Chapter 13: Rayquaza of Hope
The roar of a dragon buckled Fluttershy's knees. Those in the Dragon Holy Land froze to the sound of the thunderous caw. "Can it be?" wondered Lance. All continued to look up at the impending threat when it emerged. An enormous green snake/dragon hybrid with black eyes flew in from the clouds above. Fluttershy screamed in sheer terror. From the size, she had all the reason to get weak in the knees.
"Rayquaza!" Clair named. Rayquaza let out another earth rattling shout.
"Get outta there, Fluttershy!" called Twilight. Despite the shout to regroup, Fluttershy couldn't move and Rayquaza glared right at her.
"Dragonite, get Fluttershy away from Rayquaza," Lance ordered. Dragonite nodded and flew in to save the pink-haired. Rayquaza hit Dragonite with a blast of rainbow energy, knocking Lance's Pokémon away before coiling around Fluttershy like a shield. That's when it grabbed Fluttershy with its claw before springing up to the sky.
"Fluttershy!" Twilight and Applejack cried out. They chased but for naught as they didn't have anything to fly and save Fluttershy. As Dragonite recovered, Lance tried to make sense of the invasion to the Dragon Holy Land.
"Rayquaza would only be seen if its habitat around the O-Zone layer was disturbed. Why would it suddenly attack out of the blue?" Not even Clair could come up with a hypothesis.
"I'm not sure!" she groaned from frustration. In the grip of a dragon, Fluttershy passed out from the fear and excitement that was getting a ride from this new Pokémon. The two soon reached the clouds where Rayquaza stopped, unaware Altaria flew in pursuit of its master. Glaring at Fluttershy, curiosity enlightened Rayquaza to know her origin as Fluttershy stirred.
"Did I stop?" she weakly asked before looking up. The sight of Rayquaza's glaring eyes wanted her away from the huge Pokémon. She then found out... escaping wasn't such a good idea. She was at the mercy of the dragon. "Don't eat me! Please don't eat me!" Rayquaza didn't move its head.
"So, you are the gifted," it spoke mentally. Fluttershy's sweat bled between her outfit and Rayquaza's claws. "One with the power to speak to Pokémon. You are that connection." The monster holding her prisoner in the sky sought her for her ability. Fluttershy seemed panicked. How could she not? She's at the mercy of a creature who just scooped her up from nowhere. Without a clue, a hero closed in from afar. Riding on a Charizard and a Pikachu on his shoulder, Fluttershy's admired human combed through the clouds and found Rayquaza after adjusting his red cap.
"You normally don't see a Rayquaza out in the open," Ash blinked. As more of the clouds parted, the Pokémon found someone that alerted their concern.
("Fluttershy!") Pikachu squeaked. Ash spotted the pink hair and realized Fluttershy was in trouble.
"Let's go, Charizard!" On command, Charizard raced forward while Altaria squawked at Rayquaza, preferably to release Fluttershy.
"Her secret must be guarded!" scolded the Sky High Pokémon. "She must be guarded!" Swiping the air, Rayquaza whipped up a miniature tornado. Altaria received the blow and flew out of control from the winds.
"Altaria!" yelled Fluttershy. Charizard swooped in where the rider and Pokémon got underneath the falling Altaria.
"Gotcha!" Ash grunted as he caught the Humming Pokémon. Altaria shook off the blow and soon regained its wings. "You good?" A cluck from Altaria sounded ready to strike back at Rayquaza and rescue Fluttershy. The two reached the dragon in hopes of recovering the Pegasus pony. Fluttershy saw the Charizard and Ash with his Pikachu on the shoulder.
"Ash!" The creatures faced off with another Pokémon on the approach.
"It's you!" Rayquaza realized. Ash gazed at the dragon that stormed the Dragon Holy Land.
"What's going on?" he urged for an answer. "You don't normally show yourself without a reason!" Undaunted, Rayquaza retained its hold on the poor pony.
"She holds the gift. I cannot allow the gift to fall in evil hands." The reasoning would be tough. Rayquaza wanted to protect Fluttershy like Twilight, Applejack and Ash have done so far.
"You don't mean how she talks to Pokémon, right?" This grew suspicion from the hostile dragon.
"So you are aware of her gift as well?" The trainer bobbed a nod.
"I met her in the paradise in Hoenn. That's how I know about her gift." Rayquaza grew more suspicious to Ash's claim.
"Is that so?" Ash's Pokémon figured that Rayquaza wasn't buying his story.
("I was with him as well, Rayquaza!") Pikachu squeaked to support his master's words. Ash started to believe his tale wasn't getting to the giant's head.
"What now?" he wondered. Rayquaza had an idea.
"If you are truthful, I will determine it," the Sky High Pokémon prepared. Its eyes were glowing blue as it rested a talon on Fluttershy's head. Ash thought Rayquaza was going to kill her.
"Don't do it!" Finally, both pony and Pokémon closed glowing blue eyes. Memories transferred from Fluttershy to Rayquaza about her past. It saw Fluttershy becoming friends with Twilight and Spike after the two arrived in Ponyville. It saw Fluttershy helping other ponies with their tasks. It saw Fluttershy scolding a dragon despite the size and her fears, advising the red smoke-breather not to hurt her friends. It saw Fluttershy brave out the mocks of her past when working to build a tornado over a lake. Suddenly came the moment when Pinkie interrupted a spell Twilight tried to perform, only to strike Fluttershy, sending her to the Pokémon world and turning her to a human. Then there was the meeting with Ash and May and the two learning about Fluttershy's secret. The memories included Team Rocket willing to take not just the Pokémon but Fluttershy as well but Ash guarding her at his own expense, several times. The Mane 6, Discord, Spike, the princesses at Canterlot, the Pokémon and trainers... In Rayquaza's mind, Fluttershy received help from both sides, in both worlds and in both forms. He removed the talon from her head. Fluttershy woke up, somewhat woozy from the event.
"What just happened?" she wondered before looking up at Rayquaza as it shot a look to Ash.
"I see now," it growled lowly. "She is not of this world, yet she belongs here as much as her home. As for you, her memories speak the truth about you and your Pokémon. And I sense you bearing the mark as well." Ash blinked in a bit of confusion before removing the glove. The Pokéball with the cape...
"My cutie mark..." he remembered.
("I forgot you have that,") Pikachu gawked. Rayquaza had more.
"By bearing the mark do you have a task," it continued. "I can trust you in performing the task and maintaining the balance between the worlds connected. I will seek an audience with those who oversee the world of creatures she was born from." The pony could only ponder Rayquaza's intentions by seeing Celestia and Luna. Suddenly, a caw alerted all.
("Articuno!") Out from below, a giant blue bird with what looked like sheets of ice shedding from the tail feathers soared up to the action.
"That wouldn't be the same Articuno that Charizard battled at the Battle Factory with Noland, would it?" guessed Ash.
("That's the same,") Charizard growled. Without warning, Articuno fired blew beams, striking Rayquaza near the arms. The attack scared Fluttershy to scream and jerk her head away from taking the shot. Charizard flew clear, not willing to take what Articuno used.
("Ice Beam!") Pikachu identified the attack. ("Why, Articuno?!") The angered caw billowed from the legendary bird. Fluttershy's ears couldn't pick up Articuno and its issues at Rayquaza.
"I can't understand what it's mad about!" admitted Fluttershy. Neither could Pikachu, Charizard or Altaria.
"I don't know if Articuno's trying to rescue Fluttershy or is just angry at Rayquaza's sudden appearance?" struggled Ash. Articuno spat a glowing blue sphere which the Sky High Pokémon dodged. Rayquaza fired back with another beam, a direct hit against Articuno. "Hyper Beam!"
("That's gotta hurt!") Pikachu cringed. The blue bird shook off the blast and spat another blue sphere followed by another Ice Beam, hitting said sphere which turned to shards of hurling ice.
"The Ice Beam/Water Pulse combination! And Nolan didn't tell it to use it!" Shards stabbed the scales of Rayquaza. The damage dropped Fluttershy from its arms and she yelled, thinking she's falling to her death. "Fluttershy!" Ash needed to do something to save Fluttershy before realizing the solution was his ride. "Charizard, throw me to Fluttershy!" The Pokémon balked at his thought process for a moment. This was Ash so Charizard had to trust his partner. With a spin, Charizard chucked Ash which he torpedoed down to intercept the Pegasus who wished she had her wings. Finally, Ash reached and snagged Fluttershy. "Gotcha!"
"Okay but who's got us?!" she pointed out. How about Altaria? The Humming Pokémon raced to and passed Ash and Fluttershy for the moment. That's when it stretched the cloud-like wings as wide as possible before wrapping them around the trainers. The freefall sent them back toward the Dragon Holy Land where the other ponies gasp at the falling friends.
"They're coming in too fast!" Applejack gulped. "If they hit the ground, they're goners!" Not on Clair's watch.
"Dragonair, use Twister and aim it at the lake!" she commanded. Dragonair spun its body with the glowing orbs and whipped up a miniature tornado of its own which got the falling group. The rapid descent gradually slowed enough to the point that the falling trainers and Pokémon toward the lake and a splash landing. Clair, Lance, Twilight and Applejack raced over to the lake, praying to Celestia that Fluttershy was alive. Before long, the trainer, pony and Pokémon emerged from the lake and kicked until they reached shore and helped out by Lance and Applejack.
"It's Ash!" he gasped. Charizard descended to the Dragon Holy Land as Ash got to his feet, still held up by Twilight as Clair helped Atlaria. Pikachu ran to the rest, concerned about his trainer and best friend.
"That was the highest dive I attempted," Ash coughed. Despite recovering from... well, everything that happened around Rayquaza, Fluttershy embraced her arms around Ash for a hug. Eve looked on while standing by Twilight's foot. Happy to see Ash instead of using a video phone, Fluttershy kissed Ash just as Altaria recovered and watched.
"I guess some-pony couldn't wait to hold her colt," Applejack huffed. They broke the kiss and Lance doused them with dry towels. Now the real question...
"Ash, how did you know Fluttershy was in trouble?" asked Twilight. All Ash could do was shrug his shoulders.
"Right place, right time, I guess?" he replied. "After Princess Celestia gave Charizard back to me, we decided on taking a break from the Battle Frontier to let him reacquaint with the Pokémon World before going back for more training in the Charicific Valley." That's when he felt his pant leg getting a pawing from Eve, causing him to look down at the tiny Pokémon. "Another Eevee?" Kneeling down, Ash hoisted Eve to get a better look at Twilight's Pokémon. "Certainly tinier than May's Eevee." The news brought a bit of shock to the ponies.
"May's got one, too?" Eve started licking Ash's face, tickling him. "Okay, Eve. That's enough." Twilight snatched Eve from Ash. After the tongue bath, Ash wiped his face.
"Anyway, you said May has an Eevee as well?" Applejack questioned.
"Yep," he responded. "And she's started prepping it for Contests." Then his face turned serious as he glanced to the sky, wondering about Rayquaza and Articuno, not to mention the reasons behind Fluttershy's abduction and Articuno's attack.
"Only Rayquaza knows why it came down from the ozone layer to the Dragon Holy Land," Clair pondered.
"Still, its actions don't seem holy reasonable to take Fluttershy," Applejack noted. "Poor girl's scared out of her wits being in its clutches." After making sure everyone in the Dragon Holy Land was okay, Ash, Pikachu and Charizard left to return to their journies. Meeting Clair and Rayquaza started to help Fluttershy. Her journey complete, there's one place she would want to go now: home.
TO BE CONCLUDED...