//------------------------------// // The City in the Sky // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The Board Game World. High up in the skies. 11:00 The quest to stop the Bisharp Pirates and rescue Dusknoir had begun. And it would take place in the sky of Sky Borealis. The ship was moving at amazing speeds as everyone was holding on for dear life while the ship travels the azure skies. "T-Too fast!" Twilight yelped as she was holding onto Ash. Thankfully, since Ash was now a Lucario, his Steel-Body gave him the power to stand firmly on the ship's floor without being blown back. "I think I'm gonna be sick..." Scootaloo groaned. Thankfully, the ship was made to withstand intense pressures such as this. So even at ludicrous speeds, it will not break apart, no matter what. The Noir Pride had a second burst of speed as it had accelerated all of a sudden. The clouds below and behind the ship had been separated from the speed boost as a sonic boom trailed behind. The crew all noticed that up ahead, a large array of clouds was in the way, right in front of them. They closed their eyes as the ship broke through the clouds. The ship was finally slowing down for one reason. The crew had reached their destination in a short amount of time. It took approximately 20 seconds to arrive here. And once they did, they witnessed what Rainbow Dash saw earlier. The vast and wonderful Sky Borealis in all of its gigantic and aerial glory. The ship was now floating on the clouds themselves as it stayed airborne while its shadowy wings were flapping. But that wasn't important right now. With a gentle pace, the ship was moving forward in the air, approaching the sky island. What was really important was the view of the Sky Borealis. "Oooh...Pretty..." Sweetie Belle gawked. "You weren't kidding, Rainbow Dash. An entire city in the sky!" Ash exclaimed. "Uh-huh!" Pikachu nodded. "It looks a lot like Castelia City. Just as big too." Twilight noticed. "Does anypony spot the Dark Steel Ship?" "Nope! Too busy checking this place out!" Pinkie Pie hovered up, gazing at the city. "The ship looked as big as this one. It can't be that hard to miss." Rarity said. "Unless...this entire city is so massive that the ship is masked in it all." "Look big enough to hide it." Rainbow Dash nodded. "Say, Fluttershy. You hear anything in that city?" "I do!" Fluttershy jumped up. "I can hear so many voices talking! It's an entire civilization over there! I can't wait to get there! I wonder if the Pokemon there have their own jobs!" "We're just here to save Dusknoir and stop the pirates. So let's not get-" Before Twilight could finish her sentence, the entire ship suddenly came to a halt as it smashed into something, making the Noir Pride tremble. But not only did it tremble, but it also bounced back as if it had hit something soft. "Woah!" "W-What did we hit?!" Apple Bloom stuttered. "We're not even at the city yet. Did we hit a solid cloud or something?" Rainbow Dash looked around. The ship didn't hit anything that was in the city since they weren't there yet. But they did hit something solid that was in the way. But it certainly wasn't a solid cloud, although that would be impressive. Instead, they soon came to find out that the Noir Pride had hit a magical forcefield instead. A forcefield that was so wide that it protects and covers the entirety of the Sky Borealis. "A forcefield?" Twilight walked forward, looking at the bubble-like forcefield. "It looks soft." Pinkie flew over to the forcefield as she used her tail to make contact with it. Once her tail touched the forcefield, it was immediately bounced back and covered with magic dust. "Oooh! It's super bouncy!" "Guess they're blocking us out of here," Pikachu said. "Let's breakthrough it!" He lit his tail up for an Iron Tail. "Slow down there buddy." Ash restrained Pikachu. "They're probably put this up cause they don't want any intruders. If we break-in, they're gonna be real suspicious of us." "But if the pirates went through here, aren't they already dealing with intruders?" Scootaloo placed her hoof on the bubble. "I say we just pop it." Rainbow Dash was ready to use a Steel Wing. "The pirates are a bigger threat anyway." "Hmm..." Twilight looked at her Espeon paws as she decided to test something out. By gently raising her paw, she came into contact with the forcefield without using a ton of force. Once she gently made contact with the forcefield, she quickly found out that her paw had gone through it as a satisfying pop sound was made. "Oh!" Twilight shot up. "We can actually go through it!" "Really?" Rarity went up as she did the same. Her Pheromosa arms went straight through the bubble without them bouncing back. Because every Pheromosa's real strength lies in their legs, the arms could easily move through without being pushed back by the forcefield. "Well, would you look at that?" "So all we have to do is just be gentle and we can go through? Pssh. That's easy enough. Let me steer." Rainbow Dash went over to the helm. "Rainbow Dash. You ain't got any hooves anymore remember. You're a Braviary now." Applejack reminded her. "Oh...Right." "I got this one." Applejack decided to steer. "Sceptile's hands are pretty easy to get used too. Ain't that hard." "You sure you can do it gently, sis?" Apple Bloom asked. "Sure can. Watch me." She gripped onto the helm as she was ready to drive the ship through this forcefield at a slow and steady pace without being bounced back. She began moving the ship forward but without putting too much force into it. Applejack had to be as soft and gentle as possible if she and her friends were going to make it through this forcefield and into the Sky Borealis. The ship was piercing through the forcefield as the sound being made was identical to rubber being stretched. The weight of the Noir Pride Ship certainly didn't make this easy at all since it was large as the Dark Steel Ship. The forcefield itself was being pushed in by the moving ship. If Applejack were to put too much force into it with how deep she was in the forcefield now, the rebound would be absolutely insane and it would most likely send them all flying great distances. That's exactly what Twilight was fearing as she was shaking uncontrollably, holding to Ash's leg. But there was no need to worry since they all had faith in Applejack. And Applejack had faith in herself, so she was 100% fixated and focused on getting through this forcefield. And with complete focus with zero distractions, Applejack managed to drive the Noir Pride straight through the forcefield without sending the ship back as they had all officially entered Sky Borealis. "There!" Applejack exclaimed. "Done and done! Told ya I could do it!" "That's my big sis!" Apple Bloom with her Emolga body jumped up and hugged her big sister. However, because she was now an Emolga, she couldn't control her electricity so she ended up shocking Applejack. Thankfully, since Applejack was a Grass-Type, that wasn't an issue. With the ship finally through and in the Sky Borealis, they really get a good look at how majestic this entire area was. This entire aerial domain could now be explored as Applejack stopped the ship right near a platform where her friends could stand on. "Finally, we're here!" Ash grinned. "I wonder what new stuff we're gonna see here?!" "I can't wait!" Pikachu got all giddy. Both Pikachu and Ash hopped off the ship as they were the first to land on the platform. Their thirst for adventure kept on being fueled. Everyone else followed by landing on this platform. These were uncharted yet somewhat friendly territories they were stepping into. However, there was one thing they needed to be clear of. Could they stand on the clouds or does this world follow the same logic as the pegasus? Ash tested this out and the answer was revealed. They could walk on it without having the ability to fly. "Oh sweet! These are solid clouds! But they're also pretty soft and fluffy too!" "It's not like the clouds back in our world, that's for sure." Fluttershy patted on the clouds. "Nope!" Scootaloo decided to roll on the clouds. Surprisingly, her flaming mane didn't set the clouds on fire. "That's good to know." Twilight began walking on the clouds. "Let's see if anypony there has seen the Bisharp Pirates. Before they get pillaged too." Everyone's curiosity was locked onto the city that resembled Castelia. In fact, the resemblance was a bit too uncanny. Almost as if it was a picture-perfect replica of Castelia City but in the sky and a bunch of fantasy elements. A coincidence? Maybe. By arriving at the Sky Borealis, they were given an instant greeting, but not one of fondness. Instead, the greeting they were all given was one of hostility as a group of Gallades wearing red and white capes came jumping out, surrounding Ash and everyone as they pointed their blades arms at them. And just like Pikachu, they could be understood along with all of the Pokemon in this world. This was only possible because of Ash and the others becoming Pokemon themselves. "Halt!" The Gallade's all said as the crew were surrounded and frozen in place. "Who goes there?!" "Not the best meeting I was expecting..." Fluttershy gulped. "Gallade's...lots of them." Twilight squealed. "You came in that ship, didn't you?" A Gallade spoke. "Pirates." "Pirates? Us?" Scootaloo whispered. "Actually that'd be super cool." "You're coming with us!" The Gallade's used Psych Up to increase the power of their blades. Obviously, this was a threat. If things escalate then an eventual battle will take place. "Hold it!" But, the Gallade's were promptly stopped by the word of a superior. One who is essentially the boss of them all so that they don't step out of line. A Gumshoos was the Pokemon that stopped them and was in charge of all these Gallade's as he casually walked over. The Gallade's lowered their arm blades, ceasing any action. But they were still very cautious. "Let's not get hasty now, boys," Gumshoos said as he stood in front of Ash, exhibiting a powerful aura of dominance as he observed the newcomers. Because of Gumshoos, a potential conflict was avoided. "Now. What do we have here?" "W-Who's gonna explain it to him?" Apple Bloom said. "I will." Twilight stepped forward. "Apologies for bargaining in, Gumsh-" "That's Officer Gumshoos to you." Gumshoos corrected her. "Oh uh, sorry. O-Officer Gumshoos. But we're not here to cause any trouble. We're here searching for some pirates." "Pirates, you say?" Gumshoos's non-existent eyes widened. "You're not with them, are you?" "No-no!" Twilight shook her head aggressively. "We're not pirates! We're just here to try and stop them and we figured they'd be here." "Hmmm..." Gumshoos began to judge them. He noticed that they were much smaller in numbers than the pirates that came here. None of them really wore anything that screamed pirates. Although, Gumshoos noticed that Ash and Applejack had hats. But not hats that would belong to the pirates anyway. But other than that, there was one thing that really caught Gumshoos's attention. And that was Ash. Gumshoos's nose was picking up on something unusual. "You. Lucario." Gumshoos pointed at Ash. "Hm? Yeah?" Ash turned to him. "...You smell like a human. Why is that?" "Oh, that's because I am," Ash responded casually. "My friends and I got turned into Pokemon when we came here. It didn't happen the first time though." "Is that so...?" "Well, we're actually ponies." Pinkie said. "And I'm a dragon but...not a Pokemon Dragon a totally different dragon." Spike chimed in. "And I'm still an ordinary Pikachu! And so is Golett!" Pikachu pointed at Golett who was underneath Applejack's hat this entire time. Gumshoos found this to be a bit bizarre to him. These revelations made him incredibly curious. But, they didn't seem to really pose a huge threat. However, Gumshoos wasn't too fond of humans. Especially one who had been transformed into a Pokemon. "You're here to stop the Bisharp Pirates specifically, correct?" "Yeah! Those are the ones!" Scootaloo bellowed. "We're gonna thrash 'em and then we're gonna save Dusknoir!" "I see." Gumshoos had made a decision. "Well, you came at an appropriate time. The Bisharp Pirates are already here. But they have not yet attacked us." "They haven't? How come?" Pinkie asked. "They're cunning pirates. They don't just rush in blindly with aggression. That captain of theirs knows how to plan. I've been wanting to catch that Bisharp for years now but to no avail. He and his crew elude us still." "Well, there's like a thousand of them so it'd be pretty hard, ya know." Rainbow Dash shrugged. "Thousands? Hah! That's nothing compared to our millions!" "Millions?!" They all exclaimed. "I know, it's impressive. But even with those millions, those pirates continue to escape and best us! Accursed pirates!" Gumshoos yelled at the clouds in the sky. He took a deep breath as he had a fairly short temper. "But enough talk. We all share the same goal, correct? To defeat the Bisharp Pirates." "Mhm." They all nodded. "Then come with us. We have a lot to discuss." Aerial Commune. Sky Borealis's main residential district, composed entirely of clouds. This bustling area of clouds contained a wharf, houses, and many shops. They could see millions of Pokemon of all types living in this city as they all wore very old-school clothing that would exist way more than 10 decades ago. Perhaps around 270 years in the past. The Pokemon seemed completely fine despite there being pirates nearby. They were just getting along with their day. The city and its buildings were old fashioned as well, just like the clothing here. It was clear as day that this part of the board game world resembled a region in the past. Mainly Galar. "So. Your goal to defeat the Bisharp Pirates. Do you have a long history with them as well?" Gumshoos asked. "Not really." Rarity answered. "We're mainly after them to rescue our friend Dusknoir and bring him to Kathleen. After that, we'll be returning to our world." "Hm, Dusknoir you say? The ruler of the Noir Castle?" Gumshoos nodded. "I wouldn't have expected you all to be friends with him. He doesn't strike us as the type to make friends anyway." "Well, he's actually really sweet deep down." Fluttershy squeed. "After all, he made this entire world possible for his dearest friend." "I'm sorry, what was that?" Gumshoos turned around. "Uh, nothing!" Twilight exclaimed. "Let's talk about how we're going to beat the Bisharp Pirates. Or even find them." "Hm. Well, normally, we'd be able to find them in broad daylight. They love to hide in the shadows, but for some reason, they're more elusive than ever. A ship that massive should not be hard to find." "Guess we really are on the same page..." Rainbow Dash whispered. "And at night, it's not better. They're practically invisible!" Gumshoos bellowed. "Even when we've encountered and battled them over and over again, we still fail to see through their elusive stealth." "But if you've battled them plenty of times, you must've at least caught some of them as prisoners, haven't you?" Rarity questioned. "I wish. Still to this day, we do not have a single crew member of the Bisharp Pirates. We have prisoners from other pirate crews, but not theirs. It infuriates me to no end!" Gumshoos's body was turning red out of anger, but one of the Gallade's calmed him down. "They must be like the best pirates in this world! So cool..." Rainbow Dash gawked. "But today shall be the day I officially put an end to those obnoxious pirates! And being the master strategist that I am, I have already begun devising a plan. A plan so great that it will-" "Sir. With all due respect..." A Gallade interrupted as he sighed. "Your plans haven't really been too successful. Bisharp has managed to outsmart you and our entire navy time and time again. We have already lost so many ships because of this. And they have an entire backup grand fleet that they can call upon at any moment." "Yikes. Is it really that bad?" Pinkie winced. "Nonsense!" Gumshoos yelled. "My plans are still perfect! It's just that...Bisharp can be unpredictable. That is all." "I have to agree with him, sir." Another Gallade chimed in. "To be completely honest...you're a terrible strategist." "Oh!" Gumshoos jerked back as he had been stabbed by words. "You've gotten most of our ships destroyed." A third Gallade spoke as all the Gallade's were giving their honest opinions about Officer Gumshoos and his plans. "Gah!" He was stabbed yet again. "Our only remaining ship is still recovering from the previous battle and it still has yet to be repaired after months." "Oof!" "And we have retreated from them so many times, that we've lost count. These aren't even battles any more. They're essentially one-sided annihilation." "Mmmrgh!" Gumshoos turned around as he bit his hand. "You all have it rough, don't you?" Rarity said to them. "Mhm." All the Gallade's nodded. "Alright! I admit it!" Gumshoos faced them as he looked into the sky. "My plans have continuously been derailed and demolished time and time again! And they have seen little success...and Bisharp has always come out the victor...and we have yet to win. But I can guarantee that victory shall be ours-" "We only have one ship left and it's still being repaired." The Gallade's interrupted and shut him down. "Ah!" Gumshoos took the final stab as he got on his knees. "You're right...I'm a complete failure of an officer. How shameful and embarrassing!" He wailed in the sky. "Talk about giving up so easily..." said Applejack. "Cheer up, pal!" Pinkie Pie teleported in front of Gumshoos. "You can't win with that attitude!" She grabbed his face, lifting it. "We can work around this no problem!" "We can?" Gumshoos mumbled. "Mhm! No shame in having a strategy! Even if they fail." Pinkie Pie squeed. "But don't worry! We've got somepony here who's great at planning herself!" "Who?" "Twilight, of course!" Pinkie turned Gumshoos's head to Twilight. "She's super great at making plans for stuff like this! But uh..not too sure about pirates though. Those are new." "Really? Are you great at making strategies yourself?" Gumshoos asked. "Well, when it comes to battle strategies, that's Ash's expertise," Twilight replied. But I can still come up with a plan regardless. Pirates or not. We're all in this to stop the Bisharp Pirates anyway and rescue our friend!" "Mhm! So don't give up yet!" Pinkie mushed Gumshoos's face. "With the best planner on our side and an amazing party pony planner as well, this whole pirate problems' gonna be over in-" But, before Pinkie could finish her sentence, the unexpected happened. Or rather, it was to be expected. But definitely not this early. Everyone would've expected it to happen far later. At least at night. The question of where the Dark Steel Ship could be located wouldn't have to be thought upon any longer. Because it ended up crashing through a store, causing everyone to stop what they were doing as the Pokemon who owned the store, bolted out after the ship crashed through. The Bisharp Pirates were here. And standing on the ship, front and centre with an imposing shadow being cast over the city was the fierce, cunning and mighty captain himself. Bisharp. "Long time no see! Sky Borealis!" Bisharp spoke as he immediately instilled fear into the citizens of the city. "They're pillaging now?! But it's too early!" Twilight gasped. "I haven't come up with a plan yet!" "Accursed Bisharp Pirates...they always know how to catch you off guard when you least expect it!" Gumshoos growled. "Glad to be here again," Bisharp smirked. "I have a lot of unfinished business in this city. Especially with all the sweet treasure that you're all keeping here..." As Bisharp looked down at the city and the citizens, his entire crew had been revealed. Most of them anyway. And the theory of there being a Pokemon of every type wasn't wrong. Bisharp's crew was incredibly varied in Pokemon-Types. From Fire, Ghost, Water, Ground, Flying etc. They were all here. From imposing Pokemon to cute and adorable Pokemon. But those adorable Pokemon had looks on their faces that did not give any indication that they were friendly whatsoever. The crew members all wore Bisharp-palleted bandanas and scarves, just traditional pirate appearances along with some nice sashes. But the one who stood out the most was Bisharp. With a sleek red and black jacket that was long enough to almost touch the floor, a grey and gold wide-brimmed hat that went well with his coat. Unfortunately, there was no peg leg or eyepatch at his disposal. But he did have a Chatot on his side, so that was a bonus. "Alright, you lot!" Bisharp raised his voice. "We're here for one reason and one reason only! Go wild and grab what you can find!" "Aye, captain!" The crewmates said in unison as they all jumped off the ship, ready to cause some mayhem. They were here to loot and pillage, that much was clear. Their goals were simple and they were experts at executing said goals. Very soon, the streets of Sky Borealis were flooded with the Bisharp Pirates in mere seconds as they got to work. This isn't their first time here, so the Pokemon of this city were naturally terrified of these pirates as they immediately made a run for it, aiming to get away from the pirates pronto. The pillaging had already begun. "So much for a plan! Guess we're gonna have to improvise!" Ash said as he and the others were ready to take action. "Right!" Pikachu's red sacs were sparking up with electricity. "But there's so many of them!" Sweetie Belle gulped. "Do we go after the captain or all of them?!" "Even if we split up, the numbers are too vast for even us..." Rarity said. "Way too vast...Unless..." Twilight turned to Gumshoos. "Officer Gumshoos! You said that you had millions of soldiers, right?" "All apart of the wonderful navy!" Gumshoos replied. "Then let them help us. We'll need a million if we want to beat a thousand." "I would but...We've been constantly losing to them repeatedly. My soldiers are unable to match up to the Bisharp Pirates." Gumshoos sighed. "Let me handle that. Ash. Everyone. Can you deal with the pirates in the meantime?" Twilight requested. "Sure can! Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. "Okay!" Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder as he immediately got to action. By sparking his body up, Pikachu sent multiple blasts of 100,000 volts from his body as they scattered, aiming at some of the pirates. The pirates that were hit by Thunderbolt had been alerted and made aware of Pikachu's presence. But not just his presence alone. This included Ash and the others who were standing up against the pirates. In the meanwhile, Twilight and Gumshoos left to gather more soldiers as the Gallade's stayed to help Ash and the others since they are still guards and soldiers at the end of the day. "Hoh? What do we have here?" Bisharp noticed the ones that were opposing him and his crew. "I see some familiar faces in the crowd but...who are you lot?" "Doesn't matter!" Rainbow Dash spread her wings. "Cause we're gonna flatten you and your crew and get our friend Dusknoir back!" "Hm." Bisharp nodded. "That so?" Bisharp then jumped off the ship, landing in front of his crew as he crossed his arms together. Upon landing down, he formed up a dust cloud and made the ground tremble a bit. "I'd like to see you try! I've got a thousand by my side! Yur numbers pale in comparison!" "He's right about that one..." Fluttershy hid behind Ash. "It doesn't matter if he's got thousands, millions or billions of crewmates! We'll beat him either way!" Ash exclaimed. "Hm? You smell like a human..." Bisharp and his crewmates were also able to pick up on a human's scent. "Curious. Oh well. All of you! Scatter!" With that command, the pirates all scattered in this large city to pillage and loot whatever they could find. There were too many of them to keep track of and it would be impossible to go up against a thousand of them, even with the support of the Gallade's, who were only 12 members. But even so, with these overwhelming numbers, Ash knew that they had to tackle this issue either way. Thankfully, Twilight and Gumshoos were off retrieving the million navy soldiers that reside in this city as the journey continues. Chapter 330 End.