The World's Greatest Team of Six

Chapters

Arrival
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 1
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 2
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 3
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 4
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 5
Six Degrees of Separation, Part 6
North by Southwest, Part 1
North By Southwest, Part 2
North by Southwest, Part 3
Terra Firma, Part 2
Sheer Cold, Part 1
Sheer Cold, Part 3
Starter Island
Terra Firma, Part 1
Sheer Cold, Part 2

Arrival

It was a few weeks after Twilight’s journey into the Human World, and saved Canterlot High from Sunset Shimmer's dastardly scheme. Things had returned to normalcy for the Mane Six, and they were ready to take on the future. But being friends with Twilight meant that things never stayed normal very long. The group were in Twilight’s laboratory, huddled around a tiny square of plastic resting on a table.

“So… this is the Mirror World’s idea of a game?” asked Rainbow Dash skeptically.

“Video game” corrected Twilight, “It’s like an arcade machine, only it’s portable and much more complex. This one’s the Pokemon game I was telling you about.”

“I do admire the space efficiency” commented Rarity, “but if you expect us to believe that an entire game can fit inside a postage stamp…”

Twilight explained, “The cartridge is sort of like an electrical brain. It’s full of tiny circuits and silicon-based compounds that remember everything you’ve done. These humans lack magic, but they make up for it in technology. It’s fascinating how they’ve managed to fit so much information into such a small package.”

The rest of the group was less fascinated. From what Twilight described, this “Pokemon” thing involved staring at a tiny screen and performing repetitive tasks. They all had jobs to do, and less sedentary hobbies to occupy their free time. Fluttershy had shown a brief interest in the idea of a game based on raising animals. However, her interest was quickly withdrawn after Twilight explained that these animals were being groomed for battle. Still, Twilight seemed pretty convinced that this was earth-shattering innovation, so the five agreed that it couldn't hurt to indulge her.

“In theory,” continued Twilight, “the opposite of the Mirror World should be true; I should be able to compensate for what we lack in technology, with magic.”

“That don’ sound quite right, sugarcube” said Applejack skeptically

“It’s tenuous, I admit” replied Twilight, “but it’s worth a try. What’s the worst that could happen? Now Rarity, I need you to join hooves with me, and focus as deeply as you can.”

“Well ok” said Rarity, slightly puzzled “but what for?”

“I tried doing this myself earlier, but I didn’t have enough magic in reserve.” explained Twilight, “I just need to borrow a little from you.”

“That sounds like a lot of concentrated magic” said Fluttershy nervous, “is it safe?”

“Of course it is” replied Twilight, “...probably. All my calculations said it was.”

“If you say so” said Fluttershy, not sounding completely convinced.

“Hey, if Twilight says it’s safe, then it’s safe ok?” said Rainbow Dash firmly

“Thank you Rainbow Dash” said Twilight, “but I suppose as a precaution, it would behoove all the non-unicorns to take a few steps back.”

The four such ponies obliged. Applejack jostled against a shelf. A large glass beaker resting on the shelf tipped onto its side and began rolling, unnoticed by all.

Rarity and Twilight joined hooves, and their horns began to glow. A bright light enveloped the game cartridge and it began to levitate. The duo tightened their concentration, blocking out the hum of Twilight’s machinery and the beads of sweat on their faces. The beaker continued its journey across the shelf.

“Almost there” whispered Twilight. At that moment, the glass flask reached the edge of the shelf, and plummeted to the floor. It landed with a monstrous CRASH, causing Rarity and Twilight’s eyes to fly open in alarm. The cartridge began shaking violently in midair, faster and faster until it was just a blur. A huge ring of light shot out from the cartridge, then collapsed back in as quickly as it came.

“Twilight, are you done with your experiment yet?” called Spike, poking his head in the door, “it’s getting close to dinnertime and I’m hung-” he stopped himself mid-sentence upon realizing he was alone in the room.

*****

The Mane Six winced in the bright sunlight overhead, a harsh adjustment for their eyes compared to the artificially-lit basement from whence they came. As they got to their feet, the felt the burning sand beneath them. Not too far away, they saw a shimmering blue ocean. It would have been a breathtaking sight to behold if not for the fact that they had no idea how they got there.

“Is everypony ok?” asked Twilight

Aside from the occasional scratch, none of them could really complain.

“What happened?” asked Rainbow Dash, “was the spell supposed to be so...violent?”

“I don’t think so” replied Twilight, “Maybe, when the magic got disrupted, I did a teleport spell by accident.” She knew that wasn’t it, but she’d take any rationalization to keep herself calm.

“Is that another pony over there?“ asked Fluttershy, pointing in the direction of the mainland.

In a meadow in the distance stood an off-white equine creature of some kind, grazing nonchalantly. It had pure black walnut-shaped eyes, and if the group didn’t know any better, they’d swear it looked like her mane and tail were on fire. Pinkie Pie started having a giggling fit,

“Twilight! She looks just like you when you get angry!”

“You wanna see just how similar it is?” replied Twilight cynically.

“Nopey! I’m gonna go make friends with her! If she’s mad, Pinkie Pie will make her glad!” She bounded over to the strange looking pony

“Hi!” said a chipper Pinkie Pie, “I’m Pinkie Pie and these are my friends.”

The pony ignored her and continued grazing

“How’s the grass? I never break the 5 second rule, unless it’s something really really yummy, like this one time I had this chocolate cupcake with vanilla swirl frosting, and lots and lots of sprinkles…”

The pony looked at her curiously with its head cocked.

“Um, do you speak English?” asked Pinkie Pie, wondering just how grumpy this pony was to be so quiet. She’d come across some tough cookies before, but even from Cranky she’d elicited some sort of a response,

“No matter” she said, pulling out her party cannon from offscreen, “because everypony speaks the language of PARTIES!” She hammered the button on the cannon, and it went off with a deafening blast and a cascade of streamers. The strange pony whinnied loudly and reared up in shock. It galloped off as fast as its legs could carry it.

“Well that was a great first impression.” said Rainbow sarcastically

“It’s not fault she’s such a grumpypants!” argued Pinkie Pie

The two continued to jabber, while Twilight pondered,

“I recognize that pony, I’ve seen her before” she said. “Rarity you know how the magic mirror sent me to an alternate dimension?”

“I do” replied Rarity

“Is it possible that other magical objects could do the same?”

“You would know better than I would, darling”

“Good point.”

“Where are you going with this, exactly?”

“I’m saying, that the rogue spell sucked us all into the game cartridge, and that the six of us are now in the Pokemon world!”

Author's Note

Their biggest mistake was saying "nothing could possibly go wrong" way too infrequently. I admit, I goosed up Twilight's magic quite a bit, but to be fair she is a princess how and we don't know for sure how much of a boost that'll entail until season 4.

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 1

Fluttershy was trudging through the murky swampland. She would have preferred something gentler like the meadow, but it scared her when Twilight got angry, so she opted for the path that put the most distance between the two of them, and followed the road wherever it took her. The foliage became progressively denser, and the noises of wildlife grew louder, but Fluttershy pressed on. Pallet Town lay to the north, and Fluttershy knew she had to keep on course, no matter how foreboding it got.

Presently, she heard an odd noise, a shrill sort of cry, unmistakably one of pain but sounding like no animal she’d ever heard before. In a flash, her animal care instincts took over, and she took to the air like a rocket, flying with purpose towards the animal in need. Before long, she came across the source of the crying, a sky blue insectoid with an elongated body and gigantic half-circle antennae. One of said antennae was trapped underneath a fallen log, which the nimble Pokemon had no hope of lifting.

“It’s ok, little guy” said Fluttershy in her maternal voice, “I’ll get you out of there.” She effortlessly lifted the log, allowing the Pokemon to free itself.

“Masquer! Masquerain!” it exclaimed gleefully, taking to the air. Fluttershy was relieved to see that it was well enough to fly, and in fact looked unharmed apart from a small bruise on its antenna. Fluttershy happened to spot a bush to her left, which had sprouted several fat blue berries

“Masquerain? Is that you name? Are you hungry?” she asked the Pokemon, plucking one of the berries off the vine. The Pokemon gladly accepted the gift. As Masquerain ate, Fluttershy could swear that its bruise started to fade away. After it had finished eating, Masquerain gave Fluttershy a friendly nuzzle and flew off to parts unknown.

“Goodbye now!” called Fluttershy, “Be safe, ok?” Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. She felt back in her element. But it was short-lived, for at that moment, she heard a low growl, and the sound of heavy footsteps getting progressively closer.

“I’m not scared,” she told herself, "it sounds like a big animal, but big animals can be friendly... like cows."

Another loud roar permeated the swampland. Fluttershy chuckled,

"Besides," she continued in her internal monologue, "there's hundreds and hundreds of different critters. There's no way that this one in particular is a-"

Out from the brush jumped a Druddigon, a hideous reptilian, almost 20 hands tall, that looked like it was literally made of sharp points.

"DRAGON!!!!" she screamed. Fluttershy tore trough the swamp as fast as she could. She didn't dare look back to see if the Pokemon was still chasing her, but the continuing tempo of footsteps suggested he was. Finally, the roaring and stomping began to fade. She figured she'd shaken it off her tail and could afford a rest. As she caught her breath, she remebered the flare Twilight had given her. She pulled it and the matches out of her bag, and hurriedly began striking the match against a nearby rock. After several attempts, it finally lit.

"DRUDDIGON!"

Fluttershy looked up to see that the dragon Pokemon was back, and just inches away from her face. Slowly, she backed away, shakily bringing the ignited match into contact with the flare. But right before the two catalysts met, Fluttershy stepped over a ledge, and lost her footing, landing on her back. The match fell onto the damp ground and the flame died with a small hiss. The flare slipped out of her hoof and rolled away, several feet from her grasp. Druddigon raised its claw, and readied a slashing attack, when suddenly, Fluttershy heard a familiar voice,

"MASQUERAIN!!!"

She looked up to see the dragonfly Pokemon she'd rescued earlier, hovering between herself and the Druddigon with its antennae flared out,

"What are you doing?" she whimpered, "you don't have to sacrifice yourself. Go! Get out of here!" Masquerain ignored her and stood firm. Fluttershy turned her head away, readying herself for the gruesome scene that was about to befall... but after several seconds she heard nothing. Cautiously, she turned back around, and couldn't believe what she saw - the Druddigon lowered its claw, turned around, and trudged away.

"That was incredible! How did you do that?" asked Fluttershy, mystified and still coming to grips with what had just happened. Masquerain beamed proudly, and flexed its antennae.

"Don't tell me..." began Fluttershy, finally piecing the puzzle together. She hadn't noticed before, but those two antennae looked remarkably like a pair of angry eyes,

"...you know how to do The Stare! That's why that big mean dragon went away! You saved me!" she marveled. Masquerain gave her an "aw shucks" sort of look.

"You know," she continued, taking the Pokeball out of her bag, "I'm supposed to be looking for a Pokemon companion. If you're not doing anything else, would you like to, maybe... if it's not too much trouble, come with me?" Masquerain responded by tapping its wing against the Pokeball and allowing itself to get sucked in. The Pokeball pinged a second later, solidifying the bond between the two.

Author's Note

The biggest challenge for this is going to be making obstacles that Rainbow Dash can't just fly across. I'm assuming for this that she can only fly as fast as most ponies can run, and can't do Mach 5 for more than a couple seconds. In other words, she's a sprinter, not a cross-country racer.

A "hand" is one third of a foot, 4 inches. It's the standard unit of measurement on horses, which makes it particularly ironic that real hands are such a foreign concept.

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 2

The canyon, a barren wasteland with little water and no vegetation. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but brown and grey - save one speck of white and purple. After Rarity lost her temper, there were only two things that could cool her down; dressmaking and gem hunting. And since she doubted she'd find a sewing machine anytime soon, the pony who despised dirt, sweating, and generally being outdoors, found herself opting for one of the roughest, hottest, and most barren terrains.

"Where are those gems?" she asked herself out loud. With her dowsing spell, Rarity could sense that there was a wealth of treasure to be had, but the stones themselves eluded her. When she tried to pinpoint a gem's location, it felt blurry, as if she were trying to focus on a single tiny stitch in a dress without her glasses. With resignation, she realized that her only option was to start digging blindly. Apprehensively, she placed a hoof on the ground, and began to scratch at it. Back home, this would have been Spike's job, he didn't care about chipping a fresh hooficure. Rarity heard a rumble in the distance, and turned her head to see a cloud of dust approaching. As it got closer, she could make out the source of the dust could, three Gravelers rolling through the clearing, crashing right through outcropping rocks in their path. Rarity jumped out of their way as they passed, coughing on the dust could they kicked up,

"Watch where you're going!" she yelled, "you almost hit a lady, you... dumb rocks!" She wasn't quite sure what she hoped to accomplish with that unladylike tirade. Frustratedly, she returned to her gem hunt, now attacking the ground vigorously, throwing dirt every which way. A lot of the dirt ended up in her fur, but she didn't care; her hooficure was wrecked, and she was covered in dust, so why not just forego hygiene and appearance wholesale? She continued with her furious digging, until finally, a crystalline glint peeked out from the dirt. Her heart raced as she continued digging, now working meticulously so as not to scratch it. As the dirt parted, Rarity could see that the crystal was just one in a grapefruit-sized cluster. Her eyes lit up as she wiped the last of the dirt away, the glassy crystals glinting in the sun. She plucked it out of the ground to get a better look at it, and her face fell,

"Quartz." she said despondently, dropping the worthless mineral. She flopped down onto the ground and sighed. She was done with looking for a way home, now the plan was to lie there and hope that home found her. Suddenly, she felt the cold splatter of dirt hitting her right in the face,

"HEY!" she yelled, springing to her feet "I've had just about enough of all this! Excuse my barbarism, but I'm about to kick your flank!!!"

"Sableye!"

Rarity wiped the dirt away from her face and eyed up her assailant. It was a purple Pokemon, with diamonds for eyes and several other gemstones adorning its body. Its expression was a combination of sheepishness and fear. Beside the Pokemon, Rarity saw a freshly-dug hole. Her face softened.

"Forgive me" she said apologetically, "I've been having a bad day. You didn't mean to attack me, you were just doing some digging. Sableye, right? I am Rarity."

Sableye eyed the discarded chunk of quartz on the ground, then looked Rarity in the eye longingly,

"Sure, you can have that" said Rarity, "please take it in fact, I'm tired of looking at it.

Sableye dove back into its hole and emerged moments later with an armful of teardrop-shaped stones in a variety of colors. He dumped them at Rarity's feet.

"Ooh! You like gem hunting too!" squealed Rarity, dazzled by the pile of gems in front of her, "are.. these for me?" she asked cautiously. Sableye responded by scurrying over the quartz. To Rarity's surprise, he licked his chops and took a bite out of it. A distraught look came to her face.

"Sable?"

"It's not you, it's just... you remind me of somepony I know," explained Rarity, her eyes beginning to go misty, "and I'm not sure if I'll ever see him again." She buried her face in her arms. Sableye approached her, and started scratching her back gently. Rarity looked up, and gave him a friendly smile,

"Sableye" she began, pulling out her Pokeball, "Would you like to be my travel companion?" Sableye nodded. Rarity let the Pokeball roll out of her hoof and bump gently against her new friend.

Author's Note

Happy Pokemon X and Y release day everypony! In case you're wondering, this fic will not include elements from Generation 6, as I have a pretty hefty backlog of games to finish before I even consider buying X or Y.

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 3

With a slow but steady and determined pace, Applejack trudged through the desert. She was no stranger the harsh sun at high noon, but the windblown sand was a harsh adjustment. Still, Applejack was a proud pony, who would go to great lengths to help her friends. Some would call her crazy for choosing the desert voluntarily, but it was their best bet for visibility - no trees to block out the flare smoke. Plus she could handle herself out there, she was used to making do with whatever nature gave her. Indeed, within an hour of stepping foot in the yellow sand, Applejack was carrying a quart of water and a day's supply of cactus fruit.

"Why couldn't they all just stop bickerin'?" Applejack groused, "they're like a bunch o' little foals sometimes." She paused momentarily to take a swig of water and check her bearings. Right on course, just like she thought. She knew it wasn't a race, but couldn't help imagining the looks on their faces when they saw that she got there first. She loved her friends to death, and she'd go to the ends of the earth for them, but the team needed leadership, and she was the mare for the job.

Her train of thought was interrupted by an unsettling maraca noise,

"GAH! RATTLER!" she cried, rearing up and looking around frantically.

"Wait" she said skeptically, dropping back down onto all fours, "there ain't rattlers in Pokemon. But then what was that?"

She looked around curiously, and in the distance she saw an odd green creature that was somewhere between a plant and an animal. It was made up of six cactus bud appendages that made it look vaguely like a legless rabbit. Even more strange, it appeared to be gradually disappearing, as if it were on the world's slowest elevator to the basement.

"Mar! Maractus!" it called, flailing its arms around, the seed pods within making the unnerving rattling noise that had gotten Applejack's attention. As Applejack approached the cactus Pokemon, it became clear that the noise wasn't a threat, it was a distress call - Maractus was stuck in quicksand, and slowly being dragged down. Applejack reached out a hoof to the cactus Pokemon, but it was too far away, and she dared not get closer to the deadly sand trap.

"Maractus, ah can getcha out of there, but ah need you ta stop strugglin', ok?"

"MAR!" replied Maractus, not having any of it.

"You're never gonna get outta there if ya don't listen to me!" Applejack barked. Maractus didn't respond. Its time was running short, the sand had almost reached its shoulders. Applejack crouched down and looked at it with a desperate face

"Maractus, ah'm tellin' you th' truth. If ya just hold still an' lie on yer back, you'll buy yerself enough time fer me t' save ya. Ah pride mahself on bein' honest with mah friends, and nothin' would hurt me more than if ah lost ya cause ya didn't believe me."

Maractus looked at Applejack, and its expression of fear and mistrust melted into warmth. It relaxed its arms, and spread them into a Y-shape. Slowly, it began to tip onto its back.

"Good job, sugarcube." said Applejack encouragingly, "now ah have ta go get somethin' over yon, but ah'm not gonna go far, ah promise. Ah need you ta stay relaxed even though ya can't see me, alright?"

"Maractus." it nodded.

Applejack hurried over to a nearby cactus and readied her hind legs.

"Bucks n' Kicks, ah need y'all on top of yer game." She gave the base of the cactus a good solid buck. It creaked but held firm.

"Consarn it!" she kicked again with all her might, but it didn't budge.

"C'mon AJ," she admonished herself, "ya promised that Maractus ya wouldn't leave 'er hangin' and ya never.. leave'er..." finally the gears clicked in her brain "LEVER! THAT'S IT!" Applejack stretched her back out, and raised her hind legs as high as she could. With one last bit of strength, she would up, and slammed her hooves against the upper half of the cactus, sending it flying off of its base. As fast as she could, she pushed the fallen cactus over to the distressed Maractus, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that it had continued to follow her instructions.

"Grab this, Maractus!" she instructed, sliding the cactus across the quicksand threshold. Maractus latched itself onto the cactus, and pulled itself free. It shimmied along the cactus trunk as fast as it could, and leapt off as soon as it was out of harm's way.

"See? Ah toldja ah'd getcha outta there." said Applejack with a smile.

"Maractus!" cheered Maractus, and charged at Applejack with its arms extended for a hug.

"Whoa there pardner" cautioned Applejack, "Ah don' think huggin' a cactus is mah best plan o' action." She extended her hoof, "gimme some hoof instead." Maractus curled its fingers into a fist and bumped it against Applejack's hoof

"Y'know, ah think th' two of us would make a pretty darn good team" remarked Applejack, taking out her Starter Ball, "Whaddya say, Maractus?"

Maractus gave Applejack a smile.

"Sounds like a plan!" Applejack lobbed the Starter Ball at Maractus. Upon tapping the Pokemon, it drew it in, then closed, and pinged almost instantly.

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 4

"Where'd they all go?" Spike asked himself, "I could swear I just heard them talking. Hey Owluicious, have you seen Twilight and the others?"

"Who?"

"You know, Twilight Sparkle, she's purple, about yay high, wings and horn."

"Who?"

"How on earth could you forget about Twilight?" demanded Spike, "unless... she got abducted by aliens and they wiped everypony's memory except mine!" He bolted out the door, hands in the air and screaming. In his blind panic, he ran right into Mrs Cake.

"Oh my Spike, do be more careful"

"Mrs. Cake, Mrs. Cake!" asked Spike, his heart still racing, "did you forget Twilight and Pinkie Pie and the others?"

"Did I.. forget them?" asked Mrs. Cake bewildered

"They're gone! The aliens got them, and now I'm the only one who remembers they were ever here!"

"Don't be silly, Spike" laughed Mrs. Cake, "They're probably just out running errands. You don't really believe that aliens story, do you?"

"I guess not" conceded Spike.

"Pinkie disappears all the time, but whenever there's a cake fresh out of the oven, she'll be right there beside me. She's got a nose like a bloodhound, that one" quipped Mrs. Cake, "anyway, I have to get back to the shop. Will you be okay on your own?"

"Yeah, no worries" said the dragon with an air of forced confidence, "I can take care of myself"

"Ohh, you're growing up so fast! Twilight must be proud." gushed Mrs. Cake, as she departed.

Left alone with his thoughts, Spike couldn't help but keep worrying about Twilight and her five friends. He pulled out his detective hat and bubble pipe,

"I'll find you Twilight. No mystery's too tough when Detective Spike's on the case."

*****

"CANNONBALL!!!"

Pinkie Pie plunged from the waterfall into the pool below. She paddled around on her back, giggling as she rode the gentle current. She missed her friends, but her swim provided a nice little distraction.

She spotted some curious-looking berries near the riverbank, and decided to investigate. She pulled herself out of the river and shook dry, instantly poofing up her hair. The berries on the bush looked just like strawberries from back home, only a deep shade of blue. Pinkie wondered why there weren't more blue foods in nature, it was such a tasty color on frosting. She popped a berry into her mouth and instantly regretted it,

"Blech! Yucky!" she exclaimed, trying to wipe the bitter taste off her tongue, In desperation, she grabbed another nearby berry, this one a tiny red dot on a vine, and snarfed it down,

"That's more like it!" she declared, smacking her lips. At that moment, she realized she wasn't alone. Wading in from the river was a small aqua-colored Pokemon with sharp-looking teeth and a highly pronounced jaw. It looked a whole lot like an alligator, but it was walking on two legs.

"Totodile" it squawked, as it waddled over to the Rawst berry bush.

"Don't eat those" cautioned Pinkie Pie, "they're super, SUPER gross! Have this instead." She tossed the Pokemon a piece of candy. Totodile looked up, briefly interested in the moving object, but then returned its attention to the Rawst Berries, chomping one right off the stem. To Pinkie's surprise, it didn't reflexively spit the berry out.

Pinkie Pie snickered, "You're funny" she remarked, "you wanna come with me and be my friend?"

Totodile grinned and nodded.

"Allllllllllllll righty!!!!! Then our destination is..... thataway!" she said, cheerily pointing to a dissonantly-foreboding marsh. Totodile looked concerned.

"Oh there's nothing to be scared of" she reassured, "even if we do run into some ghosties, I know a sure fire way to make sure they never, ever bother us." Totodile gave her a skeptical look.

"I cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" pledged Pinkie, "and I NEVER go back on a Pinkie Promise, that's a guar-ran-tee! Please stay out with me? It'll be super, super boring to be all by myself!" Finally, Totodile gave in

"Yippee" cheered Pinkie Pie, "I'm gonna call you Gummy 2!"

*****

Twilight walked through a dark forest, her horn providing some illumination. She was pretty sure the sun was still out, but the canopy was so thick that she couldn't confirm it for sure. Regardless, it was dark enough for the Hoothoot and Zubat to start their shifts Twilight avoided them though, she was on the hunt for a more prosperous quarry. Finally she spotted it; a disembodied head with a red beaded necklace and pink streaks in its mane.

"Pokeball, go" whispered Twilight. She wound up for a fastball the way Rainbow Dash had taught her, and launched the ball at the target Pokemon.

"Misdr-?" it uttered in a confused tone, but didn't have time to complete its thought before it got smacked by the ball and sucked in. The ball shook, but Twilight was far from being in suspense; by nature of the ball, the capture was guaranteed. A ping two seconds later confirmed this.

Author's Note

Please excuse the brevities of my chapters, this is the last under-1000, I promise.

Bonding with your Pokemon is a whole lot less impersonal in the games, isn't it?

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 5

As the intrepid explorer made her way through the jungle, she marveled at all the natural wonders. Plants of such vibrant colors grew everywhere, and unknown creatures buzzed, squawked, and chirped all around her. The heat and humidity would have compelled a lesser adventurer to turn back and go home, but no such thought ever crossed the mind of the brave, shrewd, and all-around awesome Rainbow Dash.

Admittedly, Dash had chosen to trek the jungle primarily to emulate her literary idol, Daring Do. Despite the vast number of unknowns about her situation, Rainbow's spirits were high, she was out in the wilderness and a real-life adventure awaited. She continued with her fantasynovel narration,

All of a sudden, our hero was jumped by a ragtag band, no, an entire platoon of undead temple guards!

"You think you scare me? Come and get me then! Take that! And that! And that!

Rainbow continued her epic battle against the imaginary assailants, will all sorts of punches, kicks, and dive-bombs. They responded by drawing their swords. She picked a stick off the ground and wielded it like a sabre, giving it a flourishing spin,

"You're all going down! Hwa! Get back!"

One of them tried a sneak attack, but Rainbow effortlessly parried and struck her own blow!

Suddenly, the noise of a small creature interrupted her thoughts. Dash froze with embarrassment when she saw a wild Cherrim high up in a tree, derisively laughing at her theatrics.

"You got something to say?" called Dash "why don't you come down and say it to my face?"

Cherrim blew a raspberry, and shut its petals like a set of blinds.

"Jerk" muttered Rainbow Dash.

A loud clap of thunder rang out, and a huge downpour started instantly, drenching the pegasus in seconds.

"Perfect" she groaned. She ducked under a tree branch for cover, but it did little good, the rain was too strong.

"You know what?" she said to nopony in particular, "to heck with regulations! I can't take this right now." She flew up into the dark clouds and began kicking away at them. But to her great surprise, the clouds didn't part an inch. Instead, every time she stuck her hoof into a cloud, it was like there was nothing there, like the cloud was just a thick fog. Rainbow Dash screamed in frustration and lowered herself back down to the ground. Her stomach growled. In her fury she kicked a nearby tree, causing a ripe mango to fall from its branches.

Excitedly, Rainbow Dash flew up to the top where dozens of bunches of ripe mangoes were hanging.

"TROOOOOOOOOOPE!" A brontosaurus Pokemon with huge fern leaves growing out of its back glared right into Rainbow Dash's eyes.

"I saw them first! Get your own!" snorted Rainbow Dash against her better judgement; this Pokemon was gigantic, and could probably crush her underfoot. But she was hungry and hardly in a diplomatic mood.

"TROPIUS!!!" the Pokemon swung its long neck at Rainbow Dash, but she dodged swiftly to the side.

"I'll wrestle you for the tree" offered Dash boldly.

"TROOOOOOOOOOOPE!"

Rainbow Dash opened with a diving kick, which Tropius swatted away with its fern leaf. Rainbow Dash hit the ground hard, but the rainwater softened it up enough to cushion her. Tropius charged at her, but Rainbow deftly dodged by sliding under its legs. Confused, the Pokemon kept running and slammed into a tree headfirst. It grimaced at the pain, but pushed itself back onto its feet. It began flapping its leaves whipping up a huge gust of wind.

"Hey! What the...?" exclaimed Dash as she was blown backwards. She beat her wings furiously, stabilizing herself before the wind forced her down. Sensing a moment of weakness, Tropius charged again, but Rainbow shot up into the sky.

"Too slow!" she taunted. Tropius started whipping its leaves again, and Rainbow Dash braced herself for another gust. But instead of attacking, the Pokemon began to rise into the air.

"You can fly too? No way!" exclaimed Dash. Tropius barreled at her, going at much faster speeds than it could with its legs. Rainbow dodged again, but only just, she could feel one of Tropius' wings graze her feathers. She couldn't risk taking another tackle, but Tropius was too strong to fight with brute force. She racked her brains for options, and finally something came to her.

"Hey Tropius!" she called, "I love your wind attack! It's like a gentle spring breeze!"

"TROPIUS!!!!"

"You're so weak, you couldn't blow out a birthday candle!"

"TROOOOOOOOOOOOPE!" roared the Pokemon indignantly. It hovered in place and began flapping its wings furiously. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and focused on the target. Compared to the weather she faced on the job, this wind and rain was nothing, she told herself. She took off quick as lightning, and with her hoof extended, aimed right for Tropius' exposed belly, landing a devastating punch to the gut. The winded Tropius recoiled in pain, and Rainbow seized the opportunty, grabbing it around the waist and shooting downwards, suplexing it into the ground.

"Had enough?" asked Rainbow Dash boastfully. Tropius struggled to its feet, and began trudging away. Rainbow Dash was about to hurl one more insult, but a different thought occurred to her.

"Hey!" she called to the Pokemon. She snapped a branch of mangoes off the tree and threw to the despondent Pokemon. "But if you tell any of your friends that I'm going soft, you'll be sorry!" she warned.

Gleeful from victory, Rainbow Dash began picking fruit off the branches. Before long, she had gathered a large stack at the base of the tree. As she flew back up for another round, she heard crunching noises coming from her mango stack. She went back down to investigate, and saw a purple gremlin-like Pokemon helping itself to one of her mangoes.

"Sableye, dear!" came a familiar voice from below, "where ever have you run off to?"

"Sup Rarity!" called Rainbow Dash.

"Finally I've found you" said Rarity, emerging from the brush, her mane completely soaked from the rain and full of leaves. "I heard that awful racket, and knew you must be close."

"You forget your raincoat?" jested Dash

"It has been difficult to adjust to not having certain," she sighed, "creature comforts. But I found an empty cave, it is better than sleeping in the rain, marginally. It will be dark soon, shall we be off?"

The two ponies and one Pokemon grabbed as much fruit as they could carry, and Rarity led them to their shelter.

The inside of the cave was chilly, but a relief nonetheless. Rarity had built a fire and was heating her bamboo rod over it.

"Herbal tea?" offered Rarity,

"Isn't that the flare Twilight gave you?" asked Rainbow Dash

"It was" said Rarity, "but it got soaked in the rain, as did the matches. I don't think they'll work anymore"

Rainbow Dash pulled out her own flare and matches, and indeed, they were dripping wet too. The flare had soaked through, and was now holding water. The powdered sugar had dissolved, and the mixture inside was now a sticky sludge. She dumped out the contents, and held the tube outside the cave threshold to wash it out, three times for good measure.

"Sure, why not? I'll have some tea." She never much cared for the taste, but the warmth was welcome. Rarity tipped her ad-hoc cup into Rainbow's, but her hoof slipped, and the liquid fell onto the fire, quenching it with a loud hiss.

"Great" moaned Rainbow Dash, "alright, I got this." She fished around the fire pit for the two least wet & charred sticks, and began rubbing them together frustratedly

"Rainbow, you needn't do that, I have a faster way. Sableye, use Will-of-the-Wisp!"

Sableye formed a blue flame with its hands and hurled it into the fire pit. Within seconds, they had a roaring fire again.

"Whoa! That was awesome! How'd you figure out he could do that?"

"Little Sableye used that move to fend off a wild Sandile. I didn't know what it was called, but I figured that the blue flame was either a blowtorch or a fairy light, and he doesn't look like a welder to me" she remarked, proud of her accomplishment.

"Sableye has proven quite a worthy travel companion," she continued, "I don't know how he does it, but he just runs off and brings back all sorts of lovely treasures. Oh and there he goes again," said Rarity amiably as Sableye took off into the cave. "He is such a talented scavenger. He found the tea leaves, some dry sticks, and..." she took her saddlebag and turned it upside down excitedly. A variety of sparkling gems and stones spilled out.

"Neat" said Rainbow Dash, "but shouldn't you be carrying food or water or something more useful?"

"We'll hit Pallet town eventually, and when we do we'll need money, This one should be worth a massage," she pointed to a sapphire, "And this one will get me a fresh hooficure. Ooh, and this one is for some new formal wear...."

"I hope you don't expect me to help carry those" said Rainbow Dash, facehoofing.

"Sableye!" The Pokemon had returned with a plain looking stone.

"I thought he brought you treasures" sneered Rainbow Dash.

"Don't be rude" said Rarity indignantly, "if he brought it back, it must have some sort of importance. Look, there's some sort of shape on it."

Rainbow took a closer look at the rock, and indeed, embedded in the stone was an egg shape with a ring around it. It was too smooth to have been caused by erosion.

"I think you should apologize to my Pokemon, Rainbow Dash."

"Seriously?" Rarity shot a glare in response

"Ok" she sighed, "Sableye, I'm sorry for saying your treasure wasn't good."

Sableye smiled, and pushed the rock into Rainbow Dash's hooves

"Umm, thank you" said Dash, trying to feign gratitude, "this... rock is super cool, and I'll... treasure it for ever and ever!" She halfheartedly dropped it into her saddlebag.

"Why don't we get some rest now, and in the morning, you can take a crack at clearing away the rainclouds." suggested Rarity.

"Yeah about that... I already tried. I couldn't get them to move."

"Oh dear" said Rarity, "and I thought I had troubles, I couldn't find any gems with my magic. Say, do you think it has to do with what Twilight mentioned about there being less magic in the world?"

"I dunno, can we save the heady stuff for the morning?"

*****

If the swamp was scary during the day, it was nothing compared to night. Fluttershy and Masquerain continued their journey north, using the North Star as guidance.

"J-just giggle at the ghosties" sang Fluttershy softly and nervously, "guffle at the.. um, grosslies." Fluttershy heard a twig snapping, and jumped about a mile

Masquerain cuddled close to her, trying its best to offer comfort.

"It was probably nothing" said Fluttershy reassuringly, more to herself than her Pokemon.

"guffaw at the spookies." The bushes rustled, but she continued, "whoop it... with the weepies."

"Aaaaaaaaaaand tell that big dumb scary thing to takeahikeeandleaveyoualonebecauseifhethinkshecanscareyou..."

"Pinkie!" said Fluttershy elated, as her friend popped out of the bushes, completing her song. Totodile danced and sang along with her, far from on-key but in the spirit nonentheless.

"I'm so, so proud of you for remembering to use my song!" praised Pinkie, patting Fluttershy on the head.

"Thanks?" said Fluttershy bashfully.

"I'm so glad we found each other! It wasn't much of a party with just me and Gummy 2. I've been telling him all about my friends, and he couldn't wait to meet you!"

"I'm glad too," replied Fluttershy, "I wish we hadn't split up in the first palce."

"You know what I love?" asked Pinkie, "Mint-chocolate ice cream. I loooooove mint chocolate ice cream so much I could eat it every day. But that's the weird thing. When I don't eat it every day, it tastes even better."

"You're right Pinkie. Friends need a break from each other sometimes, but that time apart makes the bond stronger. That's a really good metaphor."

"What's a metaphor?"

"Never mind. Where are we going to camp?"

"How about right here?" asked Pinkie, dropping onto her back, the grass is super soft, adn we've got a great view of the stars!"

"B-but there are scary Pokemon everywhere! I nearly got eaten by a dr-dr-dagon!" stuttered Fluttershy.

"Our Pokemon will stand guard and protect us, won't you?" she asked Totodile and Masquerain. The two of them saluted in response.

"Auntie Pinkie's gonna protect you Fluttershy, don't you worry." Fluttershy ignored the patronizing, she was grateful for the company, and genuinely felt safer with Pinkie Pie. She took one last admiring look at the two Pokemon standing vigilantly beside her, and lay down on the ground, drifting off to sleep.

Author's Note

I didn't do any physics past the required 101 in school, so forgive me if my cloud physics are wrong. There will be battling soon, I promise.

Also, I am in desperate need of covert art, anyone got any ideas that are more creative than what I came up with? Which is to say Twilight photoshopped with some Pokemon paraphernalia.

Six Degrees of Separation, Part 6

"COCK A DOODLE DOO! Up an' at'em, y'all!"

Fluttershy's eyes few open with a start. She looked up to see Applejack standing over them with an invigorated look on her face

"Hey y'all great to see ya 'gain!"

"uhhhhh... five more minutes" moaned Pinkie Pie groggily.

"Not a chance" said Applejack firmly, "we're more'n halfway to Pallet town, and ah intend to get us all there while th' sun's still shinin'. Ah've hiked two miles today already. So c'mon, git!" The two of them rose to their feet, recalling their tuckered-out Pokemon. Applejack pointed northwards to a volcanic mountain range. Above it, the sky was darkened with clouds of smoke and brimstone.

"Ah reckon Pallet Town's just over those hills. Let's get movin' while the gettin's good." Fluttershy gulped. To describe those monstrous peaks as "hills" couldn't possibly convey the apprehension she felt.

*****

The morning sun filled the cave where Rarity and Rainbow Dash slept, gently awakening them. As they stepped out of the cave, they saw that the rain had let up, leaving a beautiful shine on the water droplets as they slid off the leaves. Rainbow Dash stretched out and yawned.

"Rainbow Dash, look!" said Rarity excitedly, pointing at a rainbow in the sky.

"Well, I'm not one for the sentimental stuff" said Dash, "but I have a feeling that today's going to be a good day!"

"It's breathtaking isn't it?" said a third voice.

"Twilight? When did you get here?"

"I was travelling via the forest when I hit the western shoreline. I decided to just continue along the beach and enjoy the view."

"Well you wouldn't believe what we've been through! I wrestled a Tropius for fruit, and Rarity figured out how to make fire! And show her those gems you found, Rarity! Gotta hand it to her, she's been a real great travel partner."

"Oh, hello Twilight" said Rarity uneasily.

"Rarity listen.. Back at the beach I said some things that I didn't mean. I'm really sorry for calling you and Rainbow Dash idiots."

"I guess I can see how I may have provoked you" replied Rarity, "I don't cope well with unfamiliar situations, least of all those involving dirt. I was an emotional wreck. We could really use your expertise of Pokemon. Truce?"

"Truce" agreed Twilight, and the shook on it.

"I caught a really neat Pokemon, want to see?" asked Twilight.

"Why of course. Please, do show us."

"Misdraevus, I choose you!"

"Miiis!" said the ghost Pokemon as it emerged from its ball.

"For a ghost, it is quite chic" commented Rarity. A devilish grin spread across Twilight's face,

"Wanna see a cool trick?" she asked. The other two nodded,

"Misdraevus, use Trick Room!"

Misdraevus conjured up a gridline cube that expanded until it overtook the three ponies. It continued expanding, eventually fading into the background.

"What happened?" asked Rarity, not seeing or feeling any changes.

"Give it a sec" replied Twilight, still grinning, "hey Rainbow Dash, I bet you can't fly to that rock over there in less than three minutes."

"Oh, you're on!" Rainbow Dash revved up her wings and took off in the sky. All of a sudden, she felt like she was swimming through molasses,

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey, whatssssssssss going onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn?"

"Twilightjustwhatsortoftrickeryhaveyoudonenow?" demanded Rarity. She gasped and covered her mouth.

"Trick room" explained Twilight, "makes slow Pokemon fast, and fast Pokemon slow. It's a real cunning strategy to use on certain Pokemon that have low speed but lots of power."

"I knewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww it! I'm the fasssssssssssssssssstest pony in annnnnnnnnnnnny universssssssssse!"

"Andjustwhatisthismoveimplyingaboutme?"

"Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre you goinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng normallllllllllllllll speed?"

"I guess I'm right in the middle of the speed bell curve."

"Twilighthowlongisthis going to last? Ah that's better."

"It wears off on its own." replied Twilight. Rainbow Dash took off like a rocket.

"Rainbow, where are you going?" Twilight called to the pegasus.

"I still have to win that bet!" she called back.

"Let her go" advised Rarity. "in the meantime, allow me to show you my Pokemon acquisition. Sableye, I choose you!"

"Sableye!"

"Isn't he cute?" gushed Rarity, "he's got a natural talent for finding gemstones! Wait till you see the haul, you won't believe..." She stopped, upon noticing that Twilight had a less than enchanted look on her face, "What's wrong, darling?"

"This must be what it's like when you go to a formal event and you see somepony wearing the same dress as you."

"Why that would be dreadful!" exclaimed Rarity, "but what relevance does it have here?"

"Both of our Pokemon are ghost types. They share the same strengths, and weaknesses. If we run into any Dark type Pokemon, both of ours will have trouble with it."

"Well I'm not replacing my little Sableye" said Rarity firmly. Sableye clutched to her leg shyly.

"Then I guess we're at an impasse because I'm not giving up Misdraevus either. She can do spacial manipulation, she might be able to get us home."

"You're grasping at straws! My Sableye has already proven himself more useful than that party trick."

"I'm back! What's my time?" The two unicorns were snapped out of their spat by Rainbow Dash's return, "whoa, sensing some bad blood here."

"Whatever, it's not important" said Twilight dismissively, "Rainbow, why don't you show us the Pokemon you caught? And for the love of all that's good, tell me it's not a ghost."

"Nope"

"Oh thank goodness. What is it then?"

"Nothing! I can fight my own battles, thank you."

"Rainbow, this is a dangerous environment. You need a Pokemon to protect yourself!"

"Bah, I don't need any bodyguards. I fought a Pokemon ten times my size and I won!"

"Because this is Starter Island! As the name would imply, the Pokemon are weaker here. They will get progressively stronger as we go. Don't be foolish."

"Pfft, whatever"

"Ummm, Twilight?" Rarity piped up.

"What now?" lamented Twilight. She turned around to see two hostile-looking wild Pokemon, an Elgyem and a Mightyena. "You've got to be kidding me."

*****

Following Applejack's lead, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy hiked through the volcanic mountain range. The air was boiling hot, and the foul smell of brimstone stung their nostrils. Their Pokemon walked alongside them, refusing the comfort of their Pokeballs to keep their masters' morale up.

"My hoofies are tired" whined Pinkie Pie, "can we take a break soon?"

"We can't quit now, we're nearly there!" insisted Applejack, "Ah can feel it in mah legs."

"But I can't feel mine at all."

"Maybe we should stop. Just for a little while" suggested Fluttershy.

"Fine" Applejack acquiesced.

They sat themselves down on some smooth rocks nearby. Applejack passed around her water and cactus fruit while the Pokemon chased after each other playfully.

"Just look at the view from up here!" called Fluttershy. The other joined her on a ridge, and marveled at the view before them. Twilight had told them the terrains were mashed together haphazardly, but only now did they see it with their own eyes.

"Wow" commented an awestruck Applejack.

"Look Applejack, that lake's shaped like an apple!" said Pinkie Pie, "And those trees are shaped like your butterfly, Fluttershy." The two other scanned the landscape, and indeed, Pinkie was right. In fact, there was a geographical feature shaped like each of the ponies' cutie marks.

"That Twilight" grinned Applejack, "ah do hope she and the others are ok."

"APPLEJACK LOOK OUT!" cried Fluttershy.

Applejack turned around to see a barrage of flaming embers flying right at her. Maractus dived in front and took the entirety of the attack. It clutched at its shoulder, wincing in pain.

"Numel!!!" growled the attacker.

"Pinkie, tell your Totdile to use Water Gun!" commanded Fluttershy

"Uh, ok. Gummy 2, use Water Gun!"

"Totodile!" Totodile fired a jet of water from its mouth. Numel winced as the water struck its body, and it dropped to the ground, defeated.

"All right Gummy 2! All right Fluttershy!" cheered Pinkie.

"Maractus, are you ok?" asked Applejack worriedly asked her Pokemon

"Mar..." it replied feebly. Applejack could see a painful-looking burn mark on its arm from taking the Ember attack.

"That don' look too good. I don' suppose either of y'all have any bandages, or ice?" The other two ponies shook their heads.

"Totodile!" Gummy 2 waddled over to the injured Maractus with a Rawst Berry in hand. It extended to the berry to Applejack.

"Er, thanks?" said Applejack quizzically

"Totdile is that...?" began Fluttershy, "Oh, I remember now! Twilight said that certain berries in this world have medicinal properties. I found some earlier that heal damage, and this one must be for treating burns. Are you trying to tell us that that's what this one does?" she asked Pinkie's Pokemon. Totodile nodded.

"Alrighty then. Down th' hatch, Maractus." Applejack tried to feed the berry to Maractus, but it shut its mouth firmly and turned its head away. "Maractus, didn't ya hear what ah said?"

"Those berries taste like yuck!" explained Pinkie Pie. Applejack glared at her.

"Look Maractus, ah know it may be bitter, but if ya don' take yer medicine, ya won't get better." Reluctantly, the cactus Pokemon opened its mouth, and let Applejack feed it the berry. It made a sour face as it chewed, but compliantly swallowed the Rawst. In an instant, its burn mark faded away, and it leapt to its feet with a vibrant "Maractus!"

"Thassa good girl" praised Applejack. Now, are y'all ready to get movin' again?

*****

"Hey freaks, get out of our way!" demanded Rainbow coarsely. The Mightyena and Elgyem growled at her. Elgyem blasted her with a Psybeam, knocking her to the ground. She tried to pick herself up, but staggered sideways and collapsed.

"Still think you don't need Pokemon?" asked Twilight matter-of-factly.

"Bluh" responded a dazed Rainbow Dash.

"What do we do, Twilight?" asked Rarity worriedly.

"Get ready for a crash course in Pokemon battling," she replied, motioning to their Pokemon, who were standing in front of them assuming fighting stances, "That Mightyena just so happens to be our worst-case scenario, a Dark type. You can start by burning him to weaken his attack."

"Right. Sableye, Will-of-the-Wisp on Mightyena!"

"It's Will-O-Wisp" corrected Twilight

"Nevermind that now, just do it Sableye!" Sableye hurled a blue flame at Mightyena. The big dog recoiled in pain. It struck back with a Bite on Misdraevus, inflicting considerable damage in spite of its burn. Sensing a weak link, Elgyem fired a Psybeam at Misdraveus.

"Sableye, take it!" shouted Rarity. Sableye dove in front of the attack, deflecting it harmlessly.

"Nice call Rarity!" praised Twilight, "you remembered that Dark is immune to Psychic"

"Oh, erm yes, I did" lied Rarity.

"Midsraevus, Astonish!"

"Miiiis!" The Pokemon approached Elgyem and gave a horrible shout, startling the psychic Pokemon.

"Now Sableye, Wiil-O-Wisp on that Elgyem!" ordered Rarity.

"Rarity no!" cried Twilight, but it was too late. The blue flame had already connected with Elgyem's forehead and left a singe mark on it.

"See darling? Nothing to worry abo-"

"SABLEYE!" yelped her Pokemon. A burn mark had appeared on its forehead too.

"Elgyem's ability is Synchronize" explained Twilight, "when you give it a status condition like a Burn, your Pokemon gets one too."

"Oh dear, I'm sorry Sableye"

"Never mind, we can still win this. Misdraevus, Astonish again!" Misdraevus obliged, and hit Elgyem again, knocking it out.

"Miiiiight!" snarled the Mightyena, and it charged at Sableye, teeth bared for another Bite attack.

"Twilight what do I do?" asked a panicked Rarity, "I don't know any other moves."

"Try a Night Shade!"

"Sableye, Night Shade!" The Pokemon's diamond eyes glowed red, and it fired a jagged black beam at the Mightyena. The Pokemon was hardly abated, and it snatched up Sableye in its jaws, clamping down on Sableye as it struggled to get away. Finally, it spat it out, violently smacking it into the ground. Sableye staggered to its feet, managing only a belabored kneel. It winced in pain as it clutched its forehead.

"Alright," said Twilight, "I didn't want it to come to this, but... Misdraevus, use Astonish again!" The attack barely scratched Mightyena, but diverted its attention from Sableye as Twilight had hoped. It roared, and charged Misdraevus, telegraphing its Bite attack.

"Now Misdraevus, use Destiny Bond!" commanded Twilight. Mightyena grabbed Misdraevus in its jaws as the Pokemon cried out and struggled for its life. Unable to free itself, it went limp and motionless.

"Twilight, what have you done???" cried Rarity.

"I"ve won the battle" she replied stoically. Mightyena spat out the motionless Misdraevus, and barked aggressively. It turned and glared at Sableye, preparing to finish it off, but then it froze. Two purple swirls emitted from Misdraevus' eyes, and struck Mightyena's. A purple light enveloped it, draining its energy and scattering it to the heavens. Mightyena collapsed next to Twilight's Pokemon.

Rarity looked on in utter shock, "Twilight... what happened? Are they..."

"They're just fainted" assured Twilight. Recall your Pokemon, and let's get moving." The two of them returned their exhausted Pokemon to their Starter Balls, and Twilight hefted the semi-conscious Dash onto her back. They galloped northwards as fast as they could.

North by Southwest, Part 1

"Be careful you two, it's really steep" called Fluttershy. The two earth ponies were scaling a rock wall, cautiously placing their hooves into outcroppings and holes. Fluttershy thanked Celestia she was born a pegasus, there was no way she could have taken the hard way down like her friends.

"Fluttershy, you rocked back there!" called Pinkie Pie

"Yeah, ah reckon we'd be in a real pickle if not fer you!" added Applejack, "that was some mighty quick thinkin'!"

"Oh, it was nothing" blushed Fluttershy, "Twilight taught me a lot about the game before she told me it was about...battling." She looked away ashamedly, as if she had just said a curse word, "She told me about type-matchups and I thought maybe water would put out fire."

"Well accident or not, ya really pulled us outta th' fryin' pan."

Pinkie Pie chortled, "Hee hee, good one Applejack"

"What ah'm trying ta say, Fluttershy, is we could really use yer Pokemon knowledge. 'Cause even if battlin' ain't yer wheelhouse, ah have a feelin' were gonna be doin' a lot more of it before this is over."

"Ok" replied Fluttershy, "here's what I remember..."

As Applejack and Pinkie continued their descent, Fluttershy began with her exposition of everything she could remember. She taught them the attributes of the seventeen types, described the geography of the Kanto region, and finally, hesitantly lectured them on battles. Finally, they reached the rocky floor below. Peering over the edge, they saw to their relief that it was only two feet from the ground. But even more gratifying than the drop was the ground on which they landed; white sand below them, and the shimmering blue sea ahead.

"We did it y'all!" cheered Applejack, "We made it to th' north side of the island!!!" The three of them couldn't help but to jump for joy, cheering and high-hooving each other.

"How long before the others get here?" wondered Fluttershy

"Knowin' Rainbow Dash, she's prolly gonna be here any second. If there's one thing she hates more'n losin' a race, it's losin' by a wide margin."

"A ship! A ship!" called Pinkie Pie. The other two turned with a start to Pinkie Pie, who was bouncing around at the shoreline. Indeed, at the vertex of the triangular island, a triple-masted sailing ship was parked in the sand.

"Wow" was all Fluttershy could muster.

"That's a fine lookin' vessel" added Applejack, "Ah can't wait till we get 'er on th' open ocean."

"Boat Party!" declared Pinkie Pie, "Ooh, I hope there's some snacks!" She hopped onto the ship. "Aww, nothing here!" she called. Suddenly, she felt a horrible shaking under her feet that bowled her right over.

"Um guys?" she called out nervously, "the ship's starting to move."

"What? How!" demanded Applejack

"I don't know, it just started moving on its own!"

"Drop th' anchor sugarcube!"

"I can't find one!"

"Well we gotta stop th' ship from leavin', th' others ain't here yet! Help me pull, all of y'all!" Applejack grabbed hold of the back of the ship with her forelegs and dug her hooves into the ground. The others followed suit, but even with their combined strengths, the ship continued unimpeded.

"Call out yer Pokemon!" ordered Applejack. They obliged, and their Pokemon grabbed hold of the ship too, but their meager sizes contributed nothing to abate the ship's progress.

"The water's getting deeper" exclaimed Fluttershy, "We have to get on the boat soon!"

"Don't you dare get on that boat!" yelled Applejack furiously, "Our friends'll be here any moment, and ah intend ta hold this till they do."

"Applejack." said Pinkie in an uncharacteristically serious tone, "we have to go." She and Totodile let go of the boat and climbed onto the deck.

"Fine, forget you! Ah'll do it on my own if ah have to!

"Applejack, please!" begged Fluttershy, "the water's above our legs, it isn't safe anymore! Masquerain's waterlogged, he can't fly!" She airlifted her exhausted Masquerain to safety, then came back down for Applejack. "Please don't make me force you" she pleaded desperately.

"This ship ain't leavin' without our friends, an' that's final- hey! What're ya doin???" Fluttershy had wrapped her arms around Applejack, and was trying to pry her free.

"It's for your own good..."

"NGOOO!" grunted Applejack, and she swatted Fluttershy away, clipping her face. Fluttershy clutched her nose in pain.

"Fluttershy, are you ok???" cried a concerned Pinkie Pie, as Fluttershy landed on the deck.

"I'm fine Pinkie" insisted Fluttershy, though her nosebleed suggested otherwise.

"Alright, we can still do this" said a determined Applejack, "Maractus, use Ingrain!"

"Don't, Applejack!" protested Fluttershy, "she's completely underwater, she'll be stuck!"

Maractus hesitated. It looked to Fluttershy, then Applejack

"Maractus, yer master gave you an order!!! Now use INGRAIN!!!" roared Applejack furiously.

"Maractus, use Grasswhistle!" commanded Fluttershy.

"Maractus, you WILL obey-" started Applejack, but she was interrupted by a shrill noise coming from her Pokemon. From its pursed lips came a sweet tune that reminded Applejack of of the crisp smell of ripe red apples in the autumn. Her eyelids fluttered closed as she succumbed to the soothing song.

Fluttershy dove into the water and retrieved the slumbering Applejack and her Pokemon.

"I'm sorry Applejack" whimpered Fluttershy, tears forming in her eyes

"Sorry? She hit you!" argued Pinkie Pie.

"I know" sniffled Fluttershy, "can we... do anything that doesn't involve... this?"

"Umm, ok. Ooh I know, I think there were towels in the hold, I'll go get some."

Masquerain waddled over to Fluttershy with a sympathetic look. It brushed her face with its antenna. Fluttershy mustered up a hopeful smile,

"She has a good heart. We've already been separated from half our group, so the three of us are sticking together no matter what."

Pinkie Pie returned with the towels. Fluttershy wrapped herself and Masquerain in one of them, and draped the other over the sleeping Applejack.

*****

Rarity and Twilight continued their canter with Rainbow Dash in tow. Eventually, she began to stir, and awoke,

"What.. happened, Twilight? And why am I on your back?"

"You were arguing that you could fight your own battles, and then a Pokemon knocked you out with one hit."

"Oh yeah, now I remember. He got the jump on me." she explained dismissively

"You seem well enough to walk" replied Twilight curtly, dumping Rainbow onto the sand.

"Twilight, why are you getting so hung up on me catching a Pokemon?"

"Because that's the way things work here. Your worth is determined by your Pokemon, that's the way things work here, everyone catches Pokemon. You're just giving yourself an unnecessary handicap

"Well that's too bad..." Rainbow got to her feet, brushing sand out of her fur. She took her Starter Ball and hurled it away "...because "I'm NEVER catching a Pokemon!"

"I think you just did" said Rarity

The three of them hurried over to the spot where Rainbow Dash's Pokeball lay.

"What now?" asked Rainbow Dash

"Throw it, and see if anything comes out" offered Twilight with a shrug

"Ok then... Whoever you are, I choose you!" The Pokeball popped open, revealing its contents. Simultaneously, Rarity's face lit up like a Hearth's Warming Eve tree, and Rainbow Dash's went white as a sheet.

"Happiny!" cheered Rainbow Dash's acquisition.

"Aww, she's soooooooooooooooooo cute!!!" gushed Rarity

"This is supposed to battle other Pokemon?" asked Rainbow incredulously.

"Hey, looks can be deceiving." insisted Twilight, using all the willpower in Equestria to stifle a laugh.

"Fine, tell me what this pink blob can do"

"Let's see... Its name is Happiny, it's the Playhouse Pokemon. Moves include Sweet Kiss, Charm, Copycat, ooh and Softboiled, not many Pokemon can learn that, and-"

"and let me guess, it's powered by happiness and smiles"

"Well, actually..."

"Oh come on!!! Wait, we can trade Pokemon, you said so, I remember. How about it Rarity? You said it was cute?"

"For my precious Sableye? Not in a million years!"

"Twilight?"

"I appreciate the offer Rainbow, but I'm quite content with Misdraevus. Look, your first impression of Tank wasn't all that positive, if I recall, but now you wouldn't trade him for the world!"

"You had to play the 'Tank' card. Fine I'll keep Happiny, but ONLY because we don't have any other healthy Pokemon between us right now."

"That's the spirit! Now let's keep moving, we've been sidetracked too long, and the others are probably wai-"

"TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!" shrieked Rarity, pointing to the sky. Up in the air, they saw a blue military-style helicopter the size of a naval battleship, its whirring of its blades louder than any creature of the sky.

"Quickly, get your flares out!" shouted Twilight over the noise.

"We don't have them, they got soaked!" shouted back Dash

"What??? But...never mind, I've still got mine." Twilight hurriedly fished around in her saddlebag for the flare. Not even bothering with the matches, she used her magic to light the fuse. The three shielded their eyes as a brilliant shower of sparks and crimson smoke shot up into the sky.

"Did they see it?" asked Rarity.

"I don't...wait yes! They're landing!" cried Twilight as the chopper descended and touched down on the beach. Two men in striped shirts, blue cargo pants, and skull insignia bandannas emerged from the aircraft.

Twilight's face dropped,

"we have to get out of here" she whispered at her friends.

"What, why?" asked Rarity bewildered, "These men are here to rescue us!"

"I'll explain later. Now come on!" Rarity and Dash looked quizzically at each other, but followed Twilight's panicked lead.

"Spheal, use Icy Wind!" shouted one of the men, calling out his Pokemon. The moment it materialized, Spheal fired a blast of frigid blue air at the three retreating ponies. They tried their best to keep up the pace, but the cold numbed their legs, bringing them to a halt in seconds. They were fully conscious, but unable to resist as the men hoisted them onto their shoulders and carried them into the lower deck of their aircraft, a dimly lit corridor of dingy unoccupied crew rooms. After taking away their saddlebags, the men deposited them into three adjacent rooms and slammed the doors shut.

The three hurriedly snatched the blankets off their respective beds, seeking whatever warmth they could. Twilight tried to open her door, but unsurprisingly found it locked.

"Thath nwway t' tree a la'y" protested Rarity as the numbness lingered her lips.

"At least we can hear each other through the walls, right?" offered Twilight optimistically.

"T-t-twilight, who were they?" asked Rainbow Dash shivering

"Team Aqua" replied Twilight

"Ba' guyth?" asked Rarity

"They're environmental extremists. They want to get rid of the land and expand the sea, so I doubt they're too happy about Starter Island springing up out of nowhere. Given our imprisonment, I would wager that they suspect we're responsible for it."

"S-s-so where are they taking us?" asked Rainbow Dash

"If I had to guess, to some secret base in Hoenn."

"Wherth tha'?"

Twilight looked out her window despairingly, "To the southwest. Not even remotely near Pallet Town."

Author's Note

Big thanks to Pwassone from Deviantart (http://pwassonne.deviantart.com/) for the Trainer Cards - he did all the hard work, I just recolored and added sprites.

North By Southwest, Part 2

"I appreciate you coming in on such short notice" said Spike.

"Nooo problem" replied Big Mac, "ah like yer getup" he added, with a nod to Spike's detective hat and bubble pipe. The two of them sat at a table in the library, Spike with manila folders and detective books scattered around his side.

"I wanna to ask you a couple of questions about Applejack. First, have you seen her since yesterday?"

"Nope."

"Did she maybe tell you about a trip she planned on taking?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?" Spike asked suspiciously

"Eeyup."

"Really? So you had nothing to do with her disappearance?"

"Nnope."

"You're lying! Where'd you put her?" he demanded, banging his fist on the table. Big Mac didn't even flinch.

"Spike, why you gotta hit th' table?" he lamented, "it didn't do nothin t'you."

Spike sighed, chagrined, "I didn't really think you were lying. The detective book said to bluff when you get stuck. Was it obvious that I was bluffing?"

"Eeyup."

"No further questions, send the next pony in."

"So Cherliee, if that is your real name, when did you last see Twilight?" inquired Spike.

"Let's see, I think it was yesterday afternoon at Quills and Sofas."

"That's awful specific. My detective book says that remembering details means you've got something to hide."

"You got me" she said jokingly, "I was planning to give my students a pop quiz tomorrow."

"Gah!" exclaimed Spike, sweeping his papers onto the floor out of frustration.

"Spiiiiike, use your words."

"I'm just worried about Twilight."

"Spike, isn't Twilight one of the smartest, strongest ponies you know?" asked Cherilee.

"Of course she is!"

"It's only natural for you to be worried about her, but I'm sure that wherever she is, she's just fine."

*****

Twilight Sparkle stared intently at the solid oak door. She summoned up as magic as she could and focused all her energy on the locking mechanism. It was just a simple deadbolt, she could sense it, all she had to do was slide it sideways. But it wasn't budging. She gritted her teeth and poured on even more magic. Beads of sweat formed on her brow, and her legs became weak. Finally she collapsed on the floor, winded and exhausted.

"I'm sorry guys, I really thought that would work. Back home I could perform a lock breaking spell without lifting a hoof... not that I ever did."

"We've all felt a bit weaker lately," said Rarity "I couldn't find any gemstones with my horn."

"Yeah, and I couldn't move the clouds," added Rainbow Dash, "what's the deal?"

"This planet's composition is the same as ours, but it has a lot less innate magic," explained Twilight

"So it's like flying with a couple of ten-pound weights strapped to your wings? That's nothing I can't handle!" boasted Dash

"It's worse. In preparation for my lock breaking spell, I surveyed various magical energy vectors and found that the epicenter isn't the planet, it's the six of us."

"In English please?"

"Pretend the Pokemon World is a bucket of water, and our magic is a drop of red food dye. When you drop it in, there's a big rush of color, and it looks like the water's been changed forever. But let it sit for a while, and the red color dissipates, and begins to..."

"fade" finished Rarity grimly.

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash

"I'm sorry if it alarms you Rainbow, but you need to accept it now" said Twilight bluntly, "there will come a time when you lose the ability to fly."

Before Rainbow could respond, there came a sharp banging at Twilight's door. Through the window, Twilight could see a female dressed in the same piratical costume as the two captors from their initial encounter.

"Purple! Boss wants to speak with you. I'm opening the door now, don't try anything funny, unless you want another taste of Icy Wind."

"I won't, I promise" Twilight replied. The door swung open, and Twilight could see that the peon was flanked by two aggressive-looking Sealeos

"This way." She led Twilight up a staircase, past the main entrance, and into a small, simple room with no furniture, apart from a metal table and two chairs. A single light hung from the ceiling, and the walls were completely covered in reflective glass. Twilight had read enough police dramas to know this for what it was: an interrogation room. From outside, she heard the Aqua peon and another female voice,

"I've secured the prisoner in here doctor." said the grunt.

"Thank you Sylvia. There were no problems I trust?"

"Yes m'am; no kicking or struggling."

"Very good. Wait out here for me."

The second voice, a woman in a white lab coat with tick-rimmed red glasses, entered the room, giving Twilight a warm smile. She placed a tape recorder on the table and flicked on the switch. "Take a seat, please, make yourself comfortable. My name is Doctor Icor, and I'm the head scientist of Team Aqua's mobile geology lab. And you are?"

"Twilight Sparkle, from Equestria. And if you were wondering, I'm not a Pokemon."

The doctor laughed, "No no, goodness no. I admit we thought so at first, but considering you talk and have Pokemon of your own, it didn't seem likely."

"Speaking of, our Pokemon are in bad shape..."

Dr. Marie held up a hand, "Your Pokemon are being cared for in our onboard state-of-the-art infirmary. They will make a full recovery."

"Doctor, I don't mean to look a gifthorse in the mouth, but why are you being so kind to me if I'm your prisoner? And why does Team Aqua still exist? I thought they disbanded in Ruby and Sapph- I mean, six years ago."

"After the Kyogre incident, we vowed to adopt a more humanitarian approach. We will continue to protect the sea, but will not infringe on the land or its people. While it's important that we curb this geological activity, I see no reason to deprive you and your friends of basic amenities. Now, if we could, I'd like to talk about the island. What can you tell me about it?"

"I was working on a Pokemon simulation in my home world, and the next thing I knew, my friends and I were here."

"And that's all you know?"

Twilight considered whether it was in her best interest to lie, and decided against it, "My simulation was a perfect replica of the Pokemon World, except for one addition; Starter Island, a perfect triangle that points north to Pallet Town. Somehow my island became real."

"I see."

"I'm not working for Team Magma if that's what you're thinking."

"I am a scientist Twilight, it is not my place to determine guilt."

"I didn't mean to mess with your world's ecosystem, honest! My magic is too weak to do any more terraforming, even if I wanted to. I can find a way to fix this, but it'll be much easier if you let us go. Please, we're of no threat to you."

The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look, "you strike me as a kind hearted person, and you are clearly very bright. You must understand why I can't do that."

"All we want is to go home" said Twilight, beginning to get frustrated, "three of our friends got left behind on the island, and I'm really worried about them. So you can see how I might have trouble pretending to be interested in your stupid politics!" She gasped and covered her mouth, but couldn't catch the harsh words before they escaped. To her surprise, Dr. Marie didn't look angry in the least,

"Your frustration is understandable. It is unfortunate that our needs overlap. Let's take a break, we'll pick up our conversation later." She escorted Twilight out of the room, where the Sylvia and her two Sealeo were waiting.

The grunt brought Twilight back to her room and briskly ushered her in, slamming the door shut. Then she banged on Rainbow Dash's door, "Turquoise! You're next." She opened Dash's door. The pegasus pony was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling.

"Get up!" demanded the grunt. Rainbow Dash continued to loaf, ignoring her. "Fine, you don't want to? Sealeo, use Ice Ball!" Exasperatedly, Dash rose from her bed. Sylvia put up her hand to cancel her Pokemon's attack. She led Rainbow Dash away.

"She's been moping around ever since you left" explained Rarity.

"Can't say I blame her" replied Twilight, "that news about losing her flying is pretty tough to swallow."

"So what did they do to you?"

"They just sat me down with their head scientist and asked me questions about the island, and the game I was working on. It was weird, she was so friendly, she even promised to take care of our Pokemon. But at the same time, she was so obsessed with the ocean, like all the other fanatics on this ship."

"What does she want?"

"She thinks I'm hiding my magic from her, and if she waits long enough, I'll cave and admit to everything."

"Do you think you can talk your way out of here?"

"I wish I knew."

*****

"My name is Doctor Icor. What's yours?" The doctor smiled and extended her hand for a shake.

"..."

"Is it Rainbow Dash? I heard your friends calling you that."

"..."

"It must be pretty cool to have a rainbow mane. My hair's just black."

"..."

"It's ok if you're shy, I just-"

"I'm not shy, I just don't have anything to say to you freaks. And stop treating me like a child."

"This is a safe environment, Rainbow Dash. I just want to talk about the island."

"I'm guilty of whatever you're accusing me of, is that what you wanna hear?"

"I just want to let you go as soon as I can, but to do that, I need you to cooperate."

"I'm tired. I wanna go back to my bed." Sne stood up and made her way to the door.

"Rainbow, you can trust me, we're all friends here." Rainbow Dash turned around and glared at Dr. Marie,

"You are NOT my friend."

*****

Applejack awoke to the gentle rocking of the ship, the smell of sea salt filling her nose. She yawned and stretched out, feeling quite refreshed. But when she saw her friends' uneasy expressions, and their Pokemon glaring at her, the events from the day prior came flooding back.

"Applejack, what's going on?" asked Fluttershy, "back there on the beach, you were so..."

"Bossy" offered Pinkie Pie.

"Oh my no, not that, I just mean different than usual..."

"It's alright. Ah'd use much harsher words mahself. Fluttershy, ah'm so, so, sorry fer hittin' you, it was an accident. It won't happen again, ah promise."

"I'm not worried about you hurting me. I'm worried about you hurting yourself."

"Yeah, you were so loco in hte coco!" added Pinkie Pie

"Ah couldn't live with mahself if ah left them behind! And ah failed."

"Applejack, we're all scared and confused," said Fluttershy comfortingly, "you don't need to shoulder it all by yourself."

"But ah do, see... Ah gotta get somethin' offa mah chest... ah'm the reason we all got trapped here."

The two others gasped,

"That can't be" said Fluttershy "it was Twilight's spell, wasn't it?"

"Ah knocked over th' glass. She got spooked an' that's why her spell,.. went h-haywire." Applejack began to weep

"Applejack" said Fluttershy, placing a hoof on her shoulder, "it was an accident. It's nopony's fault."

"Yeah," added Pinkie Pie, "if I cried over every little oopsie I made, I'd have no time to make ponies smile."

"It won't do us any good to be mad at you, or for you to be mad at yourself" encouraged Fluttershy.

Applejack's Maractus came over and offered her a sympathetic hoof-bump

"Maractus, how can ya ever forgive me fer what ah did to ya?" she asked, still sobbing.

"Mar" it said, stroking her back.

"Maractus understands, she knows you only did it because you were looking out for your friends," explained Fluttershy.

"Thanks y'all" said Applejack wiping her eyes, "A gal couldn't ask for better friends, or better Pokemoon" she added, with a nod to Maractus.

"Better now?" asked Pinkie. Applejack nodded. "Then let's make a Pinkie Promise! No more secrets, and we stick together all the way!"

"Count me in on that!" replied Applejack. Pinkie recited the Pinkie Promise mantra, making it official.

"Come look at this!" called Fluttershy from the side of the boat. They hurried over and saw school of Finneon jumping in and out of the water, their glassy fins catching the setting sun beautifully.

"You know" remarked Pinkie, "this world is really pretty. I think we're gonna have fun here!"

*****

"Take a seat, please. Rarity, was it? My name is Doctor Icor."

"Are you the one in charge? Because I have many many grievances about our accommodations. For one I haven't had a shower in days!"

"There is a shower stall and a bar of soap in your room."

"Surely you jest, I need more than water and soap for it to be called a shower. Don't you think you could find it in your heart to get me some lotus-aloe shampoo?"

"I will take it up with the facilities manager and see what we can do. For now, I would like to talk about the island."

"I want my special shampoo."

"May we stay on topic, please?"

"I SAID, I want my special shampoo."

"Rarity, please put down the tape recorder."

"I. WANT. MY. SPECIAL. SHAMPOO!!!"

"Rainbow, talk to me, please" begged Twilight

"Keep it down willya? I'm trying to sleep!" called Rainbow through the walls. Suddenly, they heard a commotion in the hallway. "What now?" Rainbow groaned.

They looked out their windows to see Rarity with bits of frost on her hooves - remnants of a restraining ice attack - being forcefully escorted back to her cell,

"Stop it! Quit pushing me! I will get there on my own time, and I do not need for you to-"

"Get inside!" demanded Sylvia, shoving her into the room, "hope you're happy with your little outburst. No dinner for you tonight!"

"Fine! I didn't want your pig slops anyway!" she shouted back as the door slammed in her face.

"Dare I ask how it went?" said Twilight.

"I may have overreacted."

Author's Note

This is a filler chapter, I fully admit, but we do get introduced to a new character, and get a reminder that Spike hasn't forgotten about Twilight.

"Icor" (eye-core) is Turkish for "Ocean."

This isn't that important, but if you were curious about the room orientation, Twilight's in the middle room with Rainbow on the left and Rarity on the right.

North by Southwest, Part 3

"Is it heavier than a diamond?" asked Rarity

"Yes." replied Twilight from the neighboring room, "Two questions left."

"Oh dear, is it... made of plastic?" she asked ponderously.

"Nope. Last question"

"Let's see... is the autumn leaf dress that I made for my exclusive "Seasons" collection?"

"It's a wagon wheel."

"Well phooey, looks like I've been stumped again." said Rarity with mock-resignation. The two giggled, but were interrupted by Rainbow Dash pounding on the wall.

"Seriously Rainbow?" shouted Twilight, "we've tried to accommodate your sleep schedule, but you've been sleeping for 12 hours straight now!"

"So what? she called back, "who's gonna stop me?"

"Fine, mope all you want, but Rarity and I are going to try and keep our spirits up. Who knows, we might figure a way out of this mess."

"I can't fly, and I can't fight. What's the point of doing anything anymore? I got nothing left."

"Oh really? I have a theory."

"Not in the mood for egghead stuff, Twilight."

Ignoring Rainbow Dash, she continued, "a theory that even without your flight, you're still the same brave, dependable, loyal pony who's saved Equestria too many times to count and never backed down from a challenge!"

Rainbow Dash paused as the gears turned in her head. Slowly she rolled out of bed and picked herself up off the floor. "YEAH!" she declared, "That's right, I'm still Rainbow Dash, and I'm still AWESOME!!!" She lifted off the ground and started flying laps around her room, laughing with joy, the fire in her heart reignited. "Hey Twilight, thanks for the pep talk. I needed it."

"Anytime."

"Speckle, time for another session with the boss." Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by a loud knocking from Sylvia, the peon from yesterday, again standing outside with her two Sealeos..

"Don't you think that's a little excessive?" quipped Twilight

"Just walk." she replied brusquely.

"Twilight, hello." said Dr. Marie amiably.

"I'm not apologizing for besmirching Team Aqua, if that's what you're expecting" she replied resolutely.

"We sent a search party out for your friends. I'm sorry, they swept the entire island, but didn't find anything."

"Good! Because if your thugs had laid so much as a finger on them, I'd..."

"I thought we could talk about this game you were working on," cut in the doctor, "it seemed like you wanted to share it with me. You mentioned that you used 'magic.' I'd love to see a demonstration."

"I told you already, I lost my magic when I crossed over into this world."

"All of it?" Dr. Marie adjusted her glasses

"All of it." lied Twilight. The doctor remained silent for several uncomfortable seconds, then said finally,

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must be difficult to adjust. That's all for today, you are excused." Sylvia once again lead Twilight back to her room. They passed by a man in Aqua garb carrying the three ponies' saddlebags and Pokeballs. He stopped at a wall safe and began working away at the lock. Twilight tried to surreptitiously slow down her pace & look over his shoulder to catch the combination,

"Keep moving" ordered Sylvia, one of her Sealeo giving Twilight a helpful shove in the right direction. Sylvia locked Twilight in her room and left.

"Can you guys see any guards out there?" asked Twilight

"All clear my side" replied Dash

"and mine" said Rarity.

"Good. Because we might be in trouble."

"Did something go wrong in your session?" asked Rarity.

"I've been trying to convince her that I don't have enough magic to pose a threat. I sold it a little too hard today, and I think she's getting suspicious. She thinks I do have the power to make that island disappear, and she's not going to let us go until I do."

"So what's the plan?" asked Dash

"We escape!"

"Aw yeah! That's my kinda plan!"

"Keep your voice down, Rainbow" hissed Rarity, "I'm all for a permanent holiday from this dingy motel, but won't it be a while before we land, Twilight?"

"We're not waiting until we land."

"But, then how do we..." Rarity's face paled as she connected the dots, "No no nonononononononono I've had enough falling from the sky for one lifetime." She tried desperately to repress the memory.

"Rainbow, you can still fly, right?"

"You know it!"

"Then there's nothing to worry about Rarity. Rainbow will catch the two of us, and guide us safely to the ground."

"You've lost your flight, then?"

"That I have. Anyway, Rainbow, your Happiny is very important to the plan. I need you to have the utmost trust in her. Can you do that for me?"

"Well, if you think my Pokemon's all that special, then it must have something good going for it. Ok, I trust you, so I trust her too."

"Great. The next time a guard comes around the corner, it's go time." In a hushed voice, Twilight began to lay out the details.

*****

"Land ho!!!" cried Pinkie Pie, pointing at the rapidly-approaching shoreline. The three ponies braced for impact, but the ship slowed itself to a gentle stop as it ran aground. They hopped off the boat and surveyed their surroundings.

"Welcome ta Pallet Town. Shades of yer journey await" read Applejack from a nearby signpost.

"What a cute little town!" squealed Fluttershy, taking in the unspoiled nature - the rivers, trees, and hills still held the majority share of the landscape, with the houses as just a secondary mention. People passed by, giving odd glances and occasionally a friendly wave, which Pinkie was quick to reciprocate.

"So uh, where to now?" asked Applejack.

"I guess we could try Professor Oak" replied Fluttershy, "he's one of the first people the player talks to, and he's considered the expert on Pokemon."

"Oak?" asked Pinkie quizzically, "I thought you said he was an expert on Pokemon, not trees."

"Well, um.. I don't know, I guess maybe he-"

"T'aint important" cut in Applejack, "I dun care if his name's Cinnamon Applesauce, s'long as he can help us. Take us to 'im Fluttershy."

Professor Oak's lab was an imposing hilltop structure. While small by urban standards, it was the only three-story building in town, and the windmill set into the roof gave it the appearance of being even taller. Confidently, Applejack tapped on the door. A grey haired man in a white lab coat answered the door,
'
"Hello there, what can I do for you to-" He cut himself off mid-sentence as he gazed bewildered at the three strange creatures before them.

"Well howdy there professor, Fluttershy's told us all about ya!"

"And your tree collection" added Pinkie.

"You're not... Pokemon, are you?" inquired the professor.

"Nope, just three average run-o'-th' mill ponies."

"Fascinating. There are rumors of sentient creatures that are neither people nor Pokemon, but I've not found one in all my years of research. Please, tell me everything about yourselves. Where did you come from? How did you get here? How did you learn to talk... oh where are my manners, please come in! Let us move our conversation to somewhere more comfortable." He led them down the hallway past room after room of complex-looking machinery and rows upon rows of bookshelves stuffed to the gills. Finally they ended up in his living room. He motioned for them to take a seat on the sofa.

"We haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we? My name is Professor Samuel Oak, I'm a Pokemon researcher."

"Twilight's told us all 'bout you. Said you were th' smartest guy in yer world. You two'd prolly get along really well, actually, she's pretty close to the smartest pony in ours! Ah'm Applejack by the way. Ah ran an apple orchard back home."

"And I'm Pinkie Pie. When it comes to partying, I'm number one! I just loove candy and cake and throwing parties, and going to parties - that counts as two different things, right? And, and... we're out of tea biscuits." She pointed to the plate of crumbs on the table, where a sizable amount of wafers had been a moment ago.

"And your friend here... does she talk too?" asked Oak, looking to Fluttershy, who was staring down at her knees and fidgeting nervously.

"mynamesflutterhsy" she replied.

"She's jus' a li'l shy" said Applejack helpfully, "but she's actually th' smartest outta th' three of us when it comes ta Pokemon. Been a real big help." Fluttershy blushed.

"So you've learnt about Pokemon, then?"

"Learnt? We caught 'em!" She took her Pokeball out of her bag and sent out Maractus, who planted itself next to her on the couch. The other two followed suit

"Remarkable!" exclaimed the professor, "a whole new species of sentient life training Pokemon in parallel with us humans. How long has your society existed?"

"Thousands a' years in Equestria. But Twilight reckons we're th' first of our kind here. An' we only been here about two days."

"Equestria, is that where you're from? Can't say I've ever heard of it."

"Twilight said it's a whole 'nother world or somethin'. Like we can't get there from here by walkin' or flyin', we gotta open up some kinda magic portal. We dunno how we got here, only that Twilight was workin' on a game, and her magic did somethin' weird."

"This Twilight sounds like a fascinating young lady. I'd love to meet her, where is she?" His question was answered with three despondent faces.

"We got serperated from 'er back on th' island," said Applejack ruefully, "there was six of us in all, an' we don' know where th' other three've gotten to.

"That is unfortunate" Oak replied sympathetically, "what are you going to do now."

"We're gonna go on an adventure!" declared Pinkie PIe.

"We're gonna find our friends an' get out of here." corrected Applejack.

"Actually, your friend may be right" suggested Oak, "what better way to come up with an exit plan than to familiarize yourself with your environment? Might I suggest the Gym Challenge?"

"An' just how do we go about this Gym Challenge?"

"Wellll" began the professor with a twinkle in his eye. It was clear he loved giving this lecture. They spent the rest of the day discussing Pokemon, ponies, and swapping anecdotes.

"You three are free to crash on my couch for the night." he offered.

"Oh my no... we couldn't impose on you like that." insisted

"Nonsense. Part of my job is to provide guidance & aid to new trainers. You three fit the bill, and the needs. I'll give you some supplies, and you'll be ready for your journey no time."

*****

"Oh guaaaaaaaaaaaaaard~" called Rarity in a syrupy sweet tone. Quizzically, he came over to her door. "Could you pretty pleeeeease spare some chapstick? My lips are soooo very dry."

"This isn't a beauty salon." he began to walk away shaking his head.

"Wait!" called out Rarity, "I can make it worth your while. Did they tell you what was in my saddlebag?"

"No, why?"

"There's a mountain of gems in there! Why don't you just take whatever you think is a fair compensation."

"All right little lady, you got yourself a deal." He hurriedly opened the wallsafe and unclasped the diamond-emblazoned saddlebag. Whistling gleefully to himself, he began scooping out handfuls of colorful stones and stuffing his pockets.

"What a greedy uncultured swine" murmured Rarity, "Twilight, do it now."

Twilight's horn began to glow as she stared intently at the three Pokeballs. Slowly but surely, she rolled them out of the safe, causing them to open as they hit the floor. "Misdraevus, Hypnosis!" Misdraevus locked eyes with the Aqua peon, and emitted a psychedelic blue aura. His eyes glazed over and he slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Sableye, get his key!" ordered Rarity. Sableye furiously searched through the man's pockets until he came upon a set of keys on a ring. He hurriedly grabbed them and unlocked the three ponies' doors, their respective Pokemon sidling up to them affectionately.

"Happiny, I know we haven't had a lot of bonding time" said Dash, "but I could really use your help now. Will you fight with me?"

"Happiny!" She curled her nubs into fists and gave Rainbow a determined smile & nod. Rainbow patted her on the head,

"You're all right, you know that?"

"Misdraevus, stop him!" cried Twilight. The guard, who was rapidly fading into slumber, had summoned just enough strength to move his hand towards a red alarm button. Before Misdraevus could react, he connected.

Red lights began flashing and a klaxon sounded. From the upper decks they heard the clamorous pounding of Team Aqua boots. Twilight tossed her friends their saddlebags and secured her own. "Rarity, we have to go now!" she shouted at her friend, who was hurriedly trying to pick up the gems scattered on the floor. Rarity balked at the loss of valuables, but common sense prevailed, and she allowed herself to abandon them. With their Pokemon on their back, the ponies galloped with all their might towards the entry dock.

"Spheal, Icy Wind!" shouted a voice behind them

"Misdreavus, Confuse Ray!" responded Twilight instantly. They heard the sounds of a cold winter breeze and guards crying out and shivering.

"Get out of the way, you idiots!" shouted Sylvia, shoving her way through the line of dazed grunts and Pokemon, "Sealeo, Ice Ball!" Her Sealeo began launching chunks of ice in incrementally larger sizes.

"Sableye, use Fury Swipes!" said Rarity. Sableye leapt into the air, meeting each ice ball head-on and slicing it up with his sharp claws. Finally, the trio came to the doorway that separated them from the entry bay. Two more grunts stood in their way, but they kept their pace up.

"Happiny, use Pound!" said Dash. Happiny springboarded off Dash's back and flew at the guards, knocking them right over. They lay on the ground winded, allowing the trio to plow through.

"Freeze! You're surrounded!" As the three ponies entered the room, they saw that indeed, no less than two dozen crew members had anticipated them coming this way and blocked off every exit... except one. Just as planned, the three pressed themselves up against the hatch door.

"Recall your Pokemon and put your hands where I can see them!" ordered Sylvia, "You've got ten seconds before I have my Sealeo's turn you into popsicles!"

"I don't think so!" Dash yelled back defiantly, "You take even one step closer, and I'll have my little friend here bust down the door!" Sylvia recoiled in shock,

"Y-you wouldn't!"

"Wanna bet your life on it? Now get BACK!"

Dr. Marie emerged from the crowd, "Rainbow, I can see you're very upset, but violence won't get you what you want. Tell you what, let's all four of us go back to my office, I'll get us some pizza and sodas, and I just know we can work this out."

"Sorry doc, not today. Happiny, use RETURN!" Happiny charged into the door headlong, smashing it off its hinges. The sudden change in air pressure snatched up the ponies, sending them hurtling out of the plane and into the open air.

*****

"State your names please" requested Spike.

"Spike, ya know our names" pointed out Applebloom.

"It's the stenographer's records." He pointed over his shoulder at Angel Bunny, who was furiously pecking away at a typewriter.

"Er alright then. Applebloom."

"Sweetie Belle."

"Scootaloo. And what's a stone-auguster?"

"The stenographer is the mare in the courtroom who types up everything that everypony says" explained Sweetie Belle.

"Cool! Are we on trial?" wondered Scootaloo

"Cutie Mark Criminals yay!!!" exclaimed the three in unison.

"Girls, please can we talk about the whereabouts of our friends?"

"Ah have a suspect!" piped up Applebloom.

"Yes?"

"It's you." she said, looking quite satisfied with herself, "that pipe n' hat ya got there, those're Pinkie Pie's things ain't they?"

"Very suspicious if you ask me" chimed in Sweetie Belle

"Just what were you doing on the night they disappeared?" asked Scootaloo with a leery eye.

"I'LL ASK THE QUESTIONS AROUND HERE!" shouted Spike. The Cutie Mark Crusaders jumped with a start. Spike softened his expression, "Girls, just tell me, why aren't you taking this more seriously? This is your sister, and your sister, and a pony who's just like a sister to you."

"I... I don't know" said Sweetie Belle, "when she didn't come home, I fed her Opal for her, but I didn't think anything else of it. She didn't scratch or claw at me, even once, it was really weird."

"And ah was gonna take Winona fer a walk, but she didn't wanna go. She just wanted ta lay around on her rug." added Applebloom.

"That is strange" agreed Spike, "but I need something bigger. Something like a ransom note, or a mysterious coach stopping by your house."

"Sorry, Spike, can't think o' nothin' of th' sort."

"Well, thanks anyways."

"Does that mean we can go now?" asked Scootaloo, "no offense, but when I agreed to play detectives, I didn't think it'd be this boring."

"I suppose" said Spike deflated. The three fillies saw themselves out, leaving Spike alone in the room with Angel. "Alright, let's see what you got."

The bunny ripped the page off the typewriter and handed it to Spike. His eyes skimmed through the page, "What the... these aren't even words! Angel, I suppose I should've asked this before, but you don't know how to write, do you?"

Angel shrugged nonchalantly. Spike leaned against a bookshelf and slumped over. He looked up at the ceiling, and happened to see Owliscious perched on a rafter. "Hey Oluiscious, ask me who."

The barn owl said nothing.

"Huh." said Spike. He felt a tapping against his leg, and looked to his side to see Angel Bunny holding a quill & inkwell and a sheet of vellum paper. "You want me to write the princess?" he asked.

Angel nodded.

"What's the point? She'll just tell me to stop worrying like everypony else." Angel pushed the items into his arms.

"Fine, I suppose it's worth a try." He dipped the quill into the inkwell and cleared his throat, "Dear Princess Celestia, Spike here. I'm doing my best to be a mature, independent dragon and work out problems on my own, but I'm really really worried about something and I don't know who else to turn to..."

"it's been a day and a half, and I'm scared. Your faithful student's number one assistant, Spike." Princess Celestia looked up from the letter, visibly perturbed. She rolled the scroll up neatly with her magic.

"Guard" she commanded to the present footman, "summon Captain Shining Armor to the throne room. It's urgent."

"Right away, your highness."

Terra Firma, Part 2

"Girls! You've got to see this!"

Dash sighed, "What Twilight, is it another really cool submarine part?" Almost immediately after the trio had woken up and finished breakfast, Twilight insisted they visit the Slateport Oceanic Museum.

"Just look, ok?"

"Oh my, Twilight, that looks just like you!" exclaimed Rarity, gaping at the stone tablet in front of her.

"That's so weird! How'd it get here?"

"Psychics do exist in this world. But to get such a clear picture from a vision, that's not something you see every day."

Rainbow read off the placard, "...The world's greatest team of six. There's six of us, maybe that's what they meant?"

"Could be. A lot of things come in sixes though, so I wouldn't call that conclusive evidence."

"What about me being the world's greatest pony? Is that conclusive evidence?"

Twilight chuckled, "I'll submit it to the board."

"So what's our next move?"

"Going north takes us away from the ocean, which should be our best chance of avoiding Team Aqua. We'll figure out what to do about this when we hit Mauville"

*****

Thousands of miles away, the other half of the Mane Six were pondering the same prophecy.

"So.. it wasn't an accident that we were brought here?" asked Fluttershy.

"It could be a coincidence, but this stone carving suggests that someone planned for it to happen."

"It's like a party invitation!" suggested Pinkie Pie

"This is great n' all, and ah hate ta sound selfish, but how's this gonna help us get home?"

"Perhaps if you figure out why you were brought here, you might also discover how to leave."

"Hmm, that does sound neat n' tidy. Alright, we'll look into this prophecy. Movin on, Fluttershy here has somethin' she wants ta tell ya."

"N-no, that.. I mean.. it's not important."

"Fluttershy, when you woke up, you were as worried as cat in a roomful o' rockin' chairs. You don't gotta be afraid, tell us what's on yer mind."

"Well, ok... last night a Pokemon calling himself Latios told me that we could talk with Princess Luna if we made it to Mt. Moon in three days." The others gasped

"Fluttershy! That's super duper ultragigantically important!!!"

"Oh...sorry."

"Professor, what can ya tell us about this Latios?"

"Very little, outside of its Dragon/Psychic type and moveset. Latios is cunning and quick to flee from humans. Sightings are rare, and I don't think anyone has ever captured it or its sister Pokemon Latias. If it actively sought you out, then it must have been for something real important."

"Can we make it to Mt. Moon in three days?"

"It will be challenging in the impeding wintery weather, but it can be done. If you can reach Viridian City by tonight, and Pewter by tomorrow, you should be home free. Here, let me borrow your saddlebags for a moment. I'll give you all the gear and field guides you need."

"Well that's mighty kind of ya! How can we ever repay y'all?"

"The prophecy says that you six prevent some sort of catastrophe from happening. If that is the case, I'm the one indebted to you."

*****

Leaving Slateport City, the girls traveled northwards along Route 110. Lacking bicycles, and the ability to ride them, they took the walkway underneath the bike path.

"Well, the view of the ocean is nice" commented Rarity, "but I have to say, going off the beaten path isn't all it's cracked up to be." Due to neglect, under usage, and littering from the bikers above, the grassy Route 110 walkway had deteriorated considerably. Pokemon that inhabited these parts had become increasingly aggressive, so the three kept their own out as a precaution.

"Where's Team Aqua when you need 'em?" said Rainbow Dash, "this place could use a good sweeping, Happiny use Pound!" Happiny swatted away an Oddish that was trying to ambush them.

"This place wouldn't give them enough publicity - Misdraevus use Psybeam." An agitated Gulpin moved out of their way, "They have to make real big spectacles to convince the public that they'd never do something like hold three prisoners without trial. Now keep your eyes sharp, we're coming to an underpass, and there could be Pokemon up hiding in the.."

"Timburr!!!" A grey and pink rodentlike Pokemon jumped down from the rafters, a giant beam of wood clutched in its hands. It swung its weapon at the three, deliberately missing, but only by inches. It made the "come at me" gesture

Rarity was taken aback by its brutishness, "that's quite enough out of you! Sableye, go!" The Pokemon leapt off its owner's back and assumed a fighting stance. "Twilight, this one doesn't have Synchronize, does it?" Twilight shook her head. "Good, then give it a Will-O-Wisp!"

Timburr snarled as the blue flame hit it. It retaliated with a Low Kick, but its leg went right through Sableye.

"Sableye, Scratch!" Timburr met it with a Pound, but it too went through Sableye's body. It recoiled as Sableye's claws raked its body. "Terribly sorry, but those attacks won't work on a Ghost type."

Timburr growled. Rarity expected ti to launch another attack, but instead it did the exact opposite. Timburr dropped its board onto the ground, and sat down cross-legged. It appeared to be in a meditative state.

"O...kay. Sableye, use Night Shade!" Sableye shot a black beam at the sedentary Timburr. It winced at the damage, but moved as little as possible. "Same again!" Sableye shot another night shade with the same effect

Twilight watched quizzically from the sidelines, "What is he... Oh my gosh! Rarity, catch it now!"

"But it's not weakened enough."

"Do it now or Sableye's done for!"

"Alright then, Pokeball go!" The moment she shouted the word, Timburr sprung up and charged at Sableye. The Pokeball smacked into it before it could hit, sucking it inside. Twilight held her breath as the Pokeball shook, one twice, and... pinged shut. She breathed a huge sigh of relief,

"My, what a rush that was! My first capture!"

"Awesome!" Rainbow Dash patted her on the back.

"I suppose it was. But Twilight, just what was Timburr doing, and why were you so worried?"

"It was using a move called Bide. It takes a few hits, then strikes back with twice as much damage. You have to be more careful, you were getting complacent."

Rarity bristled, "Twilight, you may be more knowledgeable than us, but that's no excuse to get condescending."

"Fine, if you don't want my help, I just won't talk at all."

"Fine! Throw a tantrum."

"Fine!"

"Alright, break it up you two!" Rainbow Dash pushed the unicorns apart with her hooves. "That's the third fight you've had, and I'm getting a headache! Now talk it out, or we're not moving another step!" Twilight and Rarity turned their backs on each other. Happiny looked on concerned. "Happiny, you'd better use Refresh."

"Hapinyyyyyy." She held Twilight in a loving embrace, then did the same for Rarity. Their bodies became enveloped in a cool blue light, and the fire in their eyes flickered out. Twilight took a deep breath and stuck out her forehoof.

"Rarity, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have talked to you that way. I don't express it right sometimes, but my friends mean the world to me, and I just want to keep you all safe."

"I'm sorry too Twilight. This game was your magnum opus and none of us recognized how much work you put into it."

"Rainbow I owe you an apology too. I've been mocking you quite a bit since we got here. That's a crummy way to thank you for convincing everypony to come see my creation. That was you wasn't it? I'm sorry for not appreciating all the times you stuck up for me."

"Don't worry about it Twilight, you did plenty of good too."

"I really appreciate you keeping Happiny. I know that being the team doctor isn't how you imagined this going..."

"Twilight, if I've learned anything from Wonderbolts training, it's that everypony has to be a wingpony sometimes. So if you need me to be the healer, then by Celestia I'll be the awesomest healer that ever lived! Now how about a pact? Fight Pokemon, not each other!"

"I'll toast to that!"

"As will I!" added Rarity. "Twilight, I do hope you'll continue to share your valuable knowledge with us. You're right, I have gotten into trouble by being reckless in battles. Would you give me a primer on tactics so that that doesn't happen again?"

Twilight's face lit up, "would I???"

*****

Also travelling north were Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, along Route 1.

"Easy peasy breezy, Viridian, city..eezy!" declared Pinkie Pie, "We'll be there in no time!"

"It's not this road I'm concerned about." said Fluttershy, "Route one isn't just easy, it's the easiest in all of Kanto. They get harder and scarier after this." She shivered just thinking about it.

"Hey there! I'm Liz, how about a battle?" The trio turned to see a young woman in scout troop gear, holding a Pokeball expectantly. "Any takers?"

"Fluttershy, how 'bout you?" suggested Applejack.

"Yeah! I wanna learn from the master!" encouraged Pinkie.

"The master huh?" remarked Liz, "now I've gotta have a battle with you, Fluttershy!"

"A.. all right then."

"Mabgy, I choose you!"

"Masquerain, go" murmured Fluttershy.

"Ah nuts, fire again" sighed Applejack. But despite the type advantage, Masquerain kept its intimidating glare resolute.

Liz capitalized on her hesitation to make the first strike, "Magby, use Ember!"

"Eep! Masquerain, dodge!" Masquerain zipped into the air, avoiding the flaming embers as they passed.

"That's some good speed, I'll give you that! Magby, hit it with a Smog!"

"Mabgy!" The Pokemon blasted a cloud of putrid brown smoke at Masquerain

"Smoke rises, go down Masquerain!" Masquerain dove to the ground, again avoiding the attack.

"Fluttershy!" yelled Applejack from the sidelines, "ya gotta fight back! Ya can't just dodge!"

"But I don't want either of them to get hurt!"

"Magby!" interjected Liz, "use Faint Attack!" Magby disappeared and scampered at Masquerain, the only clue to its location being a faint rustling in the grass.

"Masquerain, it's coming from the... I don't know where it is!" Fluttershy cried in a panic. Magby reappeared behind Masquerain and slapped it across the back of the head. The damselfly Pokemon leapt with a start and winced at the pain.

"Time out!" declared Applejack

"That's.. not exactly in the rulebook, but all right." said Liz.

Applejack came over to Fluttershy, and put her fore around the shaking pegasus's shoulder. "Fluttershy, ah know it's difficult, but you gotta learn to battle. It ain't like animals fightin' back home, these Pokemon were designed to get into brawls. They have a high tolerance for injuries, an' heal a lot quicker than anythin' we got back home."

"But I don't like fighting. I don't want to do it."

"Fluttershy, you saw how hostile some of th' wild Pokemon were on th' island. We won't always get ta choose whether or not we fight. Besides, it ain't personal to the Pokemon, it's more like a game." Masquerain nodded in agreement

"A.. game?"

"That's right Fluttershy, and you know it better'n us. We need yer brain runnin' on all cylinders,"

A determined look came over Fluttershy's face, "All right. I won't let you down." She turned to the picnicker, "I'm ready!"

"Finally! Magby, use Fire Spin!" Magby breathed out a spiral of flame, which trapped Masquerain in a fiery ring. The Pokemon began to sweat, and covered its face with its antennae. Applejack and Pinke Pie looked away; surely it was all over.

Fluttershy cried out, "Masquerain!" not with fear or despair, but with confidence, "Stay calm! Use Water Sport!" Masquerain spit a small jet of water straight up like a fountain, bathing itself in the cool and refreshing shower, causing it to drop to the ground. Despite the flames and its immobility, it stood on the ground steadfastly.

"Now I've got you! Magby, Ember!"

"Masquerain, Bubble!" The bubble pounded through the flaming wall, and clashed with Magby's embers, bursting into a cloud of steam that momentarily obscured everyone's vision. Once it cleared, they could see that the battle was decided - Magby lay on the ground fainted.

"Good try Magby, return!" Liz took her exhausted Pokemon back into its ball. "You three be careful if you're heading north, a storm warning's in effect from here to Pewter"

"Thank ya kindly, we will!"

"Look! The show's starting!" called out Pinkie Pie. The other looked upwards and indeed, a light dusting of snowflakes was beginning to fall. "I just love making snow angels, and snowmares, and snow forts, and snowcones..."

"Pinkie, ain't a snowcone th' last thing you'd want when it's cold outside?"

"Don't be silly Applejack, I always want a snowcone!"

"That ya do."

Author's Note

As you probably guessed from the long drought, I am not sure how far I can see this through. I had this chapter mostly completed and lying around for the longest time so I decided to go ahead and finish it. Usually I like to have the next chapter completed in advance before I publish one, but since I'm questioning whether there even will be another chapter, I decided I could make an exception. Problems I'm having include:

1) How do I get the ponies to be cool with Pokemon battling? It's one thing to play a video game or watch an Amine where the violence is so watered down that even children can watch?
2) How do I get around them having to explain their entire life stories to every human they meet?
3) How can I utilize Pinkie better? What does she contribute besides comic relief?
4) Is my battle choreography getting too repetitive?

Sheer Cold, Part 1

"Spike? You in there?" The young dragon awoke from his uneasy slumber to a knocking at the door. He found himself slouched over in the study, with Angel and Owluiscious snoozing on his lap. From the night prior, he remembered sending the letter to Celestia, then vowing to stay awake until the reply came.

"Go away!" he called back, "the library's closed!"

"It's me, Shining Armor, I'm coming in."

"Let me guess, you're here to tell me to stop worrying and stop wasting Princess Celestia's time."

"No Spike. You did the right thing by calling for help. It's not weak, it's smart. Now what can you tell me about this?"

"Not much. She brought all her friends over to show them some project she'd been working on, and when I checked on them, they were all gone! I've talked to all their friends and family and nopony's seen them."

"And this project, what was it exactly?"

"Some game she discovered in the Mirror World. She was spending all her free time reading books about it. I kinda tuned her out whenever she started talking about it" he said sheepishly, "it was like chess only a billion times more complicated. Not for kids, that's for sure. A couple weeks ago, she said she had an idea of how to bring the game into our world. She disappeared into the basement, and didn't come up for anything but meals and the bathroom."

"That does sound like Twily" chuckled Shining, "once she gets started on a project, it's blinders all the way until she's finished. Can I see her progress?"

"That's where it gets really weird. The only thing she made, was this." He handed Shining Armor the game cartridge

"She spent all this time making one game piece?"

"She said that that was the entire game, all the information was packed in there. Like how you can know all the facts in a book, even if the book is a lot bigger than your brain... there were a lot more big words when she explained it to me, but I think that's the important part."

"Weird. Can't say I get what exactly it does, but this tiny plastic square... I just have a sense that you should keep it safe. Now what say we get out of here and get some lunch at the palace in Canterlot?"

"You don't mean the castle?" gushed Spike, his eyes sparkling.

"I've arranged for you to stay at the castle's most deluxe suite for as long as you need. Huge bed, huge room, private bath & pool, and you can have whatever you want for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Thank you Shining Armor! Thank you, Thank you! I don't know how I'll ever repay you for all this!"

"Spike, please, After all you've done for my sister Twily, this is nothing. We're gonna get her back, I promise"

"Shining?"

"Yes Spike?"

"Do you think you could set up something for the pets too? They miss their masters a whole lot, even if some are too proud to show it." He smiled at Angel Bunny.

"Of course, Spike.

*****

The Kanto-travelling ponies had arrived at Viridian City. Following Professor Oak's advice, they immediately headed for the distinctive red-roofed building, the one he had called a "Pokemon Center." The oasis for all weary trainers, the Pokemon Center offered a place for them to relax, and cutting-edge medical technology that could get any wounded Pokemon back on its feet and fighting-fit in no time. Professor Oak had called around to all the region's Centers and gotten special permission for the ponies to stay the night free of charge.

"Look, that's one of 'em teller phones!" said Applejack, pointing to a row of partitioned video-phones, "Th' professor said we could talk ta him with it! Now we just gotta put in th' secret code. Maractus, if you'd be so kind." She recited the professor's phone number to her Pokemon, who tapped the keys for her. After a few seconds, the professor's face appeared on the monitor,

"Oh, hello again Applejack."

"Hiya professor! We're callin' ya from Viridian City.

"Wonderful! Right on schedule. I trust you didn't encounter any problems."

"Not a thing, Fluttershy here even won a battle!" Fluttershy turned away and blushed.

"Well, I'm glad you called, because I have some news for you about your three friends."

"Are they all right?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"They were taken captive by Team Aqua, but they escaped by leaping right out of the sky... I assume they had a parachute."

"A rainbow-colored one" quipped Pinkie Pie.

"I'm so glad they're safe" said Fluttershy.

"Professor, just who are these 'Team Aqua' guys?" asked Applejack, "an' where did ya hear all this?"

"They claim to be an environmental organization, but I've had my doubts, and this new development confirms them. A few years ago, I enlisted..." he leaned into the screen and whispered, "...an informant to infiltrate Team Aqua and report their activity to me. You'll understand if I don't divulge this person's name."

"Of course we do! Losing a friend's trust is the fastest way to lose their friendship FOREVER!"

"Jolly good then. As far as I know, their activities are confined to the Hoenn region, so it's unlikely you'll have trouble with them. But be careful all the same. Anything else?"

"Viridian City's got one of 'em Pokemon Gyms, don't it? Know anything about the gym leader?"

"I know all about him, he's my grandson Green."

"He must be really good if he's got a Gym." said Fluttershy.

"He is. But unfortunately, you won't be able to challenge him right now. You see my grandson is a very proud young man, and he won't take challenges from anyone who hasn't collected the other seven badges."

"What a meanie-pants!"

"Maybe, but frankly you're far from being ready for it. Inexperience aside, he'll be using a full team of six Pokemon, and you three don't even have that many between yourselves."

"Fair point. Is th' Pewter City Gym a good one to do first?"

"It's the perfect one for beginning trainers. Brock uses rock-type Pokemon, so I'd advise that Applejack or Pinkie Pie take the mantle on this one."

"Neither of us has even had a trainer battle yet, and ya want we should take on a gym leader?" said Applejack bewilderedly

"That's the long and short of it. Now I must get back to my work, so I'll see you around." The monitor went black.

*****

"Magnemite, use Thunderbolt!"

"Sableye, no!"

On the display screen, Sableye's picture flickered out, indicating that it had fainted.

"Ohohoho!" chuckled Wattson, "brilliantly done, Magnemite!"

"No matter," said Rarity, "Sableye return! Timburr, I choose you!"

"Timburr!"

The Mauville City Gym Leader took the first move, "Magnemite, use Tundershock!"

"Timburr, Rock Throw!" ordered Rarity. Timburr threw its beam at Magnemite, not damaging this tough steel body greatly, but distracting it enough to lose sight of the small Pokemon and miss with its attack.

"Now use Wake-Up Slap! Elevate yourself!" Timburr quickly recovered its weapon and planted it vertically in the ground. It leapt onto the beam, putting itself face-to-face with the levitating Magnemite. It launched the ordered attack, sending Magnemite tumbling to the floor.

"Good show, very good indeed! But I've got one more Pokemon left, and believe me when I say it's shocking!" He laughed at his own joke. "Manectric, let's finish this!"

"Mannnnnectric!"

"Manectric, use Spark!"

"Timburr, Bulk Up!" Timburr stuck its board of wood out in front of it, and met the attack head-on, shuddering from the electricity.

"Manectric! Thunderbolt!"

"Timburr, Bide!" said Rarity, with a grin. Timburr sat down cross legged and began to meditate.

"Nice try, little lady, but I've that trick before. Manectric, use Charge!"

"Oh dear" murmured Rarity as the lion-esque Pokemon stood resolute, static coursing through its fur. "Er, Timburr, cancel Bide! Dodge! Do something, I don't know!"

"Now Manectric, Discharge!!!"

Manectric roared as jagged forks of lightning emanated from its body, all converging on Timburr. It opened one eye just as the attack landed.

"TIIIIIIM!!!" it cried as it bore the brunt of the Electric attack. It flopped onto the ground, smoking and defeated.

"Ohohoho! Well fought, Miss Rarity, but the battle is mine." He shook Rarity's hoof. "You did well, so don't you get discouraged."

Outside, she reconvened with Twilight and Rainbow Dash and they made their way to the Pokemon Center.

"So how'd our first gym battle go?" inquired Twilight. Rarity just shook her head with a wistful smile.

"It's all right, they're difficult. I'll be sure to capture another Pokemon so that I can do the next one." They arrived at the Pokemon Center, and while Rarity went to the nurse's counter to get her Pokemon healed, Twilight and Dash found a vacant table where they could sit and rest their hooves. Rainbow Dash was absentmindedly flipping through a pamphlet lying on the table.

"Come see the scenic mountaintop vista... Lavaridge Town?"

"Oh, that's a pretty quaint little town. It'll take us away from the sea, but it won't be easy terrain; first desert then mountains."

"Well I'm up to the challenge!" declared Dash.

"What challenge, darling?" Rarity had just handed off her Pokemon to the nurse, and joined them at their table.

"We were deciding whether we should through mountains and deserts, or take the flowery well-worn trail to the east."

"Well, count me in for east then."

"Oh that reminds me Rainbow," said Twilight, jumping right into the next conversation point, "I have something for you. I was going to give it to you earlier, but then I forgot after we had our fight..." Twilight trailed off.

"Hey forget about that, Twilight, water under the bridge, remember? Besides I'm always game for presents!"

"Right, of course. This is for you." Twilight pulled the Oval Stone out of her saddlebag and slid it across the table.

Dash clutched the white egg-shaped stone in her wing, and looked at it quizzically, "What is it with you ponies and giving me rocks?" Rarity gave Dash a knowing glance.

"Wha? ..it's an Oval Stone, for your Happiny. Having her carry it around is the only way she can evolve."

"Evolve?"

"Didn't I go over this?" said Twilight, not loving repeating herself, but not balking at the chance to teach. "Some species of Pokemon take on an entirely new form once they reach a certain developmental stage. They get bigger and stronger, and sometimes unlock new abilities."

"That's cool!" marveled Dash, so what's Happiny gonna look like when she evolves?"

"She's going to evolve into a Pokemon named Chansey." explained Twilight, drawing a picture of said Pokemon, "she'll be the same tank you know and love, but with new attacks and even more staying power."

"Do all Pokemon evolve?" asked Rarity.

"Most evolve at least once. But not all - your Sableye for instance, has no second stage."

"But that just means he's perfect the way he is," concluded Rarity, "I like the small and petite ones, it wouldn't do to have my Pokemon turning into some kind of lumbering brute."

"Well I say bring on the brutes!" declared Dash, "so Twilight, how long is it gonna be before she becomes Chansey?"

"It's impossible to say. The best I answer I can give you is 'when she's ready.'"

Rarity gave a sharp gasp, "Twilight, look at this!" she pointed to a corner of the Lavaridge flier that read, "Enjoy our volcanic spa and natural hot springs."

"I thought you were giving up creature comforts."

"True Rainbow, but I said that when they were hopelessly out of reach. This is the golden apple being dangled right before my eyes! Please, say we can go to Lavaridge, I neeeeed this, Twili-i-i-ght!" she begged, almost sobbing.

"All right" said Twilight, "but only because the volcano puts Team Aqua out of their element. I hope going through the desert is worth it."

"Al the dried-out skin in the world will be worth it. Plus, I made us these." She pulled out a set of goggles for each of them, the elastic bands patterned with their respective cutie marks "They were selling them in Slateport, apparently very popular amongst ponies that brave the elements. I took the liberty of making the lenses bigger and setting them further apart."

"Nice thinking, Rarity" lauded Twilight, "Lavaridge it is then. Let's go find ourselves a hotel room." They hoped that their other halves, wherever they were, would encounter clearer skies and safer travels in the morning. Miles away in Kanto, their other halves were hoping the very same thing.

Author's Note

I've decided to take this off hiatus for now, we'll see how long I can maintain the buzz. This chapter doesn't have much action, but I think you'll be quite satisfied with the next one.

Sheer Cold, Part 3

"FLUTTERSHY!!!" cried Applejack, as Fluttershy disappeared under the ice with a splash.

"Oh, I know! A lasso!" suggested Pinkie Pie

Applejack looked ashamed, "I don't have any rope."

Everything was black for Fluttershy, except the rays of light poking through the hole in the ice - which was getting further away with each second. While some ponies would be flailing madly, Fluttershy's natural instinct was to freeze, and freeze she did, stiff as a board and sinking towards the bottom of the lake. In her mind she was screaming for help, and crying at the sting of the frigid water. Her wings felt like they weighed a million pounds, and her legs refused to kick. She felt it getting harder to breathe by the second and her mind starting to blur. Applejack, Pinkie. Be safe for me, ok? I'm sorry I couldn't go further with you. Say hi to our friends for me. The light is pretty, and it looks warm. I'm glad I got to see one last nice thing. Wait, something's blocking the light. It looks like it's coming over here. That's a..what is it again? Totodile? Where have I seen that before? Totodile began tugging and pushing her, but she was oblivious to its attempts

Up on the surface, Masquerain was rubbing its wings together nervously. Finally, it started towards the frozen lake, but Pinkie blocked its path,

"You can't go down there. It won't do us any good if you get wet too." Masquerain glared at her.

"Masquerain, look at th' water" said Applejack, "there's bubbles comin' up from th' surface. That means Fluttershy's still breathin'. She's gonna be ok, I promise. Pinkie Promise?" She looked expectantly at Pinkie Pie, but the pink pony said nothing. "Pinkie, didn't ya hear what I said?"

Totodile continued to struggle, but Fluttershy was too heavy for it to lift. Doesn't it belong to somepony important? A friend? Yes, that's it, it's...it's Pinkie! And she's trying to save me! With one last burst of energy, she kicked her hind legs and aimed herself for the light above. Finally she reached the surface, breathing in the air with huge gulps.

"Fluttershy, we're gonna get you outta there!" called Applejack, "what do we do now, Pinkie?"

"We have to, um....c'mon Pinkie..." she clenched her teeth and tried to drown out the overwhelming panic so she could remember the procedure her instructor had taught her. "We need something spiky to clamp the ice...wait, I know! Gummy 2, use your teeth!" Totodile bit down on the ice and held fast. Fluttershy quickly grabbed hold.

"I can't pull myself up!"

"Yes you can, Fluttershy! Kick your legs, and get your shoulders out first!" Fluttershy kicked as hard as she could, and sprung out of the water, landing sideways on the ice.

"Good! Now roll towards us!" She rolled to the edge of the lake, and the two ponies rushed to her aid, quickly hoisting her onto Applejack's shoulders.

"IT'S COLD!!!" she cried, the air thawing out the nerves that had gone numb, sending a huge cold shock through her body.

"I know, sugarcube, I know." said Applejack. Pinkie removed Fluttershy's soaking jacket and tossed it aside. She draped her own over Fluttershy. Masquerain landed on Fluttershy's back and wrapped its antennae around her.

"Thanks you guys" she whispered, "sorry for the shaking."

"Shiverin's good, honey. Keep shiverin', and don't fall asleep on us, alright?"

"I w-won't."

"Here it is, Mt. Jagged." declared Twilight, "Past here is Lavaridge town. Now, we've climbed a mountain before, and this one, while less steep, presents its own set of challenges, such as..."

Rainbow cut in, "Uh hello? Wings." She flexed hers for emphasis.

"Think you can lift the both of us?"

"Please, I can lift three hundred pounds with each of these babies...not that I need to" she added, responding to Rarity's glance, "now hop on and let's go." She helped Rarity onto her back, and grabbed hold of Twilight by the waist.

"Be on the lookout for Fire Pokemon" advised Twilight, "There are some good ones around here."

"They're not going to shoot fire at us, are they?" asked Rarity uneasily.

"Probably not."

"Let them!" declared Dash, "I could use the dodging practice."

"Please do control your brazenness, you're carrying delicate cargo" said Rarity.

"Alright, alright. We're halfway to the top and haven't had any accidents, so will you both just relax?"

"Rainbow, stop!" cried Twilight.

"Twilight, I promise, nothing's gonna happen to you."

"Not that, look!" She pointed at an outcropping where a small, six-tailed foxlike Pokemon sat, licking its paws. "That's a Vulpix, it'd make a great addition to my team!" The three of them dropped onto the ground, spooking the Vulpix and sending it running into a nearby cave.

"Well, that's the end of that" said Rainbow

"I don't think so!" she hurried into the cave after the retreating Pokemon.

"Should we go with her?" asked Rarity.

"You go ahead, I don't do caves. Not enough space to stretch out my wings."

Rarity shrugged, and hurried into the cave to catch up with her friend.

Pinkie and Applejack galloped through the forest as fast as their legs could carry them, Applejack keeping pace with Pinkie in spite of being laden with Fluttershy. The snow was growing deeper, and the sky had gone a darker shade of grey. But Applejack kept them on point, assuringly reminding Fluttershy of this. The pegasus felt too weak to talk, but she gave an acknowledging smile. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and the snow turned to ice, knocking them off their feet.

"Fluttershy!" Cried Applejack, hurriedly retrieving her friend.

"Look!" Said Pinkie, "there's no storm over there!" About a quarter mile in the distance, white fluffy snow drifted to the ground, with little wind interfering.

"This aint no ordinary ice storm, is it? I bet it's a Pokemon's doin'."

"Take Fluttershy and get to Pewter City!" instructed Pinkie, "I'll keep this Pokemon busy, whoever it is."

"But-"

"P-please Applejack" rasped Fluttershy, "she'll be fine."

"Pinkie, you come back alive, or I'll tan yer hide."

"Pinkie Promise. See ya soon!" Applejack galloped off into the distance, and just as Pinkie thought, the assailant revealed itself and started to sneak up behind Applejack.

"Hey you!" called Pinkie to the hovering Pokémon. It turned around, allowing Pinkie a clear view at it. She gasped “No...way! It's...It’s an ice cream cone Pokemon!!! I gotta have this one! We just have to catch it, Gummy 2!”

“Vani-ni-ni!!!!” Cried the wild Vanillite, firing off an Icy Wind. Totodile and Pinkie shivered, but both were used to the cold.

“Gummy 2, use Bite!” Vanillite flinched, and Pinkie took advantage. “Now double dip with a Water Gun!”

“Vanilll!” Vanillite was visibly shaken and exhausted, and Pinkie knew she had a window of opportunity.

“Pokeball, go!” When the Pokeball tapped against Vanillite, it sucked the small dessert-like Pokemon in and rocked three times, before finishing with a pinging sound.

“Woohoo!” cheered Pinkie. This called for a "new Pokemon catching party," but she knew it would have to wait - Applejack's tracks would soon be buried by the snow, and that would make it a lot harder to catch up.

"There it is!" Said Rarity , pointing at an outcropping where the wild vulpix stood. "Sableye i choose you!"

"Sableye!"

"Use..." She was about to order a will-o-wisp but then remembered an important fact Twilight had mentioned - fire types couldn't get burned. "...night shade!" Sableye fired off a talon of dark energy. Vulpix was knocked back into the wall, but righted quickly. It barked a very shrill cry, causing Sableye to recoil in shock and disappear into its Pokeball. Taking advantage of Rarity's dumbfoundedness, the Vulpix leapt off of its perch and retreated further into the cave, with Twilight chasing after.

"That was Roar," she explained, not bothering to check if Rarity was following her, "even the toughest of Pokemon can't help but flee from it."

"Don't leave me behind, Twilight!" Called Rarity, quickening her pace.

Applejack's pace broke into a sprint as she crossed the threshold into Pewter City and spotted the town's Pokemon Center.

Fluttershy bad been quiet, but Applejack could feel her continued shivering, and the steady movmement of her chest as she breathed. As she burst through the doors, she cried,

"Nurse! My friend fell into a lake! She needs help an' fast!"

"O-ok" said the perplexed redheaded nurse behind the counter, eyeing up the strange visitors,"erm, is she a Pokemon or a human?"
"Neither! She's a pegasus pony"

"A what? No, never mind, we don't have time to lose. Chansey!"

"Chansey!" two rotund pink Pokemon waddled over with a gurney, and gently placed Fluttershy on it, wheeling her into the back room.

"They were born to treat the sick and wounded" said the nurse assuredly, "they'll know how to help your friend."

Having finally caught up to the wild Vulpix, Twilight took her turn at trying to catch it.

"Misdreavus, Hypnosis!" The ghost Pokemon's eyes glowed red, and Vulpix fell into a deep sleep.

"He can't Roar if he's asleep" she explained. "Now use Hex!"

"Miiiiis!"

Pokeball go!!!"

Twilight's Pokeball rocked back and forth, but between the major damage she had dealt and status condition she inflicted, she was feeling confident. Indeed, the Pokeball pinged shut, confirming her catch.

"Bravo, Twilight. I can't wait to see what that lovely Pokmon can do. Twilight grinned, but her victory was cut short by a startling yell,

"Twi, Rarity! We have a situation!" Rainbow Dash's voice echoed through the cave. Startled and concerned, the two ponies raced back to the entrance to see what the matter was.

"Team Aqua" growled Twilight. Rainbow and her exhausted-looking Happiny were surrounded by several stripe-shirted grunts.

"HEY! Leave our friend alone!" yelled Rarity.

"So kind of you to come and find us, instead of making us look for you" sneered one, "your friend here refused tell us where you went. My guess was the hairdresser's." The other Aquas laughed.

"That tears it!" snarled Rarity, "Timburr, I choose you!"

"Timburr"

"Fine, you wanna play rough? Spheal, get out there!"

"Spheal, Spheal."

"Spheal, use Ice Ball!"

"Timburr, Bulk up!" Rarity's Pokemon flexed its muscles while using its wooden beam as a shield. The ice ball shattered against it, protecting the Pokemon from some of the damage. "Now use Wake-Up Slap!" Knowing the second Ice Ball was imminent, Timburr waited its moment and rolled to the side. It charged Spheal in a zigzag pattern, winding up for a swing like a baseball player, and finally landing a devastating whack, knocking out Spheal in a single blow.

"This isn't over" snarled the grunt. Suddenly, Timburr began to glow.

"Twilight, what's happening?" asked Rarity worriedly.

"A miracle of the Pokemon world." replied Twilight, "girls, this is evolution. Timburr's glowing form began to grow, until it was almost as tall as Rarity. Its arms and legs had fused into enormous muscle masses, and its wooden board replaced by an iron girder.

"GURDURR!" it declared.

"Oh... my" said Rarity, taken aback at first, but her surprise was soon replaced with confidence "You, Team Aqua, are standing between me and a deluxe spa treatment, and I'm not too happy about that. Does anyone else want to try my patience?" Before any of the Aquas could speak up, there came a slow, steady applause from someone in the crowd. The grunts parted to allow Sylvia to step through, as she continued clapping.

"Well aren't you proud of yourselves? You've been doing some training in your time away. I don't know what you freaks are, but you're pretty serious about Pokemon training, aren't you?"

"Are you trying to provoke me?" asked Rarity.

"Not you, her." Sylvia pointed to Twilight, "you're the ringleader. I want to take you down myself."

"Twilight'll kick your flank!" said Rainbow, "you're gonna be sorry."

"Rainbow, please" said Twilight, "we're not looking for any trouble, and we swear, we won't harm the ocean."

"That's what all the Team Magma shills said. Why should you be the first one we believe?" She took out her Pokeball and threw it in Twilight's direction, "Sealeo, round up the prisoners!"

Twilight sighed, "Misdreavus, guess we're fighting."

"Miiiss!"

"Sealeo, Icy Wind!"

"Misdreavus, Hypnosis!" Misdreavus' eyes glowed and it began to conjure up the blue light, but the Icy Wind collided with it and broke its concentration.

"Now Sealeo, use Water Gun!" Misdreavus shuddered as the cold water hit it, but it held on.

"Misdreavus, Confuse Ray!" Misdreavus shot a beam of purple light at Sealeo, causing it to stagger back and forth, almost toppling over in its clumsiness.

"Sealeo!" yelled Sylvia, "End this right now with Sheer Cold!!!"

"Oh my" said Rarity.

"Don't worry" said Twilight with a grin, "Sheer Cold is a one hit KO move, yes, but it's incredibly difficult for a Pokemon to pull off without the utmost concentration. No way a Pokemon can do that while they're confused. She turned back to the battle, only to see that Sylvia was wearing a grin on her face, much too large for someone who'd ordered an attack with no chance of hitting.

"Very true," she said, "unless of course, I remembered that you like to use Confuse Ray, and prepared for that by having my Sealeo hold a Persim berry under the tongue. Now, Sealeo! Take all of them out with your Sheer Cold!"

Panicking, Twilight cried "Misdreavus use Astoni-" before she could finish, she and Misdreavus were instantly and completely encased in a block of ice. Her friends and their Pokemon tried to rush over to help her, but they too froze before they could take a single step.

Author's Note

Since I'm working now, updates probably won't come as frequently. I'll try to continue this as much as I can though.

Starter Island

“So you’re saying that that pony, wasn’t a pony at all, but a Pony-ta?” inquired Rainbow Dash, “And it’s one of these Pokemon?”

“In a nutshell” said Twilight.

“Can we go home now?” asked Fluttershy, “I don’t want to see animals fighting.”

“I suppose” said Twilight reluctantly. Truth be told, she wanted to stay longer. She conjured up a transportation spell, and the six disappeared in a flash of light, only to reappear moments later.

“Whee! Do it again!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

“I don’t understand” said a bewildered Twilight, “That felt… weak somehow, as if there’s less magic to draw from.”

“So how do we get home, sugarcube?” asked Applejack

“I wish I knew” said Twilight solemnly. She fished desperately for something to say. If their morale got low, they might start assigning blame, and she was pretty sure she knew who would bear the brunt. After a moment, she spoke again,

“We’re trapped in a game. I suppose we could try playing it.”

“Hang on,” interjected Rainbow Dash, suddenly remembering a trivium, “didn’t you say this game starts out in a town or something? How did we end up on a beach?”

An extremely abashed look spread across Twilight’s face, “I wanted to make the game more interesting, let the player get more choices than the three starter Pokemon. I added an area called Starter Island to the south of Pallet Town, it’s a bunch of different terrains side-by-side to get the maximum amount of variety. Pretty much everything except the city.”

“Just how far are we from this Pallet Town?” inquired Rarity.

“I don’t know” admitted Twilight, “In the game it’s about 300 steps, but clearly…” she motioned at the vast landscape before them, with nary a man made structure as far as the eye could see, “...it’s going to be a lot more for us.”

A wave of dread was washed over them, visible on all their faces.

“Hey come on, look on the bright side” encouraged Twilight, “We didn’t get turned into humans this time. Trust me when I say that that was NOT a fun acclimation period.”

“And on the less bright side, we’re lost in the middle of nowhere with nothing!” Rarity lashed back.

It was just like Rarity to whine in the face of adversity. But she had a point. They were in a dire strait, with no supplies, and no idea how far they were from civilization. Actually, the former wasn’t true, observed Twilight. A few odds and ends from the lab had gotten sucked in with them and were scattered about the landing site. One thing in particular caught her eye. It was a jar, one of the few that had not shattered, and its label read “saltpeter.” A few feet away she found a couple boxes of matches. Perfect. With these, they may just survive yet. Twilight was so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed how far she’d wandered from the gang. She called them over with a sharp whistle

“I have a plan” she said to them, “It’s not ideal, and it’s certainly not safe, but we need to cover as much ground as we can. But I think I can marginally shift the odds in our favor. Applejack, would you get me some bamboo rods?” she requested, pointing towards a nearby bamboo field.

“Ah’m on it!” said Applejack, and she hurried over.

“And Pinkie Pie, do you by any chance have some powdered sugar?” Twilight asked her party loving friend.

“What a silly question!” replied Pinkie Pie, “of course I do!” She handed over a small sack labelled “confectioner’s sugar”.

“Ah got the bam- WHOA!” exclaimed Applejack, as she tripped over the two bamboo stalks she was carrying. She fell on the bamboo, snapping it in half

“Ah nuts” she said, “ah’m mighty sorry Twilight”

“That’s all right, I needed to break it.” With her magic, Twilight snapped the bamboo near each of the seams, making ten-inch tubes that were closed at one end. Into the open end of each, she poured some saltpeter and powdered sugar.

“Mind fillin’ the rest of us in on what yer doin’?” asked Applejack

“Emergency flares” said Twilight, handing one to each pony along with a couple of matches “Our best chance of getting out of here is to signal a passing aircraft. I figure if we spread out, we can increase our chances of being seen.” With her hoof, she drew a triangle in the sand, with an "S" at the base and an "N" at the point.

"Starter Island is shaped like a triangle, to represent that many paths lead to the same destiny. Even if we don't flag down a rescue team, if we all just head north, and we'll meet up at the edge, maybe sooner" she said with a nod to Fluttershy, who was a clear "nay" vote on the splitting up idea.

“Goodie bags!” interrupted Pinkie Pie,

The rest of the ponies walked quizzically over to where Pinkie Pie was standing.

Arranged in a perfect circle were six saddlebags, looking fresh and pristine, each with a buckle shaped like one of the Six’s cutie marks.

“This looks like mine” said Applejack examining the bag emblazoned with an orange apple, “but ah din’t have it with me at Twilight’s house.”

“Me neither” added Fluttershy, “I don’t think any of us did.”

“What’d I get? What’d I get?” squealed Pinkie Pie. She turned it upside down, and a red and white sphere rolled out onto the sand. The others reached inside their bags to discover that they had the same contents.

“This is a Pokeball, isn’t it?” asked Fluttershy, examining hers, “for capturing?”

“It’s the Starter Ball, another one of my inventions” replied Twilight proudly, “It can catch any sufficiently low-level Pokemon without fail, which becomes your starter Pokemon. This is a pretty dangerous environment to go through unprotected, so I suggest you use it.”

“This is starting to sound like a real delightful holiday,” groaned Rarity

“Well excuse me for not designing the entire game to account for six idiots getting trapped inside!” yelled Twilight

ENOUGH! All o’ y’all!” shouted Applejack, stomping her hoof on the ground, “Maybe it is fer th’ best if everypony went their own sepr’ate way for a hwile. We got our flares, we’ll get back together later. In th' menatime ah want everypont ta CHILL OUT! Savvy?”

“Umm,” whispered Fluttershy in a barely intelligible voice, “can I, maybe tag along with somepony, I mean, if it’s not too much trouble?”

“Ah think we all need some alone time, Fluttershy.” said Applejack in a soft sober tone.

“Alright.” muttered Fluttershy forlornly.

“Well, good luck everypony” said Twilight wistfully. They gave her an acknowledging nod, and each of the six headed off in their own direction, taking the first step on their journey, alone.

Terra Firma, Part 1

After a long night of passionate discussion, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy settled in for sleep. While not the most comfortable bed in the world, the Professor's couch was a decent enough stand-in. Pinkie and Applejack dropped within minutes, but Fluttershy's anxiety made it more difficult for her. She tried her best to lie still and let sleep overtake her, but it wouldn't come. Quietly she sang to herself, "Hush now quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head..." It was no good. She was in a dark, unfamiliar environment, there was no hope of putting her mind at ease.

Fluttershy. The echoed male voice was clear as day, but surprisingly Applejack and Pinkie Pie didn't so much stir at the noise.

"Wh-who's there?" she whispered nervously.

Do not be alarmed. I speak to you telepathically from very far away. She realized that indeed, she could hear the voice, but somehow couldn't sense it in her ears.

"Who are you?" she asked again

I am the Pokemon, Latios. I come because I sense a great distress coming from you, my child.

"You can read minds? Eep!" she squeaked, "please don't, it's so... intrusive."

Rest easy, I read only enough to figure out a way to help you. In your home world, Equestria, there is a pony with mystical connections to the moon, is there not?

"You mean Princess Luna? She's... loud."

To the north of Pallet Town sits Mt. Moon. It is said that on the night of a clear full moon, the lunar energy intensifies and harmonizes with other moons in the multiverse, and that at the summit, one can communicate with beings in synch with the moon.

"We could talk to the princess?"

Yes. You mustn't dally, for the next occurrence is in just three nights

"Oh no! Can we make it there in time?"

You must leave the comfort of this home and set out in the morning, but you will make it, Fluttershy. In your heart, you know you can. Sleep now, your friends will need you in good health and sound mind. Though she knew Latios wasn't in the room with her, Fluttershy could swear she felt a soft-downed wing brushing against her comfortingly. Gradually she drifted off to sleep.

*****

"AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!" The all-too familiar winds of free-fall whipped around Rarity's face as she plummeted towards the ground, eyes clenched shut. Contrary to popular belief, falling from 5,000 feet in the air did not get easier the second time around. To cope with equal parts chagrin and fear, Rarity fell back onto the most basal of instincts; she screamed.

"Rarity, would you knock it off already? I grabbed you like two minutes ago!" Rarity unclenched her eyes and looked up. Indeed, her fores were locked with Rainbow's, and their descent was beginning to lose speed. Twilight was safely on Rainbow Dash's back, having not trusted her own novice flying skills. As the ground below approached, Rainbow beat her wings furiously to slow the trio down. As they reached the surface, they slowed to a near crawl, Rainbow's wingbeats kicking up sand from the ground below, They landed gracefully and took stock of their surroundings. Once again they were on a beach, but this one had something that Starter Island lacked; people. Spread out along length of the beach were towels and parasols of all colors. Young children with inner tubes frolicked in the water while their parents kept a watchful eye from the shore. But the ponies were most taken by a much more concerning sight. At the threshold of the city in front of them stood a gigantic blue banner, which read "Team Aqua reminds you to keep the beach clean." As they gazed further up the shoreline they could see people in Team Aqua uniforms passing out fliers, and selling costumes & Kyogre plushies.

"Twilight we have to get out of here" whispered an unsettled Rarity, "We've landed right in the middle of their territory."

"Yeah, I say we rocket outta here and don't look back!"

"Actually, I think we might be fine." The two did a double take gave Twilight a skeptical look. "All this is nothing more than a PR campaign to get back on the public's good graces. And not a very well thought-out one at that; half of those fliers are probably going to end up in the garbage, and the other half littered on the ground. Heck, those Team Aqua members are probably just some people off the street who needed quick cash. They wouldn't dare abduct us in broad daylight, especially since we're making such a scene." She indicated at the large crowd of curious onlookers that had begun to gather around them.

"What are they?" "Did they come from the sky?" "They talk!" were among the murmurs from the crowd.

"People," Twilight addressed them with a powerful voice, "We come in peace from another world called Equestria."

"Seriously Twilight?" Rainbow snickered in the background at the cliche, "geez, we're not space aliens."

Ignoring her, Twilight continued, "We are in search of no more than refuge and a way home. As for what we are, we're trainers." The crowd perked up at that, and there was a murmur of approval. "In fact, my friend Rainbow Dash here has yet to experience a Pokemon battle. Anyone up for match?"

"Wha?" Rainbow Dash wasn't afraid of the challenge, but at the same time, she didn't expect to be put on the spot like that.

"Relax" whispered Twilight, "Pokemon battling is how they say hello in this world."

"Alright yeah!" spoke up Rainbow Dash, quickly getting in to the swing of it, "anypony think they're awesome enough?"

"I've never had a battle either, Miss Dash. But I'm ready!" The crowd parted for a little boy, who stood with a relaxed confidence, Pokeball in hand, despite the size difference between himself and Dash.

"I like your attitude kid! Let's do this! Happiny, I choose you!"

"Go, Zigzagoon!"

The Pokemon materialized simultaneously, giving their respective cries. Happiny elicited an "awwww" from the females in the crowd, which Rainbow silenced with a glare.

"Happiny, let's start this off with Pound!" Happiny lunged at its opponent with a left hook, but Zigzagoon easily dodged.

"Zigzagoon, Headbutt!"

"Zigzagoon!" declared the Pokemon, charging at Happiny in a zigzag pattern

"We can dodge too, can't we Happiny?" Happiny leapt to the side, but tripped and fell on its face, taking the brunt of the Heabutt. Undaunted, it shook itself off and got back onto its feet.

"That's what I like to see!" commended Dash, "Now use Copycat and give it a taste of its own medicine!" Happiny flew headlong at Zigzagoon.

"Zigzagoon, use Sand Attack!" Zigzagoon began pawing at the ground and kicking up sand until it had formed a cloud that obscured it completely. Happiny flew straight into the cloud, the impact kicking up even more dust. Once it cleared, the crowd could see Zigzaggon, five feet away from the point of impact, and the bottom half of the upturned Happiny, whose attack had done naught but got her her head stuck in the ground.

"Tackle it, Zigzagoon!" The Pokemon siezed the free hit against the helpless Happiny, its slam freeing the Pokemon, but with a considerable impact the sent it rolling backwards. It got to its feet, dizzy and dirtied, but still tenaciously fighting.

From the sidelines, Rarity commented to Twilight, "that Zigzagoon has Rainbow outclassed completely"

"Happiny can't match it on speed, but she does have great endurance for such a small Pokemon. Not that it's going to matter if it can't fight back.."

"You've almost got this one, Zigzagoon!" declared the boy, "Finish her with another Headbutt!"

"Happiny...." began Rainbow Dash, her mind racing a mile a minute to come up with something. Zigzagoon was less than five seconds away from making a hit, she needed something really quickly. "Happiny, stand your ground!" The crowd gasped, ponies included. Right as Zigzagoon was about to hit, Happiny dug her feet into the sand and thrust her arms out, pushing back against Zigzagoon's charge. She couldn't overtake him and began to slide backwards, but was for the moment not taking damage. Just the opportunity Dash needed.

"Happiny! Use Sweet Kiss!"

"Zigzagoon get away!" cried the boy, but his Pokemon was trapped by its own forward momentum. Hapiny leaned in and gave Zigzagoon a peck on the forehead. Pink hearts burst out and Zigzagoon's eyes went foggy. It began to stagger haphazardly from side to side.

"Now Happiny! Give it a taste of your Return!"

"Happiny!" The Pokemon leapt into the air and somersaulted, slamming down directly on top of Zigzagoon with its full weight. The Pokemon wheeze as the wind was knocked out of it, and it slumped over, fainted. The crowd gave Rainbow a polite applause and then dissipated, the boy looking a little bit disappointed.

"Very impressive, Rainbow. You really took to battling."

"Please Twilight, it was nothing. Soon as I realized that Happiny was more of a sumo than a boxer, I had him right where I wanted!"

"Excuse me, R-rainbow Dash?" Rainbow turned around to see a little girl of no more than eight looking up at her nervously. The girl wore a bathing suit emblazoned with Torchics, and carried an orange and purple striped inner tube around her waist. "Your Happiny was so... so cool out there! A-and you were too of course. I was wondering if maybe you'd... like to trade your Happiny for my Pidgeotto?" She tossed her own Pokeball onto the ground, and from it sprang a majestic hawklike Pokemon with fiery red & yellow tail feathers and a proud crimson crest.

"Pidgooooo!" It declared, spreading its wings grandiosely.

"Sorry squirt, not a chance!" replied Dash instantly, "but you keep working with your Pidgeotto, alright? Maybe one day you'll be as awesome as Happiny and me!"

"You really think I can do that?" asked the little girl, stars in her eyes, "alright then Pidgeotto, we've got some major training to do!"

"Pidgooooo!" The two of them scooted off down the beach.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna take a few laps around the beach. I'll catch up with you later." said Dash

Twilight looked confused "Now? But you just go through falling out of-"

Rarity covered Twilight's mouth with a hoof, "We'll get some supplies and a hotel room. You enjoy yourself." After Rainbow was out of sight, Rarity continued with Twilight, "Darling, can't you see that Rainbow Dash is hurting on the inside?"

"But I snapped her out of it back on the plane."

"Flying is Rainbow Dash's favourite thing in the world, she wants to enjoy as much of it as she can. You lifted her spirits, but she'll never be completely "snapped out" of such a handicap. You must not interfere with her coping methods."

."Wow Rarity. I didn't know you were so in tune with Rainbow's feelings."

"Nor did I. But desperate times make strange bedfellows out of all of us. Don't be too hard on yourself, these are very complex emotions we're going through. Now, why don't you join me for some shopping?" she suggested, hoisting up her hefty saddlebag, the gems making a jangling noise inside, "my treat."

The two of them made their way to the beachside market stalls. The clothes were made for the human form, so Rarity made do with just scarves and hats.

"Make sure to save enough for some medicines and Pokeballs" advised Twilight

"You want to capture more Pokemon?"

"Of course, you can't just expect one Pokemon to be suited for every situation. For instance, all of our Pokemon are smaller than us, and none of them can swim. We can carry up to six Pokemon each, and I plan to do that eventually."

"I suppose my little Sableye could use a friend or two. Ooh! They have sewing kits!" She hurried over to the arts & crafts stall. Twilight continued to browse the tables on her own, stocking up on the occasional food ration and battle item.

"Two-for-one, all evolutionary stones" read a banner at the treasure stall.

"I'll take the Oval Stone" said Twilight, "and hmm, I'm not sure what else."

*****

"Gooooooooood morning, sleepyhead!" Fluttershy awoke to a bubbly voice, and found herself face-to-face with a beaming Pinkie Pie. She stretched out and yawned.

"Sleep well, sugarcube?" asked Applejack. Fluttershy didn't answer, still pensive over the mystical encounter of last night.

"Good morning everybody- erm I mean, everypony" Professor Oak entered the room with a tray of fresh toast and marmalade, "I wasn't sure what you had for breakfast in Equestria, but this seemed like an inoffensive choice. Would any of you like some coffee?"

"NO!" cried Applejack, "ah mean... no thank ya, toast'll be just fine."

"Aww" sighed Pinkie Pie.

"Er, alright then. You three eat up, I have something I want to show you." He exited the room.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie started to dig in almost immediately, but Fluttershy barely acknowledged the food. "Fluttershy, you been actin' odd. Everythin' ok?"

"Well, actually, something strange happened last night. There was this voice in my head that alled himself Latios and-"

"Here it is!" Professor Oak had re-entered the room, carrying a laptop. A large slab of stone with ancient-looking symbols was displayed on the monitor. "The significance of this stone tablet has confounded me for the longest time. But I think I might have a theory now.

Pinkie Pie had began to have a giggle fit, "Silly! That's not a stone! It's a plasticy-shiny-glassy thingy!"

"Er, wha? ...Oh of course, I keep forgetting you don't have computers in Equestria. What you're seeing here is just a photograph, the real one is in a museum in Slateport. But more to the point the ancient symbols roughly translate to, 'Lo, the traveler, in the time of chaos and discord, shall bring about harmony by assembling the world's greatest team of six. I was under the assumption that this referred to a Pokemon team, because six is the maximum team size under standard regulations."

"But ya think th' six they're talkin' about is us? 'Cause we've saved th' day plenty o' times, but that still sounds like a mighty big stretch."

"That may be, but look at the image carved beneath the text." He scrolled down on the picture.

"Oh my!" yelped Fluttershy, "That's...!"

*****

"Me???" gasped Twilight, gaping at the museum exhibit before her.

Author's Note

Pinkie Pie probably wouldn't like coffee because it's so bitter, but I wouldn't risk it, would you?

Sheer Cold, Part 2

*****

Mood Music

The desert in Hoenn was by no means the world's largest, but a daunting obstacle nonetheless for Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. Rarity's tailor-made Go-Goggles protected their eyes from being blinded by the sandstorm, but did little against the gale forces of the wind, and the punishing rays of the morning sun.

"Just hug the wall" advised Twilight, raising her voice over the whipping sand, "as long as we don't get turned around, we'll be headed in the right direction." All around them, Trapinches popped out of the sand, snapping at their legs and forcing them to do some fancy footwork. Sableye was out of his Pokeball and scurrying about, looking to replenish his master's diminishing supply of gems. The wild Pokemon spat sand in his face, but his diamond-eyes were unaffected.

After what seemed like hours of nothingness, they came across another traveller, a Ruin Maniac called Ivan, "Hello there" he said, "didn't think I'd get company all the way out here, especially such odd-looking ones."

They were taken aback by his candidness, but Twilight stopped the other two and replied calmly, "It's true, we look different, but we're just a group of trainers on our way to Lavaridge."

"Trainers are you? How about a battle then? Two each?"

"I'm the only one with two Pokemon, so you've got yourself a challenge!" said Rarity.

"Hold on" said Twilight, "you need to keep your Sableye in good health so he can scavenge. Ivan, how about a double-battle, me and Rainbow against your two?"

"Sounds good to me! Sandshrew and Nosepass, I choose you!"

"You're on, Happiny!"

"I choose you, Misdreavus!"

Ivan grinned, "looks like one of us was more prepared for the desert."

"What's he mean, Twilight?" said Dash indignantly

"This sandstorm's going to hurt all Pokemon except Rock, Steel, and Ground Types" explained Twilight, "Also, Sandshrew's ability Sand Veil makes it harder to hit in a sandstorm."

"Well," said Rainbow, knowing the importance of sounding undaunted, "nothing worth doing was ever easy. I'll start. Happiny! Charm that Sandshrew!"

"Dodge it, Sandshrew!" Happiny charged at Sandshrew, arms extended, but where Sandshrew once was there was just an impression left in the sand.

"Sand Veil, remeber?" whispered Twilight.

"Er yeah, I meant to do that."

"Nosepass, get her with a Rock Throw!"

"Nooose!" the Pokemon quickly shuffled behind Happiny, and tipped over on top of it.

"Don't worry Rainbow! Misdraevus, Psybeam!" Misdraevus fired a psychedelic beam of light at Nosepass, causing the bulky Pokemon to grunt and roll off of Happiny.

"Sandshrew, Rollout on Misdraevus!" called Ivan. Sandshrew curled itself into a ball and barreled into Misdraveus, knocking the Pokemon back. Before if could recover, Sandshrew was on it again, with a more powerful roll than before.

"Misdreavus, use Skill Swap!" cried Twilight. Misdreavus' eyes glowed red, and it slowly descended to the ground. It looked like easy prey for Sandshrew, but when it slammed into Misdreavus, it hit nothing but sand, the surprise causing it to break its roll and flop dizzily on the ground.

"That was awesome Twilight!" exclaimed Dash, "what was it exactly?"

"Skill Swap gave me Sandshrew's Sand Veil."

"But you gave me Levitate" interjected Ivan, "and now you pay the price, Nosepass, use Magnitude!"

"Noooose!" the Pokemon stomped on the ground, sending a shockwave towards the other three Pokemon. Misdreavus and Happiny were bowled over, but Sandshrew floated up gracefully and was unaffected.

Twilight gritted her teeth. She and Rainbow's Pokemon had taken a real beating, and were almost finished.

"Happiny, use Return!" declared Dash

"Sandshrew, use Poison Sting!" As Happiny charged towards Sandshrew, it was met with a barrage of needles. Suddenly, it stopped in its tracks and clutched its arm teary-eyed.

"Oh no! It must have gotten poisoned." explained Twilight

"Pfft, no problem! Happiny, Refersh!" Happiny stood in place and glowed blue, as the poison seeped out of its body.

Taking advantage, Ivan yelled, "Sandshrew, Tackle!" The deft Pokemon sprung into the immobile Happiny and slammed backwards.

"That was low!" objected Dash

"That's just good strategy. Now Nosepass, another Magnitude should finish Misdreavus!" Nosepass stomped down again, this time a little softer than before. Misdreavus was clearly on the precipice following the attack, but the Magnitude had been low-level enough to allow her to hang on.

"Don't expect your luck to save you forev-"

"Misdreavus, Pain Split!" interrupted Twilight. A red ring of light formed around Misdreavus and Nosepass, and began to spin. When it dissipated, Misdreavus looked slightly refreshed, and Nosepass slightly exhausted. "Now Skill Swap back with Sandshrew!" she followed up, hoping dearly that Rainbow would figure out her strategy before Ivan did.

"Sandshrew, Rollout again! And don't miss!" responded Ivan. Without Sand Veil, Misdreavus had no chance of dodging, and Sandshrew pounded into it hard.

"Happiny!" began Rainbow Dash.

Please please please Dash thought Twilight

"Use Copycat on Nosepass!"

YES!!!

Happiny stomped on the ground with tremendous force. This time, the shockwave glided harmlessly under Misdreavus, and battered Ivan's two Pokemon. Both fell to the ground, defeated.

"Well, drat!" he sighed, "good match you two."

"Hey, we can't all be awesome" said Dash with a grin.

"Incidentally, what are you doing all the way out here if not travelling to Mauville?" inquired Twilight.

"I'm looking for fossils" replied Ivan, "This area was once rich with Lileep and Anorith"

"Fossils..." mulled Dash, "that wouldn't be one of these, would it?" She produced the strange rock that Sableye had presented her days ago.

"No question about that" replied Ivan, "this is indeed a Pokemon fossil... of some kind. But shamed as I am to admit, I only know about the fossil Pokemon from Hoenn, I have no idea what this one might be."

"Twilight?" asked Dash, passing it to her book smart friend.

"Sorry Rainbow, they didn't have pictures of these in my books." She ran her hoof over the oval-shaped imprint curiously, "but we won't have to wait long to find out. A few towns over is a research center that can not only identify this, but bring the Pokemon back to life!"

Dash had stars in her eyes "Wow! I didn't know science could be that awesome!"

*****

"Heads up, Applejack!" Applejack turned just in time to see a snowball smack into her flank.

"Oh, yer about to wish ya hadn't done that Pinkie Pie!" Applejack quickly rolled up a snowball and returned fire.

Pinkie Pie giggled as she ducked out of the way and lobbed another towards Applejack.

"oof" squeaked Fluttershy, the accidental recipient. Pinkie and Applejack looked concernedly at her - the two had had a silent agreement to exclude her from their snowball fight. She looked at them with her head cocked for a second, and then smiled, devilishly. With her wings, she made two snowballs at once and hurled them at her friends. Working furiously, she made two more and threw them again. Applejack and Pinkie ran away, screaming giddily. The three of them collapsed onto the ground, laughing.

The three had been travelling through the Viridian Forest for a few hours now, and Viridian City was long out of sight. They had bought scarves and winter coats at the store, and while the coats didn't fit in the traditional sense, the ponies got some warmth out of draping them over their backs.

"Look, look! It's snowing again!" said Pinkie excitedly. She stuck out her tongue, "Be' I can catsh a thnowflake on my tung!"

"No' if I do i' firtsh!" said Fluttershy, unable to resist getting into it.

Applejack meanwhile had spotted a wild Deerling, its fur a dull taupe. "Hey there li'l guy." She reached out a hoof to nuzzle it. Moments too late, Fluttershy happened to turn her head.

"Applejack, don't!" she cried out desperately.

"Wha? Why not?" There came a low growling noise and a rustling from the bushes.

"it's ok" whispered Fluttershy, motioning for her friends to join her behind the bush where she was cowering, "maybe he'll just go away..."

"maybe who?" whispered Pinkie

"SAWSBUUUUUCK!" The three ponies turned around, slowly and nervously. Looking them straight in the eye was a gigantic elk-like Pokemon, almost 20 hands tall, with jagged white antlers that looked like they could go straight through a tree trunk.

"RUUUUN!" screamed Pinkie Pie. The ponies broke into a sprint, but couldn't get much distance between themselves and the charging Pokemon. Fluttershy fumbled around in her saddlebag, and eventually found her Pokeball.

"Masquerain, I choose you!"

"Masqueraaain!" The Pokemon quickly assumed its Intimidate position, but the wild Sawsbuck was blinded by fury and didn't slow down.

"Masquerain, use Gust!" The petite Pokemon flapped its wings and antennae like mad, conjuring up a mighty gust of wind. Sawsbuck was knocked off its feet, and rolled backwards. It got back up, and glared at the party, and Masquerain glared back. Sawsbuck decided that this wasn't a threat worth engaging, so it bounded away.

"Please wait!" called Fluttershy, "Pokeball, go!" She tossed a ball at the retreating Pokemon, rather weakly, and the ball fell short. It landed on an incline and rolled downhill. Fluttershy started towards it, but Applejack put a hoof on her shoulder,

"It's after noon. We shouldn't get sidetracked."

"Yes, but we shouldn't litter either. It'll only take a second." Fluttershy carefully slid down the incline and located her Pokeball. As she reached out to grab it, there came a terrible groaning noise beneath her feet. It was a sound that Pinkie Pie had come to recognize after years of Winter Wrap Up experience, and one she hoped never to hear again.

"Fluttershy, UP!!!" she cried, "you're on ice!!!"

"Wh-?" before Fluttershy could fully process her friend's warning, there came another sharp cracking noise. The ice gave way, and Fluttershy plunged into the frigid depths of the frozen lake.