When July 17th rolled around, the incident involving the Ultra Beasts in the Max Lair passed by everyone and seemed like nothing but a bad dream. Peonia and Peony thanked the heroes for their help in dealing with them, and with the danger over, they went back to their normal business (which included Peonia doing her own thing i.e. returning to the Max Lair and Peony chasing after her for some father-daughter time together).
Now, that Naganadel and the Ultra Recon Squad are left with the captured Ultra Beasts safely in their grasp and after returning to Ultra Space, the heroes were left to spend the rest of their short "vacation" in the Crown Tundra.
While a majority of the heroes did their own thing to pass the time including learning more about the Crown Tundra and everything about it including the Pokemon living in it via a self-indulging tour, going through the Max Lair to understand the Dynamax Phenomenon further, and spending the entirety of their second day in the Crown Palace, Sarah was showing her blood family, Diana, Arcanine, Dot, Liko, Roy, Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly around the palace.
Currently, she was showing them her bedroom in it; its design specially balances opulence with comfort as she drew inspiration from Alolan architecture and fused it with the elegance of traditional Crown Tundra aesthetics.
There were rich hues of gold, ivory, and royal blue for its color palette, accented by subtle motifs of Alolan flora and fauna. In addition, a lavish four-poster bed stood out, having been adorned with intricately-carved wooden accents and draped in sumptuous silks in hues reminiscent of Alolan sunsets. Its mattress was plush yet supportive and flaking her bed on both sides were ornate bedside tables crafted from polished mahogany, each table having been adorned with delicate gold filigree.
To top it all off, a pair of gold lamps with Alolan sunstones as their bases which provide a soft and warm illumination that cast a gentle glow throughout.
"Wow, Sarah, your room is amazing!"
"I never realized how much of an amazing architect you were on home design until you brought us to the Crown Palace and showed us around," Roy and Liko remarked in awe.
"Thanks, I guess the layout in my family's old home rubbed off on me and what you see with the traditional layout coupled with contemporary conveniences and a splash of our tropical home is what you get. But, that's not all; we have a surprise to show you," the little princess replied.
"I have a feeling you'd say that, baby."
"It's always the element of surprise concerning you and something like a castle layout, pumpkin," chuckled Delilah and David knowingly.
"A surprise?"
"What surprise are we talking about?" Dot and Quaxly puzzled.
Sarah just smiled at them as she went to the middle of her bedroom and lifted the carpet placed on the center, pulling it back to reveal a trap door. She lifted and pulled on the ring-shaped latch, yanking it hard and popping it open while stirring up a cloud of dust from the interior that the group waved off and coughed from.
The small party soon made their way down the trap door and down a staircase leading to what looked like a basement/attic storage area. Walking down the staircase, they eventually came across a series of boxes, old vases, figurines, and more. By the looks of it, the storage area was filled to the brim with lost treasure and artifacts of the Alolan Royal Family.
"Oooooh," gasped Quaxly, Fuecoco, and Sprigatito as they eyed the boxes filled with a variety of items and treasures dotting the room.
"Interesting, you had all of this stuff inside this room when you made your renovations to Calyrex, Spectrier, and Glastrier's original home?" Diana quizzed Sarah, intrigued.
"Well, there was a large cluster of old spellbooks Tsukumaro in some of these boxes and crates from back home along with some other stuff my family had over the years so I moved a couple of them over here to clear out some space."
"Wow," Dot, Liko, and Roy breathed in awe as Tsukumaro cast Lumos to light their way across the room before Doug found a light switch and flipped it on.
Large fluorescent globes hung from the room's ceiling and shone lights of a vibrant yellow, warm gold, and a calm ocean blue, the additional contents of the room being a series of large chestnut brown cabinets that looked big enough to hold a considerable amount of books and papers.
"So, before you moved a fraction of your family's stuff here, did you find any more heirlooms belonging to your family before your blood grandparents became king and queen of Alola?" Dot asked Sarah.
Tsukumaro answered on his goddaughter's behalf as he took up one of his old spellbooks and smiled, "It wasn't to find out what their family collected before Doug, Delilah, and I were welcomed into the royal family and took up the throne. But, there were some pieces we found after helping the princess with our, what you youngsters call, 'spring cleaning'."
"We never got around to asking Mother and Father about the artifacts and treasures they got from our ancestors and the royal families before us," Doug admitted just as Race, Asha, Nikki, James, Johnathan, and Diane along with Robbie, Bella, Proud, Ziracon, Romeo, Juliet, Dragonite, and Lucario came over while wearing face masks, aprons, and gloves while having cleaning materials on them.
"And, believe us, there's a lot of cleaning that had to be done here and there with what Island Girl's doing with this place," Race commented.
"At least, we, Calyrex, and his sons got a refurbished castle safehouse that gives us more room to work with with all of the stuff my family has. We all pitched in to do the sweeping, dusting, and heavy-lifting before bringing what we moved out here," Sarah replied, shrugging.
"You're lucky we didn't break our backs while moving this stuff here and we had magic and the dragons and mythicals to make transporting it all safer and easier, Sis," Asha remarked.
It sure had been a wild day yesterday for our young heroes but I wonder what they're up to now?
While everybody looked around the storage area, some of them ended up finding unique antiquities such as an old painting of Doug and Delilah in their younger days that Liko. Diana, Arcanine, and Sprigatito uncovered, some more of Tsukumaro's old spellbooks during his days at Hogwarts as founded by Roy and Fuecoco (who was being very careful not to burn them by accident), and some reusable knicknacks and figures Dot and Quaxly stumbled upon.
While their respective families and Race looked over the many items that had been in the Alolan Royal Family for ages including Donna (former queen) Doug, Delilah, and David's days (which have them feeling nostalgic about the "good ol' days" and wondering how their and Sarah's lives could've gone had Lothor and Team Eclipse hadn't reared their ugly heads in the former's pursuit of vengeance), Sarah and Asha came across a particularly dusty box and wiped it to see the label having faded printing on it.
Seeing the printing on the label, Sarah read it as, "Klefki's Keys?"
"Hey, wait a minute. Sis, I don't recall you and your family having a box like that in your stock. What kind of Klefki could store keys amongst all of this stuff and why would you even have a Klefki, anyway?" Asha puzzled in confusion.
"Klefki?"
"I've never heard of that Pokémon before," Liko and Roy asked as they, Dot, and their partners perked up at the name while the young adventurer searched for the Steel/Fairy Dual Type in his Rotom Phone's Pokedex.
"Klefki, the Key Ring Pokémon. A Steel and Fairy Type; in the past, noble families entrusted their vault keys to a Klefki. They passed the Klefki down through the generations, taking good care of it."
"Don't know, I never even heard of a Klefki being in our family. This is the first time I've ever heard of such a thing," Sarah admitted as Asha opened the box so they could see what was inside it.
To their surprise as well as everyone else's (when they all gathered to see the contents inside the box the two sisters uncovered), they found that there was only one key in the box that had been miraculously maintained. However, the key they found was nothing like the real-life keys used in an building or household; the key was glittering in a golden yellow paint scheme in the light of the lanterns and its teeth were in the shape of a Victini.
"What is it?" Liko asked, staring at the strange key in awe as Sarah took it out and examined it.
"It's a key but not only is it the only one here, its teeth... Do they remind you of a Pokémon or two?" the little princess quizzed, showing everyone the key she's holding.
"Whoa, it's like a Victini," Roy blinked in surprise.
"I've never seen anything like it," Dot agreed.
"Pretty..." gushed Fuecoco with twinkling eyes.
"Remarkable," added Quaxly, impressed.
"Wow..." Sprigatito meowed in awe.
"You know anything about this key, Diana?" Sarah puzzled Liko's grandmother.
Diana could only scratch her head and reply, "Beats me; even if I did, in all my travels, I wouldn't make heads or tails out of it."
"YAAAAAAAY! MY KEY, MY KEY! MY KEY, MY KEY, MY KEY! YOU FOUND IT! YOU FOUND MY KEY!"
Suddenly, a male Klefki came into the storage room out of nowhere and appeared in front of the heroes before it looped the strange key around its ring, startling everyone as they saw the Key Ring Pokémon gushing over what looked to be its lost key (which Sarah was forced to let go when she jumped in bewilderment at the excited Pokémon).
As all of this was going on, Meowth, Wobbuffet, Inkay, Mareanie, and Mimikyu (who were with James and Jessie on a vacation break to the Galar Region after completing one of their recent shifts with Nanu) had snuck into the Crown Palace and followed the little princess and her group to the storage room, cheekily spying on them behind a large vase.
"Hey, check that out," Meowth peeped.
"Unreal."
"Intriguing..."
"Is that...?"
"…A Klefki?" commented Wobbuffet, Inkay, Mareanie, and Mimikyu, looking just as surprised and curious at seeing the excited Klefki from their hiding place.
This is Klefki, the Key Ring Pokémon
"Hold it! Pardon us, little fella, but would you mind telling us who you are?" Romeo asked, stopping the male Klefki in his tracks.
"What do you mean by 'your key', exactly?"
"Yeah, Sarah found it first!"
"What do you know about that key you're holding right now?" Sprigatito, Fuecoco, and Quaxly added, staring at the Key Ring Pokémon incredulously and thinking he stole the key from Sarah.
"Whoops! Uh, sorry, I didn't meant to scare you. Guess I got, uh...a little, carried away there, he-heh... Ahem, my name's Klever, the Royal Key Keeper Klefki of the Alolan Royal Family of old. How do you do?" the Klefki, Klever, replied, recomposing himself and bowing to the group.
Kelfki, or Klever, as he's known, just loves collecting keys
As Klever introduced himself, everyone could see that he had a wide variety of keys on his ring, each of them sparkling in the light of the lanterns but all having specific bits/teeth at the ends to differentiate them from one another.
"Mom!"
"Mommy!"
"Mother, what's going on down there?" Curly, Blitz, and Silvally called as the trio along with Rosie, Chili, and Crest came into the storage room and suddenly noticed Klever floating before Sarah and the others with her.
"Whoa!"
"Hey, what's with the floating ring and key bearer?"
"Yeah, who are you, anyway?" the princess' Paldea Starters remarked as they, Curly, Blitz, and Silvally joined their family and friends.
"Hi! My name's Klever and I'm the Alolan Royal Family's Royal Key Keeper Klefki," Klever introduced himself.
"Royal Key Keeper?" the trio echoed.
"Okay... So, what's with that key you have? I don't recall Island Girl and her family having that," Race added.
"And, why would you call yourself the 'Royal Key Keeper'?" Blitz added.
"Well, let me show you just as I did with my old friends years ago," Klever told them before he then said to Sarah (who was left clueless over what Klever said to the group), "You'll understand what I'm about to show you, Princess."
"What are you talking about?" Sarah inquired, still not following Klever's mindset as her blood family chuckled and he led everyone back to her bedroom.
Hearing her blood family chuckling and seeing how amused they were at her slight cluelessness and cat's curiosity as they left the storage room (with Meowth and his crew trailing them from behind), she couldn't help but narrow her eyes at them; something told her that her blood parents, her blood grandparents, and her godfather left her out on whatever it is they know about Klever and his key.
Upon returning to her bedroom, the Royal Key Keeper led everyone to the back of her bedroom where a keyhole was found floating there. The keyhole was strange-looking as it had two forks on top and a roundish bottom but if one were to take a closer look at the shape of the keyhole, they would discover that it is in the shape of a Victini as was the case with the teeth from Klever's key.
"See this hole here?" Klever chirped, pointing at the Victini-shaped keyhole.
"Yeah," Sarah and Race replied as everyone else nodded.
"But, I don't recall having that on there," the little princess remarked briefly.
"You'll know. Now, watch," the Royal Key Keeper reassured as he inserted what the heroes would now call the "Victini Key" into the keyhole and it glowed while something of a lock in it clicked open, creating a series of vibrant purple rings that fanned out in front of the heroes that got smaller and smaller as they went forward.
The heroes gasped while Diana remarked in fascination, "Amazing! I've heard of Klefki opening portals with those kinds of keys before but never have I witnessed it in my life!"
"Where does it go?" Roy asked, amazed.
"Who knows?" Liko replied.
"Oh, boy... I guess that means, yet another misadventure for all of us," Dot sighed, knowing what it meant.
"Klever, where does this lead to?" Sarah asked again, not knowing what the royal Key Ring Pokémon did.
"That's where the fun begins! Come on, what are you waiting for? See ya there! GERONIMO!" Klever grinned as he floated towards the portal and went inside it as Meowth and his team looked on, awestruck.
"But, we don't know where he's going!"
"I think it's a little too late for rational thinking on that," Dragonite and Lucario bantered.
"Anybody got any ideas on what we should do?" Asha questioned to no one in particular.
"I guess the only thing we could do right now is follow the little guy and see what he wanted to show us," Proud informed.
"He's right."
"Good idea," Bella and Robbie agreed.
"Just what I was thinking! If you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Come on, gang! GANGWAY!" Fuecoco cheered as he excitedly jumped into the portal.
"Fuecoco!" cried Roy as he chased after his partner through the portal.
"Wait up, Roy!" gasped Liko as she, Dot, Quaxly, and Sprigatito joined them through the portal.
"Hmm, looks like Liko and your young friends just now have a thirst for venturing into the unknown, too. Well, follow the leader," grinned Diana as she and Arcanine slipped into the portal soon after.
"Well, I guess if Fuecoco's got the right idea... Let's go!" Sarah decided as she and her family jumped through the portal to join Liko, Roy, Dot, their partners, Diana, Arcanine, and Klever at their intended destination.
"Yipe! Let's follow 'em!" Meowth cried as he, Wobbuffet, Mimikyu, Mareanie, and Inkay darted after them and went through the portal as well before it closed and returned to its original state as the Victini moments later with everyone jumping from the real world to who-knows-where.
When the heroes and Klever jumped out of the portal (with Meowth and his crew following after before they quickly hid themselves in some brush, noticing the portal they went through closing on them and returning to its original keyhole state), the former group discovered that they were in another world that's very different from their own. There were a dozen bushes scattered all over shaped like hearts and all around them were glowing keyholes of different shapes, all of them acting as doorways to places they could only dream about or imagine.
"Whoa..."
"What is this?"
"This is incredible!"
"Well, chuck me down Blizzard Beach..." Race, Asha, Nikki, and James gawked while everyone else gasped in awe at the world they're in.
When Klever uses one of his keys, he opens the doorway to another world. The world our heroes are in right now is his world!
"I can't believe it...!"
"Look at this place!"
"It's amazing..." Liko, Roy, and Dot breathed, astonished.
"Now, this is a beautiful sight! Our travels revealed some amazing stuff to us, Arcanine, but even I wasn't expecting us to be in another world unlike our own," Diana chimed in to her partner.
"I'll say, it's magnificent!" Arcanine agreed, sharing his human friend's awe and wonder.
"It's been a while..."
"It sure brings back memories," Doug and Delilah sighed as they, Tsukumaro, Donna (former queen), and David looked around Klever's world with sentimental smiles.
"Are you for real?" Sarah asked Klever, shocked by what she was seeing in front of her.
"Yep! Welcome to my world. Beautiful, ain't it?" grinned the Royal Key Bearer before he led everyone to another spot in his world. "Well, don't just stand there! Come on, there's something I want to show ya!"
The heroes quickly followed him until they came across a small series of mountains made entirely of keys of all sorts which left them all staring in shock.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Oh, my!" Blitz and Curly gasped in total shock.
Wow! Look at all of those keys, this must be Klever's key collection!
"What the-?!"
"Look at all those keys!" Roy and Race spluttered.
"Okay... I get that you love keys with how you flipped out over that Victini Key as we now know but this is just overkill," Asha gulped as she held her head with her right hand, seeing how many keys the Royal Key Bearer had collected and stored in his world.
"What are you doing with all those keys?! You're hoarding all of them!" Silvally barked, unable to contain his shock and wondering how Klever got them.
"Am I seeing things?" Liko breathed, taken aback by how many keys Klever has on him.
"It's like almost every key in our world is in this pile!" Sprigatito quipped as she, Quaxly, and Fuecoco looked at the mountain of keys.
"A mountain of keys!" put in Fuecoco.
"What are those keys for, exactly?" Asha pondered, trying to get over her shock.
Dot looked around and noticed the keyholes surrounding everyone before she deduced, "I think these keys here are for all of the other keyholes around us if their different shapes mean anything..."
"Ding-Ding-Ding! We have a winner!" confirmed Klever as he laughed.
"Great Arceus... So, you're saying that any one of those keys is a one-way ticket to another world, any world, you want to go in?!" Quaxly bellowed in amazement as his jaw dropped and his amazed smile widened.
"Fascinating! If you had a key on you that matches one of the keyholes around us, you insert it and off you go to another world!" Arcanine breathed, stunned.
"Awesome! Just find the key you're looking for, pop it in one of those holes there, and BOOM! You're in a whole new world!"
"That is crazy but at least it's helpful!"
"Especially when using such small human devices!" Crest, Rosie, and Chili remarked.
"Whoa, whoa!"
"Wow, for real?"
"It's a whole mountain made of keys!"
"And, how!" Meowth and Wobbuffet bantered in awe as they and their crew watched from afar.
Curly eyed the keys Klever collected until she caught the Victini Key when he accidentally dropped it in his excitement and she soon discovered another keyhole that matched the Victini Key's teeth. This prompted Sarah and Blitz to join her as she carefully inserted the key into the keyhole and clicked it open, causing a yellow portal to open underneath the trio and make them fall through it, yelping as they did while getting everyone's attention.
"Blitz!"
"Curly!"
"Ponchita!"
"MY BABY!" Liko, Roy, James, and Delilah screamed in panic.
With Sarah, Blitz, and Curly, the little princess and her Pikachu couple soon landed on something hard and solid before they looked around and stood over the edge of what they were now on. But, the something they landed and were now standing on was a large rock balancing atop a thin looking pillar while they looked to be over a thousand feet in the air.
"YAAAAAH! Where are we?!" Blitz freaked, not liking the height they were standing from as he stood next to his human mother.
"I don't know but I think we should find a way oooOOOOUUUUUTTTTT!" Sarah replied as she and Blitz tilted forward and they slid off the edge, screaming.
"BLITZY!" wailed a horrified Curly as she watched Sarah and her mate fall onto the clouds, fearing they could fall through them.
However, when they landed on the clouds, they were surprised (and stopped screaming with a flabbergasted yelp) to discover that they bounced off of them and they were surprisingly solid as they did so.
"Hey, Mom?"
"Notice something different about these clouds?" the pair asked each other as they bounced along the clouds and recomposed themselves.
They continued to bounce on the clouds and tried to take in the solid and springing sensation they had until they laughed while Curly breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at them, seeing how much fun her mate and human mother were having as they jumped from cloud to cloud and took great care to not fall off.
"Wow! Hey, Curly, look how high we can bounce!"
"WE'RE UNSTOPPABLE!" Blitz and Sarah laughed while they bounced along until they were greeted by a familiar Mythical Pokémon.
The Mythical Pokémon was a small rabbit-like Pokémon with large pointed ears forming the roman letter "V", large blue eyes, and a rounded head that looked comparatively large as opposed to its small body, having a cream coloration that contrasted with its orange ear tops, crest, and extremities. Its rounded legs and bulbous arms made a sort of "cuff" which ended with three-fingered yet small digit hands as well as two-toed feet. And, to top it all off, two-pointed teeth are seen from its upper jaw and it had two cream wing-like tails that allowed it to fly.
"Hi-hi-hi~!" the Pokémon greeted in an energetic and feminine yet lovingly child-like voice, revealing itself to be the Victory Pokémon from Unova: Victini (Voice Reference: Annie from Disney's Little Einsteins).
Look! Recognize that Pokémon? It's Victini, the Victory Pokémon; this place must be her home!
"Wow! Hi, there!"
"Hey, I know you! You're Victini, right?" Sarah and Blitz greeted, amazed as they continued to bounce on the clouds with Victini flying alongside them.
"*Yeah! I'm Victini and this is my home! Flying and bouncing here is better than falling, right? Come on, I'll get you back to your mouse on the platform.*"
The Victory Pokémon quickly grabbed Blitz and use Psychic to lift Sarah off her feet, bringing them back to Curly as she waited for them while continuing to hold the Victini Key in her paws on the rock platform.
"Thanks, Victini, that was great!" Blitz thanked.
"No problem! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be off now! Bye-bye-bye~! Peace out!" Victini giggled as she gave the trio a peace sign before she floated away, leaving Curly, Blitz, and Sarah to return to the others as the female Mouse Pokémon opened the Victini Keyhole and they all arrived safely back in Klever's world.
"Sarah, you're back!" Liko gasped, relieved.
"My baby!" Delilah cried as she hugged her daughter while Romeo and Juliet worriedly fawned over Blitz and Curly.
"Are you okay?"
"What happened? You, Blitz, and Curly just disappeared after you went through that portal you came out of," Dot and Roy inquired, sharing Liko's relief.
"Well, the Victini Key we found earlier opened a door behind a keyhole of the same shape of its teeth. And, when we left, we ended up meeting Victini in her world," the little princess replied, leaving everyone else in shock and astonishment.
"Victini? The Victory Pokémon from the Unova Region, the Victini?" gasped Diana, amazed.
"Yep, all thanks to this key here," Sarah confirmed as Curly handed her the key and she returned it to Klever before she turned to her amused blood family with a suspicious look on her face, "Mom, Dad, Granny, Gramps, Tsukumaro, did you all know anything about this stuff?"
Donna (former queen) chuckled as she told the pair, "Oh, sweetie, of course we knew about Klever and his ability to open portals to new worlds through his keys! Years ago, long before you were born and before your godfather created and enchanted the Great Book of Disney, we used to join Klever in a bit of world-jumping using his keys to travel to different worlds in our time."
"Really?!" the little princess balked in shock.
Tsukumaro laughed as he told his goddaughter, "Of course! I was taken aback when your family introduced me to Young Klever but his powers and abilities through the use of his keys astounded me. In fact, our Royal Key Bearer himself, his ability to travel to different worlds, and our previous endeavors with him were what inspired me to create the Great Book of Disney for Ms. Donna."
"Now, you know so it'll make these kinds of journeys all the more fun!" laughed Klever as he held out another key from his key ring, showing a Jirachi as its teeth. "Speaking of fun, let's all go visit the world of this fella next!"
Klever is telling everybody they should go to the world of this key
"Well, what are we waiting for? Traveling to different worlds by keys, let's go!"
"Let's jump, jump, jump!" Roy and Fuecoco cheered, eager to visit another world themselves while the group remained unaware of Meowth and his group's eavesdropping from their hiding place (since they heard everything).
"Now, that's what I'm talking about! If I understand my Klefki lingo correctly, I'd say there's a world of big treasure!" Meowth grinned, getting an idea of traveling to a world where riches are abound for him and his crew via Klever's keys.
Inkay and Mimikyu slyly nodded with smirks on their faces and even Wobbuffet and Mareanie were in on the scheme as they grinned, "Roger-o, Top Cat/Let's snag one!"
Taking the lead this time, Klever led them to a keyhole shaped like the Jirachi Key's teeth and inserted it before clicking the hole open, creating a Jirachi-shaped portal that enveloped the group before they were in a world that looks like a tundra-like winter wonderland, filled with ice, ice platforms, and structures akin to large suspension bridges and pillars. To top it all off, there was an Aurora Borealis above them all coating the clear skies in a colorful light and it was at a surprising temperature that allows the ice to remain as it is and not melt while being warm enough for everyone to not have winter gear on them for warmth.
"Whoa..."
"Neato!"
"This is cool!"
"Chillin', baby!"
"Where are we?"
"It's so beautiful...!" Liko, Roy, Dot, and their partners breathed in surprise.
"Amazing, it's like a winter wonderland around here!"
"And, it's not even cold, we didn't need to have our winter gear out."
"As strange as it sounds, yes," Diana, Johnathan, and Diane commented, impressed by the new world.
"Now, I see why you, Mom, Dad, Granny, and Gramps had a ball with Klever and why you created Granny's book," Sarah admitted to Tsukumaro who just laughed in reply.
Of course, being the more out-going and carefree member of the Rising Volt Tacklers, Fuecoco cheered and happily slid down the ice path in front of him while laughing, having fun as the other Pokémon joined him with Silvally, Proud, Romeo, Juliet, Dragonite, and Lucario tagging along to chaperone them.
"And, they're gone," Dot remarked.
"They look like they're having fun."
"Just as long as they don't get into trouble behind our backs," Asha and Race noted.
"Should we go after them?" Liko asked, getting a squeak from Hatenna.
"They seem to have the right idea here and I wanted what's best for my Pokémon and dragons so why not?" Sarah replied, shrugging in response.
Realizing she needed her comfort before they go out, wondering if it really is safe to follow the others, Liko smiled and gently pulled the Calm Pokémon from her hoodie, telling her, "Don't worry, Hatenna, it'll be alright. I'll be right here with you."
"Okay, Mama," Hatenna nodded as she nestled herself on her human mother's neck and hugged her.
"Exactly what I was thinking. Come on, everybody, bombs away!" Diana said as she hollered excitedly with Arcanine as they and everyone else slid down the ice path with Liko and Hatenna following after.
They and the Pokémon all laughed heartily together with Fuecoco, Sprigatito, Quaxly, Crest, Rosie, and Chili enjoying themselves the most on their way down before Roy's partner ended up bumping into another Pokémon. The Pokémon was actually a wild Amaura who lowered its head down curiously at the carefree Fire Croc Pokémon before it heard the others approaching, picking him up and moving to the side just before the others slid by and they went off a ramp at the end of the ice path.
"Oh! Hmm?"
With Sarah, her human family, Liko, Roy, and Dot, they all landed on the evolved form of Amaura and the wild Amaura's parent figure, Aurorus, which looked at them in surprise while Diana, Arcanine, and the others landing beside them and the Tundra Pokémon.
As for Sprigatito, Rosie, Chili, Quaxly, and Crest, they ended up landing on another Pokémon close by which was actually a wild male Tyrunt. When the Royal Heir Pokémon felt the five Paldea Starter Pokémon landing on him, he tossed them off and didn't look too happy by the sudden surprise intrusion.
"Hey! What's the big idea, you pint-sized rodents?! Do I look like a trampoline to you?" he snarled in annoyance just as a Litleo and a Noibat came over from his left and right.
Check it out! These three Pokemon are Tyrunt, Noibat, and Litleo! And, the other two are Amaura and its evolved form, Aurorus!
Back to Meowth and his crew; while looking through Klever's keys, the talking Scratch Cat Pokémon eventually came across a key that is in his mind, "gleaming gold", exciting him and making him think that it would lead him to a world of riches he and his friends could revel in, "Aha! Found it! Wowzers, this key I found is made out of gleaming gold! Hmm, I'll bet it leads to a world with tons of treasure!"
He grinned broadly as he found what looked to be the keyhole leading to the world he's looking for, the Scratch Cat Pokemon turning the key and clicking the keyhole open which caused a light-blue portal to open beneath him and his friends and transport them into the world they stumbled into (flailing and screaming in surprise as they did so before the portal vanished).
When they did end up in the world they entered, they discovered that they were underwater, the world they crossed over having floating water spheres that looked as though they were encasing small islands.
"Oh, gutter! What kind of place is this?!" Meowth yelped in stunned shock before he and his equally-stunned friends noticed the Mythical Pokemon, Manaphy, flying between one sphere to the next, being as gleeful and full of bliss as one can be. "Wow, hey, that's a Manaphy!"
Suddenly, before Meowth, Inkay, Wobbuffet, Mareanie, and Mimikyu could get even lost in their fascination, they were flung into the air via a huge plumage of water from the emergence of a submerged Wailord.
"WE'RE BLASTING OFF AGAIN!"
"BUT ON WATER!" Meowth and Wobbuffet screamed as Mareanie, Mimikyu, and Inkay yelped before they all twinkled in the distance.
Returning to the ice realm, Tyrunt was continuing to throw a hissy fit on Sprigatito, Quaxly, Chili, Crest, and Rosie, forcing Amaura and Aurorus to try and step in with Amaura trying to take the first step (while keeping Fuecoco close to him should he get caught in the crossfire).
"Tyrunt, what did Mommy say about you picking fights with everybody around you for petty things?" the pre-evolved female Tundra Pokémon warned.
The wild Royal Heir Pokémon, however, was too proud to back down from what he considered as an insult to his pride so he ignored his fellow Pokémon and came up to Sprigatito, Crest, Chili, Quaxly, and Rosie's faces and blue a gust of air through his nose at them. This, in turn, sent them flying towards a wall of ice behind them, causing a cluster of snow and ice to fall onto them.
Everybody gasped in shock by what Tyrunt did but Lucario, Dragonite, Proud, and Zircon winced as they realized what he had done by lashing out for the pettiest of reasons with Nikki's Aura Pokémon and Asha's male Altaria commenting, "...He's dead."
"Oh, now you've done it!"
This was a step too far for Fuecoco as he jumped off Amaura's head and managed to join his friends, looking them over as he asked, "Guys! You okay?"
"Ugh, do we look okay, Hot Head?"
"What a jerk," grumbled Crest and Chili as they along with an annoyed Quaxly, Rosie, and Sprigatito picked themselves up and they stood on the chunk of ice they were blown into.
Angered by this, Fuecoco joined them and faced Tyrunt as the former spat at the Royal Heir Pokémon, "So, you want to play rough, huh?"
"We're warning you, don't push us if you know what's good for you!"
"Let's get him!" Sprigatito and Quaxly snapped as the latter fired Water Gun at Tyrunt, causing him to crash into an ice wall behind him and get himself covered in slav snow and ice himself with one of the slabs conking him on the head.
Everyone else gasped again in shock with Dot and Liko gulping as they yelped, "Uh, Quaxly!"
"Sprigatito, don't make any trouble!"
"Are they seriously gonna go at it with Tiny Jaws whining over being a human trampoline for them?" Silvally remarked, unimpressed.
"You know what happens whenever someone or something insults one's Pokémon pride or makes them mad. That's what happened with them and Tyrunt," Robbie replied matter of factly.
Angered and humiliated to an even greater degree and not wanting to take this assault to his pride lying down, Tyrunt emerged from the snow and ice and charged at the group again. Realizing that they have to fight to get him to see reason, Fuecoco urged his friends to get on a slab of ice big enough to hold them and he used Flamethrower to propel them and himself towards their petty adversary to meet him in combat. It was clear a petty fight was going to break out and the seven Pokémon could cause trouble unless they're stopped.
Amaura and Klever didn't know what to do as they and everybody else (who could only scream at the Paldea Starters and Tyrunt to stop before they hurt one another or worse) was stuck in the middle of their feud but the female Aurorus was unamused by their fighting and she stepped forward, activating Reflect to immediately stop them in their tracks and send them back, making them crash into their respective ice walls and cause even more snow and ice to fall on them.
"Oh, honestly... What an impertinent thing to for you children to do! Fighting over a petty tippet such as personal pride? Really," she sighed.
Fuecoco emerged from the ice pile and he tried to rage at the evolved Ice Type.
However, while he was ranting and his fellow Paldea Starters got themselves out of the snow and ice pile, Amaura's mother simply ignored him and used Blizzard to freeze him into a block of ice, wanting the petty fighting between the ice realm's visitors and Tyrunt to end before they could stir up even more trouble for everyone else. The humans and the other Pokémon with them were baffled by how powerful and strictly diplomatic Aurorus was being on the situation but when Litleo and Noibat tried to egg the Paldea Starters on, thinking they and their 'leader' had them, the evolved Tundra Pokémon lowered her head and leered at them.
"ALRIGHT, THAT'S ENOUGH!" she barked angrily at them, causing the two to freeze and whimper at her which made them stop their teasing.
Tyrunt, having been bonked on the head by another snab of fallen ice, tried to go after his bully victims again but a sharp glare from Aurorus and a loud, "You too, young man!", stopped him in his tracks and made him flinch which was more than enough for Litleo and Noibat to hide behind them so they don't end up facing her motherly wrath again.
"Scary!" Chili, Crest, Rosie, Sprigatito, and Quaxly flinched in fright while the female Fuecoco helped Roy's partner out of his ice block.
Amaura smiled sheepishly as she told them, "Well, she is my mommy, after all."
As you can see, Aurorus is not only Amaura's mother but she is also this realm's peacekeeper so she particularly doesn't like unnecessary fighting between Pokémon
"That ranting and raving is enough to make your cubes boil. And, it's highly irregular given that we have a Hatenna amongst us who's unaccustomed to your fighting," Aurorus scolded as gently but firmly as she could.
"We're so sorry, Aurorus!"
"We didn't mean for this to happen! Please forgive us," Roy and Liko begged as they and Dot went over and bowed to her in apology.
"I assure you, Aurorus, we truly mean no harm," Sarah agreed as she joined the trio.
"I know you don't and I'm honored to have such unique characters such as you given what Young Klever told me when he heard all the commotion going on in your world. It's unfortunate that your Pokémon, as young as they are, don't exactly know when to walk away from a fight rather than add more fuel to the fires that kindled it. And, I do apologize for Young Tyrunt's behavior; he can be a little too proud for his own good. Just make sure this nonsense doesn't happen again even if he pulls the first punch," smiled the evolved Tundra Pokémon kindly.
"We promise," Dot, Liko, and Roy agreed before they glared at their partners who wilted under their disappointed gaze.
Sarah nodded before she turned to her equally-guilty Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Quaxly (who shivered fearfully under her motherly glare), "You too, Chili, Rosie, Crest. I don't appreciate you jumping into a fight and striking back over trivial matters such as personal pride even if Tyrunt struck first when he blew you all into that ice wall."
"We're sorry," her Paldea Starters whimpered apologetically.
"Good. Now that we're all on equal terms again, will there be any more petty fighting over pride or personal offenses?" Aurorus questioned.
"No, M'am!" Tyrunt, Litleo, Noibat, and the Paldea Starters replied frantically as they shook their heads and stood at attention, not wanting to get on her bad side again.
Klever and Amaura giggled at how the nine Pokémon were being told off by the latter's mother while Liko smiled in admiration as she thought, "Wow, Aurorus... She's so strong with her diplomacy and what she's saying to our Pokémon along with Tyrunt, Litleo, and Noibat, and quite beautiful, too...!"
At that moment, everyone noticed a bright light coming from the top of the largest and tallest ice pillar in the realm, morphing itself into the Wish Pokémon from Hoenn, Jirachi.
Look! It's Jirachi, the Mythical Wish Pokémon!
"What is that?" Dot gasped, awestruck.
"It's beautiful!"
"I've never seen a Pokémon like that before!" breathed an amazed Liko and Roy as Jirachi flew towards everybody gathered.
"It can't be... It's the Mythical Wish Pokémon, Jirachi!" Tsukumaro said, astonished.
"Hello, hello, hello! Nice to meet you, my name is indeed Jirachi," Jirachi grinned in a female voice, greeting everybody who smiled and greeted her back in turn.
With Meowth, Wobbuffet, Mareanie, Inkay, and Mimikyu, they entered another portal after finding a new key belonging to Klever called a Darkrai Key but the world they saw was nothing like Manaphy's world. There were jagged and holey asteroids that floated around a red and black void they peeked through from the portal and there was no treasure in sight. Suddenly, they were given a suspicious welcome by its sole inhabitant, the Nightmare Pokémon of Sinnoh and Cresselia's counterpart: Darkrai.
"Who are you mortals?" Darkrai asked grumpily, eyeing Meowth and his crew.
"WAH! Sorry, didn't mean to bother ya! Time to go!" Meowth yelped as he and his frightened friends darted back to Klever's home. "Hey, was that Darkrai just now?"
"In the flesh," confirmed Wobbuffet, shakily.
"Creepy!"
"He scared the heebie-jeebies out of me!" Mareanie and Inkay remarked, trying to recompose themselves before they noticed the Darkrai Keyhole in front of them starting to glow and blink before vanishing into thin air.
"Hey, where'd it go?" Mimikyu blinked in surprise.
"It vanished?" Meowth puzzled.
Meanwhile, back with the heroes, they and their Pokémon were happily playing with their new friends in the ice realm with Aurorus and some of the others happily supervising them from the sidelines. Jirachi led Litleo, Curly, Rosie, Crest, and Sprigatito down one of the ice paths that acted as a makeshift slide, Tyrunt was playing a game of Tennis using an ice ball with Blitz and Curly, and Amaura played on a snow seesaw with Noibat, Quaxly, Chili, and Crest.
Klever, on the other hand, was happily taking Fuecoco for a ride as he floated around the realm with his passenger laughing heartily with him. But, as the two of them were having their own fun together, they flew past the Jirachi Keyhole until they noticed it starting to glow and blink just as Meowth and his team saw the Darkrai Keyhole blink before it vanished.
"Hey, what's it doing?" Fuecoco puzzled Klever curiously while the Royal Key Bearer examined the keyhole before...
"…AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! OH, NO! I FORGOT, OH DEAR! OH, ME! OH MY! IT CAN'T BE! YOU CAN'T STAY, ALL OF YOU! I HAVE TO GET YOU ALL HOME BEFORE YOU'RE TRAPPED FOREVER!" Klever panicked as he flailed about in horrified realization before he and Fuecoco returned to the others down below.
"Well, now, this is quite a sight... I have to admit, you and your family surprise me, Sarah," Diana grinned as she turned to the little princess. "We've only known each other for a few days now and you surprise me non-stop with how your adventures played out, don't you?"
"Well, I don't know anything about that..." Sarah admitted with a sheepish smile.
"PRINCESS, EVERYBODY! LEG IT! MOVE IT, LET'S GO! COME ON, HURRY! HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!" Klever cried frantically as he and Fuecoco (who started to realize why the royal Key Ring Pokémon was in a panic about the Jirachi Keyhole blinking) got back and attracted everyone's attention.
"Fuecoco!" blinked Roy as he took back his partner and they looked at Klever.
"Is everyone here?!" Klever continued in a panic.
"What is it, Klever?" Liko asked, wondering why he looked so distressed until he gestured everyone to the blinking Jirachi Keyhole.
Oh, dear! The keyholes in Klever's world will only appear for a little while and Klever's telling our heroes that if they don't leave and get back home, it'll vanish!
"You mean if we stay for too long, we'll be stuck here?!"
"Are you saying we'll be stranded here?!" Sarah and Crest gasped.
Klever nodded and everyone gasped in horror as they realized the heroes are on a time crunch and they needed to return home before their gateway home closes on them. Knowing that there was not a moment to lose, Klever went back to the Jirachi Keyhole and opened it, recreating the portal that brought him and the heroes to the ice realm.
"Come on! Move it, move it, move it! Let's go! Everybody with me, out! Go, go, go!" Klever called.
"If the portal back home closes along with the others...!"
"We'll never go home!" Liko and Roy realized.
"Then, let's not waste anymore time!"
"Lady Diana's right, we've got to return home with Klever immediately! Let's go!" Diana and Doug agreed, knowing what they and the others have to do.
Everyone agreed as they scrambled for the keyhole with Aurorus, Amaura, Litleo, Noibat, and Tyrunt coming along to give them a helping hand. However, just as Tyrunt was reaching the peak of the bridge under the keyhole, as he took another step forward and despite his small size, his weight ended up cracking the bridge and caused a chain reaction which resulted in the bridge breaking.
"BAIL!" he shrieked in horror, forcing everybody on the bridge to run and jump off while Jirachi, Noibat, and Klever flew a safe distance and Aurorus gasped in terror at the heroes' worsening predicament.
"Oh, no!"
"The bridge!" Jirachi and Noibat cried, growing pale as they, Klever, and everyone else saw the ice bridge in shambles and leaving them with no hope of getting back to the keyhole.
"The bridge to the keyhole!"
"It's gone!" Sprigatito and Fuecoco wailed.
"Oh, we were so close!"
"Now, what are we going to do? The keyhole's too high for any of us to reach even with Dragonite and Zircon!" Liko and Roy sighed worriedly.
"I have an idea. Everybody, stand back!" Sarah called as she stepped forward and tapped the icy and snowy ground, using her Ice Manipulation to repair the bridge as best she could given their time frame.
The wild Pokémon and everyone not in the know about Sarah's Elemental Manipulation gasped in astonishment at what she did with Liko, her grandmother, Roy, and Dot breathing out, "Unbelievable!"
"Incredible!"
"Whoa! Did you guys see that?! She recreated the bridge using ice just like an Ice Pokémon!"
"How, how did she do it?"
"Come on, let's hurry!" Sarah shouted, prompting the heroes nad Klever to make a break for the keyhole with Sarah being the last to follow but not without extending their thanks to the wild Pokémon for their short time together, "Sorry to run, guys, but thanks! Take care of yourselves!"
Litleo, Noibat, Tyrunt, Jirachi, and Amaura happily said their goodbyes with Aurorus giving her a warm smile as the little princess quickly went through the portal and reunited with the others in Klever's home just in time before the ice realm's keyhole shimmered, blinked, shrunk, and vanished.
"Hey, look, all the other keyholes are are starting to disappear, too!" Roy cried in alarm, pointing at the keyholes around them as they shimmered and blinked as well.
"This is bad; we'll be trapped forever until the keyhole home reappears and we won't know when that'll be!" Dot grunted worriedly.
"We got to find the keyhole back home and fast!" Quaxly noted in agreement.
"Where were all you lugs, anyway?!" Meowth barked as he and his crew met up with the heroes.
"AH!"
"A Meowth!"
"And, it talked?!"
"WHA-?!" Liko, Roy, Dot, and their partners gawked at the head honcho of Team Rocket's Pokémon.
"My goodness! This is a surprise!" added a flabbergasted Diana.
Sarah and her family were most surprised to see the Scratch Cat Pokémon, Inkay, Mareanie, Mimikyu, and the straightman Patient Pokémon as Sarah commented, "Meowth, Wobbuffet, Inkay, Mareanie, Mimikyu, what are you all doing here?"
"Never mind that! Check it out, you might not know this but I think these keyholes here are starting to disappear!" Meowth replied, pointing at the vanishing keyholes.
"That's not the worst part; once a keyhole to one of the worlds disappears, it's gone. And, if you don't find the keyhole leading you back home, you'll be stuck in my world until it appears again," Klever stated gravely much to Meowth's horror.
"WHAT?! You're saying if the keyhole leading us back home disappears, we'll be stuck here forever?!"
"Not to worry, I know of one key that'll get you all home! This one that fits my likeness, it'll lead you back to the Crown Palace in your world!" the Royal Key Ring Pokémon reassured as he produced a key that has teeth matching him and the keyhole leading them home.
"You're saying we can use that key of yours to get back home?" Meowth answered, translating for everyone else besides Sarah, Race, and the other Pokémon that can't understand what Klever was saying about the key he was given, getting an affirming nod from Klever. "Well then, let's go!"
Sharing Meowth's sentiments, everybody scrambled towards the keyhole Klever was talking about and found what they're looking for until he accidentally tripped and the key went flying out of his right paw.
"Ah, oh no!"
"The key!"
"Somebody get it, quick!" Doug, Delilah, and Tsukumaro cried in alarm as Sprigatito, Quaxly, Fuecoco, Crest, Chili, and Rosie tried to catch it only for it to bounce off their heads, mouths, and flippers despite their best efforts.
Even Inkay, Wobbuffet, Mimikyu, and Mareanie tried and failed to grab it as it bounced off of them and, to the heroes and Klever's horror, made its way to the latter's key collection.
"GAAAAAAHHHHH! No, please! Anywhere but there! Now, we'll never know which key there will get us back!" Meowth exclaimed in panicked shock while everyone else gasped or screamed, fearing the worst as they imagined it getting lost and displayed amongst the other keys.
"Not if I can help it!" Sarah retorted as she raced after it and jumped, managing to grab it just in time before she ended up crashing into Klever's key collection.
"Royal Twerpette!"
"Island Girl, no!" Meowth and Race gawked in shocked horror as they and everyone else raced to the key pile just as Sarah came out moments later, the now-called Klefki Key safely in her grasp.
"Got it," she sighed with a relieved smile, making everybody cheer for her.
Well done, Sarah! But, you did cut it a bit close there!
Wasting no time, Sarah rejoined her group and they all reached the Klefki Keyhole, the little princess opening it and activating the ring portal home which prompted everyone to enter it and arrive safely back in Sarah's Crown Palace bedroom. As they returned, they all turned and saw the portal leading to Klever's home return to its normal keyhole shape and disappear until the next time it comes around.
"Whoa, that was wild!" Roy remarked as he and Fuecoco laughed.
"Too wild for me," Dot sighed as Quaxly sniggered.
"But, you have to admit, it was kind of fun!" grinned Liko while Sprigatito nodded in agreement.
"Liko's right; it really was quite the experience and that kind of adventure took me back to my younger days," Diana chuckled, feeling a sense of nostalgia from the entire experience.
"Hey, guys, look over there!" Asha called, pointing out one of Sarah's bedroom windows to see the sun beginning to set.
"Hey, it's already dusk! The sun's beginning to set!" Roy noticed in surprise.
"Damn... You mean to tell me we spent the entire day ove at Key Boy's home as well as the ice realm along with Island Girl and Blitz's unorthodox visit to Victini's world?" Race noted, baffled.
"Well, time flies when you're having fun and you finally make it back home," Meowth shrugged.
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why you're all here, Meowth. Aren't you supposed to be back in Alola with Nanu?" Diana pondered to the former evil Scratch Cat Pokémon.
"Nanu was impressed with our work and he gave us, Jessie, and James time off with a little break here. Whenever he's not swabbing his way off-duty, he's good to work with, really."
"Well, as long as you're all happy with what you got now, that's fine by me. But, you better hurry back; they'll be pretty worried about you guys," Sarah smiled.
"Yeah, it's been a blast. So long, toots," Meowth smiled back as he and his friends left to return to Jessie and James while everyone said their goodbyes to them.
Soon after they left, Friede popped in with the others as the unconventional professor grinned, "There you all are! Hope your little treasure hunting in the cellar didn't keep you up too long!"
"Not at all, Friede. It's been quite eventful," Delilah chuckled in response.
"Well, you better hop over to the dining room 'cause it's time for dinner! I made all your favorites so I hope you're all hungry!" Murdock beamed knowingly.
"ALRIGHT/DINNER PARTY!" Roy and Fuecoco cheered along with Liko and Sprigatito as they and everyone else (with Dot and Quaxly calmly following along) quickly made their way to the dining room for dinner.
"You feel like popping by in my world again, Princess?" Klever grinned at Sarah as they left her room.
"Maybe some other time, it was fun to see what my family had been up to while you were around," she replied, getting a knowing giggle out of her family's Royal Key Bearer and knowing he won't be leaving his old friends and his new charge anytime soon.
And, so another day ends with excitement and fun for our heroes. But, what's on the docket for them later on? Stay tuned...
In Between Chapter - Great Book of Disney: Oliver and Company
(FIN)