Chapter 21
Mark, Insey, and Minami arrived in the Rota Kingdom, one of the few places outside of Sevestar that didn't treat Ash like a wanted criminal. As they approached Queen Ilene's throne, she greeted them.
"Why, hello, you three. I'm surprised to see you here, considering the tournament going on in Sevestar. Welcome back," Ilene said with a smile. "What can I help you with?"
"Hello again, Ilene," Mark replied. "I know this might seem a bit random, but we're currently searching for the 18 Infinity Gems to cure our brother Ash's Eevee of Violet Depression."
Ilene looked shocked upon hearing this, but she nodded.
"Alright, follow me," Ilene sighed as she rose from her throne. She opened a secret passage behind it. "This is the second time in the past century that an Infinity Gem has been used to cure Violet Depression."
"We know about the first time," Minami explained. "The victims from that incident gave us the locations of the gems. Have you dealt with the demon too?" Ilene nodded slightly as they walked past a chamber. Inside was a figure made of an ash-like substance, glaring at them from within.
"Damn," Minami muttered, "so that's an example of what we might have to face later on..."
"It's very rare for a place holding an Infinity Gem to contain the demon fully," Ilene explained. "And to kill it? Only a mastered Aura of its matching type with immense power can do that. An Infinity Gem might be strong enough to defeat it, but we haven't yet figured out how..."
"So we really have to get the Infinity Gem first..." Mark muttered. "That makes things a lot more stressful."
Ilene then stopped outside another chamber, leaving the siblings confused.
"This is as far as most people get," she said with a sigh. "The traps beyond here are insanely brutal. Even I don't dare to go any farther, but it's the only way to reach the gem."
"We'll handle it from here," Insey declared, shaking Ilene's hand. "You've helped us enough already. Thank you, your majesty."
Ilene nodded and left, while the siblings turned to face the chamber entrance.
"Let's be careful," Minami cautioned. "We still don't know what we're up against."
Mark and Insey nodded in agreement as they entered the chamber. Soon after, Insey stepped on a pressure plate, activating a series of traps: wrecking balls, turrets that fired Aura Spheres, and more...
(Well, this part is made by my friend Goomba, he made most of the traps for this. He told me to imagine the show Wipeout, but the water below the obstacle course is replaced with spikes, and the obstacles are combat and aura related.)
"Well, falling is definitely going to be unpleasant..." Mark groaned, pointing toward the end of the course. "There's the Infinity Gem. We just grab it, and we'll be out in a second."
The three siblings rushed through the obstacles with parkour-like movements, unaware of the growling sound and stomping slowly approaching behind them.
Mark nearly fell into the spikes, but with quick thinking, he used Earth Power while Lucario launched an Aura Sphere, decimating a few spikes to create a platform he could jump onto. Insey came up with the clever idea to have her Spidops use Silk Trap to cover the Aura turrets, clearing the pathway. Meanwhile, Minami's Sylveon held back some of the wrecking ball traps with Fairy Wind, allowing Minami's Judgment attack to destroy the swinging objects frozen in place.
"Man, that was easy," Mark chuckled. "I get that most people would be screwed by this, but we dealt with that trap in, what? 15 seconds? Now, let's grab the Infinity Gem and lea—"
Suddenly, a demonic screech echoed from the start of the obstacle course. The siblings turned to see the demonic entity from earlier, now fully visible. It looked like a demonic dog with a massive jaw, slowly approaching.
"Is it just me, or does this thing look like the Master Beast boss fight from Super Smash Bros.?" Insey sighed. "Oh well, looks like destroying the traps got its attention. We need to neutralize this threat!"
Insey sent out Scizor and Genesect, Minami sent out Sylveon and Zacian, and Mark called forth Lucario and Gyarados. Mark also spotted a random sword on the ground, picked it up, and began slashing at the beast while Minami and Insey distracted it with their partners.
Zacian used Behemoth Blade alongside Gyarados' Waterfall and Genesect's Techno Blast, but the attacks barely seemed to affect the creature.
"Tch, we're barely doing anything to this monster!" Minami shouted. "Is there a weak spot or something?"
"Maybe we could try using the Infinity Gem, like Queen Ilene mentioned?" Mark's Lucario suggested. "She said it might have enough power to destroy it."
"Genius!" Insey gasped, rushing toward the gem. But she quickly realized there was a barrier surrounding it. "You've got to be kidding me! First, a death-defying parkour obstacle course, and now there's a barrier? Why?!"
"In the context of protecting the gem from intruders, I guess more defense isn't a bad thing..." Minami groaned before noticing Mark being knocked to the ground. "Just figure out a way to destroy the barrier! I'll help Mark!"
Minami dashed toward Mark, landing an Extreme Speed kick right into the beast's eye before flipping back three times and landing on her feet. Mark quickly got back up and into a fighting stance, ready to stand alongside Minami and their Pokémon partners.
Meanwhile, at the base of Mt. Chimney...
A cloaked man and his Alolan Raichu, also wearing a similar cloak, were walking away from a cave at Mt. Chimney, holding red and hot pink gems.
"Nice plan, Rai," the cloaked man chuckled to the Alolan Raichu. "Why fight those demons directly when we can trick them into destroying themselves?"
"Aww, you're making me blush, bro!" Rai, the Raichu, giggled, his cheeks slightly pink with embarrassment. "Anyway, since we know the Ketchum family will send people after the Fire and Psychic Infinity Gems next, we should probably leave these two gems somewhere near the entrance."
"How about on that table?" the cloaked man suggested, pointing to a conveniently placed stone table. Both he and Rai snickered. "Looks like we went from fighting an evil version of Ash, who apparently had plot armor, to now having said plot armor ourselves. How the... tables have turned. Ha ha ha!"
"No. Never use that pun again." A voice interrupted them. They looked over to see a Marshadow, unimpressed. "That pun actually made me cringe for a second..."
"Whatever, we've got more important things to do, Shadow," Rai sighed, rolling his eyes. "Next stop, Iron Island in the Sinnoh Region. We're after the Steel Infinity Gem. Very fitting—"
"Hey! Who are you guys?" The trio was startled as Ash, Pikachu, Alice, and Serena appeared, with Ash speaking up. "State your business here!"
"Well, that takes care of the risk of the gems being stolen while we leave them here," the cloaked man muttered, turning to face Ash and the others. "Relax, we're here to help you with that Lillie-Vee situation. But let me make one thing clear: be careful with some of the Infinity Gems. Mishandling them can have disastrous consequences. A version of you learned that the hard way, Red. Or should I say... Ash Ketchum..."
The man and his Pokémon threw down a smoke bomb, vanishing in a cloud of smoke. Ash, Pikachu, Alice, and Serena stood there, stunned by what had just happened.
"...Did he recognize you because I was sitting on your shoulder?" Pikachu groaned, facepalming. "He also mentioned Lillie..."
Back at Rota Castle...
"This thing is so annoying to fight... Argh!" Minami shouted. "If it weren't for the fact that we have to be careful not to damage the castle, I'd have disintegrated this monster with Judgment!"
"I would've done that immediately if it weren't for that," Mark sighed. "Insey, how are you doing over there?!"
"Almost... through... the barrier..." Insey gasped, exhausted, as she used Extreme Speed to punch the barrier protecting the Infinity Gem. The punch finally shattered the barrier, allowing Insey to grab the gem. "Alright, everyone, stand back—this is going to be dangerous."
Mark, Minami, and their Pokémon quickly rushed away from the demon, which charged at Insey. She clenched the gem in her fist, and it began glowing before being absorbed into her body. She charged forward with a Focus Punch, striking the demon directly in the chest. The beast fell onto the spikes below, letting out a scream before dissolving into thin air. Afterward, Insey collapsed to her knees as the gem exited her hand, and her siblings rushed to her aid.
"Whoa, Insey, are you okay?!" Mark exclaimed, helping her to her feet. "What was that?"
"I don't know... It felt like the Infinity Gem entered my body and gave me a massive boost in strength, kind of like the Chaos Emeralds from Sonic the Sandslash." Insey explained as Minami picked up the gem and placed it into a bag. "Let's get back. We should probably be more careful handling these gems from now on..."
Later...
Delia, along with Ash, his siblings, and Pikachu, gathered at Sevestar Castle, looking over the Normal, Fighting, Psychic, and Fire Infinity Gems.
"Hey, Ash," Golly spoke up, "I never asked, but how did you manage to handle the two demons at Mt. Chimney?"
"Well, to be honest, we never encountered them," Ash explained. "This guy in a cloak with an Alolan Raichu and a Marshadow got the Fire and Psychic Infinity Gems for us. I know they didn't leave the gems out of fear because they mentioned Lillie..."
"Wait... A guy with an Alolan Raichu?" Golly gasped. "I think I know who that is!"
"Really? Why's that, Golly?" Pikachu asked, as the siblings leaned in with interest.
"Remember when I went to that other world with the fusion girl named Ashlie?" Golly asked, and the siblings nodded. "Well, she mentioned that one of her friends is very familiar with dimensional traveling. He said it's important to understand the backstory of another world from someone who lives in that world. It's possible he's from that world and knows Ashlie!"
"That actually makes sense, considering all the recent dimensional shenanigans we've been dealing with," Mark exclaimed. "So that's most likely who it is. I wonder what her friend is doing in our world?"
"It's strange, but I'm sure this guy has a reason for being here," Insey added, shrugging. "We'll figure it out eventually."
"Oh, I'm curious now. Did you happen to get his name, Golly?" Minami asked, eager for more information. Golly nodded.
"Ashlie did tell me his name, but it's... strange." Golly sighed. "His name is Goomba Aurelia Daybreak."
Somewhere in Paldea...
"Achoo!" The cloaked man from earlier, now approaching Levincia, sneezed. "I feel like someone's talking about me..."
"I've got the same feeling, Goomba," Rai, the Alolan Raichu, sighed. "Let's just focus on getting to our next gem target."
(UltimateGoomba: Hi! The Pokémon OC version of me is now relevant to the plot! Also, I'm going to start keeping track of how many Infinity Gems are left, so...)
Infinity Gems Collected: Normal, Fighting, Fire, Psychic. (4/18)
Infinity Gems Remaining: Flying, Bug, Dark, Ghost, Dragon, Ice, Electric, Water, Grass, Poison, Fairy, Rock, Steel, Ground. (14/18)
