Nuzlocke: Hearts of Gold and Souls of Silver

Chapters

Chapter 1: Where it all begun
Chapter 2: Up into Johto
Chapter 3: Victories and Losses
Chapter 4: The Road Ahead of Us
Chapter 5: Strings of the web
Chapter 6: What I want to forget
Chapter 6.5: Pulse's Lost Days
Chapter 7: The Days on Goldenrod City
Chapter 8: Let The Games Begin!
Chapter 9: The Higher They Get...
Chapter 10: A Stormy Day
Chapter 10.5: Blackburn and Violet
Chapter 11: The Legend of Lugia
Introduction

Chapter 1: Where it all begun

“I have found myself in my worst nightmare, but it can't be that bad. All I need to do is keep going, right?”

I have found myself staring at this doors once again, “should I go in, or should I hide?” the thought flashed into my mind

My life at this school so far haven't been the best, of all the past memories I can think of from this school, most of them aren't the best, I always have been teased by a group of students who likes to go around messing with other ponies,I would like to go up to princess Celestia and tell what they are doing, but there is nothing she can do, all of them have rich enough famalies to put them back into this school even if they were banished from it

“I don't want to skip any classes,” I thought. “even if it is the last day of school before summer. And after this, I won't have to come to school anymore, I have just finished this, and I'll be finally be able to live my own life without the worries of school”

As I walked inside I could the ponies grabbing their material for the upcoming classes from their lockers, to my right I could see through the laboratory's window a bunch of unicorns performing magic on 3 chemicals to take notes on the results. As I kept walking,I could see part of the red tail of one of the gang members of Freddie's gang, they were probably teasing someone,but if they were not, they would come after me, some why they love to tease me and bully me, I'm the top priority on their list. I began to trot a little to fast by them, as I was passing, I could see that they were up to bully Blackburn, a pegasus, a colt as old as me,around the age of 19, he had a blue coat, and black hair with a style just like Spitfire from the Wonderbolts, with a cross hair as a cutie mark, I never understood why he had that as a cutie mark,but I usually don't question it.

“What do you think you are doing Atlas,” Said one of the ponies of Freddie's gang, directing to me. “doesn't you have anything better to do before we come after you?”

I froze, trying to decide to help or just run away, I don't want to go home hurt from a fight.

Before I could do anything,one of the hall monitors came hurrying to stop the gang from trying to buck Blackburn right in the face. Blackburn got up from the ground and started picking up his papers, While the gang started trotting away before getting in trouble with the hall monitor, and as always, Freddie leading the way, shaking his red mane, with his yellow coat and a black jacket that had the name of the gang stamped on it. The Starsaws. whatever that meant was beyond my understanding.

After the moment had passed, I wrapped some of Blackburn's paper in order to help him out. he was still mad after they went after him.

“I'd have done something to defend myself,” He told me. “but they always come in groups,I could take one or maybe two, but not four, that is just unfair!”

I nodded. “So they have been going after you too mate?” I asked my friend

“I'm probably the second on their list,right after you” He told me. “This was the third time they threatened me this week.”

“I see what you mean, I usually get threatened by them at least four times a week” I told Blackburn, as he looked at me. “I know what you go through,but look, me and you won't have to pass through this anymore, school is just going to be on holiday for three months now!”

“True,” he told me. “But it's not like they are gonna vanish from Canterlot for that period of time, but maybe we can.”

“What? How?” I asked, not getting his message. “What do you mean by 'but we can' ?”

“The Nuzlocke Challenge competition is gonna be on town doing a tournament,” He smiled at me. “last pony standing wins. Better part, it is the official tournament!”

“Been a while since I have done any of this in years... I'm not sure I could handle any losses.” I told him,getting a little worried of 'our' plan for the holiday.

“Chill out Atlas, I'm gonna be by your side the whole thing, we going in together.” He gave my horn a little hit. “You don't have to worry a little bit of your horn since we are doing this as a team.”

“Alright, you got me in,” I finally stopped worrying and agreed. “]can't be worse than being in Canterlot, hiding from those freaks.”

“I knew you would agree,” He smiled at me giving me his trust. “All you got to do is subscribe us in the tournament up in the tea shops near the Royal Castle, I will send my info to you by a letter so you can put my name with yours in order to get us both in”

“Very well,” I levitated my bag to my back again so I could go to my classes before I got late. “But when does it start?”

“next week,” He had set his backpack under his wings. “about 3 days from now, should be enough to get us ready, anyway, I got to hurry up to my classes,see you later Atlas”

“See you Blackburn,until later” I turned my back to my friend and started slowly trotting to my music class course, as for Blackburn flew fast as a bullet to his class

After arriving home and collecting all the documents I needed to subscribe Blackburn and me on the tournament, I headed straight to the tea shops near the Royal Castle and turned to the stadium searching for the register papers. when I found then I went right ahead and put my name and and Blackburn's name on it and be done by then. That was until I finished to write on the paper and heard someone yelling my name not so far behind me. I froze as I started to turn back. There,standing in front of me,staring directly to me, was Freddie and other three of his gang members.

“Look at who it is” Freddie stared and me with a malicious smile,this wasn't going to end well for me. “Atlas, my favorite play toy,what a surprise to see my favorite grey coated, blue and red haired 'friend' around here.” He described me with a strange, evil-ish voice. “You still going with that 'Music is my special talent' bullshit and not 'I'm a weak and easy to fool pony as for a talent'? Man, you are such a dumb pony,just because you got a random musical note as a cutie mark doesn't mean anything!”

“For your information, that is a G flat major, not that it will make you any smarter” I replied his comment about me

“You forgot with who you're talking to?” he asked me with a threatening voice as he slowly started walking to me. “I'm the number 1# student in the whole college,and you even try to call me 'dumb' when I'm around with my boys?” he got closer as he was looking to me in the eyes, the earth pony in front of me tried to give me a warning,my inner me didn't listen. “Do you forgot with who you're messing with, or does I have to remember you?”

“I'm tired of your bullshit Freddie, everypony in school is!” I told him as I stand alone against him,everyone that was around was too distracted with the environment to notice us or to even care

Looking into his eyes, I could notice he had focused on something on the wall behind me,the wall of the stadium. looking back to me he stepped back.

“Get him gang!” He yelled and the two pegasus, one of them a female, red coated with a blonde long hair, and the other a male with a yellow coat and a messy pink hair, and a unicorn whose coat was black and had a white hair.

I started to run,trying to focus enough to teleport, but I was in panic and couldn't do it, I always had problems using magic in panic. I turned into a even deserted street as the two pegasi got closer to me, and finally hitting me with the speed of a bullet and throwing me in the ground, after this moment, the unicorn caught up with us.

"back off I'm gonna finish this fool up” he told the pegasi.

His horn glowing green, he shot 2 bolts of energy at me,one of them missing and the other hitting right up in my left front hoof. Trying to get up, I was feeling the pain (or was the effect of the magic) travelling through my body, making me fall down again.

Before the unicorn could shoot another bolt or even a killing blow (I wasn't sure they wanted to kill me since they liked to go after me anyway), Freddie ran in telling the unicorn to stop

“Poison Strike, stop, I got a better idea of how to mess this fool's holiday than incapacitating him for months” He threw an malicious smile at me. “see you at the tournament Atlas” he directed to me as he start to laugh. he suddenly stopped and told Poison Strike- “your shot was too loud, we better get out of here before any guards come checking.”

The other three ponies nodded and they all galloped away in a hurry. a few moments later I could see guards coming near. I was still weak enough to get up after being stroke by a bolt of unknown magic.

“Halt! Who goes there?” one of the two guards directed at me. “It's is a civilian, he looks to be in pain”

One of the guards was a unicorn and wrapped me in magic to be transported to the nearby hospital for medical assistance.

After getting helped by the doctors at the hospital, it appears that nothing too bad happened to me,they gave me a medication and let me go,so after telling the guards what happened I went home and it was late,the next day I had to meet Blackburn to give more details and try to figure out what Freddie meant by 'see you at the tournament Atlas!'. Did he mean that he was going to participate just to mess with me, or make me incapable of even going to the tournament, but that would break his older statement saying that he had better plan than incapacitating me. So many questions to be answered.

I gave myself a break and went to sleep, I was very tired of the afternoon I had and I still had a lot to go through before the tournament. As I started to dream, negative thoughts started filling my mind and turning my dream into a nightmare, I could see everyone laughing at me and Freddie saying “I told you you'd fail”, I could see me never getting good at music even through my cutie mark told me different, I could see losing the tournament because I was too dumb.

Suddenly, all those thought vanished from my dream and my vision was clear again, I looked up and saw a night sky filled with stars with a full moon on it, and getting out of it I could see princess Luna getting out of the moon. She had stopped my nightmare, and I was so glad she did.

“Behold my fellow subject Atlas Bluetone, what does compose your struggles?” she directed at me

kneeing to princess of the night I answered “I'm afraid I cannot overcome my fears,your highness.”

“I have known about your fight of today's afternoon, fellow guards informed me of the fight you'd been through” she informed me. “You fear you cannot overcome the bulling you go through,and that also crushes your dreams and outnumbers you?”

My mind filling with sadness with the flying thoughts through it. I felt like crying. Laying in the ground and trying to hide in my own body,crying I answered “I fear that I cannot change the way it is and had been through for years now”

“Is... Is that what you think?” She questioned me. “Everything is impossible until somepony does it. You have been trough a emotional struggle that maybe I can help you to overcome the fear you have over the ones that fill you with negative emotions.” She told me, she really wanted to help me.

“How do you think you can help me?” I asked her. trying not to have my words be covered by my tears.

“I see that the one that goes after you likes to be the better at everything, and show it in the faces of the ponies around. I also heard that you already gone through this tournament he plans to outrun you.may be you can outrun him, and show that what he does it's wrong.” Luna explained to me the plan that she had in mind

“That is impossible,no one can outrun Freddie in anything” I replied to the idea

“Like I said before, It's only impossible, until somepony does it” She argumented against my bad developed reply. “It may be impossible if you keep getting blocked by such negative ideas that block your path. If you accept my assistance, for the course of the three days ahead of you, I may help you to overcome such thoughts.”

“How do you know such things?” I questioned her way of trying to help me.

She looked deep in her mind, giving a sad face she looked down, between my lying body and her standing body. I had gone too far,making her think of her past to remember such situation,I realized i had made her go through the time she had been possessed by the powers of darkness and became Nightmare Moon.

“Luna.... I'm sorry,I didn't mean to make you-” I tried to apologize,but he interrupted me

“Believe me when I say, I have been gone through similar situations in my eternal past, situations one should go through or even think about...” Luna told me as she sat down in the ground of my dreams,a soft and comfortable grass landscape in the night sky

Finally after analyzing what she had told me, I told her- “I accept your help, Princess Luna. I'm sorry for having you thinking of your past.”

“Very well then, let's us begin the fight against what struggles you.” Luna got up and started controlling my dreams “Also, your pardon is accepted.”

For the past 2 days and a half I have been training with Blackburn for the tournament tomorrow, with the assistance of Luna to prevent emotional struggles during the tournament. After the half part of this day I have re-learned everything I forgot about the pokemon games so I didn't go blind on the tournament tomorrow, they announced that we will be playing the Nuzlocke version the the game Heart Gold/Soul Silver because they are apparently the biggest,involving two leagues.

Went to sleep to have my last class with Luna before the big day. When I got in my dream, I already could see Luna standing, looking at a similar landscape of the first dream we had together. I walked to her side and saw her re-watching her first experience.

“Princess Luna, is anything wrong?” I asked, worried for her.

She stood there in silence. A few moments she answered- “You're prepared...but I'm not”

“What do you mean,your highness?”

“I can not overcome my past,and the creature I had become” Luna started changing the landscape to the day she had turned into Nightmare Moon. “...After my transformation-” Luna explained while the memory played “-I have realized the mistake I had made into accepting the dark powers consume me... even though I couldn't hear, I could see my sister refusing to fight me,and when she finally banished me, I imagined she had created hatred over me” - Luna changed the memory to when she had been recovered from Nightmare Moon back to her old self,but this time,powerless. - “As you can see, I had been wiped from all my power, with my sister standing right in front of me, I had imagined she was going to finish me off or banish me once again. I had not imagined my sister stood up and waited a thousand years to be together with me. I had created fear over my sister until that moment,but I still cannot get over the shame of letting such transformation change my ideals.”

“Luna, for the past 3 days I have created and developed a very open and healthy friendship between us, If you let me,our time is running low and I will have to be gone for some days,but I promise you that after I come back, I will help you.” I comforted Luna with my words. “Just try not to think about it until I come back so I can do what you did to me.”

“You...you consider me a friend?” Luna asked me, surprised

“Absolutely, and after you helped me overcome, I will not let a friend down, well, not like past experiences.” I shot a smile at Luna. She shot one back.

“Very well, I promise, and I will also make sure to go and watch the tournament.” She told me

“I will be good to have you over watching me to try to outrun one of my biggest obstacles.” I gave a trusty look to Luna as I told her that. “It appears that our time together tonight is over, now if you excuse-me, I will have to leave, farewell Luna”

The dream started to break as Luna had gone away and I started to wake up. “it's now or never, you can do this Atlas!” I thought. I was finally ready to do this

I had encountered with Blackburn a little before the begin of the tournament, we prepared ourselves to do this since we had discovered the intentions of Freddie and his gang, they were going to eliminate us and after that try to win, or leave us for dessert.

As we were entering the main room in the stadium, where there were pods to connect us into the world of the game, we were going in the realist one, feeling it from the inside, up in the region of Johto, and later Kanto.

“Mares and gentlecolts, today we would like to present the tournament for the Nuzlocke challenge of the game Pokemon: Hearth Gold MMO, but this tournament had became even more special, this is not only the first tournament of Atlas, and old participant that had never won, 8 years later, now, he is finally back!” The Announcer yelled at the microphone with emotion. “Not only that but there is one important person watching the tournaments of this week, that is no one less than Princess Luna, we seem to have interested a lot of people into this challenge!”

I looked over to the ponies watching, on a very special seat, I could see Luna watching the screen on her balcony, there she could see the perspective of a certain participant of choice.

Finally after our long short journey of preparations, all the dozens of participants choose a started and named them. I saw Blackburn picking a Charmander and naming it Parker.

I chose an Eevee, and named it Pulse, this was my first tournament with an Eevee, and I thought it could be an interesting experience

After a while, we all got into our pods and wore the Vitual Reality (VR) Helmet and went inside, into the depths of a new land to explore with either friends or in my case, enemies and friends.

Chapter 2: Up into Johto

“I have lived long enough, and gone past things that blocked me from growing stronger, without doing a single thing to change it's way of being. I may have been doing this wrong the whole time, but this time, things are going to be different, this time, I will not let this keep happening”

After climbing into the chamber which connected me to this world, I was flashed by a white light, just like a flashbang at very close distance, once the effect worn off, I found myself laying on a sitting on a bed in the middle of a room. All it had was a table with a computer on it, a red an white ball on it's side, it was a pokeball, probably with my starter on it. On the rest of the room, was a carpet filling most of the room's ground, and on my left was a stairs leading to downstairs.

I got up on my four hooves and wrapped the pokeball in my levitation field,bringing it near to me, I pointed it to the ground, using my levitation power to press the button on the middle of it in order to let the pokemon out.

out of the pokeball came a small dog like creature, brown and white coat and with black eyes. I decided to introduce myself to him.

“Hello there little guy, you should be Pulse” I introduced myself. “Come on, we should be get out there now, people are waiting.”

“Who are waiting for us?” He asked me. Hearing the creature talk surprised me.

“The other competitors, of course,” I answered my new companion. “Our journey across this land starts today”

He didn't say anything in response, he might be still processing who am I and why am I his trainer. I would take sometime to explain everything in detail to him late, but now we had bigger priorities.

We went downstairs, the first floor of the house was just a room with a sofa, a TV and a small kitchen, not much different from a small apartment in Canterlot. There was a door that led to outside,as we went through it, I could see that outside the house was a small town, full of ponies outside, mostly competitors, gathering around a big screen where soon the announcer would remind us of the rules and a few extra information. Me and Pulse went in the middle of the crowd, I was actually searching for Blackburn.

After a few minutes of searching, I saw Blackburn getting out of the house where he connected and stepping out of it. I hurried to him so we could plan some of the basics of our start and not get eliminated right of the start, there is always a crowd that stays behind and battle against each other, almost one fifth of the competitors are eliminated right of the start.

“So, what we will do is get out of here and head to route 29 and leave New Bark Town right after the tournament has officially started,” He explained his plan in detail, we can't just lose right yet. “Then, we capture or defeat the first pokemon we see and we head over to Cherrygrove, which is the first city we will encounter going that way, from there we develop the rest of the plain. This is i for now, just enough to keep us safe during the start, we don't want to get Freddie on us right off the start now, do we?”

“I don't have that plan on me, we could either win or lose if we go all tackle and scratch on him, but with the rest of his gang with him, this won't be exactly easy.” I argumented. “We go with your plan.”

“All right, get ready, the announcer is about speak up.” He finished our planing stage and told Parker to get ready as well.

Moments later the announcer came on the big screen to explain the rules and give us the information needed.

“Welcome, everypony, to the Region of Johto and Kanto. Behind you there is the Route 27, which leads to Kanto, but for now, you will all stick around Johto.” The announcer informed everypony quite fast to speed up the process. “If you all check your bags, you all received a potion and 5 pokeballs. The pokeball will be used to capture the first pokemon you see in a new route. Your objective is to be the champion of the both regions, by the defeating the eight gyms in Johto and the eight in Kanto, but for now we will stick in Johto only, when we head into Kanto, it will be a round two. That means that the participants that managed to defeat the elite four and the champion of the moment, which can change if the player decides to stay and rule as a champion, or continue the journey on round two, more information will be given by the time. For now, I let you all start your journeys.”

As the announcer finished, everyone was gathering around to start battling, or just run to not be eliminated.

“Ah, and before I forget, no Player Versus Player battles will be allowed during night time, the tournament will receive a short pause during night in order to let our viewers rest to keep up the very next day. to everypony, I wish good luck. let the game begin!”

As he finished of his speech, me and Blackburn ran through the entrance of New Bark Town and went ahead in route 29, all we could hear was the infinite amount of battles happening behind us and the eliminations showing on a feed located withing the interface of the VR helmet

A few steps out of the town, We had arrived on route 29. I ran to an area filled with tall grass in order to find a pokemon that would help us in the long run. Blackburn had found an Ratata and captured it, he and his Charmander seemed to start developing a healthy friendship, while me and Pulse didn't talked that much yet, I was waiting until nighttime to start a conversation.

I ended up finding a Pidgey and with the help of Pulse, we capture it and I decided to name it Scout since he was quite fast. After this I regrouped with Blackburn and his companions and we decided that it would be better for us to head to Cherrygrove, since the remaining players were getting out now.

On our way we saw two ponies who seemed to be in trouble with some Ratatas around them.

“What do you think,” Blackburn shared a though. “Should we help them out?”

I started thinking, most of me tried to tell me they were going to backstab us once we were finished helping them out, they would take advantage of our damaged pokemon and eliminate us both, and a small portion that rested in me argumented that helping them would benefit us, that they wouldn't fight us just to win.

“I should just leave them, it for the best of us” the selfish part of me spoken, almost convincing me, but I had to give a response to Blackburn.

“We should just leave...” I started speaking when the other part of me reasoned. This wasn't the ideals I had stood up with since I was a little colt, this was selfish, this wasn't me. “Wait! We should help them! They need help!”

“Then lets do this!” Blackburn created courage and commanded his pokemon to attack the group of Ratatas. I told Pulse and Scout to do the same thing. We were outnumbered, it was a group of 5 Ratatas against four of our pokemon. I told Pulse to hit them with tackle while Scout would protect him from any enemies trying to attack Pulse.

The battle was on it's heat. Blackburn's Ratata and Charmander where taking it well, avoiding most of the attacks and taking half of the group. Pulse and Scout taking on the other half. A few moments later, we had won the battle, our pokemon had been a little injured, but everything was alright. I attempted to talk to the two ponies we helped.

“Thank you two for the help,” one of them thanked us. “We would have been' eliminated without your help.”

“That wasn't much,” I told them, trying to make a friendly impression in case they were thinking in battling us in since we were in disadvantage with the injured pokemon. “We just want to help”

“Now if you guys excuse us, we must head to Cherrygrove, It's going to get dark here in a few hours and we want to set up in a place where we can stay” Blackburn finished our conversation so we could move on.

“I'm afraid we can't let you two go.” They told us, with a serious tone. “You two have shown great skill over this. We're sorry, but you two would be enough trouble for us late, we are going to have to put you down now”

I felt my body froze. “This isn't happening. It can't happen, not yet!”

“What in Equestria is the problem with you!?” Blackburn replied to them.

“I told you so.” The selfish part of me played with my reaction. “I was sure they would betray you this fast.”

“It's nothing personal, but both of you are strong, we can't let you grow even more, you represent a threat to our run in this tournament.” they answered Blackburn.

“What do we do now Blackburn?” I asked, I didn't knew what to do, this wasn't going to end well.

“We can't run, it is against the rules” He desperately answered me. “We gonna have to fight through this, one way or another!”

“This is really happening!” I was panicking. My ideals had played against me, my good intentions were nothing here, everyone just cared about winning, even I, but my reasons were personally challenging, I had to fight against someone that played with me since the begging of my life.

Blackburn threw his Charmander into battle. even injured, it could still battle. I didn't want to leave Blackburn alone with his pokemon, so I threw in Pulse, his health was on 50%, my gui told me.

The two trainers surprised us. they still only had one pokemon each, we probably had slayed the ones they would capture. But our surprise was over, they threw in a Totodile and a Pikachu. luckily, we were still in the start, and they didn't knew any type attacks, just tackle, and due to our early battle, our pokemon were able to learn some attacks.

I ordered Pulse to quick attack the Totodile, I would take care of him for Blackburn, while he would burn up the Turtwig. The battle was going well, until the Totodile deciding to hit Pulse with a scratch and leave it up with 10%.

I was worried I could lose my starter right of in the very first route I'm in. Blackburn saw me very worried and decided to stop hitting the Turtwig and finish off the Totodile in order to help me up, making it faint. With that chance I ordered Pulse to finish off Turtwig since it's health was low due to my partner's Charmander. While Pulse was charging the creature, the Turtwig started shooting leafs against Pulse trying to defend itself, the pokemon was panicking, either missing or shooting leafs easy enough for Pulse to dodge, I heard a loud bump and a pokemon's cry.

We were arriving Cherrygrove city, I was holding Pulse, It was good to see that he was still okay, but he was quite injured. night was coming and the sun was setting by the mountains, me and Black would go in the pokecenter, heal our pokemon and buy some stuff on the pokemarket and leave right away to route 30.

I couldn't stop questioning my ideals, I have been betrayed by someone I tried to help, I also felt that Blackburn was kinda mad with me because if we had just left, we wouldn't go through all this.

We arrived Cherrygrove and decided to enter the pokecenter to heal our pokemon. As we went inside, there were a bunch of ponies around talking casually, most of them would battle if they saw each other the very next day, but for now, they were resting of what they had passed in the New Bark Town Massacre. We gave our pokemon to the receptionist and she gave us back moments later with them fully healed.

We were about to leave when we saw Freddie and his three gang members and their pokemon together.

“Look here, look what we found here” Freddie was surprised to see us. “You both seems to have survived the spawn party we had back there, I don't remember seeing any of you in there, let me guess, you too ran away is fear, huh?”

“Fuck off Freddie!” Blackburn engaged, attracting the attention of the ponies in the room into us. “If it wasn't night, we would destroy you and your stupid so called gang”

“Black, don't get all full of yourself here,” I whispered. “Be careful with what you say,”

“We don't even want to fight you two yet, we are waiting for you to grow a bit stronger, so when you think you have any chance, we crush ya out!” Freddie,all full of his selfish will, tried to make us feel down, it didn't really work. “Now if you excuse us, we have a long day tomorrow ahead of us,we just came to say hello. Voltage! Space Filter! Poison Strike! move out!”

Freddie and his group went through the door, leaving an scent of disgrace in the air. He had just waited for us in order to play with us, even here.

After going in the pokemart and buying a few pokeballs and potions, we headed into route 30, it was getting quite dark so Blackburn offered himself to make the campfire since he had a fire pokemon, I agreed and decided to search for some wood, and while at it I would search for a new pokemon.

After a while I had found a Spinarak, which threw several spider webs on me, but I protected myself with a magic shield and ordered Pulse to quick attack the arachnid. Pulse had hit it hard, but not enough for it to faint, and by that, making my job of capturing it easier. I decided to name it Widowmaker, the green with black stripes giant six legged spider had accepted joining our team.

When I came back with wood for the seats, I could see that my friend Blackburn had captured himself a new friend, an owl pokemon, a Hoothoot.

“I called it Whoou,” He told me. “What do you think?”

“It's all right,” I answered him. “For and owl I guess.”

“It was all I could think of in the moment.” He replied my comment. “It was all I had in mind.”

“I captured this Spinarak, decided to call it Widowmaker, by the way.” I presented my new pokemon to Blackburn. “From the little I know of spiders, I heard some eat it's own male companion to feed the child. seems like a pretty deadly fate for a male spider.”

“The more you know...” My friend replied with a comic joke he heard around. “Now why don't you and your pokemon grab a seat and we have a night together?”

“Yeah, why not?” I accepted his invite and sat in the campfire. “But before, I'm gonna have a talk with my pokemon, to let them know what we're doing. I think you should have one with yours too.”

“All right, go ahead, we will be right here.” He finished his sentence and went to talk to his pokemon.

I took my pokemon with me and we stopped in a more private area. I was gonna let them know of everything, and I didn't want Blackburn's pokemon to have a shook in case he didn't tell them.

“Guys, before we start, I want you to know that this is a serious matter,” I started. “What I'm about to tell you is something that may scary you, but I want you guys to be calm and take it easy, I need you guys to go across this journey with me, because of free will and not by obligation.”

“What is it Atlas?” Pulse asked me with a worried look in his face.

“The reason why me and Black are here, is because all this is a competition, but the thing about this is...” I gave a small pause before continuing. “is that we only got one chance.”

“What do you mean by "one chance"?” Scout asked me, he was even more worried than Pulse.

“I mean that if any of you faint...” I didn't know if I could do this, tell them about the possibility of their deaths. “you... don't come back.”

“You mean we die ?!” Widowmaker jumped with the recently told news. “This can't be!”

“It's the truth, but before we continue, I want you to know about the ones that came before.” I was trying to keep myself calm, I needed to gain their trust in order to have a good run, I didn't want this to end bad. “As you all can see, they aren't here.”

“You have done this before, haven't you?” Pulse followed the though. “You wanted to win, but you failed. You want us to be the new team for your game.”

“Days before I came in here, yes, but now...” I realized my main objective wasn't to win this, but to create courage and a better personality. “My priority doesn't involves winning, but becoming a better pony, let's say that winning is a side quest of mine, not really important.”

“What do you mean by becoming a better pony?” Pulse questioned my way of being. “You don't seem to have bad intentions after what you shown me by battling to help a couple of other trainers who attempted to betray you.”

“I don't mean becoming a better pony by becoming good, or stop being bad,” I answered Pulse, but he left me with other thoughts of what I consider the wrong or right thing to do. “I mean that I want to grow stronger inside to make myself able to face what I fear the most. The ones you saw on the pokecenter, those are the ones who blocked me from doing that since a I knew them. I went years without changing a single thing in order to stop that, I just accepted.”

“But what do you need a team for?” Widowmaker asked.

“Getting to go solo or with Blackburn on them wouldn't go right,” I explained. “Even if we won, they wouldn't learn anything about not messing with others, I need the help of you guys to show that being nice to other ponies could benefit for both sides, not counting I need help to keep up with myself and not change my way to be, specially if they betray me right away when they have the chance.”

“You think by creating a bond with us would make them see such a thing?” Widowmaker continued his questions.

“It's worth a try, the bond between ponies and pokemon always made them stronger, physically or mentally.”

“You want us to overpower them?” Pulse asked. “You want to win and show them that you are stronger?”

“No, I want to prove to myself that I don't need to care for what they say to be myself with my ideals.”

We all stared at each other for some time in silence. I could see that even through Scout and Widowmaker had understood what I wanted them too, but Pulse was analyzing them deeply. He finally broke the silence with another question.

“What happened to the ones before us?” He made me remember I had to tell them what happened to my old parties and what could possibly happen to them as well

“In older runs I had, my team was always loved by me, we cared for each other, but I real all I though about was winning the competition.” I started telling them the story behind me. “I had played the games before this and they always told me that my love for my pokemon made me the strongest, but in reality I never cared, all I did was train them until they were the stronger they could be, when I moved to the VR competitions, the levels were removed, even through I could go almost to the end, I never won, I didn't care for my pokemon, I would get sad at each lost, but I never had personal affection to them like I'm developing with you guys right now. I will repeat what I said before, If any of you doesn't want to come with me, I'll freely release you guys once we arrive the next city. ”

“The words you speak are truth.” Pulse came to his conclusion. “We understand your struggles and your worrying, we also understand that you doesn't focus on winning, but on growing into a better creature, I will accept your friendship and will go through this journey by your side, even if that cost my life.”

The words he spoke couldn't make me more happy to see them coming to such a conclusion that could cost them their lifes. I was crying tears of joy, and with the emotion I had in the moment, I hugged all of them with my hooves, wrapping them and getting them very close to my chest. I couldn't be more happy.

After our not so short conversation, we came back to the campfire. Blackburn and his team had finished their conversation and were now chatting. they interrupted their conversation so Blackburn could blame something on me.

“What took you so long?” My hungry friend told me “I wanted to prepare our meal for the night!”

“I told you I had to take a moment to talk to my pokemon,” I explained. “You could have done it without me, you know?”

“Quit talking and seat,” He gave me the order when handing me the meal over.

“So, what will we do for the rest of the night” I asked while levitating a piece of the meal over to my mouth.

“It's still quite early, maybe we could start telling stories, and maybe you could even sing for us” Blackburn shared the idea

“You know I'm more into writing the song and playing an instrument than I'm in singing.” I argument ed. “And you also know that I'm shy when it comes to playing in front of people.”

“Oh come on,” He insisted. “It's just between us, and also, you owe me one after almost eliminating us in that battle earlier today.”

“I will think about your suggestion, but for now, why don't we just talk?” I gave my suggestion

“Talk about what exactly?” Blackburn raised an eyebrow.

“We could go with random topics, for example, tell me how you got your cutie mark, you never told me how you got it.” I chose a topic, that some why I have been desiring to know more about my closest friend.

“I haven't?” He was searching in his mind if he had told me such a thing or not. “Oh yeah, right, I haven't. Well, years ago, I went with my dad in a shooting range, that was on of his favorite places, and then he took me there so I could take a look. There were some people training, but he got a private area so he could teach me how to shoot with a non-lethal rifle on a battle saddle. For the following weeks, I had been going there, both alone or with my dad, So I could train, turns out I got so good at it, that I realized I had got my cutie mark.”

“Well, considering the cross hair as an image of it, I guess it makes sense.” I wasn't very surprised by the history, but I wasn't expecting my friend to be a professional shooter. “Well, at least it's better than mine, I just found out that I had a musical taste and *poof*, there it was.”

The rest of the night was fulfilled by our non-sense conversation, sometimes we laughed and sometimes we remembered good old times, I had then realized I have had good moments in my school, but I just couldn't see much fun in them.

“And I also remember that Mr. Robberson told us a joke about a doctor that got the skeleton out of the pony, and when the pony waked up, he couldn't move, and the doctor was never heard from again!” Blackburn told an old joke that our biology teacher had told the class. “But the funniest part was when he said "and that was how I lost my medical license". We all got that he was just joking moments later.”

“Ha ha ha! I remember that! Anyway, tonight has been fun, but I think we should hit the hay,” I said while I yawned. “We have a big day ahead of us, maybe we could even get our first badge!”

“Not without you singing first!” Blackburn was claiming my singing presentation.

“I ain't singing tonight, Blackburn, It is way too late!” I argumented

“You are just afraid that she would see and hear you singing and not like it, uh?” He asked me, I was confused.

“She? She who?” I asked him

“You know of who I'm talking about, the princess, I saw how you were looking at her before we got in the pods, I know you got hots for her.”

“I do what now?” I suddenly jumped in surprise with my friend's resolution of things. “She just helped me get better emotionally, all we did was develop a friendship between us, and also, I'm like a thousand or two years younger than her! I'm not such high class to have such a honor IF I did really were interesting into a deeper relationship!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure thing you do have "just a friendship" between you two. And what does age and class matters?” He pointed out things he though was true, and if I keep seeing from his perspective, I would think so too, but I knew they weren't true. At least I hoped so.

“You know sometimes I hate you?” I finished our conversation.

“Yeah, I love you too, but as friends, and you still owe me a song.” He finished his sentence. “Have a good dream, I hope she visits you there.”

“Uuugh, where do you get this things from?” I asked, but he didn't even bother to answer, he went to sleep and I should probably stop thinking about all this last minutes of talking and go to sleep as well. I needed to rest for tomorrow.

The day had come. I was waking up and tried to look for Blackburn,I looked around my ground but he was nowhere to be found.

“Where did that bastard go?” I asked out loud

“Have you tried looking up?” I heard Blackburn's voice coming from above

The moment I looked up, there was my friend, flying happily across the sky, he had his Charmander in his back

“I'm teaching him how to fly,” He told me. “One day he is going to be a Charizard and you bet he is gonna be awesome, isn't that right, Parker?”

“Absolutely” Parker replied his trainer. I haven't seen him talk before, this was somewhat new for me.

“So, are we ready to go?” I asked my friend and his starter. they seemed to be playing around for some time now.

“You could say that. We don't have anything unpacked, and everything we need is on our saddlebags.” He told

“Okay then, we should move on. From what I remember, there is a few trainers ahead, they won't be hard to beat though, Their AI ain't that good when it comes to battling.”

“The worst we would get into is a Ratata, no offense Whiskers.” Blackburn made a point.

“None taken.” his Ratata didn't take that as a offense.

We then started our Journey through route 30. it was a little hill, filled with some tall grass and a dirt path, and on it, we could see the AI trainers looking in one direction or looking around for the next trainer, there were a few who trotted in circles, waiting for someone to jump in their view.

Then came our first battle, this one I had to face alone, unlike the double battles me and Blackburn took together. I was going to battle this one while Blackburn went for the next, so we could clear our path and get to the next city.

The trainer threw in a Pidgey, not much of a deal for my team, but I wasn't going to put in Widowmaker, since she was a bug type.I decided to go with Scout, making that none of us had the advantages beyond the stats.

Pointing his hoof, the trainer ordered the Pidgey to go for a Flying strike, trying to hit Scout from above, then the Pidgey opened his little wings, and flew as high as it wanted to get in order to hit Scout with a powerful blow. It then charged down in Scout's direction, I ordered Scout to dodge, and try to hit it afterwards while it was still charging. Scout did what I told him to do smoothly, and hitting the foe's pokemon with a quick tackle to the chest.

Vroosh! The Pidgey went down, making the trainer switch to his Caterpie. I decided to stick with Scout since it was a bug pokemon, I would had the advantage. I ordered Scout to hit the Caterpie with a powerful wind he would produce with his wings. With that said, Scout took his wings and used them to throw two powerful wind attacks in the foe's direction. The foe would not be fast enough to dodge such an attack.

Slash! Slash! The two attack did not miss the pokemon, hitting it with it's weakness, the Carterpie went down and we won the battle as well as some money for me to use on the next city. Maybe we could get to stay somewhere with a bed, sleeping in the ground isn't very relaxing.

As we climbed the hill, me and Black were battling to clear our path, our pokemon handling every battle with both caution and dedication, everything seemed to be going well, until ahead of us we could see that Freddie and his three companions were going four on one, my inner me told me to help, but I held myself, I couldn't risk going this weak on them.

At least with their battle, I could take a look on their starters or the other pokemon they captured. Freddie had chosen a Gastly, a ghost type, Poison strike had a Ekans, a poison type, Voltage had a Taillow, which is flying type, and finally, Space Filter had a Medite, a psych pokemon. With that in mind, I could make a team that could beat all of them, but I have to remember that those are just their starters or/and captured pokemon, I have no idea of what they're going to find.

We went ahead in order to don't get involved in the battle and we reached the end of route 30 and the start of route 31, not only this but there was a small cave in the mountain side and with that, it meant we could capture two pokemons.

I went in the cave with Black, everything was dark, but I had expected it to be. I used my horn to glow some light around in the search of a pokemon, my friend had manage to get himself a Geodude, I was hoping for one as well, the first gym was flying type and I didn't want to use my bug type directly at them. Unfortunately, I had found a Zubat, which I decided to name her Sonar. With our pokemon, we didn't have much left to do than leave the cave, we didn't have what we needed to explore.

Leaving the cave, we went straight ahead to route 31, we should be getting someone new there. The route was a path down the hill that route 30 made we climb, and the path was filled by trainers, but the good news where that Violet city wasn't far anymore and we still had some hours of daylight, It had taken us a few hours to get past all this, but we didn't care, time was with us until we either win or lose.

I jumped in the first bush or tall grass I had found I search for a pokemon, turns out I had found a Oddish. In old games I had never liked him so much, but this time I was willing to give a chance to the little guy I decided to call him Seed, since it was pretty much one. I would let both of my new companions get the same explanation I gave to the original three that had gone past the conversation, I trusted them would give the message to the newcomers. Blackburn had acquired himself a

As we went on the route, a big amount of trainers were battling us. battling our way out of here was easy and unpleasant at the same time. I had all my pokemon equally sharing the battles in so no one feels left out, after all, the trust we develop with each other would make us stronger after all.

“Ugh... What a way to spend our way here,” Blackburn started to get tired of a hole day of battling “Battling every single AI trainer on our way, At least I hope we grew stronger.”

We had just entered Violet city using the gates, the houses on the city had some style of ancient buildings, maybe cultural representation, in the middle of the city there was a big wood tower and by it's right there was a school. By the left there was a pokemarket and the Gym. That was the place where we would get our first badge.

“Before we jump into any battle, I think we should get a little more training and maybe organize our party for the battles,” I suggested. “And you even manage to get a Geodude out of the cave, this will be even easier for you.”

“True, I'd have a lot of advantage against flying types,” He had the same opinion as me. “But I think we should ask around if there is a place around where we could train a bit more, specially you,since you didn't get a rock type.”

“Don't worry, Pulse,Scout and Sonar doesn't take very effective hits from Flying type, we just have to do this right.” I replied.

“All right, I'm trusting you to make this right, try not to get so screwed up in the gym then” He gave me his trust that I would not screw up. “You go making the fire for our little camp, since the sun is going down. I will go around and listen to what the AI to see if there is a training ground around.”

“Okay then, I see you in minutes.” I gave him the permission to go around and do his thing.

As my friend flew away searching information, I gave myself a time to check my ideals and what I believed was right, and make sure that I was not going insane due to yesterday's surprise, making a list of the general.

I mostly believed that a pony should always do something to help other ponies, with a few exceptions, depending if what the pony I'm trying to help is good or bad, and also I believed a pony should be always kind and thankful to the other that helped you, not backstabbing them. “that was your fault” My inner me was saying and playing with my emotions. “You made yourself look way to powerful.”

I decided to stop listening to my dark thoughts and continue with my analysis. With that, I also believed that a pony should not be cruel in order to change somethings, and with it came only one exception. "Sometimes you need to be the villain of the history in order to be the hero".

I remembered that we needed wood for the campfire, we were camping in route 31 and there where a few trees around, I was sure there were a few broken sticks around, enough to make a fire. As I was picking the sticks, even more thoughs flashed in my mind. Was I a villain so I could be a hero? If so, what have I done so bad to describe myself as a villain?

“Revenge.” the voice in my head said one again. “You're seeking revenge from what struggled you pass years, and by then, comparing yourself to then, being equal to their bad nature.”

Was I really going for revenge? Was I being a even worser pony than Freddie if I was seeking revenge? “It can't be, I can't be worst than *them,” My other side was arguing. “This is not in what I believe, this isn't what describe my nature, revengeful isn't my **virtue*”

Virtues. The word was flashing in my mind like crazy, getting more attention than anything. Virtues, what would be my virtue? I tried to think about good things that describe me, but nothing seemed to appear. Then the dark things came in, which I could list most of them. Revengeful, careless, insecure, the list goes on.

“I can't believe that what describes me the most is revenge” I told myself, throwing my soul into a pit of sadness, I felt like crying, and I believe I was really crying while gathering materials for a fire.

I looked over my companions, I saw Pulse looking at me, I realized I had said out loud about what I believed was my virtue.

“Is... Is that what you think?” He said, and as he said that, Luna's first words about me when she came in my dreams echoed with him. “From what I could see of you, you were honest, always letting us know from the start about a possible ending, and also friendly and respectful, giving us the choice to go with you or to leave. You gave part of yourself in order to help two ponies you didn't even know, I could list thing that show how good you're, and I could also point flaws.”

“But I couldn't help the pony we saw earlier on this route, she was outnumbered and we didn't even bother to help.” I told him, I was forcing myself to point such flaws in my character.

“We can't always help, sometimes, we will have to let others down” He told me, he was trying to make feel better.

“How do you know such things?” I asked my friend, he seemed to know a lot about emotional breakdowns.

“Just like you, I prefer to stick with certain ideals.” He appeared to know I was discussing with myself. “And no, I don't read minds, you just like to talk out loud when having an dark emotion filling your head.”

Dark emotion. I would still have multiple breakdowns with those. Luna's training with such subject wasn't working, I didn't put it to test, I was going to have a lot of those, but the less I had the better.

“Now, if I'm going to point a flaw in you, this is one, you don't seem to be able to control your emotions very well, but complete with this phrase with me. "A friend is a someone which accepts who you are and let you be yourself..."” He was playing with me, but trying to make me feel better.

“"But a friend helps you find where you fails and helps you fix it."” I completed his phrase with what I though would fit. I felt better with the meaning he was trying to provide me, but I felt disappointed in myself for having such a stupid breakdown and let Luna down with the training, but It helped me to overcome it faster than I would before, It was a kind of a progress.

We had collected enough wood for the night, so we started moving back to where we was planing to meet, I still had to wait Blackburn to come back and lit the fire.

“Thank you my friend.” I told Pulse, I couldn't be more greatful to have a friend with me in such time, knowing I could lose him any moment.

“It was nothing, I will always be here with you, well, until the moment I go down at least.” He replied. I somehow felt like our bond had grew even more, of all my pokemon, he is the one I have been more open too, although the others were listening to the whole conversation.

Chapter 3: Victories and Losses

“Revenge. Do you really think you would turn into something worse for such a small thing as a life changing revenge?”

I was sitting in one of the logs we collected to use as a seat, by me was Pulse, sleeping, I had given him the permission to get some rest, since tomorrow I probably will have to use him on the gym battle, the others decided to stay up and start talking about something, I didn't had any interest in their talk, so I didn't give any attention.

I was still waiting for Blackburn to show up, so I decided to take a look on what we had left of food, we may have to buy some by tomorrow, we're running low on supplements.

It took Blackburn sometime to get his information, but enough so I could get a little more interaction with my pokemon. When he came back, it was too dark, so he was flying with his Charmander lighting his way back here.

“Sorry for leave you hanging,” He apologized for taking away too long on his side quest. “Those NPCs didn't had any useful information, but one of them, the pony on the gym, told me that we can train on the Bellsprout tower, it's also obligatory that we got there for some reason, he said we looked way too weak...”

My friend made a expression of disappointment, he was facehoofing inside for the game even consider us way weak to get to gym, but I kind of agree with that situation, Blackburn would take the gym quite easily, but on my side, all pokemon I had would take normal hits or super effective hits against air type pokemon, I just couldn't risk it.

“You don't have to take it, I can just go there and do the hole thing alone, and just get it registered for you too, then we go to the gym, the end.” I gave an option for my friend to consider, he wasn't on the mood for climbing a tower so he could go to a gym. “I kind of need to train my pokemon too, normal versus flying isn't the best option,you know?”

“No way I'm letting you go in there alone, what if there is a trainer in there?” He was worried, a little too much if you ask me. “No way I'm leaving you alone in there!”

He was right, if there was a player in there, I would have some trouble, but nothing I couldn't take on, the ponies playing this game aren't like the artificial intelligence that stands around, they are way more experienced, but that don't mean I can't take care of myself.

“Not to worry, I can do this. It is not a big deal, I just go in and battle my way in it, if I get damaged badly, I could use my potions or go to the pokecenter right down the street.” I told him.

“That sounds way risky for me, are you sure?” He asked me, still, he was worried about me.

“Yes, it's a Bellsprout tower, what do you think I will go through in there, Ratata? Pidgeys?” I got some logic within the tower. “Unless it is a player, there isn't much to battle in there. Besides, I got a bug and a poison pokemon, making it way easier.”

“Alright then, I will let you go.” He accepted my option, even if he was going against it, he knew I would need most of the experience my pokemon would get in there. “But before, I want to know what I will be doing in the spare time.”

“You can go shopping, we are running low in food, and we will be needing even more now, we need to feed our pokemon as well.” I suggested

“Shopping?” He sighed in disappointment. the pegasus didn't liked the idea not even a little. “Man, what a boring objective.”

“There is a red building with a blue roof,a school near the gym, if you want to check it out, you could learn more about types.” I joked with him. “I'm sure you can learn something there.”

My friend looked at me, with a look of surprise.

“You got to be kidding me, I have more experience in this game than you do!”

I started to laugh by the fact that he though I was serious.“Yeah, true, but we haven't been on this for years now.”

“And you want me, ME, the more experienced between both of us, to go to school?”

“It's just a joke alright?” I responded. “It's not like you need to, okay.”

Blackburn then ordered his Charmander to lit the fire for us, it was getting more darker over time. The orange dinosaur like creature walked to the pile of wood I collected and lit it up with his flaming tail.

I then levitated all of our meals, including me and Blackburn's food and our pokemon ration as well, and handed over to every member of our little group, and as I said before, we were low on food, although I didn't know if we could be eliminated by "dieing" of hunger, I didn't know if any feeling like hunger, thirst or even pain applied to this virtual reality as well.

“I hope you don't expect me to sing tonight, Blackburn, You know I ain't singing.”

“I'm kinda tired of all this "searching for information" mission I had earlier, I think I'm gonna go to sleep earlier, so yeah, have a good night.” My friend responded as he finished what was left of his meal, he devoured it faster than I though. and then started setting up his "bed" on the ground. Our bed weren't that good, I was thinking of finding a place to stay for the next days.

“Have nice dreams then, good night.” I told him.

I noticed that I had put Pulse's meal next to him, but since he was sleeping, he did not eat it. I decided to store it in my bag and give it to him as breakfast or something, tomorrow we had a big day and I was planning to use him, I needed him at his best state.

I looked over to Blackburn, although he was with his eyes closed to sleep, I don't think he would fall asleep that fast, but I didn't care much, I decide it would be better not to bother him and go to sleep as well. With that in mind, I told everyone of my pokemon to not exhaust themselves over night since we had training lessons tomorrow. I then levitaded my bed and set it up by Pulse's side, for some reason I felt like doing it would show him that I give him all my trust, of all my pokemon, he was the one who seemed to believe in me the least, but at the same time, giving me all the chances to prove it him.

The day had finally came up and I was sorting my saddlebags so we could move on to the Bellsprout Tower. I saw Blackburn doing the same and went up to him to check the plans for today.

“You know what you need to do, don't you Black?”

“Relax, all I need to do is go shopping, I don't think there will be anyone around to battle anyway.” He replied back. “Oh, and before you forget, here is my trainer card, so the game register I have gone past the tower and can go to the gym.”

He gave me his trainer card, in there was a 4x4 photo of his face, his fire-like black mane and his blue colt, it also showed his age and hometown, and if he had any badge at the moment, the badges. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this, and you should take my bits with you, in case you doesn't have enough money.” I then gave all my money to him. if I didn't knew the context of this, I would say I'm buying a false Trainer Card for me.

With that settled, I got all my pokemon on their pokeballs and was ready to head to the tower. I told my friend a final goodbye just in case I don't make it, and walked through the gates of Violet city again, leaving Route 31 behind. The city was much more calm during this morning, not many pf the other competitors were out in the city yet so I hoped not to get in any sorts of trouble on the way to the tower.

As I walked through the streets, there were a few buildings on the way, there was the poke center, a red square building, with a few horizontal white strips and a big white pokeball as a symbol. a few steps away was the poke mart and the gym, the poke mart being just as like the poke center, but blue, and the gym being a closed circular arena with a few trainers who assist the leader and a could contain a small puzzle for the trainer to pass.

I had arrived at a small bridge which led to a small island, which had another bridge leading to the Bellsprout Tower. The tower was about 60 meters high, I would love to know how it was this big, and why there was a small island in the middle of the way, being used to have another bridge, rather than having one big bridge itself. The tower had an oriental style like some of the houses in violet city, I have to guess that I'm in the Eastern side of this world, but I shouldn't judge it since I only know the regional building styles of Equestria.

Crossing the bridge, I could see that I was either going to be challenged a lot or just have to climb the whole tower to complete the challenge, I don't know what to expect from this. Upon entering the tower I was approached by an elder colt, the usual style of elder of the game, he had a red coat, bold and a big white beard.

“Welcome to the Bellspout Tower, You should be here to complete the challenge a become a stronger trainer. Well, in order for you to complete the challenge you have to get to the last floor of this tower and challenge our Elder. Good luck and have nice battles!”

Before I could say anything in response to the old pony, I remembered that he would not reply back, since it has been programmed that way, I would better get used to that, since I won't get many chances to reply back, unless it's another competitor.

I took a greater look on the first floor, the tower seemed to be hold by a big amount of pillars and a big shaking one in the middle of the tower. I got closer to it and another elderly pony approached me and told me that the shaking was being caused due to trainers training upstairs. For a moment I got worried about the chance of encountering other competitors, but that thought fastly faded when I remember the artificial intelligence ponies have no notion of their surroundings, they wouldn't know if there were more than one pony around them, I discovered that when going through Route 30 with Blackburn battling every single youngster or hiker pony we found on the way.

“I better get going, I surely still have a lot of battles ahead of me.”

I located the stair right around the big shaking pillar. I went ahead and arrived at the second floor, I decided to look around before moving on, there was a few elder ponies around, and the stair on the other side of the room.

I stomped the ground in a intention of standing confident when going through this, I shouldn't have much trouble when getting through every battle, but when it comes to myself, confidence sometimes can be a trouble.

The first of many elder ponies approached while asking me some question, I wasn't paying attention, but even if I did, there was no way I could answer him. The battle had started, I had Pulse upfront in my party, while the old equine threw a Bellsprout in battle. It was my little fur ball against a plant with a yellow bell with two very small black circles as eyes and roots as a body and two big leafs which I think are it's arms.

The creature didn't looked so strong, I could just command Pulse to strike it down, but I learned that not everything is what they look like. I ordered Pulse to give it a quick tackle, with that I could damage the thing before it had a chance of hitting Pulse back. As long I could keep this strategy up, I should get out of this place with everybody unharmed.

Pulse quickly dashed offensively into the plant, Pulse had hit the creature right in the middle, making it fly a few meters away. The indicators in my face had show that it was knocked off, we had won the battle, everything was going as planned. As the battle was finished, I received a few bits and was able to go ahead with my adventure, there was likely two or three more trainers in this floor, and I had at least five floors to go. It was going to take me a while.

“Celestia fuck me with the rage of a thousand suns, and Luna finish me off with shooting stars, and I would stay better than going through this again, twenty battles against Bellsprouts is kinda overused here, variety is good sometimes!” I had gone pass 4 floors and there was a few to go, I just hoped it wasn't many more. I was way too exhausted and I didn't want to see any more Bellsprouts until the end of this challenge.

Across this floor was a few other old stallions, with, probably, even more plants for me to battle. I had Sonar up front in my party, since he was both flying and poison type, he would have complete advantage against this creatures, but in the same time I would train Scout and Pulse, who would be my main pokemon during the gym, since Sonar didn't have much of a defense, so a normal hit, if good enough, could take him down. The stairs weren't to be found in any place in this floor, so I was quite happy for the fact that it was almost over, I was getting tired and even annoyed by the thin wood that composed the walls of this place.

My thoughts were interrupted by two elder ponies approaching me for a battle. Since it was a double battle, I would have to use two of the first pokemons in my party, which were Sonar and Seed in the front line, and since Seed was no only grass type, but poison as well, We should be okay if we have to deal with another Bellsprout.

One of my challengers threw in a Bellsprout, as I expected, but the other one threw something new in battle, a Ratata. That surprised me for a second, since I wasn't expecting new in this place, specially when "Bellsprout Tower" is the name of the place, I could expect only battling one single entity.

Considering that Sonar could easily go down against a well trained Ratata, I switched him over for Scout, who would afford taking some hits and not going down.

The battle had started. I had told Seed to use some of his poisonous powder on the Bellsprout, and told Scout to do what he does best, charge with speed in the enemy, in this case, the Ratata. The first round had begun, Scout had flew into the air so he could do a powerful hit on the foe's rat, while that, the blue ball with leafs and two small foots companion that I so called Seed, had shot a purple powder over the Bellsprout's roots, making it poisoned, It is now going to start taking damage every round until it either faints, or cure itself with a antidote or an special ability. The foe's Ratata charged into Seed, seeking to bite him with his sharp teeth, I became worried if Seed could take an hit without going down

Slam! Crash!

All my worries vanished in the moment I heard a big slam that came from the hit that Scout gave on the Ratata, followed by a crashing sound coming from the rough landing the Ratata had.

“Ugh.... that might hurt” I thought to myself. On the top right of my vision I could see that the little purple mouse had fainted, all that was left was the Bellsprout. I had forgot that the Bellsprout hadn't attacked yet, it was now it's turn. The Bellsprout had chosen to defend itself by curling into a position that it could afford taking more damage without going down.

It didn't really matter, the thing took damage from the poison, but not enough. I told Scout to give it a killing blow using his wings to create a powerful wind that could cut through his his shield, the bird then flew up in the sky and flapped his wings, two time, hard enough to create a wave of air. The thing went like a bullet in the plant's direction.

Slash!

The Bellsprout went down like if it was paper being cut by air. The defense boost it had wasn't enough for the strike.

The two elder ponies were defeated and I had received more money. I came here without a single bit, and I'm going out with more than three thousands.

I then went for their Elder. If I didn't know better I would say these ponies were freaks, they had a cult for Bellsprout, but that wasn't the case. For whatever reason they had built this tower in tribute to Bellsprouts or something, I was so full of those plants that I didn't even wanted to know about the story of this place. I had arrived at the Elder, and in the very same moment he started talking to me

“Congratulations, you have battle your way to the top of this tower.” He rewarded me and Blackburn with a permission to go and battle the first gym. “I believe your bond with your pokemon is strong enough that you can challenge the first gym out of eight, you're now free to continue your journey, but remember,no matter how strong your pokemon is, the friendship you have with it is the strongest weapon you will ever have in-battle.”

I didn't quite catch what he was trying to tell me, since a strength of a pokemon is determined by it's stats, and not by it's relation with the trainer. But I didn't had time to stop and think about it now, I had to meet Blackburn back in the pokecenter before lunch, and I only had a few minutes left, so I had to hurry this a bit, but nothing that would take me time, I had spent the whole morning battling to get here, there isn't any foes left for me to get challenged by, all I had to do was get down a few floors and I would be in the pokecenter in no time.

As I walked back into the third floor I could hear a few laughs near me. I never forget a mocking laugh, it was Freddie and his friends. “Oh goddesses why! Why does they have to be here right now! of all places, it had to be near me, didn't it?” I started freaking out from my inside. “Maybe I can get out unseen, that might work.”

I crouched and stayed close to the walls, trying to be as stealthier as possible. I was going really slowly near them, trying to make no sound if possible, I could see they were mocking one of the old stallion for losing, but the old pony just stood there with the same expression. “One, two, three, four, five. Wait! Five?! Since when they recruited a new party member?!” I began to question why they had, if not new, another member. “He is the boss, you think he wouldn't like new people around to do his work?” the evil mini-me cleared my doubts, it all made sense now.

I continued moving forward, in the stair direction, everything was going as smoothly as it could, I had gone past them, and if I didn't encounter them in the way up, that meant they were going up now, this couldn't go wrong. I was happy I would leave the place without trouble, I'm going to make it alive after all.

“Hey guys! look what I found here!”

Oh well, I was going to make it alive.

“Hello there Atlas, how have my favorite little "friend" been?” said Freddie. Here we go again.

“Can I take him out now, boss?” Poison Strike didn't hesitate to ask for the permission to battle me, or take me down himself. I actually didn't know which was worse.

“No, I will let the new meat have this one, you will come with me.” Freddie told Poison Strike, making him impatient to hit me, he was anxious for that chance. “Sam, he is all yours.”

Apparently this was Sam. He was an earth pony, he had a dark red coat and a black spiked hair and red eyes as well, he seemed he had been bathed in blood, he also had a spiked club as a cutie mark, I didn't even wanted to know how he got that.

“Are you just gonna keep looking at me or are we gonna battle?” He screamed at me

I was trembling in fear, he looked like a thug or a kind of wild pony. I didn't really wanted to go through this. “Ugh... This won't end well.”

“Uh... yes, I'm sorry.” I apologized for the time we both wasted.

“I'm gonna break you!” He taunted at me. He definitely got me angry with that.

“Oh... Then it. Is. On!”

We had started the battle. He had a number of three pokemon, which I presumed were his starter and two other pokemons. Rather having a one versus one battle, he threw in all his three pokemon into battle, this have been my first triple battle in a while. He had as pokemons a Spinarak, a Ratata and a sand-type mole that went by the name of Sandshrew. I threw in my first three pokemon in my party, which were Seed, Scout and Sonar. I didn't have much to do but attack. the biggest problem I would have would be the Spinarak, but it could be easily eliminated.

I gave the commands to my pokemon: Seed would shoot sharp leaves in the Sandshrew, while Sonar would hit the Spinarak with a poisonous sting, while Scout would give the Ratata a powerful tackle. “Alright, as long as nothing supernatural happens, this should be easy.” I though to myself to keep calm.

The battle had begun, since Sonar was my fastest pokemon for now, he attacked first, hitting the spider three times with multiple poisonous stings. The poor thing went straight down. I looked right over to Scout, who was flying like a bullet in the Ratata's direction, behind it, I could see Seed avoiding an Scratch from the mole pokemon, and right after, taking it down with a burst of sharp leaves flying on the mole's face

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The mole went down. I went back to Scout and the Ratata, Scout still flying in it's direction.

Vrooosh!

The sound of a wave of air passing by. Scout had missed the Ratata. The rat in the air dropped like a bomb, but not aiming at Scout, he was going for Sonar, who was looking to his fallen foe.

Slam!

Sonar had been hit from the side, I could see they eyeless blue bat flying across the room into one of the walls.

Crash!

The place where Sonar had hit was filled with dust. When it cleared out a few seconds later, it appear that we've created a new window.Sonar had hit it so heavily that it created a hole on it. I was worried as hell to know what happened to him.

Unfortunately, I finally noticed a small notification on my vision informing me of the worst. “No... It can't be... S-Sonar is dead!”

I didn't take long before a tear had score down of my eyes. But it also didn't take long before I was filled with rage. I looked back to Scout, who , during my sad moment, took the moment to strike the rat down, he was about to finish this battle and eliminate Sam out of this whole challenge that had started just a two days ago. I ordered Scout to wait before finishing the little thing.

The rage flowing in my inside, I knew that I was losing control and letting my emotions talk for me once again. Dammit, I just can't put Luna's training to use. I went near Sam and gave him a small hint of what was about to happen. “You know what... I wonder if death is possible in this world,” My horn started glowing, putting Sam into a levitation field. “Why don't we discover the answer?”

I had given him an evil smile, I had gone to far with this but I could stop now that my evil self had taken the lead. His eyes widened, and with all my magical ability I threw him in the whole were Sonar had fell.

Crash!

Like before, it took sometime for the dust to clear off the area, but when it did I could see that Sam hadn't fell, he was holding himself with both of his hooves in the inside of the tower. it was in this moment were I decided to end his suffering.

I walked near the window, and saw him holding himself with some struggle, he then told me: “Y-you, you're crazy, what the hell is your problem! What are you?!”

Looking in his eyes, I had the option of helping him or leave him to his destiny. After some time thinking, I decided to "help" my little "friend" who had always considered "not battling me"

“I don't know.”

Thump!

The wood broke, I had given it a powerful buck with all the energy in me. My foe had fell from the three floors of the tower screaming. Independent of my curiosity on the subject of being eliminated due death in this reality, I gave Scout the task of finally finishing the rat off and right after come after me. The bird was looking surprised, with it's beak open, but fastly reacted to my order and went to work. I took Seed back to his pokeball, the little thing refused to watch it end.

I then went back to looking back to the window, where I could see a light coming from the ground, I already knew what it was, so I didn't bother looking.

I then took a peak over to the small island that connected the two bridges, there, laying in the ground, I could see Sonar laying dead. I was going to give it a proper funeral before going to the gym. Looking over the bridge, standing looking directly at me, was Blackburn, looking surprised, He then opened his wings and flew to the window where I was standing, a few second later he arrived. I was crying, since I have finally got the warnings my innocent part of me gave before throwing Sam over the hole in the wall. Blackburn landed in front with his eyes wide open and surprised.

“Atlas... What in Celestias sun happened in here?!”

I didn't knew how to answer, my head was filled with shame and regrets, I hadn't taken Luna's training as seriously as I should.

“I-I....I'm sorry Luna.” I whispered while I looked down to the wood ground and watched my tear fall.

“What was that?” Blackburn, more confused than ever, asked me.

“I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean it!” I screamed to my friend with my eyes closed, I didn't want to either talk, or think about this, but it just couldn't be done. “I couldn't control myself, not after what they have done to Sonar!”

At this point It became clear to me that I had two personalities, one which evil and had evil intentions, and the other who held my usual self, It became clear to me that thing like my reaction over to Sonar's death depended on my sanity level, and that they were bound to happen if I had emotional breakdowns. Luna knew this, and she trained me all this time not to stop it from happen, but to keep it from happening too often, considering how I went of previous competitions like this one.

“You broke a wall.... You threw him out of a building with just you levitation spell.” He stood there thinking. “... I must say, that was impressive.”

“I already told you I didn't mea-... Wait, what?”

“Surely, you killing a guy this way was something I didn't expect, specially from you, but you've got to remember that in here, we're going to have to clear off some competition.” He told me, he had reacted way much different than I expected. “But look, I could see that you have lost a friend, I understand it, but I want you to control yourself better okay? Remember we're going against some really experienced trainers here, thing like losing a pokemon are expected to happen, and I don't want you having a breakdown every time you lose one!”

“Okay, I will try my best, but we must leave now, Freddie and the rest of the gang are in the building.” I informed my friend. “We don't want more trouble, do we?”

“No, we don't, but next time, try to not leave me waiting on the pokecenter, okay? I don't want to come after you every time!”

I nodded and we both started walking our way down the stairs. But before we continued, I gave my friend his trainer card back, and part of the money, since I received for both of us.

We have been going side by side in silence, heading towards the entrance of tower, and I still looking sad, trying to hide from the shame I was in, it wasn't only Luna I was ashamed for letting down, it was also Blackburn, I knew he didn't look like he made a big deal about such a thing, but the looking of surprise he had let out before mad it obvious. I had to take better control of myself, but this way I just couldn't.

The thing is, I can't stop such a thing from stopping, I had to just control it, if I didn't let it happen, one time or another I would go completely insane. These breakdown kept me sane from all the worries I run into, keeping it from happening would only get me out of complete control and sense.

“Why don't you let me take full control them, I believe I could just take your friend here down, and then go after Freddie, after that, winning would be the easiest thing when it come from your fears.” The demon side of my mind had spoken. I just chose to completely ignore it, but it had brought me one point. This thing would only have one winner at the end, and if me and Blackburn where the ones left, I don't believe I could battle my so called best friend. “But look here, your main objective isn't winning this challenge, is it? I remember you recalling that you came here to just overrun a few fears.” The not so demon-ish side of me, the sane one, brought the point I was looking for. I didn't want to win, I just wanted to finally be my true self with no blocks on my road.

“Atlas?” Blackburn suddenly spoke to me. “I know you are quite worried about letting your precious princess down, but don't worry, I'm here. Look, I'm gonna take you to a restaurant and we are gonna take our lunch okay?” He tried to calm me down with a half comforting half disturbing comment, but I was something I could use right now. “Just try to get a bit calmer.”

“Thanks, Black.” I thanked my friend, giving a poor smile, and lifting my head up. “For being here with me, that is.”

“Nothing to worry.”

We finally arrived at the door, and by opening it, we went straight ahead to the bridge. It wasn't long until I arrived at the middle island. stopping there for a few seconds, I looked at the dropped body of my old friend Sonar. Levitating his body up to my saddle bags, I tried not to think about it, but the more I held myself, the more I would cry later, so for now I just let a few tears out.

“You fought well, my friend.” I commented on the few memories we had together. “Do you mind if I gave a proper funeral for him before we leave for lunch?”

“Go ahead, we have all the time in the world.” Blackburn replied back, not caring much for how much time we would need before we finally got to eat.

We then continued walking, but this time we headed to route 31, good thing Blackburn had a pokemon that had dig.

Up in route 31, me and Blackburn had all of our pokemons out, and just now Pulse had received the news, and Scout had just told him of what I have done to the fool that cause all this. Pulse was looking at me a bit scared. I have never been around so much friends, and felt so alone in the same time. All that was left to have this like the worst moment I have ever had was to have the weather to rain.

We had just finished the funeral for Sonar. I had left his pokeball on his grave, although we had dug up the body.

“I just wanted to go back and change this...” I told Pulse, I felt a lot bad, and I also realized that I had made he change what he though about me. “I regret acting so... unreasonable. I shouldn't have either let Sonar out or throwing my foe out of a building. I understand why you are feelling so unsure now, and I won't guarantee it won't happen again, furthermore, things like that are expected to be happening through this journey, and I will try to control it as much as I can. That is all I can promise.”

Pulse stood in silence, I hadn't anything else to tell him. We didn't have much to discuss as well, so I gave my last farewell to Sonar's grave and packed up so we could move on.

“Alright, Blackburn I think we-” I suddenly interrupted.

“Thank you for being sincere, this wasn't something I expected, but at least you didn't lie to me.” Pulse spoke some words up, leaving me with no words.

I had just expected all my pokemon to hate me or fear me after this, but Pulse proved me wrong. He accepted the fact that I had lost control, and that I wasn't sure of how to keep it from happening or how to fix it, just a guarantee that I would try my best.

“The look of shock on us may show you something, that we fear you, or think of you as a monster.” Seed walked to Pulse's side and continued to prove that all I though was wrong. “But the truth is, we don't think anything different of you. You are still the same, but you had one moment of rage.”

“I'm keeping up with what I told you, I'm going until my death, or until we end this, with you.” Widowmaker would still follow me through it all, no matter what happened.

“Don't doubt us, we are going to be always loyal to you, you just have to tell us where to go and we'll follow.” Scout flew in. and gave his part.

In front of me, where standing my five pokemon, each of them fully trusting me, and not giving up on me.

“Thank you all, I admit that for a moment I had doubted of our loyalty. but I'm sure now, that we can do it.”

Blackburn went up to me and asked: “When you're done with that, can we go?”

“A bit rude, don't you think, can't I have my moment?” I replied.

“I'm a bit hungry now, you know, we are here for over an hour.” He replied back.

I looked over my pokemon, and there they all were laughing at the situation. finally Scout spoke up.

“To where now, boss?”

“First we go take a lunch, and then can go to the gym, what do you guys think?” I replied.

“Bring it!” The four gave a scream into the air. Our confidence haven't been that strong since I walked up in this tournament.

Now we're all packed up and ready to move on, leaving bad moments behind, and going to a brighter future.

Me and Blackburn had just given plates of food to our pokemon and picked a table for us to sit in a restaurant in the middle of Violet City. We waited there for a few minutes chatting, until the waitress came over our table to take our order. It was kind of late for us to take a lunch, it was almost dinner time, we had spent a lot of time preparing the funeral, and the time I wasted on the tower was bigger than I thought

“I would love a Hay Sandwich, please, and for my friend a piece of an apple pie.” Blackburn ordered our food

While he gave our orders to the pony serving us, I took a fast look in the street, and walking by, there was a griphon passing by.

“Whoa, do you see that Black? A griphon. I didn't knew that there were other races competing, did you?”

“I did actually, there is zebras too.” He replied. “There isn't just ponies playing this game, ya know?”

“I actually didn't bother thinking of it. That is an interesting concept.”

I kept looking at the griphon, and I saw it casually walking to meet two ponies standing in front of the gym. I presumed they were going to challenge the gym leader and get their badges. Me and Black were actually behind a few other competitors, that took yesterday to challenge the gym, and today were heading to the next city. The meaning of this hole thing isn't to keep up with other ponies, and now in this case, zebras and griphons, it was mainly to see who lasts longer, but getting in front of others meant less competitors to face and getting more experienced in the game.

A few minutes later, I received my piece of a apple pie and Blackburn received his small sandwich.

“So little for a small stomach as mine, but I can handle it.” He commented over the size of the sandwich.

“If you want, you can have some of my pie,” I offered some of my food over. “I don't really mind.”

“Nahh, I'm fine, if I get hungry, we still have the supplies I spent the morning buying, also, I believe I can handle it.”

“Suit yourself then, more pie for me”

We ate some of our food in silence, that was broke a few seconds later by Blackburn. “So, we're going to the gym after this?”

“I think so, I believe we don't have much left to do in this town anyway,” I replied. “I believe going there is our best option.”

He nodded, and then it was settled, we were going to the gym right after this, which remembered me to organize my party, I didn't want to risk Seed and Widowmaker, so my main team would be Pulse and Scout, my two best options when dealing to flying-type pokemon, but since this was the first gym, I don't expect much after a Pidgey, or a Spearow, which is a different type of bird pokemon, not much common around Johto, specially he in the start.

I also checked how I was when it comes to confidence, just to make sure I didn't fuck this up, losing two pokemon in a day would be too much for me. Or just imagine the bad I would do if I let the "second me" take control of my mind and actions. Sometime I already think I'm crazy just for listening and arguing with it in my head. Maybe I'm, maybe not, it doesn't matter now.

After finishing our lunch, me and Blackburn headed straight to the gym, which was only a few meter from us. We were a few hoofs away from the gym when we were approached by a purple pegasi mare, she had crimson colored eyes, a wavy long crimson hair, and a singing bird as a cutie mark, who wanted to talk to us.

“Hey, nice job at the tower, by throwing that asshole out.” She directed the comment to me. She spoke with a thankful voice, but in the same time, a revengeful and regretful tone.

I stood there in silence, until I thought of what to say. “Uh... thanks? I guess?” I didn't knew if this was serious for real, or just a joke. “How did you know it was me anyways?”

“I just saw it on the newspaper, they show every elimination, but his is highlighted as the most tragic.” She then opened one of her wings and grabbed the newspaper in her saddlebags and showed us.

When I took a look at the newspaper, there were news of Equestria, and the news of this world as well, but passing my eyes on the paper, it took me some time to see that it was highlighted. I immediately threw myself in the ground and tried to hide my shame with my hooves. But seeing myself like this was worse, so I got right up a few seconds later.

While I was doing my embarrassing shenanigans. I looked over to Blackburn, who stood frozen looking at the mare. “Ah man... don't tell me you already fell in love with her.” I though to myself.

“Continuing, thank you, he had eliminated my friend on the start, I just wanted to see him suffer,” She commented, and, for me, she showed a little revengeful from the inside. “I just wanted to say thanks, you guys seem like good guys. I guess I'll be seeing you guys around during my lonely journey.”

“Well, that was nothing, although I didn't mean to throw him out of a building, but I guess it helped not only me.”

“Well, it may seem that I'm being quite cold here, but yes, that helped me, but please don't think I'm bad.” She told me back. “Anyway, before I leave the town, can I ask both of you your names?”

Blackburn stood in silence, still staring at her, but not saying anything, I think he got lost in his mind. I realized that I was the one to give her our names.

“Uhh... I'm Atlas, and this is my friend Blackburn, and I think he is lost.”

“Ah... stallions and colts, always losing their minds over mares” She then gave a small laugh. “Well, I'll be leaving for the next down now, hope to see you too around.”

When me and Blackburn were at school, our fascination was for video games, board games, and the things we were talented at (Me being with music, and Blackburn being with weapons and shooting things, although he was always calm and never hated anyone at a point to try and shoot them, not even Freddie, So I never had a fear of him shooting someone at our school), But we never haven't discussed about dating and other things, there weren't many girls interested at us, but we didn't care much, at a max, we would comment on how beautiful a mare looked, but never at a point of love interest.

The mare left, and I stood besides my mindless friend. I was alone with him still lost in his mind, if not about the mare, about something he liked, and we were just steps away from the gym.

“Well, that was strange. Why would a mare ask for our names, when the odds of us re encountering a smaller each time we explore me?” I started to question things up, and was getting tired of just standing there, so I decided to wake my friend out of his mental illusion. “Equestria to Blackburn, Equestria to Blackburn, is anyone there?”

After getting no response out of him, I decided to give him a small punch with my hooves. I didn't expect such a response.

“We can go together, forever, my dear!” He said out loud, good thing there wasn't anyone around, otherwise they wouldn't stop laughing. At least I was holding myself. And at least he was back.

“Alright captain love, can we finally go and battle this gym over?”

“Captain what?” He was confused. “I'm not the one with a crush on the princess!”

“Hey, that is not even confirmed, and you do have a crush on the girl we just met!” I replied back.

“Ha, you didn't proved me wrong, you really do have a crush in the princess. Look at you, you are even blushing!”

I didn't realize, but I was really blushing. “Maybe you do have some kind of feeling for her, doesn't you?” The evil me argument ed. And my neutral side didn't have a counter response that was so sure of the contrary: “It isn't true, we are just friends, aren't we? Aren't we?”

Getting out of my conversation with myself, I got back to our discussion, or, in this case, to end it.

“Let's just forget you went out of this world for the whole conversation, and that I was blushing, alright?”

“Well, deal, but only if you sing something for me tonight!” He was going a bit too far with this.

“Fine, just shut up about it, but if you bring this up again, you won't see the end of this "who loves who" war!” I gave the conditions for our term. But before “Oh, and she knows you was looking at her and she also knows your name.”

“What?! I can't believe you told her my name!” He was surprised. “Okay, but I'm sure Luna knows all about this, since she is watching you this hole time to see how you are going.”

He had reminded me of something I both knew and didn't remember. Luna is watching me, and listening to all this. “Horseapples! It's all ruined now!” My mind spoke, and I wasn't sure if it was the evil, neutral or good side of it.

But then like that, we came into an agreement, and went back to our primary objective, that was defeating this first gym and getting our first badge.

It was getting darker, but we weren't leaving the place without a badge.

We then finally stepped inside the gym, to find that the gym leader was already waiting for us, it was his job anyways, to wait for challengers and battle them

The leader was called Falkner, and he was a light blue colt, just like Blackburn, but he had blue shaggy hair, and was wearing a open blue jacket, he also had an bird cage as a cutie mark, being a bird trainer, I guess that suited him well.

Blackburn was going to be the first to fight him, he had told me he wouldn't take long, since he had advantage. My flame-like black haired friend flew into the sky and threw his Geodude onto the field, while the gym leader had no choice but to get his PIdgey out, with was a boulder with arms against a bird, and since Falkner only had two pokemon, it was going to be a fast battle. “I guess you can say that he will kill two birds with one rocks” I though about this joke, but I realized it was bad enough that would make my friend facehoof himself, so I kept to myself. “Where do you come with these puns?” My evil side commented. “Ah... shut up, it wasn't that bad!” my neutral side replied right away.

Getting away from my "mind discussion", I got back to watching the battle, which I had lost the first round, all that I could see was the Pidgey laying in the ground with a rock by it's side, so it was obvious Blackburn had won this round.

Before the second round, Falkner chose his last pokemon, a Pidgeotto, It is covered with brown feathers, and has a cream-colored face and underside. It has a crest of pink feathers on its head and black streaks behind its eyes. The plumage of its tail alternates between red and yellow. It has powerful, pinkish-gray talons. The bird was definitely stronger than a regular pidgey, but it still wasn't a match for Blackburn's Geodude. The boulder used it's hands to dig a rock of the size of it's self, then the legless flying boulder threw it at the bird. The bird was intelligent, dodging the rock quickly and charging into the Geodude, but the boulder was even smarter, waiting for it to come near, just to smash a rock on the bird's beak.

Smaaaash!

The rock he was holding had broke into pieces, while the bird was sent flying back into it's trainer's direction for a few meters before going back to it's pokeball. And then like that, in two rounds, Blackburn had defeated the first gym out of eight.

“It's your turn, mate.” He said to me while passing by my side. “I'll be watching, but try not to take too long or get destroyed, okay?”

“Ha!” I replied while I started entering the arena. “You speak like I can't take care of myself.”

I walked up to my standing place, and gave a last check over my pokemon. I was going to start with Pulse, and in case I needed to switch, I had Scout in the reserve. Neither me or Falkner had advantage that would define victory, but one thing I belived would matter if I was going to win or lose was the ability I had with my pokemon. I was going to play mostly defensive and attack when the enemy became exposed.

Putting Pulse up in the field, while my foe had launched his Pidgey once again. This should be easy enough, so I decided to go offensively on the start, just to have the advantage. I told Pulse to charge into the enemy, but give it the chance for it to dodge away too earlier, so Pulse could change his course and hit the thing. Pulse then turned to the enemy and began running with his four legs. The Pidgey feel into my trap just as I had planned. The Pidgey tried to dodge the attack too earlier, but was then surprised by a hit from Pulse.

Boooonk!

Pulse had hit the thing in middle air, causing it to have do a landing, but that wasn't as rough as the Pidgey's landing, the thing was easily knocked out, it didn't have much of a defense, so normal hits or super effective hits could easily take it down.

Foe's Pidgey has been defeated.

Coming up next was the Pidgeotto Blackburn had fought before.

This time I ordered Pulse to stay defensive, and try to dodge at the right time, so we didn't fall to our own plan. The round had started, the Pidgeotto standing still just like Pulse. Suddenly, it opens it's wings and goes into a launching position, I didn't knew what to expect since Blackburn had defeated it before it had a chance to hit his pokemon, and I didn't noticed it's speed, so I didn't know if Pulse would be able to make a dodge if it charged at him.

The bird decided to play with my doubts, charging directly at Pulse. The thing moved as fast as a bullet. Pulse didn't expect such speed, and jumped just in time to dodge it. One thing we both hadn't expect was a coming back hit.

Slaaash!

The bird went back to it's starting place. on it's way back it had given a slash attack on Pulse, sending him flying a few meters in the middle of the arena. Fortunately, he had survived the hit, but was very low on health. We had a few minutes to decide what to do between rounds. I decided to run to Pulse, who appeared to be laying unconscious on the ground.

“Pulse! Pulse! Wake up!, I can't do this without you! Please get up!” I screamed around for the sake of Pulse, hoping it to get up and be able to fight again. Pulse had more defense than Scout, if I switched, maybe he would be able to take a hit, or to defeat a faster foe, Pulse was my only chance.

Just now I realized I was crying over Pulse, I didn't want to lose my starter yet, I didn't want to lose anyone anymore.

“The wind is finally with us!” Falkner quoted while I was holding Pulse within my hooves, I didn't knew what to do. I could go with my evil self and try to beat this offensively, but it was too risky.

Night had fallen over the arena, we had only a few small lights around. Suddenly, Pulse started to light brighter than anything else on the place. I got confused until I remembered that was the transition between one evolution and another. but I didn't knew what was going to happen to Pulse, since I had never had an Eevee before.

When all the lights coming out of Pulse calmed down, I could see that Pulse had became a Dark hound.It has long pointed ears and a bushy tail, each with a yellow band around them. Its forehead and legs have yellow rings on them. And all those yellow rings glowed at the dark of the night.

Congratulations, Pulse evolved into Umbreon. The battle information displayed. apparently, Umbreon was a dark-type pokemon. I didn't know how helpful it would be against a flying-type, but it was all I had. Pulse got up and was ready to battle again, although he was in a critical condition. I decided to let Pulse do what he chose better to do, since I didn't know what he was capable of.

Suddenly I see Pulse running in the direction of the bigger shadow he found. I didn't know what to expect, but I was hoping for the best. The bird attempt to charge into Pulse once again, just like going after it's prey. Coming near the shadow, it started to slow down in fear. and the Shadow was growing bigger, no matter how much light was around, until it covered the Pidgeotto up.

I could still see my foe's pokemon, but Pulse wasn't anywhere to be seen. I got as confused as the bird did.

Bam!

The bird was hit one time by a thing moving much faster than the own bird could. I could guess it was Pulse, it was a dark pokemon, it made sense for it to use the shadows for it's favor.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Craaaaash!

The bird was hit a few more times, no misses, and then went flying out of the shadow field, flying meters away and crashing into a wall.

Foe's Pidgeotto was defeated.

Pulse had managed to defeat the Pidgeotto in a critical state. I couldn't be happier, that when he came back walking and panting, I levitated a potion in it's mouth, and gave it a great hug. I was still processing the hole evolution and how it happened, but I was just glad we could make it.

You have received the Zephyr Badge!

I walked up to Blackburn to speak with him about our plane for tonight.

“So... I see you just got yourself an Umbreon, am I right?” He asked me

“I think so. Do you have any idea of how this happened?”

“Well, from what I know from Eevees, they can evolve into multiple types, each depending of a certain condition. It could become a different type using a Fire, Water or Thunder stone, each type for it respective stone, there are two other evolutions that can only happen in Sinnoh, and I believe it can become an Umbreon if it's friendship bond with it's trainer is high enough, if it evolves during night, it's an Umbreon, if it's during day time, it becomes a Espeon, which is psych-type. That is all I know.”

“Well, Me and Pulse do have a good friendship, but I don't believe he would trust me enough to evolve already.” I commented over, I was still confused after all.

“Do you think that if I didn't trust you completely I would be here, you gave me the chance to believe, and I believe in your potential, master.” Pulse replied. it was good to see my pokemon trusting me, but we had just begun. Not that it was a bad thing, but it felt strange. I did trust on them, but I didn't believe they already did the same back.

“So Blackburn, where are we going to sleep today? I believe we don't have time to set a camp up.” I asked my friend.

“Well, we can spend some of our money and stay on a inn for the night, what do you thin-”

“Yes, let's go, there is not time to lose!” I interrupted my friend in the middle of his question. I just wanted a better bed for a night, that was all that I asked.

“Alright, then we are staying in a inn for tonight, but you are still going to sing for me, remember?”

“Yea, I don't even mind it now, I'm so calmer now that I doesn't even care, I can sing all night, all because of this happiness, even if I don't sing, I just play a electronic keyboard, and-” Blackburn decided to make me stop, I was talking to much, happiness was flowing in all my body.

And then, after getting Pulse back to hist normal health by using a few potions, me and Blackburn, with one of pokemons following us behind, in his case his Charmander, and in mine, I had Pulse. We walked out of the gym as happier as I could be, and now, the last quest of our day was to search for an inn, I was happy, but I was quite exhausted, I did need to take a break after all this.

Chapter 4: The Road Ahead of Us

“There is no coming back from the road that you are taking. And yet you think that it is the right one?”

Morning had come. The bed I was sleeping was so comfy that I didn't want to get up and continue our adventure. But I didn't want to waste any time, so I tried to get up as fast as I could. And by that I meant waiting fifteen minutes before having my legs to work again.

“Up up and away we go!”

I looked over to Blackburn, who was enjoying the bed ten times more than me. I bet that if I don't get him out of that bed, he will never get off it, and so I worked on getting he right up.

“Come on you lazy pegasus, we need to move out.”

“Just... five minutes...” He replied with what he had, unfortunately for him, that was not enough to convince me that we could continue with this.

My levitation skill wasn't one of the best, but I did prove that I could levitate a pony and throw it meters away, but I was moved by the power of my rage, which wasn't with me in this moment, but I think I can do it by myself. With that said I attempted to levitate Blackburn out of his comfort zone.

Levitating somepony was as hard as I though. I had to concentrate enough that I believe I was using energy I didn't have, proving it that I started to feel that my eyes were going red. But before I would stop, I had already levitated Blackburn.

“Whoa there buddy!” Blackburn let out a surprised scream. “I'm up! I'm up!”

I then dropped my friend back in his bed. I was sure he wouldn't go back to sleep, this was a big jumpscare to him that he would be able to do something useful.

His jumpscare also gave me something to think about. Did he feared me for what I had done to Sam? Did he think I would throw him out of the window of the place we stayed for the night?

“An he is right to fear you, after all, you are the worst best of both of you! ” The evil me played. “But he should not, he is your friend, and being the best is not what matters here, it's who you are as a pony.” The good part of me replied, and I decided to stop the two before they started a discussion. I have to remember to take control of both of them. I think I might be diagnosed with a mental disorder or something, but I always had them with me and nothing problematic happened before yesterday. I need to take control of my inner demons and angels.

“So where now?” I asked, I wanted to know if we were having breakfast or already moving to the next route.

“Well, now we go to the market to check if we have everything on us, and then we move on to route 32”

“Can we go to the ruins? Maybe we can find some treasure!” I asked excited for a new thing to do other than battling and walking around.

Blackburn looked over me with one his eyebrows up like if he was asking if I was serious about treasure hunting.

“Aw come on,” I started begging. “It can't be all that bad!”

“Alright!” He gave up. “But I still want to beat the second gym today, so we got to be fast about this.”

And so we fed our pokemon and organized our saddlebags and started to move on. The place where we stayed for the night was a small inn located next to the pokecenter. Out in the streets, we started going to the market, where I was going to look for something that could replace the GUI since it did bother me a little.

Walking in the streets I started to take a look at my surroundings. Everything seemed in place, and there were a few groups in the streets probably planning their next place to go.

“Hey Atlas. Thanks for the song yesterday, I would say you did pretty well for someone without the habit of singing.” Blackburn commented, probably to start a conversation just for the moment or while we walked.

“That was nothing, and I hope you liked it, because it's not going to be happening in a while.”

“I'm happy with it, and I think I know someone that is happy with it as well...” He continued, I think I knew where this was going, and he wasn't keeping up with our agreement.

“Shut up already,” I stopped him before he could tried something else. “Come on, the market is just ahead.”

We now found ourselves in the market located in the center of the town. We already had all of our supplies, so being here was somewhat optional, but still, I was in need for something that would take the function of my interface, but would be something for me to look at, having all the logs and warnings always in my vision bothered me.

Taking a walk around and looking at the merchandise, I found a arm band that had the functions I wanted. It could be used as a clock, map, compass, inventory organizer, and could substitute the user's interface in-battle, and would also receive the warnings and logs all the time, basically what I was looking for, with a bunch of extra attributes that would be very useful.

“You ain't gonna buy that up,” Blackburn, who was by my side, brought up his point. “It's way too expensive!”

Looking a closer look, I saw that it's price was three thousand bits. “Celestia banish me to the moon! This is too expensive!” I though to myself. Me and Blackburn had a little more than the double of it's price.

“Look here Black,” I tried to argument back. “I need this so I can see things without warnings in my face. We can buy two of them and one goes to you.”

“We will have almost no money after it, what are you planning?”

“Well, first, we'll go treasure hunting one way or another, who knows, we may end up finding a Nugget!”

Nuggets were little gold balls that were very rare and were scattered all across the region. They didn't do anything special, like boost one type of attack, but they had an value of around five thousand bits.

“Hm... Interesting, but I'm still not convinced.” He replied back. “What is your second point?”

“Since you're pretty much stuck in the ground with me, we will have to battle a few players here and there, and so earning some money back.” I gave him my second point, and I decide to add more to it. “And if we end up beating the second gym right away, we will have all of our money back!”

Blackburn then went back to his mind, to think about it a little. I decided to take a look around while he was lost in his thoughts.

Near us I located a bunch of flowers lying in the ground, and between then I found a rose. “Hm... a rose, just lying here. Well, if Blackburn isn't going with our agreement, I'm not going as well.” And so I opened my saddlebag and rapidly levitated the flower into it. I was going to keep it for a future plan I had. “I just hope she isn't eliminated already.”

A few minutes later, Blackburn came back to our world and had came to a decision. “Fine, we'll buy one for you, I'm sticking with the actual GUI, I have got used to it by now”

I them grabbed the band and with the help of Blackburn, we paid for it. It was barely more expensive than a Full Restore, but we couldn't buy one either, since it wasn't unlocked. All we could buy were potions and at a maximum some great balls.

“I hope you enjoy it and don't break it in a few seconds.” He gave it back to me like it was a birthday present. “Consider it as a reward for your singing.”

He just wanted to do make up that last phrase so I couldn't get something back from him for making me sing for him. But there wasn't anything I could ask back considering his special talent was to deal with guns and shoot things, so unless I asked him if we could go hunting after all this, I don't think there was much left.

I opened it up so I could attach it to me, It had a small spike that with connect to one of my veins to take information from me, it even had a small warning "it will only sting for a moment!" referring to the small I would feel for a moment. I them attached it to right front hoof and felt the sting. “Ouch!”

I shaked my hoof in the arm for a few second to make it stop the small but bothering pain, even if shaking it didn't make any sense. I turned back to Blackburn, who was giving a small laugh at me. I stared back at him, and he stopped, and tried to seem like he wasn't laughing. I facehoofed and finally decided that it was time for us to move, and me with my own copy of a digital Pip-Buck created for this place.

And so, me and Blackburn went to the ruins located near the town

Upon arriving at the Ruins, I got a quick notification on my still not named clock,inventory organizer, thing. Apparently the place was called Ruins of Alph, according to my map. I showed a little more information when I tapped it with my hoof.

"The Ruins of Alph were the former HQ for a cult that based themselves on the pokemon Unown, and many of the legendary mythological pokemon

Unown is a flat, thin pokemon shaped like an eye with appendages that make it resemble a letter or a punctuation mark. It is entirely black, except for its white sclera. For now it's know that only twenty-eight are discover, being all the letters in the alphabet and two punctuation marks: the exclamation "!" and the interrogation "?" marks. It is believed that they can still be found in the caves below the ruins, although the pokemon does not have a good stats to be recommended to be used in battle.

Little is know about the original cult, and all that was left was this ruins and the painted images of Unowns and the legendary. For unknown reasons, the cult also left puzzles scattered all across the ruins."

“Legendary, hum?” I commented. “That there is a word I haven't heard in ages, I don't even believe that legendaries like Ho-oh or Lugia can be found in this tournament, that would be so overpowered.”

“I haven't seen anypony around with one in all of our competitions, but I guess if you try hard enough, you can get something special, maybe a shiny pokemon.” Blackburn gave his opinion.

“But if you farm around an area for ages until a shiny appears, what do you do with it? I mean, if it is not the first to appear around, you are just going to have to defeat it or run for it, you can't capture it unless it's the first to appear in an area.”

“Guess that is true, I think you'd have to be very lucky.” He got the point. “And when it comes to legendary or rare pokemon, like a Dialga or, for example, a Moltres, I suppose you would have to do something different, I mean, normally we would have to prove something and that we are worth being their trainer, but I don't know if it works the same way here.”

That got me thinking. If it were for someone to be a trainer for one of those special creatures, they would have to prove they're worth, and here is the catch. What exactly would one have to prove to show that one is worth? And is it even possible to obtain one here?

So many questions I would have to search for the answers, and we didn't exactly have the time for it, so I decided to put those questions in a highlight for me to later discover, and for now, we had an ruin to explore.

“So, since we are treasure hunting, why not get help from our pokemon?” I ended the old conversation and started with we really had came here for. “Not only will we finish this faster, but they will also have some fun, rather being either on a pokeball all the time or walking with us to places.”

Blackburn didn't even took time to think about it, I had got him with the "we will spend less time here" thing. He opened his saddle bag and shoved his wings in it, making the five pokeballs went flying until they hit the ground. Out of them, his whole team was out: His Charmander, Ratata, Hoothoot, Geodude and Bellsprout (Oh, how do I hate these things).

I then got my whole the as well: Pulse, Scout, Widowmaker and Seed out. This had just become a searching party.

“So, I think we are ready to begin this up,” I was set to begin. “Let's get to business!”

Right after I said that, our group got separated, Blackburn and his Charmander going to a way, while the other four separated in two groups and went in two different directions. Me and my team went with a different strategy, we would all stick together, since this place was filled with puzzles, what a better way to easily beat them than with a group of friends?

Blackburn's team was covering the top half of the ruins, while me and my team were left with the other half, which was composed of only three houses for me to search for something. I also didn't consider the fact that other ponies (and also gryphons and zebras) may have been around in search of loot for themselves.

We moved into one of the houses, inside it was a panel in the middle with a scrambled image, and the walls were painted with the symbols that the Unown were known in. On the opposite wall from the entrance, there was a big painting of a lion in brown fur and a big white mane on it's back. I immediately assimilated the creature with one of the legendary beasts, Entei.

Entei was one beasts that composed the legendary trio of the region of Johto. Alongside him were Raikou and Suicune. There were only two legendary trios in my knowledge, being the Johto and Kanto ones, Kanto having three birds: Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos.

I walked to the front of the panel just to see that it was the image of a pokemon I hadn't seen before, maybe it was from a new discovered species, which I didn't think so since this place is hundreds years old, or a very old pokemon. With the help of my team, we had re-constructed the whole image in a few minutes, just to discover it was kind of a dinosaur bird. I didn't knew what color it was painted, since the image itself was very old.

Suddenly, the image started glowing, and getting brighter as time went past. I had covered my eyes since it was too bright for me to see. While I was protecting myself from the light, the plate I was standing collapsed.

“Whoa!” I screamed as I fell into the whole, and I presume my pokemon had fallen with me. Wherever I had fell, it was very dusty, and my fell made it all go into the air.

After a few moments, the dust had cleared, just for me to find myself in a hole with a few items in it, and my pokemon were nowhere to be found.

“Hum... let's see what we have here.” I talked to myself while checking the items. “A gold nugget, this could be useful; a Great ball, and a rock...?”

Different than any other rock in the room, this one was white, and shattered. It seemed to be a piece of cobblestone, put was too gathered in one to be possible. I decided to check it up in my inventory and see what is know about it.

"Moonstone

The moonstone is a fallen rock that came from the moon centuries ago when a meteor had hit the moon and the explosion launched a few of those stones over the world. The moon stone is often used to evolve a few specific pokemon."

I didn't have any pokemon that could be used with the stone at the moment, so I decided to kept it in case I get one pokemon that is capable of doing so.

After that, I looked around to see if any of my companions had fell here with me. Apparently, they all had stayed on the original floor. After that, Scout flew down the hole and found me.

“Master! I'm so glad you are alright!” The bird flew happily across the room, happy to find out I was ok. “We all got worried, and I decided to check out, while everyone stayed up there.”

“It's good to know that all of you are okay.” I looked around in search of an exit. “Now we just need to find a way out of this god forsaken place. ”

Scout moved ahead a hall we had found, trying to find an exit to the place, while I stayed behind to catch everyone from falling. Scout was finally putting his name to good use. Minutes later, he had returned telling us that he had found a rope that went to the house next to this one, but he warned me that this place could have traps laying around, or at least a few holes for us fall into. The hallway was very dark, so we had to at least find a out to get light, or be very careful.

“Nothing to worry Atlas,” Pulse went ahead leading the way. “Did you forget I glow in the dark?”

If we got out by the other house, we would only had left only one place left for us to search. We were eliminating two options with one choice.

Walking the hallway, I could see where Scout had though this could have traps, there were a few circular holes around the walls, possibly to make arrows shoot from them, activated by a pressure plate or something.

“If this place really have any traps,” I commented. “How cliché would it be?”

In my youth, I had read books, like Daring Doo, or watched adventure movies that had traps like that. It had came to a point that it was so obvious.

We continued moving, and turns out that those holes didn't mean anything, we basically occupied the whole hall, and so covering any step possible. Unless that trap was activated by another thing, or was broken, it wasn't really a trap. We had finally reached the stairs that went up, and so, we climbed it. this room it was just like the other house, with it's wall painted with the creatures they praised, and it's hoof broken due to time. Besides that, the place didn't contain anything else, no items or anything.

Getting out in the house, I found Blackburn teaming up with his companions, they apparently did loot everything, and were regrouping.

“What did you so long? I was going to check that house now if you didn't show up.”

“Wait, did you searching in the other houses?” I asked.

“I did in all of them but the one you came out, in one them, there were a few Rare Candy laying around, and in the other had a dark hole in the middle. You had taken sometime, and we really have to leave this place before lunch.” He answered. “But seriously, what did you so long?”

I sighed, seeing that he would laugh over my answer “I had fallen in the hole, and we took some time to found a way out.”

As expected, Blackburn fell in the ground and started laughing and rolling. He had laughed so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. He couldn't stop laughing after minutes, that I had to make he stop.

“Are you done with that?” I asked.

“Just... A... Second...” He started talking, taking a few breaks to get some air. “Yeah, I think I'm done.”

Finally, we decided to stay with our pokemon out, and start to move ahead to Route 32.

Just when we entered Route 32, I had found a Growlithe, a Fire type pokemon.

It was a female, canine based pokemon, that had an orange fur and a few black stripes along with it's legs and back's fur, while it's chest, muzzle and tail fur was cream colored. It didn't seem very aggressive towards me, and had a playful personality, I myself had found her pretty fun, and decided to invite her join my team, but before I explained all the risks.

She had took some time to think, but even if our adventure was very dangerous, She had decided to openly join me along side my pokemon. I decided to name her Phoenix.

Meanwhile, Blackburn hadn't captured anything, but was walking with his evolved Charmander, that was now a Charmeleon he had accidentally knocked-off the Nidoran. he had fought, and even he said that he didn't mean to kill the thing, he didn't really want Poison Type.

His Charmeleon was just like his Charmander, but this time around two times bigger and had grew a horn on the back of it's head.

“So, we got our starters both evolved now?” I asked.

“Well, yours won't grow more, but mine will become a big Charizard one day” He replied. “We'll fly along side each other around all of Johto!”

After that, we continued going down the road that lead across the route. After that we would have to go across a cave and then through Route 33, which is just a small road, and finally arrive at Azalea Town.

This route wasn't really filled up with trainers, but the ones we met wasn't really trouble. Well, that was until I was challenged by another competitor middle way through the route, while Blackburn was already battling someone.

The pony who challenged me didn't talked much, but was very confident, but wasn't that experienced, and hadn't probably take time to see how others were doing, he had a team composed of only two pokemon, both Rock Type: A Graveler and a Onix.

He had started up with the Onix, a giant snake made out of rocks that became smaller towards it's tail, and it had a horn in it's head, while I had Seed go for this one. I was in type advantage, since Rock was weak to Grass. The Onix easily went down by a few slashes from the leaves of Seed, leaving my opponent with only his Graveler left. It was a big four armed boulder, an evolution for Geodude.

“Hey, you know you wouldn't last very much with only two pokemon, specially of the same type,right?”

My opponent didn't answer, instead he just ordered his Graveler to shoot a big boulder into Seed. Seed was right in front of me of me, and was quick to act, rapidly dodging the boulder middle way of it's trajectory.

If I hadn't cleared my doubts about getting hurt here could really affect me, I was answered now. Since Seed had dodged it, It went flying right on me. I tried to turn and run in another direction, but it didn't go that well.

Smash!

It had hit me on my side, and probably breaking a few ribs of mine. Meanwhile, Seed had done the same that he did to the Onix, bringing the rock down with a super effective hit, and eliminating my nameless opponent.

“Ugh... I hadn't expect for this!” I commented over the heavy pain in my chest.

“There you go, some karma!” The evil me played back. “That was for shooting a guy out a building.”

“Ah.. Don't you begin with this, you were the one in control of me when I did that, so it was your fault!” I hadn't realized it, but I spoke out loud with my inner self.

Blackburn had finished his battle and ran in my direction, he had probably seen or at least heard the sound of the rock hitting my body.

“Shit!” Blackburn said, his voice filled with worry. “Are you okay? What should we do? Can you walk?”

“I don't know, I don't know and probably not like I did before.” I answered all his questions. “Man, I know the hole thing about we being in this world rather than just playing with a Game Colt is for realism and all, but come on, even death is probably possible in here!” I was laying in the ground, swearing at the realism of this place.

“Come on, I'm gonna take you out of here!” Blackburn said while he used all the force and energy he had to put me in his back. After that, I got all my pokemon into their pokeballs, as he tried to fly, but end up it was too much weight for his wings to handle, so he decided to continue by walking.

I had found myself in a situation I didn't know how to get out. The Graveler had broken at least two ribs of mine, and I don't recall seeing any hospitals from the three cites we had been so far, and I believe that pokecenters only offer care for pokemon. As Blackburn walked, I hadn't much left to do, so I decided to lay asleep so I could regain some energy, or get used to the pain.

“Hey... Atlas, wake up” I heard Blackburn's voice as I tried to open my eyes. When I got finished, I gave my friend a "What is it?" kind of look. “It's her... You know who. Look, she is walking alone just here, and I see it as a chance for me to get started with something, ya know?”

“I see, but I though she would have arrived Azalea Town by now.” I questioned what I had been told. “But anyways, what did you need me for?”

“You were the one who spoke with her last time,” He continued. “Do you remember her name?”

“Her name?” I searched every spot in my mind in search of her name, but didn't find anything. “Nope. I didn't ask for it, but she does know ours.”

“Well, I see I'll be having to face it myself,” He finished. I saw where this was going. “Well,wish me luck! Also, you don't mind if I leave you here for a few moments, do you?”

“Well, not much, I can barely move anyways. Also, if you are going to declare your love for her, get this...” I said as I used my magic to open my saddle bags and give my friend the flower. “Have this Rose, at least it will a bit more romantic. Now if you excuse me, I will be back to look at my surroundings, and my slow death. Now go, and be the most romantic stallion you had ever seen!”

Blackburn then grabbed the flower with his wing, and hid it under it, and walked to the purple mare's direction, which didn't seem to notice us. While I gave my friend his first love a chance, I took a look around. The place wasn't that different from other routes, filled with trees and tall grass, but there was a small lake with some fisher pony fishing on it, some of them would be trainers, and at least one of them, with a team full of harmless Magikarp. We were in the middle of the afternoon, and I could see it had been some time, since we entered this place in the morning, and the sun still burning at it's best. I had a feeling this was a few momets after lunch time, and that I probably lost it.

“So, if you have anything that could help him, I would love to know” I realized that Blackburn was with the mare, just by side, talking about me.

“I do actually have this natural herb I bought in Violet City, it recovers the pokemon's health to complete and removes status problems, and since pokemon are creature just like us, I believe it's worth a try.”

I looked over them and both of them were staring at me. It was very awkward, so I decided to break that.

“So what are you waiting for? I'm dying here!” I hurried them up.

Them opened her saddle bags and used her mouth to bring a herb over me. “Now, just eat this, and you should be feeling okay in a few hours,” She said, handing me over the plant. “But I'm not sure if it would have any collateral effect or anything. Besides, the name is Violet.” The nameless mare finally introduced herself to us.

I ate the plant and was hoping for the best, but wasn't that confident, anything could happen.

“Well, at least it's good to quit the debt you had with me for revenging my friend,” She then closed her saddle bags and was set to leave. “Now, if that was all, I will be leaving. Bye Blackburn and Atlas.” and so, the pegasus mare started walking away.

I looked over to my friend, who appeared to have done something very wrong over his first meeting. “Hey, I see you didn't really do anything rather helping me, now let me help you.” I started talking. “Keep the flower for now. Violet had lost her friend in the start, and now she is alone, why don't you go ahead and invite her to join us before your love flies away?”

Blackburn then opened his eyes wide, and ran to the mare, calling her name. I could see that he was talking to her, and I was hoping that my friend was doing everything right, even if this was his first time in love, but I myself didn't really know what to do, I hadn't got one myself. “You are forgetting Luna!” my inner me spoke. I had shut it down again before it could try anything else. But it did brought a point that I was doubting myself in: Did I really had a crush on her and was aiming too high for a start?

I then closed the last though before I ended up thinking in something I would regret. I went back to looking at the two love birds together, but this time I was trying to use my telekinesis to try and levitate me, so I didn't have to depend on my friend all the time, but each time was the same, I would go to a point that I would exhaust myself too much that my vision would start to become unfocused.

Back to my friend, I could see he didn't really follow my advice about keeping the flower, he had already given it too her, and she gave him a smile, so I could see that this was going ok. The two then started walking back to me, side by side.

“She is coming with us.” Blackburn had given me the news. “Violet, you can go ahead, while I will get Atlas, and we'll be right behind you.”

She nodded, and started walking down the road, while Blackburn stayed behind to get me, and so I decided to ask him a few questions.

“So, are you two now, like, dating or something?”

“Actually, no, but she did know by the way I looked at her the first time,” He answered. as he positioned me on his back. “So I decided to give her the flower, that is all, but I will try to win her heart over time, you'll see.”

Well, it seemed that this would be a long road, and a big afternoon ahead of me, specially with Blackburn losing himself over the mare all the time.

Near an Hour later, I was walking in four hooves again, but very slowly, since I was still feeling the pain. My clock told me it was still four in the afternoon, so we still had time to arrive in Azalea Town and defeat the bug gym, I heard it was a Bug Type gym, so as long as I used Phoenix or Scout, I should have the advantage.

I was battling a pony who was using a Hoppip, which was a pink round pokemon, just like a ball, with a two long leaves on it's head that would spin around it's center and cause it to float. I decided to go with Scout against it, since it was a Grass and Flying Type.

I had decided to let Scout use his own strategy against the thing. He though fast and charged into the flying pink ball, I bet it didn't see that coming.

Slash! Slash! It's Super effective!

Scout used it's wings to launch two big air blades into my foe's pokemon, and it fell in the ground, fainted.

The battle hadn't been that exciting, but I was being more careful myself so I didn't break anything else. Scout was flying, happy for winning one more battle. He was glowing, just like Pulse did before before evolving, so I though he was evolving. Turns out I was right, Scout's shape was changing, and he was getting bigger and growing a few other characteristics. He had became the same pokemon Falkner had used against me and Blackburn: A Pidgeotto.

“Well, I guess I have two evolved pokemon now.” I commented, Blackburn was by side and gave a "yeah, whatever" look, and told me to keep moving. Violet, me and Blackburn were heading to the cave, which wasn't that away from here, so all that was left was the cave and a very short route. I guessed we would be arriving the next city by six or later.

We turned to our right, the way we had to follow, and turns out there was a poke center there. “A pokecenter? here?” I asked out loud.

“You see, Atlas, the route we are in is a very long way to go, it take hours to go through and it's filled with more experienced trainers,” Violet answered my question as she showed the length of the route on the map of my gadget. “So they put it here for us to take a break and recover our pokemon's energy.”

“So,” Blackburn continued. “Do you guys want to take a break here?”

I though a bit, but Violet answered first: “I think it's a good idea, since Atlas need more time to recover, and we can give some time for us to recover, don't you think?”

I nodded and so did Blackburn. We would spend at least an hour there, so I extended the time of arrival of my guess by an hour as well.

Upon entering the poke center, there was other ponies chatting, as well as some gryphons and zebras as well, but there was one pony in special that I hadn't seen before, it was like a normal pegasus, but it's wings were bat wings. I asked my friends, and they answered me that bat ponies did live normally around Equestria, but only went out during night time, since they were more adapted for it. They did also tell me that only bat ponies were part of the Luna's Personal Royal Guards.

For me it was strange to see a Pony with big bat wings, a Snake-like eye and Bat-like ears, but it didn't bother me that much, I even liked the style and imagined how coll it would be to be one, but my glorious vision were blocked when Blackburn told me to go to a bathroom and wash my face, since I was still covered in dust since the Ruins of Alph.

Slowly walking to the bathroom, I could see that Blackburn and Violet had taken themselves a seat and started chatting. “I really do need to learn teleportation these days, it's too hard to walk like this” I though to myself, while the other me stayed in silence, for my surprise, it did not want to chat, or even make jokes of my situation, and I wanted it to stay like that.

I entered the bathroom, and started the water flow to fill the sink using my telekinesis. I was walking very slowly around the bathroom, since I was very tired of all of this, it had been a full day and I had been injured. If I really though deeply about all of this, I could see that this whole thing was very dark in general. Deaths happening in all places, ponies battling everywhere. There was only a few around that were here to reach some kind of inner understanding, or to prove somethings to themselves, but in general, mostly everyone was here because of a selfish will.

With the sink full of water, I dove right in with my head. “Ponies like us are turning all of this place in a kind of wasteland.” I though to myself. Getting out of the water I looked at the mirror, and what I had saw made me jump a few hoofs backwards.

In the mirror I was seeing myself, but not really, my light grey coat was covered in blood, if it was mine or of something else I didn't knew. I was staring into myself. My eye's dark blue pupil had turned into snake-like one of the same color. My dark blue hair was very messy, and it's dark red stripe was scrambled everywhere. my teeth had grew fangs and my horn was bigger then before. While it's vision was locked in me, me, I mean, he gave an malicious smile. The figure in the mirror did not follow my movements.

“Hello, Atlas.” It talked to me. “It's been a while.”

“What are you?” I asked, trembling in fear of myself. “You can't be me, whose blood is that? Who are you?”

It's smile faded. He was looking at me even more serious this time.

“You don't seem to recall who I am, do you?” He asked. “Well, I suppose it was something to expect of you, since you haven't seen me in a visual version for ages now. I believe you call me your "inner demon", but I also would love if you started calling me Atlas.” He introduced himself, or myself in this case, to me. It's horn started glowing and then brought up to my vision a dead body of a pony. “Well, answering your question about the blood, I could say that it's from this pony here, but don't worry, you doesn't know him.” He dropped the body back to the floor, out of my vision. “Well, you don't need to be scared, I'm just part of you anyway.” He looked to the wall on his side, and gave a smile, not malicious this time, it was natural. He wasn't staring at anything in particular, maybe just lost in thoughts, my thoughts. I was unsure of the situation, the pony in my vision was myself, but the part of me who did mean harm to the ones that I hated or considered a threat, I was in fear and anger at myself, both at the same time.

“You can't be me,” I told him. “I would never cover myself in gore just like you now. I wouldn't dare to harm others!” I screamed at myself.

The other me stood staring at the wall in silence. A few moments later, the silence was broken.

“You and Luna do share something in common, both of you contain a more "aggressive" versions of yourself” He said, still looking at the wall. Finally he turned to me. “The difference is that her's was an influence by dark forces from the moon,” He then locked his vision to me. “But yours is just natural.” He then focused his vision back to me and had put on his malicious smile back, making me walk a few hoofs backward once again. He then levitated body on his side of the mirror, and concentrated the telekinesis field around it's head. “You don't need to fear yourself, Atlas, I want you to know that I'm here to just help you!”

Bam! A big pop the head of it's victim made. The left side of his face was now covered in blood and parts of the now headless body's head. The body dropped, and vanished of my vision, back in the ground again.

The anger inside me was getting bigger every moment, and it had come to a point where I couldn't contain it anymore. “I don't need you!” I screamed. My horn was glowing, but this time, it had a second layer of glow with it, enhancing even more my magic. I concentrated on the mirror, were myself was still standing in, and broke it with my magic, making a loud sound in the bathroom.

“You can't destroy me, I'm you, you fool.” The voice came back to my head. “I'm going to always be with you, and I will help you to kill Freddie, and cover yourself in his interiors! Just like you want! This is what you wished! Because you are a monster hero!” The voice kept playing. I had fallen to the ground and was holding my hoofs in my ears, trying not to hear the voice, and was forcing my vision closed just not to see my other self in case it was out there.

“Shut up!” I got up and gave another big scream. and so making my glow even more, creating a third tier of magic, and so breaking any mirror left in the bathroom.

Second later, Blackburn came running into the bathroom to check on me.

“Atlas! Atlas!” He called me while I was back in the ground, holding myself in both fear and anger. “Calm down! I don't know what it's happening but I'm here, just calm down!” He tried to help me. I was feeling the comfort of having a friend back with me, and so the magic had stopped, and I started to cry. I didn't know what happened or how my magic got strong like that, but I didn't want it anymore, and I was just laying in the ground, helpless from the inside. “Come on, get up, we're going back to the table with us, everything was going to be okay.”

Blackburn then grabbed me by the hoof and got me up. I stood there looking at him, and after realizing how grateful I was to have him to help me in such moments, I gave a poor smile, and hugged him. That just made me cry even more, but this time, I was grateful for the things I had.

“Come on, we need to go before anyone sees the mess you made!” He hurried me, pushing me back and holding my hoof and forcing me to move.

We then moved back to the entrance room, where, fortunately, only a few ponies noticed all the sound I made, or didn't care enough. I went back to the table with Blackburn, where Violet was sitting, waiting for us.

“What the hell happened in there?” She asked.

“I don't know, and if I tried to explain it, you maybe wouldn't believe it.” I replied. I was still trying to analyze the situation, and the pain in my chest wasn't helping.

“You got out of control, that is it!” Blackburn replied. “I just hope nobody goes checking what you had done in there.” He was focused on me with an angry look in his eyes.

What? My friend was supposing I got out of control? I can't say that is a lie, because I did indeed got out of control of my magic, but I was not crazy. At least that was what I thought.

“This is enough for me, since you really want to know, I'll tell both of you!” I stomped at the table, I couldn't accept what they thought of me. “Since the start of this competition, and a little before, I have been hearing my own voice in my head, but this time it had a different personality. This one had a more aggressive feeling.” They were looking at me, with completely focused in my explanation. “It appears to have taken one more step towards trying to communicate with me.”

They stood looking at me, with no expression at all, in silence. Well, that was until Blackburn broke the silence.

“Okay, you have gone crazy, one hundred per cent now!”

Violet looked at him, kind of confused by Blackburn's reaction. “You realize that this is a serious matter, do you?” She asked him, with a look in her eyes of doubt. “He may have a identity disorder, you know?”

“A what now?” I asked, this time, I had even more doubts than before.

“A dissociative identity disorder, to be more specific. It is when a creature have multiple identities, and can change depending of the pony's behavior or emotional state.” She explained. “It appears that your mind is split in different personalities. Tell me, before that happened, what were you thinking of?”

I took some time to remember what was happening before, and was trying to understand what she had told us. After some thinking I had remembered what I was thinking of. “I was asking myself why I was here, and what were the reasons for that, and why are other ponies also here. I was analyzing how selfish the wish of some were, while only a few were doing this for another reason, and I was asking myself in what group I would be. But how do you know this much?”

She looked at me for a few seconds before coming to a more concrete resolution of this. “So, you were in doubt, am I right?” She asked. I nodded and she then continued. “I have studied psychology, but quitted it after a while, so there may be a chance that I'm wrong about this. Doubt leaves one mind unsure, while depending of another, it may try to take control to come to an answer, or may be left in doubt as well. The thing is, if it gets succeed in taking control, it can eliminate the other side, and so destroying a whole personality.”

I looked deep inside myself, and felt my stomach getting frozen, just like when I fear something that hasn't happened. “Is there treatment for it?” I asked in fear.

She looked at me, apparently with no answer. “Well, there is clinical treatment, but it had shown to fail in most cases.” She started to share the same feeling I had. “But we aren't even sure if you have it, I'm no doctor, this isn't even what I do best!” She tried to calm me down. “I just learned a little about it, but I quitted it after a while” She tried to find an explanation to leave me calmer, but that only left me in even more fear.

I could be battling against myself to conquer myself.

“Well, we can take a better look at this, but later, we have been here for a while now, and our pokemon had rested already. I think we can move out.” Blackburn hurried up.

Violet gave him a look of anger, like if he wasn't taking this serious, but I told her to calm down and agreed with my friend. We had taken some time to rest, or in my case, drown in fear, and we needed to get to the next city, we still had a cave to go through.

“Phoenix, use Ember!” As I gave the command, my pokemon shot a fire ball directly into the enemy.

Vroosh!

The flame ball gave the sound confirming it's hit. And so, Phoenix had taken down another of countless Zubats we had met in our way through the cave. By my side, Blackburn was battling a hiker pony for Violet, who was just watching.

“Parker, use Metal Claw!” He gave the command. His Charmeleon jumped in the air, and then, before striking, it's claws turned to a metallic color, and it stroke right in the Onix's head. the giant snake was easily put down by a pokemon of the disadvantage type.“I told you battling isn't all about type advantage, but about moves as well.” He directed the comment to me. I rolled my eyes around.

I had found the exit of the cave, still away from our position. It was very dark, but I had a small flashlight on my gadget, not only that but Pulse was with me, since it glowed in the dark, while Blackburn had his Charmeleon's burning flame on it's tail.

I had battled the first pokemon I had encountered in the cave, and captured it, but when I gave it the choice of to go with me. So far, all the pokemon I explained the situation had chosen to stick with me, no matter what. Unfortunately, this was not the case. The Geodude I had capture chose to go back to it's home.

After we were able to move again, since everyone was out of battle state, we could walk about half way through the cave with no problem. That was until we were approached from behind by a very interesting group. two gryphons and a zebra. They were attracted to us by our light. The cave was very dark and difficult to see, so I suppose that was it.

“What y'all say about a battle?” One of the gryphons challenged. “Three against three.”

It wasn't up for me to decide, I told Blackburn to decide what we were going to do, and I couldn't say about Violet. Blackburn had his own decision, but he probably didn't want to upset Violet, so he asked first if she was up.

“What kind of question is that? I'm always up for a challenge.” She jumped in the spirit of battling. Since she joined up, I hadn't seen her battle or even saw one of her pokemon.

The gryphons and the zebra had five pokemons each, and so did me and Blackburn, and I supposed that Violet as well. The black furred one threw in a Swellow,a Flying and Normal type, dark blue bird, with face and breasts red colored, while it's chest was white colored. The zebra used a Mightyena, a dark type, which the fur of it's back, as well as the paws, where black colored, while the majority of it's body, like it's chest, belly and head, were white colored. The last Gryphon used a Skarmory, a big grey and metallic bird with a pair of wings, both composed out of four big feathers, one of them grey while the other three were red, it's wings were sharp like blades, powerful enough to cut a pony open and leave it rotting in the ground helpless; It's head had a big horn while it's mouth contained countless sharp teeth.

Since I was battling a Metal type pokemon, I decided to start with Phoenix, while Blackburn had picked his Geodude to go against the flying type, but not really a good choice against Metal. He didn't care though, he just gave me the sing to take care of the metal bird before anything else. Lastly, I saw one of the few pokemon Violet had with her, she threw in a Riolu, a blue wolf-like pokemon which walked in only two of it's paws, it was considered Fighting type, and I was sure and unsure of her decision, since she had advantage against Normal, Dark and Metal, but was weak against Flying.

With everything set, the battle had started, I decided to go with Fire Wheel against the Skarmory, it was the best fire attack I had at the moment, and I needed to take the metal bird down for my friends, otherwise, we would be in trouble. This was all a team effort, so if one fails, it get worse for others. I was unsure if Phoenix was fast enough to hit the metal bird in time.

And so the battle started, beginning with Phoenix running, and starting to breath fire out of it's lungs, and covering itself in fire, and so turning into a wheel mad of fire. The Skamory did the wrong move by start charging it's move, aiming for the Geodude. In the same moment, the Swellow flew like a bullet into the Riolu, which stood with it's eyes closed, like it was focusing in something. The Geodude tried something to save the small fighting wolf, and started shooting various rocks in the bird.

Froosh! Froosh! Froosh!

All the rocks it had threw in it missed, and giving the Swellow a chace to strike the Riolu down.

In the meantime, Phoenix had reached the metal bird, who didn't saw the hit coming.

Bam!

Phoenix gave a powerful flaming tackle in the deadly bird, which bursted into flames and fainted in the ground. I haven't seen the Mightyena make a move, but when I took another look, it was going after the Riolu as well, right behind the Swellow. The bird was about to hit it, when suddenly...

“Now Aura!” Violet screamed. The Riolu jumped in the air, over the Swellow's head. The Mightyena saw it and jumped right at it, but the Riolu was faster to act.

Pow! It's super effective!

The Riolu spun and around, and gave the animal a powerful kick in it's face, making the pokemon drop dead in the ground. The Swellow decided to give a return run in the wolf.

Vroosh!

The Riolu had seen it coming, and created a small blue glowing sphere, and had hit it right in the face, the bird few meters away, but it didn't faint. The Geodude fastly took care of that.

Smaaaaash! It's super effective!

The floating boulder smashed a rock in the bird's head, and like that we had eliminated three out of fifteen of their pokemon. There was still a lot towards us.

My team and me were winning the battle for our strategy. Our foes were left with only 3 pokemons left, one for each. I had Widowmaker out, and he was badly injured, but I could use a turn to heal up. Violet had her a Kirlia out, the evolution of a Ralts and was a Psych type. Kirlia had a green hair that covered most of it's face, leaving only it's eyes out, she also had two red horns in her head. Itself appears to be wearing a white dress over it's body, while leaving it's legs exposed, which were green colored. Blackburn was using his Charmeleon once again, which was injured as well, but not as much as Widowmaker.

Our foes' last pokemons were a Raticate, the evolution of Ratata, but this time it had grown bigger, and it's fur turned brown; A Golbat, the evolution of a Zubat, but it now had eyes, and it's mouth was even wider open, not counting that it had grew a lot bigger as well; And a Linoone, a slender-bodied pokemon, which had white fur and long brown stripe on it's back that would go to it's head and end with an arrow pointing down.

“Two Normal types and a Poison and Flying? Is that the best you've got?” Violet Taunted.

We had the advantage. The only one of our team that could take a super effective hit was Widowmaker, and that only if the Golbat get to attack, since it would go down easily by the Kirlia's psychic hits. The other two would be easily taken down by Widowmaker and Blackburn's Charmeleon.

I took the turn to heal Widowmaker up, meanwhile, Violet's Kirlia used psych type attacks against the Golbat. The bat went down without even making a sound. Kirlia probably messed it from the inside.

Blackburn's Charmeleon ran into the foe's Linoone, preparing it's sharp claws to strike. The mole-like pokemon that was Linoone tried to avoid the attacks but didn't succeed very well.

Slaaash! Slaaash!

The foe's pokemon fainted, and so only leaving the Raticate, that charged in Widowmaker's direction.

“CheeseChaser, use Hyper Fang!” The brown colored gryphon ordered the rat. I froze, I though it was only a quick tackle, which Widowmaker could easily, but I wasn't expecting an Hyper Fang. This attack could take something down easily, since the Raticate would bite the prey with it's giant fangs.

“Widowmaker, get out of there!” I screamed. I could see that Widowmaker was in confusion of what to do, or was too nervous, so it tried evade.

Cruuuunch! Widowmaker Fainted.

I stood there looking, since there was nothing I could have done to change this fate.The Raticate was now chewing on what it had not hit before. I wanted to go and buck the rat out of my friend's body, but Blackburn's Charmeleon took care of that for me.

Slaaassh!

The rat was hit right in the belly, the claws penetrating it's interior. For a moment I thought that Parker, as Blackburn called him, had felt the same pain as I. He then threw the rats body meters away and the battle was won, but unfortunately, not without losses.

Our challengers were sent back to Equestria, and I decided to go check out the chewed body of Widowmaker. As I came near it, more tears were dropping from my eyes, because I could see that it was taken pretty hard. Blood was leaking from the holes left by the rat's fangs, and part of it's body was broken from the impact. I had arrived at it and could hold myself from feeling sad. I started holding my tear inside me. “I need to be strong about all of this. Remember about what Luna showed you about self control.” Even though I told myself those things, I could not hold a few gasps or very small tears from coming out, but at least I reacted much better than from Sonar's death.

I decided to bury Widowmaker's body on the same cave. We were near the exit, and with the help of Blackburn's Geodude, we made a small grave for my spider friend. At time of burial I had my other pokemon out to deliver the news. Of all of them, I felt that Phoenix was the most emotional, as a newcomer, she hadn't experienced this before, but with help of Pulse, Scout and Seed, they calmed her down, and I decided to asked if she was still for this. Even after this, she decided to stick around, a decision that brought more hope into all of us.

Out of the cave, Me, Violet and Blackburn could already see Azalea Town in the distance, in our way there was only one trainer and a path of tall grass so I could maybe capture someone to already substitute Widowmaker, but by thinking this way, I felt bad, I felt like I had told myself Widowmaker had made no difference at all. I didn't got to battle very much with him, but he did make a difference. He had helped me up after I had been down.

“Come on, Atlas, You need to be brave for Widowmaker. He and Sonar would not want you giving up so soon for nothing.” I cheered me up despite the fact that I was feeling empty inside.

Blackburn offered himself to take care of the hiker for us, and I decided to go in the tall grass in search for a new companion. Walking around I found a Nidoran, male version. It was a purple bunny with poisonous spikes on its back, and he had a horn on it's forehead. The male Nidoran is mostly known for their poisonous attacks. I battled the creature, keeping my distance, and using ranged attacks rather physical hits.

After a while I captured it and again explained everything, and asked if he would like to come with me in my adventure.

“Yeah, sounds fun, why not?” He confirmed his stay with us with an answer I wouldn't expect from any pokemon put in the situation I have mine in. This was a death matter and he took like a fun ride. Well, at least I got someone new to the team, which also made me sad to be so fast in replacing both Sonar and Widowmaker like that, in the very next route. “Well, why bother? they are all gonna die anyway.” I heard the voice I refuse to follow, and tried imagining other things.

On my thoughts I had gone through one of my first Nuzlocke Tournament. It was one of the final battles, I had a pretty good team, but I didn't cared enough for them like I do for this one.sure I would be sad for ones death, but would not cry over it and have trouble replacing them. For a moment I wished to be back like that, but I didn't even want to, I was selfish, only looking forward to victory.

“I was analyzing how selfish the wish of some were, while only a few were doing this for another reason, and I was asking myself in what group I would be.” The thought that generated doubt in my mind flashed once again.

I am very different from the pony I once were. I wasn't as selfish as before, but that didn't mean I wasn't selfish still. I wasn't doing this for Luna, or Blackburn, for Freddie or even for Violet, in the end, I would have done this for me, and for me only.

But on another side, I had now with me friends who I cared for, and would give up everything for. I was sure if I had to choose victory or the well of my friends, I would choose my friends. I have never enjoyed victory as great as happiness, and it was for the best.

“Okay, he is done. We are free to go.” Blackburn finished his battle with the trainer, and opened a clear way for us to go. Azalea town wasn't far from us, and it was getting darker. I didn't want to go in search for wood again, so I told Blackburn we would be staying in a inn today.

Arriving Azalea town was a very small city, probably made out of just two streets. Entering the town I already saw the pokecenter and pokemart, as well as the big dome that was the gym. We had our pokemons very injured from the exhausting battle we had in the cave, so I decided to ask Blackburn if he was still up for the gym or if he wanted to call it for a day.

“Well, we still could battle the gym, but I'm not sure if I'm open for it. And I hadn't planned finding Violet in the middle of Route 32.” He gave a small pause. “We can still battle it tomorrow, it's not like it is going to disappear, is it?” He joked, but I could indeed happen. I have seen enough for a day that I could believe in the most obvious of lies.

Today I had seen: A cult of long dead ponies that believed in legendary beasts, my bones get broken by a big four armed boulder, my friend in love, my demon self and my companion get chewed up. It was a hell of a day for me, and I wanted to sleep, not counting the pain I still struggled with.

“What do you think Violet?” I directed my question to the purple pegasus. “Should we battle the gym or call it a day?”

She looked me with a "are you serious?" look. She had all her hair messed up, and her pokemon was hurt. For me it was obvious that she didn't want to continue.

Blackburn then turned and headed to the house that had a big sing written "Inn" on it. I followed behind, and Violet by my side. Blackburn was meters away from us, so I decided to ask something to Violet.

“So...” I tried to start a conversation. “What did you and Blackburn talked about while I was dieing on the ground on today's afternoon?”

She looked at me and gave a small smile, she had found my question funny. “Well, after I gave you the medicine, he went back to ask if I didn't want to stick around. The thing is, Blackburn made it obvious enough to see he was interested in me. Middle way through our chat, he would take a pause and get lost in his mind, and when he did not, he would get his words all messed up.” She then had a small giggle. “He is kind of funny, and cute.”

By the way she talked, I could see that they were very well, with a friendly relationship, but I didn't think she had found interest in him. As she said before, at Violet City, stallions did always get messed up with their conversations, or loss in their minds, around her. I didn't really had that feeling towards her, but I would say that she is a beautiful mare.

“Do you like him?” I asked. “Ahem, sorry, as a friend I mean.”

“Both of you seen like very nice guys, although I could see that you two, specially you, are trouble makers.” She replied. I felt sorry for a moment, because I never meant to destroy a bunch of mirrors or launch a pony out of a building.

“Well, changing the subjects, could I ask you why did you chose to sing up for this?” I decided to ask something else, and to see if her wishes were selfish or different.

She started thinking of the answer while we walked behind Blackburn, who led the way. “Well, firstly, had came here with a friend, but as you already know, she had been defeated right in the beginning. Both of us had came here looking for a fun thing to do during our vacation, and maybe win something.” She started telling her story. “We both knew that in the end there would only be one winner, but we knew that were dedicated ponies to this, so we didn't think we would get to see the end. Well, I'm still here now, so I still have a chance.” She gave a poor smile, which faded seconds later. “When I left you two in Violet city, I followed the road to here, but, with my friend out of the game, I asked myself if it was still worth going on, trying to reach victory. I decided to camp for the night there rather continuing to reach here, and when I was starting to go on, you two reappeared.” She then looked with shame at herself. “When you told me that you were thinking if you were being selfish or trying to reach different objectives, I felt bad, for aiming for the obvious goal, and not take something out of this. I don't think that victory is the best one could take away from this, anymore at least.” She then looked at me. “Have you already discovered if your reason is selfish or different?”

We arrived the inn, I stopped in the door before entering. I though of what to say, but I still had fog covering my answer. I decided to go with what I had.

“I'm don't know yet.”

I was standing in a field. there was nothing in it besides grass, and a tree, meters behind me. it was night time and the stars were sparkling as much as they wanted, along with the moon, which was full and high in the sky, shining enough to bring light so I could take a look around my surroundings.

“What a night.” I commented, having a small sigh come out of my mouth, as a signal that I could finally relax after my long day.

Then, I could see a alicorn shaped figure come out of the moon, and fly towards me. I wasn't expecting Luna to visit me, so I could say that I got surprised by the moment.

“Hello Atlas, it has been a while since I seen you.” Luna spoke, making us start ourselves a little conversation.

“I'm dreaming, ain't I?” I asked, she then nodded and continued with what she had came here for.

“Atlas,” She then gave a small period of time before continuing. “I have seen what you've done...”

“Luna, I'm sorry for that, I never meant to act like that,” I interrupted her in the middle of her sentence, because I already knew what she was going to tell me. “It wasn't me, I swear, I didn't have control of myself in the moment.”

She then looked at me, with no such expression in her face. “I know that it wasn't you.” She restarted her sentence. I froze, because I wasn't expecting that her to already know what happened. “I have been observing thy struggles, the one you had earlier this day, and the one from yesterday's morning.”

“Do you know what happened?” I asked.

“Your friend, Violet, may had told you had an kind of mental disorder that could be the cause for such event. I would like to say that you aren't diagnosed with such thing.”

I then had found comfort once again, knowing that I wasn't in danger of being dominated by another me.

“You see, Atlas, everypony in Equestria is born with dark intetions.” She continued. “Some doesn't do anything at all, some need to be ignited by other facts, like I was, and some...” She then stopped, and gave a little of time to think. “Some are developed on their own, like King Sombra was. And I have reasons to believe yours is just like his.”

My comfort was instantly lost in the moment. My mind started to panic. I was told that Sombra was taken by dark magic, and when he tried to domain Equestria, he was battled by the princesses. With his defeat he had taken the Crystal Empire with him.

“When I saw you on that bathroom, you were talking to a mirror, but there wasn't nothing there but you. but sometimes the tone of your voice would change. And your eyes. when your voice changed to a more fearsome one, your eyes would turn into a beasts eye. Just like mine were when I was in Nightmare Moon form.”

I was now frozen in place, in fear that I would become the next biggest threat to Equestria if my other me were developing dark magic with it. “So what do I do?” I asked.

“Unfortunately, I don't know what could be a cure for this. As I said before, I just believe that you may have your mind growing and trying to overcome you. Do you recall when you started hearing such voice in your head?”

I started searching through my head, thinking when was the first time I had heard such voice. I couldn't remember moments before the first decision I had to make here, about helping some ponies that were in danger, right out of the start. Actually I do remember one moment.

“When I was a little colt, I studied in a school in Canterlot...”

One day I was walking through the streets of Canterlot, I had left school a little late than normal, so the streets were more desert than they would. I was still a child, and had no cutie mark yet.

Suddenly a ball had been thrown at me, hitting my horn, and making it pop, as well as get me dizzy for a small moment. When I recovered, standing in front of me was the orange earth pony with a red mane, that would pick on me for years after that. That was the first moment I had met with Freddie and his dark green colored unicorn, with a black mane, Poison Strike, both little colts like me, but at least they had their cutie marks.

“Hey, the blank flank popped our ball!” Freddie started to get angry over me, while Poison Strike gave me a scary look. they both studied in the same school as me, but I never went near them, the two, along with two more pegasi, would pick on everyone a little, but they sometimes chose one to pick on the most.

“You messed with the wrong ponies, kid!” Poison Strike threatened, I, trying to turn smaller so I could run out of there without being seen. “You're now on our top priority! Look at you, hiding in fear, you are just perfect for that.”

“I bet he doesn't even know how to use his horn!” Freddie taunted, even if he was an earth pony.

Freddie was the leader of a small gang he and his other three friends made. They would call themselves the Starsaws. Freddie was also the best student in the school, and though he had the right to tease everyone else.

The two left me laughing at me, for being a blank flank, and supposedly not knowing how to use magic. I was crying in fear of them, still in the ground, and the two went back to play their game of hoofball with another ball they had. I suspected they made me pop the last one on purpose. That didn't really matter, they just wanted an excuse to tease me for the next ten years from there.

“They are nothing compared to you! When you have the chance, crush them with their bones, and make they drink their own blood!” A voice talked in my head, and it continued with ideas to torture the two bullies, and I stopped crying, and creating anger towards the two. The voice with evil intentions wanted me to destroy them.

“Are you okay?” Another voice talked on my side. It was a blue pegasus, with a flame-like black hair. he introduced himself to me as Blackburn. “Did they tease you too?” He asked.

The voices in my head stopped, and I had stopped listening to them even if they still talked. I nodded as an answer to Blackburn.

“Don't worry, they do that to everyone. It would be very unlucky of you to be one of the chosen by them to be the most teased, because they do that with me” He then helped me up. Blackburn studied in the same school as us, but he never talked to anyone, and had no friends like me, but he was one of the most played by the Starsaws. “Come on, let's go something, maybe we could play some Pokémon on my Game Colt!”

On that day I had made enemies, friends and a inner evil self.

“... After that, I haven't heard it anymore,” I continued telling my story to Luna. “Well, that is, until my first decision I had to make here.”

“They stopped when you were close to a friend?” She asked.

“I stopped listening to them when I met Blackburn.”

“It makes sense...” I wanted to follow her line of though, but I didn't quite catch what she was focusing on.

“What?”

“It only acted on moments where you were alone, with no close friends. Apparently it goes to a low profile once you are feeling secure, with a friend. It stopped once Blackburn had seen what you had done in the tower, and when Blackburn found you in the bathroom.”

“Are you saying that my friends keep it away?” I was catching her point, but it didn't make much of a sense for me.

“Possibly, friendship was used against me when I was Nightmare Moon, and that turned me back. It is possible that the feeling of safety you have when with your friends keeps it inactive.”

“So I should keep with my friends, other wise it could happen again, right?”

“No...” She then stopped, for some seconds, I was feeling that being with my friends would keep me okay. “I would recommend that you stick with your friends, but that you tried to feel safer when away from them. It may seem that I'm asking you to do something that doesn't make sense, but you learn to keep it locked while you are alone. I think that with my training before this, made the dark forces felt contained, and reacted.”

I started understanding what she meant. When I'm with friends, I'm secure, but alone I feel unsafe. She wants me to learn to take care of myself, otherwise I would leave a open passage for them to take control. Luna wants me to...

To learn to be best I can.

Chapter 5: Strings of the web

“Sacrifices need to be made in order for a nation to continue, even if this means leaving all it's people hanging, or even destroy it. In the end, all of this was just a waste of time and resources. None of which was worth it.”

The morning had come, and I started getting up. Blackburn was down stairs paying for our stay, while Violet was in the restroom, making her wavy crimson hair up. The pain in my chest had finally stopped and I was feeling well enough to give the gym a run.

Like in the last town, the gym was another big dome. This time the gym was focused in Bug type pokemon. Bug would usually be weak against Flying, Fire and Rock I think, making it easy for me.

Violet had finished her make up, and came near me to start a conversation. This time, I wouldn't be all tired, so I would be able to give a calm and relaxing talk, even if I was still thinking of the events of last night.

“Good morning Atlas,” She began. “Did you have a good night of sleep?”

“Sure did.” I replied. “And how has you been along?”

“I've been fine.” She answered. “And Blackburn already provided food for all our pokemon, so you don't have to worry on feeding them.”

I look to where Blackburn was standing, and noticed he was looking at me, and waved his hoof wishing me a good morning, he then turned back to his business.

And so I decided to put on my saddlebags, and attach my unnamed gadget back in my right front hoof. I had all my pokemon back at their pokeballs and I was ready to move. Violet was also ready, she decided to ready up seeing we were leaving soon. Blackburn himself was ready since the moment he was awoken.

Moments later, with everything ready, we left the inn. The day was gorgeous, the sun was out, and I could hear bird pokemon singing from the trees around the city. Just like in Equestria, the landscape was filled with trees and little animals that lived around them.

Approaching the gym, we had found a group of ponies chatting in front of the gym. They were being loud and blocking our way in, so I decided to interfere in their talk.

“Could I ask what is going on here?”

one of the ponies looked and me and answered my question. “The gym is closed, that is it!”

I looked at my friends, and they looked more confused than me. How could the gym be closed, or more importantly, why would it?

“And why is that?” Blackburn asked.

“Well, apparently there is a problem in a well near here. We had sent people to check there yesterday, but they have no come back yet.”

I made a signal to my friend to come with me a few meters away so we could plan our next step.

“So, what now?”

“Next on our map, there is the Ilex forest, but we can't go in there with out the HM01, which is cut, that we would have received from the gym.” Blackburn replied. “But I could fly us around.”

“We can go back to route 34 and check the inn. If we're lucky enough, we might solve the problem.” Violet suggested

“Now, now, let's calm down. This isn't a race to see who gets to the league first. If it was, I bet there is people on the fourth gym already.” I shut my friends up so we could take time to see this through. “Well, since we can't really leave this place without defeating the gym, we should go to the inn and check it out. With that, the gym gets open, and we can battle it.”

“But what if we get lost like the ones that went there?” Blackburn asked.

I haven't thought about that option, but we would have to battle that gym one time or another. I was never capable of using teleportation, but I had the spell in my mind. Teleportation would be taught to unicorns in magic schools. As a unicorn, I got to learn how to use basics magic spells, but I wasn't as talented as unicorns from those schools, who mastered them out.

“I could try teleport us back” I told him back. “Or at least try, we know magic can be used here, so why not use it for our advantage?”

“You know that you would use all your magic to teleport just you right?” Violet spoke. “Unless you have studied the spell enough, you won't be able to teleport all of us, well, not without wasting yourself, and possibly causing some damage, both physical and mental, to you.”

Well, and there goes my plan.

“You should listen to our doctor here, Atlas.” Blackburn continued. “We don't want you to keep getting injured.”

“Seriously?” I raised an eyebrow. He seemed to be joking, but also giving me a warning. I got injured one time, and it wasn't really my fault, and he was blaming it on me. “The place isn't away from here, and so I won't have to learn how to teleport. All we need to do is fix whatever it is blocking us, what is the worst that could happen?”

“You told me the same thing before entering the Bellsprout Tower.” Blackburn commented before starting following me to Route 33, where the well was located.

As we arrived at the well, we had seen that it was empty, no water at all in it. It was very dark down the well, and it appeared to have a cave located beneath it.

“So, we are going down there?” Blackburn asked.

“I suppose, there isn't much up here for us to check around.” I said it as I took a look around us. All I could see were tall grass, trees, and a few wild pokemon running around, and lastly, a sing.

I gave my friends a signal to wait, while I took a closed look at the sing. I approached it, and saw that there was something written on it.

Slowpoke Well

Also known as the Rainmaker Well. Locals believe that a SLOWPOKE's yawn summons the rain. Records show that a Slowpoke's yawn ended a drought 400 years ago.

“Why does every place here needs to be named after a pokemon?” I asked myself after reading the sing. It didn't give me enough information to discover what was happening around, but at least I got to know more about this place's history and the name of the place as well.

Coming back to my friends, we were ready to go down the cave, but I had just one question.

“And how am I supposed to climb back?”

The two pegasi looked at me, but just Blackburn gave out a laugh.

“Well, I have seen you levitate heavier things than you and me.” He joked, obviously referring to recent acts done by me. Violet looked at him, confused. “I was just joking. I can try carry you up, if you can't help yourself, obviously.”

Violet then flew down the well, while me and Blackburn waited for our turn. I decided to start a little conversation.

“And hows been you two love birds coming along?”

He looked at me, and rolled his eyes around. “Well, just like before. We don't have anything serious between us, yet, but I think I can work something out.” He then gave a small natural smile. “I got to admit she is one of the most beautiful mares I have seen, don't you think?”

“Well, purple coat with a crimson hair, huh?” I stopped to think of an answer. “Makes a good combination, but not the best I've seen. But she is all yours, I wish you luck.”

“Hey, thanks.” I now looked at me. “Now it's my turn to ask. How have you and the princess coming along?”

I froze for a moment, and I realized I was blushing. now I didn't have much to lose. “Well, we talked yesterday's night in one of my dreams, but nothing about that.”

We finished our conversation there, when we could go down the well. I would go in front of Blackburn.On my turn, I would have to use a rope that was on the well.

The cave was, like I said before, very dark, and so I had Pulse out with me to provide light to us, while Blackburn had his Charmeleon with him. The cave itself seemed very small, and we didn't found anything at the entrance of it, no clues to the situation we were in.

The three of us decided to venture ahead the cave.

“I though this place was supposed to be filled with Slowpokes,” Violet made a point. “Where are them?”

She was right, the sing told me this place had a few of them living around, but they were nowhere to be found.

After minutes of searching, we had finally found what had happened to the other trainers who had came down here. in the ground, there was a small trace of blood, following even deeper. I called my friends and told that we should stick together.

“Something in this place seems wrong.” Violet spoke with a scared tone. “I don't think Slowpokes would come in here if it was this dangerous.”

Blackburn saw the chance to calm the mare down, and took it. “Don't worry Violet, I'm sure that whatever it is, it isn't natural.”

“The trail ends here.” I noticed. “But there isn't anything to indicate to us the problem, just blood!” I then took a look around us, there wasn't much to see. All I could see were the wet walls of the cave, nothing else but a small hole which seemed to connect to another room.

I knelt down and lay my head in the ground, trying to see anything under the small passage. Despite all the darkness, I could see that the wall was thinner than I thought, but we didn't have anyway to break it.

“What do you see Atlas?” Blackburn asked.

“I can't see anything on the other side, But this is a thin wall.” I got up and looked at both of my friends. “Any of you got a suggestion?”

None of them said anything, they just stood trying to think in something. I didn't have such a brilliant plan as well, but I did have a stupid idea. Considering that it was such a small distance to travel, I could try teleporting us inside. I had the spell, the horn, and the concentration, all I don't have is the training. This plan wasn't the best option, but I didn't want us wasting time in this quest, and so I decided to put this on our table of ideas.

“Seeing that none of you have anything in mind,” I started. “How about we teleport?” They looked at me, both surprised. I didn't expect this to go through, but I didn't expect such a reaction.

“You told me you didn't knew how to teleport.” Violet pointed out.

“Yeah! What if you teleport us inside something?” Blackburn supported Violet's vision.

“Chill, there is no thing as going into a wall.” I countered. “We can't teleport unless it's into an space big enough for us. Also, just because I haven't trained teleportation, doesn't mean I can't do it.”

“Look, I studied medicine, both mental and physical, for a while now.” Violet continued. “I know you're capable of doing it, but you will over exhaust yourself, and by that I mean you won't have enough magic to use telekinesis or other spells, and you will be left dizzy.” Our doctor spoke.

Violet had told us the night before this about what he used to do. She and her friend used to go to and medicine course in Canterlot. Despite being around our age, both were very talented and decided to go with medicine.

“I know, you think I had never tried doing this before.” I confirmed her explanation. “But all I do is levitate stuff around. Even if I'm left with no magic, I'll still be able to use my mouth to do things, like you guys do, no offense.”

“None taken.” Blackburn replied.

Violet gave me a angry stare, and then rolled her eyes, and calmed herself. “Fine, I suppose it's worth a try. If that's what you must do, then do it.” She spoke with a certain tone that looked like sarcasm to me, so I wasn't sure if she gave up, or just wanted to burn me if I failed.

Failing. Well, that brought a thought. If I failed, I would still suffer the damage, but if I succeeded, I would suffer the damage. There wasn't much benefits coming out of this, but it was one of the ways.

I walked hole and stood, concetrating my magic in trying to move me and my two friends to the other side, without having to go through the wall. This was hard, and I was starting to feel sweat going down to my face, my vision was starting to blur, and I was starting to have a headache. I then closed my eyes and concentrated even more in my objective.

After a while I was feeling the energy glowing in my horn grow into a second tier, I apparently had a second energy field on my horn, but even if more energy was being concentrated, we haven't moved yet. Violet said that I wouldn't be able to use magic for a while, so I had to expect this. minutes later a third field appeared, and then a forth. at this point I was starting to feel my heart pumping my blood even faster, and I couldn't open my eyes, but the black I saw was starting to get red. My body was losing it force to stay put, it was starting to fall out, which got me worried, I could get myself knocked out, or even killed.

I was considering in stop before irreparable damage was caused, but that was when a fifth field came out and I could finally teleport to the other room. Upon getting on the other room, I stopped the magic, while Blackburn got his Charmeleon out again to provide light. I would try and get Pulse out to help, but after the magic worn off, my body felt on the ground, and leaving me exhausted enough so I could barely move. I reopened my eyes, and my vision was blurry, and I was seeing thing more red than before, I bet if I could see my eyeballs, I could see veins covering them.

“I told you!” Violet started teasing me with her warnings. “Now look at you, you can barely move and your eyes are all red. Well,at least we got here. Hope it has been worth it.”

“Hey, don't blame the boy,” Blackburn argued back. “He sacrificed that for us.”

“But he didn't thought this through. We don't have a way back.”

“Stop! Both of you are going to discuss the fact that I'm going to feel like shit for the next few hours or continue to do whatever we came here to do?” I stopped their discussion while forcing myself to get back up on my hooves. “Gosh! You two look like me discussing with myself!”

Before continuing, I finally had the energy to grab Pulse's pokeball on my saddlebags, this time using my mouth. Being with no magic was something I had never done before, and so this was a new experience to me, I felt like an earth pony with a horn.

With Pulse out, and with the help of Blackburn's Charmeleon, we had plenty of light back to help us continue to move forward. Our way was just like before, rocky walls everywhere, with a few pools of water scattered around, and this time, a small lake.

“How do the ponies of that town collect water from here?” Blackburn questioned. “I mean, the would have to go through a cave just to get a bucket of water?”

“I doubt so. This place may have been filled with water before, so they would only need the well. A drought might have happened here.” Violet said as she took a look around. “If that sing was right, this may have happened due to a disappearance of Slowpokes.”

I noticed she may be right, the sing told us that it is believed that a Slowpoke's yawn can cause rain. I haven't seen a slowpoke down here since the moment we came in.

We moved even further and found a white flesh tail laying in the ground, with a small pool of blood around it. Blackburn walked near it to inspect it, while he commanded his Charmeleon to stay put. His Charmeleon seemed to want to eat the little tail, but I suppose that was expected if the creature was carnivore.

“It's recent. This tail haven't been laying for very long.” He described it. “Whatever left it here, might be near us.”

“How do you know that?” Violet asked, very curious about Blackburn's skills.

“I'm a hunter. My cutie mark is a cross hair, and that means I'm good with weapons, how do you think I got it?”

Violet's jaw dropped. She was kind of shocked to discover about the backstory of his talent.

I remember when he got his cutie mark, he ran at me so happy just to tell me about the news, and that he was the first of us to discover his talent.

His dad had taken him to camp outside of Canterlot, and as his father was a gun collector, he always kept a revolver with him. During one of the camping nights, a bear had came to tear site in search of food. Apparently it was so hungry that it tried to attack Blackburn. With that in mind, Blackburn grabbed his father's .44 Magnum while his father slept, and aimed for the bear's head, and so he unloaded the clip right at it's face. He just told me that after that, he was covered in blood and some pink mushy flesh, and that the bears face was unrecognizable.

“I can't believe you're a hunter! I thought you were some kind of weapon dealer of owner, but not a hunter!” She went all out on him. “How can you do that to animals?!”

Blackburn backed of a few steps. “Whoa there! I just hunt to collect meat for some animal owner near the Everfree Forest. And I don't even have time to do that anymore, school has filled me up until now.” He tried to counter argument, but he couldn't hide the truth. Blackburn was not a liar.

“Maybe I'll go back to doing that since we don't have to go to school anymore. What you say about coming with me Atlas?” He started checking his possibilities about what to do after this. We have both graduated, and already had our small jobs. Thanks Celestia that we don't have to spend the rest of our lives on jobs on Equestria, and can enjoy a little more of it.

“Yeah, I guess we could do that.” I responded, not really knowing what I said since I was still very dizzy, and then looked over Violet, who gave me a death stare. I realized we were getting a little off topic here, and decided to stop before we wasted more time in this cave than we were supposed to. “Now, if the two love birds could stop discussing again and move, I would be very thankful.”

For the second time I had to stop them, and we haven't even gone ten minutes without interruptions. Apparently, the use of the word "love birds" caused them both to look away from each other's face, both blushing. It was obvious to me that they like each other.

With our nonsense out of the way, we continued to follow the only way we could go, since by our right was a rock wall, and by our left was a lake.

After some walking, we could see the end of the tunnel, as well as a pony shaped figure in the end, it had it's back turned to us, but seemed to notice us coming, since it turned it's head around to see. We came near it and then started to speak.

“Aw, not again. More ponies for me to battle.”

It had a male voice, and it's shape was just like of a colt, an earth pony colt. When I got to see it's from closer, it was a white colt, whit a messy light blue hair.

All of us stood looking at each other. We stood with no expression at all, and we knew this wasn't going to end well for any of us. He had shown to not be trusted by saying he was going to battle us.

“Who are you?” I asked, ready to do anything in case we went to hell in an instant, even though I was dizzy.

He looked me in the eyes. “My name is not important. And I know this will be my ending.”

“Why are you here?” Violet continued the interrogation.

“Who do you think you are? And why do you think I will answer you?” He then got in a battling position. He was going to try and battle one of us.

My gadget told me he was only with noe pokemon in total, a injured one. Whatever thing he was doing here, he had to battle it a lot to keep protected.

I was going to pick a pokeball up in my bag, to battle him, but was stopped by Blackburn's hoof, which touched my chest and stopped me. I looked to my friend, who was looking at me back.

“Atlas, I don't think you're in condition to battle, you're dizzy, and can barely stand.” He talked to me, worried of my well being. “I can handle one injured pokemon. You can sit back this one.”

I didn't want my friend thinking that I couldn't take care of myself, but he was somewhat right. I wasn't quite in the position of going to battles now, my mind was a little too wasted, and my body wasn't handling itself out.

I stepped back, while my friend went forward. The first pokemon the mysterious stallion put on battle was a very injured Koffing, a hovering purple ball with a weird face and a skull tattoo under it, and it also leaked a yellowish gas out of a few horns in it's body, and it appeared to be a toxic gas; Blackburn sent out his Charmeleon.

Blackburn was with a face of doubt over the enemy's Koffing, and so it decided to keep it safe and raise his Charmeleon defense by a maximum. The Koffing found itself over a similar situation as mine, barely standing. It was ordered to make a gas cloud around itself, and so it did, by leaking even more gas into the air of our tunnel.

Both playing it safe, but I didn't understand why Blackburn was doing it, he could easily finish it of with one attack. He then decided to switch to his Ratata, and end his turn there. The nameless pony had a depressed expression, he knew this was his ending, and so did his Koffing. It walked over to his Koffing and put it's hoof on the ball's head, and stood there holding without saying a single word.

Seconds later, he went back to his place, with it's back turned to us and his pokemon. He then turned his head to us with his eyes closed and opened his mouth. “Gas Leak, use Explosion.”

My dizziness didn't let me take a closer look at it. The only thing I could see was Violet starting to run behind me, and Blackburn jumping, trying to save his friend. My head had only now discovered that we were going to suffer something, and so it decided to react.

Or at least try. As I was turning, I grabbed Pulse with one of my hoofs, to try and keep him out of danger. The room lit up, and was fastly covered in a explosion. I didn't knew what happened to Blackburn, and I didn't knew if this was going to affect me. The blast threw me hardly against a wall, what was left of my vision was getting darker. I had hit my head.

“... No way of us escaping this place!” I heard a female voice speaking, middle way through her phrasing, as my head had started to come back to life.

“Look, it's still morning, and it's already the worst day I had so far. I'm in no condition to get stuck here!” A male voice replied. I started to suspect it were Blackburn and Violet discussing once again

I could feel my body laying on the ground, I still had my eyes closed, and the only parts of me that were functioning were my ears and my mind, since I could think of things. One thing I was sure of was that I had been knocked off, since I don't remember getting up after I had hit my head,but something told me that I was out for at maximum a hour, since, by Blackburn's words, it was still morning.

“I suppose that we have no choice than to wait for Atlas to come back and teleport us out.” The female voice spoke again.

“And how do you expect him to teleport us out again? his mind is exhausted. I don't think that this rest he is taking will recharge all of his magic.” The male replied. Now I was sure that it was Blackburn and Violet.

“You're right. I don't expect his normal self to be able to.” Violet rethought her strategy. This conversation had now my full attention when she said "normal self", and so I perked my ears.

“Normal self? You're not planning in...” Blackburn paused. “Making him lose control, are you? If so, we can't be doing that, he could do something dangerous to us.”

That was it. If it was their plan just to get out, just thinking about themselves, I was not going to just stand, or lay, there and listen. I gave a waking mental slap on my hooves so could get up, and opened my eyes. As I was getting up , I was preparing to say what I thought about their plan, I was about to tell them to fuck off. That was until I realized I was getting up in the middle of Violet's response, and so interrupting it.

“It was just a thought, I don't really plan on doing it, he could suffer metal illness after that, being exhausted magically and ment-” Violet stopped and looked at me giving a relief smile. Blackburn turned to see what Violet was focusing on, and saw me, and instantly gave a comforting smile, that also comforted me. “Atlas, it's so good to see that you're fine.” Violet said as she ran at me and gave me a hug.

I was taken by surprise by her action, and I could see Blackburn looking down, and his smile fading and turning into a frown. He was somewhat jealous. I could see this bringing problems to me later, so I stopped our hug as fast as I could and kept my angry face.

“I heard it, I'm not going insane to get us out of here.” I said on purpose so we could go back to thinking on a way to get out. Violet stopped our hug and looked with guilty at herself.

“I'm sorry, I didn't really meant to have you doing that, it was just a radical solution I had.” She apologized.

“What happened while I was gone?” I asked.

“Well, after that explosion, you went down and we continued further in the tunnel to see what was on the end.” Blackburn started. “We found out that the guy was cutting the tails out of Slowpokes so he could sell it. Apparently they go for a high price around restaurants. Apparently that was what was making the gym stay closed until now.”

My stomach froze, and I had a disgusting feeling on me. The fact that those tails were made out of flesh, since we could clearly see blood coming out of the one we found, and that they were sold for ponies to eat. I stopped my thought before I went into cannibalism. “And what happened to your Ratata?” I asked Blackburn back.

He had his head up since our my hug with Violet stopped, but went down again when I mentioned his Ratata. He closed his eyes and was forcing them closed. He appear to be trying to hide his tears. “Whiskers... didn't make it...” He then got up from the rock he was sitting on and turned around to the small passage that we came in, I could see that part of hist light blue coat on his back was burned by the explosion. “Celestia Dammit! I should have attacked with Parker on the first turn!” He started raging. For the first time I could see my friend lose control at a point to rage. I could see he starting to headbutt or buck the stone wall, but I started feeling guilty myself since I triggered it.

“Burn, calm yourself down, We all had losses, but we have to move on!” Violet tried to calm my friend, who was hitting the wall with his two front hooves. He stopped with one hoof landing on the wall with the passage as he listened to Violet. Violet looked down. “Death is a natural thing, and we should not be what brings others down, but that makes us happy. It's the signal that it accomplished what it was supposed to do on the world.”

Blackburn, still with his hoof on the wall stopped, looking down while standing in his rear legs and with his wings open. “How do you know such thing?” He asked.

“I...” Violet stopped as well, looking down to the ground, to form her phrase, I could see a tear dropping out of her left eye. “I lost my mother...” She said. my eyes widened, as I was on the presence of my friends sharing their lifes deeply with ourselves. Blackburn was untouched, and stood in the same position. “... after my birth, I left my mother too weak, and so she didn't resist. My father named me Violet after the flowers he had brought to her on the day of her death, and would put violets on her grave every month.” She added. Blackburn was still untouched, except that I could see one tear dropping from his eyes.

Now, with every member on our group sad, excluding our pokemon, we had emotional problems and environment problems to worry about.

We wall stood and stayed in the same place, until the moment was broke by Blackburn, who went back to staying four hooves and turned back to us.

“Aaaaaaargh!” Blackburn gave his last raging scream to my surprise, and bucked the wall with his rear legs.

BUUUMP

He had given it a hard enough hit to make the wall tremble for a small moment. The wall looked somewhat different to me than before, it's form had changed a little by the hit, but none of my friends seemed to notice since they were worried with their emotional sides.

After Blackburn bucked the wall, he ran at Violet, who seemed to be crying, and gave her a good hug to comfort her. I could see both of them letting their tears out, Blackburn specially, since he was holding his since he lost his Ratata.

“It's okay, you're with us now.” He said to calm her. I could see that both of them had stopped crying and were just hugging, and so I thought this was a signal of their relation growing even stronger.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, and watching two friends become closer, I decided to interrupt the moment. “Uhh... I don't mean to interrupt the moment we are having here, but I think the wall is fake.”

Their hug stopped and both looked at the wall, and this time seeing that it's form had changed. Blackburn looked the more surprised of all.

“It all makes sense now!” He said walking towards the wall. “Why would a trainer with wounded pokemon say he had battled other ponies when he was stuck here, and other ponies didn't have how to come in?”

“What?” I asked.

“He was putting this fake wall here to hide, so if other came around, he would slip by unnoticed. He probably was having trouble and decided to put this here in order to stop people from coming after him!” Blackburn continued his genius explanation about the trainer of before. “No wonder I didn't felt pain when kicking it.”

“So we can just break it?” Violet asked. Blackburn didn't respond, he just Bucked the wall another time

Buuuump!

The wall fell down, we were now free. “Yes, we can.” Blackburn responded as he opened wall for Violet to walk, making a pose that usually only high society stallions from Canterlot would do which represented the manner of "Ladies first". Now I was one hundred per cent sure that the both of them would be together by the end of our adventure.

And so, Violet walked out first, followed by Blackburn, and them followed by me. “Gosh, I bet you will be begging for some attention after they get together. How about you ask the princess on a date before you feel left out?” The other me suggested.

I had already get used to the lighting of the surface again, and now we were back at Azalea Town, and were heading to the gym. The gym wasn't far away from us since the town was very small, and with that I had took a moment to check if my pokemon were okay for battling, and since this was a bug type gym, I would focus on using Phoenix, Scout, and if needed, I would use my Nidoran that after some thinking I decided to name Venom.

Now, I was waiting for my turn to battle the gym leader, Bugsy, a teenager colt, who's specialty was Bug-type pokemon, and so making his cutie mark a horned black beetle. His coat was painted green, and his short hair was lavender colored, as well as his eyes.

Blackburn had fought it first, and now was Violet's turn, who was doing okay. During Blackburn's battle, I could have taken a closer look at pokemon Bugsy had. A Metapod and a Kakuna, both being shells for caterpillars to become a butterfly and a bee respectively; And a Scyther, which my gadget gave the following description: Scyther is a bipedal, insectoid creature. It is primarily green with cream accents between its body segments. On the back of its somewhat reptilian head are three points, and it has narrow eyes. Its forearms consist of large, white scythes, which it uses for hunting as well as fighting. On its thighs are spikes of fur, and it has three clawed toes on its large feet. Two pairs of cream-colored wings extend from its back. While these wings do allow Scyther to fly, it is rarely seen doing so. The abdomen of a female will be slightly larger than that of the male.

The two pods pokemon would be something very easy o take out, but the Scyther was somewhat difficult, even for Blackburn. The Scyther's speed was faster than scout's, and it's blades on it's arms would cause a lot of damage to Blackburn's pokemon. Fortunatly it was defeated with two fire attacks from his Charmeleon.

Violet had used her Kirlia and her Riolu , the two pokemon she used before. I had yet not discovered what other pokemon she had with her other than those two, but she looked to be handling herself with a Fighting and a Psych types. She used her Kirlia to defeat the two pod pokemon and switched to Riolu for the Scyther battle.

The Scyther dashed like a bullet on the little aura pokemon and got behind the creature, and right of attempted to use a back cut of it's arm blades.

Slash! Slash!

The Scyther slashed the air two times, missing the blue little wolf, which dodged it's attacks precisely. With it's attack, the Scyther had become vulnerable to a hit, and so the Riolu took advantage of it, jumping into the air and preparing a blue shining ball with it's paws.

Vroosh! Critical hit! Scyther fainted.

And with that, Violet easily won the battle, and got the Hive badge. She got her pokemon back to their pokeballs and sat on a bench besides Blackburn, the both now waiting for me to go. And so I got up, I had Scout up front to defeat the pods as fast as I could, and move to Phoenix, to finish the Scyther as fast as I could and trying to not take any kind of casualties. But I couldn't trust it all in me, since my plans haven't been exactly the best, but as long I trusted my pokemon, and kept calm, I belive we can do this.

The battle started, and I easily destroyed the two pod pokemon using Scout. The powerful air blades created by the wind of Scout's wings could easily take down a bug of grass pokemon, so nothing out of usual, just slashes on the bugs.

Finally, the moment had come. Now it was Phoenix standing in front of me, and on the dome's opposite side was Bugsy and her Scyther. Phoenix was ready, and so was I. Bugsy sent her Scyther into the field, and so beggining our duel. Fire against Bug.

Phoenix was on her fighting stance, standing of her four paws and prepared to give a strike. Scyther had a slightly higher speed than Phoenix, so physical attacks would leave her vulnerable, so I decided to go with ranged attacks.

I ordered Phoenix to stay in place and prepare a flaming spin, and wait for my signal for when to dodge and let the fire out. The scyther had a different way of battling, a more aggressive one. Charging at the speed of a bullet into Phoenix, and she was standing there, waiting for my signal. This was a team effort, so if one fail, the other goes down too.

The Scyther zig zagged his way to my feline companion, and gave a instant to attack. I saw that as the moment for our battle to really begin.

“Now Phoenix, use Fire Spin!” I screamed, my voice feeling the moment of adrenaline.

Woooosh!

Phoenix dodged the bash the Scyther did, making the air let out a sound showing me that it was a near miss.

Vroosh!

A circular arena made of fire walls was made, reducing the space between Scyther and Phoenix. The plan was to have Scyther a smaller area to run, reducing the whole arena to a small circle was the best way to put that into execution.

“Phoenix, use Ember!” I told my pokemon what to do. My heart was jumping into emotion. I haven't felt so much of this emotion when battling in ages.

Phoenix opened her jaws and started shot at Scyther.

Vroosh! Vroosh! Vroosh! Vroosh!

The fire balls went at the Scyther direction, which despite the small area to run, managed to dodge all of them while zig zaggin into my pokemon

“Scyther, use Take Down!” Bugsy commanded her pokemon.

“Phoenix, burst into flames!” I screamed back, countering her attack.

Vroosh! Pow!

Phoenix was launched a few steps way and had suffered a regular amount of damage, but still managed to keep up and land on her feet. Scyther had taken damage from his own attack, slightly less than Phoenix, and had also suffered from the burn, getting on a similar level of health as my pokemon.

“Phoenix, Fire wheel!”

Phoenix started running into the Scyther, while a small flame started covering her up into a wheel of flames. The Scyther saw it, and prepared to give a corporal strike. As Phoenix was about to hit Scyther, and about to take his hit, I changed idea.

“Now!” I screamed, feeling like me and Phoenix had a connection, and she knew what I meant when I commanded. She jumped into the air, dodging the arm blades of the Scyther, and flying over him. “Use Flamethrower!” Phoenix took the command and executed it instantly.

Phoenix covered the Scyther in flames, while landing back on the ground. There wasn't a thing to be seen of the Scyther, so I had just took that was a win.

Swoosh!

Suddenly, a little before Phoenix stopped the fire, a Razor Leaf flew out of the flames, almost hitting Phoenix, but making her stop the fire breath, and back up a few steps. The Scyther had survived the fire, but was very low on health. It was time for the final blow.

The Scyther still had power to keep up, and so it decided to go with ranged attacks. I decided to keep distance as well.

“Scyther, use Razor Leaf!” Bugsy screamed.

“Phoenix, Ember!” I screamed back.

At this point it was a battle of who would hit first, but the leafs were powerful enough to neutralize the flames from Phoenix. It was a war of fire and grass, each of one neutralizing the other, and the leaf which did not burst in flames would miss by a dodge from Phoenix.

I had to do something, or we would be stuck in this loop of neutral power. So I decided to bring Phoenix's fire power to a maximun.

“Phoenix, use Fire Blast!” I ordered, not sure if she could actually use it. Phoenix eyes widened, her eyes reflecting a live flame, which grew bigger in a instant. She close her eyes.

Right after, Phoenix opened her mouth and roared like a lion, letting fire out of her mouth. The ball of fire stopped in the middle of the air, and formed a star out of flames, hanging there. The Scyther saw it and tried to prepare to dodge it. Phoenix gave the permission for the attack to go on.

Swooooosh! Blast! It's super effective!

The foe's Scyther Fainted.

The flames caught with the Scyther in the moment it tried to dodge. The creature was covered in flames and lit the whole room in light. When I was able to see again, The Scyther had came back to it's pokeball, and Phoenix was standing, hardly breathing, since she made a big effort to use the attack. I made the signal for her to come back and take a rest, and so she ran at me and jumped in my back, leaning on my back and my saddlebags.

I walked up to Bugsy, who admitted we had a very good and balanced battle, and gave me the Hive badge, the second out of eight badges I had to get. I walked back to my friends, who seemed impressed with the battle.

“I haven't seen a battle so well balanced like this in ages.” Blackburn complimented. “You did well by reducing the Scyther's area, causing it's speed to stop being a factor that really mattered. I had a lot of trouble with it, I had some lucky shots.”

“Well, at least you didn't go all emotional when your pokemon took a hit, unlike the first gym.” Violet joked. I looked at her, surprised to know how she knew about that.

“Did Blackburn told you about that?” I asked. She rolled her eyes and nodded. I felt something telling me to hide from shame, since I had a completely different attitude here, but did not.

“Come on, we need to take our lunch before we leave the city, the next place we will have to pass is the Ilex Forest.” Blackburn said as he was getting up from the bench. Violet followed behind, and lastly me, we left the gym and went to a nearby restaurant.

“So, this is the forest?” Violet asked as we walked out of the cabin used as an entrance for the Ilex forest. “Why is it dark? I don't remember being nighttime when we entered here.”

“"Ilex Forest is so overgrown with trees that you can't see the sky. Please watch out for items that may have been dropped."” Blackburn answered, reading a sing right next to the cabin. “That is why.”

I opened the map on my hoof gadget. the forest seemed to occupy half of the way to the next city, Goldenrod city, the other half being Route 34. Goldenrod city was a big city, which held a train station leading to Kanto. It also held a building which sell a variety of items, and of course, the third gym.

“I think it's better for us to get moving, we have a lot of ground to cover.” I told my friends. And so we started to get moving. Side by side, together, entering the dark forest.

“Don't you fear, Atlas, Everything is going to turn out okay.”

Chapter 6: What I want to forget

“It's too dark, I can't see a goddamn thing!” I said to my friends.

“Well, considering we went shopping after our lunch break, and got here around 4 pm, I'd say that after a hour or so of walking around here, it should be getting darker than before.” Blackburn replied. It made sense. With almost no light during daytime and even less of it during nighttime, we shouldn't be able to see anything at all.

“This way, I don't think we will be able to get out of the forest, even with the light of our pokemon, we don't know the way out, and could get lost.” Violet informed. “I think we should set up camp for the night.”

Blackburn looked at me, waiting for my opinion about the idea, and I just nodded as a signal that I agreed with it.

“Alright, so I'll be searching for rocks. Atlas, your search for some sticks so we can make a fire.” Blackburn divided the group functions. I just nodded. “And violet, you can start setting our tents up. We meet here in an hour.” He finished giving our functions and went on his way to get some rocks before it got even darker.

I was walking my way through trees and tried to use my magic to levitate Pulse's pokeball out, so he could get me some light and keep me company, but my efforts of doing so failed. “Darn, I still can't use my magic. If I knew that the cave's wall was breakable, I wouldn't waste my self on teleporting three fully grown ponies ten meter forward.” I thought to myself as I used my hoof to search my saddlebags for my pokeball.

When I got my hoofs at the right pokeball, I was about to let Pulse out, I saw a strange highlight deeper in the woods, and as a curious one, I decided to take a look on what it could possibly be. I started walking in it's direction, picking any sticks or branches on my way so we could have a camp fire.

As I approached it, I started thinking of what was the worst thing that could be there. First, I thought of another pony to battle me, but I remembered that one of thew rules was that there couldn't be eliminations during nighttime. After that, I thought about getting to see Freddie and his three friends, but then they wouldn't do anything to me any ways, unless they wanted to beat me up.

I got near it, and I then saw a pony in the light. A grey unicorn mare. She had a rather long light blue hair, that covered part of her eyes, which were yellow colored. I was able to see her cutie mark because of the light. Her cutie mark was a telescope, similar to one pony very familiar to me. “Wait! Isn't that my mother?” I thought to myself, she was exactly like her, from what I could remember. “It's exactly like her! I can't believe it!”

I ran out of the woods, dropping all the wood I had collected. I ran her with all my energy, trying to call her attention, since she was still far from me.

“Mom! Mom! It's me, Atlas!” I screamed out of the top of my lungs as I galloped in her direction.

I finally got real close to her. She was standing on a small hill. I got by her side and tried to touch her with my hoof to call her attention.

“Mother, It's me, Atlas, your son.” I slowly said as I extended my hoof to touch her. As I ended my message, the figure started to disappear, going invisible, as the light started to fade.

I tried to grab her, as the light was closing. my eyes widened by the situation. My eyes starting to fill up with tears. I started panicking, trying to everything to save my mother, from using a spell to jumping in her with no success, my whole body just passed through.

I got up from the ground, seeing the image of my mother dissapearing. “Don't fear Atlas. Everything is going to turn out okay” The mare mouthed the words as they came out with no sound, but as a thought on my head.

My body had given up, and threw itself on the ground in sadness, and my eyes letting out the tears. “Why mom, why?”

“Me and my friend studied medicine, but I started getting difficulties with renting a room here in Canterlot for both of us. We saw that this place gave a cash reward to the winner, so we got in mainly for fun, but aiming to get some extra money to the bills. I have a part-time job of singing in a bar in Canterlot, and my friend helps some students in math. That was how we could keep ourselves here for so long.” Violet was telling what she came to Canterlot to do. Her home city was Manehattan.

The three of us were sitting on some large rocks Blackburn had put near the campfire with the help of his Geodude, and were having a good conversation for some hours now. Well at least the two pagasi were having it.

“Cool. I plan on continue my father business on the gun shop, but I'm trying to get some kind of job as a sniper or a hunter.” Blackburn told his plans for his future. As a guns expert, I think he would have success in doing so, but now seeing how Violet was a good singer and didn't get a job as one, I'm not that sure. “Atlas here is a music player. He has been playing a piano for years now, and he knows how to put some cool melodies together. Maybe you two could record a music together, what do you think?” He asked me, but I remained in silence.

“Atlas, are you okay?” Violet asked after a few seconds of awkward silence. “I don't remember you saying anything for the whole night.”

“I... I don't wanna talk about it.”

“Aw, come on! What could be so sad that kept you like this?” Blackburn pushed, not knowing what he was going to hear.

“Fine.” I said as I got my head high and looked at them. “When I was gathering wood for us, I-” I paused for a second, to keep myself together. “-I saw my mother.”

Blackburn's eyes widened, while Violet got curious. Blackburn was about to open his mouth and tell me that it was okay not to talk about this, but was interrupted by Violet's curiosity. “Your mother? Did something happen to h-” She then got Blackburn's signal to stop. “-e...er?”

“Like you, I also don't have a mother.” I started, as I looked down and saw the face of regret on her face. “When I was young, My father ,as a guard, had to go to an expedition with other fellow guards to the Everfree Forest. Three days later, he had yet not returned, and my mother started getting crazy, with no news from them, she received a letter at her job on the observatory saying that something might have happened to him. After that she started drinking, and I suspected she drugged herself as well. One week after that, she vanished and I was left alone at home. I would have died in no time if my father had not returned two days later.” Violet looked shocked. Her story now looked like nothing near mine. Blackburn wasn't shocked, he had heard this story before, since I would talk to him about this when we met at school, and he knew how sad it was to me to talk about my mother. “Turns out my mother went after him. They found her dead body with bites from Timberwolves. It's been over ten years since that.”

The three of us kept in silence. Violet shocked, Blackburn unsure of what to do next, and I getting up my rock to walk to my tent. I told my friends I was going to sleep, and the only one who gave a response by nodding was Blackburn. I wasn't sure if Luna would talk to me tonight, but I'm not looking forward to it right now. The last thing I want to do is hear how well or bad I'm doing.

Morning had come, and we still barely had any light, but at least it was enough for me to see. We were packing up, we still had to go through the forest and Route 34 if we wanted to get to Goldenrod City today. I had all my things packed up already, but I still had something to talk with Violet, so I walked to her.

“Hey, Violet, look, I'm sorry for ruining the night for you and Blackburn yesterday. I didn't mean to sadden everything.”

She stopped tying her saddlebags and looked at me.

“No, Atlas, I'm the one who should be apologizing. I didn't expect that my curiosity tell me that much about you. Blackburn told me that life was never easy for you, and that you had to struggle a lot to come to where we are now. I thought my childhood was hard with no mother, but the true is that I had never come to see her, and as a child I didn't think about her death so much. I see that yours have been worse than mine. I'll try not to bring subjects about the past back again.”

“What? I didn't mean for her to be guilty, or to feel pity for me. My past is not a matter of fact that I should be treated differently.” I thought to myself.

“Look. My past is over, I shouldn't get over reacted by that. I was just sad yesterday because my mind played with me. Whenever you feel like wanting to know more about my life, I'd be happy to tell you. Oh, and for crying out loud, my whole life hasn't been all suffering, I did get some good moments too.” I told her, finishing with a smile in my face. apparently that cheered her up as well.

I then walked away, to check how Blackburn was doing. I saw that he was checking his map, to see in which direction we had to head in order to get out of the forest.

“Good morning Blackburn. Are we ready to move on?”

“Mornin' Atlas. I'm all packed up, just waiting for Violet.” He then got back to his map, but looked back, looking at my hoof gadget. “Could I borrow you "Pip-Boy 3000"-thing for a second?”

“You've been playing too much Fallout lately. I can't give it to you, it's stuck in my arm.” I said as I extended my hoof over his map. “But go ahead, I don't mind leaving it hanging.”

Blackburn then put his map back on his bag and grabbed my arm. He opened the map on it, to see if it had a map for the Ilex Forest. “I regret not buying one when I had the chance. Remind me of buying one in Goldenrod, will ya?” He said as he looked the fast way and direction for us to follow. I just nodded.

Minutes later, he let go of my hoof and I was able to move now. Violet had her stuff ready now and we were ready to move, and we wanted to avail the sunlight while we had it. I walked away from Blackburn and got myself some space. This time I was able to levitate things again, so I used my telekinesis to grab Pulse's pokeball out of my bag.

I didn't like to admit it, but out of my team, I had more sympathy for Pulse, followed by Scout, Seed, Phoenix and Venom. I loved them all, but I loved Pulse the most, he was my starter after all, and had been with me since the start of this adventure, a few minutes more than Blackburn or Scout.

Peew!

Pulse appeared out of a red light that the pokeball made. He took a look around us and looked at me with confusion.

“Don't worry, we ain't battling anything now. At least not yet. I just wanted to see how you were doing.” I told my night hound friend.

“I've been doing okay since we hit a rock and you protected me. Thanks for that.” He answered me as he continued looking at our surroundings. “We are traveling now, aren't we?” He asked, and I just nodded in response.

“Look, I needed to ask you something.” I said as I knelled to him. “Would you mind keeping me company through the forest?”

“Why are you asking me that? Of course I'll be with you. You know that all of us are loyal to you, and we will keep with you despite how wrong or right you are.” He answered, leaving a smile on my face.

I then got up on my four legs again and walked back to were Blackburn and Violet were waiting for me.

“Alright. Atlas, you lead the way, since you have our map, me and Violet will follow behind. You just need to follow this line here.” Blackburn said, showing me the direction on my hoof gadget.

I then started walking ahead with Pulse by my side, and the two following me, and for some reason, with some distance.

It been some time since we were walking in the forest, I had been taking a look on our surroundings. there wasn't much to see, there are just trees and bushes surrounding us right now. but I could see some pokemon hiding in the treetops. Hoothoots and Bug-type pokemon. It made sense why the bug gym was located just near here.

I started hearing some laughing from behind me, and I realized that Blackburn and Violet were somewhat far from me and Pulse, So I slowed down, but continued walking, and Pulse did as well. I perked my ears to try and hear some of the conversation myself.

“Hehehe. But seriously, do you think it's good for Atlas to be leading the way?” Violet asked Blackburn. The conversation is being taken with a low tone of voice, so it was hard to hear. Fortunately, I concentrated myself enough to hear what there are talking about.

“What do you mean?” Blackburn asked back.

“You know, this place looks a lot like the Everfree Forest, just not that deadly. Don't you think it could be somewhat traumatizing for him to be taking the lead, after what happened with his mother?”

I felt rage, sadness, lonely and shame. All in the same time, but didn't know why. I can't believe Violet thought I'm covered in fear from my past, although I understood her concern. She thinks that I fear that I will have the same fate as my mother. I decided stop for a second and turn around.

“For crying out loud, can you stop worrying about me so much for a second? It's been ten years, for fuck's sake, My past is not what matters now!” I screamed for the two. Pulse got surprised by my reaction.

I turned back to walking in the direction we had to go.

“Atlas knows how to take care of himself, okay? You don't know him like I do” Blackburn replied to Violet.

I wonder why Violet worries so much about us. I think it might be because she doesn't really knows about our life, so she thinks about what would be better from what she knows. That explains why she thought it could be traumatizing for me, and she is right in someway. Last night my head played that on me and keeps remembering about my mother. Maybe this is kinda traumatizing.

Minutes later, I had my mind lost in thoughts.

“I did over react about something from my past. What did I tell Violet before?”

“I know what I told her, but I can't have her thinking I'm weak.”

“But I'm weak.”

“I grow stronger. I struggled enough to know how to take care of myself.”

“This last week didn't appear to be so.”

“I know better than to panic when surrounded by memories of my mother.”

“True, I may be strong about that. But who said you don't need them to actually feel safe.”

“Nopony. But if I get to take care of myself, I can learn to feel safe without help. Just like Luna told me to do.”

“Very well. Let this be my lesson. Don't think that you have your friend with you now. Close your eyes and think of how are you feeling.”

“...”

“How is it?”

“I don't feel danger. I don't feel anything. I don't feel safe, but I don't feel like anything bad is gonna happen.”

“And how do I feel with your friends?”

“Safe, happy. I know that no matter what, we will always be friends.”

“Can I feel this when you're alone?”

“No. Guess I'll have to learn how to. But how do I do that?”

“I'll have to keep calm”

“My friends might be what keeps me calm, but I need to be calm alone.”

“Friendship.”

“What else keeps me calm?”

“Love.”

“But how can I feel loved when I'm alone?”

“I've to know that there is somepony out there who believes in me.”

“But who?”

“Princess Luna.”

Our walk was interrupted when we were stopped by a river. Blackburn and Violet caught with me and Pulse moments later.

“I don't remember seeing an ocean here on the map.” I said as I brought my map on my gadget. Blackburn walked to my side.

“The ocean is shown on the world map. If we keep following this border to the north, we should be able to get to Route 34.” The blue pegasus told me. I just nodded and started walking by the side of the river.

“Uhh...” Violet made a sound with her mouth. “Guys, I think I've found something.” She called for us

I turned to see what troubled her, and saw her pointing a small wood shrine in the middle of the woods. Blackburn started walking towards it, so I got that as a pause for our trip.

As me and Pulse arrived at the shrine, Blackburn was already taking a look at the structure. He mad a signal with his right hoof telling me to come near it.

I obeyed my friend and moved to his side. “Could I borrow your "clock-map-news feed-interface-inventory-thingy" again?” He asked me.

“Sure, go ahead.” I replied. Blackburn than immediately grabbed my hoof and started to work.

He opened the maps tab again and went on the Ilex Forest map. He then started to search for something when he finally saw what he was looking for, the shrine. The information given to us was "Many people say that the shrine is a symbol of good luck and wards off evil spirits. Some others say the shrine is linked to the Legendary Pokémon Celebi"

“So this could be true? Celebi could really be around.” Blackburn suspected. “If it's shrine is still up, it could be true.”

“And that would explain why I haven't heard IT yet.” I thought to myself.

“Celebi?” Violet asked.

“Celebi is a legendary pokemon which is the spirit of this very forest. A little before you joined us, back in the Ruins of Alph, me and Atlas were discussing if Legendary pokemon could be found.” Blackburn explained. I forgot that Violet hasn't got the same experience on pokemon like me and Blackburn. “This here leaves our doubts hanging, but brings more possibilities.”

“And what would you do with a Legendary pokemon?” She asked.

“Well, they are kind of overpowered, so it would pretty much be a easy win.” I replied.

“They still can be beaten, can't they?”

“Yes, but compared to other pokemon, they are somewhat gods.”

Her eyes widened. “Like the alicorn princesses?”

I nodded. If we compared the princesses with them, they could easily destroy something, but could be beaten, just like Celestia was against the Changeling queen years back. But that would be a battle between equivalent power. To easily beat one, you had to use a legendary that had advantage against the other, or just be lucky.

“This has been interesting talk, but we should go back to moving. Golden rod city isn't very far away now.” Blackburn said as he stopped inspecting the wood structure. “We could easily stop losing time traveling if you knew how to fly Atlas.” He joked, as I was the only one who couldn't fly between us.

“Atlas! Stop!” I hear Blackburn talking to me, interrupting me during my line of thought that I started having since we left the shrine. There wasn't much let for me to do than that, since all I had to do is follow a line.

I looked back, to see what Blackburn was calling out for. He had his face locked on something behind me, and had a expression of fear. It is something strange to me. Blackburn usually isn't scared by anything, he is the bravest between the two of us. I looked at Violet, who didn't look any different than Blackburn, and by their side was Pulse. Why wasn't he beside me?

“I'm fucked, ain't I?”

I could tell that something bad was about to happen to me by my friend's expressions. There was probably something behind me. What a cliché.

I turned around to face a full army of Beedrills, a wasp-like pokemon that had large pointy stings in two of it's legs. They were usually very aggressive. I started backing away when suddenly they started charging. My eyes widened.

“What do I do? They are coming after me, so if I get with my friends they well get hurt too, but if I run in a different direction, I can probably spare them.”

I turned to the middle of the forest, with my back to the ocean.

“Run you fools! I will drive them away.” I screamed as I started to gallop into the forest.

“What about you?” Blackburn screamed back.

“I'll find you all back on Route 34, if I don't get there until nighttime, go on with out me, I will probably be dead by then!” I replied.

I concentrated back on galloped and dodging trees. I started running as fast as I could, like my life depended on it, and it did. From my experience with pokemon, I knew that a sting from a Beedrill would hurt a lot, and the pain could drive a pony crazy, if not dead. I had an army of at least three dozens of them behind me.

“I just doomed my self, didn't I?”

I still had two hours before nighttime felt. I had to find a way to stop those wasps and leave the forest. I forgot I could still fight them, but so I remembered it now. I searched my bag for Pulse's pokeball to help me.

“Maybe his Smokescreen could help me leave this place unnoticed.” I said as a sudden realization came to me. “I left Pulse with Blackburn and Violet.”

I really had doomed myself. I still had another idea, but this really needed my concentration, and I was running while dodging trees, and my magic level wasn't that great, so I'd waste myself a lot. I had the idea of letting Phoenix out so she could spit fire while I floated her, and so I would slowly get the bugs away from me. The problem was that she weighted around 19 kg, which was a little too much for me to float without difficulties, which was 15 kg.

As I ran and dodged trees, another idea came to my head, I could use Scout. he could fly so I had no difficulties when it came to floating, and he was pretty fast, so he could keep up with me with no problems, and his Air-type gave me advantage against Bug-type.

I then got to work with my plan. I used my telekinesis to search through my bags for his pokeball. I could have used the Pokemon tab on my arm, but that would be me walking with three legs.

Peeew!

“Scout, there is no time to explain. I need you to get those Beedrills out of my tail. Can you do that?” I hurried the whole introduction.

“Workin' on it!” He replied as he flew ahead of me for some space for his attacks. I just kept galloping

Scout was ahead of me, and gave a u-turn and stopped in the air and charged his wings for his attack.

Vrooosh!

A big wave of air passed through me, it was powerfull enough that I could see the leaves from the trees shaking. The buzzing from the Beedrills behind me didn't stop, but they got much smaller. I bet they lost control for a second and were recovering to keep up with us, if they didn't faint. Moments later, the sound of the buzzing came back to it's original, but was much smaller than before. I reckon at least one of the three dozens was put down.

I needed to give us more time, if I kept in a line, they would easily get us. I decided to turn ninety degrees to my left, reducing the distance between us and the bugs, but having them lose some time to keep following.

“Scout! Use Air Slash again!” I screamed. Scout took the command and flew ahead. He then attempted to repeat the same process as before.

Sting!

I heard a sound coming from behind. A moment later, a large poisonous sting flew over my head, aiming for Scout. “No! if he get poisoned, I won't have time to use an antidote, and the poison will only wear off if we get out of combat and he is near death. If he gets poisoned, I won't be able to use him if I don't want he dead.”

I closed my eyes, hoping not to run in any trees, and concentrated enough to create the glowing in my horn. Using magic while running wasn't that hard, but I was nervous. I opened them again and aimed for the sting, nearly hitting Scout. I got it! I had grabbed the sting with my magic.

Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!

Another fleet of stings flew over my head, this time I could see dozens of them. There were more, aiming for me, but nearly missing and hitting the dirt. “Shit! I can't get that many stings, and there is more coming!” I worriedly thought to myself. I started picking as many stings as I could.

Vroooosh! Stink!

Scout has been poisoned!

“Scout! No!”

Scout was able to attack them, slowing a big amount of them again, but right when he attacked he was hit by one of the stings. Scout now fell on the ground near a tree trunk that had fallen in the middle of the forest.

“I don't think you'll let me, but I will take control against your will. You won't last any longer without me.” A voice spoke in my head.

I was running towards Scout, who was unconscious on the ground. I could see the blue magic field on the stings I was still holding turning red, and I suspected the energy on my horn turning from dark blue to red too. My eyes started hurting, it was like my iris was changing. I had became the nightmare version of myself!

I stopped in front of Scout. I then turned back to the Beedrills, who were still insisting in following me. I had taken advantage of the time they had lost with Scout's attack to set myself up. I hadn't any control over myself. It was just like at Bellsprout tower. My demons had taken control!

“Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting! Sting!”

The Beedrills shot more stings at me. I wanted to grab Scout and and keep running, but couldn't. My horn glowed even more, this time, I was sure my horn's magic had been turned to red when I could see the light coming out of it. I started picking even more stings than I really could. I had stopped the whole fleet.

Stink!

Well, not every one of them. I had been hit by one, and gosh, how did it hurt. My front left leg had been hit, and probably affected. The poison was deadly so I had just got in big trouble.

I, well, the other I was holding the stings, and controlled them to turn back to the Beedrills, shooting them back. They had just been standing there, but tried to escape when they saw what I was doing. “I'm not afraid to kill any of you!”

Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink! Stink!

The wild swarm of Beedrills was defeated.

“It looks like my job is done. Sorry for the poison and for the magic waste.” I thought to myself, literally this time. The other me apologized for the damage and vanished.

I then fell on the ground, with my control back. It was like I was spectating from my perspective.

“Did he just helped me rather fuck everything up? I don't really understand the other me.” I said as I tried to get up. I brought my left front leg to see a big sting stuck on my leg, deep enough to have damaged the meat. I tried to remove it with my magic, but I was out of it since I overused it on the other stings. “Ugh. This is gonna hurt.” I said to myself out loud while I used my other hoof to get a big stick and positioned it on my mouth.

I wrapped my other hoof on the sting and bit the stick, holding myself until the pain came. I held the sting and pulled it out.

“Aaaaaaargh!” I screamed with the stick on my mouth.The pain of removing the big spiked sting out of my leg was gigantic. I bit the so hard that it started crushing into pieces.

Blood started coming out of the hole, and I needed to stop the bleeding. I spitted the stick in the ground and opened one of my saddlebags. I used my mouth to grab the one blanket I had, that I used when we camped out, and used my two front hooves to tear it apart into a rag. Still suffering from the pain, I wrapped and tied the rag on injury as a bandage, and prevent further bleeding.

I also started suffering from the poison. I started getting dizzy and nauseated. My body was going through magic waste, gigantic pain and poison. I started thinking that I'm gonna die. there is no way I can get out of here undamaged, and what if another swarm of Beedrills attack me? Scout was already poisoned

“There is no way I can get out of here undamaged, and what if another swarm of Beedrills attack me? Scout was already poisoned” I realized. “Wait, Scout is poisoned!”

I got back to my hooves and turned back to help my poisoned unconscious friend. I brought the Pokemon tab on my gadget to see how much health he had left, and the result I got was somewhat bad. His health was nearly zero, and was still losing health through the poison. I opened the inventory tab and selected an antidote for him.

“Al right, all that I need is to give the antidote for him, and the other one for me.” I planned how to save both of us. I was surprised to see how many antidotes I still had left. I only had one, and I started thinking. If I don't give this to Scout, he will die, or in the best case, be left near death. And if I gave it to him, I had the chance of dying on the state I was in.

“No, I'm not that selfish. I'm ready to suffer if it means the well of my friends and family.”

The Antidote have been used of Scout.

Scout is now cured from the poison.

I gave a smile as I could see my friend feeling better. I also used one health potion to heal his damage. In the same moment, my head started to hurt, as I believed the poison was putting me down. I haven't considered that if I died, this is all over. But in the same time, I didn't want to feel guilty or selfish. I had also stopped another burial for my pokemon.

“I need to rest, there is no way I can get up and get to my friends on Route 34. I guess they'll have to go without me.” I said as I started lay on the ground. I got the saddlebags with my pokeballs and emptied it on the ground. I returned Scout to his pokeball and got the remaining pokemon out. Venom, Phoenix and Seed.

Peew!

They took a look as they wondered what was happening.

“Hey everyone.-” I stopped to cough a few times. “- I called all of you here because I need some protection while I try to rest and give some time for Scout to wake up too. Could you guys provide me that protection?” And as I finished my question, I coughed again. The poison left me sick. I'm slowly dying.

“Yes, I can do that.” Seed replied.

“I'll keep you safe as you did to me during the gym battle.” Phoenix repaid the debt she kept for herself.

“Sure, why not?” Venom answered. Even being the one I had the less experience with, he still gave the same trust the others gave to me.

“Thank you all. I won't be away for very long, I'll...” My vision stated to fade. “Just...” I started to lose body balance. “Take a...” My vision turned black, I couldn't see anything now. A second later, I felt my head hitting the ground.

A creature started coming to my vision as I started to see again. I realized I'm not in the same place as before so I started to think this is a dream.

“Luna, is it you?” I asked the shadow coming near me. I had a better vision now, so I could see that the silhouette was not from a pony or zebra, or even a gryphon. It was from a fairy-like creature with big blue baby eyes. When it came to light, I could see that it's body was green colored as well. It was Celebi.

“Forgive the creatures from my forest. I didn't mean to attack you.” The Celebi spoke with me.

“You attacked me?” I asked back.

“Yes, but I didn't have the intention.” It answered. “A little before your attack, my forest was disturbed by another group of ponies that caused part of the forest to be destroyed. I may have thought it was you and your friend and attacked you.”

“Aren't you the spirit of the forest? Can't you feel where the fire was coming out?”

“Unfortunately, I can't feel it. I can only feel a disturbance. I sent pokemon in search for the fire to stop it, and sent pokemon to attack any intruders. I'm sorry to cause you this much trouble and separate you from your group.”

“Intruders? We were just passing through to get to the next Route.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean that bad. I call you trainers intruders since there is always one out to try and capture me. I see you are not a bad soul. I could see how you chose your pokemon other than you.”

“My pokemon is always important to me, I would never leave them hanging”

The Celebi stopped and looked at me for a few second and during that time, I decided to take a look around. I was laying on the ground, just like before I went out, but in a hole different place, This looked like a spirit world of some kind. the forest surrounding me was different, and there was floating islands in the sky. There weren't enough trees to cover the whole sky, so I could see it.

“I see that you are a experienced trainer. You care deeply for your companions and threat them as another one of your kind. You understand that with them you are a strong combination, and the friendship between you all makes you stronger.”

I looked deep inside me and thought.

“Why are you here, Celebi?” I asked it with a serious and focused look on my face

“I see that your mind is confused, Atlas.”

“I asked why you're here.”

“I want to help you.”

My eyes widened, but I keep serious “How?”

“Your mind doesn't really understand the concept of good and evil.” It replied. I kept silenced and he took it as a signal to go on. “You must understand that, good and evil, are not the opposite of one another, but two parts of one. I understand that you are trying to achieve internal peace alone. While it is always best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing. You must understand that, even without your friends, having someone to support you is always good. Being in need of your friends shouldn't bring you shame, but happiness. It shows that you're capable of love. I leave you my wisdom, for it's one of the greatest weapons you'll ever have.” The Celebi than turned back and started to float away.

“That is not the only thing that troubles me.” I broke my silence. The Celebi turned back and came back to hear me. “I have suffered through various moments of my life, and my past keeps haunting me. I want to forget my past.”

“Yes, you have. You struggled. You suffered. But you have always followed your own path.” Celebi started it's sentence. “That composed your mind. The experiences you went through and learned from them cannot be forgotten, they are part of you. Sometimes life is like this dark tunnel, you can’t always see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you just keep moving, you will come to a better place.” It stopped for a moment. “It's best for one's to learn to live with it, as wisdom comes within experience.”

It was telling me that although I have suffered and struggled, my past is a important part of me. My mother's death served as one experience that shown that the world isn't that beautiful, and made me stronger from the beginning.

“Atlas.” Celebi interrupted my thinking. “It’s time for you to look inward and start asking yourself the big question: who are you and what do you want?” It asked me. “I'm afraid we will not see each other again after this, but that's a question you must ask yourself and answer yourself. I offer you this wisdom, and you should use it in order to seek your own peace.”

The Celebi turned around and started flying away. I got up and went after the creature to ask it more questions, but our time had ended. I galloped after him, but he was faster than I, and as I galloped, the world around us started cracking and tearing apart. Everything was starting to get white, as the world disappeared.

“Celebi! Wait!” I raised my voice's tone to call for it's attention. “I need to know more!”

Everything turned white. I woke, surrounded by my pokemon. I was laying in the ground. Night had fell over the region of Johto. My pokemon had been keeping company all this time.

I got back on my hooves, full of energy. The magic waste was gone, since I haven't fully wasted my self this time, like I did with teleportation. I brought my gadget up, to check if Scout was okay this time. My eyes widened when I saw the information it showed me. Scout was alright and ready to battle, he had already regained consciousness and was ready to travel.

What really surprised me was what it showed for Pulse. He was badly injured, and near death. I wasn't with him, but I started panicking to know he could be in serious danger. He was with Blackburn and Violet, and that worried me too. Something might have happened to all of them.

Or, in the worst case scenario, Pulse followed me into the forest rather staying with my friends, and got in trouble.

“Everyone, we need to move, Pulse needs our help!”

I entered Goldenrod city, at 04:21 of the night, according to my clock. Route 34 was pretty easy. Not many trainers to battle, and a rather small walk. Nothing me and my current pokemon couldn't handle.

I walked in the direction of the pokemon center, to heal my pokemon, and I would look for Blackburn and Violet in one of the hotels in this town. I stopped a moment to take a look at my gadget. It showed that Pulse was still alive, but his state haven't changed. I wonder why Blackburn and Violet did not heal Pulse, but they might not know that he is injured. I tried to keep myself calm.

As I walked through the streets of the big town I was in, I took a look around. There was this giant bridge over a few houses in the middle of the town, that was a big train station that leaded to Kanto, around was some big buildings, some as high as the Bellsprout Tower. This town reminded me a lot of Manehattan on Equestria when I visited it one time with my father.

For a big city, it wasn't that bad. Sometimes I'd have problems when going around in Canterlot. Usually there was something happening that would stop me from enjoying a calm moment. One time I had seen this grey earth pony, Octavia was her name if I recall correctly, that she was playing a classical song, that I myself as a musician enjoyed, and would listen to it for a while until she was covered in fans wanting autographs. She is a pretty great violin player, and I myself enjoy her songs, it calms myself. But that is it. All the time I was in Canterlot, or even when I was visiting Manehattan, ponies were never calm. That is what makes such a small town as Ponyville so great, it's calm, a perfect place to let your hair down.

I myself had considered moving to Ponyville. I'm out of school now, and I'm free to do what I want. Sure, I may not drink or be ready to take on any sexual relations, but I can have my life the way I want until then. But seeing that I have addepted myself to the society of Canterlot (The way they think that they are better than others), and seeing how I have a life already settled up there, it makes me wonder. But still, a calm afternoon would be nice.

I entered the pokemon center, and saw two familiar ponies around. It was Blackburn and Violet. They were talking with the receptionist, who would take our pokemon for a while to heal them. They haven't noticed me yet, so I slowly approached them from behind. They were apparently healing their pokemon, and while the mare who took them was away, they would talk.

“I don't know Blackburn. I don't think it's better for me to tell him.” Violet spoke, with a tired tone on her voice.

“Don't worry, Atlas isn't a pony that gets mad all the time. I think he will understand it.” Blackburn comforted the mare.

They were talking about me. I didn't know if it was for me to worry about, or to be comforted, but I could see that it wasn't anything of good, if they talked about me being mad. I continued stealthily approaching. I wanted to surprise them, probably by going up with a "what did I lose?"

“It was his starter, I could see he had a lot of affection over the Umbreon.” Violet spoke again, still with a insecure tone in her voice. My eyes widened when she mentioned Pulse.

“I'm telling you, he have done this before, and he never became so close to one of his pokemon. We aren't even sure if he is still out there. I'm sure he will understand when we explain that we lost his starter.” Blackburn tried to comfort Violet again.

“They lost Pulse?” I thought to myself while my eyes started to water.

“You make it sound easy. I'm not sure he will take this loss so easy like you say so.” She replied to Blackburn, looking directly at him this time. I believed she saw me this time, as she was about to say something and stopped. Tears started dropping out of my eyes over the comments.

Blackburn turned around to see what Violet was looking at and saw me as well. The both turned around to see me, but were unsure of what to say.

“Atlas, I'm so glad you're alive!” Blackburn tried to talk to me, but it was too late. I heard the conversation and was crying already. After his speech he tried to approach me, but I backed off. after he started, and so he stopped as well.

“What did you do to Pulse?” I asked, my eyes tearing up.

“Atlas, uhh... It's somewhat complicated...” Violet started, but did not know how to properly phrase herself.

“I used my gadget to see how Pulse was doing, and I can see he is badly injured. Where the fuck is him and what did you do to him?!” I screamed with my friends, unsure if I could trust them.

“Atlas, calm down, I need to speak with you about it.” Blackburn tried to calm me down, but my mind was filling with rage.

“How do I know I can trust you! In the end of this there will be only one left alive, and I know you two are planning eliminating me.” I started getting more aggressive towards them, and I could feel my body going just like before. Exactly like on the Bellsprout tower, after Sonar's death. I bet if I used any magic, my horn would glow red rather dark blue as usual.

“While it is always best to believe in one’s self, a little help from others can be a great blessing. You must understand that, even without your friends, having someone to support you is always good. Being in need of your friends shouldn't bring you shame, but happiness. It shows you're capable of love” Celebi's wisdom echoed in my head. I calmed down.

“They took him” Violet spilled it out, ashamed of saying such thing.

“Who took him?” I asked back, this time with a calmer tone.

“Poison Strike.” Blackburn answered. My eyes widened. It was time to face an old enemy.

“We know that he is still in town. He showed his badges after he surrounded the three of us with a large group of six ponies.” Blackburn explained. “He haven't beaten Whitney yet.”

“Six? I should have guessed they recruited more grunts. But why are they stealing other's pokemon?” I asked.

“We're not sure. We asked around during this night to other competitors, and haven't seen any more cases. I think that it was something personal.” Violet responded.

“He always wanted the chance to beat me up and now he has it. Why not just do it already?” I asked myself out loud.

“It's nighttime. Battle against other competitors isn't allowed during nighttime, or he is just baiting you.” Blackburn explained why and showed the possibilities

“Well, then it's working.” I replied as I got out of my seat.

“Atlas, where are you going?” Violet asked.

“I'm going after him.”

“We don't even know where he is. how do you expect to find him?” Blackburn reasoned

“There is only one place he could be hiding a group so big. The underground passage.” I used my knowledge

5:52 am. I galloped my away across the hallway of the underground passage, near the metro station and the radio tower.

“What is exactly your plan?” Violet asked me.

“I'm going to use the time I have left to bust in there and get to Poison Strike, what happens after 6 am is different. I'll end him.” I replied. “You two don't need to follow me. I just want to rescue Pulse and eliminate, or kill, Poison Strike, I don't care if I get eliminated after that.”

The two looked at each other, and looked back at me. “We'll cover you while you deal with him.” Blackburn told me. I had my friends with me. I was happy enough now.

I floated the four pokemon I had and let them all out.

Peeeew!

Venom, Scout, Seed and Phoenix got out of their pokeballs, running with me. They already knew what this meant. It was time we saved Pulse.

I was galloping with all I had, my leg would still hurt a lot, and I think made the bleeding come back with all this effort I was putting on it. Violet offered to take a look at it, but we would have lost time. I couldn't let Pulse suffer one extra minute.

“Phoenix! Use Fire-Blast on that door!” I ordered her out, and she kindly accepted it.

Vrooosh! Kaboom!

We blasted through the door. A few grunts woke up from their sleep and took a fast look at us. They couldn't battle us, it was still 5:54. We were safe until 6 am.

After some running, we found Poison Strike, who seemed to know about my invasion. He was next to a jail were Pulse was locked. I wanted to kill him in that very moment. I galloped up to him and stopped a few yards away.

“Give me Pulse back!” I ordered him, my voice filled with anger.

“You can't force me. It is 5:55 yet. You can't battle me until 6.” The dark green unicorn replied.

“I'll kill you if I need to!” I angrily yelled at him. Blackburn and Violet finally caught up with me, and were giving back up.

“Well, we can't battle pokemon until 6. That doesn't mean I can't break you up with my poison!” He yelled back.

He then positioned himself and his horn started to glow. He was going to shoot poison at me!

Teck! Teck!

I had closed my eyes to prepare for the impact, but opened them to see I was okay. Venom had taken the hits for me. He was a Poison type pokemon, so this did not affect him.

“You know I don't like you so much because you're evil and all, but I ask you to go all killer on him. Only this time”

“I'm not evil, you should reconsider your feelings. But I accept your request.”

I started feeling the changes with my body again. I took a fast look on the reflection on my gadget and saw my "nightmare moon-like" eyes, and with that I knew my magic had been boosted. I did still have control this time. It was like I was sharing the experience with my other self. I was sure of one thing. We both hated Poison Strike.

My horn started glowing red. I was preparing to use a combat spell, something I have never used before.

Vroosh! Boom!

A Flashing line of red was shot at him. It caused an explosion, and I was feeling good with that. Poison Strike had been hit, but got out of the smoke caused by the explosion. He hadn't expect me to fight back with magic. He won't let his guard down this time.

Teck!

Swoosh! Scrosh! Scrosh!

He shot at me but I brought a shield up and instantly shot two back at him. He dodged both.

Teck! Teck! Teck!

Vroosh! Vroosh!

Each of our attacks neutralizing the other, but even if we were neutral in power, I could see that I was winning, there was something off about him, he is slipping.

“Are you afraid just because I never used magic against you before? You haven't seen anything before!”

Vrooosh!

I shot a lighting bolt into the ceiling of the room, distracting him.

Swoosh!

The sound of me teleporting trough the air froze him. I was right behind him.

I jumped at him, with all my anger ready to blow his head like a balloon. “You'll give me the key's to that jail now, or I will end you right here!”

He kept a expressionless face. “Very well. Take it!” He gave me the key. “I would love to finish our combat, but I really need to move on. Abra, get me out here.”

A pokemon suddenly came out of the shadows and teleported the two out of the hideout.

I got right up and opened Pulse's cage. He was unconscious and had a lot of injuries in his body. I hugged him, and the rest of my pokemon was with me hugging Pulse. It was 6:07 when our battle ended, I could have killed Poison Strike already, but didn't. I won't it let it be this easy next time. Blackburn and Violet had been fighting off the grunts, and had now finished the last one. They had fought five of them in order to keep me safe. I couldn't be thankful enough. The other me appeared to have left as well, as I was feeling normal now

“Don't worry Pulse, You're gonna be okay!” I said to my sleeping friend, with tears coming out of my eyes.

Chapter 6.5: Pulse's Lost Days

[16:54 - 4 days ago]

“Run you fools! I will drive them away.” Atlas screamed from distance, galloping into the forest

“What about you?” Blackburn screamed back.

“I'll find you all back on Route 34, if I don't get there until nighttime, go on with out me, I will probably be dead by then!” Atlas replied.

The three of us stood there seeing Atlas fleeing from the Beedrills, but I had something inside me telling he was in danger and needed my help

“I should probably follow him” I asked. “It's for the best. I'm his pokemon and he might need me.”

“No, Pulse.” Violet stopped me. “Atlas might be in danger, but he is trying to save us.”

“The boy indeed got in some trouble. Do you think he will come back?” Blackburn asked Violet.

“I don't know, but I hope so. She answered. They did look worried about him.

“We can't lose more time. Let's move out and meet him outside of here. If I recall correctly, we just have to follow the coast.” Blackburn got back to our journey. I followed them, despite being very worried about Atlas. But if I recall this correctly, as long as I'm here, it's a sing he hasn't been eliminated.

[19:33 - 4 days ago]

“Come on, where in Equestria is you Atlas?” Blackburn asked himself.

We left the Ilex Forest, and were now waiting for Atlas. It's been over two hours I've seen him. It seems like the worry I had over him has been passed to Blackburn and Violet. Blackburn walked around asking himself where my master was, while Violet tried not to think about the possibilities of what happened. It's been like this for over an hour now. I was taking the whole situation with calm.

“Okay, I give up, Atlas is dead.” Blackburn gave up on waiting.

“How could you say that? He could still be out there!” Violet discussed with Blackburn.

“And what do you want me to do? Go out there in the forest and search him? That is just a shot in the dark!”

I watched the two discussing what to do next, but I really saw it as a pointless discussion. I didn't like to agree with Blackburn, but he was right. The only thing we could do was to wait and see if he appeared. We needed to keep going.

When the two stopped their discussion, we started moving again.

“I miss you Atlas.”

[20:14 - 4 days ago]

We have been going through Route 34. Violet and Blackburn fought every trainer on our way. There weren't many though. I bet Atlas would have liked going through this, since he doesn't like battling very much.

“Well, well, well. Look who we found wandering around.” A unfamiliar voice came from behind. “Blackburn, how much time has it been since we last saw each other on Cherrygrove City?”

All of us turned around to see a dark green unicorn, with a even darker green hair. He somehow to knew who Blackburn was.

“Poison Strike! What do you want? If it is a battle you want, We can't battle during nighttime.” Blackburn replied.

“Well, We can't battle pokemon, but I can still fight you stallion against stallion. Handle the Umbreon and I won't harm you.” Poison Strike made an offer. Me for their safety.

“I can handle you!” Blackburn refused.

Poison Strike put on a evil-ish smile, and then whistled calling for something. Moments later, five more ponies, mares and stallions, pegasi, earth pony and unicorn, appeared and flanked us. “I'll give you ten seconds to re-consider.”

Blackburn looked at Violet, who also was unsure of what to do. They didn't have another option other than handle me over if they didn't want to end up hurt.

Blackburn came to a decision. “I'm sorry Pulse.” Blackburn apologized to me. My eyes widened.

Blackburn tried grabbed me with his hooves and held me. I tried to fight against his force, but I couldn't get off his hooves. He then handled me over to Poison Strike, who levitated me with his telekinesis.

“It's been an honor trading with you, Gents.” Poison Strike talked to Blackburn. Blackburn kept his head down. He had done something he didn't want to. But I understood it. He wanted to protect Violet, but I can't say I'd have done the same.Poison Strike and the other five ponies with him walked away, in the direction of the town.

I felt a small sting in my body, and suddendly pain started to flow through my body. Something told me that I had been stroke by Poison Strike's poison. He did stand up for his name. I started feeling dizzy and my body started getting asleep.

[00:21 - 3 days ago]

I woke up feeling a heavy pain in my entire body. I looked to my paws and I had been scratched all over, with open injuries through it all. I was probably tortured by my kidnappers. I have been trapped inside a small cage.

“What is next Boss?” I overheard a strange voice asking.

“We wait. For now our plan has been successful.” The voice of Poison Strike replied. “I didn't expect things to have turned out like this, but this is even better.”

Poison Strike walked over to my cage. I was laying there almost dead, and he just looked at me.

“That forest fire gave us something even better than just mess up with Atlas and his friends.”

Suddenly, another pony walked into the room.

“Poison Strike, What are you planning on doing with that thing?” The orange earth pony who just walked in asked.

“I'll just wait for Atlas, he will eventually come after his pokemon, Freddie.”

“Whatever you do, finish that up fast, the rest of us will be waiting for you on Ecruteak City. Don't forget to send the rest of our grunts in another mission later.” Freddie finished the short conversation and got out of the room.

I had no idea of where I was trapped. The room didn't seem to have any windows, just a door and lights. When the orange earth pony went out, I could see that there was a hallway out of that door.

I was barely hanging wake. I decided to lay down and rest more.

[06:03 - 3 days ago]

Teck!

Swoosh! Scrosh! Scrosh!

I started hearing the sounds of explosions ringing, but I was weak enough that I couldn't even open my eyes to see what was happening.

Teck! Teck! Teck!

Vroosh! Vroosh!

I heard even more explosions, and at this point they wouldn't stop. The explosions stopped for a second.

“Are you afraid just because I never used magic against you before? You haven't seen anything before!” A familiar voice came into sound. It was Atlas. I made some force and opened my eyes. There was Atlas, battling against Poison Strike, but not with pokemon. With magic. The pokemon were just watching from distance, behind Atlas

Vroosh! Vroosh!

Atlas shot even more magic at his foe. This wasn't Atlas. The glow on his horn was different colored, it was red. Another thing different from him was that his left eye was snake-like, while the other was normal.

Also, Atlas didn't knew such magic level, he couldn't possible use such combat magic. But then again, it was him, he had came after me. There was something off about him, but besides the different eyes, I wasn't really sure what it was. He was raging. He was barely giving Poison Strike a moment to breath, but the two were holding on.

While Poison Strike was taking a lot of the hits, Atlas was untouched. From what I heard of him, he had never been the brave type of pony. He was a coward, but with a pure and caring heart, at least now. He wasn't aggressive or even with any intentions to kill, even his biggest enemy. That pony he threw over a building was an accident, he said he didn't mean to. Was that really true?

“You'll give me the key's to that jail now, or I will end you right here!” Atlas threatened his foe, after teleporting behind him. The two have been battling for minutes now, I presume.

“Very well. Take it!” Poison Strike gave the key, helpless on the ground. Moments later, he disappeared, I heard something about teleportation, so that could be it.

I was so weak that I couldn't keep my eyes open. I couldn't get up, talk or even move, all I felt was pain.

Seconds later, I heard the sound of the cage's door opening, and felt hooves grabbing and holding me. I was sure it was Atlas. I felt happy, he haven't given up on me, and went after me. On one of the hooves I could feel the touch of silk, but it was somewhat wet, maybe of Atlas' blood. Was he injured by the Beedrills or Poison Strike?

“Don't worry Pulse, You're gonna be okay!” I heard Atlas' voice speaking.

I felt sleepy again.

[14:25 - 3 days ago]

“Are you sure he is going to be okay here?” Atlas asked.

“Yes, The ponies here care deeply for pokemon, that is why it's a Day Care!” Blackburn's voice calmed Atlas. “And after we a done with this, we will take on that leg of yours.”

I had been awoken by the conversation of the two. My body was feeling much better now. Atlas might have healed me with potions or took me to a pokecenter, but I still felt the wounds in my body, and if I tried to move, they would hurt, so I tried my best not to move. I just kept my eyes open. They would be cured by the time, I was sure of it. I wasn't sure why we were going to a Day Care.

I was carefully dropped on a table.

“Hello, I heard that you guys take care of pokemon, right?” Atlas' asked someone, probably a receptionist.

“That is right young boy. We from the Pokemon Day Care take care of your pokemon for how much time you want for a certain price, we also train them, but that would cost you a little more.” The voice of a female old mare spoke.

“No, no training. I just want him to take some rest, to heal some of his wounds.” Atlas explained the situation. He wanted me to stay here for some days and take sometime to heal, but I could heal during the trip. Why would he leave me here? “Could you take care oh him for some days for me?”

“That would be a hundred bits”

“Deal.” Atlas accepted the deal and payed the old mare. He then turned back to me.I handled some of the pain and got on my paws again, looking directly at Atlas. His eyes have turned back to normal by now.

“Why are you leaving me here Atlas?” I asked.

“Pulse, look here. You have a few open wounds that need some time to be healed. I'm leaving you here because I don't want you to effort yourself too much, it could open your wounds again. Blackburn, me and Violet will be in Goldenrod for the next days dealing with a few things, when I finish the Normal-type gym, I promise I'll get you here.” He talked to me, trying to calm me down, and talking to me like I was a child. I understood his concern, but if he wasn't even gonna use me, I wouldn't have to do anything and could rest.

But then again I couldn't do anything to change him, he was my master and was thinking of the best for me, even if I didn't agree with it. I always had the option to leave him and go back to the wild, but I still loved him as my trainer, I wouldn't let something like this change that. I nodded as I understood his idea. He then walked back to Blackburn and the two walked out of the house. I was taken my the old mare, who was a light blue earth pony, and she took me to the garden she had outside.

The garden was a small area, surrounded by a fence all way until the house. The house was white colored, with a red roof and had a big barn door than went inside. The inside didn't have much, just a small window and another fence. after that fence was a small computer, the table where Atlas dropped me and the receptionist stand. Back outside, outside the fence were trees, so I didn't expect to be in Goldenrod City since it was filled with buildings. I think I'm at Route 34, where I saw a house just like this one.

There were a few pokemon running around, playing with each other or training. I thought it could be at least a bit fun. Maybe I could interact with others and make some friends.

[15:07 - Yesterday]

I was resting on the outside garden, taking a sunbath, by now, my wounds have been healed by now, I was ready to go on my adventures again, however, Atlas haven't picked me up again, he was probably still having things to do around Goldenrod, as he promised me he would get me back after he fought the Gym.

I was approached by Daylight, an Espeon. Espeons were the complete opposite of my species. We are both evolutions of Eevees and evolve in the same way, by friendship, except that Espeons are created during the daytime, while Umbreons like me are created when they evolve during the night; Also Espeons were Psych-type pokemon, different from us, which are Dark-type. We were so different from one another, like the sun is from the moon, and the day is from the night. Espeons are dog-like pokemon with lilac fur, and big ears just like mine. Espeons had a small red gem on their forehead and it's eyes were purple colored.

“Hey Pulse, what do you say we go for a walk?” She invited me.

“Sounds fun. Is anybody going with us?” I asked.

“It'll be only us this time.” She answered. I didn't care about more company, so I just got up and started to walk around with Daylight. There were other pokemon around, but they were focused on what they were doing to notice us.

For the past two days I've been here, I've made some friends like Daylight, and as for now, we have a good friendly relationship. We have told each other about our trainers and our adventures thus far.

“It seemed you wanted to talk to me about something.” I started a conversation with Daylight, just so we could do something while we walked. The thing about me being a male alone with a female friend was that I never knew what to do. One move wrong would either cause us to go to a deeper relation, or destroy it all. I think I have become a little like Atlas, who until now was awkward towards the opposite sex.

“Oh, right. well... you see, Pulse, For these last days you've been a really close friend to me and... uh...” She got a little confused with her words, as she didn't knew how to properly form a phrase for what she wanted to say.

“What is so hard for you to say?” I got a little nervous as I talked to her. the "you've been a really close friend" part got me a little worried. Either she loved me, or she didn't want to be friends any more, and I didn't knew how to react to any of those options.

“I'll skip to the point okay?” She got back at herself and went straight to her point. She moved closer to me and my face. “Pulse, I... I really like you.”

“Oh... I really like you too. As friends right?” As I said, I didn't knew how to react to this, this was really awkward to me

“More than friends. Pulse I love you!” She got even closer. We were head to head and I think I was sweating. I didn't knew how to react to this

“Oh... Oh!” I awkwardly stared back to her eyes, that were focused on me. “Oh dear Arceus and Celestia, what do I do?” I thought to myself. After some thinking, I realized this wasn't exactly a bad thing. I liked her too, maybe not in the same way, but I liked her, there wasn't anything bad that could come with this. Well, so I will just go with the flow, maybe I even like it.

She was very close to me, staring at me like I was some kind of shiny object. I decided to heat things up. I moved even closer to her and gave her a fast kiss on her lips and moved back. She was taken by surprise and blushed. I just smiled. I didn't knew if this was going right, but I didn't really knew how to act in moments like this. It was the first time I had this kind of relation

She moved really close, but this time my face was free. We had stopped moving by some time now, and she just laid her head over my throat and was feeling my black fur with her face. after seconds of this, she got her face up and gave me a kiss, taking me by surprise, as I was looking around by now. Her kiss held me for some seconds. I was actually feeling good with this.

Memory Selection fully viewed.

“I already got what I wanted.”

Chapter 7: The Days on Goldenrod City

“I don't suppose you planned this through. Look at you. Your leg is hurt, you barely have any energy left and you haven't slept since you fell in the forest. Who knows, you might still be poisoned. I bet you won't last until the elite four.”

I positioned Pulse on my back and turned to the room's exit. Blackburn and Violet came after to me. The two had fought against a small army of five other competitors that had joined Poison Strike's will, which for my surprise, weren't that experienced. That made me think. If Poison Strike was here, where are Freddie, Space Filter and Voltage?

“What happens now Atlas?” Blackburn asked me.

“Well, I was planning on getting Pulse to a pokemon center. After that we are ready to go and beat the gym, but I'm not sure wounds like these heal on that machine.”

“On our way here we saw a pokemon Day-Care, maybe you could leave Pulse there for a few days for him to rest.” Violet suggested.

“I suppose that could be an option. I don't want to put Pulse right away in battle anyway.” I worried about Pulse. “You two should go to the hotel you guys paid and sleep. You've been with me since I got here, and I got here at 4 am.”

“Okay, me and Violet will go to sleep. we meet you later at the Pokecenter so we can go out for lunch.” Blackburn and Violet changed the direction they were going right after we got out of the tunnels.

“Got it.” I replied to them and headed the other way, where the Pokecenter was located

Walking in the middle of the street, I looked around. Not much had changed since the day came, just the light around and the movement. Now there was a lot of ponies walking around.

I was still having difficult with walking since I removed the sting. I don't remember curing myself of the poison, but it naturally goes away when you are at really bad state, like near death. I thought it had gone away when I felt asleep in the forest, but if it was true, I would have gone near death, and would still be feeling dead. When I woke, I didn't felt like a dead moving body.

Another thing was magic waste, which I didn't had at the moment. some why, when I used the combat spells, they did not leave me without magic, I wasn't suffering from any kind of pain related to magic. Except the little damage I took from Poison Strike's attacks.

Apart from that I was doing okay. I had a good mental health, as long as I kept myself calm, and me and the evil me seem to have come to an agreement. I had become much more calmer than I had before because of Celebi's advice, and I was planning on meeting with Luna so we could talk a little. Not necessarily about how I'm doing, but how well she is doing. I promised her I would help her with a few parts of her past she feel ashamed of after all. I'm always said to myself that this isn't my story, but the story of other from my perspective. I thought that thinking that this is my story was somewhat selfish, since everyone is important as well

I was starting to thing, how much time have I been here? Counting the days we spent, I counted a full week. It's been a full week or more since I came into Johto. And how much time I would have to spend to leave? If I don't die or get eliminated in the process, I would say more two to three weeks to finish the Johto. And after that, there would be Kanto. But not really. I had everything planned by now. When I finish with Goldenrod, I'll go to Ecruteak City, beat the gym there, and then I go to Olivine City and take a boat to Cianwood City, and then battle the gym there, and go back to Olivine and beat the gym there. Go all the way back to Ecruteak and head to Mahogany town, and as always, beat the gym there. Lastly I take on the final gym on Blackthorn City and head to the Elite four. Everything from now on should be direct, if we don't get busy with something in the way. But like I said before, I wasn't in a rush to finish everything. I still had a plenty of time.

But I can't take too long as well. This place punishes you if stay in on place for too long. After some time, it eliminates you for being too slow. that is a kind of a timer of the game. They wouldn't want this to last forever.

I got to the Pokecenter and gave Pulse in his pokeball to the nurse mare. seconds later, Pulse was back to me, and like I suspected before, the deep wounds haven't healed. That would be a problem, I would have to left Pulse at the day care for some days before leaving town. If it takes too long, I'll have to leave without him, otherwise I'll get eliminated. But I don't fear that, I would never leave Pulse behind, even if he was just a dead body. If I'm going to lose this, I'm giving a proper funeral and place of honor for every member of my team, like Sonar and Widowmaker.

It sadden me to think that the odds of me winning this competition are against me. Even if I get to the end and won, something would have to happen to Blackburn and Violet in order for me to win, and that would be they being eliminated by either me or someone else, and I didn't like the idea. I don't have the courage to battle my friends for a money prize. That isn't even the first reason I'm here for.

It was about 08:30 according my clock. I still had plenty of time before I met with Blackburn and Violet for our lunch break. Like them, I haven't taken a proper rest since I left Azalea town, something would always kept me awake thinking. I had trouble with my past, and I have troubles now because of my past. For Celestia's sake, why does my past hunt me? My mother have died, my father has grown old and can't stop remembering my mom, I have been bullied my entire life and never been aggressive towards anypony until now. I always followed what seemed right, yet I got wrecked like a nut by a hammer my entire life. I was clearly doing something wrong.

I'm not part of the high society of Canterlot. They think they are better than others. I could be part of them, my family is a wealthy family, but I don't care about money. I cared about doing what was right. yet it fucked me back in the ass.

This reminded me of another good day on Canterlot. I was hearing to another tune from Octavia, when I decided to speak with her. At first she thought I was another fan. I told her I was a fan, but I had no interest in any autographs or anything. I wanted to have a calm conversation with her, maybe discuss music styles over a tea. just relax. She accepted it and I had a calm afternoon with her, chatting and having some calm fun, not the usual rush that people from Canterlot had.

After that, we became great friends, She enjoyed someone to talk to someone who understood how difficult life there could be, and how stressful that was, and I was someone who enjoyed classical music along with various other types, and I enjoyed having a calm time and escaping from the rush of life. She was even my neighbor, but we never had a close friendship, I bet she doesn't even remember my name, but I don't mind it. Today I think she lives with a famous DJ, called Vinyl Scratch. I haven't heard more about her in a while, been years since I saw her last time. We were teenagers at the time, and I think she went to the same university as Vinyl. Something between the two happened, and that is why they live together, but that is none of my business

Why does history fuck with the ones with good intention? History isn't always kind to it's subjects.

“I'm sure he is going to enjoy being there.” Blackburn calmed me after I left Pulse on the Day-Care, we had arrived Goldenrod again.

“What are we going to do now?” Violet asked.

“Well, me and you are going to go shopping, like I promised you, and since we are running low on supplies. and I need one of those clocks too.” Blackburn had planned things for them. Blackburn hated shopping, but this mare easily changed it on him “Atlas, maybe you should go to the hospital and take a look at that wound of your.” I looked at my hoofmade bandage.

“It isn't that bad. I swear!” I told my friend

“Yeah, likely story. You had been hit by a Beedrill's sting. You know how dangerous that thing is to a pony?” He tried to convince me to go to an hospital.

“Yeah, I do, but that doesn't mean you should worry about it, I can handle my own problems.” I tried to convince him to stop worrying so much about me. I'm not a kid.

“Alright, if you say so. I trust in you.” He stopped discussing this with me. “We meet at the hotel at night, right?”

I nodded as a signal of yes. We parted ways and I headed straight to the radio tower, I heard I could get an additional function for my clock for free there, a radio player. At least now I can listen to music while travelling. Well, I actually don't listen to that much music, and I'm a musician after all, since my cutie mark is a music note. When I listen to music, I listen to various types, so I don't focus on one kind. I like classical, but don't listen to it much, I have a lot of different kinds of songs in on playlist, being it Rock, Classical, Jazz, Electronic, and the list goes on. Anyway, this could be a nice addition to my leg gadget, I may need it later. You never know.

I could see the radio tower from distance, near the train station. I found the train station somewhat useless. I know we are not supposed to access Kanto yet, but ponies aren't that dumb. Telling us that it is broken isn't the best idea they had. Anyone who played the original games on an Gamecolt or a emulator of some sort knows that they just don't want us to access it later, so we had to some sort of quest so we could use it later.

On my way I started thinking when I was going to fight the pokemon Gym of this town, and with which pokemon. The Gym was focused around normal type, which isn't super effective against any type, from what I know, they only do normal or not very effective hits, but that don't mean the pokemon there won't have actual moves that could cause a big amount of damage to my pokemon. From the pokemon I had available, none would be super effective against normal types. Venom knew Double Kick, which was a fighting move. But still, all my pokemon were still somewhat weak. I mean, the only ones who evolved were Scout and Pulse, and I had Seed since Violet City. Phoenix I could understand, because she would need a Fire Stone to evolve, but other than that, my pokemon weren't the strongest, and I don't think we would be able to go against that gym with my actual team. I heard that the Miltank there is a pretty big challenge. I heard ponies naming him "The Destroyer of Nuzlockes", but I myself never found it very hard, it was just annoying.

So it was settled. Tomorrow I'm going to train my pokemon. If I don't want any risks, this will be needed. A whole day of training.

After some walking, I arrived at the radio tower. This tower contained all the stations that played on the radio. From advertisement to news, and musics from all regions and cultures. Pretty neat in my opinion, they even played music from Equestria here, so I kinda felt at home. Maybe they could even play my instrumental tracks here, just maybe.

Entering it, there was a big reception desk with a few receptionist on them. If I wanted to have a free addition to my thing here, it was with here I had to talk to. I remembering seeing ponies around on the streets talking about it. and I was like "That is pretty cool, maybe I can get one for me". And now I'm here.

“Hello, I'd like to get the radio addition to my gadget here.” I talked to the receptionist, while putting my leg with the gadget up on the desk.

“We are happy to install it for you. I'll just plug this cable to it and then when we're finished, you are free to go.” She replied back to me, applying the cable to my gadget, on a small entrance it had on the top of the screen.

Ok, now the front part of me was standing with only my wounded hoof. It was making double the force it was before, but fortunately I had the desk to help me stay up. Blackburn was somewhat right. This injury was bad and I had to take a look at it. Even if I know it is going to get better later, I will still have a scar in the place since it was a so bad of a wound. Well, at least it's not real, when I get out of this world and go back to Equestria, my leg will be all fine. It also made me wonder, if the wound is not real, why do I feel pain? Is this to cause a realistic impression of the world?

If I started question things here, I would start question the whole matrix of the game. This did feel realistic, and I liked it, so let things keep this way.

The mare removed the cable and I was able to go away now. I looked to see and there was a dark blue earth pony stallion with a cerulean colored hair

“Excuse me, are you Atlas Bluetone?” The stallion asked me.

“Yes, that would be me. why you ask?” I answered the stallion. He seemed to know me from somewhere.

“My name is Drake, and I do the news here on the radio station. I have known about you.” He presented himself.

“How so?” I asked how he knew about me.

“Well, You may remember you being at the news for throwing a stallion out of a building, don't you?” He asked me. Now I know how I got famous around here. I was everywhere shown as a killer. “Would you please come with me, we better talk on my office.”

He started moving and I followed. We went upstairs, where the rooms where the radio transmissions were sent to all of Johto, but We climbed another floor, where there was an office for every crew member of those radio stations, which there wasn't many. Finally arriving at his office, he offered me a seat, and I took it. I decided to hear this out. This guy seems to know about me, and will probably tell me all the ponies I killed or eliminated on the past week.

“So, what exactly you do around here Drake?” I asked, starting a conversation.

“I record transmissions for the radio with information regarding Equestria, the region of Johto, and the player eliminations. Like you, I'm from Equestria and was put here to help sort things out, with feedback and other things. If you take a closer look, we changed the trainers to actually look like real people. They do not keep endlessly staring at one direction anymore. All because of feedback.” He explained his role in this place. He was the voice of the radio, and the one who showed everyone I'm a killer. I liked him, he is a nice guy.

“Interesting, I actually have noticed that I have much more interaction with some ponies around now, compared to the first three days I was here. The gym Leader of Azalea Town even complimented me for a good battle.” I commented. “But why did you call me here anyways?”

“Well, I see that what happened with you so far has been a little harsh. Yes we have been taking a look at every competitor since the start. We know about you throwing another pony out of a building, and that recently your pokemon had been kidnapped and eventually rescued by you.” He told me. “We even know that you are playing this for other reasons other than the prize money.”

“Wow, you guys really collected information.” I was impressed. “But wait, if I actually killed somepony, wasn't the police supposed to be after me?”

“Not really. Sam is okay back on Equestria. Here in this fake reality, we give the player the choice to do whatever they want.” He started explaining. “If they want to spend the rest of their time in a hotel sleeping until the game automatically kicks them off, they can. If they want to go rampaging other players, they can. If they wants to burn down a whole city like Goldenrod, if they has the firepower to do so without being defeated by the people of the town, well, they can. ” He gave me examples. “What I wanted to talk about with you is that I see potential in you. I know you have been on these tournaments before, but not in a fake reality one like this. You have a lot of experience with all of this.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, not seeing where he was going.

“Loads of ponies, zebras, griphons and other species make groups in this place, to help go until the end. you got your group with your friends and all, but there is another group that has been expanding to lonely players. I think you know about Freddie and his friends right?”

“Yeah, I'm familiar with them. Why?”

“Well, we removed Team Rocket from this version, but it seems that group of ponies are expanding at a level of creating a army of players. The ones at the top control the grunts, and after they eliminate all of the threats, they are going to easily win by taking out the grunts.” He started to explain how he sees that this is all going to happen. “That would be a such easy win for one of the Leaders. We allowed groups, but not armies like that. I need you to help me take Freddie out.”

“I have been trying to do this since the start. but I never seen to be able to get a proper battle with them.” I explained.

“I know about the dark past of the relation between the two of you. Unfortunately, I won't be able help you so much. e and the other persons helping with this discussed that it would be some sort of cheating. All I can do is give you this box here.” He handed me over the table a small present box. It wasn't too big, so I didn't expect to whatever was in there to help me that much, since whatever was in there couldn't be considered cheating. I tried opening it, but it wouldn't budge. “Inside that box contains a secret item, and it will only open in a certain situation we can't tell you. If everything goes alright, you shouldn't need to use that box, and we will eventually remove it from your inventory.”

“But what do you expect me to do? Simply bring them down? It isn't that simple, and I'm not of the type that eliminates others for no reason at all, unless I'm forced to battle.” I told Drake my reasons.

“Whatever it was that happened to you on the underground passage here on Goldenrod, it showed us different. You're not forced to do this Atlas, I'm just asking for your help to keep things fair.” He told me, I had two options, accept and try to take on Freddie, or refuse and wait for his army to go after me. It was basically choosing between a fast death or a slower death.

I thought about it. I didn't like Freddie one bit, but if I could take him down earlier, the better. But it wasn't going to be easy though. he had a big group now that was expanding even more. I eventually had to do something. “Deal.” I told Drake.

We both got up from our seats, and I had put the small cup of tea we had been taken during this conversation back on the table. I was starting to leave the room when he called for my attention.

“Oh, and you should try out the other functions of you PokéWalker. There is a tape recorder in that and it can take notes. I think you should use them, might be useful.” Drake advised me before I left. He actually told me the name of this thing. A PokéWalker, but I still preferred to call it "Clock-Map-InventoryOrganizer-Stats-thingy" of formerly just gadget.

“... And here is you part Atlas.” Blackburn handed over my part of the items he and Violet bought. As a team, we shared the items and money. Blackburn now had himself a PokéWalker as well, and Violet bought one too. I wasn't the only one with one now. After Blackburn saw how much useful that thing was, He was sure he wanted one. Those two PokéWalkers were worth two of our Nuggets, but luckily we were left with 4000 bits.

“Okay, so I think we're set to go to sleep. We have a long day of training tomorrow. Well, you two do, I have a fighting type, so I'll have no problem but you guys-” Violet was ending our day, but suddenly something made her stop. She was looking directly at me. “... Atlas... You remembered to go to the hospital to take a look at that wound of yours, right?”

“Uh...” I didn't have anything to say. I could lie, but I don't think that being a liar with my friends is a good idea. “Nope.”

Blackburn, who was standing on the other side of our table, got up and dashed at me, getting me on the ground. “Get off me!” I warned my friend, who was making sure I didn't got up until they checked my hoof. Violet walked to my side. I tried hiding my leg, but Blackburn forced it to stay in place. He was on me, with one hoof at my horn to stop any magic I might try, and the other on my leg.

“I'll let you go after we see what is going on under that rag you used as a bandage.” Blackburn told me. Violet crouched and carefully unwrapped the bandage around my leg. I feel more blood flowing around my leg again, pain flowing with it. violet had re-opened my wound, and I could feel it bleeding again, even if I wasn't seeing it myself.

“Ugh...” Violet made an expression of disgust. “That is a pretty bad wound you got here. I don't think the hospitals around here could do anything. they could stop the bleeding, but if we get the bandage out, the blood will flow again.”

“So what do you think it's better for us to do?” Blackburn asked her. I was still laying on the ground, waiting for my turn to speak and say I'm okay. But if this was the case, I wasn't okay.

“Well, I was looking at the map on my gadget, when I saw that there is a pharmacy at Cianwood City, but that is way too far from here. Well, it would be easier if we could just follow west from here and we would arrive there, but the ocean is too dangerous for us to travel.” She explained.

“But the wound will heal, right?” Blackburn asked Violet.

“Yes it will, but the damage caused on the meat is too deep, it can damage his veins.”Violet explained as she wrapped my leg back on the bandage, which was covered in even more blood now. Well, at least I could feel something other than pain on it for once.

“Not counting that it could infect, and that Atlas could lose a lot of blood in the process.” Violet went back to explaining my situation to me and Blackburn. I was really in danger. And I couldn't tell if I'm still poisoned or not. I haven't been feeling pain, but I surely started feeling tired through the course of the day. Of all the problems violet told me, there was still a chance I had been poisoned.

Blackburn gave me freedom again. I got up on the ground and looked at their faces. The two were looking at me worried, and maybe mad. I screwed up completely. But I did it for them. Sure there could have been a better choice other than bail all the Beedrills out of the way, but I was already fucked up anyway. At least I lived.

“Ah, and did I mention I have a special mission now?”

“I can't believe you took the mission.” Blackburn walked around, even more worried now. “Look at you, you can barely walk without being screwed every five steps and you took the opportunity to take on a army?!” Violet was just covered in disappointment by now.

“Sure, I know you don't like Freddie and all, but really? We aren't barely over with the third gym yet and you already put us on the special squad on taking on our biggest enemy yet?” Blackburn continued blaming on me, it's been like this for twenty minutes now. I'm getting tired of this.

“I'm just doing what I find right okay?” I tried to argue back. “His group is growing like rabbits I have been asked to put a stop on it before it put a stop on us! I'm doing this everyone here!”

“I know we aren't on this place if not to kick his ass, but that is not our best option right now. Remember we planned to get a full team ready to take on anything?” Blackburn brought back our first plan to win this. Playing with patience. “Look, we are going to stop him, but now it's not the time, we need more time to prepare ourselves.” Blackburn calmed himself and tried to logic with me.

“But if we don't stop him right here, he will grow too!” I argued back.

“But we will be equal. We will take on him and everything is going to be alright, okay?” He pleaded me to rethink this. Drake didn't give me a time limit, he just told me we needed to end this though. When it is going to end, I don't know, but it better be soon.I stopped a few minutes, considering Blackburn's offer.

“Okay, deal.” I looked down in disappointment at myself. I wanted to help people as fast as I could, but right now wasn't the time to do it. Unfortunately, I'd have to wait until I could make this place fair for every player.

“Nice job everyone. I think we might be ready to finally challenge the gym after all.” I rewarded my pokemon with a pat on their backs, and a plate full of food. It's been two days of training for them, and night was falling. Tomorrow we would end up fighting the gym.

My pokemon were all tired. It's been a long day, but I think everyone kept up. Seeds had evolved into a Gloom. Seeds now was bigger and had grown hands, and the leafs on his had turned into a brown flower close to blooming. But that wasn't the best thing. I had been keeping the moon stone I found at the Ruins of Alph until this moment. Venom ended up evolving into a Nidorino, which wasn't any different from his original form other than being bigger and stronger. With the Moon Stone, I was capable of getting him up to Nidoking, a large purple pokemon that looked a lot like a wingless grown dragon. Phoenix and Scout also had trained a lot, and grown stronger. I'd only be using Venom for the gym. He was my most powerful pokemon at the moment, and the only with a fighting type move. His great defense would keep him up just enough to end that Gym with no problem.

Blackburn was doing the same with his pokemon. Rewarding them with a pat in the back and some love between trainer and pokemon. He loved his pokemon just like I did, but He loved his starter the most. He trained his Charmeleon until the end of today. I bet it is pretty close to evolving into a Charizard very soon. For his other pokemon, they also took it hard. His Hoothoot had now evolved into a Noctowl, a slightly bigger bird now. It looked like a eagle with the head of an owl for me; And also his Geodude evolved into a Graveler.

Lastly came Violet, with her Riolu and Kirlia. They trained, but not as much as mine and Blackburn's pokemon did. I also discovered that Violet had other pokemon other than those two. A Staravia, a black bird with various white markings on it's body, and a Houndour, a Dark and Fire type canine pokemon with a black colored fur and white bands on it's legs. At this point, our pokemon were a little bit overpowered. I bet we could go until the fifth gym with no need for training.

The tree of us got our pokemon back to their pokeballs and were returning to the table that we had on our room. My leg didn't got any better, but it seems to be holding out. Now, I also didn't got any rest since the Ilex Forest. These two past days I have been worried with training and planning our next moves. Fortunately, everything was set by now, and I could rest. Violet got the idea for us to chat a little before going to bed, it wasn't that late yet, so I agreed.

We sat down to our places, and I wasn't going to ruin a nice conversation with some depressing feeling of mine. I was happy for once. If it was my turn to tell a story, I would happily tell a good moment of my life. My whole life wasn't one hundred percent filled with sadness, I had loads of happy moments too.

“So Black, tell me more about that hunting adventures of yours.” Violet invited Blackburn to start. Blackburn sat down on his place on our room of the hotel and got ready to tell the history of how he became a professional hunter. “Simple. One day a few years ago, me and my dad were testing a few weapons on a field, near the ever free forest. I didn't know better and ended up shooting a poor deer on the edge of the forest. When I shot it, the animal gave a scream and a yellow pegasi mare came flying like a bullet to help it. Turns out the animal was going to die and the mare blamed it all on me, and I took it. I think her name was Fluttershy, or Butterfly, something like that, and she took care of animals. At the end she admitted I did a great job to not damage the meat very much, as she was going to use it to feed the carnivorous animals she had. In the end we had a deal. Every three months I'd go near the forest hunting for wild animal to collect meat for the mare. She paid a few bits, and we worked out the deal.” He told the story.

“Well, I still don't agree with the idea of you being a hunter, but if that is what you do for a living, I can't really change your mind, can I?” Violet commented over what Blackburn would get an extra money out of.

“I bet you can change anything on him that you want.” I replied to Violet's comment. The three of us laughed.

“... Have I ever -hehe- told when -haha-” I was trying to say something, but couldn't how my laughter middle way through that. I finally held my breath so I could finish the phrase up “I tried to climb on Blackburn's back and fly? haahahaha!” I bursted into laughter after that. Violet did too, just thinking about the idea. Eventually, Blackburn joined us while he was trying to remember it. We tried that a long time ago.

“Remember the Nightmare Night two years ago, when we combined ourselves in one costume to go as an alicorn? That didn't work out pretty well.” At this point, me and Blackburn were just sharing memories, fun ones, and Violet just shared a laugh with us.

“Oh my, I should have met you guys years ago. I can't believe I lost that much things!” Violet commented.

“There was one time we tried to sneak up into a party. That also didn't go well for us.” Blackburn told Violet about another of our little adventures. “Basically that is how our entire school life went, doing some crazy shit.”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Now, tell me a story that doesn't involve one of you guys' dumb ideas.” Violet requested something new. The little stories of our dumb moments were fun and all, but they were becoming a little more overused.

“Hm...” Blackburn stopped to think of something. “I got nothing. Atlas why don't you tell us something like, uh, why you have the hots for the princess?”

“What?” I asked. “I don't have the hots for her!” I blamed Blackburn for starting this, the little bastard. He shook his head in a signal of "no" which clearly meant he didn't believe in me “Well, maybe, but you can't go around calling on who likes who!”

“Now, if you want to know a story, I can tell how she decided to help me.” I offered Violet the story I could tell.

“Wait, so you got Princess Celestia help? How exactly?” She asked me.

“First, it's Princess Luna that is helping me. Now sit there and I'll tell you.” I started thinking of a way to start this story up. “Well, after an accident I had, Luna visited me in my dreams to stop a nightmare, as it is her job to guarantee that every subject have a good night of sleep. After that, she offered to help me with some psychological help, like not getting out of control when my emotions drive me into doing something I don't want to. Basically learning how to control emotions. One day I could see she was disturbed by something of her past, and I comforted her, and offered to help her like she helped me, as a way to repay what she did for me and as a sing of friendship. That was on the day before we got into this. I haven't talked to her since she visited me on my dreams this last week, but it's been a while.”

“So you and Luna are friends?” Violet asked me, checking if she got it right. “You managed to have a closer relationship than usual to a goddess just because she helped you?”

“Just because she is royalty doesn't mean they can't be friends. Friendship doesn't care about who you are, but what you're.” Blackburn replied with a simple phrase wisdom. We looked at him. “What? I read it in a book! And also Atlas might think about her more than a friend.”

“Would you kindly stop that?” I asked my friend to stop with the overused feeling I had towards Luna.

“Nope.” And so, our night moved onward.

I was standing in the same calm camp I always do when I dream. This had become usual for me, but this time I wasn't just playing with my imagination. I was simply waiting to see if Luna was going to appear, I needed to talk with her.

Minutes later, I could see the shadow of a alicorn coming out of the full moon, and as always, it approached me.

“Did you want to talk with me?” Luna asked me as she landed on the grass.

“Actually, yes.” I blushed a little. “So, how's been your day, Luna?”

Luna looked with a strange look. Both of us weren't really understanding the situation. “My day... It's been fine. I had to leave for some hours in order to do my duties, but came back later to check on you. Talking about that, I may have to leave in some time.”

“Well, that was nice...” I played my words quite careful, but my head always fucked up. “For you to come back, I mean. That is nice of you.”

“I told you I would watch you playing.” She replied. “Atlas, where is this going?” She was in a hurry, and I was out of anything to say. What a good way to make the first move.

“Eh...” I tried to think of something to say. My mind just kept failing. “Just wanted to have a casual talk for once, you know? You seem to be serious all the time, I thought it could be good for you to enjoy some time with a friend.”

“That would be lovely, but unfortunately I'm in a hurry right now.” She declined my invitation. What a first date. “We could do that when you're back. If you don't need anything, I'll be going. Farewell Atlas.” She said her good byes to me and started turning to go away, this wasn't the best opportunity.

“Actually, I need your help with something.”

She turned back to me. “And what would it be?” She asked me.

“Can I take a look at Pulse's memories from the last days?”

Chapter 8: Let The Games Begin!

“A shot in the dark? Is it all that you are asking for? You are already walking a way where you may not be able to save yourself or everyone for that matter, and even if you are blind, you just want to keep going because you believe in the people you are with? What a foolish way to easily destroy yourself.”

I woke up. I was laying in my bed, morning had come and Blackburn and Violet were still sleeping. I was still clouded with the things I discovered last night.

I can't believe how the fuck Blackburn just gave Pulse up. I know they were in a tough situation and were not in condition to put up a fight, and if they did, probably the odds were of them being eliminated. I was just mad, mad enough I could just leave them behind but...

But I can't just leave my friends behind, they need me and I need them back. Not for just keep me from getting controlled by some evil force inside me, but for being the ponies I really care for. I'm just... really confused...

I don't know if I just forget I ever saw that moment and forgive Blackburn, my childhood friend and only one for some time, or if I just get mad at him because of what he did I thought was wrong. I am really mad at him, I wanted to strangle him for what he had done to Pulse... but I kept it for myself. I was still unsure if I wanted to go with this, because if I blamed him like that, I could end up alone, and that would bring me problems, specially when Freddie has now an army of other players.

I turned around, stuff half of my face in the pillow. There was just too much to do, too much responsibility, even if this is just a game. I had now to bring Freddie down, and get myself to stop the control he has over me with fear. And then what? I would leave this place to be another musician in the middle of thousands. I had left my father alone to come to this. The old man barely keeps himself from hanging himself because he misses his wife, and so do I. Things are just too hard right now, and yet I seem to be happy from the inside, since everything is going back to normal, but the reality is that I'm a cold, lonely stallion from the inside.

I closed my eyes, feeling a tear score down my face. Thinking about my family did bring some very painful memories, since I know that the good ones won't ever come back. I just decided to stay there until everyone decided to get up, then I'd decide what to do.

“Huh?” I heard Blackburn on the bed from the other side of the room. “Atlas? Is everything alright?” He asked me worried. I decided to stay quiet, so he thought I was still sleeping.

He probably just heard a sound I made while laying in here, probably a move or something I made.

“Atlas, answer me. I know you are awake.” He continued. “You have been humming for about 5 minutes now. What is the matter?”

I just realized he was right. I have been humming because of my sadness all this time without realizing. I just now stopped. “Everything is okay Black...” I told him back. “Or at least should be...” I whispered the last part to myself.

We entered the big stadium once again. This time I was going to challenge the third gym leader. After this one, I just had five left and the elite four to worry about.

On the other side of the arena, there was a white unicorn mare with a short pink mane, but this one was different from the other gym leaders... This one is a teenager?

Well, considering the fact that I haven't reached adulthood as well, that makes possible that she would be capable of being a trainer good enough to earn the position of gym leader, but that made it strange, who would let a teenager command a whole gym?

“Look who we have here!” The mare spoke in surprise. “Atlas and his gang, isn't it?” She seemed to know us already.

“Whitney, right?” I asked back. “It appears that both of us acknowledge of each other.”

“And both of us have well known reputations...” She added. “I presume you all came here to challenge me.”

I nodded in response. “Yes, that is right, but may I ask how you know of us before it.”

She let out a small giggle. “Who doesn't? I mean, after all the news reported what happened at the underground level of the city, and your adventures around, it would take some stupidity to not discover about you. You are almost as known as Freddie.” She told us back. I presume Freddie's "army" got well known too after all. Just when I was missing battling with a team of villains, another comes around, just to fuck with me. “... And I guess you already know that I have big chances of ruining all of this for you.” She finished, teasing us for a battle.

“I guess that after all the training I have done, this won't be a problem.” I told her back as I grabbed my four pokeball out of my saddle bags.

“Yeah, and that is why we are going to do something different this time.” She replied. I stored my pokeballs back. “I want a one-on-one battle. My Miltank against a pokemon of you choice.”

“Wait... so that means if we lose, we all get eliminated?” I asked back. At this point, Violet and Blackburn sat back at the seats by the arena.

“No, of course not. Just you, you silly!” She told me back, a cold came to my body. “You win, I'll give the badge to the three of you, if you lose, your friends may challenge me again, but you get eliminated. I just wanted to see how much of a trainer you really are.”

“...” I kept in silence, thinking of the solution for this. I could lose everything now, or just make this faster. I looked over to Blackburn and Violet, who looked a little shocked about this.

“Atlas, you don't need to do this if you don't want.” Violet told me back.

“It's up to you buddy.” Blackburn gave his opinion.

I closed my eyes for a second to think of this. Well, considering I'm slowly dying here because of this open wound of mine, elimination wouldn't be the worst of my problems. “It's on.” I told Whitney back. She then levitaded one of the two pokeballs she had on her belt and let out her famous Miltank. I have done this before, and that Miltank gave me nightmares. I think the worst attack of that pokemon is attracting her foes. That sure is a way of ruining a battle, but if I made this go faster, It wouldn't take more than a turn.

I picked Venom's pokeball and let him out. standing on the field, now there was a cow-like pokemon stand on it's two rear legs and a big purple wingless dragon.

“Venom, underground!” I screamed my command to my pokemon, as soon as the battle started. Venom took it and dug a hole in the ground and immediately dropping inside it.

Whitney's Miltank stood on hold, as she didn't gave her any commands. Me and Venom trained enough this move, I'd say we shared a special bond, and he would know exactly when I wanted him to finish his move.

Still on hold, Whitney's Miltank seemed confident. I decided to go for it. Exactly at that moment, a crack on the ground below the Miltank appeared, creating a small hill about to break.

“Miltank, Now!” Whitney finally let out he pokemon attack. The Miltank used one the two hooves she stood on and stomped directly at the crack, seconds later that it appeared. I let out a small grin. She fell directly at my trap.

Venom took the moment, the bait worked. Venom jumped out of the earth right behind the Miltank right after it started stomping the ground. “Venom! Double-Kick!” I screamed. The dinosaur gave spin in mid air, hitting the cow with both of it's big foot, sending the Miltank flying at the one of the arena's walls.

The Miltank took the collision very hard, laying in the ground with out no movement. I was about to walk up to Venom and tell him what a good job he had done, but then I was interrupted.

“Miltank, use Attract!” Whitney screamed of her side of the arena. The Miltank got up back on it's hooves and stared directly at Venom. Shit, I should have thought this wasn't going to be this easy!

Venom immediately felt in love with the Miltank, unable to move and refusing to listen to any of my commands. Then the Miltank picked up a boulder from the ground and placed it on the ground, and then gave it a kick like if it was a ball. It rolled directly at Venom, giving it a hit. Venom stumbled down but got back up on his feet.

I tried giving him another command, but it also didn't work. The Miltank repeated the move, but this time, with a bigger boulder. After it hit Venom, I checked my gadget. Venom's health dropped to the half, and the power of that attack seemed to increase every time she uses it. I had one last chance.

I started thinking. What would make Venom snap out of that? He was in love with the Miltank, so the only way was to give him something he loved even more... I got it!

“Venom, I'll give you one of those slowpoke tails if you finish this!” I screamed to him, as a last resort. I remember that when he heard us talking about those tails after we were done with it, he asked me if he could ever try one. I refused, but this was my only chance. “Now finish this with a Poison Jab!”

Venom snapped out of his fantasy and listened to me. He got in a stance of powering up a punch and waited. The Miltank noticed it and sent another boulder of it's Rollout our way. The boulder was the biggest one yet, and started growing even more, as I suspected it collected more rocks from the ground on it's way. Venom stood charging his arm with a purple energy.

Venom waited long enough. When the boulder got really near, he charged right through it, breaking it in thousands of pieces. The Miltank's eyes widened as she saw the gigantic creature charging directly at her. Venom extended his arm and punched the cow right up it's face, send it flying again against the wall. The creature crashed once again on the wall, as hard as before.

The foe's Miltank fainted. - My gadget popped a notification. It was over.

Walking up to Whitney, she had already called her famous Miltank, the destroyer of worlds, back to it's pokeball. She had a smile on her face, holding the three badges on the air with her magic. “Nice job, I must admit I wasn't expecting for such tactic against Attract.” She told me back, giving me the three badges.

“You know, that is a really cheap move against opponents of the opposite sex.” I commented. “But it was a nice battle by the way.” Now with the third gym battle, I had been able to defeat three out of eight. Next gym on the list was the Ghost-type gym over Ecruteak City, which wasn't that away from here.

“Just leave me be, I have a title to stand up for.” She replied to me, and then followed by a small laugh.

A title. Oh yeah, the three of us, me, Blackburn and Violet, were now known. I presume that this meant to Freddie a threat, which was good. We were one step closer to the final showdown. I still had a lot to train before it.

Walking back to my friend Venom, I jumped up on his spiky back, getting him by surprise. He turned back to see my face, and smiled as he saw me.

“Nice job Venom. I really appreciate the fact that you like slowpoke tails more than a girlfriend.” I told him, with a tone o joke.

“Love is something I can't go without, but you know me Atlas.” He replied back, with a grin in his face. “And, by the way, you're hugging me where it hurts.”

“Oh, sorry!” I told him after dropping back to the ground. “Come on, I will take you to the poke center, and then I'm going to search for some tails for you, I heard they sell it around here.”

“Okay, see you later” He told me as I called him back to his pokeball. Storing it on my saddlebags, I walked up to my friends, who were sitting and watching the show.

“So, what you guys thought?” I asked them.

“It's was a nice battle” Violet simply replied.

“Uh...” Blackburn stood with his mouth open, he then shook it and looked at me. “I don't remember you being able to do that in the portable game!”

Everything was back at it's place, I now had Pulse back, and I had already given Venom his treat. The three of us were doing some last-minute shopping, as we weren't getting back here in some time, and this city had the biggest market in all the region.

While Blackburn and Violet did the shopping, as they were our official money managers and shoppers, I wondered my own business, like what I was going to do again. I wasn't sure about how to react. I could lose a very close friend, but I felt betrayed from the inside. I was running low, since we had been shopping for some time now, and I think they are getting over it.

I started analyzing the situation. Blackburn, a very close friend of mine, and my only and best friend since our childhood, gave my starter, and favorite, pokemon Pulse to save his own skin. The situation: It was either him and Violet + Pulse to battle about nine other ponies, probably with a full team each. His reaction was... acceptable, they could get destroyed if they did not, but still, I felt betrayed. Aftermath: Getting me angry, and making me almost sacrifice all of us to save Pulse. He did help after all, and Violet and him were able to defeat the ponies in there. I presume their pokemon where injured that night, after going trainer by trainer and battling each and every one of them.

Final word: I'm-

“Hey, Atlas, let's move.” Blackburn called me. “We finished, let's get back to the hotel and organize this stuff, then we will leave.”

My thoughts were interrupted by him. I was about to say that he still deserved a punishment after all, but, I remembered, Blackburn wasn't only thinking of his safety back there. He was also thinking about Violet's, and he did apologize to Pulse for doing it. I decided something. I'm going to have a talk with him, and depending, I may make my decision later.

Walking back to the hotel, right behind Blackburn and Violet, I tried to analyse the situation from another perspective other than Pulse's, I could be misjudging him. In that situation, what he wanted to protect was the whole group, or maybe just Violet since he dreamed about her. I'm not sure of which to be exact, but seeing his regret, I bet he wasn't apologizing to Pulse, he was apologizing to me, he knew I would react badly as soon as I got the news. Deep inside, even if he loved Violet more than our friendship at this point, he wasn't giving up one thing for the other. Blackburn is a good friend, and I need to consider him as my family. With my mom dead and my father ill, I'll be alone sooner than I think. Still, I needed to talk with him.

“Blackburn?” I called for his attention as soon as we finally got back into the hotel room, with only the three of us. “Why did you give Pulse to Poison Strike?”

“Uh...?” He asked me back in confusion. “Oh! That...”

“Please tell me the truth.” I pleaded him.

“Alright... On that moment, we were surrounded, our pokemon were injured and there was no way we could have gotten away without at least one of us gone.” He started explaining. “When he asked for Pulse, I looked up to him, and then to me and Violet. I'm sorry for what I have done, and I hope you forgive me for giving your pokemon in order to protect the rest of the group.”

I looked in his eyes. He was a little down for remembering the moment. I could see he was telling the truth. “Blackburn...” I started, unsure of what I was going to say. I let out a sigh. “Look. Even if you made that for the safety of the rest, we can't just leave others behind. What were you expecting to do after that?”

“I will tell you the truth. I didn't know, I was hoping you would show up and we would decide something out, but when you came around, we just rushed inside that place. Helping you was the least I could do.”

“And why did I had to ask Luna to show me Pulse's memories? Why didn't you tell me right away?” I started pushing him over and getting a little loud.

He let out a sigh too. “I'm sorry for what I've done, and I don't expect you to accept my apologies.”

“Blackburn.” I went up to him, he had his head down in regret. He actually cared about our friendship. “You are my best friend, I won't ever get that mad with you.” I told him as I got his head up with my magic. “Come on, we got stuff to do.”

“Atlas.” I heard a voice coming from behind me. I was standing on a empty room with no doors or anything on it, and either I remember how I got here in the first place. I turned around to face... myself, once again, with it's snake-like red eyes, facing directly at my blue normal eyes. I had a feeling some shit was about to happen.

“Uh...” I backed off a little, while facing him. “You're not going to kill me, are you?”

He sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you I'm not evil?” He asked me, disappointed at my ignorance. “It's time we have a talk.”

“And what do you want to talk about ...” I started, but stopped as I realized I didn't really remember his name or what to actually call him.

“Atlas. You can call me Atlas as well, but if you think it is rather confusing for you, just call me Janus.”

“Alright, Janus, what is it?” I asked him.

“About your ignorance.”

“Wait, if you are me, doesn't that make both of us ignorant?” I asked him before he continued.

He facehoofed. “You fool, that is why I'm here. We both need to change.” He told me. “First, your opinion towards me. You think I'm a monster, don't you?”

“To be true with you... I kinda do” I told him, with a nervous smile on my face. “You are just a little radical sometimes.”

“Well, somepony here needs to be, otherwise how are we going to get things done?” He started getting a little loud towards me. “I ain't no angel, but I ain't no monster either. I'm with you and I'm here to help you when you are too weak to help yourself.”

“So, yeah, what you want me to do? It doesn't seem like you are trying to change your image towards me!” I replied. We were starting a discussion.

“You know why I tease you? You know why I go "killer" or "demon" on you?” He asked me, showing his predator like teeth to me. “It's because it's fear that keeps you going. But we are not discussing this right now. I only got a moment before that princess of the night comes burst through this walls.” He continued. “And in case you are wondering, yes. Yes, you are dreaming.”

I stood in silence. "Janus" seemed like a monster, he acted like a monster. But he had reasons. I felt like I needed to know more about this darker self of mine.

“I need to talk with you about this "fame" of yours.” He went back to being more civilized. “You want to bring Freddie down, don't you?”

“Yes, I actually do.”

“Well, you will need help.” He continued. “Not only mine, but from other ponies. You are actually known because of your actions, or in this case, mine too. We are currently feared from others for being radicals.”

“Are we?” I asked back, unsure if it was really true.

“Yes, the only reason Whitney did not fear us it's because she considered you a... challenge.” He used Whitney's battle with me as an example to support his argument. “There is many like her that would consider you a challenge, but there is other's that would do everything to stay away from. Freddie's army grows everyday. What are you planning, bringing it all down by yourself with the help of your two other friends?”

I stood in silence, I actually didn't had a plan. All I had in mind was walking up to him and winning a battle, then it would be over.

“I can read your thoughts. Freddie got a whole group. His personal best friend, Poison Strike as we know, would be next to take command if we brought Freddie down like that. We need to slowly bring down his command.”

“And what do you suppose we do?” I asked him what "we" had in mind.

“We can turn this is into a group war.” He told me. my eyes widened in surprise. “Maybe if we get a few dozens of well experienced players, we can bring his army down. We know that Freddie is acting like this world's evil corporation by giving his "minions" not very good pokemon, but capable enough to cause damage to others. He is trying to turn others into less effective ponies so he can bring them down himself. Just a selected few of him have good teams.”

“Wait... How do you know all of this?” I asked Janus, full of curiosity.

“Well, It's just a guess, at least it seems like the most logic thing to do.” He told me. “Specially when you are the competing to be the best, having your own army is good, but letting them be as powerful as you makes it possible that they can beat you to win. I think that Freddie's biggest challenger is either you or Poison Strike.”

“It's good to have you back Pulse.” I talked with my friend while we battled a trainer up on Route 35. “How was your Pokemon Day Care adventure?” I asked him, even If I knew what he was up to.

“I... It was interesting, I would say.” He told me back, a little shy to tell me what happened. I giggled because I knew he had got himself a new "friend". “But nothing unusual.”

“Venom, use Dig!” I gave Venom a command. “It's good to see that at least you had time to recover from those wounds. I don't know if we could keep going without you.”

“How so?” He asked me back. “I mean, if I went down, eventually you would keep going, just like when...” He paused for a moment, remembering of painful moments. “... the others fell.”

“I have a couple of reasons.” I told him back. “To start things up, you are my starter, you have been with me longer than anyone else, it's hard to not get attached to a pokemon that had been all the way with you.” I started telling him my reasons, and as I was done with the first one, I decided to finish my current battle. “Now Venom!”

The foe's Pikachu fainted.

Venom emerged out of the ground, knocking out our foe's Pikachu, and so ending our battle.

“Second, I don't want to seem like I'm just using you, but I need your help on this next gym. It's a Ghost-type one.” I told him another reason, but that was for our current situation. “But the important part is that because I love you. You're my best friend, along with Blackburn and Violet. It would be pretty bad to me if I lost you, so that is why I'm being as careful as I can, but sometimes I may not have an advantage, so we may have to take risks.”

“Risks? What kind of risks?” Pulse asked me.

“Well... I didn't want to admit it, but there are some well experienced players here.” I told him. “One that have some kind of cheap tactic of boosting their stat and switching it with another pokemon, and so having a powerful pokemon with extra stats, making it hard to bring down. Others just have very good teams and will take entire teams to bring down, just like ours.”

“So you mean we will eventually go against them?” He asked. I nodded. There was fear behind both of us, but we knew that if we stick together, we would be okay.

We continued walking, ahead of us there was Blackburn and Violet, clearing the other trainers on our way. It took us some time, but we managed to clear our path until one of the next stop.

“Alright, according to my map, we should now go to the National Park and then leave to Route 36, that should take less than ten minutes, and considering the time we have, I estimate that we will be getting to Ecruteak City after Route 37 by the afternoon, leaving up with enough time to fight the gym and-” I stopped looking at my gadget and looked back at them, both in silence. “Is anything wrong?”

“Actually... Atlas, the Pokéathlon Dome is right there, so...” Blackburn started.

“We were thinking of spending the afternoon watching the games. What do you think?” Violet let finished. “If We are in a hurry, we could follow your plan.”

“Can't we stop wasting time over useless things here?” I facehoofed as I told them in disappointment.

“Aw, come on Atlas, it's fun!” Blackburn tried to convince me. “Remember when we played the games against each other?”

“Ugh... Fine, we can stay for today.” As I gave them permition, the two started walking happily to the inside of the station, going in the direction of the Dome. I looked over to Pulse. “I actually want to go there and take part of the games, I just had to make them seem like they waste too much time on worthless things okay!?”

Pulse let out a small giggle, seeing how I tricked them into believing I didn't agree with their idea.

“Oh yeah? Wait until we get to Pewter City. These two are going to spend a whole afternoon at the museum there.”

“Mares and Gentlecolts, today we have four new participants for today's Speed Pokéathlon Challenge!” The announcer did his job, announcing the start of the challenge. I turned back to check on my team, and stopped checking on the announcer, as he announced the challengers. At least here, if I lost, I wouldn't get eliminated. I was along with Pulse, Scout and Phoenix.

One of the main reasons I wanted to take part on these tests were because I wanted to buy Phoenix a Fire Stone and turn her into an Arcanine. Having a fully evolved team at this point would give me a big advantage.

“... And last, but not least, Atlas Bluetone, alongside his companions Pulse, the Umbreon, Scout, the Pidgeotto and Phoenix, the Growlithe!” The announcer grabbed my attention by calling out for me.

I turned back to the ponies cheering and located both Blackburn and Violet along side a few other hundred of ponies. They were going to watch me while I failed miserably at these challenges.

The first one of the challenges would be Hurdle Dash, followed by Pennant Capture and ending with Relay Run.

Me, along with the other three competitors were taken to a big race line, with a bunch of jumping obstacles on the straight line. I had to tell my pokemon to jump at these obstacles, and so making us gain speed and get on the first places. The winners would be determined by their respectively positions when the time ran out.

with two of my pokemon being four legged and the other one being a bird, I should have the advantage of speed, just had to time the jumps right.

I heard a shot behind me, giving the signal for the race to start. Every one of the twelve pokemon started running in their straight lines. I was taking a look out for the obstacles on the lines of my three pokemon.

The race was going. I was telling my pokemon to jump the obstacles, we weren't missing any of them, but we were still behind others. I took a fast look at another competitors pokemon, and he used to make them jump at the last second, and so giving their pokemon what looked like a speed boost. That was it! I needed that boost, even if it was risky enough to make us fail to jump a few of those obstacles.

At this point, Scout was at third place, while Pulse was at fifth and Phoenix at sixth. I started putting my plan at work, we still had a few minutes of race left, so I guess it would be the only way of us getting ahead. I told Scout to jump his obstacle a little late than usual, which made a strange blue air flow appear around him, making him move, or in this case fly, faster. Doing the same with Pulse and Phoenix, we started gaining some speed, and no sooner, Scout was already at first place, with Pulse at third and Phoenix at fourth.

My pokemon were now too fast, and I couldn't pay attention to all of them at the same time. We had great positions, so if we stood this way, we would win this challenge, and maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't fail this miserably. I told Scout to jump over his obstacle, and then I took a look at phoenix, that was almost under the obstacle, I told her to jump at the last moment, wishing for her to make it. She jumped over it, almost hitting the obstacle, but something else happened, the blue air flow around her turned yellow, making Phoenix even fast then before. There was a few seconds left, and I somehow managed to do the same with Pulse, taking him to third position, and Phoenix to second, we now held all the three first positions.

Time is up. The race had now ended and the announcer happily announced our victory for the first challenge. Looking to see who was cheering for me, there was a small portion of the crowd, but with Blackburn and Violet surely cheering as I saw them jumping in excitement over there.

Next, me and the other competitors went to a built beach on the dome. We were going to play Pennant Capture. This challenge was simple. With one pokemon at a time, we would have to run in a certain area picking up flags that are dropped in the beach. One pokemon can carry up to 9 flags at a time and when he comes back, each flag becomes a point and next pokemon I have would go out and make another run for it.

I would be starting with Pulse, then Phoenix and then Scout. This order would repeat it self for the time we would be picking up the flags.

There wasn't really a way for me to help my pokemon in this one. They would have to locate and pick up the flags as they appeared by themselves. I'd just be watching.

Pulse got up in the starting line, that lead into a small square where the flags would appear, and stood by the side of the three pokemons from the other competitors. The gun was shot once again and the time started going down. Pulse jumped ahead everyone and started going around the fence, running ahead to pick up any flags he encountered.

The other pokemon where just rushing for the flags on the middle, while Pulse picked the ones around. He went all the way around, picking up 5 flags at total. In the place of going across the line, he turned and ran back, picking the other flags that spawned in the meanwhile. Coming back with 9 flags, he crossed the line, getting us from fourth to first place.

It was Phoenix's turn to go. Crossing the line while jumping, she turned into a flame ball in mid air and started running like a wheel from the moment she got on the ground. Faster than any other pokemon from the competitors, she started collecting flags just like Pulse did, but eventually going in the middle to steal a few flags from others. She came back with 9 flags as well, giving us a 4 point advantage from the second place.

As Phoenix crossed back, Scout flew like a bullet (as always) ahead, crossing the line and going directly at the middle, picking up 3 flags before the other pokemon, then giving a u-turn and picking even more flags, ending his show going around, following the fence, picking up two more flags, coming back with his stash full.

We now had a big advantage, but I couldn't let it slip. Pulse went back and repeated his first move, picking up as many flags as he could in the first run through. And so did Phoenix as a flaming wheel and Scout. I started hearing big cheers from the crowd watching behind me, as they screamed my name.

“Atlas! Atlas! Atlas!” They cheered for me as I kept watching my pokemon work. I started feeling like I was receiving all the credit, so I decided to change this.

As Pulse came back for the third time now I went up to him with some water and Phoenix went out. “Good job out there Pulse!” I told him. He looked up at me and gave me a grin.

“That is nothing, we are here for you, and you know that.” He told me back. “Well, I better get at position, Scout is almost going out there and the time is almost up.”

I then allowed him to go. He had sweat all over his body. He wasn't used to running this much, but he handled it well. Phoenix now came back, stopping the flames around her body.

“You're doing a fine job out there Phoenix.” I told her, as I gave her some water.

“Thanks, I really appreciate it.” She told me as she drank some of the water.

“I think that if we win this one, we already won the game, but I could be wrong.” I told her as she took a rest. The game was ending so she wouldn't have to go again. “If we win, the prize is a Fire Stone!”

“Really? Oh, that is awesome!” She looked back to me in excitement. “You going to use it on me?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn't I?”

The Fire Stone would turn Phoenix into a big lion. Her evolution was much bigger and powerful than the one she is in right now, and it also would turn her into an awesome looking pokemon.

Time was up. We won by over 15 flags above the second place, giving us extra points and a big advantage over the rest of the competitors.

Now, all that was left was the Relay Run, a big obstacle course where my pokemon would race the other competitor's pokemon. One pokemon at a time, we would have to run the course and win by running around more times than the other competitors. I'd have to switch from time to time, otherwise my pokemon would get too exhausted. Following the same order as before, Pulse would go first, followed by Phoenix and then Scout.

Everyone at position. The gun was shot for a final time, starting the race. This was just a normal race, so all I needed to do is change my pokemon when I felt they were tired. The race started, Pulse at last place, since he wasn't the fastest of the bunch. I had the feeling the road was slippery, since on the first obstacle on the road, two out of three of the competitor's pokemons crashed. Pulse not being that fast, he was easily able to dodge it.

As the race continued, Pulse started gaining even more speed. I started worrying if he would be able to dodge the obstacles with that speed, and since we managed to get up to second place, this would be needed to also win this. I started watching how Pulse managed to get his speed from. Apparently he would get on the shadows of those obstacles and gain some speed. I recalled the moment he evolved up in the first Gym, where he became faster under the night.

Looking closely, I could see he was starting to sweat a lot. I decided to switch, bringing him back to me and sending Phoenix out. I got him some water and a towel and went back to watching Phoenix.

Phoenix would flame her way to victory, using flames to turn the muddy ground into a dry ground for a limited time, making it easier for her to move. Much faster than Pulse, Phoenix managed to get head to head with the first place, but with less stamina, I could see she was getting tired much faster than Pulse. The other competitor switched, and I took the time to do the same.

Bringing Phoenix back, Scout jumped in, and at this point I knew it was too easy. A good flyer as him, and being able to fly other than suffer from the muddy ground, he was pretty much overpowered at this thing.

Managing to get past the first place, I would use Scout to gain a few laps of advantage from the other competitors. Scout flew like he loved to, dodging everything in his way just like he did back at the forest, he managed to give me three laps of advantage, which is not that much since the racing grounds weren't that big but it was still something, I switched back to Pulse.

Pulse was the slowest of our bunch, but had much more stamina, leaving time for the others to recharge themselves. Pulse did the same he did before, and surprisingly, we didn't lose that much of a distance. Pulse started using a few of the areas Phoenix left dry, so he was faster than before. I turned back to Scout and Phoenix behind me.

“You guys planned this?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Plan what?” Phoenix asked me back.

“He means the fact that we are having strategies, just like Pulse is using the dry ground you got there.”

“Oh, that.” Phoenix now remembered. “Yeah, we thought it was going to be something easier for all of us. He would get some distance from the other competitors so they didn't use my ground, then you would switch eventually and I would be able to create some dry ground for him, while Scout would just be the one who flew all the way.” She finished with small giggle.

“But how did you guys know about that?” I asked. “I mean, about the muddy ground and all.”

“You don't know?” The trainer by my side asked me. “Every pokemon and trainer share a special bond if they care enough about each other. It like if they can read the trainer's mind and the trainer can feel as they feel, but can't hear their thoughts, unless it is a aura bond.”

“Aura bond?” I asked out of curiosity.

“It's a bond only between very specific pokemon, like on the legend of Ho-oh, who will only show for those with hearts of gold.” She told me back. “Not hearts made of actual gold, but the metaphorical meaning.” She finished with a small giggle.

“Hm...” I stood there thinking. So it meant that me and my pokemon shared a close enough friendship so we can feel what one and another feel, but I can not hear their thoughts while they can hear mine?

“Yep, that is right.” Phoenix answered. “Also, I think it's better if you switch Pulse, he is getting a little tired.”

I switched Pulse and Phoenix and went back to my conversation with the mare. “May I ask for your name?”

“My name is...” She stopped for a second, she looked at me for some time before realizing something. “You are Atlas, right?”

“Yeah, I'm Atlas. Why?”

I heard the sound playing behind me, telling the game was over, my pokemon went back to me and now we were going to move back to the place we got introduced.

“Well, I gotta go. It was a good game though. Bye!” She hurried herself up to leave, but I had the feeling we are going to see each other again. The mare with a very pale yellow coat and a dark blue long mane turned and sped up to go to the other room. She had a gaming controller as a cutie mark. Maybe she liked games?

I also found myself feeling like jelly inside. What was this feeling again?

Pulse walked up to me and said: “You know, if you need a hand on getting a girl for ya, I could help.” then he winked at me.

“Yeah...” I told him back with a "whatever" tone in my voice. “Oh!” Then the memory that I saw from Pulse came into my head. Even him had a relationship during his life.

Chapter 9: The Higher They Get...

“You think you have things under control uh? You know how they say: The higher they get, the harder the fall.”

“How do you feel Phoenix?” I asked, looking to the new form my one of pokemon had just acquired.

“Feeling new.” She replied. She was now looking like an lion with the stripes of a tiger, something I myself liked a lot. “Feeling much more faster, and surely more powerful.”

“That is how evolutions work, girl. You clearly grew more powerful than the form that you had when I found you in that route and you agreed to join me in this adventure.” I finished my explanation with a smile in my face. “Now you all come here because I'm going to hug you all, because you all did great in that stadium.”

Pulse, Scout and Phoenix all gathered up side by side in front of me, and I immediately lifted myself on my two rear hooves while I used my front ones to group us all close in a big bear hug. I could see they were all exhausted from the big competition, but with the organized teamwork they had, and with me keeping a close eye on them so I could switch them up, we were able to win. I also feel like this experience helped us grow a lot, since I learned more about the connection I have with my team.

Which also reminded me of the mare that explained it to me. She left without giving me much about her, but I have the feeling it won't be the last time I saw her, but it's going to take a while to the next meeting, I just feel that. And specially a mare like her, it will take a while to forget.

“Atlas! Atlas!” I heard my name being called from behind me. They were followed by the sound of the stadium doors closing. The voice was the usual voice of my loyal friend Blackburn, and his (probable) marefriend, Violet. Cutting the group hug short, I got back in my four hooves and turned to see the rest of my friends.

“Atlas, you did great out there in that stadium.” Violet told me, showing a bit of enjoyment over the show me and my pokemon had given to the crowd.

“Yeah, you sure smoked those other competitors out there.” Blackburn added. “If you end up failing to win this competition, you might as well become one of those poke-athlete.” Followed by his usual sarcastic laughs.

I somehow felt like this was the best we have ever been on this game yet. I mean, we aren't losing many friends and the next gym was ery close to us now. To tell the truth, I had pokemon with advantages over the next four gyms, so all I had to worry about was the other trainers I'd meet on my way.

Yeah... the trainers I'd meet on my way, and the ones I'd re-encounter.

“Thanks guys, the support you guys gave me out there really helped me keep it up.” I said, smiling. Seeing them cheering up for me from the crowd really did help.

“So,” I said as I looked back to the road. “We going to Ecruteak City?”

“Of course.” Blackburn replied. “Seeing it is the home of the next gym we need to take out”

“What type are we going to be facing on that gym?” Violet asked curiously. “I mean, you guys been through this before, so...”

“We will be battling ghost type pokemon.” I answered. “I would recommend you to use your Houndour, seeing dark type pokemon is effective against it. ”

“I see.” Violet replied. I turned my back to her so we could start walking out and head for the National Park. “Hey Atlas...”

“Yes?” I stopped to see what Violet sought from me. Blackburn stood by her side.

“Your leg with the the wound. How is it?” Violet locked her eyes to mine, making me nervous as to what say next.

“My leg... it's fine, I can walk and I think we won't have to worry about it.” I calmly replied, while hanging my hoof in the air for her to see. “I think it can hang in there until we get to Cianwood.”

Violet kept her eyes locked at the wound, keeping the same face, but I could see she was worried, and looking at Blackburn, he was worried about me too. “Just keep a look at it, we don't know how dangerous a Beedrill's venom can be to a pony.”

“Don't worry, I had time to rest, I don't think the venom would stay flowing in my body like that.” I replied.

“We are just a bit worried, as usual.” Blackburn continued. “Doesn't hurt to worry, does it?” He finished with a smile. I smiled back and put my hoof back on the ground, turning around and calling my pokemon back to their pokeballs.

“Yeah, it doesn't, but right now we should get going to arrive at Ecruteak before sunset.” I told them as I started walking all the way back. They gladly followed me and so we went directly to the National Park.

Minutes later, we arrived at the National Park. We were quickly welcomed by a sing that said:

"No trainer battles in the Park area."

I took a moment to look around, and it was very similar to the a park we had back in Canterlot. A fountain, surrounded by grass areas (but this time it was tall and very tall grass), with some paths and benches for ponies to enjoy a calm time and enjoy the moment. If we weren't in such a hurry, I bet Blackburn and Violet would enjoy staying for the sunset. Maybe we could come back another day...

As I walked by the tall grass, trying to avoid pokemon as this area was filled with bug-type because I wasn't looking for any right now, I saw a pokemon running out of the grass, carrying with it a berry. I stopped to look at which one it was and I saw a Treecko.

Suddenly, following it, a wild Beedrill appeared. The Beedrill seemed like it wanted to claim the berry from the little thing. It was now cornered and I felt like I needed to do something about it, to save the little thing.

It was then that the rules came to my head: You are only allowed to capture the first pokemon encountered in a route. Considering that the first pokemon to appear in my vision was the Treecko, I could capture it. I decided to do so, and running in to interfere, I used my magic to take out a pokeball from my bag.

“Atlas, what are you doing?!” I heard Blackburn asking me as I made the sudden move. I threw the pokeball right at the Treecko, and immediately I took Phoenix out, ordering her to burn the Beedrill with Flamethrower to make it run away.

Phoenix immediately took my request and used the move at the bug. The bug crossed it's two stingers, trying to protect itself, but as it saw it was useless and the burn would hurt it pretty badly, it ran right back to the tall grass, disappearing from my vision. I looked to the pokeball, lading perfectly still on the ground with the new pokemon it acquired. I picked it up and allowed the Treecko to leave it. It was a female Treecko.

The Treecko, back again on the ground, started looking around in search for something. I used my magic to pick the berry she was holding before, and gave it back to her. Right after, I approached her. It seemed to be a very young pokemon as she was still confused of what happened. She also seemed to be in shock from being chased by the aggressive Beedrill. I then attempted to communicate with her.

“Hey there little girl.” I crouched near her. “Are you alright?”

She then ran closer to me hugging at she could of my body. I could feel she was still scared and was shaking. “Thank you!” She said. “I was afraid that Beedrill would get me!”

“What do you me-” I was interrupted by her.

“He attacked my group for the berry! The others I was with were attacked and fell, I haven't seem them get up, so I ran with the berry!”

I wrapped my hooves around her, hugging her back trying to help after the moment she just had. “Don't worry, you are okay now, you are safe.” I said. Oh my. The thought came to my head. I stopped our hug and held my two hooves on her shoulders. “Your group was attacked, do you know any other groups you could stay safe with?”

“No...” She answered with a sad tone.

“Look, I'm in the middle of an adventure, but this journey, it will be very hard and there is a big chance some of us might not, well... survive at it” I started explaining

“Oh?” She asked me a little curious, but way more scared.

“I'd like to ask you if you wanted to come with me. Me and my team could protect you as well as help you grow stronger, help you to know how to fight by yourself. But if you want to stay here, I can just release you back and you are free to go.” I continued.

“I don't know, but I'm scared of going back in the grass. I think it's better if I come with you, even if it might be scary. I don't think I have many options...” The little Treecko told me her answer. I decided to train her a bit before using her on battle, as she seemed very young and not able to fight yet. I decided to name her Aurora.

I showed her the pokeball and explained Aurora that it would be her home for the adventure. I also told her I would train her later, as I would need her help to battle sometimes. She nodded and entered the pokeball, and I told her to try calming down and relax, as she seemed very stressed after this moment.

For me it seemed like a lot of responsibility to take care of Aurora. She was just a kid. Getting her to battle would be forcing her to do something she is not used to. I'm hanging between two decisions here: Not ever using her or teaching her anyway because it's safer this way. I don't even know if she wants to fight, and that is leaving me very worried. I'm putting a child into a survival game.

It was almost nighttime. The sunset was beautiful today, and the orange skies offered me and my two friends a very calming time. We had just arrived at Ecruteak City. After walking our way through the two very small routes, Routes 36 and 37, and battling the few trainers, but no other competitors, in those routes, we had finally arrived, and just in time. I'd hate to camp outside of town for the night.

During our way through the routes, I showed Aurora what pokemon battles looked like, but I think she wasn't so interested in it, mostly scared from the moment she had before. I think that wasn't the best idea of them all, but I think I'll leave Aurora out of battles. I can't just leave her... she has nowhere to go I thought. I'd have to keep her around as I am her only family now, but I'd protect her the only way I could. By fighting with what had.

I drifted my mind away from those thoughts, they were only going to lead to worst ones. I started to look around the town. Ecruteak was a very simple town. It had a very high tower a little away from the city, very similar to the Sprout Tower back on Violet City, only This tower was much higher. It is called the Bell Tower. The rest of the town was composed for the usual buildings, a Gym, a Pokemon Center and a PokeMart, as well as the houses for the ponies that lived in here. It carried a very historical oriental architecture, as the town itself is a very old one. I don't know much about the lore of it's place, but from my visit here from my last "playthrough"s of the game, I remember the town being a very historical center, even if this was my first time visiting it for real. The Bell Tower would the place where you would encounter one of the most majestic and legendary creatures, Ho-oh, but before such encounter, you would have to prove yourself worth it.

“Hey Atlas,” Blackburn called for my attention. “Let's get going, we still need to pay for a place to stay tonight.”

“I'm right behind you buddy.” I replied, starting to walk to him. Blackburn was standing right by Violet, they both turned and started walking too. It didn't took long for us to find an inn for us to stay for the night.

Entering the inn, Violet went right ahead to the receptionist to get us a room. She told me and Blackburn to wait, so we decided to take a sit on the lobby and do what we were told.

“So...” Blackburn decided to bring up a conversation. “After we beat this Gym, where to next?”

I brought up the map on my gadget. “We will walk our way through Routes 38 and 39 and arrive at Olivine City, which shouldn't take more than an afternoon if we don't waste time, but we should get there nonetheless, no need to hurry. After that, we will catch a boat directly to Cianwood, as we will not be able to defeat the Steel Gym right away. We beat Cianwood's Gym, come back to Olivine, and beat it's Gym.”

“...After that we should head to Route 42, after coming back here, to Ecruteak, travelling to Mahogany Town, and so on. Alright, so that is the plan?” Blackburn continued and resumed the rest of our adventure, or at least the first part of it.

“As far as I know, yes.” I answered his question. “We might run into some things in the middle of it, like other competitors and challenges, so we need to be ready. We have been lucky enough not to run into those lately, but we never know for sure.”

“You think we might run into Freddie in this meanwhile?” He asked.

I looked into his eyes, but kept my mouth shut. I think that look I gave him answered his question. Freddie wasn't my main objective now, but I wanted to stop him no matter what. Our conversation ended there.

Violet came back to us. She told she got us a room with enough space for us all, so we were set for the night. We followed Violet to the room and entered it. The room was a somewhat big room, with a small kitchen and a bathroom as well. We unpacked our things for the night and relaxed. We prepared ourselves some dinner, cleaned ourselves from the exhaustive day, and all got ready for a good night of sleep. “We should go to bed soon today, We have got a big day tomorrow.” I told them. After that, we all headed to our beds, ready to finish our day right there. It was an exhausting, but worth it day, and I was ready to end it right there.

It was a tree. A lonely and fully grown apple tree, right at the top of the hill. I walked on the grass, going after it. I had seen this night before. Starry sky with the full moon being the center of attention on the sky, and this horizon. I seen this enough times to tell this was another dream. I have dreamed with this place loads of times, enough to know it mean to be a dream for me to calm myself and relax, not really worry about what was going to happen.

This place usually would be the place me and Luna would get together to discuss something for the night, but I wondered if today was going to be one of those.

I followed my routine in this kinds of dreams. I walked up to tree on the top of the hill and sat by it, laying my back on the log, and relaxing for while. Everything was silent like always, and I loved it. Living in Canterlot would be loud sometimes, being the capital from Equestria, and also where most events would take place, and specially when the Summer Sun Celebration takes place. Having my calm and relaxing moments alone was always something I looked forward. I didn't mind not having one of my random and fun dreams, this was much better.

It didn't take long before Luna came flying from the moon and landing near me.

“Luna?” I asked her as she got closer. “What are you doing here? I wasn't expecting to have a visit from you tonight.”

“I wasn't planning to come tonight as well, but my duties were finished early today.” She explained. “Seeing other ponies aren't having trouble tonight, I decided to come talk with you.” She stopped for a moment. “Even though there isn't much for us to discuss...”

I stopped, looking at Luna for a few seconds. “Well, in that case... How exhausting were your chores?” I asked.

“Not so exhausting, but I do feel a bit tired.” She replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Because I'm inviting you to sit by me and relax for a bit.” I calmly answered her question, moving to my right and opening space by where I was sitting on the tree. “So why don't you accept it?” I finished with a smile. I started thinking that maybe this time I would be able to spend some time with her. I hate to admit it, but Blackburn is right about my crush on her, and spending time with her makes me feel so much better.

Luna stared at me for a moment, considering her decisions. “Why not?” She said as she started walking and sat by me. We spend some time in silence, but it was a good relaxing silence.

“I heard you were asked to put a stop on Freddie.” She broke the silence.

My smile dropped to a flat an serious face. “Yes. He appears to be putting the whole thing out of balance.” I explained. “It will be a hard task, but that was what I had in mind from the beginning.”

“I remember.” She said. “I just wanted to know when you were planning on executing such thing.”

“Why?”

“Because I don't want you hurrying everything up without thinking.” She explained. “You could end up doing something you might regret.”

I looked at her. She was looking at me with a worried face. “I have seen what you were doing before. You were trying to go to places as fast as possible, forcing your friends from having fun and follow you.” She continued. “You came here for more than just revenge, I remember that.”

“Why are you so worried about me?” I asked out of curiosity.

“Because, Atlas, you are my...” She stopped, thinking of what to use next. That certain silence had put my heart at stop from the possibilities. “You are my friend, and I care about you. If you let the feeling of revenge take over you, you will be full of anger, and I'd hate that to change who you are.”

I understood what she said. She was worried she might lose a friend to a corrupted feeling, and even if she wasn't used on having many friends, it would hit her just as hard to see one being lost. She looked at me with worried eyes and was wondering if I was going to let my idea of revenge against Freddie take over me. As a matter of fact, looking at my latest actions, I presume I was being rude, wanting to be over and done with this. I had that feeling of rush, a straight and simple plan to follow as get strong, find Freddie and beat him up.

“Luna...” I tried speaking, my voice breaking a little bit. “I assure you I won't let that take over my mind, but I have to do this, it's the only way.”

“Only way to what?” She asked me. “I know that back in Canterlot, before this game started, when I helped you in your dreams, this would be what you would go for, but I didn't think this would be your main purpose. You have been letting your hatred take over you since your friend Pulse was captured.” She showed me facts, and the more I looked them over, they seemed to be true without me even realizing them. “Atlas, look at you. You have a wound on your leg that needs to be looked over, and you don't even seem to care.”

“I... I, uh...” I tried speaking, but the words didn't seem to come out of my mind. I want to explain her that Freddie seem to be a too big of a threat for me to look away, but even I'm starting to see that she is right about this. I thought. I'm being corrupted by the hatred in my soul.

“Atlas, please...” Luna said hanging her head down, looking at the ground. “I ask you to see that this will bring your own doom...”

I relaxed for a moment, wrapping my thoughts up and letting out a sigh. “You are right. This has been changing me without me even noticing it. I'm sorry Luna.” I apologized, facing another direction in shame. “I will stop it...”

“Are you?” She asked me with an tone of surprise. “You won't believe how thankfully I'm of this decision.”

“Hey, before we start this, I want to know what I should do now.” I interrupted her, even if she had already finished her phrase. “If my objective is not going to be bringing Freddie down, what should I do?”

Luna stopped, thinking. “You can still bring him down, but don't focus on it. Just keep going on your adventure not having your mind set for revenge, just do it when it comes, take your time and enjoy the place.” She said after a few seconds. I understood what she was suggesting now. She meant for me just not let it took over my head. We both understood that revenge wasn't the best option, but I couldn't talk Freddie out of this. It was either this or the rest of my life under his hooves. Avoiding that would only make it worse later, and me and Luna both knew that. I nodded to her suggestion and we both went back to silence, sitting side by side on the tree, wondering our own business.

“It was nice enjoying a calm moment with a friend, Atlas.” Luna broke the silence after what seemed to be hours, but considering it was a dream, it could have lasted seconds to days. “I will have to depart now, I will see you in another night Atlas.”

She got up and opened her wings. Part of me stood up inside, thinking now was the moment to tell Luna one thing I had kept to myself, although my body kept on the ground. Luna then started flapping her wings and got out of the ground. At that moment, my body made a sudden move up.

“Luna, wait. Can I have your attention for just a moment?” The words came out of my mouth.

Luna turned around in the air and looked at me. “Yes?” She asked.

“It's been awhile since I wanted to tell you this and...” I started, blushing a little bit and directing my face to another direction, seeming a little shy. “Through the course of this all, I have been thinking of you a lot more and I think I...”

Luna looked at me steadily. I think she caught my drift but wasn't so sure. “What do you have in mind, Atlas?” She asked me, landing back on the ground.

“This might be very strange and maybe even a surprise, I don't know, but I...” I paused. I controlled myself and straighten up and encouraged myself again. “I think I feel love for you.” I said it. Not thinking ahead of time. It was either a mistake or the right thing to do. I don't know about that yet, but something inside me told me it was better for me to tell her, at least to let her know.

Luna stood there in front of me in silence, but she seemed to be a little lost in her own thoughts now. I decided not to disturb her, but the expression on her face didn't change, and I didn't know what that meant.I fucked up, didn't I?

“I must admit I wasn't expecting you to tell me, but I could notice that from your reactions to what your friend Blackburn would say about me and you.” She told me after thinking for some time, giggling. My face became red.

“...So you knew?” I asked.

“I could say so. And the way you acted the last night I came to see you only reinforced that, you were trying to show me you cared, and I appreciate that. As the princess of the night, I still don't receive as much praise as my sister even after coming back to rule alongside her.” She explained. “Having one of the few people I care about myself show me that they care about me, to the point of showing me love, is something I can't explain how much it matters to me.”

“So...” I tried continuing, but I realized I was without words to.

“I'm sorry Atlas, I know that you feel something big for me, and for me that is really lovely and kind of you.” She continued for me. “but I'm not sure about this. I have a lot to consider about this and right now I don't think it's the time.”

I hanged my head down, hiding the frown my face had just put on. “I understand. I just felt I needed to let you know.”

Luna walked up to my side and put one of her front hooves around me, trying to give me comfort. “Don't be sad Atlas. I might not have a definitive answer to this, but that only mean I haven't made a choice yet. It doesn't mean I said "no". We have yet to see what might happen.” She told me. “I see you are willing to open yourself to me, and I think I might do the same. What do you say about us becoming just really close friends for now?”

“I-I...” I still couldn't talk, and my face was flowing with the color red. I straighten up and decided to give her an answer. “I'd love that. Being always there for you, I mean.”

Morning came and the light of the morning sun reached the room where me and my friends slept. I woke up feeling good. Last night's dream was something I surely hadn't expected, how it turned out to be was surely something I didn't see coming. But once again, I wasn't expecting to see Luna last night anyways. What happened after I decided to tell her how I felt was what got me surprised. I felt an urge to confess that to her.

Getting up, I noticed my friends were still sleeping. I got out of my bed and started sneaking my way to the bathroom, trying not to disturb Violet, or wake Blackburn from his slumber. Arriving at the bathroom, I had succeeded on my mission and so I closed and locked the door of the bathroom.

I walked up to the sink and the mirror and brought my wounded leg up on the sink. I started removing the bandage and I could feel the cloth being ripped from my exposed flesh, the sensation was really unpleasant, although resistible. I put the bloody bandage aside and took a look at the wound. It looked the same, and another small bleeding had just started, since the bandage was partially turning into part of my skin. If this wasn't a virtual wound, it would leave a hell of a scar. I started taking a look at my skin, getting my grey coat, now a little dark red from the blood around it, out of the way. I saw the red veins that would go all the way up my leg, but I was only able to see that it until halfway to my knee. This doesn't look good. I thought. The infection was spreading up my leg, and that was only a matter of time before I became sick and it took over my leg, which could leave me incapacitated until I got back to Canterlot.

It was until my head considered something worst. What if the infection gets to my heart? “Just keep a look at it, we don't know how dangerous a Beedrill's venom can be to a pony.”

I lead my mind away from that thought washing the wound and walking back to the door, unlocking it as I reached it. I had to walk to my saddle bags to see if I had any straps of cloth in there so I could make some clean bandages, even if I didn't mind wearing the old ones, it was mostly so my friends didn't think I wasn't paying attention to my condition.

That lead me to memories from my past again. Me and my selflessness. There had been multiple occasions I had put my own desire, or even emotions aside for others. I'd barely pay attention to myself, I was more worried about the people near to me, the ones I cared about. My only friend, my dad, and some other folk I'd keep contact with even if I were never so kin to them. It wasn't until I was hit by my own problems, and boy, was I hit hard by them, that I realized that the selflessness in me would bring me problems. I wouldn't care about my emotional side, or even about hunger, money, my own future. I was mostly focused on supporting others on their own paths, boosting them up or even making them see there could be something great for them, even if it was to a small group of people. Dad would say That there is going to hit you and won't even see it coming. I'd change that attitude if I were you, but I guess I never learned until it really happened. Although being selfless could turn you into a lighter pony, more kind and generous, and even cheerful, the fact that you don't look at yourself can mean trouble. If something bad happens to you, you don't even care, and I had to have my friends to show that to me. That I matter just the same.

Putting my past aside, I walked to my bag, this time not minding if I made any sound or not. Blackburn was still sleeping after I left the bathroom about ten minutes later. Violet on the other side was waking up. She was already moving out of her bed when I got out of the bathroom with my wound exposed.

“Mornin' Atlas.” She said, followed by a long yawn and her blinking eyes focusing on me. “How was the ni-” She stopped, her eyes widening on my wound. “-why is your wound exposed like that?” She asked me surprised.

“My night was great, thanks for asking.” I answered her first unfinished question. “and I was just walking to my bags to get a piece of cloth or a proper bandage to hide this off.”

“You took a look at it this morning?” She asked me.

“Yup, moments ago before you and Blackburn were awake,” Then I added. “Well, sorta, since Black there is still sleeping like a bear.”

She giggled “Yeah, I think we all got exhausted from yesterday's events such as walking, battling and you competing on that competition.”

“Yeah, I think you are right.” I finished with a smile and then looking at my sleeping friend and back to Violet. “I'm thinking of getting some breakfast this morning. You want to come with me?”

“I think I'm fine, I'll wait Blackburn and meet you there.” Violet replied. “But thanks for the offer.”

I walked up to my saddlebags, removing the last piece of cloth I kept around from it and then using my magic to wrap it around my arm. “Suit yourself.” I finished our conversation and started walking to the door. With my wound carefully protected from further harm, I could easily walk again, but the pain did not stop there. I could now feel my leg pulsing, like if I could feel the veins and the blood that would go through them. I could feel the flesh like if it wasn't part of me, and the unpleasant sensation of it being connected to made it even worse. I was like a rock that I wanted to remove so badly but couldn't. I finally decided to ignore the feeling.

I got out of the room and headed downstairs, where the breakfast was served for the ponies staying for the night. There was plenty of different fruits and foods for people to try, many from the local region, but I decided to stick with I would normally eat. I floated three apples up to my plate and sat by one of the tables, taking also a two loafs of bread and an orange juice. That would be enough to keep me running for the day, or at least until my body feels that it is giving up.

After a while, my two companions, Blackburn and Violet, headed down from our room to take breakfast too. I realized at that moment that Violet had something back for my childhood friend, and it was nice to see the two were building something together. Blackburn never was so happy to have someone, and I bet Violet too, but I don't know her as much.

The two sat with me on the table and we ate together. About 20 minutes later we finished eating. I finished earlier, but I stayed with them until the end. After that, we walked out of our inn and took a look at the city. Ecruteak city was a beautiful city, even if small and just part of a program, but this isn't something you usually see on Equestria, specially at Canterlot. The making of these places probably took a lot of research to make, and later to program, I even wonder how it is done.

Some time later, we walked by what seemed to be an old house, burned down to the ground. there would be some old ashes and burned logs by the house and the roof seemed somewhat destroyed. it stood up on a rock, like if it was it's foundation. By the stairs that leaded up to it, there was a sing. It told us:

"Burned Tower

It was destroyed by a mysterious fire.

Please stay away, as it is unsafe."

“So there was a tower here before?” Violet asked, curious. She looked at me and Blackburn, as we knew more of this world than her. My friend looked at me and I stared at him back, like if we were mentally discussing who would explain about the tower to her. I finally gave up before we spent more time with this and looked back at Violet.

“Well, you see...” I begun to explain. “The burned tower was where the old Bell Tower, that one over there,” I pointed to the big tower a little distanced from the city. “but was burned to the ground, although not much is known about what happened and why it burned.”

She looked at the Burned Tower, not anymore as it was just a house with an open burned roof. She kept inspecting it, while me and my friend looked at her, Blackburn was probably staring at something else, but I was inspecting her eyes, waiting for her to lock at something and see what had caught her attention. It didn't take long until she did what I expected. The pegasus had caught something that interested her and so I stopped looking at her and looked at the tower, and I probably saw what she was looking at.

The doors were open wide, and by it there was a group of four ponies. An earth pony, an unicorn and two pegasi, and I knew who those were. It's been since Goldenrod, but I think I found Freddie and his gang again.

An feeling inside of me started. It wanted me to go up there and fight that bully, prove that he was no better than anyone, but that would only put my friends and my pokemon at danger. I wasn't ready. They weren't ready, and that would mean probably the end. It was too soon, and I could see it was revenge talking. It was one of the many chances I would have.

I realized Blackburn was looking at me, his eyes locked at me and his face told me he was mad, or seemed like that. I looked back at him.

“Don't worry, I'm not going to challenge that fucker yet. There is still too much to do.” I told him. His gaze did not change. “Even if I want to.”

“You are not ready.” He told me back.

“We are not ready.” I replied.

Violet now looked at both of us, confused. She then looked at the people on the building and looked at us again, this time with understanding eyes. She knew what we meant this time.

Without a word, me and my friends walked to the other side, this time aiming for the gym. I was planning on going out of town right after, we had no time to lose.

We arrived at the gym. This one wasn't different than the others, at least it's outside didn't. The double doors opened and me and my friends walked inside. It was dark, but still had enough light to see. We walked up to the stage, where all the battles were had. The gym leader was nowhere to be seen.

I levitated Pulse's pokeball and Blackburn caught the pokeball of his starter. We needed more light, so our pokemon would be our best options for lanterns. He let out his Charmeleon, and commanded it to keep the flame on it's tail high, to give us enough light. I let out Pulse, the rings of his Umbreon body would give us a good source of light. I would have used Phoenix, but get her to keep breathing fire would exhaust her too much, so I decided to go with a passive ability.

Out of nothing, a dark smoke started appearing on the other side of the field. I started feeling a strange and dark sensation in my mind. It was disturbing. It was way too unnatural, uncomfortable to have come out of my mind. The alien feeling decided to speak with me

WE ARE ALL CRAZY HERE

I was surprised. I looked to my friends and they looked just the same as me. Surprised. I wasn't the only one to be having something strange happen to me. I wasn't going crazy or being taken by my other self this time. That managed to calm me a bit, but I was still worried because there was something taking over my mind.

The smoke on the other side finally concentrated enough in one spot, and I could see a pair of eyes coming out of it. Red big and scary eyes.

I felt the sensation finally leave me, and then I was hit by relief. I saw three lines of smoke moving above me, one coming out of me and the other two probably coming out of my friends. Finally, after the smoke had got itself in only one place and I was sane enough again, me and my friends waited. Some time passed and the smoke disappeared. Now there was an unicorn standing on the other side. He wore a scarf with what seemed like a badge on it. By it stood four other pokemon, a Gastly, two Haunters, and the creature with the two red scary eyes, a Gengar. They were all known ghost pokemons, and before us was their trainer, the known gym leader Morty.

“Welcome all to my Gym. My name is Morty.” He welcomed us, but before we could say anything he went ahead and continued. “Save your breath, I know everything you are going to say. I can see the future, and I tell you none of you are going to last.”

The back of my mind instantly told me to keep an eye out for this guy. He was a gym trainer, and if they really made him to see the future, this would be harder than expected.

We all would have to battle this guy, and we would have to do it in a way that he does not see it coming, otherwise that would easily end our game right here. I looked at my friends. They looked back at me. I nodded.

I stood there, on my place, sweating and feeling the adrenaline run through my body. I was tense. All my party members but Aurora and Seeds were harmed. I had managed to keep a good battle with Morty for a good while, and my two friends had already battled with him. Violet was quick and efficient, and Blackburn had some problems, even losing one his companions that he caught back when it was a Graveler on the battle, a big loss, but we would help him through it. I had my own problems now.

Right now, I decided to switch Seeds up. It was him against the Gengar, and his red eyes stared at me and Seeds. It was disturbing. Seeds wouldn't have any trouble, but I decided not to take any risks. I was going to use Pulse, he would be able to take the Gengar in no more than one hit.

I looked at Morty. He now stared at me, a grin in his face. A cold grin. I felt my body shivering because of that, and it scared me. This guy had proven that he could preview our next moves, I was actually surprised I could take on his other three pokemon without that much trouble. I looked away and looked at Seeds, he was staring directly at me.

“Alright Seeds, it won't take long, I promise. I just need a turn to heal Pulse and you are free from this battle, alright?” I tried to assure my friend.

Seeds kept looking at me, worried, but then nodded in understanding. I turned and opened my saddlebags, levitating a Super Potion and giving it to Pulse as fast as I could. In the meanwhile, the Gengar made a move. I looked over at my gadget and the log read:

"Gengar used Ice Punch"

My body went cold. The shivering stopped and I felt the sweat over my head become the hottest thing I ever came in contact with. I started feeling sick. It was over. Our battle was over. I was going to win, but not without a loss. Seeds was going to take it hard, but I couldn't stop now, I hoped Seeds had survived as I heard the sound of ice breaking from behind my back. With Pulse fully healed, I turned back to Seeds. He had been hit, his health was almost gone, but he was still standing. Now he looked at me with a face of courage, but fear as well. We both knew what this mean, but I think I had a chance of saving my friend and stopping his death.

I had to switch him out. Fast. If I got him out of combat, he would not be hit and go down. I decided to do so. I switched Seeds with Pulse, but right after I did that, I heard a laughter from the other side of the room. It was Morty. I looked at him, and he stopped laughing, but kept his scary grin. I felt like if my body became soulless.

“Gengar.” He said. “Use Pursuit.”

My jaw dropped, and I heard gasps from behind me. Morty had seen it. He knew I was going to switch, and it was too late. I had brought the doom to my own pokemon.

The Gengar ran in Seeds direction, and that moment felt like an eternity. I saw every second, every frame of second. And everyone of them seemed like a slow motion movie, and I could do nothing about it.

The Gengar reached Seeds, giving it a punch right on the face, and launching him meters away. My gadget beeped, and I felt like the beep was something new, even if I heard it countless times before. I knew what it said.

"Seeds had fainted died."

A tear came down my face, and right before my eyes, I saw one of my many companions draw it's last breath, but with courage. More courage than fear. It didn't matter, that hit me hard.

I felt a need for revenge. To take Pulse out and make that Gengar suffer more than anytime before, I screamed to Pulse. Pulse was covered in a dark ball and went flying directly at the Gengar, who only stood there.

"Gengar has fainted. Gym Leader Morty was defeated."

“An eye for an eye, you motherfu-” I tried to go ahead and stab Morty with my horn. I was mad. I wanted revenge. but I was be stopped by my friends. “I guess you didn't really see yourself losing, did you? You piece of shit!”

Morty just stood there, looking at me. His grin did not change. I was floating Seed's body by my side and I felt my friends, mostly Blackburn, dragging me away. “Calm the fuck down Atlas,” Blackburn tried to keep me shut. “I know you are mad, but this is not the place for this.”

I stopped and pushed my two friends aside. They got ready to catch me if I tried running up to Morty again, but I just simply turned away. Placed the body of my friend on my back, called all my pokemon back, and walked to the entrance.

“Oh, I did see me losing. But you will still suffer a much greater loss in the future.” Morty whispered and started laughing. He thought I didn't listen. I listened just fine. I walked out with my friends and the door of the gym shut behind us.

“It was your fault! if you didn't had missed that bite, Seeds wouldn't have to go out!” Venom blamed Phoenix behind me. All my pokemon other than Aurora were having a discussion behind me, while I stared down the grave I built, by the side of the grave my friend built to his Graveler.

“You are blaming me?! I thought Pulse was supposed to be the main fighter at that place, and besides, you are the one with the highest defense here! You were supposed to last longer!” Phoenix replied.

“I was supposed to carry us?” Pulse questioned out loud. “I took more damage than any of you, and Scout doesn't even take damage from ghosts! Were you expecting everything from me?” Pulse threw a threatening glance at Phoenix, and Phoenix did the same with him.

“They didn't have only ghost attacks Pulse! You saw that I almost died there myself!” Scout got in the discussion.

I kept by the recently holes covered in dirt that me and Blackburn made, in silence. It didn't take long for me to get tired of their discussions behind my back. Blackburn didn't care about the discussion though. He either didn't care or chose not to care. Aurora was by me, unsure of what was happening. I myself didn't know as well.

I turned to my pokemon, now almost attacking themselves. “Enough!” I screamed. My pokemon, surprised, all stopped being a pain to each other and looked at me. “We are a fucking team here! I understand Seeds was a very important member of our group, but if you are all going to blame his death on each other when it was my fault for using him, and start being assholes with one another, if you don't feel like walking by the side of each other anymore, you can all just go home!” They stopped, backed off from each other, apologizing for the names called, finally stopped and looked at me.

“I'm not joking, if any of you want to leave, go on, you are free to go!”

Blackburn by my side started walking to Violet, who was a little down the road waiting for us.

“The rest, who still chooses to come with me and Aurora can just follow me.” I turned around and started walking to my friends. My pokemon kept silent, unsure of what to do, but after a few steps, I heard the sound of steps behind me, catching up. They all followed.

I was once again taking the lead on the road. I went ahead and my friends followed. We were going down Route 39 now. I haven't said a word to my pokemon even now. I was mad at them, because they need to respect each other. If we can't live together, we will all die alone. Even if death in this world didn't mean my end, it meant for them. Right now they were all in their pokeballs as we traveled.

I also did not capture any pokemon in this route. I wasn't looking for a new replacement for Seeds this soon. The thought of replacing one of the very first pokemon I ever caught was some what dark, but later on it would be needed.

Me and my friends were very near to Olivine by now. We would arrive and maybe catch the boat to Cianwood this very night, but I was willing to spend some time to look around the area. Loot the place, restock in supplies, rest a bit, or even challenge the steel gym right away if I was confident enough.

Alright, not the gym, I'd be getting way too cocky at this pace. I had to be patient. Remember what Luna told you. Take things easy, don't rush it up. Don't let it take over you, Atlas. I told myself over my mind.

I could see the city in the distance, near us, but still a good walk down a hill until we arrived. There was a big Miltank farm by my right an-

Ugh. I fell and stopped. My wound decided to start feeling pain again. I felt the pain flowing up my leg and getting to the rest of my body. I felt like I was collapsing and it didn't felt good. I just have the worst luck, don't I? What else can go wrong today?

“Atlas!” Both my friends screamed behind me, hurrying up to help me out. “Are you alrigh-”

“I'm fine, don't worry about me.” I waved my hoof so they didn't come up to and got worried up. “It's just my wound. It hurts again, but we should keep going. It's not that far now.”

I got up. No. Forced myself up and kept walking. Both my friends stood behind me, looking at me for another moment, but started to follow me again after about two seconds. They were worried, I could sense that.

We walked for about another twenty minutes before I fell on the ground again. both my friends walked up to me, but this time they did not give me the chance to refuse help. Blackburn lifted my left leg and Violet got my right side. I looked right at their faces and their faces told me they were deeply worried about me. It was obvious I could barely keep up. “We going to get you to Olivine, don't you worry your little horn about it.” Blackburn told me and finished with a smile in his face, as to comfort me. I smiled back. Even if I never agreed with their help, doesn't mean I didn't need it.

At that point it didn't take long for us to arrive at Olivine. It was still afternoon, it's been two hours since we took our lunches and kept travelling. What a big country after all, they always seemed smaller when I played the games. Olivine this time didn't seem different. Just like the other cities, they were built just like their game versions. Olivine was small, didn't have much other than a restaurant where sailors would spend the night, a big lighthouse, a few houses, the Steel-type gym, as well as the usual pokemon market and center. Olivine is the major port city around Johto, so naturally the city is filled with sailors, also drinking on the local cafe before another one of their long sailing trips.

My friends stopped, and since I was basically being carried, so did I. “Atlas, how is your leg feeling?” Violet asked me.

I haven't really paid any attention to it until now. I felt like my leg was giving up. I could feel my heartbeat right at the wound, and my muscles wouldn't relax, leaving my leg hot like it had it's own fever, and I felt like somehow my bandage had tighten up. I told Violet that.

“You don't seem like you can keep going like this, you don't seem like you would be up for another trip without a rest, even a boat trip.” Violet said. “I'm afraid we are going to need to leave you here for a day or two while we go get the medicine ourselves.” She suggested.

“Leaving me behind?” I asked again. She nodded. “Well... I think I could stay around Olivine for a while. I have my pokemon to protect myself if anything happens, and I'll be staying at the inn probably. It's better if I don't move, y'know?”

“The two of us don't need to go.” Blackburn said. “One of us can stay with you if you need anything.”

“Don't worry, I'll be fine.” I told him. He gave me an unsure glance. I smiled and winked at him. Violet did not see my wink, and fortunately Blackburn had catch my drift. He finally understood that I was giving them both some time alone, without me around. I can see these two have something, and I was willing to let my friend have some fun. “Come on, let's go. Just drop me by an inn and you guys can go get your boat”

“Is any of you Atlas Bluetone?” A pony with a delivery cap came by me and my friends on our way to the inn.

“That's me. Why?”

“I've got this letter for you.” The pony then opened his saddle bag and gave me a letter. “Have a good day, sir.” Then the pony walked away.

I looked down on the letter I was holding with my magic, since my hooves were being held by my friends. The letter didn't contain any kind of information on the envelope, other than the seal and the stamp that kept the letter closed. I couldn't recognize the symbol, but it was certainly familiar. I took a deeper look at it and realized It was from the Royal Guards over Canterlot.

“Aren't you going to open in, Atlas?” Violet asked.

“Not yet.” I replied. “I'm too tired now and in need of a Rest. Maybe later today.” I didn't really had any plans of opening it right now. I was curious, but I was tired.

She nodded to me and we kept walking.

“You both enjoy your trip. Take your time there, and don't worry, I'll be fine around here.” I told my friends, now that I was comfortable enough on my room. Night was falling and their boat would be leaving soon.

“We promise to come back for you though.” Blackburn told me. “We ain't just leaving you behind like this. Enjoy your days on this bed okay? And there is food on the saddlebag over there so you don't feel hungry.” He finished, looking over for me.

The two them said their goodbyes to me again and left. I was laying in my bed now, my pokemon out of their pokeballs again, all sitting by my bed, except Venom, who was on sitting on the middle of the carpet in the ground since he was a little too big. They were all in silence and keeping to themselves.

I was about to turn around and sleep, but I was interrupted by the sound of Scout's voice.

“Hey, master, we uh...” Scout started.

“We wanted to apologize for earlier today. We shouldn't have acted like that with eachother.” Phoenix finished.

“Yeah. I guess we just let that get over our heads, losing a someone from the family and trying to find someone to take the blame.” Venom said.

I didn't turn around, but I smiled, and I think they knew I smiled. “You are all forgiven. I just wanted to remind you all that we are a family, and that we should stick together as one, other than discuss and fight between ourselves.” I said. “Now if you all excuse me, I'll drift off to sleep, I'm a bit too tired, sorry we have to end this conversation right now, but you guys feel free to poke around the room. Good night everyone.” I finished there. I was way too tired to keep a conversation going right now. I needed some sleep, and not only that I was hoping to see Luna.

Luna did not come that night.

“I don't know guys, I'm a little worried.” I heard Pulse's voice.

“Just let him sleep. That wound there got him pretty bad, he need some rest.” Scout replied. “After all, I saw when he got hit by it.”

I was waking up while my pokemon had a conversation by me. They seemed worried about me for some reason. I started by slowly opening my eyes and turning y head around. “I'm up, don't worry.” I said with a sleepy tone. My speech was slow as I was mostly waking up. “Now, what is all this "worrying about me" about?” I started getting on my hooves.

“I was just worried Atlas.” Pulse responded. “You were asleep more time than usual.”

“Have I?” I lifted up my hoof with my gadget on it. opening the clock I saw it was already afternoon. I then took a look outside. The was filled with clouds, and the sky was darker than ever before. We might have a storm coming.

Boy, I had been asleep for more than twelve hours. I put my hoof back on the ground and jumped out of the bed. As my wounded hoof landed on the ground, I fell because it was too weak. Only now I realized that what I was feeling yesterday has gotten worse over the night, but not only that, I was having a fever. Thinking would make it worse, which had made a lot of things harder for me, such as the use of magic.

Pulse ran to me in order to aid by letting my hoof stay on his back. With his help I started walking over to my things, on a table nearby. I'm hungry. I need some food. I used my limited thoughts to remind myself of my needs for survival. Arriving at the table, I got my bad leg up on the table and lifted my other hoof up the table as well. I took at look at the things on the table, trying to locate what I wanted.

food... food... food... letter...? My eyes targeted the letter I was given yesterday. I pushed chair by the table and sat on it. I opened the saddle bags, grabbing an apple out of it, but keeping my eyes on the letter by the bag. I took a bite of the apple, which made me feel a little better as the hunger started to fade away. I then picked the letter with both hoofs now, opening it and removing the envelope.

"Dear Atlas Bluetone,

"This is a letter from the Officials from the Royal Guard of Canterlot. We would like to inform you of the passing of your father, a loyal soldier long retired from his position, but still brave and remembered by our highest members. We are sorry about this announcement, for it is one of the hardest news to bare and accept. We are grateful of the services your father did for Equestria, and we hope the best for you through this situation. If there is any favor we from the Royal Guard of Canterlot could do for you, don't be afraid to ask us.

"Sincerely, Shining Armour."

“Fa-fa... father?” I said that word like if it was my first time pronouncing it. Pulse and my other pokemon looked at each other in doubt of what was happening. I felt all the pain in my leg disappear for a moment, letting both of my legs shake and drop the letter on the ground. My headache and fever disappeared like if they were never there. I felt cold.

“Master, what is going on?” Phoenix asked. I listened but didn't seem to pay any attention to it.

“Master?” I heard Aurora's voice by the chair. I slowly moved my head to see her. She was hugging one of the chair's legs. She made a face of surprise when I felt a tear scoring down my face, the others gasped as well. My father had just died, and I did not know if this was true or not. It couldn't be... but...

"Olivine Café." The sing told me. It might look like a simple and nice cafe, but it sells much more than just small and nice meals. No. They had to fill the sailor's needs, and so they started selling everything from soft drinks to drinks filled with alcohol.

Is this really how you want to spend the rest of your afternoon? I asked myself, but this voice was different. It was Janus. Long time no see.

My father just died and I don't know how to handle it. Will you at least let me have a moment? I asked Janus.

Drinking is bad. You might get drunk and do stupid things. Imagine if you get in trouble, or worse, in a battle.

I'm just trying to drift my mind away from this, okay? I argued. It's just today.

I did not let Janus reply. I only stood there, looking at the door.

I opened the door to my room. I dropped my saddle bag on the ground again and headed over to the window, which gave me a nice view of the road which lead me an my friends from the Miltank farm to the city. I didn't do it. I could have wasted myself until I didn't remember the face of my father, but I just walked away from that cafe filled with drunken ponies. I thought to myself, reconsidering if my decision of not going in that cafe was the right option or not, for the third time.

I opened the window and the wind immediately started to blow at my face and hair. The storm was closer than never before. Down the road, not very far, I saw a group of black-jacketed ponies walking in the direction of town. I had a feeling deep down my heart, and all the way to my stomach, wrapping it up. Something seemed amiss.

Black jackets. Black jackets. My head went back to when I saw Freddy back at Ecruteak and when I threw a pony out of the Bellsprout Tower a while ago. Freddy wore black jackets since I remember meeting him for the first time, and the new member, as well as the other "grunts" he recruited in Goldenrod all wore black jackets as well, but not with the same detail. Would it be...

I turned my head, looking at my pokeballs. Pulse, Phoenix, Scout and Venom. That would be my team. It was a group so I was expecting more than just a foe. My head started thinking of revenge. If he was there, this would be my chance. You are not ready. A voice in the back of my head reminded me. It was neither Janus or me, it had been Luna. If they want to spend the rest of their time in a hotel sleeping until the game automatically eliminates them, they can. If they want to go rampaging other players, they can. If they wants to burn down a whole city like Goldenrod, if they has the firepower to do so without being defeated by the people of the town, well, they can. I was reminded of the examples Drake gave me back at Goldenrod.

I walked out. “Well, someone gotta save everypony.” I said to myself, instantly forgetting revenge. I had the objective of saving people now, and this time, it was going to cost my life and the life of my friends probably. Just don't trust these folk too much. You never know when one of them could stab your back when you are not looking. Janus reminded me. I kept that in mind. “If this folk make any sing of trying to take over by force, I'm going to defend it myself. ”

Outside was looking stormy.

I saw a group of ponies walking down their way to the town. They had a bunch of pokemon with them and I admit I felt somewhat scared. I turned around to see my five pokemon.

“Guys, listen up.” I said as the windy blew by me and a drizzle started. “I ask for the help of all of you to stay by my side at this.”

They looked confused at each other. I had to yet explain what was about to happen. “What is going on, boss?” Phoenix asked.

I looked at Aurora and looked back at everyone again. “I got the news that my father died yesterday, when I received that letter. I'm sorry I didn't explain it right away, it was just hard for me to take it, and it still is since my family is all gone now.” I explained about this morning. “After that I saw a group of ponies was moving into town, who might just want to take over the town, if this feeling of mine is not wrong. I'm asking you if you could help me defend it, possibly by myself, and putting at risk all of our lives.”

They gasped, specially Aurora, who tried to hide behind Venom since she never battled before. I wasn't planning on using her, but I had to let her know. Pulse walked up to me. “Of course we are going to stand by you.” He looked me in the eyes, then walked back a bit and looked at the rest. “We are a family;” Then turned his head to me. “Your family.”

I heard the words, and even though they were just words, it meant something for me. It was true. I forgot I wasn't alone, I still had my friends. I smiled at my friends. It was a small but happy and comforting smile. I then turned back to the entrance and waited for my foes to come. My pokemon walked to my side, and Aurora climbed on my back, still shaking.

The wind became stronger. I heard the first thunder hit the waters on the sea. The Monsoon was about to start.

The black-jacketed pony folk entered town.

I saw two ponies running out of a pokecenter ten minutes later. I called everyone back to their pokeballs and moved in to interfere.

Chapter 10: A Stormy Day

“'Can it get worse' you ask me. 'of course it can' I answer 'but maybe not just yet' I will later add. We will then keep on moving until that day comes”

“Just because I'm injured...” I said as I walked to where ponies were running from. All my pokemon were following me with a look of determination in their eyes. “... And because I just lost both a friend and my father...” I kicked open the door to the pokemon center. “.... You think you can just come in here...”

There was a pony with a Lairon, a Nidorina, and a Combusken, out o their pokeballs, helping the trainer keep everypony on the ground like in a hostage situation.

“You think you can just come in here and show me this bullshit?” I said it out loud this time, everyone heard it. The pony turned and I looked him in the eyes. It was not Freddy. I didn't care. I only glanced at him.

Scout flew over me with the speed of a bullet, aiming for the Combusken just like I would ask him, but he read my thoughts first. Phoenix and Venom did the same, going for the Lairon and the Nidorina respectively. The pony in front of me acted quickly, but not quickly enough, commanding his pokemon to attack back, not saying a word as well. “Who the hell are you?” He asked me.

I didn't answer. I only felt my face putting on an sorta evil grin. Phoenix and Venom were quick with their foes, putting them down pretty quickly. I even doubted this was a battle between two competitors for a moment. Scout did a good job as well, but I asked him to hold back on the Combusken and just pin it down for a moment. The pony's face quickly changed from a courageous, full of self-esteem, face to an scared and surprised look in his eyes. He started trembling. “Your eye...” His voice was breaking. He started backing off but was stopped by the desk where the center's lady would stay. “It changed colors!”

I looked down, at my reflection on the ground. It was hard to see a difference in the ground, but I stared at my own eyes enough through the clean ground to notice the change of tone. My right eye went from blue to red, while my left eye stayed the same. You seem to be doing a good job. I heard the voice of Janus at my head. “You too.” I mouthed at my own reflection. I looked back up and gave the command for Scout to finish his job. After the permission was given, I only looked back at the door and walked out with my pokemon.

I heard the sound and the light coming from behind me. Scout quickly joined us after finishing his foe and eliminating the scared pony.

The storm started and the sound of thunders hammering the ground not so far from the city could be heard.

One down, a bunch left.

I don't know what I'm feeling. I doubt it is anger or the feel for revenge. At most, I'd say as a way of me letting go of all of this bad stuff that happened lately. I'd be feeling down, probably down on my bed right now if it wasn't for this. First, I have barely paid any attention to my wound. I do feel it's pain, but it hasn't stopped me, and I'll probably get it's headache back as soon as I'm done with this, if I survive this in the first place. Second, I don't even know what got me into wanting to save this folk. I always loved helping ponies out, but this? I have never thought of stopping an evil group from taking a town. Not on my own at least.

who are you calling evil? The thought flashed in my mind. It was true. To me, and maybe to a lot of those ponies, this group was made out of bad ponies, evil ponies. But maybe to them they were doing the right thing, whatever it was. Quit it. I might not be the best pony in the world, but I sure don't terrorize others. Then the memory of me throwing a pony out of a building and people later recognizing me for it later. I mean not like this.

I walked up to the gym and opened the double doors. Two ponies from the same group were now blocking the entrance and keeping the ponies that worked for the gym inside. The leader didn't appear to be there though. A pegasus and an earth pony. They both turned and looked at me once I had opened the door. “Hey, what are you doing in here?” One of them rudely asked me, the earth pony. The other one scanned me and I saw his eyes widening when he stopped at my face a second time. I wasn't sure if it were my eyes or my wound that surprised him. Or maybe the pokemon standing behind me.

“Hey, I think the kid wanted a challenge in the middle of our attack.” The pegasus pony who scanned me said to his friend, but his voice was low, and almost breaking, but still trying to get a laugh out.

“You are god damn right.” I smiled.

“Then you came to the gym at the wrong time, pal.” The earth pony replied, courageously. He didn't seem intimidated by me as his friend was. Big mistake. Them both picked up their pokeballs and got their party out. This time I was against 12 foes

I was up against an Ivysaur, an Raticate, an Fearow, an Ninetails, an Arbok, an Jolteon, an Scyther, an Ariados, an Skarmory, an Zangoose, an Staravia, and finally an Luxio. A pretty big and well trained team, I'd say by it's looks. I might actually have trouble on this one, but it sure sounded like a challenge.

Ivysaur and Zangoose were up first. I went with Scout and Venom. My pokemon already knew what to do. When the battle came to an start, Scout flew directly and the Zangoose, who went running on a straight line to Venom. Venom kept an stance like if he was ready to attack, but he aimed for the Ivysaur. Scout tried bringing the Zangoose down, but the foe was fast to dodge and went back to his track. The Zangoose's claws now glowed. Scout did an U-turn and got the Zangoose on the back. The foe was not fast enough this time. The Zangoose cried in pain while he went flying to Venom.

Venom quickly spun and hit the Zangoose, making it fly to it's Ivysaur friend. The Ivysaur was also quick to act and grabbed his friend, now already fainted in the air, but was unable to dodge what came for it next. Venom dashed to the little plant with an speed I never thought would be possible from such a big pokemon as Venom. His right hand was glowing purple and he dug it at the Ivysaur, sending it and it's dead friend flying to the wall. Our next foe's were sent out: Scyther and Luxio.

Right after being sent out, the Luxio tried shooting a few lighting bolts at Scout. They were fast, but Scout was smart. He went flying right behind Venom, who took the last bolt but wasn't affected by it. Venom was about to counter when the Scyther came to join the party. Sliding under Venom's legs and dodging his tail, the Scyther climbed Venom's back and hit him on the back with it's blades several times. Venom took the hit, not being heavily damaged that much by it. Both foes could barely deal any damage to him since he was a poison and ground type. I Switched Scout with Phoenix, while Venom counter-attacked.

Venom grabbed the Scyther took it out of his back, throwing him on the other side of the our little battlefield at the gym's entrance. The Scyther recovered fast enough to land safely on the ground. Phoenix turned into her wheel of fire and went directly for the Scyther. The Luxio ran up to Venom and tried biting him. Venom jumped backyard just in time and tried hitting the foe with his tail. The Luxio, however, jumped right over it and backed off.

Venom then dug a whole in the ground, missing underground. The Luxio stood on guard, trying to see Venom's next move. Meanwhile, Phoenix Arrived at the Scyther, who only dodged her attack. Phoenix got out of her wheel attack and started flaming the bug down, who tried to run away from the flames, but was running out of space due to Phoenix and her flames. I stood there, observing the whole thing, and I could see this could be going on forever with all very well trained pokemon, although mine seemed to stay in sync with each other and me. I noticed it we could take both foe pretty fast, all I had to do was switch targets without making them notice it.

I tried a new thing. I thought of my plan, and ordered my pokemon through my mind. If we had a good connection with each other, and if that lady back at the pokeathlon was right, I should be able to put this through. Phoenix seemed to get my message. She kept chasing the Scyther, but she was luring her near the Luxio just as I asked. The Scyther, even if fast, wasn't smart to see our plan. Now it was Venom's part.

Venom jumped back to surface, just under Luxio until the electric pokemon moved out of the way. He ended up appearing just in front of the Scyther, one of it's hands glowing purple again. Phoenix jumped over the Scythe who slowed down as he saw Venom. Phoenix flew directly at the Luxio, who tried shooting another electric bolt at her, but missing in it's panic. Phoenix landed, letting her flames out again and burning the foe down. Meanwhile, Venom landed a Poison Jab at the Scyther, sending him flying away. Both foes now had fainted.

8 foes left.

I stopped watching the battle that was going on before my eyes. What was actually happening in seconds seemed like minutes to me. This battle was one of the most intense I had gone through, and even with the double amount of foes to battle, I was pulling through it. We were pulling through.

I looked aside, and found myself looking at Aurora. She looked at me worried, confused. “Why are we fighting?” She asked me, still not understanding why I was doing such a thing.

“I...” I tried to explain, but I found myself without words. I looked down in shame, like if I had just failed her. Moments later I got back to my battle.

Ninetails and Arbok were hard foes, they put up for a good battle. Being the same type of Phoenix and Venom, they resisted more than usual and were able to put up a fight, although they lost, only injuring my teammates a bit. I ended up switching to Scout and Pulse. They held well against the Ariados, Fearow, Raticate and Staravia, even if they got seriously injured. It was Pulse and Scout against a Jolteon and a Skarmory.

First things first, I switched Scout for Phoenix, seeing she was in better condition than my bird friend, and I used a hyper potion on Pulse. it was more than he needed to heal, but I wanted him at full health. I was not taking risks.

My two foes were on their last pokemon. They had seen their other friends go down already, so I suspected they were somewhat hopeless, but the expressions of tension and courage on their faces only told me they would keep on trying.

Ponies with this kind of determination don't seem like they would work for Freddie. I thought. Maybe they were just another group... but they were causing terror nonetheless.

The Skarmory flew directly at Pulse. Phoenix jumped in front of him to stop. Flames beat metal, and the steel bird knew that. It stopped almost immediately. I felt Phoenix grin, as if the lion just found it's new prey. Phoenix begun running after the bird like a hungry cat with an speed I never seen from her. It was definitely faster than Scout, and faster than a Quick Attack; maybe an Extremespeed.

She flew. Celestia be my witness, she flew like a pegasus. Launching herself up with flames, she flew with enough speed that she was surrounded by an white aura. She hit the Skarmory right in the chest, making it last by force and hit the wall after sliding on the ground a bit. Phoenix took the time it used to recover and gladly burned down the steel bird like if it was a piece of wood. I stopped looking, it was somewhat disturbing for me to watch a fried metal chicken in the making, as a not so found of metal/meat animal that I'm (Although, I'm curious about the taste, since Blackburn told me about the making of a steak he saw when selling pieces of meat to an mare back in Ponyville).

In the meanwhile, Pulse was battling his kin. The Jolteon was not so different from Pulse, only difference was it's form and type, but other than that both were the same at one point in life. Pulse was more defensive, evading each lighting bolt with precision and care, not to be hit. The Jolteon was defensive as well, but more aggressive as it missed more and more of it's electric attacks. It was starting to become more and more anxious, nervous. That lead it to being even more aggressive into trying to take down Pulse, and so probably it's biggest mistake was to not listen to the unicorn who was alone now, as his friend disappeared before his eyes. The Jolteon missed at probably point blank range, making it a easy prey for Pulse while it recovered from the recoil. Pulse did not have mercy, and I bet he couldn't at such a moment.

And so like that the battle was over. The gym was open again and I got the money the two of them held. My business here were done. My pokemon, now with a greater idea of what we were dealing with, lead the way, but I stopped them.

“Hold up.” I ordered. They all turned, looking at me with curious eyes. “Rest up a bit, I'm gonna heal you all up and we will go. I doubt there are many of them left, but we gotta make sure we are going to win this.”

They took no time to think, they only nodded and walked back to me. I delivered what I promised and we rested for a moment.

“Another one down.” I said out loud while Phoenix finished another foe without any difficulty.

I was defending the pier this time, it seemed they wanted something there. Steal a boat or something. I didn't know for sure, and I didn't care to know.

A pony in one of their jackets walked down the pier, at my direction. He didn't seem surprised by my eyes or nervous about the situation. He was far too calm for all of this, specially in the middle of a raging storm such as this. Something from inside me told me this was a problem.

The storm became a drizzle out of sudden. “You think you can defend this place just because you defeated all my friends?!” The pony screamed from his lungs. He was a unicorn, I could see now that the storm settled down for the moment. A white, red haired stallion, wearing the black jacket. No different from my other foes. I could also see the smug on his face.

“I'm gonna only going to give this warning once!” I screamed over the rain back. “Leave this town alone and tell Freddie this was useless plan.”

The pony started laughing. “like if I was going to work to that freak.” Then he kept on laughing. “Join an army just so can take the best pokemon I have away and leave me with a max of three or four just for a small percentage of the two hundred thousand bits prize?!” He made it sound like a crazy idea.

So he didn't work for Freddie, at least if he told me the truth. I felt a bit of guilty running over my mind as one of the reasons I was fighting them was for thinking Freddie was trying to take over the world, but it wasn't really the case. They were causing terror in the town nonetheless. Somepony had to stop them.

“Let's get this show on the road.” The unicorn said. Right after that picked a single pokeball out of his pocket and showed it to me. I brought up my gadget, and it told me my foe had only one pokemon. Either he lost the others, or he never had any more of them.

He threw it. The storm came back and now it was hard to say anything unless I screamed. It got hard enough to see over the curtain of gray the rain brought, with the sensation of wet fur over me and specially my wound and it's bandage.

Suddenly, sounds of steps came over to me, louder than the rain, and strong enough to make the ground tremble. I saw what seemed like a green wingless dragon coming closer, with a few dark holes over it's chest. It can't be. I thought. I was going up against a Tyranitar.

The monstrosity of a pokemon stood in front of me and my pokemon, and I had no idea of what to do next. Tyranitar was the last evolution out of a pokemon, and it could only evolve into a Tyranitar at level 55, according to the games. Sure, I never kept track of levels, and it didn't seem to matter all that much around this world, but on the game, this kind of thing wouldn't be here yet.

It's all right, you can deal with it. You can manage. I thought. It's just a Dark and Rock type pokemon. I was getting nervous and it was getting over me. Venom! The idea of using him against the Tyranitar for his one Fighting move and for being the bigger pokemon in my team, even if still smaller than the Tyranitar. I looked back at my friend, who was standing endlessly into the Tyranitar with some fear on his face. If it has any Ground type moves, then it means trouble, but I think Venom might be faster.

The thought was followed by the two dragon-like creatures fighting over one another, each with it's advantages over the other, and both the image of success and defeat. Venom was, after all, my best chance of getting out of this fight without having to bury someone as the storm ends.

No, Venom won't take the guy out fast enough not to suffer any kind of damage. I thought. I was trying to save lives here after all, and not risk them. Scout and Phoenix are out of the question, weakness to Rock. Pulse is the only one left. Not weak to either of it's types, specially against Dark. The thought continued. So I was planning on using Pulse at the start to weak it a bit. He was quick enough to avoid some hits, then I would bring Venom out and put the thing to an end.

The Tyranitar slowly walked forward, coming closer. Well, planning is over, time's out. “Alright, Pulse, you're on!” I pointed my hoof forward and Pulse caught my drift immediately. Running up to the beast, which surprisingly enough stopped and focused on Pulse's "running-in" strategy.

Pulse jumped, and turned around, his tail facing the foe and aiming it like if it was a baseball bat. Moments later the tail flashed in steel gray. Iron Tail. Since when does Pulse knows that move? I was amazed by the fact that my pokemon keep surprising me even after weeks since we met. The Tyranitar lifted it's arms up to his face to protect himself. The hit made the sound of a slash and made the Tyranitar back off a bit, I could now see the Unicorn near his pokemon, but still away, enough so I could see him through the monsoon.

"It's super effective!" The gadget announced in text. It was a good hit, but I was still a long way from defeating the thing. It had a good defense after all, so my hit wouldn't have done much anyway. I was hoping to get two or more hits on the Tyranitar before switching, but I had a guess that the amount of turns Pulse was going to be part wasn't really up to me.

“Our turn, Blaine.” The unicorn called to his Tyranitar. Blaine now was going to make his move, and this Tyranitar sure was up to battle. It stepped on the ground, making it tremble. I suspected he had summoned an earthquake. I was right. The move had hit Pulse with the force of a mountain, making him fall over.

I started running up to him, but Pulse quickly got back to his paws. He was badly injured. I have got to take him out. The first thought came over my head. But if I do, Venom, might not be able to take it out, then I will be left with one or two dead friends. The panic stated taking more of my mind.

“Atlas,” A voice spoke with me. Pulse's. “I can handle the next two rounds. Trust me.”

I looked at him. Even my eyes were trembling now. “Are you s-sure?”

Pulse nodded. The other round had started.

Pulse stood still, trying to see what Blaine would do next. Blaine did the same. Pulse decided to make a move first to speed things up. With the blink of an eye, Pulse had summoned other Umbreons to the field. No, it wasn't other Umbreons, they were all Pulse, illusions. I lifted my gadget up to my field of view. "Pulse used Double Team." It read. "Evasiveness was boosted."

The Tyranitar, unsure of where to attack, decided use another Earthquake, and so covering all the field we were battling in. Pulse was faster, he quickly sent all his "copies" with himself forward. He climbed Blaine's back, interrupting his move. Blaine flailed his arms around trying to catch Pulse, but fortunately for us, his arms were too small to reach for the real one. After missing the first one, Pulse took the moment and jumped on the Blaine's head, and then jumped again, using Blaine's head to boost himself higher than usual. Blaine didn't notice it though, he was too busy worrying about the illusions.

Pulse was now rolling in mid air, his tail standing out of the wheel form he got himself into. I caught what he was going to do now. Every moment that passed, Pulse was getting faster. The unicorn behind Blaine saw it, and tried to do something about. “Blaine, above you! The real one!” He screamed.

It was too late. Pulse started falling, and with an amazing speed, landing an Iron Tail at Blaine's forehead. The Tyranitar was startled by the hit and fell with it, hitting his chin on the wet ground. Pulse landed safely on the ground and quickly got back to my side. “I'm switching you up now, I hope you don't mind.” I whispered in his ear. Pulse nodded. “Oh, and don't scare me like that again, okay? I had enough of it back on Violet city.” I added.

Venom walked forward. He positioned himself while Blaine got back to his feet. I brought the gadget up again and opened the log of the last round. "Foe's Tyranitar used Flail. Pulse avoided it; Pulse used Iron Tail. Critical Hit! It's super effective! It read. I now took a look at Blaine's health. He was down to near the red are of the bar, that was good news since we can't heal in player battles. The next round was about to start.

“Blaine, use Hyper Beam!” The unicorn screamed over the rain, loud enough for me to hear it and filled with rage, so it was. A shiver came down me, but I wouldn't notice it since I was wet from the rain, if it wasn't for the neutral temperature that washed over me that moment. Blaine opened his mouth and a beam of light, cutting through the rain, hit Venom directly. It was a hard hit, but I could see Venom had taken the hit and handled it well. The gadget told me his condition was very critical, but I had two moves ahead of me, Blaine had to recharge after all. I saw the expression in the unicorn's eyes. He had made a mistake, he had raged. “B-but how?!”

I smiled. I turned around and looked at Aurora. She was under Scout's wing to protect herself from the heavy rain. She looked at me waiting for me to give an answer. I turned back to the unicorn. “Because even if we might not be well suited for this, or even prepared for such an opponent, we work as a team. We work as friends.” I answered his question out loud. To him, it didn't make any sense, but to me, it was all I needed to say, and looking at Aurora again, I saw she finally saw why we kept going. “Venom, use Double Kick!” I ordered out loud. Venom ran with all his strength up to the recharging Tyranitar and jumped. Lifting one of his foot up and hitting Blaine with it, then turning and giving it another kick, Venom successfully landed too super effective hits at the Tyranitar, throwing it at the ground and leaving it to the rain. The unicorn behind it disappeared in a flash of light.

And like that, it was over.

I healed Venom and Pulse afterwards, both had done a pretty good job, and we had defended the city with success. I got all my pokemon on their balls so they could rest. I moved slowly to the cafe again as exhaustion hit me after the all the adrenaline left, and also the pain from my wound, now wet, itchy and screaming in pain even more after the runs and movements it made while it wasn't really fit to.

I opened the door of the cafe. All the customers, both the sailors and the civilians, were looking at me with surprise in their eyes. They were looking at a wet unicorn with an red and a blue eye and a bandage on one of the legs, who just defend their city with his team. Yet, they didn't seen him like a hero. The rain had made it difficult to see and all they heard were loud scary sounds after all, as well as explosions.

I moved up to the desk in front of the kitchen, where the sailors would sit to easily refill their drinks. I sat and directed myself to the waiter pony without making any eye contact. “I'd like a cup of water. Cold water, and put ice on it,” I ordered. The waiter didn't move, I guessed she was scared. Probably thinking I had gone insane. “Please.” I finally added. The waiter didn't wait any longer. She moved into the kitchen and got to work.

One of the sailors, an earth pony, walked over to me. “You think you can just come here and order something after terrorizing the whole town?” He tried to intimidate me, but even his voice was breaking in a deep fear.

“Well, excuse me, but as I recall I just saved the town and one of those boats you are probably going to get stuck in for the next week or so.” I turned away from the desk and to the sailor, getting up from my chair. “I put my own will of staying in a fucking inn until I got better just to save this place, and to have you calling me something similar to the folk I just eliminated after I over push myself is not the high point of my day, buddy.” I widened my eyes. “Now look here, cully. Look into my eyes, look at the innocent blue eye first, and then to the other, and tell me.” I saw his eyes moving to one side to the other. “Tell me if I'm afraid of your so called muscles and masculinity, because the piano player here ain't a pushover like you think he is.” He was now trembling. It was like he saw his worst fear before his eyes, and maybe, just maybe, he really did. I pushed him and he fell back to the place he was standing before. I turned back to my desk just as the waiter came out of the kitchen. I sat down again, put a few bits on the table for the water and started drinking it, with all the time of the world. The cafe kept silent.

Well, I might have just proved those ponies I might really be a monster. I thought, I laughed in my mind right after. But in reality, I was just tired, exhausted and stressed. I didn't want to really deal with any sailors trying to put up with me right now, and all I wanted was some water and then to go back to my inn, even in such a rain.

Actually, you did good. Another voice spoke. Janus' voice. You saved them, but at the same time proved them you are not a pushover. With them fearing you, no way they are going to consider trying you.

I appreciate the help Janus.

I didn't do anything. He replied with something that surprised me. That was all you.

What about the colors in my eye? I asked. Why did one of them go red?

It's an ability you have that boosts your magic and resistance. He replied. I bring it with me everytime I take over you, that is why you assimilated it to me. The explanation made some sense. It was also scary and dark, but it made sense to me. I didn't know what it was or why did I have it, but I was going to get deep into that later. Although, you only got half of it, since your other eye didn't change.

Yeah, alright. I thought. I'm too tired for this anyway. I told Janus over my head while I finished my cup of cold water.

Less than ten minutes I was back at the inn, tired as exhaustion and pain caught up with me completely, and laid on my bed for a so waited rest. I was still in the middle of the afternoon, but it didn't matter to me. I wanted to sleep.

“Ah, the tree.” I said, looking at the place I wanted to go after everything had happened. “Not a completely bad day after all.”

I saw the tree on the top of the same hill as always, and I was at the same place I always stood when I found myself dreaming about this place: Down the hill.

So, I started making my way to it. As I forced myself up the grass hill, I looked up again and saw the shadow of a pony. Luna was visiting me tonight.

“Atlas!” Luna said in relief. She flew over me to meet me halfway up to the tree. “I was starting to think you wouldn't be coming up here tonight. I guess that wound of yours really got you pinned.”

I looked down to my hoof and saw the bandage. I never recalled having my wound in my dreams, this was the first time, but it felt like the same. “I guess so. I'm just glad you decided to hang with me tonight.”

“I'm sorry I couldn't talk with you yesterday.” Luna landed and started walking by me, keeping me company. “Something had happened to you yesterday, and I wasn't able to talk with you”

“Don't worry about it. It's okay.” I said. “I'd like to think that would have helped through the day I had, but with the death of my father, it wouldn't have made such a difference.” I hung my head down. Even if I tried to hide it from myself, the fact that both my parents were now gone was hard for me to take, and if made my heart fell bottomless.

“I have heard the news. I'm sorry about your father Atlas.” Luna placed a hoof over my back and tried to comfort me. Even if her voice can do that to me most of the times, this time the effect wasn't the same. “At least Shining Armor is lending a hoof, by even lending you a favor if needed.”

“Yeah...” I replied, not really bothering that much with favors. “I'm more worried of how things will be.”

“There, there, Atlas. You just need to calm yourself about the whole thing. It will take sometime to get used to.” She said, and later added: “Your friends and I will be by your side during this time. As for now, what do you say about if we settled down by the tree and relaxed for tonight?”

“I think I'd like that.” I lifted up my head, showing Luna a smile which, at least for me, showed that I appreciated what she said and meant.

We finally finished climbing the hill and arrived at the tree. I moved slowly to the place I'd sit, next to a branch that extended itself for a few meters before deciding to dig itself back down. Luna accompanied me, sitting by my side. We both sat there in silence for a while. Me because of the recent events, and Luna with one of her legs hugging me, since she barely knew how to deal, or help with this loss, other than just sticking around and being a friend.

“It was nice of you to protect the city back there.” She broke the silence. “It sure was a lot of work, but you did it all by yourself. A noble goal.”

“I don't know what I did and why I did it.” I said. “I try to believe I was trying to protect them, but in reality I probably was letting some of my anger out or trying to hit Freddie's plans, but neither of those feel true. I have no idea of why I really dealt with those guys.”

“Besides, they were terrorizing the place, somepony would have done the same if I didn't.” I added.

“Nonetheless, you did it.” Luna continued, trying to cheer me up a bit. “You stood at your current condition, under a thunderstorm, and stopped them even if you might caught a cold or even get eliminated.”

I smiled at her. “Yeah I suppose so.” I then looked forward, as trying to find something far, far ahead. Trying to find the reason. “It just doesn't feel like it.”

“Oh.” I remembered something. The eye color change. “Did you see how my eyes changed from blue to red, at least one of them? And do you know what it is?” I asked her, looking for more information then what Janus told me.

“Ah, yes, I noticed such a change.” She said looking for memories in her temple. “It's an event similar to the extra magic fields in a horn while it performs magic, but more rare. While the tiers happen when a unicorn exceeds it's normal magic limits by effort, which can lead to the malfunction of magic until it's back to normal, the eye changes are triggered by anger or determination. Such an even is rare, as only few ponies are capable of performing such a thing, not only unicorns. It acts like a booster to adrenaline, boosting physical and magical abilities without and withdraw until the event is over.”

“An unicorn long ago created an amulet enchanted with such ability, and only the pony wearing it would be able to take it off. It gave unicorns magic powerful enough to nearly reach Alicorns, but it also turned the user reckless, and refusing to listen to reason after a while, in other words, it corrupted the user. It was called the Alicorn Amulet, but it was lost long ago.”

“At first I thought it was your other you taking over, just like back in Goldenrod, but I suppose you're asking me because that isn't the case, is it?” She then asked.

“Apparently I triggered it myself.” I said.

“I haven't seen something like that since years before my original banishment to the moon.” She looked at me with curious, analyzing eyes. “Atlas, what you have there is a gift! A dangerous gift, but an gift indeed!”

“The way you fought with it, planning everything carefully, and yet not being taken down by weakness. It's clear that you know how to handle it.” She added.

“All right, all right.” I stopped her. “I'm not going to be triggering this thing all the time, because recalling it gives me the chills and I'd hate being corrupted. I just wanted to know. Thanks, your highness.”

She giggled. “You know you don't have to approach me like that, Atlas.”

“I know.” I said. “Just wanted to be a little more formal.”

The night followed. We chatted, laughed, and she was more than able to help me through a difficult night. No, I will not get better right a way, but she and my other friends will sure help along the way.

I heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” I said it loud enough to be heard well through the wooden door. I had been laying in my bed since I got up in the morning, had a walk around town, changed my bandage (the infection looking worse than before), and came back to pass the day, since I wasn't really expecting Blackburn and Violet to come back after just one day together all by themselves.

To my surprise, I was wrong. Both my friends came by the door, greeting me right away. “Atlas! We are back!” Violet said.

“And we got your medication right here, sick boy.” Blackburn added. Both of them were looking happier than before. I suppose they might have enjoyed the free day I gave them, after rushing them down to this place and not giving them enough time to explore and see the places we have been past already. I hope it's not too late to go back to them once we make our way back.

“Oh, welcome back guys.” I said, greeting them back. “So you guys really found an antibiotic?”

“Well, they didn't have for ponies, but we convinced them of producing one just for your problem.” Violet explained. “Fortunately they were kind enough to mix it for you.”

Blackburn took a small sack out of his saddlebags and threw it by my side in the bed. “That should get you going right away.” He said. “Funny how medicine works faster now days. I'm not sure if it is because of this place, or because we got them from zebras.”

I took the sack and opened it with my hooves. Inside there was a bunch of small, brown colored balls which looked like gum to me. I took one and got it in my mouth, then getting my cup of water on the end table and swallowed it after drinking some. The taste wasn't that good, but I could feel it already working at getting my body all new again.

“We are deeply sorry we took this long Atlas.” Violet started explaining, her face became a little red afterwards. “We came across some, uh, trouble, over there.”

I looked at Blackburn, he winked at me with his right eye so Violet wouldn't notice it. “It's all right Violet, no problem at all.” I said.

“Oh, we also heard of what happened around here...” Blackburn seemed somewhat uncomfortable. “Atlas, what did you do?”

“Well, I, um...” I looked away, memories of everything I had been through yesterday filling my mind. “It's a long story.”

“We were taking a look at the news channel when we see an attack happening in this city.” Violet started adding more information, showing me they knew part of it. “Later, we saw a picture of you challenging what looked like a dinosaur.”

“A Tyranitar.” Blackburn corrected. “Atlas, what happened yesterday? I thought we told you to stay here and rest.”

“Well, I got up trying to get myself some food over the saddlebags there,” I looked over to the table. “And I found myself looking over the letter I had received the day before...”

“Turns out the letter was from the captain of the Royal Guards, and it informed me of-” My voice started breaking. “Of the death of my father.” My friends' eyes widened in surprise after that, Violet also gasping. “I got overwhelmed and went over town trying to find something to help me. After passing by one hell of a stupid idea, I walked back here, where I would just rest, but I saw a group moving into town. I thought they worked for Freddie.”

“Turns out they didn't, at least from my understanding, and they wanted something from this town. I heard something about a boat, but it doesn't matter. They started terrorizing the town and I decided to stop them.” I continued. “I just had.”

Both of them kept looking at me for a while after my whole explanation. “Dear Celestia, I'm sorry about all this Atlas.” Violet said, still getting around everything and trying not to bring memories to herself. “I don't suppose that was a way of you letting some rage out, or even because you just wanted to save this folk, right?” Blackburn added.

“It wasn't either of those, Black.” I replied. “I just felt I needed to do that. Maybe not for me, but for someone else.” I said as I looked at the pokeball that held Aurora.

“But uh...” Violet continued. Her face told me she was worried to her core. “How you holding there?”

“I'm fine Violet. I just need some time, a few days, to get used to these events.” I answered, feeling much stronger now because of the medicine.

Violet was about to ask another thing, but Blackburn poked her o the back and looked her with an expression that told her it was better to ask questions later. She nodded and the both of them looked back at me. “When do you think you'll be ready to walk with your old pal again?” Blackburn asked.

I pushed the blanket aside and got on my hooves. One step. Weak. Another, pushed by my determination, shaking with cold. “Atlas, you all right?” Violet asked.

A third step, powerful. Fourth. Invincible. “Now is gold.” I replied, floating my items to me. I wore my saddlebags again after days since yesterday and got my pokeballs back to their places. The three of us walked out and headed outside. After all, we had a boat back to Cianwood to catch.

Chapter 10.5: Blackburn and Violet

Blackburn and Violet had just arrived on Cianwood. It was the middle of the night and both of them were really tired from the long trip they had. Hours ago they left their friend Atlas behind because he was injured. They went on together to try and find some medicine for him, who was back at Olivine city. One of them would have stayed, but Atlas noticed they had something for one another long ago. He took the chance to let both his friends have some time to spend together, by themselves only. Blackburn didn't want to accept it at first, but he trusted Atlas.

The boat stopped and ponies were allowed to disembark it. Blackburn went on first, and Violet followed. Both were carrying their saddlebags with all the things they needed. Now there was only one thing left to do for today, and that was to find somewhere to stay for the night. Maybe getting a boat at night wasn't the best idea they ever had, but it was the fastest one if they meant to get back to Atlas and also enjoy a day around.

As they traveled through Johto, they became more aware of buildings that could be inns. Cianwood was a tropical, small city. building were now more similar to the usual ones they would see on smaller towns in Equestria, except they were still not quite the same. Houses here were decorated festively and their roofs were blue, although they all looked the same, just in different sizes.

The inn was comfortable, just like the others. Blackburn didn't care much, he knew it was better than camping outside town. Violet loved a comfy bed, and wouldn't trade it for anything else when it came to a good night of sleep. After renting the room for the night, both of them went inside the room and started setting their things down for their stay.

“It really feels different without Atlas, doesn't it?” Violet asked.

“Considering we started together, now that he is not here, it feels different.” Blackburn said, thinking about his friend, whose body was trying to recover some energy during the night, but wasn't succeeding in any way. “Nonetheless, I'm happy you came with me.” He smiled at Violet.

Violet was thinking about Atlas and how he was doing. “I'm glad you enjoy my company, but we should go to sleep.” She reminded him. “We need to get Atlas his medicine, and we better hurry.”

Blackburn only nodded. The two of them got into their beds after setting up and went to sleep.

“You guys don't tell me much about yourselves.” Violet said while they walked outside, a great morning outside. “Tell me more about yourself Blackburn.” She demanded.

“Well, there is nothing else to add to what you already know.” Blackburn started. “I'm just a pegasus whose family has a business at weaponry and I like to hunt. Other than that, I'm just like another pony.”

“I wasn't talking about what you do!” Violet laughed and pushed Blackburn. “I want to know more about who you are!”

“I don't get it.” Blackburn said, only this time it was a joke. “All right, I will tell you more. Well, you can already tell I have a pretty big sense of humor, but only because I like to make jokes about everything, doesn't mean I don't care. It's just me. In the worst of situations, I'm pretty likely going to stick with my friends, although this is not one of those, and I'm also going to help with all I can, probably making unnecessary jokes and comments sometimes. I might not worry enough about things because I know things are gonna be alright in the end. It helps to keep me calm, but I end up worrying a little about somethings sometimes.”

“My friendship with Atlas resumes well how my living style.” He explained. “I like to tease him, make jokes about stuff he failed in, or somewhat devaluing his hard work. That may seem like bullying, but in reality it's just how we interact with each other. He does the same with me, very rarely, but he does. Sure, it's strange, but we try to make a laugh out of the worst situations because we know we are together in this.” He paused. “Yeah, I don't know how to explain it, it just works.”

Violet burst out in laughter. “I know what you mean. It's just one way of you guys having fun.” She kept giggling after a while. “What about Atlas? He seems to know more than he usually lets out.”

“Atlas is like that.” Blackburn said. “He is more of a serious type, but not so different than me. He takes things with calm and determination, and try his best at not failing at something, sometimes letting his objective get over his head. Although, he fails a lot and we just laugh at it like little colts trying to prank somepony and failing. He might be serious, but he has a soul worth of all the silver you can find, and a truly pure heart.”

“You and Atlas are a lot different from each other, you know?” Violet commented. “That doesn't appear to change your friendship in any way”

“I think we just had a few things in common as children. In that age, we just kinda stick around and learn to accept the differences from each other, you know?” Blackburn looked to the sky, and later overseas, while searching his mind for memories he share with Atlas. “We both loved games, were bullied by the same guy, did stupid things together, just like any friends are, and if it weren't for that we probably wouldn't be friends to this day. I don't know. Friendship isn't all about having things in common.”

Looking over the horizon, Blackburn stopped and took a moment to inspect the weather over the land beyond the sea. He didn't give any time for Violet to keep going with the topic before talking again. “Looks like there is a rain closing up to Olivine.”

Violet looked the same direction Blackburn was looking at and took a few seconds to look it over. “Do you think Atlas will be all right?”

“I do.” Blackburn answered with certainty. “I don't see a reason for him to leave and at this point I'm think he can't even move.”

“...You think we are going to be able to help him in time?” Violet asked. “I mean, when we left him, he was still very strong, but the infection could advance up to his heart.”

“Violet, look, calm down.” Blackburn now held Violet with his right hoof. “You're panicking. We can't do anything but get Atlas a remedy, and that is what we are going to do.” He stopped holding Violet and gave the mare some space to breath. He asked after a while. “Are you ready to go?”

Violet nodded and the two friends started making their way to the building known for the making of special remedies.

“Violet?”

“Yes?” Violet asked.

“Before we go, thanks for snapping me out of this panic.” Blackburn said.

“Black?” Now it was Violet asking for his attention.

“Yes?”

“For a while now, I have been thinking of telling you this, and before I say it, I want you to know that you don't need to say the same and-”

Blackburn interrupted her. “I love you too, Violet.” His voice surprised her. She wasn't expecting for him to say it since it was her heart speaking. Blackburn had also been wanting to say it back, now being the moment both of them let this out. “Will you be my marefriend?”

Violet felt the weight on her heart suddenly disappear. She had never dreamed of her moment, but the mare had had feelings for the stallion by her for a while. Both were looking on each other's eyes without moving. They had stopped walking and focused fully on themselves.

“So?” Blackburn sounded a little nervous.

“Of course Black!” Violet sounded excited. “I just don't know how to react, this is just a dream!” She jumped on him, hugging him immediately, Blackburn hugging her back. The two stopped, looking at each other Violet leaned forward and brought Blackburn into a quick, but passionate, kiss. “Come on, we need to get going.” She smiled at him and he smiled back, then they kept walking.

The two ponies entered the building. The bell placed next to the door ringed as the door swing past it, calling the attention of the supposedly pony responsible for taking care of the shop. The desk, on the other hand, was empty. No pony around to be seen and talk to. Blackburn and Violet were on an empty room standing before a desk that separated them from a wild selection of remedies tagged with the name of a bunch of diseases that were both known and unknown to the two ponies. The names all seemed very strange and Blackburn assumed they weren't from Equestria, he assumed they were either from this world or from the lands out of the Equestrian border.

The inside was simple. The building seemed to be composed of two rooms: The main room, made out of wood and very simplistic, with a desk cutting the room in half, where from behind the desk was a cashier, a small computer, and a big glass cabinet containing all the remedies. From behind the desk, there was a door, that would lead to the second room. There was no way Blackburn or Violet could see what was in it, the door was closed. Blackburn compared the space from the inside to the size of the building from outside and came to a conclusion the other room wasn't very big, and was all that was left to this building.

Both ponies waited. Violet started getting nervous again and sweat a bit, she was starting to panic. Blackburn noticed and held Violet, snapping her out of what had caught her mind. He smiled at her, and she returned the smile moments later, assured by his reminder. Minutes later, a striped figure came out of the door. It was a female zebra, which immediately cleared all the doubts about the existence of such remedies, zebras were known for their knowledge on magic and potion making. Although, Blackburn did nothing more than to try catching a glimpse of what was on the room beyond the door, and failing. He then noticed the zebra, and came to the same conclusions as Violet, although his knowledge about zebras came from another source than books. He came to know a zebra who lived inside the Everfree Forest named Zecora, which he stumbled across when on one of his hunts. Zecora taught him about creatures in the forest and about some survival techniques, although he chose not to keep hunting on the forest and rather hunt on different places around Equestria, forest not as wild as Everfree.

“Hello, how may I help you today?” The zebra spoke, now standing behind the desk, waiting for the request Violet and Blackburn had.

“Hello, we were looking for a remedy to poison.” Violet walked forward and faced the zebra. “Our friend is in need for remedy that can stop and cure the infection caused from the sting of a ...” Violet paused, trying to remember the name of the pokemon that had attacked Atlas. “a Beedrill.”

“Hm... That can be easily cured by using and Antidote or one of my herbs.” The zebra backed and started looking at the remedies behind the glass panel. Blackburn was somewhat uncomfortable for he had been used to hear Zecora talk in rhymes most of the time, and seeing a zebra without the same touch disturbed him a little.

“To a pokemon, maybe.” Blackburn said. “We are talking about another pony here, and we know herbs and antidotes made specifically for pokemon won't work. That is why we ask if you would have something that would help us.”

The zebra looked back and forth at the panel, searching for a remedy, but turned. “I do not have something like that at the moment. You ask me for a special brew. I would have to take the entire afternoon to make enough. How far is the infection?”

Violet took a moment to remember how it was the last time she saw it. She saw it exposed back in Ecruteak City. “The infection is likely half way from the end of the hoof to the start of the leg.”

“When was the last time you checked on it?” The zebra continued. “If you don't mind me asking.”

“Yesterday, and by evening, he could barely walk with it, the pain was too much.” Violet replied and added even more information that could be of use by the zebra.

“I'm afraid that by now the hoof is nearly unusable for walking purposes, although the pain relieved a little.” The zebra said. “It won't be long before it hits the heart, but we should have a few days. I can get the remedy done by the end of the afternoon.”

“Thank you” Violet said. “We really appreciate the fact that you are putting your time for this.”

“There is no need for thanks.” The zebra replied. “For this cost, the only thing I'll be doing is business.”

“What do you mean?” Blackburn asked. He wasn't really understanding the point of the zebra, but had his own worries of what she meant.

“For the remedy to be ready by tonight, I'll be having to use very expensive herbs to speed the process that would take five days usually. Of course, the request you made come with a price.” The zebra explained.

“And what would it be?”

“30 thousand bits.” The zebra said.

Violet made a sudden move as she was startled by the reply from the zebra. Blackburn's eyes widened and he frowned, getting somewhat scared since what he had in mind was confirmed by the zebra. They both knew they didn't have that much money, not even if Atlas had given them what he had been left behind with. If they couldn't pay for the medicine, then Atlas' health was at risk.

“V-Violet, can I talk with you for just a m-moment?” Blackburn called for Violet, who only moved again once she had listened her name being called. She walked back slowly and turned to see Blackburn.

“Black, we don't have this money” She whispered into his ear. “What do we do?”

“I was going to ask you the same thing.” Blackburn replied. He stood there thinking for a few moments, but finally went back to Violet. “Hang on, I've got a plan.”

Walking up to the zebra, Blackburn said, nodding. “Start mixing the remedy, we will pay after the product is done.”

“I want part of the value as an entry.” The zebra replied. “Just in case you decide to leave your friend to die.” He had an emphasis on "die", which sounded pretty cold in the perspective of Blackburn and Violet, specially when he could have use another word or expression to mean death. Not that it would change much of the situation.

“I accept your condition.” Blackburn said, using his gadget to separate all the money they had in a small bag. “17 thousand. That is more than a half.”

“I'll take it.”

Blackburn opened the saddlebag under his left wing and placed over the table a small bag filled with bits. The sound of coins clicking each other echoed across the room.

“I'll send someone to inform you when the remedy is ready.”

“So what is your plan anyway?” Violent asked. Both of them were now outside, walking, Blackburn leading the way.

“We will beat the gym. I just hope we gain enough for the remedy and the tickets for the back trip.” Blackburn said.

“Beating the gym? Right now?” Violet looked surprised at Blackburn

“We ain't got much of a choice. How else will we get enough money.” Blackburn replied.

Their pacing was quick. They quickly arrived at the gym. Blackburn pulled his fear back and walked forward faster and with courage. He wasn't paying attention to much of anything, not even to what was ahead of him. He was on his mind coming up with a plan to what possibly awaited. He was only interrupted by Violet's voice.

“Black, watch out!”

Blackburn looked back at her but did not stopped walking. Violet only looked to what was in front of Blackburn. Blackburn bumped in something, rather someone as it felt like another pony, and fell. An earth pony mare with a very pale yellow coat and a dark blue long mane had bumped into him and fell along him. She had a gaming controller as a cutie mark. She was just getting out of the gym.

“Oh, excuse me ma'am I-” Blackburn had started, but was interrupted.

“It's alright. There is no need for apologies, I should have gotten out of the way.” The mare had a soft voice. She got up and cleaned herself from the sand that composed the ground of the small city.

“Wait, I know you...” Violet looked closely, inspecting the mare. The mare looked surprised to be recognized by some strangers she never seen before. “You were on a pokeathlon sometime ago, weren't you?”

“Oh yes, I was. Did you watch it?” Her voice had a more cheerful tone now. “It's a shame that I ended up losing up that one. I could have used the rewards.” She giggled.

“Oh, you were one of Atlas' opponents?” Blackburn asked, getting up just now.

“Yes, I even shared a conversation with him without realizing it was him.” She went on. “After I realized, I hurried up to get out of that place.” She giggled once again.

“Why is that?” Violet asked curiously.

“Well, it's a bit of a story.” She started. “Why don't we share this story over a cup of coffee on the Pokemon Center?”

Blackburn looked over Violet, unsure as he was in a hurry. Violet on the other side thought they had enough time and nodded for them to go. Blackburn rolled his eyes and followed.

“...And so, after I heard what he did to this competitor after one of his pokemon were defeated on the Bellsprout Tower, I feared something might happen to me if I won the game. He was a dedicated foe nonetheless.” She explained.

“So you feared him?” Blackburn asked, taking note of what she had to say.

“Yes. I have heard he took part of this game multiple times and almost won. I'm afraid of what he might end up doing with all his experience. Why are you two so curious about this anyway?”

“Oh...” Violet sounded nervous as if she had been hiding something. She decided to spill the beans. “We are Atlas' friends. We are a group.”

“Wait, what?!” The mare sounded startled and in fear now.

“Calm down lady.” Blackburn took over. “We were curious to why you were so afraid of him. We know about those things, but he isn't like that all the time. He isn't aggressive to anyone in any way.”

“And we are his group. We haven't been threatening with you in any way, have we?” Violet argumented.

“Well, maybe, but look at his actions. Why would he do such a thing as throwing a guy out of a building?” The mare tried to sound reasonable. “And where is him anyway?”

“He is in Olivine city, staying there until we go back. And the reason is that he was protecting his friends! We can explain, just give us a chance.”

The earth pony calmed down. “Alright, you've got one.”

Blackburn then explained everything about Freddie, and then explained that Atlas had a few bad moments sometimes and let his bad thoughts take over him, little did he know about Janus. The mare changed expressions as the explanation progressed. She had misunderstood his reasons all along and took her own speculation as truth. The news feed didn't help much with the reasoning.

“Do you see why he-” Blackburn was interrupted once again. Now by the news being played on a TV at the pokemon center.

“Breaking news! Reports show that an attack has been happening over Olivine City by a group of jacket-wearing individuals. They have been taking control of the overall are of the city, including the entrances, the port, the gym, whose gym leader is unavailable, and the pokemon center. We will now be showing the activity from above and through the heavy storm going under the town.”

“Oh shit, what about Atlas' inn?” Blackburn sounded a hell of a lot worried. “I want to know how he is doing and if he is still okay in there!”

The view zoomed in. Since it was a camera controlled by the program, it had all the control it needed. it showed a pony walking slowly out of the gym, followed by it's pokemon. The rain made it difficulty to see, but the pony was different from the gang that held the city down. He didn't have a jacket.

“The gang seems similar to Freddie's Soldiers.” The mare observed. “But that one is different. What is Atlas even doing in Olive anyway?” She sounded like she didn't trust in Atlas just yet, but she trusted his friends.

“You remember when I told you he was hit by a Beedrill? And do you remember the bandage he wore in his leg?” Violet asked and the mare nodded. “There is your why. He is way too weak to even walk, so we came here in hopes we find a cure, which we did, but money is kind of a problem.”

The camera zoomed more and showed the image of the pony and his pokemon. An Nidoking, an Pidgeotto, an Arcanine, an Umbreon, and lastly a Treecko. It was Atlas.

“Too weak to walk, you say?”

“How?!” The mare asked right after Atlas had managed to defeat the Tyranitar. “Well, it was quite a show.”

“Lucky boy.” Blackburn laughed.

“I can't believe he managed to protect the whole city.” Violet commented.

“Oh boy, look at the time, it's kind later, I better get going.” The mare said her goodbyes and started to walk away.

A zebra walked up to Violet and Blackburn. “The remedy is ready to be picked up.” He said. Blackburn realized they still didn't have the money, but stayed silent.

“Alright, thank you.” Violet said. The zebra then ran away like if had been running from a raging dragon. “We still don't have the money, and we gave him everything we had on us. What do we do?”

The mare turned around moments before leaving. “Uh, you guys need any help with that?”

Both of them looked at her, surprised. The mare that moments ago feared Atlas wanted to help. “Actually, if you can lend a hoof.”

“How much do you need?”

“We already payed 17 thousand out of the 30 thousand, so it's just 13 thousand left.” Violet replied.

“I won't allow my newer friends to run so low on money for a while.” The mare replied, taking of a bag of bits and checking her gadget for the amount. “20K, and that is about it.” And she threw the the bag on the table they shared the cup of coffee. “I want to meet this Atlas again when he is well. You two take care of him for me.”

“Wait!” Violet stopped her. “We never got your name.”

“The name is Anna.” The mare said and walked out of the door.

“Well, at least I don't have to battle the gym now.” Blackburn relaxed. “Come on, let's get the remedy and head back to Olivine.”

Chapter 11: The Legend of Lugia

“I know you know about the legend of the creature that sleeps under the seas and guards it. Considering it's not known if such creature exists here, do you believe in it?”

“So you are saying that this pony, Jane, the one who ran from me after I asked her name, paid for my medication?” I stated after Blackburn told me of their time in Cianwood. My friend nodded, with a smug smile in his face. “Hmm, that seems a bit odd. Why was that?”

“I don't have a clue. I guess we convinced her you were a good guy, that's all.” He replied.

Our small group was up on the boat, we were making our way to Cianwood now since we all had to beat the 6th gym. Violet was resting on her seat while me and Blackburn shared a conversation over the balcony. We kept talking after his story was over, and that went on for a while.

“I know for a fact that zebra's medicine heals quite fast.” Blackburn said. “When do you plan on taking that bandage of yours off?”

“Ah, this ol' thing with my blood on it? I kinda like the way it looks on me, so I might just switch to a clean one later and keep the visual.” I replied. "makes me feels like a survivor of some kind of apocalypse or fallout"

Blackburn laughed. “That's stupid, y'know? I mean, why would you bandage your leg just because of the way it looks? What are you, a cosplayer now?”

“Maybe I should have told you that it would hide a heck of a scar.” We shared a laugh. “I'll be cosplaying as the Lone Wanderer next time a convention is in town, what you say?”

“Well, scars are way cooler than stumps” He said.

“Agreed.”

A few minutes later we shared silence. That was because we saw four islands, all of them blocked by rocks and whirlpools. Those were the Whirl Islands, more specifically, where the legendary pokemon Lugia is known to slumber, deep down on the sea. At least it was on the games I played as a child.

For all the time I have taken part on a competition like this legendary grade pokemon like Lugia were disabled, but it was before virtual reality and all this stuff started making part of it. It was during the times I had to sit in a chair with a screen in front of me and with a controller at my hooves. Things are changing just before my eyes, and it can be seen by comparing the NPCs I met at the start and the NPCs I talk with now, they were given personalities, emotions, and even minds. I wouldn't be surprised if a legendary pokemon suddenly appeared for one to catch. I only hope that, like in the games, it has to be someone who understand and deserve it.

Would I be honorable enough to be able to be given such a legend where powerful pokemon here, where who I am really matters?

Hell, I would love to, but I don't think that I would be the one. The games teach us that the one is the person who takes care of their pokemon, and the bond between them makes the one really worth the honor, and while I have such bond with my pokemon, I have let them down, multiple times.

“Hey Atlas.” Blackburn called for me. “What's got you so focused there?”

I sighed. “I was thinking if I would be honorable enough to be the chosen one to capture a legendary pokemon here if they were put into this world.” I then explained the whole thought process behind the reason I thought I wasn't worthy.

“Aw, come on. You really think the ponies back at Equestria would throw a legendary out here for us to catch? The one who gets it would be so powerful that winning this thing would be the easiest thing for him.” Blackburn said. “And besides, I think any of us would be worth, including you. The way we treat our pokemon with love and care, and the bonds we all have. We even dedicate a an hour or two of our day just to talk with them and spend time together. All of us.”

“Sometimes I think you worry too much.” He continued. “Always getting yourself worked about a problem or another like if it was the end of the world, and while I think that is an important part of you since you put a lot of dedication on such things, I think it fucks up your mind a lot.” He chuckled. “You always try to come up with a plan for everything, even for the things you can't plan for. I also find it funny how insecure of things you are. "What would the princess say if I told her I loved her?", Celestia help me, just do it and worry about the rest later, it's not like you are gonna get killed over a love interest.”

“Here we go again...” I rolled my eyes and smiled. Blackburn never failed to cheer me up. Making fun of my actions was his way of doing it, even if I felt sad. He comes up, make me look stupid, and I laugh.

I sighed again. “You know, sometimes I miss some moments back home a few years ago.”

“What do you mean?” Blackburn raised an eyebrow.

“It's just that I wonder how it is going to be back home. My family is all gone after all, I've got nopony.” I explained. “Gonna be a little lonely now that you will be spending more time with Violet.”

“Hmm... I never thought about it. It can be a little hard for you after all.” He started thinking. “But you can still spend time with Luna, can't you?”

“She has her duties. Going out with her, as either friends or something else, is going to be rare.”

“Ah, don't worry Atlas, I'm sure we will figure something out on the way.” He tried to comfort me, and his words seemed true enough for me, enough to work. “Besides, once you become a professional musician, I bet you're gonna meet a lot of new and cool people.”

“Yeah, I hope you are right.”

“You get too sad sometimes.” He said. “You need to stop that, it's depressing.”

“I love the tropical weather.” Blackburn smiled. He was wearing his sunglasses, recently bought from a vendor on the beach.

“So why did we only spend moments here last time?” Violet asked. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses as well along with a hat that suited her just fine in colors and style.

“We were in a hurry, we didn't had time for this.” He answered.

The three of us were walking to the gym, carrying our stuff on our backs. We weren't going to stay long after all. We were going to defeat the gym and head back to Olivine again. I loved this weather just like my friends, but we didn't plan to stay here for long, since we wanted to have a advantage over the rest of the competitors. Most of the were still on Ecruteak still, and we didn't want to lose it.

The fighting gym. Nothing unbeatable. The gym owner was a Earth pony named Chuck, and if I remembered correctly, he didn't have more than just two pokemon: a Poliwrath and a Primeape. Both could be easily taken down by Scout, and I would be done with this battle pretty quick; Blackburn had his trusty Charmeleon, very close to a Charizard already, and by far his favorite pokemon since I barely saw the rest of his team in action, and a Noctowl. The dude could easily live with just this two pokemon, and that made me think about the Tyranitar I battled not long ago. Maybe he just had battled against the sixth or seventh gym to be that powerful; Lastly, Violet had a Kirlia and a Staravia, both could easily steamroll this gym.

We walked in. The gym wasn't any different from the last ones. A simple battleground as always, but now themed around fighting types, which means it was painted brown. Chuck stood on one side, sitting on the ground with his back to us and probably meditating. His two pokemon stood beside him, now looking at us. Both were bipedal and round pokemon. One had the body covered in whitish, shaggy fur. There was a stress mark on the left side of its forehead, and it had triangular ears with pink insides and a pink, snout-like nose. Its arms and legs were brown and had metal shackles on the wrists and ankles. The hands had no visible fingers, and resembled boxing gloves, and the feet had only two toes. That was the Primeape; Poliwrath had two muscular arms. It had bulbous eyes that protrude from the top of its head. Its belly was covered by a white and black swirl. There appear to be white gloves on its hands, and it has rounded, digit-less feet.

“I will go first” Violet went forward before any of us could do anything. I thought that was strange because she never offered to go first. I always thought her lack of knowledge for this place dragged her down a bit.

She went close to Chuck and the two pokemon walked forward, near violet. The battle just started, and Chuck hasn't even bothered to look back.

She walked back to me and Blackburn, who both stood with mouths open, and she was wearing a smug smile. Her Kirlia had just single-handedly one-hit KO'd both of Chuck's pokemon. I only saw two pokemon flying, one to each side, one hitting the wall and sliding it down until it laid on the ground. The other went all the way bouncing every two meters, and it went on a long way.

That had to hurt. Hurt bad.

“Your turn boys.” She said passing by us. She headed out of the gym. “I'll be waiting by the beach, catch up with you guys in a few minutes.”

Both me and Blackburn nodded and answered. “Yes, ma'am.” Blackburn said. “Sure thing.” I said. Meanwhile, both of the pokemon that just took a train to Celestia's heaven and back got up and walked back to Chuck's side, cleaning the dust and checking for scratches on the way. I looked at Black, he looks at me, and then he rolled his eyes. He went first.

“If I ever wanted a recording of the most awesome moment in this game...” Blackburn commented with me. “This would be it.” Then he jumped at his big, orange dragon he just got out of an evolution. His very own and "real" Charizard.

It was my turn now. Blackburn said “Cheerio” and went to be with Violet, leaving me alone in here with my Chuck and his pokemon. I have only now realized how their faces scared the living soul out of me. Angry expression-less eyes and no mouth. I even wondered if they could eat, and if so, what did they eat.

I shook my head and stopped that train of thoughts before I ended up with nightmares and so fucking with Luna's life. I used my magic and dragged one pokeball out, Scout's pokeball. I let him out, and right away he decided to have a loop around and perfectly and on my back, carefull not to have his talons hurt me. I had to admit he was a majestic little bird.

“Hey, you ready to get even more pumped up?” I asked.

“If you mean turning bigger and stronger, you betcha.” Scout replied with determination.

“Then go, for it!” I replied and pointed my hoof in Chuck's direction.

Chuck has been sitting there, his back to us all this time. He hasn't even bothered looking back for an instant, all he did was sit through the last two battles.

Scout started to fly his way to the battlefield. The Poliwrath jumped on his stance, ready to attack, and from what I've seen in the last two battles, he definitely wasn't faster than Scout.

“Scout! Use -” I was about to command Scout when I was interrupted by Chuck.

“I have heard of your many achievements boy” Chuck said and got on his four hooves. “You do seem to love the spotlight they give you on the news. You are not someone to be underestimated, and I have been looking forward to battling you for a while now.”

“Aaah, bollocks.” I sighed. This was getting old.

“Scout, use Wing Attack!”

Scout wings flapped fast, making two small tornadoes of which flew over to the Primeape and sending him flying once again for the third time. This battle was over in two turns since Scout's speed was over theirs. The now Pidgeot pokemon flew back and landed on my back, a smug smile in his face.

“Boo! I thought this was going to be different when you said you have been waiting for this.” I taunted. It wasn't usual of me, but this really deserved a good taunt. “This was over before I could even ask my friends to get me a drink while I battled you. Shame!”

I took my badge, by force, from Chuck as he stood there with a surprised expression and a sad dog look in his face. I walked out off the gym, and like that, I had just beat one a gym that offered no challenge at all, in no time at all.

“So long, wanker!” I taunted him again from the door. “Next time bring a rock type!”

This was a next level of needed humiliation I have never felt before. The fact that everyone was judging me for something they read on a biased newsletter was bugging me.

I had Scout go back to his pokeball and started to head over to my friends, who waited by the beach, eating some food they just ordered, when I was stopped by a pony wearing a suit and a hat. He reminded me of those detectives from movies due to his white coat and serious face.

“Excuse me, Atlas, I was asked to hand this over to you right after you defeated Chuck.” He searched his suit for something and moments later handed me a pokeball and a note. “Have a nice day.”

The pony walked away and I stood there looking at the stuff he just handed “Thanks, I guess...?” I looked up and the pony wasn't anywhere to be seem. Where had he gone to?. On the other hoof, I also wondered if this was another thing I would have to keep, just like the present that was given to me from Drake. Only, this time, I was allowed to open it. I continued to walk to my friends while I stored the pokeball and opened the letter. It said:

"Dear Atlas,

"This is Jane and if you received this, you should have a pokeball with you. Within that pokeball, holds a Espeon, one of my pokemon, and I'd like to get it back. I gave it to you for now as a demonstration of trust. I trust you will not leave me hanging on this one, as you still own me thirty thousand bits for that remedy. I'll be waiting for you near the city, far north of the city, sitting in a campfire all by myself, and I trust you will stay for the night. I have something to discuss with you after all that might be worth your while.

"I'll be waiting, Jane.

"P.S.: You can tell your friends you will be meeting with me, but please come alone tonight."

“Hm... That's new.” I commented out loud.

“What's it Atlas?” Violet asked me. I looked up and realized I walked all the way to my friends' table. “What's that letter?”

“I just got a letter from Jane telling me to stay and meet her tonight here at the beach. I'm not sure about this though.” I showed them the pokeball. “She gave me this too, as a sing of trust that she is not planning anything wrong, I guess.”

“Sounds like a date to me.” Blackburn giggled. “I for once think we should go, she seems like a nice gal.” Then he turned to Violet. “You're still better, love.”

Violet rolled her eyes and smiled.

“She says I must go alone...” I added.

Blackburn instantly bursted into laughter. “Now that is definitely a date!” He commented. “I guess that after Luna decided it was for the best you did not date her, you just went for another, ehh big boy?”

“Blackburn, shush.” Violet interrupted. “Will you go Atlas?”

“Me and Luna are just friends, and besides, I'd ruin her schedule when it comes to helping rule a kingdom along her sister and the other princesses. I'm just there to help her as a friend. Also, how can you be so sure Jane likes me?” I told Blackburn without even paying attention to Violet. “And yes, I'll go.”

“Well, first of all, she felt really embarrassed when you didn't turn out to be the fearless badass psycho she thought you were. Second, she still agreed to pay for your medicine. Anyways, if you need us, me and Violet will be nearby. I guess we will have to keep around town and see how it goes.” Blackburn commented, back on his normal self. “Also because the inn's full.”

I walked with Pulse a few meters away from where my group and I would set camp.

“Alright Pulse, I will need your help with this.” I was alone with Pulse. It was a while before the sunset and I wanted to check on Jane's Espeon before what Blackburn called "our date".

“Now, what do I have to do with all this?” Pulse asked me.

“I know for a fact you met an Espeon before and that both of you evolve from the same thing.” I explained. He looked at me, unamused “I don't know, you're my best shot.”

“Alright, but I don't guarantee anything.”

“Aw come on, we are just going to say hello!” I insisted that he tried harder than that.

“Fine...” Persuasion attempt successful.

I floated the pokeball in front of me and pressed the button to activate it. The ball opened and the Espeon got out. It looked around, then turned to around to see us, only to be startled to see we are not her trainer. Pulse also jumped back a little.

“Daylight?!” Pulse talked with the Espeon.

“Pulse?!” The Espeon replied. These two knew each other, and if I recall correctly, Daylight is the Espeon Pulse met at the daycare

Pulse straightened himself. “Uh... Sunny, this is Atlas, my trainer. Atlas, this is Daylight.”

She did the same as Pulse, as she felt safer, or at least I think she did, near Pulse. “You may also call me Sunny. I'm sorry, I didn't know where I was so for an instant I got startled. Where is Jane?”

“Jane?” Pulse asked.

“It's her trainer.” I replied. “I'm going to meet her tonight and hand you back to her. I just thought it would be better to check on you before that.”

“But why am I with you guys? Not that it is a problem,” She winked at Pulse. Ah, great. I was now the third wheel for two couples. “I just don't get it.”

“Eh.. It's an strange story, and I can't make sense of it too. I only know that I think I own something to her and she told me to meet her tonight, and while I could have just left the island, I don't really want to be known as a pokemon thief.” I could have added that I already had too much infamy on my back.

“Jane and her crazy plans. I should have guessed it.” Sunny looked around. “It's strange, I don't feel connected to her in any way, it wasn't like that a while ago. Anyway, thanks for the heads up.”

“You don't think that she... y'know...”

“Nah, not her with the team she has. She is a skilled competitor and she knows her way around, or that is what she tells us. She is a very experienced overall gamer, whatever that is, so.” Sunny replied. “If it's any indication that she is still around, it's that I'm still here, and as far as I know, as long as that pokeball is my home, I'm not released.”

“Makes sense. I'm still going to be around here for a while before meeting with Jane. Do you want to wait in the pokeball?” I asked.

“Nah, I think me and Sunny have a lot to catch up to, Atlas. We will be fine over here.” Pulse replied to the question that wasn't even to him.

“Well, okay.” I said turning back to the under construction camp. “When night falls, come back to me and we will leave.”

They nodded and I started walking away. Isn't it funny how love is everywhere but with me?

The sun had gone down and the stars started to come out. Pulse and Sunny were back to their pokeballs and I was ready to leave my camp and go meet with Jane. I only felt a strange sensation on my stomach. Could be one of my many bad feelings about things, or the same thing I felt when talking to Luna. Just that this time I didn't know the mare at all. Luna, as the princess, I had studied about her in school and knew a few things about her, but Jane, she ran away from me after knowing my name. Something told me strange things would be happening tonight. It just was one of those days.

“Alright guys, I'll be leaving. I should be back soon, I think.” I waved a hoof to my friends.

“Okay, have a great time Atlas.” Said Violet.

“Don't forget to be safe.” Blackburn laughed, his quotes always had at least two meanings. Phrasing.

I followed the beach, the water to my right, for about ten or fifteen minutes before seeing a small campfire on the distance. There was only a pony sitting around the fire, so I guessed it had to be Jane.

I approached the fire to see I was right. the yellow earth pony mare, with her long, beautiful, dark blue mane. I even felt myself blushing for that thought, and realized that I would let Blackburn's comments take over my head very, very easily. I straighten up and kept walking, a clear mind this time, not making any assumptions before actually meeting Jane.

“Jane?” I called for her attention as I arrived.

“Atlas, you actually came to see me!” She sounded excited. “I was starting to think you weren't coming.”

I took the pokeball she gave me early and handed it to her. “I always keep my word, even if I haven't given any.” I smiled.

“Look, I'm sorry for the way I acted back at the pokeathlon by running off like that.” She apologized, looking away in shame. “I guess I had a totally different opinion about you back then... Also, sorry for kinda forcing you to come here tonight.”

“Well, I thought it was a strange way to ask me to a date-” I realized. “I-I mean, not a date, but more like a encounter, right?” I always fuck it up, don't I?

She sat again. “You think this is a date?” Then bursted into a short laughter, but I could see her blushing very lightly. “I-I wouldn't a-ask you on a date like this” She sounded like she had a broken voice now. “Ahem.” Now, this was awkward to a whole new level.

“Anyways, how can I help you?” It took me a while to say that, the silence was just killing me.

“I wanted to tell you I'm really sorry for the way I acted on our first... encounter. Running away like that wasn't nice of me.” She said.

“Ah, it's all right. Violet and Blackburn told me about that. Still, I wouldn't be surprised if other ponies ran from me after what I did on the middle of that storm.” I told her. She smiled softly back at me (damn Blackburn and what he calls " his Black magic", puns intended). “I think it's me that should be thanking you for paying for that medicine. by the way, how did you manage to keep that much money?”

“Saving for not having to buy that much food for myself and my team, not having to buy one of that super expensive gadgets like you, battling a ton of other competitors and winning, and gambling on the game houses. Yeah, mainly battles and gambling.” She laughed. “I'm joking about the gambling. Now, you don't seem to have seen your fair share of competitor battles on your journey so far. Never wondered why?”

“Wow, you know your shit.” I laughed with her. “If you are that good, why did I never see you on these competitions before?”

“Hey, dude, I'm a professional. This is what I'm good at, and I'm playing to win something out of it, even if it's my first try.” She sounded much more fun than the pony Violet and Blackburn had described. She sounded more relaxed and not as formal as her description. I guess trust changes formality.

“Playing games for a living, must be more exciting than depending on musical shows.” I commented, almost challenging her to start a discussion on who had the most awesome cutie mark.

“Hey, music doesn't sound so bad.”

“Yeah, it's not bad at all, but I kinda love playing games much more than I do playing a piano.” I replied.

“Ah, the pony with the wrong talent for a cutie mark.” She frowned as a joke and said sounding sarcastic: “How sad.”

“Hey, I never complained about it.” I rolled my eyes. “It is actually quite fun playing an instrument.”

“A piano huh?” She looked at me doubtfully. “How do you playing a instrument like that with hooves.”

“Well, you just play it. After a while you get used to it and learn how to play only a note at the time. A chord is another thing, which I don't know how most other pianists do it.” I pointed at my horn with my hoof. “I just let it do all the job. The hard part is concentrating enough to read and play with magic at the same time, but I manage it.” I put on a smug smile.

“And what is a pianist doing in Johto?” She asked. “Shouldn't you be playing everywhere to make a living?”

“I was just got done with school. My life as an adult will start only when I'm out of here.” The sense of responsibility for myself suddenly hit me as I remembered about the death of my father, but I held it in. “Enough about me, tell me how fun it is to travel the world competing in game tournaments.”

“It is as you would imagine. I get sponsored by a diversity of people, they give me money, and I try to win. The more time I stay in the game, the more they pay me for product placement and they also pay me some good hotels. I guess we are similar in some points, at least we can be once you start your career.” She explained it with a basic level of detail, but I felt her holding her excitement in so I don't get lost in some of it. “But I'm not on work right now. I'm competing here for some extra money, other than fun of course, and because I never tried a Virtual Reality World before.”

Her eyes widened. “I've got an idea. When you start playing, you will reserve a sit all for me, all right? I still don't have my head all wrapped around that magic piano thing.”

“I'll have a seat on the front row reserved just for you.” I promised. “Hell, I will even let you watch me practicing if you want. Nobody has ever wanted to watch me, other than my... parents...”

“Atlas, are you okay?”

“I'm fine, it's just memories.” I smiled lightly, gladly thanking her for caring.

We stayed in silence for a while. Both of us were staring endlessly to the dark, starry sky only by the noise the wood made while it burned.

“Hey Atlas, sorry for being this excited. I'm usually more formal in these "first encounter" things, I believe your friends did not comment on that.” She broke the ice.

“Oh, they did.” I said. “At first it was unexpected, but it was fun. We could get some laughs out of this and also get to know each other better, you know?” I said. “Also, this is technically our "second encounter".”

“Yeah, I do.” She replied. “I have been thinking... You guys wouldn't have a fourth slot that is currently unoccupied on your travelling group, would you?”

“You are kidding me right?!” I was surprised. “I mean, sure you can travel with us. I- We would love it!” I was making a decision for my group without even having them know it. “But I thought you were going alone in this so you could win, why would you travel with us?”

“I don't have any friends outside of this world, and even in here, my only friends are my pokemon.” She explained. “I got some fans, but they are nothing more than that. Maybe with you guys I could learn to value something more than an extra few bits, even if that means three friends.” She looked thoughtful. “So can I come with you guys?”

“Sure. I bet Pulse would like you to come with us.” He wasn't the only one who would like that. Why did I have to fall in love with every mare that gives me a little bit o attention?

“Pulse?” She asked.

“My Umbreon.” I told her. She was still confused. “You do know my Umbreon and your Espeon are... dating, right?”

She laughed. “Now I'll be third wheeling for two couples, eh?”

“Trust me there sister, you won't be alone in that aspect.” I rolled my eyes.

“Must be quite frustrating to have people in love near you, specially when you are all going in a journey together, am I right?” She asked me. I think I could see her blushing a little, but I wasn't quite sure since the fire was low and dying.

“Yeah, but you grow used to-” I was interrupted by someone screaming my name over the distance. It sound like Blackburn. “You hear that?”

“Yeah... I think I do.”

We both stopped to try and hear it. It was definitely getting closer to us. Although, I heard the sound of more than just four hooves galloping at the time. It could only be Blackburn and Violet.

Jane and I waited in silence, the ponies coming in our direction kept calling my name, but this time I could easily distinguish Blackburn's voice. “Blackburn? Violet?” I screamed back to them. Jane kept sitting in the camp fire, curious about this whole situation.

Minutes later, Blackburn and Violet got near enough so I could see them with the light the campfire provided me. Both of them stopped in front of me and paused, panting as they probably galloped for a while.

“Black, what is the matter?” I asked him. He lifted his hoof, as if asking for a moment to catch his breath. “Come on, just tell me what's wrong.”

He shook his hoof. I noticed it was the hoof that held the Pokewalker. I took a close look at it, and it seemed that Blackburn had the "news" section open. “They are changing the rules. Something big is about to happen.” He grabbed my hoof and opened the news feed on my Pokewalker. “There, read it yourself.” He then sat down and continued panting.

I started reading it out loud. “To all competitors, we inform you that, by midnight of the date this is being published, there will be changes to the safety policy of the tournament. By midnight, competitors will be allowed to have battles with each other at any moment, including nighttime-” Oh fuck. “- And now there will be other safe zones on buildings other than the Pokemon Center and Pokemon Market, of these include: Gyms, the trading outposts, and areas too small for battles. These changes are being applied due to a decision from the development team after a discussion of the latest events and to also help reduce the number of competitors for a more tight final phase in the future.”

“You see what I mean now?” Blackburn asked me. “It's only ten minutes until midnight, and having you two alone by yourselves here got me worried. We should have seen that news earlier.” He explained. “We are sorry to ruin the moment for the two of you, but this is serious and I'm worried we have to get inside somewhere soon.”

“The moment? Wait what?” I asked confused. “Now hang on Blackburn, I think you are just getting over the top now. I don't think anpony would just attack the pony on their side in the middle of the night.”

“Well, I wouldn't like to be at that full inn right now and wait for our door to break open!” He was agitated. “And neither do I want to go there watch it.”

“Now, now, it says that rooms too small for battling wouldn't be allowed. I don't think that the inn's rooms are that big.” Jane added. “I have never been in one of those expensive inns, yes, but still.”

“I have had my Nidoking fit just fine inside of one, along with a bunch of other pokemon and enough space for everyone and some more.” I replied. “I don't doubt battles could be had inside of one of those rooms.”

“Guys, there is no point in just standing here discussing.” Violet had finally caught her breath. “We need to move so we don't get to know the answers for such questions this soon. And we really need to move. Now.”

“Well, There is a house not so far north from here and there is a cave west from there that leads to Route 47 and 48.” Jane said. “You guys can pick where we can spend the rest of the night at.”

I looked at my friends, then looked back at Jane, and looked back at my friends again. Violet and Blackburn had obviously went with the most comfortable one, that being obviously the house. I was fine with either one, I have slept on both ground and cloth, bed and rock.

“The house it is then.” Blackburn said. “We should get going.”

Blackburn and Violet took the lead, while me and Jane followed silently right behind them.

Moments later, I could hear the sound of an explosion on the distance, more likely in town.

Celestia save us all. Janus said inside of my head.

The house had finally found the house Jane told us about. It was a quiet house, but strangely distanced from town. When we got in, it was full of furniture, just like any other house in the game, but nopony seemed to be in it. It definitely wasn't abandoned, but it was empty. “Remember, lights out, we don't want to attract any attention.” I reminded everyone

“I had scouted ahead during this afternoon, just to pass sometime before my meeting with Atlas.” Jane commented. “Caught some pokemon and headed back. These two routes aren't that big, so it shouldn't take much time to explore it, and I definitely recommend us to go there tomorrow.”

“Us?” Blackburn asked curiously.

“Yeah... I invited Jane to join us.” I told him. “I hope you guys don't mind it.”

“Oh no, that isn't a problem.” Violet said. “I specially think that this is a great opportunity. You have a mission to defeat Freddie after all, haven't you Atlas? Any help we can get is good.”

“Wait, you are going after Freddie? Freddie, like, the pony that is creating an army?”

“Eeeyup, that one.” I said. “I think I forgot to mention it.”

“You are definitely more crazy than I thought.” Jane had no expression. “That is nearly impossible, considering how many trainers he already has.”

“Well, you could always keep going on yourself. I won't be forcing you to help us.” I explained. “I mean, I'm the one with the mission. Blackburn and Violet doesn't need to follow along either. It was their choice to help me.”

“Hey, I never said I was quitting.” Jane replied. “This seems like a challenge, and I'm all in for it. The elite four is way more easier than them an army, and besides, it was about time something like that came up.”

Suddenly, the room lights went on. An old mare stood by the doorframe and seemed very pleased for some reason

“Visitors!” She sounded excited about it. “It's been a while since I received any visits from travelers like you, specially at this time of the night.”

“Oh, we are sorry ma'am, We didn't know someone was here. We just wanted a place to stay for the night!” Blackburn tried to explain ourselves.

“Oh, that is quite alright sweetie. I heard that something dangerous was going to happen tonight.” The old mare avoided my friend's excuses. “Y'all must be quite frightened and anxious, but y'all shouldn't worry. I don't think anyone would be coming this far at this time of the night.”

She invited us over to the kitchen, and we all gladly accepted the invite, not only because she seemed like a nice pony, but because I was a little hungry. Blackburn seemed much more calm by the presence of the mare and so did the rest of my group. The tension we were through moments ago had just ended.

My group and I sat on a table, while the old mare served us some cake using some magic. Only now I had noticed the lady was an unicorn.

“Would y'all like to hear about story?” The mare asked. “Well, more like a legend, but would y'all?”

I saw my friends gladly accepting the invite, and I followed. I wondered what tale the old mare could tell us.

“Did any of y'all happen to hear about the pokemon that slumbers deep down at the bottom of the sea, the legend called Lugia?” She started. “Legend says that a long time ago, Lugia would control the seas, helping sailors on their travels so they wouldn't go through much trouble in the middle of big storms, and in return, the region of Johto would praise him, along with the rainbow bird, Ho-oh.”

“Big storms huh? Where was Lugia yesterday when I needed him in that storm?”

“The Guardian of the Seas, Lugia, and the Guardian of the Skies, Ho-oh where the two pokemon the region of Johto praised, and both of them loved the sound the bells at Whirlpool Islands and the Bell Tower made. But, as time passed, the Bell Tower was burned to the ground, and Lugia disappeared, and allowing the raging storms to take the bells down to the sea. As time passed, their story become legend, and from legend to myth. Some believe Lugia can still be found on the depths of the Whirlpool Islands, but the explorers that went there can say that there is nothing down there or that the layout is too confusing for anyone, and anyone that went there could get stuck for days.”

“You folk arrived in a good time. I believed that the storm that raged yesterday might just be the one to wake such creature up, or at least the rains will help bring rainbows to the region, making the return of Ho-oh.” The mare finally finished her story. “I think it's kinda late, you lads should get some rest for your journey tomorrow.”

I looked at my friends and they all seemed to agree with the idea. I was very tired too. The mare took us to a room in the house. It only had two big beds. “I'm sorry y'all, but that is all I have available.”

“Oh well.” I said out loud.

We were now in an awkward position. Blackburn and Violet would obviously take on bed just for them, leaving me and Jane on the other one, but considering the state of awkwardness we were in, I don't think I was ready for this. The kind mare had already gone to sleep again, and I wasn't the one to go disturb her.

“Black, you and Violet will take one bed, yeah?” I asked, just to make sure.

“Seems like it, I guess.” He replied, and thanks Celestia he wasn't joking just to make things more hard for us. “I mean, only if Violet agrees.”

“Considering our only way is to share them, I don't see why not.” Violet said. It was set then. Blackburn and Violet in one bed.

“Well, in that case, Jane, you want to share the last bed?” I asked her, except that for me that sounded way too much awkward. “I mean, it's okay if you don't, I can just sleep on the ground or something.”

“Well, uh...” She was nervous too. “You could the bed for yourself too, I don't mind sleeping in the ground. I mean, I have been doing it all this time.”

I heard Blackburn whisper to Violet behind me. “These two are so cute together.” and then the two of them giggled. Hopefully, Jane didn't hear that.

“Well...” I was out of words. “I think it's better if you take it. I can stay out guard tonight, anypony could always get here and want to battle us.” It was the only thing I could think of.

She was out of words too for the first moments. “Yeah... you go do that. Thanks for taking one for the team and all” she said, followed by a very nervous laugh.

“Well, in that case, good night everypony.” I then rushed out of the door and headed outside. I was going to stand guard there. Once I was out, I started speaking to myself.

“Okay, just how awkward was that for the two of us? I mean, I'm not even sure I like her, and I'm not even sure she likes me.” I lit up my horn to get myself some light. “Ah, never mind, I should worry about that later.”

I was sitting by myself, watching the night sky, when the house's door opened and Blackburn came out. He sat near me and said: “Thought maybe you could use some company.”

“It's nice from you to think that, but I think you should get some sleep.” I replied.

“And so should you.” He said. “After you left moments ago, Jane got really guilty since she kinda forced you to leave and-”

“She didn't force me to leave, I chose to leave myself.” I interrupted.

“Right.” He continued. “and decided to ask if she could share the bed with Violet instead, so you and me shared the other one. That is, in case you accept to share a bed with me.”

“Aw, come on.” I said. “We have shared beds before when we went in our little non-gaming adventures.”

“So what do you say?” He asked me. I did not respond, unsure if I really wanted it. “Atlas, come on, I can see there is something wrong.”

“I don't know, it's something about Jane.” I said. “I can't remember anyone getting me without words on moments that seem so natural. I mean, I was just fine before you two came a long, now neither of us can say shit.”

“You guys are just nervous because you might think we are messing it up.” He replied. “It's natural because you're afraid of what we will think.”

“It's not only that, I'm afraid to actually ask her out, that is, if I really love her, and she actually say no.”

“Aw, come on!” He laughed. “You're gonna tell me you can't she that she like you the same way? I mean, I don't know how she acted with you when you were alone, but she is acting just like you.”

“Yeah, I can see that, kinda.” I said. “It's just that... I don't think we are ready. It's too soon and I'm impatient.”

“Just relax, take a breath.”

“It's just that a lot of things are happening lately.” I started playing with the sand. “Got rejected by Luna, as expected; my father died; I got no idea where Freddie might be and what might happen soon. I'm currently emotionally unstable, and I don't think Jane is ready to make that decision if she really likes me.”

“So you're scared of the "no"?” Blackburn asked me, summing up everything.

“Yes!” I yelled a little bit. “Sorry. Yes, I'm afraid of the no. If anything able to get me even more emotionally confused such as that "no" happens, I will definitely go insane.”

“Hey, hey, buddy, calm down.” Blackburn tried to comfort me. “You're under a lot of stress, so jut relax. Jane will be travelling with us now. You will have a lot of time to get used to her near other people. Now come on, you need to get some sleep too.”

He got up and started to leave. He went through the door and waited for me on the other side. I got up, but as I was about to walk through the door, I heard a thunder far off, very far way, but probably coming this way. “Yup, maybe I should.” And maybe you should take care of this storm Lugia.

I slowly opened my eyes, my eyes focusing on the beauty of a background I have been so familiar in my dreams. It never gets old.

I've become quite used to this scenery that I don't even have to ask myself if I'm dreaming. Of course I'd just keep laying here until Luna arrived, and she would do that in her own time. After all, time passes differently when you're asleep.

Luna descended from the beautifully lit stars and landed in front of me. She immediately took her usual spot and sat right by my side.

“Good Night Atlas, it's good to see you tonight.” Luna calmly said.

“Night Luna.” I replied. “How's been your day?”

“Quite normal, and boring if you can say that.” Luna said. “On the other side, I could see you had a quite unusual day, am I right?”

“Sort of.”

“Sort of?” Luna asked, sarcastically. “I could see you made a, let's say, a new "friend", huh?” She smirked at me.

“Okay, yeah, I met this mare, big deal.” I replied. “Her name is Jane, and we are just friends, alright?”

“Friends, riiiiight” She replied.

“I can't believe you caught the same disease as Blackburn.” I facehoofed. “Okay, I might like her, to some extent, but I'm not even sure yet.” I replied. “You're making this conversation quite awkward, y'know?”

“Yes, I know. I'm sorry.” She apologized, sounding a little... shy?

“You're not going to tell me you're jealous,” I asked. “Are you?”

“Well, it just feels somewhat weird.” She started explaining. “It's just that I feel happy for you that you found somepony this fast after I refused your... invitation. I thought you would be feeling a little down because of it.”

“Oh, so it's that.” I blushed. “Luna, I thought you would be jealous because I made it seem I just moved on from you.” I said. “I was kinda worried you wouldn't visit me here anymore.”

“Why would I do that?” She asked. “After all, you're one of my only friends, and one of the best I could ask for.”

Silence followed for a few seconds that felt like an eternity. It was awkward.

“So you are not mad that I like Jane a little?” I asked.

“I don't see a reason for that, I'm even quite happy for you.” Luna said. “I just hope I can meet with the lucky mare one of those days.”

“Well, if it turns out to be something first.” I replied.

Moments later, Luna got up again, ready to fly back to her portal in the sky (an Stargate, if you will). “I'll be leaving now Atlas, it was a pleasant, and awkward, night.” Luna said. “Time really flies when you are in a dream.”

“It sure does.” I replied. “Again, sorry for this awkward night.”

“We talked about an awkward theme to be talked, why wouldn't this be awkward?” She replied with a question.

I smiled. “Yeah, that's true. I'll see you another night Luna.”

“Until next time, Atlas.”

Morning had come, everything was wet from last night's storm, but the sun was out and so me and my crew were up already, ready to leave. It didn't take us 10 minutes to walk out and go through the cave near the beach, right by where we were staying for the night. Route 47 and 48 were just after this empty cave. After we got out, Route 47 wasn't much other than a small islands connected by some bridges. They were open to the sea, so I hoped to go swimming, maybe find a water pokemon and move on to Route 48. We were going to spend the day here and would only go back to Olivine City through flight, now that we were able to fly. Blackburn never been so happy to be free to fly again, and now to fly alongside his Charizard. I would take the day to train the new pokemon I found and train Aurora as well.

We crossed a few bridges and had just finished walking up some exhausting stairs that led up a waterfall. I took a look around and we were back into a forest area, with a river that led to the sea right by us. There were patches of grass here and there, and I had high hopes for what I could find in one of those. As this route was highly option and brought no benefits at all, I didn't have to worry about anyone that could pose as a threat for us. There were the normal trainers, but they weren't other competitors that could surprise us and possibly wipe us out.

“Hey guys, What you all say about taking a small break for a swim?” I asked, excited to search for a Water-type.

“We were on the beach moments ago, for Celestia's sake Atlas.” Blackburn grunted.

“Aw come on Black,” Violet sided with me. “There is nothing wrong with a small pause. Besides, this water shouldn't be salty like the beach's.”

“Well, I'm all up for it.” Jane said. “I'm a little sleepy after all. Some fresh water should help me.” She then added: “And for the record, you guys wake way too early in the morning.”

“We just don't want to burn daylight.” Blackburn explained. “We want to stay ahead.”

“Ahead?” Jane laughed. “You might be ahead most of the competitors, but the good ones are all ahead of us.”

“Then how do you explain the fact that you're here with us?” Violet asked, trying to counter Jane.

“If it's not clear enough, I like to wake up late in the afternoon.” Jane explained. “I might be this "professional-highly-trained-player", but I'm still the lazy pony I always been.”

“Is Freddie one of those people ahead of us?” I asked. Jane nodded.

“I heard rumors that he barely stops, just so he can stay ahead and recruit more members that are behind him. I don't even know how can he be that fast.” Jane said. “Well, enough talking, I'm jumping in.”

Jane went for a running start. She galloped until near the water and jumped, going for a cannonball. Water went flying until near us.

“I'm next!” Violet went right behind her. She ran and took a direct dive into the water.

I began thinking about years ago, about some pool party I wanted to go but was never invited to. It isn't a big deal for me now, but back then, it mean being excluded. I have never been the most popular, but I wasn't exactly lonely too. I had my group of friends that I talked to sometimes, like the guys over the Music Club, the Geeks, and I was somewhat friends with everyone. I had no enemies, other than Freddie and his gang, and I always stayed out of fights. Being friendly isn't always what ponies usually look for someone one, more like their reliability or the things they share in common. Well, that was about it. About the pool party, Blackburn and I invited some of our friends and made a small party for ourselves. It turns out that the geeks, musicians and shooters (on Blackburn's end. We also shared the geek group of friends) all enjoy playing FPS games while listening to music.

Anyways, I was looking too much back into my other reality. “Blackburn, aren't you going to jump?” I asked.

“No.” He sounded grumpy.

“What got you so grumpy, huh?” I asked.

“I just think we are wasting time being here.” He explained. “There is no need to be here. We could be battling the Steel gym right now.”

“Ah, stop with that. Look who is worrying too much now.” I said. “Come on, let's go for a swim.”

I turned my back to him and started walking to the water when I heard him sitting. “Well, I'm not going.” He removed his saddlebags and laid his head on them.

I rolled my eyes and said: “I don't think you have an option.” I smirked. I wrapped his body in magic and levitated him, floating him by my side.

“Whoa, put me down Atlas.” He was starting to laugh, nervously. Jane and Violet were both holding their laughs. I stopped right by the water and dropped him in. “Hey!” He alerted me, but it was too late since he went underwater, making a loud splash. Violet, Jane and I all laughed. When Blackburn got back, he looked mad. Then he smiled. “So this is how you want to play?” He then grabbed my hoof and pulled me to the water. I wasn't ready.

“Whoa!” I screamed before going underwater. When I emerged, I was already laughing from my karma, and so were my friends. “Oh, now you're taking the piss out of me, I see how it is.”

“And you just got back to the language you used before you turned into a cheeky musician, 'ye bloody wanker'” Blackburn made fun of my rarely used English slang of the not-so-rich of Canterlot. Since I turned into a musician, I learned to talk like one of those high class ponies, as I would probably play for them, but I can't help but let some of those words I wasn't supposed to say escape sometimes. This time, it was an uncommon and very recognizable one.

“Oh, bugger off.” I replied, used the language me and Blackburn were so used to. And so, our playfulness went on for Celestia knows how long. And it was quite enjoyable.

After we were done swimming, we decided to head deeper in the route.

Introduction

Once upon a time on the magical land of Equestria, there was an game created by ponies to entertainment purposes, the game told a history of an self created character to explore a land full of creatures to the ponies who played it to befriend and fight with them in order to defend the land or even for fun,this game was called Pokemon.

After a period of time the game had started to be uninteresting for the ones who played, until an update for the game came out...

The game now supported a multiplayer support for ponies to enjoy the game together battling against each other or just exploring together, but that update wasn't all, within the update,a new mode had been implemented, the Nuzlocke mode.

The Nuzlocke mode implemented new mechanics to the gameplay: 1º. The player must only capture the first creature encountered in the area. 2º. The player must give a name to the new found friend. and now rule 3º. If the player's pokemon faints, it must be released, it is dead, it will not be returned.

Those were the only 3 rules of a Nuzlocke game, and with the multiplayer experience, ponies started online runs for the challenge, to see who would be the last one standing,or to even beat it.

Our story now begins in the city of Canterlot...