Episode 306: Enter Zinnia and Aster!
After meeting Drake of the Hoenn Elite Four, Sora, Kairi, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Brendan, May, Michael, Max, Lisia, Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, Celeste, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclair were dropped off to an island for Sora and Brendan to train for the Sootopolis City Gym.
Unknown to anyone, Zinnia and her Whismur, Aster are on the same island as they are. She spotted the group and she giggled to herself.
"Well, I figured I'd see those two again someday, and it looks like I have," Zinnia said.
"Whismur," Aster said.
"What do you say, Aster? Why don't we go and greet them?" Zinnia suggested.
"Whis, Whismur," Aster said, nodding.
With that said, Zinnia and Aster went over to the group to personally greet Sora and the rest of the group. Sora, Kairi, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Brendan, May, Michael, Max, Lisia, Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, Celeste, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclar were walking down the road when Zinnia got in front of the group.
"Hi there! It's very nice to see you again!" Zinnia greeted.
"Again? We never met you," Sora said.
"No, but I've seen you, but you didn't see me. And I had a feeling we'd meet face-to-face at some point," Zinnia said.
"Who are you?" Ventus asked.
"Pika," Sparky said.
"The name's Zinnia, and this is Aster," Zinnia introduced.
"Whismur," Aster said.
"Now that you know my name, tell me yours," Zinnia said.
"Right. I'm Sora and this is my partner, Pikachu, and this is Xipak," Sora introduced.
"Pika, Pika," Pikachu said.
"Pikachu," Xipak said.
"I'm Kairi, and this is Angel, and this is Celeste," Kairi introduced.
"Eevee," Angel said.
"Vee," Celeste said.
"I'm Karen. I'm Sora's sister. And this is Blossom," Karen introduced.
"My name's Ventus, but I go by Ven. And this is Sparky," Ventus said.
"Pikachu," Sparky said.
"I'm Terra, and this Thor," Terra introduced.
"Pikachu," Thor said.
"I'm Aqua, and this is Eclair," Aqua introduced.
"Chu," Eclair said.
"I'm Lisia."
"My name's Brendan."
"I'm May, and this is my little brother, Max," May introduced.
"Nice to meet you," Max greeted.
"And I'm Michael."
"Anyway, you said that you've seen us before," Sora pointed out.
"Yeah, I did. I saw that you have key-shaped swords with you," Zinnia said. The group were shocked to hear that she saw the Keyblades.
"You saw that?" Sora asked.
"I sure did. There's no denying it. I saw you fighting that one guy who seems to have it in for you. He had one just like you did," Zinnia said.
"Zell," Sora said. "Just how much did you see?"
"I saw pretty much all of it. You made that guy look like a chump when you formed a sword from your key sword and used it push back that other guy's sword and pointed it at him. It looked like you won, until he tried to hit you with it, but your key shot out light and it hit him. You made him run like a Charmander trying to get out of the rain," Zinnia said. Sora looked at Kairi and the others and they sighed. "Think I can see those keys? Please?" Knowing that there was no getting out of it, Sora and Kairi summoned their Keyblades and showed her.
"Here they are. Our Keyblades," Sora said.
"Keyblade? Huh, Keysword sounds better, but okay," Zinnia said.
"Since you saw them, we might as well tell you that we've been using them to fight monsters," Kairi said.
"And some guys in black hoods," Sora added.
"You haven't seen any, have you?" May asked.
"No, but I think it's amazing that you use those keys to fight monsters. Where did you get them?" Zinnia asked.
"We were actually chosen by these," Sora said.
"And us, too," Brendan said as he, May, and Michael summoned their Keyblades, showing Zinnia.
"Along with some others, and that's all we can tell you," May said.
"There some things we still don't know about, so it's pretty much hard to explain," Michael said.
"And it's best that we don't tell you too much," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Oh, you're no fun!" Zinnia pouted. "Luckily for you, I had no idea you were even here until I saw you here. Why are you here?"
"We came here to do some training for our Gym battle over in Sootopolis City," Brendan said.
"Oh, so you're Trainers. I thought as much since you had some Pikachu and a couple of Eevee with you," Zinnia said, pointing out.
"Also, Kairi and I are training for the Izabe Pokémon Contest," May said.
"Oh, you're Pokémon Coordinators? I never seen a Pokémon Contest before, but I hear it's loads of fun," Zinnia said.
"Oh, I promise you, Zinnia, Contests are loads of fun," Lisia said.
"Anyway, why are you here?" Ventus asked.
"Oh, because I came here to search for clues on the Sky Pillar," Zinnia said.
"The what?" Sora asked.
"What's the Sky Pillar?" Terra asked.
"You're asking me?" Brendan asked.
"I don't know," May said.
"Don't look at me," Lisia said.
"I don't know either," Max said.
"Figured it would have been too easy," Karen said.
"Pikachu," Sparky said.
"And since we're all here, how about we have a look around while you're doing your thing?" Zinnia suggested.
"I guess that's an idea, Zinnia," Aqua said.
"Well, coe with me, and we'll look for the Sky Pillar," Zinnia said.
Joining the group, the group made a stop to start training for their Gym battle and the Izabe Island Pokémon Contest. Kairi had let out her Roserade as May had let out her Bulbasaur. They had figured they would use those Grass-types for the Contest, while Sora and Brendan were training hard.
They then heard a loud roar coming from somewhere close by.
"Anyone hear that?" May asked.
"Yeah, but where did it come from?" Max asked.
Max got his answer when a dragon-like Heartless flies over them. They looked up and saw it with their own eyes.
It is a large, blue dragon with a long, curled tail and twisted, yellow spikes lining its back. Its wings are actually long, five-fingered hands with ornate webbing between the fingers. Each finger sports a short, white claw and the webbing is decorated by a swirling pattern. The Heartless's underside is lined by two rows of three gold cymbals. Its lower jaw is large, jagged, and yellow, its upper jaw is blue, and its eyes are glowing yellow with blue-green "eyebrows". White hair is visible around the Heartless's eyes and mouth, and forms "tusks" on the sides of its mouth. The Heartless also has two bent, red horns on its head. Its Heartless emblem is on its chin. This Heartless is known as the Storm Rider.
"A Heartless!" Lisia gasped.
"Heartless?" Zinnia asked.
"One of those monsters we fight," Brendan said.
"And it's hovering over us," Kairi said.
The Storm Rider roared as it flew by. It was making its way towards a tall mountain.
"It's heading right for that mountain," Karen said.
"I hope there isn't a village on that mountain, because I don't wanna think about how ugly it'll be if there was one," Sora said.
"None of us wants that!" Kairi said.
"Eevee," Angel agreed.
"Vee," Celeste added.
"We better go after it," Brendan said.
Everyone agreed with Brendan and went after the Storm Rider.
Meanwhile, a man is doing some investigating of his own. He is tall and medium build. He has thick brown hair that hangs around his face, with a thick, long side fringe, small dark eyes with thick dark, prominent eyebrows and slightly tanned skin. He wears a cider green coloured jacket fastened with big white buttons and has a red collar, matching cropped trousers, white socks and charcoal colored flat shoes. He also wears a black belt with a grey pack on his side. He heard the roar and he saw the Storm Rider flying above him.
"What in the world is that?" The man asked.
The Storm Rider flew over the mountain, making the Pokemon living in the area flee as the dragon-like Heartless flew above them.
There was a couple of boys were battling each other with each a Snorunt. They bump each other on the head, each one not giving in.
"Snorunt! Use Blizzard!" One of the boys ordered.
"Dodge and move in with Cru-!" The other boy paused when he saw the dragon-like Heartless flying. He points at it. "Hey, look at that!" The first boy turned to what his opponent was pointing at. And so the two Snorunt.
"What the heck is that?" The first boy asked.
Back to the group, they kept chasing after the flying Heartless. Because it's flying so fast, it was getting out of sight very fast.
"We're losing it!" May groaned.
"Maybe not," Sora said, taking out a Pokéball and threw it. "Salamence! Go!" Salamence emerged from inside. Sora and Kairi got on the Dragon Pokémon's back. Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, and Celeste followed their lead.
"Good thinking, Sora!" Michael said, taking out his Master Ball. He threw it. "Go! Lugia!" His Master Ball opened and his Lugia emerged from inside. Brendan, Brendan, and May got on Lugia's back. Zinnia took out her own Pokéball and threw it.
"Come out, Salamence!" Zinnia called out. Her Pokéball opened and her Salamence emerged from inside. She and Aster got on its back and flew on ahead.
"Sora!" Ventus called out.
"Karen, you keep Ven at a safe distance!" Sora said.
"You got it, big brother," Karen nodded.
"Full speed ahead, Salamence!" Sora said.
"You too, Lugia!" Michael said.
Both Salamence and Lugia flew after the Storm Rider, leaving Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Max, Lisia, and the other Pikachu behind.
Zinnia's Salamence was gaining on the Storm Rider as fast it could fly. Zinnia tapped the Mega Stone on her anklet, giving off a glow. Salamence has undergone a transformation. It's wings meld together into a single huge, crescent-shaped wing. Its face, neck, body and tail are narrower, and its tail is noticeably shorter in length. The ridges above its eyes are now far less prominent, and it no longer possesses the thick, gray scaling over its lower jaw. Instead, the smooth red flesh underneath has been left exposed, increasing its streamline appearance. The upper pair of fins resting on the sides of its head are now elongated and tapered. The lower pair has not changed much. However, the middle set now take the form of quarter-arches, spanning towards the bridge of the nose. The remnants of its shelled underbelly have been drastically transformed into a segmented, more aerodynamic, vest-like armored frame. This frame encases its chest and shoulders with the pieces interlocking whenever Mega Salamence tucks in its front forelegs.
"Okay, Mega Salamence! Dragon Claw!" Zinnia ordered. Mega Salamence came at the Storm Rider with a Dragon Claw. When it struck the Storm Rider, it roared and it rammed into Mega Salamence, almost knocking her off. "You okay, Aster?"
"Whismur," Aster said.
"That thing is tough. But I won't give up," Zinnia said.
"Leave it to us, Zinnia!" Sora called out, riding on his Salamence with Kairi, Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, and Celeste. Lugia came in with Brendan, May, and Michael riding on its back.
"We know these Heartless better than anyone," Brendan said.
"You sure?" Zinnia asked.
"Trust us. May said.
"Salamence! Use Flamethrower!" Sora ordered. Salamence fired a Flamethrower, hitting the Storm Rider. In response to Salamence's Flamethrower, it fires lightning at the Keyblade wielders.
"Pi?!" Pikachu gasped.
"Look out!" Sora exclaimed, making the flyers avoid the lightning. "That was close."
"We were almost hit by that lightning," Kairi said.
"Yeah, well, we got some lightning of our own!" Sora said. "Lower us down, Salamence!" The Dragon Pokémon complied with his Trainer and lowered him down. Sora, Kairi, and the four Pokémon got off as they summoned their Keyblades. Lugia lands on the ground, allowing Brendan, May, and Michael to get off and summon their Keyblades to engage the dragon-like Heartless. It dives down on them, but they dodge. Sora jumped on the Storm Rider's tail, and Kairi followed her boyfriend as Brendan, May, Michael, and the Pokémon got on its back. The Storm began to fly again. "Grab on to its spikes!" Sora, Kairi, Brendan, May, and Michael grabbed its spikes as it twirls in the air, trying to shake them off. When it stopped twirling, the Keyblade wielders tried hitting it as May struck the horns on the Storm Rider's head.
"Guys! The horns on its head is its weak point! Aim for that!" May said.
"Okay!" Sora said as he heads for the head, but the Storm Rider shook them off, making them fall. They land right on their feet as the Storm Rider dove at them, making the Keyblade wielders dodge. Brendan got on and he accidentally struck one of the spikes on its shoulder. He then makes an attempt to strike the other one when it flew upwards, making Brendan fall off again.
"Look out below!" Brendan shouted as Mega Salamence dove down and grabbed him. "Thanks for the save, Zinnia."
"Not a problem," Zinnia said.
"Whismur," Aster said. Brendan made contact through Sora's Rotom Phone. Sora answered it.
"Brendan, you okay?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, thanks to Zinnia and her Salamence. Listen! I also found that the spikes are this thing's weak points, too, so we aim for that while we're on that Heartless' back!" Brendan said.
"Roger!" Sora said. He gets on Salamence's back and flew right towards the Storm Rider. Sora jumped off and he got on its back. He hurriedly heads for the Storm Rider's other spike on its other shoulder, it prepares to shake him again, so Sora grabs on to a spike on its back as it tries to get Sora off, and dropping some bombs below, causing several explosions. Sora let's go and he heads for the other spike and shattered it. The Storm Rider then falls to the ground.
"Get it!" Kairi shouted.
Not needing to be told twice, the Keyblade wielders attacked the Storm Rider, hitting it with their Keyblades when it recovers its destroyed spikes and sends them back. Lightning rains down as The Storm Rider dropped several bombs again. It then lands on the ground, creating two walls lightning that discharge electricity. It charges electricity in its horns and fires a beam of lightning.
"Watch out!" May shouted as they dodged. The walls disappeared and the Storm Rider flew up again. It then charges low close to the ground, so Sora slides under the Storm Rider and gave it several hits with his Kingdom Key. He gave it one, last hit with his Kingdom Key, sending it flying in the air. It then makes a crash landing on the ground. They all went for the Heartless again as Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, and Celeste attacked with Iron Tail. It recovers its spikes again and took flight again.
Lightning strikes down, but they dodged the lightning. Lugia tackled into the Storm Rider, but it bats it down. The Storm Rider sends out lightning from its wings. Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel dodged the lightning with their speed. Salamence came and they got on his back again before flying up to the dragon-like Heartless. They get off of Salamence once they were close enough, Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel jumped off and on the Storm Rider's back.
"Use Thunderbolt on one of those spikes!" Sora ordered.
"You Swift on the other one!" Kairi ordered.
Pikachu and Angel attacked the shoulder spikes, making it fall. Once it hits the ground, Brendan, May, Michael, Xipak, and Celeste rushes at the Storm Rider until it recovers its shoulder spikes again and took flight again.
Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Max, Lisia, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclair have arrived to witness the fight continuing on. Sora, Kairi, Pikachu, and Angel got on Salamence's back once again and flew at the Storm Rider. The Storm Rider fired lightning at the couple and the Pokémon, but the Dragon Pokémon dodged it. They jumped off when they head for the head spikes and together, they gave the Storm Rider one more slash with their Keyblades. The weakened Storm Rider roars as it begins to fall. It started to fall towards May, who was too stunned to move. Sora and Kairi became concerned for her as well as the rest of the group, especially Max. Brendan ran towards her.
"May!" Brendan shouted. He got to her as the Storm Rider was falling. Before it could crush the both of them, the Storm Rider's body began to fade and a heart began to float upwards. Brendan looked right at May in her eyes. "Are you alright, May?"
"Yeah, thanks to you," May said, smiling. Brendan smiled back at her. They were looking at each other very lovingly. Sora and Kairi smiled as Sora wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder. Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Michael, and Lisia were looking at them with their own smiles as Max was giving them a teasing grin.
"Hey, when's the wedding?" Max joked. Brendan and May realized they had a small audience and they blushed when they separated from each other.
Zinnia flew down to the group as her Mega Salamence reverts back to normal.
"Wow, that was amazing. You showed that monster what for," Zinnia said.
"Thanks, Zinnia. And thanks for that save that one time," Brendan said.
"Don't mention it. I can tell that it's always like this," Zinnia said.
"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Sora said.
The group then started to make their way off the mountain and they made a stop to camp for the night. As Zinnia slept, she began to dream. She dreamed that she saw Rayquaza and then underwent a transformation. its body becomes longer and gains more features. Its head becomes longer with the Delta symbol appearing on its forehead. Rayquaza's eyes now contain yellow pupils with red irises, and black, shichishito-shaped markings trail behind its eyes. Its red lips and teeth become gold, and the gold lines connect to those on its lower horns, which take on a broad, triangular shape. At the outer edges of its lower horns are long, golden, glowing tendrils that each extend to a green, fin-like structure; these tendrils have ring patterns that strongly resemble the yellow markings running along the length of Rayquaza's normal form. While in flight, these tendrils give Rayquaza a Delta-shaped profile. Its two upper horns become longer with a gold line running over them in a V shape, and each upper horn has another glowing tendril that ends in a circular shape with a spike. Along the length of its body are golden, glowing orbs placed where its ring patterns used to be. The chin, part of the neck, and parts of its serpentine body are changed to the color black. The fins running along its body are now marked with gold lines; the fins on its tail become entirely yellow and substantially longer. Particles stream from the long tendrils that extend from its jutting jaw; these particles can control the density and humidity of the air, allowing Rayquaza to manipulate the weather. Its green hide sparkles with an emerald-like quality.
"Mega Rayquaza!" Zinnia could only say. She got on Mega Rayquaza and they flew up towards the sky and right into outer space. There, she saw the moon and a meteor zooms passed them. There was a Deoxys that flew by as they flew all around the planet. She saw the Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Kalos, Alola, Galar, Paldea, Orre, and other places of the world. It was absolutely the most amazing thing she had ever seen in her entire life. Just then, she saw what looks like to her, a moon shaped like a heart. She didn't know what it could be. "This is weird. That moon is shaped like a heart. What is this all about?"
"Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts. They gather in darkness, masterless and free...until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist," a voice said.
"The rage of the Keyblade? What does that mean? Who can truly, finally exist?" Zinnia asked. Just then, Mega Rayquaza shook her off. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Delta Emerald," Mega Rayquaza said through telepathy. Zinnia was confused by what it meant.
Before Zinnia could ask what it was talking about, a flash of emerald green light shined, forcing Zinnia to shield her eyes. When she noticed the green light has faded, she saw Mega Rayquaza was gone. She was alone in the vast emptiness of space. Then, an emerald metoer heads right towards her. She screamed.
In the real world, she woke up and saw that everyone was right where they always been.
"That was a weird dream," Zinnia said.
Hours later, after a good hearty breakfast, Zinnia decides to join the group.
"You sure you wanna hang out with us, Zinnia?" Brendan asked.
"I'm sure. Besides, being with you guys is loads of fun, and I wanna have more fun with you," Zinnia said.
"Okay, if you feel that way, then you're more than welcome to be with us for as long as you want to," Sora said.
"Pikachu," Pikachu said.
"Thank you, guys. I'm all for that," Zinnia said.
Joined by Zinnia and Aster, Sora, Kairi, Karen, Ventus, Terra, Aqua, Brendan, May, Michael, Max, Lisia, Pikachu, Angel, Xipak, Celeste, Blossom, Sparky, Thor, and Eclair are continuing on their journey, and they'll have to get to Izabe Island for the very next Pokémon Contest, so let's hope Kairi and May the best of luck for the upcoming Pokémon Contest, and hope that nothing and no one spoils it. Hopefully.