My Little Pokémon: Grander World

Universe 50. The Mirados Circuit. Dday.

The Mirados Circuit had begun. 100 Racers rushing to win while some were doing it to take out certain others. After a short distance, they arrived at the edge of a massive lake.

Ash, Twilight and the others looked over the lake and could see that it was incredibly large, spanning a huge distance. They could see several large islands dotted across the water, and in the center of the lake, they could see a massive structure that seemed to be suspended in the air above the water. It was made of metal and glass, and was shaped like a massive, floating sphere. It had several large windows and a few smaller windows scattered around. The entire thing was glowing with a faint green light.

All they had to do was get past this water section and they would reach the next area. And then they would be closer to the finish line.

Ash, Twilight and the others looked around and noticed that there were a lot of Water Pokemon in the area. There were many Magikarp and a few other Water-Type Pokemon swimming in the lake. They were the ones that they would have to contend with, as well as the occasional Sharpedo that was also swimming around.

"Man...we gotta get through that too? Can the hoverboard even float over it for that long?" Ash pondered.

"If you're struggling, too bad!" One of the racers said as the many versatlities of these vehicles showed itself. Many vehicles started transforming due to the Quantum Energy within, the vehicle becoming aquatic and more suited to water, or just a simple water scooter, with the pilot hanging on tightly as it sped away.

All the experienced racers had their vehicles transform to some degree. Some remained above the surface while some dived down underwater. One by one, they all advanced over or under the water.

Ash looked around, and saw that all the other vehicles were starting to move away, heading for the center of the lake where the giant floating sphere was. Ash would have to try and take a risk with his hoverboard.

"I see him." All the while, Alpha had locked onto Ash, finally spotting him. The massive Dragon-shaped vehicles that the Institute rode would roar upon spotting Ash Ketchum, alerting the Alola Champion. All those weapons installed would finally find their use as Alpha wasted no time in attacking him.

From the dark metal of the vehicle, quantum rays were shot out from the head and the sides. They flew out with a loud, buzzing sound and were incredibly fast, hitting Ash's board in an instant. Ash didn't have any time to react as his hoverboard was hit. It started to shake violently, and then it exploded in a bright flash of light. He felt himself being thrown back as Pikachu held on dearly.

"Ash! You gotta really feel it out!" Hilbert spoke to him, appearing out of him as a spirit. He rode on the hoverboards much longer, so he did have some experience with it. As much as he had, anyway. Hilbert wasn't exactly an expert on it himself.

Ash gritted his teeth. He would have to get used to this as quickly as he could, otherwise he was going to be in some serious danger. He had to let his feet firmly plant themselves on the board and feel out the vibrations. His mind had to be connected with the Quantum Energy, and his own magic as well. The energy from the board and his magic needed to sync with one another, and he had to feel that connection and control it. He needed to let the board move with him, not against him.

Ash took a deep breath, trying to calm down as he was falling. Pikachu's body tensed up and his heart raced. If he didn't do this soon, they would be falling into the water. He had to act quickly.

His mind focused, and his body reacted. His legs were firmly planted on the board and his body started to tense. He was starting to feel the vibrations, and he was able to control the board. He could feel it moving, and it was responding to his commands. Ash was in total control of it now.

He let the board move with him and he started to rise up, slowly but surely. The board was starting to rise up from the depths of the water, and it was slowly getting back to where it was supposed to be. He could see the other vehicles moving away, and he could hear the sounds of their engines, and he could feel the wind on his face.

Ash was back on top of the board, and he was in total control of it. He let the board move with him and he was now back up on the surface of the lake. He could see the others ahead of him, and he could see the floating sphere that they were all headed towards.

"Oh, yeah....this totally works!" Ash was starting to get the hang of the board again. The Quantum energy and Hilbert's advice was working perfectly. The two forces were working in unison, and they were giving him a great boost. "Haha! Wohooo!" Naturally, he was loving this new thrill and speed of the hoverboard.

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu was happy for his partner. The two of them had been working together to get this board working, and now it was doing what it was supposed to do. The two of them had finally found a way to make this board work and that was something to be happy about.

"Let's catch up to the others, buddy!" Ash exclaimed, as they sped over to Twilight and the others. The group of racers had made their way out over the lake and had caught up with the other racers.

Ash could see that the other racers had started to dive under the surface of the water. They were all headed for the floating sphere in the middle of the lake. Ash knew that he had to get there as well, otherwise he would be left behind.

"Tch." Alpha kissed her teeth at this, refusing to stop here. "Then we will submerge after him."

"Submerge?! Can this thing even go underwater?!" One of the students cried out to Alpha, confused as to how this huge vehicle would even travel the ocean. They haven't figured out how to transform it unlike the others.

But that was where Alpha's speciality in machines came into play. While it was still moving, he hopped and latched onto the back of it, climbing up and reaching the top and crawling to the back. Thanks to the trait of Kimia's expertise in technology and her own innate knowledge, she knew just the right spots to press. The buttons she pressed opened up a small panel of controls.

"Of course, we're in the City of the Future, right? What kind of vehicle can't travel in the air and water?"

With a press of a button on the panel, a loud whirling sound was heard as the machine's exterior changed. It shifted in shape and form as it transformed from a flying ship into an underwater one, now ready to dive down into the water.

The massive vessel began to slowly dive into the lake, the water rippling around it. It moved down through the surface, and then it was completely under the water. As it began its descent, a large, transparent dome appeared around the vehicle. This dome allowed the occupants to see outside, while at the same time protecting them from the water's pressure and temperature. It also kept the air in and the water out, making the vessel completely airtight.

Alpha had taken control of the vehicle's navigation and steering, as she directed it towards where Ash had disappeared. They soon reached the depths of the lake and found themselves in a massive cavern.

This place had been hidden by the lake for years. It was an ancient cave system, with a huge, empty chamber that was lit by glowing crystals. In the middle of the room was a giant crystal formation, and around the edges of the room, there were a number of smaller crystals. The walls were covered with a thin layer of glowing algae.

Ash took a gander at this beautiful sight, being able to see underwater. He was in the midst of all the racers, many of them were safe underwater within their vehicles. But Ash had no problem, thanks to Sombra using his magic to grant him temporary under-breathing abilities. The same could be said for Twilight and the others, who were able to swim around the place without issue.

Twilight already had her hoverboard transform into something suitable for the ocean, being slightly more advanced than Ash's. The same was said for Applejack, Spike and Rainbow Dash. They were mobile enough to move across the ocean.

"This place....is amazing!" Twilight couldn't help but be awestruck by the sheer size and majesty of this place. The cavern was illuminated by glowing crystals that made it feel like you were underwater in another world. It was a wondrous place to explore and it would be even better to do it together with everyone else. They would be able to explore the cave, and see what it held.

The cavern was a beautiful and wondrous sight to behold. It was a wonder that this place had been hidden for so long, and now it was open to all who wanted to see it.

There were so many things in this world that had yet to be discovered, and Ash was sure that there would be even more amazing places to find. This was just one of them, and he was glad to have been able to experience it with his friends.

Once Alpha's vehicle was underwater, she continued her attack on Ash, unleashing more Quantum Rays from the machine's weaponry. Ash saw this coming, and had the foresight to avoid the oncoming blasts, moving around the cavern and the other racers. However, due to all these rays, it was only natural for the other racers to be caught in the way.

"Wah!" One of the racers in an advanced Sky Runner would feel his vehicle shake after being struck by one of the rays.

"Get a hold of yourself, idiot! If you can't even handle yourself here, then get lost!" Alpha would bark out orders at her subordinates, telling them to keep calm.

As they kept firing, Alpha had to be more careful of her aim. She had to be precise and not accidentally hit any of her allies. However, even with the help of her crewmates, Alpha had a hard time finding the target in the darkness. It was a dark and gloomy cave, with only a few dimly glowing crystals. Alpha's vision was not so excellent in the dark. Her aim was off, and she was missing the target.

"I was wondering when they'd start attacking." Twilight uttered when seeing Alpha's machine attack Ash. "It's time for us to make a move! Spike!"

"I'm on it!" While riding his vehicle, Spike threw a Poke Ball, summoning one of his Pokemon that would do well underwater. Or at least within a cavern. In this case, he chose Goodra. "Go, Goodra!"

"Goodra!" Upon his arrival, Goodra knew what had to be done.

"Use Hydro Pump!" Goodra began to charge up water energy in its mouth, before unleashing it all in one go, firing out a beam of water straight towards Alpha's machine.

Alpha saw this happening and swerved the vehicle to the side to dodge it, causing the vehicle to roll around. She was trying to get away from the blast, but she couldn't. She had no time to react. Alpha could see that Spike was firing at her, but there was no time to react.

Alpha was trying to avoid the attack, but it was too late. Goodra's attack struck her machine's main body, causing it to shudder and shake. Alpha had to hold onto the steering wheel as tight as she could. She had no idea how she was going to get away from this attack. The attack caused a small crack to appear in one of the cockpit's windows. This caused Alpha to become mildly and she immediately tried to fire back at Goodra.

However, the crack only grew and grew. Eventually, water began to enter the cockpit, threatening to flood the entire machine. It was only thanks to one of the Betas who was quick enough to activate an emergency protocol, creating an artificial bubble within the cockpit, to make it possible to keep the water out, but the machine's weapons were damaged and rendered almost inoperable, preventing them from continuing to attack.

"Hm." Alpha narrowed her eyes as one of the Zetas checked for the source of that attack. She spotted Spike's vehicle nearby, responsible for this sabotage, unaware that it belonged to Spike. She was even more unaware that Twilight Sparkle was present, the disguise proving to be incredibly helpful.

"It looks like we found the problem. Get a look at that." The snarky Zeta informed her other Zetas, the many Betas and especially Alpha.

"Hmph. In that case, those that possess Water-Types. Unleash them at once." She told them to go after Spike, hoping that by taking him down, she could at least eliminate the threat of Spike and his Pokemon from the equation, making her job a lot easier. Alpha was going to make sure that her opponents would pay for this interference.

Meanwhile, as Ash continued to move through the underwater cavern, trying to get away from Alpha as quickly as possible, his eyes widened as a large, mechanical tentacle emerged from behind the rocks, attempting to grab him. The mechanical tentacle was about 3 meters long, with several claws at the end of it. The claws were sharp, and had a number of spikes on the end.

Ash was quick to move out of the way, and he dodged it just in time. He turned to look at what had attacked him and he was shocked to see a large, robotic squid-like Pokemon, its tentacles emerging from a vehicle that was piloted by one of Alpha's allies. Ash had to avoid its attacks and keep on moving. He was now even more motivated to escape Alpha's grasp. But the question was, how could he get away from this robot squid?

The squid-like machine moved forward, trying to attack Ash with its claws. Ash swerved around, avoiding the attack, and then he accelerated away. He had no idea what this thing was or why it was after him. It was not like any Pokemon that Ash had ever seen. He was surprised to see that the machine could even move underwater. He thought that most robots couldn't even move under the surface, at least not as easily as this one did.

However, Ash didn't have time to ponder that question, because he had to focus on getting away. The squid-like machine continued to chase Ash, using its mechanical arms to try and grab at him. The machine's attacks were fast and powerful. Ash was forced to use all his skills and reflexes to dodge the attacks and avoid being caught by its tentacles.

"Use Iron Tail, Pikachu!"

"Chu...Pika!" Pikachu charged up Iron Tail and hit the squid machine's metal tentacle. However, the tentacle did not seem to be damaged at all.

Ash was in a tough situation, and he had to think of a way to get away from the robot squid. He had to use his speed and agility to outrun it. He was determined to escape the robot squid. But it wasn't going to be easy, and Ash needed to come up with a plan to get away.

The crowd was loving this race, viewing it from every angle. The Celestial Circuit was already an incredible race, but now, they had an underdog competing with them, someone that was able to use a variety of strategies, and who had been so far underestimated.

Raleigh was one of the spectators, hoping that Ash could pull this off. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, but he had hope. Hope that Ash would win. But he also couldn't take his mind off of the many clones of his sisters.

"So they are racing!" Rarity exclaimed, seeing the Arcane Institute in the race.

"Do we go after them? Or just let the race play out?" Fluttershy asked, concerned about whether or not Ash was going to win this race.

"I say we let it play out! But I wanna get involved so badly!" Pinkie Pie bounced, wanting to join in on the race. Raleigh heard their voices, looking over at the trio, unaware that they were here the entire time.

"We get involved." Rarity certainly wanted to join in. "But we won't be using any vehicles for traversal. We have our Pokemon who can match that."

"You three are gonna follow after them?!" Raleigh exclaimed, causing them to look over at him. "But this race court is massive! It doesn't even loop around!"

"That's no problem for us, darling." Rarity smiled before looking over at Pinkie Pie.

"Okay, Mew. You know what to do~" Pinkie Pie looked up as Mew popped out of her playful mane.

"Mew-Mew!" Mew was already on it. He flew up, transforming into his favourite Pokemon that he always loves to turn into. Pendence, who was busy overseeing the race, briefly managed to catch this sight, looking at Rarity's group and what they were up to. Right before her eyes, she saw Me transform into Lugia.

Lugia landed down, and in an instant, he used his Psychic-Type Powers to make Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie float on his back. Of course, he couldn't forget about Raleigh. Naturally, eyes were on the sudden appearance of Lugia of all Pokemon. This was the only thing important enough to get their eyes off the race, even if it was for a while. Mew had all four of them on his back, plus Fluttershy's Audino. Now, all he had to do was play catchup.

"Oh, now this is interesting." Pendence smiled.

"Are they trying to interrupt our race?!" One of the staff members was about to rant.

"Now, hold on." Pendence halted him. "This might be an unorthodox method, but I'm gonna let it slide. They're not interrupting anything, just... Trying to follow along, I suppose. They aren't even involved with the race, so this will just make things all the more fun. I'd love to see where this all goes."

For the sake of entertainment, Pendence was letting it slide.

"Alright, Mew! Get us to those racers!" Pinkie Pie raised her hoof high with a boisterous laugh. "I wonder if Ash will even notice us! I wanna give him a big surprise!"

"I don't know about a surprise..." Fluttershy murmured. "But... I think we should let Ash know that we're behind him."

Mew cried out before taking flight into the sky. Everyone was still trying to wrap their minds around Lugia, but the excitement of the race quickly brought everyone back to the race at hand.

While the race was going on, this entier time, Princess Luna had gone on her own. Her friends wondered where she was, even being absent when the Police Station was under attack. Luna had a reason for this.

This whole time, she was using this as a way to infiltrate the train the Arcane Institute seemed to travel in. There was also the threat of the Soul Crystal she wished to deal with right away, wherever it was being hidden. The train was situated at the same place they arrived at prior to all of this. But it was cloaked, hidden from everyone's eyes. But not the eyes of Luna.

With her eyes glowing, she made the barrier disappear. With that, she was able to get onto the train. It wasn't moving, but that was not going to stop her from doing her job.

With everyone at the race, it'd be easier for her to get inside the train. As she entered, she was able to find a terminal that allowed her to view all of the security footage of the entire train. It was there that she was able to pinpoint where the Soul Crystal was. With this, she was going to do whatever she could to take care of the problem. There had to be a way to find out how something that big could be so well hidden.

To help with her stealth mission, she had Frillish and Darkrai accompany her on the mission. Frillish would assist her in getting around the ship with his invisibility powers and Darkrai was here for one very important job. To Luna, it felt like everything was falling into place perfectly.

The remaining students on the train waited patiently for their fellow students to return, some being bored. Some had a sense of foreboding that something wasn't right.

"Something doesn't feel right," said one student. The feeling of impending doom hung thick in the air. Everyone could sense it, and yet they remained in place. A few more students joined the others on the floor below them.

Darkrai silently moved across the shadows, hiding himself away as he flew down the hallway, past several rooms and hallways without even being detected once. But if there was even the threat of him being detected, he could easily deal with it.

From the shadows, Darkrai would use a single Dark Void on one student that almost saw him, putting her to sleep in an instant. She collapsed to the ground, not being able to react as Darkrai moved on. No one would notice the girl on the ground, but Darkrai made sure to move her into one of the rooms, so that no one would suspect her of being knocked out. There were times he would need to knock out several students with one Dark Void. They'd never know what hit them as Darkrai's presence in this area was non-existent.

Even with the many students around, they were all asleep. He wasn't going to stop until he had the entire ship asleep. It'd make Luna's job much easier. However, not all of them were dealt with. While the unicorn students had been put to sleep, there was a threat here that Luna had to deal with.

The Betas and Zetas.

A few of them stayed behind in the train, opting to stand guard within the train. And once they saw their fellow Institute Members downed, the Soul Trainers were made 100% aware of intruders in the building.

And once Darkrai attempted to use Dark Void on one of them from behind, the Beta sensed him, turning around in time to evade the Dark Void. The orb of darkness flew past her, hitting the walls instead.

"!" Darkrai gasped as the Beta had promptly thrown out a Poke Ball to engage in battle.

"Tyranitar! Take him out!"

"Tyranitar!"

"Use Dark Pulse!" She commanded.

"Rani!" From its mouth, a pulse of Darkness would release.

The Dark Type Move flew towards Darkrai. Darkrai tried to dodge the move, but he was unable to completely dodge it. The Dark Void was able to clip his wing. Despite being Dark Type himself, the attack was staggerlingly powerful against him. However, he was still able to fly and get ready to attack. Darkrai glared at Tyranitar, and he readied his attack.

"So we've been found! By these...Kimia look-alikes?!" Luna exclaimed, jumping into the fray and hovering next to Darkrai. "What is this?!"

Luna was unaware of the fact that Kimia's soul had been used to create these look-alikes. It took her back, as if she was staring at Kimia's doppelganger. The few Zetas and Betas appeared to confront Luna and Darkrai, their eyes fully focused on the intruders, their hands filled with Poke Balls. Luna could sense their aura was strong and that they had the aura of Kimia's.

"What's going on? Why do all of these students look exactly like Kimia?" Luna thought, a bit confused. She knew there had to be a reason why all of them looked so much alike.

But she could worry about that later. Right now, she had to get past all of them and find that Soul Crystal. Her sabotage mission was not over quite yet as the journey continues.

Chapter 685 End.