Pokémon and Ponies

#79-The Pokemon Festival 2 Part 8

Ponyville. The Pokemon Festival. 12:30.

"Can't believe they got to go on a cruise ship and I didn't..." Barry sulked as he sat on a table, eating some cookies.

"Maybe next time." Cilan patted him on the back. "There's always the next festival next year."

"Man!" Barry slammed his hands on the table. "Ash is so lucky sometimes! I swear, that guy and Paul always love being one step ahead of me, don't they?!" He grizzled his teeth while furiously eating his cookies.

While Barry devours his food as Cilan laughs, Ponyville was getting some new arrivals for the Pokemon Festival. Straight from various parts of Equestria or even the Pokemon World as well.

One of which was Premium Polish, who decided to come to Ponyville next for the Pokemon Festival. She wasn't here for any Pokemon Contests since Ponyville doesn't have a contest hall.

Meaning her bodyguards weren't with her right now. Mostly because she went out without informing her mother So this time, she was on her own with her Pokemon by her side at all time.

Right now, her mother wasn't home. She was off partaking in the usual activities that Premium will never know about. For multiple reasons that involve a certain chip.

"Finally. Ponyville." She said, coming across the small town. "Small and simple. I like it." Having a good feeling about this place and knowing this is where her rival Sweetie Belle normally resides, the little unicorn was ready to explore and do whatever she can in this town by taking part in attractions.

There weren't many attractions here in Ponyville. Very few actually, but they were enjoyable either way. Her Pokemon had been sent out to enjoy Ponyville and what it had to offer. However, her Pokemon weren't exactly in the same happy mood as her.

Not after what happened yesterday, after all.

Her Pokemon made sure to stay extra close instead of wandering off somewhere. After all, the memory chip inside of Premium Polish's saddlebag is by far the most important thing here as it reminds them of what happened that very night.

But Premium Polish didn't know that. Neither does she even remember. But for now, she'll create new memories today on the third day of the second week of the Pokemon Festival.

The little unicorn got started by eating some of the same cookies that Barry had eaten. They were made in the Pokemon World so their taste was vastly different. But still delicious either way.

She went over to a face-painting booth, getting herself a Delcatty face paint. Her Pokemon were given the same treatment as they received face paints of their pre-evolved forms.

They also took part in the fairly popular tug-of-war attraction but quickly lost because of the opposing teams' superior strength. Seemingly in numbers. They were involved with the Dodgeball attraction but the Pokemon came out on top for obvious reasons and they even participated in the difficult, tense and addicting Poke-End game.

Needless to say, they were having a blast. Well, Premium was having the most fun. Her Pokemon, yes, but they were still a bit affected from yesterday. But seeing their trainer smile and have so much fun was enough to almost make them forget about yesterday.

But they couldn't.

The next form of entertainment they came across was different from the attractions. It wasn't actually an attraction even. It was a wishing stand. Run by an employee wearing shrine clothing that looked to resemble the colours of Jirachi.

"Wishing stand?" Premium said as she looked at all the notes that were on the table. Each of them having multiple wishes on them.

"Right. Are you interested in making a wish?" The employee asked.

"Sure. Sounds fun. What are all these notes for?"

"Oh." The employee lifted the notes. "These are wishing notes. All written by those who have their own wishes that they want to be granted one day. By Jirachi."

"Jirachi? Who's that?"

"The Wish Pokemon. And the one Pokemon that is capable of granting any wish, no matter what."

"Oh!" Premium shot up. "Really? A Pokemon like that exists?"

"Certainly does. There's a Pokemon for everything as they say. And wishing is no exception. Everyone wants a wish from Jirachi. It's a highly popular Pokemon despite being rarely seen. Although, that's to be expected from a Legendary Pokemon."

"I bet I could get a wish from Jirachi if I ever meet it," Premium smirked. "So, does it look at the notes and grant the wishes?"

"Not quite. You see, for Jirachi to grant a wish, you can't just ask it. You need to place the note on its head so that Jirachi knows what to grant when it wakes up."

"Ah...When does it wake up?"

"Every thousand years."

"Thousand?!" Premium shot back.

"But! There have been more frequent sightings of Jirachi recently. The same can be said for most Legendary Pokemon. So perhaps Jirachi's thousand-year sleep isn't as frequent anymore. Which is why there are so many notes than usual."

"Phew..." Premium Polish sighed. "Don't know if I can go a thousand years waiting for a wish..."

"So, what will it be? Do you have any wishes you would like?"

"Any wishes? Hmm..." Premium began to ponder what she would wish for. Her current lifestyle is seemingly perfect. The large mansion she and her mother live in is already a major example of that. "What do I want?"

"I know what I want." Just then, someone else had come over, already knowing what wish they wanted. And that someone was Delia Ketchum. From the gateway next door connecting to Pallet Town. Right now, she was wearing black shades and a sunhat for one reason.

"Great. Just write it down and we'll have something new for Jirachi. Hopefully, it doesn't get too overcrowded here soon on the table." said the employee.

"Well, only three notes can fit on its head, isn't that what they say?" Delia grabbed a note and the pen on the table. "I'm hoping for an early wish, after all." She slightly lowered her glasses, showing a bit of her face.

And the moment she did that, Premium Polish could recognize the face of Delia Ketchum from the first glance. Just from the eyes as well even.

"Oh! You're Delia Ketchum!"

"Eep!" Delia squealed as she quickly turned to face Premium. "H-Hello..." She nervously waved with a grin.

"Wow!" The little unicorn's eyes shined. "I can't believe I'm standing next to the mother of Ash Ketchum!" She screeched as she pranced on the spot.

"Yes...That's me." Delia sighed. "Ash's mother."

"Lucky me! I get to stand next to the-"

"Um. Perhaps keep it down a bit. For a few reasons." Delia hushed Premium as she took off her glasses, looking around the area. "I want to keep myself secret for the time being."

"Trying to keep yourself hidden?" The employee asked.

"Yes." Delia nodded. "Unfortunately, being the mother of a hero tends to draw in a large crowd to your home. It was fun and nice at first being so popular but now it's just overwhelming..."

"Oh. Sorry. Am I being a bother?" Premium pouted.

"Not at all." Delia shook her head. "As long as it's not multiple crowding around me, one is fine. Now, for my wish."

"Oh! What would a Ketchum wish for?" Premium asked questions out of pure curiosity because of how she viewed Ash, his mother and to an extent, his Pokemon. "Something grand, huge, awe-inspiring, marvellous?!"

"No. Just to wish my husband good luck on his journey as always."

"Huh?" Premium paused.

"It's the one wish I always go for." Premium wrote on the note. "Even before I knew about Jirachi. Wishing my husband good luck is the only wish I ever use. So does Ash, even if he hasn't seen his father for years now. The Pokemon World is vast and unpredictable, even for some of the best trainers out there. It's always nice to wish those that you love good luck on their journeys. Or anything, really."

"That's a wish everyone can get behind." The employee agreed.

"Okay. That's a good wish too." Premium nodded.

"What about you, dear? You must want something large. What's your wish?" Delia asked.

"Oh. Hm." Premium shifted her eyes around. "I haven't decided yet. I really don't know what I want. Never wished for anything before. I think I've got everything I need. At least for now."

"Everything you need for now sounds perfect and fine in itself." Delia placed her glasses back on. "I know if I had everything, I wouldn't wish for much, save for a few things."

"Guess so. But I do still want to try and wish for something at least. Maybe better luck in my contests?"

"Swan!" Just then, her Pokemon decided to act on this. They actually had a wish they wanted to grant for Premium Polish only. Swanna flew over to the table, picking the pen up with her beak. Her Masquerain also flew over, bringing the paper over to Swanna as she started writing the wish down.

"Huh? What are you two doing?" Premium looked at her Pokemon as Swanna and the others agreed what the wish would be.

"Seems like your Pokemon have a wish they want for you." said the employee as she observed the mannerisms of the Pokemon.

"Really? For me?" Premium looked down at the paper that Swanna was writing on. However, Swanna doesn't exactly know how to write, so the words on the paper weren't even words. Just crooked and jumbled up lines and scribbles.

"Swanna!" Swanna showed Premium the wish despite how there were barely any words on it.

"Uh, thanks but...I can't really understand this." Premium chuckled. "But it's nice that you all want to wish me something. Whatever it is. Wait, can Pokemon get wishes granted to?"

"Maybe." The employee shrugged. "History and legend only tell of humans having their wishes granted by Jirachi. Although, Salamence can grant its own wish as a Bagon."

"Wish I could speak Pokemon. Then I'd really know what they wanted. Is there a way to do so?"

"Um..." The employee bit her finger."Well, we do have translators but they're not here in Ponyville at the moment..."

"Oh!" Delia clapped her hands together. "I know! Mimey can translate for you!"

"Who?" Premium turned to Delia.

"Mimey! Come in here!" She called for her Mr Mime.

"Mime!" One single call and the Barrier Pokemon came dashing over, wearing some tourist clothing. "Mime-Mime!"

"Mimey here can help. Mr Mimes' are known for their top-notch pantomime skills, after all. And Mimey's been practising some handwriting pantomime. If not everything."

"Mime!"

"Oh. Okay, that can help. I really want to know what they wished for anyway. Maybe something about my contests!"

"Mimey. See if you can write down their wish for their trainer over here." Delia pointed at the Pokemon and Premium.

"Mime-Mime!" Mimey understood what it had to do. Ask the Pokemon what their wish was and write it down for them. Simple enough.

And that's what it did. Swanna and the others revealed the wish to the Barrier Pokemon and Mimey got to work. It started writing down the wish as Premium Polish was anticipating it.

Premium's Pokemon wanted only one wish. And that involved family matters. The memory chip wasn't apart of the wish because it can be solved by physical means. The real wish can also be solved by physical means but it is more special to Pokemon in their opinion.

"Mime!" Mimey finished writing down the wish, showing it to Premium Polish and the others. The little unicorn then started reading what was written down.

"To give our trainer a father." Premium read. "You all want me to have a father?"

"Swanna!"

"Masq!"

"Flareon!"

"Steenee!"

"Wow. That's actually something I didn't think of." Premium looked at the paper with a deep stare as the thought of a father was swirling her mind now.

"Oh. Do you not have a father?" Delia asked.

"Mime?"

"No..." Premium's tone was shifting. "Come to think of it...why don't I have one?" Just like yesterday, those same reactions and thoughts were coming in. Even if there was a new memory chip in her head, she would still react the same way to everything she either hears or experiences.

"Well, I'm not sure wishing for a father is a very common wish. Especially for Jirachi." The employee scratched her chin. "But it's a wish nonetheless, right?"

"Well, I was thinking of maybe making my luck in Pokemon Contests even better but..." Premium used her magic to bring the paper over. "I actually do kind of- no. I really want a father."

"Flareon!" Flareon and the others nodded in agreement.

Premium stared at the wish for a while as she had already fully agreed that this was the wish she wanted. More than anything really. Having a father would practically make her seemingly perfect life completely whole and even more perfect.

"Okay then. Just place the note here." The employee patted the table.

"Right but..." Premium Polish was starting to think about something else. "Maybe it's best that I don't add this in."

"Swan?" Swanna and the others pulled back after hearing that.

"Hm? Why is that?" The employee asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if this is something I want Jirachi to grant. I mean, it can grant any wish but..." Premium Polish was trying to figure out what she wanted to say. She was finding it difficult to put it into understandable words.

But from how she was speaking and her emotion, Delia could immediately decipher what the little unicorn was trying to say as she finished her sentence for her.

"You want it to be natural, right?"

"Huh?" Premium looked up at Delia.

"Having a father isn't something that you want to be given to you by a higher form of power." Delia kneeled, looking down at the little filly. "You want a father in a genuine way. The same way everyone does, right?"

"Oh...that's it!" Premium nodded. "It was a bit hard to say it, but thank you, Miss Ketchum. That's how I want it!"

"Well, I hope you'll receive it very soon." Delia patted Premium on the head. "Perhaps you can chat with your mother and see if a step-father is possible."

"Sure will! Thank you!" Premium ran off to continue experiencing the festival as her Pokemon followed. Delia watched Premium Polish run off as she herself was wondering about the whole father situation.

She wouldn't be the first to wonder about Premium Polish's father. Not at all.


Pallet Town. Ketchum Household. 13:00.

Delia decided to come back for a little while before getting into more of the Pokemon Festival. Previously, she had already done a lot in the first week of the festival and the second week might burn her out. She, unfortunately, doesn't have as much energy as her son.

As she entered her home and took her disguise off, she looked over at the wall which had pictures plastered on. One of those pictures was of Ash's father and her husband.

Seeing it also reminded her of Premium Polish and her unknown father. In a sense, just like Ash, her father's presence near her is non-existent. But unlike Ash, she has never seen her father before.

Delia was also wondering when her husband will return one day. She knows that Ash's father and his grandfather are still out there on a journey somewhere with the aim of becoming Pokemon Masters themselves. That journey seems endless at this point and even Ash is pursuing that goal too.

"Maybe when you get back, Ash will be a Pokemon Master by then. Or maybe you've beaten him to it." Delia grabbed the picture frame of Ash's father, looking at him.

At times, if not all the time, it feels like this timeless adventure might as well be truly eternal and neverending for her family. Even if she knows that her husband is safe out there, she can't help but worry sometimes.

Taking care of Ash as a child was difficult, but thankfully, over the years, he's been able to take care of himself with others helping. But even with Ash and how he is now, Delia is still a worried mother for both her son and husband. And the wishes are just an example of that.

But even with her worries, she knew that in some way, her family always finds a way to make it through whatever life-threatening obstacle or event may come their way. And yet, it's still natural for her to worry.

"Come back soon." Delia placed the picture back on the wall. She knows that one day, he'll return.

Canterlot. The Pokemon Festival. 19:00.

So far, there have been two attempts to stop Skyblue Shine that have failed horribly.

The first was Princess Luna, who had received broken bones by Empress Twilight and almost had her magic stolen while nearly being trapped in the alternate universe. She was thankfully saved by her Pokemon and was healed by her parents.

And the second were the Canterlot guards who had unfortunately been kidnapped and sent to the alternate universe by Skyblue Shine to serve under Empress Twilight. Only two managed to come back safely.

Now the third attempt, and hopefully the last, was about to commence. And it was going to be done by Princess Celestia.

Celestia had received everything. After what the guard had seen and heard back at Skyblue Shine's mansion, Celestia's attention had skyrocketed as now her worries were closing in.

She had decided to stop taking part in the Pokemon Festival for now and focus on this situation only. Some of her guards had been kidnapped and taken to the alternate universe and now she's just learned of what Skyblue Shine and Premium Polish truly are.

All of this information was given to her yesterday. And now, on this current day, with all the knowledge she had gained, Celestia herself was going to tackle this head-on. But she wouldn't be doing it alone as she already prepared to leave.

"Sister! You shouldn't go!" Luna exclaimed. "You're already aware of what happened to me when I went to the mansion remember?"

"I do. But I'm not heading for the basement that has the gateway. I will just focus on the mansion alone and not the alternate universe."

"I suppose that is safer but...be careful. I don't want you to suffer the same fate as I did. Or even the guards who had been kidnapped. Or even-"

"I'll be more than careful, Luna." Celestia interrupted. "No need to worry. Passion and Arcanine feel the same way after all."

"Gardevoir."

"Arcanine!"

"Tell mother and father that I'll be back soon. Possibly by midnight. Let them enjoy the festival without too much worry."

"I will." Luna nodded. "Good luck."

It was time to put an end to this. Arresting Skyblue Shine would mean stopping the entirety of the Umbrage Thieves since she is their leader.

Celestia was off to Vanhoover with her Pokemon by her side. But she also brought some other Canterlot guards along for the arrest. But she didn't bother to use the train, fly or walk there. She was simply going to teleport there and wait for Skyblue Shine to return.

She knows that Skyblue Shine is the most active at night and she's more likely to return home past midnight or more. Which is why Celestia is going to purposely wait at her mansion, playing the waiting game. Without wasting any time, she instantly teleported out of Canterlot as her sister watched golden sparks fly out the moment she used her teleportation spell.

All Luna could do now was hold her breath and hope for her sister's safe return.


Vanhoover. Skyblue Shine's Mansion. 20:00.

"Ponyville was fun, wasn't it?" Premium Polish said as she laid on the couch with her Pokemon.

"Swanna!" Swanna and her Pokemon agreed.

"I got to meet the mother of Ash Ketchum. I already feel lucky enough. Wait till everypony else hears about this when I head back to school."

Having a story to tell, albeit a very small one, Premium Polish was looking forward to boasting about it when the Pokemon Festival ends. From meeting Sweetie Belle to Delia Ketchum.

"But anyway." She rolled off the couch. "Let's practice for the next contest. If the next one only allows one Pokemon then-" But before she could finish her sentence, a knock on the door could be heard. "Oh! I'll get it!"

Running over, Premium Polish was yet again about to answer the door to somepony for the third time. Although, to her, this feels like the second time because of the new memory chip in her.

Premium's Pokemon were alerted by the knock of the door as they believed that someone else from Canterlot was coming here. After all, the three groups that visited and knocked on the door have all been ponies from Canterlot. First, it was Princess Luna and then next it was the Canterlot guards. And they were right. It was another Canterlot member.

This time, it was Princess Celestia who was knocking on the door as Premium Polish opened it to see the ruler of Equestria herself alongside her Pokemon Passion and Arcanine. The guards weren't here with her, surprisingly They were waiting on the train which was on standby as ordered by Celestia. Meaning that the train would not move until the arrest was made.

"Oh! Princess Celestia!" The little unicorn gawked.

"Evening. Sorry for the intrusion." Celestia greeted. "But I'm here on an important vocation."

"Oh, it's fine! If it's you, you're really welcome here! Princess Luna came here a while back. Are you also here for the basement?"

"No." Celestia shook her head. "Something else entirely." Celestia then began to speak to herself in her own mind. "She won't remember the guards showing up because of that memory chip inside of her. Neither does she recall the truth about her mother. I'll let her know everything when this is all over."

"Gardevoir." Passion looked to Celestia as they communicated telepathically together. Passion already knew that Celestia was planning on telling Premium the truth after she apprehends Skyblue Shine herself. But Passion suggested that she told Premium Polish the truth right now.

"I suppose you're right, Passion." Celestia communicated back. "It could be a repeat of what happened yesterday, but that might be considered inevitable."

"So...are you going to come in? Because if so, that'd be great. Then I'd have even more to boast about back at school."

"I will be coming in. And I will stay for a while until your mother returns home."

"Oh! Lucky me! Is it a sleepover? Am I going to have a sleepover with a princess?!"

"No. It's..." Celestia took a deep breath. "Let me come in and explain everything."

Knowing that Premium had to know the truth about her mother, Celestia was ready to repeat what the royal guards said to Premium Polish when they came along. Although, her wording will be different while still being upfront about it. She would not add any fluff to it.

"Premium Polish." Celestia sat down with the little unicorn. "I have to say this immediately. I'm here to apprehend your mother." She went straight to the point and continued to speak what needed to be said. "She has been confirmed to be the leader of the Umbrage Thieves and has been stealing Pokemon from other trainers during the night."

"Huh?" Premium Polish immediately froze.

"Because of this, we cannot ignore it in any way. Your mother has committed crimes that are unacceptable and greatly harm others. I'm sorry, but I must do what needs to be done."

Compared to the royal guards, Celestia gave the quickest breakdown and explanation in just a few seconds. And compared to her little sister Luna, her hesitation was practically non-existent because of how upfront she was.

And unlike the guards, the reaction Premium Polish had was actually slightly different from the previous one from yesterday. The little unicorn looked at Celestia's face to see that she was not joking around and was 100% serious about what she meant.

And Celestia certainly does not hold back when it comes to situations that are concerning and crucial. At all. Everypony in Equestria knows this.

"M-Mom's a criminal?" Premium stuttered as she was starting to tear up. It was almost a full-on repeat of yesterday, only with different words. Her Pokemon also noticed this as they were now fearing the worst.

"You needed to hear it. I'm sorry. Honestly. But what she has done is inexcusable." Celestia shook her head. "Previous events have already cemented that. One that you yourself will no longer remember."

Premium Polish couldn't make any proper responses. All she could do was cry now as her tears resembled that of oil as Celestia observed. The little filly couldn't stop her crying after hearing what Celestia had said. Even when she tried to act strong and hide them. She could be like this for hours.

Thankfully, Celestia comforted Premium by putting her wing over her. She felt great sympathy for Premium Polish for more than just who her mother was. But even with what she revealed to the little filly, Celestia had a silver lining.

"She'll be put in the dungeon for her crimes. But, you will have the chance to see her again."

"M-Mmm?" Premium sniffled, looking up after hearing what new words Celestia spouted out.

"I don't intend to keep her there forever. Theft is a crime that lands a specific amount of time in the dungeon. Around seven or more. At some point in time, she will be let out. But considering her background, you cannot be with her anymore."

"R-R-Really?"

"Really. But, as for you, you cannot stay here. Not on your own."

"Why not?"

"A child should not live on their own. You will need somepony to look after you while your mother is apprehended. Somepony who can act as your caretaker in the meanwhile."

"Caretaker?" She wiped her eyes.

"This mansion as well. I'm afraid you can't stay here either. Not with what is connected here."

"Why? What's wrong with the mansion? What's here?"

"It has something to do with the basement that you are forbidden to enter. And there is a good reason why your mother forbids you from entering it. There exists a gateway that leads to a world that you would rather not interact with."

"A gateway in the basement?" By this point, Premium Polish was receiving many questions that were being answered by Celestia. The ruler of Equestria certainly knows how to make something complex and long sound simple and short.

"Sorry if this is too much for you to take in. But prolonging something as inevitable as this would only cause more complications and harm than good. I hope that you understand that your mother needs to be punished for her actions."

"I-I understand but..." Premium couldn't help but let out more tears as her Pokemon brought her more tissues. "Mother. She's not a bad pony. Is she?"

"Gardevoir." Passion communicated with Celestia, telling her that it was best that Premium Polish should be left alone for a while.

"Alright." Celestia got off the couch. "Perhaps, head to your room until this is all over. And if you want to say anything to your mother before I bring her in, feel free to do so."

"Okay..." Premium Polish whimpered. As her Pokemon surrounded her, helping the little unicorn to her bedroom, Celestia and her Pokemon were now waiting in the living room for Skyblue Shine's return. They were not going to leave no matter what.

Celestia was determined to put an end to this once and for all.


3:30.

Skyblue Shine had returned.

Alongside other Umbrage Thieves who were beside her. She had just gotten back from the Pokemon World with new Pokemon at their disposal via the cages that were made out of the same metal that the guards from Empress Twilight's world use.

"That should be a good amount." Skyblue Shine said as she took her mask off. The robotic parts that had been exposed yesterday seemed to be repaired as they were no longer sticking out.

"Are these Pokemon good enough for the empress?" A fellow thief asked.

"They most certainly are." Skyblue Shine took out a Pokedex, going over the Pokemon that she had stolen today. "Especially the Helioptile we obtained. That one Pokemon will be enough to power her ship as long as it's near the sun. And there's no closer place to the sun than space after all."

"Heliop!" Speaking of Helioptile, it and the other Pokemon were trying to break free as they all let out constant cries. Not even their Pokemon moves were capable of breaking through these aluminium cages.

"One Helioptile is enough. But if we can get multiple, then the empress's entire fleet will receive endless energy. Not just her main ship."

It was clear that the assumption that the Umbrage Thieves only steal Pokemon for their personal gain was somewhat false. In truth, it was all for the empress. But the rest of Equestria did not know except for a few.

Skyblue Shine and the rest of the thieves arrived at the mansion, ready to send the Pokemon through the gateway for the empress. But little did they know, a very special pony and her Pokemon were waiting for them.

"Remember. The empress will change the destination of the gateway soon. Time schedules will need to be altered understand?" Skyblue turned around.

"Yes." The thieves nodded in understanding.

"Good. Now, quietly. Time will still feel different for my daughter after the memory chip change. She might be still awake." Acting cautiously, Skyblue Shine gently used her magic to slowly turn the door handle, hoping to not wake her daughter up.

However, that should be the least of her worries.

Because the moment she opened the door, Skyblue Shine and the Umbrage Thieves were met with a very unexpected and frankly terrifying visitor. The light of the moon shined down on the visitor and her Pokemon as it showed their faces for a split second before passing by. But from the first glance, the visitor was immediately recognizable as they all said the same name in unison.

"Princess Celestia?!" She and everyone said as they pulled back.

"We finally meet," Celestia said with a serious tone as the purple eyes of Passion glowed in the darkness behind Celestia with fire being seen coming out of the darkness, most likely from Arcanine's fangs.

The Umbrage Thieves all moved back as they weren't expecting to see Princess Celestia standing in front of them. Naturally, they were prepared for almost everything, except for the ruler of Equestria.

Immediately, some of the thieves fell on their backs because of their reaction to Princess Celestia while others were frozen in fear. But Skyblue Shine wasn't too affected. She was stunned, yes, and certainly intimidated, but not terrified like the others.

"Umbrage Thieves." Celestia walked forward, forcing the thieves to move away from the approaching alicorn. "For your crimes against ponies, humans and Pokemon, you are all hereby under arrest."

"Enough with these surprise guests already..." Skyblue Shine growled.

"If you want to resist, go ahead. That will just add more time to the dungeon sentence I will give to you all. If I were you, I'd give up now and I may be a bit lenient." Celestia intimidated them as most of the Umbrage Thieves were actually thinking of giving up since they weren't anticipating going up against Princess Celestia of all ponies.

"So. What will it be?" Celestia's eyes flared as she clearly showing high levels of hostility. The one time she was this fierce was when she first encountered Ghetsis.

"Tch! Sorry, but I don't listen to you. I only take orders from a higher form of royalty." Skyblue Shine was referring to Empress Twilight as she used her magic to take out her Poke Ball. "I serve an Empress, not a mere princess."

"So that's your response..." A bit of Celestia's Royal Canterlot Voice was coming out.

"Bronzong! Come out and use Hypnosis!" Skyblue Shine resorted to action as she tossed the Poke Ball, sending out her Bronzong.

"Bronzong!" Coming out, the Bronze Bell Pokemon was ready to put the princess and her Pokemon to sleep.

"Arcanine! Use Flare Blitz!" But Celestia was more than fast enough to react at the right moment.

"Arca!" With a gigantic aura of fire bursting around him, the Legendary Pokemon immediately bolted off the ground like a rocket, charging straight towards Bronzong while leaving a trail of flames behind.

"Zong?!" Bronzong was certainly not fast enough to react to such blazing speed which resulted in the Bronze Bell Pokemon being struck by a blitzing Arcanine with great force, causing the Steel-Psychic to be sent flying with smoke trailing out of it. "Broooon!"

"Ah! Bronzong!" Skyblue Shine turned around to see her Pokemon crash through many trees and tumble on the ground before falling into a nearby lake.

"Canine." Arcanine took a bit of recoil damage from it. But not that much.

"Don't just stand there! Stop her!" Skyblue Shine ordered the rest of the thieves to try and attack Princess Celestia as she backed away.

"R-Right!" They all followed Skyblue Shine's order as they stepped forward, sending out their own Pokemon to deal with Celestia.

"Don't try it. Passion! Clear them all out!"

"Garde...Voir!" Passion put her hands together, creating a mini-black-hole on the spot. The moment the black hole was created, a powerful gravitational force was pulling in the Pokemon that had been sent out as well as the thieves.

The gravity was being pulled downwards by Passion manipulating it as the thieves were trying to hold onto the ground and trees near them. But it was no use. The Pokemon and thieves didn't have time to react as with one hand, Passion's body flashed purple as she caused the black hole to implode, sending the Pokemon and thieves flying, just like Bronzong.

And similar to Bronzong they had all tumbled on the ground near the lake while some of them had even fallen in the lake. In just a few seconds, Celestia had defeated 99% of the Umbrage Thieves with barely any effort.

Naturally, Skyblue was flabbergasted by that as Arcanine went over to the cages, using his fire to try and melt them away and free the Pokemon inside.

Celestia then lit her horn up with magic, shooting a tiny spark into the air. That spark then combusted, creating multiple little projectiles of light that scattered. It was a signal for the guards to come out of the train and arrest the Umbrage Thieves, immediately.

"T-This wasn't supposed to happen...!" Skyblue Shine backed away while Celestia approached.

"You've already lost," Celestia spoke as her eyes were flashing, showing signs of her magic building up.

Premium Polish, who was still awake and crying, had witnessed most of the Umbrage Thieves getting defeated by Celestia and her Pokemon. She also saw how Celestia had come face to face with her mother, which was already a very conflicting moment for her.

The little unicorn looked at her mother, seeing how she was indeed wearing an Umbrage Thief suit. It was practically 100% confirmed at this point. And that just further hurt Premium Polish, who didn't want to accept her mother as a criminal. But her eyes don't lie.

"Mother...why?" A saddened Premium Polish uttered.

"I only answer to Empress Twilight Sparkle. Not to you!" Skyblue Shine gave a rebuttal as she sent out her next and second strongest Pokemon against Celestia.

Aggron.

"Aggron!"

"Aggron! Use Metal Claw!"

"Ggron!" The Iron Armor Pokemon ran towards Celestia with its claws lighting up. Celestia was not intimidated by Aggron approaching her whatsoever.

"Garde!" Passion slid in front of Celestia, standing before her trainer as she put her arm out, using her psychic mind to hold Aggron in place.

"A-Agg?!"

"I refuse to forgive you for what you, the Umbrage Thieves and to an extent, Empress Twilight have done. From stealing Pokemon of other trainers, kidnapping my royal guards just to force them upon a new rule and more importantly, involving yourself with harming my little sister!"

"Gardevoir!" Passion blew Aggron back with a psychic push, causing the Iron Armor Pokemon to crash into Skyble Shine as they both fell on the ground with the weight of Aggron resting on Skyblue Shine.

"Agh!"

"Agg!"

"Passion! Plasma Bolt!"

"Gardevoir...!" Passion spread her arms out, creating Mystical Fire on her left and Thunderbolt on her right. She then clapped her hands together, creating pure plasma as her hair was flowing because of the immense pressure being generated.

"Grh...Aggron! Use Metal Burst to absorb it! Quick!"

"Aggron!" Aggron got off Skyblue as his body emanated a metallic light. Aggron then put his arms out, forming a white ball in front of its mouth. The white ball had one job. To absorb the attack.

But then again, absorbing Plasma is a very risky move.

"Gar!" With fury, Passion fired a raging beam of plasma that tore through the ground, melting the snow and burning away the grass nearby as the sound of the sun roaring could be heard.

"Agg!" Aggron held his breath in as the Plasma Bolt connected with the white ball of Metal Burst. However, for once, Metal Burst was having a hard time containing a move.

The sheer power of Plasma Bolt was so intense that the white ball was trembling and rippling, trying to contain the attack as Aggron was being pushed back because of it.

"G-Gron?!" The Iron Armor Pokemon gasped as he was struggling to absorb the attack. His feet slid on the ground as he could feel his focus slipping while the bolt of pure plasma was getting stronger each passing second.

"Voir!" With one small spurt of energy, Passion added some extra power to the Plasma Bolt, causing it to overwhelm the white ball.

With a heat greater than the sun itself, Aggron couldn't contain it any longer as the white ball of Metal Burst blew up in his face, causing the Iron Armor Pokemon to fall back. "Agg!"

"Accursed princess!" Skyblue Shine yelled. "Aggron! Get up and use Fire Punch!"

"Aggron!" Aggron immediately recovered since it was a highly defensive Pokemon which benefited him greatly in this scenario. The Steel-Rock-Type sparked his arms, gaining a fiery aura around them. Frustrated at Passion for 1UPing him, Aggron targeted all of his anger towards her by charging at the Embrace Pokemon.

"Passion, go!"

"Gardevoir!" A move command was not even given out by Celestia. It was just simply Go. The Embrace Pokemon ran forward before jumping over Aggron and avoiding his first Fire Punch.

"Agg?!" Aggron missed as he looked up to see Passion flipping over him.

"Voir!" Passion then landed on one hand, performing a handstand. In that handstand pose, she spun her leg around like a ballerina, repeatedly kicking Aggron in the back of his head.

"A-Agg! G-Gron!" Each hit made Aggron stutter as the back of his head was essentially a punching bag that was being repeatedly kicked.

"Grab her leg!"

"A-Aggron!" Aggron looked for a split-second of freedom and found it. He quickly turned around before getting met with a kick to the face instead of the back of the head. But after being smacked in the face by Passion's kick, Aggron then grabbed the leg of the Embrace Pokemon, finally putting an end to her frenzy of ballerina kicks.

"Gar?"

"Aggron!" Aggron chuckled, even though he had been losing to Passion so far with very little sign of gaining the upper hand.

"Levitate with him!" Celestia ordered.

"Gardevoir!" And that disadvantage only continued as Passion let out her next attack. Her eyes flashed purple as she used her psychic mind to lift both her and Aggron into the air. Passion was strong enough to lift a Pokemon this heavy, surprisingly.

"A-Agg?! Aggron?!" Aggron obviously did not expect this as Skyblue Shine gasped, witnessing her Pokemon being levitated right now. The Iron Armor Pokemon's eyes scanned the area as he noticed that Passion was bringing him to a high level instead of a low one.

"Now! Send plasma through Aggron!"

"Gardevoir!" Passion then put her arms on Aggron, sending plasma straight through him. The Iron Armor Pokemon was being shocked as he screamed out in pain.

"A-Aaaaggron!"

"Now send Aggron down!"

"Gar!" Passion had been freed from Aggron's grip because of her counterattack as she returned the favour to the Steel-Rock-Type by grabbing his arm and throwing Aggron over her shoulder.

Aggron was sent crashing down by a shoulder throw from Passion as he hit the ground, causing a crater to form while Skyblue Shine was almost blown back by the impact alone.

"Plasma Bolt!"

"Voir!" Passion wasn't done. She crossed her arms together before separating them, creating pure plasma once more as her body was surging with power.

"Aggron! Stop her with Hyper Beam!"

"A-Agg...!" But Aggron was still recovering after being shocked and slammed. He didn't have enough time to retaliate against Passion.

Thus, Passion fired the bolt of plasma as the Iron Armor Pokemon could do nothing but take it. Upon contact, an explosion of plasma occurred after Aggron had been hit. The sound of the sun roaring came out of the explosion as Skyblue Shine covered her eyes while Celestia just watched.

Once the smoke cleared, Aggron had fainted after an attack that powerful. Passion landed down with grace as she dusted the smoke off herself.

"Gardevoir."

"C-Curses...Return, Aggron!" Skyblue Shine returned her Aggron as that was one of her strongest Pokemon by a margin.

"Arca." Arcanine had managed to free all of the Pokemon trapped within the cages by successfully melting them away with his fire.

All the freed Pokemon, naturally overjoyed, went over to Celestia's side since they felt safe around her after seeing what she had done to the Umbrage Thieves.

"I win." Celestia declared. And just as she said that the Canterlot guards had arrived to arrest the knocked out Umbrage Thieves after they received the signal from Celestia's magic.

Skyblue Shine was now surrounded from all sides as her eyes observed. Her team was down, the Canterlot guards were here and she was currently being stared down by Celestia and a group of not-so-happy Pokemon that they had stolen as well as Celestia's own Pokemon who were extremely powerful in their own right.

By this point, it seemed like a losing scenario for her. She was outnumbered and overpowered. And yet, despite that, she refused to give in.

"You may have won but I still won't submit to you!"

"Hoh?" Celestia narrowed her eyes. "Don't be a fool and try to fight back."

"My work cannot end here. Not until I've satisfied the Empress!" Skyblue Shine then decided to resort to something that was full-on risky and life-threatening. "I'll take you all out in one blaze of glory!"

"What?" Celestia pulled back.

Just as Skyblue Shine uttered those words, her eyes were suddenly glowing blue. The same colour that her robotic eye had when exposed. And once those eyes were flashing, these specific words could be heard.

Self-Detonation Imminent

"Oh!" Celestia and everyone else gasped.

"Scared now?" Skyblue Shine smirked as a countdown was going off with constant beeping. "The explosion won't destroy me due to the wonderful robotics that I have been given. But they will certainly obliterate you all sky-high! Including all of Vanhoover in one go!"

"Are you insane?!" Celestia exclaimed. "You'll destroy your home and your daughter as well!"

"You think I don't know that? My mansion may be gone, but my daughter? She can just be rebuilt."

"Re...built?" Premium Polish uttered.

"My daughter and I will continue living on in harmony under the rule of the Empress. But I cannot say the same for you, princess!" The beeping was getting faster as the explosion was almost ready.

Celestia started to panic as the Canterlot guards immediately got a move on while having the Umbrage Thieves restrained. All the Pokemon as well decided to get away from this area before the explosion consumes them all.

All except for Princess Celestia and her Pokemon.

"Your Majesty! Get away!" A guard exclaimed.

"Garde!" Passion communicated with Celestia, giving her advice that might prevent the explosion from going off.

"You think that Thunderbolt will do the trick?"

"Voir." She nodded, knowing that the electricity can override it.

"Alright. Use Thunderbolt!"

"Gardevoir!" Passion put both her arms out, sending 100,000 volts of electricity towards the unicorn.

"W-What are you doing?!" Skyblue winced as her body was being affected by Thunderbolt. Right now, the volts of Thunderbolt creating an emission of electromagnetic energy.

This energy was actually powerful to mess with the inner workings of Skyblue Shine's body. The unicorn's eyes widened as she was starting to jitter uncontrollably.

"S-S-S-Stop it!" She yelled while jittering.

"Gar!" But Passion didn't stop. She added more power to Thunderbolt, however, the maximum limit was 100,000 volts. So, to amp it up, she added Mystical Fire into the mix, using plasma to override her.

And with just plasma itself, an electromagnetic pulse was created as everything inside of Skyblue Shine had been disrupted. Her eyes were constantly flashing red as the beeping had stopped. The pulse was so great that it actually blew Passion back.

"V-Voir!"

"Passion!" Celestia caught her partner.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-" Skyblue Shine was trying to say something but her body was letting out sparks of electricity as her robotic parts were being revealed. The attack had been a success.

So much of a success that Skyblue Shine's glowing red eye faded away as she fell to the ground without saying another word. The sound of something powering down could be heard as well.

"Mother!" Premium Polish gasped as she had witnessed her mother fall to the ground.

Seemingly lifeless and unresponsive.

Vanhoover. Skyblue Shine's mansion. 3:50.

Skyblue Shine had been shut down.

A blast of plasma from Passion had caused an electromagnetic pulse to go off, overriding and disrupting all of Skyblue Shine's inner workings, causing the unicorn to fall over without a word.

"Mother!" Premium Polish ran outside to see her lifeless and unresponsive mother on the ground. The little unicorn was distraught and mortified from what her eyes had witnessed.

The guards themselves who were arresting the rest of the Umbrage Thieves were glancing over at the scene where Skyblue Shine was down and out.

Premium Polish went up to her mother with gentle hoofsteps. There was dead silence coming from the area. No one was making a sound except for when Premium spoke.

"Mother?" Premium uttered as she got closer to her mother. "Mother, wake up." She put her hooves on Skyblue Shine, trying to see if she could wake her up. "Please?" But her physical contact and shaking weren't working. Skyblue Shine was not responding at all. "You have to wake up...There's still a lot I want to tell you."

"Arcanine..." Arcanine tried to step in but Celestia stopped him.

"You're not a bad pony, right?" Even when seeing everything from the outside, she still believed her mother to be a good pony due to how kind she is to her. All of this just made Premium tear up once more as she was whimpering.

Even the guards had to take a moment of silence for this. Premium's Pokemon came out of the house, slowly walking up to their trainer to comfort her. Premium kept shaking Skyblue Shine but it was just useless at this point.

"Mommy." She mumbled.

Celestia knew that this was just an unpleasant and horrifying situation to be in. Especially considering how it was her and Passion that caused Skyblue Shine to shut down completely.

Passion herself felt the most guilt since she was the one who recommended the idea, but they had to do something or else Vanhoover would've been destroyed by the self-detonation. But she wasn't expecting a shutdown. Only an override that would potentially stop the explosion.

But all was not lost.

"Passion." Celestia suddenly spoke. "Restart her with Plasma Bolt."

"What?" Premium sniffled as she turned to face Celestia. "R-Restart?"

"If plasma can shut her down. Then perhaps, it can start her up again." Celestia theorized. But she was definitely theorizing the right way.

"Gardevoir." Passion put her arms out as she focused all of her energy towards the downed and lifeless body of Skyblue Shine. Premium Polish and her Pokemon backed away to avoid Thunderbolt.

Out of Passion's hands came out pure plasma that solely targeted Skyblue Shine's body and nothing else. The plasma, upon immediate contact, had already entered Skyblue Shine's body without wasting any time. Celestia wanted to spark up hope back in Premium Polish even after what had just happened a few minutes ago.

And spark up hope she did.

A new sound came from Skyblue Shine. The sound of something booting up could be heard as Passion stopped firing Plasma Bolt since any more would probably just cause more problems due to how powerful plasma can be.

Premium Polish's eyes widened as her frown was slowly transforming into a smile when hearing sounds coming from her mother.

Everyone stood back without making any sounds. The Pokemon were terrified of Skyblue Shine potentially waking back up as many of them held onto Arcanine and Passion's leg.

One eye was slowly opening. Skyblue Shine's blue robotic eye was lighting up once more. But it was just the one eye as her hooves were starting to move.

And witnessing her mother moving made Premium Polish smile.

"Urgh..." Skyblue Shine groaned as she looked up at Celestia with hatred in her eyes. "Celestia...!"

"Mother!" Running without hesitation, Premium Polish was glad to see her mother was awake and back up once more."

"Premium Polish?" Skyblue Shine twitched.

"Mother! You're okay!" She hugged her downed mother who could barely get up from the ground.

"H-Have you been watching everything this entire time...?"

"Mhm." The little unicorn nodded. "I was told everything from Princess Celestia and I saw everything from outside. Mother. I want to ask you so much. Why would you do this? Why would you steal Pokemon from other trainers? You're not a bad pony, are you?"

"I was afraid this would be brought up again...I never wanted you to find out about this. Especially not a second time."

"W-What do you mean a second time? And why did you say rebuilt back there?" The little unicorn wiped her tears. "There's so much I want to know that I don't know."

"T-This is all your fault, Celestia...!" Skyblue growled at Celestia. "None of this would've happened if-"

"If you never started stealing Pokemon from others." Celestia cut her off. "And to an extent, working for a universe that is also working alongside Ghetsis and Team Plasma. You brought this upon yourself."

"Kh!" Skyblue Shine scoffed.

"Y-You've been working with Team Plasma?" Premium Polish said. "Why? Please. Tell me everything." The little filly was desperate to know everything at this point.

"I can't..." Skyblue Shine stood up as she wobbled around.

"Why not?!"

"You're too young to know. And you shouldn't know."

"I don't care if I'm too young! You've been hiding a lot of secrets from me! So I should-"

"Shouldn't know." Skyblue cut her off. "Everything I do is for the Empress. All the crimes I have committed are for the Empress. Because of how she helped me. You wouldn't understand and you shouldn't know the truth of it all. At least, not at your current age. You wouldn't be able to handle it."

"So...she's more important to you than me." Premium lowered her head.

"What? No. You're more important to me than the Empress, Premium." Skyblue went to hug her daughter but Premium Polish backed away suddenly.

"But you'll do all of this bad stuff for her?! What about me?! You never do anything for me! You don't even spend time with me...You're never there for me when I just want to have fun with you...But I thought it was alright because of how hard you were working but...now that I know you've been stealing Pokemon from others..."

"Premium..."

The little unicorn was finding it hard to finish her sentence as she couldn't stop crying. Premium Polish then looked with red eyes and tears flying all over the place.

"I hate you!" In the spur of the moment, Premium Polish spouted out a disdainful word that no parent would wish to ever hear. And with that, the little unicorn ran off, heading back inside of the mansion, not wanting to interact with her mother from this point onward.

Skyblue Shine, who barely changed her emotion, looked down after hearing all that her daughter had said to her. Even Celestia felt sympathy for this family. She found it hard to listen to the conversation itself.

The Canterlot guards had surrounded Skyblue Shine, closing in on her and ready to arrest the leader of the Umbrage Thieves. Skyblue Shine knew that she had been greatly weakened so there was no point in fighting back if she could barely keep her balance.

Thus, she had been arrested.

"Celestia...!" Skyblue Shine looked up at Celestia. "I'll remember. What you, your sister and your guards ended up causing. And don't think you can hold me in your dungeon forever. The Empress will come for me. Sooner than you think."

Celestia didn't say a word. She just looked at Skyblue Shine with pity in her eyes. Meanwhile, Skyblue had hatred in her eyes instead as she was taken away by the guards along with the rest of the Umbrage Thieves.

Celestia sighed, turning to look at the mansion to where Premium ran in. She already knew that the little unicorn was crying her eyes out at this point, showing hatred towards her mother and betrayal. Celestia knew that locking Skyblue Shine away was the right thing to do. However, she couldn't help but feel as if something wasn't right here.

The sun princess slowly entered the mansion by opening the door. And the moment she did so, she could already hear Premium crying upstairs in her room. Celesta herself felt a bit of guilt as she believed that she may have caused a large crevice in the relationship between a mother and her daughter.

"Gardevoir?" Passion, who could feel emotions, knew about Celestia's semblance of guilt.

"Let's go, you two," Celestia said to both her Pokemon. "It's best that we don't overstay our welcome here."

Celestia, her Pokemon, the stolen Pokemon and the guards were about to leave Vanhoover finally. But Premium Polish's Pokemon would be the only ones to approach their trainer. They would be there for her, especially in a time like this.

Premium Polish, who was holding her pillow, was thinking about how she said she hated her mother. Truth was, she didn't hate her mother at all. But she did hate how she had kept so many secrets for so long and how distant her mother has been from her, working as a criminal and paying more attention to somepony else from another universe.

The little unicorn sat up, wiping her tears as she tried to act big. But all she could do was cry.


Canterlot. 5:00.

Skyblue Shine had finally been brought in as she was ready to be put in the dungeon for her crimes. But before that could happen, Celestia had a decision she wanted to make.

"Skyblue Shine." Celestia approached the unicorn.

"What?" Skyblue Shine scoffed.

"I have decided to reduce your seven-year sentence to just 5. And I will also allow you to take part in community service from time to time."

"Tch!" Skyblue sneered. "How benevolent can you be? Even after all I've done, you'll show magnanimous emotion towards me, hm? I'd say that's a major weakness of yours."

"Call it a weakness if you want," Celestia replied. "But that's my decision. After seeing what had happened back at Vanhoover."

"I don't want your sympathy. After all. It's your fault that any of this happened. You and Canterlot couldn't help but interfere, could you? Everything would've been safer for Premium Polish as well if you never meddled in the first place."

"You've mentioned Premium's safety before. Why is that? You're clearly hiding something from her that you're not revealing."

"Of course, I am. She's far too young to know everything. A filly of her age will most likely collapse if she knew what she was and why she was made that way."

"Into what you and her both are?"

"Android is the correct term. We're androids. But she doesn't know. And she shouldn't. Not until she is ready to join me..."

"Join you?" Celestia raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"That's something you certainly don't need to know. And you'll never know. Unless you're lucky that is." Skyblue Shine turned around. And with that, the guards had sent her to the dungeon.

But Skyblue Shine wasn't worried. Not at all. She was expecting Empress Twilight Sparkle to come for her. Sooner than Celestia thinks, apparently.

Celestia wondered what Skyblue meant when she said that Premium Polish was not ready to know the truth until she was ready to join her. Everything by this point was just cryptic and abstruse.

There was only one thing left to do now. Bring Premium Polish to Canterlot and take care of her for the time being. But Celesta decided that she needed more time.

"Gardevoir?" Passion asked Celestia if she was going to be alright.

"I'll be fine, Passion. I just need a moment to clear my head of all of this. You and Arcanine can continue enjoying the Pokemon Festival, alright?"

"Voir." Passion understood Celestia's decision as she and Arcanine went off, leaving their trainer to clear her head by herself.

She needed to.

And during that, a few of the guards had gone somewhere else instead of sending the Pokemon back to their trainers. A few of them were already off to bring Premium Polish to Canterlot.


Canterlot Dungeon. 5:10

In the Canterlot Dungeon, Skyblue Shine had been officially locked up. Her magic had been restrained by magic inhibitor cuffs. She was unable to perform any spells from here on as she would be on her lonesome.

At least, that would be the case. But there was one more individual who was locked up in this dungeon. A certain Rift Pony who had caused trouble in both worlds by creating a behemoth made out of electricity itself.

That pony was Obsidian.

The Rift Pony looked up, noticing that he was getting a new dungeon mate in the form of an android as Skyblue Shine was placed in the cell next to Obsidian.

She was now locked up.

"Hm. Finally some company." Obsidian smiled as he looked to the side. "I was wondering when someone else would eventually be caught."

"Kh. I was hoping for no company..." Skyblue Shine turned away from Obsidian, ignoring him.

"So, what did you do?" He grinned as he started rambling on. "Was it on par with what I did? If you didn't know, I was the one who was the cause for the Storm Behemoth. You know? The 500 ft being of electricity that kept getting bigger and almost levelled Equestria and technically the second world.

"I don't care..." Skyblue Shine sighed.

"Cause of a major blackout too. I gotta say that was my best work yet. But my real best work has yet to really show itself in the form of Jade Skies. She's the ace in the hole in my master pl-"

But while Obsidian kept jabbering about his accomplishments and what was coming, Skyblue was waiting for the Empress to arrive. Any minute now even. She paid no attention to Obsidian's babbling as she stared at a wall, biding her time.

As for the Pokemon that were stolen, Celestia ordered for the guards to help the Pokemon return to their original trainers. Darkrai volunteered to assist since he was a perfect translator. There were a few Pokemon so it wouldn't take too long.

Everything seemed to be wrapping up now. The Umbrage Thieves had been caught with all of them locked up. The Pokemon that had been stolen last night were being returned. It seemed as if this was the end of the Umbrage Thief debacle.

But in truth, it was only just beginning.

Because right in front of the eyes of Skyblue Shine and Obsidian, a gateway had opened in the dungeon. A gateway that greatly resembled the one in the basement. That could only mean one thing.

Empress Twilight Sparkle was here.

The Empress passed through the gateway, appearing before her loyal servant Skyblue Shine and the confused Obsidian who had just witnessed a gateway open in front of him.

"Empress!" Skyblue Shine immediately bowed down.

The intimidating alicorn's hooves gently connected with the floor without making any sound. The leaves around her even scattered as a mortifying and fierce presence filled the air.

"Wait, Empress?" Obsidian's brain was processing for a bit. "Oh! Are you Empress Twilight Sparkle?!"

"Skyblue Shine. It seems that you and the rest of the Umbrage Thieves have been captured. A complete and total loss, I can consider this one. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-Yes! My deepest apologies! My empress! I didn't intend for this to happen! Forgive me!" She lowered her head. "Circumstances that I was unable to fully control led to this!"

"Mhm." Empress Twilight nodded. "An expected response. It's fine. Clearly, I've been so focused on receiving the Pokemon that I haven't been paying attention to you yourself. You're lacking many qualities that need to be added."

"Huh?" Skyblue Shine looked up.

"Some fine-tuning will be needed back at the lab. Your self-detonation function and magic won't be the only thing that will defend you."

"You mean...you're going to upgrade me, Empress?"

"Precisely. I can't have you losing here after all."

"Wait! Take me with you!" Obsidian exclaimed.

"Hm?" The empress quickly snapped over to the Rift Pony. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"Obsidian. A Rift Pony. And I'd do anything to get out of here! Please?"

"Rift Pony you say?" Empress Twilight's interest was piqued.

"That's right! Well, actually...I can't use my Rift magic anymore since the Rift has stripped me away from using any of it...but I'd still like to break free from here."

"Hm. No Rift magic at all? You've lost my interest already." Empress Twilight turned away from Obsidian, shutting him down.

"Gouh!" Obsidian felt defeated as he lowered his head.

"Although...You are made out of pure cosmic energy, right?" She then found an alternative.

"Uh-huh?" He nodded.

"Then, in that case, I could actually use you. What's inside of you, that is."

"Yes! Wait, what's that supposed to mean."

"Now then..." Empress Twilight suddenly managed to make the bars of the cell disappear with a magic spell that seemed to decay the bars.

"A decaying spell?!" Skyblue Shine backed away.

"You'd be surprised at how many unique spells exist in each respective universe. Such variety that I can't get enough of." Empress Twilight giggled as she had crumbled the steel bars into dust. "Come along you two. We have much to do."

It was time for them to leave. But not before a single Canterlot guard came into the dungeon via the stairs. He was here to do standby duty for the day, but the moment he came down the stairs, he spotted Empress Twilight Sparkle escaping with the two prisoners as the gateway had closed. The guard froze in place as he realized that this was a clear problem.

"Uh oh." He said.

A successful break out that only lasted a few minutes. Skyblue Shine didn't even last that long in the dungeon. Her words about Empress Twilight to come and retrieve her came true in a short amount of time.

But Celestia just thought that Skyblue Shine was just saying that to sound hopeful. When in fact, she was right. Celestia wasn't even thinking of her escape. She was only thinking of what had happened last night.

She is aware that Premium will remember this moment in her life when she grows up. Celestia could only imagine if she was in Premium's hooves and a similar situation with her own mother. But, Celestia did what she felt was right. Sending Skyblue Shine in was the decision she made. One that Celestia could barely pull back, but there was a minuscule part of her that would.

In a way, Celestia's benevolent nature was possibly her greatest weakness but also her greatest strength as well. A true double-edged sword depending on the scenario. She's dealt with serious situations before. But never one that heavily involves a child.

"I shouldn't linger on it," Celestia spoke. "I need to accept and make difficult decisions as my status as Ruler of Equestria." But Celestia was capable of powering through it. She is the Ruler of Equestria for a reason after all.

Clearing her mind, at last, Celestia came out of her room, ready to continue tackling the day. Her first order of business was to have Premium Polish feel comfortable in Canterlot when she arrives.

"Your majesty!" Abruptly, the sound of a royal guard could be heard calling for Celestia. More specifically, the guard that had witnessed what had happened in the dungeon.

"Hm?" Celestia turned to face the guard. "What has happened?! You look and sound like you're in distress!"

"Skyblue Shine and Obsidian! They're both gone."

"What did you say?!" Celestia bellowed.

"A gateway opened up and the pony with them took them both away!"

"Pony...gateway...Empress Twilight." Celestia easily put the pieces together. Empress Twilight is currently the only alicorn who can open up a gateway to this world and her own world.

Celestia was hoping that Skyblue Shine would be kept here for the sake of having Premium Polish visit her mother in the dungeon from time to time. But now, not even that was going to happen.

Celestia went over to the dungeon to see that it was empty. No prisoners here. Not to mention that two of the cells had been destroyed. As if something had decayed them away. All that was left were tiny bits of the bars that were also being decayed.

Celestia used her magic to lift the bar that was being decayed, seeing how Empress Twilight had used some sort of decaying spell to perform this. Obviously, with two prisoners freed, this just creates further complications and problems that are not necessary.

Annoyed to the point of frustration, Celestia closed her eyes, holding all of her anger back in. She had just cleared her mind of a previous situation a few minutes ago. So she needed to clear her mind of this. Because she had faith that this could be solved. Celestia is an optimist after all.

"Alright. Thank you for informing me." She thanked the guard. "I have to prepare and handle this situation on my hooves. But I'll certainly fix this. All of this. No matter what."

The Royal Unova. The Pokemon Festival. 0:00

Right now, the fifth day of the Pokemon Festival had arrived. Only 2 days remain until this all ends. But what a ride it has been so far.

The Royal Unova was currently sailing on the waters of Castelia City, where it originally came from. Very soon, this ship would stop sailing, but some were thinking of getting off the ship early before the next day.

And one of those was Twilight, who was currently in the premium cabin with Ash. Right now, most of her friends are asleep, save for a few. Ash, Pikachu, Twilight, Fluttershy and Meloetta were the only ones awake at the moment.

"Pika...Pikachu." Pikachu yawned while laying on his back in the jacuzzi.

"Eat up, buddy." Ash held some Pokeblocks in his hand, feeding them to his partner.

"Pika!" Pikachu took a bite out of the Pokeblocks, getting a quick midnight snack to fill him up. "Pikachu!"

"Wonder what these taste like...?" Ash stood up, looking at the Pokeblocks, curious and tempted to taste them.

"Don't do that! It can't be good for you if it's only for Pokemon!" Twilight flew over, cautious for Ash's safety.

"Hah! My bad! Got a little tempted there." Ash laughed as he placed the Pokeblocks back in the case. He then stretched his arms, feeling a tiny bit of fatigue as he let out a small yawn. "Might clock out soon."

"Pikachu." Pikachu got out of the jacuzzi, shaking his body as the hot water was flying out of him. "Pika-Pika-Pika!"

"In the morning, let's look for a Pokemon World Championships match," Ash said as Pikachu climbed up his shoulder. "Can't let Kay and Ali get ahead, right?"

"Pika-Pikachu!"

As Ash and Pikachu were ready to catch some shuteye for the night and prepare for tomorrow as always, someone opened up the door. That, someone, was Fluttershy alongside Meloetta since they were also still awake.

"Ash? Twilight? Pikachu? Hope we're not interrupting anything important right now."

"Melo?"

"Oh, Fluttershy? Meloetta? What is it?" Twilight asked while placing her Cinccino on the couch.

"Well, we were both wondering if you wanted to come and see the show that'll be playing on the lounge deck very soon. A famous entertainer is on board apparently."

"Oh!" Ash slid in. "Sounds fun!"

"Pikachu!"

"Twilight? What about you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hm Oh. You all can go ahead and watch it. I'll just stay here." Twilight sat down, yawning.

"Oh, right. Shut-eye. Got it." Fluttershy nodded.

"Melo." Meloetta saw this as an opportunity. Twilight wouldn't be with Ash in this scenario so she capitalized on it, deciding to stick by Ash by grabbing on his arm. She also hummed a sweet little melody to his ears. "Etta!"

"Huh? This again?" Ash looked down at Meloetta.

"Oh, aren't you an opportunist...!" Twilight narrowed her eyes while Meloetta stuck her tongue out.

"Um." Fluttershy shifted her eyes to Meloetta and then Twilight, seeing that tension was slowly rising via jealousy.

"Pika?" So did Pikachu.

"M-Maybe we should go right now." To avoid potential conflict, Fluttershy pushed Ash and Meloetta forward while Pikachu followed.

She then turned around to see a somewhat fatigued Twilight who laid on the side next to her sleeping Ninetales and Espeon. Twilight sighed as it was clear that she wasn't experiencing an urge to go to sleep, but rather something else. And Fluttershy could tell.

"Are you alright, Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.

"Hm? I'm fine." Twilight looked over. "Just a bit out of it right now...On this cruise plus the Pokemon Festival after all. It can be a bit taxing."

"Well, it's longer than the last one which was just one week. Everypony's feeling a bit of lag at the moment."

"Mhm." The young alicorn nodded. "Maybe I just want to head back to Ponyville. I think we've done everything we can in the Pokemon Festival so far. Aside from the other regions, we haven't visited. If only we knew about that sooner."

"Then maybe, we can all head back to Ponyville tomorrow morning," Fluttershy suggested. "We're closing in on the end anyway. How does that sound?"

"I'd like that." Twilight stretched her hooves. "And just relaxing back at the castle with my Pokemon, revisiting PokePark and learning even more about Pokemon as a Pokemon Professor. Hm. That's quite a lot now that I think about it. Almost as much as this festival."

"Well, I'll let everypony else know. See you soon, Twilight!" Fluttershy whistled as she flew off to join Ash and the others.

Now it was just Twilight, her Pokemon and the rest of Ash's Pokemon. The young alicorn decided to go outside, standing at the balcony of the premium deck to take in the air of Castelia City and the Pokemon World overall.

Right next to the Royal Unova were the bustling streets of Castelia and the calming seas of the ocean. Twilight witnessed the many colourful lights that were shining from the city as they reflected off the ship and water itself. A Lumineon also gave off its own shine as it swam beside a school of Goldeen and Alomomola.

She looked over the complete and total harmony between people, ponies and Pokemon, acting more as a family than partners. Pokemon relationships can go that far to be considered family after all. Twilight wanted to continue taking in this view and feeling.

Somehow, she was gaining a nostalgic feeling from this. Perhaps, since it's been a year since the world's first crossed over, in the future, all of this will be heavily nostalgic. From how the world she had known for so long was beginning to change and thrive because of the mere existence of Pokemon. And as time goes on, things won't exactly be the same.

At first, Twilight was unsure of the worlds crossing over. It was deemed as a volatile danger and could result in the potential destruction of both worlds. And that almost seemed to be the case when she witnessed how powerful and destructive Pokemon can truly be.

However, with the existence of Ash and the Pokemon trainers, that fear had been blown away. Especially Ash, who Twilight feels safe around at all times. In Twilight's eyes, Ash was the best thing to come out from this entire world crossover.

And because of this, Twilight was now dreaming about Ash by herself, while standing out on the balcony, thinking that no one else was watching. Funny enough, this isn't the first time this has happened and it won't be the last.

"Absol," Absol spoke.

"Aah!" Twilight screeched as her wings flapped furiously with her horn shooting magic all over the place, almost hitting Absol. She quickly turned around to see Absol behind her. "Oh. Absol. It's just you..." She sighed, feeling relieved.

"Absol?" Absol was confused as to why Twilight was standing out in the open, making a weird face. Absol was like Ash. He didn't quite understand the other variation of love aside from bonds.

"It's fine. It's fine." Twilight squeed as she flew back into the room while Absol stared at her with confusion on his face. "Thanks for being a great night watch by the way. Look forward to the morning. We could be heading back to Ponyville very soon."

"Sol." Absol turned around, continuing to stay on guard for the night."

"You sure are protective and cautious, aren't you Absol?" Twilight sat on the couch.

"Absol."

"Guess years of dealing with disasters can do that." She yawned as she was finally ready to clock out. "Anyway...see you in the morning, Absol."

"Sol." Absol understood as he watched his trainer fall asleep on the couch peacefully. Absol would continue to stay on guard so that no one gets close to his friends or threatens them. He would close the window, but he doesn't know how to, unfortunately.

Now it was just Absol awake in the cabin with everyone else around him asleep. Meanwhile outside, everyone else is having the time of their life. Both on the Royal Unova and outside in Castelia City. Thankfully, the noise wasn't loud enough to reach her. So Twilight could sleep peacefully.


Castelia City. The Pokemon Festival. 9:00.

Along came the morning.

The Royal Unova had currently stopped on the Castelia City Cruise Dock, where it originally docks. Some people were getting off the ship. They knew the festival was ending so some decided to head home a bit early before the next and final day.

And one of them was the group of Ash and everyone.

"Aaah! Man what a ride that was!" Ash and Pinkie Pie both said as they came out of the ship, breathing in the air of Castelia City.

"Pikachu!"

"Spinda!"

"I'm going to miss this ship." Rarity sighed.

"Yeah. But I was gonna get really homesick if we stayed on it longer," said Applejack as many passengers were walking past her and her friends after getting off the Royal Unova.

"It'll feel great heading back home." Rainbow Dash flew up. "Plus, we can still be a part of the festival back at Ponyville, right?"

"Right. Can't wait to head back to Pallet Town too." Ash adjusted his hat. "And I guess you're gonna return to Ridley at the village, aren't you, Meloetta?"

"Melo." Meloetta nodded.

"You gotta return to the Pokemon School, you." Applejack said to Golett who was on her back. "Fantina might know something's wrong."

"Golett." But Golett didn't seem like it was going to leave, much to Applejack's chagrin.

"I feel satisfied. I got myself a Special Equestrian Axew which can transform!" Spike grinned while having his arm around Axew.

"Axew!"

"We could've gotten one if we stayed there a bit longer." Apple Bloom pouted.

"Yeah, but there was no way we were gonna catch one out in the middle of some space sea," Scootaloo replied. "Maybe that Giant Torterra could've worked.

"Mm-mm!" Sweetie Belle shook her head. "That's way too dangerous! But it'd be pretty great actually..."

"I'm also satisfied." Fluttershy nodded. "I got to see different Pokemon yet again. Oh, I wish Regional Pokemon would come to the Pokemon House someday! Maybe there's a way to have multiple shinies too. Even if they're super-rare."

"About that. Do you think we're gonna see those weird waters from the Arcane Sea again?" Rainbow Dash wondered. "I mean, they've got magic from Equestria in them. So there might be some back in Equestria too."

"Maybe." Twilight looked up. "That'd be interesting to look into. How all of this mixing was even possible in the first place is something I'm curious about too."

"Wish I got to go in the water." Ash crossed his arms while walking beside his friends. "Would've been so cool to see what I would get."

"Pikachu..."

As they walked through the streets of Castelia City, they saw how very few attractions were left while some were being taken away, signifying that the festival was reaching its end very soon.

And many ponies along with a few dragons sprinkled here and there were heading back to their world by passing through the gateways nearby. And many of these ponies and dragons had actually made friends with the humans of this world during the time they were able to spend in Castelia. And there's a good chance the same has happened across other regions and beyond.

Team Rocket also came off the ship, exhausted and tired themselves. But not in the traditional way where they fail to capture a Pokemon and get sent blasting off. This time, they were exhausted in a good and satisfying way.

Because of this, Team Rocket could head back to the Everfree Forest and Zecora's hut, feeling satisfied and relaxed. The last time they've felt like this was during their time in Alola.

"Shame. Not a single special Pokemon." James sighed. "Would've been great to bring an Equestrian-Influenced fellow back to the boss."

"Does he even know about Equestria?" Jessie scratched her hair.

"It ain't all so bad," Meowth said. "Look at this!" He held out a cup that had a single droplet of water in it. Jessie and James leaned in to look at the cup.

"Hmm...what's this supposed to mean?" Jessie narrowed her eyes.

"Before we got snagged back in the ship, I snagged a drop in this cup right here," Meowth explained. "We got one piece of that Equestrian magic stuff, no problem!"

"Oh!" James's hair stood up before returning to normal. "But it's just one drop..."

"One drop counts. Zecora's gonna love this!" Meowth laughed.

"Huh?!" Jessie picked Meowth up. "We're going to use it all for ourselves! Not for anyone else! Who knows what she'll do to this kind of magic with her own!" She shook Meowth around.

"J-Jess!" Meowth stammered. "The cup!"

"Whoops!" Jessie realised that she almost spilt the single droplet of magical water in the cup. It's minuscule, but it's something. Team Rocket officially had a bit of the Arcane Sea in one cup. They aren't sure what will happen when they eventually get around to using it.

But there's a solid chance the outcome could go either way. For better or for worse.


Ponyville. The Pokemon Festival. 10:00.

Finally. Back at Ponyville and the gateway that connects to Pallet Town. Two very comfortable and small towns that Ash and the others have returned to once more. It was home sweet home.

And speaking of him, there was Delia and Mimey, spotting Ash and Pikachu from afar. Alongside Barry and Cilan.

"Ash! Pikachu!" Delia whistled, waving at her son and his teammate.

"Oh hey, mom! Guys!" Ash and Pikachu ran over.

"Pika-Pikachu!"

"I heard you went on the Royal Unova from Barry and Cilan! How was your time on it?"

"Great! You're gonna love the stuff we got to see on it! I gotta tell you guys about the Arcane Sea!"

"Arcane Sea?" said a curious Barry.

"I'll go first!" Pinkie appeared on Ash's shoulder. "Oh, do you wanna go first, Ash?"

"We'll both go. Listen to this!" Ash and Pinkie Pie were ready to tell Delia, Mimey, Barry and Cilan everything that they had experienced. And they had a lot to share. From the Ocean Gate, the Arcane Sea and all the special Pokemon they had discovered, including Spike's Axew who can transform two different times.

Twilight went over to her lab to see that Nyx, Cocoa and Rosestar were currently present there, speaking with the Pokemon of PokePark. By opening the door, Twilight had alerted them all.

"Sharp? Bisharp!" Bisharp, deciding that his role was now Twilight's own personal royal guard, rushed over to the young alicorn's side, bowing down to her as he welcomed her back. "Bisharp!"

"Oh, uh..." Twilight pulled back before laughing. "Good to see you again, Bisharp. And you three as well. You look like you've gotten comfortable with the Pokemon of PokePark here."

"Sure have!" Cocoa nodded. "Found a way to open this place up when we were snooping around your lab, ya know."

"Snooping around?" Twilight uttered as she narrowed her eyes.

"I tried to stop her. Sorry." Rosestar shook her head. "But it was worth it. The Pokemon here are great. I tried to catch one but...they're not huge fans of that."

"Glad that you've returned home safely mo- I mean, Twilight," Nyx said while walking up to her fellow alicorn. "You've probably experienced more thrills than we have during this entire Pokemon Festival, correct?"

"Sure have. You will not believe what happened from the first week to the second!" Twilight placed her saddlebag down on the table as all of her Pokemon walked inside, heading over to chat with the Pokemon from PokePark. "I don't know where to start!"

"Espeon..." Eve just wanted to relax as she laid down on the comfortable marble floor of the lab while Twilight rambled on about what she had experienced.

And over at the Pokemon House. Fluttershy, much like Ash, Twilight and Pinkie, was going off on what she had experienced during her time on the Royal Unova. And not just the Royal Unova. Even before that. But mostly the Royal Unova since that's where all the true action had been experienced.

"There was a Milotic that was so beautiful! All liquid from inside and outside!" Fluttershy gushed while talking to Angel Bunny and the rest of the Pokemon here. "And the Torterra! We thought we were just on a normal planet but it was an entire Torterra! How amazing is that?!" She got up in Krookodile's face.

"Krooko..." Krookodile backed up.

"Now Spike has his own Special Pokemon too." Fluttershy picked up Angel Bunny. "Makes you wonder what kind of Pokemon we're all missing out on!" Fluttershy was too excited to calm down as she kept telling the Pokemon about her current experiences so far.

She flew over to Pokemon to Pokemon, chattering away as she was finding it hard to contain her excitement. But the Pokemon here were all up for listening to her story since they love seeing her happy.

And the same can be said for everyone else. Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Golett was still latched onto Applejack, not leaving her for a second. But aside from that, Applejack as well as Apple Bloom had some stories to tell Big Macintosh, Granny Smith and Cold Colt.

Rainbow Dash could boast and brag about all of this back at Cloudsdale too. She even wished she could go back to the Arcane Sea and catch herself a Special Pokemon. But, aside from that, she sent out her Pokemon for the sake of training them for their inevitable rematch with 5th Gym Leader Soarin'.

Pinkie Pie, after spilling everything with Ash, went back to SugarCube Corner to tell the Cake Family and Jade what had happened. She burst through the doors with hyperactive energy, immediately hugging Jade as a greeting. Meanwhile, Jade kept a straight face but was honestly enjoying the hug. Even if her face wasn't showing it.


The Everfree Forest. 10:12.

"We're back!" Team Rocket collectively said while opening the door to Zecora's Hut.

"Welcome home you three," Zecora replied as she turned to face them. "Any stories and new experiences to tell me?"

"Home? I wouldn't go that far." Jessie shook her head.

"Nothing too out there." James closed the door. "But we did go somewhere interesting."

"And got something neat too." Meowth looked at the jar as Jessie's head instantly snapped towards it, hoping that Zecora doesn't interact with it.

Zecora simply squinted her eyes while looking at the jar with one drop of water. She was actually confused as to what made it so special.

"Don't worry about it!" Jessie slid in. "Just a little souvenir!"

"Hm." Zecora only said one word as she turned around.

"Ain't nothing bad about telling her, ya know?" Meowth whispered to Jessie.

"Probably...but you know how she gets when she finds something interesting...!" Jessie whispered back. However, Zecora could hear them from behind.

"There could be a great bonus." James joined in. "She could know what makes this water work and we could have a bunch of it without having to go out to those Arcane Seas."

"Oooh...good thinking." Jessie tapped her head.

"Unfortunately, I cannot multiply, if that is what you were hoping." Zecora suddenly spoke, startling Team Rocket. "But perhaps, for this one little drop of water, I could involve some purifying."

"Purifying?" Team Rocket looked at each other before letting out cheesy and creepy grins. "Sounds good to us!"

"Wobbuffet!"


Pallet Town. The Pokemon Festival. 10:30.

"Melo..." Meloetta felt a bit lucky right now as she had passed through the gateway, entering Ash's hometown for the first time.

"What an adventure," Delia said after Ash had told him everything.

"Sure was." Ash nodded.

"Pikachu."

"Can't wait for the last day of the festival tomorrow. What a rush it's been." Ash took his hat off as the sun was beaming down on him.

"If the next one is 3 weeks, I don't think I can handle it." Delia sighed as she took off her sunhat, sweating a bit.

"Oh well. Better enjoy it while it lasts. Hey Meloetta! Come check this out!" Ash and Pikachu ran off, prompting Meloetta to follow and join in.

"Pika!"

"Ta? Meloetta!" And follow she did. Delia slowed down as she watched Ash and Pikachu run off to enjoy the Pokemon Festival here at their home.

Ashs' Pokemon were also outside for the festival since Professor Oak allowed them. And since they were all on the outside, Ash was immediately run over by his own herd of Tauros who were running about.

"Agh!" Ash yelped as he was forced onto the ground. "Ow..."

"Pikapi?"

"Melo!" Meloetta gasped after witnessing Ash being galloped on. Worried about his wellbeing, Meloetta flew over to see if she could help.

"I'm fine." Ash sat up laughing as he put his hat back on. "No need to worry."

"Melo..." Meloetta sighed.

More of Ash's Pokemon had noticed their trainer from a close distance since Pallet Town is not that large, to begin with. One of those Pokemon was Bayleef, who immediately ran to Ash's side while also spotting Meloetta next to him.

"Bay!" Bayleef cried out.

"Hm?" Ash rotated to spot the Leaf Pokemon coming towards him. "Hey, Bayleef."

"Bay!" Bayleef lunged, smacking Meloetta out of the way and jumping on Ash as she tried to replicate a hug, but it failed miserably.

"Ough!" Ash was yet again forced onto the ground. "B-Bayleef! This again!"

"Etta? Mel!" Meloetta, knowing what Bayleef was all about this time, tried to pull the Leaf Pokemon off Ash with her arms, but she wasn't strong enough. "M-Meloett!"

"Bay!" Bayleef kept Ash on the ground, not giving him a chance to break free.

"Come on, Bayleef!" Ash writhed with his arm raised.

"Melo...!" Meloetta, obviously not a huge fan of this, decided to use another way of getting Bayleef off. By using her alternate form. Her Pirouette Forme.

The Melody Pokemon jumped back as she crossed her arms together with a bright light coming out of her. Ash, Pikachu and Bayleef turned around to see this sudden light appearance.

"Meloetta..." The light engulfed Meloetta as she was spinning and dancing around in it. She also sang a beautiful melody while inside the light as sound waves were flowing out. The light then turned into a multi-coloured sphere as Meloetta's hair was flowing and transforming along with her dress.

And after that, out came Pirouette Forme Meloetta.

"Oh! Pirouette Forme!" Ash's hair stood up.

"Pika!"

"Melo!" Having 10x the courage in this form, the Melody Pokemon went up to the Leaf Pokemon, telling her to get off Ash already.

"Bay!" But Bayleef refused.

"Melo...!" Meloetta and Bayleef's eyes were clashing with lightning coming out. It was clear that an inevitable battle between the two of them would take place.

"Bay...!"

"Not this again...Can I get up please?!" Ash groaned as Pikachu tried to stop the conflict between the two of them by stepping in.

"Pikachu! Pika!" But, Pikachu can't get in the way of romantic rivalries. It's nigh-impossible to stop them. However, there was one Pokemon that Ash had who could stop conflicts all together.

That Pokemon was Bulbasaur, who came running over after seeing the sparks between Bayleef and Meloetta start flying all over the place.

"Bulba!" Bulbasaur slid in stop this. "Bulbasaur!" The Bulb Pokemon used its vines to keep a distance between Bayleef and Meloetta as it started talking to them to try and ease them both down.

"Bayleef!" Bayleef tried to move forward, but Bulbasaur's vines made sure to keep her where she is. "Bay?"

"Etta!" Meloetta as well was blocked from the vines. She started chattering away about Bayleef and how she kept on blocking her way to Ash while Bayleef went on about how no one else should be next to Ash like that.

"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur did not care as it simply called both of them Petty Pokemon. And that really stung them both. Bulbasaur started scolding them both, telling them that their petty antics and squabbles only further harm Ash, and it was talking to them like a disappointed parent.

Both Bayleef and Meloetta scoffed as they turned their heads after listening to Bulbasaur's words. But they knew the Bulb Pokemon was right about how they harm Ash constantly. Even Twilight could be involved in this. Even if she wasn't here right now. The lesson they learned back at the Crystal Empire was almost forgotten if Bulbasaur didn't do something.

After receiving a heavy scolding from Bulbasaur, the two of them agreed to be tolerant of each other. They both looked at each other with less disdainful faces this time. Yet again, Bulbasaur solves another conflict.

"No one does it better than Bulbasaur, huh?" Ash stood up as he was finally free from Bayleef's pin.

"Pikachu..." Pikachu nodded.

"Anyway! Let's not look so down you two." Ash said to both Bayleef and Meloetta. "Let's have fun at the festival before it ends okay?"

"Bay...Bayleef!"

"Meloetta!" Both Bayleef and Meloetta could get behind that. If it meant spending more time with Ash, they'll take it. But they'll have to get used to the large company of Pokemon that will eventually surround Ash once he gets to all of his Pokemon.

The last day of the Pokemon Festival is tomorrow. But most likely, nothing too vital will happen. After all, the last day is when everything simmers down. From this point on, it was just going to be comfortable and relaxing fun.