Previously on Oranges to Grapes...
Just as everyone else did during the last few chapters, Balto and Eartha walked and talked about what their Treasure Hunt treasures was or would be before they arrived at their last dome, defeated a challenging gate guardian, removed said dome, unlocked new powers due to overwhelming emotions, and used them to defeat their last Diamant and gain their final Prime Tera Jewel and a legendary talisman...
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Now that every last crystal dome was finally removed from the Paldea region, restoring it to its former glory, all that was left for the Pomegranetes to do was return to Mesagoza and restore the last type icons with the Prime Tera Jewels they earned. But, there was only one problem: Hilda had already clocked out of her shift, so the Flying Taxi couldn't pick them up. Finding no other option, all three groups had no choice but to go on foot... or so it seemed.
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Starting with Pico and Dina on Glaseado Mountain, Grusha also offered to give them a ride down the mountain on the back of his Altaria as thanks for liberating his Gym from the turquoise dome, which they accepted graciously. Once they settled into its soft, comfy cotton-like down, the majestic bird spread its wings and soared as far as the Pokemon Center in Zapapico just outside of Dalizapa Passage. It was a simple matter of stopping for extra Fresh Water bottles for Dina's gill-buds, leaving the town and continuing to Mesagoza.
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Camilla, Rosita and Jessica faced a similar problem, for on the islet in Casseroya Lake, they seemed surrounded by water for miles, until the bunny remembered her Cyclizar as well as the two Spirits of Ruin with her bodyguards. She then formulated a plan that involved all three female anthros riding the mount Pokemon, with Conner and Leopold inside makeshift sidecars made from vines and ice. Fortunately, the warmth from three bodies offset the cold from the bowls, and the group took off over the water and back to their destination, the ETA of which got faster when the bowls broke apart.
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As for Balto and Eartha, luck happened to be on their side, for one of the Team Star members they saved from the citrine dome revealed they were related to one of the different Flying Taxi drivers and were willing to call in a favor to thank them for saving the squad. It took a few seconds, but they were soon at the front gate of Mesagoza, ready to meet up with the others...
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Eventually the group was gathered back up at their usual meetup spot, and cyan and orange sparkles shimmered towards the outer circle, where the Ice and Fighting-type logos were restored, freeing up the front entrance to the central plaza all the way. All that was left was to return to the Battle Court in that plaza, where the Ice, Fighting and Dragon-type logos were restored, completing the ring.
"Whew!" Pico huffed before regarding the group. "Congratulations, everyone. We did it."
"Indeed you have," another voice said, and the group turned around to find...
"Chairwoman Geeta!" Balto greeted. "Excellent timing! We were just about to report that we finally cleared out the crystal domes around Paldea... all 18 of them, as evidenced by the Battle Court's ring restored to its colorful former beauty."
"I am aware of those accomplishments, Balto," Geeta confirmed, "and I thank you all dearly. To paraphrase a former leader from long ago, the Paldea region is very lucky to have you all, and so am I."
"Our pleasure, Chairwoman," Camilla said. "We're just happy that because of us, the Treasure Hunt can continue without a hitch... not just for us, but for ALL students of the Foremost World-Renowned Pokemon Academy of Paldea."
"Actually," Geeta said, making the soundtrack's record scratch, "nice as that sentiment is, while the Treasure Hunt can continue, there is one catch. You are simply unaware of it because you do not have any of your own, I cannot imagine why... but another reason I am here is to inform you of a situation regarding Tera Orbs around Paldea. Observe."
The tall, thin woman then took out her Rotom Phone and showed the crowd a collection of videos showing most of the Gym Leaders competing with students for their Badges, but when the time came to Terastalize their Pokemon, what happened was this: the Trainer in question would say their dramatic one-liner and take out their Tera Orb... but no sparkles would gather into it, causing them to exclaim, "What's going on here?" Then the other side would see it as an opening and try to Terastalize their Pokemon, but the same thing would happen to them, too. Before anyone could see what happened afterwards, the video ended, and Geeta put the device back in her pocket.
"No!" Balto exclaimed. "All the Tera Orbs in Paldea are malfunctioning and ceasing to work!"
"Ah! Aahh!" Camilla squeamed. "We're too late! Now no one will enjoy enrolling in the Academy anymore!"
But just when all seemed lost, something mysterious happened. All 18 Prime Tera Jewels came out of hiding and floated in midair, surprising everyone who witnessed it. Then, the hexagonal gemstones separated from the headbands, and the jewels themselves quickly rammed into each other, crashing into tiny shards!
"AAAHHHH!!!" the Hell-Sent girls cried out in shock!
But still, the phenomena continued as the shards collected together into a new jewel that resembled a 19th hexagonal gem... then more shards coalesced onto that gem to form a long, headless neck and four pointed legs while the headbands unlatched and bunched together below it... morphing into a luminous crown with colorful rhombuses decorating it. Finally, as the original 18 gems hovered closer into a circle below the crown, the last of the shards merged into the Terastal symbol above the whole thing... and a pair of eyes opened on the end of the neck and regarded the crowd.
"Camilla Otore, Pico Hatsuki, and Balto Mijuumi," the same mysterious voice from every time a Prime Tera Jewel was earned spoke, "thank you for restoring my true form to its fullest glory. Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Crown of Light, the purified form of the Dooctohedron... but you may refer to me... as Terry."
That last word struck a familiar note to the Pomegranetes. "Terry..." Camilla said before piping up in realization. "Wait! Are you the one who spoke to me in my dreams to warn me of Terastalization being gone?"
"I am," Terry confirmed.
"Wait," Pico added, "I was warned of Terastalization being gone by a Terry in my dreams, too!"
"So was I!" Balto tacked on. "I remember that I was inside a honeycomb of light, and one of the sections came to me to tell me of the problem, but he also said that I could be able to avenge it..."
"With an object we gained from our hardship," all three Pomegranetes said in unison.
"He was talking about our crystal scepters we got from stopping those sleeper agent Diamants," Pico confirmed, "but now mine's been turned into a legendary talisman."
"So have ours!" Camilla and Balto said as the three students presented their talismans to each other.
"You are all correct," Terry confirmed. "But allow myself to explain. Four years prior to the start of this school year, I was the guardian spirit of Area Zero, watching over the last Terapagos in the region's heart. But when Terapagos was captured by the latest Champion of the time, I took it upon myself to surface from the Great Crater and oversee its care from its new Trainer. Fortunately, it was being raised with kindness and love, but I could not say the same for any of the other Trainers I witnessed. After the presence of the Stellar type had been revealed to the world, Trainers were scrabbling, scrapping, quibbling, quarrelling, and just plain bickering for a Pokemon of their own that had that as their Tera Type, wanting to abuse its powers. The very idea of such a crime threw me into complete disgust and horror, and my heart was closed off to the idea of turning the populace to a more peaceful, gratifying path. So I returned to Area Zero and gave myself in to the corruption I was exposed to, renaming myself under my newly-minted identity, the Dooctohedron."
"Oh, no..." the crowd said.
"Indeed," Terry continued. "And as the Dooctohedron, I decided that if I couldn't discourage the populace from its current path, I might as well, as you all say nowadays, 'give the monster what it wants.' So I used my powers to ebb the flow of Terastal energy from Area Zero and create an abundance of crystal dens, wanting to challenge the populace to sate its appetite. At first, I decided to give them weak, 1-star dens to see if they would, as you all say nowadays, 'take the bait,' and they did. Once they did, I imprinted the victors' personalities in empty vessels to create Diademons, personifications of their evil ways to eventually use against them in the future so they would, as you all say nowadays, 'get a taste of their own medicine.'"
"Uh," Pico piped up, "with all due respect, Terry, you said 'as you all say nowadays' 3 times already."
"Because there are a lot of phrases used to describe certain concepts in this day and age," Terry explained, "and you will hear me say those words more, so do not interrupt."
"Sorry."
"As I was saying," Terry continued, "after the first wave of Diademons were created, an idea came to me. If I could make Diademons from mere 1-star dens, imagine how great they could be if I used dens with higher ratings. So I sent 2-star dens to the surface, then 3-star dens, and so on and so forth. And the Trainers, as you all say nowadays, 'gobbled them up like candy.' However, little did I know that creating dens with more stars required more energy to be sent to the surface, but I was not concerned because, as you all say nowadays, 'there was plenty more where that one came from.' It was not long before I eventually had the gall to send the maximum amount of energy I could to create 7-star black crystal dens, containing only the strongest possible Pokemon with only the most challenging values. Surely they could put a damper on the Trainers' behaviors, and if not, result in the strongest creations of my own, on a far greater scale than the Diademons."
Camilla raised her paw, and Terry looked her way before she guessed, "The Diamants?"
"Indeed so," Terry confirmed. "They would be labled as my master generals, clad in magnificent fabric from one of my own precious treasures: a quilt from an ancient, distant land, lost and forgotten to time... but I digress. Despite all possible odds, even the black crystal dens were conquered, I have no idea how, and I had the personalities for the Diamants, but as a result, Area Zero had no more energy for me to send to the surface because, as you all say nowadays, 'the battery ran out of juice.' All of the crystal in the region's heart lost their light, became dull and brittle, and disintegrated into diamond dust. Refusing to let go of my precious home, I concentrated as much diamond dust as I could into a large, 18-faceted gemstone and made it my solid form, cementing my identity as the Dooctohedron. When the rest of the dust cleared, I looked upon all the Diademons I amassed, and finding the amount I had satisfactory, I decided to, as you all say nowadays, 'set things in motion.' So I gathered my creations, and led them through a tunnel to the surface that was opened from the crystal being removed, but I realized that in their current form, the Diademons would, as you all say nowadays, 'stick out like a sore thumb.' So I used my powers of light to disguise them as the people their personalities were from, and sent them adrift on a boat they fashioned together from wood and paper they collected."
"Uh, quick question?" Balto asked with his paw raised. "What made you think of the trigger phrase to dispell their disguises?"
"Actually, I did not," Terry admitted. "They must have thought of that during the boat ride. Anyways, once the Diademons were back at the shores, I was settled back into Area Zero with the Diamants, pleased with my work and confident that the error of the Trainers' ways would be corrected. But, skip ahead to the present, and two of my Diademons return to Area Zero to report that my plan had been wrong, which made me, as you all say nowadays, 'blow my stack!' Overwhelmed by wrath, I gathered every last dittle of diamond dust in all of Area Zero, including my Diamants and my precious quilt, deciding that Paldea was beyond saving and was doomed to be culled unless at least one person in all of Paldea with a certain sense of values could stop all 18 of my Diamants: a hero, a savior, a paragon of greatness; a Pokemon Trainer who stood for growth, friendship, and adventure. Imagine my surprise when I happened to find three!"
That statement made the Pomegranetes beam with pride before Terry continued with regret, "But, that decision did not come to me until after I, as you all say nowadays, 'had time to cool down,' and saw the error of my ways. I had let fear, disgust and anger control my mind for too long, and put all of Paldea, guilty and innocent, in a situation that was now beyond my control. Sadly, I cannot undo what has been done, but as I have said before, I can give you all the means to rebuild from the old wastes... and that is where your talismans come in. Present them, and I shall give you the means to find a fresh start."
The Pomegranetes did so, and the objects hovered away from them and closer to Terry while surrounded in rainbow light.
"Behold, as I build the means for Paldea to begin again!" Terry announced as he arranged the talismans together. "By combining the Round of Friendship, the Chimes of Maturity, and the Natural Jewel lit by the promise of new discovery, I give you... the Terastal Tambourine!"
As the completed item hovered before the Pomegranetes, they stood in awe as their eyes sparkled with wonder. "So this is what the talismans are pieces of!" Balto exclaimed with his tail wagging and his tongue hanging out.
"Aye, fantastico..." Pico said in amazement.
"Amazing," Camilla added before her awe wore off and her curiosity set in. "But what does it do?"
"I thought no one would ask," Terry said. "I know for a fact that Paldea is not the only source of Terastal energy in this world. So I devised a plan to help locate those other sources and transfer their energy to Paldea to help restore its energy. Simply bring the Terastal Tambourine with you, and it will chime when you get close to a source."
"Okay," Camilla supposed. "But how do we transfer the energy to Paldea when we find one of the sources?"
"I am afraid that I can only tell you once you do," Terry admitted, "but fear not. I shall guide you in your search, but for now, I must rest. I am rather winded from explaining all that I have, so I must go and, as you all say nowadays, 'recharge my batteries.'" The self-proclaimed Crown of Light then rose into the sky, leaving the central plaza, Mesagoza, and eventually the Paldea region altogether, now hanging in the sky as a twinkling, colorful star...
No one said anything for twenty seconds, stunned at the events that unfolded before their eyes as the rest of the world carried on like normal. Finally, Camilla said, "Well, this has given us a lot to think about."
"Right, but let's focus on the positives first," Balto said. "We all proved that through teamwork and determination, we got rid of all the crystal domes in Paldea, so no more Pokemon or people will get trapped, no more Diademons will get made, PLUS, we put a remorseful crystal entity back together, and he gave us a present in his gratitude."
"All true, BUT," Pico stated, "now no one in Paldea can Terastalize their Pokemon anymore, and all we got was a tambourine." He then tried to shake it to make the chimes rattle, but they were stuck fast in place, so no sound came from it. "See? It doesn't even make music!"
"Hey! What about us!?" Eartha cried out, putting the Hell-Sent girls back in the conversation.
"Yeah, what do we look like, casserole hash!?" Dina griped.
"No, that's what WE would look like," Anton said as he and all the other Spirits of Ruin were mashed together, with him, Leopold and Conner mixed into a pile of mush while Bea was the fumes wafting from the pile.
"The whole point of us being involved was so we could earn access to Area Zero and face the source of the domes and strike it down," Jessica pointed out, "but he just admitted he was wrong and put himself out of our reach!"
"Not to mention the possibility of my Academy enrollment being reinstated," Rosita added, "but apparently, THAT'S never happening, either! All of this was just a big, fat, honkin' WASTE of effort over NOTHING!!!"
"Everyone, enough."
Geeta's infamous, commanding presence once again made itself known, but this time, it was aimed at her current audience: Pomegranetes, Hell-Sent girls, and Spirits of Ruin alike. "All is not lost yet," the Top Champion stated, "because I have some news that could benefit you all greatly. As this Crown of Light has said before, Paldea can have its Terastal energy restored with a transfer from an outside source, and fortunately, I happen to know the locations of two sources."
That put a hopeful smile on the Pomeganetes' faces.
"As for you, Rosita," Geeta continued, "while I still cannot allow you and your friends access to Area Zero, you have more than proven yourself worthy of rejoining the Academy's student body... under the condition that the others enroll with you." She then added with a wink at Eartha, "You Hell-Sent girls have to stick together, after all."
Yeah, I did say that, the fennec fox remembered.
"And between the seven of you and what you have accomplished thus far," Geeta concluded her speech with, "I am certain that restoring the Paldea region to its former status will be feasible for you."
"La Primera is right!" Camilla agreed. "We can bring Terastalization back to Paldea for its people and Pokemon! And with the help of her intel and the Terastal Tambourine, all we have to do to make it happen is to find the source, connect it to our homeland, and pour some of its energy back into the Great Crater!"
"Granted, it will take a lot of mileage to get there," Pico added, "and we'll probably run into some craziness along the way, but we can do it because the Crown of Light will guide us every step of the way!"
"Exactly!" Balto said. "And as long as we have each other and work together, we can still keep learning, and they can still keep teaching every life-affirming value the Foremost World-Renowned Pokemon Academy of Paldea has to offer!"
Everyone cheered at that speech, knowing that they can face anything the world throws at them now, and what could happen next would be no problem... but it'll have to wait until the next season because this one is over. Sorry not sorry!
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The end, for Season 1.
