TwilightXTwilight/Ash Story

"I put everyone in harms way. Everyone... it's all my fault. My fault! My fault!" 
- Ash, believing that Cloud has died
 
Ash's Story of TwilightXTwilight is one of 3 major storylines in the game. Following the main characters of Clouds Story from the previous game ,Ash and Sofia on his own due to Cloud's possible death and Sun/Moon just vanishing. The quest of this story is to find 8 alternate melodies to create a new melody. 
In a complete reversal from the previous game, this story follows a more straight forward path while the other major story (Lightning Story) follows a more non-linear approach allowing much more freedom in the middle of its story. 
== Chapter 1 (Fears Brought to Life) ==
Upon waking up in a swamp, Ash discovers Clouds sword sticking around in the mud. He gets up and looks around, calling his comrades name. However, he realizes that Cloud must have perished. Sofia gets up and tells Ash what had happened.
Upon looking some more, they discover that Sun/Moon has also disappeared under the circumstances. Ash realizes that he had been lied to and used by that weird guy. The only others known to have been capable of defeating him with their help (Team Lightning/Nate) are most likely dead because of them and now he's on his own.
However, he hears a voice in his head. Queen Mary tells the two that they must recollect 8 out of the original 16 melodies and the order they get them in will create another melody. Though confused, Ash agrees.
Ash checks his Pokemon collection to discover that he has lost his Pokemon belt and they all seem to have been killed. Now, Ash has to recollect his Pokemon. However, Queen Mary assures him that she has one of three starters [Totodile, Snivy ,Charmander) . After choosing one of the 3, to test his strength, Queen Mary quickly throws which ever Pokemon that has its advantage over yours after you and you battle.
After you win, she explains that this was done in order to test your worthiness. She sends Ash and Sofia on their first quest. To a town that had been taken over by Team Gaia during the events of the previous game. Nea [Town] is under complete oppression by Team Gaia 
However, coming into the town, they are quickly attacked by Team Gaia officials. Sofia and Ash's Pokemon manage to take them down but the high ranking Commander in [What they call] Section class A pulls out a secret weapon: Meganyan! 
After defeating him, Sofia comes across two sisters Lei and Ky (pronounced Lie and Kay). Lei is more brash and wants justice for her town while Ky is more peaceful and quiet.
Though Sofia also agrees that they should quickly take the town back from Team Gaia, Ash doesn't want to cause any trouble at the moment since they do not have all their weapons. 
As they head out to buy weapons, an old man begins muttering how they should have some hope now since Team Gaia has proved that they aren't invincible in the face of troublesome opponents.
Ash suddenly blacks out and has a vision of the events at Team Gaia's tower (In which Red quickly defeated Team Gaia's leader with Pikachu). Ash wakes up in an inn which is led by a girl named Erinn (From Dragon Quest 9) who tells him not to do that again.
Team Gaia enforces a curfew on the people of Nea so Sofia and Ash are forced to stay at the inn for the night. Sofia quietly laments the fate of Sun/Moon while Ash thinks about their next move. He suggests heading out back to Doragon Mountain to attack "That Weird Guy" in order to avenge Cloud... but he isn't confident that he can do that yet.
The next day, they ask around for any information on any 16 melodies. However, they are warned to watch out because Team Gaia and Team Rocket V2 are currently at war searching for the melodies.
As they begin to head out to their next location, they are attacked by Team Gaia, who discover that the town holds the Earth Crystal. Though Ash and Sofia have no clue what they are talking about, they go and attack them with what little they have.
Suddenly, GaiaMew attacks the party, knocking them out. However, after they lose, the real Mewtwo attacks GaiaMew, blowing it up. 
Mewtwo rescues Ash and Sofia (As well as the rest of the village) and explain to Ash and Sofia that it was the one that rescued them at the end of the previous game. It managed to save the entire team except for Sun/Moon who slipped from its hold. However, Cloud was on some sort of spiritual trip and was possibly never coming back if he never balanced his mind.
Ash is still disappointed, realizing that it's still his fault that his friend is possibly mind broken. They finally get to say goodbye to Nea (But not before Lei says goodbye) and they head on their way.
== Chapter 2 (Growing Pains) ==
They begin on their quest towards the next town, Zirith. 
In Zirith, they are one of the few cities not undergoing any major conflicts from outside the town. However, it is going on from within the town. The people of Zirith are being oppressed by their leaders and so they have been putting together a plan to free themselves. However, because Ash and Sofia randomly find themselves in the middle of a conflict, they are both thrown into jail.
Noticing how Ash is a Pokemon trainer, the warren of the prison jokingly decides to free both Ash and Sofia is they can beat him in a Pokemon battle (Just to prove his strength to the other rebels in the prison). He invites Ash and Sofia out, where he reveals his Pokemon: Litten. 
Ash easily defeats the warren and even steals his Litten (Who was under abuse) just to prove his point. The warren tries to back out of his deal, but Ash and Sofia escape and help the rebels get out of the jail.
As they make their way out of jail, they immediately charge towards the mayors house and take down all guards before confronting the leader. He steps down and the rebels fix their town.
After doing that, the people of Zirith ask if their is anything else they can do for the group. They ask about any sacred melodies but the town says that their neighboring one (Miles away), Fava, has one. Ash and Sofia decide to head out towards their next location.
However, they are told to lookout for a group of bandits known as simply "Virus". As they head out though, they are immediately attacked by an army of "Virus" 
They are almost overwhelmed too. However, they are saved by a little girl who shows up out a nowhere.
With some mysterious power, she destroys the entire army of "Virus" that had attacked the duo.
After this, she stops and introduces herself. Her name is Paula, she had randomly appeared in this world and was told to seek out the three named Sun/Moon, Ash and Sofia.
Though their dwindling numbers confuses her at first, Paula agrees to join the two on their mission of gathering the other melodies. 
 As the group begins anew, they find themselves in another town. Fava is a trading hub in the middle of the mountains and home to a mysterious shrine. Here, Paula finds herself accidentally crossing paths with an older girl who says she's looking around for a group of children.
She gives a description of the group (Which is awfully close to that of Team Awakening) but Paula automatically assumes that this girl is trying to join their cause and so she asks if she's hunting anything down.
 Though quiet about what she is looking for, she says yes and joins the group. She introduces herself as Alena, a tomboy princess from far away. She joins the group who begin asking around for questions on the shrine that holds their next melody. 
Alena brings up the fact that another person was supposed to be in the area looking for another batch of kids with a similar description to theirs.
Ash worries about who this is as they figure out the area of the next shrine.
When they reach the location of the shrine, a man in all black with jet black hair stands outside of the dungeon, awaiting the groups arrival. Right away, he runs at the group and attacks them.
They barely manage to beat him off when he stops. He introduces himself as Noctis and says that he was looking for a group like them. He says he was recruited to join because of this groups dwindling party. 
Noctis shows that he has a weapon that allows him to enter dungeons like the Shrine they are entering. He also explains that the dungeon is called "The Shrine of the Lost" because of the people buried around the Shrine during a war from hundreds of years ago. Noctis seems to be a very odd addition to the team so far, but Alena is convinced that the boy is in the group for a reason.
They enter the dungeon, which is filled with enemies like Skeletons, Restless Armour, Stone Golems, Whisper, Komasan, and other ghost monsters.
Sofia is surprised by all of the suddenly appearing ghost like enemies but Noctis says it's normal. Alena and Paula also seem unfazed by the amount of ghostly spirits in the room.
Eventually, they find themselves in a dark empty room. In this room, a random spirit appears and reveals himself as General Leo of the Carnic Empire
His spirit is restless and it attempts to devour the main characters minds. After another boss battle, the group manage to defeat the spirit of General Leo who quickly apologizes before revealing the past of Carnia.
He was a young commander for the ever growing Carnic Empire that would swallow the land of others. However, during their siege of Fava and other land surrounding it, he watched as they lit ablaze the cities, killed thousands of innocent men, women and children before raising his flags army.
At first, it all seemed normal before suddenly, a giant pure red dragon came from the sky and burned his army to the ground leaving only him to combat the monster. During the battle, the dragon kept reminding him of his mistakes and the terrible things his army had done.
He argued that it was done just to reunite the already collapsing continent under one flag. However, he was killed during the battle. In the end, he left his weapons and armor behind so a specific someone could collect the items (Called Royal Arms) and claim Carnia for themselves.
This someone... was Noctis. 
After this, he gives Noctis his Royal Arms, Noctis becomes stronger and reveals that he had been called upon by Queen Mary in order to join their group along with Paula and Alena. They have all been training together for a while. General Leo also gives Ash and Sofia their first melody which he knew they needed.
He also says that Ash and Sofia have earned the respect of Queen Mary and they will not truly be alone on their quest. 
== Chapter 3 (Tensions Build) ==
A while later, they end up in Nera. Nera currently is at war with another village known as Octaris. Meanwhile, their village is being surrounded by all sides. Though Ash and Sofia consider helping the village, they are framed for spies and thrown into a dungeon. This place is called the palace of Secrets. As they search around inside, they are attacked by mysterious enemies. When they reach the end of a dark tunnel, Ash finds a music box and believes he has found their next melody. However, once he opens it, a VIRUS attacks them and takes the form of Ness, Lightning, Nate and Cloud. 
After defeating it, it dissipates and the group is given the next melody and freed from the dungeon. However, upon escaping, they realize that the entire village has been lit ablaze and everyone in it is now dead.
Ash is shocked by this outcome of these events and Sofia has a flashback to the death of everyone in her village. However, the others seem to not be very shocked about the outcome and insist they continue. 
Next up, they come across another shrine which Noctis opens. This one is titled "Shrine of Perseverance." They discover why. The shrine is like a maze with puzzles that need to be solved to get through. Though tricky, the group manages to make it through the problems. At the end, their isn't a boss but instead, the 3rd melody is right their waiting for them.
They finally collect their 3rd melody quickly and head outside. Noctis questions if they were supposed to get ambushed like they do in every palace or shrine they go to but Paula tells him not to bother with it and they should be glad that they are okay. However, even Queen Mary admits that this isn't regular and to be prepared.
That is when they are suddenly attacked by Red!
Though the others want to fight him, Ash claims that this is his battle and his battle alone and Red challenges Ash to a Pokemon battle. 
Realizing that this encounter may be different from the previous one, Red pulls his wild card and reveals his final Pokemon: Pikachu. 
Ash is shocked by this revelation. Ash has had his Pokemon this entire time. Ash demands that Red give Pikachu back, but he refuses proclaiming that he has him to protect him. After being defeated Ash questions Red, asking him what he has to protect Pikachu from. Red turns around and responds saying that he's protecting Pikachu from people like him... 
 Ash is completely devastated at this revelation. It's clear though. Pikachu still does remember Ash and wishes to join his team once more. However, Red puts him in his ball (Which is utterly shocking to Ash considering that Pikachu could never be put inside a Pokeball before) and runs off. 
 Though, in the Red retreats and the group is left baffled. Ash then turns around and questions how Red is still alive considering Team Lightning should have all been killed by Clouds black materia. 
Sofia suggests the idea that they are still alive and they begin heading out. Queen Mary than explains the situation. Team Lightning is somewhat alive but is currently falling apart. However, they are going on their own quest so it'd be best if they didn't cross paths with them as to interrupt it. She also explains that another group of kids are on a quest she specifically has made them go on. 
Queen Mary claims that she has something planned... 
The group make their way to another Shrine around Tameka Lake and attempt to enter. However, it will not open up for the group. They decide to go to the town next to the shrine. 
Here, people are still shaking in fear over the loss of a dozen ships not very long before. Though the group does not come to the town to discuss any urban legends with the town folks and they simply ask about the shrine east of the town. 
Some of the town folks point out that it is hard to get open. Noctis and Alena go back to the shrine to try again, however they notice Team Rocket V2 outside of the town. Right as the two go out to attack, they discover that this was actually an illusion and they are attacked by a horde of "Virus". 
Ash, Sofia and Paula arrive to help them back away but the fight pushes them off to the lake. This is when they discover what is directly behind them... A Mega Gyarados... 
The group fight the now on land Pokemon. After defeating it, the Pokemon simply retreats. The group try to asses what had just happened before turning around and noticing that the shrine they were unable to enter is now glowing a bright blue and the door is left wide opened. The group quickly head inside of the shrine. 
The Shrine (Shrine of Mind and Peace) holds puzzles (Similar to that of the Zelda series) that the main characters must solve to continue on through. 
When they eventually make it through the shrine though, they notice that there is no item at the end of the dungeon. The group turns around and notices who is standing behind them. Gilgamesh. 
He proclaims that he has arrived to steal the next melody and kill them. A boss battle ensues. Gilgamesh has multiple swords and he uses these to his advantage to keep the main characters busy. 
However, Team Ash manage to defeat him with relative ease and take the 4th melody. 
== Chapter 4 (More Knowledge) ==
After defeating Gilgamesh in a surprisingly easy battle, he reveals that he was sent their to assassinate the group by someone named Baramos. Suddenly, a voice comes overhead and reveals his plan. He is going to take advantage of Queen Marys waning power and take over all of Magicant on his own.
The group is surprised and decides to hurry up with their quest to help Queen Mary. The next melody is supposed to be on an island name Panola. The group quickly make their way that way. 
They take the nearest ferry. As they take the ferry, they're warned of some sort of monster currently attacking the village. However, this is called out as a rumor and they eventually arrive at Panola Island. 
Panola Island is a pretty large village with with a giant mountain reigning over it. A lot of Pokemon inhabit this island to the excitement of Ash. Sofia takes note of Ash's newfound excitement as he had spent a lot of the game being more or less stuck in a depressed state, 
The arrive at Manala Harbor where they are allowed to collect new items before continuing onto their quest. 
Some hints point them in the direction south, which is where recent disappearances of random people have said to have been occurring randomly over a period of a week.
Before leaving though, a random lady hands out free Poke Balls and encourages the mains to all find and collect some Pokemon for their quest.
After encountering and catching some, they find themselves near the southern tip of the 2nd highest mountain. They find the ruins of what seems to be a mine shaft and Noctis quickly takes affirmative and jumps inside.
Inside, they keep hearing this unusually loud heart-beating sound. they find ash and bones. Sofia is quick to connect these with the disappearances of all those random people.
Paula is mortified at the thought of all those people getting kidnapped and killed. Before they can further investigate, Noctis manages to find a Royal Tomb that reads:Long live our King who fought to protect our people, even if it was for naught, he still sacrificed. It confused the group but Noctis takes it anyways.
Suddenly though, the ground begins shaking and the whole place begins to cave right on in on itself. 
The group quickly escapes and tries to come up with results. So apparently people were being kidnapped and the cave in where they had been hidden. Something had either burned the kidnapped or eaten them. Something like that.
The group quickly make their way up north back to Manala Harbor and warn the mayor. They go to tell him in public but he shrugs it off before asking them to coke to his office.
In private, he admits that he should've seen this coming. An old prophecy is coming to life. Centuries before hand, the island was thriving with a large and sprawling population only for it to be destroyed by a dragon. 
At least 98% of the population was eradicated including the king who tried to stop all from going wrong. The dragon vanished after this and the island was rediscovered and repopulated only decades back. Only the mayor and a select few others knew this, trying to hunt down the dragon in secret. However, it literally vanished without a trace. Recently, the mayors daughter was kidnapped and they've been frantically trying to search for her.
Alena speculates those who are kidnapped are eaten and used as fuel so the dragon can regain energy and go back to destroying the island. 
This worries the mayor who quickly decides to make evacuation preparations. However, Noctis claims he and his friends can probably take out the dragon before he reaches full power.
The mayor warns then that they have to find it first before they can kill it and since even they haven't found it yet, they doubt they'll even catch it. Ash reveals that he did hear a heart beating sound while in the caves, speculating that it's hiding in the cave system.
Team Ash quickly rush back to the leveled cave along with the mayor. Ash uses a rock type Pokemon to move all of the rock and dirt out of the way and look through the cavern. 
After rummaging through the dungeons, even finding some survivors, they eventually come across Dragon who has been awaiting them. 
Currently, it has been recharging its energy in order to continue its growth. At this moment though, it reveal that it already has the ability to reduce the island to nothingness once more but has been saving its energy for a funner goal: 
Destroying everything! 
Team Ash quickly takes affirmative and the battle begins. 
The Dragon is defeated and ponders on how a bunch of lowly children could do such damage on him. Ash recites that they aren't just children, they are children picked by Queen Mary in order to save this world. 
The Dragon is slain by Noctis. The mayor reunites with the cast, realizing that his daughter might be dead after all. Ash apologizes for his loss, saying that he wishes they could have done something about it. 
Before they leave though, Ash suddenly gains another melody from hearing the Dragons final screech. Knowing their quest in the area is over, they begin to leave Panola island. 
However, they are stopped when Noctis hears of a Royal Tomb nearby. While Alena and Paula believe they are unimportant parts of their quest, Noctis disagrees and demands that they head towards the next shrine. 
Apparently, it's around the mountain. Fortunately, the recently built Route 1 is around it. While on their way though, they are attacked by a small unit of Team Gaia. While this unit is a easy pushover, their leader isn't. 
She reveals herself as Stella, someone which Noctis finds familiar. 
She warns Team Ash that if they get in the way of their plans though, she will not hesitate to stop them. Before she makes her departure though, Noctis questions who she is. However, she turns back around and attacks Noctis.
Even Noctis wins, she uses a final attack to wipe him out. She makes her leave while Paula revives Noctis. He says she seems to resemble of friend of his (Lady Lunafrey) and he was questioning whether that was her or not.
== Chapter 5 (Puzzling Thoughts) ==
Soon enough, they continue on their way through Route 1 where they end up at an entrance to a desert. 
The maze like desert ends when they find the Royal Tomb. In the royal tomb, they find a small puzzle filled dungeon. At the end, they find the tomb. However a note is left right next to the spot where the tomb is.
As Ash rushes to quickly read it, the room suddenly lightens up and a loud screeching sound is heard. Ash is attacked by a large Pokemon. 
His pokedex has no current info on the Pokemon, but Paula manages to recognize it as Tapu Koko, a guardian deity Pokemon. 
Ash continues his fight with it nevertheless and is defeated as it vanishes from the battle field. 
The group remains confused, but suddenly it drops a the 6th melody. The group rejoices, knowing that their quest is almost completely complete. They head back to the mainland. 
Back on the mainland, they land in the town of Rina. Right when they get there, they notice something about the place is off. It only takes them 10 minutes to run straight into Stella and her unit of Team Gaia. She reveals that they are holding onto the final melody. 
Tauntingly, she tells the group to "come and get it" and they battle. Noctis is still majorly confused, questioning if he's seen the girl. However, she assures him that she is different than "her".
He is left confused with this comment. Stella's team ends up defeated in the end and they hand over the final melody. The group rejoice. Alena attempts to contact Queen Mary but fails to do so. She almost begins panicking, however Paula believes Queen Mary is alive, just they need a better signal. 
Paula and Alena both combine their powers and at once contact magicant. However, they get no direct answer from Queen Mary. The group is baffled and for a few moments really don't know what to do. 
Ash and Sofia set down their collected melodies together just so they can at least hear the tune. After it finishes playing though, they notice a shooting star in the sky. 
However, Sofia quickly realizes that it isn't a shooting star and pushes Paula out of the way of the bright light that nearly runs her over. This shooting star was actually a train. Out of the train comes a small fairy girl who calls herself Stella. 
Noctis suggests that they just call her Sandy from now on considering that they also have somebody to look out for that is also named Stella...
She explains that the hidden melody that they created was nessisary to bring them (And a few others) to Magicant. For a moment, the group is in complete shock knowing that they can now travel to Magicant. 
They all board the train and in seconds, they blast off. Sandy admits that she really doesn't know how to pilot the train well considering she's only recently taken over for her boss, Sterling (Who went missing). 
As the train is speeding up, it suddenly stops in the middle of the air. Confused at first, Noctis steps outside of the train (Which was parked safely inbetween dimensions...) and notices something in front of the train, preventing it from going on. 
Pulling his sword out of the front... Is a blonde mercenary. His eyes are in a different shade leading Ash to believe that this is just a clone of Cloud Strife. 
Ash knows what he has to do and fights him with his Pokemon. However, his team is defeated and Cloud attacks him. Quickly, Noctis comes to the rescue and fights Cloud. 
The two duel. Noctis ends up neutralizing the clone. However, it is quickly revealed that this is the true Cloud Strife. He says he has no memory of what was going on but he believes somebody most likely hijacked his memory in order to prevent them from arriving. 
== Chapter 6 (Magicant) ==
On the train, he reunites with Ash and Sofia and they catch him up to speed on the events that have gone on since he and Sun/Moon vanished. Cloud also explains what went on. He tells them that Mewtwo was the one who rescued them from sudden death and that he had to go through a series of trials in order to get his memories back AND put his mind and body back together. After he did that, he met up with a kid named Lucas and together they attempted to protect Magicant for a while. 
Sofia asks if he knows Sun/Moons whereabouts. However, he admits that he doesn't even know if they're alive or not. Sofia says she's fine with the results but walks to the back of the train and begins sobbing. 
Eventually the reach magicant (Where the game transforms into a 2D 8/16 bit environment). The land has been covered in almost complete darkness, leaving the group to wonder of the fate of Queen Mary. Sofia wants to rush the main castle, not wanting to lose her. 
However, they are assured that she is currently fine by a young boy guarding the station. He explains that once Queen Mary dies, Magicant will disappear meaning that currently the place is fine. 
This doesn't help them much though. Ash wonders what their goal currently is. The boy admits that unlike the other groups, they don't really have much of a purpose outside of the melodies, which he explains were used to summon the Starflight Express. 
Cloud asks about the other teams where the boy explains that another team has been collected crystals in order to restore balance to Magicant while he hasn't heard about this "third" group of children. 
Sofia decides that it'd be best if they go to protect Queen Mary and thus they decide to depart with the kid. Before they go though, he asks them to play all of the melodies they find to him before they go which they do. 
As they leave, he somberly admits that the song reminds him of his mother... 
The group begin to head to the Castle... 
== Trivia ==
* Stella is (or at the very least based on) the original version of Luna from Final Fantasy XV
Category:Vision Studios
Category:Story Modes
Category:Storylines
Category:Dragon Quest (series)
Category:TwilightXDawn series
Category:Awakening Series