My Little Pokémon: Grander World

Universe 50. The Mirados Circuit. Day.

The Mirados Circuit continues.

The many racers continued across the vast underwater section of the course. Many were enjoying it, being under the water with the glorious and beautiful Water-Type Pokemon. Others, however, were having a hard time getting through. Some even had to resort to drastic measures just to keep their speed going.

It was quite chaotic, as many different racers were fighting to stay on track. It was almost as though they were competing in two different races, with two completely different objectives: the race itself and the fight against the Pokemon.

One racer, a pegasus by the name of Overclock, had managed to keep a steady pace. She was using a lot of her magic to propel her vehicles through the water and keep up. But even she had trouble keeping her balance. "This is too difficult..." she mumbled. She was trying to focus on her speed but the pressure from the water made it difficult to do anything else.

She wasn't alone in her struggles, as other racers struggled with their speed. One stallion was struggling with the pressure of the water, while another was trying to use the pressure of the water to her advantage.

A third stallion was attempting to swim faster than his competitors using special Hooves that acted as vehicles, but he found that the current wasn't as strong as it could be.

And yet another racer was attempting to fly above the water Sky Runner, but his vehicle was starting to run out of energy and couldn't fly very high. There was no easy way out for these ponies, they had to make the most of the situation. This wasn't going to be an easy race. Not only that, there was something that was bothering them.

But that's where their Pokemon came into play. Overclock's Lanturn would use his electrical energy to make the water around his vehicle, a small pod-like device with two fins and a single engine at the rear, to allow him to travel with a lot of speed through the water. It wasn't a good idea for Lanturn, but the pod was built to resist water and it allowed for much greater maneuverability.

Other Pokemon, like the stallion's Golisopod and a mare's Octillery, were helping to guide them through the currents. They'd swim through the water to avoid the dangerous areas, helping their trainers maintain control of their vehicles. Others like the third stallion's Tentacruel and the mare's Feraligatr were doing the heavy lifting, pulling their trainers' vehicles along the course.

Overclock was having the time of her life. The Lanturn was really enjoying it as well. They had been swimming through the waters at such a speed, and he could feel his body begin to tire, but that wasn't going to stop them. The two had to make the most of their chance to be at the top of the leader board and finish the race. There were no more words that could describe their feelings as they sped along the underwater section.

They weren't the only ones having the time of their life. Another stallion with his Feraligatr was using the Waterfall Pokemon's strength and endurance to make their way through the course, even using a pair of Hooves designed to allow for easier and quicker swimming.

It wasn't easy for the Pokemon to pull their vehicle through the water at such a speed, but the trainer's Hooves were made to allow the Feraligatr to do just that, and the Pokemon wasn't about to give up. The two of them were racing through the underwater section, the Feraligatr pulling the vehicle as fast as they could.

Ash was catching up fast, getting the hang of the hoverboard more and more as the race went on. Eventually, he and the other racers will leave this underwater section and soon end up in another part of this large race.

As Luna ran down the halls of the institute, she and Darkrai started evading attacks from the opposing Pokemon of the Betas and Zetas.

Darkrai had used a combination of his powers, as well as Luna's abilities, to create a shield around himself and his trainer, allowing them to avoid being hit by the many attacks being thrown their way.

"Crush them, Tyranitar! Use Stone Edge!" A Beta cried out.

"Tyran!"

Luna and Darkrai dodged the attack. The Pokemon was quick to launch another attack, this time aiming at the two. "Tyranitar, use Hyper Beam!"

The attack was easily blocked by Darkrai who then retaliated with Dark Void. This allowed Luna to move in on the Tyranitar, hitting the massive rock-type Pokemon with a well-placed Shadow Ball, which caused it to fall unconscious.

"Use Ice Beam, Glailie!"

"Glalie!"

"Kh!" Instantly, Luna put up a shield, deflecting this beam of ice as it struck an opposing Pokemon, freezing it instantly. After deflecting the beam, Luna fired back with her own, blasting the Glalie away.

"Dragon Claw!"

"Fera!" Coming her way was a Dragon Claw from a Feraligatr, attempting to strike at the Moon Princess. Luna was quick to fly back, narrowly avoiding the claw as it grazed her mane.

"Thunderbolt, Darkrai!"

"Hm!" With his claws glowing, 100,000 volts shot out from Darkrai's claws, aggressively shocking Feraligatr. After that, he switched his Thunderbolt to more targets, shocking as many opposing Pokemon as he could. Luna would do something similarly, rapidly firing magical beams in every direction.

This section of the train was alight with a flash of colours, the windows shattering with each outburst and impact. Opposing Pokemon such as Cacturne, Meowstic, Clawitzer and Novern unleashed Hyper Beams in unison, these powerful beams of Infinity Energy raced across the train in seconds, going straight for the Trainer and her Pokemon.

Darkrai would use Dark Pulse as a counter, his singular beam of Darkness clashing with all these Hyper Beams. A great beam struggle occurred the impact of the attacks rippling across the train. However, Darkrai managed to overwhelm them, his Dark Pulse enveloping them Hyper Beams in darkness before striking at the opposing Pokemon.

And yet, the Betas and Zetas were relentless. Their Pokemon kept bringing on an onslaught, aiming to bring the pressure to Luna and Darkrai. Darkrai would find himself blocking the Night Slash of a Scizor, pushing it away before promptly avoiding a Wild Charge from a Luxray.

"Arche!" But above him, an Archeops came crashing down with Dragon Claw, lighting up its talons with a Draconic Energy. Darkrai managed to swiftly block the Dragon Claw with a quick turnaround. After blocking it, he used one arm to fire a Dark Void, putting the Archeops to sleep.

Darkrai had no time to slow down. Not when a Salazzle lunged at him with a Fire Lash, her tongue being lit up as she whipped it at Darkrai.

"Salaz!" The Pitch Black Pokemon deflected it with Poison Jab, slapping it away. Right as it was slapped away, Darkrai would grab the tongue the moment it was swung back at him, holding the Fire-Poison-Type in his grasp.

He then started spinning Salazzle around, using her as a weapon against the others. An opposing Claydol was smacked by Salazzle, crashing and bouncing against the walls of the train cart as Darkrai aimed at his next target. Back and forth, he struck the many opposing Pokemon with Salazzle, making her a wild whip. A tornado even.

Afterwards, Darkrai slammed her into a Beartic, knocking them both out. Darkrai was stronger than each of them, but the Betas and Zetas prioritized more than strength to achieve victory.

Strategy and overwhelming numbers were their priority and since they were all made from Kimia's soul along with the souls of many other Trainers, they had that capability.

Their Pokemon assumed a formation that involved ten Pokemon that surrounded each direction and five that hovered above their opponents. The Ten Pokemon would unleash an array of Hydro Pumps and Thunderbolts, mixing the two elements together while the five Pokemon above would throw in Gravity, attempting to weight Luna and Darkrai down.

However, Luna has long since overcome her issue with Gravity. "Something like this is no longer an issue to me!" Luna bellowed with an echo, releasing a pulse of magic that would blow back the Thunderbolts and Hydro Pumps, sending them back to their Trainers.

The opposing Pokemon would be shocked to great levels due to this chaotic mix, even the Ground-Types themselves due to the water that landed on them. As for the Pokemon in the air, Darkrai would make quick work of them, releasing a spread of Dark Voids that would put them to sleep. As the opposing Pokemon recovered, Luna and Darkrai would continue their assault, not giving any room for them to breathe.

However, it also seemed like the Betas and Zetas were improving their skills as time went on. Their eyes would glow as their started picking up on Luna's style of battling and the capabilities of her Darkrai. A Pokemon could not change the way it battled in an instant, especially Luna and her Darkrai. Luna and Darkrai fought in the same manner that they've fought in for the last 1000 years and this remained consistent throughout.

As such, the opposing Pokemon would adapt to it. It wasn't that their Pokemon were getting stronger, they just learned to battle against Darkrai better, which meant they were able to keep up. Darkrai had a tough fight on his hands, as he was now surrounded by an abundance of Pokemon. A Pokemon surrounded him on each side, using an array of elemental attacks.

"Ngh!" Darkrai felt this improvement as he just barely managed to block a Thunder from an opposing Raichu. He then intercepted a Fire Blast and an Energy Ball by firing two Dark Pulses from his claws, stopping the attacks. But it was a close-call as the attacks got incredibly close to his body. Darkrai would then sway his head, narrowly avoiding a Slash from a Zangoose.

But what caught him was the Shadow Ball of an opposing Mightyena, hitting him directly from behind. The Dark-Type would then be hit by an array of Shadow Balls that would knock him back. The Betas and Zetas would then all aim at him with Flamethrower, shooting out their massive waves of flames that engulfed the Pokemon. Darkrai let out a cry as he was surrounded in the flames. He then lunged out of them and charged straight at them, firing off a large Ice Beam from his mouth.

The beam was able to freeze most of the Pokemon, but they were still capable of fighting back. It wasn't enough. As a result, Darkrai found himself in the center of an array of elemental beams and physical attacks that he had a tough time avoiding.

The attacks almost overwhelmed Darkrai. He tried his best to get back into the fight, using a barrage of Poison Jab's against a number of the Pokemon. But Darkrai would find his arm stopped by a Zeta's Crobat, who caught it with a Steel Wing and was holding it back.

"Hari!" This gave other Pokemon time to retaliate against Darkrai, with an opposing Hariyama lunging at him and punching him with an Earthquake. This shook Darkrai to his core and sent him tumbling to the floor, falling onto his back.

"Tyranitar!" Right as he was on the ground, going in for the next attack was Tyranitar, attempting to stomp on him. But Darkrai managed to sink into the shadows just in time, avoiding it. He appeared from the shadows once more and lunged back at the Hariyama, grabbing them by their throat and then throwing them at an incoming Tyranitar and Gyarados, the three Pokemon tumbling and rolling across the ground in a tangled mess.

As Darkrai took the opportunity to attack the fallen Pokemon with another barrage of Dark Pulses, he eyed down the Betas and Zetas, seeing how their eyes were glowing. He was not yet aware that this was them adapting to his and Luna's battle strategy. He assumed they were using a different strategy to defeat them, perhaps one of many they had come up with. "They're getting better, huh..." he muttered. He kept his eyes on them as a few of them stepped forward and prepared to unleash a spread of Flamethrower.

He used Dark Void on them, putting all the Pokemon to sleep before they had a chance to unleash their flames. Darkrai then used a barrage of Poison Jab, knocking the sleeping Pokemon to the floor. He then had to jump out of the way as two Zeta Pokemon, a Raichu and an Abomasnow, tried to hit him with an Iron Tail and Wood Hammer, but were unable to land their hits.

"Rai!" The Iron Tail from Raichu sliced the floor instead, while Abomasnow slammed its hammer into the same spot. As Darkrai stepped away, the Abomasnow would try to hit Darkrai with an Energy Ball.

Darkrai avoided it and fired a Dak Pulse back, hitting the Abomasnow in the face and causing it to fall back in pain. The Abomasnow fell to the ground and landed hard on its back, its legs twitching in pain. The Raichu attempted to lunge at Darkrai and hit him with a Thunder, but was instead grabbed by his tail. He then used the Electric Mouse Pokemon like a baseball bat, smashing it into the ground multiple times, cracking the floor as a result.

"Their eyes are glowing but they aren't doing anything...what is this?" Darkrai said as he would grab an incoming Donphan with his right claw, halting its Rollout and holding it back. "Luna! Something isn't right! Their eyes!"

"I see them! I'll look into it!" Luna cast a spell that allowed her to look into their eyes and analyze their thoughts, trying to decipher what the light meant. After a brief period of observation, her eyes widened. "Darkrai! This is their adaptation to us!"

"Adaptation?!" Darkrai asked before throwing Donphan at a group of Pokemon, knocking them down like bowling pins.

"If this continues, they could reach a level that will outclass and overwhelm our own skills!" Luna stated, a serious look appearing in her eyes. "And we have yet to find the Soul Crystal..."

"Go on ahead, Luna. Find the Soul Crystal." Darkrai uttered, wanting Luna to go on ahead. "Adaptation or not, I won't allow them to outclass me. Not by a long shot."

"Are you positive Darkrai?"

"Of course." He confidently said, prompting Luna to smile.

"Hm. I know But you aren't doing this alone! Florges! Aurorus! Gliscor! Assist Darkrai!" Using her magic, Luna launched three Poke Balls from the inside of her saddlebag. They were sent flying, popping open midair and revealing three of her Pokemon.

"I'm counting on you four! Good luck!" Luna called out before leaving the battleground.

Back with the race, the underwater section was being covered on all grounds by the racers. There were many paths that had been created in this tunnel, each leading to a different destination. The paths were winding, twisting, and turning, making navigation a challenge. Some paths led straight, some had steep inclines or declines, and others were curved and meandered back and forth.

As the race went on, the paths began to merge and cross, becoming increasingly complicated. There were obstacles scattered throughout the tunnel, such as sharp rocks, narrow gaps, and underwater plants that obstructed the paths. Some of the paths had more obstacles than others, and some had smoother surfaces that allowed faster travel. Some paths also had more twists and turns than others, and some paths were wider than others.

All the while, Alpha's vehicle continued to unload attacks that targeted Ash, shooting Quantum Rays all over. More and more racers were caught in the crossfire, many growing agitated.

"What's the deal with that one?!" One racer commented when seeing all these attacks. "She's so trigger-happy!"

Trigger Happy was right. She would even hit the Pokemon that were in the way, even though it was unintentional. But Alpha didn't care. All that mattered was Ash Ketchum. But getting in her way were Ash's friends who were doing their best to keep him safe.

Goodra had to intercept as many rays as he could, swimming through the ocean and avoiding as many obstacles as possible. "No good! Goodra's struggling to keep up!" Spike commented. Not even Goodra could keep this up forever. It didn't help that Goodra was his only Dragon that could swim properly or even this quickly.

"I'll take it from here, Spike!" Twilight would speak, deciding to throw her hat into the ring. While she didn't have a Pokemon that could swim expertly, she could at least cast a spell on Goodra to keep it protected and speed it up. Using her magic, a magical veil was cast on Goodra, protecting him and increasing his speed.

"Goo!"

As Alpha and her Pokemon were about to shoot more rays at Ash, they were suddenly attacked from above. A strong blast of water came crashing down, forcing them to evade the attack and focus on the source of it. It was Goodra who had swam above Alpha, now using his new speed to swim circles around her. Goodra used his Hydro Pump and a high-volume blast of water that crashed and exploded in the water around Alpha's vehicle. "Hurry up, Ash! Go, go!"

Alpha scoffed. "Fire at him." The students followed her orders and shot a barrage of Quantum Rays at Goodra. But Goodra had swam out of the way before they could hit him and unleashed another Hydro Pump that struck the side of the vehicle, pushing it down. As Alpha recovered, Goodra would continue to unleash his Hydro Pumps at the enemy. He would continue to swim circles around Alpha, firing at the vehicle constantly. Alpha tried to evade, but the sheer volume and speed at which the attacks came from made it difficult for her to dodge. As the attacks kept coming, Alpha finally lost her balance and fell to the ground, the vehicle sinking and falling into a deep crevice in the ocean floor.

"Not like this!" The students started panicking, some more than others. The fear of the ocean was very much potent for many of them, as the vehicle continued to sink further into the abyss. The deeper they sank, the darker their surroundings became, and the pressure increased. Alpha remained calm, but it was clear she was concerned.

"Don't worry. I'm going to get us out of this situation." Alpha had a way out of this. Tinkering with the vehicle before it could be in a worse state.

Above, Goodra had a feeling they were fine. He was more focused on Ash. But as he turned around to see Ash, his face paled upon seeing his location. "Awesome work, Goodra!"

"Pika!"

"Goo!"

"What's the deal with you all? Why were they firing at you?" One of the racers asked before zooming off. "Whatever it is, just keep us out of it. This year's special!"

"He's right. There's a chance they'll come back, so we have to find a way to get everyone else out of the crosshairs next time." Twilight commented.

"Well, if we just get far enough from her, it'll work." Applejack replied. To her, the best way to do that was to outpace Alpha and the other students. As long as they kept the lead, Alpha wouldn't bother anyone else.

"I don't know how much farther we'll go under water, so let's just hope that we're done with this part." Twilight said, worried about the other Pokemon. So far, a lot of Pokemon were being affected. Not by any damage done, but the water pressure was starting to take its toll. It didn't help that many of these Pokemon could not handle water or were not used to it like the Water types were.

As the race went on, the racers were getting closer to the end of this underwater area while Alpha's team was left behind. But they weren't out of the race at all.

Alpha tinkered with the vehicle before she could start it up again. But she was doing more than just starting it up. She was upgrading it. Alpha was taking all the functions of the vehicle and enhancing them with the help of the students, who were using their powers and skills to add new components and features.

Alpha had to be careful. This was a new vehicle that she was using, one that she was only allowed to use because of this particular race. Because of how dangerous the races have become this year, there had been some leniency in regards to what can and can't be used.

However, Alpha didn't care. She had the perfect opportunity to upgrade her vehicle to match the power and capabilities beyond every other racer.

After just a minute, she managed to upgrade their vehicle by fusing functions. Functions that allowed it to travel on land and sea were upgraded and merged, creating new functions and abilities. It's engine was upgraded to give the vehicle a huge speed boost, allowing them to catch up to the racers quickly.

The students also added a number of offensive functions to the vehicle, such as a missile launcher that was upgraded by merging two functions together to allow for greater range, power and accuracy, a laser cannon that had been upgraded by combining the offensive functions of three different vehicles and a forcefield function that was merged from the defensive functions of multiple vehicles. With all these new functions, the vehicle would now be able to keep up with and outperform most of the other racers. The vehicle would be able to move through the air, water and land, making it the ultimate vehicle.

But the vehicle was not the only thing being enhanced. The students had managed to use their powers to upgrade themselves as well. The enhancements were subtle and didn't alter their appearance too drastically. But their abilities and strength were increased greatly.

"Time for a test drive. Unleash the laser. dead-on." Alpha wanted to use the laser right away. By now, she knew how this underwater section would end, having a good inkling as to what the line of fire would be. The other students nodded in understanding, aiming the cannon directly in front of the vehicle and unleashing it.

As the Quantum Beam traveled, it left a massive trail of energy, vaporizing anything that got caught in the blast. The beam continued on until it struck a massive wall of rock, vaporizing it in an instant and leaving behind a large hole. The hole caused the water to start flowing in a massive rush, forming a giant whirlpool that started to suck everything around it in.

As the racers started to near the end of this underwater area, they were surprised by the sound of a massive whirlpool that had started to form behind them. It was massive, and was pulling a lot of water in it's direction. As it started to suck everything in its path, some racers tried to stay ahead of it by going faster. Some of the Pokemon started to panic, seeing the giant whirlpool coming in fast. The whirlpool continued to suck everything in, causing the water around the racers to become choppy and violent.

"What the?!" Ash looked back at this massive whirlpool and the trail of energy that came with it. He could tell that the energy was powerful, but he had no idea what it came from. "This isn't good! We have to go faster! Everyone!" He urged to his team and to the other competitors. It wasn't hard for the others to understand what was going on. The whirlpool was getting faster by the second. They couldn't waste any time trying to figure out what was going on, they just had to keep moving.

However, some Pokemon couldn't go faster. Those who were tired out, those who weren't used to underwater environments, and even some who couldn't keep up. These Pokemon were getting sucked into the whirlpool as it moved closer to the other racers. Some of them were even caught in the current, being dragged towards the whirlpool and sucked into its depths.

Goodra's heart sank. He couldn't just leave them. He stopped in his tracks. "Goooooo!" He roared.

"Goodra!?" Spike said. He had to get Goodra out of there. He couldn't let him go down like this. But as soon as he went to save them, approaching the massive whirlpool, the aftershock of the Quantum Ray went off, letting out one last Quantum Outburst

A blinding light emerged, promptly approaching Goodra. The Dragon-Type's eyes widened at this Quantum Light and before he knew it, his body was enveloped by this energy while Spike watched in absolute shock and horror.

As the journey continues.

Chapter 686 End.