

"Well, Scootaloo's was hot but pretty good. I'd say it's Milcery Class!" Sweetie Belle ranked it.

"That apple curry from Apple Bloom wasn't as good as Sweet Apple Acres's apples, but just as sweet. Even if it's too much. I'd give it a Wobbuffet Class."

"Sweetie Belle's salad was uh...it was something." Scootaloo nodded. "But great! That's a Copperajah from me!"

"I ain't a fan of mushrooms. But...That one was kinda neat. I'd say Milcery." Babs had her say.

"Well, I don't know about all of you...but those noodles...were soo good..." Silver Spoon was starting to melt as she laid on her back. "Charizard Class...Easy."

"It's that good!?" The rest of them exclaimed as Babs had a proud smile on her face.

"What a natural." The man picked up Babs. "With curry skills such as that, you could make it big in the Galar business one day, kid."

"Really? Yeah!" Babs hopped on the man's shoulder.

"Chespin!"

"Enough chit-chat!" PInkie suddenly yelled as she and the ponies had some dinner napkins on. "Slide them over. I wanna taste one so badly right now!"

"Alright, alright. You can have the leftovers. And if any of you are interested in making your own, just ask."

By being introduced to the potential of Pokemon Camp, they all found something to occupy themselves as they were each eager to try new curry recipes.


Back at the streets where the lively parts of the festival are, Roxanne, Brawly and Roxie with her band were about to indulge in some music with Roxie being their teacher.

Roxie gave Brawly some drum sets whilst Roxanne received a guitar like Roxie's. Brawly had some experience with drums when he was a child. Although, he only played them for 8 minutes and afterwards he just gave up and focused on exercising.

Roxanne is a complete novice to playing the guitar. She was a very sophisticated person who has spent her entire life teaching others about Pokemon whilst participating in Gym Battles against upstart trainers from Hoenn. A guitar is the last thing she'd ever play, but here she was.

"How does something like this work...?" Roxanne looked at the guitar strings.

"Don't even worry about it," Roxie said.

"I'm already worried about it. Is there any criteria I should follow?"

"Criteria?" Roxie raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. Criteria. That's always important when learning something new." Roxanne nodded as her teacher side was showing.

"Ugh...I guess tone quality, weight, shape and neck size is pretty important. So us girls pick ones with thinner necks. But ah, what do I know? I was a natural when I picked up my first guitar!"

"...Were you now?" Roxanne squinted her eyes.

"But who cares about appearance. It's all about the energy!" Roxie raised her fist into the air. "But you know, you can just start with the first two chords, that's cool too. In just 10 minutes, you'll be rocking out like me and my band!"

"You honestly expect me to make a rock song in just 10 minutes...?" Roxanne grumbled. "Alright." She made her first attempt.

By placing her fingers on the E chord, the first sound that came out of the guitar was not great at all. It didn't sound right and was completely off.

"Hold on!" Roxie dashed over, tuning the guitar with a guitar tuner. "Okay, go."

"Hm." Roxanne made another attempt. This time, when her fingers went across the six strings from the thinnest to the thickest.

By interacting with the frets, the sound that Roxanne was making ended up being below average at best. It sounded like thunder rumbling as any nearby humans, ponies and Pokemon got a sudden chill through their bodies.

"Eeugh..." Brawly winced.

"Hmmm...!" Roxie puckered her lips as she observed Roxanne's finger movements.

Roxanne herself was already aware of how dry her music sounded, and she would just give up here. However, Roxanne's nature did not allow her to stop.

Roxanne can be seen as a go-getter at times. When she says that she can do something, she will spend hours trying to show everyone that she can achieve whatever goal is in front of her.

So Roxanne didn't stop playing the guitar as she put all of her focus into getting it right. Roxie didn't even try to stop her. Because she saw how much passion and effort she was putting into it.

"What was that you said again? It's all about energy?" Roxanne growled as she followed Roxie's simple and short instructions. "I'll show you energy!" All of a sudden, the usually composed and calm Roxanne was beginning to act like a full-on rocker.

"Ooh..." Roxie's eyes flashed as she was starting to see great potential.

"It's always the calm ones isn't it?" Brawly said under his breath.

Roxanne was completely in the zone now. Her practice turned into something personal as she was starting to create better sounds now. The sounds coming from the guitar were actually somewhat decent.

Decent enough to get Roxie moving a small bit.

"That's it! You're doing great!" Roxie exclaimed as she was feeling the passionate energy from Roxanne.

Unfortunately, even if she was displaying impressive skills that have yet to reach their full potential, Roxanne could only keep it up for so long.

"Ow!" She chipped her fingernail as she finally stopped playing. "Oh..." She looked at her nail, blowing on it.

"That was pretty neat!" Roxie slid behind Roxanne, putting her arm around her neck.

"It was?" Roxanne turned her head to Roxie.

"Oh yeah!" She gave a thumbs up. "I thought I was a natural when I was a kid. But looks like you've also got some natural guitar talents as well. Pretty neat."

"Right." Brawly nodded. "I didn't think you'd have that much energy boiling inside of you."

"Hmph. Well, of course, I have that much energy. I may be composed but I am still a Pokemon Trainer after all. We need strong energy from the get-go."

"Right on that." Roxie grinned. "Wanna have another go? And if you get super good, I could let you join my band."

"Join? I'm not fit for a metal band actually..."

"You'll come around." Roxie went back to her guitar. "Now come on. Brawly. Get ready to play those drums."

"I thought you would've forgotten..." Brawly sighed as he went over to the drumset. Some smooth progress was being made thanks to Roxanne's surprisingly decent guitar skills that she has yet to release.


Back with Ash and Rainbow Dash at the Canterlot Gardens, they were watching as Soarin was finishing up his battle against the colt he was going up against.

Long story short, he beat the colt who failed to achieve the 5th Gym Badge.

"Good try, buddy." Soarin gave the colt a pat on the head. "But maybe next time, you'll get it."

"Okay! Thanks!" The colt spread his wings out as he flew off, leaving the Canterlot Gardens.

"Alright, Dash. You're up." Soarin turned to Rainbow Dash.

"Alright!" Rainbow Dash flew off the bench she sat on. "I've been waiting for this! Let's make this a good one, Soarin!"

"Woah, slow down! My Pokemon need to rest first."

"Oh. Sorry." Rainbow Dash landed down.

"Out you all come." Soarin had sent out all of his Pokemon, which consisted of Corviknight, Snover, Archeops, Buizel, Torkoal and Boltund.

Soarin let them all have a break to recover themselves. Even though they won against their opponent, the young colt's Pokemon were formidable and shouldn't be underestimated at all.

"Sorry, Buizel. Maybe next time you'll get to pull off Swift Swim." Soarin said to his Buizel.

"Bui-Bui."

"He didn't use those two..." Rainbow Dash noticed that two of Soarin's Pokemon were not used that she's never seen before as she took out her dex to know who they were.

"Boltund. The Dog Pokemon. This Pokémon generates electricity and channels it into its legs to keep them going strong. Boltund can run nonstop for three full days. It sends electricity through its legs to boost their strength. Running at top speed, it easily breaks 50 mph.

"Archeops. The First Bird Pokemon. Said to be an ancestor of bird Pokémon, the muscles it uses to flap its wings are still weak, so it needs a long runway in order to take off. This ancient Pokémon's plumage is delicate, so if anyone other than an experienced professional tries to restore it, they will fail. It runs better than it flies. It takes off into the sky by running at a speed of 25 mph."

"Checking out my Pokemon?" Soarin said to Rainbow Dash. "You know, it's not gonna be easy just because you saw me battle and all."

"Hm? I didn't say that." Rainbow Dash whistled. "Besides. I've got a counter for most of your Pokemon anyway."

"I know you do. You've been really making a name for yourself as a trainer in Equestria. Especially since you're the first pony to take part in the Equestria League."

"Yeah, I know." Rainbow Dash nodded with a proud grin. "Too bad being the first doesn't mean I'm number one. How'd Spitfire even get so many wins...?"

"Oh, Spitfire's wins? She didn't tell you about how she climbed the ranks so fast?"

"Huh? Wait, did she tell you?!" Rainbow Dash got up close to Soarin, causing him to fall on his back.

"Y-Yeah. She did. Most of us Wonderbolts know.

"Tell me! How'd she get so many wins in a few months!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as Ash and Pikachu leaned in to hear this.

"Well, you could say that she went on a rampage."

"Rampage?" Both Rainbow and Ash said.

"Pikachu?"

"Mhm. You see, everypony in the Wonderbolts academy took interest in the league too. Most if not all pegasi did. And Spitfire took the most interest in it out of all of us. She wanted to reach the top from the get-go, so she immediately put all of her focus into battling."

"But how did she battle 8120 ponies with 8119 wins and only one loss. And it was only for a few months and she won all 8 gym badges. Back then, it wasn't even a full year yet!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"That. Well, it's simple. First, she took on all of the ponies in the Wonderbolts Academy and mopped the floor with us. That gave her the first couple of a hundred points."

"Uh-huh...?" Rainbow Dash nodded slowly.

"Then, she used the gateways to take shortcuts around Equestria. She battled all the trainers who were taking part in the Equestria League and annihilated them too."

"Woah! She really did go on a rampage. But how in a few months? She's still the chief of the Wonderbolts, so shouldn't she be busy?"

"Yeah. She should. But that's the thing. Spitfire didn't battle at just morning. She battled at night too. She went over to cities that were more lively at night and took on the trainers there. Left and right, she was beating so many trainers that it bumped her win ratio up to the thousands."

"Talk about persistence..." Ash gawked.

"Pika..."

"And the Gym Battles? Well...let's just say most of them lasted around 7 minutes at best."

"Only 7 minutes to beat a gym..." Rainbow Dash gulped. "So then...who did she lose to?"

"Who? Well, there was one pony who really gave a rough her a time and finally cut her winning streak off." Soarin had actually remembered this pivotal point in time since he was there and he saw the battle himself. He began reminiscing on how it went.


This pony already beat all 5 of Spitfire's Pokemon without breaking a sweat at all. And she wasn't even that high on the leaderboards. She was ranked 750. Way lower than Spitfire. And yet, she smacked her Pokemon silly with just her Aggron. She hadn't even revealed the rest of her Pokemon yet.

"Sciz...Scizor!" Scizor got on his knees as he was already pretty beat up by his opponent which was a single Aggron who had taken out all of his teammates. Scizor was on the verge of fainting from how heavy he was breathing in and out.

"Aggron." The Iron Armor Pokemon growled, intimidating Scizor.

"Don't give up, Scizor! We can turn this around somehow!" Spitfire yelled.

"If I were you I'd just call it quits. Just accept your loss." The mysterious pony said.

"No way! We aren't out of the picture yet! Scizor! Superpower!"

"S-S-Scizor...!" Scizor got up as he surrounded his pincers in an orange aura, running forward. "Zor!" The Pincer Pokemon jumped up, using all of his strength with this one single attack.

"Fire Punch." The mysterious mare commanded.

"Ggron!" Aggron moved faster than Scizor due to Scizor being tired out. The Steel-Rock-Type engulfed its arms in a pale red aura with flames bursting out of them.

The Iron Amor Pokemon then smashed its fiery fists onto Scizor's stomach, hitting him before Scizor could even land Superpower.

"Z-Zor!" The Pincer Pokemon's eyes widened as an explosion of fire happened afterwards, launching Scizor back as he tumbled on the ground with a fiery trail coming out of him."

"Scizor, NO!" Spitfire bellowed. She watched as her partner Scizor, who was seemingly unstoppable since he had never fainted once before nor has ever been backed into a corner once, fall to the ground, defeated.

"Sc-Scizor..."

"I told you it would only take one Pokemon to win this. Return, Aggron." The mysterious pony smirked as she had given Spitfire the taste of defeat.

The pony really put a mark on Spitfire. She was the first one to beat her in a battle and in a pretty rough way too. Spitfire didn't even stand a chance.

Because of that one loss, Spitfire decided that one day, she would meet up with that pony again and challenge her in a rematch and win for sure.

So she's been getting stronger and training harder than ever before. She even got herself a Mega Stone for her Scizor too, ya know.


"Who was this pony that gave her such a hard time?" Rainbow asked.

"Hm? Oh, I think her name was Skyblue Shine or something like that. Yeah."

"Skyblue Shine...To think there's somepony else stronger than Spitfire." Rainbow Dash said under her breath.

"She may be number one, but there's always a bigger fish out there." Soarin nodded.

"Then..." Rainbow Dash thought for a moment. "That just means I have something bigger to shoot towards!"

"Hm?" Soarin turned to her.

"I thought that if I beat Spitfire, that was it. I'm the strongest trainer in Equestria. But now that I know that there's somepony tougher, I just gotta aim higher than ever before!"

"That's the spirit, Rainbow Dash!" Ash exclaimed as he nodded vigorously. It was like seeing a father being proud of his daughter.

"Just you wait, Soarin. I'll beat Spitfire one day and then I'll beat Skyblue Shine too! But first, I gotta win my badge from you!"

"Well...Somepony's fired up." Soarin's eyes widened. "But okay." He stood up. "I think we've had enough chit-chat. Let's get this Gym Battle started."

"Yeah!"


The stage had been set.

Rainbow Dash on the left. Soarin on the Right. And one referee in-between. They were both looking forward to going up against each other for a second time.

Due to the history between Rainbow Dash and Soarin, this battle will be on the more fun side instead of the traditional Gym Battle in which the only main objective is to win and nothing else.

Although, Rainbow Dash was aiming to do that too.

"The battle between Challenger Rainbow Dash and Gym Leader Soarin will be a 5v5 and a Double battle!" The referee exclaimed. "The battle will be over once five Pokemon on one side are all unable to continue. Only the challenger is allowed to substitute for this challenge. You may both bring out your first two Pokemon."

"Let's set em up. Your time to shine, Castform."

"Form!"

"Castform! Mienfoo! Let's go!" The first two she sent out were Castform who flew out of her bag and her Mienfoo.

"Mienfoo!"

"Those two huh...?" Soarin smirked. "Okay then. Buizel! Snover! You know what to do!" He sent out Buizel and Snover first.

"Bui!"

"Snover!"

When Snover was sent out, its ability had been activated. Snow Warning. By just entering the battlefield, a hailstorm had been summoned, filling the entirety of Canterlot Gardens but strangely enough, only Canterlot Gardens and not all of Canterlot.

One of the many mysteries of Pokemon yet again.

Not only that but due to there being hail now, Castform's body was reacting to the weather change. With The Weather Pokemon's cells being shifted, Castorm transformed into his Snowy Form.

"Castform!"

"I know what you're planning and it won't stop me, Clipper!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"We'll see about that, Crash!"

"Battle Start!"

"Mienfoo! Rush in with Agility and use Mega Punch on Snover! Castform! Tackle on Buizel!"

"Foo!" Mienfoo and Castform both charged forward with the Martial Arts Pokemon running ahead of her teammate.

"Buizel! Sonic Boom on Castform! Snover, use Reflect!"

"Sno!" The Frost Tree Pokemon raised its arms, covering both him and Buizel's body in a red veil that halved the physical attack of the opposing Pokemon.

"Bui!" Buizel's two tails glowed white as it flipped around, sending a large white shockwave at Castform.

"Cast!" Castform had been knocked out of the sky by Sonic Boom as it was a direct hit.

"Mien!" Mienfoo got in front of Snover, striking her paws onto the Frost Tree Pokemon's slightly rotund body with a strike packed with heavy power behind it.

"Ver!" Snover cocked back, but thanks to Reflect, Mega Punch didn't hurt as much.

"Use Wood Hammer, Snover!"

"Snover!" Snover leaned its body forward as its arms were surrounded in the energy of nature itself.

"Move back, Mienfoo! Castform, Weather Ball, go!"

"Mien!" Mienfoo gasped as she used Agility to dash backwards, avoiding the swinging arms of Snover's Wood Hammer.

"Cast...Form!" Castform created a blue ball of energy that was full of ice as he shot it towards the opposing Buizel.

"Destroy it with Ice Punch, Buizel!"

"Buizel!" Buizel shattered the Weather Ball by smashing its ice-covered paws onto it. "Zel!"

"You two doing okay?" Rainbow Dash asked her Pokemon.

"Mienfoo." Mienfoo whacked the Hail away from her face.

"Cast!"

"We've just started and I'm already feeling pretty tense." Rainbow Dash grinned as she let out a single sweatdrop. "He's gonna try and break my focus with all this hail probably. But that Buizel's pretty fast and thinks fast too. Alright, Castform. Return for now!"

"Castform!" Castform flew back inside of Rainbow Dash's bag as he reverted to his normal form.

"Luxio! You're up next!" She used her wings to toss the Poke Ball, sending out the Spark Pokemon.

"Luxio!"

"Just you watch, Soarin! That 5th Gym Badge is ours!"

As the first day of the Pokemon Festival is still in its early stages, Rainbow Dash is about to experience a heated battle against Soarin for her 5th Gym Badge. But she'll have fun battling him in the long run as the journey continues.

...

The first day of the Pokemon Festival continues and currently, Rainbow Dash is in the midst of getting her 5th Gym Badge against the Gym Leader Soarin.

"We'll hit all of them at once! Luxio! Discharge! Mienfoo! Fury Swipes!"

"Lux...!" Luxio was building up power for Discharge since it's great for hitting multiple targets at once whilst Mienfoo rushed in with her hidden claws coming out of her paws.

"Snover! Get in front of Buizel and use Protect!"

"Ver!" The Frost Tree Pokemon stood in front of his teammate as he put up a green barrier to defend him and Buizel from any damage.

"Xio!" With a raging bolt coming out Luxio's body, the Discharge had connected with the barrier of Protect. The attack had been cancelled out, but it did push Snover back a little bit.

"Foo!" Mienfoo suddenly jumped over Snover, ignoring Protect as she was focused on attacking from behind. "Mienfoo!" The Martial Arts Pokemon swiped both of her claws down on the two opposing Pokemon two times in a row.

"Sno!"

"Bui!"

Both of them were knocked back by Mienfoo's surprise attack from behind as they tumbled on the ground. But they weren't out yet.

"Nice thinking, Mienfoo!" Rainbow Dash praised Mienfoo.

"Mien!"

"Both of them are pretty big threats to Buizel and Snover." Soarin thought for a moment. "Times like these where I wish the Gym Leader could substitute Pokemon."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Aren't you gonna do something, Soarin? You're kinda dazed out there."

"Hm? OH!" Soarin's eyes widened. My bad, my bad!" He chuckled before he cleared his throat. "Ahem. Alright. Snover! Let's make it harder for them to act! Use Icy Wind!"

"Ver...Sno!" With his eyes flashing blue, Snover kicked up a chilling gust of air to further ruin the concentration of Rainbow Dash's Pokemon. It was already hailing and now things were made worse thanks to Icy Wind.

"Trying to ruin my focus? Yeah right! Luxio! Charge in with Wild Charge! Mienfoo! Hop on Luxio's back and use Mega Punch!"

"Mien!" Mienfoo jumped on her teammate's back, catching a free ride on Luxio.

"Luxio!" By surrounding his body in electricity whilst also making Mienfoo jolt up a bit with her fur standing up, the Spark Pokemon bolted forward as if he was a lightning bolt.

"Here they come...Now Grab them with Wood Hammer! Buizel! Get ready and use Ice Punch!"

"Sno!" Snover was still the only one attacking at the moment as he put his arms out with green energy surrounding it. Once Luxio got close with Wild Charge, Snover used the Grass energy of Wood Hammer to nullify Luxio's electric attack as he grabbed the Spark Pokemon, stopping him dead in his tracks. "Ver!"

"L-Lux?!"

"Mienfoo!" Mienfoo hopped off Luxio's back, going straight for a Mega Punch that was targeted at Buizel. But Buizel was ready for that too in the form of Ice Punch.

"Bui!" Both Pokemon ended up clashing their paws together, creating a tiny little shockwave afterwards. The two of them cancelled each other out from their own punches, prompting them both to jump back.

"Snover's got you right where he wants you, Dash!" Soarin grinned.

"You sure about that...?" Luxio, Iron Tail!"

"Luxio!" Using a second attack whilst being held by Snover's Wood Hammer, Luxio controlled his tail which had hardened up like iron as he swung it towards Snover.

"Sno?!" Snover gasped, realizing that he was being attacked from the side with his hands currently being occupied with Luxio. As such, Iron Tail connected, dealing massive damage to the Frost Tree Pokemon as he dropped Luxio. "S-Sno!"

"Ah! Snover!" Soarin gasped. He watched Snover tumbled on the ground like a bouncy ball after getting hit with such a hard attack.

Unfortunately for Snover, using Wood Hammer before also damaged him since It is a recoil move. And the Iron Tail only added to that damage.

With such a fragile body, Snover had unfortunately fainted.

"Snover..."

"Snover is unable to battle! Luxio wins!" The referee exclaimed.

"Bui!?" Buizel gasped to see its teammate fainted and knocked out. Because of Snover's defeat, the Hail had disappeared as well.

"Yes! Nice job, Luxio!"

"Xio!"

"Just you wait, Soarin! We're taking out your Buizel too!"

"Aw...Return Snover." Soarin sighed as he returned Snover to its ball. "You did good, pal."

"Sneak attacks are always pretty nifty, aren't they?" said Ash.

"Pikachu." Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Hmm...How am I gonna do this?" Soarin began thinking yet again, which was only wasting time even further. Which Rainbow Dash didn't take kindly too.

"Soarin!" She yelled his name. "Are you out of the zone again?"

"Hm? Ah, sorry. I kinda get all thoughtful when I'm in a Pokemon Battle and one of my Pokemon faints." He chuckled. "It's kind of a bad habit of mine."

"Bad habit? I wouldn't say that." Rainbow Dash shook her head. "Sometimes I get stuck on something during a battle. But uh...Not for that long."

"Sorry that I'm delaying our battle. Weather stuff is kinda complicated and needs a ton of focus, ya know."

"Just put all that focus into this battle!" Ash yelled from the bench.

"Pika-Pika!"

"Right. Thanks, Ash." Soarin took a deep breath before realizing how he can win all of this. "Okay. All I need is this one Pokemon to win. Torkoal, let's go!" Up next was his Torkoal.

"Torkoal!" Once Torkoal came out, its ability had been activated. Drought. The sun had suddenly intensified thanks to Drought being activated by Torkoal.

With the sunlight being harsh and brighter than ever, all Fire-Type moves had been boosted now. Mainly Torkoal's.

"Stay sharp, Rainbow Dash!" Ash yelled. "Torkoal's a really bulky Pokemon!"

"I know! I'll just stand back and attack from afar. Mienfoo. You focus on Buizel okay?"

"Foo!"

"Hmph. Sorry about this, Buizel. Torkoal! Earthquake!" By surprise, Soarin had given off a command that spelt horrible news for all the surrounding Pokemon, especially Luxio.

"Tor...KOAL!" Torkoal slammed its legs on the ground with a hard impact, creating a fissure of white shockwaves that came out of the ground.

"What?!" Rainbow Dash screeched.

"Lu-Luxio!" Luxio had been hit by these shockwaves along with his partner Mienfoo. Even Buizel had been hit by Earthquake due to it always hitting every single opponent.

"Mien!"

"Bui!"

With a triple hit on all three of them, each of these pre-evolved Pokemon were sent flying into the air after Earthquake had hit them all.

They all took heavy damage, but none took the most damage than Luxio as it was a super-effective hit. Unfortunately, an attack so destructive not only took out Luxio but even Buizel, who wasn't even weak against Ground moves.

Ah!" Rainbow Dash screeched as she saw them all fall back down, crashing onto the shattered ground. Luxio got the worst out of Earthquake. Because of that damage being super-effective, the Spark Pokemon had fainted.

But it wasn't just him. Poor Buizel had fainted as well, which was something that Soarin didn't plan either.

"Uh-oh." Soarin realized that he took out one of his own Pokemon as well. He expected Earthquake to just slightly hurt Buizel, not take him out entirely. "Oh, I messed up!" He also screeched, pulling his mane as both Pokemon aside from Mienfoo had fainted.

"Luxio..."

"Buizel..."

"Both Luxio and Buizel are unable to battle!"

"Ah, Buizel! I'm sorry! I didn't plan for that to happen!"

Bui..." Buizel looked back at Soarin, telling him that it was okay. He then went back to being knocked out.

"Is it just me...or is Soarin's battling style inconsistent..." Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes.

"Castform." Castform nodded in agreement.

"He did so well against that one colt earlier...Hey Soarin!" Rainbow Dash bellowed for his name.

"Hm?" Soarin turned around, returning Buizel to his Poke Ball. "Ah, sorry about that Dash." He sighed. "I'm just you know...kinda having a bit of a sloppy start, ya know."

"You weren't like this in your previous battle, what's going on?"

"Not sure honestly." Soarin sighed. "This wouldn't be the first time this has happened."

"You mean this has happened before?" Ash stood up.

"Oh yeah." Soarin chuckled. "The first battle goes well. I'm totally in the zone, at my best and just cleaning house. But when the second battle comes along, I'm kinda..eehhh out of focus?"

"Is that why you didn't join the Canterlot Tournament?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Yep. But after the second battle, I get my groove back in the third one. Then I get clumsy in the fourth and you see where this is going."

"How's that possible? Has that ever happened to a Pokemon Trainer before?" Rainbow Dash wondered.

"But it's fine. Even when I'm inconsistent, I can still come out on top, ya know. But I guess Pokemon battling makes me feel a different way."

"You sure? You know, Soarin. If you're feeling kinda off, I can just come back another time when you've got your groove back." Rainbow Dash suggested.

"It's fine. But uh...It can get a bit exhausting having to battle so many trainers one after the other. But as a Gym Leader, I gotta take those risks. You came to earn a Gym Badge after all."

"I know. But I wanna face somepony at their best. I gotta really earn my gym badge, ya know!"

"Hm, I get what you mean but..." Soarin thought for a moment.

"I got it!" Ash put his fists together. "How about we just relax and have fun at the festival to get your spirit back up?"

"Hm?" The two pegasi turned to him.

"In situations like these, you gotta take it easy. Sometimes trainers just need some downtime so then, after they can really get fired up for a battle!"

"Pikachu!"

"Hm...I did wanna enjoy this festival and eat all the pies here..." Soarin pondered. "And I'm afraid somepony might beat me to it!"

"If it's gonna get you back to full strength then sure." Rainbow Dash nodded. "I wanna beat you at your best, Soarin!"

"Hah! When at my best I'm unstoppable!" Soarin grinned. "U-Unless I'm battling Spitfire that's a different story." He lowered his head.

"Then let's get going. We've got 2 weeks after all so there's a ton of time!" Ash pumped his fist into the air.

"Pika!"


With the Gym Battle put on pause, for now, more involvement in the festival's other activities was decided between Ash, Rainbow Dash and Soarin. At least until Soarin gets his energy back up.

But moving away from that group, Rarity's group, more specifically Rarity and Spike had come across something that piqued their interest. Something that had many ponies lining up.

"Pokemon Connoisseur Compatibility Booth?" They both said. They were currently standing in a large booth, multiple of them actually that were plastered in front of them.

They weren't exactly sure what Pokemon Connoisseur was. It sounded very new to them. They know of a normal Connoisseur but one that involves Pokemon is a bit out there.

Rarity noticed that there was a sign that described what a Pokemon Connoisseur was. She read the following.

"A Pokemon Connoisseur use their knowledge and experience to assess the bond between trainer and Pokemon. and from there give advice on how to strengthen their partnership. The process of checking Pokémon and Trainer compatibility is known as an evaluation, with methods including field observations, skin condition, and aroma. Connoisseurs can also help choose what Pokémon would be compatible for beginning Trainers who have not yet chosen their first Pokemon."

"That's a thing?" Spike said. "How do they do it? Do they just look at our Pokemon?"

"We'll have to find out. Let's try...this booth." Rarity chose the booth in front of her and Spike as they were curious as to how this whole Pokemon Connoisseur thing works.

When they entered the booth, they were met with the first Pokemon Connoisseur of the day. Or rather, a Pokémon Connaisseuse, the female equivalent.

One who was new to them but definitely not someone random. It was none other than the bratty, obnoxious yet somewhat endearing Connaisseuse.

Burgundy.

"What do we have here?!" She spoke. "A pony and a dragon? I'm not supposed to have more than one customer inside but I'll take it!"

"I assume you're a Connoisseur?" Rarity asked.

"A Connaisseuse is the right term. My name is Burgundy. And I may not look like it, but I'm a highly-skilled Connaisseuse ranked by the Pokemon Connoisseur Association."

"Pokemon Connoisseur Association?" Spike sat down on the chair.

"Mhm. So, you two have taken an interest now, have you?" Burgundy sat down. "Let's see your Pokemon and leave the judging to me." She smirked. "And besides compatibility, you can also ask me about preparing Pokemon food, battle strategies and even the choice of accessories."

"Alright then. I suppose you can judge..." Rarity was thinking of who to show off first. "How am I with my Pheromosa?" She chose Pheromosa first.

"Mosa!"

"Oh! An Ultra Beast?!" Burgundy stood up. "And a beautiful one at that too!" She began zipping around the booth, observing Pheromosa for herself.

"Phero?"

"Hm. Tall. Thin. Supple. And it's got an interesting aroma to it." Burgundy observed. "Like a pheromone?"

"Well? How compatible are we?" Rarity questioned.

"Hmmm...!" Burgundy put her finger on her chin, squinting her eyes at the Lissome Pokemon. She had eventually concluded. "The partnership between you and your Pheromosa is..."

"Is...?" Rarity leaned in.

"You're both similar in beauty, that's for sure. But other than that, your Pheromosa's aroma is a bit too potent. Its body is too tall for its own good, that hair is way too long and the eyes are constantly in a slanted state which only weakens some of the beauty."

"Phero?!" Pheromosa jerked back.

"If I were you, I'd get some accessories that can at least mask the busy appearance of your Ultra Beast."

"Mosa..." Pheromosa curled up into the corner after hearing criticism such as that.

"Ah, Pheromosa!" Rarity turned to her partner. "Rude!"

"It's a Connoisseur's job to be critical, my little pony."

"Hmph." Rarity went over to Pheromosa, comforting her. "Don't listen to her Pheromosa."

"What about you, dragon boy?" Burgundy turned to Spike.

"Oh. Well, I'm aiming to be a Dragon Trainer so I'm going for Dragon Pokemon only. Can you tell me what you think about my Salamence?" Spike sent out his Salamence.

"Sala!"

"Geugh!" Burgundy backed up as Salamence took up a ton of space inside of the booth. "Ahem. I can judge a Dragon. No problem."

"Salamence."

"Hm..." Burgundy got up close to Salamence, getting in his face as Salamence shifted his eyes about. "Hm...It's definitely fit for battling..."

"Right?" Spike grinned as he nodded.

"But it's got a pungent smell. Like burning charcoal that won't stop burning no matter what. Have you ever considered bathing Salamence?"

"Sala?"

"If you're planning on distracting your opponents with that smell then that's one crafty battle strategy."

"Sala..." Salamence didn't take too kindly to Burgundy's words. She essentially said that he reeked. And Salamence took that personally. "Mence!" He gave his response by breathing Flamethrower on Burgundy's face.

"Gyaaaah!" Burgundy screamed as her face had been charred by Salamence.

"Ah!" Spike gasped. "Return Salamence!"

"Grr! My precious face." Burgundy held her face as it was now full of smoke. This prompted Pheromosa and Rarity to laugh a small bit. "That accursed dragon of yours needs to watch where it breathes its fire next time!" She flailed her arms and legs about.

"Well, he's obviously not going to take kindly to you insulting his scent." Rarity replied. "The smell of somepony else shouldn't determine compatibility. Those are trivial and minor things. Pokemon compatibility should be from the heart of both trainers, I believe."

"Mosa."

"Huh?! Are you trying to out-connoisseur me?!"

"Hmph. I don't need to be a connoisseur to know how compatibility between trainer and Pokemon works." Rarity went up to Burgundy, smirking at her.

"Grrgh...!" A vein showed up on Burgundy's head. "Why you-" Before Burgundy could pop off and go ballistic, someone else opened up the curtains to the booth.

"Starting up trouble again, Burgundy?" A new face to Spike and Rarity had been seen but definitely not to Burgundy.

The familiar face that opened up the curtains was considered to be a well-versed connoisseur who is ranked high and can actually judge Pokemon properly. Burgundy knew this person very well and had a bit of a dislike to them.

"...Cilan!" Burgundy growled.

"That's me." Cilan smiled.

"Hang on. Did you say your name was Cilan?" Rarity said as she and Spike recalled Ash mentioning the name Cilan when he told them about his past adventures.

"Right. Cilan the Pokemon Connoisseur. At your service." Cilan bowed down.

"You're Ash's friend, right? Or are you just another guy named Cilan?" Spike spoke.

"Ah, so you know Ash. Yep. I'm that Cilan. A pleasure to meet you."

"Enough with the introductions!" Burgundy bellowed. "Hear to embarrass me again?!"

"What? No-no-no." Cilan chuckled as he shook his head. "There was just a lot of noise coming from the booth next door so I came to see what was wrong?"

"Hmph. It was just me judging the compatibility between these two and their Pokemon. And it's not great at all."

"Salamence and I are best buddies! You don't know a thing!" Spike pointed at her.

"Are you doubting a connoisseuse?!" Burgundy gave him the stink-eye.

"Now, now." Cilan walked in between them. "I can sense some heated energy slowly building up. Burgundy. Maybe the best thing to do is to not rile up your customers."

"Hmph!" Burgundy crossed her arms, turning away.

"How about I judge your Pokemon instead? You all don't seem satisfied anyway."

"Will you be less cruel?" Rarity asked.

"A Pokemon Connoisseur must be honest at all times. However, they must also maintain a balance of honesty and kindness without harming the trainer and Pokemon's spirit."

"Hm. That sounds fair to me. What can you say about my Pheromosa then?"

"Mosa?"

"An Ultra Beast, eh? Well, your Pheromosa..." Cilan began observing Pheromosa.

"Pheromo..." Pheromosa was getting a bit nervous. She believed that Cilan would give her the same result that Burgundy did.

But he didn't. It didn't even take that long for Cilan to conclude.

"Your Pheromosa...such excellent energy she's exhibiting. That energy is similar to that of an excited child. But in a good way. I can tell that you and Pheromosa share a splendid bond, one that can't be broken that easily."

"Mosa!" Pheromosa picked up Rarity, hugging her trainer.

"Oof!" Rarity's eyes bulged.

"I'd go as far as to say there's nothing wrong with her at all. She's perfectly compatible with you. Although the pheromones she's exhibiting can be a bit intoxicating."

"Many thanks, Cilan. Do you hear that Pheromosa? Isn't that wonderful?"?

"Pheromosa!"

"And what about me and my Salamence!" Spike sent his Salamence back out.

"Salamence...Dragon Pokemon are a bit tougher to judge but it's a challenge I'm willing to take." Cilan went up to the Dragon Pokemon to see what he could inform.

"Salamence..." Salamance gave Burgundy a death-stare, prompting her to move back as she shuddered. "Mence..."

"Eep!" Burgundy squealed.

"Hm...Salamence. Usually, a Pokemon that is hard to control because of how excited it gets when it reaches its final evolution. They go on a rampage, destroying everything in their path and are completely uncontrollable until they tire out."

"Sala."

"But, looks like you've overcome that. Your Salamence is under complete and total control." Cilan put his hand on Salamence's face. "Not many can tame Dragon-Types, let alone a Salamence. That just screams a powerful bond."

"Awesome!" Spike hopped on Salamence's back. "We're living large Salamence!"

"Salamence!"

"But, it does need a bit of a bath. Just a quick one will do." Even Cilan spoke about a bath. But Salamence didn't take it too personally like with Burgundy. He did sort of smell.

"Alright. Later at night, we'll clean you up, okay buddy?"

"Mence!"

"See, Burgundy? You can still point out a Pokemon's flaws without being so cynical and harsh about it. That way, the Pokemon can still see that it has something to improve on without any drawbacks happening to you." Cilan explained.

"Hmph!" Burgundy puffed her cheeks.

"So, I take it that if you two know Ash and you're here at the festival, does that mean Ash is here as well?" Cilan asked.

"Sure is." Spike nodded.

"Splendid! I've heard about how he's gotten super popular in this world. Earned the title of Hero as well. It'd be great to meet him again."

"Well, you'd better get searching. This festival is highly-crowded," said Rarity.

"Alright. Catch up with you later, Burgundy. And remember my adv-"

"Yeah, yeah I remember." Burgundy interrupted. "Just you wait. I'll have a trainer leaving this booth smiling with great advice."

"Okay then." Cilan chuckled. "So you two. Tell me. What's Ash been getting up to in this world?" He asked as they both walked out of the booth.

"Well...there was the whole split-personality debacle. We can tell you what happened during that mess." Rarity began to babble on as they both set out to find Ash for Cilan.

But Cilan wasn't the only familiar face in this festival.


With Twilight and Starlight.

They were currently over at a Pokemon Attraction. More specifically, the rollercoaster from the first Pokemon Festival.

"This'll be your first time on a rollercoaster Starlight. And my second time as well." Twilight said.

"Yeah um..." Starlight looked up at the coaster. "Is that safe?"

"It is." Twilight nodded. "But it can leave you feeling all woozy!" Twilight rolled her pupils around.

"Right. I'd better make sure that Hatterene doesn't get sick. It'd be best if I kept my Poke Ball out and away from something like that." Starlight decided to place her Poke Ball at the nearest table.

As she ran off to the closest table that was nearby her, she ended up bumping into someone who was also running. But instead of it being a pony, it turned out to be a human instead, as they both fell on the floor.

"Ow!" Both Starlight and the human said. "Urgh...my head!"

"Watch where you're going!" The human exclaimed.

"Me?!" Starlight growled. "I could say the same to you!" She snapped back at him. The human she saw was someone new to her, but not new to one of her friends Trixie.

Trixie mentioned how Starlight was her newest friend since she's had some who came before her. Ash and Misdreavus being the very early ones.

After Starlight, Zoroark was her next friend, but before Starlight and in between Misdreavus Trixie had one other friend. A friend who can be a bit hyperactive.

Almost on the same level as Ash. He was very impatient, highly competitive and he just loves bumping into people when rushing out of doors. Although in this case, it was out in the open. Only one trainer fit this bill.

Barry.

"Hah!" Barry stood up. "Then, in that case, pay up!"

"Pay up?" Starlight raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! I'm gonna have to Fine you for bumping right into me! You've got 7 seconds!"

"Wait...fine?" Starlight took a moment to remember one of the few things Trixie mentioned about Barry from time to time. The whole Fine part was one of them, and how he loves bringing it up. Judging by how he bumped into her, there was no mistaken on who this was. "Wait...are you, Barry?!"

"Hm? Yeah, that's me. What of it?"

"You're Trixie's friend, right? So am I!" Starlight stood. "I'm Starlight Glimmer!"

"Oh, so you're Starlight? Hm. I guess I can drop the Fine then."

"Did you need it in the first place...?" Starlight slanted her eyes.

"Starlight, what's taking so long?" Twilight went up to her as she noticed Barry. "Who's this?"

"Twilight, this is Barry. One of Trixie's early friends."

"Oh! Are you one of those princesses that they keep talking about!" Barry gawked at Twilight's wings and horn.

"Uh..yeah. That's me." Twilight squeed.

"Oh cool! But wait. Your hair's not flowing, what gives?"

"Um...I don't know?" Twilight shrugged.

"Hm. I was looking forward to seeing that. Bummer!"

"Yeesh. You're just as hyperactive as Ash but on the more loud side." Twilight winced.

"Ash?" Barry recognized that name. "Oh yeah. He's super popular in this world, isn't he? He's definitely worthy of being my rival Grrr! I wanna be a hero too! There's gotta be something I can do to get that same status!"

"Rival? You know Ash as well?" Twilight pointed her hoof at Barry.

"Oh yeah! Ash and I are bonafide rivals, ya know! We go way back from our adventures in Sinnoh, ya know."

"So you're a friend of Trixie and a rival of Ash..." Twilight nodded slowly. "You're certainly on the same level as energetic as him that's for sure."

"Where is he?" Barry searched high and low. "I came here for a battle cause I heard this festival has some of those!"

"Well, Ash is off doing his own thing like everypony else. But he's got a pretty recognizable appearance. You can't miss him." Twilight explained.

"Neat. Catch ya later!" Barry dashed off, leaving behind a dust cloud. "Ash! I want a battle, wherever you are!"

"I have a feeling it's not just us who'll be seeing a lot of familiar faces," Twilight said to Starlight.

"Mhm." She nodded in agreement. "Oh, right. Hatterene." Starlight placed the Poke Ball on the table next to her. "Alright, I'm ready now."

"Great. Just hold on tight. It can get pretty aggressive." As Twilight and Starlight went over to the rollercoaster, the sun has moved after precisely 12 minutes.

The day is still young. Very young. The Pokemon Festival certainly isn't ending anytime soon, that's for sure. These 2 weeks are bound to be the best 2 weeks of their lives yet but they can't rest too well, knowing that there is something out there, waiting to ruin this fun experience at any moment, as the journey continues.

...

It is now the afternoon during the Pokemon Festival.

Still far away from being the end of the first day. Which means that time is barely an issue until night arrives.

So far, Canterlot has had a lot to offer. From the fan favourite attraction, Lopunny Dance Inferno to new but familiar attractions that were first seen in Ponyville such as Decidueye Shooting, Escavalier Jousting, Poke-End and Ditto Art, each introduced before the second Festival had begun.

Speaking of Ditto Art, Team Rocket, under the disguise of their Pokemon School clothes, decided to give this a try for themselves.

"Here we go!" Jessie drew her own dream Pokemon, showing it to Ditto. It looked to be some sort of golden peacock that had stars inside of its feathers and eyes as they also looked like they could detach from the peacock. "Transform into this!"

"Ditto..." Ditto wasn't sure what it was looking at, but it was going to give it a try anyway. It transformed into that same golden peacock but with a clearer appearance. The stars in its feathers and eyes really popped as they were almost as bright as the sun.

"Oooh!" Jessie gawked. "That's the Pokemon for me! What can this thing come up with?" Jessie took out her Pokedex to see what fake information it can give her about this made-up Pokemon.

"Lumifowl. The Bedazzling Pokemon. Fairy-Flying. Often vainglorious and a show-off, Lumifowl spends most of its life going from region to region, showing off its amazing dance moves. It uses its stars to bedazzle its enemies with a blinding light. This Pokemon has a fierce rivalry with Oricorio but yet it seems to work well with Ludicolo."

"If only you were real..." Jessie felt like tearing up.

James took interest in something else other than the Ditto Art attraction. His focus was on the famous yet very risky Pokemon Slot Machine.

"I have some unfinished business with this!" James rubbed his hands together. "This time, I'll have it all in the bag!"

"It ain't worth it James!" Meowth exclaimed. "These things will pick out your pockets faster than you can think!"

"All the more reason to beat it!" James held out a coin, placing it inside of the machine. "Here we go!" He pulled on the lever as the reels started to roll.

He let out a cheesy grin as he was hoping for the best possible outcome. He was aiming for a triple 7 to really hit the jackpot.

Unfortunately, he didn't get that. Instead, he was given the R symbol. Which stands for Replay and his payout resulted in nothing instead.

"Gah!" James screamed as he pulled his hair. "That was my skilled spin and it failed!"

"Best to just call it quits now," Meowth suggested.

"I think not!" James held out another coin. "I'll just have to put some extra Oomph into it!" He went a second time as the gambling problem had begun.

Replay, Replay, Replay. That was all that he was getting and nothing else. Only payouts that amounted to 0 at best. No matter how many coins he tossed inside or how skilled his pulling skills were, James received nothing.

"Curses!" He got on his knees, screaming at the sky in defeat.

"What are you screaming about?" Applejack went over to him with Sceptile by her side along with the tagalong Golett.

"Genius over here blew all his cash on this slot machine," Meowth explained.

"Not one single cent..." James lowered his head. "I've lost to these once more...What a cruel fate."

"Don't feel too bad about it." Applejack patted him on the back. "It's the same problem all the way back at Las Pegasus."

"Tile."

"You're right!" James stood up. "I can't let something like this shatter my pride! Even if I can't roll anything but Replays..."

"...Or." Meowth suddenly got his claws out. "How's about we rig this thing and grab all the cash inside!"

"Absolutely not." Applejack stopped him. "You can't be that desperate."

"You're right." Meowth lowered his head.

"Well, I'm low on Pokedollars..." James saw that his pockets only had 2 coins left. "There has to be something to fill them up again."

"Well, there's that Escavalier Jousting thing. Prize money is either 5000 Pokedollars or 20 bits." Applejack recommended.

"Hoho!" James grinned as he put his finger on his chin. "Jackpot!"

"I was about to head over there and try it myself. Wanna joust against each other?" Applejack nudged his leg.

"Deal! I'll have you know that when I was young I-" James was about to go on about his past but Applejack already went over to the Escavalier Joust attraction. "H-Hey! Wait for me!"


With Sunlight, Eventide and Celestia.

Eventide had taken interest in the Decidueye Shooting attraction as he was already prepared to tackle this challenge with his magic holding onto a bow.

"Hm. Childishly simple." He scoffed. "That large Emboar plush is as good as mine! Luna will surely enjoy it." He aimed the bow carefully at the targets which were mini-Darumaka statues.

"Decidueye," Decidueye told Eventide to hold the bow steady so that he doesn't end up hitting someone else.

"Hmm...Aha!" He fired the arrow from the bow as he took out a triple stack of Darumaka statues. "Lightwork!"

"Ah, not bad. Not bad at all." Sunlight spoke. "Let me have a shot." She used her magic to take the bow off of Eventide. "All I have to do is hit something right? Should be easy enough."

"Eye. Deci."

"Here goes..." Sunlight aimed as she started firing much differently from Eventide.

Whereas Eventide had decided to have perfect focus and precision on what he was looking at, Sunlight decided to just fire them rapidly and hope that she hits something.

And that's what she did.

By firing multiple arrows consecutively every second, she missed so many targets that the arrows either stuck on the wood or ended up bouncing off and almost hitting somepony.

The arrows went flying across the festival as many ponies saw their lives flash before their eyes with arrows nearly piercing them. Many yelps and screeches were heard from the ponies who evaded Sunlight's frantic arrows.

"Come on...!" Sunlight groaned as she sped up her firing speed.

"Deci?!" Decidueye could see that this was getting out of hand so he quickly grabbed the bow, taking it away from Sunlight before she commits a heavy crime. "Eye!"

"Aw...I didn't hit a single one." Sunlight sighed as she slumped on the table.

"Well...you tried your best?" Eventide shrugged as he laughed nervously. He then noticed that Ash along with Barry, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, the CMC joined by Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon and Babs Seed and the surprising Meloetta came over here to try this attraction. "Ash, my boy! Taken an interest?"

"No, but Barry has. I wanna see this for myself." Ash replied.

"Watch and learn." Barry cracked his fingers. "Hand me the bow."

"Decidueye." The Arrow Quill Pokemon gave Barry the bow, allowing him to have a shot at this attraction. He was hoping that Barry was less destructive than Sunlight as he held his breath in.

"Get a good look." Barry pulled his arm on the bow, aiming directly for the largest Darumaka statue there was. When he fired the arrow from the bow, he wasn't as reckless as Sunlight, but his aim was downright awful.

Each of his arrows barely even grazed the statues as they kept on sticking to the walls with not a single one landing at all. ut at least no one was threatened by arrows this time.

"Eugh..." Diamond Tiara winced at how horrible Barry's aim was.

"Hm. Just a slip-up." Barry grabbed two bows this time. "There's no way I can miss!"

"Two?!" Ash gasped.

"Pika?!"

"Oh, I should have thought of that." Sunlight said.

"Here goes!" Barry started to go crazy on the targets by rapidly shooting from two bows this time. Even though his aim was still horrible, all those flying arrows actually managed to hit a few statues because of their frantic movements. "Haha! Got some!"

"Did that even take any skill...?" Twilight said to herself.

"Meloe..."

"Hm?" But Ash's attention was drawn somewhere else. From the corner of his eye, he noticed something oddly familiar that he didn't expect to see.

Right near the Lopunny Dance Inferno attraction, he noticed a clown of all things. Normally, a clown isn't one of the many things he would ever remember, but something about this clown sparked some memories in him.

Especially since the clown looked back at him, giving Ash a thumbs up.

"Hey isn't that...?" Ash went over to the clown as Twilight and the others noticed.

"Hm? Ash. Where are you going?" Twilight wondered as they all followed his movements. He looked like he had spotted someone he hadn't seen in years.

And actually, that was true. It was someone who he hadn't seen in years.

Ash approached the clown looking up at him as he recognized those signature blue eyes that matched well with the clown disguise. Ash took a moment to process who he remembered that dressed like that whilst also having blue eyes. Then it hit him.

"Wait...aren't you-" Ash gasped.

"Pika...!"

"Long time no see, Ash." The clown took off his disguise by removing the red nose, hat and silly clown suit to reveal his true self.

"Who is this?" Pinkie tilted her head as he saw the mysterious man reveal himself as someone completely different.

"Jack Walker. Call me Jackie please." That, someone, was the Pokemon Ranger mostly known as Jackie and a very old friend of Ash, even predating Barry

"Oh, it is you!" Ash exclaimed. "Jackie!"

"Pikachu!"

"Jackie...?" Scootaloo and the CMC took a moment to remember a time when Ash mentioned that name. They recalled the time when Ash mentioned how there was a time he wished to be a Pokemon Ranger. And someone named Jackie was an inspiration to him. "Oh wait aren't you that Pokemon Ranger person!"

"Spot on!" Jackie nodded.

"What are you doing here?!" Ash asked.

"I'm on a mission right now. Two actually." Jackie tossed his disguise aside. "And it's all in this world right here."

"Mission? What kind of mission?" Pinkie appeared behind Ash.

"Well, the first one I'm sure you all know about. I'm tracking down Ghetsis and all of Team Plasma since they seem to show up in this world more than the Pokemon World. And the second one is tracking down the Umbrage Thieves. I think Officer Jenny let you know about that, Ash."

"Oh, yeah!" Ash nodded. "We helped her out a few days ago."

"Pikachu!"

"Good. My search for them led me to here. Canterlot. Turns out that we've got a major lead on the ringleader of the Umbrage Thieves."

"Ringleader? Here in Canterlot?" Fluttershy looked around.

"If any of you see anything that looks a bit odd, let me know. Right now..." Jackie miraculously put his clown disguise on. "I need to keep myself incognito."

"Alright, Jackie! We'll keep a real good eye out!" Ash gave a thumbs up.

"Pika-Pika!" Ash and Pikachu waved goodbye to him as Jackie was off to continue his job.[

"Did you know that there were thieves here in Canterlot?" Celestia turned to her parents.

"There were? Hadn't a single clue." Sunlight shook her head. "Perhaps they must be that good at their job."

"They only appear at night from what we've heard. " Twilight answered. "So we won't be able to spot them in the day or afternoon."

"Then that calls for my expertise!" Eventide exclaimed. "Luckily, I have already devised a strategy for our midnight marauders."

"Oh no...another one of his long sentence plans..." Sunlight sighed.

"First, I, being the previous alicorn to raise and lower the moon shall take the role as Nightwatch, along with the many royal guards around here. We will have watchful eyes on the festival even at night. Then, when the thieves decide to strike, we shall pretend to be completely inactive, thereby lulling the enemy into a false sense of security. When they lower their guard and believe that nopony is aware of them, we strike and-"

"Alright!" Sunlight stopped him. "Dear. I understand what you've devised. Just please keep it short."

"Apologies. Force of habit." He chuckled.

The afternoon was still ongoing. Now that the knowledge of the Umbrage Thieves being present here had been shared, the night will most likely be a bit chaotic when the Umbrage Thieves decide to strike.

Speaking of the night, one pony who was waiting for the festival to reach its late hours was Adagio, still eating those lava cookies in the Relief Zone.

She was only going to see her sisters during the night and that was it. The day and the afternoon would mean having to be seen clearly in public whereas, in the night, she can keep a low profile.

However, sitting in the same spot, eating the same cookies over and over again can get a bit repetitive and honestly boring to Adagio. Her Kricketot inside of her hair was having the time of his life listening to the same music over and over again.

"Ugh..." Adagio sighed. "Running low." She looked inside the box to see that only 12 lava cookies remain. "I can't keep sitting here...when's the moon gonna pop up?"

"Krick. Kricketot." Kricketot popped out of Adagio's mane.

"Hm..." The siren turned her head to the side, looking at the direction of the festival. She knew that while everyone is having the time of their lives, enjoying the festival to the fullest, she was just sitting around, eating cookies.

Knowing that her sisters were also enjoying themselves made Adagio feel a bit jealous as she grumbled. She wanted to see them at night but from what she could hear, the festival sounded very tempting.

"Maybe if I just check it out once." She stood up. "I just have to keep a low profile, that's all. Come on, Kricketot."

"Tot!"

A risk she didn't want to take at first. Adagio wasn't exactly the most beloved individual in Canterlot. Or even all of Equestria. Especially considering what happened during the Canterlot Tournament and even Castelia City.

If she steps out there, she believes that she'll be met with judgemental eyes. Her sisters and Celestia were the only three that she feels comfortable around.

But her Kricketot would always be there for her no matter what like the loyal Pokemon he is.

Once she set hoof into the streets of Canterlot, she braced herself for the worst to happen.

However, when she did arrive at the streets, she noticed that not many were actually even paying attention to her. They were all too caught up in the festival to even care. It is a fun festival so it makes sense why no one would notice.

Adagio looked around to see that only a few of them were looking at her, but they were humans from other regions who had never seen Adagio before. They just thought she looked like a pretty pony with surprisingly sharp teeth.

"Hm. I expected worse..." Adagio spoke.

"Krick."

Now that she was here, in full public, Adagio wasn't sure what to do first. She honestly didn't think she'd get this far. Now was the time to act. But how?

Adagio didn't have to stand around wondering, because she spotted something that perplexed her immediately. Obviously, she recognized Princess Celestia since they've had their interactions, even if they were short.

However, next to Celestia was her mother Sunlight. Adagio had heard from her own mother about how she and Sunlight met once. Sunlight was the one pony that found a mutual relationship with a siren, but that was it. Nothing more.

Because of this, a bit of that mutual relationship had affected Adagio from her younger years to the present day. Which is why she is mutual around Princess Celestia.

And seeing Sunlight and how identical she was to Celestia, but taller, made Adagio immediately realize who this was. It was a dead giveaway from the start.

"Is that...?" Adagio gawked as she slowly approached Sunlight as if she was put in some sort of mystical trance.

"Tot?"

Adagio pushed through many humans, ponies and Pokemon, not even noticing that she had nudged them. Her fixation on Sunlight was already locked.

And Sunlight could sense this indeed. She sensed the presence of someone familiar. Someone who wasn't Vivace but her offspring who had a similar presence.

She turned her head, spotting the spitting image of Vivace's herself. Hair eyes and everything. The only huge difference was the fact that Adagio wasn't shaped like a siren at all.

But of course, since Sunlight has been watching over Equestria ever since her departure to the Ambrosial Plane, she is well aware of who Adagio was.

"Well. This is a pleasant surprise." Sunlight smiled at Adagio, prompting her to stop. "Hello, Adagio."

"Uh." A perplexed Adagio uttered.

"Hm?" Celestia was alerted by that name, forcing her to look over at her mother's direction. Indeed, Adagio was here, right in front of them. "Adagio?"

"I never thought I would have the chance to ever physically meet you." Sunlight walked up to the siren-pony-hybrid. "And now that I have a clearer look at you, you truly do look like your mother. Albeit, with a pony's appearance."

"You're...Sunlight?" said Adagio.

"Mhm. Your mother and I have met. Even if it was once. But it was a pleasing experience."

"I..." Adagio was still a bit stuck on how to feel about all of this.

"Don't be shy. You can speak your mind as much as you want to me." Sunlight let out a soft motherly smile that reminded Adagio of her own mother.

"Um. I...I wanted to say that...Nevermind, it's nothing." Adagio retracted her words.

"Hm." Sunlight laughed. "I'm sure you'll spill it eventually. But it's wonderful that you've decided to join the festival, despite your fears of everypony here being hostile to you."

"I thought they would be but, they don't even notice me."

"Oh. They've noticed." Eventide nodded as he pointed his hoof over at Ash, Pikachu and Fluttershy spotting her. Twilight and the others hadn't noticed yet, however.

"Right now, Adagio. You're not an enemy here." Sunlight shook her head.

"I'm not?"

"Not at all." Celestia walked up to her. "I can tell that you aren't here for malicious reasons. But there is a reason anyway, right?"

"Hm. Yes. I'm here to spend time with my sisters. But I'm only planning to do it at night. It's less populated at that time."

"Why wait till the dawn ends?" Eventide chuckled. "There is plenty of family bonding to be had during the morning, afternoon and night! One must seize each opportunity of happiness they can have!"

"What my father said. I understand you're only choosing the night to avoid any hostile eyes?" Celestia wondered.

"Yeah but, none of them are even looking my way. Is this festival really that distracting?"

"It's more of the case that it is enchanting!" Sunlight exclaimed. "Normally, I'm always distracted by something else rather than focusing on my studies. In fact, that is how I first met your father. Granted, I always got myself into trouble with my teachers for skipping my studies frequently."

"Trouble is an understatement." Eventide shook his head. "But you became Queen either way alongside me becoming a king!" Eventide pulled Sunlight, Celestia and Adagio in for a large hug with his gigantic hooves. "Thinking about it just makes me want to reminisce of the good old days!"

"Ugh...! Of course, father!" Celestia winced. "Your grip is still something to admire."

"Where is Luna, still? We have yet to find your elusive younger sister?" Eventide looked around. "She's not normally this frantic. But she did move around a lot when we planned to give her braces once. Bahahaha!"

"Urgh...Is your father this brazen?" Adagio sighed.

"I'm afraid so." Celestia squeed as they were all still within Eventide's clutches, hearing his girthy laugh.

Ash and the others were spectating Eventide's wide hug, seeing how they were getting along with Adagio. But Ash was the one who seemed to put a larger focus onto it as he had this odd look in his eyes.

"Ash? What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "Are you alright?"

"Pikachu?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just, seeing Eventide and Celestia reminds me of my dad." Ash said. The minute he spoke those words, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Barry and everyone's attention, had been grabbed by Ash's words.

"Your father?!" Twilight gasped as she also noticed that Adagio was here. "Adagio?! Wait-first your father, I need to know now!"

"Meloetta!"

"Yeah...it really takes me back." Ash began remembering a small moment with his dad that had always stuck to him to this very day.


When I was little, I'd get laughed at by my friends because of my dreams. And whenever I'd start sulking my dad would say this to me.

"The map to your goals is inside you. If you give up now then your dreams won't come true."


"Guess family moments really get me started, huh?" Ash chuckled.

"Pikachu..."

"We still haven't seen him though." Pinkie Pie pouted.

"Come Adagio Dazzle! Join us in our festival escapades!" Eventide bellowed.

"You want me to join you? With them involved?" Adagio looked over at Twilight as the two of them locked eyes. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Adagio." Twilight narrowed her eyes as well.

"I sense heavy hostility between the two of you." Eventide said. "But let us not partake in this festival as enemies! Bur rather friends and family, wouldn't you agree?!"

"The family part sure..." Adagio scoffed. "Just keep your distance Sparkle."

"Hmph!" Twilight turned around. "I already have Meloetta to deal with."

"Bahaha! This festival has just gotten a lot better!" Eventide erupted with laughter. "Come, Adagio Dazzle! Let us reunite with your sisters!"

"C-Can you at least drop me first!" Adagio yelled as she was now bound to this group. More specifically, the seemingly unavoidable clutches of Eventide's hooves.

With the afternoon gradually reaching the end, the first day of the Pokemon Festival is slowly coming to an end. But as if that would lessen the experience. 2 weeks is still an impressive amount of time for a festival. And all that time will be spent to the fullest with everyone here as the journey continues.

...

The afternoon has not yet reached its end during the Pokemon Festival.

But it's getting there ever-so-slowly.

Recently, the revelation of the Pokemon Ranger Jackie has given everyone the knowledge that thieves are lurking around somewhere.

More specifically, the Umbrage Thieves. Knowing that they only show themselves at night. And some of them seem to be lurking in Canterlot and is most likely to strike at night.

But right now, that is not on the mind of Ash and the others. All they have in mind is enjoying the festival until they come across the thieves at night.

And judging by how far the sun has moved, it might take a while for the night to really appear.

"Adagio!" Sonata exclaimed as she had lunged over to Adagio, giving her older sister an overwhelming hug. "You made it here!"

"Grrh! Get off me!" Adagio bellowed as she struggled to push her little sister off.

"You actually came here?" Aria said.

"Yeah!" Adagio put her hoof on Sonata's face, holding her back for a bit. "But I didn't expect to show myself at this time! Get off!"

"This means that we get to spend time together for 2 weeks! There's a lot we have to catch up on!" Sonata squeed as she flailed her hooves about, trying to reach Adagio.

"Family reunions and gatherings are always a treat!" Eventide exclaimed. "Come! Let us revel in this festival while it lasts! I have yet to try these other attractions."

"What attraction do we try?" Fluttershy flew up. "Oh. Applejack looks like she's enjoying the Escavalier Joust."

Indeed she was.

Currently, Applejack and James were taking part in the Escavalier Joust attraction by getting on Escavalier's back and putting a helmet on whilst the Escavalier do all the charging.

"You ready?" Applejack said as she was on the right Escavalier.

"Hold on!" James adjusted his helmet as he was on the left Escavalier. "Ready! Those 5000 Pokedollars are all mine!"

"Hmph. We'll see." Applejack smirked. The person in charge of the Escavalier attraction blew the whistle to let the joust begin.

"Esca!" Both Escavalier had already gotten a move on. They both bolted forward, holding their arm lances out at each other whilst the wind hits Applejack and James's face, even with the helmets on.

The two riders braced for impact, covering their eyes as the Escavalier's were ready to smash into each other without any thought of how the impact will turn out.

Once those lances made contact with each other, only one of them came out the victor. Applejack's Escavalier managed to overcome James's Escavalier by striking its lance onto its fellow Calvary Pokemon's torso.

The resulting impact was indeed strong. So strong that not only did it knock James and his Escavalier down but it also nearly made Applejack fall off as she hung on for dear life.

"W-Woah!" She stammered as she held her helmet.

"Ow!" James crashed onto the ground as he had lost the joust. With the human managing this attraction, she blew on the whistle to declare Applejack the winner. "Ough...My 5000 Pokedollars."

"You okay?" Applejack got off the Escavalier, walking up to the defeated James.

"Urgh...In good condition." James groaned as Applejack helped him up.

"Guess those bits belong to me." Applejack smirked. "Unless you're up for another round?"

"I'll pass." James chuckled before holding his back. "Ow!"

"If you two are done making faces at each other, check that out." Meowth jumped in front of them, showing the duo something he had just spotted. Meowth pointed his claws over to the south, right where the castle was located.

He spotted a fairly tall unicorn, almost alicorn size, moving around in a shifty manner as if she was trying to keep a low profile.

The tall unicorn noticed that she was being watched as her eyes made contact with Applejack and the others. But she didn't respond to them. Instead, she continued to move around suspiciously.

Meowth, being a Pokemon who normally moves around in a shady way alongside his human partners, could tell what that pony was up to immediately.

"She's moving all weird-like." Applejack said.

"Curious." James nodded.

"Those movements mean something's afoot here. No one acts all slippery in daylight." Meowth pointed out.

"What do you think she's up to?" James asked Meowth.

"Something interesting, that's for sure." Meowth grinned. Whatever this unicorn was up to, he took interest in it. Perhaps she had found some sort of treasure that Meowth would enjoy getting his paws on. "Those eyes are screaming up-to-no-good."

"Right with ya on that." But Applejack had something different in mind. "Something ain't right about how she's acting..."

"Sceptile."

She was certainly an odd one. Once a few ponies passed by her, the mysterious blue unicorn had suddenly vanished the moment the ponies moved out of the way, making Applejack and the other's flash their eyes.

"Huh?" Applejack rubbed her eyes.

"Scep?"

"That ain't right," said Meowth.

"Indeed. Disappearing that easily never spells anything safe and harmless." James nodded.

"Hmm..." Applejack got a bad feeling about this. She wasn't sure what that sudden disappearance meant. AJ was planning to continue enjoying this Festival, but now she was put on alert. "Might be nothing. Wanna try out another attraction, you two?"

"Anything to fill these pockets back up!" James agreed to tagalong with Applejack. He wasn't as focused on the mysterious blue pony like Applejack, but his attention was there.

But for Applejack, seeing that pony gave her bad vibes. Even though that unicorn wasn't near here, the fact that her presence alone was enough to make the earth pony shudder was already a fairly large red flag. One that Applejack isn't sure that she's ready to approach so soon.

But she wouldn't have to think about it for long, since her friends had come over after spotting her and James after their little Escavalier Joust.

"Applejack?" Pinkie appeared behind AJ. "You're out of the zone there, you okay?"

"Hm?" Applejack snapped out of it, seeing her fellow earth pony. "Oh. Pinkie. Everypony. I'm just-" Applejack's words were cut off once she recognized a familiar yet not-so-friendly face, Adagio. "Why's she here?" AJ narrowed her eyes.

"Tch." Adagio scoffed at Applejack. "Don't give me those eyes."

"She is just here to spend some time with her sisters." Sunlight chuckled nervously. "Absolutely nothing wrong here."

"This Escavalier thing seems pretty fun! I've always wanted to joust!" Sonata went up to the attraction. "Come on, Adagio! Let's joust!"

"Pass. I'm not getting my hair all scruffy from some jousting." Adagio denied Sonata's offer.

"I'll joust with you!" Pinkie dashed over. "Never got to try it myself!"

"Boring..." Adagio yawned, feeling uninterested in all of this

"If that doesn't interest you, there are a lot more attractions to discover for yourself." Eventide said. "And this is only Canterlot. Other locations have their own attractions that are waiting to be attempted."

"Hm." Adagio turned her head to the side. "Doubt I'm gonna like any of them."

"How straightforward..." Fluttershy giggled.

"Then...How about that?" Ash pointed over at something he thought would match Adagio's fancy.

It was related to Roxie, Roxanne and Brawly, who were still in the midst of their little music lesson with Roxie being the teacher.

This entire time, Roxie has been teaching the two of them about certain instruments she feels will work well with them. And so far, the guitar has matched with Roxanne while Brawly was just getting used to the drums.

"Huh." Adagio froze for a moment. As Ash predicted, that did, in fact, resonate with the siren. She loves music, so the sight of that would grab her attention.

Adagio seeing Roxanne Brawly and Roxie reminded her of when she and her sisters were humans back in the parallel world of this one, participating in the Battle of the Bands.

Her love for music made her feel compelled to the sight of those three and their instruments.

"Is that an attraction?" Twilight asked Ash.

"Actually, I just think it's just them playing some music." Ash rubbed the back of his head.

"Melo!" And speaking of someone who loved music, Meloetta was another individual who also resonated with what she saw. Both her and Adagio could relate to one single thing and that was music.

"That looks..." Adagio was about to finish her sentence but she paused for a moment.

"Tempting, isn't it?" Sunlight went up to Adagio. "You love music. And you're not going to let your chance to enjoy some music slip away aren't you?"

"No way. Besides. I've been stuck hearing the same songs over and over again thanks to this guy here." Adagio looked up at her mane, referring to Kricketot and that music memory device he constantly carries with him.

"Tot!"

"It's about time I hear something else."

"So..." Aria slid over to Adagio with a smirk on her face. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"I too am thinking what you're thinking that she's thinking." Sonata grinned, appearing beside Adagio.

The older siren had a poker face as she knew where this entire thing was going. From how her sisters were looking at her, she had no choice but to say it.

"Urgh! Fine...we'll sing." Adagio groaned.

"Yes!" Sonata jumped up. "Like old times! The Dazzlings back together!"

"I'm getting a bit nostalgic." Aria smiled.

"Alright, don't get too excited you two. We'll only do it for a short while and-" Adagio was about to finish her words until Twilight interrupted.

"Oh wait. Sonata, Aria. You two haven't gotten your voices back yet...have you?" Twilight squinted her eyes.

"Well...We've uh..." Sonata twiddled her hooves. "We've been practising and improving but...I've kinda taken some breaks and haven't been keeping up with my training."

"Same here." Aria sighed. "I've gotten too distracted recently to practise my singing. Doesn't help the fact that whole Eternatus, Spiritomb and other weird stuff got in the way."

"You two have been getting your voices back?" Adagio turned around to them.

"Mhm! We'd be singing beautifully by now if we weren't slacking with our singing lessons. Sorry." Sonata squeed.

"Hmmrrgh..." Adagio growled. "Unacceptable. You two. We're practising right now. Until dusk."

"Huh?!" Sonata and Aria both exclaimed.

"Right now? But I've still got a lot of the festival to look forward to! I was gonna joust too!" Sonata groaned.

"I haven't even tried all the attractions yet. Can't it wait?" Aria asked.

"You'll enjoy your festival once you get to a moderate level. Now come along." Adagio used her magic to hold them both, dragging them to a spot where they can practice in private.

"Aww..." Sonata whimpered. "No fair."

"Oh well. It's 2 weeks so I'm not too mad about it." Aria crossed her hooves, trying to shrug it off. But in reality, she was fairly upset by this.

"She certainly shares your sense of determination, doesn't she, Twilight?" Celestia giggled.

"Wh- No!" Twilight denied any possibility that she and Adagio were similar in any way.

"Baha!" Eventide laughed. "Let them bond as a family! Right now...I've always wanted to involve myself in jousting. Who will join me in a friendly duel? Dear. Let us settle our feuds with this joust!"

"No way." Sunlight shook her head. "You get a bit too competitive sometimes, honey."

"I'll do it!" Pinkie offered up. "Let me! Pick me!"

"Then it's settled! Let us joust, Pinkie Pie!" Eventide went with her offer.

"Okay!" Pinkie hopped on the closest Escavalier to her.

"Cava!" The Calvary Pokemon almost lost its balance from Pinkie hopping on its back.

"This should be entertaining." Eventide got on the left Escavalier's back. Due to him being the biggest pony in Equestria, more than even Sunlight who was already taller than her daughters, his weight had unfortunately affected the Bug-Steel-Type.

"C-Cavalier!" Escavalier's eyes bulged out, trying to hold the male alicorn up.

"Just for safety." The woman placed steel helmets on Eventide and Pinkie Pie's head for protection. Although, Eventide most likely didn't need it thanks to that silver light that is always around him.

"20 bits just for some jousting? Easy money!" Pinkie grinned as the visor of the helmet came down. "Alright, Escavalier. If you've got Iron Defense then use it to give momma some quick cash!"

"Escava!"

"I warn you Pinkamena Diane Pie. I may not look like it, but I have the spirit of a warrior inside of me!" Eventide bellowed.

"But he's only ever been in a battle once..." Sunlight whispered to her daughter as she giggled.

"Best of 3 you two?" The woman asked them both.

"Make it best of 7!" They both chose a different playoff format. These two were getting competitive with each other.

"Alright then. Begin!" She blew the whistle, allowing them both to begin as the two Escavalier's readied themselves.

"I'm itching for another battle though," Barry grumbled.

"If you're eager for more battling, the Crystal Empire has a battle spot that you can enter from what I hear," Celestia said.

"Oh! Realy?!" Both Ash and Barry yelled.

"Guess we really are heading to the Crystal Empire tomorrow! So psyched!" Ash grinned.

"Pikachu!"

"And I will have a chance to meet the royal family." Sunlight said. "That precious Flurry Heart looks like such an angel!"

"I'm not sure I'd say angel just yet..." Celestia laughed awkwardly as she witnessed Eventide knock Pinkie and her Escavalier down with his own Escavalier.

"The first round is mine! Baha!"

"Hmph!" Pinkie got off the ground and back on the Escavalier. "We'll see in round 2!"

"Hm. I do wonder what everypony else is up to?" Twilight thought about Rarity and the others. They were all in their own little groups or going solo in this festival. So she wondered what activities they've involved themselves with.


Rarity and Spike were still with Cilan.

Originally, they were looking for Ash, but they got sidetracked immensely when they came across something, or rather, Rarity came across something that caught her attention. Something she did once and it almost drove her mad. And it all relates to one Pokemon.

Furfrou.

More specifically, a Furfrou Stylist attraction.

Previously, when Rarity first went to Kalos with Applejack, she took interest in the Pokemon Furfrou. The fact that it was a Pokemon that can have its fur be stylized into anything the stylist wishes drew her in.

But that is exactly what pulled Rarity in the first time. She got so caught up in stylizing many Furfrou's that belonged to other trainer's that she almost went insane and nearly decided to stay in the Lumiose City Friseur Furfrou shop. Luckily, Applejack was there to snap her out of it.

But now that she has come across this Pokemon a second time, this could only spell disaster.

"F-F-F-Furfrou!" Rarity stammered as she was already having powerful urges to stylize the Furfrou's here.

"Interested?" The woman managing this attraction said.

"YES!" Rarity bellowed, startling her. "Oh, sorry. Yes. I would."

"Great. You'll have to go up against someone else to really involve yourself in this."

"I see. Spike." Rarity turned to Spike.

"Me?! I can't stylize fur!"

"Hm. Cilan?"

"Sorry. I'm not skilled in that at all." Cilan shook his head.

"Hm. Completely stuck." Rarity sighed.

"But not to worry. There is a backup for situations such as this." The woman raised her finger.

"There is?" The three of them said.

"Mhm. Unfortunately, I don't have it with me."

"Gh!" Rarity winced. "Then why bring it up in the first place...?"

"Maybe tomorrow, somepony will be here, Rarity," Spike said.

"Perhaps." Rarity was about to accept defeat until something crossed her mind. "Unless..." She took out two Poke Balls from her saddlebag. "Pheromosa! Leavanny! Out you two come!" She sent the two Bug-Types out.

"Leavanny."

"Pheromosa."

"A simple and quick question. Which one of you is skilled in fur or hairstyling?" She asked her partners.

"Mosa." Pheromosa pointed at Leavanny. Leavanny could potentially stylize hair thanks to her knowing the move X-Scissor and utilizing it carefully without hurting anyone.

"Alright. Thank you. Return, Pheromosa." Rarity returned the Lissome Pokemon. "Leavanny. If you don't mind. Would you like to compete against me in this attraction?"

"Lea!" Leavanny was up for some friendly competition.

"Great!" The woman clapped her hands together. "You two can get started. You have about 10 minutes to come up with a style. The reward for this is 40 bits or 7000 Pokedollars."

"40 bits you say?" Rarity got in front of a Furfrou. "Let us begin then!"

"Van!"

"Alright...Ready...Go!" The woman gave the command to let the styling begin.

"You may be my Pokemon, but I won't lose to you!" Rarity got to work by using the scissors that were on the table to stylize Furfrou's hair. The way she was able to stylize Furfrou's fur at high speeds with magic alone was impressive.

"Vanny!" But Leavanny was equally as impressive due to her lightning-fast arm movements. Creating clothing from strings really comes in handy in situations such as these.

As Spike and Cilan watched them go at it, something of interest caught the baby dragon's ears from two ponies who were passing by. The words went like this.

"Did you hear? Someone's going around, turning Pokemon into stone."

"Hah? That's pretty scary. Is it Team Plasma maybe?"

"Hopefully not. That Ghetsis person scares me."

"...Turning Pokemon into stone?" Spike uttered. Hearing that didn't sound like good news. Especially since Team Plasma was brought up. A nervous feeling came through him.

Unlike most of his friends, Spike has never really met Ghetsis before. He's only heard of him and what he looks like at best. He wasn't even there during Manehattan unfortunately.

So if there was a chance that he could come across Ghetsis, he wouldn't want it to be now or ever. But he knew that it could happen.

So a horrible feeling rushed through his body.

But he wasn't the only one.

Inside of Absol's Poke Ball, the Disaster Pokemon could sense that something was amiss at this very moment. What he was sensing wasn't an immediate disaster, rather a precursor to it.

And it wasn't limited to Absol and Spike either.

Lucario, who can sense the aura of every living thing in both worlds and Passion with her amazing psychic abilities that seem to have no end also picked up on this unsettling presence.

They weren't sure what it as, but they knew it wasn't anything that could be deemed as a friendly whatsoever. But that wasn't the only thing that didn't have a friendly presence to them whatsoever.

The unicorn that James, Applejack, Meowth, Sceptile and Golett spotted had entered the Pokemon School of all places instead of Canterlot Castle.

She wasn't here to gawk at the school and what it has to offer. Or even sign up. Not at all. This unicorn was here for a different reason.

With the school being empty right now with not a single human, pony or Pokemon present, the unicorn was on her own. Which she wanted personally.

Her trotting led her to the second floor, where the Pokemon Breeding Room was. Many eggs with Pokemon that have yet to hatch from them, mostly Baby Pokemon or First Stage Starter Pokemon were all kept in an incubator to tend the egg.

The incubators were made out of the wings of a Skarmory since it is a Pokemon that sheds its feathers very often. So it wasn't difficult to find enough feathers to craft hard incubators to protect these eggs.

It was a genius idea. If anyone were to try and steal the egg inside by melting the metal away by using a Fire-Type move, they would risk damaging the egg since it's so fragile and it doesn't help that Fire-Type Pokemon are naturally highly destructive.

The same can be said for other types such as Fighting or Ground. They made these incubators out of Skarmory's wings for those specific disadvantages. Keeping them in a hard material that any thief would risk breaking with just a single Pokemon move was a clever tactic.

The unicorn came across the room, seeing how the door was completely locked since no one was present today. Meaning no keys at all.

As if that mattered to her.

She took out a Poke Ball from her saddlebag, sending out one of her Pokemon. Klefki.

"Klef?" The Key Ring Pokemon turned around to see the unicorn stare at it with an intimidating grimace.

"You. Unlock this door immediately." She ordered with a stoic and harsh tone.

"Ki...Klef." Intimidated by the unicorn, Klefki listened to her commands. Klefki has keys of all kinds that it collects. So it would naturally have one for this door.

The Steel-Fairy-Type used a fitting key to easily open up the door to the Pokemon Breeding Room, allowing the unicorn full access to it.

"Excellent..." She smirked. "You did your job. Return." By returning Klefki to its ball, the mysterious unicorn entered the Pokemon Breeding Room, looking over the vast quantities of Pokemon Eggs inside of their incubators.

Her interest was focused on the incubators and nothing else.

"Hmph. How clever." She placed her hoof on an egg incubator. "Using Skarmory wings to keep them extra protected. Unfortunately, it's not all perfect." She dug into her saddlebag, sending out yet another Pokemon to assist her.

This time it was Dusclops.

"Dusclops...?" The Beckon Pokemon looked at its surroundings. Dusclops looked confused as it noticed that right in front of it was the mysterious unicorn who seemed to be its trainer. "D-Dusclops?!" Just like Klefki, Dusclops seemed intimidated by her.

"Stop wincing. Pull them in." She ordered. "All of them."

"Dus!" The Beckon Pokemon did what she ordered. By opening up its mouth, revealing its hollow body, Dusclops had pulled in all of the incubators with the force of a black hole as the unicorn watched with confidence.

In just a few seconds, all of the incubators in the Pokemon Breeding Room had been sucked up, now dwelling inside of Dusclops.

And for them to leave Dusclops's body, Dusclops itself must release them by will. Whenever Dusclops manages to absorb something into it, there is seemingly no escape.

"Good. Keep them in there until I need them. Return." With the eggs stolen, she returned the Beckon Pokemon to its Poke Ball. "Hm...They actually thought I would act at night." She chuckled. "But they have so much more to look forward too when night arrives.

"They will. But definitely not you." Suddenly, the unicorn wasn't alone as a second voice filled the room.

"What?" She quickly turned around to find that there was a shadow lurking behind her. A shadow that was larger than hers and had an overwhelming size.

She turned around to find that Darkrai was behind her with his imposing appearance looming over here.

The Pitch Black Pokemon had his claws over her head, preparing to fire a Dark Void at any point in time with the unicorn freezing in place.

"D-Darkrai." She stammered, showing signs of worry.

"Release your Dusclops and spit the incubators out," Darkrai ordered as the orb of Dark Void was getting larger.

"Curses..." The unicorn knew that with the position she was in, Darkrai had full control of the situation. One Dark Void and that was it. Not to mention that Darkrai was manipulating the shadows around her as well, only intimidating the unicorn even further.

She listened to him by using her magic to send out Dusclops from its Poke Ball.

"Dusclops."

"There. It's out." She said. "But you should know that once something enters Dusclops, it can never come back out. So making my Dusclops come out was essentially pointless." The unicorn smirked with confidence. "Those eggs are stuck there."

"Hmph." Darkrai flew over to Dusclops as he pulled off the impossible.

He shoved his hand through Dusclops's mouth all of a sudden. "D-D-Dusclops!"

"What the?!" She gasped. "How is that possible?!"

Darkrai being a Dark-Type was already a major advantage over Ghost-Types. But what Darkrai really excels at it manipulating all forms of shadows.

That includes Ghosts.

The unicorn could see that Darkrai was arguably the largest threat here. Especially if it's during the night. She realized that approaching the situation as it is now was most likely a bad idea.

So she decided to rethink her plans. And to do that, the mysterious unicorn would have to teleport out of here.

Without Dusclops.

"Hmph. Take the incubators back. I'll remember how to deal with you...Darkrai." She gave Darkrai her last words for now as she used her magic to teleport out of the room, leaving Dusclops behind along with its Poke Ball.

"She didn't even take her Pokemon with her..." Darkrai said to himself. He could instantly tell that the unicorn did not care for her Pokemon whatsoever if she is willing to leave them like that.

"C-Clops! Dusclops!"

"Hmph." Darkrai decided to put an end to this by pulling out all of the incubators inside of Dusclops's hollow body by using his claws to grab a hold of them.

Dusclops was powerless in this situation as the Pitch Black Pokemon used Dark Void inside of Dusclops's body to stop it from flailing around.

With Dusclops asleep, Darkrai could easily take out the incubators without having to deal with Dusclops's constant moving and writhing.

Because of that, Darkrai had saved the incubators from being trapped forever as he placed them back on the table they were all on previously."

"That settles that. But what to do about this one..." He looked down at the sleeping Duskclops. With the unicorn abandoning it, Dusclops was just on its lonesome now. The Poke Ball remained, however.

And that's how Darkrai decided to solve the problem. He picked up the Poke Ball, looking at it as he knew that sending Dusclops inside of its ball would eliminate any threats of it waking up.

So that's what he did.

Like a Pokemon Trainer, Darkrai returned Dusclops to its Poke Ball, keeping the sleeping Pokemon inside. But now he wondered what he should do with the ball.

Does he send it back to its original trainer who has no care for it? Or does he keep the Poke Ball somewhere else so that Duskclops has no chance of causing any further trouble?

He actually went for a third option. The one that he deemed the best. Darkrai went into the shadows with the Poke Ball still in his claws, heading to the one place for Dusclops to be at.

Luna's room.

Luna had many Pokemon. Darkrai being one of them. She has caught a Pokemon of every type and is most likely determined to catch more of them to exceed in the Equestria League.

So Darkrai felt like giving Luna a gift in the form of a free Dusclops. He felt as if Luna would treat this Pokemon better than its previous trainer who abandoned it.

Maybe.

Darkrai placed Dusclops's Poke Ball right next to her Frillish since Luna likes to keep her Pokemon out of their Poke Balls when they're indoors.

"Frill?" The Male Frillish looked at the Poke Ball.

"Frillish. Keep this Poke Ball close and protected, understood?" Darkrai ordered.

"Lish!" Frillish nodded instantly. He and all of Luna's Pokemon here had a sense of respect and deference to Darkrai. He was like a leader to them. So they were compelled to listen to him.

"Good. And stay alert at night. I'll be there to help." With that, Darkrai descended into the shadows once more, heading off to continue his duty as a guardian.

Darkrai could be enjoying the festival like everypony else, but he knew that there is always some unknown threat lurking and he has to be ready no matter what.

The festival was now reaching its late hours. The sun was emanating an orange glow as it was on the lower side now, indicating that the first day was about to come to a close.

And the night was ready to reveal itself. And only at night, will the Umbrage Thieves strike. Not only will Darkrai be ready, but Jackie, Ash and everyone else who had gained knowledge of their existence as the journey continues.

..

The Pokemon Festival. 6:30 PM

The sun was going down. Soon, the dark blue skies of the night would come out and envelop the entire world, transitioning into nightfall.

But even then, that wouldn't stop everyone from enjoying the festival. Although, there was one thing to consider when the night arrives.

"Victory is mine, Pinkie Pie. But well played." Eventide had just finished his Escavalier Joust with Pinkie as he helped her up from the ground.

"Aw!" Pinkie pouted. "I got wiped." Let's compete against each other in the next attraction!"

"Deal!" Eventide laughed as he looked up. "Hm. It's already close to nightfall. What say we-" When Eventide turned to face the others, he realized that they had already left. Off to take part in other festival activities. "Hm?! They've left already!"

"They're probably having loads of fun right now!" Pinkie climbed on Eventide's back. "We can keep on having loads of fun too!"

"Aye. Come, Pinkie Pie. There is much to do before the day ends." Eventide and Pinkie went off to do whatever it is they can involve themselves in.

Ash and the others had split up long ago, going their own separate ways to enjoy the festival. Some are still sticking in groups instead of going solo.

Speaking of Ash, he and Pikachu were being followed by both Twilight and Meloetta who have been giving each other looks for a long time now. Alongside Fluttershy who was intrigued by Meloetta.

"You know, you two have been acting pretty weird with each other." Ash pointed out. "You okay?"

"Hm? Fine. Totally fine." Twilight let out a fake grin.

"Meloetta." So did Meloetta. They both tried to play it off like there was nothing wrong, but clearly, there was. Once Ash turned around, the two of them got back to giving each other disdainful looks as they also growled.

"Oh my." Fluttershy's eyes widened. "I hope this doesn't last the entire festival."

"Audino."

"I should also check up on Chikorita. She must still be enjoying that pool." Fluttershy nodded.

"Pika...Pikachu..." Pikachu yawned, feeling the calming aura of the orange sunset. That was an indication that he was running low on steam for the day after having so much fun.

"Feeling tired buddy?" Ash said to his partner.

"Pika."

"Alright. We'll get you to bed up there." He pointed up at the castle, referring to the many guest rooms inside.

"I'll put him to bed, Ash." Fluttershy flew up to him.

"Thanks, Fluttershy." Ash gave Pikachu to Fluttershy, allowing her to take it from here. Seeing Fluttershy take Pikachu and hold him in her hooves made Twilight and Meloetta realize that Ash was flying solo now.

Pikachu, for the most part, is always by Ash's side and they are rarely apart from each other. So with this revelation, the two of them decided to take advantage of the situation. As their eyes met, they were thinking the same thing. But it was a matter of who would pull it off first.

Once Fluttershy left with Pikachu, it was just these three.

"Okay..." Ash took a deep breath. "What to do before I clock out?"

"Oh!" Twilight flew over to him. "Ash! Before you rest, we can both head to the balcony and watch the sunset together. At night, the stars look extra beautiful, especially here in Canterlot!"

"Melo?!" Meloetta gasped.

"Really? That'd be nice to look at actually." Ash grinned as he was considering it.

Which didn't bode too well with Meloetta. And she didn't have anything that could 1UP Twilight's suggestion, which almost made it seem like Meloetta had lost this time.

"Hm." Twilight rotated her head to face Meloetta as she had a smug look on her face, knowing that she had bested the Melody Pokemon.

At least, that's what she thought.

"Etta." Meloetta landed on Ash's shoulder, insisting that she could come along.

"Hm? Meloetta? Do you wanna come along?"

"Huh?!" Twilight screeched.

"Meloetta." She nodded gently whilst having one eye close and the other looking over at Twilight with cockiness involved within it. She let out a tiny little chuckle that riled Twilight up. "Etta-Etta."

"Alright. We'll all go up to the balcony then."

"Meloetta!"

"Yeah, great..." Twilight growled as she then started to whisper to Meloetta whilst they all made their way towards the castle. "You haven't won yet, you hear me? You can't convex him for long. I'm going to spend time with him one way or another."

"Etta. Melo. Meloetta." She whispered back with her own disdainful words.

But Ash was thinking about something else himself.

"Wonder what Rainbow Dash and Soarin are doing right now? Did they continue their Gym Battle?"


With Rainbow Dash and Soarin, they were both just casually hanging out instead of continuing their Gym Battle. They had already involved themselves in attractions and other activities and with the sun going down, they decided to just take things slow.

"I can see why you like them so much." Rainbow Dash said as she ate a pie with Soarin.

"Mhm!" He nodded in response whilst munching down on his favourite food. "Say, Rainbow Dash. I got a quick question."

"Yeah?"

"This whole Equestria League. Why do you wanna win it so badly? Besides becoming the first champion anyway?"

"Hm. That's easy. I just wanna win it and come out on top. That's all."

"Oh. I guess I should've expected that. Much easier than everypony else's?" Soarin devoured a pie.

"What about everypony?"

"Mmm!" He swallowed the pie. "Some of them wanna be the champion for completely different reasons, ya know. Way different than having fun."

"Like?"

"I don't know." Soarin consumed three pies at once. "But I can tell you that some are more personal than others."

"Huh. Personal..." Rainbow Dash began to think about something for a moment. About what she'll end up doing if she becomes the first champion of Equestria.

It's a huge goal but one that seems to be the be all end all of a Pokemon Trainer aside from the fabled and rare Pokemon Master role.

Rainbow thought about how Ash himself is a champion but he hasn't stopped going on countless journeys and creating new memories.

Ash himself even said that even if he becomes a Pokemon Master one day, he'll most likely never stop going on brand new adventures. After all, Ash knows that there is always something else out there waiting to be explored. It's why his adventure truly seems timeless.

But for Rainbow Dash, she wasn't so sure. If she wins, does she retire, continue being the champion until somepony beats her or something entirely unexpected.

That was up in the air for her.

But for now, she was going to keep on advancing through the ranks until she reaches the Equestria League and goes up against the best of the best.

"What about you, Soarin? Why do you want to be the champion?"

"Hm? Nah. I'm not planning on being the champion."

"You're not? Then why are you taking part in the Equestria League?"

"Not sure myself. I guess I'm doing it for the same reason you are. Just to have fun. Minus the champion part."

"Well...What are you gonna do when you become the champion?"

"Eh..." Soarin winced. "No clue. If I do become the champion somehow then...I guess I'll keep battling until I find somepony stronger who can beat me. Or I'll just chill and relax like Cynthia."

"Hm. I guess that would work..." Rainbow Dash said under her breath.

"Anyway...I'm slumped." Soarin yawned. "Might have to go to the Crystal Empire tomorrow for some new attractions."

"Aren't you gonna stay here and run the gym?" Rainbow asked.

"Hm? Nah." He shook his head. "The other pony's gonna take my place. I wanna enjoy this thing to the fullest, you know what I mean?"

"I hear ya." She nodded. "But we're still gonna finish our battle right?"

"Oh sure." Soarin ate the last pie. "I'll be at my best and we'll have a blast."

"Great. Then get yourself to bed, Gym Leader."

"Okay! But uh...Mind if I have a few more pies?"

"Sure..." Rainbow sighed before laughing afterwards.


Inside of Canterlot Castle.

"Alright, Pikachu," Fluttershy spoke as she placed the Electric Mouse Pokemon on a guest room bed. "You get yourself some great rest."

"Pika..." Pikachu stretched his arms, feeling the soft and comfortable mattress of the bed he was on. He placed his arms behind his back, wagging his tail as he was in pure bliss right now.

"We should check up on Chikorita. Audi. She must've fallen asleep in the pool by now."

"Dino."

The trainer and Pokemon left the room, leaving Pikachu to rest his nerves away as they turned off the light, closing the door in the process.

But they weren't leaving the castle just yet. Not because they wanted to stay around for a little while longer, but because Audino's feelers were picking up on something.

"Audino?" Her head turned east.

"What is it, Audi? What did you hear?"

"Audino..." What she heard sounded like someone falling to the floor. Soon, she and Fluttershy spotted a very familiar green glow right around the corner with familiar tentacles as well.

They looked at each other, knowing what move that was. Secret Power. More specifically the Secret Power that causes sleep. Which means that the sound that Audino heard was the sound of someone falling asleep without full control.

They quickly rushed to the corner to see that the guards of Canterlot Castle had all been put to sleep. Most likely just now since the green energy was fading away.

"Oh, dear!" Fluttershy gasped as she flew over to the guards. "Um, wake up please." She gently nudged the sleeping guards with her hooves, trying to wake them up.

"Dino." Audino did the same but she made no progress either.

"Oh. I wish Refresh also worked on sleep effects...But who could've done this?"

"Audino." Audino reminded Fluttershy of how Jackie mentioned that the Umbrage Thieves were here in Canterlot. And previously, their first encounter with them involved Secret Power that was meant to put them to sleep.

"Oh right. The Umbrage Thieves. But it's not yet night." Fluttershy looked around. She noticed that other than the guards and her and Audino, nopony else was present inside of Canterlot Castle.

At least, that's what they thought.

Because behind them, a shadow loomed over, which already gave the two of them a horrible vibe and uneasy feeling. Fluttershy gasped as Audino quickly got in front of her trainer, ready to protect her from whatever threat would cause any form of harm.

But it was quickly revealed that it wasn't a threat.

The shadow was just Darkrai rising back up as he towered over Audino and Fluttershy.

"Oh, Darkrai. You scared me." Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry. But it seems I was too late." Darkrai spoke. "They certainly know how to disappear with barely any trace. All I can see is some sort of a swift blur."

"Who? You mean the Umbrage Thieves?"

"Hm? Do you know of them?"

"Mhm." Fluttershy nodded. "We first met them back near Ponyville. And they used the same Secret Power to try and put us to sleep. Pokemon Ranger Jackie told us that they'd be here."

"So I'm not the only in pursuit of them then..."

"They strike only at night, but the sun hasn't fully gone down yet." Fluttershy looked out the window.

"Whenever they strike, they're slippery. I've only managed to find one of them earlier this afternoon. I sensed more of them but now they've just suddenly vanished."

"Dino..." Audino tried to chime in by using her feelers to pick on any trace of the Umbrage Thieves. But she didn't get a single thing.

All her ears picked up on were the sounds of the guards snoring and mumbling in their sleep.

"Audi can't find them either." Fluttershy pointed out.

"They're most likely using a Pokemon to mask their presence. The previous thief used a Dusclops to try and steal the eggs from the Pokemon Breeding Room. But I'm not sure which Pokemon they're using for Secret Power or completely vanishing."

"Well..." Fluttershy stood up. "Officer Jenny revealed that they can sometimes leave a trace of hair behind. Like how one of them left a yellow strand of hair."

"Yellow strand of hair you say?" That caught Darkrai's attention. The pony he encountered earlier had a yellow mane and is most likely apart of the Umbrage Thieves. "Fluttershy. Audino. Will you help me find them?"

"Of course!" Fluttershy flew up "I can't let them get away with stealing Pokemon! Especially Pokemon who belong to trainers!" Saying that made Fluttershy realize that both Chikorita and Pikachu were alone without Fluttershy or Ash being present with them. "Oh, no...Chikorita! Pikachu!"

Worried, she rushed towards the guest room where Pikachu was resting, hoping that he hadn't been taken by the Umbrage Thieves.

Thankfully, Pikachu was fine and snug in the bed.

"Pikachu..." The Electric Mouse Pokemon sighed.

"Oh thank goodness..." Said a relieved Fluttershy. "But what about Chikorita?! They could've grabbed her from the Relief Zone!"

"Audino!" Audino told Fluttershy that Chikorita was fine since she could still hear the snoring of the Leaf Pokemon from afar by the pool

Thanks to Audino being inside of Canterlot Castle and instead of outside, she was able to focus her feelers clearly on one specific sound rather than having to try and navigate her hearing through the crowded streets of the Pokemon Festival.

"Oh. Okay. But I'm still worried. Let's pick her up as soon as we can! Oh, but I don't want to leave Pikachu here!"

"Don't worry, Fluttershy. I can solve this." Darkrai flew over to her.

"Y-You can?"

"All of you. Come out." Darkrai had suddenly ordered for the arrival of Luna's Pokemon who were all still inside of the Moon Princess's bedroom.

From Luna's room, her Pokemon had exited. From Frillish phasing through the walls to the others just simply using the door to exit, they all listened to Darkrai since he had so much authority over them.

"Frill!"

"Excadrill!"

"Gli!"

All of them spoke rapidly, wondering why Darkrai had called them out.

"All of you. I need you to keep a lookout. For a certain group of ponies called the Umbrage Thieves. Their main objective is stealing Pokemon, specifically ones that are already owned by trainers."

"Oh! And they wear these black suits with green lines around them!" Fluttershy went into a bit more detail.

"Right. That too. Keep the guards safe and one of you is going to give me the signal if you catch them. Chatot. You're the loudest out of all of us, so you'll know what to do."

"Chatot! Know what to do!" Chatot replied.

"Thank you so much, Darkrai!" Fluttershy flew up to the Pitch Black Pokemon, surprising him with a loving hug.

"Mrrgh..." Darkrai grumbled at the hug. "Just go and get your Chikorita."

"Right! Audi, let's go quick!" Fluttershy hopped on Audino's back.

"Audino!" Like a trusty steed, Audino made a run for it. She wasn't the fastest Pokemon but she tried her best.

"Xatu. Those 4 eyes of yours can always come in handy." Darkrai spoke to Xatu. "I can most definitely count on you."

"Xatu..."

"I'll continue searching for them. And remember, give me a signal." Darkrai said his last words to them as he descended into the shadows, off to continue his search for the Umbrage Thieves.


The Relief Zone.

Finally, the sun had set. It was time for the moon to arrive.

Over at the area with the pool, Chikorita was fast asleep with her head poking out of the pool. It was a good thing she was a very light Pokemon.

All the Pokemon near here had already fallen asleep themselves due to the calming aura of the late afternoon that then transitioned into the night.

With the relaxing sound of the pool moving about, it seemed peaceful and sombre here with barely anything to break that peace.

The trees of this relief zone were met with an ominous and violent wind, one that was enough to wake the Leaf Pokemon up from her rest.

"Chiko?" She opened her eyes to see that it was now night. But that wasn't all. Chikorita felt as if something was off the moment she woke up.

From how the wind was blowing on the trees along with an unknown howl, the Grass-Type had gotten an uncomfortable feeling run through her.

"Chiko!" She called out for her trainer Fluttershy. Chikorita is a bit of a little child. In which she can get terrified easily over anything that may seem suspicious or unknown.

And she had every right to be a bit terrified. The ominous wind had suddenly stopped abruptly. The eerie howling in the wind had ceased with pure silence filling the air.

Chikorita thought that everything was clear now as she got out of the pool.

"Chikorita!" The sound of Fluttershy echoed through her ears.

"Chiko?"

"Chikorita!" Fluttershy and Audino had arrived in time to see their friend completely fine and still in the same spot. "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Chiko!" The Leaf Pokemon hopped into the arms of Audino.

"Audino!"

"Phew...I suppose they only really strike at a very late night." Fluttershy smiled.

"Rita?"

"I'm just glad that you're alright. And all the Pokemon here as well."

"Audi." Audino nodded in agreement. But once again, her feelers were picking up on something new. This time, it sounded like a whimper. "Audino?"

The whimper wasn't too far away since it was approaching the direction of Audino, Fluttershy and Chikorita. They could each hear it now as it was revealed that a Klefki was making those whimpers.

"Klefki..."

"Oh, a Klefki. What's wrong?" Fluttershy flew over to the whimpering Key Ring Pokemon, seeing that it was in a state of sadness.

"Ki...Klefki." The Key Ring Pokemon closed its eyes, giving a sort of apology to Fluttershy and her Pokemon.

"Hm? What do you mean by... I'm sorry?" Fluttershy translated as she tilted her head, wondering why Klefki would say that.

"Ki." The reason why the Steel-Fairy-Type apologized was because of one reason. When it opened its eyes, a blue outline of Psychic energy surrounded the bodies of Fluttershy, Audino and Chikorita.

"Audino?!"

"Chiko?!"

"H-Huh?!" The shy pegasus gasped as she and her Pokemon were now being held in place by the Psychic grasp of this small little Key monster.

"Bravo, Klefki." It wasn't Klefki doing this on purpose. Instead, it had been ordered to use Psychic on the three of them.

And the trainer who ordered the Key Ring Pokemon was an Umbrage Thief. More specifically, the one that Fluttershy and her friends first encountered down in the caves. From her tall stature to her lengthy horn.

"Y-You?!" Fluttershy exclaimed.

"The ability to hear anything. From how somepony is feeling or an egg hatching." The Umbrage Thief went up to Audino, circling the Hearing Pokemon. "We could use that."

"D-Dino?!"

"You're not getting your hooves on my Audino!" Fluttershy growled.

"Hmph." The unicorn smirked underneath the mask as she looked over at Chikorita.

"Chiko...!"

"Hm. Nothing special about this one. We'll just sell it."

"Chiko?!"

"I don't think so! Audi! Hyper Beam!"

"Audi..." A ball of energy formed in Audino's mouth as a means of escaping the hold of Psychic. She didn't want to harm Klefki but she wasn't about to let this thief sell her friend and use her for personal gain.

"Slam them."

"K-Klefki!" Klefki closed its eyes as it slammed all three of them down on the ground, interrupting Hyper Beam as the trio felt some pain enter their system from getting slammed onto the solid ground.

The Key Ring Pokemon kept them on the ground with their faces being flat on the ground. They were unable to move as all they could see was the ground now.

"Hm-hm." The unicorn chuckled. "Easy." She walked up to Chikorita and Audino, already having a way of capturing them each.

The unicorn wasn't alone. From the shadows, other Umbrage Thieves revealed themselves. Eighteen of them in total as they all surrounded Fluttershy and her Pokemon.

But they couldn't see the thieves since they were just in a face-flat position.

"Y-You won't get away with this! Darkrai-"

"Oh, we're aware of Darkrai." She interrupted Fluttershy. "The Pitch Black Pokemon who's capable of nightmares? We've dealt with that."

"But Darkrai can go into the shadows of everypony! You can't-"

"Ah, but there is only one Darkrai here. We took the pleasure of distracting him." She walked up to Fluttershy, raising her head, revealing the rest of the Umbrage Thieves to her.

"S-So many..." Fluttershy gawked.

"Yes. Our black suits are what will keep that Dark pest out of our manes...They're not just for show you know."

"Yeah!" A pegasus flew up to Fluttershy. "These babies are made out of-"

"Hush." The unicorn shoved her hoof in the pegasus's mouth, forcing her to stop before she reveals their secret. But these suits were indeed capable of masking them from a Pokemon such as Darkrai. The best that Darkrai can spot is a blur.

Fluttershy picked up on that fast. Darkrai mentioned that he could only see a swift blur. Even with a Pokemon such as himself, he couldn't trace the Umbrage Thieves.

This would also explain why the Officer Jenny's had so much trouble tracking the thieves down until one of them left a mane that allowed them to get a trace of the Umbrage Thieves.

Which led Fluttershy to theorize how they were able to do it.

"You used magic..." Fluttershy uttered.

"Perhaps." She chuckled. "Alright. Time to go." The unicorn, seemingly the leader of the group, approached Audino and Chikorita as her horn was glowing.

"No!" Fluttershy exclaimed. She tried to reach for her Mega Ring but Psychic wouldn't let her.

"Sssh...Go to sleep now. Orbeetle. Hypnosis." The unicorn uttered as an Orbeetle descended from above, floating in front of the unicorn.

"Orb." The Seven Spot Pokemon sent hypnotic waves of psychic energy that travelled from its eyes. Fluttershy tried to close her eyes, but the unicorn used her magic to keep them open.

"No closing them." She grinned.

Hypnosis had put Fluttershy into a drowsy state, causing the shy pegasus to feel exhausted immediately. She was powerless in this situation.

At least, it seemed like that was the case.

Until Darkrai arrived.

"Found you!" He emerged from the shadows, firing a barrage of Dark Voids that rained down from above.

"What?!" The unicorn gasped as she witnessed multiple black orbs of darkness heading straight towards her. She quickly put a defensive barrier to shield her from the Dark Void but the others weren't so lucky.

Each of the other Umbrage Thieves were hit by Dark Void, putting them all into a slumbered state. Klefki had been hit by the Dark Void as well.

"Accursed Darkrai...!" Knowing that Darkrai had found them despite their seemingly perfect plan to hide and distract him had failed, the unicorn decided to leave without her fellow thieves.

Orbeetle got in the way by using Protect to shield the unicorn from the rain of Dark Voids from above. This plan was a failure thanks to Darkrai.

She used her magic to teleport away, abandoning not only Klefki and her fellow thieves, but even Orbeetle who got in the way to protect her.

"Beetle?!" The Seven Spot Pokemon noticed that she had abandoned it, causing Orbeetle to let its guard down. And once it did, Dark Void hit it, putting the Psychic-Bug-Type into a sleep state.

Fluttershy was freed from the grasp of Psychic due to Klefki falling asleep as Darkrai looked over, noticing that one of them had escaped. More specifically the tall unicorn.

"Ugh..." Fluttershy groaned as she quickly got off the ground.

"Fluttershy! Are you alright?!" Darkrai descended.

"Audino...Chikorita..." Fluttershy whimpered as the thought of her Pokemon almost being stolen like that hit her so hard that she fainted from the shock.

Darkrai caught her with his claws, preventing her from falling onto the ground. The Pitch Black Pokemon saw how Audino and Chikorita were a bit injured from Klefki slamming them onto the ground.

It was wonderful that Darkrai came to their rescue.

With Fluttershy fainted and the others asleep, Darkrai now had a lot that he had to do. His first decision was making sure that the thieves don't go anywhere when they wake up. And the second decision was getting Fluttershy to a bed so that she can rest.

But, he thought of a better idea. He flew over to Audino, giving the Hearing Pokemon her trainer. "Get her to the guest room."

"Audino!" Audino understood clearly as she and Chikorita made a run for it whilst Darkrai would stay here in the relief zone, keeping an eye on the thieves.

A heroic save from Darkrai. But the mysterious unicorn who seems to be the leader of all of this was now a major red flag to take notice of.

It is unclear if this unicorn was still in Canterlot after her plan managed to result in a huge failure since Darkrai found her. But with the rest of the thieves asleep here in Canterlot, Darkrai has a lot of information to give out while the first day of the Pokemon Festival slowly comes to an end as the journey continues.

Canterlot Castle Guest Room, day.

The second day of the Pokemon Festival had arrived. Previously, the first day had come to an end.

For most, it ended on a great note with tons of excitement. But not all ended their first day on a great note. And one of them was Fluttershy.

Currently, she was in the Canterlot guest room. Last night, she had fainted after a horrible shock, leaving her unconscious for many hours.

But not anymore. Now she was finally waking up. Her eyes slowly opened as the first thing she saw was the face of Audino and Chikorita.

"Mrrgh...Audino? Chikorita?"

"Audino!"

"Chiko!"

The two of them piled on their trainer, giving her a loving hug whilst also being greatly relieved that she was okay. Fluttershy noticed that it wasn't just her Pokemon in the room. But the rest of her friends were here as well.

"Fluttershy!" They all said in unison.

Fluttershy saw how even Eventide and Sunlight were here. The only exception being Celestia and Luna who weren't present with them.

"Are you alright?!" Rarity zipped around Fluttershy. "They didn't lay a hoof on you did they?!"

"I'm fine now." Fluttershy nodded. "Thank you. But what happened last night?"

"You fainted, remember?" Twilight said. "Audino carried you back here to safety after the Umbrage Thieves tried to steal them from you."

"Ah!" Fluttershy sat up. "I remember! What-"

"The thieves had been taken care of." Twilight interrupted. "Darkrai kept watching over them the entire night. Right now, they're being investigated and detained in the dungeon."

"Oh. Okay. I never got to say thank you to Darkrai. For saving me."

"You don't have to." Speaking of Darkrai, he was by the corner this entire time, perfectly hidden in the shadows.

"Darkrai!" Fluttershy let out a wide smile as the Pitch Black Pokemon flew over to her.

"Are you recovering well?" Darkrai asked.

"Mhm!" She nodded. "Thank you so much for saving us! I don't know what would've happened if you weren't there."

"Hmph. Those thieves honestly thought they could forever mask themselves from me. The shadows are my speciality."

"About that. You had trouble finding them earlier but then later you found me with them." Fluttershy wondered. "How come?"

"I only work best in total darkness. The festival had a plethora of lights, but the Relief Zone has no lights, so I can work with the shadows at a better rate."

"Oh...Well, I'm glad you were there to save us anyway." Fluttershy surprised the Dark-Type with an unexpected yet loving hug that caused Darkrai to jolt up a bit.

"Urgh...Y-You're welcome." Darkrai took her thanks. "But one of them managed to escape. I suspect that one might be their leader."

"If she shows up again, I'm gonna flatten her!" Rainbow Dash smashed her hooves together.

"But at least we have the others. Jackie's taking them to the nearest Officer Jenny, right over at Pewter City." Ash said.

"Pikachu."

"Glad you two are okay." Fluttershy pulled in Audino and Chikorita. "Sorry that I couldn't properly protect you both myself."

"Audino."

"Chiko."

"Don't beat yourself up Fluttershy." Rarity walked up to her. "There were too many of them anyway."

"I know. I just don't want to go through that experience again." Fluttershy whimpered.

"Then let's get it off your mind," Ash spoke. "Some of us are heading to the Crystal Empire next for the second day. Sunlight and the others are already getting a head start."

"Pikachu."

"The Crystal Empire?" Fluttershy turned to Ash. "That'd be nice to see what attractions they have."

"Shouldn't you rest a little bit more?" Twilight thought.

"Meloetta?"

"No-no. I'm fine now. I just fainted from a shock that's all. I won't let that stop me."

"What energy!" Pinkie dashed over. "Look at how far you've come!"

"You can all go along and continue your festival. I'm going to stay here and continue keeping watch over Canterlot." Darkrai was about to submerge into the shadows.

"You're not gonna join in, Darkrai?" Applejack turned to Darkrai.

"There's always something lurking in the shadows. You can never be too careful..." Those were Darkrai's last words as he vanished into the shadows, off to continue his duty.

"So serious..." Spike shuddered.

"Oh! I almost forgot, Ash!" Rarity exclaimed. "A friend of yours wanted to meet up with you again. Cilan."

"Huh? Cilan's here?!" Ash gasped.

"Pika?!"

"Mhm. We split up once the late afternoon came around and he didn't have the opportunity to meet you on the first day. But now might be a good opportunity."

"That'd be great!" Ash grinned. "Barry's already headed to the Crystal Empire too. I wonder if I can get Cilan to tag along as well!"

"You'd better hurry. The train to the Crystal Empire's gonna leave soon. Cilan's already headed there too." Spike pointed out.

"Oh." Ash nodded aggressively. "Then I can't waste any time!" He dashed out of the room with Pikachu.

"Stay with us, Fluttershy." Twilight helped Fluttershy off the bed. "There's strength in numbers after all."

"Alright." Fluttershy let out a soft smile. "But um, I might need something to drink first before we leave."

"Well, I've still got a gym battle to finish with Soarin." Rainbow Dash flew up. "I'll catch up with you guys later."


The Canterlot train station.

There, two familiar friends of Ash were waiting. Barry and Cilan. This was also their first time meeting and being in the same area as one another.

"Keeping me waiting like this...!" Barry tapped his foot aggressively on the ground. "I'm gonna have to Fine all of them afterwards!"

"Someone's impatient." Cilan chuckled. "I can see a bit of Ash in you."

"Hm? No way." Barry crossed his arms. "Ash and I are nothing alike!"

"Sure." Cilan nodded his head. "And speaking of Ash..." Cilan noticed the arrival of Ash and the others minus Rainbow Dash who was preparing for her battle with Soarin.

"Cilan!" Ash ran over to him.

"Pika!"

"Long time no see, Ash. Pikachu." Cilan replied.

"So you really are here. Awesome!" Ash got all giddy. "I'm getting pretty nostalgic seeing a ton of familiar faces lately."

"Enough chit-chat!" Barry exclaimed. "THat Crystal Empire place has a battle spot that need to put myself in and beat you, Ash! So let's go-go-go!"

"You know I'm psyched to take part in it too!" Ash grinned as he and Barry quickly entered the train ahead of everyone else.

"Wait for me!" Pinkie bounced inside of the train.

"Is having triple hyperactive individuals a bad thing?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe." Applejack responded as she and the others casually walked up to the train instead of rushing like Ash, Pinkie and Barry.

By entering the train, they were the last passengers to climb aboard. Fluttershy being behind them all. Despite her recovering from fainting last night, the thought of what happened still lingered in her head.

The Umbrage Thieves came incredibly close to stealing her Audino and Chikorita with her being completely powerless to do anything until Darkrai arrived.

Fluttershy feared that even with her having a Mega Ring and some battle experience, by herself, she might lagging behind her friends.

But her Pokemon looked up at her to reassure the pegasus that she wasn't lagging at all. It wasn't her fault that the Umbrage Thieves almost stole her Pokemon. She was even clever enough to try and defend herself with Mega Evolution and Hyper Beam but Psychic didn't let that happen.

"Chiko." The Leaf Pokemon climbed up on Fluttershy's head, giving her trainer a nice pat on the head. Both her and Audino gave their trainer comfort and a boost in confidence.

A Pokemon will always be there to make their trainer feel better, no matter what the situation or what happened before. And that is just another one of the many reasons why Fluttershy loves them so much.

But there was one other thing that plagued her mind.

The Klefki from last night.

Before it held all three of them with Psychic, it said that it was sorry. Almost as if it as apologizing for holding Fluttershy and her Pokemon in place.

Fluttershy, despite being perplexed by the sudden Umbrage Thief attack, noticed that, before she fainted, the unicorn had left behind her Klefki and Orbeetle without even taking them with her.

This made Fluttershy think that this unicorn might not care for her Pokemon and there's a high chance that there are other Pokemon that she has that might be getting little care as well.

She didn't want to think about the Umbrage Thieves any further. But she is definitely worried about the Pokemon owned by that mysterious unicorn.


Canterlot.

Rainbow Dash stayed behind instead of going with her friends. She would catch up eventually, but there was one thing she needed to do.

Win her 5th Gym Badge.

Soarin was at his absolute best this time. Meaning that he was capable of batting Rainbow Dash without anything slowing him down. They wasted no time and got to Canterlot Gardens where the Gym Battle would take place.

The referee was there as they were both on their own sides already. The Ref didn't need to break the rules down for them since this is their second time at it.

"You may both bring out your Pokemon." The Ref said.

"Let's mix things up a bit! Mienfoo! Luxio! Go!" Rainbow Dash sent out Luxio and Mienfoo instead of the first time when it was Mienfoo and Castform.

"Mienfoo!"

"Luxio!"

"I'll try something new myself. Torkoal! Archeops!" Same with Soarin. Instead of Snover and Buizel like the first time, it was Torkoal and Archeops up first.

"Torkoal."

"Archeops!"

Once Torkoal came out, its Drought ability kicked in, intensifying the sun and boosting Torkoal's Fire-Type moves.

"That Torkoal's got a mean Earthquake...Can't let Luxio get hit by it no matter what..." Rainbow Dash thought to herself.

"When I'm at my best, nopony's stopping me." Soarin also thought to himself.

"Battle Start!"

"Okay, you two! Wild Charge into Archeops and use Mega Punch on Torkoal!"

"Lux!" The Spark Pokemon went ahead first by outlining his body in electricity, propelling himself towards the First Bird Pokemon.

"Foo!" Mienfoo went next by bolting straight for Torkoal on a lower level.

"I don't think so! Archeops! Dragon Claw! And Torkoal, use Iron Defense!"

"Arc!" The First Pokemon gave a response to Mienfoo by summoning draconic claws with green energy around its wings. It used these claws to clash with Luxio's head, preventing Wild Charge from fully connecting. The two entered a struggle with one of them trying to overpower the other.

Torkoal just stood there. Unfortunately, it was one of the slowest Pokemon in the world. So the chances of it dodging are nigh-impossible with some expectations.

However, its defence helps it greatly as the Coal Pokemon pulled all of its limbs into its shell, protecting itself. His defence had been raised sharply. "Tor."

"Mien!" Mienfoo approached Torkoal with ferocity as she smashed her paw into Torkoal's shell. But when she hit the shell, Torkoal barely felt it. The best that Mienfoo did was making its shell wiggle a small bit. "Mienfoo?"

Not satisfied with getting zero hits in, Mienfoo began striking her paws on the shell repeatedly, hoping to make Torkoal come out of its shell.

"Heh. Rapid Spin Torkoal!"

"Torkoal!" Using its shell as a weapon, the Coal Pokemon spun its shell around like a saw blade. These rapid movements clashed with Mienfoo's fast-moving paws, causing some sparks to fly out.

"Cheops!" The struggle between Luxio and Archeops had been decided. Archeops came out on top as Dragon Claw overpowered Wild Charge, launching Luxio back down to the ground with an impactful crash.

"Xio!"

"Ah! Luxio!" Rainbow Dash gasped.

"L-Lux!" Luxio quickly got back up from the ground.

Mienfoo didn't have the same amount of trouble. Her attacks always get faster the more she strikes, making their precision sharper each time.

Even with Rapid Spin, Torkoal wasn't fast enough to match Mienfoo's paw strikes as the Martial Arts Pokemon found an opening.

"Mien!" She smashed her paw inside one of the holes of Torkoal's shell which surprised both Rainbow Dash and Soarin as their attention was focused on those two.

But after seeing that, Soarin let out a slight smirk, knowing that it wasn't the wisest decision for Mienfoo to put her paw inside of Torkoal's shell.

"Heh. Gotcha!" Soarin exclaimed.

"M-Mien!" The reason why it wasn't the wisest decision was that Torkoal's hollow shell was full of blazing coal that had been found from many mountains.

The heat of this coal was enough to sear Mienfoo's paws as she quickly pulled her arm out, backflipping away from the Coal Pokemon.

Torkoal stopped spinning as its speed had been increased a bit thanks to Rapid Spin.

"Foo! Foo!" Mienfoo blew on her own paw.

"Good attempt, Mienfoo. But I guess touching those holes is a bad move." Rainbow Dash said.

"Mien."

"We'll finish this in a few hits. Torkoal! Earthquake! And Archeops, use Stone Edge!"

"Tor..." Torkoal was about to let out the devastating Earthquake as it stood up on its hind legs. Meanwhile, Archeops summoned multiple glowing crystals around its body.

"Here it comes..." Rainbow Dash growled. "Mienfoo grab Luxio and toss him at Archeops."

"Say what?!" Soarin jerked back.

"Mien!" The Martial Arts Pokemon suddenly grabbed Luxio's tail as they both put their faith in each other. With all her might, Mienfoo spun Luxio around before launching the Spark Pokemon into the air, allowing him to avoid Earthquake.

"Koal!" Torkoal slammed its legs down, causing the ground to shatter as destructive white shockwaves emerged from the ground.

Mienfoo, unfortunately, had to take this damage, but she would be neutral to it since she wasn't an Electric-Type like Luxio.

"M-Mienfoo!" The Martial Arts Pokemon was engulfed by the white shockwaves.

"Archeops!" Meanwhile, with Luxio and Archeops, the Rock-Flying-Type hurled the stones towards Luxio who was being sent right at it thanks to Mienfoo's throw.

"Now use Iron Tail!"

"Lux!" Whilst airborne, Luxio's tail hardened up as he smashed it onto the stones, shattering them into pieces whilst also sending some of them back at Archeops.

"Arc?!" Archeops was pelted by its own rocks as Luxio's long tail helped him reach Archeops before he fell. With a swift move of his tail, Luxio slammed Iron Tail onto Archeops's head, dealing super-effective damage.

"Ops!" The First Bird Pokemon was sent crashing down by Iron Tail as it hit the ground hard on its head. "Arc!"

"Luxio!" Luxio returned to ground level, returning his tail to normal.

"You won't catch me off guard like that again! Torkoal! Lava Plume!"

"Koal!" The Coal Pokemon caused an explosion around it, creating a mix of smog and fire to cover the area.

"Xio!?"

"Mien?!"

Mienfoo and Luxio looked around to see that they were surrounded by fire and smog from all sides as they stood back to back from each other. The scarlet flames seemed to be getting closer, acting like actual lava by moving.

"That doesn't look good..." Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth as she was trying to find a way out of this one. She saw how tall the fire was compared to her Pokemon and how aggressive it was.

It took up the entire battlefield as the fire was so large that Rainbow Dash, the Ref and Soarin had to back away to avoid this intense fire.

This was Soarin's plan. To fill the battlefield with Lava Plume.

"Right where I want you..." Soarin smirked. "Archeops, use dig!"

"He's using Dig with all this fire around?!" Rainbow Dash winced.

"Cheops!" Archeops slammed its wings onto the ground, burrowing underground despite there being a violent plume of fire everywhere.

"This might get rough...Unless...Mienfoo! Pick up Luxio and hold him over you!"

"Mienfoo!" Taking a hold of her teammate once more, this time, Mienfoo picked Luxio up with her paws, protecting him from the Ground-Type move.

"Lux?"

"Cheops!" Archeops came out of the ground, smashing its wings onto Mienfoo's stomach as the Martial Arts Pokemon once again, took damage for Luxio.

"Gotcha! Iron Tail!"

"Luxio!" Whilst still being held by Mienfoo, Luxio hardened up his tail as he swung it towards Archeops, avenging Mienfoo by slamming Iron Tail onto Archeops's stomach.

"C-Cheops!" Archeops's eyes widened as it was sent flying through the flames, tumbling on the ground. That Iron Tail combined with flying through the fire was enough to take out the First Bird Pokemon as it had fainted.

"Archeops..."

"Archeops is unable- Hot! Hot!" The Ref backed away further. "Unable to battle! Luxio wins!"

"Yes!" Rainbow Dash flew up. "Nice hit Luxio! And good job tanking that Dig, Mienfoo!"

"Luxio!

"Mienfoo!"

"Return, Archeops." Soarin returned Archeops. "Sorry I didn't get the chance to pull off Sandstorm. Drought is already active. Alright, Rainbow Dash! You took out my Archeops sure. But what are you gonna do about the fire around your Pokemon?"

"That's easy. Mienfoo. Luxio. Return." Rainbow decided to return them both, swapping them out for another duo. "I'll deal with your fire and Pokemon at the same time. Braviary! Altaria! Let's go!"

The next duo ended up being the Flying-Type partners, Braviary and Altaria. Once they both came out, they appeared high in the air, avoiding the flames of Lava Plume.

"Braviary!"

"Altaria!"

"Oh, clever." Soarin nodded. "But I can deal with those two. Boltund! Out you come!" Soarin's third Pokemon was Boltund who would be assisting Torkoal in battle.

"Boltund!"

"That's Boltund," Rainbow said to herself. "I don't know what its capable of, but it's obviously super fast since it's an Electric-Type."

"Bolt..." Boltund was already getting fired up with sparks flowing through its fur.

"Let's get rid of this fire first. Use Superpower to blow it away!"

"Viary" Finding a way to get rid of this arena covering fire, Braviary used Superpower while clapping its wings together.

With that amount of power, Braviary created a powerful thunderclap that was strong enough to blow the flames of Lava Plume away.

The shockwave was even strong enough to reach Torkoal and Boltund, almost making them lose their balance as Torkoal hid in its shell in a responsive instinct.

"Tor!"

"She's sending Braviary out this early?" Soarin gulped. "I thought she'd save her strongest for last. Oh well. Boltund! Electric Terrain!"

"Bolt!" Instead of attacking, the Dog Pokemon's body became covered in yellow electricity as it fired a beam of electricity from its body. The electricity then formed into a dome-shaped cage of electricity that went over the battlefield.

"Brav?"

"Alta?"

"What's this?!" Rainbow Dash had never seen this move before.

"You'll see. Torkoal, Iron Defence!"

"Koal!" Whilst still inside of its shell, Torkoal boosted its defence up once more while Boltund just stood there, waiting for more commands.

"Let's smash em flat! Superpower on Torkoal! Ice Beam on Boltund!"

"Viary!" Braviary went ahead first by surrounding his wings in energy whilst Altaria charged up a beam of Ice.

"Torkoal another Iron Defense! Boltund counter with Thunderbolt!"

"Tund!" The Dog Pokemon sent out 100,000 volts of electricity from its body, clashing with Ice Beam as the two attacks cancelled each other out.

As for Torkoal, it was still in its shell, building up its defence. Braviary smashed his wings onto Torkoal's shell as a powerful Fighting-Type move connected with the increased defence of a Steel-Type move.

Torkoal's already stellar defence combined with Iron Defense had made the Coal Pokemon more durable than it usually is as Superpower barely even phased it.

"Brav?" Even Braviary was surprised by this as he flew back.

"Koal." Torkoal finally came out of its shell with its defence being through the roof now.

"Ain't no way you're breaking past my Torkoal's defence now, Dash! You're gonna need a lot of power to take him out!"

"Hah! I've got a lot of power! Braviary, lets-"

"Viary!" Braviary suddenly interrupted Rainbow Dash. He stopped her because he knew what Rainbow Dash was trying to do.

"Huh? Braviary?"

"Vi. Braviary." Braviary looked back at Rainbow Dash. He knew that Rainbow Dash wanted to use Rainbow-Braviary in this battle. But Braviary wanted to show that he can get stronger without having to constantly rely on Rainbow-Braviary.

Plus, using it against somepony as formidable as Soarin would most likely harm Rainbow Dash's life once more, but on a more critical level.

"Braviary..." Rainbow Dash paused for a moment as she nodded in understanding. "I gotcha. Then we'll keep using Superpower! And Altaria! Dragon Pulse!"

"Vi!" Braviary was planning on endlessly striking Torkoal with the same move repeatedly in hopes of getting past its amazing defence. Meanwhile, Altaria prepared a Dragon Pulse by opening her mouth.

"Nah-Nah. I don't think so. Discharge!"

"Bolt!" Boltund acted faster than Altaria and Braviary combined thanks to its superb speed. The Bolt Pokemon sent a violent whip of electricity that went from point A to B in one second as both Flying-Types were hit by Discharge's violent electricity.

And thanks to Electric Terrain, this already powerful attack had been boosted. Altaria resisted it thanks to her being part Dragon but Braviary got the worst out of it.

Both of them were knocked out of the sky because of Discharge, allowing Soarin to capitalize and pull off more attacks.

"Now, Torkoal! Lava Plume and Discharge once more!"

"Quick! Fly up you two!"

"Vi!?" Braviary and Altaria both opened their eyes as they quickly spread their wings out. They saw how Torkoal sent an explosion of fire and smog around the area. Another whip of Lightning was sent their way as well.

Yet again, they had been hit by Discharge because of how wide and fast it was as Lava Plume filled the battlefield once more.

With Discharge yet again forcing them down, they had been surrounded by the flames of Lava Plume as they were now on a lower level.

"Urgh..." Rainbow Dash growled, realizing that things were slowly turning for the worst. "That Boltund's too fast...! This would be so much easier with Rainbow-Braviary but..."

"What now, Dash?" Soarin grinned.

"Hm. Torkoal's defence is only great physically...but with ranged attacks. I got it! You two! Switch places quick!"

"Switching won't help! Discharge one more time!"

"Block it with Steel Wing!" Rainbow Dash expected Soarin to use a move as useful as Discharge, so she counteracted by having Braviary harden his wings with metal.

"Viary!" The Valiant Pokemon got in front of Altaria, protecting her from Discharge. Braviary's steel wings became conductors of electricity, allowing him to nullify the Discharge. "Brav!"

"Absorbing my electricity are you? Then I'll come to you! Use Double Edge!"

"Bolt!" The Dog Pokemon became surrounded in streaks of white aura, charges into the opponent with great force.

"Keep those wings up!" Rainbow Dash allowed Braviary to keep blocking with Steel Wing whilst Altara stayed behind Braviary, waiting for her turn to strike.

Boltund crashed into Braviary's wings at full-force, creating a loud clang sound in the process. Braviary's body felt some vibration but not as much as Boltund, who took heavy recoil from it.

"B-Bolt!" Boltund staggered back after connecting with Braviary's hard wings whilst using a double-edged sword move like Double Edge.

"Gotcha. Slam and pin Boltund with Superpower!"

"Vi!" With Boltund staggered, Braviary raised its wings with an orange outline forming as the Valiant Pokemon smashed Boltund's back, causing the Dog Pokemon to crash on the ground with a crater forming.

"Ah! Boltund!"

"Here we go! Now unload Dragon Pulse on Torkoal! And don't stop!"

"Taria!" Altaria flew up whilst Braviary had Boltund pinned on the ground. A Dragon-shaped blast was fired and due to Torkoal being slow, it was not avoiding this attack at all.

"Torkoal! Get in your shell!" Soarin gasped.

"Tor!" Torkoal quickly hid its limbs and head in its shell, but it was only bulky in a physical sense. When it comes to special attacks such as Dragon Pulse, not so much.

As such, the Coal Pokemon had been engulfed by Dragon Pulse with Altaria pouring it on the Fire-Type. Boltund managed to break itself free from Braviary's wings thanks to its superior running speed, but Torkoal was still being overwhelmed.

Eventually, Dragon Pulse came to an end as an explosion of draconic energy occurred. The smoke cleared up and it was revealed that Torkoal had fainted.

And with Torkoal down, Drought had vanished.

"Torkoal..."

"Torkoal is unable to battle! Altaria wins!"

"Yes! And I'm still sitting pretty with no fainted Pokemon!" Rainbow Dash squeed.

"Pinning my Boltund like that was a good call...Return, Torkoal." He brought Torkoal back its ball. "You did good, pal."

"Phew." Rainbow Dash wiped the sweat off her forehead. "That got a bit too stressful. Your Boltund's pretty fast, ya know. Then again, it's an Electric-Type so I should've seen that coming."

"Oh, Boltund's more than just fast. Just you wait and see." Soarin smirked. "This Gym Battle's far from over." Soarin held out another Poke Ball.

Rainbow Dash was expecting to see either Snover or Buizel up next as she was prepared to tackle them both. Even if Braviary and Altaria might have some trouble against Snover.

But in truth, Soarin had swapped Snover for someone else.

"Come out! Eiscue!" Soarin tossed the Poke Ball, revealing a new Pokemon to Rainbow Dash in the form of the Penguin Pokemon Eiscue.

"Eiscue!"

"What is that?!" She was shocked that it wasn't Snover at all as she took her dex out for this Pokemon.

"Eiscue. The Penguin Pokemon. Ice Face. It drifted in on the flow of ocean waters from a frigid place. It keeps its head iced constantly to make sure it stays nice and cold. It fishes for its food, dangling its single hair into the sea to lure in prey."

"Get ready, Dash. Because this is where things change!"

Canterlot, day.

The second day of the Pokemon Festival is still young and Rainbow Dash is in the midst of her fifth Gym Battle with Soarin.

She had previously taken out two of his Pokemon. Archeops and Torkoal. Now she is facing off against Soarin's Boltund and the newly-discovered Eiscue.

She knew she couldn't underestimate it due to how silly it looked. Usually, it's the silly Pokemon that perform the wildest moves.

"I don't know what that thing is capable of..." Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes, looking at the Penguin Pokemon. "But I ain't taking any risks. Braviary. Altaria return."

Knowing that Braviary and Altaria, especially Altaria, take heavy damage from Ice-Types and considering there was an Electric-Type in the mix, Rainbow Dash returned the two of them for safer options.

"Don't mind if I get a head start. Use Hail!" Soarin commanded.

"Eiscue!" The Penguin Pokemon started up the weather effect of hail by creating a gust of cold air from its body, causing snow to start falling.

"If its Ice, then...Whirlipede! Mienfoo! Go!" Out came the Curlipede Pokemon and the Martial Arts Pokemon to handle these two opposing Pokemon.

"Whirlipede!"

"Mienfoo!"

"Watch out for Boltund's speed you two! And I don't know what that Eiscue's capable of." Rainbow Dash warned her partners as the hail started to beat on her Pokemon.

"That's not all you should be worrying about," Soarin said under his breath.

"Mienfoo! Rush in with Agility and use Fury Swipes on Boltund! Whirlipede! Rollout on Eiscue!"

"Mienfoo!" Mienfoo pulled out her hidden claws as she aggressively charged towards Boltund.

"Pede!" Whirlipede rolled on the spot, aiming at Eiscue for some super-effective damage. Both Whirlipede and Mienfoo were moving side by side with each other.

But Soarin had something crafty under his wing.

"Eiscue! Use Soak! Boltund! Fire Fang!"

"Cue!" Eiscue didn't move from the spot it stood at. It was going to let Whirlipede smash into it. However, not only was its defence high so it could still stand after being struck by a super-effective move, but the move it was about to pull off can change the entire battle.

"Mien!" Mienfoo and Boltund had their own battle with Mienfoo's claws clashing with Boltund's Fire Fang.

"Bolt!" Boltund bit onto Mienfoo's claws, swinging the Martial Arts Pokemon away, however, Mienfoo recovered thanks to her flexible movements. Her speed had also been increased thanks to Agility.

"Foo!"

"Whirl!" The Curlipede Pokemon smashed into Eiscue, creating a meaty impact as the block on Eiscue's head came off, revealing its true face. Its Noice Face.

"E-Eiscue!" But even with a super-effective hit such as that, Eiscue still stood with the only major result being that it staggered back a bit.

The Penguin Pokemon then raised its flippers, pulling off what might be the most game-changing move that Rainbow Dash would ever have to come across.

A blast of water came out of Eiscue's mouth, covering the entire area as it engulfed both Whirlipede and Mienfoo. But from how light the water was, it was a non-damaging move as the best that it did was just get Mienfoo and Whirlipede wet.

"Mien?" Mienfoo looked at herself, seeing that she had now gotten wet.

"Whirl?"

"Making them wet? That's all it does?" Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow, confused at what Soak was.

"You'll see..." Soarin nodded, knowing what Soak really does.

"Okay then. How about I switch up again? This time, Mega Punch is gonna deal some big damage on Eiscue and Rollout's gonna put the hurt on Boltund!"

"...Uh." Soarin paused for a moment as he tried to process something. "Rainbow Dash. You do know that Mega Punch is a Normal-Type move right?"

"Hm? What are you talking about? It's a Fighting-Type move."

"No." Soarin shook his head. "It's Normal. Don't let that name deceive you."

"Hah! No way!" Rainbow Dash took out her Pokedex to check Mienfoo's moveset. She selected Mega Punch as she found out what it really was.

"Mega Punch. A Normal-Type move. The target is slugged by a punch thrown with muscle-packed power."

"Say what?!" Rainbow Dash screeched. "It's Normal?!"

"Mien..." Mienfoo whistled, trying to pretend like she didn't know it was Normal herself.

"Dash. Don't you always check the typing of moves?"

"Yeah but..." Rainbow Dash grumbled, looking to the side. "I just assumed it was Fighting so I never checked it. I just looked at the name."

"I guess that can be a bit misleading." Soarin chuckled. "That's why I always check the typings of my Pokemon's moves, ya know."

"Ugh..." Rainbow Dash lowered her head. "It's fine!" She quickly jolted up. "We'll just learn a Fighting-Type move in the future! Right now, let's finish this battle!"

"Oh, I agree. This is where things are gonna get interesting."

"Whirlipede! Iron Defense! And Mienfoo! Attack rapidly with Fury Swipes!"

"Mien!" While Mienfoo rushed in again with her speed being increased thanks to Agility from before, Whirlipede stayed where he was, increasing his defence.

Soarin didn't let Eiscue move because he was only focusing on Boltund. But for good reason. The reason why he chose to use the move Soak was about to be revealed.

"Discharge." He said it casually.

"Bol...TUND!" Even with Mienfoo's increased speed, Boltund was still faster. And much quicker at attacking. An instant blast of lightning that went multiple ways raged out of Boltund's body. Normally, this would be just neutral against Mienfoo and Whirlipede.

But not anymore.

Mienfoo's eyes widened as her path to Eiscue was being blocked by Discharge. Before she could properly react, Discharge had shocked the Martial Arts Pokemon. Not receiving neutral damage. But instead, something bigger.

It had dealt super-effective damage.

"M-Mienfoo!" And Mienfoo definitely felt it.

"W-Whirl!" Whirlipede as well thanks to Discharge being a widespread move. Both of them had been given super-effective damage which wouldn't be possible normally.

"Ah! Whirlipede! Mienfoo!" Rainbow Dash gasped as she witnessed her Pokemon take an unusual amount of damage. Before she knew it, both of them had suddenly fallen flat on the ground.

She expected it to be powerful, but not that powerful. But what she really didn't expect was the aftermath of what happened to her Pokemon

They weren't getting back up.

The reason was simple. They had fainted.

"Whirlipede and Mienfoo are both unable to battle! Boltund wins!"

"H-Huh...?" Rainbow Dash flabbergasted. She had no idea what she had just witnessed in front of her eyes. Her Pokemon had fallen that easily with a single Discharge. "B-But how...?"

Little did Rainbow Dash know that Soak was the reason why her Pokemon were taken down so easily. Soak is a move that changes the opposing Pokemon into a Water-Type. It does more than just make them wet.

But Rainbow Dash, unfortunately, did not know that at all. It was a new move to her after all. She was now down to 3 Pokemon in this 5v5 Gym Battle.

"Told ya. This is where things get interesting." Soarin grinned, knowing that he played her for a fool. He didn't even reveal what Soak did, leaving Rainbow Dash befuddled.

"You two...Return." Rainbow Dash lowered her head, returning her partners to their Poke Balls. "Sorry about that. I don't know what happened..."

"Cast?" Castform poked his head out of Rainbow Dash's saddlebag, looking up at his trainer.

"No need to panic now..." Rainbow Dash raised her head. "All I have to do is get rid of the fastest one here! Let's go! Luxio! Braviary!"

She had sent those two out instead of the usual Altaria and Braviary combination she had previously. She knew that if she sent Altaria out with Eiscue in the mix, things would get hairy fast.

"One hit is all we need! Iron Tail on Eiscue! Superpower on Boltund!" Rainbow Dash was starting to play aggressive. And depending on how she battles, her Pokemon will mimic her style.

Both Braviary and Luxio had energy surround their tail and wings as they bolted forward to their opposing Pokemon.

"Here they come." Soarin didn't choose to intercept but rather wait for them to get close.

"Brav!"

"Lux!"

Both of them raised their tail and wings, expecting to land a solid clean hit on both of their opponents. But once again, Soarin changed everything up.

"Soak!" Eiscue got in front of Boltund, allowing itself to take all the damage as the Penguin Pokemon sprayed water over Braviary and Luxio.

Both Superpower and Iron Tail smashed into Eiscue's body, dealing 4x super-effective damage to the Penguin Pokemon. Eiscue sacrificed itself to allow its partner to finish the job as the Ice-Type was sent flying, landing right next to its ice cube.

"E-E-Eiscue..."

"Eiscue is unable to battle! Luxio and Braviary win!"

"Whew." Rainbow sighed. "I got really scared there for a sec. But there's no need to worry. We've got this!"

"Return, Eiscue." Soarin returned the Penguin Pokemon, looking at the Poke Ball. "You did your job. Now let Boltund and Corviknight handle this. Go!" Soarin's 5th and final Pokemon, his ace and strongest partner on his team, Corviknight had come out.

"Corviknight!"

"We just gotta take out Boltund and Corviknight and that 5th Gym Badge is ours!"

"Braviary!"

"Lux!"

"Hmph." Soarin nodded slowly as he knew that this battle was in his favour already. "Metal Sound!"

"Corvi...kniiiiiiight!" Corviknight let out a horrible sound like scraping metal was emitted, reaching the ears of its opponents.

"B-Braviary!" Braviary lowered himself to the ground, raising its wings as it cringed at the horrible sound.

"L-Luxio!" Luxio cowered, putting his paws in his ears as he writhed on the ground.

"Let's finish this! Boltund! Discharge!" Soarin raised his hoof.

"Tund!" The Dog Pokemon capitalised on the current state of its opposing Pokemon by releasing a violent whip of lightning.

"Dodge it quick!" Rainbow gasped.

But it was too late. Metal Sound had them completely perplexed. It didn't help that Discharge was incredibly fast. The blast of lightning hit both Luxio and Braviary at the same time.

It was already super-effective against Braviary, but now thanks to Soak, Luxio took super-effective damage himself, no longer being an Electric-Type.

Rainbow Dash watched as her Pokemon were overwhelmed by Metal Sound and Discharge. What really took her by surprise was the fact that after Discharge dispersed, Luxio had fainted whilst Braviary had been paralyzed.

"L-Luxio..."

"Luxio is unable to battle! Boltund wins!"

"No way...Luxio didn't tank it?" Her jaw dropped. She was speechless. This battle at first looked like it was in her favour and all of a sudden, things rapidly change.

She was now down to just two Pokemon. Braviary and Altaria. The last time Rainbow Dash had a Gym Battle this rough was when she went up against Sunset Shimmer. This is looking to be just as rough as that one but on a different scale.

"Gotta make this count...I can still win this. Altaria, let's go!" She sent out Altaria as her last hope.

"Taria!"

"Braviary!" Rainbow Dash called for Braviary's name.

"Brav?" The Valiant Pokemon turned around.

"Come on! Just this once, let's go into Rainbow-Braviary! If we-"

"Vi!" Once more, Braviary denied changing into Rainbow-Braviary.

"Braviary...?" Rainbow Dash pulled back. She was surprised at how neglectful Braviary was with the Bond-Phenomenon. She knew that Braviary wanted to get stronger at his normal state but she didn't expect something like this.

"Viary..." The Valiant Pokemon winced as he narrowed his eyes at Boltund and Corviknight.

"Looks like they're having some problems...Oh well. Let's end this quick! Use Steel Wing and Discharge!"

"Cor!" The Raven Pokemon hardened his already metal wings with extra steel while Boltund prepared yet another Discharge. However, this time, it was revealed that Soarin had taken inspiration from Rainbow Dash's metal conductor tactic.

When Corviknight flew powered, Discharge connected with his metal body and wings, perfectly mimicking Rainbow Dash's strategy that she learned from Ash.

Naturally, this threw Rainbow Dash off guard.

"Wait that's- Quick! Block it with Superpower!"

"B-Bra!" Braviary was lagging a bit thanks to Discharge paralyzing the Valiant Pokemon. Nevertheless, Braviary still managed to ascend and put his wings together whilst gathering high amounts of energy in them.

He went in front of Altaria, acting as her shield. The effects of Discharge almost made him lose focus, but he was strong enough to keep his focus steady.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for when the attack landed. Corviknight crashed into Braviary's wings with a combination of Steel and Electricity.

The moment he made contact, Braviary's body trembled, adding more pressure to his body that was already present thanks to Discharge.

Braviary's wings took serious damage as they were unable to withstand a heavy combination of two attacks. One that was naturally hard and the other being super-effective.

"V-Viary!" Braviary, as a result, was knocked back by the devastating combination of a very familiar tactic. With him being knocked back, Altaria was wide open.

"Tari?!" Altaria gasped as she was next in line. Corviknight didn't stop at Braviary. Once he knocked the Valiant Pokemon away, he immediately smashed his wings onto Altaria's neck. "Alta!"

"Altaria! Braviary!" Rainbow Dash bellowed.

"Now! Flash Cannon!" Soarin continued with a distanced attack. Corviknight opened his mouth wide, sending a silver beam of energy full of metal.

"Dodge it quick!"

But there wasn't enough time to dodge since Corviknight fired the attack right after he knocked both of his fellow Flying-Types away.

Braviary and Altaria each looked in the same direction. The last thing they saw was a massive beam of silver energy right in front of their faces and that was it.

The explosion was a result of metal energy scattering across the gardens of Canterlot. Shards of metal even rained down from above, showing just how much energy was put into that attack.

The smoke cleared as it was revealed that both Braviary and Altaria had fainted.

"Braviary..."

"Altaria..."

"Braviary and Altaria are both unable to battle! Corviknight and Boltund win! Which means the victor is the Gym Leader Soarin!"

"Yes!" Soarin raised his hooves in victory. "Told ya I'm unstoppable when I'm in the zone."

"Mrrgh..." Rainbow Dash face-hoofed as she took the force of defeat once more. However, she wasn't hit too hard by it. She did manage to take out most of Soarin's Pokemon after all. It was just that some slight mishaps caused her defeat.

She's learned to take losses better this time so she wasn't too beat up like with her third Gym Battle. Then again, this is the second time she's lost a Gym Battle so it shows that not only has she improved but she still has a long way to go.

"Viary..." Braviary and Altaria both sat up, feeling a bit of electricity run through their bodies as they noticed their trainer coming up to them.

"You two...You tried your best. And Braviary. I get that you don't want to always use the Bond Phenomenon but..."

"Don't let that loss get to you too hard, Dash." Soarin flew over. "You put up a great battle against me and my Pokemon, ya know."

"Yeah. I guess so." Rainbow Dash nodded as she held Altaria. "But what was that Soak move of yours?"

"Oh Soak? I'll let you know what it does. It turns the opposing Pokemon into a Water-Type. That's what it does." He explained shortly.

"Say what?! That kind of move exists!?"

"Mhm." Soarin nodded. "When I found out a move like that was possible, it helped me through so many of my battles. Isn't that right, you two?"

"Corvi."

"Bolt. Boltund!"

"Guess there's still a lot I don't know about Pokemon, huh?" Rainbow Dash laughed a bit. "When you come over to Rainbow Falls, you can have your rematch with me."

"Rainbow Falls? The Gym moved?"

"Sure did. Luckily, the gym has a solid floor that my Non-Flying-Types can battle on."

"Oh. Alright. Return you two." Rainbow Dash returned Braviary and Altaria. "Next time, I'm definitely gonna win. I'll get stronger with new moves at my side and we're gonna flatten your gym and earn that fifth badge!"

"I'll be waiting! Right now, I wanna check out the Crystal Empire." Soarin returned his Boltund and Corviknight.

"Then come with me. My friends are there so I'm heading there myself."

"That's what I like to hear. Gonna leave this gym to the spare Gym Leader." Soarin grinned.

"And if they don't want to run the Gym anymore? Will you come back?"

"Nah. They've got more than just one spare, ya know. Pretty convenient that so many trainers are on equal levels lately. But uh...don't know how much things are gonna change when they get stronger."

"Nevermind that. Let's head over to the Crystal Empire already. In the meantime, you can tell me all about moves. You seem to be a pro at it."

"Sure thing." Soarin began walking with Rainbow Dash. He began babbling about moves as the two of them made their way towards the train station to the Crystal Empire.

Even with Rainbow Dash's loss, she has a lot to improve on and more to learn. Whether it's moves that change a Pokemon's type or moves that aren't what they seem.

There are many moves that Rainbow Dash has yet to discover or experience after all. Some more surprising than others and some that can be predictable but still tough to go against. And perhaps, that must be one of the many reasons why she loves Pokemon battling. And she'll continue to love them for days to come as the journey continues.

The Crystal Empire.

Like everywhere else, the Crystal Empire is taking part in the Pokemon Festival. The second day is now reaching the afternoon, but it still felt as if time was moving slowly for a special event such as this. For 2 whole weeks.

Arriving at the Crystal Empire was the hyperactive duo of Ash and Barry who got off the train first.

"Made it!" They both said as they came to a screeching halt.

"Oh! This is the Crystal Empire?!" Barry gawked as he immediately started zipping around the place. "But why aren't they crystal like I heard? They just look like normal ponies to me." He observed the citizens.

"You gotta wait for the Crystalling for something awesome like that to happen." Ash walked by Barry.

"Hah? How long does that take?" Barry followed him.

"I cannot wait to meet them in physical form!" Sunlight squeed. "Especially little Flurry Heart!"

"Now that I think about it..." Twilight paused for a moment. "This is Flurry Heart's first Pokemon Festival. She must be ecstatic right now."

"That's what I'm fearing..." Eventide grumbled as he knew how destructive Flurry Heart can get out of nowhere.

"Oh. Almost forgot." Ash stopped walking as he took all of his Poke Balls out. "You all should explore this for yourself. Come out!"

Ash sent out all of his Pokemon to enjoy what the Crystal Empire has to offer. Seeing that prompted Twilight and the others to allow their Pokemon to run freely out in the open.

"Let's have a blast, you guys. We're gonna have just as much fun her like we did in Canterlot" Ash said to his Pokemon as they all nodded in understanding.

"Gen-Gen." Already, Gengar was up to no good as the Shadow Pokemon descended into the shadows, planning to cause as much mischief as it can.

"Garde." Passion decided to group up with her fellow Pocket Monsters as most of them were planning on exploring the Crystal Empire since they have yet to see the full scope of it.

"Nine. Ninetales!" Ninetales pointed his paw over at the castle, which was close to being repaired thankfully. All it needed were a few finishing touches and it would be back to normal. That seemed like a good place to venture.

"Sol..." Absol shuddered as he looked at the castle. He had a very bad feeling about this. Not because of the castle, but what was in the castle.

Or rather, who was in the castle.

"Esp." Eve knew what Absol was afraid of inside of that castle as she nudged the Dark-Type forward, telling him that there was absolutely no reason to be scared of her.

"Twilight!" The voice of Princess Cadence echoed through Twilight's ears. Along she came with her daughter on her back along with the semi-mischievous Manaphy.

"Cadence!" Twilight exclaimed.

"Glad you could make it and-" Cadence froze for a second for one reason. She had spotted Sunlight and Eventide in a heartbeat. Seeing these two new alicorns who were taller than even Celestia herself surprised her. "Uh...W-W-Who are they?"

"Cadence. These two are my mother and father." Celestia introduced. "I mentioned you to them. And now, here they are."

"It's wonderful to meet you in full physical form, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!" Sunlight dashed over, shaking Cadence's hoof aggressively. "You're roughly the same height as my younger self when I was still a unicorn."

"Y-You're Sunlight?" Cadence stammered. "Oh. You really do look like Aunt Celestia. And I can see a lot of Luna in...Eventide right?"

"Correct!" Eventide bellowed. "It's wonderful to meet my niece in full form! And her...impulsive yet precious daughter." He shuddered at the sight of Flurry Heart.

"I didn't think I'd get to see you." Cadence shook her head. "My...you are taller than I expected." She laughed nervously, feeling very intimidated by the massive height difference.

"We're glad to be here." Sunlight grinned as she went up to Flurry Heart. "Look at this precious little angel."

"Don't get too close dear..." Eventide gulped.

Flurry Heart cooed at Sunlight as Manaphy latched on to the face fo the former Queen of Equestria. "Mana!" Sunlight was curious about Manaphy's Heart Swap as she wanted to experience what it would be like to swap bodies with somepony else.

"Sylv!" Sylveon spotted Absol, which is exactly what the Disaster Pokemon was fearing from the very start. This is why he shuddered at the mere fact of coming here.

"A-Absol..." Absol backed away as he saw Sylveon approach him. He let out a grimace while Sylveon had an enchanting smile on her face.

But to Absol, nothing was enchanting about that smile at all. His horn was shaking violently, indicating that this was a giant disaster.

Somehow.

"Melo. Meloetta." Meloetta held Ash's arm, deciding to go along with him instead of going along with Ninetales and the others. She knew that if she had gone with them, then Twilight would have Ash all to herself. And to Meloetta, that couldn't happen, no matter what.

"Meloetta? You're not gonna go with the others?"

"Etta." Meloetta quickly shook her head.

That alerted Twilight, who's eyes and head flashed over to face Meloetta. She saw how the Melody Pokemon had that same smug look on her face which was always effective in riling Twilight up.

"Hm?" Cadence took notice of this. Her eyes observed how Twilight and Meloetta were eyeing each other down. In just 5 seconds, she was able to assess the situation and understand what was going on. "Oh, I see." She nodded.

"What's that over there?" Rarity spotted something that caught her eye. An attraction that was focused around PokeStar Studios.

"Oh, that," Cadence spoke. "That's the PokeStar Studios attraction. Apparently, they brought a bit of it here but it's not the full thing."

"OH!" Cilan shot up. "Pokestar Studios?!" Cilan was an obvious fan of Pokestar Studios so he immediately dashed over to see this for himself.

Rarity decided to involve herself in this attraction since she was a fan of Pokestar Studios. She also knew that her Pheromosa would most likely enjoy this.

"Sylveon!" Sylveon managed to have Absol in her grasp as she had pinned the Disaster Pokemon down to the ground.

"A-Absol!" Absol writhed as he could feel the Fairy aura cover him. He looked up at Eve, pleading for help.

"...Esp." The Sun Pokemon let out a cheesy grin. She wanted some payback after Absol continuously kept on messing up Twilight's bed, so this was all that she needed for satisfaction.

"Sol!" Absol growled as he vowed to get his revenge on Eve one day.

Soon, everyone went their own separate ways with their own groups. But one of them went solo, that being Barry.

Barry had already reached the battle spot as he looked over at the sea of ponies who were participating in this combative attraction. Being the unstable walking battery that he was, he was already itching for a fight.

Sunlight and Eventide wanted to spend time with Cadence, Flurry Heart and very soon Shining Armor whilst Twilight chose to stick around Ash so that Meloetta doesn't get the chance of obtaining any form of victory.


Pokemon Battle Spot.

Barry, Ash and Spike chose to involve themselves in this one. Being the battle addicts that they are, they never hesitate to involve themselves in a battle.

However, they noticed that these battles were very calm and slow. The trainers here were most likely new to Pokemon battling and had just started. The Crystal Empire isn't too focused on battling but after the Darkest Day and the entire Eternatus debacle, they've decided to involve themselves in battling more often.

"Just new trainers?" Barry raised an eyebrow. "Come on! I wanna take on some skilled trainers!"

"That'd be a bit overwhelming, ya know." Ash laughed.

"You know I can-" Spike's sentence was suddenly interrupted when out of nowhere, something clamped onto his head without warning.

Or rather, someone.

A Gible.

"Gible!"

"A-Ah!" Spike screeched as Gible was gnawing on his head, causing the smaller dragon to freak out. "Get it off!"

"Pika?!"

"A Gible?!" Ash, Barry and Twilight gasped.

"Gible, no stop!" Just then, the trainer of Gible had come along, grabbing the Land Shark Pokemon and saving Spike from being eaten alive.

"Ow..." Spike held his head, feeling greatly relieved. But he could still feel Gible's fangs in his head. "Thanks for that." As Spike looked up, the trainer of Gible was quickly revealed to be none other than the current Dragon Lord of the Dragon Lands, Ember. "Oh! Ember?!" Spike sat up, spotting his fellow dragon.

"Hey. Sorry about Gible. No matter what I do I can't get him to stop."

"Gib!"

"It's fine." Spike stood up. "Ash's Gible does the same thing too. But it didn't hurt like that..."

"Sure does." Ash nodded.

"Ash?" Ember turned over to spot Ash involved with Spike's group. "You're Ash?!"

"Mhm," Ash replied. "You're Spike's friend, Ember? Right? Nice to meet ya."

"Pikachu."

"Hm?" Ember observed Ash, seeing if he was exactly what the rumours described him as. "Hm. I thought you would be taller. I mean you're taller than me, that's for sure."

"I'm still growing ya know." Ash grinned.

"So it's true? The dragons really are joining in on the festival?" Spike asked.

"As true as it looks." Ember nodded. "Well, most of them are kinda staying back at the Dragon Lands but they're still taking part. I thought I'd come to other parts of the festival."

"Well, we're glad to have you here," Twilight said. "And your Gible."

"Yeah. I was thinking of battling with Gible for the first time. But if I can just get him to stay still for one second."

"Gible!"

"Haven't you tried putting him back in his Poke Ball?" Barry asked.

"Oh, I tried. But he always comes back out no matter what. But it is pretty cool to have him by my side, so I'm not complaining."

"Hm...Ah!" Ash took his bag off, placing it on the ground. "I know what'll get him to stop biting." Ash dug into his bag, getting out some Pokemon Food. "This'll do the trick. Have these Gible."

"Gib?" The Land Shark Pokemon hopped out of Ember's claws, looking at the food in Ash's hands. "Gible..." He gave it a quick sniff before deciding to bite on Ash's entire hand. "GIBLE!"

"Oh! Ash!" Twilight gasped.

"Meloetta!"

"I-It's fine!" Ash winced as he powered through the pain. "You get used to it!"

"Gible!" The outcome was a success. Gible enjoyed the Pokemon Food as he scarfed the food down in one go. Gible fell on his back, patting his belly as he felt satisfied.

"There we go." Ash flailed his hand. "That always does the trick."

"That's it?" Ember's eyes widened. "It was that easy?"

"Didn't you feed him before?" Spike turned to her.

"I did. But he doesn't eat gemstones." Ember shook her head. "You ready to really battle now, Gible?" She picked Gible up.

"Gible!"

"Nice! Then how about we battle each other?" Spike slid over. "I don't know if you've noticed but...Salamence and I have gotten pretty strong lately. Right pal?"

"Sala!" Salamence licked Ember.

"G-Good to see you too, Salamence..." Ember shuddered. "But are you sure you wanna battle me? You've got a fully evolved Dragon after all."

"Don't worry. Salamence will go easy on you." Spike and Salamence both let out cheesy grins. Those grins were a bit suspicious since Ember knew that Spike himself knew he could easily win considering just how powerful Salamence is.

"...Y-You know. I think I'll battle someone else. Who won't demolish me."

"Aw." Spike slumped.

"But all of you look like pretty strong trainers." Ember thought for a moment. "I've been missing out on this whole Pokemon battling thing."

"No need to worry, Ember. We can work around this. How about you and Gible watch us battle?" Ash recommended.

"Yeah-wait." Spike paused for a moment as he turned to Ash. "You and I battle?"

"Oh yeah. We've never gone at it before so this'll be our first go."

"Pikachu!"

"I guess that kinda works." Ember nodded. "You're the expert here anyway."

"Dragonite. I'm gonna need you for this one, okay?" Ash turned to his own Dragon Pokemon.

"Dragonite!"


Inside the castle.

"Oh...So that's where you've been all these centuries." Cadence said. "But you've been overseeing all of us for so long?"

"Of course!" Eventide exclaimed. "However, even if we've been observing you all from the Ambrosial Plane, in truth, we have had our personal preferences."

"Eventide and I have our favourites. We tend to watch over Canterlot the most." Sunlight spoke.

"And all that aura coming out of your bodies? It's all your magic power leaking out?"

"More like its constantly showing itself." Sunlight held Flurry Heart in her hooves. "They can be beautiful to look at but a bit of an annoyance at times."

"Unfortunately, we're not capable of turning it off." Eventide sighed. "Perhaps if we just find a spell to fix that..."

"Or create a new one in the Ambrosial Plane." Sunlight turned to Eventide.

"Create a new one?" Both Celestia and Cadence said.

"Oh!" Eventide quickly covered Sunlight's mouth. "You're not yet ready to know about, young alicorns."

"No-no!" Celestia jolted up. "You have my curiosity right now. Are you saying that you can make new spells in the Ambrosial Plane?"

"Mhm!" Sunlight nodded whilst still having her mouth blocked.

"Ugh...I suppose there's no risk in telling you that. Yes. What you heard is true. In the Ambrosial Plane, you'll be able to create new spells that had never existed before."

"Really...?" Celestia and Cadence gawked as they nodded slowly.

"But that's all you two ever need to know! Besides. You are still young and have a long way to go. And it is far too complicated to understand."

"That reminds me of something. Mother. Father." Celestia was prepared to bring up a glaring phenomenon that was hard to ignore. "Do you know about this?"

She showed off the Boundless Cutie Mark. A Cutie Mark that has been on her ever since she finished battling Ghetsis that one time in Saddle-Arabia.

Indeed, Sunlight and Eventide do know about it. From seeing it pop up on their daughter after her battle with Ghetsis and the knowledge they had of it prior.

"Oh. We know of it. Even before we became alicorns." Eventide nodded.

"But unfortunately, our knowledge of it is fairly limited at best." Sunlight shrugged. "You're very lucky to have found Starswirl's short words on it in his Unfinished Spells book."

"I guess...So it's still a complete mystery." Celestia looked at the mark. "All I really know about it is that it automatically recovers any magic for me. Even when Cadence, Luna and I sacrificed our marks to keep them away from Tirek, mine regenerated."

"I saw it. That was bizarre my eyes lit up." Eventide pointed his hoof at his eyes.

"If it helps recover magic at all times then it might be a blessing. Although...why it has every Cutie Mark from the past present and even the future is what has me the most curious." Sunlight said.

"How does it all fit exactly?" Cadence squinted her eyes, trying to see how many Cutie Marks she could spot.

"I believe it somewhat rotates on a rare occasion," Celestia replied.

"Well!" Eventide raised his voice, startling everypony. "Never forget that mark at all! It might show promise one day! In the meantime, where is that husband of yours, Cadence?" He navigated his head around the room.

"Shining Armor? He's off with Honedge to try and better their relationship. I think you're already aware of how those two are." Cadence explained.

"Oh, but they've gotten better, haven't they? Before Shining Armor would have to constantly pray that Honedge wouldn't possess him. Now they're separate from each other more often." Sunlight squeed.

"Yes but...They're very mutual and at times Honedge has the urge to possess him. I just hope it's going well."


Pokestar Studios attraction.

Cilan was a massive fan of Pokestar Studios. So to have one here was a joy for the Pokemon Connoisseur as he had already grabbed a ton of props and costumes with a multitude of ideas filling his mind.

"Yes, yes!" Cilan held up a Tyranitar and Rillaboom costume. "These can work!"

"Somepony's a massive fan." Rarity said as she was looking for something that would fit her Pheromosa. But due to Pheromosa's unique build and tall stature, dressing the Lissome Pokemon up was nigh-impossible.

"Ampha." Rarity's Ampharos dug his head into a box of props as he found something that really piqued his interest as his body was vibrating a bit. "Ampharos!"

"Hm? What did you find, Ampharos?" Rarity went up to the box of props, spotting what Ampharos had spotted.

It seemed to be some sort of long necklace that had a ton of Mega Stones on them. One of them being the Ampharosite, which is why Ampharos's body was reacting oddly.

"What is this?" Rarity gasped as she used her magic to lift the necklace. She noticed how some of them were duplicates but most of them were for at least 10 different Pokemon.

She was able to tell that this necklace wasn't for show. She saw how Ampharos's body was twitching with sparks of electricity rushing through his fur.

The Ampharosite was also flashing a golden colour but it was very faint. These weren't props but real and legitimate Mega Stones.

"Ah!" One of the employees of the attraction rushed over to Rarity. "Please do not touch that!" She grabbed the necklace.

"Hm?" Rarity looked up.

"Oh thank goodness...I thought I'd never find them..." She let out a sigh of relief.

"Did you misplace these?" Rarity asked.

"Not me, but my boss did. Sorry about that. We lost it during our visit to Pokestar Studios 4 days ago. I suppose a prop box is one place we should've started. Thank you for finding them."

"Not a problem. What a shame though. It would've been nice to wear something like with all those Mega Stones. Does your boss have a Pokemon for all these stones?"

"Oh, no. He doesn't." She shook her head. "The only Pokemon that he has that can Mega Evolve are Beedrill and Swampert. The rest are for other trainers."

"Other trainers?"

"Ampha."

"Mhm." The employee safely placed the necklace on the table. "Only capable trainers who can prove themselves get to have these stones. We run a Mega Evolution camp all the way in Hoenn."

"Mega Evolution Camp? A camp all about Mega Evolution?" That got Rarity's attention.

"I can see you're curious. Maybe one day, you can come for a visit. It's just near Sootopolis City in Hoenn."

"Mega Evolution Camp..." Rarity began thinking for a second. Before she continued her Pokestar Studios plan, she asked one major question. "Just one quick question. Which Pokemon are capable of Mega Evolving?"

"Oh. There are quite a lot of them. But one of them is your Ampharos over here." The woman turned to Ampharos.

"Ampharos. Got it. Alright, thank you very much for that." Rarity gave her thanks as she had something new to reveal to her friends which could benefit them all in the future.


Pokemon Battle Spot.

Ash and Spike were already prepared with both of their Pokemon standing in front of them whilst Ember, Twilight, Meloetta and Barry spectated.

There was a single referee who would be overseeing this battle.

"The battle between the Challengers Ash and Spike will be a 1v1 battle. The battle will be over when one Pokemon from one side faints. You have 10 minutes in total."

"10 minutes is all we need." Ash tightened his gloves.

"Watch, Ember. Ash's battling style is one of a kind." Twilight spoke to her.

"I heard great things about him so I guess I'm gonna see it here. You watching closely, Gible?"

"Gible!"

"Battle start!"

"Okay, Salamence! Let's go with Hyper Beam!"

"Sala!" Salamence went first by opening its mouth as an orange ball appeared in front of its mouth, bursting out of his mouth.

"We'll counter that Hyper Beam with our own Hyper Beam!"

"Dra!" Dragonite's eyes flashed white with an orange ball forming in front of Dragonite's mouth. The ball then turned into a beam as it was fired.

Both Hyper Beams cancelled each other out due to their equal strength as the result was an explosion that was so loud that it alerted most of the ponies in the Crystal Empire.

Dragonite and Salamence both had to take a break after using Hyper Beam, so there was a slight pause as a large smoke cloud filled the area.

"The battle's just started and already they're this close to causing massive damage to the Crystal Empire." Twilight shuddered. "Dragon-Types are scary..."

"Hah!" Barry exclaimed. "Just you wait. Things are gonna get interesting."

Both Dragons had eventually regained energy after using Hyper Beam as the smoke had cleared from the area. Ash and Spike were both ready to let out their next commands.

"Dragon Claw!"

"Dragon Tail!"

At the same time, the two Dragons spread their wings, taking to the skies instead of continuing their battle on the ground level. With green draconic energy surrounding their arms and tail, Dragonite and Salamence could now be seen by everypony in the Crystal Empire.

They both began a back and forth clash of Dragon moves with Dragonite's claws connecting with Salamence's tail, creating green sparks of draconic energy that rained down from above.

Each time Dragonite would go in for an attack, Salamence would block with his tail. And each time Salamence went in for his own attack, Dragonite's claws would collide. It was like two swords clashing against each other with the sparks coming out.

"Hm?" Rarity looked up as she had a Weavile crown on her head. "Spike and Ash are battling against each other. This is a first. Go Salamence!" She cheered Salamence on.

"Sylveon..." Sylveon, who was still on top of Absol, looked up to see the two Dragons scrimmage in the sky along with Absol who just wanted to break free already.

"Dra!"

"Sala!"

Eventually, both Dragon-Flying-Types came to a deadlock. Their tail and claws were being pushed against each other as they were each trying to push through.

"Oooh..." Ember gawked as she was witnessing two full-on Dragons going at it but in a way Ember never thought she would ever see in her life. It was almost magical to look at.

"Gible..."

"Salamence is tough for the right reasons." Ash grinned. "Dragonite! Toss Salamence down!"

"Gonite!" Dragonite suddenly switched from pushing its claws on Salamence's tail to grabbing its fellow Dragon's tail instead.

"Mence?!"

"Dra!" With heavy force, Dragonite tossed Salamence down like a ragdoll, causing Salamence to spin around whilst falling.

"Flamethrower quick!"

"Salamence!" Salamence quickly recovered mid-air as he responded to Dragonite's attack by sending an orange stream of fire from his mouth.

"Gon?!" Dragonite gasped as it put its arms up, blocking the Flamethrower as it wasn't very effective on Dragonite at all.

Salamence landed on the ground as he stared up at Dragonite who had shrugged off the Flamethrower.

"Let's try another Hyper Beam, Salamence!"

"Sala...!" Salamence was ready to blast another Hyper Beam as he was charging up.

"Here it comes..." Ash grinned. "Dragonite! Spin with Dragon Dance."

"Gonite!" Instead of countering with its own Hyper Beam or just flying out of the way, Dragonite chose to increase its power and speed as its body became surrounded in orange energy as it spins around several times.

This was the same strategy used against Korinna's Mienshao and it was a means of powering through attacks while also increasing power and speed.

The Hyper Beam engulfed Dragonite who simply kept on spinning either way. The beam pierced through the clouds as a large explosion of energy followed afterwards.

From how powerful it was and how it was capable of blowing the clouds away along with any nearby Flying-Types or pegasi, most would've thought that Dragonite would be done after that.

"Dra!" But lo and behold, Dragonite blew the smoke away from its body by flapping its wings and roaring. Dragonite was now stronger and faster than ever.

"Oh!?" Spike jerked back.

"Sala!?"

"Okay, Dragonite! Dragon Claw!"

"Gonite!" Dragonite's speed had been increased, meaning it could fly faster than normal this time as it created a shockwave the moment it flew downwards.

And Salamence had to wait to recharge. He wasn't yet at that level where he could fire Hyper Beams repeatedly without rest. Not many Pokemon are anyway.

"Sal?!"

"Dragonite!" With increased strength now, Dragonite smashed both of its Dragon Claws onto Salamence's head as a sort of clapping attack.

"Sa!" Salamanece felt his head ring after being clapped by Dragon Claw. He actually ended up flinching from the attack as his head bobbled around. "S-S-Salamence!"

"Dra!" Dragonite let out one major Dragon Claw by smashing it onto Salamence's head, rocketing its opposing Dragon-Type to the ground.

Salamence hit the ground hard, causing a small tremor to occur as a large dust cloud emerged from the impact, causing ponies to back up and cover their eyes.

As the dust settled with the smoke clearing, Salamence had unfortunately fainted.

"Salamence..."

"Salamence is unable to battle! Dragonite wins! Thus the victor is Ash!"

"Great job, Dragonite!" Ash gave a thumbs up.

"Pikachu!"

"Gon? Dragon!" Dragonite, as always, enjoyed being praised by Ash. So it responded by flying over for yet another hug. "Dra!" The Dragon Pokemon grabbed Ash, holding him in its clutches.

"Ah! B-Bit too hard this time Dragonite!" Ash winced.

"Good work, Salamence." Spike helped Salamence up. "We need to learn some new moves ourselves."

"Mence."

"That...That was amazing!" Ember stood up with the largest grin on her face, before sitting back down, realizing she was more excited than usual. "Is that how it looks when two Dragon-Types battle?"

"Sure is!" Ash nodded. "It's a real shakeup of a battle every time."

"So like...Gible and I can battle like that one day?"

"Mhm." Spike slid over. "You're looking at a future Dragon Master right here too."

"Sounds good to me. We've got a lot to do, Gible." Ember looked down at the Land Shark Pokemon.

"Gib!"

"You look pretty motivated now, Ember," Twilight said to Ember.

"Sure do." Ember nodded. "I can't wait to see how far we go."

The arrival to the Crystal Empire showed much promise with new attractions that catered to everyone's personal taste.

There are still more attractions to be found here with lots more to do as the afternoon was still young with a good amount of days left. However, not all is fine. J is still somewhere out there. Whether they encounter J during the festival is unknown. But only time will tell as the journey continues.

Outskirts of the Crystal Empire.

While everyone enjoys the Pokemon Festival, some are more focused on different matters. Matters that can be boiled down to personal matters between two individuals.

And no duo represents this better than Shining Armor and Honedge. Currently, on the outskirts of the Crystal Empire, the two of them were having a bit of a bonding session. They had a very mutual relationship with each other.

They respected one another but they weren't ready to see themselves as trainer and Pokemon yet. More like minor acquaintances. Their relationship has barely improved. Only by a little amount.

But only one of them seeks to really improve it. Shining Armor that is. But he knew how to grab Honedge's attention. By vowing to help him improve with his sword skills. And that was enough to make Honedge cooperate, even for just a bit.

To work with Honedge, Shining Armor had crystal pillars act as training dummies for Honedge to slash away at. They were hard enough for a Steel-Type like Honedge to actually work hard to cut.

"Okay, Honedge. Go." Shining Armor gave the command to start.

"Edge!" The Sword Pokemon got started. He went up to the crystal pillars, swinging away by using Fury Cutter to do so. Honedge's steel-body meant that he could easily chip off crystals in a heartbeat.

Honedge was thinking about one thing. Surpassing Kartana and become the best sword user to ever exist. Before he became a Honedge, the man from medieval times had some history with swords.

According to Honedge himself, he was adept with a sword when he was still human. Although, his past is still unknown to Shining Armor. But now as a Honedge, a living sword, he would have to swing his sword differently. AKA, his entire body. Which can be tricky at times.

Honedge's slashing strength was increasing in power due to the effects of Fury Cutter. The crystals were coming apart and some of them were even being designed by Honedge as a sort of inspiration from what Kartana did to the Sylveon statue.

"Nice, nice!" Shining Armor nodded. "Let's try some harder crystals." He used his magic to bring the harder pillars over.

"Hone!" Naturally, Honedge switched over to the harder crystals pillars, using his increased strength thanks to Fury Cutter.

Honedge's constant slashing grabbed the attention of the Sableye, who snuck in to grab all the shards that came out of the crystals each time they were struck for a quick bite.

But they weren't the only ones that Honedge dragged in.

Cobalion had taken notice of this himself.

He observed Honedge's slashes, seeing how he performed on the crystal pillars. From what Cobalion could tell, Honedge's sword skills are fairly good and precise from how he was quickly cutting the pillars. But that was mostly from Fury Cutter.

However, Cobalion could also see that Honedge could get a bit reckless along the way. In the beginning, he's clear and focused but as he continued to slash, his movements shift into a fast and loose style of swinging.

And the drawbacks began to show.

Eventually, Honedge reached a limit where he tired himself out cutting another hard pillar. He even ended up chipping a part of his own bladed body as well.

"H-Honedge..." Honedge took a breather.

"Maybe these ones are a bit too hard." Shining Armor went up to Honedge. "You even chipped yourself."

"Edge."

"You'll keep on harming yourself if you swing in that way." Cobalion said as he walked up to the duo of Pokemon and Trainer.

"Hm? Cobalion? Have you been watching us this whole time?"

"Just recently. I saw how your Honedge was using its sword. Or rather its entire body."

"Oh, yeah. We're practising to improve Honedge's sword skills. Or...get them back I think makes more sense. But he kinda chipped himself there."

"Hone."

"It's only natural that he'd chip his blade. Getting reckless along the way can cost you a great risk."

"Really?" Shining Armor turned to Honedge. "What do you mean by that?"

"Honedge seemed to be doing well at the beginning with precise slashes. But as he went on, his blade became wild and breakneck, resulting in sloppy accidents such as that chip."

"Honedge?" "Honedge looked at its bladed body and the pillars that he chipped himself on.

"I guess reckless slashes can be a pretty big risk..." Then Shining Armor realized something. With Cobalion right here in front of him, an idea sparked. "Oh! Cobalion!"

"Hm?"

"You're a sword master, right? Think you can help me and Honedge?"

"You want me to train you two?

"Mhm." Shining Armor nodded. "You know a lot about swords anyway. Plus, it'll really help boost Honedge's confidence if a Sword of Justice is training him. He wants to beat Kartana one day, ya know."

"Honedge!"

"Hm..." Cobalion scrunched his eyes as he was making a decision. The last time he trained someone was Keldeo and that was the end of that. It has been years after Keldeo's training since he's a certified Sword of Justice now.

But it wouldn't hurt to teach someone new. Even if it wasn't a Sword of Justice it still counts as someone training to be a great sword user.

"I suppose I can teach you while I'm here." Cobalion took Shining Armor's offer.

"Yes!" Shining Armor exclaimed. "We'll be sword experts in no time, Honedge."

"Hone!"

"But. I assure you that I won't go easy on you for being novitiate, understand?"

"Oh sure. We're ready."

"Edge!"

"Then come." Cobalion suddenly summoned his sword, startling Honedge and Shining Armor. "We'll start simple with a short battle."

"T-That's your way of simple?" Shining Armor gulped. "Alright then...We can hold our own against you, I know it. Let's go Honedge!"

"Hone!" The Sword Pokemon got in front of Shining Armor, ready to face off against his fellow Steel-Type.

The Sableye and some ponies who were just arriving at the Pokemon Festival in the Crystal Empire decided to get a good look at this for themselves.

"He's a Fighting-Type...so that sword of his isn't gonna do a thing to Honedge. Use Fury Cutter!"

"Hone!" The Sword Pokemon went on the offensive, rushing in with a white aura surrounding his body. With sharp and concise movements, Honedge swung like a true adept.

However, Cobalion easily blocked it with his sword, creating a loud clang noise from the impact as the crystals around them shattered.

"Edge! Edge!" Honedge began doing what he does best. Swinging violently with Fury Cutter as his strength was increasing.

Each swing was faster and stronger than the last, but even with that growth, Cobalion was easily deflecting and blocking Honedge's hits by doing absolutely nothing except for standing in place.

Cobalion barely even budged. Even with Honedge's strength increasing with Fury Cutter, the Iron Will Pokemon stood still on one single spot, unphased.

Naturally, for Honedge, this aggravated him. He was putting all this effort into his slashes and he was making zero progress. So, Honedge decided to get aggressive with his swings, shifting from his sharp movements to ferocious movements.

"Predictable." Cobalion said as he decided to fight back. But he didn't use a move to do so. Instead, Cobalion emanated a potent shockwave from his sword, essentially showing off his fighting spirit.

This shockwave pulsed through the area, scaring off the Sableye and making the ponies tremble as it sounded like a loud gong going off.

Honedge shuddered as its metal and spectral body was ringing from the shockwave. "H-H-H-Hone-Honedge?!" This overwhelming shockwave caused Honedge to not only stop attacking but it even made him faint. "Edge..."

"Ah! Honedge!" Shining Armor gasped.

"Hm." Cobalion lowered his sword as he had already displayed just how powerful he was in comparison. "Again. Your slashes shift into ferocity along the way."

"Honedge..."

"Your Honedge is easily irritated. What seems to be promising and clear-cut slashes transforms into a battling style that can be considered unpolished."

"Yeah, I figured." Shining Armor sighed. "But he did so well against the Dynamax Sableye." He helped Honedge up.

"But. That flaw is just another example of determination. But that frustration might lead to his downfall if it is not controlled at all."

"Well, I think that Honedge gets frustrated when it involves somepony who's a better sword wielder than him. He's still pretty mad about that Kartana encounter."

"Edge..."

"Honedge shows great promise. All he needs to do is restrain himself. Ferocious and violent swings are powerful, yes. But they're raw and unrefined. It's the same reason why Dragon moves do not affect Fairy Pokemon. One is raw magic and the other is focused magic."

"So...does that mean..."

"If Honedge can control his frustration, he will be an expert swordmaster in no time. A Pokemon such as himself is already harbouring great potential."

"That might be a problem." Shining Armor chuckled nervously. "Honedge's temper is uh...not great."

"Hone." Honedge scoffed.

"Try again. But this time, focus properly." Cobalion offered them a second chance.

"Again? Okay. We can try again." Shining Armor nodded. "Let's try and keep it cool, okay, Honedge?"

"Edge!" Honedge hovered up, already preparing to strike Cobalion with his body. He wasn't exactly emanating a calm and collected aura like Cobalion.

"Let's try something else. Attack with Swords Dance!"

"Hone!" Honedge tried a new approach due to Shining Armor's commands. But whether he would be able to perform differently was up to Cobalion to judge as the Sword Pokemon bolted forward.

Honedge may have little control over himself but he took Cobalion's advice to heart. He attempted to relax when swinging at the Iron Will Pokemon.

Once more, Cobalion decided to stay on one spot whilst blocking with his blade. Honedge's increased strength still couldn't compare to the sheer might of Cobalion.

However, instead of getting riled up like before, Honedge decided to keep his frustration in and attack in a different way. Instead of fast and swift slashes, Honedge slowed himself down instead of rushing in blind.

"Good." Cobalion actually complimented Honedge's new approach. "Keep that up."

"Hone! Hone!" Honedge's new approach and focused slashes were actually enough to make Cobalion move just a tiny bit. The Iron Will Pokemon could see that Honedge was starting to clear his head of any aggression.

"Okay, nice! Now let's try using Fury Cutter with that boosted strength!"

"Edge!" Honedge's strength was larger than ever now. The Sword Pokemon suddenly used its ghost intangibility to phase through Cobalion to attack him from behind.

"Hm?" This caught Cobalion off guard a small bit since he wasn't really expecting that to happen.

"Honedge!" Honedge used the powered up Fury Cutter to attack Cobalion's back.

But even that wasn't enough to get the best of the Iron Will Pokemon as Cobalion, in the blink of an eye, turned around and blocked Honedge's blade with his own.

They both locked eyes as Honedge was trying to push through Cobalion's sword with his own. But Cobalion was way too durable.

Cobalion could see that Honedge was showing some promising progress. So he decided to put an end to this battle by showing off what might be his most impressive cut yet.

First, he blew Honedge back by exerting that same potent shockwave from his sword. But this time, Honedge was able to withstand it as he was still standing.

"H-Hone...!"

Cobalion then swung his sword downwards, sending a cutting wave of light that flew past Honedge and Shining Armor. This wave of light was instant and hard to track. It moved faster than light as all that could be felt was a loud tremor from the sheer force of it.

With utter disbelief, when Shining Armor and Honedge turned around, they witnessed that the entire mountainscape of the Frozen North had been cut in half as the sun rays beamed down on Cobalion.

"O-Oh..." Shining Armor shuddered.

"That should do it for battling." Cobalion returned his sword.

"Huh? We're done training?"

"Not quite. I merely wanted to test you out in a battle. I'll put you in a different training position. Similar to what you two were doing before I came up to you."

"Oh. You mean us cutting the crystals?"

"Precisely. Instead of cutting the crystals from up close, I want you to try and cut it from afar."

"...Eh?" Shining Armor scrunched his eyes. "You mean like how you cut the Frozen North in half? I'm not sure that Honedge can do that. Can he?"

"It's not impossible at all. Moves such as Night Slash are physical and up close. However, with the right amount of focus, they can become living energy. Like so." Cobalion demonstrated by lighting his sword up. He released a small cutting wave of energy that split some crystals in half.

"Hone?"

"The true weight of the sword has many possibilities. Like with all Pokemon, there is no limit to what they are capable of at all."

"I believe that." Shining Armor nodded as his stomach started to growl. "Ah but first...can I grab a bite? I' 'm starving?"

"Fine. I'll be waiting here." Cobalion sat down on the ground.

"Thanks! Return, for now, Honedge." Shining Armor brought Honedge back into his ball as he ran off to grab himself a bite to eat.

While Shining Armor went off, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo approached Cobalion. They had been watching the entire training session occur.

"I thought your training days were over?" Terrakion said. "You're teaching those two?"

"They hold promise, those two. At times, I feel compelled to help teach those who want to become swordmasters." Cobalion responded.

"Oh like how you all trained me, right?" Keldeo spoke.

"Right, Keldeo." Virizion nodded.

"It's good that there are those who wish to become better trainers. Their world still has yet to experience the many grandiose threats our world holds." Cobalion stood up. "It's best to prepare for those threats as capable trainers."

"Especially Ghetsis and Team Plasma." Terrakion turned to Virzion and Keldeo. "If he decides to make another move on Equestria then..."

"Pssh! We stopped him once we'll do it again." Keldeo grinned.

"Perhaps not as easily the second time Keldeo." Cobalion shut him down. "Ghetsis is an adapter. Like Ash, he takes notice of his failures and grows from it. There's no telling what he could be planning now."

"Oh...yeah I guess." Keldeo scrunched his face.

"If only we could travel to other worlds ourselves." Virizion sighed. "We could have saved Pyrestar's world by now."

"If only. Right now. We'll have to wait and hold our patience until the time comes." Cobalion uttered as the sun rays beamed down on him. There's always something going through Cobalion's head. But usually, it's for the good of others. Much like his fellow swords.


The Crystal Empire.

"Need a bite." Shining Armor entered the castle as his stomach kept on growling.

"You're back. How did your bonding exercise with Honedge go?" Cadence asked.

"It's still going on. Cobalion's teaching us."

"Cobalion?!" Celestia flew up as she bumped her head on the ceiling. "Ow."

"Mhm. He's teaching me and Honedge, mostly Honedge, to become better swordmasters. It's going alright. Right now I-" Shining Armor paused as he had finally seen Sunlight and Eventide for the very first time.

He saw how identical they looked to Celestia and Luna but with slight differences here and there as he also noticed their superior size to Celestia who was normally considered the tallest pony in Equestria.

"W-Who are they?" He stuttered.

"Oh, right." Celestia descended. "Shining Armor. These are my parents. Sunlight and Eventide."

"Hello!" Sunlight waved her hoof.

"Aha!" Eventide teleported, appearing behind Shining Armor and frightening him. "Boy! I've been wanting to meet you!"

"H-Hello..." Shining Armor gulped as he was overwhelmed by Eventide's insane height. "My you are tall."

"Aren't I?" Eventide placed his hoof around Shining Armor's neck, squeezing him in the process as the unicorn's eyes bulged.

"Oof!"

"Come. We have a lot to discuss!"

"U-Uh, actually! I came here to eat quickly and h-head back to Cobalion for more training." Shining Armor flailed his hoof around.

"Eventide, dear. You're strangling the poor boy." Sunlight said.

"Oh!" Eventide removed his hooves from Shining Armor. "Apologies."

"It's fine..." Shining Armor breathed in and out as his neck was now strained. "Need food..."

"Here. Eat this." Cadence used her magic to bring over some surprising curry. Somepony from Canterlot brought this as a gift. It's Mushroom Medley Curry."

"Thanks..." Shining Armor went over to the curry as he held his neck.

"I hope you don't mind but..." Celestia slid backwards. "Would it be alright if I went to see Cobalion?" She squeed.

"Sure. No pr-" The moment Eventide said sure, Celestia took off like a rocket, leaving the castle in a flash as she went to find Cobalion. "Oh."

"Mmm!" Shining Armor devoured the curry like a maniac. He was truly starving. "So good!"

"So. Is it true?" Sunlight went over to Shining Armor.

"Hm? What's true?"

"That your Honedge used to be a human that was slain by the sword that ended up becoming Honedge?"

"Oh, it's true." Shining Armor nodded. "I think it's for every Honedge."

"It still baffles me that a Pokemon can be formed in such a way." Cadence looked up. "I wonder who Honedge really was in his previous life. Or what his name was."

"Who knows. But it's neat to have an ancient warrior on our side." As Shining Armor continued to devour the curry, inside of the Poke Ball, Honedge had heard the entire conversation.

However, instead of shrugging it off as nothing important, instead, this conversation about Honedge was very important. Honedge heard how they mentioned his past.

From what he's told them over these past few months, he described himself as a great warrior who was an experienced knight with a sword.

Or at least, that's what he says.

In truth, Honedge's past was vastly different from what he's told Shining Armor and Cadence. Thinking about it made Honedge reminisce about his past. But it has been so long that his memories are very vague. There was little he could remember. But there was one memory that forever stuck with him.


3,000 years ago. Kalos Region. During the Kalos War.

Honedge at the time wasn't actually an amazing and legendary swordsman as he constantly says he is.

Instead, he was just a squire back in the day. Simply training to become a knight in the future. This moment in time was the most important event in Honedge's memory

Because this was the day Honedge was slain as a human.

He had been thrust into the Kalos War at such a young age. And as the role of the squire, he had to accompany the knights and their Pokemon on the battlefield by carrying the knight's flag into battle with his master.

He had dreamed of being a knight himself and to become a master of the sword. However, he had entered the war before he got the chance to reach that point in time. But he had hope that once this war was over, he would end up ranking up and finally emerge as a knight, albeit a novice one.

Unfortunately, during the Kalos War, he had been struck.

But it wasn't actually a sword that took him out like the Pokedex describes a Honedge.

Instead, a Draco Meteor crashed onto him, engulfing the young squire.

And that was the end of this young squire's time. His body had been charred up by Draco Meteor as he was on the ground with severe meteoric draconic heat slowly destroying his body.

The last thing he saw was the constant battling of the war going on. After that, he had passed on while the war continued.

Once the Kalos War came to an end, many of the fallen humans and Pokemon had their deceased bodies scattered across the battlefield. So many had perished on that day.

Some of the fallen humans and Pokemon were given new life. Some were turned into Gastly's, others became Yamask's. They all were given second lives.

One of them being the young squire.

However, unlike the many fallen soldiers and Pokemon who had been turned into Ghost Pokemon in under an hour after the battle, it took the squire a Millennium for his spirit to link with a Ghost.

Next to his skeleton, which was buried underneath the ground, a sword was nearby, belonging to one of the many fallen soldiers in the war. It too was also buried in the ground with the skeleton.

The squire's spirit was devastated. His dream of becoming a great swordmaster had been wiped out the moment that Draco Meteor fell from above. All his hard work was for nothing.

This distraught emotion was enough to link the spirit of the squire with the sword. It was almost as if the sword had responded to the squire's cry.

Because of this spectral link, a Honedge had been born. After centuries, a link had been formed.

The sword had transformed itself into a Pokemon on that very day.

And ever since then, the squire, now a Honedge, had been travelling the land, searching for some lifeforce to absorb. The one in control was Honedge. Not the squire.

Because Honedge was in control, it only sought lifeforce energy and nothing else. But despite that, the spirit of the squire was still in there. And that lone spirit was still, deep down, wishing for the chance to be a swordmaster once more.

It ventured the lands for months until the day arrived when the Rift crossed the two worlds over. Which all leads up to the present timeline.


Those were memories Honedge never wanted to remember. But they were the most prominent and effective so it was impossible to forget.

At the end of the day, Honedge wasn't a grown man but a young boy who never got the chance to achieve his goal. Until he met Shining Armor, that is.

"Okay." Shining Armor finished his curry. "Cobalion's waiting for me. This time, we're gonna make our slashes ranged or...something like that."

"Just don't forget to enjoy the festival too," Cadence said to Shining Armor as she saw her husband run out of the castle to continue his training.

With Cobalion, he was having a small chat with Celestia who came dashing here just to meet him.

"You know...there's a special holiday known as Hearts and Hooves today. I'm not sure if you've heard of it but..." Celestia whistled as she dug her hoof in the snow.

"Hm." Cobalion nodded as he closed his eyes. He quickly opened them up once he spotted the return of Shining Armor as he stood up. "So. Are you ready to learn how to emanate your fighting spirit?"

"Yes sir!" Shining Armor replied.

Just then, Honedge forced himself out of his Poke Ball, for once. "Edge!"

"Hm, Honedge? You're already raring to go?"

"Hmm." Cobalion narrowed his eyes.

"Honedge!" Honedge was acting differently this time. Obviously, he was ready to continue improving himself, but after he reminisced his past, his determination skyrocketed at an unexpected level. And Cobalion could see that.

"Good." Cobalion said. "That drive is already a major step into unleashing your spirit. Come. Let us begin." Cobalion went over to the hardest pillars. The same pillars that chipped Honedge in the beginning.

"Hone."

"Remember. You must release your fighting spirit with this. Your cuts will be versatile in both physical and special range if you can learn this."

"We got it. You ready, Honedge?"

"Edge!"

"Then. You may begin."

"Hone...!" Honedge began tightening his focus. He set his eyes on the many pillars in front of him. When concentrating Honedge began thinking of his past and how he never got to become a master swordsman. "Edge!"

But, now that he was the sword himself, Honedge knew that his dream could still be possible. He was emanating two types of aura.

One was the manifestation of his final days as a human and how he perished in the Kalos War. That aura was sadness.

But the second aura was his perseverance manifested. Even if he was no longer human and cursed to live in this bladed body, he was still aiming for his dream even in this restrictive form.

"Oh! You're doing it Honedge!" Shining Armor gawked. "Now slice!"

"Honedge!" The Sword Pokemon released the cutting wave embedded with Honedge's spirit. Or rather, the squire's spirit. This spirit was strong enough to leave large marks on the ground as it went towards the pillars.

The wave made contact with the pillars, but he only managed to chip off shards of the pillars instead of cutting them in half. It wasn't enough.

"Again." Cobalion said.

"Hone!" Thus began a consecutive series of slashes. Honedge began slashing the air, sending light cutting waves from his bladed body.

The waves kept on chipping the pillars little by little. None of them were able to take out a sizable chunk at all. Shining Armor could see that Honedge was acting differently this time. He wasn't sure what it was but he could feel something new in Honedge that he had never felt before.

Honedge kept releasing his spirit, trying his very best to cut through the pillars with everything he had. But all he could do was chip away small shards.

"Go, Honedge!" Shining Armor was suddenly cheering him on.

"Edge?"

"You can do it! Cut right through those pillars! You wanna be back in your prime as a legendary warrior right?!"

"Hone!" Honedge hadn't received praise before. The Sword Pokemon knew that Shining Armor had taken all of the false information and lies he gave to his trainer. About him being a legend.

But he could also see that Shining Armor was genuinely trying to help him succeed. Even if he was unknowingly helping Honedge reach his true goal. To become a swordmaster.

He may have tricked him to help battle against the Dynamax Sableye due to him sparking up his loss against Kartana, but Shining Armor was, in fact, preparing him for his seemingly inevitable rematch with Kartana.

Honedge could now see that Shining Armor might be worthy as his Pokemon Trainer. After rejecting him for so long, Honedge saw Shining Armor as a partner. At least, a partner that he could go beyond tolerating, but not yet friends.

And it was this sudden revelation that the unexpected occurred. All of Honedge's body began to glow, engulfing the sword Pokemon in a silver light as Shining Armor backed up.

"Honedge?" Shining Armor's eyes widened. "What's happening?"

Suddenly, millions of swords rose from the silver light, flying into the air as the skies were covered with glowing blades. Cobalion and the others watched as the blades circled the sky like a tornado.

These swords then came flying back down towards the glowing body of Honedge as they consecutively stabbed into the Sword Pokemon.

Once they stabbed Honedge, an explosion of infinity energy erupted, forming into a pillar that blew Shining Armor back whilst Cobalion and the others stood firm.

The pillar of light had been cut in half as the second form of the Steel-Ghost-Type had finally been revealed and was here at last.

Doublade.

"Doublade!"

"Huh?!" Shining Armor sat up as he was shocked to see that Honedge had evolved. "He evolved? W-W-Where's my dex!" He quickly pulled out his Pokedex, reading the data of his newly evolved partner.

"Doublade. The Sword Pokemon. When Honedge evolves, it divides into two swords, which cooperate via telepathy to coordinate attacks and slash their enemies to ribbons. The complex attack patterns of its two swords are unstoppable, even for an opponent greatly accomplished at swordplay. The two blades rub together to emit a metallic sound that unnerves opponents. The two swords employ a strategy of rapidly alternating between offence and defence to bring down their prey."

"Excellent." Cobalion smiled, knowing how that evolution was possible.

The two blades of Doublade were not just twins. But instead, one was the spirit of the squire and the other was the spirit of the sword itself. They seem to have truly linked together, at least for now.

"Okay." Shining Armor stood up. "Doublade! Swing at your best!"

"Dou!" With a boost in power, Doublade had learned a new move. Night Slash. Both of Doublade's blades had illuminated a purple and white aura, to represent the link between the squire and sword.

With a mighty swing, streaks of energy had been swung, sending multiple purple and white blades of energy at the pillars.

With lightning speed, Doublade's fighting spirit was wide enough to hit all the pillars at once. Each of the streaks flew past the pillars with sheer destructive yet composed force behind them.

Instead of shards, they had been split in half, one by one, like a sort of a domino effect. Shining Armor was amazed at how wonderfully Doublade had cut the pillars apart with those tiny little streaks.

"Amazing!" He rushed over to Doublade. "Doublade that was incredible!"

"Blade."

"I didn't think you'd evolve during this but...I'll take it! Wait till Cadence and Twily hear about this." Shining Armor squeed.

"An excellent display of strength." Cobalion walked up to them both. "I can say that your progress has reached a substantial level, you two."

"Thanks, Cobalion. I don't know what it was but I could feel something strong in Doublade here."

"That means your connection as trainer and Pokemon is growing. Keep growing that connection and soon you'll become an amazing duo of trainer and Pokemon."

"Sounds great to us. Right, partner?" Shining Armor finally referred to him as a partner.

"Dou. Doublade." Doublade could accept that Shining Armor was his partner as he began swinging wildly, itching to cut some more objects in half.

"Okay. Slow down there." Shining Armor halted him. "Before we continue cutting things apart, let's enjoy the festival together, how does that sound?"

"Doublade." Doublade took Shining Armor's offer. He would have all the time to cut objects whenever and wherever he wants now.

With his dream slowly becoming a reality, Doublade's new evolution meant a bright new future for him. Although his past life ended too quickly due to his young age and the Kalos War, his new life seems to show much promise. With a partner like Shining Armor on his side, things are looking up for the young squire now turned blade as the journey continues.