Starlight: Redshift

by the-pieman

Rating: teen
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Human, Other, Original Character, Rarity, Pokémon, Adventure, Violence, Crossover
Length: 253267

Anthony takes Twilight and Rarity on an unexpected adventure they won't forget in this spinoff of Starlight in a Broken Vessel

WARNING! This story is a spinoff of my surprisingly successful story Refined Starlight in a Broken Vessel!
If you are not familiar with it, please read it here

Anthony is going home! Or is he? Not if Anthony has anything to say about it! Instead, he takes his chance to give Twilight and Rarity the experience of a lifetime as he takes them to a world of danger, a world of friendship, and a world of excitement.

The world... of Pokémon!

Read on as Anthony and his unicorn companions travel through a strange new region and meet many Pokémon, both glorious and hideous, as they go on an epic journey through a world greater than their dreams... or, their nightmares.

Credit goes to Catfire13, who bugged me with the idea until I admitted it was too good an idea to pass up!

Published 2014-07-28 15:50:04 UTC
Last updated 2021-02-06 18:00:34 UTC

Chapter 2

We keep moving, the cries and noises of various Pokémon setting my equine companions on edge after seeing just how brutal a fight could be. Nature is scary, and here, it can be a nightmare. Literally in some cases.

As we walk along, Rarity is starting to get acclimated to the Bug-types, no longer jumping a foot in the air each time she spots a Caterpie or Wurmple crawling out of a log. Then we come upon something very different. A human. He approaches me with a friendly ‘Hi!’ and we start a little chat, eventually the subject becomes what he’s here for.

“I’m looking for tough trainers to battle against, and soon I’ll be prepared to take on a Gym leader and get my first badge. That said, how about a little battle?”

“Yeah!” I shout excitedly, then reality kicks me in the face like a Hitmonlee. “But I don’t have any Pokémon to battle with...”

“Oh, a coordinator, huh? Yeah, those two don’t look like they’d do well in a real fight.”

Huh? I then realize he was referring to Rarity and Twilight! I turn to Twilight and give her an evil grin. “No, not really, but I’m willing to give it a shot. I’m game!”

Twilight just looks confused and the trainer and I shake hands to set rules and begin the battle. “One-on-One, one Pokémon each, no items, and no physically crippling moves.”

He smiles. “Fine with me, let’s go!”

We back up and he carefully chooses a Pokéball from his belt and tosses it into the air. The mares beside me stare in awe as the bright light shoots out of the ball and a Rattata forms as the glow subsides.

“Alright Twi, let’s see what you got!” The purple mare stares at me with a ‘What the heck?’ face, but I push her forward. “Come on Twilight. I’ve seen you do plenty of stuff, give it a try. You can do this!”

Twilight gets a strange look on her face. I admit her receiving compliments from me is rare, but it’s just my instinct. Trainers need to be kind to Pokémon if they want to win. Cautiously, Twilight walks up to the small Normal type. The Rattata, clearly having been in battles before, gets it’s ‘game face’ on, and I admit that seeing it in person is a little disconcerting. Twilight feels the same way, but I offer more support.

“You’ve faced off bigger things, give it your best!” At my praise, Twilight seems to actually become more confident immediately. She gives the rat Pokémon a fierce gaze as well, and the other trainer shouts for the battle to begin.

I then realize I don’t know what to tell Twilight to do. I have to give orders to keep up appearances, but I don’t know what to tell her. I can’t just call out moves and have her understand what spells to use! Well on the other hand...

“Alright Twilight, use, uh... Psychic?” Twilight looks at me confusedly. The other trainer then makes his command.

“Rattata, use Bite!” Twi’s eyes go wide as the rat Pokémon leaps at her. She tries to back off, but her foe is too fast and bites her hard on the leg. I don’t know how to describe the sound Twilight makes, but it does not sound at all pleasant.

I shake my head, I need to... Idea! “Twilight, use Telekinesis. It can’t outpace you if it’s not touching the ground!”

Twilight seems surprised, but her horn glows and Rattata is lifted into the air, where it scurries around, unable to get a footing on the air.

I follow up with another command. “Now use Confusion, throw it!” Twilight obeys and she hurls the rat into a nearby tree to her left. Rarity and I wince as we see the Pokémon impact the tree hard enough to make an echoing ‘thwack’.

To Twilight’s utter shock, the Rattata gets back up, ready for more. Forgot how resilient the things are.

“Quick Attack!” Rattata becomes a purple and white blur as it slams into Twilight’s side, knocking her over. Shit.

“Come on Twilight, use... Psybeam!” She seems to get the gist of it from the name and fires a laser of magic at her opponent. It’s not very cone-shaped nor multicolored, but good enough I guess. The other trainer does look a bit suspicious.

“Rattata, Super Fang!” Oh fuck, please tell me Twilight paid attention when I-

Twilight looks very hurt. Not sure how much ‘health’ she had, but whatever it was just got cut in half.

“Quick Attack again!” The usual blur repeats it’s attack from earlier and this time Twilight has a hard time getting up. I run over to pick her up.

“Stop the battle! You win, you win...”

The trainer looks at Twilight and I apologetically. “Jeez man, I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away. Is she gonna be okay?”

I look Twilight over and aside from the bite marks and heavy bruises, she doesn’t look that bad, just exhausted.

“Yeah, I- I think so.” I pick up Twilight in my arms, and the trainer calls back his Rattata. We then go our separate ways, him wishing me luck.

Rarity just stares at me as we walk. “What in the world was that!?”

I sigh and readjust my hold on Twilight. “That was a Pokémon battle. I told you that getting mixed up in a battle can be bad if not prepared, because this is what happens.”

Our walking has led us out of the forest and back into the grasslands.

“But that creature... it was so brutal! Twilight barely stood a chance!”

“I told you that Rattata are fast and durable, but you two wouldn’t listen to me!” I don’t know why I was suddenly angry, but I was. Maybe because I lost my first real battle. “This is the Pokémon world. Pokémon are strong and dangerous, more so than anything you could possibly imagine. These battles? They are one of the most common practices because Pokémon can handle it!”

“How common a practice is it?” Twilight asks. “Once a day?”

I scoff. “Yeah right. The more prolific and prepared trainers try to get at least two battles every hour!”

I continue, ignoring the wide-eyed stares I got from the two. “And Rattata like that, yeah they’re tough, but overall they are pretty weak. True, any Pokémon can become the equivalent of a one-man-army if given proper training, but Rattata are still not that tough, comparatively.”

“Why would you want to come to such a brutal, violent place like this?” Rarity asks. I turn to reply, but something catches my eye. We seem to have wound up near a cliff overlooking the ocean and there are tons of Pokémon.

Far above, near the cloud layer, I barely catch a glimpse of a Fearow circling. It’s hard to tell, but I think it’s a sharp magenta coloration. Too bad it’s too far up... and I don’t have any Pokéballs or anything to catch it with anyways.

The seaside is beautiful, though, with a couple of Dewgong playing in the water, another looking like its getting territorial with a Sealeo on the rocks. Must be cold water, then, if both of those are hanging out around here. Strange, because it’s actually kinda warm up here.

I stumble back as a flock of Wingull buzz by, flying up the cliff face at a breakneck pace, followed by a really pissed-looking Braviary. The whole procession is cawing and screeching up a storm, the cries of ‘Wing!’ and the ear-splitting scream of the enraged eagle-based pokemon sounding like an echo.

A Ledyba crawls slowly to the end of a tree branch and looks at Rarity and Twilight with curiosity evident in its large eyes, no trace of fear to be found in the normally timid Pokémon.

A Masquerain flutters by, huge eye-spots flashing menacingly, but it’s not interested in a fight, just a whimsical passing.

The colors and the cool air from the sea, carrying the scent of salt-spray and a million new animals I’ve never met in person before make me smile and gesture at the gleaming waves and cerulean sky.

“This is why. It’s just fantastic. Dangerous, but so beautiful...” As if to punctuate my statement, I catch a glimpse of an immensely long, blue serpentine form porpoise out of the water a long distance off shore. I have no idea what region I’ve landed in, but it’s a great one, I can tell.

“I am so getting my license. I don’t wanna miss out on all this because of legal issues.” I turn to Rarity and set Twi down to let her stretch her legs. “What do you guys think? Wanna be trainers? Travelling the world, meeting new creatures like you’ve never imagined. Journeying through many environs, braving whatever challenge we may face in the name of success and discovery?”

The two ponies look at each other uneasily, though Rarity glances up at the oddly brave Ledyba. The white pony answers first. “Well... I suppose this world isn’t so bad... Also, what is this curious little one?” she asks, as Twilight thinks things over. The Ledyba inches a little further out on the branch, until it crackles and breaks, sending the poor thing almost to the ground before Rarity catches it in her telekinesis.

“That’s a Ledyba. It’s a Bug type and they are known for being rather skittish. Seems this one’s a bit different. I-” I was about to continue on to movesets and strategies and such, but I recall the fact that nobody needs to know that much. This soon at least. “They are more good at being showy, using special techniques to confuse or distract opponents, though it’s fairly decent in combat if need be. More of a contest Pokémon though.”

Rarity looks over as the Ledyba clings to her, shivering slightly. “Contests? Oh, the poor dear is so frightened... Explain about these ‘contests’, while I tend to the dear.” She begins stroking the pokemon’s shell, calming it quickly.

“Well, contests are kind of like talent shows for Pokémon. Someone who participates in them is called a coordinator, rather than a trainer. The contests don’t involve fighting, instead the coordinator gives commands to their Pokémon to be showy and impressive. It’s all about looking pretty or cool or just amazing. Then each Pokémon is judged and the winner gets a prize. It’s an alternative for trainers who don’t want to have their Pokémon getting hurt.”

Rarity looks down, thoughtfully, at the Pokémon snuggled up to her foreleg. “Well, that does sound better than making them fight... I suppose we’d need to stay here for a bit to sight-see, might as well enjoy ourselves, right, Twilight?”

The purple unicorn is looking down at the ground, before nodding slightly. She raises her gaze to meet mine, a look of stark determination coloring her expression in a way I’ve never seen before.

“You said you wanted to be a Pokémon master? As in, the best trainer ever? I’m going to do the same. And I’ll do it with as little harm to any Pokémon as possible!” The unicorn puffs her chest out and smiles. “And I have enough magic to send back weekly reports on what’s happening without being tired at all, so we can keep everypony back home from getting worried!”

“You? The best of the best? Hah, you didn’t even listen to me when I told you what was dangerous about Rattata! You’ve got a lot of learning to do if you wanna top me! Let’s see how you do on your first day!”

She smiles back. “Learning is what I do best Anthony. And I plan to make friends with my ‘team’ as you called them, not just catch them.”

“And that’s the sign of a trainer that’s going to go far.” I nod happily at her with a warm smile. “But you still have a ways to go. If you honestly want to try and top me someday, you’re gonna have to work hard.”

“You’re on, Anthony! I’m going to win before you know it!” With that, we set off on the trail, the Ledyba still clinging to Rarity.

Chapter 3

All the walking seen in the anime, how Ash’s group moans about things taking forever, and then just ending up in front of a landmark? Yeah, sure, like real-life has time skips like that. There’s not a whole lot going on, except seeing some more wild Pokémon

We’re working our way down a narrow path down the cliff and both of my pony companions are ogling every little thing, including a pair of Dugtrio that eye us with looks that would be malicious if they weren’t so small. They’re barely the size of one of the CMC members... and have nearly the destructive potential.

Still, we’re respectful and keep walking, without incident, until we’re tired of the sun beating down on the cliff. Thankfully, we come across a wider ledge less than a half hour of walking later, and can sit down.

And I see something truly glorious... the entrance to a cave!

The arched entrance leads to a nearly vertical shroud of darkness, the light of the sun barely illuminating a mere inch of the inside floor of the cave. I casually lean towards it,and can hear wingbeats and soft scraping noises.

Licking my lips with anticipation, I start towards the cave, where the cool shadows and awesome Pokémon will be the only things I need as I search f- “oof!”

I’m cut off from my trek by a telekinetic band around my stomach, and Twilight shouting at me. “What were you thinking? It’s a random hole in the wall! Do you even know what’s in there?”

“Of course!” I shout excitedly. “Do you know how awesome it would be if I got an Aron this early? Steel types are-”

“No! I already fought a supposedly weak one and I’m still pretty scraped up, without easy access to a hospital, that’s going to wait!” I am magically dragged further along the path, and set down once the cave is no longer in sight.

After a bit of walking, the path branches two ways. One down a slope along the edge of the cliff, and the other continuing further.

Twilight looks at me. “Alright expert, which way do we go?”

“I... I don’t know, we need a map.” I look down the sloped path and I see the outline of what look like buildings. “Let’s go check that out. If it’s a town, we can get supplies.”

Once we are all in agreement, we make our way slowly down the slope. Falling would be rather bad, so we take it slow. I figure now would be a good time for a bit of education.

“So Rarity, there are a few things you should probably know about Ledyba. As I said, they’re not very strong, but beyond that, they have weaknesses, just like all Pokémon.” I try and recall my knowledge of the Bug and Flying types. After two years in Equestria, I hope I’m not too rusty.

“But... I wouldn’t be using Ledyba to fight. I though you said coordinators-”

“Yes, coordinators don’t battle... usually. Wild Pokémon can still attack, and in that case, you have to either fight or run. Running may just make the wild Pokémon more agitated.”

Rarity looks down sadly. “Oh... so you mean...”

“Whether they want to or not, Pokémon will have to fight, so in that case, I’m going to tell you what types of Pokémon you should have Ledyba avoid combat with if you want to keep it healthy.”

“Well... if fighting really is a requirement at times... I suppose knowing how to keep her safe is important...”

I look at Rarity. “Her? How do you know it’s... nevermind.” I shake my head and refocus on my knowledge of type combinations. “Okay, Flying-types are weak against Electric attacks, as well as Ice, though Ice-types are a bit less common. It’s Bug-type makes it weak to Fire, and the combination of both it’s types give it double weakness to Rock type moves.”

Rarity seems to be taking a moment to process this, though Twilight seems to be paying rapt attention and already has a look of understanding. Maybe she will make a decent rival after all. Squeee! I have a rival!

“So, is there anything else I should know in the interest of her safety?”

I think for a bit. “Yeah. Ledyba as a species are known for having a high Special Defense stat, which means they take less damage from special moves, typically classified as non-physical. Actually, Fire attacks and Electricity attacks are mostly manifested as Special Attacks, so if Ledyba gets enough experience, she might be able to take a couple serious blows from moves that would normally cripple her.”

A thought enters my mind. “However... it’s physical Defense is rather lacking. As most Rock type moves are physical, and Ledyba is already incredibly vulnerable to them...” I turn to Rarity. “Keep her away from Rock types, understand? Pokémon battles between trainers have rules set by the Pokémon League, but to fight a wild Pokémon where the rules don’t apply, Ledyba could be killed. All Pokémon could.”

Rarity nods firmly. “Don’t worry, if I have to fight to protect her myself, I will do all I can even if it may cost me dearly.”

I give her an appraising look, then smile. “You two really are going to make great trainers... That whole ‘Friendship is Magic’ thing will take you far in this world.” The ponies smile.

“But...” I warn them. “Don’t coddle your Pokémon too much. They thrive on experience and training. While combat isn’t the only way to raise them to be strong, it’s the best way, and Pokémon mainly kept as pets or only used for show... they are the most likely candidates to end up as prey, more likely than wild Pokémon, as they’ve been denied the option to develop the strength to protect themselves.”

“So... how can I train her without fighting?”

I think for a bit. I honestly don’t recall any of them... guess those two years really did make me forget. “Uh... well you could just have play-practice, have them use their moves for recreation or such. Being in contests may not make her that strong, but it will definitely help her learn techniques. Any move combos you come up with to use in contests are fully legal to use in Pokémon battles.”

“So...” Twilight looks at me. “Combat training... but not through real combat? How about training them by having them practice on inanimate objects?”

“That works too, in fact coordinators do that as well. It’s a common practice for trainers if they’re not sure if their Pokémon is ready for a real battle. Of course, you should make sure that the rock or tree you are attacking isn't a wild Pokémon taking a nap. That could get ugly.”

Eventually, we get to the little seaside town, reminiscent vaguely of Pacifidlog Town from Hoenn. Vaguely.

For one, it’s by a huge cliff, not floating on the water itself. As well, even though its got the rural, almost pastoral look, with a some large fields between it and the forest, it’s got a series of stone ramps or stairs leading to the water forty feet below, where a series of stone docks protrude into the water. There’s even some sort of fishing boat or somesuch tethered in, and I can recognize a few more out further along the coast.

As we’re walking up, the smell of freshly-made food assaults my nostrils, and it hits me that I haven’t eaten in months. And that I’m hungry.

I’m all set to run into the town, until I realize I have no money, and stop on the nice, packed-dirt road. I sit down on the wooden sidewalk, and wonder how I’m going to rectify the issue.

“So I’m going to hope that I’m the only one who’s broke and that they will accept bits here...”

Rarity levitates out a purse gingerly. “Well, I suppose we can try. I can only hope it’s worth something as raw gold, at least, even though it’s only shiny.”

“Right, raw gold. Yeah, that should get us pretty far.” We continue on into the town, and we see what sort of shops they have around besides food. Getting some adventuring gear is also a high priority. Backpacks or satchels are definitely on the ‘to buy’ list, saddlebags will only carry so much. That and I have nothing but the clothes I’m wearing. Gonna need some adventuring duds for sure.

“Out of the way, important things, coming through!” a voice yells, and I jump out of the way in time to see a kid, probably a boy based on the hat, on a bike scream past me in the mach-5 range, bee-lining towards a larger building near the cliffside. Whoever the kid is, he’s got a big, white-wrapped package tied to the back of his bike, which falls off as he careens around a corner. The kid doesn’t come back for, likely not noticing in his haste.

I sigh, some people. Walking over to the package, I pick it up and try to figure out what might be in it. There’s a large delivery sticker on it, saying ‘To: Prof. Basswood’. What really catches my attention, though, is the ‘from’ line.

‘From: Prof. Oak’

Hot damn, whatever this is, is either super important or a bunch of pretty baubles. I give it 40-60.

But which Oak? Sam or Gary? Perhaps a descendant! The name is weighty, but the exact identity is a mystery. I have to open this thing!

As I begin to slip a finger under the packaging, standing on the empty street, I hear one of the ponies behind me clear her throat. “Ahem, are you sure you should be doing that, Anthony? It obviously doesn’t belong to you, and I’ve never taken you for a thief.”

“Oh come on, look at this! Professor, freakin’ Oak! Who knows what could be in here! I just gotta know!”

“Dear, you should return it and ask if it’s alright to know what it was, if you’re so curious.” Rarity admonishes me with a disapproving glare. I look down at the package, then back at the girls. they’re both looking unhappy, but Rarity more than Twilight.

“Fiiiiiine. Let’s find this Professor Basswood.” We start looking around for a building that might imply a research facility. Me actually looking for it, the ponies obviously not used to the designs of the houses and businesses around here.

Finally, I remember the slightly larger, not-wood-and-stone building the kid was heading vaguely towards, and facepalm. As we get ready to walk there, another human walks up, a skitty on her head. While she looks to be around eighteen or so, her face lights up and makes her look twelve when she sees the two ponies at my side.

She races over, and squees as she sees them, moving all around in a frantic haste to observe them from every angle. “Oh my goodness, I’ve never seen pokémon like those! Where did you get them?”

Oh yeah, everyone thinks they’re pokémon! This just keeps getting funnier and funnier. I grin. “I got them from Equestria. You wouldn’t believe it, but over there, these guys are everywhere!”

“Wow! I’ve never heard of that region! Wait, are you a trainer?” she looks at me with a bright, eager face, looking up to meet my face. I wonder if I’ve gotten taller, or if she’s just a bit short...

“Well, not legally... I was hoping to get my license here so I can buy pokéballs, and such. Right now, I guess you can just call these two my friends.”

Twilight’s face is priceless, a mixed look of bafflement, mild insult, and general ‘what are you talking about?’ I wish I had a camera. Rarity is hiding a smirk; she gets what’s going on.

“Yeah, I can’t really start my adventure proper, but I’m sure they wouldn’t mind giving it a shot once I’m legal...” I give Twilight an evil glare like the one before the last battle. “Just don’t expect anything too amazing from them.”

Twilight’s sputtering, and Rarity starts laughing, drawing quizzical looks from the trainer and her Skitty, who has the most adorable look of confusion on its face.

“Anyway, I guess I’ll see you around, I’m gonna go get my license.”

The girl smiles and waves, before stopping. “Oh, before I forget! My name’s Beth! You got an éTech?”

“A what? Sorry, I’ve been in Equestria for quite a while and I’ve never been to this region before.” I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t even know this region’s name! Heh, kinda stupid, huh?”

“Oh, you don’t? Did you just move here or something? You’re in Otaria.” She smiles again, then starts walking away. “If we meet up again, we can trade numbers!”

Oh yeah, phones! And subways! And cars! And all the human things that Twilight and Rarity will freak out when they see! Human technology for the win!

“Yeah, I’ll see if I can’t find you when I’m... oh crap, I need to deliver this package. I’ll be right back!” I rush towards the lab, planning on showing off all the neat hi-tech crap humanity has pulled off to these ponies who don’t even understand the concept of batteries outside of gems charged for later.

And what’s in this box. Oh man I gotta know!

I’m practically skipping as we reach the lab, which is quite obviously a lab by the sign on it. Huh. They never were so blatant in the games... or the show.

Either way, I walk up, just now noticing that I’ve left a wake of curious people eyeballing a nervous Twilight and preening Rarity as we went along. Knocking on the door reveals it to be metal.

“Alright you two, come on! You don’t wanna get lost!” I’m gonna play up this ‘rare pokémon’ thing as much as possible. Twilight actually does scootch closer, though I think that’s because she’s taking my words at face value, and is probably not too comfortable with all the new people staring at her. Rarity, though is happily strutting at my side, grinning widely. She definitely enjoys the attention, that’s for sure.

Shaking my head a the stark contrast between the two ponies, I open the door to the lab and walk in. Gotta know what’s in here!

The door swings slowly open, and I peek in, to see a tall, blue-and-orange-haired woman listening to the kid from earlier explain, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She looks up, her mouth opening, until she sees the package in my hands.

“How did you get that?” she asks, moving towards me as the kid looks surprised, his eyes a little red. “Those are official- did you steal them?”

I roll my eyes. “Nah, they fell off this kid’s bike when he went around a corner. I’ve seen better turning from Linoone!”

The kid’s face screws up, and he shouts at me. “Hey! my bike’s, like, fifth-hand! I’d like to see you do better on my cra-” he freezes mid-word, the tall woman’s gaze having returned to him in a snap, a glare capable of lighting candles and freezing tap water focusing on him. “Er... on that rather unpleasant rusty pile of trash?” he smiles ingratiatingly.

The woman nods. Then, she turns back to me, her glare softening to a non-lethal level. “Well, thank you for returning it. I’ve been waiting on a restocking of the trainer licences and cards for a week now, and with Oak being so busy these days...”

“Trainer cards, huh? Funny that, I’m actually looking to get my own license!” I pause and hand the package to her “Legally of course.”

She chuckles and cocks an eyebrow. “You have the sign-up fee? And have you taken the exam yet? Also, aren’t you a little old to be just now starting your whole trainer’s journey?”

“In order: Maybe, no but I plan to, and let’s just say I’ve been held back by uncontrollable circumstances.” Like not growing up in the Pokémon world, then involuntarily moving to Equestria...

“Hmm... well, you can take the exam here, if you want to; the fee covers both your first try, and either your second try or your trainer card, depending on if you pass it. Oh, and what are those?” Her voice shifts from teacher-stern to curious and interested on the last sentence, and she starts leaning towards me. I look down, and see that Twilight and Rarity have nosed their way into the lab behind me, and Twilight is looking at all the books, shelves, and blinking electronic devices with awe and wonder.

I think that I should really give this woman a surprise. “Oh, they’re nothing special, really.” I call over to them. “Hey girls, if you want to be a trainer or coordinator, you’re gonna need a license. I suggest blending in to the public first though.”

As the woman looks confused, Twilight nods. “Alright, I prepared for this, including some basic dresses from Rarity. Just give me a moment...” She scrunches up her face, and the tall woman’s face turns to one of wonder as Twilight begins channeling magic.

Come to think of it, the woman’s probably the local Professor, judging by her accepting the package and wearing a labcoat and all.

Twilight fires a beam of energy to me, which then splits and arcs back to her and Rarity, causing them to gleam with a magenta glow for several seconds, shifting inside the light to a human shape. A moment later, they dropped gracefully to the floor, already shrouded with flying cloth as they quickly put on clothes. Had they been practising somehow?

I look at the shocked professor and draw her attention back to me. “Kinda neat, but if you’ve seen it once it loses the magic I suppose. Now how about those exams? Oh right, the entrance fee. Rarity?”

“One moment, darling, I’m still not used to these... fingers. Though I can certainly see how they could be useful!”

Twilight straightens the hem of her skirt, which only goes down to a little past her knees. “Alright, I cast the extra-length version of the spell, so it should last until we next go to sleep. Uhm, is there anywhere I can look over some of the material for the exam, ma’am? I need to, ah, touch up on the subjects at ho- hand.”

The professor just looks at the two. “That was the most amazing transform I’ve ever seen! Most Ditto can’t even change to something they aren’t specifically looking at; did you discover a new variant of the move? And when did you find time to teach them the language?”

I shrug. “Something like that, kinda. Still, like I said, it’s not that special once you’ve seen it. Oh, we’re gonna have to pay in raw gold, is that okay?”

The professor has a full-body twitch, her jaw dropping. “Raw gold?! Where did- how-” she just stops speaking. After a moment, her face changes back to a pleasantly amused look, and she smiles at me. “Of course it’s welcome, and will likely more than cover the fee. Do you already have a starter in mind from our selection, or have you not browsed it online yet?”

I think I may have broken her, because she just went saleslady. Well I’m gonna give her one hell of a goodbye, heheheheh.

“No, sorry I haven’t. What starters do you have available? I think Rarity will just stick with the Ledyba that’s been following us here.” The pokémon in question buzzed in the door, quickly clinging to the top of the door jamb, a look of fear on its face. From outside, a cry of ‘it got away!’ was heard.

“Well, you can check your éTech for the listing, or if you need to borrow a desktop, you can use one over there.” she points at a row of three computers, with dividers between them, on a single long desk.

“Thanks, Prof. Let’s just say that where we came from is pretty low-tech...” I give Twilight a haughty look. Tech is so much cooler than magic. “I’ll give your starters a look then. Come on Twi, I’ll show you how to use a computer.”

“A com-pewter? It doesn’t look like pewter...”

I chuckle and rest my arm across her shoulders. “Oh you silly, silly girl... here, let me teach you.” With that, I lead her over to the desk.

Sitting her down at the console, I show her the basics of the mouse and screen combination, and then work towards the keyboard, which leaves her bewildered and lost, trying to figure out how to coordinate ten tiny limbs all at once. Leaving her to practice on a text document, I sit down at another computer, and begin searching through the dedicated machine’s limited abilities. It has the starter list, a link for the exam questions, and comes with a headset for voice prompts. Twilight’s already looking around for help by the time I’ve already gotten the list open, and started perusing the short list of choices.

I help Twilight out by explaining the simple concept of the ‘scroll wheel’ and she is very interested in the machine as a whole.

I can’t wait to introduce her to all kinds of stuff. I return to the list and I am... less than impressed.

The list has nearly two dozen pokémon on it, but all but three are greyed out as selections. Apparently, there’s only a Chespin, two Turtwig, and a Tepig left at the moment, none of which are particularly interesting. Sure, each of them can become powerful, amazing pokémon, but they just suck so hard at first!

“Hey prof... do you think I could just go out and catch my own? I mean, I know how it works, I’d just have to deal with less chance of a capture because the target is healthy, right?”

The professor thinks it over for a moment. “I... suppose. You do appear to have plenty of... friends available to help if you get into trouble. Just avoid the forest if you can, for now. There’s plenty of very strong pokémon in there, but that’s also the downside.”

“Right. Training is best done against stronger opponents, but if you’re over your head, you should avoid the place until better prepared.” I pause. “Er, let’s just say I know the source material but have never had any chance for practical application.”

Gotta tone it down. If I end up belting out evolutionary lines down to amount of experience required to reach them, that’d look pretty crazy for a ‘new’ trainer.

The professor seems to understand my explanation, though, and asks again for the fee. By now, Rarity has figured out how to work a coinpurse with her fingers, and extracts a pair of gold coins, and it suddenly hits me how gigantic they are when not being thrown around like monopoly money. Each one is almost as big around as my eyes, and they’re probably solid gold, knowing ponies and their silliness around valuable materials.

Once more, though, it looks as though the professor is broken, as her mouth hangs open, and she sputters like a fish.

“Will this cover three exams? Possibly five, Twi and Rarity might need a second chance.”

The professor nods dumbly. “Ah, that’ll... that’ll cover it, definitely.”

Chapter 4

The exam starts off with a series of answer boxes for me to type into, after a request to turn in any éTech devices before the test. The first several are easy.

What respective items are used to cure Poison, Burns, and Paralysis?
Antidote, Burn Heal, Paralyze heal. Or, if you’ve got money, a full heal works on them all.

Which Type typically has the fastest rate of growth?
Bug

Man, I could answer these in my sleep if I had to. These are definitely geared towards people with little actual book-smarts, and more ‘I wanna go train pokémon!’ attitude. At least they’re asking important questions.

Which three Pokémon types are typically offered as starters?
Water, fire, grass

How many different types have been discovered thus far?
17. 18 if you count Fairy Type

I hope that doesn’t get counted against me; I’m not actually sure if Fairy types are a thing here, but if not, I can just say that Twi and Rarity are. Nobody’s seen shit like that before!

Your foe has a Dark/Steel Pokémon, what type of move would deal the most damage to it?
A Fighting-type move

I’ve had to deal with this exact problem, thankfully, as well as being the one with a Bisharp myself The next one, though...

Your foe has a Dark/Ghost Pokémon, who is presently protected by a Force Field hold item, and can only be hit by super effective moves. What move type must you use?

None will work. I’d have a Pokémon use Trick, Covet, or Knock Off to remove the hold item first.

Name three ways Pokémon can evolve.
Evolution stones, getting enough experience, and certain environments depending on varying conditions.

Wild Stunky will indiscriminately spray anything in their territory. True or false?
False, they only spray intruders and to mark the edges of the territory.

At least, that’s what I’m hoping. If I ever run across one, well- it’s a good thing that it only lasts twenty-four hours before it fades.

What is the signature move of most cocoon-stage pokémon?
Harden

What is the most basic of damage-dealing attacks that the majority of Pokémon learn?
Tackle

Pshh, easy.

Name a move that can causes recoil damage and how to avoid it.
Take Down, Flare Blitz, Double Edge, Volt Tackle, Submission, Brave Bird, Wood Hammer, Head Smash, Head Charge, Wild Charge, and Struggle. The ability Rock Head allows the user to use these moves and stay unharmed by them.

This counts for bonus points, right?

Easy stuff. Now on to the Vocal Response Questions, which require I basically shout the answer at the computer, and it checks somehow how my response works.

You’re using a well-trained Pidgey, at League Level twenty. Your opponent is a Graveler, who has just begun a Rollout charge against your pokémon. React!

“Use Sand-Attack!”

A strong trainer has baited you into a battle you weren’t ready for, and reveals a high-strength Gabite, and your only pokémon is a Nidorino. You have a few moments to prepare for the fight, since your opponent thinks you cannot win. What one item will allow you to have a higher chance of success?

Ooh, tough one, I know a few. “If Nidorino knows Fling, I’d give him an Iron Ball. If I’m allowed to use a Technical Machine, I’d choose one with an Ice-type. An example would be Ice Beam or Aurora Beam.”

You’ve encountered a rare, varicolored pokémon. However, it looks as though it was injured previous to encountering you. What do you do?

“Varicolored Pokémon are very rare, but League rules state I must leave it alone or offer assistance to injured wild Pokémon if able to.”

A fellow trainer appears to be cheating in a battle against another trainer, though you’re not sure how, exactly. What do you do, and why?

“Find an authority figure or call one, and relay what is going on. I should not do anything myself as I am not legally allowed to take action.”

A small item-sphere is laying on the ground, and could contain something useful. However, it’s likely someone dropped it. What do you do?

“I look around for anyone nearby and ask if they dropped something. If nobody claims it as theirs and nobody comes back for it within five hours, I will be able to claim it as my own.”

A few more questions later, I think I’ve done well, and I wait for Twilight and Rarity to finish their tests as well. If I’m right, next comes the fun part. Battling for real!

I step up to the Professor as she calls me over to the door leading to a small battling range. A pair of stacked dispensers hold nearly four dozen pokéballs, with a spot to grab a ball next to the door.

“Alright, we each get three pokémon, from the randomizer, and cannot view a pokémon before using it in battle. First to have all their pokémon faint loses, though it’s not a failing grade if you don’t succeed. I’m judging your reactions more than your actual skill right now.” She grabs the first three balls on the hopper, then motions for me to grab some too.

I take my three and put the one I decided would be ‘first’ into my right hand and tap the button to enlarge it and I get a spark of excitement running down my spine as it fills my hand. “I’m ready Prof, let’s see how I do, huh?”

She starts off by throwing her first pokéball straight up, and it releases to the ground, where a Swanna takes form.

“Huh, not a bad pick. Let’s see what I got!” I toss the Pokéball towards my end of the room and watch as the bright, scarlet light launches out of the ball, hyping me up for what could come out. What is revealed when the light fades is short and pink.

“Happiny!” Well... crap. Time to improvise.

“Alright then, Happiny! Use Sweet Kiss!” If I can confuse it, I’ll stand a chance yet.

Sure enough, the little pink Chansey-to-be, launches itself forward and smooches the Swanna, little pink hearts materializing and dissolving in the air nearby. Both the bird pokémon and its trainer are too shocked to react first, though the Swanna quickly backs up at the Prof’s command. It stumbles a bit, shaking it’s head, pointing its beak menacingly... about a foot to the left of Happiny.

Perfect.

The Prof barks out an order to Wing Attack, and the bird charges forward.

“Happiny, Sweet Kiss again!” With a charging strike like that, no way Swanna can dodge in time!

the bird isn’t able to dodge, but the hearts don’t form this time, and the Prof gives me a look, but I don’t have time to gauge it. The Swanna, fully able to react to Happiny, sweeps its wings out, buffeting the air. Thankfully, the little pink pokémon had simply rolled under the larger pokémon in a show of surprising alacrity.

“Copycat! Give it a Wing Attack back!”

The little stone in the Happiny’s pouch glowed a sterling silver for a moment, then a pair of phantasmal wings formed at its sides. The wings sweep up in a vicious uppercut that hits the Swanna right in the jaw, and the big bird goes down.

The prof nods, then recalls the pokémon, before throwing the next ball.

And with a shimmer, out comes... an Omanyte! Oh my goodness, it’s so adorable, with the itty-bitty tentacles and giant eyes and... right, battle now, squee later.

I think over how Happiny could get around it... first things first, wanna make sure Happiny could survive a direct hit. “Use Charm!”

Happiny smiles and coos adorably, waving at the mollusc. Little happy dips in the bottom of the water-types eyes show it’s working. The professor ruins the moment with a call to use Water Gun... which the Omanyte doesn’t do, leading to both of us being confused. Then, it starts crying, looking so very sad that it hurts.

I speak before recalling who I’m talking to. “For Arceus’ sakes lady, what do you do to nearly ex-”

Before I can finish, the Omanyte lunges forward in a shocking display of speed, and a series of scratch marks form on Happiny as the water-type’s tentacles blur and shimmer. The little pink egg-shape whimpers and recoils.

Wait... shimmer? Scratches?

“Interesting moves... Well played...” I grumble under my breath. “Alright Happiny, come back, time for a strategy change!” As the little pokémon gratefully returns, I select the next pokémon from the trio, and throw it out. It materializes in mid-air, and thuds to the ground; a burly Geodude stares at the Omanyte.

Hmmm, this is either good or a mistake. For one, I know Geodude are normally slow, so then... “Geodude, Rock Polish!” Thankfully, this one seems to know the move, as it lifts itself by its arms, then spins like a dynamo and polishes itself on the ground.

The professor grins. “Alright, I think I understand now. Let’s see how you react to... Extrasensory!”

I blink. Omanyte doesn’t learn... but then, the eyes on the little helix-fossil light up, and Geodude grabs its head -Face? Body?- and cries out in pain.

Waitaminute... “Geodude, that’s not an Omanyte! I don’t know how she could know either since she’s not supposed to check her Pokémon, but give it a Rock Smash!”

The Geodude blinks, and reaches over to smack the offending pokémon, knocking it back. As it lands, the illusion over it breaks, revealing a Zorua, who stands back up and smirks at me.

“I figured it out when he couldn’t use Water Gun, and used Fake Tears and Fury Swipes instead.” she said.

“Yeah, well it’s on now. Geodude, Magnitude!”

The rocky pokémon pushes itself into the air, and slams into the ground, shaking the entire building as a short ripple stretches outwards towards the Zorua, who tries to hop over it. However, the little guy can’t make it, and trips, smacking face-first into the ground. I- I actually feel kinda bad for that one, very damaging or not, because that looked embarrassing; and Zorua are proud pokémon.

Oh well. I’m here to win! “Alright Geodude, Rock Polish then follow up with a Rollout!” The rounded pokémon spins itself again, then keeps up the momentum and tucks in its arms to roll at the Zorua, who barely dodges. The second pass, however, catches him, and takes the fox-like pokémon down.

“Alright, good work observing the field, and you have a very good knowledge of the Pokémon’s move possibilities. I suppose we both know my last pokémon at this point.” She calmly returns the Zorua, and sends out the real Omanyte, who looks more vicious than the faux version did.

“Now, use Withdraw!” she immediately shouts, and the pokémon slips into its armored shell, peeking out just enough to move and see.

“Keep up your Rollout Geodude, Ground beats Rock!” Geodude continues its assault, and smacks into Omanyte, shearing off a chunk of Omanyte’s shell. The professor tells it to Withdraw again, and I encourage more Rollout. I do have to wonder about the piece that broke off.

when Geodude hits Omanyte again, and another piece snaps off and goes flying like a piece of brittle pottery, I’m wracking my brains for why the Professor is just letting this happen; Omanyte’s gonna run out of shell if this keeps up.

“Geodude, quit it, Omanyte’s shell is gonna break!”

even as my pokémon went to reply, reaching out with its arms to halt itself, the professor calls out, “Water Pulse!” and a near-instant response knocks Geodude to the ground, Omanyte out of the remains of its shell and blasting the rock-ground type with curling beats of water. Geodude, eyes spinning, tries to disengage.

“That’s enough!” I pull Geodude back, and toss out my next Pokémon. A Piloswine!

“Alright! Jeffery is back mother-fuckers!” I catch the professor’s glare, and decide to apologize for the language before she develops heat-rays. “Sorry, anyways, I realize my Faux Pas earlier with Rollout, but I know Mud-Slap is Ground. Piloswine, give it all you got!”

As the wooly pokémon sweeps a hidden limb to gather the mud, the prof responds with “Rock-Slide! Use it as a barrier!”

The little mollusc rolls and throws more pieces of its shell into a barrier on the ground, easily smacking almost all of the mud out of the air. Surprisingly, there was no explosion. Though, I’m not entirely sure why I thought there would be one.

“Again, this time for the attack!” the professor shouts, and more chunks of stony shell go flying at Piloswine, pelting it through its coat and battering it back from the sheer flurry of attacks. The larger pokémon was weathering the blows, though, and was only leaning a little. It also sounded pissed.

“Alright, use Powder Snow!”

The light flurry of snow floated through the air, leaving trails of frost on the ground and on Omanyte. The little pokémon winced, but did not fall.

“One more time, Rock Slide!” Piloswine wasn’t fast enough to dodge, and the only moves I can think of to deflect the attack are fairly high-leveled...

In the moment of hesitation, the battle is lost, as the rocky pieces of Omanyte’s shell slam home, and Piloswine grunts and tips over.

I call back my... her Pokémon, and approach her. “Nice use of Shell Smash, using an opponent’s attack to disguise an advantage.”

“Actually, this particular Omanyte just has Weak Shell. every time you struck with Rollout, you were increasing my speed advantage, until you slowed your Geodude long enough for me to retaliate. though, I will say, you did very well. All of these pokémon are either the children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren of my original collection here. I actually used to be league champion here in Otaria for a couple of years, oh, twenty years ago.”

“Well dang. You must’ve beat the League when you were, what? Ten? Five? Here I am, twenty-two and just starting!”

The professor laughed, a rich, hearty laugh. “No, no, I was twenty-three at the time.”

“Well, you certainly battle like someone with years of experience, doesn’t really matter when you start, right?”

“Wow, all the young comments, gone, just like that. Maybe I should fail you just for being disrespectful.” She smiled and winked, and we both shared a laugh. “But in truth, you did very well. you didn’t push your pokémon too hard, and when you thought you were doing serious harm to my own pokémon, you chose to back off instead of potentially crippling a pokémon. I think you’ll do well.” A beeping sound issued from a pouch at her hip. She whipped out a smartphone-lookalike and looked at it. “Ah, it seems your... friend has finished exam. By the way, it looks like you passed the exam, though you got a couple of questions wrong.”

“Really? Dang. Oh well, can’t win ‘em all. How are the girls doing?”

“I can’t go giving out other’s test scores. Oh, and because we haven’t been formally introduced yet...” She straightens up, and extends a hand and a warm smile. “I’m Professor Basswood, and I’m an accredited Professor, who has been studying the incredible diversity of Otaria for nearly thirty years.”

I smile and shake her hand. “I’m Anthony, a man wanting to realize his childhood dream and that of many others. Also, I figured you’re important, getting a parcel directly from anyone in the Oak family.”

“Well, what with one of their family branches pretty much owning the company that produces and validates trainer cards, the speedy emergency shipments are the only way to keep up with the spot issues like yours, and get the trainers that aren’t in the main block their certifications. Most of the time, though, I just sit around and keep an eye on the local populations. Otaria is so big and diverse, there’s actually two other Professors stationed here. If you see Aspen or Hemlock, they’ll likely have things for you to do. The three of us have our own research assistants, and you can chat them up anytime, though pretty much all of mine are in the field right now.”

“Alright, I’ll keep that in mind.” I think for a bit. “Is it alright if I watch your battles with the girls? I’ll... just leave if the urge to give hints is too much.”

“Yes, that’s fine, as long as they don’t mind. Though I do believe your friend -Rarity was it?- will likely have an easier time of it, as her exam is a little different. She’ll also need to find someone who can give a Full Breeder’s License, because I’m not qualified. I’ve never actually done much of the competition scene, and all of my breeding has been to result in the powerful little rugrats you saw a few minutes ago.”

“Wait... breeder!? She did that well? She said she wanted to be a coordinator!” I can’t imagine Rarity doing so well... but then, people, or ponies, will surprise you.

“I was talking with her while you did your test, and she want to do that as part of being a coordinator. After all, she said, good breeding means good things. I suppose it makes more sense to her, but I can understand what she meant.”

“Yep. Same here.” Surprise is over, Rarity’s just being herself, if a bit uneducated. “So, let’s see what you get, randomized battles have always been my favorite! Er... to watch! Not like I’ve ever participated. Nope.”

“Alright, that was suspicious. What are you hiding? You know that I’ll have to search you up anyways, if you’ve had your card revoked before or anything...” her voice trails off menacingly.

“Nope, I’m clean I swear! Look me up all you want, I’ve got nothing to hide, really.”

“Mhmm... well, then you can stop acting all nervous, if you’re truly innocent. As long as you’re in the system and have no problems, then there won’t be any problems.”

“Fine with me. So... I’m probably gonna need a map of the region. Know where I can get one?”

“There’s actually a convenience store a block away. We don’t have a full ‘Mart or Center here, but I can handle medical procedures and such just fine.”

“How convenient.” I say with a grin. “So now we’re just waiting on Rarity?”

“Actually, she’s waiting for us to go get her, you’ve been talking a lot.”

“Right, sorry. You go get her. I’ll just... be here.” I sit and twiddle my thumbs as I wait. Man, I really hope I didn’t just step in it.

Chapter 6

I lay awake on the couch, unable to sleep. I got so far. Today... it was the day my ultimate dream came true, but was torn from my grasp at the dawn of my achievement. I was about to become a trainer, but I wasn’t. True that lie detector should clarify things and legalize me, but to have it be so close, and then denied right to my face.

I felt crushed, I need that license. Here in this world, it’s all I want. Heck, even back home it was something I wanted. I grew up and accepted the facts behind the fiction. Joined message boards, scoured theory sites and offered my two cents, a loyal fan since I was old enough to hold a Gameboy!

And here I am, living in the Pokémon world... but denied a trainer’s license. That was it, wasn’t it? We all wanted to live in the world, but nobody ever specifically wished to be a legal, licensed trainer. We just assumed eligibility upon entrance. At twenty-two years old, I was still a child, blinded by my dreams.

But they might come true after all! Even if it means accepting the fact that my powers have been dumbed down to nothing... I’ve dealt with it. Sure I knew the toxin would work it’s way out and was patient until I got them back... but if this dream comes true... if I get my license and become a trainer... I’d give up my powers for good in a heartbeat if I had to!

I was aware of the dangers, much more than just a simple roadblock requiring a certain HM. No, there were actual dangers... but I’m prepared, I know I am! Mentally at least. I just need to wait through this night. Just have to make it until morning, and then I just have to tell the blatantly-obvious truth and I walk out of here, one step closer to victory.

I just can’t sleep though. My mind racing between the results of me getting my license or being denied it once and for all. It just irritates me so much that I get up off the couch. I walk back into the lab room and see the little Pokémon dispenser, locked up of course. But then something else catches my eye. A small box with some Pokéballs in it.

I just instinctively reach my shaky hand into the box and pull out one of the tiny orbs. I press the button as before, and the ball enlarges. I feel the shiny metallic sphere in my hands. It just feels so... satisfying. Even if I know it’s empty, I just... I need this.

I know I can’t miss this chance to prove my dreams to be fruitful, not just the hopeless wish of a child in a grown man’s body.

This is it. Tomorrow, I turn a wish of thousands... into the reality of one. I look out a window, half expecting to see the sun peeking up from the ground, but it is still pitch black out. What time is it? I look at a clock.

9:00 PM!? This night will last forever... hanging my head, I return the pokéball to the box and go back to the couch to at least attempt to sleep.

I’m not sure if I fell asleep or just zoned out, but I suddenly snap back to reality. Yep, still on the couch, everything’s the same. I look out the window again and this time I see the sunrise just barely visible. A thought enters my mind.

I get up and go into the guest room. I gently nudge the sleeping Twilight, back to a unicorn once more. She grunts and sits up groggily. “Mnn?”

“Twilight.” I whisper. “You need to see this!”

I don’t get much in response other than another confused grunt, so I pick Twilight up and carry her back to the couch and put her in front of the window. “Look at that, Twilight!”

Her face is scrunched up and she opens her eyes blearily, and mumbles in response. “It’s the sunrise...”

“Yep.” I say. “And not a single alicorn around telling it to move.”

That gets her attention, and she looks back at the sunrise, as if seeing one for the first time. She just mouths out a ‘wow’ and I chuckle.

“A new day is upon us, and it arrives on it’s own, no force pushing it forward except nature itself. This is why I was skeptical of your princesses controlling the day and night cycle. Here you can clearly see what I’ve seen all my life: The sun and moon doing their special dance without anyone telling them which steps are right. They just... do.”

Twilight is rather wordless still, but I feel like piling on more sappy garbage. “This is nature, and nature alone, the guide of all things large and small. No matter where you come from, nature created everything: Humans, Ponies, and Pokémon alike.”

I lean back on the couch and stare up at the ceiling. “And today, after one more final test, as simple as telling the truth, we will end up in the middle of it. Practically every path open to us, the whole world itself an open book, and we choose the story. Whether it be a drama, an adventure, or a horror is unknown, but... I don’t care. The question is, are you willing to open the book?”

Twilight flashes me a knowing smile. “I will always be ready to open another book. And you’re right. This world is difficult and dangerous, but I must admit... battling like that, I don’t know what it is, but I just... liked it. Maybe not the fighting itself, but... something else about it. You could have talked my ear off about these creatures for days on end, but I doubt that it would ever compare to the experience.”

“Books are important, and knowledge may be the sharpest weapon you can have in this world, but nothing will compare to experience. And you know what I like most about pokémon in the practical sense?”

“What’s that?”

“All the thinking! Calculations, strategies, predictions, unforeseen variables... No matter how much you know, there will be more to learn. And these are more than just grades on an exam. Here, your mental strength, as well as the connection you have with your pokémon can determine victory or defeat.”

Twilight chuckles. “Careful about your wording Anthony, I think you just admitted that friendship is magic!” She playfully pokes me in the chest.

I grin. “Pay attention, Twilight. I’m gonna tell you about a move called Return...”

I’ve been spending the past half hour questioning Twilight on what she knows about the rules of being a trainer, as there weren’t as many as I thought in the exam.

“For whatever reason, you and another trainer are in an argument over something, and he challenges you to a battle, stating that whoever wins the battle will win the argument. Is this legal?”

“No. Pokémon are not tools of war, and using them to fight your personal battles is a violation of the rights of your pokémon.”

“The League rules dictate that pokémon can only use four moves during a battle, despite them being able to access anything in their movepool under normal circumstances. Why is this?”

“For... uh... balance! So that a trainer using a pokémon with a smaller movepool won’t be at an unfair disadvantage.”

Heh, she’s doing pretty good. Guess all those morals help. Time for a tougher one.

“You see an injured pokémon lying on the road, and it is unfit for battle, are you allowed to catch it, knowing that the pokémon will be unable to resist capture?”

“No, that is another violation of the pokémon’s rights. You should help it in any way possible. That was on the test! I passed, remember?”

I nod my head and continue. “And what if you cannot offer the assistance it needs, and the only option you have to help it is to capture it and bring it to a Pokémon Center, since the injured pokémon will be safe inside the pokéball until they are given proper medical treatment?”

Twilight is a bit shocked, this obviously not something she thought of, and releasing pokémon had never been brought up aside from if the pokémon was legally taken from an irresponsible trainer.

“Well... Uh... I...” Her ears go flat, unable to come up with anything. “I don’t know...”

“And that’s what I’m here for, Twilight.” I scratch her ears, and they perk up. No matter how many times she says she hates it, I know she likes it just as much as any pony. “You can capture the pokémon, but you must inform the medical staff present of the nature of the capture. Once the pokémon is healthy, it gets to choose whether to stay with you or be released.”

Twilight nods in understanding. “Alright, I think I understand the rules. Anything else?”

“Yeah, there is. Next is one of my favorites, the Pokédex...”

We spent the rest of the time discussing things about this world, among other things. The idea of the Pokédex was her favorite though. An entire bestiary, that would span hundreds of yards of parchment just to write down... in your pocket. That can talk to you.

I was gonna quiz her on type combinations when dealing with dual-type Pokémon, but it seems that we’ve been doing this long enough for the others to consider it ‘morning,’ as Rarity walks in. Blinking in confusion, I see that her mane is a terrifying birds-nest of bedheaded horror. As well, her lidded, bloodshot stare is more terrifying than anything I’ve ever encountered before, as she trudges, zombie-like, towards the kitchen. I hear something about ‘there will be coffee or blood’ before she’s too far out of earshot for me to hear anything more.

Twilight chuckles. “Oh, Rarity. She’s always like this in the mornings.”

I give a nervous glance towards the kitchen then turn back to Twilight. “Uh huh... anyway, I guess we can continue this later. Though I am surprised, nobody has been able to listen to me talk about Pokémon and such for so long and retain all the knowledge. Guess I’ll have to beat you in skill rather than smarts.” I give her my usual cocky grin. “An easy task if I consider your battle with the professor yesterday.”

“Hey!” Twilight says, grinning back.

A few minutes later, Rarity steps out of the kitchen, her mane fixed and an orb of coffee floating in her magical grasp. When she sees my look of interest in her method of coffee carrying, she responds simply with, “I couldn’t find the mugs, and this is more dignified than drinking from the pot.” Makes sense.

“Eh, my mom drinks it from a bowl. But then, it’s more like hot chocolate with coffee in it. So, I guess we’re waiting on this friend of the professor’s. I want to be able to walk into a Pokémart and buy a ball without getting arrested.”

Speaking of, the professor comes down the stairs next, wearing what I first assume is a labcoat, until I see that it’s just a white bathrobe being worn the same way. As well, she’s wearing a set of lightning-bolts-and-raichu-and-voltorb pajamas that make me very jealous. It’s a full footie-pajama set in size adult, and it’s not fair I don’t have some.

“Morning, so I’d like to meet this friend of yours. I’d rather not have to be considered a possible criminal, considering this would be the first time in my twenty-two years I’ve ever gotten a criminal record. From anywhere.”

The woman shrugs, not looking fully awake yet. She takes a few sniffs of the air, before marching listlessly towards the kitchen. Like an echo out of time, I hear something about ‘if someone drank all the coffee, there’s going to be blood’. Eerie.

“Oooooookay then. Waitaminute.” I look over at Twilight, recalling my first night in Ponyville, and Twilight being a total bed-headed prick. “Why are you a morning person all of a sudden?”

Twi shrugs. “I’m not, but I wasn’t just asleep. It’d be different if I was just getting up, but... as it is, I’m as lively as I’ll be. I’ve gone longer without good sleep, you know.”

“I’ll bet you were one big pain during that. Or just completely insane. Anyhow, when the coffee addicts finally have their morning fix and we’re in the clear, I want to get us prepared for our little adventure.”

“Prepare how?” Twi asks, tilting her head. “It can’t be too far from town to town, right?”

I can’t help but chuckle at that. “I have no idea what this place looks like geographically. It could be hours, it could be a week. Who knows, we may have to cross water to get to the next destination. That, and I also mean things like adventuring gear and such.”

“But we have our saddlebags-”

“Which you can’t carry when you’re a human. We need to get backpacks for everyone, and clothes for dealing with varied weather conditions. Rain, wind, cold, drought, that stuff. Not only is the weather unpredictable, but there are Pokémon out there who can mess with the weather just for the heck of it.”

“Like pegasi?”

“Sure. If they were more animalistic, had no orderly schedule, and could change more than just a few clouds. There’s a Pokémon who can just make a place cycle through searing heat and pouring rain to driving hail... in seconds. That’s it’s main defining power. Absolute weather manipulation.”

Twilight looks aghast, and Rarity shifts in the seat she’s on. Several moments of silence follow, until Professor Basswood walks in from the kitchen, a large mug with ‘World’s Best Grandma’ printed on the side in her hands.

“Alright, he said he’d be here at ten AM sharp, and the couch is his favorite spot. As such, you need to move over a little, Twilight, telefragging is a real thing.” Twilight’s eyes widen at Basswood’s comment, and she hurriedly hops off the couch and moves to the next chair over. I take a moment to shift away as well, when I remember what the trope ‘telefrag’ refers to.

And, at precisely 10:00am, a bright, light-pink flash emanated from the spot next to me, and materialized into the form of...

A mega Alakazam!? Well damn, this is a pretty awesome morning already! I don’t really know what to say so... I just introduce the species to my pony companions. “This is a, uh... an Alakazam. Mega Evolved. They’re, like, the smartest Pokémon recorded thus far... Yeah...”

<<Thank you for the introduction. My name is #$↑!%↑↓#↓@←$^→%←*&→^&ᵦ@*t, though you cannot truly comprehend it. You may call me Ego, as that is the name I was given when I began to journey with the Professor.>>

“Heh, yeah, telepathy is a thing here. You may have your fancy magic, but when you have powers that are developed from sheer power of the mind, I’d say that’s cooler than casting spells.”

<<Magic does exist in this world, though much of it has retreated from the places man has settled. On to the problem at hand... you have made claim that you come from another world, and that this is the reason you do not appear in the national registry. I will ask you a series of questions, and divine the truth from them.>>

“Well then fire away. I got nothing to hide. I don’t think the ponies do either. Heck, they’re such straight arrows I doubt they’d be able to lie for their lives.”

<<Very well. First, a series of questions to determine truth and lie in your mind. Tell truth: what is the Professor’s name?>>

“Professor Basswood.”

<<Good. Now, tell a lie: what is the Professor’s name?>>

“Captain Galarzabaselisa of the giant space-fleas..”

Something like a snicker echoed across the telepathic connection, and the professor narrows her eyes at me. <<Now, tell a partial truth, of your choosing.>>

Time to mind-fuck the ponies. “My name is Anthony.”

<<Interesting... technically true, but not true. Most people have no answer for that one. On to the determining questions. Are your companions pokémon?>>

“Pffft, they wish. You wouldn’t believe the whooping Twi got from a Rattata! A Rattata!”

<<Those are vicious creatures! Do not mock them.>> Ego says, looking at me. <<Ahem, sorry. Next question, are you from earth?>>

“Yeah. My Earth.”

<<Your earth? Please explain further.>>

“Oh please, don’t tell me someone like you has never heard of the multiple universe theory? I’m assuming Terra where the ponies live is an alternate earth, and this one is another alternate. For one, you do call this planet we’re on, ‘Earth’ don’t you?”

<<Yes, hence the question. And I am aware of the many worlds, though most are not named the same as here. However, before I allow my curiosity to get the best of me, I must continue these questions. Are your friends from another world? You answered this indirectly, but it must be given a direct answer.>>

“Oh yeah. And boy what a world. Don’t get me started on their idea of what ‘technology’ is.”

<<There will be no need to further agitate your companions. The next question is both simple and complex; What do you intend to do, once you have become a pokémon trainer?>>

“Travel around, capture Pokémon, learn things about them I don’t know yet, and look badass doing all of it.”

<<That is not the full answer, and you know it. Please, explain in full.>>

“Okay, okay, I wanna be the best trainer ever, and have the strongest team beyond anyone else and become the champion for ever and ever. But that’s pretty much on everyone’s agenda, isn’t it?”

<<No, but I understand. You’re almost done with the questions, though. Have you ever committed or aided in a crime, in any world you’ve been in? If so, what was the nature and reason for the crime?>>

“I suppose I have. The crimes were mostly minimal though. Petty thievery is probably the worst I can come up with. I’ve committed assault, but served my time for it and the act was done with good intentions, knowing full well the target would make a complete recovery within a couple days.”

<<Hmm... you will need to be less... violent in the future. However, your reasoning has been sound, and I can sense your regret over causing the injuries.>>

From behind me, I hear a sigh, and prof. Basswood speaks up. “Alright, I guess... well, I suppose you can get your license, though I’ll have to speak with the officers to get you input into the system. It’s a good thing they’ve got that one guy, the one with a Rotom, on the force. He’s really good at getting electronic stuff filed quickly.”

“Alright, so in the meantime... I think Twilight’s the only one here without a starter or a plan for not having one.”

<<I have things to get done- but I wish you luck on your journey, Anthony. As for the young ponies, I would suggest donning your human personas, as there is someone arriving with the next shipment of starters. Farewell.>> And with that, the Alakazam disappeared in a flash of pale pink light.

“New shipments huh?” I think for a bit. “Nah, I’ll stick to my plan. I’ll catch something myself. Feels a bit more satisfying if you earn your first rather than just taking one.”

Twilight and Rarity change while I muse, and the professor begins shuffling around. I catch a glimpse of pink, and realize she’s wearing Wigglytuff slippers. that is so far beyond ‘unfair’... I want a pair of them, now.

When the girls are done and the new shipment has arrived, I wait as Twilight looks over her options, mumbling to herself about what information she can glean just by looking at them. Rarity is sitting on the couch by me, petting a very happy-looking Ledyba.

“Come on, Twi. It’s not like those starters are gonna be that different from one another unless you pick one and raise it.”

“Well... I guess, then, I’ll... uhm...” Twilight sighs, inhales deeply, then looks back at the list. “Fine, a Tepig it is. They look cute, anyways.” I snicker, aware of what their evolutionary forms look like. That pony picked a cutie, and is gonna end up with a wrestler. This oughta be fun.

I walk over to appraise her choice. “Not a bad pick. I’m kinda partial to Grass types, but to each their own I guess.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll do just fine. After all, from what I read, most fire-types are pretty capable in a fight and useful in day-to-day things as well.” Twilight smiles at her reasoning. “And it’s cute, so that’s another plus.”

I sigh, grinning. Yep, they all are when they’re young. Then they get older and end up cool. Or pretty. Or more cute. Damn, forgot just how many there are out there for a sec. I turn to Rarity. “So, while Twi gets her Pokémon, you wanna do a bit of shopping to prepare for the adventure of a lifetime?”

“Ooh! I never took you as one for shopping, and I’m sure you can help me figure out what I’ll need. And I’ll make sure you get an outfit that looks truly amazing!”

“Yeah, normally I’m not, but in this world where you need to buy things to keep your Pokémon healthy and well when there’s no other option for another five miles... Shopping becomes important for your safety and that of your friends.”

“Hmm, very well then. And we can find new clothes!” she gestures at the tasteful, though rather flattering, blue dress she’s wearing. “While I’m sure this dress will be plentifully in fashion once I’ve worn it, I’d rather blend in at first. I’ll make my big statements in fashion once I know more about how this world flows. Now, onwards, to the market!”

With that we get up and leave, expecting Twilight to catch up later, and we make our first stop. The clothing store. Figuring I need an outfit that is light but effective, I pick out some clothes that resemble the typical ‘Gold’ look. Rarity deciding I’d look much better with a blue jacket, I make the change for the sake of keeping it a bit different. Also, I’m not wearing shorts, using some pants with more than enough pockets to carry smaller items.

Rarity selects a nice beret with a pokéball-style design on it, a tasteful scarf, and puts together a rather elegant and impressive outfit with minimal effort. She also decides to get an outfit for Twilight, and we buy a labcoat for her as well, just because it entertains us. It’s always good when the fashion person gets the clothing joke.

Our next stop is the Pokémart... when I realize that we haven’t actually gotten our licenses yet. I bemoan my shortsightedness and we begin to trek back to the lab. About halfway there, Twilight runs into us, drawing stares the way Rarity did. Those dresses may have been a bit revealing, now that I think about it... anyways, Twilight holds out a pair of small, plastic cards, just like ID cards... and it’s our licenses!

After that wonderful coincidence, we show Twilight her clothes. Holding up the labcoat, her eyes start to water.

“What? It’s not torn or anything is it?” I pick up one end to inspect it, but I don’t see any issues with it at all.

“It- it’s amazing! Thank you!” she launches herself at me, glomping me hard enough to almost send us sprawling. Instead, it only thuds me painfully to the wall I’m standing near. Ow. She’s hugging me hard enough I can barely breathe, and I can see several jealous looks from the guys in the crowd. Heh, if they knew...

“Alright Twilight, I know I’m awesome, now come on. We need to get some actual gear, not just clothes.” I jab my thumb behind me, pointing towards the Pokémart.

“Oh, right, sorry.” she gently disengages, looking embarrassed. Stifling a chuckle at her expense, I lead her inside the store, her clothes still draped over her arm after she shrugged on the coat. Now I just need to find some big, dark-lensed mad scientist goggles...

But first, I need some balls. Literally. And a few potions, maybe a TM or two. I go over to some of the shelves to check out the merchandise available. I pick up eleven normal Pokéballs, not entirely enthused they had no specialty balls or even a Great ball available. Oh well, guess that removes TMs too, now that I think of it. Gonna have to hit a mall later for energy drinks too. I can get a few potions as well, so I should be set.

After looking over everything I want, and putting them in a basket, I come to a rather pertinent realization: I have no way to carry all of this, and Rarity and Twilight are currently carrying their bags with them, but those are heavy.

Looking at the aisles, I see no bags, until I get to the front of the ‘mart. On display, in the big glass counter, is a series of bags in several colors. Each is a satchel-style bag, and a tablet-style device in a similar color combo and design is presented with it. And, they’re marketed as ‘only’ 50,000 poké each! Holy shit, that’s more than we’ve spent between us today...

I pass my items to Rarity and ask for a bit so I can go to another store and get us some more practical bags. I do not want to blow a ton of cash on just bags.

The store owner overhears this and chuckles. “Oh, you are too funny, young trainer. These’re on sale! Nobody makes hyper-compression bags like these around here. And, they come with an éTech already synced, so you can manage your gear from your device at a moment’s notice!”

Okay, that’s different. “Okay... I guess that would excuse the price. Alright, guess we’ll be taking three, then.” I look over the available selections and I pick out a green one for myself, and Twilight takes a white-and-gray one, to match her new coat. Rarity requests a sky-blue and royal purple bag that matches her new outfit, of course.

When I’ve described the importance of what items the girls will need as well and we’re all done shopping... for what the store has available. Would it kill them to stock a Burn Heal? I’m sure that not having one will bite me in the rear later. Oh well. With the bare basics of required items paid for, we leave the Mart. On the way out, the storekeeper stops us and hands us each a shiny, solid-white ball with a red divider. We each got a premiere ball! I totally forgot these things get handed out for big purchases.

As we step out, I stretch. The new bag is incredibly comfortable, and the outfit is nice, too. I jump back as someone shouts more or less into my ear.

“Hey, buddy, you seem like a big spender! Why don’t you get yourself an amazing pokémon, right here!” The man, dark of hair and with a very faint moustache on his upper lip, gestures down at a tank full of fish pokémon... mostly Magikarp.

“It’s simple, you take this net,” he shows me the net, about the right size to catch anything in the normal range of basic-stage fish pokémon, “and simply take the first pokémon you can out! Every one of ‘em is a winner, but there’s a few special ones in there!” As if to accent his declaration, a shimmering, golden-hued Magikarp surfaced for a moment for a few crumbs, then sunk again.

“I’ll say!” I exclaim, humoring the guy. “You’ve got a tank full of baby sea-monsters right here. Any one of these could become a Gyarados. How much for one go?” Twilight and Rarity look at each other in confusion.

“Heh, you sure know a lot about these guys. 500 poké, and it’s until you get something. My uncle used to just sell ‘em, but he always gave out the weak ones. I’ve been pampering these guys, but it’s slowed their growth.”

“Deal! Hey Rarity, you’re pretty good at getting fine details. Why don’t you try and get one?”

“Well, I don’t know Anthony. They all look so... tacky.” One of the Magikarp has enough in it to give her the stink-eye in passing.

“Well, sure they don’t look like much, but beauty is only skin deep right? Give it a go, you might get something good. We don’t know what is in there, just the majority. It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” I do my best to hold back a snicker. I’m as slimy as this salesman, and it’s just fun!

“Well, alright.” The fashionista gingerly takes the net, and pokes it at the tank. In unison, the Magikarp flee the net, showing a truly impressive level of coordination for the normally pretty dull pokémon. Hmm... maybe this salesman is running a different con than the usual. Painted Finneon, maybe?

After several increasingly frustrated tries, Rarity concentrates so hard on nabbing one of the fishy pokémon that she actually topples over into the glass tank, and has to stand up, sputting.

Neither me nor the salesman can stop laughing, and even Twilight is suppressing a giggle as she helps Rarity up. The mare-turned-woman sputters and looks like she’s trying to cry through the water as she steps out of the pool, dragging the net limply with her. I stop laughing so much when I see what’s in the net: an ugly, bruise-purple fish, with an almost triangular hollow fin on its back, flopping weakly in the webbing.

“Wow Rarity, you caught a Feebas! Now that’s what I call a prize!” I say, clapping and laughing. “Congratulations!”

She just starts crying harder. “B- but it’s so uuugly!”

I put a hand on her shoulder. “Oh come on, look, I think it likes you!” the Feebas flops again. “Besides, just give it a chance, you never know what he can become with enough love.” I know exactly what that ugly piece of carp is gonna become, but for the sake of chiding Rarity, I’m gonna stay vague. Oh if only she knew this little guy’s secret...

Rarity just sniffles again, and numbly accepts the pokéball from the merchant. Impressively enough, it’s a Cherish Ball. That would be worth major points in a contest on top of the resulting Milotic. That gives me an idea. “Come on Rarity, you just got the best Pokémon a coordinator could have; In time, this little beauty will win you more contests than you’d imagine possible!”

Rarity doesn’t answer, so I just sigh and guide her away. The sun, at least, is helping dry her off, and she takes a moment in another store to change back to her blue dress until it does dry out. Twilight also changes, this time into her adventuring clothes. Though, she keeps the labcoat on. She really does like it, huh.

I walk over to Twilight and whisper to her. “Hey, can you keep a secret about Rarity’s prize?”

“Uh, depends on what the secret is. It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“Of course not. That thing really is a prize. In fact, Feebas are rather rare, and it’ll only be ugly for so long. Once Rarity tries to make it beautiful and accepts it as such, it will become absolutely amazing.”

“Wow, really? That’s actually... really amazing. Well... I hope she takes well to it; I don’t think she’s angry at the Feebas, really, I think she’s just reacting poorly because she fell in.”

“I hope so. Heck, some pokémon realize their true potential only when their bond with their trainer becomes so strong that it empowers them to a point where they reach a new level of strength. Return isn’t the only way friendship makes Pokémon incredibly powerful, you know.”

Twilight smiles, and Rarity rejoins us. I think it’s time, now.

Time for our journey to really start!

OH DEAR GOD THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!!!!

We decided our first excursion would be to investigate that cave from earlier. Well, it was my plan, but I quickly won over Twilight and Rarity with my exceptional charm and unmatchable charisma.

“Alright alright! We’ll go if you just shut up! We get it, you wanna check it out, now let’s go before you start acting more like a spoiled brat!”

Mission accomplished.

So we leave the town equipped, though Rarity has opted to let Ledyba follow us outside of a ball. For such a low-level Pokémon, this is a bad plan, especially in a cave which would most likely be home to many Rock types. Rarity assures me that Ledyba will be fine. After we get back to the top of the slope and backtrack, we see the cave. But something seems odd. Something about the entrance.

“Hold on girls, something’s not right.”

“What now?” Twilight moans. “First you bug us for hours about coming here, then you-”

I cut her off by covering her mouth with my hand. “Shhh... I have a theory.” Twilight rolls her eyes but lets me continue.

I walk up to one of the large, roundish rocks and gesture at it to the girls silently. They look at me like I’ve completely lost my marbles... and was going to look for them in a hardware store. Then I give them a shock when I pick up a smaller rock and throw it at the roundest of the larger ones.

It moves. Arms uncurl from it’s rounded body, and eyes open revealing a very pissed Geodude. It grumbles and charges at me. Heh, a Wild Pokémon appeared. Smirking, I throw out my own... wait, I don’t have a pokémon! The ball flies through the air, and the Geodude smacks it to the ground, cracking it in half. The stony pokémon leaps forward, pushing off with its hands to fly at me, and I throw another pokéball, more to delay it than anything. The rock pokémon goes to smack the ball again when it overextends, and the almost-comical look of surprise on its face as the ball clicks against its head/body would likely be more amusing if I hadn’t just been charged by an angry 44lb rock. The pokémon disappears into the ball, and it thuds to the ground.

I hold my breath, as the ball twitches and shakes. It doesn’t move for a long moment, and I cheer.

Then, the pokéball splits in half, and the Geodude is back, even more angry. “Oh come on!” I yell. “I know there’s, like, a 3-in-10 chance of success here, but really?”

I just toss the next Pokéball I grab from my pocket. Sure, the one he broke out of is fine, but I’d rather not go near him as of yet. The red and white orb flies out, and catches the enraged mini-boulder, and taps it right between the eyes as it jumps, hands outstretched as if to strangle me.

A flash of red light, and the pokémon disappears again. I take the time of his capture to walk around so I’d end up behind the potential flying boulder of rage. Readying another pokéball in advance this time, I’Il watch and wait for him to pop out. Surely if he wouldn’t expect to be hit from behind the second he’s out, right?

I watch the Premier ball on the ground twitch and spasm, not even blinking as I wait for the light to shoot out of it, signifying another failu-

*Ding!* The entire ball pulses red for a moment.

The fuck? I pick up the ball and hold it. Yep, he’s definitely in there. Hot damn, I actually did it.

Holy crap, I have a Pokémon! I begin share my enjoyment with the humanized ponies watching the entire proceeding. “Ha! Beating the odds like a boss! That’s how you catch a Pokémon! Oh yeah, who’s awesome? Who’s totally completely awesome!?”

“Er... good job, Anthony?” Rarity says.

Twilight chimes in with, “Well, you caught a rock-type... That’s a pretty good starter pokémon, because they’re really sturdy and dependable, right?”

I just look at her. “You say that as if I don’t know that, genius. But also don’t forget the forests are teeming with Grass types too. The cave is fine, but this guy won’t do much if we end up fighting something with two advantages on him at once.”

I toss the premier ball into the air and the Geodude pops out in a flash of red. I look over my recent capture. “Although... he is pretty tenacious. Maybe he won’t do so bad even at a disadvantage. Looks sturdy, definitely not a child by any means... the fact that his exterior isn’t as rocky is a sign of maturity, but he’s definitely not too old to dish out a heap of trouble... Heh, not a bad catch if I say so myself. He’s perfect for a starter!”

The Geodude gives me a look, then points two fingers at his eyes, then at me. Eesh, tough crowd...

“Anyways...” I return Geodude to his ball and place it on my belt before turning to the girls again. “So, you up for a little spelunking?”

They turn to each other, then back. After a moment’s consideration, they nod. “Alright, but we’re going to turn back to ponies, if that’s alright.” Rarity says askingly.

“As unicorns, we can unravel spell with some concentration.” Twilight explains.

“Alright, I guess if you’re going somewhere with a ceiling it might be easier. Go ahead.”

After they’ve turned back and put some enchantments on their new clothes to have them change next time the template polymorph spell is cast, we enter the cave. Through the dark and gloom, I can see the eyes of some sort of bat pokémon on the roof, and something shifts in the darkness nearby.

It’s perfect.

Well, except for one thing.

“Uhm, how are we supposed to see?” Twilight asks. “If I put up a light spell, it’d probably be strong enough to irritate any bats in here.”

I shush her though. “Zubat and Woobat, the most common bat pokémon around, can’t see worth crap until they evolve. But if you don’t shut up and stay quiet they’ll hear your damn hooves a mile away.” I whisper harshly to them.

I eyeball a Roggenrola that toddles by. I’d go after it, but I already have a rock-type, and those little suckers rarely go anywhere without a Boldore nearby.

We continue the journey through the cave, when Rarity stops us. “Hold on, I have an idea!”

Her horn starts to glow, and she starts walking further into the cave. It takes me a minute but I realize she’s doing that gem-hunting spell she does. After a time, I hear Rarity let out a gasp and I run forward to see what the problem is. There by the wall is a pair of huge blue gems.

Odd. Why does that set me on edge? They’re just ge- oh crap! I grab Rarity’s tail and yank her back. Just as she’s about to protest, the gems jump forward and reveal to be the eyes of a Sableye, and it looks pissed!

Instinctively, I make an order of the nearest friendly Pokémon. “Ledyba, use Supersonic, now!” startled, the bug Pokémon lets out a shrill cry, sending visible but wavy yellow rings, and the Sableye clutches it’s head, clearly distracted and off-balance. I grab the mares under either arm and run further into the cave.

I set Rarity and Twilight down, and take a seat, adrenaline leaving my system. “That was close...”

“What... what was that thing?” Twilight asked, obviously rather spooked.

I take a few deep breaths to calm down. “Sableye. Nasty. Don’t mess with them.”

“Would it kill you to give a bit more detail?” Twilight complained.

I shake my head and take a deep breath. “Sableye are dangerous Pokémon. Their Dark and Ghost types combine to create a Pokémon with only one disadvantage. If you can’t invoke it, the only way to win is to beat them in a battle of pure strength or attrition alone.”

“And... what happened to their eyes?” Rarity asks. “Those weren’t fake, those were real gems I assure you!”

I sigh. “Yes, they are real. Sableye eat gems, much like dragons do in your world. The difference is, they did it so much that it started to affect them. You know the phrase ‘you are what you eat’? Well, that’s literally what happened to them as a species. They are both animal and mineral now.”

“That’s... fascinating!” Rarity exclaims. “They eat gems and become them?”

“Yeah, but they are violent and territorial. Their sharp claws for digging through stone and teeth for breaking diamond are lethal weapons they use frequently in battle. Do not get in a fight with one unless prepared.”

Twilight and Rarity nod in understanding and we continue on once we are all calmed down. Ghost types used to be so cool. Now that they are real though... Psychic type just moved to number one on my ‘to catch’ list.

I sigh, and the girls sit down for a moment. I look around, seeing mostly more darkness as Twilight lights up her horn and also inspects the cave. There’s more pockets of gemstones peeking through down here, though most look gnawed on and discarded. I can also see a few sand-lined holes in the walls wandering off horizontally, though there isn’t enough light to see the far end. Maybe a few Dunsparce carved them... no, Dunsparce is far bigger than that.

Either way, the holes aren’t large enough to investigate without a ton of scraped elbows and torn pants, and I’m not up for that right now. I realize I forgot to get a flashlight. Damnit!

In the meantime, I can at least Spark up still, the glow barely resembling my former power, but enough for me to see by. I probably also stick out pretty easily, so the girls won’t get lost and wander off. With Rarity not having any light of her own she just follows between me and Twilight as I lead us further into the cave.

It’s surprisingly quiet, but not entirely soundless. It’s just not echoing as much as I expected. And so far, there’s hardly any Pokémon. Odd, in my experience we should be stopped every ten steps. That’s when I realize we didn’t buy any repels, despite the fact that I clearly saw them available at the ‘mart. Goddamnit, 20-20 hindsight.

Slowly, I look up, and stifle an unmanly shriek of fear as I see that the ceiling is literally carpeted in a mat of Zubat. They’re currently quiescent, but if any of us raise our voices. I’m literally just about to speak up to the others when Rarity spies an unnibbled chunk of tigerseye, clearly not recalling the last time she rushed towards a random gem. Sigh, women.

When her excited yell is noticed, we are swarmed... of fucking course

Zubat.

We run, screaming, moving as fast as we’re physically able in any direction we think might be closer to the exit. They’re all around, almost blindingly thick and leaving thin, painful scrapes all over me.

Looking up, I see the terrifying visage of a grown Golbat staring down at me. Then I blink, and it’s just a few shadows on the roof of the cave and some passing zubat. Thank goodness. Those things already weigh about half what I do, and they can drink their weight in blood, and... I don’t want to think abou-

Without warning, I trip over a rock... which turns out to be a geodude. Short story shorter, it throws me like a javelin, which hurts a lot.

Scrambling and stumbling, the girls and I get out of the cave, into the glorious sunlight. I’m so glad those things won’t follow us into the daylight. then I see the sky, and realize it’s almost night, and we’re not near the town anymore. Also, all three of us are scratched and bleeding.

Fuck. My. Life.

Chapter 8

Once we outrun the Zubat and catch our breath, I do the first thing that comes to mind. I crawl over to Rarity and grab her by her pony-shoulders and shake her like a ragdoll. “What did I say about loud noises, you fucking horse!? I’m trying to keep us safe, and then you fuck up the easiest task possible!” I swear I popped a vessel in my brain.

Yelling like that was very cathartic, I must admit, and I just let go of Rarity and slump over onto my back. “Do I have to explain these things to you like you’re retarded infants? I can if I have to!”

Both pony’s ears have gone flat to their heads, and they way they’ve curled up would be adorable if I wasn’t so flaringly pissed at them. Sometimes, I have to wonder if there’s any sense in their fool heads! They don’t understand just how much the world can hurt because their happy-sunshine-ponyland has no place for violence or crimes. They’re like what kindergartners think the real world is like from watching crappy kid’s shows!

“So... what do I have to do to get you to understand that there are more important things than fulfilling petty desires? The lives of yourself and others for one.”

“I- I’m sorry, I’ve just never seen a tigerseye of that size and shape, and... I- I’m so sorry.” for the second time today, Rarity devolves into a blubbering mess.

I just sigh and start petting her. “I know you’re sorry, and I understand, but I’m not kidding when I say those things would have sucked all the blood from our bodies if we hadn’t escaped. Alone they are pathetic and annoying; in a swarm, they could drain someone twice my size in half an hour! And they get bigger.”

Even Twilight looks horrified by this. As Twilight and I struggle to make Rarity stop crying, I hear the fashionista say something about just going home.

She’s thinking of just... giving up?

“Oh come on, if every trainer quit just like that, nobody would get anywhere in this world. This place is dangerous, but if you give up, that’s even worse. You need to keep moving. I’m sure we’ll end up dealing with worse even if it’s none of our faults. We can’t just throw in the towel so early when things start looking bad. We’re still alive aren’t we?”

Rarity nods numbly and grabs me and Twilight in a hug, still crying. After a few moments, Ledyba joins in the group hug. I completely forgot about her! Well, she looks fine so that’s all that matters right?

After a while, we decide adventuring in the dark is not a good idea, especially since we don’t have sleeping bags or even thin blankets to sleep. But we can’t get back now, so... we decide that the best option would be to find somewhere hidden in the forest and sleep there. It was a bit of a walk, but still closer than the town.

A short walk later, and Twilight pulls her own starter out. The little Tepig is confused at first, but recognizes Twilight’s voice. Some simple commands later, and there’s a warm fire crackling in a small pit. We settle in around it for the night.

Sighing, Twilight gets ready to return her Tepig, when the little pokémon simply curls up next to her. She smiles and grabs it like a stuffed animal, and the two go to sleep. I see that Rarity is using Ledyba as a pillow, and the bug pokémon doesn’t seem to mind.

I imagine taking out Geodude and... what, using him as a bludgeoning tool? I just gather up a clump of leaves and use that as a pillow.

I wake up and hear some yawning noises. I turn to see Rarity, Twilight, and both their pokémon are still sound asleep. I hear a small noise and realise it’s my pillow! I leap off of it and it startles awake. Then I see the face. It’s a Burmy!

I then take a moment to think about the situation. Grass/Bug. Not too much of an advantage, this is perfect timing. I back up and toss out Geodude, seems he’s awake and ready for a battle as well. “Alright buddy, let’s see what you got! Squash that bug with a Rollout!”

Geodude grunts, then looks at me. “What? Don’t tell me you can’t! Fine then, Tackle it!”

The stone pokémon nods, then simply jumps and lands on the burmy, making it squeal from the impact. Twilight is muzzily looking around, her tepig fully awake already as Rarity simply rolls over.

Meanwhile, the Geodude simply picks up the more-or-less defenseless and stunned bug and holds it while it hops up again. Not exactly in the rules, but at least Geodude’s got some imagination.

When Geodude is finished I take a closer look at the burmy on the ground. Out cold. Heh. “Alright, first actual battle a success, I’m doing alright! Not that there was ever any doubt of course.” I pull out the Premier ball and recall my pokémon, “Nice job man, I’m liking you better and better!”

After this, Twilight and Rarity are grudgingly awake, and we prepare to move. Twilight was apparently plenty warm all night from her Tepig’s presence, and Rarity was fine enough, though I’m a little cold from a stiff breeze coming in as we skirt the forest. We spend a minute or two discussing possible places to go, either into the forest or away from it. There’s plenty of rolling hills and cliffs in the other direction, leading back towards the sea.

I think over our options. “Well, if we ever plan on doing any battling by a lakeshore, it’d benefit Twilight and I to get a Water type. Rarity’s lucky, she already has one!” With that I pat the white unicorn on the head. “Trust me, you’re going to love Feebas.”

Rarity just grumbles and we make our way out of the forest. We pass by a few more Pokémon, but they aren’t terribly interested in us, so we just keep going. Then something hits me. “Hey Twilight, this place is perfect for Tepig to train. Why don’t you give the Pokémon around here a few rounds? I guarantee you it won’t be quite like the battle you had with Basswood. You might even win!”

Twilight gives me a grumpy face, but asks Tepig if that’s what he wants. After an affirmative nod, the two begin grinding for ex- er, battling the local pokémon. There’s some Sewaddle, a few Caterpie, an Oddish, even a Hoppip that sort of... floated away mid-battle.

“So, I guess we’re heading for the hills?” I ask with a grin.

“Ha ha... but yes, we’ll head to the water.” Twilight stops for a second and thinks. “It looked pretty cold. Did you recognize any of the pokémon in the water? that could help us figure out what kind of ocean it is.”

“Yeah, most of the ones on shore were part Ice-Type. Would make great weapons if we come across any Dragons.”

“Weapons? Anthony, watch your language!”

“Well personally, if I was being chased by a giant dragon over 500 feet long and breathing energy blasts that can wreck mountains as a side-effect I wouldn’t be exactly in the mood for inviting it over for a slumber party. Just saying. You can do what you like though.”

“Wait, ice is effective against dragons? But dragons are extreme endotherms, they produce more than enough heat to protect them from the cold!” Twilight says, looking baffled.

“While Fire-based attacks are indeed minimal strength against a dragon-type, ice is actually very effective. Pokémon are more than just animals with elemental abilities. They are forces of nature. There are Pokémon who can breath fire on you and no matter how much you try to cool it off, that burn will stay with you until the day you die. And frankly, that doesn’t make sense either, but it’s been recorded as fact.”

Twilight shrugs. “Well, I guess if that’s just how things work here... Anyways, we should get going. Rarity has had enough time to wake up without coffee, and I want to get more done today than just standing around and talking. I don’t know why, but this place makes me feel like trotting all over.”

“If you say so. Yeah, let’s get going.”

The three of us walked with some swiftness towards the hills, only stopping once we reached the crest of a hill, some four battles later. One of those battles ended up being a 2v8, with me and Twilight taking down a swarm of Oddish and Budew.

I’m sure Geodude must have leveled up enough by now, so... “Alright Geodude, let’s see you pull off a Rollout now!"

Success! Geodude curled up and shot forward down the slope of the hill and, keeping momentum, ran back up, seeming rather proud of himself. He tried it once more, but as he reached the crest of the other hill again, a blue and black figure rushed up the hill and knocked Geodude back down the half-pipe.

The Riolu stood at the top of the hill and watched as my rock pokémon rolled between the hills sides until he slowed to a stop at the bottom of where the hills met, too dizzy to move in a straight line. The Riolu then makes a gesture I didn't recognize but was sure it was an insult of some kind, then the little prick just dashes off again.

I then hear a mechanical voice echo from beside me.

-Riolu, the Emanation Pokémon. Its body is lithe yet powerful. It can crest three mountains and cross two canyons in one night.-

“I know what a Riolu looks like, damnit!”

Twilight sheepishly returns her éTech to her bag, and the girls follow me as I make my way down the hillside and return the dazed Geodude back into his ball.

Chapter 9

Author's Note

Warning: This chapter contains gore. Reader discretion is advised.

Chapter 9

After that... interesting experience, we just continue along. There isn’t that much to see, aside from some Taillow flying by. We continue our trek along the uneven ground. Up and down, up and down.

When we get down to the water’s edge, we unanimously agree to just rest for a bit. That said, the view is pretty neat. Though it really is oddly cold, I can feel the wind coming in from the ocean and I’m glad I’ve got a jacket. After a bit of resting, we decide to start boosting our collections.

“Alright Rarity, you ready?”

“Hmm, me? What for?”

“Well the Pokémon are swimmers, remember? Geodude’s just gonna sink and Tepig would be out in seconds. Ledyba can fly and Feebas can swim. You’re all we got if we want a chance of catching anything here. Unless they decide to get up here on shore that is, but I don’t have any bait.”

“But... but...”

Twilight walks over to Rarity and pats her friend on the back. “I’m afraid he’s right, you have to battle if we want to get further.”

Rarity looks down at her hooves sadly. “Well... I suppose as long as nobody gets hurt too much...” She levitates the Cherish ball out of her bag and tosses it into the water. A shimmering, multicolored glow replaces the typical white and it would have been even more of a spectacle had it not yielded a Feebas. That said, it was shiny, so that kinda counts for something.

Rarity approaches the water’s edge and addresses her most recent ‘catch’. “Alright, we need to fight. Can you... do that?”

The Feebas looks up at Rarity and grins widely giving a cheerful “Bas!”

“Well, at least she’s optimistic...” Rarity sighs. How the heck can she just... tell what gender it is? Maybe she would make a good breeder after all. Then something struck me.

“Uh, Rare... Feebas won’t be able to help us much... At this point, all it- she’d know is Splash.”

Rarity looks at me quizzically, then returns her gaze to Feebas, flopping around randomly in the water happily. Rarity seems to be taking a bit for the info to sink in. I decide to help get the message across “Right now, that’s uh... That’s all she can do...”

Rarity cringes and facehoofs. Not even looking at the still smiling Feebas, she levitates the Cherish ball and recalls the useless fish. Begrudgingly, Rarity calls Ledyba over, gives the Pokémon a hug, and gives a bit of verbal support before requesting that Ledyba help us out.

Ledyba gets a rather determined face on, very uncharacteristic for it’s species. Well, if it feels up to it, I’m not gonna argue. I hold up my éTech to Ledyba and a little light shines. In a moment, I’m given a readout of Ledyba’s Type, name, ownership status, and available moves.

Turns out me ordering it to use Supersonic back at the cave was just a lucky shot in the dark, it’s barely experienced enough to use it! “Oh well, it’ll have to do.”

Rarity looks up at me. “What do you mean?”

“According to this, all she can do is use Tackle and Supersonic. She’s got a lot of training to do if you want to wow any contest judges.”

“Oh...”

“Hey, don’t worry.” I wrap an arm around Rarity’s barrel. “Lot’s of Pokémon start out weak, they just need training.” I get an idea. “Hey, how about I instruct Ledyba for a few rounds until you catch on? It shouldn’t take long, I just figure it might be better if she gets coherent orders until you can do the same.”

“Well... alright.” Rarity sighs, then stares at me like she’s going to drill through my brain with her gaze. “If she gets hurt, I’ll end you!”

“N- no problem, ma’am, you can count on me.” After a few awkward moments of her death glare, we hear a splash coming from the water. Turning around, I see a Spheal rolling around in the water happily. It’s like a blue and beige beach ball, but I know better.

“Alright Ledyba, you ready?”

“Ba!”

“Alright, daze it with Supersonic!” Just like with the Sableye, Ledyba started flapping it’s wings incredibly fast and started producing the strange barely visible wavy yellow rings of sound. When they reach the Spheal soon after, it’s splashing around becomes much more wild and sporadic as it’s sense of direction is altered horribly.

“Now Tackle it!” Ledyba charges at the Spheal and, with rather impressive speed, slams into the ball-like Pokémon, causing the Spheal to yelp in pain.

“Now Tackle it again, get it from behind!” Circling around, Ledyba quickly rushes for Spheal again, repeating her direct strike and this time launching it towards shore. The Spheal finally gets its bearings and inhales, breathing out produces a flurry of fast-moving snow. Ledyba takes initiative and just barely ducks under the flurry and uses Supersonic again. Clearly she’s getting the hang of battle rather quickly.

The Spheal quickly rolls out of the way, however and prepares another attack from a different angle. Suddenly a Pokéball flies out of nowhere and hits Spheal in the back before it disappears in a white light.

After some serious shaking, the ball starts to calm down and eventually flashes, eliciting a cheer from Twilight.

“Ha! Gotta be faster than that if you want to win, Anthony!” With a happy grin, she levitates the ball back over and returns it to her bag. “You might catch up if your lucky!”

“You cheeky snake.” I grin and ruffle her mane, though she seems too happy to be annoyed by it. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

Ledyba flies over to Rarity, who grabs the bug pokémon in a big hug, offering many words of praise.

“So Rarity, whaddya think? Willing to let Ledyba go a few rounds now and then?”

“Well... perhaps. As long as she doesn’t get hurt too badly...”

We decided to just relax for a bit, letting our Pokémon out. Geodude decided he’d rather stay in his ball than by the ocean though, so I just watch the others. Rarity let Feebas swim around in the water, while Tepig and Spheal seem to have hit it off rather well, bouncing around and play-wrestling. I look out into the water and see a dark blue lump floating around moving ever so slightly. I point it out. “Hey girls, check it out!”

Twilight pulls out her éTech and aims it at the lump, eliciting the electronic voice as usual.

-Wailmer, the Ball Whale Pokémon. It bounces playfully like a ball. The more seawater it swallows, the higher it bounces.-

“Huh... it doesn’t look very active to me... it’s barely moving” Twilight muses. It’s rather curious to me as well. Then the water around the Wailmer changes color, becoming a disturbing purple. What?

Suddenly, the Wailmer’s shaking speeds up becoming more frantic, and that’s when the water starts turning red. A school of Carvanha burst out of the top of the Wailmer, having chewed their way through it. The girls scream in terror and I wince at the gory scene.

After a bit, the Carvanha are satisfied with their meal and we watch as the last few drag the Wailmer’s corpse down into the water, fighting over who gets the last bit. I shudder, and Rarity looks completely sick to her stomach.

Some of the Carvanha are floating lazily in the water, digesting their large meal. I take the opportunity to throw out a Pokéball into the water. In it’s satiated mood, the Carvanha doesn’t seem to have the attentiveness or energy to resist, making it my easiest capture yet. The Pokéball floats out in the water containing my new pokémon, surrounded by the rest of the Carvanha, now looking slightly more alert..

“Sooooo... I’m not swimming over there to get it.” I say. Twilight, with a disgusted look on her face, picks up the ball with her magic and levitates it over to me. I then place the ball in my bag and we all just stand there, not really having anything to say.

“Well then...” I start.

“Let’s just keep going for now.” Twilight suggests and nobody argues. Recalling our pokémon, the girls and I set off for the hills again.

After a while, the slopes get less steep between each hill and it seems we’re walking on what could barely be considered flat ground.

Then a trainer comes up to me. The guy had blue hair and some dark shades resting on his head. He had a pink shirt with a brown vest and a black pair of pants. The guy looked really cocky.

“Hey punk, you’re in for a world of hurt!” I quirk an eyebrow at his exclamation. “You deaf or something? Let’s battle!”

“You think you can win?” I walk up to him, and he’s obviously still a teenager, about half a foot shorter than I am.

“Yeah, you heard me, now let’s go!” He holds up a Great Ball threateningly.

“One Pokémon each, no items.” I reply, laying down the rules.

The trainer snorts. “Please, I could beat you blindfolded! Let’s see what you got! You’re big, but you still look like a beginner, what self respecting trainer would walk around with a Ledyba out?” The guy proceeds to laugh his head off.

Rarity snorts angrily and uses her magic to push me aside. “Say that again!” she dares the now dumbstruck trainer.

“D- did that Pokémon just-” He looks up at me and back to Rarity. The trainer stammers for a bit then tries to salvage his dignity and stands up tossing his Great ball and a Charmeleon bursts from the light, breathing out a stream of fire.

“That’s all you got?” I toss out Geodude and the trainer’s face falls once more. “What’s the matter? Doesn’t it know Metal Claw?”

The trainer looks at his Charmeleon which just shrugs. “You don’t even know what moves your pokémon knows and you call me beginner?”

“Uh, well-”

“Geodude, Tackle.” At my word, Geodude hurls it’s body straight at the fire lizard, which gets knocked over from the impact. “Rollout!”

It only takes two passes and the Charmeleon is on the ground not even moving. “I’ll let you use one more Pokémon if you wanna give it another try.” I offer.

He lifts up another Pokéball and tosses out a Sandshrew, who immediately starts by burrowing into the ground. I’m not sure if Geodude knows Magnitude yet, so I just order him to use Rock Polish.

The Sandshrew pops out of the ground behind Geodude, but Geodude rolls out of the way at the last second. If that had hit, it wouldn’t have gone well. On his trainer’s orders, Sandshrew uses Fury Swipes, which obviously didn’t do a whole lot of damage. I had Geodude reply with Rollout and the Sandshrew just barely dodges.

The Sandshrew returns to digging back underground. “Geodude, follow it!” My Pokémon nods and hops down the hole and in a few moments there’s a large racket down there. After a moment, an unconscious Geodude is tossed out of the hole. Damnit.

“Ha! I knew it, you are just a novice!”

I recall Geodude and bemoan my loss as Twilight walks up to the trainer. “My turn.” She tosses out Spheal. “Water beats Ground!”

The trainer chuckles. “Only if it can hit. Sandshrew, you know what to do!” At his command, the yellow Pokémon starts tunneling quickly and pops up in another spot. It repeats the process until the field is pocked with holes. Twilight can’t follow it’s movements and Spheal keeps getting knocked around by the Sandshrew as it pops up and dives back down.

Then Twilight gets her ‘idea’ face on. “Spheal, use Water Gun into one of the holes!”

Spheal shoots a jet of water into the nearest hole and eventually the holes start filling. After a few seconds, the Sandshrew pops up out of the ground gasping for air.

“Spheal, Water Gun again!” The torrent slams into Sandshrew and sends it flying. The trainer tries to catch his Sandshrew, but misjudges the distance and ends up getting hit in the face by his own pokémon. Twilight recalls her Pokémon, thanking it.

“Heh, nice job Twi. That was pretty impressive thinking there.”

She blushes and looks away. “Aw, it’s just simple physics... Anyway, I believe I won, don’t I get a prize?”

“Actually, technically he beat me first, so I’d owe him money, but then you beat him so he’d give the money to you...” I shrug and hand some of my local currency to Twilight, which she accepts.

With that, we watch as the trainer rushes towards the nearest place he can take his Pokémon to. I take a Revive out of my bag and use it to get Geodude back on his figurative feet. He’s obviously not happy about losing. “Sorry man, that was kind of stupid on my part. I figured you’d just whoop him.” I return the now-conscious Geodude to his ball and our litle group carries on.

Chapter 10

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 11

As I reach the front of the building, I see that the first floor doesn’t have a door, as the house is actually built into the side of the hill. A set of stairs leads up to the door, and a garage door is visible, along with a dirt road that follows the forest verge.

I walk up the stairs and into the center, and we enter the lobby, looking like the typical inside of a Pokémon Center, though in wood: Clean and sterile, but still inviting and cheery. How they found that balance, I’ll never know.

A large circular section of the floor is depressed downward, and has several cushions. As I walked in, a young woman with brilliant pink hair looks up. I watch as she stands up quickly, dusting off a nurse’s outfit. Her hair is loose, but I’ll be damned if she isn’t a Joy.

“Welcome to the Pokémon center! I’m sorry I wasn’t ready to greet you, but I rarely see trainers this far away from Krosa Forest and the shore. Usually, only really dedicated trainers try to get through Seabreeze’s denser forest.” She smiles a winning smile, and I start to understand why Brock always crushed on this lady and her relatives when he met them. Though maybe he exaggerated a little bit.

“Well, call me dedicated then. Though I admit I may have gotten a bit in over my head. Could you take a look at my pokémon and see what you can do for them? One got kicked through a tree and the other took a swim with a Crawdaunt...”

The nurse winces. “Ah, you met Old Man Hopkins, then. That big shellfish needs to be taken out eventually; he migrates whenever he cleans out a pond. Anyways, let’s take a look over here, the diagnosis machine is state of the art. Are these two alright? I don’t recognize the species, but I’m sure we can find something for them if need be.”

I chuckle. This ‘rare pokémon’ thing will never get old. “Nah, they’re fine, just these guys.” I hold out the shrunken Premier ball and Pokéball containing my two pokémon. “These are the ones that are hurting.”

The nurse nods, and takes them, then calls out. “Chance! Get a spot set up for this trainer; I’m guessing he’ll need a place to stay tonight.” She smiles at me again, and starts walking towards a machine. I turn at the sound of soft footsteps, and see a tall, rounded pink figure. Rather than the expected Chansey, a particularly tall Wigglytuff stands in front of me, and puffs up its chest. Well, puffs up its entire body a little, really.

“Tuff!” it says, then begins marching towards the lowered floor section, waving for me to follow. I walk after the out of place creature and follow it’s gestures, which I take as instructions. It only takes a few moments to get a pile of pillows covered by a thick blanket near the fireplace, which had been concealed by a thick wooden pillar. Surprisingly, the fireplace is concrete, and there’s a few small and large handprints in it. It’s also a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, and my companions and I find ourselves warm and drowsy very fast.

The Wigglytuff, Chance, then comes over and sits next to Rarity, who appears utterly fascinated with the Normal-and-Fairy type. after a few moments, she reaches out a tentative hoof, and gets nuzzled. The resulting delighted squeal and hug is adorable, as it looks like the marshmallow-colored pony is snuggling a giant plush toy.

“Heh, you certainly are popular aren’t you? Humans or Pokémon, you sure get a lot of attention.”

“Well, darling, it’s what I strive for.” Rarity says, still hugging Chance, who appears to be perfectly content with this. I hear a thump, and turn around to see that Nurse Joy has fainted.

I’m not entirely well-versed in the action to take when the local healer is the one who needs help. But one thing’s for sure, in a world like this, it should not be taken lightly. My mind races as I think of a plan. Twilight beats me to it though, lifting Joy up with her magic.

“Chance, help me find a place to put her down where she’ll be okay. Rarity, you look around, see if you can’t find the cause of this. Anthony, you... uh...”

“Beat up anyone who tries to attack someone else?” I shrug, and Twilight just shakes her head giving a quick ‘whatever’ as Chance leads Twilight to a back area, and Rarity starts poking around the area where Joy had fallen. I really don’t have much to do, but I feel that I should contribute, so I head through the door Chance and Twi had disappeared through.

I see I’m in a medical area, a few rows hospital cots of various shapes and sizes, obviously intended to support the varied species of Pokémon. I see Twilight setting Joy down on one of the more rectangular, human-sized beds.

Twiddling my thumbs and fidgeting from a need to do something, I sit and wait as Twilight and Rarity talk about what to do, until Chance finally seems to just get fed up. He poofs and puffs to almost double his size, making him a bit taller than me, then exhales in a series of golden waves, like wi-fi symbols. the shimmering golden waves settle into the nurse, and and she slowly opens her eyes.

Well, guess that’s a good reason to have something other than a Chansey if one’s unavailable. I walk over to Joy and check her over to see if she was bruised anywhere, though I’m sure the Heal Pulse would have fixed up any remaining injuries. Still, might as well make sure.

As she came too, she groaned. “Oog, what happened? I feel like I hit my head...”

“Well, you did. Right after you just... fell. We didn’t really know what to do so we just kinda laid you down.”

“Oh, I... I think I remember something about... heh, I thought I heard your pokémon talking. Oh, I’m just being silly I suppose; talking pokémon is a myth.”

That confuses me. “Uh... most psychic types can use telepathy to talk, and they can speak to humans and such. Yeah, it’s uncommon, but plenty of Pokémon can talk. At least in my experience. Besides, these two are special.”

“Telepathy isn’t speech, and the only pokémon that can mimic speech I know of is Chatot. Really, pokémon don’t speak the human language.” Joy says, speaking slowly, as if to a child.

“I guess that the Alakazam I chatted with earlier was just doing a really impressive job of faking it then, because I heard full sentences that made perfect sense.”

“I said telepathy isn’t speech, not that it isn’t intelligible!”

“Whatever, I still think a pokémon can learn to speak like us just as you would teach a human child. But either way, yeah, they did talk. Come on girls, introduction time again.”

Twilight has face-hoofed, and Rarity has already left the room, likely to get away from Nurse Joy. Twilight speaks up. “For the first thing, we aren’t pokémon. We’re from another world. Also, Professor Basswood said that talking pokémon weren’t too unusual.”

The nurse looks shocked again. “Wha- but- from another world? How is that even poss-”

“Magic.” I say, cutting off any further questions. “Also, there’s at least two pokémon that govern alternate realities, and several that are suspected from being from other realities and/or other worlds. Why is finding out something other than a pokémon could live in another world so shocking?”

Joy looks like she’s about to argue before turning pensive. “I- I guess I always assumed it’d be either pokémon or humans...”

“Yeah, same here.” I admit. “First time meeting these guys, I thought I was dreaming or hit my head. Anyway, if you’re still not convinced, they have trainer licenses as well. You can look at ‘em if you want.”

The nurse numbly recieves the trainer card that Twilight gives her with a magical flick. After a moment, the nurse appears to recompose herself, though she keeps flicking her eyes towards the purple unicorn. “Okay, well... I guess, uhm... do- do you three need to stay here tonight? Uhm, the common area is still open.”

“Yeah, that was our plan anyway. Don’t worry about it, we won’t give you any trouble, we just need a place to crash and get my pokémon healed. As I said, we had quite the adventure getting here.”

“Ah, yes, so I gathered. Uhm, I was coming back to tell you that your pokémon were healed up. Oh! They probably got dropped when I, uh, fainted.”

“Don’t worry about it. Weird stuff happens to me all the time. I guess the strange stuff just seems normal to me. So yeah, we’ll just rest for the night and be outta here by morning.” I pause when an idea pops into my mind. “Oh, you wouldn’t happen to know where we could find someone who would be able to offer breeder’s licenses would you? Rarity’s gonna try for one on top of being a coordinator.”

“Oh... well, there’s a few breeders working at the Primal Reserve. It’s about two or three days of walking along the road outside. One of them is a Master Breeder, if I remember right. there’s also a few Rangers there.”

“Eh, being a Ranger isn’t really my thing. Being called away to be a hero would cut into my adventuring time. Anyway, I’ll let you just... do whatever it is you do. I’m beat.” With that, I head back to the common room and get into the pile of blankets and pillows laid out by the fire.

Today was certainly interesting. But at least it’s not boring.

Chapter 12

I wake up, and find myself very warm. I can feel a warm, fuzzy limb draped over my chest, someone or another snuggled against my back.

Oh well, if one of the girls wanna snuggle, that’s fine. As long as I don’t end up spooning with Twilight. I shift a bit to see who my cuddle partner is and for a moment I imagine it’s Pinkie, but then recall she’s back in Equestria... this disappoints me a bit. Oh well, Chance is fluffy and squishy too.

The Wigglytuff nuzzles the back of my neck, a wide grin on his face. Heh, pokémon are so cute when they sleep.

I briefly wonder about what our next destination should be. That breeder farm is on the list, but after that... I wonder if I should challenge the gyms even though I only have two Pokémon. I mean, normally if I was playing a game I’d have about ten by now at least. Oh well, worth a shot I guess. I also recall that I still need a map. I make a note to ask Joy about one once everyone’s woken up. Getting lost is not fun.

I shift a bit more, trying to get fully comfortable, only for Chance to snuggle even closer to me. As adorable and soft as he is, it’s getting a bit awkward. I gently poke the balloon pokémon, but as it’s genus would suggest, my finger just sinks into his body and he doesn’t seem to even feel it.

I ponder what to do to wake him up without just shoving him away, but nothing really comes to mind. I slowly turn over and pick him up gently, and place him next to Rarity, who actually grabs him first. Heh. The two snuggle together, Rarity’s fur apparently making a perfectly acceptable substitute for another Wigglytuff.

Although now that I’m up, I can’t really think of anything to do, as I can’t just leave without the girls. This place is dangerous, and they kinda rely on my expertise to get around safely. Not that I’ve been doing a great job of keeping us safe, but I think I’m doing pretty good so far.

I just sit down at one of the tables by the front desk and grab something from the bookshelves. Sure I may have more knowledge of this place than most experts, but... This region in particular seems to be a bit... different. I figure reading up on the locales would be beneficial in the long run. Unfortunately, most of the books available are just about basic care for pokémon and children’s books.

I should probably ask about a library somewhere. Last I knew, the only library in this universe is in Canalave city over in Sinnoh, but there’s gotta be some sort of information source we can look into. Putting the book back on the shelf, I look over to see a yawning Twilight wander out of her pile of pillows and blankets.

“Mornin’, Anthony.” She blinks a couple of times, before realizing there’s no visible kitchen. “Where coffee?” she slurs.

I chuckle. “This is the rugged lifestyle of an adventurer. You want food or drink? Buy it and carry it around with you.”

“Mmph. Is stupid. Want coffee. Fuck, I’m tired.” Twilight grumbles more as she wanders back to her ‘bed’.

“Some Pokémon Master you’re gonna be. If your first weakness is caffeine dependency, then you’re not getting anywhere as my rival.” I chastise her addiction to the chemical. “Seriously, that stuff isn’t terribly healthy for you anyway. Think of this as your second chance to kick the habit, you kinda failed back in Wunderland.”

I hear something that vaguely resembles profanity from her bed, and I chuckle. “Next time we find a market, we’ll see if we can’t buy some. Okay? Just don’t expect it to be in constant ready supply when we’re out in the wilderness.” there’s no response, but the ‘profanity’ ceases.

“Well when you get up, I’d suggest taking a look at some of these care guides. If you’re gonna be a battling trainer, you should be aware of the causes and cures of various status conditions.” I look through the shelf again and find some relevant material. As well as another book. “And probably a few on adventuring. Sure you’ve walked up a mountain or two, but this is gonna be a regular thing for us.”

A sigh issues from Twilight. “Fine, fine... Jus’ lemme go back to sleep... too sun... no sleepy...” gentle snores mark her return to the land of nod.

I never understand what’s so great about coffee. Personally, I find the stuff disgusting no matter what flavoring I put in it. The fact that someone can be dependant on it is rather weird. Still, I’m gonna try and help Twi and Rarity learn to make do without it. If they plan on getting anywhere, they should get used to not having a kitchen available everywhere they go.

I should buy some food and such next chance I get though. I think all we’ve got left is two bits and change in the local currency right now. We’re gonna have to see if we can’t win a few battles.

The next person to wake is Nurse Joy coming back down to the main floor. She, at least, looks rested. “Hello, Anthony, how are you this morning?”

“Eh, I’m doing alright. Just waiting for the coffee addicts to wake up. I’m probably gonna get some when we get to the next town. Say, you wouldn’t happen to have a spare map laying around I could have?”

“Oh, you don’t have that app yet? Here, I’ll forward you a coupon to get one free; most trainers get a coupon from doing the survey, though.”

“Survey? What survey? And assuming by app, you mean a function on our éTechs? We got ours from a Pokémart along with these bags. Not sure what all is on them aside from it doubling as a pokédex.”

“Oh! Well, here, lemme show a few of the setting. Do you want breakfast, by the way? I can get some oatmeal started if you’d like.”

“Sure, that sounds great. It should also help these guys get used to the way humans eat oats as well.” I take out my éTech and turn it on, holding it flat so Joy and I can both get a good look at the small, tablet-like apparatus. “So what do I do?”

Joy guides me over to a table and we sit down. She shows me several functions I hadn’t known about, including a part of the device that twists off and becomes a phone, and an internet browser. She also sent me to a survey, which basically asked about where I’m from, where I’m adventuring, and my goal. After filling it in, I got a free coupon code for a map app at no charge.

Once instructed on how to redeem the code, I download the app and take a look at the region we’re going through. Apparently the map is beamed down to the éTech via satellites all over the planet, because I can even look through lists of other regions, like Hoenn, Johto, Kanto, Orre, and even a few I don’t recognize by their shape, but there’s a ton more out there, like Kroel. I push a button that says ‘find my location’ and the planet-view zooms in and it says I’m in a pokémon center. And that there’s a town a few days away just as Joy said. Neat!

After the awakening of my companions and a short breakfast, we prepare to head off. I’ve already gotten the other two to get the map app as well, just in case they get seperated from me.

“So we’re going to head to the town first and get some supplies. We can check out the breeder ranch later, because I think food as well as some real healing items will be beneficial. A Poison Heal should be on all of our lists, right now.”

We head off down the dirt road, looking up at the bright, slightly cloudy sky. Only a few wispy puffs pass by overhead, scudding past as flying pokémon float through them. I even see a small collection of Hoppip float on a breeze a hundred feet up, following a Jumpluff.

A Grass type would help round out my team, but I think I’d have better chances with a grounded Pokémon. As we walk along, I hear some rustling in the bushes. After it’s sporadic movements end, the pokémon charges out onto the road to challenge us. The Rattata, not looking that tough, but still mean, gives Twilight a brief case of the shivers. I pull out my premier ball holding Geodude. “I’ll show you how to fight a Rattata.” I turn to the purple and beige rat. “You want some? Come and get it!” at that I toss out my pokémon and Geodude materializes out of the red light, looking ready to kick some butt.

With a cry of challenge, the Rattata charges, and tries slamming into Geodude. The rock pokémon stays steady, and grabs the smaller pokémon by the scruff of the neck, holding it at arms length. Geodude cocks an eyebrow at me, as if to ask why I’m wasting his time. The Rattata squirms and shrieks in fury.

“Hey, my other pokémon can’t do a dang thing out of water, you want me to give Carvanha a shot anyway?” I ask. “Just chuck the thing or whatever.” Geodude complies, cocking back an arm and throwing the purple rat overhand. It sails into the long grass, landing with a barely audible squeak.

I turn to Twilight. “As vicious as they are, how did you actually let one of those kick your tail?”

“I wasn’t ready for how tough it was! It just kept coming at me!” Twilight yells, then buries her face in Rarity’s shoulder. Great, now she’s being dramatic.

“Yeah well, if this is gonna take a few days, might as well toughen up a bit. Why not have Tepig level up some? Supposing Geodude and I leave anything for ya.”

Twilight narrows her eyes. “I have full faith in Tepig!” to demonstrate, she casually throws out the fiery piglet... who lands face-down. So that’s why you yell their names first, so that they can get ready to pop out!

“Yeah, faith... looks like that’s all you’ll have for a while. Say, why don’t you try beating Geodude?” I say, knowing full well my Rock and Ground type would severely outclass the piglet, in level if not type advantage.

“Well, that’s not fair. Your pokémon has a double type advantage against mine! I don’t think he’s learned any moves that could counter that yet.”

Before I can respond, I hear Rarity shouting in the grass somewhere off to the right, and look over to see Ledyba dive-bomb tackle a harried-looking Rattata.

Huh, looks like the coordinator is going to be tougher than my rival trainer wannabe. “You’re gonna have to step up your game if you wanna get anywhere Twilight. But don’t worry, they might offer pity badges for special cases like you.”

“Hey! I’ll do just fine! I don’t need any pity badges! You can go train with Rarity, I’ll be training here, by the forest!” She picks me up with her telekinesis, and sets me down next to Rarity. The white pony is cooing at her Ledyba and petting the bug pokémon.

“Heh, not bad.” I hold up my éTech to Ledyba and get a readout. “In about eleven more levels, she’s gonna evolve. Not bad at all.”

“Wait, evolve?” Rarity asks, looking confused.

“Yeah, she’s gonna change. Into a Ledian specifically. As pokémon grow, they get stronger. Some of them can get so strong they advance to a new form, where they become even stronger. Not all pokémon evolve, and how or when they evolve differs from species to species, but bug types like Ledyba evolve the fastest.”

“Ooh! So she’ll become even more gorgeous? Ooh, I can’t wait!”

I look through my éTech and see if I can bring up a picture of a Ledian. When I find a decent picture, I show her. “She’ll look like this at about level eightteen. She’s seven right now.”

“Oh, that’s beautiful! She’ll look so wonderful. Won’t you?” she directs that last part to her Ledyba, hugging the bug close. They look so nice together.

“Yeah, pokémon evolve as part of their nature.” I think for a bit. “Geodude, Carvanha, Spheal, Tepig. Heck, all our Pokémon will evolve in time.”

Rarity seems delighted, and promptly takes her pokémon back into the thick, tall grass for more training. She seems to be taking to this like a Farfetch’d to soup stock.

I look through my éTech and find the little phonebook, for calling someone else’s éTech if you have their Trainer Card ID number. “Hey Rares, before you go, I wanna swap numbers, that way we can talk later. I wanna see how Twi’s doing.”

After showing her how it works -and finding out you need fingers to work it, necessitating a change for the day on her part- we exchange numbers, and I head off to find Twilight.

When I reach her, I find that she’s got both Tepig and her Spheal out, and is fighting three separate wild pokémon at the same time. The Spearow and two Oddish are lashing out at Twilight’s duo, but she’s fighting back with ember and powder snow, to great effect.

“Ember already huh? Not bad. And you certainly have the more obscure type advantages down. Not many beginners get Ice beating Flying so soon.”

“It does? I just didn’t want to get overwhelmed, and powder snow can hit more than one at a- ember again, Tepig! Don’t let those spores get on you, Spheal!- can hit more than one of them at once!”

“Yeah. Ice types beat Flying, Ground, Grass and Dragon. They are hard to get for beginners, but they are very helpful when going through forests. The Ground disadvantage is how we managed to get away from that Nidoking in the first place. If it wasn’t super effective, I don’t think we’d have slowed him down enough to get away before being flattened.”

Twilight gives a terse acknowledgement, then coordinates a withering combo of ember to bunch the enemy pokémon up, then powder snow to get them all at once, even the Spearow.

“Not bad tactic. Not bad at all. Also, Tepig can learn Odor Sleuth, so if a Pokémon is moving too fast to hit or is hiding somehow, he can still locate them for a hit.”

“Huh, good to know. Thank you Anthony. What did you need? I think we’re on a roll over here.”

“Well I got Rarity’s number on my éTech. I wanted to trade numbers with you, then both of you can swap. This way we can split up and still talk using the telephone function.”

“The what function?” Twilight asks, breaking her attention from looking over her pokémon.

“You’re a smart mare. Think about the roots. If the ‘tele-’ in teleport means ‘far’ or ‘distance’, and ‘-phone’ means ‘sound’... it shouldn’t be hard to understand, right? We can use these to chat with each other even if we’re in separate continents. Keeping in touch doesn’t require the mail service or anything.”

“Wait, so they work like Link Stones? that’s amazing! But should I link it to yours, or to Rarity’s?”

“Uh, you just need to know which number to call. Every trainer has a number for their éTech based on their Trainer ID. You just enter that number in and tell it to call the number. As long as you know someone’s number you can talk to any of them at any given time.”

“Amazing! I’ll have to look over how this works later, though, just figure out what needs to be done.” I explain it need fingers to operate the éTech, and she simply shifts into her human form, only getting dressed when I tell her to. She really needs to learn human modesty practices...

“So yeah, technology beats magic as usual. I can actually give you Rarity’s number now, I just have to bring it up. I’ve logged it into the phonebook so I can just look up her name. You should probably do the same, as remembering everyone’s number can be confusing.”

Twilight nods, and enters in the numbers. She’s strangely good at this, I must admit. Then something occurs to me. “Hey Twilight, how long have you been training? Don’t forget to make sure your Pokémon don’t run out of Power Points or they won’t be able to use their moves.”

Twilight looks at me in confusion. “What? I didn’t see anything about Power Points when doing battle research.”

“Well, that’s just a numerical number given to how many times a pokémon can use a move before it tires them out. You think Tepig could just breathe fire all day? Heck no, he’ll wear out after a bit like everyone else.”

“Well, I assumed as much... I didn’t know there’s a numbering system for it.” After some more small chat and some more training against the local pokémon, Rarity and Twilight look to be doing a lot better, and Twilight has caught a Spearow. Also, the éTech apparently has a camera phone function, allowing for video calls and streaming live video. It takes a lot of explaining to Twilight because she keeps asking questions.

We get moving again, and continue down the road. High above us, more pokémon wheel across the sky, carefree and happy to be alive.

Chapter 13

It’s a little past noon when we see a split in the road, one way heading into the forest along a dirt road littered with leaves. According to the sign, the forest road leads to the Primal Reserve and Breeding Center, while the other leads towards Autumnwash Town, though the town is much further.

“Well, I said we should probably head to the town first. We are going to need food, and healing items beyond a few potions. I suggest we head for the Breeding Center another day, and we don’t know what we might run into in that forest. Especially when it gets dark.” The other two nod in agreement, and we head to Autumnwash.

It’s a long, but simple walk, and I can even see some Mankey at one point, staring out of the forest at us. It would’ve been really bad to run across them in the dark.

Not much to do along the road, we decide to recall our pokémon. The fewer of us that can get separated the better, and all our teams are rather tired after our training sessions. Unfortunately we didn’t find any pools of water, so Carvanha didn’t get a chance to level up. Aside from Spheal, our water types are currently behind our others. It was never a problem like this in the games.

As we close in on the town, we breathe a collective sigh of relief. We’ve been on our feet literally all day, and my feet are hurting. With Twilight and Rarity’s newness to their human bodies, they’re a lot worse off, though they aren’t complaining. It looks like Rarity has managed to get a pretty basic game installed on her éTech, which looks kinda fun.

But at the moment, I’m living my favorite game, so I’d rather not bother. Not like any silly app games could distract me for long in a world like this. We get to town and head for the Pokémon Center. Our pokémon aren’t hurt, so I just request that we get a place to rest. We see a few other trainers there as well, but for now I’d rather sit down than try a battle.

After getting our room for the night, we sit down, the room a doubled-up bunk beds arrangement. I think the Nurse here was giving me dirty looks over not getting my own room, but I really don’t care. Besides, I don’t really see the huge problem. I’d actually rather not see the girls naked. I mean, human-form or not, they’re still ponies! Eh, oh well, guess it’s still kinda rude. Don’t care though, I’m tired, and I don’t want to have to find them in the morning when they aren’t human anymore.

With a jaw-cracking yawn, I sit up in my bed. I’d been too tired last night to really pay attention to much, and my clothes are kinda rumpled and I can feel the mild itch that accompanies sleeping in my clothes. Also, the Pokéballs were really uncomfortable pressed into my skin like that for the night. I must’ve been more tired than I thought; I apparently didn’t move at all from when I flopped onto the bed.

Looking around, I see that Twilight’s awake and sitting in a chair off next to a wall, in human form. She’s absently picking food off of a plate on the arm of the chair while reading a magazine. Rarity appears to still be asleep on her bed, a pillow clutched in her pony arms.

I sit up on my bed and try to readjust my clothes so they don’t look too slept-in. I was thinking about how our bits are running out and we’d have to resort to getting some cash the usual way. I could probably take one of the trainers here, granted they didn’t have more pokémon than me. Money, I realized, will be much more important than in the games, not always being able to instantly fly to a Pokémon Center for healing, not to mention food water and shelter.

Suddenly I realized how I pretty much halted the economy in the games with my hoarding of money, swearing I’ll spend the $9,000,000 later. Really.

Twilight gives me a barely-attentive ‘hello’ from her magazine, which I can see is a ‘Science Weekly’ magazine. at least she’s reading something interesting. there’s something on there about galaxies possibly being massive pokémon, and pokémon from the stars having their own type. Heh, as if. Then again, Deoxys only barely qualified as a Psychic type... I make a note to look through that when Twi’s finished.

Rubbing the last of the sleep-crud from my eyes, I step out into the hall, then almost have to duck back in as a pair of young trainers, one a young boy in shorts and the other a young girl in camping attire, rush past, screeching and giggling. I feel a weird sensation, looking at two perfect representations of common trainer archetypes go by like that.

Oh well, at least there’s more than just molds based on class. Right? I step down to the common area of the Pokémon Center, and feel a rush of relief as I see dozens of different trainers, only the two youngsters conforming to the templates the games gave my expectations. A tall guy with bright green hair is chatting up the Nurse here, who is smiling and laughing at whatever he says, and an older woman is grooming a Pikach- no, wait, that’s just a tall Dedenne. I feel a rush of sensation deep within, and have to fight back tears. It takes me several moments to realize it’s because I haven’t heard truly human voices in so long, besides Myrna’s and Anne’s. And even they had weird timbre’s to their voices now that I think about it. I guess Professor Basswood and the other Nurse Joy count too, but the realization hadn’t sunk in then. All these people... jeez.

It feels more like home than Ponyville ever did, and I don’t think I’m going to stay here more than a week or two. I wanted some interaction. And in this world, the best form of interaction is...

A shortish girl comes up to me and asks if I’m a trainer. At my nod, she smiles. “Wanna battle?” I can’t say no to that! She’s adorable, and I hope that’s not an indicator she’s doing exactly what I’m trying to do, and sniping weaker trainers.

“Alright, let’s take this outside. Wanna set the rules, or should I?”

“There’s a Battle Park over by the gym; I’m training to face down Winston for my first badge!”

“Alright then. Two pokémon each, no recovery items, and no switching out. Sound good little girl?”

“Sure does! My name’s Amy, by the way.” She offers her hand, and I take it. Her shock of pink hair could rival Pinkie’s, but it all spikes backwards, rather than curl in every direction. Skipping, she leads me to this Battle Park, which is a really nice place. It’s got a big field with a moat surrounding it for water-types. I guess the local gym leader must help sponsor it, or something.

We take our places at opposite ends of one of the battle fields, the layout and markings identical to how they are seen in the show, if a bit bigger. I pull Geodude’s ball off of my belt-clip and enlarge it. I toss the white sphere high into the air. “Alright Geodude, time to go!”

After the bright red light fades into the roundish form of my rock pokémon, he holds up his arms into fists with a confident “Geo!”

The girl smiles confidently, then throws out her own pokéball, the pink confetti effect showing she used a heal ball to catch a... Skitty! No fair, those’re so cute- and effective, I know. But that thing is so adorable, and looks so fluffy! I make a mental note to ask if I can pet it later.

“Alright Geodude, Magnitude, make it count!”

“Quick, Mr. Fluffles, Fake Out!” Amy cries, and the Skitty looks confused, just long enough for Geodude to hesitate. The stinging slap to the face surprises Geodude plenty for real, as the Skitty rolls back to gain distance. “Now use Ice Beam, just like the tutor showed you!” Crap.

The little cat inhales, and a tiny ball of ice forms in front of its mouth. The blue-white beam lances out just as Geodude is recovering and frosts up one of his arms and part of his face, though he looks more pissed than inconvenienced.

“Alright Geodude, improv time. Ice Punch!” Hey, use what you have, right? Geodude leaps into the air, and goes for a punch... and the layer of ice breaks and shatters with the movement, making it a cold-as-hell punch, but not a true Ice Punch. Oh well, close enough.

“Mr. Fluffles, use Tail Whip!” Amy shouts, and the Skitty smacks Geodude in the face again, aggravating him enough that he brings his arms from their more defensive positions.

“Geodude, Defense Curl, then Rollout!” Not only will it help balance out his defense, but it’ll boost Rollout’s power too. That said, if ‘Ice Punch’ counts, that’s four moves.

Geodude tucks his arms in, then blitzes like a motorcycle wheel at the Skitty, bowling through poor ‘Mr. Fluffles’ and sending the pokémon flying. It’s recalled mid-air by Amy, who looks distraught.

“Alright, Flutterby, do your thing!” Amy shouts, throwing out a Mothim. The pokémon is, based on its name alone, a moth-like pokémon, but I’m not going to argue too hard with a little girl on this. If she wants to name it like a butterfly...

“Sorry, but Bug types aren’t that good against Rock Types. After a Normal type, you’ve kinda already put yourself in trouble. Geodude, keep up your Rollout!”

“Oh yeah? Flutterby, use your Hidden Power!” the Mothim responds with a sudden icey-blue coating over its body as it goes into a head-on collision course with Geodude. Uh oh, that’s not going to end well for either of our pokémon...

Surprisingly, the bug-type manages to take the hit pretty well, and knocks Geodude back mid-spin and into a daze, the rock pokémon’s eyes spinning lazily in their sockets. This is just not his week, is it?

“Not bad Amy, but I’m not done yet. Go Carvanha!” I toss the manic fish-pokémon into the nearby pool. “You wanna use attacks, fine, but you risk getting Flutterby too close to the water. Everyone knows Mothim and Venemoth can’t fly with wet wings!”

Amy looks honestly scared, and somewhat unsure. “Uhm... Oh, I know! Use Signal Beam! Let’s put those scales to use!” Wait, has she been tutoring the hell out of her pokémon? She mentioned one with the Ice Beam, and Rainbow Scales are sometimes the currency for some move tutors... or was it move deleters? Crap, I can ask her after the battle!

“Come on Carvanha, dive under the water, can’t hit what they can’t see!”

The fish glares at me fleetingly, looking like it’d rather stay and fight, but reluctantly goes underwater, the multi-hued beam scattering harmlessly as it hit the water. Amy scrunches her face adorably at this, and starts thinking.

I have only one option, but if I can pull it off, it’s all over and I win. I just hope Carvanha can make it happen. “Alright, Aqua Jet! Grab it out of the sky!” Carvanha blasts from the water like a torpedo, and grabs the Mothim mid-flight to the other side of the arena, taking the insect pokémon under the moat’s surface with a mighty splash, the only sounds being the terrified screech of Flutterby and the almighty splashing as he’s dragged under..

I look at Amy, occupied with looking at her pokémon’s misery. “You can concede now. Or Carvanha could start biting.”

I look over in time to see Carvanha get read to do just that, one of Mothim’s wings fully in its mouth. Amy recalls her pokémon just in time, and I breathe a sigh of relief. That pokémon is way too vicious. I was only meaning it as a threat, not like I’d actually make the order...

I recall the insane carnivore from the water and approach Amy. “Not bad, not bad at all. Your type choices were odd, but you made the most of them. Carvanha... doesn’t get much chance to battle really. I just only have the two.”

“These’re my only pokémon, too. Mr. fluffles was actually my older sis’s pokémon, but she only wanted him because she wanted another entered into her ‘have captured list. He’s such a sweetie, though!” Amy says, as we start walking towards the PokéCenter again. “I took him when he would’ve been just thrown into the wild.” She then hands me my reward money. Normally beating the cash out of a little girl would be kinda immoral, but I had to earn this!

“So you apparently saw a tutor a few times. Where would I go to see about that? Geodude could use a few moves added to his pool.”

“Oh, I had to go all the way to Mirar Town on the other side the Krosa forest. I was with a bunch of other trainers to get through the forest though; there’s this big, haunted mansion there, and all sorts of big, scary pokémon!” She stops for a moment, holding her arms out to indicate their size. “I want a couple.”

“Just remember, it’s the little ones that can sneak up on you that are the best.” I grin. “It’s all about unpredictability. Hard to hit something small and fast.”

“Yeah... I still want a Tyranitar, though. Big, heavy, and you can sleep on their shoulders!” She stops again. “Well, you’d need a hammock. But I’ve got a hammock! They’re better than sleeping bags.” Oh yeah, I need to get one of those.

“Well, I guess I’ll see you around. I’m gonna go get my friends. I wanna try for my first badge too.”

“Good luck! Oh, what’s your éTech number?” I look mine up, and take hers down, and we part on good terms. She seems like she’ll go far.

I make my way back to my room and I see Twilight reading another magazine about technology, and Rarity is awake, but still a pony.

“Oh, hello Anthony! Say, could you be a dear and show me to the bathroom? I need to see about taking a shower and such, but I don’t know where the one for this suite is.”

“Heh, suite? These are just rooms for trainers. The Center isn’t a hotel, there’s probably a public bathroom though. They might have showers, but I can’t be certain. Come on, we can ask where they are.”

Chapter 14

Once Rarity changed to a human and was convinced to dress -She didn’t want to get into her travel-worn clothes, until I pointed out that she had to wear something or risk getting us thrown out- we went down to the main lobby, and inquired about showers and bathrooms. The Nurse pointedly mentions repeatedly that the showers are not unisex, and I have to stifle the urge to just shout that I’m not trying to do anything with Rarity.

“Trust me Joy, I don’t have that sort of interest in her or my other companion. If I did, things would be much different.”

“For one, he wouldn’t be allowed to be so uncouth all the time.” Rarity says, apparently a little ruffled by the very obvious and degrading viewpoint Joy was expressing. Man, I wish it was like in the games, and she only made vague comments about wanting my pokémon to get hurt.

After we each had our showers, we head up to our room and grab Twilight. I mention the mansion in the forest Amy told me about. “I think I’d like to check it out after we are all done here. What do you think? Wanna see a haunted house for real?”

The girls don’t look nearly as enthusiastic as I sound. “A h-haunted house?” Rarity stammers out, looking honestly horrified by the thought. “As in, with ghosts?”

Twilight gets ready to say something, probably along the lines of ‘ghosts aren’t real’, before holding for a moment. “Actually... I remember reading that there’s a ‘ghost’ type. They’re supposed to be really powerful, and one of the only types to be able to effectively fight off strong psychic types.”

“And Normal types and Fighting types.” I add. “But really, what’s the problem? You can face down a dragon, and you can’t handle a few undead spirits, coming to life from the spirits of dead people and pokémon? Afraid they’ll take your soul and make you one of th- ow!” My yelp is from Twilight striking me across the back of the head with a rolled-up magazine.

“Okay, okay, only a few ghost types can do that. Still though, most of them are considered not entirely alive.”

Both poneis shudder at this thought, though Twilight at least looks confident. “We’ll see if we pass by it. First, though, weren’t we going to the Primal reserve to try getting Rarity her Breeder’s certification?”

“After we get some food, a few sleeping bags, and some better equipment. And some coffee, unless you two can manage without it.”

Both of the ponies look more fear-stricken by the thought of no coffee than of the haunted mansion, and immediately begin poking at their éTechs to search for places to buy supplies. Heh, I’ve already made them more modern-savvy than myself.

“Next thing you know, you’ll get a driver’s license.” It’s at that moment I realize I haven’t seen a car around. I recall that not every region has them, but I feel sure we’d come across one eventually, or at least some motorcyclists.

As if to answer my unasked question, we turned a corner along the way, and saw a bike shop, with two signs marking ‘Sports Bike! 9,000,000!’ and ‘All-Terrain Bike! 9,000,000!’ side-by-side, the two bikes looking equally snazzy but somewhat different. The sports bike has a gold-and-green Electrike pattern to it, while the ATB has a blue-and-white Jumpluff pattern. Nice designs on each, and they do look different enough.

Way out of our price range though, even if we wanted only one. We continue on and start looking for places to buy adventuring supplies. I do not want to sleep on the ground without a bag or something. I also have the feeling Rarity’s very tired of it as well.

Finally finding ourselves outside of a small shop made of wood, we look inside and see that the windows are completely blocked with camping supplies and their prices. We head inside, and see a nice, slightly elderly lady tending the counter.

“Hello, young’uns. You got damaged sleeping bags, or deciding to trade up to hammock-bags? I keep sayin’ they’re the wave of the future.” she gives a good-natured cackle.

“Actually, we’re lacking anything of the sort. Hammock-bags or just some normal sleeping-bags will do, though hammocks might be harder to set up, unless you’re in a forest.”

“Oh, I’ve got ya covered, kiddo. Leavanny, get out here! We got some customers to size.” the woman calls towards the back of the store, drawing curious and confused looks from my companions. Myself, however? Getting home-crafted warm-wear from a Leavanny is like getting dresses from Rarity: I may not like the style, but damn if they aren’t the best at what they do. The bug- and grass-type strides out from the back of the store, a pair of glasses perched comically on its ‘nose’. “They’re gettin’ hammock bags, with stands!”

I start to remind her I’d only wanted normal sleeping bags when the Leavanny leaps into motion, drawing a fabric ruler from... somewhere. I’m actually not sure where from, exactly, but the mantis-like pokémon begins measuring each of us in quick succession, and I can feel the wind brush my neck, shoulders, arms, legs and groin as the bladed arms skim by barely high enough not to cut me. within seconds, the Leavanny is cutting a series of numbers into a piece of bark and retreating back into the back room.

I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding, and Twilight does the same. Rarity looks... A bit scary, to tell the truth. She turns just a little towards me, and whispers, “I must have one.” Oh ye gods, what have I created?

“Well, you need to get a Sewaddle, one of those teeny yellow crawly guys from the forest. They turn into Leavanny after a while.”

“Really? I’ll have to make an effort to add one to my team then. That... she was so graceful!” Rarity sounds star-struck, and from a pretty normal tailor-pokémon. Wait, how did she know the Leavanny is a girl in that time?

“Some pokémon are when they evolve.” And some are not, I think. “Heh, just wait until Tepig evolves. I guarantee a big change.”

Twilight looks keenly interested, and I look to the shop owner, just as the woman starts trying to pitch some more sales my way. I have the distinct feeling she doesn’t get many customers.

“Sorry ma’am, we really don’t need that much. But if you have some waterproof matches that might be useful.”

“Ooh, yes, I’ve got those. Get ‘em shipped in from Slateport every now and then. They’re pretty cheap for me, too, so they’re cheap for you. 25 for a box of a hunnerd an’ fifty.”

“Yeah, alright that’ll do. I guess we’ll pay for them when we pay for the hammocks too. How long until they’re-” I turn towards the door, just in time to see Leavanny step out, a set of beautifully made hammocks on the backs of her scythes. Ha, narrative causality! I’ve outwitted you this time!

The three of us get shown how to roll them up -wrap them with the rods in the middle and tuck the netting over it- and how to get the rods put together into a stand. The whole thing is very well-made, the rods being made of some kind of rolled metal, with white elastic banding in the middles like tent-poles so they can be folded yet sturdy.

I take my hammock-bag and the box of matches and hand her our second-to-last bit. “I have a feeling this will cover it. Sorry, but I don’t think we have enough in local currency at the moment.”

“Oh, that’s too much! I can’t take all this from you. Where did you even get a gold coin like that?”

“Just a little place you’ve never heard of. Well, if you really can’t, then...” I take the pouch of money I have and hand it to her. “We only got this as change, not sure how much is in there.”

“Well, that’ll be enough. I’ll send a letter along to the other shops in the guild. If you ever need to spend that coin, they’ll give ya a better deal than the League-sponsored ‘marts. Just look for the guild-symbol.” she gestures at a logo hanging on a sign over the counter. the logo looks something like a Torterra and a Pokéball mixed into one, with the top half of the pokéball being the Torterra’s shell, and the head replacing the button. There’s a bundle of boxes on the pokémon’s back.

“A Torterra will walk for weeks without complainin’ with a heavy load. They’re premier pack-pokémon. Great for merchants who want a berry bush or two while they’re travellin’.” She smiles proudly, and I get the impression she knows from experience.

“Yup. Thanks for the tip lady. And the hammocks.” We leave the shop with a wave and place our gear in our bags. Next on the list is food and healing items. “So once we get all our supplies, I need to head back to the Center and pick up Geodude, then we head for the reserve. Sound like a plan?” The girls nod, and we head for the PokéMart, and pick up some more supplies with my winnings earlier from Amy. It’s only barely enough for the basics, but we’ll want to save our money to get food. I do feel a bit safer knowing I have an Antidote and a Burn Heal on me though.

The next place we stop is a food place, and I see that they’ve got a Guild logo. After some quick chatter, I tentatively offer up the golden bit, leaving us with one left. however, the owner of the place calmly states he’ll open a tab for me, and takes down our trainer IDs, saying he’ll send them to the other guild locations to use the remainder of the value there.

After I enjoy the once-scarce food-group known as ‘meat’ with the other two just getting salads at my suggestion, we are satisfied. I figure they should try meat at some point, but that should be handled a bit more delicately and not making them order a burger on the spur of the moment.

A few travel-rations and a short walk to the Pokécenter later, we’re ready to head off, and we head down the road towards the Reserve. I kinda wonder what’s up with the so-called Primal Reserve? Most places in the pokémon world have some gimmick or another, but I can’t think of what it could be for someplace called ‘the Primal Reserve’ and populated solely by pokémon Breeders. Perhaps they’re rather violent, yet endangered species? Eh, we’ll soon see I guess.

Chapter 15

We stand at the intersection, looking into the dense, packed Krosa forest. I have no doubt a fire-type could use Flamethrower until they were hoarse, and make no dent in the greenery. Heavy, dense trees lined the dirt path leading in, roots hacked and chopped to leave the road clear.

“So... we just need to go in there, then?” Rarity says, sounding unsure.

“Yeah,” is my only response.

None of us move into the deep shadows before us. I shrug and take a step in. “Well, if we can’t walk through a dark forest, we won’t get very far, now will we?”

The two follow me, though I think it’s more because they don’t want to be reduced in ‘herd’ size near this forest, not because of my rousing commentary. The forest floor is almost pitch black, and it takes my eyes some time to adjust. It doesn’t help that thin spears of light break the canopy, making the floor dapple between void-black and searing gold. A deep hush fills the roadway, only broken by our breathing and the occasional noise in the woods. It’s eerie beyond belief, and I occasionally see leering faces hide in the deep darkness at the edges of the road when they think I’m not looking. They always vanish if I look straight at them, so I’m hoping they’re just hallucinations from the quiet, or small pokémon being curious.

A few seem to have begun following us more closely, becoming obfuscated by the undergrowth, but sometimes becoming easily visible. I stop as I hear a distinctive, wooden clack, repeated four times. Only a few things make that noise. The top two being a nutcracker...

And a Shiftry.

A pair of silvery eyes glare from the dense canopy, and I see a bulky shape only by the spots of light it displaces from above. I lean close to Twilight and whisper just loud enough for her to hear. “Get Tepig out, and don’t panic.”

Twilight seems to already be halfway there, and I have to remind myself she has no idea what’s out there, in the slightest. The little fire-pig appears in the characteristic flash of white, and looks around at the darkness. Almost immediately, Tepig runs over to Twilight and hugs her leg, looking scared.

“If you trained as much as I hope you did, Tepig should give us at least a distraction so we can get away. For now, let’s just try circling around and hope it doesn’t get us. Shiftry are fast.”

A whoosh from behind us prompts me and Twilight to turn around, in time to see Rarity’s beret vanish. An eerie piping fills the air, and I feel dread settle into my chest like a weight.

“Ooooookay. Twilight, if Tepig doesn’t know Flame Charge yet, we may be in trouble.”

We begin to try turning back out of the forest, and see the Shiftry, gleefully wearing Rarity’s hat and grinning smugly at us. Rarity appears to be covering her fear with indignity, but I don’t think it’ll be enough. “Get Spheal too. I think we have to gamble the Ice advantage for the weakness to grass...”

The Shiftry begins to walk in exaggerated sashays, obviously mocking Rarity. It’s actually kinda hysterical, since it’s a very wide, short pokémon taunting Rarity this way. Wait... Taunting. Crap, it’s trying to start a fight!

“Twilight!” I whisper harshly. “Do something, or I will, and I’m not equipped for this.”

“I read about these, though! They’re called the ‘wicked’ pokémon! That can’t mean they’re really nice pokémon!”

I sigh. Fighting really wouldn’t help us at all. I turn to the Shiftry. “Fine, you want the hat? Take it. We’re leaving.” I take a step forward down the trail.

I hear a distressed noise from Rarity, but she doesn’t protest any further, Twilight also walks along, ungainly from the fire-type glued to her leg and the Spheal in her arms. I hear a dejected sigh from behind me, and resist the urge to turn around.

“It’s just a hat Rarity, there are worse things to have happen. And Twilight, no offense, but I’m guaranteed to know anything you could possibly learn about Pokémon, and then some. Secondly, a pokémon’s nature is individual. Not all pokémon are the same in their species. If that were true, Rarity wouldn’t have Ledyba. It would have taken one look at us, realized it was alone, and bolted.”

I hear two loud clacks from behind me, and risk a look back. The shiftry is sulking, and turned away, and I see it blur as it leaps into the canopy. “It was just trying to egg us into a fight. That seems more ‘competitive’ than ‘wicked’ wouldn’t you say?”

“Idunno... but that sigh, do you think it was disappointed in us for not fighting?” Twilight asks, looking at me.

“Yeah. His goal was to fight us. We didn’t. He got disappointed. So now the super-peaceful pony culture says we should try and beat the crap out of someone if they are literally asking for it, even though ‘violence is bad’? Make up your mind.”

“I’m just trying to understand. I can’t do anything if I don’t understand what’s going on.” Unlike Rainbow Dash, but that’s neither here nor there.

“That will be a severe handicap in this place, just warning you. Crazy stuff happens, and you have to react whether you know if it’s the right way or not.”

“Well, I don’t want to make a wrong choice that gets somebody killed.” Twilight says quietly.

“But doing nothing is just as likely to get someone get killed. What’s worse? Them dying because you screwed up, or them dying because you didn’t try?” I look back, intending to give Twilight a strong look, and see that she’s really not taking it well. Sighing, I remind myself that she’s used to magic pony land, where knowing the answer is easy, and getting it right means everybody’s happy. Well, here, she needs to learn. At least she did do the right thing in not engaging the Shiftry. It was a minimum of around level twenty, but likely a lot higher than that, judging by its speed and willingness to fight a Fire type. It even got Rarity’s hat from in front of us without us seeing it.

“So, how many times do I have to say ‘this world is dangerous and strange’ before you get it? I can always write it down and duct tape it to your foreheads.”

I don’t get a response, and I shake my head in exasperation. I see some larger spots of light ahead. Picking up the speed, I move towards them, only to stop and help halt the girls when I see what it is. A group of Victreebel and Weepinbell are resting in the canopy, shimmering clouds of dust floating around them. There’s some clear spots between them, but it’s going to take some level of agility to make it past safely.

“Okay, we need to be quick. If one of those is mad or hungry, it’s gonna try to eat us alive. No joke. Like, whole.” I pause for a moment. “Also, don’t touch the spore clouds. I’m guessing it’s either stun spore and will lock up your muscles, or it’s sleep powder which is self-explanatory.”

Rarity nods, looking like she’s going to stretch, until I see Twilight, back in pony form, simply roll her eyes. A large, pink dome forms over us, and she just starts walking forwards. I move to keep up, and watch as the dome brushes aside the dust and gently moves the resting grass-types out of the way. None of them lash out, though I see a sleeping Weepinbell drool on the shield. The slime slides off, and begins eating an acidic hole in the turf.

“And that’s why they’re classified as Poison type.” I mention, as we continue on. “I have a feeling that we should find a place to grind a bit so we aren’t outclassed.”

The girls nod, Twilight’s horn glow a reassuring light in the deep gloom. We continue on after breaching the other side of the colony, spotting other poison-types and grass types nearby, all of them also sleeping. Then I see a group of Shroomish and Foongus huddled on a thick mound. Then, I see that it’s a sleeping Slaking. then, I see it’s not breathing, and has a hole in its chest with more Foongus nested in there. Eesh. I don’t call attention to it, Twilight may need to be less naive, but that would just be cruel, and I don’t want her losing concentration.

Finally, we’re past the nesting grass pokémon, and I see what I sincerely hope is a clearing ahead. Breathing a sigh of relief, I can only smile when we arrive and see that it is.

Looking up, I regret the relief immediately, as I see what is the absolute most copyright infringing replica of the main gates from Jurassic Park staring down at me. Complete with torch-bowls. On the top of the arc are the words, ‘Primal Reserve’. Down at eye level is a smaller sign, saying, ‘no trespassing. this is for your own safety.’ hand-written in sloppy black paint.

Wait... Primal Reserve, Jurassic P-... Oh brother. I thought I left the puns behind in Equestria. Oh well, it’s probably just a coincidence. They most likely don’t have any dinosaurs. But prehistoric pokémon... I grin. If I land myself a Kabutops, I will be very very happy. Though type-coverage-wise, my team will be a little unbalanced.

I step up to a little gatehouse next to the massive doors, and see a guy in a gray suit with a black jacket on, a stylized red “A” on the shoulder, standing in the gatehouse.

I wave to the guy. “Hey man, I was wondering if we could go in. We uh, should be prepared enough.”

The guy looks me up and down. “Uh, I’m sorry. I’m just a guard... I can try phonin’ ya in, but the boss- er, my boss, that is, said he’d be kinda busy up there.”

“Oh. Well, perhaps another time then. We were actually looking for some of the breeding ranches around here, know where we could find them?”

“Ah, I’d have to call up the chain y’know? Gimme a minute, I should call ‘em about you anyways. Don’t go anywhere, ‘kay?” He says making placating gestures. There’s not really anywhere I can go, and Twilight’s still in her pony form.

The guard turns to a phone on the wall and picks it up, going as far towards the back of the gatehouse booth as the cord will reach and leaning against the wall. He stares at me, then Twilight, then Rarity, then back to me as he starts talking on the phone.

Now, I’m not an eavesdropper by nature, usually. But I can hear some of what he’s saying, because he’s really bad about remembering to whisper.

“Yeah, it’s two kids... No, don’t think so. Might be a Ranger... One of ‘em... neat pokémon. Never seen... for the collection? Yeah. Lemme see if I can... Yeah, they’ll believe what I say. They think I’m a guard.”

Man, I hope whoever he works for has a million other goons just like him. They would be the most hilariously easy organization to take apart. I was hoping for something along the lines of a serious organization like Galactic or Rocket, but these will have to do. But for the sake of roleplay... I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear anything, see if he can keep his charade up.

As he hangs up the phone, he grins pleasantly. If he didn’t have such a hard time speaking quietly, he’d actually be decent at acting. However, he steps forward and immediately begins to speak. “So the boss wants t’ see ya. Said you’d get a free pass ‘n stuff. Pretty neat, huh? Not many trainers get to just come right in, you must be special, you two. Sweet date location, gotta say.” He winks at me, and I feel my face and arms freeze in an effort not to face-palm. Why is that the first thought anyone has about a guy and a girl wandering through a dark and scary forest more or less unsuperv- riiight.

“Well, guess we’re pretty lucky. As for special...” I walk up to the gate and give him a sideways glance and grin. “You have no idea...”

He grins back, apparently assured of his charade. I wonder if he plays poker... I could stand to make a ton of money.

The gates open before me- or, at least, a normal-sized door opens in one of the larger gate doors, which makes a lot more sense, now that I think about it. Twilight and Rarity follow me through the door, which shuts behind us with an ominous clang! sound. Ahead is more trees, and a simple dirt road continuing where the one outside left off.

Hmmm... I wonder if the girls picked up anything about that guy. Knowing the typically peaceful land they live in, I wouldn’t put it past them to not understand the idea of a crime syndicate. “So, what did you think of that ‘gatekeeper’ back there? Notice anything strange?”

Twilight speaks first. “Well, he seemed alright... but I got this really slimy feeling when he talked, like he wanted to sell something... or buy something, which is somehow worse. Idunno, that doesn’t make much sense, does it?”

Rarity, who actually stands a little taller than me in her human form, turns to me and whispers urgently. “There was another human on the floor in the booth. I could see a set of boots tied up. And that ensemble is utterly gauche.”

“Heh, aside from that. That may or may not be their uniform. Not entirely sure of their purpose or intents, but you know how a lot of people think you guys are rare Pokémon? Well, what do some people try to do with rare things? Those who are of more... questionable morality?”

Twilight scrunches up her face. “Collect them where they can’t be shown to others?”

Rarity, though gets it, judging by her narrowed eyes and her snort of rage, she understands perfectly. “Thieves.” She says it with a level of venom strong enough to grant a status affliction, and I have to take a step back out of her grip as her hands tighten on my shoulders.

“Yeah. No idea of their motives, but some people form groups, make a job out of stealing rare pokémon and either using them to steal more, or selling them off to make a profit. Usually not caring about how badly they treat the pokémon they steal. As for the other guy, most likely he’s the real gatekeeper, and that first guy tied him up and took his place. By his boss, I assume we are to meet the leader of their organization. First thing on their agenda? Incapacitate us, and take our Pokémon. That would include you, Twilight, since you are technically very rare.”

Twilight looks horrified. “But... that’s like plagiarism!” she says, sounding utterly aghast. Right, scholar first, everything else second.

“Plagiarism? You could end up in a cage too small to actually hold you, barely fed and treated like a filthy animal then sold to whoever’s willing to pay the most money for you. This will also happen to all our Pokémon if they aren’t desirable enough. Now do you get it?”

Twilight looks somewhere between terrified... and horrifically angry. These ponies may not be the most worldly, but holy crap can they muster a righteous fury when they think it’s called for. She simply motions for me to follow, her pokéballs in her magical grasp.

“So, they don’t know that we know. We are gonna walk in there and see this guy. We will be given free pass up to him, apparently, and when things start to turn ugly... we should probably have a plan for that, because we are likely to be not only outmatched, but also outnumbered by at least a dozen to one. These crime organizations are normally pretty big.”

Twilight only stops, I think, because she realizes that she’d just be handing her pokémon over to waltz in like she is. Or maybe something else stops her, hell if I know right now. But she stops, and looks at me. “I think I have a plan. Now hand me your pokémon while I explain...”

Chapter 16

Ten minutes after the explanation, Rarity and I are walking up to a nice looking villa. There’s a nice patio we step onto, which is attached to the porch, and knock on the door. Rarity is holding Feebas, trying to control her nerves. The moment the door opens, though, all traces of her nerves vanish, and she slips a plastic smile on.

A nice, calm-looking gentleman in gray uniform with another of the black jackets with an “A” on the shoulder lets us in. He grins in a way that makes me uncomfortable, and waves us towards a small living room cramped with all sort of notes. As we step in, we see a guy in a similar suit as the rest, except the uniform is blue, and so is the “A” on his shoulder.

“Ah, you’ve arrived.” He makes a head motion, and Rarity squeaks as sets of hands roughly grab the both of us from behind, restraining us quickly. “What do we have here? Did one of the techs get a message out? No, you’re not young and spry, nor faded and scarred enough to be a Ranger. You’re definitely not police, they won’t hear about this for a week.” The man begins to pace as he thinks. “Maybe you’re actually pokémon trainers, and you just happened across here on the wrong day. Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Search them.” he gestures offhandedly, and picks up a glass as the thugs holding Rarity and I begin to roughly search our pockets and take away our bags.

“Either way, you have a fairly valuable pokémon. With enough training, that is. whatever else you’ve got, we’ll take that too.”

“Hey, boss! They’ve got a gold coin!” one of the thugs raises the coin, and the boss looks back.

“Now that is impressive. How did you come by this, I wonder?” He steps back towards us and grabs Rarity roughly by the chin. Where is Twilight? She should be here by now. Time to improvise.

“Hey, buddy, hands off! You wanna know where I got it, fine, I’ll tell you. There’s tons more where it came from.”

“Bas!” the fish says, looking happy at the attention.

“I, uh, was talking about the coin.” Feebas doesn’t seem to care, squirming happily back and forth in the grasp of the thug that had seized her. “Seriously, where I got that, the locals use it to pay for fruit. Let us go and I’ll tell you exactly where I got it from, we got a deal?”

“Hmm... or, I can hold on to you, and torture her until you tell me. I think that works better in our favor, because then you can’t tell anyone. Very neat, yes?” Shit, it’s a serious organization.

“Let us go asshole, now! You have no idea what I’m capable of!” I try to Spark up again, just to show off. Powers or no, I should get some result, right?

I strain to bring forth the power, and the boss begins to laugh. “What? Are you going to puke at me? While you might find it funny, I will have to cut off fingers if you ruin my coat.” The boss smiles condescendingly at me, and he opens his mouth to speak.

Then, a pink haze covers the entire room, and broken glass begins to fly like hail from an Abomasnow. My elation is cut short when I see a thug looking terrified... and holding an unconscious Twilight Sparkle. Wait, if she’s not doing it, then who’s... ?

A burst of light appears and there is suddenly a Gardevoir among us, who turns to the goons nearest to her and flings them into a wall, then she turns and delivers a backflip-kick to the guy holding Rarity. I’m a little surprised at how nimble this Gardevoir is, given their normal lack of any physical ability.

A few more members of the criminal organization enter the room, and I have to avoid flinching as a stream of glass chunks shred them. A reddish haze paints the walls behind them, and the gardevoir turns around to survey the room, pausing only to lift a single hand a flick it, sending the goons holding Rarity and I, and shoves them head-first through a wooden support beam. a sickening crack echoes through the tinkling of glass, and the bodies fall, limp.

The gardevoir looks at us with eyes aflame with psychic fire. After a moment, the fire dies off, and I feel a sense of calm pervade the room. I also realize that the pokémon’s typical ‘dress’ looks more like a tunic. The crunch of boots on glass signals someone else arriving, and a human in a long brown coat steps in through the broken window. He’s tall, has long brown hair, and a bandana on his head with a charging Arcanine on the front. He’s also wearing a silver glove on his left hand for some reason.

I grab my bag from the ground, hand Rarity hers, and stand in front of her. “Who are you, and what’s going on?”

<<Greetings, human. My name is Lya, and this is my human.>> a voice echoes in my head. It’s sweetly feminine, and almost definitely coming from the Gardevoir.

“As she said, her name is Lya. My name is Xavius, and she’s my Gardevoir. We’re here because one of the lab techs here at the reserve sent off a distress signal. I was close enough to respond, so I did.” He stops for a moment, then reaches out his right hand, for a shake.

I take his hand in mine and take it. “So you’re a Ranger?”

“Pfft, nah. I’m a trainer. You really don’t know me?” I shake my head. “That’s cool. Hey, can you help me look for the leader of this group? I heard one of the goons mention a ‘boss’, so I’m guessing a pit-boss was involved here. Your pokémon alright?”

“Uh, well aside from the Feebas, she has them.” I say, gesturing towards Twilight, who is getting to her hooves. “We had our own plan for getting out of it, but it... well, we didn’t account for a few things. But yeah, there’s a boss-guy around here. I owe him a few punches to the face.”

“Yeah, the Chainers are a bunch of bastards. C’mon, let’s get moving. I need to make sure they aren’t executing hostages. Not this time.” With that, Xavius turns around and gets moving out the window, dead serious. Rarity and I exchange glances, and stop only to check on Twilight before following the guy. The Gardevoir, Lya, floats about a half-inch above the broken glass, and Twilight takes the time to sweep the glass from in front of herself. Rarity and I bless our nice hiking shoes.

Chainers, huh? That’s their name? Well these guys aren’t Team Rocket, but not far off. Lya certainly didn’t bother going easy. I take another glance back and confirm that the walls are still gratuitously splattered with red. Eesh. Glad that the strong, lethal Psychic type is on our side. I run after Xavius, pulling Rarity along with me before she starts running as well. Twilight is running at a full gallop about a meter ahead of us.

“So what happened to our plan, Twi? We could have ended up tortured and killed!”

“I’m so sorry, but that thug came up behind me and hit me on the head. He got me right on the base of the horn, too.” I see Rarity wince, full-body, at Twilight’s comment. Must be painful. Also odd how they knew where to hit... eh, he probably just got a lucky guess.

“So the plan now is...” I think for a bit. “Get help from this Xavius guy, find that boss, punch him in the face a few times, then rescue whatever hostages or stolen pokémon they have.”

Rarity nods, and Twilight gives an affirmative as we continue to jog to catch up, Rarity’s ‘jiggling’ becoming painful for her from the sheer amount of flop to them. I do suppose I never explained bras or their function to her and Twilight... oh well, it can wait.

Finally, we catch up with Xavius in time to see him punch a goon in the face hard enough to simply flatten the guy to the ground, some pokémon are out and fighting other pokémon. A blistering hailstorm was pelting a Jolteon with a stylized “A” branded into its side, and the Gardevoir, Lya, was throwing small trees at a bunch of goons... all armed with guns. That’s pretty serious, even if the psychic-type is easily deflecting the projectiles off a Light Screen or Barrier.

In the distance, I can see a darkly-colored chopper speeding off, probably the boss guy getting away. Damnit!

I turn around to ask Xavius what to do, in time to see a grunt point a gun at Xavius’ back. I’m about to shout a warning when a three-meter-tall red tyrannosaur-like pokémon bursts out of the treeline and simply grabs the grunt in its jaws. A magnificent frill of feathers fluff outward from its jaw and shoulders, and it roars at the grunts, jaw blood-slicked. Pretty much all of them run, the only ones not doing so being either unconscious or with broken legs. Tree trunks can easily snap puny human legs when thrown.

“So Twilight, now do you understand why I did this kind of thing in Equestria?” I ask, and Twilight backs up into me. She’s staring at the carnage as Xavius shouts and expostulates at the retreating ‘copter.

The pony looks deeply affected by the scene, and even Rarity is clinging to my arm. While it’s kinda nice, it’s really not good enough for me to actually enjoy. Xavius takes a moment to pull out a hat, put it on, then rip it from his head to throw at the ground.

“What the heck was that for?” I ask. I mean, what purpose could that serve?

“Because I needed to throw my hat, but I wasn’t wearing one! Damnit, the fuckers got away.” He turns back to me, a look of anger on his face, though it’s fading fast. “Damnit. Listen, I need to get to their lab. A couple of the techs and a Breeder or two are in their, and they need medical attention, along with the pokémon they were breeding. So many of the little guys...” He shakes his head. “It’s awful. They couldn’t carry them out, so...” Xavius looks hazily off into the distance before shaking his head again and moving towards one of the buildings of the compound.

“Wait, I’m not going anywhere without answers. Who are these Chainer guys? I mean, I guess that’s kind of obvious, but what’s their ultimate goal? What’s with the ‘A’ thing?”

Xavius waves for me to follow, and I hurry up to him as his Gardevoir steps on a grunt’s neck, eliciting a short scream and a dull ‘snap’ to end it. Jeez.

“In order, they’re a bunch of thugs with a really smart leader who’s keeping him- or herself in the shadows. The Chainers of Dementia used to be a religious sect of some kind, devoted to a mythical pokémon they called Astrothoth. Bunch of loonies, in my opinion, they’re trying to bring about anarchy in the region by destabilizing the League foundations. And that’s not an ‘A’, it’s the symbol for Anarchy. They put something on their brands when they use ‘em on the pokémon they steal. Forces obedience, but makes them go crazy without regular doses of some kind of antidote. We don’t have a cure of any kind yet.” He steps up to a building, and pulls open a dented slide-door, going downwards to a basement area. I follow.

“So these guys are crazy cultists who want the world to go crazy too. What’s with the stealing pokémon thing then? Most organizations only do that for profit.”

“Idunno, there’s been a pretty much zero-percent success rate with infiltrating them; and the few we get in have always turned out to be being fed bad info. Fuckers are well-organized for anarchists, that’s for sure.”

“Well, aside from working on becoming League Champion, I guess I can help out here and there. Want there to be a League to be champ of after all, right?”

“Heh, something like that. You a trainer then? Can’t remember if I asked already.” He ducks under a filing cabinet that fell diagonally in the hallway.

“Yeah I’m a trainer, so’s Rarity and Twi. Speaking of, can I have my Pokémon back?” I turn to Twilight, still trotting a bit behind me, but close enough to be able to follow Xavius.

“Oh, right.” Twilight levitates our pokémon, still in their shrunken balls, to me and Rarity.

“Pokémon pokémon trainer? That’s a first, I’ll admit.” Xavius says offhandedly.

“She’s not a pokémon. Explanations later, rescuing now.” We step into another room, this one paneled in smooth white and filled with nests, lamps over them, a few on and quite obviously heating lamps. A single large egg is in the nearer nest, the other nests have shattered shells and bloody yolks all over. A man in a scientist coat is being tended to by a woman in a labcoat, the man’s arm at an unnatural angle midway up the forearm.

“They smashed pokémon eggs!?” I just stare at the scene. “What kind of sick purpose does that serve? To prove how evil they are? That’s just... sick!”

The researcher pair looks up at me, and I get a good look of their tear-streaked and puffy faces in the glare of the heat lamps. They must’ve been crying about this. they... these were probably the children of their pokémon. Who must have been... taken... by those Chainer guys.

“Yeah, just like at the other two Breeding centers and the Ranch they went after previously.” Xavius explains, holding out a pokéball and calling out a Blaziken, who immediately began rifling through a medical kit and pulled out the materials for a splint. “The Chainers have been amping up their operations for nearly four months, now. They basically own Treasure City, though you can walk around it fine if you aren’t too attached to your wallet. Shit, this is decades of care and work, gone in an afternoon. Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

I go to see if I can help as he starts pulling filing cabinets into an upright position. There’s a few eggs that were missed, though a couple are cold by the time I pick them up; not a good sign for the pokémon inside.

I look at my companions. “This is the point of violence. If it’s not committed, someone else will do it. You either take out the bad guys for good, or they keep killing and stealing.” I keep looking around for any eggs that might be salvageable, but it’s a fruitless effort it seems.

Turning back to the girls, I see Twilight reach out to tearfully stroke the lone egg, its girth massive compared to the others. Suddenly, the egg twitches, and every head in the room swivels to watch it. Twilight’s hoof has retracted, and I barely register Lya entering the room as the egg rocks again, a fissure splitting the top of it with an earsplitting CRACK!

Everyone watched with rapt attention, the researcher duo whispering excitedly to each other and ignoring the man’s broken arm. With a final wobble and a collective gasp from the people assembled in the room, the egg topples off the table, the shell shattering into thousands of shards and leaving behind a short, reddish-brown pokémon, and it slowly opens it eyes... looking straight at Twilight.

With a pitiable cry, it stands shakily, and steps towards Twilight on two powerful, stocky legs. Its huge, solid-looking head shakes a little as it stumbles towards the purple pony on the scattered papers covering the floor. she, however, is backed as far away from the visibly predatory pokémon as she can get, her eyes wide but with tiny pupils.

“Huh, a Tyrunt. Guess Primal Reserve did mean prehistoric pokémon. Not bad. It’s... a completely normal baby pokémon, right?” I turn to the scientists for confirmation.

“Should be; neither of its parents carried the Delta gene, though this little guy might be a little stronger than most, given who the father is.”

Xavius sighs. “Oh god, this is one of Tyrant’s?” The researchers nod at him. “Great.”

“So...” I ask. “Who’s the non-biological mother of this guy?” I look over at him and he seems to be advancing towards Twilight, who is backed into a wall.

Oh man. “Twilight! Is that any way to treat something that thinks you’re it’s mommy?”

“Wha- wait, I’m it’s what?” She looks scared for a moment, but then her face starts to relax.

“Well, when pokémon hatch from eggs, the natural instinct is to assume that whoever it first sees, must be their parent. It thinks you’re it’s mom because you technically hatched it. Think of it like Spike. Only, able to crush a skull in it’s jaws.” I think that over, then realize Spike probably could too, given what he does to gemstones.

Twilight looks at the fifty-pound rock- and dragon-type. She tentatively reaches out a hoof, and rubs its muzzle, earning a happy, throaty purr. The Tyrunt slams its head into the contact, trying to get the most out of the scritchings, and instead simply pancakes poor Twilight. I have to struggle not to bust a gut from laughing so hard.

“Even young pokémon are strong and tough. You’re gonna have to take care of him though. Congratulations, you’re a mom, and you didn’t even have to get laid first.” Twilight shoots me a glare, and hugs the Tyrunt, who is starting to look upset at the scritchings stopping. After a moment, it calms down, apparently pleased with the hug.

“So, you gonna name it? Your pokémon, you can name it.”

“Uhm... Well, I suppose I could-” she starts, but I jump in to get a rise out of her.

“Well, how about Twirunt?” I grin, expecting her to get upset. Instead, she just snuggles with the baby tyrannosaur and shrugs.

“Sure, that works.” She sounds sleepy... I hope she doesn’t have a concussion from that hit earlier.

“Anyway, these guys, if I’m correct, went extinct about a million years ago, so that guy’s pretty special.” It then occurs to me that as it stands, Twilight has more Pokémon than me, and in a wider range of Type coverage. No matter, I’m just waiting for the right candidates.

Chapter 17

After more of the compound had been fixed at least a little, we, as a group, had gone around and looked for more survivors and holdouts. We recovered two more Breeders, and found that they’d taken a batch of smaller eggs with them, inside a bunker meant to survive Rampardos attacks and worse.

After patching up our injuries and helping them get something of a place to sleep set up that wasn’t covered in glass, blood, or tons of rumpled paperwork, we sat down. My blood was racing before, but I’m feeling much calmer now, and Twilight is looking better. The Tyrunt was fed by the research couple, and is now asleep in its new pokéball. Twilight is also looking better, having had time to make sure she didn’t have a concussion. Apparently, a unicorn’s horn holds a small part of their brain, but damaging it can still be fatal, despite that it’s only used to work with magic.

Once we are all set, we decide to get Rarity her Breeder’s License. Xavius has left and I figure following after him is not that important. He seems able to take care of himself.

“So Twilight.” I turn to the unicorn. “How about a battle while Rarity’s doing her thing?”

“I- yeah, that’d be nice. Two versus two? I know you don’t have any more pokémon than that.”

“Alright, one on one for now. We can have a double battle later. Maybe a Triple once I’ve got a bigger team.” I take out Geodude’s ball and toss it into the air. “Go ahead, make your first pick.” I grin, knowing that all her Pokémon are weak to Rock, and only Spheal would stand a chance against Geodude anyway.

Reading the situation perfectly, her first pokémon is, in fact, Spheal, who barks happily. Twilight shouts her first order when I yell for us to go. “Powder Snow!” and an icy patch begins forming and spreading at my Geodude.

“Geodude, get back and use Rock Polish!” the stoney pokémon launches himself backwards and swipes his face a few times to smooth himself off.

“Alright, Spheal, try a Water Gun!” she shouts, and the resulting jet of water passes through the still-cold air, picking up ice crystals along the way. Geodude doesn’t dodge all of it, and looks pained from the freezing-cold water.

“Power through the pain! A few passes from Rollout and we’ve won already!”

“Dodge the Rollout, it can’t build up momentum if it doesn’t hit!” twilight shouts, and her Spheal manages to roll out of the way with all the grace of a sand-filled beach ball. But, it successfully dodged, so it counts.

“Magnitude, knock it off-balance!”

The ground shakes and ripples, and Spheal is bounced into the air, flailing its little flippers in distress. Twilight looks surprised, and even I forgot how bouncey Spheal can get at times.

I wait a few moments and then make my order. “Rollout! Full speed ahead!” If my timing is right, he should hit Spheal right as it lands...

With a comical boink, the Spheal pokémon is shot back into the air, making pained noises. Twilight looks worried, but Spheal rolls back to its... belly, and looks expectantly at Twilight for instructions. Geodude is getting ready to ram him again, when Twilight shouts to Spheal, “Encore!” and Spheal starts clapping wildly, though there’s a faint rhythm in there, and Geodude suddenly stops steering, going straight ahead... at full speed. Before I can retract my order, Geodude plows bodily into a concrete pylon, demolishing the remainder of the support and knocking Geodude out.

I recall my Pokémon and chuckle. “Very good with strategies. A far cry from your first battle. But tell me, Sparkle... what moves do your Pokémon know that can hit something underwater without getting too close?” I grin and toss Carvanha out into a nearby pool of water. “Ice won’t do much to a Water type, and Water the same, so ranged moves are out. What’s your big plan now?”

Twilight thinks for a second, Spheal idly curling into a ball and uncurling a moment later, like a fuzzy plush toy. Then, her eyes light up, and she gives her order. “I may not be able to strike the pokémon below the water, but I can freeze the top layer! Spheal, Powder Snow on the pond, freeze the surface solid!” The chill wind begins to freeze the water, a solid layer building up.

“Carvanha, Aqua Jet, then lead into a Bite!” The fish gleefully follows the orders, leaping out with jaws wide... right into Spheal’s main gust of icy air. Ice may not do a lot of damage to Water Types, but Carvanha probably has a bad case of brain freeze as it clamps down on Spheal, making the rolly pokémon squeak, flail, and bounce around.

“Alright Carvanha, get back in the water.” I pause, waiting for Twilight to make her next selection, a plan forming in my head.

“Alright, Spheal, come on back. Go, Spearow! Start with a peck attack!” She simultaneously recalls her wounded pokémon and throws out her next, Carvanha barely having time to react to my order before Twilight’s Spearow is dive-bombing the ferocious fish.

“So Twilight, any idea what my next trick is?” I ask innocently.

“No, so I’ll just have to disrupt it. Move into a Fury Attack!” the flopping fish finally reaches the water, a painful series of welts along its side, and Spearow’s beak a shiny gold from Carvanha’s Rough Skin.

“But Twilight, you can’t disrupt my next move, that would be illegal!” I toss out Geodude, obviously still unconscious. “I forfeit my next move...” I pull a little yellow diamond-shaped object. “To use an item.” I spend my last Revive to bring Geodude back to groggy wakefulness, and return him to his ball. “Your move, Twily.”

“Well, fine, if you’re going to use items... Spearow, go high, then Fury attack again!”

I wait patiently for the bird pokémon to get within decent range, and then make my command. “Carvanha, Bite!”

The fish leaps out of the water, jaws wide as Spearow backpedals, before simply disappearing in a flash down Carvanha’s throat. After that... well, things stopped being about the battle, and more about trying to give the heimlich to Carvanha and make it cough up Twilight’s Spearow.

“Carvanha, spit it out, now! If you’re hungry we can get you something to eat later, I’m not about to lose a battle and have my license revoked!”

Carvanha makes a choking noise, eyes bugging out a little, and Twilight and I exchange a glance. Oh, joy, Spearows need to come with ‘choking hazard’ warnings now. As we two trainers run over, Carvanha flops on the dirt, looking both enraged and confused. I don’t think she’s used to not being able to fight back against everything.

“So I guess Spearow’s out of it, but only due to extraneous circumstances. Do you wanna say I won now or should I let you use a different Pokémon?” Her only pokémon is Tepig and I have a Water and a Rock type. Either way, win is in the bag.

“Yeah, let’s call this one. Now can we save my pokémon?”

“Sure. Carvanha, spit the bird out now and I won’t have to do something you’ll regret.” The fish flops, eyes bugging even further out, a look of grim determination in her eyes. I hear a strangled-sounding squawk from inside Carvanha, and can barely see Spearow’s beak peeking from the back of Carvanha’s throat. resisting the urge to face-palm, I get the distinct feeling those two are going to try to kill each other every chance they get.

“Twilight... just use your fancy magic and pull the thing out. I don’t think Carvanha are made for not swallowing anything in their mouth... especially since they can chew through and digest steel...”

Twilight looks upset, and immediately begins tugging at Spearow, which only drags Carvanha around. I sigh, and grab the fish’s tail, the rough texture of her skin letting me get a perfect grip. Between the two of us, Twilight and I are able to extricate Spearow, who has a murderous gleam in its eye as it glares at Carvanha, who is giving an equally malicious look right back.

“Alright, so I guess I have to make it clear that when I say ‘Bite’ I mean for you to clamp down on them with your teeth, not put them in your mouth and eat them.” I then recall Carvanha. “So, you lost. Pay up.”

“Oh, alright... wait, we never settled on an amount beforehoof. Er, hand. Either way, we both forgot to decide how much. And I don’t think either of us have money, either.” She pauses for a moment. “Wow, I just used the word ‘either’ three times in two sentences.”

“Can it, nerd, you can owe me later. How about two-hundred, that seem fair?”

“Er, I suppose. I’m not entirely sure about the local exchange rate, but I trust you.”

“Well, two-hundred is how much it costs for a Pokéball. A basic potion costs three-hundred. That should give a rough estimate for now.” Twilight agrees to the sum, figuring it was worth a short, distraction match.

We both sit down and try to figure out what else to do before Rarity is done. Around fifteen minutes later, Rarity comes out, beaming. “they said I was a natural! And now, I’m a certified Junior-Grade Breeder! Eeeee!” She hugs Twilight, the softest thing available, and spins around several times, leaving Twi’s rear legs swinging outwards as her face and legs are mushed together on Rarity’s chest.

“Congrats. So Twi and I just had a battle. You wanna give it a shot?”

“Oh, no, I’m rather fatigued from today. I must admit, I really don’t like the sight of blood, and today was... rather visceral.”

“I was actually gonna give Carvanha a rest, let Geodude have another round. It’d only be bad bruising, but if you still wanna chicken out that’s fine. As for the blood and such, yeah, that happens when people get hurt. We tend to bleed.”

“But never so... much.” she shudders, and turns a little green. I guess it’s a big deal for her. “Still, I think I’ll decline, for tonight. Maybe tomorrow? The Breeders here have said we can stay the night; there’s a bedroom that was meant for visiting professors and the like.”

“Alright, sounds good. And just for future reference, if you plan on living in a world where there’s always going to be something trying to kill something else, blood is just something you’ll have to get used to. Speaking of carnivores, I don’t think Tyrunt will be satisfied with just eating gems and hay like Spike. He’s gonna need more... protein.”

Twilight nods. “Well, as long as he isn’t hunting down something in a way that’s cruel, I’ll just have to live with it. If Fluttershy can care for an entire pack of wolves throughout the winter, then I can live with my new... son.” As if on cue, Twirunt’s pokéball shakes, rattles, then opens, the miniature tyrannosaur appearing and looking around. Almost immediately, it nudges Twilight, and gives her a meaningful look.

“Oh, also, some species of carnivorous Pokémon need to be taught how to hunt by their parents. And I don’t think that you can just walk into a grocery store and buy a package of bacon while going through the desert or something.” The Tyrunt nuzzles ‘momma’, and looks content. “Awwww, that’s adorable! Have fun taking care of a pokémon who is known for wild, destructive, dangerous rampages when it’s upset.”

Twilight gives a serious look at Twirunt, who gives her the most innocent, ‘butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-mouth’ look possible. I thought only little, adorable things like the CMC could do that one...

“For clarification...” I pull out my éTech and aim it at the ‘little’ Rock Type, the electronic voice springing to life.

-Tyrunt, the Royal Heir Pokémon. Tyrunt's jaws are so big and powerful, it can crunch up a car. If it doesn't like something, it responds with a wild tantrum.-

“Yeup. That.” Twirunt begins to give a raspy, throaty purr, a bit like a car engine dying of thirst. Totally not convinced, little one.

Twilight, however, just seems to revel in being snuggled, and hugs her pokémon right back. After we get to the large complex and are directed to our room, it doesn’t take long for me to realize how tired I am. Today was kind of long.

Guess tomorrow we try to find a gym... Back to town!

Chapter 18

I get up and, having my pokémon healed from yesterday, take a look around the complex while I wait for the girls to get up. There’s still a lot of broken walls and such, but it seems that all the bodies and blood haven’t been cleaned up. These guys are crazy. Worse, they’re crazy and smart... mostly.

Still, if they are a danger to us, then the only option is to try and get them first. I’m just glad that the girls understand and that they don’t try to protest that we’re killing them... still, they will have to get used to bloodshed. I see a Chainer thug with a wooden beam through his chest, nailing him to a wall and I shudder. So will I... yeesh.

I decide to walk outside and see if I can’t get Carvanha some training. It’s not as strong as Geodude, and I’d like a little balance. Type advantages aside, if it’s too weak to hurt it’s opponent, there’s no use in keeping it around. Given how vicious it is, I doubt I could do anything but use it for battles.

Finding a decent pond isn’t too hard, but finding one without large, prehistoric pokémon at it is a task better left to professionals. I finally find a large, concrete-rimmed retaining pool, with several Corphish and a few Lileep in it, along with some natural green plants growing healthily in the water. A Lotad swims idly by, just going from one side to another with a Rattata on its back.

Let’s give this ecosystem a new link on the food chain. I toss my Carvanha into the water and watch as a bunch of the smaller pokémon flee for their lives. “Alright Carvanha, see if you can’t find a Corphish or something that isn’t too chicken to fight!”

A lone Clauncher stands its ground, glaring at the oncoming toothy death. The little pistol-shrimp pokémon might actually stand a chance if it’s a fair level, but I doubt it is if it’s putting up with Corphish in its pool.

Carvanha, looking gleefully interested in this fight, darts forward and begins doing a series of strong bite attacks. Supercavitation bubbles spark from the end of the Clauncher’s claw, and they’re making impacts on my pokémon, but Carvanha is more than able to power through and begin chowing down on the littler pokémon. Moments later, there’s barely even chum in the water, as Carvanha looks for another victim. The only things that haven’t escaped or at least hidden are the Lileep, who have withdrawn into their stony pods and shrunken against their rocky home.

“Well, dang. Oh well, at least you got breakfast, right? Just don’t do that to a trainer’s pokémon, okay?” My pokémon just snaps its jaws together menacingly, then begins searching for more easy prey.

It’s slow going, so I decide to move to another pool, but get similar results. All the pokémon either vacate the water or hide. Levelling up Carvanha will be tougher than I thought. What I really need is a forced situation, where the other pokémon can’t run. Or won’t, at least.

This is a place for previously fossilized pokémon right? There should be mainly Rock types around, I just need to somehow get one near the water’s edge and have it stay long enough for Carvanha to take it out. But how? Most of the land-walking pokémon seem to avoid the water for this very reason now.

I spy an Anorith cheerfully making its nest on the shore, little claws carefully stacking sticks and pieces of bark to make an honestly really hideous little hut.

“Alright Carvanha, round two, see if you can’t pull the guy into the water with you!” Bite won’t do too much, but Aqua Jet certainly will.

Carvanha jumps the unsuspecting Anorith, and the Aqua Jet flips the poor thing over. Carvanha grabs one of its claws in its teeth, and begins flopping determinedly back towards the water. I face-palm. Oh well, if it works, it works.

“Just finish it I guess. Man, this is more boring than I thought it would be.”

Carvanha takes to the order with gusto, chomping the Anorith until its shell cracks, then proceeds to literally clean out the thing’s shell, reducing it back to the stoney fossil it was revived from.

I sigh. There’s easy battles, but then there are scarce battles. Which also happen to be easy. I need something tough, but small enough for Carvanha to get its jaws around. “Hey, try going deeper into the water, see if there’s anything interesting near the bottom.”

The fish turns and darts for the bottom of the pond, and snatches up a couple of Corphish, one after another, and chews them apart. Then, it gets an eyefull of a Lileep trying to mimic an inedible rock. Except, Lileep are grass-types, and could easily get the upper hand/tentacle on a water-type like Carvanha. My pokémon doesn’t seem to know or care, and is heading right for the Lileep and the big, brown rock it’s anchored to.

“If you’re going to do something reckless, at least be smart about it!” I shout into the water, hoping my pokémon can hear me. “Try to... uh... bite it’s tentacles? Idunno. Just don’t be stupid.”

It ignores me, and keeps swimming. The Lileep peeks out of its cover, then tenses right back up when it sees my pokémon. The predatory pokémon circles once, then twice, then darts in for the attack!

And gets backhanded by a random hand-thing sticking out of the rock the Lileep is anchored to. The f- ?

“Alright, if you can hear me, use Focus Energy!” Higher chance of a critical hit will help the fact that my pokémon’s attacks are relatively weak. Thankfully, it seems it can hear me, and begins to glow slightly, before darting at the drifting hand-shape, which I see appears to be one half of a Binacle pair.

“Use Leer, then Aqua Jet!” I gotta do whatever I can to increase damage output if I can’t get a type advantage on my side. Carvanha seems perfectly fine with my order, and glares at the Binacle, who looks spooked. It doesn’t have time to dodge before my pokémon speeds forward and slams into the Binacle. The other Binacle pops its head out, and the two begin to smack Carvanha, but it’s looking like my pokémon is too tough for the barnacle pokémon.

“Use Scary Face, and give the other one an Aqua Jet as well!” Carvanha just seems to grin wider at my command, then speeds at the other head, jaws slightly parted. The Binacle is reeling, and can only slap back at Carvanha ineffectually, doing more damage to itself than to my fish.

I want to see if Carvanha has levelled up, but at the moment, I want to finish off my current target. “Bite it, get both of ‘em at once if you can!”

At once, it speeds at the target, and opens its jaws wider than it really ought to be able to, sensibly speaking. It does indeed snatch both necks and bites down, chomping as hard as it can and casting brackish blood into the water. The brownish fluid obscures the bottom.

A moment later, Carvanha swims lazily to the surface, trailing some tatters of Binacle bits, and just begins swimming in a vague circle. It looks content.

Time to see if Carvanha’s as tough as I think it is. “Alright, last one for now. Find a Lileep and use Ice Fang!”

The fish, moving at a far more sedate pace than before, opens a gleaming, shining set of chompers, and bites down on the Lileep. It doesn’t do much, and there’s no ice in the water, so I count this experiment as a failure. “Well, alright. See if you can’t just finish it off anyway. Use Aqua Jet!”

Carvanha slams into the Lileep doing decent damage, but after that, the Lileep merely retreats back and I decide it’s enough. “Alright Carvanha, come on back then.” It ignores me, and I have to recall it to get it to stop bumping its head into the terrified Lileep.

Sighing, I go to get the girls and head towards town.

“So the gist of what you’re asking is that we get a free jeep-ride to town, so that you can tell everyone about what happened?” I say, not quite understanding why the researcher is asking it as a request. “I mean, that’d be great, but... why us too? Can’t you go by yourself?”

“Well, to be honest, we don’t want to leave you guys and the Tyrunt alone in the woods. Krosa is an old forest, and this particular road has been a pain for foot traffic since it was carved out. It took a literal legion of Bisharp to cut through it, and the forest fought back every inch of the way.”

“In that case, thanks for the ride. So when we get there we tell the cops and they do their thing?”

“Pretty much. Hey, you three take care of that Tyrunt, ‘kay? It’s been a pain getting them to breed, and its biological mother has mostly prefered killing and eating the prospective mates up until Tyrant. Even that Salamence we got in here didn’t get more than a glance and a bite.” The researcher shudders.

“No problem. If Twilight can do it once, I think she can do it again, right?” Twilight, back in human form, nods and smiles.

We all get into the jeep and, along the ride back to town, I relate what I know of cars and such. Needless to say, the idea of having something so small function just like a train without rails and not needing to be fed coal was a little shocking to the fashionista and the scholar.

“This is amazing!” Twilight yells, gripping the jeep’s roll cage, grinning widely. The bright lights of the Jeep scare away pretty much all the pokémon on the trail as we move along at a sedate fifteen miles an hour. The breeder had explained he wasn’t going faster because the trees sometimes put up roots to stop the cars if they go too fast. I’m not sure if that’s just fast growth or pokémon intervention.

“Yeah, amazing. I should show you a Nascar race sometime.” I pause a for a second. “Assuming they have them here.” There’s an America mentioned in the first games, but it seems mostly retconned in the later ones, so I’m not actually sure. Then again, Unova was basically the US so... maybe they have them, just a bit different. After all, if they have modern taxi cabs in Kalos, surely they have cars for sport as well as travel.

Twilight just smiles and holds her hat, while Rarity is ducked as low as she can get in the jeep, looking rather green in the face.

That’s more or less when the entire Jeep goes sideways, and I get a glimpse of a particularly tall, lithe Tyrantrum, who looks utterly pissed. Then the Jeep lands on its side, and the four of us go tumbling out as quickly as we can. the Tyrantrum stalks around, footfalls thudding into the ground.

“Dragon types are weak to Ice! Wanna prove me wrong, Twi, be my guest!”

Twilight quickly sends out Spheal, picking up the ball-like pokémon and commanding it to fire a Powder Snow at the Tyrantrum... who doesn’t appear to slow down, or even care. The huge tyrannosaur has murder in its eyes, and its stalking towards us, mane and chin-ruff smaller proportionally than the other I’d seen at the compound.

“Oh come on! I swear that didn’t work because Spheal is weak! That should have done something!”

The Tyrantrum roars with a nearly incandescent fury, and picks up the pace, forcing our group to scatter and move just to keep up the distance. The draconic dino looks at the four of us with narrowed eyes, taking a few seconds to decide who to chase down. It settles on Rarity, and roars as it charges her.

Gotta try to slow it down. If the ground is uneven... I toss out my Premier ball. “Geodude, Magnitude!”

Geodude forms mid-air, and slams to the earth with as much power as he can muster, fists leaving huge divots in the packed dirt of the path. Ripples spread outwards, forcing roots up and cracking the earth. A Magnitude Eight, just when I need it. At least he doesn’t let me down! The Tyrantrum barely slows, but catches its foot on a thick root, making it stumble for a moment before the entire root comes up, torn from the earth and its moorings with apparent ease.

Shit, that Tyrantrum looked pissed before, I don’t even know what to call it now. Just as it turns to go after Geodude, a white-and-brown blur drops onto the dinosaur’s head, making a series of syncopathic clacks and clicks. I barely glimpse a snazzy beret on top of the pile of white leaves before the Tyrantrum throws the Shiftry into the undergrowth on the side of the path.

The regal dino-dragon turns to me this time, and steps over the Jeep, becoming illuminated by the remaining headlight like it’s a monster in a horror movie, and growls. Then, an arc of fire slams into the tyrant dragon’s back, knocking it flat. I have no idea what’s going on.

Nevertheless, that Shiftry is probably our best bet out of this. An eerie piping noise fills the air, and even the Tyrantrum looks around with fear on its face. I use the distraction to rush over to the Shiftry and check it over for wounds or anything, pulling out a Potion if need be. thankfully, our savior seems fine, if a little winded, and clacks its jaw and pats me on the shoulder. It clacks it jaw a few more times, this time with more force, the sound echoing through the forest.

Wondering what that could be signaling, I hear a series of slow, steady thumps. Assuming it’s calling for backup, I think of options. It’s a Shiftry, and if it’s got more coming...

Wild pokémon be damned, I’m gonna try an order anyway. “Shiftry, try blowing it down with a group Whirlwind!”

The Shiftry simply looks at me, and I get the feeling it’s just grinning at me. It puts a leafy hand up in a signal for patience as the Tyrantrum roars defiantly into the woods.

It stops and takes a step back as the trees seem to burst into flame. With a shuddering, twisting crack, a meter-thick tree trunk is splintered and battered aside by some sort of bipedal pokémon with a pair of massive, fire-wreathed fists. I can’t see any eyes on it, but it’s moving unerringly at the Tyrantrum. With every fall of the tree-thing’s feet, the ground shudders and quakes.

I have no idea what it could be. I’ve never seen this species before... Wow. Curiosity overtaking me, I pull out my éTech and aim it at the apparent Fire/Grass type.

-Pyrdenron - The Ironwood Pokémon. This massive pokémon uses its blazing fists to clear out huge swathes of dense forest for its young to root in. Their fists can break concrete walls with ease, or melt through steel in seconds.-

Well damn. That’s pretty awesome. That said, it’s looking a little tough to capture. Even as I think this over, the mammothine tree punches the Tyrantrum in the jaw, making the dino growl. However, that only seems to enrage the ancient pokémon further, and it makes a vicious Crunch attack on the Pyrdendron’s arm, tearing off the limb in a shower of wood and sap, the latter of which bursts into fire as it hits the air.

I’m starting to feel less optimistic about the tree-pokémon’s chances when another of them steps out of the woods, busting its own path into the melee and beginning to batter the Tyrantrum itself. A third joins shortly after, and the fourth to appear makes the Tyrantrum turn and flee, though not without a parting roar of anger.

The Shiftry, utterly unconcerned by the blazing fists of the Pyrdendrons, simply shoo them away, clacking and clicking. Finally, the Shiftry bows to Rarity before simply leaping into the canopy and disappearing. The Breeder, Rarity, Twilight and I just sort of stand around for a few minutes, until we finish processing what just happened.

“Well, you don’t see that every day, huh?” I’m still a little interested in the Pyrdendron. A species I’d never seen before! Could there be more pokémon I’ve never encountered before?

“Yeah, I’ve never seen her wander onto the the road like that before.” the Breeder says, working to push the Jeep onto its wheels again. The car seems plenty hardy, and even still works, its light construction making it easy to get up again. I return Geodude to his ball, and climb in. “So, barring any other of nature’s little surprises, back to the town again?”

The Breeder nods, and Rarity just ducks her head again. Heh, I guess she gets motion-sick. Still... what other pokémon are out there? It seems I don’t know everything about this world after all. The thought brings a smile to my face. It’s like playing Ruby and Sapphire all over again. The call of the unknown sings in my ear, and I sit back in the Jeep to get comfortable.

Chapter 19

Stepping out of the battered Jeep, the Breeder waves goodbye to us. Stretching, I decide that we need to get a Pokédoll for future encounters like that. Not sure how those things work even in the context of a videogame... but if it works, it works, right?

We make our way further into the town, deciding to look for a gym. But the first notable building we come across is a contest hall. “Hey Rares, you wanted to be a coordinator. Wanna see what it’s like?”

“Oh, that would be lovely!” she says, her greenish coloration gone after the fresh air.

When we get inside, we notice that it hasn’t quite started yet. I walk up to a receptionist and ask about that. “Hey, do you know when the contest is gonna start?”

“Well, actually it might be postponed. You see, it’s supposed to start in half an hour but one of the contestants declined their position and now there’s an opening. We’d like to fill it, but so far no actual coordinators have shown up to participate.”

I grin and turn to Rarity. “Well, what do you think? Wanna give it a try?”

“O- oh, I’m not sure if I’m ready... but I’ll give it a shot!” She straightens up a bit, and the receptionist takes notice.

“You’re a coordinator, then, ma’am? There’s some forms to fill out. Have you ever participated in a Contest in Otaria before?”

Rarity shakes her head. “No, but I’ve been meaning to. I fear I may not make it as a trainer, but being a coordinator sounds lovely. I suppose now would be as good a time as any to try it.”

I pat Rarity on the back. “Well, break a leg.” At the shocked look I receive from her and Twilight I figure they don’t understand. “I mean good luck. It means ‘Do Well’ not actually hurting yourself.”

The ponies-turned-human give nods of understanding. After Rarity fills out her forms, Twilight and I are escorted to the audience while Rarity is escorted somewhere to get a quick explanation of the process. It occurs to me that Ledyba probably wouldn’t know any good moves for being flashy yet... Guess I’ll get to see how well Rarity can improvise.

“I don’t know much about this... but I don’t think Rarity won.” Twilight says as we walk back to the lobby.

“Yeah... we did kinda put her on the spot, and with a low-level pokémon. Her chances weren’t too good to begin with...”

“Although some of the other trainers... that’s fantastic what pokémon can do. Most pet shows and such just involve running an obstacle course, not... that!”

“Yeah... oh well, no harm no foul. She can always try again another time.” When we get to the lobby, it takes a few minutes before Rarity joins us, a rather ... odd look on her face.

“Hey Rare... you okay?”

“I’ll be fine, but I would have liked that to go a bit better. I don’t want to say I’m disappointed in Ledyba but...”

I pat Rarity on the back. “Hey, it was your first time, and spur of the moment. You didn’t do as bad as you could have.” Given the look Rarity has now, I’d say that didn’t help so I let Twilight do the comforting.

After some time for Twilight to bring Rarity’s spirits back up, we work our way around the city, until we get to the Battle Park I’d faced Amy at. We hadn’t found the Gym though, and I’m not sure where to look for it.

“Well, that’s what GPS is for, right?” I use the satellite map on my éTech. “Okay, this says the nearest gym is...” I rotate the device to make sure it’s accurate. “Right behind us.” Boy do I feel like a moron. Twilight looks slightly amused. “Shut up. Technology is far more advanced than this, and it’s not making us look like idiots!”

“No, you’re doing that fine on your own.” Twilight snarks at me.

“Oh be quiet. Come on, time to get a badge. They way these things are usually set up are that there are some gym trainers that you have to face all in a row, then you can challenge the Leader. You can use items to heal your pokémon between battles, but I’m not sure if they let you leave before beating the Leader or losing.”

Twilight thinks this over. “Makes sense. You go first, though; you have more experience with this kind of thing, and I want to see how they do this.”

“Alright then, let’s see what type is primarily used around here...” I walk in the door and the place is laid out like a rocky field with a lot of sand, gravel, and packed dirt. Either Rock or Ground, then. I approach a younger kid and he informs me that this is in fact a Ground-type Gym, and that I must beat him to advance, though he’s the only trainer before the Gym Leader.

“No problem, kid. Let’s see what you got.”

He smiles, and pulls out a pokéball. “Go, Diglett!” he announces his first pokémon and skims the ball along the floor, the release letting his first choice appear with minimal fuss. “Lil-dig!”

“Heh, that the best you got, kid? This’ll be easy. Go Geodude!”

As my pokémon hits the field, the kid nods. “Alright, let’s begin! Dig, now!” he yells, and Diglett simply vanishes into the ground, leaving only a small hole. Sucker.

“Magnitude!”

Geodude slams the ground, and the ripples spread out. A vague shadow of clear ground reveals Diglett the moment before it breaches the soil, a spray of rock and dirt announcing it nearly four feet from Geodude’s position, already unconscious.

“Ha, easy. Nice try kid, but next time don’t let yourself open to such an obvious disadvantage. You got another pokémon, or do I face the Leader now?”

“Nope, there’s still one more on my team! You got a good shot in there, but now you face Bunnelby!” He tosses another pokéball out, and the rabbit pokémon hits the field. “Quick Attack, now!”

Sure enough, the speedy attack blurs over to hit Geodude before I can call out a counter-move, though it’s mostly just bounces off my pokémon’s stony exterior.

“Even a Gym Trainer should know that Normal doesn’t work well on Rock. I don’t have that problem though. Geodude, Tackle!”

The rock pokémon lifts himself in the air, and goes for a slam-down. Instead of trepidation or fear on the trainer’s face, I instead see a smile. “Perfect! Bunnelby, brace for the impact and then use Toxic!”

Sure enough, the rabbit pokémon is able to take the hit, then barfs up a thick, violently purple ooze right in Geodude’s face, eliciting and angry shout from Geodude. “You leave to get him healed, you have to go through me again!” Clever, clever ploy. Too bad I prepared for something like this.

“Geodude, over here!” When my rock pokémon bounds over I pull out the little amber spray bottle. Once I apply the Antidote and the bottle is emptied, the pained look on Geodude melts away and he turns back to Bunnelby, just as prepared as ever. “I’m not some rookie, even if this is my first real gym challenge! Rollout!”

Geodude tucks his arms and pushes off, rolling at the Bunnelby. Now the trainer looks impressed, and his call to use Agility comes too late. Geodude smashes the little rabbit flat, and the match is over. The trainer, looking a little crestfallen, still offers me a handshake and a four-hundred pok’e recompense. “Nice battle, there. Most folks coming in don’t prepare for poison at a Ground Gym.”

“Yeah well, it’d be a crime to say this was my first experience with varied movesets. Unpreparedness is usually the downfall of most. Can’t be the best if you don’t learn from examples. Anyway, good luck with Twilight. She’s coming in after I’m done wiping the floor with your leader.”

“Don’t be so sure. Winston’s put some real effort into getting his team together. He’s even gone to Unova and Hoenn to pick up some of them.” The kid turns, and taps a button on the wall, and a light turns green.

I don’t care where he gets his team. I’m feeling confident. I walk to the back and I see the person who must be the leader. “Hey buddy! I’m feeling lucky today. Four-on-two, your favor. Wanna dance?”

The skinny man quirks an eyebrow and sets down his shovel, turning away from a pit near the wall he was filling. “Alright. My name’s Winston, as you might’ve heard. I’ve traveled the world looking for effective ground-types. Let’s see if you can handle that.” Without another word, he simply pulls a pokéball off his work belt, and flicks it, the light resolving into a Hippopotas, who immediately puffs out the start of a sandstorm.

Crap, the stinging sand is driving down visibility at a rapid pace, and Winston’s put on a set of goggles. I cover my eyes and reach for my first pokémon.

Carvanha would have a type advantage, but with the sandstorm like it is, Geodude would fare better, so I toss out the Premier ball once more. “Here’s hoping you can see with a little sand in your eyes!”

Geodude hits the ground and doesn’t even blink at the driving sand particles. Determinedly, he puts up his arms in a classical martial arts ‘come at me’ pose.

“Hippopotas, start off with a Yawn!” I hear from the other side of the sandstorm, and narrow my eyes. That’s a pretty good beginning, and even I feel a touch drowsy at the Yawn that comes from the swirling sands. I barely see the effect bubble smack into Geodude and pop.

“Geodude, stay awake! Just hit it fast!” Geodude picks himself up, and gets ready to tuck and roll again, obviously anticipating my next order. “Now, use Rollout!”

He spins into the sand stream, and I hear an impact.

“Respond with Bite, Hippopotas!” I hear, and see the vague shape of Winston’s pokémon snapping at Geodude. thankfully, my pokémon is too fast on the roll, and slams into the hippo again, this time from the side.

“Keep it up Geodude, it won’t be long now!”

“Alright, that’s not working. Use Toxic on it, maybe we can wear it down some.” comes the opposing order.

“Geodude, spin faster! It should splatter the goo around instead of letting it soak in!” My pokémon proceeds to practically turn smooth from the RPMs he sets up just in time to deflect the Toxic attack, as predicted. Hippopotas doesn’t get the chance for another order as Geodude slams into it again at full speed, though it’s stopped spinning quite so hard. The sandstorm continues to rage as Hippopotas leaves the field.

“Good first shot. But can you take on Barboach?” Winston asks, sending a pokémon into the fray. Crap, I can’t take a water-type with Geodude. But Carvanha...

“I think I can. Pool, please?”

“Sure.” Winston pulls out his éTech, and does something. A section of the floor rumbles, and splits to reveal a small pool of water under some doors. The water is quickly turning murky from the continuing sandstorm.

I recall Geodude and toss Carvanha into the water. “Get under the water. He’ll have to follow if he wants to hit you!” the fish dives under, into the muddy water. Also, it’ll be shielded from the sandstorm

“Barboach, use Mud Sport in the pool. Let’s reduce visibility further.” Sure enough, clumps of dirt and mud fly into the pool as his Barboach slides towards the water, squirming along the dirt with ease. With virtually no visibility above or below the water, I can only hope Carvanha can strike first. It’s got a truly wicked bite, which I’ll just have to hope is enough.

“Well Winston? Carvanha’s not stupid enough to get out of the water, and I’m sure a Leader would know Carvanha aren’t bothered by low visibility in water. Your move.”

“Yes, but anyone with a pokédex knows that a Barboach needs no visibility at all to track. Barboach, use Spark!” Wait, barboach can learn- oh, that’s bad.

There’s a sudden flickering from the bottom of the pool, and Winston and I watch as shapes move in the murk and muck, my Carvanha and his Barboach trading attacks. However, with a sudden type disadvantage, I don’t know how long Carvanha can keep this up.

A blot of red surfaces in the pool, and Winston and I both raise our eyebrows. After a moment, Barboach squirms feebly out of the pool, massive bite marks making it look like it’s got stripes. Winston nods, and recalls his pokémon. “Very good. You haven’t lost any pokémon yet, and beaten two of mine. Good job indeed.” He then throws another pokéball towards the edge of the pool, and a Nincada forms. It has a bright, shiny blue shell, and buzzes its under-developed wings defiantly.

“Huh, varicolored Nincada. How long did you have to spend in Hoenn to get that?”

“Actually, she’s the offspring of one of my friend’s pokémon. Taylor’s a bug-fanatic, but that’s not a conversation for now. What is important now is Nincada using Bug Buzz!” And the little cicada-pokémon thrums her wings hard enough to crack the dirt around her. The water ripples and splashes from the vibrations, and Carvanha slowly floats to the surface, eyes closed in a grimace of pain.

“Carvanha, you okay?” I prepare my pokéball to return the fish pokémon. Stupid Dark type weakness to Bug. After my pokémon fails to respond, I heave a sigh which puts a load of sand in my mouth. Spitting it out, I return Carvanha. Out comes Geodude, who is ready for a fight.

Or, rather, ready for a nap. It seems the Yawn finally caught up with him, and he’s out cold. Double dammit!

I return my pokémon and pay Winston. “Guess I got a little ahead of myself. But mark my words, I’ll be back soon enough, and that badge is mine.” I shake the gym leader’s hand and give one bit of advice. “You would do well to keep that Nincada safe. The Chainers are active, and apparently have an eye for varicolors.”

He nods. “Don’t worry, this isn’t my usual team. I work here to give newer trainers a chance to get their metaphorical feet wet. My little sweetie is perfectly safe, unless someone wants to see how an Electrode-Golem cannon works from a first-hand view.”

I laugh as I make my way outside. I indicate that it’s Twilight’s turn, but I don’t stay to watch, I have my pokémon to heal. After a trip to the Pokémon Center, I come back and see that Twilight’s already up against Winston. There should be popcorn available for Gym spectators...

Twilight’s fight actually goes better than mine. Her Spearow is more than capable of taking down Nincada, and its sharp eyes give it a serious advantage taking down the Barboach from the water. Her Spheal already made short work of his Hippopotas by the time I’d gotten in, but that Spark-wielding Barboach is truly something to fear. We need grass-types.

The final part of the match is first Spearow, and then her Tepig against a Gible, surprisingly. the little dragon-type is very resilient, and is fully capable of making an effective counterattack against the two pokémon in turn. Twilight got closer than I did, but I find myself not minding. She did really good, and didn’t make nearly as many mistakes as before.

However, Spheal didn’t do so well against Hippopotas and she made a few understandable mistakes. Spearow fell quickly to Barboach’s Spark surprising her just as much as it did me. It didn’t take long for Tepig to be overwhelmed by the Gible, and though she lasted a long time due to playing safe, the Gible was faster and stronger nonetheless.

Twilight recalls Tepig and walks back to the front door, sighing. “Hey, can’t win ‘em all.” I reassure her.” We just need to come up with some strategies to combat his tactics. Come on, I think I know a place. I even have an idea of my own.”

Chapter 20

A quick trip across the street brings us back to the Battle Park, which is currently in use by a pair of trainers. One is making use of a squid-like pokémon with a leering mask I’ve never seen before, and the other has a Charmeleon. I’m not sure how the fight’s going, but the masked pokémon is fairly agile.

I find a separate field for the three of us and I call out my pokémon. “So the purpose of this is to just theorize strategies and try them out. The Pokémon Center looked a bit busy, so I’m gonna say practicing on each other’s pokémon will have to wait.”

With nods, Rarity and Twilight change back to ponies and send out their own pokémon. “Alright, now let’s come up with some tactics. I have some notes on my éTech about Winston’s fighting style we can go over, along with whatever Anthony has to offer from his experience.”

“Well, my tactics usually don’t rely on an opponent doing something, usually it’s a combination of moves that, when used together or sequentially, can give a more interesting result. Move combos like this are legal for use in League battles, but the strategy was coined by coordinators. Not sure what it’s really called, but I call it move-mixing.” I walk up to Geodude. “I actually came up with it when Geodude spun around and splattered the Toxic goop around, but I didn’t want to change tactics in the middle of a fight without practicing it. You ready Geodude?” He nods and gives an affirmative grunt.

“Alright, let’s see you try using Defense Curl and Rock Polish at once.”

He thinks it over for a moment, then grabs the dirt with both hands and gives himself an almighty heave to get spinning, as usual for his Rock Polish. This time though, he tucks his arms in, and puts a substantial divot on the grass and dirt, still spinning in place after a moment of mud-flinging. The smooth, rounded rock-type now had little enough friction to maintain his spin with relative ease.

“Now charge forward like you would with Rollout!” Like a shot, Geodude flies off, as if fired from a cannon. He actually goes much farther than expected, and impacts the concrete side of the moat’s retaining wall. Oops. Between Twilight, Rarity, all of our pokémon, and myself, we manage to extract Geodude before he falls into the water.

I recall him before he starts sinking, then toss him back out on dry land. “That is gonna be brutal! I think I’ll call that... the Spin Dash.” Granted, the real Spin Dash move is faster and less forceful, but it’s relatively the same idea. Geodude, slightly dizzy from the move, takes a moment to reorient himself before being battle ready again. Hmm, takes a lead-up charge time and a recharge afterwards... still, it could be devastating, especially if the stat boosts from the Defense Curl and the Rock Polish take effect.

“So, I have a living cannon ball.” I turn to the ponies next to me. “So what can you guys come up with? Remember, it’s not a bad idea unless your pokémon gets hurt trying.” I think about the recoil-based moves. “And sometimes, not even then. Just remember that these moves can tire out your pokémon quickly if used too frequently.”

Twilight takes some time experimenting with combinations of Powder Snow and Water Gun, while also taking the time to play with her Tyrunt. She seems perfectly at home keeping the rambunctious pokémon from getting out of hand. Maybe she should try for being a Dragon Tamer specifically. It’d be hilarious to explain to Spike, at least.

And while Twilight and I are working with our pokémon, Rarity is actually convincing her two to tussle and ‘fight’ each other, to learn toughness or something. I’m not actually paying much attention, as I’m more focused on making sure Geodude doesn’t clear the Park entirely and hit a house or something; either his aim is terrible, or the Spin Dash technique is ridiculously low-accuracy. I’m really hoping for the first. I can fix that with enough time.

I take a break from Geodude, because he’s starting to look really dizzy now. I move on to my other Pokémon, tossing Carvanha into a nearby pool. I don’t have much to work with on this one, but I can try. I just hope the crazed fish can pay attention long enough to learn something.

Carvanha seems plenty lively, and snaps its jaws at me in what I assume is a greeting at this point. What I should probably work on isn’t actually making it more effective in battle, but rather teaching the damned psychopath not to go for lethal attacks unless situationally required.

“So, we need to teach you a bit of self-control.” it gives me the stink-eye, “Don’t worry, you can still hunt all you want, this is only for battles against pokémon who have owners that would likely call the cops on me. Wild battles are free game. Can we agree on that? No swallowing or extended chewing on other pokémon who have trainers.”

Carvanha rolls its eyes and huffs, blowing a few bubbles as a result. I’m pretty sure if it had arms, they’d be crossed right now.

“Or, you know, you could just get me in trouble and you’d be sent back to the ocean where you had to compete for lunch every day...” This actually gets it to look less pleased. Heh, free lunches have to be worked for around here.

“Yeah well, I doubt you’d have gotten this far on your own. Besides, there are probably some stupid trainers out there who’d try to make you a vegan.” Carvanha makes a disgusted look, and sticks out its tongue to show its thoughts on that subject. Finally, it gives a grudging nod to me.

“Great, we have an agreement. Trainer battles you have to show restraint, but wild battles, you can just go nuts. They’re called free range for a reason, right?” I get a huge, toothy grin from the pokémon, and feel sincerely glad most pokémon don’t seem to instantly think of humans as being on the menu. It usually takes a second or two.

I recall my pokémon and head over to see how Rarity expects to get Feebas to fight. Aside from being nigh incapable of it as a species, this one seems... a little less competitive than most trainers would like.

I get over to where Rarity is applauding something in the moat, and giggling delightedly. And in the water I see... no way.

In the arena’s moat is Feebas, a huge smile on her face as she waggles back and forth on her fins... her tailfin being the only one in the water, with Ledyba balancing on the Feebas’ fish-nose. Both look insanely -and justifiably- proud, and Rarity practically has stars dripping from her eyes.

“Well dang, that’s impressive. Not a whole lot of people can get Feebas to do much more than swim in circles... more like ovals, actually. You might actually get me to believe you will end up a breeder.”

“Well... I kept seeing Feebas move up whenever she would use that ‘splashing’ move, so I tried to see if she could just keep it going, and... this! Isn’t it fabulous?” Rarity grins at me, her entire face brighter.

“It’s great, keep it up and Feebas will show it’s true potential soon enough. And how’s Ledyba doing? I know there’s not much you can do with just Supersonic and Tackle but, who knows, maybe you can come up with something.”

“Well, I took the time to do some research on them, and it seems that they can learn a move called ‘Silver Wind’, both naturally and by tutors or something called a TM, though the information page didn’t say what that was. I was thinking about asking around about finding one.”

“Well, a TM is... hold on a sec.” I decide that if I’m going to explain it to Rarity, I should do it for Twilight at the same time. I don’t like repeating myself much. Once all three of us are rounded up, I begin my explanation. “Technical Machines, or Tee-Ems for short, are these little disks with stored information. Similar to how you can download an application on your éTech, you can use these disks to ‘download’ a move into a Pokémon, teaching them a new move. Each species of Pokémon can learn different moves this way, but a TM will only teach that one move, which has led to trainers collecting them so that if they need to teach their pokémon a move, they can. TMs can also be used to teach Pokémon a move that they would normally learn by leveling up. For example...” I pick up Spheal to demonstrate. “You could train Spheal until he was high enough level to learn Ice Beam on his own, but with a TM for Ice Beam, you could teach it to him instantaneously. And of course, these moves become part of the pokémon’s movepool and can be used whenever you want from that point on.”

Both girls seem impressed. Twilight, of course, has a question first. “How does the disk teach the pokémon the move?” This actually makes me pause, because the only TM I’ve actually seen work is the giant, vacuum-tubes and terrifying projections one in the first pokémon series.

I shrug and give her my answer. “I have no idea. Technology?” This doesn’t satisfy her, and she looks a bit upset, but it’s the only answer I have. “Think of technology to us, as what magic is to you. Anyone can use it, but learning how it works and what it can do takes a lot of studying and expertise on the subject.”

This at least quells Twilight, and I realize I don’t actually know how Tutors teach pokémon moves, either. Do they maybe just have a wide variety of personally-programmed TMs? Or do they physically show the pokémon how to do it? I have no idea.

“So, I’ve only got two pokémon, but I think they’ll just need a bit more experience, then I can give Winston the runaround. I already had a match with Twilight, how about you take your turn now, Rarity?”

“Well, alright. Though I’d honestly prefer to do more work with the wild pokémon. Yours are rather more... ‘rowdy’, I suppose is the right word. And much too strong.”

“Yeah, that’s the difference between wild Pokémon and owned ones. However, after a while, trainers can’t find good competition in the grass, so the only way they can improve is to challenge others.Those people usually sign up for tourneys and such. Get as many trainer battles in as possible, and maybe walk out with a cash prize.”

Twilight seems interested, though Rarity doesn’t. Rarity also looks a bit fidgety. “Tourneys are also different from Gym Battles, despite also being held under League Jurisdiction. Tell me, what would you rather try? Battling a couple trainers and one strong one with a good team each, or a whole slew of trainers one right after the other with pokémon of about equal strength as your own? The main issue is getting a pokémon who can last that long.”

Twilight nods. “Like one of the old Cloudsdale Colosseum matches; two hundred pegasi would go in, and only one would fly out under their own power. The matches were made using whatever that pony could do, short of lethal attacks, which makes it an even more apt comparison. Though, pokémon battles seem more violent; some of the Colosseum matches ended with, ah, inappropriate methods of tiring out opponents.” Twilight says the last part as she looks off in another direction, having completely lost track of the point she was originally trying to make.

“Anyway, if you really don’t want to battle me, I suppose we could look around and see what we can scare up in the grass.”

The two girls nod, collect up their pokémon, and the three of us begin to head out to the fields of grass outside the town, and spread out. It’s a lovely day to battle some pokémon. The only blip was Twirunt staying out of his ball and simply following Twilight, much to her consternation and my amusement. At least I’ll get to actually see some pokémon without an irritable dragon at my side.

Chapter 21

After an hour or two of battling pokémon, I set down my bag to rest against, and sit down in the warm shade of a clearing in the grass.

“So, what’s next on our agenda? I’m planning on walking into the gym and just running Winston through the wringer, but I’m tired of training for a while.” Twilight, speaking into her éTech as if I’m a mile away, shouts that she’s just getting warmed up.

“Eh, if you say so. I think I’ll check through a few more bushes then call it a day. I’ll see you two back at the Center.” Twilight nods distractedly at me, then shouts something to her pokémon. A series of greenish-purple needles fly over Twi’s head, and a Beedrill goes by on-camera before the video cuts off.

Sighing and shaking my head, I hope that she doesn’t bring an entire Beedrill hive down on the town. Autumnwash seems like a nice place, and I’d hate to lose the Pokécenter to a bunch of Beedrill infesting it.

Looking around, I stand up slowly, and spy a strange, deep-green leaf sticking out of the ground. It looks like a wild potato. Walking slowly over to investigate, I get a feeling in my gut. trusting my hunch, I slowly pull out my éTech, and point it at the plant. The Pokédex app starts up automatically, and chirrups at me,

-Voltato, the Potato pokémon. - These gentle pokémon gather up large amounts of sunlight each day, in order to power the electrical jolts they use to signal mates and protect them from predators; the odd thing, is that they are largely toxic, except for their bodies, which are highly nutritious. -

At the sound of the Pokédex’s voice, the little plant shivers, and it rises slowly, revealing a foot-tall potato, with three sets of little vines holding it up. It shakes a little, and dirt comes off it. Then, it turns towards me andholyshitthoseeyesareadorable!

The little potato-like pokémon has a roughly ovoid body, with a pair of leaves coming off a stalk growing on its head, like a wilder version of Chikorita. It has three big eyes arranged in a triangular fashion on the ‘front’ of its tan body, and blinks them asynchronistically at me. “Tay-to?” it says in a soft voice, though I’m not sure how it’s vocalizing.

“Well, not gonna pass up a pokémon I’ve never seen before.” I toss out Geodude. “Let’s see how tough you are, little guy.”

The little Potato Pokémon looks at me with a look of utter hurt and betrayal that I actually feel bad for a moment, before quashing the feeling and going ahead with sending Geodude to collect the pokémon. I’m guessing it’s a Grass/Poison type based on the pokédex data.

“Geodude, give it a Tackle to start.” I don’t know its base stats, nor it’s level, so I’m gonna have to only guess what the catch rate is. I haven’t got a clue what this thing is even capable of. “But don’t crush it.”

The Voltato’s eyes go comically wide as Geodude bears down on the poor thing. It immediately begins scooping up dirt and putting it on top of itself, as if that would protect it, slamming its roots into the soil. When Geodude hits it, he almost knocks it free of the dirt, but it’s too well-rooted in place, though it certainly looks to be battered a bit.

Then, a flurry of stinging, slapping vines burst from the ground, smacking away at Geodude and I. I back up several steps to elude them, and Geodude looks to be absolutely shocked by the sudden vines, especially when he’s snapped on the backside by a trio of vines braided together.

“Tough little guy for a coward, aren’t you? Good, I like them strong. Geodude, see if you can’t pull it out of the ground.” Geodude nods, fending off several more slaps with an upraised arm. He’s wincing, but he can make it, I’m sure. With a show of might, he digs in his fingers around the Voltato, who opens its eyes in time to get tugged free with a series of snapping sounds. The vines go limp, and the Voltato... grabs ahold of Geodude’s head/body. It’s all I can do not to laugh at Geodude flailing and swinging at the potato clinging to his back, hopping in a circle and generally looking pretty silly. Whatever they are normally like, this one is, at least, tenacious as hell.

“Calm down Geodude, hold still!” When Geodude slows his flailing enough, I toss a pokéball at the vegetable clinging to his head and it disappears in the typical burst of light. It barely shakes at all, and then dings, signalling an easy capture. I thank Geodude and return him to his Premier ball, before inspecting the Pokéball that now holds my most recent and exotic capture.

It didn’t seem to fight the ball much, so I guess he’s okay with it... I toss the ball out and the Voltato springs out in the white flash. I get a closer look at it. It’s cute but also pretty small, only coming up to my kneecap. I pick up the little pokémon. “So aside from the mandatory Vine Whip, what can you do exactly?”

“Tay-to!” It says, and proceeds to unleash a hellish electrical charge, and the pain makes lights explode in my eyes. I fall to my knees, a visible scorch-mark on the ground around me, my entire body blackened slightly. Voltato seems entirely too pleased with this, smiling eyes and all.

Voltato have an incredible amount of electrical power stored in their bodies, but are usually too docile to unleash it. -

I roll my eyes. “Thanks for that, ‘Dexter’.” I place Voltato’s shrunken ball on my belt next to Carvanha’s and I head off to the Pokémon Center as planned. I wonder if they can treat shocks on people as well. I’m still feeling kinda frazzled.

At the pokécenter:
“I just discovered Voltato for the first ti-” I start, but the Nurse Joy cuts me off with a knowing nod.

“Other regions have Emolga or Pikachu giving new trainers shocks. Here, there’s Voltato. You’ll recover fine in a few hours, but I’d suggest getting some starches and water in you.” she takes a breath and explains. “The electrical jolt can really dry you out, and the resulting adrenaline surge will burn off your calories.”

“Ah, okay.” I go over to the lobby’s sitting area and call out Voltato. “Alright, so you’re Electric and Poison... no, you use Vine Whip and Ingrain, so: Electric and Grass? Well, that’s a new one.” I take out my éTech and aim it at the strange tuber. “How do you... Okay, you don’t evolve. Great, so what else can you do?”

The still-roughed pokémon closes its eyes and gets a serene look, its leaves and vines glowing. The scrapes and bruising it had slowly vanish in the warm sun streaming from the window. Voltato slowly turns itself to get sun on all its injuries, healing them fully.

“Synthesis, not bad. Well if you have that, I take it you don’t actually use Ingrain... Can you use Thunderbolt?” At the Voltato’s confused look I sigh. “Thunder Wave? That’s a basic Electric move.” Another little shrug from the pokémon. The Voltato looks sad now. Y’know, going into this, I never thought I’d see a sad potato and feel bad. It’s a weird feeling.

Suddenly a thought hits me. “You know, I’ve basically been treating you like a science experiment thus far. I need a name or something.” I pause, then a silly idea forms in my mind. “I’ll name you GLaDoS!” The Voltato gives me a look of ‘really?’ and cocks its entire body, since it has no neck to bend.

That surprises me. “Really? A living potato has played Portal? You’re a wild pokémon, how would you know... aww forget it. I’m still calling you GLaDoS.” The Voltato shrugs again, and goes back to sunbathing.

I decide to go back to learning and use the Pokédex on my éTech to glean whatever information on them professors and trainers have pooled together on this little thing.

Apparently it learns a few Electric moves later on, and rather powerful ones at that. I stare at GLaDoS and can’t help but wonder... How does such a teeny little thing end up learning Zap Cannon? That and it can learn Gunk Shot. Interesting.

“Well, you’re a Grass Type so you’ll be useful against Winston at least. If I really need you that is.” I stop for a moment, then remember Winston’s Hippopotas and the Sandstorm. I look back at Voltato’s movelist. Sunny Day? And he can use it now? “Heh, I might use you after all. This oughtta give him a shock.”

“Hey Anthony.” I almost jump out of my skin at Twilight’s voice, and I know I jumped at least a little into the air. I turn, and see that she’s got a lovely bruise along one cheek, and a couple of acid burns in her shirt and skirt. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“Geez, I get electrocuted and you get... what happened to you!?”

She smiles a bit lopsidedly. “About a dozen Beedrill, apparently. I actually woke up about ten minutes ago.” She winces as she sits on the chair, sagging in relief onto the table. “Tepig saved me on that one, though there’s now a large burnt-out patch a few hundred hoo- er, feet in diameter. Twirunt was sitting on my chest and had one of the Beedrill in his jaws. It wasn’t, er, alive.”

“Yeah, that’s expected. If he wasn’t Rock type, I’d check him for poisoning though. Beedrill have some potent toxins in their tail stingers as well as their arms. Surprised you didn’t get stung at all, given how territorial those things are.”

“Actually, I think I did. I sprayed myself down with some Antidote and hoped for the best. Between all my pokémon, though, I mostly dodged until one of the Beedrill caught me with the base of its stinger right in the eye. I’m really glad it wasn’t the point that got me.”

I pause at this. “Uh, yeah. Antidotes are mainly for Pokémon. They’re tougher than humans so the Antidotes and such are more like helpers, not exact healing agents themselves. You look fine, but if you start feeling weak in the knees or light-headed, get to a hospital. Fast.”

“Oh, that’s how I was feeling right before I passed out... but that was at least forty minutes ago.” she looks only mildly concerned, and very tired.

“Well, if you think you’re alright, then fine. Tomorrow I’m gonna give Winston another shot. Should be easier with this guy.” I say, gesturing towards GLaDoS, who is sleeping and unmoving in the sun.

“A potato?” Twilight asks, looking confused. Looking again at my Voltato, I can definitely see why she’s confused. It does look rather like an ordinary potato when it has its eyes closed and roots tucked in.

I roll my eyes. “Yes, it’s a perfectly normal potato, and there are no pokémon at all that look like regular objects. Like rocks.”

She looks at me for a moment before looking back down. As she reaches out to poke GLaDoS, I hold back a snicker. This should be funny for me, what with ms. ‘Electricity is never harmful’ poking an electric type.

And sure enough, she startles GLaDoS bad enough to make it shock Twilight, making her collapse in her seat and stare at the ceiling for several seconds. When she sits back up, the left half of her face twitches every second or so. “G-got it. That p-pokémon.” heh, she’s even stuttering.

“What’s the problem, Sparkle? I thought you said lightning was harmless?”

“And I’ve c- clearly been proven wr- rong.” She twitches a little with every stutter, making it hard for me not to laugh. She also looks extremely peeved, which just adds to how entertaining I find it.

“So where’s Rarity? She still out and about?”

“I’m n- not sure, actually. She d- didn’t send me an- NEE messages.” I’m trying to hide my snickers behind my hand, but I’m not sure it’s working.

“Well, that’s either a sign of her being fine, or being in deep tro-” I jump again as Rarity says her own hello from behind me. these ponies need to learn to make noise when they walk, human or pony or whatever form they have!

I deserve revenge. “Hiya Rarity, you look well. Say, wanna pet my new pokémon?” I pull out my éTech and prepare to take a picture of the result.

“Ooh, no thank you. I’ll have to meet them later. By the way, I saw this adorable little potato-like pokémon in the fields, but it was letting loose an impressive amount of lightning at a bird going by, so I came back instead of catching it. Other than that, I’ve just been training against some fairly common pokémon I’ve seen before. Oh! I did catch one thing, though. Here, take a look!” she pulls out a pokéball and sends out a Sewaddle, the little pokémon asleep and curled up in its little leaf-hoodie.

“Heh, Bug pokémon are so cute... I don’t understand why you found them gross at first. Just look at this little thing! Anyway, congratulations. This will be a Swadloon by level 20.” Rarity simply picks up the bug type in her arms and gently begins rocking it back and forth. The Sewaddle snuggles up to her and coos a little.

“So I’m gonna go back to the gym and see if GLaDoS will help me beat Winston. Having three pokémon will even the odds a little.”

Twilight nods. “And having stronger pokémon will help as w- well.”

“Yep. So, what are we gonna do for the rest of the day?”

The two of them give mostly shrugs, and none of us have an idea... until my stomach rumbles, setting off Twilight’s and Rarity’s in turn.

“Heh, I guess dinner is in order. I just hope we have enough to go around...”

Chapter 22

After some searching around, we find our way to a small ramen place, with the Guild symbol up on it. We breath a collective sigh of relief, because this means we’ve still got a few thousand poké worth of saved up balance. Inside, there’s already several people seated around, though it’s got a much more ‘American diner’ feel to it than authentic, though that’s fine, as it has comfier seats and booths.

“Don’t know how you make your grains in Equestria, but I guarantee that wheat grain tastes nothing like hay.”

The ponies look sadder. Twilight perks up, though. “We can still get daisy sandwiches here, right?” She smiles hopefully, while Rarity doesn’t look enthused by the food suggestion.

“Haven’t you paid attention when I told you about human culture? You took notes on our diet, right? We can’t digest flowers, and plants like dandelions are poisonous to us. No, they don’t serve flowers as food here. Or anywhere, unless it’s a restaurant for pokémon.”

“Right, sorry... just really like ‘em and all...” she mumbles, and her stomach growls in sympathy. A moment later, the maitre d guides us to a seat, the service surprisingly fancy for what looks like a small diner. As we sit down, I turn my head and see, shockingly, Winston sitting at another table and talking with a younger man, the two of them fairly similar looking.

I wave at them. “Hey Winston, I’ll be back tomorrow, and that badge is mine. I got a secret weapon, now!” the gym leader turns for a moment, and blinks once. then, I see the light of recognition in his eyes.

“Oh yeah, you got pretty far back there. You got that Carvanha leveled up farther?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the only trick I’ve got up my sleeve. I’ll just say you might need to get a pokémon that can jump.” I grin, knowing full well Ground types aren’t known for their vertical speed.

Winston just laughs. “Oh, I should introduce you to my son here. This is Allan.” The younger man leans over, hand extended for a shake. I take his hand and greet him.

“So, you live around here as well?”

He shakes his head, his curly green hair flying everywhere. “Nah, I live by the Mirari Plateau. I’m a part of the Elite four.” His smile is genuine, and I actually feel a little taken aback at his casual mentioning of his position.

Winston laughs. “Yeah, my son’s one of the elite four, and I stick around and push newbies onto the path to getting squashed by him.” the father and son duo smile widely, though it’s a comforting thing, not threatening.

I grin back. “Yeah well, you might find me a bit more resourceful than the usual rabble. What do you specialize in?”

“Steel types. I actually own a steel-mill, and supplement it with my earnings as a League member. It’s pretty profitable on its own though; we supply most of the steel used in the larger constructions on the other side of the Region.”

“Just don’t think I’m gonna be a pushover. I’m not the type to give up when the odds are against me.”

“If you were the type to give up, I’ll never see you on the Plateau. I hope to see you there someday.” He leans back, looks down at his empty plate. “Bah, there’s never enough food to go around.”

Winston smiles and laughs again. He turns me. “He’s been eating more than twice his share since he was a little boy. I doubt there’s enough food in the world to fill ‘im; he’s won two separate eating contests against a Snorlax.”

“Must have been a pretty small one then, or you’d burst, pal.”

“Nah, he just out marathoned the poor thing. Hungry never stood a chance. Snorlax eat in bursts, you know, not for extended periods of time, usually. One of the other League members makes good use of Hungry on his team.” Winston says, then gets a weird look on his face. “Oops. Pretend I didn’t say that, kay?” He grins sheepishly at his son, who’s giving Winston a look of disapproval. It’s kinda silly, the reversal of the norm, if it didn’t seem actually serious.

“I don’t forget details easily, but I’ll just pretend I don’t know that one of the League members has a large, probably experienced Normal type with a tendency to have low Special Defense.” I say, winking. “Anyway, I’m hungry so I’m gonna get back to the girls now. Have a good time.” The two wave at me, and put down their payment, walking out of the restaurant just as the wait comes over to my table.

After some wrangling, I convince the two pony-turned-humans to try the ramen, and I start to enjoy some honest-to-goodness real ramen, with little bits of beef and steamed veggies. It’s so delicious.

The girls, on the other hand, are looking at their bowls with some measure of confusion.

Rarity taps me on the shoulder. “Uhm... what are these little cubes?”

I take a fork and spear one of said cubes from her bowl, and put it in my mouth. “It’s beef.” I answer, and go back to my own bowl.

“Ah, and what is beef?” she asks, looking at me expectantly. Twilight’s just poking at the food and experimentally trying to get the noodles to not slap her in the face while slurping them up.

“Beef is cow meat. Not sure which part of the cow this stuff was cut from, but it all tastes pretty much the same to me anyways.”

Rarity turns green, and stops eating, sitting a little further back in her chair. Twilight freezes mid-slurp. Then, she shrugs, and goes back to eating. Rarity rounds on her, a look of horror on her face as I watch. “Twilight! That was meat! As in, from an animal!”

Twilight finishes her current forkful of noodles, chews, and swallows. “And? Earth ponies eat pork and beef regularly, and Pegasi eat fish. What’s the problem, Rarity?” I continue eating as Twilight looks actually puzzled. This is delicious, and I’m not talking about the ramen this time.

Rarity sputters. “B- but it was alive. And now- now you’re eating it!”

I roll my eyes. “What, you expect me to get protein from nuts and weird plants? I’m not gonna be some tree-hugging vegan like you crazy ponies.”

Twilight and Rarity both give me looks. Rarity speaks up first. “I’m not sure what a ‘vegan’ is, but I want you to know, I’m just trying to be empathetic here.”

“You can care all you want. I’m not. At this point, it’s just food in my belly. Problem with that?” Rarity opens her mouth to say something, but simply huffs and turns away, crossing her arms over her chest. Twilight shakes her head and goes back to eating.

“I seriously don’t see the harm in it. Cows aren’t going extinct or anything, I’m not eating an endangered species, so what’s the big deal? There’s more where this one came from.”

Rarity continues to pointedly ignore me. I sigh and roll my eyes.

“Rarity, they probably signed up for this when they died, just like most of the cows in Equestria do. I’ve never understood Canterlot’s insistence it’s not ethical; it’s freely given and it’s nutritious.” Twilight says, but she’s getting the cold shoulder as well.

“Wait, sign up? Cows’re just dumb animals. They aren’t sentient. They’re led to a slaughterhouse in groups and chopped up and... whatever else they do there.”

Rarity looks horrified as her head snaps back around to look at me.

Twilight looks at me. “Not sentie- oh, this is another thing with different worlds. In Equestria, cows are legal citizens and plenty intelligent. They can choose to offer their bodies upon death if they want to, and most do.” She waves her fork for emphasis.

I sigh. “Fine. So here they’re delicious livestock. Where you come from they’re delicious registered people. Big difference, I get it. Doesn’t change that they taste the same with a side of mashed potatoes.”

Twilight rolls her eyes, while Rarity goes back to steadfastly ignoring her meal. After I finish with mine, reach over and grab her bowl, and finish that off, too. No sense wasting food we’ve paid for, right?

When Twilight and I are finished eating, we head back to the Center to sleep. Tomorrow I get my first badge. Before I fall asleep though, I take out my éTech and type in a note about the Snorlax. Loose lips aren’t my problem to deal with. I grin as I close my eyes and drift off.

Waking up bright and early, I get ready for my second gym battle. After some careful prep-work -Mostly talking to my pokémon and getting us all pumped up- I head towards the gym. The main door says it’s open, and I hurry inside. There’s the same trainer as before, and he looks determined.

“Hey, it’s you! Here to try for Winston again? My Pokémon are a bit stronger than last time.”

“Heh, sure, you’ll make a good warmup. Tell ya what, I’ll let you pick your pokémon first.”

“Ha, as the gym trainer, I have to anyways. Alright, let’s see how you do!” the battle goes more or less the same as the first, but with less hits on me. Smiling, he lets me past, and I see that Winston has filled in a large section of the gym with fresh new dirt, and there’s a few grass-pokémon under the soil.

“Ah, Anthony. You’re here early. Let’s move to the other side of the gym, alright? My wife made a request I let her pokémon stay here during the day this week, so I’m letting them nap along that wall.”

“No problem, I’ll take you on anywhere you want, won’t change the end result.”

Winston leads me over to the other side of the gym, and nods to me. Then, he throws out his Hippopotas, the Sandstorm starting almost immediately.

I grin. Just as expected. I grab the ball off my belt, enlarge it, and toss it into the field. “GLaDoS, use Sunny Day!”

Winston seems surprised as the Grass-Electric type enters the field. Immediately, it begins concentrating, and the sand clears away, allowing the light coming in through the windows to become intense, to the point where it’s really painful to look at. No matter, I came to win, not to see the field.

“Vine Whip!” Before the slow-moving Hippopotas can react, a vine extrudes from the ground, GLaDoS rooted in place as it begins to lash the sedentary foe repeatedly. The braided whip doesn’t seem to do much, but it’s keeping the Hippopotas off-kilter.

Winston tries telling it to bite, and I can only smile. Voltato vines are really toxic. “Oh, try a little faster, I think you almost got it that time!” I yell at the Hippopotas, laughing and waiting for the Ground type to get its surprise.

The hippo, as instructed, takes a huge chomp out of GLaDoS’ vines, and rips them off, chewing them sullenly until...

“Hlurk!” The pokémon suddenly begins turning purple all over, and begins to gag, trying to get vines out of it mouth, but it’s too late. Winston hurriedly recalls the pokémon and puts it on a machine, probably a healer.

“Damnit, I should’ve remembered. Those things are everywhere out in the fields.” Winston shakes his head, evidently upset with himself. GLaDoS, meanwhile has retracted its roots and limps back to me, looking as mournful as it can and making pitiful noises, though it doesn’t look that hurt.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s just a flesh wound. Go ahead and rest for now.” I say, as Winston throws out his next pokémon, his shiny Nincada. I respond by sending out Geodude, who looks at the bug and gives it a glare. Nincada doesn’t respond. “Geodude, Rollout.”

“Nincada, Dig!” Winston shouts, and the pokémon speedily tunnels under the ground, only a small poof of dirt showing where it went. Geodude rolls right past it.

“Magnitude!” Geodude stops himself suddenly, flinging himself into the air as a result. As he comes down, he brings his fist down faster, and smashes the ground with something along the lines of a 7 to a 9.

The nincada pops out of the ground just behind Geodude, looking a little dizzy. However, it recovers quickly as Winston yells for it to Sand-Attack, and the little bug catches Geodude right as he’s turning to look at it. My pokémon yells in anger, clutching his eyes.

“Calm down and use Defense Curl!” Even higher defense means Nincada’s moves will be practically null. Geodude tucks his arms around his face, and Nincada takes the chance to begin scooting around him again.

“Now Magnitude again!”

With an explosive burst of speed, Geodude slams the ground again, sending out short ripples in every direction. It’s not as powerful, but it does trip up the Nincada, and gives me enough time for a move to finish with.

“Alright, Tackle it at 3:00!” I don’t want to risk the Sand being a problem, so I decide a bit of a directional cue was in order.

Geodude lifts himself on one hand, and brings himself down like a hammer on the Nincada, bringing a shriek from the pokémon. Geodude hefts himself off, and Nincada looks worse for the wear, but not seriously injured. Winston recalls her before she can get injured further.

“Alright, let’s go another stage: Go, Barboach! Start it with a Mud Bomb!” Winston yells, his Barboach materializing and immediately firing a large, hard ball of dried mud. The direct hit sends Geodude flying, and lands under dozens of pounds of dirt piled over him, his hands sticking out.

I grab one arm and yank him out of the dirt with a lot of difficulty, but once unburied, I return him and send out GLaDoS once more. The sun has faded by now, but he should still be fast enough even without Chlorophyll boosting him.

With a quick rooting, my Voltato anchors itself and begins extruding braided vines with which to smack and entangle the slippery Barboach, who is heading for the pool as quickly as it can. It is, however, slowing, and finally just stops, too exhausted to keep battling. This fight is going way easier. I eagerly wait the last pokémon Winston has in store, and he nods to me.

He grabs his last pokéball, and throws out his Gible, the dragon-ground pokémon highly resistant to all my pokémon. Still, I can beat him! I know it, there’s no doubt in my mind.

Well, maybe a little, but not that much. I throw out Carvanha’s ball, and it releases the fish in midair over the pool where my pokémon drops into the water. “No Mud Sport, no Sandstorm. What’s your plan now?” I ask Winston, a bit of a taunting tone in my voice.

“To fight well, I’m not supposed to win every battle. After all, I’m the first gym leader.” Winston says, and points at my Carvanha.

I chuckle. “Carvanha, leap out and use Ice Fang!”

“Dig under!” Winston yells, and the Gibble practically vanishes down a hole, leaving Carvanha to miss entirely, though it thankfully lands near enough the water to flop back in. Before it can, however, Winston shouts another order. “Take Down from beneath!” is his command, and I watch as the ground boils under Carvanha, and my psycho-fish is launched into the air. On its way down, I’m struck with inspiration. “Ice Fang on the way down! Use the physics in your favor!”

The fish twists to fall face down, and the Gible looks up in time for the two pokémon to basically lock jaws, the two falling over from the impact. Both seem unconscious, so Winston calls it.

“Heh, good job.” He recalls his pokémon and I do the same for mine. “Alright, c’mere. I have for you, in my power as a Gym Leader sanctioned by the Pokémon League, a badge to show your mastery over this first of many gyms. I present to you: the Soil Badge. May it bring the fertile growth your pokémon need to continue your journey.”

“Thanks, I’ll be sure not to underestimate the other leaders. They might actually be difficult.” I look at the shiny badge in my hand, like an outline of a pile of dirt, a single verdant leaf sprouting from it. The beginning of something. I smirk.

“You beat me fine this time, but keep in mind, you outleveled my carefully-tended, specifically depowered pokémon by an average of, what? Four levels?” I look at him in surprise. “Oh, by the way, each gym comes with an interface that checks each pokéball you carry to make sure they’re legal and to check for performance enhancers. It also lets the Leader know what level each of your pokémon is, though it won’t tell us what those pokémon are. Keeps folks honest. I once had a trainer come in who thought he was truly hot shit. Had bought some illegal stat-boosters, and tried to fight me with a Blastoise more than ten levels too low to have evolved naturally. So I used my actual team.”

“What, a Golem at about 120?”

“No, I had my Swampert, Garchomp, and Golurk inform him that what he did was illegal. Then, they confiscated his pokémon - by putting it into a headlock, mind you - and escorted him to the jail. Under one arm, because he wasn’t being particularly cooperative.” Effective, I must admit.

“Impressive. So how often do you get challengers who try to come in with illegal pokémon? Like, the league as a whole?”

“Well, I get about two or three a year, along with about a half-dozen folks who think I don’t know what items are legal for use or not in battle, and try to bamboozle me with flashy tech. Because, of course, I’m sixty-three and therefore cannot use the League’s instant messaging.” He flashes me a grin. Jeez, he barely looks thirty. “As for the League as a whole, I’m not sure. Probably a bit higher than I get personally, but I don’t have a hard number. Oh, and if you see one of those, ah, pudgier nerds trying to sell something that looks like a screen on a handle with two deely-bopper antenna? Inform the police. It’s illegal because it usually just zaps your pokémon, and is generally just a cruel device.”

“Is that really what it’s supposed to do? Why would someone make that and assume someone’s stupid enough to buy it, not knowing what it is or where they got it?”

“Because it does work, unfortunately, or it’d be easier to just let them be. It makes your pokémon become enraged. A lot stronger, resistant to pain, etc. But, it can do long-term lasting harm, is addictive to electric types instead of working how it’s advertised, and it sometimes blows up in the users hands. Also, it tends to make your pokémon not like you in the slightest.”

“Alright, if I see one I’ll let the cops know. Anyway, I’m off. Twilight’s probably still waiting for her turn, so I’ll let her have a go. Seeya Winston.”

“Oh, here. Have my number; I can’t remember the name of the place, but the League members and their friends hang out at a club a ways from here. I’ll send you a text when the next get-together is. You seem like a nice guy.”

We exchange numbers, I thank him again, and make my way out o the gym, with the badge pinned to the front of my jacket. I get outside and show it to Twilight. “Whaddya think?”

“Very nice. Anyways, I’m going to head in. Wish me luck?”

“Sure. Also, here’s a tip: Save Spheal for Gible if you can. He’ll be useful.”

“Will-do. Rarity is over at the Battle Park, if you want to wait for me there.”

“Sure. Seeya in a bit.”

Chapter 23

I get to the Battle Park and it takes a few moments to locate Rarity. Then I get an idea. I walk up to her. “Hey, whatcha doing?”

“Working on some choreography.” She’s concentrating hard on the display before her, her pokémon doing the splash-in-place thing she’d discovered. Meanwhile, her Sewaddle was sitting on her shoulder, with an enormous leaf in its mouth, which it was nibbling slowly away at.

“Well, I got my badge. I think the next thing that should be covered is a cooperational double battle. We have a pretty diverse team between us. We should figure out how well they can work together, right?”

“Oh, I don’t know if I’m really up for battling. They have something there, but I can’t... quite... grasp it.” she begins to mutter under her breath, occasionally shouting things to her pokémon. That fish of hers is gleefully keeping up the splashing, and even Ledyba is keeping her balance.

“There’s really not much available to either of them honestly. That’s the point of needing to be creative. Though Feebas will take you far if you give her the chance, outward appearance or not.”

“Mhmm. Now let me see... neither has a very large move pool, so perhaps...” She trails off, and stands there, thinking for several seconds. “Oh, I’ll need to think this over for a little while. You two can stop, if you’d like. We’re taking a break, dears.” She sits down and pulls a stylus out of her éTech, and begins doodling on it. I didn’t know it had a stylus...

“I’ll just leave you to that.” I walk further into the field and think about those pokémon I hadn’t seen before. There must be lots more... I pull out my éTech and go over what I should search for. “Let’s start with the obvious.” I pull up the Pokédex’s search function and use a voice command. “Look up Eevee’s evolution tree. Exclude Flareon, Vaporeon and Jolteon.”

The machine in my hand beeps a few times and pulls up Eevee and Espeon, Umbreon then Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon and... holy crap! “Eliminate Espeon and Umbreon, and run a comparison of the remainders.”

A few more beeps later a chart is pulled up with a comparison of base statlines, known abilities and known movepools for Eevee, Leafeon, Glaceon, Sylveon, and ten others. I quit the voice commands and just x out the pokémon I’ve already seen before, and enlarge the graph a bit.

Looks like they’ve discovered the rest of the type variations. One catches my eye though. I cancel out the others and look at the Fighting type, and hit the ‘data’ button.

-Hostileon, the Strife Pokémon. These warlike pokémon will fight until they are physically unable to. While many can at least be stopped and held in place, some will fight until they die of exhaustion.

They can level entire mountains by themselves in a week, but will be so exhausted afterwards they might suffer heart failure.

Instead of blood sugar, they have adrenaline in their veins, constantly keeping them battle-ready. However, they are highly prone to heart failure.-

Jeez, this sounds like one hell of a bruiser. Apparently it’s the opposite of Umbreon, leveling up during the day with low bond strength. Yeesh. In fact, according to the data, it’s supposed to have a powerful negative bond.

“A pokémon evolved through the sheer force of hate...” The idea makes me shudder. “That’s harsh.” Trying to find a better thing to read, I go back and look at another one, the Ghost-type. thank goodness most Ghost-types aren’t actual ghosts, just rather spectral. They’re usually quite friendly in f-

-Spectreon, the Tormented pokémon. It is said that these pokémon are the spirits of deceased Eevee, murdered by the trainer they trusted and buried in a crossroads at midnight.

They have a keening cry that tears at the soul and heart alike. They have no mercy nor love in them, for they were betrayed in a past life.

The faded sheet wrapping their bodies never comes off, and there is nothing to be seen underneath. However, their burning, ghostly pawprints burn until the dawn's light extinguishes them.-

I think back to the games themselves. Yeah some of the entries were dark, but... “E for Everyone my ass! This is getting downright sick! They can’t all be like this... who’d do that to an Eevee?”

Shuddering, I slide to another, hoping for something lighter. There, the Flying type. Please don’t be something like ‘dropped off a cliff’...

-Zephyreon, the Silver Lining pokémon. These fluffy pokémon float on their puffy, air-catching coat. They're so soft, that their fur is often used to stuff pillows for the very rich when it's shed.

The puffy, fluffy coats of these pokémon catch the air and repel most forms of weather. They can float hundreds of miles on a strong breeze.

It is hard to acquire these pokémon, as they only appear from places with a strong connection to the sky and wind.-

Breathing a sigh of relief, I look up the picture for this one. I can’t help but giggle at the sheep-like poof of silvery-white fur, and the little swirl of fuzz on its forehead. It looks like a Swablu with legs!

“So that’s interesting. I’ll have to get my hands on an Eevee sometime.” Suddenly a little dark blue icon catches my eye in the ‘related pokémon’ list, indicating a Dragon type... I decide to check this one and save the others for later. A Dragon Eeveelution... wow.

-Drakeon, the Regal pokémon. These regal-looking pokémon are very rare. They are coveted by collectors, as their scales shimmer even more beautifully than a Milotic's.

In spite of their grand appearances, they are fussier than a Persian, and will pick on any pokémon that they think is stealing the attentions of its trainer.

While they are beautiful pokémon, they have an ugly temper, and will often harm or even 'remove' pokémon they see as threats to their meticulous grooming and attention standards.-

Heh, cool, the typical Dragon type. Wonder what moves it can learn... eh, I’ve wasted enough time on this, I should get some practice with Double Battles. I stand up and wipe the grass off my pants as I start looking for trainers. Best bet would be one who has at least one badge... unfortunately it seems I’m the only one who wears them as badges, so I have to ask around.

Eventually I find someone who looks like they’re about ready to leave town. “Hey man, where ya headed?”

He turns to me and says “I’m headed for Seashallow Port to get my next badge. What’s up?”

I grin. “I was looking for a double battle but most of the trainers around here are a bit under my league. Whaddya say we have a battle before you leave?”

The guy shrugs and starts walking towards the nearest Arena. “Sure, I’m always up for a battle. Three pokémon, double battle, no outside items?”

“Works for me.” When I reach my end of the little outline of the arena, I toss Geodude onto the grass and Carvanha into the moat, addressing them. “So this is gonna be a bit new, but you’re gonna have to work together on this one, think you can handle that?”

Carvanha snaps its jaws with vigor, and Geodude thumps his ches- er, his chin. I think that’s a chin. Either way, my pokémon seem ready, and my opponent is throwing out his pokémon; a Spearow and a Fletchinder. That explains the guy’s heavy glove...

“Now, seeing as how both of those have a disadvantage to my team... I’m gonna say you have a trick up your sleeve.”

“Eeyup. I already got an HM. Er, not one that’s all too useful here... but I’ve also got some TMs! Fletchinder, Steel wing the Geodude! Spearow, U-Turn the Carvanha!” He points his fingers at my pokémon, and I begin to react immediately

“Carvanha, Aqua Jet, now! Geodude, Rock Throw!”

The pokémon immediately go cross-court, going after the pokémon targeting the other. The Fletchinder is stricken out of the air and into the moat by the Aqua Jet, while the rock stops the Spearow mid-flight and leaves it with a goofy face as it hits the ground.

However, not all was in my favor. Carvanha was swimming in a distinct circle, a large scorch mark across its side making it grimace in pain. Geodude has his ‘karate man’ pose up again, and that Spearow is circling menacingly.

The Fletchinder thrashes and splashes in the moat, screeching in pain and fear. The other guy recalls his pokémon before any permanent injury can accrue. Then, he throws out a Wingull, who begins to turn in a long arc.

“Alright, let’s try again. Spearow, Iron Wing! Wingull, Water Pulse! Concentrate on that Geodude!” And the two pokémon race at mine, who is already hefting a chunk of stone and aiming. Thank goodness I don’t have incompetent numbskulls for pokémon. However, Geodude can only throw in one direction...

“Carvanha, try and take that Water Pulse for Geodude!” The fish doesn’t look very enthusiastic, but goes for the intercept. The aquatic blast shifts and thrums, and Carvanha ends up upside-down as Geodude pegs the Spearow in the face again, this time taking it out of the fight. Unfortunately, the combination of the burn and the Pulse has also taken Carvanha out of the fight. Still, I’m one up in the fight.

I throw out GLaDoS and think of a plan. Might as well start with the basics. “GLaDoS, Sunny Day. Geodude, Rock Polish!” The two pokémon begin their prep work, as my opponent orders his Wingull to fire a Water Gun at Geodude. Heh, he doesn’t know what Voltato do. Yet...

“GLaDoS, intercept that attack!” The smaller pokémon takes the brunt of the attack, climbing onto Geodude’s back and extending a ball of roots like armor around the rock-type pokémon’s core.

“Now Charge!” Luckily, the resulting electricity won’t hurt Geodude. GLaDoS starts charging and sparking similar to what I used to do with my powers making me miss them briefly before the jet of water hit GLaDoS, and the sparks leap up the water and zap the seagull out of the sky.

“Geo!” “Tay-to!” my pokémon cheer, Geodude raising a fist triumphantly as the Wingull is recalled before hitting the turf.

The trainer I faced curses and swears a few times, before pulling out a payment chit, and transfers 1000 to me. I can’t help but smile, even if he’s scowling and storms off towards the pokémon center instead of the town’s exit.

I decide to go gloat. After all, my pokémon did excellently, and I do want to show them off. And get them healed on the kiosk I saw on my here. How do you not notice something like that as a trainer? The kiosk only has room for three pokémon at a time, and is a lot slower than the pokécenters, but still.

Once the healing process is finished after a few minutes, I take the balls back and shrink them down replacing them on my belt in the order I had them in before. I don’t want to accidentally toss out the wrong pokémon at a critical moment.

After a while of just relaxing, I see Twilight walkup. “Hey Twi. You get your badge too?”

“Yeah! Tepig was knocked out, unfortunately, but he recovered to watch the last part of the battle. I think he’s really progressing.” She smiles broadly. “And, I fought a trainer on the way over here; I beat her, too! I think Tepig’s almost in his twentieth level, if I’m making my calculations right.”

“Heh, then in that case I’d say he’s about ready to give us a show. You’ll be the first of us to get a pokémon to evolve, even though under normal circumstances it should have happened for Ledyba first... You’re not doing too bad.”

She smiles at the appraisal of her accomplishments.

“So, how about we see how Tepig does? If he wins... well we’ll have to see if you are accurate with your math.” She smiles, and we head off.

Chapter 25

I recall that squid-like pokémon I saw back at the battle park, and I figure I might as well look into it. But I don’t know the first thing about it. I figure I could start with it’s coloration.

I filter it out to only show Pokémon with a mainly purple color, and I get the usual stuff. Koffing, Weezing... yeah yeah. Exploud, Swalot, keep scrolling... Jeez, how many of these things are purple anyway? Guess I never thought about it before.

Alright, here we go. Maskary... huh. Weird. I poke the ‘more info’ button and get a look at the general info. Ghost type, okay. Secondary type is... Normal? That’s really weird. Not a bad combo but... weird. I pull up the data entries on the species.

- These pokémon inhabit old theaters and other places where acting was once common.-

That’s it? They’re just... actors? Wow, that’s pretty lame. Known moves are just a bunch of status afflictors. Eh, it has Shadow Punch, so that’s something I guess. Metronome? Weird, but... whatever. Oh well, I guess I’ve seen dumber. What else is there?

It evolves? Eh, pass. What about that Pyrdendron thing. Now that was cool. Where can I get one of those... Hey, a basic form.

- These pokémon are very weak, and rely on their protective parents to survive. They live in large clearings burned to ash for them to grow on.-

- Almost totally incapable of movement, they simply soak up the nutrients left from forest fires on the jungle floor.-

- These pokémon resemble inanimate plants, though they are capable of scorching unwary insects that try to eat them.-

Wow, do they all suck before they evolve? This is just ridiculous. Maybe there’s a good ice type native to here. Lemme see, sort by type ‘Ice’ and by region to only found here... hmm. ‘Amebost’? sounds... unimaginative, actually. Still, maybe it’s worthwhile, it is an Ice/Poison combo, which I’ve never seen done before.

These pokémon keep their single-celled bodies coated in a layer of ice to keep themselves intact.-

- The powerful toxins these pokémon brew are kept safely locked away in their icy bodies.-

- These pokémon cause virulent pandemics when they're thawed out. In spite of this, they're actually quite friendly and caring.-

Well now, that sounds like a pokémon. Guess you have to have a few duds here and there though. Besides, in this world they weren’t designed by some Japanese guy, these are all actual creatures... I guess it’s acceptable to have some that’re just ‘okay’

Wait, this thing... holy shit! I take another look at the data for Amebost and pay closer attention, making a few realizations. This thing is like a plague bomb! Melt the thing and you could wipe out the planet! What the hell!?

That’s just begging for some noob to hit it with a Flamethrower and doom everything in existence!

In spite of the virulent nature of their toxins, the poison denatures after less than a day.-

Breathing a terrific sigh of relief, I feel a little better. At least it’d only wipe out... wait, they live on mountaintops, which means any toxins released would go straight into the tradewinds and go all over the plane- aw crap!

Fuck this, I’m going to bed. Pokémon, man. If they aren’t dopey and weird, they’re catalysts of impending doom!

Throwing myself back on the hammock, I swing gently back and forth until the sun is below the horizon. I can’t sleep, though. There was mention that Amebost evolves. I have to know... does it get worse? Better? Just as bad but different? I don’t want to look, but I can’t not look either! It doesn’t help that the girls are sleeping perfectly fine.

I finally passed out sometime in the later morning, and get up to the smell of breakfast. Twilight’s making what looks like flower sandwiches, and Rarity is preparing some vegetarian trail mix or something. Someone is cooking something, and I’m a little startled to see that it’s just a few pancakes left near my hammock.

Oh well, breakfast could be worse. These ponies would probably urge me to eat a bunch of weeds, so pancakes are nice. And they are. Apparently Rarity is a cook as well, and not half bad either. Guess you learn something new every day. Sighing, I reopen the pokedex app. Guess it’s time for more learning... let’s check out that crazy gas-bomb thing. It evolves so...

-These towering monstrosities are permanently frozen in a thick layer of ice that keeps them insulated.-

...That’s about as generic as you can get. You could just say “It’s an Ice-Type”, but no, we gotta make it sound cool. Next.

-Through an unknown mutation in their bodies, they've begun producing a wide variety of extremely virulent toxins capable of spreading through the air. To protect others, they form hard shells of ice to isolate themselves.-

So now they tell us that they are super hazardous and have no idea why. How informative...

-One of the primary symptoms of becoming infected by these pokemon is an intense fever followed by 'the Chills', in which the victim has such an intense fever that they feel as if they are being frozen to death.-

So now it’s not a poison, it’s a sickness. God, maybe I should catch one simply so I can do some real research. Oh well, I guess there are other pokemon with some lackluster entries. I think over what the little map on my etech said. The GPS said it would take about two to three days, so I guess today is just going to be... walking.

Cross-country travel isn’t all landmarks and wondrous discoveries I suppose.

Bored out of my mind, I walk along with my head back. After a few minutes, I see a shimmering shape, far away and high in the sky. For a moment, I’m ready to discount it as just another pokemon when I see that it’s trailing a rainbow... and it’s at least two miles up.

No fucking way... I rub my eyes and look back. It couldn’t have been Ho-Oh, this region is nowhere near Johto!

Racking my brain for answers, I remember something from the first episode of the show that talks about Ho-Oh, and the pokedex data that was used later, which states it ‘flies around the world’ on seven-color wings...

I don’t know whether to dance with joy because I just saw my first legendary, or cry, because it’s two miles straight up from here. Wait... Photo evidence! I may not be able to catch it, but I can get a picture!

I hold up my éTech and snap a photo of the giant bird as it flies by. I look at the screen and see that Ho-Oh ended up looking like a red and orange blur. That could be anything! I go to take another picture, but unfortunately I seem to have forgotten that Ho-Oh was moving. It’s long gone by now, shit!

“Uhm, Anthony, what are you doing?” Twilight asks, sounding concerned.

“Oh nothing, I just saw one of the most incredible, rarest pokemon possible and I only got a crappy photo of it.” I hold up the picture for the girls to see. It looks like it has wings for sure, but other than that, it’s just a reddish-orangey smudge.

“Really? Uhm... it looks like your camera didn’t get a good picture. I’m sorry, Anthony.” Twilight says, sounding unsure. “Uh, what pokemon was it?”

“Ho-Oh. Legend has it that seeing Ho-Oh will... uh... something about eternal happiness? Or was that good luck? I haven’t read up on it in a long time. Either way, it’s supposed to be good.”

“Oh! That’s pretty neat. Er, not to ruin the moment, but maybe we should keep going, then? Maybe it’ll bring good luck in your next gym fight, right?”

“Yeah, maybe. Though if I had a legendary on my team, I wouldn’t need luck.” I shrug, readjusting my bag on my shoulder and continue on. “I mean, truth be told, what we have compared to what we could have... Well, let me put it this way. Most trainers have at least six pokemon before their first Gym battle.”

Rarity and Twilight look unsure of themselves. Twilight speaks up first, saying, “Are we supposed to have that many? Because it didn’t seem like a requirement.” She sounds worried, though, and her eyes start flicking back towards Autumnwash town.

“Nah, it’s not a requirement. It’s just that, well, competitively it’s more favorable. I mean, more pokemon means you can last longer and you have more options available, right?”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Maybe we should try catching more pokemon? We’ve had good luck so far, but I read that there’s always a chance it won’t work as often as we’ve seen so far.”

“Yeah, there are hundreds of variables, most of which can’t be controlled. Even in the most promising situation possible, there’s still a chance to mess up. There’s no clear way to tell the way something will turn out. That’s the chaotic nature of... nature, I guess.”

The girls don’t look reassured, but they seem to accept it. We begin to walk again.

“Although it can work the other way, making an easy capture out of a situation wherein, by all accounts, you had practically no chance of success, like when I caught Geodude. Any pokemon, no matter how strong or weak, can be caught, but there’s still that element of randomness.”

I go back to watching the sky. Maybe Ho-Oh will pass by again. Maybe...

As expected, nothing of interest really goes on during our trek. Aside from seeing Ho-Oh, this is just slogging through the wilderness with just a trail, worn in by the countless people before us... yeah there are some wild Pokemon, but they aren’t interesting since they’re so much weaker than what we have. Not worth the effort to catch them either, as we’d have to spend a while raising them up to match our current team. Or worse, just let them lag behind and barely use them.

The few trainers we come across are either passing us towards Autumnwash, though still up for a fight, or are just waiting for travelers. We make a fair amount of money fighting these trainers and improving our double-battle skills, or our single-battle skills, depending on who we fought. The only thing of real note is when the wild pokemon were suddenly around level 15 or so. It was a sudden, jarring change and I nearly lost a couple pokemon to surprise attacks and wild pokemon ambushes. we quickly learned not to leave the road, as narrow as it was becoming, except to make camp.

That said, my team is getting a workout. I would like a Fighting type to help round out my team though. Maybe a Ghost type would be a good trick to have up my sleeve, but I doubt we’ll find any wandering the plains.

I make a mental note to head back to Krosa forest at some point. The Pokemon there definitely show promise, and according to the map, we barely got a glimpse of the massive forest that practically bisects the entire region.

When we finally find a place to lay down for the night, I find myself bored again. I’m kind of dreading another species binge... well, actually, I remember that the Gardevoir that one guy had looked quite a bit different than what I’m used to. Almost like it was wearing a tabard instead of a dress.

Maybe he just had her wear that instead. Is that dress removable? I doubt it, but... I take out my éTech and, sure enough, the entry on Gardevoir mentions that it is a ‘region-specific variant’, and that them having that tunic sort of thing is normal.

I wonder if there’s a variety of Jynx that doesn’t look like a racist drag queen... Nope, that hasn’t changed. Oh well.

However it brings up a few others as ‘Otaria-specific variations’, including Salamence, Sableye, Vespiquen, and Roserade, among others.

I end up staying awake scrolling through the list of pokemon I’m interested in, especially the ones that look different here. Salamence looks much more territorial, and Vespiquen, though not that huge a difference, is certainly nice to look at... but of course none of them or others in their evolutionary tree are around here. If I wanted a Combee, I’d have to walk all the way back to the first forest we came through, dang. It lists there being a chance to find one further into the fields, but that’s something like twenty miles away and in the middle of nowhere, for a couple percentage points of chance. No thanks.

Wait, it lists pokemon by location. I wonder... I use the GPS to pinpoint my location, and call up wild pokemon confirmed to be around here. I try to look for a Fighting type among them, but no such luck. I suppose that makes sense, but I would really like a bit more pokemon. My team is pretty diverse as it is, but not that diverse...

Oh well, I guess I’m happy with my team for now. Okay, now I should be asleep. The girls nodded off a while ago...

Chapter 26

Another day of trudgery continues on, very little to distinguish the morning. We left a pair of bug catchers lamenting their decision to challenge Twilight and I to a double battle, and even leveled our pokémon up a bit. Still, the day is nice, if a bit overcast. I hope it doesn’t rain or anything, since it says there’s something like another half-day after this one of travel until we reach the city, and I didn’t exactly pack a drying pan.

It really does seem to take forever, though that’s probably due to a lack of any form of landmark. This twenty-mile expanse looks exactly like the last twenty-mile expanse. And turning around to see the exact same thing as when you’re going forward is really flippin’ trippy. God, how big is this region!? Well, I guess it took Ash a year to get across Kanto, and that’s one of the smaller regions, and was traveled by someone with little actual experience. Looking at the size comparison according to satellites, Otaria could fit two Kantos in it and still have room for half of Hoenn. Man, I’d kill for a motorbike. Or a drivers’ license.

The day continues to grow more and more gray, until, at last, it finally decides to start drizzling, but it’s definitely leading up to something bigger. In a hurry, we decide to set up camp early, as getting sick would not be a fun experience this far from any cities.

I turn to Twilight. “Let me guess, Miss Causality. Hypothermia and being stuck in the rain is not related in the slightest and is just a coincidence?”

“Well, it depends on how long you’re in the rain. Too long, and you cool off enough for bacteria to overwhelm your immune system. It doesn’t cause it, per se, but it certainly does you no favors.” She finishes setting up the tents inside a temporary shelter in the form of a rain-shield bubble she’s cast as well. Best thing about telekinesis, that is has over fingers? The ability to do eight or nine things all at once. Still can’t scratch an itch too well, though.

“Well at least you agree that not all weather is safe. And when we find the right Pok mon, I’m going to cure you of your belief that loud noises are perfectly fine and can’t cause your eardrums to shatter.” Thinking on that, and I look through the Otaria’s locator to tell me the nearest place we could find a Whismur. Apparently it can be found in some place in the mountains called ‘Mushroot City’. If I can get a pokémon who can scream with the volume of a jet engine, I wonder if getting one to let out a mild shout would be enough to prove to Twilight.

Or I can try right now. I call up the data entry on Whismur and hold it up for Twi to see. Unfortunately, I get a less-than-satisfactory reply. “What’s a jet engine?”

I sigh. “Shut up and go to sleep.”

I plan on taking my own advice, but I soon find myself being dragged back to the pokédex. I can’t help it, but I have to find out more about this region. There’s nothing else to do while waiting out the rain, anyways, so there’s no reason not to. That, and my scholarly curiosity compels me to study any new information on this world I can possibly glean. Nobody got to be a master by being an uneducated moron, and I will be a master!

Always been partial to Grass types, I’ve already seen Pyredendron... but what of Grass’ sister type? I look up any Otarian Bug types I don’t recognize. I see a typical Bug/Poison type. Of course, as if there aren’t a ton already... Oh well let’s get a look at- woah.

- These pokémon are surprisingly hardy, living virtually anywhere in Rustoil they aren't exterminated from. They can ingest materials even other poison-types find too toxic. -

Dude... this thing could give a Swalot a run for it’s money... and this thing is teensy! Only about a foot tall! Impressive. I might have a new addition to my catch list. How close are we to Rustoil... fuck that’s far... Oh well, Masters can’t be lazybones either I guess.

Let’s see what else there is... ooh, it evolves. Seems to become much more bipedal and.. the first entry makes my eyes widen.

- These pokémon carry organic 'tanks' on their backs, that allow them to create and mix dangerous chemicals to spray at their foes. -

Bio-alchemists? Good god that is... awesome! Man, maybe the trip to Rustoil will be well worth it. They certainly have a dubious moveset too... Clearly used for destabilizing a team with status afflictions and seems to favor swarm tactics in the case of it’s pre-evolved form... very nice.

What else is on here in good ol’ Otaria? Actually, now that I wonder, why is Rustoil the only mentioned place you can find Smokroach and Kemikroach?

I look up travelogue data on it, and blanch at the information that comes across. It’s apparently highly polluted, so much so that everyone wears some form of mask or face-covering there, if they want to go outside. It’s built onto the side of a mountain, and just lets its waste pour down the barren mountainside to collect in a large pool under the city. Gross, and unsanitary. They also apparently have a working nuclear reactor, though they’ve, it seems, come up with some uses for the waste in enhancing the abilities of certain poison-type pokémon, like Muk and Garbodor.

Well, that is the kind of culture shock I think I’ll spare the mares from. Not everything in the world is something to be proud of... and dumping waste? Nuclear reactor? That’s just begging for a Hedorah attack!

But it seems to also have it’s own individual Pokémon league... how does that work? Oh well, enough geography. Onto more Pokémon... How about the Fighting types again.

After scrolling through the ones I’ve already seen, I get to an interesting one.

- Wakurai, the Trainee Pokémon. A Wakurai is almost all muscle and dense, tough bone. They can withstand the harshest training, and often find themselves fighting overwhelming odds, just to improve themselves. The last thing these pokémon do before evolving is forge a weapon they will carry for the rest of their lives. This weapon represents their path in life. -

Huh, neat, and it seems to have branching evolution, like Tyrogue... but pretty different. Rather than evolving through experience with a certain fighting style, this one works on a sort of... honor scale.

If a Wakurai beats enough pokémon all on its own, without any intervention, it becomes one thing...

- Bushidan, the Honorable Pokémon.These formidable pokémon have grown ornate, organic armor to protect themselves from all attackers. They dispatch their foes with inhuman speed. -

But if it loses a bunch, instead it turns into another, one that refuses honorable combat.

- Lonin, the Treacherous Pokémon. These pokémon have turned themselves from honorable combat, and seek only to win, regardless of the cost. They will jealously stab any pokémon in the back if the Lonin feels its place has been usurped as the strongest pokémon in the group. -

And if it swaps in to deal the finishing blow several times, it can turn into something completely different.

- Sensinja, the Rebellion Pokémon. These calm, peaceful pokémon use ancient arts to render themselves hard to see, and use the utmost stealth to avoid enemies. If they must fight, they always try to end the battle in a single blow, or to use a variety of powders, poisons, and other methods to debilitate the foe, before escaping. -

And each one apparently comes with an item and a unique ability they can’t use without that item. Coooooool...

What else is there? Hmm... how about an Ice type? Well that’s an interesting looking one. Like a reptile.

It’s the middle of a line, though, which starts with just a water-type with Snow Veil. Starts out timid, but this middle evo, called Velocial, looks really cool. Pun intended.

Let’s look at it’s ‘baby’ form first though.

- Aquana, the Marine Iguana Pokémon. These small pokémon hide on the cold rocks near Windchill. They are adept swimmers, and are remarkably resistant to cold. -

Okay, enough introduction, moving onto the cool-looking one.

- Velocial, the Ice Raptor Pokémon. Stalking Windchill Island's shores, Velocial hunt in packs. They can also swim amazingly well, hunting large fish, or even Wailord. -

Wailord!? How big are these- 4'3"!?

Holy shit, that’s what I call big power in a little package! I think I’m done for the time being though. Looking at this small screen for hours can’t be good for my eyesight.

Bed time... it takes a bit, but eventually the rain just becomes white noise and I drift off.

When we go to stop for lunch the next day, I sit down and pull out my éTech. Flipping the cover off the front, it opens where I left it last night, and I get ready to change to another page. However, something from the bottom catches my eye: an evolution to Velocial, named... Zubzilla? Ooooh, now I have to read up on it.

- Zubzilla, the Calamity Pokemon. This Pokemon, on average, weighs eight-thousand, seven hundred and ninety-four pounds, and are roughly fourteen feet and nine inches tall. Taller and heavier varieties have been reported, but there’s been no proof of this -

No proof? What would keep a trainer from getting conclusive data...

- These near-mythical pokemon are so rarely acquired, that it wasn't until a particularly dedicated trainer captured an Aquana, and evolved the resulting Velocial, that anyone realized they were even related. A slate-gray Zubzilla lives on Windchill Island that has been known to swim after and sink ships, and once even attack a shoreline village that made use of a nuclear reactor. Now, the only reactor in Otaria is in Rustoil Metropolis, where the sludge is used to enrich and empower several local poison-type species -

- There have been no known cases of a trainer successfully catching a fully grown Zubzilla. Of the few who have tried, only one came back alive, and was too traumatized to speak on the subject -

- Once, a Zubzilla brought a veritable ice age upon the southern half of Otaria, breathing a powerful stream of radiation that stole the life and warmth from the land. It is said that a giant moth-pokemon from another land saved the land by posing as the sun, banishing the chilling winter and warming the land -

- There's been twenty-four Zubzilla attacks on major shipping lines and cruise vessels in the last ten years. In each case, the pokemon killed or critically injured more than half the crew and passengers, and it has taken dedicated combat vessels to drive off other attacks -

...I want to go home now, mommy!

Chapter 27

I realize that I’d set my éTech to ‘read out loud’ so Twilight and Rarity, who heard all the entries on Zubzilla, are staring at me in horrified shock. I really can’t think of anything to say, so I figure I’d let the mares speak first.

“Th- that sounds awful!” Rarity says, the first to be able to say anything. Twilight looks to shocked to actually speak, just dumbly staring at the device in my hands.

“Well... it could be worse right? They could be actively hostile. And live on more than one island on the entire planet... Plus, a trained one would be fantastic.” I fail at reassuring the girls, but fail even more at trying to reassure myself.

“It... it hunts people?” Twilight’s question is accompanied by a fearful tremor in her voice.

I shrug. That’s not new to the pokemon world, that humans can be targets. “Well, it’s a carnivore, and I guess people are the best for larger pokemon, seeing as how we are bigger than plenty of pokemon, so we would be more filling. And we have no chance at fighting back, because we’re pretty much just squishy meat-bags in a fight.” I pause for a moment. “Life’s a bitch ain’t it?”

Twilight and Rarity just look at me like I’m crazy.

“Well what do you expect? We’re hairless apes in a world where a potato has more defensive capabilities. We just happen to be a lot more adaptable and resourceful. It’s why trained pokemon are tougher, they’ve got a leader rather than just instinct. But technically if we didn’t have that, humans would have gone extinct years ago on this world. We only survive because we make up for lack of power.”

Twilight and Rarity exchange glances, but nod. “This... this world seems a lot more dangerous than it did at first glance.”

“And I’m sure Equestria is completely free of dangers. No such things as living mountain-ranges, giant flying scorpion-lions, fire-breathing dragons, numerous creatures with petrification abilities, hostile wood constructs... need I go on?”

“Uh- uhm, I sorta see your point... but ponies can take care of most of those problems pretty easily. We have magic. Humans don’t, you’ve said this many times. How did you get to the point where all of this, living with pokemon and being able to simply catch them is a normal thing?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I’m not terribly well-versed in the history of this world. I’d suggest we find a library or something if we want answers to that. But I think it’s clear we survived by having a mildly symbiotic relationship with pokemon. That Nidoking in Krosa forest for example. You couldn’t concentrate to use your magic. If it weren’t for Spheal, we’d be messy, trampled pancakes.”

“Well, to be fair, anyone can be caught off-guard.” Twilight mumbles, turning away from me.

“Whatever, I’m just tired of saying over and over that this world is dangerous and that we should just live with it. I mean, it can be a great place too. Twilight, when Tepig evolved, how did that make you feel?”

“I- I don’t know how to describe it. I felt... accomplished.”

“Why? Tepig did all the work, you just told it what to do. Sure you feed him, and care for him, but there’s plenty of food and comfort for a Tepig out in the wild. That’s what I mean by semi-symbiotic. Technically you don’t really need each other, but once you are together, you share your experiences. Fear, happiness, sadness, accomplishments... That’s how it works.”

“So... friendship, basically.”

“Yeah, but kinda different. I mean, sure some people get along without pokemon, and some people don’t even like pokemon, or just treat them as a means to an end that benefits them. But in the end, when you have a pokemon, it’s less of a friend and more of a life-partner. A pokemon can grow to trust you and care for you. That’s why pokemon abandonment is treated so harshly. It’s not illegal per se, but socially, it can be one of the most cruel things you can do.”

Twilight and Rarity nod. “I would never abandon a friend!” Twilight says. “And I’d never abandon a pokemon, regardless of being a friend or not.”

“Some people will do horrible things to pokemon, and most of the time, they do it knowing it’s wrong but they do it anyway. Like the Chainers. The point is, yeah, the world’s really crappy, but it’s not all bad as long as we have our pokemon and prove that treating them badly is never the answer. Even if you can make insane profits on them, it’s not really just to do so.”

Rarity seems to take that in stride, but Twilight looks a little down.

“Think of it this way: We’re the example, but some just don’t follow it. There are bad people, just like there are bad pokemon or bad ponies. But we just need to ignore them, and teach them a lesson if we come across them. The world is dangerous, but that doesn’t mean we should just give up, go home, and hide under our covers. Imagine how little we’d know if that was everyone’s mindset? How far would Starswirl have gotten if his ideal was ‘I’d rather not test or experiment, because the unknown can be dangerous. I won’t bother.’?”

Twilight heaves a sigh. “That’s... that’s not the problem. Those ‘Chainers’. They were going to kill us, just because we were there. They- they didn’t even know us. I could understand if one had looked into something maddening, and gone crazy; that’s happened before. But an entire group, so casually discussing murdering people? Stealing pokemon? Friends, essentially? Why? Why would anyone do that?”

I shrug. “I don’t know because I don’t know what their goal is. And they probably do it because it helps them achieve their goal somehow, and if that’s the case, who cares what they do in the process of reaching said goal? They seem to be in the mentality of the ends justifying the means, which makes killing random, innocent passerby totally okay from their point of view. And those are the kind of people that need to be stopped or they just keep doing it.”

Twilight nods. “I- I guess. uhm... Let’s just- just keep going. For now. I need to think, if that’s alright?”

“Alright, but it’s still raining. And for the record, you guys smell awful when wet.”

Twilight simply shrugs. “Alright. I’ll just... be in my tent, then.” She zips the opening closed, and I hear another sigh from her direction. Rarity turns to me.

“She needs time to parse this. Canterlot is a wonderful city if you’re well-connected, but it’s a poor place to learn that there are ponies, and other beings too, that are not intrinsically good or orderly.” Rarity slowly zips up her own tent.

Well, that does make a bit of sense. I guess if you grow up in a place where the worst thing a higher-up can do is call someone a bad name... you don’t get much world experience with mean and nasty folks... man I can’t wait for this rain to stop.

About a day and a half later of the three of us stewing in our separate tents and we, or at least I, am about to crack. Finally though, the rain starts to slow down. Not stop, but the three of us unanimously agree that it’s light enough to walk through. If we don’t get moving soon, I’m gonna go insane.

So we pack up our stuff, do our best to keep it dry while we put it all away, and head off down the trail. I’m glad I at least have a hat.

Along the way, we come across a guy with a huge backpack and a cart being pulled by a Swampert. As we draw close, he slows down, and turns to us. “Hail, travelers!”

“Actually, it’s rain.” I say, not even cracking a smile. I hate being wet... “But if it does start hailing, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“Ha! Here, come here. I’ve got an awning on the side here.” He pulls a cord, and a wide awning opens on the side of the cart, and I can see advertisements that had been concealed underneath. Twilight, Rarity, and I all crowd under the awning, as the man smiles. “There, just a little drier, for now. By the way, I’m a traveling trader, if you’re interested in any purchases...?”

“Whaddya have for sale?” I can’t really think of anything we are lacking aside from more potent healing devices. Maybe I could use a few Pokeballs, but those can only be sold by League-approved stores, no way he’d have them. “I doubt you’d have much for us unless you sell umbrellas.”

“Ha, ha! I actually do. However, I specialize in stuff for trainers, mostly Berries and the supplies to grow them. I also have a few of the elemental Gems, and a few of the elemental Stones, though the Stones are rather expensive.”

“Don’t really need any stones or gems. Ya got any Leppa Berries? How about a portable planter, too?”

“Yeah, got a buncha the Leppa berries. I sell ‘em by the box, hunnerd-and-twenty five a box, guaranteed to have at least fifty in the box. I also have Pecha berries, if you’ve got a sweet-tooth, and some boxes of Oran berries. If you want, I have four Sitrus berries, too, but they’re twenty-five apiece.”

He’s pulling small wooden boxes from the back of his covered cart, along with a small canvas bag with double-fist-sized Sitrus berries.

“Yeah, maybe. You got some Berry pots to grow them in? We don’t really have time to sit at a roadside and plant trees, and none of our pokemon can fly us around to check on ‘em.”

“Yeah, two-hundred apiece, they’ve got sunlamps and humidity monitors, if you ever use ‘em for the more exotic kinds of berries. Best of all, they can clip onto a cart or other conveyance if you ever get one. They’re handy on bikes.”

“Great! One pot, and a box of Leppa berries... and a Sitrus berry. Uh, how much is that total again?”

“Let’s see... That’d be three-hundred fifty in the end. Any of the rest of you want anything?” The merchant asks. Rarity is looking over the Gems and Stones, and Twilight’s taking a look over the other types of berries he’s offering. “Ah, take your time, ladies.” He turns to me. “So, you headed to Gee-Bee Port?”

I give him an odd look, then realize what he means. “Oh, Great Barrier, yeah. Looking for another badge.” I flash my first one, pinned to my jacket, as I hand him the money. Counting it up, I still have almost 8700.

“Ah, very nice. They’re a bustling town, thanks to all that shipping they’re getting, now that their navy has kept back any further attacks recently. Also, they say they’ve got a solution to the ‘giant Zubzilla’ problem. Frankly, I think the story’s just a big scare-attempt to make folks throw money at the scientists, but I’m no marine biologist. Anyhow, anything else you might want? I’ve also got a few items for pokemon, like a few Expert Belts, and nifty thing from Rustoil Metropolis called a Force Barrier. That one’s pretty costly though, fifteen grand for it.”

“Sorry pal, don’t have that kind of cash. You sell anything for Water types though?” I doubt Carvanha needs any more of an ‘edge’ but it does tend to lag behind if there’s no water around.

“Hmm... not really. Unless you mean for working around water types. I have a nifty pokemon-sized Surfboard, but nobody’s wanted it yet. It’s buoyant, and smaller pokemon can just stand on it like a platform in a pokemon battle.”

“Sounds useful. How much for it?”

“Eight hundred. It’s big enough you could use it if you felt like.”

“Alright, deal.” I hand him the money and watch as the girls decide. I explain the purposes of the gems to Rarity, and that if she wants to be a coordinator, it’d be best to look over the berries rather than the combat equipment. I get into explaining Pokeblocks and poffins and the like, and Rarity decides to buy one box of each of the main varieties, along with six Berry Pots. Her last bit spent, we no longer have that solid, pure gold coin with us. Frankly, at this point, I’m glad to be rid of it. Don’t wanna get mugged and threatened over it again.

Although the girls are interested in the evolution stones, I explain that none of our pokemon use them, so we end up finalizing our purchases including the umbrellas, Twilight picking up one Fire Gem, and we bid the merchant farewell.

I must say, out of all our investments, I’m most happy for the umbrellas right now. I plant my Sitrus berry in its pot and we continue on our way.

Chapter 28

These umbrellas really are useful, the only problem being the wind, but at least we made sure our clothes were insulated. So at least only the parts of us that aren’t covered are cold.

Shivering, Twilight off-handedly mentions she might want to turn back into a pony, if she didn’t have to worry about the town coming up so soon. “This kind of w-weather wouldn’t b-be so cold then.” The wind and rain is picking up again, trying to lift away our umbrellas and soak us to the bone.

“Yeah, yeah, like I said. We wish we had fur, so we invented clothes. Unfortunately we can’t exactly cover everything or else we run into the problem of making breathing difficult. Just gotta... tough through it.” I manage to beat back stuttering and shivering just by tensing up and forcing my body to stay still aside from walking, though I notice it’s not worth it quickly, as the strain tires me out quickly.

Finally, we come to another large wall, this one concrete and forty feet tall. The top has crenulations on it, and several armed guards are standing in the rain atop the wall. We approach the gate, and I can see a few of the guards tracking our progress, and the glint of an eyepiece is visible for a brief second from the guard tower.

I’d bring up over-paranoia, but then again, the Chainers are about, and the wall’s probably for defense against those Zubzilla monsters. Though from the info I gleaned, I have a feeling those walls wouldn’t really do much.

As usual, it’s silently agreed between us that I’ll do the talking when we get up to the guards. “Hey guys. Let us in? Kinda crappy out, we’d just like a place to dry off, please.”

“Show us your trainer cards. There’s been Chainer activity nearby lately.” The guard is behind a thick pane of glass with wire inside, reinforced and likely meant to repulse pokemon attacks. I can see that the three guards inside the booth by the gate itself are all armed, and there’s a Victreebel leering at me from where it hangs on the ceiling.

“No problem, sir.” I hold up my éTech an pull the actual card out of the little holding slot in the back. Taking the hint, the girls do it too, holding them up to the glass for the guard to get a good look at. We don’t wanna try anything funny with these guys. They mean business.

“Drop ‘em in the slot, we’ll have to run them through the database.” He gestures towards a box that slides out when pulled, but has to be pulled back the other way to get anything out, making it impossible to use as an avenue for attack. Well-made, really. Either way, we drop in our cards, and the guard swipes them, one by one, on a reader. “Alright, they check out. Sorry for giving you the stinkeye. There’s been too many attacks lately, and the Chainers have been getting bolder. Here, have a city-map download. We’ve been giving them out for a few weeks now; it just adds on to the existing Map app and lets you see the cities in detail, too.”

“Thanks. And actually, we appreciate the approach you guys have. We had a nasty run-in with them. Glad to see the response team is on the up and up.” I nod at the guard as we get our cards back and, having our éTechs updated, move on into the city.

To my surprise, the growing wind and rain is barely affecting the town at all. I mean, sure the wind’s still blowing here, though it’s subdued by the wall and tall buildings, but the rain hasn’t stopped what looks like an active market, and people are rushing to and from the various buildings. There’s maybe one umbrella for every eight people here, and there’s dozens of pokemon visible, wandering with people or around them.

“Huh, guess the rain is pretty normal around here. Oh well. Let’s find a place to shack up for a while to dry off...” I use the new, more detailed city-viewer to search for the nearest pokemon center. It’s barely a twenty-second walk away, and we move in that direction immediately.

Getting inside, it seems wet travelers is as common as dirt, because a Chansey wearing the Center hat comes up to us with towels. I knew these places were helpful, but... damn that’s helpful.

A Nurse, but not a Joy, walks up to us shortly thereafter, as we rest at one of the nice, resin-topped tables. “Greetings and welcome to the Great Barrier Port Health Center! We serve as both a human hospital and a Pokemon Center, and have a dedicated Pokemart and a small cafe on the second floor. Is there anything you need help with in particular?” She seems sincere and kind, and she’s followed by an Audino with a Center hat, just like the Chansey, who is already distributing more towels to newcomers.

“No thanks. Just a warm place to sit down and dry off is all we need, thank you.” I proceed to wipe all the water off of me, the girls doing the same, but Twilight seems to still be getting used to human actions as she shakes afterward. All I can do now is facepalm and pretend I just met her...

However, the Nurse doesn’t even blink, and just says, “Alright, if you need anything, just say so. The head nurse is currently very busy, but after ten each evening, we host pokemon battles between trainers and the nurses, to keep everyone sharp. You have a nice day!” She turns and leaves, heading to the next table of new arrivals.

I turn to the girls. “Yeah, I’m sure it sounds kinda weird to you, considering it involves fighting, but battles are pretty much the universal greeting or conversation around here. Think of it like a sort of dance or song that everybody knows. Heck, most couples that end up getting married meet the same way bitter rivals do. Kinda cool if you think about it.”

Twilight thinks it over for a second, then blushes bright red.

“Really Twilight? You’re going to make a big deal about this? Battles are just an activity. You act like you just realized me challenging you to a battle is like asking you out on a date. Do you think of anything else?”

She squeaks. If she’d been a pony, I probably would’ve been consumed with the need to hug the stuffing out of her, but right now it’s just... meh. But I’m still making my point. For a mare who’s so... averse to the idea of romance, she sees it in just about any situation that could be distantly related. Is she secretly super filthy-minded and doesn’t want anyone to know, or what?

Sighing, I sit back, continuing to towel myself off. Just looking around, I can see at least a dozen different groups, from solo trainers to groups of four, though those might simply be two groups sitting at the same table. There’s a couple of booths, including one where a trainer is having lunch with his Flareon and his Charmeleon, the two pokemon happily chowing down as he adjusts his bandana.

I figure I’d challenge him, but I also will have the courtesy to let him finish. I mean, it’s not like he’s specifically looking for challenges and just eating to pass time.

Anyways, once he is done, I walk up to him. “Fire types huh? You up for a battle hotshot?”

“Jeez, starting with puns already? Gah, fine. The Center has a battle room on the fourth floor.” He wipes up his mouth, and starts towards an elevator, Flareon and Charmeleon following behind him.

I shrug as I follow him. “Hey, if you can’t stand the heat...” Yeah that one was awful. Sue me.

We get to the battle room and a Nurse escorts us in, informing me she’d also be the referee. She also asks if I’d mind having the battle recorded, and broadcast in the town if it was good enough.

“Eh, sure, I guess I don’t mind.” I say as I step up to my place on the arena and run my fingers over my Pokeballs. “So how do you wanna do this? Two-on-two, or just a single battle?”

“Singles; this isn’t my whole team. So, since you’re the challenger, you send yours out first.” He grips a pokeball, and cocks an arm back at the same time I do. He throws his pokemon marginally after mine, and reveals... a Numel.

Well, not sure how tough it is, but I feel safe in my choice of Carvanha over Geodude. Numel are known to learn Ground moves. When Carvanha pops it’s head out of the watery moat area, I await my opponent’s first move.

“Hmm... alright, first things first. Sunny Day, Numel!” His pokemon’s eyes close in concentration, and a brightening of the field occurs, evidently simulated by the room’s lights turning brighter and hotter. Gotta love state-of-the-art battle rooms.

“Hmmm. Alright Carvanha, let’s get our own prep-work out of the way, Focus Energy!”

“Numel, Flame Burst!” The Numel fires a glob of fire and heat, leaving a massive scalded section of pool steaming, and Carvanha retreating further into the pool. However, its finished with its Focus Energy, and it’s time to go on the offensive.

“Now, Aqua Jet!” The fish-based pokemon flies from the trough trailing a stream of water, slamming into the Numel’s side. The camel-like pokemon grunts in pain, but doesn’t fall.

“Magnitude!” Numel stomps, sending a shuddering wave across the terrain as Carvanha is flopping to the water again, and the impact is strong enough to flip the carnivorous psycho into the pool, though its floating dazedly on this side as it lands.

“Come on Carvanha, shake it off, tactic change!” Carvanha blinks slowly, shaking its head before coming to its senses. It’s definitely slower in the water, but hopefully that won’t matter much. “Leer!” I figure a higher crit chance won’t help much if it’s defense is high enough. Time to fix that.

“Magnitude again!” The stomp-wave rolls through the water, throwing Carvanha out of the pool this time. the fish flops weakly, panting and definitely out of the fight.

I recall it and think on my next choice. Geodude would have less luck with Magnitude, but GLaDoS would be weak to the likely Fire attacks... Screw it.

“Alright GLaDoS, you’re up!” I toss out the Voltato and make my first order. “Shock Wave!”

“Actually, I’m switching pokemon, as the challenged.” He calmly recalls Numel, and orders forward his Flareon. Crap, I forgot I challenged him.

I think for a moment. “Alright, hit Flareon with Shock Wave instead!”

GLaDoS builds up the charge and releases it, as the other trainer tells Flareon to brace. After the attack hits, he yells to his pokemon again. “Alright, now use Fire Fang! Aim for the body, not the arms!” Double crap, he knows about the arms being toxic!

“GLaDoS, use Synthesis on impact!” The bright Sunlight can work in my favor too.

The scared potato-pokemon shrieks in fear, and the Flareon’s flaming maw closes on the little body, shaking it back and forth viciously. Flareon spits out the Voltato, whose green, growing bits shine with light. The painful wounds on its body fade, though there’s a scorched pattern where it got bit. A burn, damn.

“Use Thundershock!” my best bet is to hope to inflict Paralysis before using a Burn Heal.

The Flareon shrieks in pain, but quickly rallies, rushing forward with an order to use Quick Attack. The move blurs the pokemon into a blob of red-orange, and GLaDoS squeals in pain again, but is surprisingly hardy. But it’s looking very much disheartened.

I stop to use a Burn Heal, and the scorching disappears, though that’s my last status healer aside from berries. “Try another Thundershock, okay? If you can’t manage this, I’ll call it off, okay buddy?”

GLaDoS summons a relatively pitiable Thundershock, though the Flareon stops moving to twitch and shudder on the battlefield. Paralyzed, unless I miss my guess. The other trainer is pulling out a yellow spray-bottle from his own bag, and uses it to heal the stricken pokemon of its condition.

“Alright, new plan. Vine Whip, keep it up as long as you can!”

“Argh, Flareon, use Fire Spin!” Flareon inhales, then breathes a helix of fire around itself, scorching the vines and making my Voltato shriek again. The fiery tornado moves inexorably towards GLaDoS, and the little pokemon isn’t able to get out of the way in time.

I pull out the Grass/Electric type’s pokeball and recall it from inside the swirling flames. “I forfeit! ...good job.”

“Thanks. Five-hundred and a stop to the puns, and we’ll call it even.” he says, recalling his own pokemon. “And you did a good job yourself. I’m training to beat the gym leader here with these pokemon, and he’s a water leader. I gotta be better than just good.”

“I hear that...” I sigh and hand him his reward money. “They are tough, you might get pretty far. Need to get these guys more training though.”

“I’ve actually already tried to beat him once, and he kicked my ass. My pokemon were all around level twenty back then, and I need to get them past the twenty-five range they’re currently at.”

My jaw drops and I look at the ball containing the still conscious GLaDoS. “T- twenty-five? Shit, this little guy’s only nineteen! Why didn’t you cream me, dude?”

“Well, I did take down your first pokemon in three hits, one of which was fire against a water-type. And the second time, you had a recovery move on standby. Also, I kinda went easy on you until you paralyzed Dexter, my Flareon.” He holds out his hand. “Anyways, I’m Roger. You wanna trade numbers? You seem like you’re going places.”

I grin and grab his hand and shake it. “Anthony. Though I doubt I won’t be getting anywhere with an intended disadvantage. My luck doesn’t usually let me pull stuff like that off.”

We exchange numbers and head back down to the first floor where I go up to the counter and request healing for Carvanha and GLaDoS. It didn’t get hurt too bad due to my quick forfeit, but I’d rather everyone be at their peak.

I look around, and realize I have no idea where Rarity and Twilight are. I turn back to the nurse’ aid at the counter. “Hey, uh, did you see a pair of girls around here? Look like they’re kinda in their twenties? One of ‘em has kinda blue-purple hair?”

The nurse gestures to a group of young women, half of whom fit that description. Goddamned anime world...

Nevertheless, I head over and see if they are in the group. Maybe they decided to be a bit more social... and they aren’t there. I swear, if those girls left the building... I take out my éTech and go to give Twilight a call.

She picks up after a moment, and I see she’s in a building. “Hello, Anthony. Where did you go? You didn’t say anything, you just got up and... left. Rarity and I were worried!”

“Really? Aww. You do care! Anyway, I just headed up for a quick battle. Where’d you two head off to?”

“Oh, we’re in the café on the second floor. We didn’t know where to look for you, so we figured we’d just stay near the food, and you’d show up eventually.”

I pause for a moment. “Am I supposed to take that as an insult? That sounded kind of like an insult.”

Twilight looks at me, confused. “What? No! Nonono, you just seem to gravitate towards food!”

“Whatever.” I hang up and head up the stairs and, now that I actually look at the floors in between, I realize that there is in fact a cafe up here. I look around at the people and I do manage to pick Rarity and Twilight out of the bustle of other people and pokemon. Picking my way past a pair of trainers with a Ditto and pokemon I now recognize as a Maskary dribbling part-way onto the floor, I reach the seat with my friends. They already have a tray of food in front of them, Twilight digging into a burger while Rarity daintily eats a few slabs of what look like fried vegetables and mushrooms. Both options sound really tasty.

I look for the counter and, finding the right person to ask, purchase a burger. I really don’t get Rarity’s issue with meat though. I know they can eat meat as ponies... maybe she’s just never tried it. Wouldn’t be the first time I won over a vegetarian using the glorious power of bacon.

Chapter 29

I take my food and head back over to the girls, sitting down and taking a bite. “So Rarity. You gonna work on making those contest treats? I’d suggest starting your berries now. They can be kind of slow, and if you use them without planting them, you’ll run out and have to buy more.”

“Oh, I already began a few of the ones the éTech recommended. It’s such a useful little device.” She gently pats the bag that holds the compartmentalized, shrunken berry-growing pots.

“Yeah, say what you want about us humans being driven by violence, just don’t say we lack ingenuity. Also, if I recall what those berries do when they’re eaten raw, they can do things like cure poison and such. Grow a good supply of them and we can save money on restoration items. Hope you’re a good gardener.”

“Well, I suppose you haven’t seen my herb gardens. Most of Ponyville keeps some form of planter-box, and I pride myself on my growing skills.”

“You can cook, you can garden, you can sew... tell me, what can’t you do, Rarity?”

“I’m terrible at hoofball.”

“I’ll assume that’s either football or soccer. Eh, sports aren’t really my thing either. So while we’re here... what do you think we should do when the rain stops completely? Aside from challenge the next gym of course.”

Twilight finishes her fourth burger, folding the wrapper up and setting it neatly aside. “Well, I’d like to visit some of the establishments around here. According to the city-viewer, there’s quite a few research institutes and scientific labs and the like here in town, and several have regular tours through their facilities!” She clears her throat embarrassedly as she realizes she was starting to shout. “And, well, there’s also the marina, which apparently has a bunch of transhipment ports, along with what’s called the ‘strongest wall ever built’ protecting it. It’s amazing level of architecture.”

“Alright. No harm in playing tourist a bit. After all, what’s the point of a cross-continent journey if you don’t stop every once in a while?”

“I can't agree with you more, darling. According to the application, there’s also several places where Breeders can meet and discuss techniques. Oh, and that reminds me, I should check over everyone’s pokemon, and see if I can find any Traits they have.”

“What kind of traits? You mean like, what makes them different from one another on a genetic level? Well, I can tell you about that. They’re called IVs and-”

“No, Traits are more than that, though they’re related. Each Trait has a specific effect, above merely influencing their statistical abilities. Well, most do. they’re tiered, but I’ve only heard about the lowest tier so far. I hope that going to this meeting will help me figure out what to look for in the others. Identifying traits can help explain odd behaviors in one’s pokemon, and are able to be bred into later generations of pokemon. Some including things like a natural athleticism, while others are things like giving their offspring a much better chance to be varicolored. There’s apparently hundreds of traits already identified, with new ones constantly being codified and defined. It makes breeding each pokemon like working to create the perfect fabric; labor intensive and requiring great care and effort to make sure nothing gets damaged. Apparently, enough mental or physical damage can even be passed onto a pokemon’s offspring, like tears in a pattern being copied onto later iterations of the pattern by accident.”

“Yeah, you can even use it for competitive battling, having a pokemon know a certain move or more at birth because the parents knew it and it’s passed along. Like how Carvanha knows Aqua Jet already. It’s because its mother or father already knew the move and... passed it on. Weird stuff happens that way, and a lot of competitive breeders can be some of the best trainers around.”

Rarity nods excitedly. “Ooh, I just can’t wait for more information. I’ve already seen plenty enough signs to say your Carvanha is definitely possessing the ‘Vicious’ Trait. Makes her much stronger, but you should keep a close eye on her, as she’s liable to disobey you if you try to make her hold back or retreat.”

There’s that ‘her’ thing again. Does she just intrinsically know, or is it like people calling something male by default but in reverse because mares are the ‘dominant gender’ in Equestria? “So... how can you tell something’s gender just by looking at it? Do you have like some kind of psychic power, or a third ear on top of your head that tells you things?”

“What? No, darling, I just know a lady when I see one. And even if your Carvanha is only a lady by the loosest of definitions...”

Hmmmm... not entirely convinced. I toss out GLaDoS and set it on the table. “Tell me the gender of this living potato.”

“Male. You can see in how he stands and looks around. He’s such an adorable little sprout, aren’t you? Yes you are!” She goochie-goos GLaDoS’ ‘chin’, and the potato makes little chirring noises.

“Oooookay then. So, we check out some laboratories, a museum or two, a breeder convention... what else? I like having my days planned so that I know how long I can sleep in before I have to get up.”

“Ooh, there’s an aquarium here!” Twilight says, looking at the éTech in her hands. “It says that tomorrow, there’s free admissions after two o’clock!”

“Alright, we can go look at some fish. Anything else? I don’t think we’ll be challenging the gym just yet. We’re not quite ready to be honest.”

“Oh? Why not?” Twilight asks.

“Water Type gym. Let’s start with my team. Geodude is double-weak to it, Carvanha couldn’t do jack, only GLaDoS would stand a chance, and that’s only one pokemon. Now your team... Pignite is Fire type, you can easily guess how that would go. Spheal is in the same boat as Carvanha but worse off, and Spearow... he’s your best bet, but unless you can get him to spontaneously learn a Grass or Electric move, you’re screwed. I mean, sure you can get lucky, but from a calculative standpoint, neither of us would even make it to the leader.”

“Darn... I guess... we can try catching more pokemon around here? Outside the city might have some good grass types; the map says there’s a connection to the Krosa Forest just north of the city itself, near a large bay.”

I nod. “Yeah, that sounds good. I may want a few more pokeballs before trying to catch some more, but that definitely sounds like a good place to start. Also, Rarity, how’s Ledyba doing? You know she evolves at, like, seventeen or eighteen. By all accounts, she should have evolved before Tepig.”

“Oh... I haven’t done much actual ‘training’, to be honest. There’s just so much planning and prep work to do... I suppose I’ve become a bit focused. Perhaps it would be best to go train with all three of my pokemon sooner, rather than later. Tomorrow morning, then, before we go to the museum!”

“Alright, looks like we have a plan. Although if we head off to an aquarium and a few labs on top of a breeder’s meet which I might actually check out just for the experience of it, and all that tomorrow, I’d say we should work on expanding our collections the day after so we aren’t running around everywhere like decapitated chickens.” Rarity blanches at the term, but Twilight nods.

I look at Rarity. “What, you never heard that phrase? Well, it’s actually true. Chickens don’t rely on their brains as much as we do, so if you cut their heads off and stick ‘em on the ground, they just start running around going nuts. They just can’t see or anything. Same with cockroaches, they can live without their heads for up to three days straight.”

Twilight seems fascinated, but Rarity is looking a bit green. For the sake of not getting her lunch all over me and my lunch, I’ll leave her be for now. Twilight absently folds up the napkin she’s used to clean her face, the remnants of her... eighth? Eighth burger? Geez, I didn’t realize she eats this much.

I mean, I could probably do the same, but I’m trying to be frugal here. At 20 a burger, how much did she spend!?
More than I’m willing to, that’s for sure.

I figure now would be a good time to look through the Pokedex locator function and see what kinds of Grass types are available around Great Barrier. I don’t expect much, and it would take a bit of time for them to be brought up to speed with the rest of the team, but I want that badge!

According to the ‘dex, there’s Voltato in the area, out in the fields. There’s also some Oddish, but at a low probability. The forest gives a better chance, with a higher population density. There’s a warning, though, that the forest is rife with higher-leveled pokemon, including a fair amount in early twenties.

Well, my pokemon aren’t too far off from that, so I suppose as long as I stick with GLaDoS and expect to rely on poke damage I can manage, and an Oddish doesn’t sound too bad. A Bellsprout would be preferable, but I’ll take what I can get, and they aren’t around until much further into the northern forests.

I decide that I’ll head off to a mart and get a few more balls then I’d have just enough time to join Rarity at the little Breeder meet-up. My purchases made at the little shop here in the center and I think I’m set. As expected, there’s still a few minutes, but I figure I should just head over early seeing as how I don’t have much else to do. I pause for a moment and, taking out my éTech, open up a blank text document. I might want to take notes after all. Never know what I’ll learn.

Rarity leads the way, and the two of us get settled into seats in a fairly large building, the large internal room designed with a few small pens on one side. A few other Breeders are already there, chatting nicely. Rarity takes to the social interactions like a Surskit to a pond. She’s barely passing over the top, but she’s floating on her own merit.

Well I guess if you want to be known you gotta take the initiative. I’m not quite here for the people though, I’m here for the education. I’ve dabbled quite a bit in IV breeding and doing it for competitive reasons, but the rules seem a bit different here than in the digital representations. More nature, fewer numbers... this is gonna be a lot harder, so I better pay attention.

The head breeder, or the leader of the group, or whatever his title is, calls everyone to attention at the time the meeting’s supposed to start. Immediately, he tosses out his own pokemon, a Beartic with extremely well-groomed fur. It’s also looking much more docile than the normal Beartic.

“Alright, everyone, we have a newcomer and a guest today. This is miss Belle, and her friend, Anthony.” He gestures to Rarity and I, and the rest of the breeders smile and wave, a few chirruping ‘hello’s to us. “Rarity just recently got her own license, and Anthony is a trainer. Now, the item on the schedule for the day was Intermediate Breeding Tactics. Now, I’m sure you’ve all encountered relatively common pokemon, and a few of you may have already been commissioned to help bring specific traits into a line for an established trainer and the like. However, it’s harder to do with some of the less... cooperative species, and some of the more stylistic pokemon will have specific requirements for the their trainers and breeders. For example, some are extremely picky, like a Lilligant, while others require that their prospective mate bests them in combat, such as Salamence.”

I raise my hand. “And isn’t it also important to know if a pokemon can actually breed with another, falling into the same genus?”

The head breeder looks at me in a way I recognize from the more condescending teachers I’ve dealt with, though I think it’s because I may have asked a dumb question.

“Genus isn’t so much of a problem, as Egg Group. We haven’t yet figured out all the connections that form the particulars of an Egg Group, though it’s largely connected to their phenotype. There are, of course, some exceptions, such as the Ralts line being infertile with the Humanoid group.” He clears his throat. “Now, some pokemon mate for life, and will refuse to breed outside of that mating. How many of these pokemon can we, as a group, name off?” The breeding instructor pulls a whiteboard over from the spot where it was sitting by the wall.

I raise my hand, and chance a shot in the dark. “Swanna?”

The instructor nods and writes it down. It’s followed by Aggron, Salamence with a note that this isn’t strict for them, Goodra, and Mothim, though Wormadam isn’t listed.

I take these notes down in my éTech for later reference. I may not end up a professional breeder, but I figure it wouldn’t hurt to dabble in it a bit. I apparently have a lot to learn.

“Now, many other pokemon won’t breed without specific environmental cues. You can’t just drop them off at a daycare and expect offspring, in spite of rumors to the contrary. The Breeder-Run daycares will usually charge extra for that sort of service.”

I raise my hand again. “So if you wanted to breed Heatran or Magmar or the like, you’d want a more volcanic area, or will they be fine with just a high-temperature like a desert?”

“Well, I’m not sure about Heatran, actually, as they’re extremely rare outside their natural habitats. But Magmar actually only needs a place with high sulphur content. They use the cyclic eruptions of the material to cue them to know what time of year it is, and it’s been found that in the places they do live, there’s usually significantly higher sulphur content on specific times of year.”

That goes in my notes too. I may be partial to Grass types, but Fire types do have a certain attractiveness to them.

“So, that brings up the next part; how many people here know about how to convince a Beartic, like Harry here, to breed?” A couple of hands go up. “Alright. Any guesses from the people who don’t?”

I have no clue, so I figure I’d just stay quiet, though it looks like Rarity has an idea. “Perhaps... warmer temperatures after winter?”

The head breeder smiles broadly. “Excellent! Yes, right after the depths of winter, the time to breed begins for wild Beartic, and they take the time to find a mate for the year, while hunting and preparing for the next bitter winter. They may be ice-types, but they aren’t immune to the ice and cold.”

Ice type that needs warmth? That goes in the notes. This is a lot more educational than I thought it would be.

“Alright. How about a more difficult problem. At while time should you let your Eevee breed? Anyone who’s actually tried keeping them knows that they’re able and willing to breed virtually any time of the year, after they hit maturity at a year old.”

Shit, that one stumps me. I just let them pop out eggs until I have enough for all their evolutions. Granted it takes like a day to do that but I guess that if that was realistic, that gestation period is, like, a few hours!

“Alright, since there’s no answers, I’ll give you this one: When you’re able to take care of the pups. Like many species, Eevee bear live young, who are largely helpless for the first day. Like all pokemon, though, they mature quickly. It makes Eevee a viable food source, in addition to being versatile partners.” Rarity looks a bit green at the food ment- wait, Eevee are kept as food?

Okay, I have no problem with eating animals that could cause overpopulation, but... eating an Eevee!? Even I’m not that monstrous! Poor adorable little pokemon...

“And that leads me on to further information. However, this is rather hands-on, and it’s required our guest steps out. It’s policy, I’m sorry, but this next part is for licensed breeders only.” He nods to me.

I shrug. “Oh well, them’s the rules. At least I learned some things.” I make my way out of the building and decide to join Twilight at the labs. Not much else to do.

Project Hypergenesis

After wandering around for a while, I finally track down the only lab currently running a tour. After asking about Twilight, I’m led to her by a security guard, and join the tour group. Apparently, they’re working on a non-lethal deterrent for the occasional Zubzilla attacks on the port. It’s something called a ‘UHT’ beam, and when it’s demonstrated, it’s basically a super-laser. A red-orange beam melts and slags the test chunk of concrete easily. I can see that deterring a pokemon, for sure. After the firing, I see a group of the scientists pulling dull, gray gemstones out of the machine, replacing them with fiery red-orange gems... or, rather, Fire Gems. As the tour is hustled onwards, I catch a glimpse of the back of the machine. A Solrock is hovering in the main chamber. Huh.

I wonder what it has to do with the laser... and “What happens to the Fire Gems after firing?”

“Well, they’re expended when the Solrock uses the move. The results are usually thrown out; they’re too occluded to be valuable, and they retain no noticeable energy signatures.” The scientist says, offhandedly.

I ponder for a moment. “I assume that you’ve attempted to perhaps use a Pokemon to see if there is a way to reactivate the gem? Or try to synthesize the energy signature of the powered gem and try to reintroduce it to power the gem back up after it’s used?”

“Well, yes. The ‘Recycle’ move will work, sometimes, but the Gems get successively less effective each time they’re recharged. And simply reproducing the energy would mean we could simply use that, rather than put it in the gems. There’s still too much we don’t know about these Gems. Still, pokemon that eat gemstones or minerals seem to enjoy the depowered gems, so they aren’t going to waste.”

I just got an idea. “Could I have one? A used gem that is?”

The scientist shrugs. “I don’t see why not. They’re all donations anyways. Stevens, bring over a bucket of the used gems, maybe some of the others might like one, as a souvenir.” The assistant brings over a metal bucket full of the grayed-out gems.

I grab one and pass it to Twilight before taking one for myself. “I figure that if we ever run into Sableye again, it might help to throw some food their way rather than just trying to outrun them.”

Twilight nods. After picking out the clearest gem I could find, we continue on with the tour. They show off a few other neat pieces of technology, including a place where they’re testing using digital pokemon to help regulate and aim the UHT Beam cannon. The lab they have that setup includes what I mistake at first for a holographic projector. It’s got the shape of a feminine humanoid devoid of specific features, like eyes, mouth, or anything, with a pouring of numbers waterfalling through the image, like a hole cut out over a Matrix screensaver.

“What kind of program is this?” I reach up to touch the display to find out if it’s hardlight or not.

The displayed figure waves away my hand, ‘her’ own tiny body moving slightly away, though being nothing more than a projected torso made the movement difficult for ‘her’.

“That’s actually a pokemon. As said, we’re using digital pokemon, and we’ve recently made a breakthrough on the process. This is a Corta, and she’s actually rather young for her kind.”

I’m fascinated by this, it’s so cool! I turn to the researcher. “So, could it- she. Could she like, move around independently of a machine, like a Porygon, or is she just a projected AI?”

“A bit of both. Corta possess a few of the abilities and movement capabilities that place them very solidly in the ‘Ghost’ type. In fact, they were originally considered just ‘ghosts in the code’, which turned out rather ironically true, in a sense. A Corta is stuck to her base, but can move the base around, is what I’m saying.” The researcher must’ve realized he was starting to ramble a bit. That said, now I want to know what types she is.

I’m completely enthralled though. “A partial program with its own intelligence, simple data given an actual form...the crude requirements of a mind... this is like the combination of nature and technology but... not natural at all. And... it ages? How?”

“Er, poorly, actually. As a Corta grows, she’ll never forget anything. Unfortunately, this leads to a feedback loop, where she’ll spend more and more time thinking to keep herself in one piece, all the experience and data straining until the poor dear fractures. That’s actually the catalyst for the final evolutionary form.”

“Wait so... there are others? This isn’t like a prototype or a replica, it’s an actual species? How did you discover them, how could I find one? How-”

“Woah, woah, young man, slow down! Yes, there are more. Like Porygon, they were created pokemon, data built to become a pokemon. However, each Corta lacks a certain... spark, for lack of a better term, that leaves them just shy of becoming a true AI on their own. They’re able to exist on their own, but a Corta isn’t very intelligent without others to network with. If she’s given enough time, this Corta will eventually evolve, once she discovers that spark, becoming a person of sorts. This is when they hit their ‘Cortexa’ stage, changing from the ‘ghost’ type to what is definitively a Psychic pokemon. They are vastly intelligent, friendly, and extremely loyal. In fact, I have one living in my own éTech. It used to be an older model, but she fixed much of the software and firmware, and it became the basis for the ones now sold for quite a bit more than I make in a year.” The researcher has sat down at some point in his speech, and he gestures to a chair next to him. I look around and realize that the tour group has left me far behind. Oops... but the researcher still wants to talk, and this is awesome.

“So were you the first to discover them, or was it earlier? How long have these Corta been categorized as pokemon and not just some sort of glitch?”

“Well... in the technical sense, only about a year. However, there’s evidence that they’d been keeping themselves hidden, under the careful watch of a Cortexa of significant age, for at least fifteen years prior. And there’s evidence that the Cortexa doing the obfuscation was created, not here in Otaria where most of the earliest recorded Corta were created, but in Kanto. Apparently, some sort of laboratory malfunction happened on an island lab back then, after some sort of safety interlock was accidentally disengaged... there’s enough evidence that it wasn’t necessarily an accident.” My eyes widen a little. I- I think I know who the lab belonged to... maybe.

“So wait, was this a lab run by a researcher known as Dr. Fuji?” If this was the same lab that dealt with the Mew cloning experiments...

“Ah, I’m not sure...” Drat, another theory left wide-open. Oh w- “But I could check, if you’d like. It’s still on record.”

“Th- that would help me out far more than you could imagine. But in the meantime, I’d like to know more about Corta... has anyone looked at its source code and tried to alter it or write a new one?”

“We would... if we knew how the human brain worked better. You see, each Corta is made either by interplay between a Cortexa working with another pokemon, even another Cortexa, or by sending an electrical pulse through a human brain. There’s systems the Cortexa that was first discovered showed us, which map out the results of the electrical pulse. We only use donated brains, because the material used is... crispy, afterwards.” Lovely.

“Hmmm, interesting. And they learn over time? How? Do they just observe, or access whatever database they’re connected to and, for lack of a better phrase, download it into their memory?”

“All that and more. They’re fully aware of their surroundings. As strange as it sounds, that projection is physically made of her data. It may be projected into thin air, but it has some substance. That said, any Corta you meet is likely to be fairly ephemeral. Here, let me show you how aware this Corta is. Corta oh-one-five-oh-seven, respond.”

With a flicker of the hologram’s shape, the head raises to look at the researcher. “Unit Response.”

“How... how does it know human speech? Just from observation, or does it have a sort of... scripted protocol it writes and runs as needed?”

“Much of their knowledge of languages and the like are part of the brain consumed in their creation, or added to their data as they’re created by their parent Cortexa. As for the exact responses, they tend towards the overly formal, or to very ‘robotic’, depending on the individual. Even without a full conceptualization of what it means to be an individual, they still are. They’re much more loquacious with each other, though. They communicate with other Corta, Cortexa, and the entirety of the Porygon line via data packets at very high speed. They effectively gain Telepathy with those pokemon when allied and arrayed together.”

“Interesting... What sort of reactions are noticed if they converse with a Rotom invad-” Instantly, the Corta snaps her head to face me, featureless expression eerie when combined with the sudden, biologically-impossible motion. Even the researcher looks a bit wary.

“Er, be careful about some words. Certain ‘keywords’ incite responses. That particular one brings about alarm and occasionally hostile response. Probably self-preservation at work.” the Corta doesn’t move at all, other than the data slowly waterfalling down.

“Okay... so you’ve said they can move independently, but also follow orders. Has there been any research done as to how they act in situations pokemon are usually put in, like a Contest?”

“Oh, there’s plenty of hackers, scientists, and researchers like myself with Cortas and Cortexii as their companion pokemon. Corta oh-one-five-oh-seven, standby.” the pokemon slowly slumps in place, eerie like she just... fell asleep out of nowhere. Standing up.

“Woah... that’s incredible. What’s it’s command keyword though? Does it just have a certain person imprinted as it’s ‘master control’ or does it work off of being acknowledged by it’s full, er, designation?”

“Hmm? Oh, no, I’m her trainer. But there’s something around the lines of forty Corta working at the lab, here, so its best to use their serial numbers. That said, they’re fully capable in pokemon battles, and are able to defend the systems they inhabit, so they make excellent security as well as helping with keeping everything running.” The researcher smiles gently at the ‘standby-moded’ Corta.

“Well this is all incredibly fascinating. I’d like to be a bit more involved, but I doubt I qualify to work around here. But if you have, like, a copy of some notes people have pooled together, or maybe send some of the stuff to me as an é-mail or something...”

“Hmm, I don’t have any notes I can really share... oh, let me check that data earlier. Corta oh-one-oh-five-seven, search for the data we discussed, regarding the owner of the lab.” The Corta nods, then climbs out of her little tray-like projector... or that’s what I thought it was. The Corta, now just a feminine torso with arms, a head, and a trail of sparkling data streaming from where her hips would be, climbed up the server rack, and squeezed into an open port.

The researcher turns to me again. “Also, since you’re here. I want you to have this. You seem like someone who’ll use it well.” He rummages in a drawer for a moment, before pulling out a yellow disc in a case, and hands it to me. On it is a little label, ‘TM66’. “That’s Zap Cannon, in case you didn’t know. It’s got low accuracy, but it’s got a monstrous kick, and always paralyzes if it does land.”

I nod, taking the disk. “Thanks, it should help out a lot against the gym here. I’m still kind of a beginning trainer...” I gesture to the lone badge pinned to my jacket. “But I’m not exactly a novice. I would like to know as much about the Corta as I can, it’s a really fascinating discovery.”

“Data Returned: Owner Name is a Mr. Morimoto.” I sigh. Oh w- “Project Lead for Hypergenesis Project: Dr. Fuji. Project Financier: Unknown. Suspected Financer: Unknown, high possibility Criminal. Further data on personnel available if needed.”

My eyes go wide. The Mewtwo project! Holy shit... “Uh, wow, uh. Could uh. Could I get whatever you can find on Project Hypergenesis? It’s... something I’ve been chasing for quite a while. If it’s okay with you of course.”

The Corta simply turns and goes back into the data stacks again. The researcher, though is giving me an odd look. “Where exactly did you hear about that project? I only found out because I nearly got called in on it. Everyone linked to it died within a week of the incident.”

“I know. I mean, I got rather interested in finding more about Mega Evolution, and doing a bit of digging, I came across that. A experiment to sort of... duplicate the effect, but make it permanent. Unfortunately, I keep getting dead ends and crap information. All I have are theories right now.”

The researcher holds my gaze with his own. “I’d suggest, for your sake, that you keep them as just that: theories alone.”

“Right, sorry. I know it’s dangerous but... I have a habit of letting my curiosity get the better of me. And the idea of creating a permanently mega-evolved pokemon or an artificially, genetically enhanced super-pokemon is intriguing to no end.”

“Yes, well... I’d be careful where you search.”

The Corta comes back, sinking back into her little stand. A data chip extrudes from the bottom of the stand.

I look at the little chip. The data in that card could be everything I’d ever need, answering the question of exactly what happened to create Mewtwo... But the consequences of that knowledge are unpredictable. I take it and hold it in my hand. “I’ll... think about it. If I decide to look, I will. If I don’t want to... I’ll bring it back, or wipe it. I don’t really know what could be on here and... I don’t really want to do something I’ll regret. Tell you what, I’ll give you a call when I make my decision.”

“Alright. Here’s my number then.” He pulls out a business card. “I wish you well, but I sincerely hope you don’t take this course.”

“Part of me agrees. It won’t be a snap decision, I assure you. Anyway, it was great talking to you. I learned a lot. I look forward to talking to you again sometime. Hopefully with less... strenuous subject matters.”

“Indeed.” He holds out his hand to shake mine. As I reach for it, the door slams open, and I turn to look as a group of... oh no, Chainers.

Chapter 31

I try to calm down. Need to think straight... First thing’s first, call for help. I hold my éTech at my side, and do my best to inconspicuously dial an emergency number. If I can get the cops in on this, this might go down better than my last encounter.

The Chainers stepping in are all the black-and-gray grunts, the stylized circle-A signs on their shoulders the simple red the majority I’d seen so far have. Then, one with a blue undershirt and circle-A steps into the room, and looks at me and the researcher. A group of pokémon lumber into the room shortly behind. A Gurdurr, a Houndoom, and a Baltoy with chains branded into their skin, the ‘chains’ made of interlocking C’s.

The blue-shirted Chainer points at me. He has a gun in hand. “Drop what you’re carrying, and put your hands up. You get real lucky, and I won’t shoot to kill ya.” He gestures with his other hand. The researcher has stood as well, slowly putting his own hands up.

“Easy there man, we’re cool.” I say, trying to stay calm. I hit the speaker button on my éTech as I drop it. If it doesn’t break when it clatters to the floor, whoever’s on the other end will hear every word... I just hope the cops here aren’t stupid...

“And we’ll stay cool if you don’t do anything. Hey, grunts! Grab the server racks, and set up the EMP bomb.” My eyes widen, and I hear the researcher inhale sharply. The guy looks at us. “What, you got a problem? Can’t have these little digi-pokers go squealing to the authorities.”

After a minute or two of standing and waiting, I see that the server room is connected to the UHT Beam Cannon chamber, and that a bunch of grunts are already loading the cannon into the back of a truck backed up to a hole in the chamber wall.

I decide to play stupid, see if I can get the guy to spill the plan. “So what do you want? Money? I- I got money.”

“Nah. We got the laser thingy, and we’ve almost got those unknown things too. We’ll be able to release his majesty soon.” The Chainer smiles at the words, but his grin is eerie and disquieting.

I gotta stall him, keep him talking. “Majesty? Who’s that? Sounds important.”

The Chainer looks straight at me, his eyes wide, manic, and his grin showing more teeth than a grin should be able to. With a slight turn of my stomach, I realize his mouth was cut so it opens farther. “His Majesty will dance from the stars as he unslumbers. And with his waking, the dream shall break, and the dreamed shall break with it.”

I come up with a stupid response to stall some more, ignoring the creepy face the guy has. “So... like the Wind Fish? How do you wake him up?”

“The unknown components are the words of a sleeping god. Words loud enough to be heard by anything. They are written in the world itself, free to dance amongst themselves. They whisper intent.”

“So why do you need a giant laser, then?”

“Idunno. To blow up the moon? Maybe it’s in his way. I’m just following orders, here.”

Okay, this guy is clearly nuts. When are the goddamn police gonna show up!? I dialed 911, and I set the speaker mode on so whoever’s on the other end has just heard people being threatened and a giant Doom Laser is being stolen! Where are the authorities?

The UHT Beam device is loaded up, and is driven away. I’m a bit unsure if I’ve actually called anyone, given how long it’s been. The grunts are clustered up in the now-empty UHT Beam chamber, and are talking. The overseer-guy is looking towards the researcher when a thunderous CRASH! echoes through the building, and an immense shape comes through the ceiling. A Metagross, easily a story and a half tall, minimum, crashes through the roof, and lands on the grunts. With a metallic roar, the Metagross opens the massive, plated jaws on its underside, whirring teeth and a minor vacuum effect pulling in dozens of Grunts in a single action. Their screams alone are terrible, but the way the Metagross is looking around... geez, I’ve never imagined one so huge! And it seems so deadly serious.

But, given that it’s targeting the Chainers, I assume it’s friendly... to a degree. I try to think of what I can do with the distraction before the leader-guy remembers he has a gun and shoots me through the head. I could try and grab my éTech and send out another emergency message. Or I could try and bolt. But I doubt I could outrun their pokémon, much less a bullet. And I’d be leaving the researcher behind.

Out of options, I reach down and grab my éTech as fast as I can and try to figure out what I can do. My brain tells me I’m taking too long and so I just shove it in my pocket and return my hands to the air and wait for the Metagross to be... finished.

I don’t get the time, however, when the Chainer leader grabs me by the shoulder and slams me into the side of a server cabinet, one of the few still here. I freeze as a cold metal muzzle presses painfully against my head.

I don’t want to die...

The cold metal suddenly disappears with the sound of an angry chicken drop-kicking something to death. I look up, and see the Chainer leader, stuck up to the hips in the ceiling, twitch once. A few drops of blood drip down off the leg above me. Looking slowly back, I’m face-to-face with an inordinately female Blaziken, who is helping the researcher to his feet. Why do birds even need breasts?

Either way, I look around at the chaos and think of what to do. The Metagross is slowly, carefully turning in place, giant legs knocking huge chunks of roof and walls down in the process. It’s almost comical, given that the pokémon looks insanely guilty about messing up the lab so much. The Blaziken steps next to me, looking me over with quick, sharp movements. The moment the ‘examination’ is over, though, she inexplicably hugs me. Whoo, real soft there... Her feathers are like down.

“I uh, I’m happy I’m alive too?” She grives me what can only be a sultry grin, and I feel a creeping unease. Slowly, she strokes my chest, and I’m beginning to feel distinctly uncomfortable.

“Uh... uh...” Is she feeling me up!? Oh god what the hell?

Suddenly, another Chainer grunt comes through a wall at us. Not like he was doing under his own power, but rather like he was thrown. Given the huffing, puffing figure on the other side of the new doorway, I’d believe it. I recognize that long coat and silvery glove easily.

“Xavius? Oh man am I glad to see you! We gotta stop meeting like this... could you uh, take care of this Blaziken before she starts ripping my clothes off?”

“What? Oh, Elise, cut that out!” He snaps, and the Blaziken sheepishly walks away. She’s definitely sashaying, and stops once she’s behind Xavius to blow a kiss at me. I have no idea how to feel about this.

“Huh, hey Anthony. What are you doing here?” He looks at me with minor confusion. “And Dr. Halsey, how are you?”

“I’ve told you before, call me Richard. Mother always prefered to be called ‘doctor’ Halsey.”

I stand up and try to clear my head of the last few confusing minutes. “Uh, I was here on a tour, but I stopped to chat with, uh, Richard, about Corta and such. The Chainers just broke in and... Wait, their EMP didn’t go off, did it?”

“We found it one of the other labs, it wasn’t activated by the time we got there. Hard to make an EMP with a slagged bomb. Anyways, what were they after? I can see there’s no UHT Beam, but did they want anything else?”

“Not that they said. I tried to keep their leader-guy talking, but he just started spouting crazy stuff about a dreamer. Didn’t even know why they wanted the beam. But if it can take out a Zubzilla or the moon as he guessed, we’re in trouble.”

“A... dreamer? Huh. Did he say anything else that stood out?”

“Don’t know, they guy was a nutter, couldn’t tell what he was even talking about. He did say something about some unknown parts or something, though.”

“Hmm... unknown parts, unknown parts...” He starts pacing, and I can see that his silver glove is slicked with red blood.

Yeesh, how hard did he hit that guy? Hard enough to send him through a wall at least, but he doesn’t look that strong... maybe he’s tougher than he looks.

“So anyway-”

“Wait, did he say ‘Unknown parts’, or ‘Unknown components?”

“Components. He was kinda freaking me out. Now that the danger is relatively over, I think I should make sure my friends are alright. Twilight left with the tour group, so she may still be in the building”

“Unknown components... Did he mention anything about the words of a god?”

“Yeah, wouldn’t say who the god was though. Kept calling him Majesty.”

“Shit. I need to go check on something. Take care, Dr. Halsey, you too, Anthony. Elise, top of Peanuts, let’s go!” Xavius gets a hug from Elise, who leaps, taking the two of them to the top of the titanic steel-type.

Shit, I forgot to get his number... oh well, that can wait for another time. I pull out my éTech and, thankfully able to do a three-way conference, call up both Twilight and Rarity, opening with ‘are you okay,’ and ‘where are you?’

“Anthony, dear, they’re telling us that there’s been another Chainer attack!” Rarity says, looking both dismayed and scared at the same time.

Twilight looks relieved though. “I’m assuming you got away before they showed up then? The tour kept going, but I didn’t see you when it ended.”

I answer both of them. “I stayed behind to talk with someone. The Chainers broke in and made off with the UHT laser, saying they were going to blow something up. Tried to call for help but they had a gun. Xavius came by and just left after asking a few questions. Let’s meet up at the Rest Center, I’ll explain more when we’re together. For now, the Chainers are gone.”

The two nod, and I disconnect the call. Jeez, today has been one hell of a day...

Chapter 32

Making a quick trip through the strangely bright and sunny streets, I head to the pokecenter. I could’ve swore that it was still raining hard when I was heading for the exit of the lab, but now it’s almost too bright and sunny, and there’s very few puddles remaining.

Upon reaching the building, I head inside, and there’s a bunch of worried-looking trainers clustered around an area towards the back. I see Twilight and Rarity only moments before they notice me, and the two of them skip forward to give me a group-hug.

The crushing grips aside, the two seem really happy to see me. Twilight even says I had them worried. When the hugs are finished, and I can breath again, The two say that the crowd is getting announcements from a few police officers and the league champion, but they didn’t get a good look at whoever it was.

“Screw the champion, I’m gonna go find the guy who actually saved my life. Any of you guys seen Xavius around? I’d at least like to get his number. He acts faster than the cops do when trouble goes down.”

“I think I saw him in the crowd, I think it’d be best to just wait here, by the door, and see if he heads out this way.” Rarity says, giving a noncommittal shrug. “There’s little else we could do to track him down. Oh, and this evening, I think I should go over our pokemon. I learned a few things from the breeder’s meet-up, and I think they’ll be useful.”

I think for a moment. “Didn’t they say breeders get homework in the form of trying to specifically breed pokemon in a certain way? I don’t know much about taking care of young pokemon, but I do know that pokemon bred specifically for battle would help Twilight and me a ton.”

“Mmm, I’m not sure I can help with that right now, but I can certainly research it. Oh! I’m also a certified ‘Junior Breeder’ now!”

“Awesome, now all you have to do is win a Contest and we’re all on our way to fulfilling our goals! And you two wanted to leave...”

The two look away, and I chuckle. Turning to check, I almost miss seeing Xavius walking towards the front door.

I run up to him. “Hey man, thanks for saving my bacon twice now. I’m a bit of a trouble magnet to be honest.”

He smiles and huffs a laugh. “It’s alright. Just doing my job, after all.” Another man walks up behind Xavius, tall and dark-haired. The guy is smiling, and Xavius waves him towards me. “Oh, this is Zoltan, by the way. Goes by Zoli.”

The tall man offers his hand, smiling and saying “Hey.”

I take his hand and the girls, who have caught up at this point, say their hellos as well. I turn to Zoltan. “So are you a hero too, or what? You guys run around beating the crap out of the Chainers whenever they show up like a game of Whack-a-Diglett?”

Zoli and Xavius laugh at that, but Zoli shakes his head. “Nah, I’m the local Gym leader. Best swimmer on this equatorial landmass.”

“I’m probably gonna try for the gym after a week or so, maybe. I kinda just rushed here and... my Pokemon need a bit of training still.”

“Ah, yeah, that can be a bit of a problem. The level-gap between my Gym and Winston’s is a bit far, but this entire region has fairly high standards.” He leans against a wall, Xavius tipping his hat at us before hurrying off, saying he had to be places.

“I kinda figured that out. Anyhow, I’ll see you later, I need to catch that guy.” I begin to run off, dragging the girls along with me so if we get lost, we’re at least lost together. “Gotta run!” Zoli waves goodbye with a snort, smiling and wandering off as well.

We run through the streets, the sunlight no longer intense, and try to follow Xavius. Several turns later, I see him stopping outside of a shop with a sign over it, bearing a symbol of a crossed wrench and a rifle. Xavius steps into the building after a short glance at the sign. I wonder what he’s doing in there?

I walk quickly towards the building and enter, looking around for my savior twice over. I at least want his phone number for crying out loud. Who knows when that’s gonna happen again?

The man is talking to another guy inside of the shop, making gestures at his gloved hand, and the two look at me as I step in, the little bell-dingle-noise announcing my entrance. The shop is well-maintained, but there’s heaps of mechanical parts, engines, and a collection of what look like prosthetic robo-limbs. On the other side of the shop is a series of very nice-looking rifles, pistols, and other guns I don’t know the names of.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you a bit. You seem to get around a lot and I’d-” I stop, mid-word as I see his hand and arm just sort of fall out of his sleeve, Xavius only giving a short glance down before looking back up at me. His arm just fell off, and he doesn’t seem to care.

His arm, shiny silvery and all, just fell off. Holy shit, what happened to- Shiny... silvery...

I take a look at the metallic limbs on display, and the realization clicks.

Oh, he just lost his arm and needs a prosthetic... How the heck did he lose his arm!? I go up to Xavius, now with a rather flat sleeve and look at the fake arm he’s holding in his fleshy hand.

“How’d that happen? Your arm got bitten off by something?”

Xavius just stares at me for several seconds. Finally, he blinks, clears his throat, and speaks. “Did... you need something?”

“Uh, well... I figured maybe I could get your number or something. I mean, you’ve saved my life from those freaks two times now and just just kinda leave. I figure if this is going to keep happening, I at least want to know what the hell they’re doing.”

“You know you could just listen to the news on your éTech, right?”

“Well yeah, but... come on man, throw me a bone here! What’s up with those unknown component things? Why do they need a laser that could melt a Tyranitar’s face off!?”

Xavius rolls his eyes and sighs. “Here, I’ll give you my number, but I’m kinda in the middle of getting my arm recalibrated. We can chat in a little while, okay?” He tells me the number, and I type it in.

“Fine, alright. I’ll just... leave then...” I head out the door and... just wait I suppose.

Twilight and Rarity have their faces pressed to the glass, I see, Rarity looking at the prosthetic limbs and Twilight at the engine blocks and mechanical parts.

“Heya guys. He’s in there getting his uh... arm fixed or something.”

“Look at the precision of those parts! And without magic to help mold the metal!” Twilight says, practically... no, literally drooling at the machinery on display. Ugh.

“And see the articulation on those finely detailed limbs! They’re so... elegant!” Rarity breaths, pressed bodily against the entire window.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, they’re fantastic. Hey, why don’t you get one? All it would take is having your arm chopped off! Twilight, get your face out of the window already, you’re leaving saliva trails!”

Rarity gives me an angry look, then returns to her ‘window shopping’, though Twilight looks visibly embarrassed at her actions. She wipes the drool away, and stands awkwardly off to the side a little, glancing out of the corners of her eyes every now and then at the machines.

“Seriously you guys, I understand everything is super new and all, but you are really making it hard to want to be seen with you in public. Yes Twilight, they don’t use magic. This entire city, super-wall included, was all made by magicless machinery. Now stop gawking at the engines!”

“But... but... I could take these apart! I can’t do that to a wall!”

I facepalm. “Sure, if you had the money to buy it. You already spent at least a hundred bucks on food, now you want to buy an engine block just to take it apart? Tell me exactly where we’re going to keep it.” This is slowly becoming less of an adventure with friends, and more like a cross-country baby-sitting job.

“I could put it back together...” Twilight mutters. I grab her by the wrist, pull her into the store, and drag her up to the first, smallest engine block there. It looks about the size you’d see in a moped or a something. “Here. Pick that up and tell me you can take that apart and know exactly what you’re doing, and put it back together.”

“Alright, give me one moment.” She closes her eyes, and I see the edges of her transformation begin to warp and twist. She’s trying to turn back into a unicorn... in a store... and I can see a camera right there.

“Twilight Sparkle do you even have a brain cell to your name!?” I put my arms against her back and push her out the door. “And you blame me for not being cautious about cultural weirdness in another world.”

“But- but- knowledge!” Twilight says, not really resisting my pushing, though her expression is a touch distressed.

“But- but- doing something totally impossible that could end up with you being cut open to see how you work!”

Twilight pouts, giving me her best puppy eyes. It doesn’t work. “You know what, fine. Turn into a pony right in front of a camera, use magic and pull apart an engine block, put it back together, and then spend money on it that should be used to buy food for yourself and your pokemon!”

Twilight looks down. “Sorry... I’ve just never seen anything like it. There’s so much to see, so much to learn. And... I’m not used to worrying about having money.”

“Well here’s a thought. Try and act normal for a change. Yes, everything around here is magicless. I’ve explained that to you at least ten times in Equestria and now five times here. It’s starting to become less of a culture shock and more of a headache.”

“Sorry... it’s just that hearing that everything is magicless is different than seeing and examining and studying the magicless things. There’s so many amazing things that could help ponykind immensely, but I don’t know any of it!” Twilight inhales deeply, then lets out a slow exhale. “I feel like there’s a test right around the corner, and I haven’t even started studying yet. It’s nerve wracking.”

I sigh. “You haven’t once sent a letter to Celestia about your experiences yet, have you? Why don’t you go over to a mart, buy a Pokeball, send that along with an update, and tell them to study it?” I figure a containment device that can hold just about any size of creature and then shrink down to the size of a pebble would be good enough for now.

“Actually, I’ve already sent a few reports. I already got a response, too. That ‘Antidote’ I sent them? they found it works perfectly on ponies! And for virtually anything!”

“Congratulations. You bought something at a corner store, handed it to technological simpletons, and you’re a miracle doctor.”

“Anthony, that Antidote is really easy to replicate. I could make more with a- a- a bathtub and some time! I read about something called a Full Restore. Imagine the applications if it works as well as the Antidote!”

I facepalm. “Of course a Full Restore is better. It cures any status affliction including burns or artificially induced sleep, and restores your general health to perfection. Hence the name Full Restore.”

“Yes, but I checked- Antidotes and Full Restores don’t work on humans. What you think is a great advancement for you isn’t so useful for us; what would we need pokeballs for, anyways? But a perfect cure-all a half-talented hack could create ad infinitum in their own home? And the berries! The base ingredients of most of the Potions and cures for pokemon, they grow in a few weeks here! Imagine if there were Earth Ponies growing them. Sweet Apple acres already has three or four apple crops a year, imagine if we could have dozens of Berry harvests each month?” She’s grinning at me, eyes wide and staring, and I don’t think she’s noticed that she’s taken two steps towards me.

“Then every single doctor in Equestria and elsewhere who worked their entire lives to get a degree in advanced medicine would lose their jobs to a bunch of berry farmers.”

“Well... but... but everypony would be healthy!” Her expression is still bright, but dimmed a bit by confusion.

“And you just took one of the highest paying, most important jobs to your world and told them ‘We don’t need you, so you have no more income. Sorry you went to college and studied this practice for absolutely nothing.’”

“But... what about childbirth? And there’s no indication that Antidotes work on being sick. Or for those who need surgery.”

“Still, advancements come at a cost. Do you know what those engines do if used too much by too many people?”

“Uhm... no? It’s why I want to study them.”

“Well I’ll go right past the fact that overuse poisons the air, and go straight to the fact that they run on a non-renewable resource. There have been wars over the fuel for cars. Sure they aren’t the kind where people die, but if the supplier withholds... then what?”

“I- I didn’t know that... wait, what do they run on? There’s steam engines in equestria, and those run on coal. And dragons can make coal, though you usually need to bribe them.”

“They use gasoline. They burn it like coal to produce energy, but it produces much more energy than simply burning coal. But burning gasoline also expels toxins into the air.”

“Oh...” Twilight looks sadly at the engines once more, sighs, and finds a bench to sit on nearby. She looks really glum, but she really should’ve done more research first.

“Seriously, you are so... weird. You see incredible advancements and never think about the negative consequences. Just because something helps in one way doesn’t mean it’s harmless in every other way. Heck, sometimes the ‘cure’ is just as horrible as the disease. Look up chemotherapy sometime. Anyhow, this has been going on forever, I’m gonna see if Xavius is done in there.”

Chapter 33

After I enact the typical tourist rule and get Twilight to have memorized ‘Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints’ when it comes to our worlds meshing, I walk into the shop to see how Xavius is doing.

Inside, I see him testing his arm, simply wiggling the fingers, moving the arm, etc. As I’m stepping in, he’s starting to walk out, so I just hold the door for him. He nods to me.

“Alright, whatcha need?” He looks at me, and I see that he’s a pretty good amount taller than me. I mean, I’d seen it before, but now I’m literally looking up at him. It’s a bit surreal, after so much time in Equestria, and with so many kids as trainers.

“I figured we could talk about the Chainers a bit. I mean, I’d like to know more about the people who have nearly killed me and my friends. I hate being an uninformed victim.”

“Ah. Well, there’s too little we know about them. Around... idunno, a hundred years ago? they were just a religious cult, and they wanted to ‘chain their madness’. Mostly, they captured and trained really scary or dangerous pokemon, and tamed them. First recorded instance of a Beclude getting captured and trained, so points to them. Then, sometime in the last forty years, some sort of change went through them, and some new guy or woman was in charge. Then, they started with petty crime, then violent crimes, and kept escalating from there. They say they’re advocates for anarchy, but they don’t quite act like it. Nobody in the League believes it, since they target League stuff more often than anything else.” Xavius thinks for a few seconds. “Oh, and they brand their pokemon, to make sure they can’t run away too easily.”

“Yeah, I saw that. But that lab... what would they want with a UHT beam? I mean... perhaps they want to capture a Zubzilla, but the guy who stole it said he had no idea why they wanted it.”

“Yeah. Biggest change is that they started working in cells. Each cell leader knows someone in the next cell up, but doesn’t know any cells on the same level. Only one person in each cell knows a given lower-grade cell, so each cell member is important to catch. It makes it really frustrating, because I can’t just punch their heads in...”

“And you can’t interrogate them for any truly useful info unless you were lucky enough to grab the one guy who actually had decent knowledge...” Crap in a hat, these guys know exactly what they’re doing. “But they mentioned a dreamer. Surely you know something about that, right?”

“Not really. A little, because there’s some references to it in the surviving texts from before the changeover. A few in various libraries and personal collections. My dad had a copy, but it got stolen by some punks, who ended up torching it when they got caught.”

“So what’s the plan? Just wait for the Chainers to show up again and keep kicking them down until we kick down the right guy, or what? Isn’t there some way to track the UHT laser? Personally, I’d never build something like that without putting in a way to track its location.”

“Yeah, the lab thought of that around the time the Chainers were carrying the damned thing off.” Xavius sighs. “So... got anything else you want to talk about?”

“To be honest, not really. I just figured you’d be able to help somehow. I mean... I’d like to help if I can, but without good info on what they’re actually doing we can’t fight back and do any lasting damage. Clearly they can get past ID Card checkers, who knows what else they can get into?”

“Actually, they arrived by boat. There’s now measures being implemented to prevent that in the future, but I think it’s too late. As for helping out, leave it to the professionals, please. These aren’t like those Plasma goons that one guy cleared out of Unova several years ago.” He takes off his hat for a moment, running his natural hand through his hair. It reminds me to ask about his metal hand.

However, one more thing before I ask about that. “They have the Solrock for the laser obviously, but each firing requires a Fire Gem. If they plan on using it a lot, they’re going to need Fire Gems. Why not try finding out where it would be easiest for them to get the gems and cut them off there?”

“... you mean the gems that are either imported pretty commonly or are mined by the ton all over this Region?”

“Well... surely there’s a location where it’s easiest to obtain them, right? Like a store that sells them for super-cheap, or a place that just lets random people take whatever they want from the gem piles? We need some kind of-”

“None that free, but I can think of three places they’d be the easiest to get ahold of. Mushroot has an active mine, and it’s the largest supplier of all sorts of gems, minerals, and Evolution Stones. Crevasse Village has a large amount of minable minerals, provided you don’t mind working on a vertical surface. And Rustoil Metropolis has its own port access, airlines, and mine, so it could easily have an excess of the things. Hmmm...” He looks thoughtful as he thinks it over.

“I’m just trying to get some lead on them. Yeah they’re good, but they can’t be perfect. There’s gotta be some kind of clue they overlooked.” Fingerprints come to mind, but I recall each and every one of them wearing gloves. They probably ditched their boat and left on a new one so we can’t tell anything about where they came from... shit, maybe they are perfect...

Ah screw it, I have nothing. “So. How’d you lose your arm?”

“Hmm? Oh, that... Well, have you heard about the haunted mansion in the middle of the Krosa Forest?”

“Yeah. What happened? I mean, Ghost pokemon don’t normally kill or maim. You hurt yourself in there?”

“Oh, no, one of them spooked Peanuts, and he tried to cling to me for support. Hand holding is a fine-dexterity sport, and he’s not too good at it.” Wait, the Metagross?

“Why the hell do you even have a pokemon like that? Isn’t it dangero-” I look at his robotic limb. “Scratch that, it is dangerous. Where’d you find one that fucking huge!?”

“He, er, didn’t start that big. And besides, he’s just a big Teddiursa at heart.”

“Jeez. Everyone’s got some kind of special thing going on with their team... I just got an overly-masculine Geodude, a psychotic Carvanha, and a Voltato...”

“Huh. Yeah, the ‘kinda odd pokemon’ thing is actually pretty common around here. So much OC to go around.”

“OC? I uh... to put it vaguely I’m not from Otaria. At all.”

“Oh, sorry, I just sometimes abbreviate long things. OC stands for ‘Obvious Compensation’, and it’s not just endemic to the trainers.”

“I’m just looking for a team that’ll take me to the Elite Four. These guys are great and all but...” I sigh. “They could really use some work, I just don’t know what they need specifically.”

“Hmm... Here, what TMs do you have?”

“Uh... Just Zap Cannon. That’s all we have between the three of us in the way of TMs.” I say as I realize Rarity and Twilight have come in and are standing by, just listening to the conversation. Rarity is also looking at his arm, inspecting it and just touching it.

“Well, that won’t do. Here, what’re your teams, each of you? I’ve already heard his, so I guess just your teams, ladies.”

“Oh, I just have a Pignite, a Spheal, and a Spearow, along with a Tyrunt, though he’s still really young.”

“I’m not a trainer, dear.” Rarity says, though Xavius just waves her denial off, and she hesitantly goes over her short list of pokemon. Xavius takes a moment to roll up his coat sleeve, revealing the relatively bulky, almost steam-boiler-esque limb. A grill-plate covers part of the mechanical forearm, and I can barely see a red-and-white shape inside. A Pokeball in his arm?

Either way though, as Rarity looks over his arm further, he pulls out what looks like an old CD case, and reveals the TMs within. I see eight of them with gold borders on the first few ‘pages’ of CDs, before he stops on a few others.

“Alright, let’s see... Ah! Aerial Ace. Good, handy move. For you, Anthony. I’m sure you’ll like its reliability. And for Miss Twilight here... Yes, I think Rock Smash would do well. Here, take it. Its good for reducing opponent’s defenses, and can be used to clear large obstacles like, well, rocks, from the field. And for you, Miss Rarity, I think Captivate would suit you quite well.” He grins charmingly at the seamstress, and she titters in response.

I decide to explain the use of the move. “Captivate is kind of interesting. It makes the opponent less willing to physically strike at full power, but it only works if the target is interested in the user’s gender. Can’t remember how it works when a genderless pokemon is involved though...” For some reason, Xavius’ face screws up for a moment, as if he needs to sneeze, but the expression clears quickly enough.

“So, thanks. I guess you’ll be leaving now. At least we can call you up if things get bad. I figure that my luck won’t let me go the rest of our adventures without running into those Chainers again.”

“Highly unlikely, even without any luck-skewing. Oh, and here, have a pass to the Serenity Retreat. It’s on the northern shores of the Region, but it’s a good place. I never have time to go there, but you might find time if you’re in the area. Anyhow, have a nice day. You were right, I do need to get going.” He smiles, and waves as he’s walking away, though he also takes the time to tip his hat at Rarity.

“So, let’s see what we can do with our stuff. Obviously since TMs have unlimited uses, I say we just share whatever we get. No sense in being stingy for the sake of being a jerk.”

The two agree, but pack their gifts into their personal cases. I can't blame them, Xavius was really nice, just handing away his TMs like that. There weren’t any other copies of the discs in the spots he took them from, so those must’ve been his last ones. Speaking of...

“Also, one thing that you should probably be careful of. Yes TMs can be used infinitely, they are still just flimsy disks and can break pretty easily, so make sure that they don’t bump against anything in your bag. No idea what would happen if it gets scratched.”

That bit of tutorial-grade explanation out of the way, I try to figure out what to do next. Hmm... maybe I could scope out the gym? There’s usually a spot where you can just look around from, near the entrance, and some larger gyms have spectator areas. I wonder what the gym is like in this city.

I relay my curiosity to the girls and, checking the city-viewer, find the gym. I don’t get a good look at it as it’s just a bird’s-eye view of it, but it’s not that far of a walk. “Remember, we’re just checking it out. If we try and challenge them, we’re probably just going to lose money.”

We get to the building, and see that it apparently doubles as a public swimming area. That makes me curious. We get inside the actual Gym area, which is near the main public pool, and I gasp in shock.

Huge sections of the ‘pools’ are vertical, or hanging in mid-air. I can see metal supports for glass-covered bends, but the main sections of pool are like something out of an Escher drawing. The water is also flowing, steadily, in various directions. There’s suspended sections of flooring, and I can see large floor buttons on some of the platforms.

I turn to the girls. “Well, what do you think? Not every day you see a swimming pool where you can swim up without diving first.”

“It’s magnificent!” Rarity says, looking in wonder at the graceful displays of several folks swimming along, a few of the swimming girls wearing suits with fish-pokemon themed frills or add-ons. What’s worrying is the Huntail and Gorebyss themed pair waiting to sandwich anyone coming along the streams. I look near the entrance, and see an older guy sitting in a folding chair. He kinda reminds me of someone, but I’m not sure who. Either way, it’s obvious he’s the ‘here’s what the gym is’ guy, and he looks up from his newspaper at us.

“Howdy kids! You here to challenge Zoli?”

“Uh no. Just to look. We aren’t quite ready. Do uh... do we have to swim to get around the gym here?”

Before the guy can respond, Rarity jumps in. “Can I get one of those incredible swimsuits?”

The guy chuckles. “Eeyup. Every challenger who doesn’t bring their own ‘suit can borrow one from the Gym. Those lockers over there’ll hold your other gear you won’t need, and each has some swimwear in it. Left is for boys, right is for girls, and the changing rooms are back in the public pool area.”

We stay and check the place out for a while, but eventually we leave. I turn to the girls as we exit the gym. “Let’s head back to the health center and get a room. I’m gonna hit the hay early if I want to see the aquarium and get to the forest all in one day tomorrow.”

“Go back to the forest?”

“Well unless you want to challenge the gym now, or try to level up your pokemon with the weaklings on the roadside outside the city, be my guest. I’m gonna go where I can get a real challenge, maybe catch another Grass type for the Gym.”

“I suppose that makes sense... Hey, Anthony?” Twilight turns to look at me as we start walking.

“Yeah? What is it?”

“Why is it a ‘haunted house’ when there’s no real ghosts? All the information I’ve seen says that Ghost-Type pokemon just tend to have an ephemeral or hard-to-classify nature.”

I think for a bit. “Here, let me call up a certain pokemon.” I pull out my eTech. “Look up ‘Dusknoir’ and its evolution tree.” When the Ghost type pokemon shows up on the screen, I tap Dusclops to start with and hand it to Twilight for her to read, though she opts to just have it speak up itself.

-It seeks drifting will-o'-the-wisps and sucks them into its empty body. What happens inside is a mystery-

-Its body is hollow. It is said that those who look into its body are sucked into the void-

-Anyone who dares peer into its body to see its spectral ball of fire will have their spirit stolen away-

“Yep.” I say. “Ghost pokemon. Totally harmless, just like all the others who can melt stone with firebreath or can put four-inch wide holes through solid steel with water pressure.” I slide my finger across the screen to bring up Dusknoir and hit the ‘read aloud’ button.

-The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.-

-It is said to take lost spirits into its pliant body and guide them home.-

-This feared Pokémon is said to travel to worlds unknown. Some even believe that it takes lost spirits along with it.-

“S- so it’s like a reaper? But... but how does that even work?”

“Catch one and study it. Just like any other pokemon, plant, mineral, and everything else. Duh.”

“I- I suppose... but what if that has consequences? Like engines?”

“Well we already live in a world where someone got close enough to get that information and make it back to record it. Or they just sent a buddy in as a guinea pig and studied the results. Who knows what happened? If you don’t want to take risks, then maybe you aren’t cut out for learning after all.”

Twilight looks shocked and a little hurt by the statement, but I stand by it. After all, she only reads books, so all her information is strictly second-hand. I’ve never seen her once go out and do any field-work. We make it back to the rooms easily enough. Twi doesn’t talk to me the rest of the night, but that’ll be fine. We can try talking again in the morning.

Chapter 34

The morning was uneventful, but we head to aquarium and head in. Almost immediately, it feels like home. There’s a few aquariums in Washington that blow most others away, and this is one of the few that would stand up to it easily.

Huge, solid chunks of rock, coral, and thick glass form the enclosures, but they’re artistically arranged to look like the glass had simply carved out sections of air for us. Huge, quiet pokemon swim from place to place in the water above and to each side, much of the aquarium being interconnected. In places, I can see floating streams of water, like at the gym, allowing a donut-shaped ring of water to flow endlessly, thin metal supports for hoops generating what I assume is whatever’s suspending the water.

In the first main ‘exhibit’, there’s a cliff-face under the water, caked with coral growths and pokemon. A huge mat of greenery shifts and moves on the rocky wall, shifting forward to ‘jump’ a group of smaller pokemon. I’ve never seen a pokemon like it. Looking carefully, I can spot a Shuckle, covered in drifting seaweed and huge, crusty growths.

I hate to see such a good pokemon just sitting there in the tank with nothing to do but collect more signs of age while it messes with its permanent roommates... it’s just saddening. I doubt they’d let me take it with me though, so I shoot it an apologetic look and move on. I could really use a Shuckle. Or any Bug type for that matter.

The next ‘exhibit’ spot has a fast-moving ‘river’ set up, with a surly-looking Clawitzer at one end, and a Crawdaunt at the other. When I ask an attendant, I’m a bit surprised to learn that they’re trained pokemon, and they’re there to make sure the ‘river’ pokemon don’t wander into the filters. There’s a small school of Goldeen nibbling at underwater edibles, and a Staryu is showing off its adaptability at the bottom of the ‘river’, I just barely mistake the red core as a somewhat brightly-colored rock.

At this point, there’s a bunch of exhibits to go look at, organized by sections. There’s a Dark Depths section, a Shores and Beaches area, an Ancient Seas section, and even a Ponds and Lakes section. Near all of those is an ‘open rest area’, and I can see a bunch of folks out there, even a couple battling.

I decide we should look at the Dark Depths area first as I’m interested in what could live far down below where a Super rod could reach. Of course there are the standard expectations, but Rarity and Twilight seem to be in a trance at a bunch of Lanturn and Chinchou showing off their naturally luminescent bits. I admit, they do look pretty cool with the way they’re moving. It’s as if they put on the lightshow because that’s all they can really do in there.

Then something flickers in the dark, murky water. At first it seems like just a current, but then it happens again and a shape floats up. A loud, annoyed grumble/roar combo and a set of huge fangs come out of nowhere. It scares the heck out of me, and both of the girls have gone totally pale. Guess the Lanturn woke up a Gyarados sleeping at the bottom. Still... yikes.

When the Lanturn and Chinchou scatter, the grumble noise is made again and the Gyarados’ maw disappears as the shrouded body sinks down once more.

Slowly, life returns to the tank with a few flashes of light and color in the dark tank. The faint light of a Lumineon, surrounded by a cloud of tiny Finneon lights, moves deftly around the glowing lure of a Huntail sliding through the dark.

I gape and grin at the fascinating life in here, and even see a completely new pokemon, looking like an angler fish with a bunch of tentacles and patches of shell, tiny strobing lights pulsing down the pokemon’s body as its huge, dark eyes drink in the feeble light in the exhibit.

“So.” I say, watching as color starts to return to the faces of my companions. Seeing human Rarity as paper-white as her pony form is... rather interesting though. Like temporarily she was in halfway between the two species. Twilight just looked like she might have peed herself, but from the looks of it, that seems highly unlikely.

“That was a Gyarados. Remember those fish that guy back in Uphill Port had? The one running that Magikarp game? Yeah, that’s what those red fish-things turn into...”

Rarity gulps visibly. “I- I might’ve ended up with that?”

“Yeah... but you got a Feebas. She won’t look anything like that when she evolves. So, onto the next tank then?” I’m really interested in seeing the ‘ancient’ section. Sure I saw a bunch at the reserve and Basswood had an Omanyte, but I think this will be a bit more special. I figure I’d ask an attendant what that one tentacled thing is on the way out. Getting tired of looking up the Pokedex entries.

The girls nod their head fervently, and we hurry onwards. The Dark Depths exhibit helpfully connects to the Ancient Seas exhibit.

Whatever I was expecting previously, I was not expecting the exhibit at hand, though.

The tank is a storm-wracked nightmare, foot-tall curling waves breaking against the rocky wall of the tank, a small swarm of Kabuto clinging to the simulated seafloor. An Omanyte clutches the shell of what I assume is its parent Omastar, and the two of them are anchored steadfastly to the rock wall as an Anorith snips apart what looks like a Binnacle.

Wait, can they do that? Feed on the other exhibit pokemon? I look around the tank and see a Kabutops fighting a Cradily. I’m not sure who started it, but they’re both intent on finishing it.

I turn to a guy wearing a little vest with the aquarium’s logo on it. “Sooo, do they, like, actually eat each other in there?”

“Well, yeah. We keep the extremely rare or hard to breed ones separate, though. We try to limit their exposure to us; the glass there has a hologram on it on their side, which makes them think it’s just more rocks.”

“Wait, so they just... live in a giant simulated cube and they don’t try to leave? Prehistoric species are weird...”

“Well, they have a basic explanation that they’re here because there’s nowhere else to live right now. And they know about the head aquarium keeper; he’s the only human who visits them. Says he can understand ‘em perfectly, and speak right back. Haven’t seen any evidence he’s cuckoo, so...”

“Wait wait wait, you’re saying this guy is, like, an ‘underwater-living-fossil whisperer’ or something? Geez.”

“Well, Idunno about ‘underwater’ specifically, but he’s a great lover of pokemon. Occasionally, he hands out prizes for bringing pokemon to him. Also, employee of the month gets a special prize, usually a nugget. He’s crazy rich off his old explorations.”

“Crazy or not, sounds like a nice boss. Anyways I doubt they’d be in this tank, but you got any Relicanth?” I’ve always found Rock/Water types interesting, but the fish with stone armor just intrigues me just a little bit more.

“Oh, they’re actually in Dark Depths, back the way you came. They’re pretty hard to see most of the time, though. Lack of lights and all. The whole tank is kept pressurized, so that pokemon like them can live comfortably.”

I think for a minute about what I’d like to see in the aquarium, and then I get an idea. “Gorebyss then?”

“They’re over at the beaches exhibit. There’s also several other simulated beaches, including one with a family of Swampert roughing it out in twenty-four-seven gale force winds and breaker waves. They’ve got quite the sandcastle going in there. Oh, oh, oh! Look, a Seasting is wandering in from the undertank!” The attendant points at a brightly colored, two-foot-long pokemon like a lobster/scorpion hybrid, eyespots running down its back.

“Huh, neat. Does it have a secondary type, or pure Water?”

“Actually, it’s an oceanic pokemon that’s just Rock-and-Poison type. Oh, it’s going after one of the Kabuto.”

I figure this would be interesting to watch. This is more likely to be a fight and not a typical battle. Also, I’ve wanted to see a Kabuto fight in-person since I got one in Silver...

The fight, however, is pretty damned short, as the Seasting simply comes up and, without leaving its shadow on the Kabutos’ back -which would’ve alerted the four-eyed pokemon- it launches its tail up and over its back, slamming an extended spike down and through the rock-type’s shell. The Kabuto twitches twice, leaking blue-green blood, and then is still. The other quickly make a break for it, as the Seasting eats its new kebab straight off the stinger.

“Well, guess hundreds of millions of years doesn’t change everything about nature.” I say flatly, the girls looking rather disturbed once more. “Let’s check out the beaches, shall we?”

Once more, the girls nod and hurry on, and I can’t help but chuckle a bit. We head towards the ‘Beach’ exhibit, and enter a large, completely surrounded viewing area. The tank is shaped like a horseshoe, with an actual beach at one end, sloping down to a huge reef splitting the tank, with a ‘deeper water’ section on the right side of the tank.

On the beach, there are Krabby, a nesting Wingull, and a spot where you can reach in to pet the Mudkip who’s being friendly and cute for food. The actual part where the water is has engineered waves crashing gently on it, with anemones and Binnacle scattered here and there as the sand transitions to rocky coral. The reef looks entirely natural, and has Corsola, Gorebyss, and a few other pokemon. There’s even a large eel-like pokemon with snowflake-patterned fins. In the deep water section, I can see a small shoal of Tynamo, and a horde of Magikarp just derping in a corner. It takes me a moment to realize that they’re crowded around a food output spigot.

Rarity immediately runs to the reef section, and squees at the beautiful pokemon. A Luvdisc floats up and looks right back at her. Rarity seems to be enjoying the reciprocated attention, until she sees the Gorebyss, and gasps in delight.

“So- so elegant, so... enchanting! Oh, it looks so beautiful and graceful!”

I roll my eyes and point my pokedex at the ‘elegant’ creature.

-Although Gorebyss is the very picture of elegance and beauty while swimming, it is also cruel. When it spots prey, this Pokémon inserts its thin mouth into the prey’s body and drains the prey of its bodily fluids.-

“Wait, you mean that- but- oh, why do all the seemingly beautiful things in this world have to be so icky?” Rarity says, looking sadly at the Gorebyss, who happily munches a batch of seaweed.

“Hey, gotta get that protein somehow you know? Not many nuts in the water after all. Besides, nature itself is pretty darn ‘icky’. I recall you owning a walking claw machine that licks itself and hurls soaking balls of old, swallowed hair from it’s mouth like projectile bombardment...”

“You’re just jealous that Opal gets more pampering than you.” Rarity clearly has no better come-back.

“At least I don’t dress her up in crazy sweaters, the only required criteria, for some bizarre reason, is that it fits her.”

“Oh fine, you be that way, Anthony, I’m going to go see what this adorable pokemon is like.” she heads towards the section with the pet-a-Mudkip.

I wonder if I should mention that they’re coated in a thin layer of slime to keep hydrated?

“Oh, eeeewwww!!!”

Nah, that’s totally better.

Still, there’s a huge bed of some kind of seagrass in the middle of the sandy portion of the tank. It’s odd, but I don’t see any pokemon going near it. Why not? Looking around, I see what looks like a dedicated pokedex for the exhibit set up as a stand.

I walk up and, giving a Mudkip a scratching of the chin, grin at Rarity. “So I herd you don’t leik Mudkips...”

Rarity looks at me, holding her hand at arms length as she tries wiping it off on the carpeted floor. The mudkip seems to enjoy my contact, and I’m guessing it’s grown up used to having humans fawn over it.

“I simply don’t like the texture. It felt... slimy.” She shudders.

“Well of course it’s slimy. I mean, they’re amphibious. They gotta stay wet somehow, right? Imagine if you were in the tub for so long that you got pruney all over when you got out, but it was permanent and you had to stay in the water or be wet everywhere you went. It’s like that.” I continue petting the slimy but not-at-all-bad Mudkip before moving onto the little special info pad.

Looking at the description, I see that the ‘seagrass’ is actually a bed of pokemon, a bunch of little diglett-like eels that pretend to be grass so they aren’t noticed by predators. According to this, they basically play chicken with any Krabby that come up, because the crab pokemon won’t care if they’re meat or veggie, they’re hungry for both. They’re called, boringly, ‘Sandeel’, and actually aren’t ground-types.

Oh well. I decide we should move on for now. There’s still a lot to see, after all.

Chapter 35

After seeing the awe-inspiring Storm Tank, with a Swampert family resolutely fixing their sandcastle after a huge wave took out a wall, we get ready to move out. The pokemon are amazing here, but I kinda want to get a little more actually done today. As well, I want to check out the Aquarium’s owner guy, and ask about that angler fish-anemone thing.

I look around for an old guy that looks like he’s missing a screw, as that’s the description I got earlier. After some investigating, I wind up asking another attendant, who directs me to the clearly-labeled office. Of course.

Knocking on the door, I wait for a moment. A few shuffling noises later, and an older man with silvery-gray hair greets me. His eyes are the almost-shut of someone with bad eyesight and used to squinting a lot.

“Greetings, trainers! What brings you to my office?” His voice reminds me of what I’d imagine Santa Claus to sound like. Friendly, warm, and generally nice. Also, bass enough to feel as he speaks, but that’s just an impressive baritone voice at work.

“Well, I was wondering about a certain Pokemon you have on display. I can name practically all of them except one. I’m new to Otaria and I figured you’d know more than me about the local ones...”

“Well, go ahead and describe it. Oh, and would you all like a candy? I have toffees and caramel chews, if you’re interested.” He gestures to a large jar on the desk.

I will never in my life ever turn down caramel, so I take one and begin explaining the weird, tentacally, spotted thing I saw.

“Ah! You saw our resident Marilurk! Ah, she’s such a rare sight in the Dark Depths exhibit. They only show up in extremely deep trenches in the ocean, and there’s a few near Otaria, and so few elsewhere. Not even the Hoenn region boasts as many miles under the ocean as we do!”

Weird, isn’t the Hoenn region, like, 80% water? I recall needing to surf more than walk in the games. Well, I guess just having more available doesn’t mean you know more about what’s in it.

“So... as you may have already been informed, I give away prizes to anyone who can bring in a pokemon that piques my interest. Would any of you care to show off one of your pokemon?”

I figure since he’s running an aquarium, Carvanha would be a decent bet. I toss it- her out into a medium, seemingly-empty, open-topped tank.

“Ah, a young Carvanha, eh? Impressive catch, but not too interesting, I’m afraid. Still, very beautiful specimen you have there.” Carvanha snaps her teeth at him.

Okay, yes, Rarity was right I suppose. Girl it is then. Oh well, not like gender matters, as long as she can accomplish a task when it’s needed of her, gender doesn’t matter.

“Well, how about either of you girls? One pokemon per day, per person, please.” Twilight thinks for a moment, then sends out Spheal, evidently having the same idea to use an oceanic pokemon as I did. “Hmm? Quite interesting! Not what I’m looking for, but this one has much potential. I’m sure he’s a good companion, yes?”

Twilight nods, and returns her pokemon to its ball.

Rarity looks over her pokeballs, and finally decides on one. She flicks her wrist gracefully and sends out Feebas.

“Ah-ha! Now that is what I mean by interesting! So much potential... and yet, appearing so plain, and ordinary. Here you go, my dear, a gift.” He pulls out from his desk... a ticket? “It’s a Permanent Pass. You can upgrade it if need be for use on ferries and the like, but for now it’s just got free entrance to the Aquarium. With, of course, up to three guests.”

Really? Feebas? I mean, he has a point, but... to quote Rarity. ‘It’s so uuuuuuuuuuuglyyyyy!’

Oh well, free aquarium pass. “And uh, what ferries would this pass let us on? How do we ‘upgrade’ it?”

“Well, mostly folks who get those passes just put money on ‘em, like gift cards. That one, however, can get you to the Verdant Island research station. You’d have to take the ferry from here, but it’s currently down thanks to the recent Zubzilla attack.”

“Ah.” I can’t really think of much to say, recalling how much damage those things can cause. And if the wall around this place is any indication, they were not crazed rumormongers’ work.

“Heh, well, kids, I must ask you to go. My lunch break is about to end, and I’ll need to do paperwork, unfortunately.”

“You... you do that. We have places to be anyways. Thanks for the ticket though.”

“You’re welcome. Feel free to come back anytime, especially once that Feebas of your evolves.” He waves us goodbye as we leave, smiling gently the whole while.

We take our leave, stopping briefly at a few exhibits we hadn’t checked out on our way in. Once we finally made it back to the entrance, it was time to prepare for that forest. Twilight and I discussing strategies for how to effectively catch but not outright destroy the local species of Grass types available or get ourselves flattened.

Two days pass, and we’re getting ready to enter the forest north of Autumnwash Town, following the path away from the Primal Reserve.

That said, now that I’m standing in front of the entrance to the forest, which has a large building with armed guards on top, I’m starting to wonder. Only one of the guards is facing this side, too, which only makes me more worried.

Once we go inside, the receptionist-person at the information desk informs me that it’ll be another day or so before the next caravan heads through the forest; she does say that we’re probably fine going through if we’re as careful as we can be. And keep at least one pokemon out and one person awake at all times.

I decide on Geodude being our accompaniment. He’s a pretty serious guy, so he’d probably do the least amount of dicking around among our teams. And he’s a pretty solid fighter, so we have that on our side as well.

Finally working up our courage, we head into the forest. Upon leaving the building, one of the guards yells for us to ‘be careful out there!’. Moments later, we’re in the woods, following a fairly spacious path, dotted here and there with tall grass and wheel ruts from cars.

We keep walking, not really finding that many Grass types, surprisingly. I see an Oddish in the shade of a tree, but the second it sees me it seems to just sink into the ground, camouflaging itself into the tall grass around it. All it takes is one blink and I can no longer tell which blades of grass belong to it, or the ground.

Still, the sound of bird-pokemon can be heard in the upper canopy, sometimes. Occasionally, I hear the raucous cawing of Murkrow, which can also sometimes be seen as glittering eyes under dark hat-shapes.

I briefly recall the omen of Murkrow at sundown, and decide to pick up the pace a bit. It may be only noon right now, but I don’t want to risk the universe not caring as is quite frequent. We find ourselves in front of a fork in the road after that, with the option to turn sharply to the right, which I think is north, or keep heading onwards, though the path is turning every now and then, so I’m not sure which cardinal direction we're actually going. Man, this ‘forest navigation’ stuff is a heck of a lot harder without objective directions to check, and a top-down view of your every surrounding like in the games.

We pick left for no real reason, and after a bit of walking down the narrower path, I hear some weird, really odd noises. “Is it just me, or do you guys hear that too?”

“Yeah, but what is it?” Twilight asks. “I’ve never heard anything like it. Should we turn back?”

I shake my head. “Come on, it’s probably just another pokemon. We’ll be fine, let’s just find some good Grass types and get out of here. In and out, no problem.”

We continue for a little while longer, and the noises get louder. After at least a mile, the sounds resolve themselves as some kind of chanting, and I’m reminded of Misdreavus. ‘Come on man, pull it together. Sometimes their chanting brings good fortune, remember? Maybe they’re bidding us safe passage or something. Besides, we have plenty of pokemon that can hurt Ghost types. We’re fine. We’re fine- Oh god I think I’m lost...’

We turn a bend in the path, and see a wide, circular clearing in the forest. It’s on one side of the path, and a large group of child-sized humanoids are in a circle around a large bonfire, dancing and chanting, while a pair of teen-sized ones are standing in a triangle, and seem to be guiding the chant. All of them look kinda like witches, though the small ones look more cutesy, and the three bigger-looking ones look more like they’re in witch costumes you’d find in the less child-oriented parts of a costume shop.

Ooooookay, even Geodude’s getting some bad vibes from this. Going home n-

“Morgüs.” a rich, feminine voice says from behind me, and I barely stifle a yelp of fright. Turning on the spot, I see a feminine pokemon, about my height, looking like she’s in a dress of 17th-century make. The black, orange, and purple colors of the pokemon don’t put me at ease in the slightest as she reaches up towards my face with her fingers alight, and eldritch green fire burning at their tips.

All of my nope! What the hell is she going to do? Does she like my face? Oh god I hope she doesn’t try to peel it off!

Before I can get away, though, her fingers make contact with my temples, her hand wide enough to touch my right with her thumb, and my left with her pointer finger. A flash of pale-green fire, and I stumble, skittering backwards through the tall grass as the chanting of the little pokemon reach a crescendo.

This how I die. This is how I fucking die. Flaming mindrape by some sort of twisted Halloween Town tourist!

Thankfully, though, I can move my legs again, and I start running, Twilight and Rarity running after me, and I can hear someone screaming shrilly.

It’s not until we stop for a break, on the other fork of the road, that I realize it was me by my sore throat.

What the heck was that? What were those things? What did they want?

Woah, I must’ve run pretty fast, I’m feeling kinda dizzy. I sit down on the path, but the feeling doesn’t go away immediately. I walk out from under the slight shade of a tr- I’m not under a tree. Looking up, I see that the daylight is starting to wane. Ohhhhh crap. This is not good. This is... much worse than it was two seconds ago.

My eyes fall on a house. A creepy house. Like, what you’d expect from a horror movie. The kind that screams ‘I am haunted! Do not enter if you are a young adult, black, or female!’ It even has a rusty, pointy-topped fence around it!

And the creepy witch kids are back. House, witches? House? Witches? House. I grab the girls and yank them with me as I rush through the front door of the large, clearly-dooming building.

We stand in the foyer for a moment. Then, the doors slam themselves shut, and the house cackles.

Shit, should’ve chosen the witches.

Anthony's Mansion

Both of the girls cling tightly to me as the cackling turns to a deep, rumbly laugh of pure evil.

Okay, gameplan. It’s probably Pokemon, so we’d have a chance to fight them if we had to. Geodude is Rock type, and between the rest of our teams, we have... nothing good against any of the possibilities.

I figure trying to bang on the door or bust it open wouldn’t do any good, so, with nothing better to do... “Okay, let’s keep going and try to find a back door.” I gesture at the house in general, with thick cobwebs filling the doorways and shrouding the furniture.

“Kroooowww.” I look up. Sitting ominously on top of the doorframe is a beefy-looking Honchkrow, with a ton of Murkrow just sitting there, like a bunch of mobsters who just had someone walk right into... their... territory.

Gulp.

Is this what kills me? A Pokemon version of Birds? I reach for GLaDoS’ pokeball, figuring an Electric type would be at least a little intimidating. Maybe.

“Tay-to?” My pokemon says, before catching a glimpse of the arrayed birdpower. Immediately, He grabs the pokeball and returns himself.

“Well girls, I’d like to say it was nice knowing you, but that only goes as far as one of you.” I close my eyes and await to feel the sensation of talons across my face, and beaks pecking out my eyes.

Instead, I feel a pair of hands grabbing the back of my shirt, and I’m dragged through a doorway, yelling my head off as Twilight slams the hall door shut behind us, leaving us in near-total blackness. As I try to stop my imminent heart attack, I see Twilight and Rarity revert to their pony forms. Probably for the best, really.

“Alright, Anthony, I get that you sometimes joke. But that? That was not cool for attempted last words.” Twilight informs me.

“Look, I figure I’m only living on borrowed time here, not like I’m gonna get much chance before I’m a messy red stain on the floorboards of a house that is most likely filled with insane, not-dead creatures who want us dead.”

I feel Twilight poke me roughly in the gut, somewhat painfully. “We’re not going to die! Jeez, it’s just a rather creepy old house, that happens to have a bunch of pokemon with bad reputations concerning sundown roosting in it. Nothing else, got it?”

“Nothing else you can see. Have you ever watched a horror movie before? You never see the thing that kills you unless you are about to be killed in a very graphic and disturbing way!”

Twilight sighs. “You’ll be fine, Anthony. Come on, we need to find you a candle or something, we’ll need to split up to explore this-”

“Are you damaged!? If we split up, we’ll just be picked off one by one, there’s no telling how many ways that’s a stupid idea! Besides, everyone knows it’s the funny, charming guy who gets offed first, barring the presence of a black guy! I’m, like, the main target here!”

“Oh, hush, Anthony, or we’ll leave you in this dusty, abysmal hallway on your own!” Rarity says, grimacing a wad of spider web that’s resolutely clinging to her ear. She pulls it off with her magic and flicks it away, only to catch more as her ear flicks in irritation. She scowls at it.

Oh, good. The superficial bitch, she’s going down before me! Thank god, I have a chance... But Twilight... there’s no defined order for when the nerd gets offed. Will she be first, or last?

Rarity starts looking into an open doorway, and Twilight staring at a large painting of a smiling Clefable. Meanwhile, I catch sight of a stand of candles, none of them lit, on a large candelabra.

I watch the candelabra closely. If that thing moves, I’m dead. If I stare at it, it won’t move.

After a minute or so of trying to win a staring contest with an inanimate object, I blink. The candles haven’t moved, and neither has the standing candelabra. Rarity has been in that room a long time... oh god, I don’t wanna check on her and find her dead, but I also don’t want to just abandon her!

Fine. But if I die, she is so haunted. I take a look through the doorway, trying to keep my body out of sight.

With only my head exposed to the room, I see that she’s in a large, nice-looking room, set up like a sitting room. She’s looking at the mantle for the fireplace, probably for matches. She turns as I step on a squeaky floorboard, and for a second, she’s got a grinning, demonic face in a cloudy haze.

“Holy crap! Don’t eat me!”

“What are you talking about, Anthony?” Rarity is giving me a funny look, but she doesn’t have the scary-face anymore.

“I thought you were dead! You had, like, this creepy face and... and...” I hear a noise and whirl around to see... nothing.

“Anthony, you are quite literally jumping at shadows. You need to calm down or you’ll end up a complete wreck!”

“If I’m not paranoid, I won’t expect to be killed. The doubters are always the prime targets!”

Rarity sighs and rolls her eyes. A sudden thunderclap interrupts both of our trains of thought, along with a sudden burst of light up and down the hall. I look around to see... that all the candles are alight. About one in five are burning in an odd color, and I don’t know why; but it’s not so dark anymore.

What lit them? Wait... “Rarity, where’s Twilight?”

“I thought she was with you?” Rarity says, puzzled as I am. None of the other doors in the hall are open.

“Welp, we didn’t hear her scream and she’s off alone. Dead man- mare walking at this point.”

“Anthony! Must you continue this morbid line of thinking? I’m sure she’s perfectly fine! Now, take a candle for your own light, and let us go find her.”

Hesitantly I grab a candelabra and follow after Rarity. I’m still pretty sure Twi’s dead. I mean she’s already broken one of the two biggest rules of horror movies. Don’t go off alone, and don’t be a disbeliever.

The first door we check is locked. The second sticks a bare inch after it opens, and creaks every inch of the way to open. Inside is a dark, cob-webbed library.

Okay, if she’s in here, she’s probably opened a book. Third rule broken: Never get distracted.

Carefully peeking at the arrayed bookshelves, I see that most of it is children’s literature, though the higher shelves are all perfectly normal books. Nothing bound in leather, no especially dark colored books... and no empty gaps.

Uh oh, what if she grabbed a book and tripped a secret wall? She’s probably in another part of the house, and nobody can hear her. Yeah, she’s screwed.

We collectively gulp, and move on to the next doorway, which creaks open similarly. The small cleaning closet on the other side would definitely need a janitor just to make use of it.

Rarity and I are about to go around the next corner, when Twilight comes around that same corner heading the other way.

“Oh, there you two are! Come on, I think I’ve found a room to at least set up in. It’s raining really hard outside, from the looks of it.” Suspicious. I hadn’t seen any windows yet...

“Oooooooooohohohohohohonope. We are leaving this house ASAP! If it’s raining, then that’s just to get us to stay in here. I can deal with getting a head cold in exchange for a chance at living to see my thirtieth birthday!”

“No! Anthony, stop being so unreasonable! There’s been nothing of note here except that nest of Murkrow in the foyer.” Twilight says. “And besides, I haven't even seen one ghost. And why is that candle out on the candelabra?”

I look at the candles and they are all lit. Not a single one of them has gone out. “Maybe you need your eyes checked. Aside from the fact that usually you don’t see the ghosts before it’s too late, you might need glasses if you still think you haven’t seen one.”

Rarity looks at the candle-holder. “Uhm, Anthony, one of them is out. The one on the left?” She gestures to the one on my right of the three. The little orangey flame looks perfectly normal to me.

“Oh ha ha! Very funny. Make the smartly paranoid guy think he’s going crazy, yeah, let’s just poke fun at the one who’s actually accepting that ghosts fucking exist!”

Twilight and Rarity look at each other. Twilight shakes her head. “Fine, Anthony, if you think it’s not out, then take just that one. We don’t need the others, and that tall candelabra is too big to be useful.”

“Except that more candles mean more light which is a good thing...” I mutter as I take the clearly lit candle and follow along. “Wait... I’m going in the middle.” I state. The girls are now looking at me like I just told them that I was about to turn into a goat or something. “Everyone knows that the one in the rear gets picked off, and that the person in front triggers the traps. I’m trying this crazy thing called ‘self-preservation’.”

The two roll their eyes, glancing momentarily at my perfectly-lit-thank-you candle, before looking back at where they’re going. Twilight leads us to a wooden door, which opens easily. On the other side is what looks like a dining room, still set for around twelve people and someone at the head of the table, but is a little dusty, and there’s intricate webs in the corners of the rooms. It’s actually a little comforting when I see a Spinarak just sitting in its web, not caring at all about us. A gentle susurrus fills the room.

“Okay, the cliche ‘large set table’ dining room. Rule one, don’t touch any food. Rule two, do not sit down. Rule three, do not touch any silverware or plates, bowls, whatever.” I look over to see Rarity looking closely at the fine china plates. “Moron...” At least I’m assured not the first one dead.

Rarity looks at me. “What? They’re beautiful plates. They just need a bit of cleaning, and they’ll be good as new!”

“And you just need one fewer brain cell and you’re as good as dead.” I say flatly. “Just saying, you two are, like, totally dead already, you just haven’t been gotten yet.”

Twilight huffs in frustration and turns away, towards a window that I absolutely did not only just now notice. Rain is sleeting down the tall glass windows, leaving the room in virtual darkness. A flash of light and a few seconds wait brings another thunderclap.

“Yeah, I don’t care how badly it rains, still safer to leave the house than stay in it.”

“Anthony, stop being such a baby. Now, since it’s getting late, we’re going to sleep in here. We can use our hammocks as floor mats, and our bags as pillows. It’s less than ideal, but I think we’ll be fine. For now, I’m not tired, and think we should explore the rest of the house, alright?”

“Sleep? You are in a strange house that looks totally abandoned, old, and partially falling apart, and you expect us to sleep here? Horror movies aside, for all we know this place could break and drop a support beam on us!”

“Really? Then why is the wallpaper fresh, and the candles all used but trimmed?” Twilight counters with a smirk on her face.

“Because things actually live here! Ghosts, which I have previously proven do exist! And since they are dead, of course they’d like to keep the place nice to look at for all eternity, but if the house has a breaking floor, who cares? They’re already dead!”

“Anthony, you’re over-thinking this. Also, this dust is manufactured. I’m pretty sure. It’s too even, and it’s not clinging to the sides of anything.” She smugs at me.

“I’m over-thinking things? Need I remind you of the various pokedex entries of recorded species that are known to only be somewhat alive and have powers to steal your soul?”

“Oh come on, that won’t happen-”

“And that’s the attitude that makes them angry. It’s settled, you’re screwed.”

“Anthony, if you keep being absolutely impossible, I will use a sleep spell on you, and leave you tied up on the table!”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Twilight rolls her eyes, huffs, and then I’m very very tired...

Chapter 37

I sit up and I feel something grab my face. “Oh god, it’s got me! I’m gonna diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie-”

Grabbing my face to ward off the attacker I discover I sat up and headbutted a spiderweb. Well it could have been a killer! I grab the candle off the table and continue on to find the girls. If they haven’t already been killed or had their souls eaten. Wouldn’t be surprised since they don’t listen to the smart one around here...

The mares walk into the dining hall, actually looking scared and then they see me. “Just because I’m not dead yet doesn’t mean it’s not gonna happen!” Twilight rolls her eyes and I feel real sleepy again...

I come to in the same position as before. “Goddamnit, stop doing that!”

I find I’m yelling at nothing again, because they have wandered off. I hear a faint clacking noise from behind me as I walk down the hall, but I don’t see anything when I turn around. There’s just bunch of creepy-looking old masks and skull-shaped ceramic busts in this hallway. I keep getting the feeling I’m being watched, but I never actually see anything! It’s driving me nuts!

Grabbing the candle once more, I begin my search for a way out of the house. I pass all the cliche stuff like wind blowing curtains and moving shadows looking like creatures. I’m not so dense as to jump at the fake stuff, I just keep a healthy amount of belief in ghosts. After all, I’ve battled with them in the games, and the pokédex confirms their existence. If they lived anywhere, it would be here in this very run-down trash-heap of a small mansion.

Continuing on, my candle lights my way. Granted I could just Spark up and light myself, but trying just kind of... drains me to do it.

I find myself in something of a landing for a flight of stairs, with an obvious entrance to the basement going down, and a way to the upper floor next to it. There’s also another hallway int he other direction.

Yeah, like I’d go up or down into an enclosed area... I’m taking the hallway!

I step into the hall, and a brief flash and crack of lightning gives me a perfectly-lit view of a dozen paintings, a door at the end of the hall, and a door halfway down the hall.

Inspecting the paintings, I assure myself that nothing is watching me through them, double-checking by poking each painted face in the eyes with no results.

I come to another Clefable painting and give it a sharper poke, but again, nothing happens. The oilwork just gets smudged and I’m convinced it’s just a painting. I rub the oily paint off my hand and continue on to the door in the middle of the hallway, my candle burning just as bright as ever.

After a quick jiggle of the handle, I find the door unlocked, but it feels like there’s a blockade behind the door. As I try to see if I can shift it at all, a shivery feeling goes down my spine, and the sensation of being watched increases tenfold.

Luckily I have a way to get inside. I toss out the white Pokéball containing Geodude. “Rip that door off it’s hinges!”

Geodude, reaches out, and a dull thud echoes from behind the door, then a scraping noise. Geodude gently touches the door, looking almost as freaked out as I feel, and the door swings easily open.

“What the hell? I swear it was jammed... Well, I’ll call you if I need you again, and I’ll make sure I actually need you.” Geodude salutes as he disappears back into the ball. I try the door and it opens just fine. Huh... I take a tentative few steps inside, using the light from my candle to see if there’s a desk or a chest or something close enough to have been in the door’s way, but I find nothing. It’s just a few armor racks, coated in dust, and a small desk that couldn’t have blocked the door. There’s a single book on the desk, open, but also coated in dust. A long, metallic feather juts from an inkwell.

Looking down, I’m puzzled until I see a long streak, such as from something being dragged, cleared in the dust on the floor. It curves and leads straight into a solid wall, with stuff on the floor in front of it, also strangely clear of dust. I pocket the interesting quill pen and move my candle closer to inspect the odd area better.

There’s a spot precisely the height for a large crate or something that’s cleared of the wall... other than the slight amount of clear slime on the wall. Ectoplasm in the outline of... a coffin? The cleared spot on the wall’s the right height and such... But how could it go through the wall? There’s not enough space for a secret passage.

I knew it, ghosts are here and they are fucking with all of us. I take a closer look at the armor racks, but there’s nothing weird. Just the assorted helmets and gauntlets. They look nice, but I don’t see anything funny about them. Oh well, I guess I’ll go see if I can find Twi and Rarity. I give them a 60-40 chance of being dead already.

And, of course, as soon as I step back into the hall, I hear a shrill screech, coming from upstairs. I can’t tell if it’s Rarity or Twilight, but... the hero usually survives, right?

I head back to the nearest stairway up, the one towards the second floor, and begin climbing the stairs to see what she saw.

When I reach the top of the stairs, I see that there’s a corridor to either side, with standing suits of armor, each bearing a longsword or shortsword in the typical ‘standing guard’ pose. A few also have spears, but those’re far rarer.

Yeah, right, like I’m just going to walk down this hallway and be attacked by a suddenly moving suit of armor. Bullshit.

I grab a shortsword from one of the suits and, getting no response, hold the sword out towards each suit of armor as I go, expecting each one to leap out as I approach it. I hold my blade so that doing so would have them impale themselves on my weapon.

A click-Clack! sounds from one of the suits, though I’m not sure which. I look back down the hall and-

Oh shit, they’re all looking at me!

I backpedal, still holding the sword in front of me, informing the previously inanimate suits that I’m armed and I know vaguely how to use what I’m holding. I’m so fucking dead right now.

An eerie cackling begins to break out from the suits, and I feel myself back into something. A gauntleted hand clasps me on the shoulder, and I can see bones between the sections of old armor.

“Oh fuck!”

The gauntlet slowly raises again, and I turn to see the armored skeleton raise the hand to its helmeted face...

“Shhhh.”

Oh god it’s gonna kill me! I’m dead, so totally dead! I hurl myself to the floor, away from the armored skeleton and, slide on the thick dust. I look back to see the suit picking up the sword I dropped, and I take the time to scuttle into the next room, which prompts a shriek from the inhabitants thereof.

“EEEEK! THEY’RE AFTER US AGAIN!”

Oh thank goodness, it’s just Rari- OWCH

Rarity chucks something at me, smacking me in the chest this time. I stand up and rub the dust off my shirt. “Now do you believe me when I say the place is haunted you stupid horse?”

“Fine! I’ll believe you! Just make them go away!” Rarity says, brandishing a sword in her magical grasp. It’s making awfully cinematic ‘shing! Schwing!’ noises as she does, but it seems alright.

“Thank you. Now, clearly they are undead, so they have no vital points to attack. The best bet would be to remove the armor and break them into pieces.” I toss out Geodude again. “Okay, this time we’ve actually been attacked. See what you can do about those suits of arm-”

“Muahahahahaha!” As stereotypically evil as that sounded, it also sounded about as evil as you can get with laughing at anything. The laughter resonated from every corner of the room

I yell at the house. “Creepy noises alone aren’t fucking scary unless you’re two and a half!”

“Heh. Heh heh.” That noise came from behind me.

I slowly turn, and find myself looking right at the faces of the two scared ponies and... the biggest, baddest, scariest face I’ve ever seen. The wide, toothy maw of purpley-black shadows seems to be peeling itself off the wall at the back of the room, a multitude of reaching claws grasping at us from the darkness. There is literally no way to accurately describe the level of malevolent this thing gives off, let alone how scary it is right now.

I beg my feet to get me away from here, but I can’t seem to make them do what I want. This is it. This fucked up mutant-beast of a Haunter is going to murder us all.

Twilight and Rarity scream and charge the door, tearing away from the terror-inducing apparition, colliding with me and dragging me along with them in the process.

Twilight slams the door shut and does something to it that makes it glow slightly, then lifts me in her aura and tears down the hall, following Rarity, who is now keeping the sword she’d found in a sheath on her back. The suits of armor turn to watch us, but don’t seem to be following. I’m probably imagining it, but I think I hear snickering from them as we pass at high speed.

“I told you, I told you we should have left! But no, you wanted to sleep here!”

“Berate us later, run now!” I can appreciate that right now, so I just... sit floating in midair as Twilight drags me along with her magic.

Waitaminute. “Uh girls, the stairs downward, and therefore to the exit, are back there.”

Twilight turns back for a brief second. “Too late!” she keep barreling onwards, until we find ourselves with a choice of two doors. One to the right, and one to the left.

“One on the right!” I yell and the girls obey, all of us rushing into the room and slamming the door behind us before actually looking around.

It’s a beautiful room, with red satin drapes and fine seating. In fact, it’s an incredibly tasteful room, thogh there’s a lot of silver and a suspicious lack of mirrors... which is only suspicious because of the large coffin where I suspect a bed would otherwise go.

The coffin is large, ornate, and very solid-looking, with silver and gold trim, and a few large rubies worked into the designs.

I am being as quiet as I can get, because I don’t like the thought of waking anything that might be in there. I lean closer to the mares on either side and explain the plan in a low whisper.

“Okay, what we do, is we get out of here as quietly as possible, and head back to the stairs. Then, we leave this place and find rain shelter in the forest somewhere. Sound good?”

“Indeed.

Yes.

Scree.” What? I look at the sound and see a Zubat hovering above us. I wave my arm at it trying to get it to shoo. “Scree!”

Aw c’mon, I don’t want that thing waking up! “What the heck do you want?”

“Scree!” Goddamnit, why can’t they invent a pokémon translator? “Scree!”

“Food? You want food?”

“Scree!” I’m not sure if that’s a yes or a no...

“Well what do you want then!?” It takes a moment, but I just realized I shouted back, meaning it’s guaranteed whatever’s in the coffin heard me.

And sure enough, the top of the coffin opens to either side, and a mostly humanoid shape rises from the coffin like it’s on a hinge, totally ‘Nosferatu’ style. A pair of blood-red eyes snap open, and a huge set of bat-like wings open as the creature hisses at us. “Nosfer!”

Oh crap it’s a pokémon!? I drop my candle and bolt out the door, and race for the stairs. I turn back for a moment when I realize that the ponies are still in the room. “You can teleport!” I remind them as I continue running for the downstairs and to freedom, the lit candle grappling my sleeve as I run.

I get to the stairs and basically toboggan down on my rear, ignoring the pain as I get up and look around for an exit. Twilight and Rarity reach the top of the stairs moments after, and we all take off down the hall I’d been exploring before. The door at the end of the hall opens easily, and reveals a fully stocked kitchen. There’s nothing unusual in it, and we have a moment to actually catch our breaths.

“Oh crap.” I mutter as realization dawns on me. “Where’s Geodude? We left him back in the armor hall!”

“You what?!” Twilight says, looking at me in horror. “And what were all of those? You never mentioned any of these things before!”

I think for a minute racking my brain for a ‘humanoid skeleton in armor’ Pokémon, but none come to mind. “I hate to say it, but all things considered, those were probably just armored animate skeletons. Like, raised-from-the-dead skeletons.”

“But- how?! You said there’s no magic, per se, but necromancy is definitely magic!”

“Well, ghost pokémon are undead. Maybe they have a way of sharing that? I dunno, but I don’t think those were pokémon, and I really don’t want to go back there and check... but Geodude’s in trouble...”

Twilight heaves a sigh, looking a little shaky. “I don’t know how much we can do, Anthony. We don’t even know where to look, exactly.”

“Shouldn't I be the insensitive one, who would rather just leave a friend behind? As awful as this place is, I’m not leaving without him.”

“I wasn’t saying we should. But, we need to calm down if we’re going to be helpful.” She cocks her ear for a moment. “Hmm... that rain’s stopped. We should figure out where the exit is, at the least so we can get out when we find Geodude, rather than wandering into another trap, alright?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” I grab the candle off of my sleeve and- waitamin- Holy crap! I drop the candle and hit the deck, expecting it to set me on fire or something.

“Lit!” The candle says, when it hits the ground. As we all look at it in surprise, it rights itself, yawning slightly. A pair of tiny, adorable eyes looks up at me, and it makes ‘pick me up’ motions.

A Litwick... that, actually makes sense. And it seems harmless. Eh, friendly ghosts exist I suppose. I bend down and offer my hand to the pokémon, who jumps on. I lift it back up to hold it like a candle.

“A-Anthony, what’s that?”

“It’s a Litwick, a Ghost/Fire type. This explains why you can’t see the flame but I can.” I demonstrate the flame’s reality by pulling out one of the waterproof matches from my bag and touch it to the Litwick’s fire. The match lights and the girls stare at it, being able to see this flame.

“Wow... so it produces a light that only someone holding it can see? That’s really impressive! How does that work?”

“Uh, that’s not it. It... uh... hold on.” I forgot how it works, so I just pull out my éTech.

-Litwick, the Candle Pokémon. Its flame is usually out, but it starts shining when it absorbs life force from people or Pokémon, which becomes the fuel that it burns. -

It’s also a little strange that it’s the same color as a normal candle. Aren’t they supposed to be a lighter blue when shiny? Is it sick?

“Are you uh... feeling alright little guy?”

“Lit!” It hops in place a little smiling up at me. Huh, it’s eyes are light blue. Odd.

“Well, I guess if you want to come with me that’s fine...”

“Wait, hold on.” Twilight said confused. “You can see the light. Doesn’t that mean that it’s eating your soul!?”

I think on that for a second. “I guess, but I don’t feel like anything is eating my soul. Granted I have no idea what it would feel like, but I’m sure it’d feel like something, right?”

“Lit! Litwick!” The little pokemon nuzzles my fingers, the tiny flame atop it keeping my hand warm. It also seems a little bigger already.

A thought occurs to me. “Wait a second... is this it?” I try to Spark up and, like I tried before, the slight draining feeling returns and the flame on Litwick gets noticeably brighter while my glow is even more diminished than it usually is. “That’s it, my star core! He’s not feeding on my soul he’s running off of my stellar energy, like some sort of soul substitute... weird.”

“Litwick!”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt, and he seems to like me, so I say we keep him. One of us needs a Ghost type after all, right?”

“I suppose.” Twilight says, looking warily at the cuddlesome little candle-pokemon. A vaguely ‘nice’ scent wafts gently from the pokemon.

“Besides, I know plenty about these guys. Small now, but later on, they’re real tough powerhouses. Trained right, these guys will bounce back from just about anything.”

Twilight gestures towards the other door of the kitchen. “Well... alright. Now, let’s see if there’s an exit through here...”

Cat Scare

We step through the small service corridor behind the kitchen, and find ourselves outside, in an enclosed garden, with all sorts of climbing roses, ivy, some statuary, and some other climbing plants as well. It looks pretty well-tended, and the moon shines down from above to keep it rather well-lit. The orange harvest moon gives it a bit of a baleful glow, however.

“Well, this is a way out I guess, but I’m still not gonna leave without Geodude. Hey Twi, don’t you have some kind of tracking spell?”

“Yes, but I didn’t anchor it to him previously. I’d have to ‘tag’ him at least once to find him again.”

I sigh. “Oh well, guess we keep looking then. But at least this way we don’t have to head to the foyer to leave this place, so that’s good.”

“Wait, what if the garden is fenced in, or bounded by a wall? I can’t really see much beyond some of these hedges.”

“Well, we can always bust down a wall or bend some bars over. Pignite is still healthy, right?”

“Yes, but won’t that take time?”

“I suppose, but if we need an emergency exit do you have a better plan than just taking a wall out?”

“How about taking it out in advance?” she gestures out towards the rest of the garden. “All we’d need to do is find it on our way out.”

“How would we know that particular wall is the one needed to be taken down? Need I remind you that the place is old and creaking? If we take out a wall, we risk the upper floor collapsing on us.”

“Anthony, garden walls don’t support a house.” Twilight admonishes me.

“I’m just saying, some plans don’t work when set up in advance as it just limits your options as you’ve ruled out adaptability and stuck yourself to that plan. Anyway, I’m gonna go get Geodude. Now that I have a Ghost type of my own, I stand a fighting chance.”

“Fine. But we still should plan, because we don’t know where he is, nor how to deal with those armor suits, or even the thing in that sitting room.”

“Well, Haunter are Ghost/Poison and they have Levitate. So we rule out Normal, Fighting, Grass, and Ground moves. Anything else will work just fine.”

“Alright. Judging by the rooms we’ve already been in, actually, there’s very few places he could’ve been taken if he’s not upstairs. The only problem is... we haven’t check the basement yet.”

“Well... I guess we should check it then, but let’s check it last. Hopefully you understand my reasoning.”

“I would agree with Anthony. Besides, if the upstairs is so dusty and old, the basement must be in shambles.” Rarity agrees, but for her own reason.

“Well, then, we should check the sitting room, and if he’s not there, head to the basement. There’s no other rooms that would be able to contain him for any length of time, so...”

“Yeah alright. Now let’s go. We don’t want him thinking we’re abandoning him.”

The three of us head off down the halls, my new Litwick keeping the way lit for me, and the girls keeping their horns lit for them. We sneak up the stairs as best we can and... all the suits are gone. Every single alcove that held a suit of armor is now empty, two boot-shaped clear spots on each pedestal.

“So they’re either gone completely, or are searching for us.” I deduce, fear flaring back up again. “Let’s make this quick.”

We make it to the end of the hall without a single incident, and peek into the sitting room. A fire blazes in the fireplace, but the room is otherwise entirely unoccupied. I’d rather not risk whatever is lurking in there.

We head back the way we came, and find ourselves at the staircase heading down, the bottom of which we cannot see through the darkness. “Well I’m not going. Ladies first.”

Twilight and Rarity roll their eyes, and go down together. Ha! Now they’ll set off the traps, and... and I’m the last in line. “Wait for me!”

We get down to the basement and see that it’s basically as stereotypically a ‘dungeon’ as can be. The main room we’ve entered has two doorways, each shut with an iron-barred wood door, likely too sturdy to knock down easily if they’re locked.

“So... left or right?”

“I think... left this time?” Twilight suggests.

Eh, not like what’s in there could be worse than that vampire-thing. I try the latch slowly. It moves soundlessly, and without resistance. I then move to the side, and, lifting the latch, push the door open with my foot, most of my body behind the wall. When nothing comes out, I risk a peek into the room, Litwick on my shoulder giving me a small pool of light.

The room is large and rectangular, with a few collapsed skeletons here and there. A few stone sarcophagi are in the room, but they appear undisturbed. As I look, a floating ball of light, two barely-visible eyes blinking slightly, levitates its way across the room. It’s not heading in any particular direction, and phases through a different wall after a moment.

So, Haunter and now Gastly. Okay, that and the portrait of the Clefable would be conclusive evidence of a Gengar living here. This is going to suck!

Another of the glowing motes phases into the room, this one of a slightly different color. It stops in the room for a moment, before phasing into one of the sarcophagi. It phases back into the room after a moment. It stops to look at me, and I see it’s not... quite a Gastly. In fact, it looks more like a will-o-the-wisp than the cloud of noxious fumes that makes up a Gastly.

I hold up my éTech towards it, putting it on silent so I just read the entry, but before I can scan it, it disappears through a wall and the screen flashes saying ‘No Pokémon detected’. Sighing, I conclude that Geodude is not here, so I close the door and turn to the one opposite.

“No luck, we try the right.” I turn towards the girls and hear a ‘clack’ from behind me. I go to shut the door, but it’s stopped by something. I look down, and see a grinning, not-quite human skull grinning up at me. It’s attached to the rest of what is basically a cartoony rendition of a skeleton, which slowly stands up, picking its own head up and letting loose a cackle.

I kick it in the left femur and slam the door shut, dash about halfway back to the stairway and check my leg twenty times to make sure it’s not... something.

But, I’m fine. I finally start breathing again, letting my lungs resume their operation. Hopefully, it can’t figure out the latch on the door.

Or, you know, move around without a rather important leg bone. Aw who am I kidding, if that’s like the cartoon skellies, it can follow me around as just a hopping head and try to bite my kneecaps.

Rarity and Twilight are at the other door, looking worriedly at me. “Anthony, are you alright? Was it another of the suits?”

“You didn’t see that?” Then I recall that my body was probably in the way of their view. “Well, it was a skeleton. Like the ones in the armor supposedly, but it wasn’t wearing any. Just a skeleton, looking like it was either going to strangle me, or start singing ‘Dem Bones’.”

The two ponies look at me like I’ve grown a second head.

“It could’ve happened!” I say in my defense. “Now it’s clearly not coming through the door, so we just keep looking for Geodude.”

They nod, and get back to slowly opening the door. It opens with a slight creak, and the two unicorns extinguish their light. I realize I’ve got the only source of light down here at the moment, and it only works for me.

That said, a light that only I can see is pretty awesome. I’ve always liked Ghost types and Fire types. Litwick was like a godsend when I first discovered it in Black... now I have one! In real life! If the circumstances where better, I’d feel like squeeing!

I step carefully up to the door, and see that it’s a room with a green fire crackling beneath a large cauldron, and a faint chanting can be heard. Taking the most cautious of peeks, I see a glimpse of a Misdreavus and a Mismagius chanting gleefully at the cauldron, little poofs of smoke or fumes climbing from the surface of the... whatever-that-is every few moments.

I back away and close the door as quietly as I can before they notice me. As the door is barely three inches from being closed, a loud, raucous squealing noise issues forth from the hinges.

Both of the ghost pokémon inside the room turn straight towards me. They look more confused than anything.

I smile ingratiatingly. “Uh, sorry, wrong room.” I quickly close the door, my grin becoming a wince as it squeaks more.

“So, uh... what was in there, darling?” Rarity asks, and I can see a faint glow from the sheath of her sword. She must be on edge if she’s getting ready to draw it.

“Nothing we’d want to bother or try fighting. Just hope they were busy and let’s move on.”

We turn back and look around the room. Where else could Geodude have gone? there’s no rooms left that I can think of...

Walking to the blank wall, I lean against it to rest for a second.

Then, I fall through it, because somebody concealed a doorway behind a painted cloth.

Looking up, I see a bunch of the skeletons sitting around at various tables, the vampire-pokémon, dozens of the wisp-looking pokémon, a few Gastly, a Haunter, and a very surprised bartender in the back.

My head is so full of ‘wat.’ I can’t even... wat?

Suddenly, one of the skeletons starts cackling. Then another. The Haunter cracks a grin and starts chortling as well, and soon the entire room is laughing at me, on my back, in the doorway. And judging by the way that keystone of the doorway arch is seeping a glowing gas, I’m assuming that’s a Spiritomb. Which is also laughing.

Did I... do something funny? Are they laughing at my impending doom? Are they having a giggle at my imminent demise?

One of the skeletons advances on me, and I’m about to surrender any chances I had of living -for the fourth time tonight, admittedly- when the skeleton simply offers its hand to help me up. Is it a trick?

Oh fuck it, just let the nightmare end already. I grab his hand and he pulls me up. I await the sensation of slicing, stabbing, biting, burning or... something. Cautiously I open my eyes and the entire room looks on the verge of another laughing fit.

“Hey, man, you know this is a haunted house, right?” The bartender in the back calls out to me. I get a better look and realize he’s fully human, just kinda in the shadows of the bar itself.

“Well yeah! I mean, wait, you mean like those kiddy things at bad amusement parks? This... this is all fake?” I stutter a bit, having a hard time wrapping my head around all of these events.

“Yeah, dude, it’s a haunted house run by real ghosts. It’s open all year-round. You should meet the proprietors, and the owners of the estate. They live on the third floor.”

I’m still racking my brain trying to understand this. “So... you just... wait for people to come by, scare the shit out of them, steal their pokémon and laugh at their misery?”

“Woah, woah, woah! There’s been no theft. You left your pokémon in the sitting room, so Haunter here brought him to the bosses. And yeah, the pokémon scare the shit out of people, then give them the pictures afterwards. Me? I tend the bar, get paid, and spend some time in one of the two major towns nearby.”

“Soooooo you’re... not dead.” I clarify for myself.

“No. I just work here. By the way, your other two pokémon are still outside, I think they’re getting worried.”

I sigh. “They’re not pokémon really. Just a sec.” I head back to the hallway and find the girls looking around in worry. “Alright, the game is up. We all just got punked. Apparently this is some sort of attraction for travellers...”

“Wait... so the ghosts here aren’t real?” Twilight asks in confusion.

“As real as Ghost Pokémon can be, they just put on this show. Come on.” I lead the two of them to the bar and have the guy explain it again.

“So... all of these are pokémon? Even the skeletons?”

“Eeyup. They’re called Ectoklack, and they’re the growing version of these guys.” He gestures to one of the little wisp-looking pokémon, who bobs in place and makes a faint, whispery noise. It’s kinda creepy, but also kinda cute since I know what it’s coming from.

“Alright, well this has been a hoot and a holler. Among other vocalizations, but I’d like to get Geodude back and leave now, thanks.” I pause for a minute, recalling the Litwick on my shoulder. “Oh. I guess this guy is one of your ‘employees’ huh?”

“Huh? Nonono, I’m just a bartender! All the pokémon live here freely, and they work for the boss. You ran into Vlad earlier, the boss’s office is up the stairs behind the door across from Vlad’s room.” The bartender gestures towards the vampire-looking pokémon, who has his fangs buried in a grapefruit the size of his head.

I feel like such a fucking tool right now. “Yeah, thanks. Come on, let’s go.”

The three of us leave the little hidden barroom, and head up the stairs. As we’re going, the Spiritomb forms a hand-shape and waves goodbye to us.

Eventually, we get to the door the stairs are behind, and open it. The stairs are pretty normal, and lead to another door, labeled ‘Manager’s Office. Please knock.’

I give it a knock and I’m answered with the door opening itself. I step in, all the creepy stuff suddenly being revealed as a joke makes it just seem like one of those carnival fun houses I mentioned earlier.

Looking around, though, there’s none of that here. It’s a pretty normal office space, except that there’s two chairs behind a desk, obviously made for fairly wide occupants... who are in them. A Gengar with blue-green eyes and a Clefable with a small pair of glasses sit behind the desk. The Gengar is grinning, but the Clefable has a smaller, more petite smile. It’s a much nicer smile. Sitting on a couch to one side is Geodude, holding up a magazine, evidently reading. Huh.

“Ghost Pokémon in charge of a Ghost House. Shocker, that.” I say drily. “Oh well, sorry for leaving you back there, Geodude. Forgiven?”

Geodude looks at me sternly, then shrugs and says ‘Eh’, or close to it. He hops over, and I recall him to my premierball. The Gengar behind the desk clears its throat, and then says, in a masculine, but slightly creepy voice, “So... didn’t scare you too bad, did we?”

“Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh kinda.”

“Heh, sorry. Still, th’ looks on yer faces...” He starts chuckling to himself. “Man, you’re gonna love gettin’ these pictures. They’re a riot!”

“Alright. Sorry, I know I’m being kind of a party pooper, but I don’t like being sent through multiple consecutive possibilities of death and then told it was all a gag.”

“Hey, we’re not the ones who kept freakin’ out over th’ plates.” the Gengar says back, grinning wider.

“Those could have been booby-trapped! How do I know what ghosts will and won’t mess with?”

“Phoo... that sounds typist. Whatcha think, honey, sound typist to you?” The gengar asks of the Clefable, who rolls her eyes. She starts going over some papers on the desk, evidently not wanting to deal with the gengar right now. “Hmph... wives, can’t live with ‘em, can’t bury in the garden. Too many folks already. Anyhow, you lookin’ for the next town?”

“Not really. We just came to the forest to catch some Grass types and just kinda found the house after these creepy witch-things started messing with our heads... did you-”

I’m interrupted by the Gengar phasing through his chair and desk as he laughs as hard as his theoretical lungs can probably handle. He rolls and laughs and flops on the floor, completely ignoring the leg of the desk going through his head as he does so.

“Messin’ wit yer.... ahahahaha!”

The Clefable rolls her eyes again, before speaking up. “No, the coven is not apart of our little colony here. They have their own business, dearies, and I doubt it was ‘messing with your heads’. They were likely using a Blessing on you.”

“Blessing? You know what, forget it. We might as well take those pics and be on our way. We kinda just wasted our time with all this, all things considered.” I pause. “No offense.”

Clefable, which seems to be the Gengar’s brain personified, responds. “It’s alright. Very few ghost-types are actually malevolent, but few humans understand that. We can offer you a room for the night, if you’d like. There’s plenty of perfectly normal rooms for sharing or singles, since it’s the middle of the night. I know it’s hard for your kind to see in the dark and all.”

We’re in the large, three-person room, flipping through the pictures that were taken of us. It’s notable that most of them were of me and I looked like a twitchy wreck in most of them... Goddamnit.

“And this one is just awful!” Rarity says, holding up a picture of her looking... mildly startled. “My hair is just completely ruined in this, and they missed my good side!”

I stare at the white unicorn. “It looks exactly like you, no different. Even your hair is the same.”

“Hmph, well perhaps if you are blind on the truly important details you would think that!”

“Whatever. Hey, shouldn’t you give back that sword now?”

“Hmm? Oh, I suppose so. It was such an awfully useful sword, though,and it’s beautifully worked. I’m not sure what invention your people have made that lets it put the sheath on me without assistance, but it is marvelous!” She goes to begin taking off the sword, but turns in circles, looking increasingly perplexed.

I recognize the sheath design. “Hah! That’s not just a sword, that’s a Honedge. It’s a pokémon!”

“A what?” She asks, as the sword-form pokémon slips from its sheath, eye opening slightly, and its long, scarf-like tassel draping gently onto Rarity’s head.

“Hey it likes you! Makes sense. Honedge don’t like their handles being grabbed, and by all accounts, you can’t do that.” An armless trainer would be the best for it... The Honedge pats Rarity gently, realigning a stray hair along the way.

“Oh my! Well, that’s simply glorious! Hmm... That sounds like a fantastic name! Glorious!”

“Well if it wants to stay... then I guess that just leaves Twi without a Ghost pokémon. Maybe this little excursion wasn’t for nothing after all. And we have souvenirs.” I pick up one that shows Twilight totally flipping out and accidentally banging her head on a wall. “I think Celestia’d get a kick out of this one.”

Rarity titters a bit as Glorious resheathes itself.

Twilight holds up a picture of me and retorts. “And I’m sure she’d love this one.” I have a face on that looks like I’m about to wet myself the second I open a door.

I swipe the photo and use Litwick’s flame to incinerate it. “Which one?”

“Ha! Joke’s on you, I asked for copies!” She quickly runs out of the room, grinning, slamming the door shut in the process.

I chuckle. I relish the times when she actually acts like an adult teenager. She spends so much time being all studious that I actually like to see her when she wins... just not against me.

“Get back here!”

Chapter 39

The beds were surprisingly comfortable to sleep in, and the whole room is a lot less menacing in the morning’s sunlight.

Waking up and checking through my belongings to make sure everything was untouched during the night, I find that the pranksters aren’t thieves at least. I count my pokéballs just to be sure and everyone is still on my belt, including Litwick’s. I still can’t believe I just found a Litwick like that... So awesome! Except against the Water gym.

I suddenly recall why we came out to the forest. We needed some Grass Types for that gym. I have that surfboard I got from the merchant, but I want something good against water, not just something that can be on it.

Figuring I’d give the girls time to wake up without their coffee, which I really don’t plan on wasting money on, I decide to look up what Grass types are actually around this forest.

I see the typical fare, Deerling, Bellsprout and family, Treecko are way too far north from here to get to in a day though, so no Grovyle for me... yet. Bulbasaur are in the range as are Leafeon but they are pretty spread out. Looks like my best chances would be with a Seedot or a Bellsprout. Their evolutions are here too, but I don’t want the battle to be too difficult levelwise. I don’t have many ways of fighting a Grass type without a disadvantage, or totally screwing them over.

A Nuzleaf would be pretty neat to have, but if I find a Bellsprout first, I’m definitely going that way.

I pull my gear on and decide to look around the small mansion. In the light, it’s a lot less scary. I mean, some places look downright cheery with the wallpaper chosen. I walk along and it makes sense that I don’t see that many ghosts around. I know they aren’t adverse to sunlight, but... preferred habitat and all.

I see one of those skeleton guys... Ecto-something, sitting in a chair, motionless. With the empty eyesockets staring directly at me, I feel very weirded out, not sure if I should move or just stand-

“Snerrkkaaghk.” I- I think it’s snoring. Or going into respiratory arrest, but given the nature of the pokémon involved... actually, no, it could still be respiratory arrest, it’s a pokémon.

Either way, looking closer the ‘bones’ look to be more made of clay, the bone shapes interlocking more than just being mystically stuck to each other like most skeletons that lack muscle and skin. The eyes aren’t quite holes, but they are a sort of burnt-brown, awake or otherwise. Heck, the spine, from what I can see, is actually just a textured column, the ‘gaps’ just a spot where the connective portion is darker to make it seem absent in bad lighting.

Well, might as well get an explanation. I pull out my éTech and aim it at the strange figure.

- These skeletal-looking pokémon form when a Wispeery begins forming a calcified, clay-like shell around itself for metamorphosis. -

- These eerily human-looking skeletons are actually cocoons. They can make a cry like an evil cackle, but they aren't malevolent. -

- They dance in graveyards at night, making music to keep energized. They like playing with children, and use scares to show their affection. -

... So, it’s Jack Skellington if he were more infantile. That’s... pretty cool. So Wispeery? Looking at the picture, I see it’s the thing I confused for a shiny Gastly.

- These pokémon appear to be faintly glowing motes of light. While they have some variance in their general colors, their Varicolored variants have much more vibrant color schemes. -

- These pokémon lure travelers into the woods and then abandon them. However, they don't do it maliciously; they have no control over their luminescence. -

- Wispeery seek shelter during the day, as strong, prolonged light is harmful to them. However, they like foggy or cloudy days. -

So they’re Will-o’s, then? Huh. Well, might as well go see if the mares are alive or still zombified from lack of caffeine. As I walk out, a Mismagius holding a feather duster begins cleaning the slumbering skeleton.

Heading down the hall the other way, I knock on one of the girls’ doors. Can’t remember who picked what room. “Hey, you decent?”

“Of course, dear.” Ah, Rarity, then. “Please, do come in.”

Walking in I see Rarity holding a white cloth and... I assume shining Glorius’ sheath. “So when do you think we should go? I mean, if we are allowed to stay here tonight as well, we can go further into the forest. Or do you just wanna stay here for the day?”

“Well, there’s much I can do around here. Ooh, while the bedrooms are very tasteful, I think some of the drapes could be replaced, and the wallpaper in that hall could be replaced with a nice salmon color...” Rarity begins listing off possible ideas, and I see that the Honedge’s sheath is actually strapped to her side, and she’s polishing the Honedge itself, who looks to be in heaven, assuming the ‘face’ is expressing the same thing as I think it is.

“Well if you wanna play interior designer, I’m not the one to talk to. I’m gonna go see if Twilight is up yet.” Getting up, I head over to the next room over and knock. After a few more knocks I just phase through the door and there’s a snoring medium-sized lump in the blankets which I assume is a cocooned Twilight.

Going over to the wrapping I pull part of the blankets off. with an annoyed grunt and a purple glow, the corner is yanked out of my hands and tucked back under said lump. “Gee, I wonder what could be under here? I’m sure it wouldn’t mind if I... tickled it.

“You do, and I shove your pokéballs up your nose and activate them.” Comes the muffled, grumpy reply.

“Come on miss sunshine, get up already. There’s a brand new day ahead of us.”

“G’way, or the next orange will be you!” Huh? What orange? “I gotta spell and it’s got yer name onnit, now go’way afore I hit you w’my book!”

“Fine, lazybones. Let me know when you wake up." Rolling my eyes, I leave the room and set out into the forest myself. I do have an idea on how to avoid getting lost. I find the mansion on the satellite map and put a marker on it, basically putting a waypoint down that I can use the compass to direct me to if I get lost.

I walk around the foliage, and it’s not long before I run into an Oddish. Eh, pass. It looks about ready to dig into the ground and sleep for the day anyway. Easy wins are not fun wins. It takes a while to navigate a few more trees, logs and undergrowth. There’s a patch of flowers I don’t know the name of, in various colors. For a moment I see one of them shift. Looking back at the patch, nothing happens. Walking around it, I still don’t see anything. Must’ve been my imagination. Still, can never be too sure.

As I go, a Bellsprout runs across the forest floor, kind of waddling along on it’s roots. Eh, better now than later if I want one.

“Hey, Bellsprout!” The pokémon turns and sees me then kinda... tilts it’s head as if he’s unsure whether to oblige me with whatever I want it’s attention for, or if it should run. I pull out the ball with Geodude in it and, seeing it, the Bellsprout shrugs and gives an ‘alright’ wave of his leaves, a bit of pinkish ooze drooping from its open mouth-hole.

A rather... quick failure later, the Bellsprout just kind of sighs and waddles back into the undergrowth as I return my unconscious pokémon. I figured it would be sticking with acid instead of starting with Stun Spore then going nuts with Razor Leaf...

I figure I would let Litwick out to deal with whatever comes next. Litwick appears from the white flash and jumps up onto my shoulder, apparently liking the vantage point. “Lit!” Seems cheerful today, too.

Another Oddish, this one looks more awake but takes just one look at Litwick and buries itself into the ground. Well, that happened. I go by a squirming mass of tiny worms, all of them moving eerily in sync with each other. It’s a bit like watching a flow of syrup going uphill, a trail of dead and dying worms being left behind. A quick scan with the éTech and I find it’s a Bug/Psychic called Magomental. Eh, maybe once I have my Grass type. However, the mass begins to surge towards me.

“Alright Litwick, Fire-Ghost against Bug and Psychic. Think you got this?”

“Lit!”

“Alright then.” I set the candle down on the forest floor. “Ember!” I’m not exactly sure what it knows yet, but it should at least know that and Astonish.

The spray of firey sparks and heat causes the entire mass to rear up, making a high-pitched, keening shriek. Suddenly, the fire parts and a rippling wave of energy heads towards Litwick.

Gotta think fast... what kind of moves could cut through a Psychic attack? None come to mind in time though, and Litwick takes the blast full-force.

Luckily there doesn’t seem to be any repercussions aside from the damage in general. I chance my next move and mentally slap myself for not looking up Litwick’s moves earlier. “Fire Spin, trap it!”

The little candle sends a helical shot of fire towards the encroaching mass, and the Magomental shrieks again. With a squishy-sounding flop, it pounds the side of the flames to try putting them out, but to no avail. Suddenly, a wave of the squirming worms pours out, partially quenching the blazing circle and leaving a much smaller mass behind, which begins to climb over the blackened bodies of its old swarm. Man, talk about a gross way to escape...

Well, if Litwick knows Fire Spin... “Confuse Ray, don’t let it get away!”

If a wild Pokémon is tenacious enough to still not tap out after this long and a status move, I usually consider it worthy of my team. Now how does the hive mind work when it’s head is fucked up?

The flickering ball of light meanders drunkenly at the mass, and impacts it. Moments later, the mass rears up again, shuddering. I’m about to throw a ball when worms just sort of... spray everywhere.

Oh. Oh god. I think some got in my mouth! AAAAAAAAAUGH GROSS!!

I shake all over, trying to scrape my tongue out of my mouth, hoping I can get them all away. Eventually, I’m sure I’ve gotten most of them, just leaving a wide swath of confusedly squirming worms, each one going in tiny circles or just flailing uselessly.

Alright, I’ve had enough. Gross or not, they put up a good fight even with the type disadvantage. I toss a Pokéball at the mass, wondering if it would scoop up a ton of them or just one? Same with Exeggcute. If you hit just one, or one all alone will it just warp others nearby into the ball? How does the ball just... know?

I shake the thought off and watch what happens. The ball hovers in midair, the ‘capture’ beam lancing out repeatedly to snatch up one worm after another. Damn, this is gonna take a while... Oh man, I should’ve found a way to just freeze it.

After a grueling ten minutes of just waiting, the ball finally picked up enough to consider the Pokémon ‘in’, and settled. By this point, I can’t really say I care if it gets caught or not, I just don’t want to miss out on potentially getting my ball back. A few listless twitches later, and the ball gives the ‘all-good’ signal.

Well, that’s that. I got a living pile of wet rice. Joy. Picking up the ball and putting Litwick back on my shoulder, seemingly waking up at the action, I continue on, passing by a Smeargle and a Spearow in an ‘argument’. I think about interrupting and catching the Smeargle for myself, but a few more Spearow show up and cheap-shot the Smeargle and then the flock starts fighting over... whatever.

Keeping on, I don’t see much more for a while. The waiting around and then the walking tiring me out, I decide to circle around and head back to the mansion taking a different route. I hear giggling as I get to a more shaded part of the forest, making it seem like the sun went backwards and was still just rising.

Looking around, I don’t see anything yet, but the giggling continues. After a while I finally see something moving. It looks like one of those little things that was in that witch coven yesterday evening. It hasn’t seen me, it’s just playing with a little doll of a Pachirisu it must have found.

Man, I want that doll... jealously ignoring it and glaring at the lucky... whatever it is. I decide to solve a mystery and figure out what it is, aiming my éTech at the giggling thing. Right as the camera ‘clicks’, The little witchey-thing throws down the Pachirisu, and is suddenly hiding behind a life-sized doll of itself, though the doll is limp. Huh, it must know Substitute! ... but now the éTech is saying I’m pointing it at a doll, not the Pokémon. I bet I could knock the doll away with a Pokémon attack, check the little Pokémon quickly while it’s distracted.

“Alright Litwick, Night Shade on that doll.” I’m not sure how high-level Litwick is, but I doubt Night Shade would do more than 20 damage.

The doll is knocked away, sprawling in the dirt and being reduced back to the Pachirisu shape it previously had. I look at the little witch-like Pokémon and see it giving me a look of ‘why would you do that’ so strong that my heart melts. Oh god, I forgot how adorable Pokémon get, it’s like cats...

“Hey, I just wanted to know what you are and you flip out. If you stand still for a second I’ll be out of here, deal?” The little Pokémon bursts into tears, crying and sitting on the forest floor. Aw man, now I feel bad... “Fine, I’m sorry. Your doll looks fine though, what’s the big deal?” Seriously, I don’t think I hurt it and the Pachirisu looks just fine. Sighing at the continued crying, I decide there’s nothing I can do. I snap a picture of it with the éTech and walk off, Litwick hopping back on my shoulder, but not without giving me a ‘what the hell, dude?’ look.

Soon enough I come across a Pidgey, but at my approach it flies up and lands in a nest on a branch. I think about how I could get it down, but a Pidgeotto pokes its head out and gives me the stink-eye. Jeez, I sure ain’t Mr. Popular today, that’s for sure. A little while later I’m only about ten yards from the mansion, but there’s a walking bush hanging around the ‘backyard’. The bush, obviously an Oddish, seems like my best bet for a Grass type at this point. Litwick seems to know what I’m thinking and takes initiative, launching a Confuse Ray from my shoulder. I gotta say that up close, that orb gives me the creepiest feeling, even when just passing me by.

The Oddish tries to run away, but gets struck by the orb before it can make it far. Moments later, the staggering shrub face-plants into one of the metal fenceposts. Huh, there’s a full iron fence going around the rear of the property. Why didn’t I notice that before?

“Alright, Smog. Might have to give it two.” Litwick, again from my shoulder, seems to start producing smoke from its candle and kind of blows it at the Oddish, the smoke looking more purpley as it gets close to the target. The Oddish inhales the gas/smoke and starts coughing like crazy. The next cloud of the stuff has the Oddish completely out of it and looking sick as hell, despite it’s immunity to Smog’s poison effect. I toss my Pokéball. The Oddish is in a pretty bad way so I figure if I catch it, I should use a potion on it.

When the ball dings, I walk over to pick up the ball, already holding a potion from my bag. I release Oddish, not looking much better than a few moments ago. I spray the medicine over its body and it certainly seems healthier, though far from perfect condition. The Oddish gives a short response I assume to be a ‘thank-you’ and recall it. Placing it on my belt, I realize I’ve filled up the sixth slot. Huh, that didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Oh well, next catch is going to the PC I suppose.

I check my éTech for info on PC kiosks. Apparently they are all located inside Pokémon Centers or other League buildings as I’m used to. However, I can sync up my éTech and monitor my boxes to sort them and do whatever, I just can’t deposit or withdraw Pokémon from it, which makes sense.

Either way, my goal of catching a Grass type successful, I decide to head back inside and see if Twilight’s up yet.

Chapter 40

Heading back inside and back to my room, I hear humming and realize Rarity is rearranging her room. While it certainly looks less scary, on the other hand, it looks less scary which is the point of this place.

I decide to let her do as she likes and continue to my room. I figure I might as well look up the weird thing I caught.

- These seemingly huge, snaking pokémon are actually collections of hundreds of smaller worm-like creatures. -

- They have a strong telepathic connection between each part of their swarm, allowing them to move perfectly in sync with each other. -

- They move in swarms most easily measured by their combined weight rather than by the number of members involved. -

Yeah, that explains the fact that a simple Confuse Ray would totally fuck them over. Mess with the hive mind and the swarm falls apart in seconds. That said, aside from that glaring flaw, there are certainly uses for a Pokémon like this. I assume that, unlike a Dugtrio or similar, hurting or afflicting one doesn’t immediately affect all the rest of them unless the move has a lingering or ‘splash’ effect. There’s also a branched final evolution, but I can check that out later.

Not to mention that now that I have a Rock/Ground type, a Grass/Poison, a Bug/Psychic, Water/Dark, Ghost/Fire, Grass/Electric... hot damn, that’s some huge coverage. Just get everyone to a respectable level and evolved and I’d say I have a pokémon for any occasion, I’m just lacking a Lucario. If I could carry around a Fighting/Steel as well... I’d be totally set!

Damn ‘six-pokémon’ limit. Oh well, the rules are there for a reason, and I’m not gonna risk my license just for that.

I recall that while I didn’t scan it, I did get a picture of the pokémon with the doll. I run the photo through a cross-reference database and get a result almost immediately.

Chantlette, the Charming pokémon.

- These pokémon gather in groups of up to thirteen to chant wishes for good luck. However, because of their jealous natures, they often curse each other instead. -

- It is very hard to raise one of these pokémon, as they need companions to develop properly. -

- They will often form a coven of nine Chantlette, three Hexemme, and a Morgadamme leading. These covens can do miraculous things with their powers. -

Yeah, those are the things that ‘attacked’ me last night and I ran away from into the house. So given the information about curses, I consider running into the mansion the smart option.

Eh, might as well see how much danger I was in. It’s got two evolutions, after all.

Hexemme, the Witch pokémon.

- These pokémon chant to activate their powers, which makes it sound like they're casting evil spells. However, they are really wishes for luck.-

- They brew large amounts of poisonous drinks in huge pots carved from metal, stone, or tree stumps, and drink them. Because of this, they're immune to most poisons.-

- These pokémon have a cry like the cackling of a witch. However, they're very loving and generous pokémon.-

Oh, so they look and sound evil but they’re just misunderstood? Yeah, not totally sold here.What happens after that then? With the Morgadamme, the Coventry pokémon...

- These powerful pokémon lead covens formed of themselves, Hexemme, and Chantlettes. There is only ever one Morgadamme per coven, though.-

- Capable of incredible feats of psychic prowess, these pokémon keep their trainers and covens safe from any who would threaten them. They are extremely protective, and can curse or hex almost anyone with bad luck.-

These pokémon can grant powerful blessings upon others, rendering them immune to many things which would harm them otherwise. No other pokémon seems able to naturally learn this ability. -

So they end up basically a Gardevoir with a Dark typing. Huh. Oh well. I decide to not look into Magomental’s forms, I want some mystery after all. I think I’ve technically already passed the amount of research a trainer would do before starting their journey. I may not recognize some of these, but with how much I know about the others, heck, I probably know more about Growlithe than anyone from here to Sinnoh, which according to the map, is the furthest from this region, Orre being the second furthest.

Speaking of Orre... Yep, still a total desert wasteland with a teensy patch of green in the far corner. Looking at all the lush, green forests and plains of other places, even after what sorts of Pokémon Wars used to go on and yet all the regions look fine now... What the Hell happened to Orre to still be a mostly-lifeless wasteland unfit for any but a few wild Pokémon?

Oh well, I’m not going to Orre. Too much garbage from Cipher going on over there. I decide to go see if Twilight’s finally woken up.

Walking in her room, I see that the little bundle has ‘grown’ some legs. “Finally awake? Or just too hot under there?”

“Mmph, yeah. Didja know that there’s a resort in northern Otaria that treats pokémon and humans? Apparently, they even groom wild pokémon.”

“Great, so how’s your progress to beating that Water gym going? I already got my Grass type. So I guess we’re just kinda waiting on you.”

“Oh, right! Drat, this book’s so good and I’m almost done with the chapter...” I hear a frustrated grown from under the blanket, shortly followed by the blanket getting thrown off, Twilight yawning a bit as she does so. A little mote of vibrantly blue light is nestled in the shadow of her side.

“Found a friend there, huh?” I recognize it as the thing I confused for a Gastly, that Wispeery thing. “Is that why you were up all night? Because you could read in the dark? You know the éTech has a backlit screen, right?”

“Yeah, but this is a book, Anthony.” Twilight retorts, obviously believing this to be all the argument she needs.

"...Really? You have a ghost type and you use it as a flying booklight?"

"Says the man who used his Liwick to roast marshmallows."

"That's different!"

"How?"

"Look! A Shinx!" I point out the window into the forested backyard where I may or may not have seen a blue-black figure with yellow highlights. “Yeah, so Rarity’s doing her ‘renovation’ thing, but that might take a while. You wanna do something until she’s done or what?”

“Uhm, I suppose, but what? Actually, let’s go meet the inhabitants of the house!”

“If you want. I already got a team of six on me. I’m not really planning on going anywhere special aside from a Pokémon Center. The other option is you getting your sixth, preferably a Grass type as we discussed.”

“That would help balance my team further... Although many pokémon can learn moves other than ones of the same types, right?”

“Your team doesn’t learn any Grass or Electric moves naturally. We’d need TMs or a Move Tutor, and the only Electric TM I have is Zap Cannon, which isn’t really available to non-Electric types, usually. Unless we can find a tutor or buy a TM for something like Grass Knot, you’re out of luck.”

“Ah, alright. Well, I suppose we should go, then, as long as R-” before Twilight could finish, a loud scream echoes down the halls, though it’s definitely a scream of rage, not fear.

“Well, someone’s having a bad morning.”

“What have you done to my beautiful house?!” The raspy, almost smoker-like voice could belong to none other than the Gengar who apparently runs this place. Guess he disagrees with Rarity’s renovating, as I suspected he would.

“And that’s the sound of Rarity about to be kicked out. What say we take our leave as well?” Twilight nods in agreement, and quickly begins packing up, her newest pokémon getting tucked into its pokéball with haste.

A few moments later we are making our way downstairs and heading for the front door. “As talented as she is, I have a suspicion that Rarity lacks a certain level of self-control.”

Twilight shrugs in mild agreement as we leave the house, Rarity storming out, positively fuming as she leaves, muttering things about ‘being tasteless’ or ‘drabby’ or whatever. After a minute, she starts on a rant about how he called her decorations ‘pink’.

“Rarity, we’re guys. To us, salmon is pink, cream is white, and there is absolutely no difference to us between brown or burnt-umber.”

Rarity just ‘Hmmph!’s, and walks off with her nose in the air. Twilight and I exchange a glance, and try not to burst into laughter, as that’d be rude and Rarity is really accurate with sewing needles.

So we make our way out of the forest, deciding we should try and get Twilight’s Grass type along the way. We avoid whatever semblance of a path we encounter and decide to just follow a compass back to the city when we feel it’s time to leave.

As we walk, we get increasingly further from what could be considered ‘the right way’ and Rarity decides we are lost despite our GPS clearly stating that we are just North of the city and it would just be a half-hour walk. Continuing on, there isn’t much to see as the trees and other plants become very thick, making the place shaded and very closed in.

As we’re walking, Twilight passes under the shade of a large, spreading tree. Without any kind of warning, something like a green throw-rug leaps out and plows into her side, sending her sprawling in the dirt.

“Shit, are you okay!?” I grab the rug thingy and toss it. It’s deceptively heavy and I assume it’s a pokémon or made of dark matter. Either way, I toss it as far away as I can -about two meters- and check on Twilight. Thankfully, she’s only stunned.

“Humph!” The rug makes a noise like it’s disappointed, and sits itself into a hillock shape, two dark eyes and a downward crescent making it look vaguely like a creeper-print bath mat thrown over a pile of laundry.

I nudge Litwick off my shoulder onto the ground in front of the thing and pull out my éTech. Rather have some defense while I study it. The device beeps and gives me its result.

-Mossulk, the Mossy pokémon. Grass-type.-

- These pokémon tend to sit in the shade, and avoid direct sunlight. However, they will attack any animals that wander past, in hopes of a meal. -

- These pokémon are basically large, living mats of moss, with a central nervous system that regenerates rapidly if injured. They can even regrow damaged portions of their brains. -

- There is nothing these pokémon hate more than being insulted. If their egos are hurt, they're prone to moping for hours or even days, which can make training them an absolute pain. -

It also spits out their relative stats, saying they’re durable and slow. Also says they don’t eat meat, fortunately. Looks like I picked a good choice with Litwick. Still, if it doesn’t eat meat why the heck did it jump us?

The Mossulk then extends an appendage, though it looks sorta like a green version of Cookie Monster’s hand than a proper limb. In that limb is a couple Cheri berries. The fucker stole Twilight’s berries!

“Litwick, Fire Spin! Don’t let it get away!”

The little candle-geist sends a swirling helix of fire towards the Mossulk, who... sits there. It’s like watching a Kakuna, but with less glaring. It raises a mossy limb, and spikes it into the ground, a tangle of grass suddenly grabbing Litwick and roughly shoving it aside. It doesn’t seem to do much beyond disrupt Litwick though. The Mossulk, apparently having exactly zero fucks to give about all this, simply hops forward through the circle of fire like a small green walrus, even though I can clearly see it’s got patches of still-smoldering embers all over it, and half a dozen burns.

Grass type immune to Fire? Well, time for Poison then. “Smog, before it gets out of the vortex!”

I immediately regret this when the gaseous cloud hits the Mossulk... and the column of fire. A brief explosion later, and I’m on my back with the Mossulk on my chest. Oh god this is heavy...

“Humph.” And the Mossulk is still able to ‘speak’ just fine. Fucking durable pokémon...

I can’t get the leverage to push it off me, and ordering Litwick to attack might hit me and if seeing a Confuse Ray up-close gives me a crawly feeling, I don’t want to know what it feels like to be hit by it... and that’s the least-damaging move I’m aware it knows.

“Hey girls, little help?” Great, talking hurts with this thing sitting on my lungs somewhat.

Twilight trots over, and pokes the Mossulk, who resolutely fails to react. “Uhm, I’m not sure what we could do that wouldn’t potentially end up injuring you as well... unless... well, would you mind if I tried to take this one?”

“I don’t care -koff- what you do!” I see a pokéball hover up, then a flash of light as the Mossulk disappears. I take a deep, gasping inhalation, and roll on my side. Oh geez, it feels like my ribs were pancaked...

“How... heavy... is-” My éTech responds for me, apparently hearing a keyword.

“Mossulk specimens average 135 pounds, or roughly 61 Kilograms, and are most often approximately 1.7 feet or 51.8 centimeters in height. Their preferred diet is decaying plant matter and fallen fruit. They are known to also eat junk food without ill effect.”

“And it tried to steal our berries. Great.” I hear the ‘ding’ of a successful capture. Apparently it gives about as many fucks about being owned as it does taking Fire damage.

“Wow Anthony, you did a number on this... by all accounts, it should barely be able to move.”

“Well it wasn’t doing much moving once it started crushing my skeleton, so we just find a Pokémon center, get our teams healed up, and find me a bed. I feel like laying down. With nothing on top of me.”

I check the map and see that the city is still a ways away, but decide to begin heading in that direction anyway. Deciding that we should get to the center first, I have the éTech set our course for the nearest pokémon center. No map icon appears, but we do have directions and it’s ahead of us. Off we go then.

After some walking, the device on my wrist tells me to head right, and we do. I don’t feel like we’re that close to the city, but I do hear faint voices of people talking. Maybe it got confused and expects us to walk through one of the walls...

With an abruptness I’ve sort of begun to expect in this world, the forest ends, and reveals a fairly large city, with a strongly renaissance themed air to it. Before we approach, Twi and Rarity change to human for the time being, and we head towards the town.

On the way in, groups of people and pokémon are setting up what seems like a fair, and when I see a banner go by, I feel myself squee. They’re not just setting up a fair, they’re setting up an actual renaissance fair, and have the entire town set up for it! Oh, this is awesome.

I can see people in armor and dressed like jesters, knights, squires, archers, princesses, and so much more. I can even see someone riding a full-grown Tyrantrum and carrying a lance, the word ‘SECURITY’ spray-painted onto the Tyrantrum’s chest.

That. Is. AWESOME!

“I can’t believe how renewal-aged this place looks, but with humans and pokémon, not ponies.” Rarity muses. “I had always wished this style could come back, I have so many ideas... Could we stay here? Please?”

“Sure, why not. I guess we can go when the festival is over. I like the way the place looks myself!”

Twilight, obviously makes the most ‘Twilight’ comment possible. “I feel like I walked into a History Textbook!” I facepalm. No shit, Sparkle... no shit.

We walk inside the Pokémon Center, this one having it’s interior mostly unchanged yet still fitting, only a few minor changes really stand out. We sit down at a table once our pokémon are being looked over. I laugh at the out-of-place drink machine and decide to get a soda for the sake of the period clash.

But when I make my selection, instead of a soft-drink can, rather, an iron flagon with a lid on it drops down. BEST. PLACE. EVER!!

As I grin my head off, I walk back to the booth, and find Rarity has moved over a booth to participate in an animated conversation with another woman, who is wearing an impressively well-made gown and corset combination. A hexagon pattern is embroidered on the brown fabric with gold-colored thread.

“Man, I never expected this kind of thing. I expected all the celebrations to be more... tribal, really.” I say, recalling the festival from the second movie.

“Really? Well, I’m certainly enjoying this. There’s so many little details, everywhere I look! Whatever holiday this is, it must be important.” Twilight says, looking around in wonder. I can’t help but laugh a little.

“Holiday... sure.” I say, watching a young man with a Lucario walk by in ‘nobleman’ style gear, the pokémon dressed like a duellist. “Hey, wanna get some costumes for ourselves?”

I am given Rarity’s answer in the form of a loud, very happy squeal. I’m sure the idea of going shopping in an older time period would be like a dream for her. And I want a neat get-up myself. We exit the center and half-drag Twilight to a place where we can get costumes and props.

Twilight spends a bunch of time getting dressed, and I’m already in my new outfit of a knight. I’m gonna look so badass. Of course I’m going for more of a ‘lightly-armored’ knight. I want to be able to walk around and jump without clanking like a pot with every shimmy.

I gape as I see Twilight's wearing a long, slim dress that hugs her curves, a stars, suns and moons pattern on the fabric. A tall, deep blue wizard’s hat of what looks like crushed velvet sits atop her head, her violet hair falling out the back slightly. To complete the ensemble, a single-arm plate cover on her right arm has six 'jewel' slots, each one with a Pokéball in it. Silvery engravings cover the sides, mixed with an 'ancient mew' design in what looks like either gold or brass in the middle of the six Pokéball slots.

Rarity is taking the most time, obviously, and has actually asked for spare fabric and is making her own dress or whatever she’s making. When she finally decides she’s ready, she steps out of the dressing room. “How do I look, dears?”

Woah.

She looks like Princess Zelda, but with purple hair and about ten times hotter.

...Why the hell did I just think that? Looking back at Twilight, she also looks pretty damn good. Not as good, but I’d still totally fu- why am I on this train of thought!?

“Whoo... Anthony, this corset seems a little loose, can you help me tighten it?” Twilight asks. I sneak a peek at the corset which is pushing her human ‘assets’ into a more... appealing position already.

Whyboner... of fucking course. “Sure.” After doing my deed and totally not thinking of just bending her over and augh...

I focus on not looking at either of them. Oh man, this is either the best day ever or the worst, I’ll decide which later...

Chapter 41

Walking around, the place has one major difference from other faires I’ve been to: Pokémon.

Some are dressed up in different attire to the point that a few just look like slightly-odd people. Though here in anime land, it’s not that different from everyone else anyway. One of the things I see is a Gardevoir with vaguely military-esque appearance to its ‘gown’ setup, and it takes me a moment to remember that Otaria has some minor differences to a few pokémon’s looks. This one fits in perfectly, looking like a knight out of armor, escorting a female trainer around.

You know, I’ve never looked in a mirror since I got here. I mean Twilight and Rarity don’t need much ‘remolding’ what with their hair and rather skinny bodies. I wonder if I changed...

I look into the nearest pool of water -a rain barrel- and see that no, I’m pretty much the same. I also notice that there’s some berries floating in the barrel. Oh god, with the size of some of these it looks harder than apples... But a sign says if you get it you keep it. Well, can’t pass up a chance like that.

I notice an Aspear berry. Hello Freeze heal! I dunk my head in and try to grab it with my teeth, but my nose keeps bumping it around. Finally I get it in a desirable position and grab it, but its tough skin makes my teeth skim it, rather than grab, so I push it further away.

Must. Get. Free. Berry!

I finally manage to corner it again and sink my teeth into it with a mighty chomp- Oh for the love of all that is holy, that tastes horrific! It’s so sour I can’t feel my tongue!

I pull my head out and scrape my tongue off as best I can, and I see the half-eaten Aspear berry floating on the water’s surface.

The guy running the attraction looks at me sympathetically. “Sorry pal, better luck next time.” He grabs the Aspear berry out and throws it into a bucket. “Dang, that was a ripe one, here.”

He hands me a flagon of normal unberry-juiced water and I wash out my mouth, the taste still lingering a bit. I watch as a Gallade walks up, dunks his head in and immediately comes up with a Lum berry. Lucky fucking bastard...

<Ah, delicious!> is the pokémon’s only comment as he walks off.

The girls are having quite the giggle fest at my failure and totally soaked head. “Like you could do better!”

“Well, I would but I wouldn’t want to muss my hair, you understand.”

“Maybe you could give another demonstration.”

I stare back at them. “Go suck a lemon.”

“You look like you already did, and I think we can learn from your mistake.” Twilight retorts.

“Eh, shut up, let’s see what else there is.” I walk along and I see a couple of kids sitting on a log, bored out of their minds and dicking around on their éTechs. They look like the typical city kids who’ve been dragged out here by their parents, and they are doing all they can to avoid culture.

Dumb kids, don’t know what they’re missing here. One of them looks up and actually walks up to us. “Hey, nerd-guy. Yeah, in the dumb armor. Wanna have a battle? I need to kill time somehow.”

I shrug. “Eh, sure.” The fairgrounds have a special area set aside for battles, so we have somewhere meant for it. Best of all, it’s got an announcer and some stands set up, and the stands look like they’re a permanent thing, judging by the stainless-steel construction.

However, the actual battle area is given a very medieval-looking setting, like it’s meant more for jousting, the markings on the ground being the only indication it’s for pokémon in the first place. The kid looks nonplussed at this.

He walks to the other end and holds out a shrunken Great Ball. “Try to make this at least half an hour, my parents are at the justing thing.”

Bratty kid. I toss out my fully-healed Geodude, who lands and looks around at the place, then at me. He seems rather... displeased. “Come on, this is just another battle, act like it.”

Geodude rolls his eyes but immediately goes into his battle stance as the kid tosses the Great Ball into the air, the bright light revealing a Beedrill, which darts into the air.

Heh, flying or not... Bug/Poison against Rock/Ground. “You got this Geodude, easy out! Rock Throw!”

The stony pokémon drives a fist into the ground, as the opponent shouts for a Twineedle. The tiny points bounce and ricochet off Geodude, who tears up a chunk of rock as big as himself. With a two-handed heave, the rock is used to smack Beedrill right out of the air. The bug isn’t down, though, just looking battered.

“C’mon, Beedrill, don’t suck!” Wow kid, you are terrible at giving motivational speeches. Damn city kids. Didn’t like ‘em before, don’t like ‘em now.

“Tell you what, I’ll switch out pokémon and give you an extra turn, think that’ll help slow this down enough for you?” Hey, he’s the one who doesn’t want it over fast.

“Yeah, whatever. Beedrill, c’mere, I got a potion.” Well, that’s one use for a free turn.

In the meantime, I throw out GLaDoS, and order a Sunny Day for prepwork. The resulting light makes all the nearby people in armor become giant glares, and Rarity’s sequin-covered dress makes her totally sparkle, like her whole body is made of silver and- Battle, right. Focus on the battle.

“So what’s your next move, kid?” I expect a Bug or Poison move. It’ll be super-effective and get STAB, but all the ones Beedrill learns are physical and that means GLaDoS is in prime position for a quick zap.

“Beedrill, fury attack!” Or a normal type move.

I wait. Just a few seconds... almost... almost...

“Shock Wave!” I shout the split second before the tip of Beedrill’s outstretched drill-arm connects.

With a loud CRACK! and the scent of ozone filling the air, the electrical pulse jumps entirely into the Beedrill, and knocks it flat to the ground as a result. The bug-type twitches once, and remains mostly still after that. The city kid recalls his pokémon with a look of shock on his face.

GLaDoS has a definite puncture wound, but looks rather proud of it’s quick victory.

“Uh, alright, uhm, go Rattata!” The purple rat pokémon hits the field, and is immediately issued a Quick Attack order, which it does. I let GLaDoS take the hit, looking a little battered at this point.

“Synthesis!” The green sheen covers the spud pokémon and leaves behind no injuries.

“Hyper Fang, Rattata!” Heh, kid’s not used to Voltato.

Perfect! “One more Synthesis on contact!”

The rat pokémon gets a very unamused look on it’s face as it sinks its teeth into the shimmering potato. “Thundershock!”

The resulting electrical current throws the choking-faced Rattata clear across the arena. The city kid yells a rather dramatic ‘No!’ as this happens.

“Geez kid, if you wanted to draw this out, you shouldn’t be doing so badly. You done yet?”

“N-no! Go Pidgeotto! Wing attack!” The bird has barely formed by the time it’s making the striking move.

The dual-typing of GLaDoS makes a Flying move do only standard damage. The Rattata’s H-Fang would do more. I once more let GLaDoS stand still. The little guy seems to know what I know and gives a ‘bring it’ look at the bird with his multiple yellow eyes.

Unfortunately, our anticipation led us astray as we hadn’t calculated velocity, mass and a few other things, and the strike sends GLaDoS flying backwards. I recall it with a quickdraw of his ball, zapping it back inside before it hits the ground. “Alright, have it your way. Litwick, you’re up!”

“Ha, a fire-type? No problem!” The kid calls back. Man, he’s awful confident for someone all set to get an ass-whuppin’. “Hit it with a quick attack!”

“Fire Spin when it gets close.” Needless to say, the Normal-type move has no effect whatsoever on my Ghost-type, phasing through harmlessly, and Litwick launches the flaming vortex at the bird, trapping it in a tornado, already disoriented from missing a supposedly dead-on shot.

“Oh no... Whirlwind!” Surprisingly, the move disrupts the Fire Spin. Man, the games really didn’t prepare me for move interaction like this. Still, one thing’s for sure, it needs to breathe

“Smog!”

“Whirlwind again, push it right back at it!” the kid yells, and the Pidgeotto crows out, sweeping the smog into Litwick’s face. The little candle pokémon begins coughing and hacking into its tiny fist.

“Ember!”

Litwick’s attack is lackluster, and misses entirely, and this time the Wing Attack goes through. Litwick goes down. Geez... how is this kid beating me? There’s no way that pokémon is higher level than mine...

I don’t want to risk Oddish yet, and I’m not sure about Magomental’s Bug type so... “Carvanha, you’re up!”

Landing in the nearby pool with a splash and gnashing its teeth. “Alright Carvanha, be as vicious as you want. Only rule is no killing. Other than that... have fun.”

Carvanha sounds very happy with this notion, and even licks her lips... well, her outer-jaw, no real lips to speak of. The Pidgeotto is ordered to give another Wing Attack. “Carvanha... do whatever you want.” I wave my hand dismissively and my carnivorous pokémon grins joyfully as it opens its mouth as wide as possible, and leaping at the bird heading right for it.

However, the Pidgeotto turns at the last second and curves upward, delivering the Wing Attack as an uppercut, bouncing Carvanha into the air, where it lands on the ground with a rather final-sound ‘wham!’

Okay, I can understand messing up, but a 1HKO? Damn... “Geez kid, what kinda heat is that bird packing?”

“My parents bought it for me!” The kid smugs at me. I need to see these stats, they must know some high-end breeders to get something like that.

The éTech detects the Pidgeotto and brings up the data. “No, I want the stats... no you dumb machine these stats, not the generalizat-

Suddenly a shrill bleeping noise comes from the device on my wrist, and then everyone starts beeping with a loud ‘alert’ sound followed by a wailing ‘ILLEGAL POKÉMON DETECTED! ILLEGAL POKÉMON DETECTED! CONTACTING NEAREST AUTHORIZED LEAGUE AFFILIATE!’

I look at the kid, who quickly recalls the bird. I run over and hoist the child up my the back of his shirt. “I thought you were just a prick, I didn't know you were a cheater.”

“I- I didn’t know! My momma got it for my birthday last year!” The kid looks terrified. Understandable, he’s going to lose that pokémon, whether he knew or not.

Someone comes up dressed as a stable-girl and states that she is the local gym leader. Woah. Didn’t know there was a gym all the way out here. I grab the pokéball I recognize as the one with the Pidgeotto in it and toss it to her. “This Pidgeotto is way above it’s supposed level. Like, by at least twenty.”

The gym leader takes the ball and pulls a device from under her leather tunic, clamping it around the ball. A couple of seconds later, the device chirps, and a small red light flashes. “Illegal genetic tampering. Geez, kid, this thing’s only level sixteen! Whoever your parents got this pokémon from will be going to jail if they’re caught.” Wait, ‘if’? “Hopefully, they haven’t moved on already. Where’re your parents...” she looks at the device the ball is in, “... Kevin? I need to have a chat with them.” She’s barely as tall as my collarbone, and looks like she’s still in her teens, but there’s no doubt the Gym Leader here is used to being in charge.

“I- I just wan’ my pokémon back!” the kid cries, snot and tears dribbling down his face as he cries.

Okay, I think he’s had enough so I set him back down. “Sorry little guy. You aren’t going to see Pidgeotto again. Next time your parents buy something for you, don’t take anything that’s alive. Okay?” The kid just bawls and collapses in the dirt.

I shrug and decide to let the Gym Leader handle it. I walk back to Twilight and Rarity, who are certainly startled at the events. I shake my head. “The kind of bullshit that parents drag their kids through, am I right?”

“That poor child!” Rarity says, looking so very sad, her breath hitching, the motion drawing my eyes to the ripples it causes in her- dress! Yeah, the ripples in her dress. I’m looking at Twilight now.

Twilight also looks sad, her entire demeanor helping express this. Even her hat is drooping! I wave to them. “Come on, let’s get going before the police show up. I don’t wanna see a kid watch his parents get hauled away or something.”

“Oh... okay.” Twilight sort of... folds in a little, the action pushing her... chest... forward as a result of arm placement. I jerk my head away, and refuse to look at either as we make our way to the camping area set aside for visitors, as the Pokécenter is jam-packed.

“Well, that happened. And let that be an example as to how seriously this world takes the treatment of pokémon. You genetically enhance it so it’s only good for brute-force battling, you get locked up.”

“That poor foal, though, he didn’t do anything wrong.” Twilight says. “He didn’t know his parents had done that! It’s so... sad...” She sits down on the ground, after having finished her tent. “Aww... now I just feel bad.”

“Well we can’t just let him keep an illegal pokémon like that. Sure he didn’t know it or do it on purpose, but he committed a serious crime in using it in battle. Bottom line, somebody did something to that pokémon to make it ‘not-normal’ and the kid used it. That’s all it takes. That’s why I usually don’t condone buying a pokémon, unless you trust your source.”

Rarity takes the moment to pull out Feebas, the fish pokémon staring vacantly ahead and gaping happily. I hold up my éTech and scan the fish. “She’s clean. Totally legit.” Rarity hugs the fish, who lets out a happy noise. Her smiling makes her look so radiant in that dress.

“And since Twi got Pignite directly from a professor and every other one we got were wild, we are all good. But yeah, there’s no real way to just immediately know a pokémon is ‘enhanced’ and not just a rather high level. If I hadn’t wanted to know what it’s stats were, who knows how long it would have been before anyone discovered that Pidgeotto.”

“Yeah...” Twilight says, still looking upset. I don’t know why, but I want to hug her better.

“Come on, at least things could be worse.” I put my arms around their shoulders and they latch onto me like I’m a life preserver. “Much worse...” Oooh... it’s so warm, and soft like this... even with them not being ponies, they’re so plush.

I blame anime physics. Ah well, it’s certainly not bad... and it seems my lower half agrees. Sigh. “Well, we might as well get my pokémon healed up and head back to the city.”

“Can... can we keep the outfits?”

Immediately, I begin stumbling on my words. “Well, I’d certainly like to have you er, us, keep them, but I very highly doubt we would be able to, they aren’t ours after all so the chances of you being able to wear those again is very slim and-”

“Actually, aside from your light armor sir, they can keep their outfits. We can always get more fabric.” A lady in a princess outfit who I recall running the costume area, says as she approaches. “You just can’t take anything like armor, or props, though.”

I give a halfhearted smile. “Well shiiiii-great!”

And so continues the embarrassing saga of the ever-prevalent whyboner... fuck me...

Author's Note

Seriously, imagine human Rarity dressed like Zelda but her hair is the same Royal Purple. That is hot!

Can I get some artists to do this for me? Please? It's... for science, of course... :twilightblush:

Chapter 42

The next day, we’re off again. The fair was great fun, minus the whole ‘illegal pokémon’ fiasco, so the three of us are in good spirits. It took a bit of convincing to get Rarity to take off her outfit, but when I bring up the possibility of a tree-branch grabbing it and tearing it, she was back in her adventuring clothes in under a minute, proving that girls can change just as fast as guys, they just won’t for whatever reason.

Along the way, we come across a small nest of Pidgey, and we all take one to fight, me taking the largest one, Rarity deciding to take the one that looks the most “Scruffy” as she put it. It ends well enough, no major injuries on our end, and I’m pretty sure Glorious got quite the workout defeating that one.

Still, we get along fine against the rabble, and we keep going on towards the city. It’s taking a while, though. But the map isn’t pointing us in the wrong direction, I’m sure.

Several more encounters later, mostly with tired nocturnal pokémon or furtive forest pokémon, we arrive at the edge of the woods once more. A half-hours walk away lies the town of Autumnwash, and we can go from there to Great Barrier Port. I did spend some of the battles levelling up Oddish, so it’s a bit caught up. At this rate, if I don’t get enough seaside battles, Carvanha is going to be the weakest part of my team. Oh well, I’ll come up with a solution to that eventually.

We decide that we might spend a bit of time in Autumnwash before going further. We haven’t been walking for that long, but I doubt the road to Great Barrier got any shorter since the last time we walked it. We also need to stock up on a few things, I’m on my last recovery item: a basic potion. My Sitrus berry plant sprouted finally, but my lack of gardening experience only gave me two.

Rarity’s planters are giving her upwards of four to five berries per plant. I’ve never had a green thumb in my life, so I’m not surprised. But aside from the berry for replanting, I’m down to a Potion and a Sitrus berry. Checking the Max HP of my team... the 20 points will heal more than the one-third the Sitrus berry grants. That is a sign of slow growth...

Then again, I’m trying to level up everyone at once, when my usual strategy was one at a time. If they weren’t all digital, I doubt any of my pokémon would have gotten much time to stretch or anything. I realize that, on a social level, I am probably the worst pro-level trainer around. Well, I’m getting better now at least.

It certainly feels odd walking into a town and not using a main path, just walking up to the backs of a bunch of building a good distance away from a forest border. Still, Autumnwash looks unchanged overall. We walk by the gym and I see a kid sulking away from the door muttering ‘What the heck is a Gible?’

Heh, noob. Learn your Dragon types. We head to the field area just before the exit to the Great Barrier Port path. Finding a park bench we sit down and plan to just relax for a bit before heading on. I just realized something. The signpost just says where the path goes to, there’s no Route Number system here. That’s... kinda weird.

Oh well, not everything has to be about numbers, even if it’s easier to understand. I’m not really sure how that started in the sense of the game, my guess is they didn’t want to name every single one.

I idly begin fiddling around my pockets. When I move to my zippered jacket pouch, I feel something. I didn’t... Oh, right. I pull out the chip. Project Hypergenesis.

I could answer the biggest question in history, how they made Mewtwo... but I know for a fact that knowledge is power, and some power is dangerous.

“What’s that?”

“The greatest answer in nerd history.” I respond without really thinking. “Er, nothing. It’s nothing.” I jam it back into my pocket before Twilight could get a closer look.

“Uhm... okay. You ready to go?”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s hurry. It might start raining again.” I say, recalling the last time we took this road. “Hopefully it won’t take three days and a bunch of towels this time.”

Y’know, one thing actually doing this in real life is doing for me, is give me an appreciation of just how fast you’re moving in the games. After all, an average journey between Lavender Town and Fuschia city takes a minute or three if you’re fast or on a bike, but what appears to be the same-ish distance of flat terrain here takes forever.

Still, at least it’s not raining.

We’ve gotten most of halfway across the plains by the time we decide to rest for a while. After all, lunch is a sacred time. My belly says so. We go over our food supplies and I notice that we still have about a week’s worth of food for all of us if we don’t plan on eating a feast during that time.

Of course, the girls realize that we still don’t have any coffee, and I have to drag them along the path towards GB so they don’t rush back to Autumnwash to buy some. “Come on, we’re already about halfway there and you want to go back now?”

“Maybe y’ should’ve, kid.” A voice growls out from behind us. A man in what is quite obviously a Chainer’s outfit steps out of the grass. “Hand over yer pokémon, and I’ll let you live.” A quartet of pokémon with the chain-branding come out of the grass as well, forming a semi-circle between us and the Chainer.

I grab the first two balls from my belt and toss them out, summoning Litwick and Oddish. I figure I’ll save my real muscle for once I’ve determined his strategies.

Twilight taps the metal gauntlet on her arm, from her ren faire costume, and sends out her own pokémon, Pignite. Rarity, acting quickly, simply calls out to Glorious, who is sheathed on her back instead of in a ball.

“Alright, hit ‘em! They aren’t gonna go easy, I get to beat ‘em.” The Chainer’s pokémon appear to be a Machoke, a Gloom, either a Gastly or a Koffing obscured by dark smoke, a Raticate and a Pidgeotto. All of them are badly scarred and look more scared of the Chainer than actually battle-willing. “Machoke, bullet punch, Gloom stink ‘em, bird, you go for their bags!” The Gloom immediately begins letting out a visible cloud of stench, and the Machoke rears back for the first of its punches.

“Oddish, Sweet Scent! Cancel the stink! Litwick, trap that Pidgeotto with Fire Spin!” As my pokémon hop to it, the staccato sound of the Bullet Punch landing on Pignite reaches my ears.

“Pignite, use Ember!” Twilight yells, already reaching for another pokémon.

Rarity, for a moment appearing to be talking with Glorious, shocks me by taking the sword-pokémon’s handle, its scarf-tassel wrapping securely around her arm. A moment later, and her eyes glow a cold blue, the color of the Honedge’s tassel.

“Koffing, lock ‘em up with Poison Gas!” the Chainer yells, settling what the gassy pokémon is. “And Gloom, fire some Razor Leaves at ‘em, too! Machoke, stop fuckin’ around and hit them already!” The beleaguered fighting type goes to throw another punch, I’m guessing a standard Mega Punch or something, towards Oddish. Meanwhile, a veritable fog of purple gas begins creeping across the field, and I can see most of the Chainer’s pokémon backing away from it, even the Gloom, who seems to have already forgotten the command it was given. The Koffing must be the ‘big guns’ of this group, then.

“Litwick, Minimize!” Wanna give it as much chance of scooting under the crap as possible. “Oddish, Stun Spore that Koffing!” My pokémon sends the yellow flurry at the Koffing, but the smog surrounding it is too thick to tell if it hit.

Nevermind, it was just meant to stall. I grab Geodude’s and Magomental’s balls and toss them out too. The two pokémon materialize, Geodude immediately entering a ‘battle stance’ and the swarm of worms that is Magomental mostly just forming into a giant worm-shape.

As they appear, I’m forced to throw myself to the ground as the Pidgeotto I’d almost forgotten dives from the sky for my bag. It doesn’t make it far, though, as a steely-keen blade slashes in and slices deep into the bird pokémon’s chest. I look up to Rarity, face utterly expressionless, stepping lightly to get over and past me, still harrying the Pidgeotto with Glorious.

“Shit, stop fuckin’ around, Pidgey! Peck her damned eyes out!” The Chainer yells, distracted by one pokémon while his other pokémon idle. I’m guessing they’re used to being punished for thinking for themselves.

“Geodude, Rollout the Pidgeotto! Litwick, Night Shade the Machoke. Oddish, Sleep powder on the Koffing. Magomental-” I pause, realizing I’m not sure what it can do.

The mass of worms surges forward and rears up, then seems to glow from within. Then, a sickly, multi-hued wave of energy washes from it and smashes into the Gloom, making the grass/poison type fall back and get the spiralling pupils indicative of confusion.

Once I see Geodude has effectively knocked Pidgeotto out of the air for Rarity to deal with, I have him head over and hold down the Chainer. Don’t want him ditching us while we’re distracted.

However, before he can get a good hold on the Chainer, the surprisingly hardy Machoke smashes a fist into Geodude, sending him flying. The thuggish trainer swears and begins coordinating his pokémon again.

“Litwick, get in there and stall the Machoke!”

While Litwick begins throwing quick gouts of fire at the Machoke, I see Pignite move up behind the Gloom, before using a searing blast of fire. The Chainer is starting to look antsy, and I need to get a pokémon capable of grappling to nab him before he runs off.

“Koffing, countdown!” the Chainer yells, and I see the leering eyes in the middle of the smoke cloud gleam dangerously. The eyes roll up a bit, and I can see the Koffing’s symbol on its ‘belly’ glowing through the fog... except it’s a skull in a nuclear symbol, not vague crossbones. There is literally no way that’s a good sign. Especially since the Chainer is now booking it like there’s no tomorrow.

Before he gets far, though, I see Twilight throw another pokéball out, and some pokémon begins to form nearby him. However, I need to stop whatever the Koffing is going to do, and the way the glowing symbol is beginning to flash faster and faster, I’m assuming it’s like a bomb in a video game.

I think hard, and my plan seems to require more than my team. I take a deep breath to calm myself as best I can. “Everyone target Koffing! Honedge, Metal Sound! Oddish, Absorb, Magomental, Confusion, Pignite and Litwick, give it all the fire you got! Geodude, Spin Dash full force! Give it Hell!” Every pokémon joins in, and I see Rarity hold out Glorious for the attack. Almost as suddenly, I see the Chainer’s other pokémon join in, the ones that are still up at least. Within moments, the Koffing goes down, the flashing stopping and the cloak of fog dropping from it. Thankfully, it seems we’ve interrupted the attack.

Looking over towards where I saw the Chainer running, I expect to see him long gone.

Instead, I see him flat on his face in the dust, a mossy green rug on his back. “Humph.” Wow. Nice use of a sedentary pokémon.

“Oddish, Stun Spore, and make it wide!” My plan is to paralyze the remainders. “Magomental, Litwick, team attack the Machoke! Geodude, take the Pidgeotto with a Rock Throw!” It seems Geodude is still recovering, so I have to give the order again before he snaps back and prepares the attack. However, it looks like it’s unneeded as the pokémon the Chainer were using are sitting, slumped, in front of me. I look around for a moment, and realize that even the Machoke is virtually prostrate in the dirt. Jeez, I guess taking down the Chainer means I won. Er, we won.

That done, I recall all but one of my pokémon, Geodude still by my side. I walk over to the Chainer. “So, what should we do now, pal? You got some balls to try and jump us.”

“We should probably call the League, Anthony.” Twilight says.

The Chainer, however, goes white when she says this, and I’m guessing he’s more afraid of what the League will do with him once they see his pokémon. Speaking of, all of them look like their wounds are on their backs and such. Well, except he Koffing. Not battle wounds, but... man, that only makes me angrier.

“Listen, I say we drag him back to Autumnwash, and take him to Winston. And Geodude can do the dragging. We can call Winston and tell him we got a filthy rat for his buddies to take care of.”

“Wh- what?” the Chainer says, after spitting some dirt out and turning his head to the side. “N-no! They’ll kill me! I don’ wanna die!”

“Yeah, well think of that before you torture pokémon, you sick fuck!” I kick him in the side. “Geodude, grab his arms!” The stony-faced pokémon reaches under the Mossulk, who fails to move, and grabs the Chainer’s arms by the wrists.

“Anthony, no. I’m going to call the League, and they’ll send someone to deal with this, okay?” Twilight says, imploringly. “Don’t stoop to his level.”

“I’m not, I’m just getting dirty with the ones who spread the dirt. Besides, I’m not gonna just leave him here for one second. These criminal types have an innate skill of bolting before the good guys show up. Call them if you want, but until then, I say we keep him right here.” I turn to Geodude. “If he gets rowdy... pimp slap him.”

Twilight uses her éTech, pulling up a number and talking into it. The person on the other side says they’ll send out a team to recover the pokémon and take the Chainer into custody. The Chainer lays there, quietly, for a few minutes while we wait.

I kneel down by the grunt’s face, still partially in the dirt. “Now tell me, what do you know about the laser stolen from Great Barrier? Talk!”

“Th- the what? I don’ know, man, I’m just a grunt!”

“Likely story. You gotta know something. Where’d you come from? Where’d you get these pokémon from? Whatever you do know, spill it.”

“I- I came from Rustoil, but I got kicked out when I joined the Chainers and they gave ‘em to me because they don’t not do what you tell ‘em and I really just wanna go I’m sorry I don’t wanna die!”

“Well, I’m not sure what the League will do to you, but you’ll be breathing at the very least when they come to pick you up.”

“Anthony! Stop! Let the authorities deal with this, alright?” Twilight says, pulling me back from the thug.

“I- I ain’t scared of the League. I’m scared of th’ boss. He’s gonna fuckin’ kill me. Or have me killed. Or somethin’.”

“Know your boss’s name? Or anyone’s name from your little group?”

“I- Idunno. I was told it’s a ‘soulier’ organization, with little bits that don’ know each other. I really don’ know anything, just let me go!”

I turn to the girls. “Well, he’s either just a grunt as he said, or a damn good liar. What do you think?”

“I don’t think that ruffian has enough brains to be a consummate liar.” Rarity says, looking at him derisively. Twilight nods in affirmation.

A low rumble of vehicles alerts me, and I turn around.

A pair of large vans roll up, and a couple of people in police outfits step out. They begin loading the pokémon into one of the vans, while another collects the Chainer, keeping a gun to the back of the man's head the whole while, even after cuffing him. The officer in charge of all this nods to me, and smiles gently, before getting into the van and driving off.

Twilight turns to me to speak as they drive out of view, northward off the road. However, barely a moment after they're out of sight, a large carrier truck with the League symbol on it drives up, with Xavius in the passenger seat. When they step out, the first thing the League official asks is, "Where's the guy?"

Huh? “But you just... sonofabitch! Those Chainers got the call too somehow, they dressed up as officials, they got their guy and his pokémon back! You got a way of tracking vehicles or something in there?” I turn to the girls. “I wanted to turn him in ourselves, but nooooo! You wanted to let someone else deal with it!” I stomp the ground in anger. “Motherfucker!”

Xavius steps forward and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Calm down, Anthony. You did the right thing, calling this in. We just need to figure out how they got here first. They must have a base nearby if they could scramble a response this soon.”

“Yeah...” I take a deep breath, finally thinking clearly. “Yeah, you’re right. But there’s one other problem. I was wearing the same outfit back at the Great Barrier lab. If they get a description out of that grunt and it matches one another guy recalls as ‘interfering’ I might be a target on their ‘hit’ list. Yeah it sounds outlandish, but-”

“No, no, it’d make sense. The problem is that you’re dressed like half the kids these days, ever since that one kid went through the Johto League like it was tissue paper last year.”

“Yeah... alright. Guess the ‘Ethan’ look is on my side. Well anyway, I’ll let you guys get on finding that base. And if we run into another grunt...” I think. “We’ll probably get our butts kicked, our pokémon aren’t in the best shape after that.”

“That’s alright, you can ride in the truck. We need to head to Great Barrier to coordinate, might as well make sure you’ll be alright. I can get your pokémon healed, too.” Xavius says, leading us towards the truck’s holding area, which is fairly spacious and has what looks like a mobile treatment center in it. Fucking hell, I wish I could bring this with me everywhere! There’s bunk beds! And a fountain! It’s all meant for making rescued pokémon feel better, but I know I could enjoy this life.

The girls and I sit down and relax, Xavius sitting in as well. “So, now that we all understand exactly how slimy those guys are, I say next time we manage to bring one down, we give him hell or at least make sure we do it ourselves. Also, you might wanna lay low. I may be dressed as a bad cosplayer, but you two aren’t exactly wearing ‘stock’ outfits.”

“We’ll just have to manage, darling. I’m not going to let my fabulosity be overshadowed by those scoundrels.” She looks imperiously towards the north, where the two vans went. Wait, I should’ve told the officials that.

“Oh yeah, that’s where their vans were headed. Not sure if they end up making a turn somewhere, but if you got an Arcanine or something on standby, you might be able to catch them.” I say, toward Xavius. “Got anything exceptionally fast with good eyesight?”

“Not on me, but I’ll call my partner to go after it. He’s got a Pidgeot who can fill in for that.” Xavius says, before sending off what I assume is a text. “Anyways, are you three alright?”

“Yeah.” I nod, turning towards the girls. “Wasn’t really paying attention to you two. No cuts, bruises? No bleeding or anything? I feel fine I suppose, but...”

“I’m fine, thanks.” Twilight says.

“I am fine, too, dears, thank you, though.” Rarity says. I give her a look, because I’m pretty sure she was literally possessed back there.

“Well, let’s just get to Great Barrier. I say we let the Gym challenge wait a bit so Zoltan doesn’t get interrupted in the middle of a battle. He and Winston are the closest geographically to wherever those vans headed to, supposedly.”

“Oh, if you’re gonna wait on Zoli, you can go to the pool section. There’s some really cool stuff there, though I never have the free time to do anyth-” he stops as his éTech beeps twice. He checks his metal arm, a small display showing something. “Aww crap, I gotta go. You three try to stay out of trouble, okay?” He says, pulling out a pokéball, the truck still moving as he opens the back. I’m about to question what he’s doing when he throws the ball, and the immense Metagross materializes. A moment later, and he’s climbed aboard the gargantuan pokémon, literally leaping up to the top, which I’m amused to see a chair appears to be welded to.

Well, that’s one way to travel I suppose.

Chapter 43

The rest of the ride to Great Barrier is uneventful thankfully, as it gives me a chance to cool my head. “That guy back there was seriously bad news. And if he’s as low on the ladder as we think, I’m not so sure about our chances with anyone higher up if we’re on our own. I suppose we should just let the authorities handle it, but if we’re just randomly attacked like that again...”

“Well, I feel we did fine, darling.” Rarity says, “We can’t be held accountable for being tricked like that, this time.”

“Rarity’s right. We didn’t know, but we do now. We just need to be more careful next time, Anthony.”

I suppose they’re right, but... “Still, we just have to treat them very seriously. This time they just wanted our stuff. The last two times I almost got shot. I’m not sure about anyone else, but that’s not the way I want to die.”

“Completely understandable, Anthony.” Twilight says, “I’d rather none of us die, really, for any reason.

I shrug. “It’s gonna happen someday, I just don’t want it to be slow. Or messy.”

Neither of the ponies say anything in response. Although, on the subject of death and thereby ghosts, I have to wonder about that possession earlier.

“Say, Rarity, what was that thing earlier with Glorious. You just grabbed it and kinda... zoned out.”

“Oh, that. Well, you see, Glorious felt it’d be better to take a non-formal match with a degree of skill not available to League matches. She said she knew how best to fight, but that it’s easier on her to have a wielder, as little as she likes the feeling.”

“So she kinda took over your mind. Makes sense. I wouldn’t peg you as the sort to stab a Pidgeotto in the chest halfway down the sword.”

“Er, that poor bird wasn’t that badly injured, was it? I don’t think we meant to hurt it like that...” Rarity says, looking worried.

“Still, you got one thing right: in any match unless circumstances are different... full stabbing, cutting or gouging is illegal. Pokémon may have amazing pain capacity, but they can still die and get scars.”

“Of course, darling, I wouldn’t dream of purposely causing them injury like that, normally. But I can’t bear the thought of any of my precious darlings coming to harm.”

“Just remember that what one pokémon considers ‘harm’ could result in a light tickle to another. When species range from Happiny or Magikarp to Shuckle... there’s a lot of difference.”

Twilight looks confused and flips open her éTech, probably to compare. After a few moments her eyes go wide. “Woah...”

I nod. “And you can get a pokémon that’s really big and can breathe blasts of cold so freezing your skin will change consistency... but in physical combat is weak as a newborn baby. If you want something that practically embodies diversity, pokémon are up there with chimeras.”

“Wow... that’s really amazing Anthony.” Twilight looks to be thinking, her gaze not really focused on anything.

“Yeah, lots of crazy stuff happens. One thing is for sure though, if a wild pokémon is upset in some way, it is not a situation to treat lightly. Even the smallest ones have a way of doing some pretty impressive things.”

With a slight jolt, the truck comes to a stop, perfectly punctuating my statement. We look around, and see we’re actually in a small loading dock. One of the League officials tells us, “We’re in the back of the Gym, for reference. As long as you three are alright, you should get moving.”

I nod and get up, exiting the van, the girls following closely. “It’ll be nice to go swimming for once. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since the last time. I actually forgot. But I’m pretty sure I still know how at least.”

After we get a room at the PokéCenter to stash our stuff, we head to the pool. In the changing room, I end up checking out a nifty set of Feraligatr swim trunks and a set of fins and goggles that match. As well, the pool is pokémon-friendly, so I bring Carvanha, hoping she can restrain herself to just ‘exercise’. She looks a bit antsy though. “Be a good girl and I’ll order a pair of uncooked steaks for you, deal?” She snaps her jaws twice with an unnerving grin. “Deal.”

I step into the main area with the pool after a quick-clean shower, and look around for Twilight and Rarity. I feel myself stumble as I see the two of them in the shallow end of the swimming pool, getting used to the water. Rarity is in a scintillating Milotic-print swimsuit that hugs her in ways I always thought had to be artificial in art. Twilight, in contrast, has a Kabuto-print bikini on, and seems mostly interested in figuring out how to swim in human form. I can see a couple guys eying them, and I feel a bit... protective. Idunno why, they’re fully capable of handling themselves. But still...

I look at the floating, shaped water formations over by the gym area, entranced at how they can keep a more complex shape than ‘cube’ or something without any kind of physical supports. I’ve never really done that much upward swimming either, surface was always ten feet away at most swimming pools I visited. I might need some practice. Luckily, there are two ladders on either end of the pool. One leads to a diving board, the other lets you ‘walk’ into a smaller, simpler cube of water, which is suspended in mid-air completely disconnected from the main pool by about five feet. This is gonna be awesome!

I start up one of the ladders, passing a few signs about strong swimming and being a good, safe swimmer and all that.

I jump in and start swimming around. No matter where I am in the cube, the ‘bottom’ seems to be its center, so if I keep my eyes closed, swimming up feels exactly like swimming forward. This is incredible! They gave the cube its own center of gravity. That said, since the ‘middle’ is an attainable position and I’m drawn to it... it feels exceptionally weird. That said, fighting it is just as easy as swimming up from the bottom of any normal pool, as there’s no current in this. I decide to leave the middle as the feeling of being inside the center of gravity is not one I’d like to experience much longer. It’s like you’re floating in space, but with pressure all around you. I swim up, needing some air. I feel my hands break through the ‘wall’ of the cube and I kick myself forward. Suddenly falling!

It takes me a few moments to realize that after my center of gravity was disturbed, I confused ‘down’ for ‘up’ and I’m falling out of the cube. I don’t have much ability to reorient myself and

-smack!-

Land. In. The. Pool. On. My. Back.

Ooowwwwww...

After a few moments of just floating there in pain, I’m a little surprised to hear genuine clapping. Cool, maybe I can convince people I did it on purpose...

I do my best to ignore my stinging back, the water helping to soothe it a bit. Not sure how far I fell, but for about two seconds, I swear it felt as if the pool I’m currently in was filled with concrete. Note to self, next time, try to aim yourself so you are vertical to the water, not horizontal...

I swim to the edge of the pool and climb up the little ladder and sit with my legs in the pool, taking the chance to catch my breath.

When I hear a wolf-whistle from the edge of the pool, I finally stop wallowing in my pain, and see a girl in a Goldeen swimsuit at the edge of the pool, who winks at me when I catch her eye.

I grin and wave. Okay, maybe making it look ‘on purpose’ is easier than I thought. Cool, I didn’t make myself look stupid yet.

Keyword being: Yet.

Suddenly, I feel something nose me in the small of my back, and I feel myself get launched upwards back to the Cube, where I land face-first. This time, I hear laughter, and see Carvanha jump into the Cube with me. She seems all too pleased with herself, too.

I roll my eyes behind my goggles and swim to the actual top surface of the water cube. A guy in bright red swim trunks and carrying a floatation device walks inside the cube and swims up to met me.

“Hey. I uh, didn’t break a rule or anything, did I?”

“Nah, just impressed. Most experienced swimmers avoid the Cube, and let’s be honest, you’re not an experienced swimmer.” He sits on the edge of the walkway, legs dangling into the cube. “You seem pretty resistant to motion sickness, that’s for sure.”

“Always kinda been that way. Especially rollercoasters. Love it when they go upside-down, but can’t stand opening my eyes when I’m that high. Acrophobia. Kinda a weird combo, huh?”

“Yeah, I can understand. Many people around here get sick near the middle, though, ‘cuz of the gravwell distortion. That trick was developed here in Gee-Bee. I guess you could say our city pride goes into bein’ smart.”

“And you succeed, though the outdoors are a bit too wet for my tastes. First time here got drenched on the way. Walked in the gate and I swear it was worse.” I chuckle at my previous misfortune.

“Yeah, the eggheads in the labs say it’s something about the wall and stuff, makes the rainclouds come in and stick around forever. Sunny days are actually pretty rare. That said, you can find some real tough pokémon and their trainers in the actual port itself, mostly sailors and divers killin’ time.” The guard is mostly just sitting there as he talks, until a couple of the young women from the lower section decide to come up and try out the cube.

Now that I get to see it personally, the way the normally dangling frills act underwater makes the girls look like they’re actually pokémon, with human bits sticking out. One of them is the Goldeen girl, the other is in a pitch-black suit with long fins and glowing parts.

“Goldeen and Lumineon. Can I help you, ladies?” I ask, before recalling they are submerged and I probably sound a million miles away.

The Goldeen girl slowly swims up, gracefully leaving the water behind as she mostly leaves the surface. Hot damn, I wish I could swim half as well as she can. After a moment, she enters the water again, gracefully diving and swimming about lazily.

I look around for Carvanha and see she’s enjoying herself in her own special way, some other trainer’s Marill is pointedly staying two meters away from Carvanha at all times, and my fish seems to like swimming out and then back in, making the Marill go back and forth deciding whether it’s safe or not. Oh well, as long as nothing gets eaten I’ll be fine. I turn back to the lifeguard. “So since you guys are obviously a port town, you got any special fishing spots around the border?”

“I’m not much of a fisherman, but there’s a dude in the port who’ll hand out fishing rods to trainers if they answer a quiz.” The lifeguard says. “That said, the fact that you have a Carvanha means you probably already got a good rod.”

“Ah, nah. Got her by waiting until the school was done ‘eating’ and threw a ball out there. Too full to bother trying to escape I guess. But she seems to like me. Figure she’s still a ways from evolving, but she’s pretty good. I hope she does well when I make my challenge here.”

“Yeah, I can see that working out. Those learn a bunch of non-water moves, right? Buncha biting moves? Those’re good on everything I hear.”

“Yeah, needs to level up more, but she’s a pretty good fighter. Bit of a hassle making sure she remembers you aren’t allowed to eat other trainers’ pokémon. Great for battles aside from that.”

“Huh. I don’t train, myself, but my little bro is off challenging the League. Last I heard, he’s got, like, four badges already.”

“Well good for him. I think I’ll take it slow though. Lot more to do in this world if you stick around to see the sights, y’know? I gotta say though, this place sure isn’t Kanto. I’d get lost if I wasn’t carrying a map around with me all the time.” I chuckle. Really, this region is huge.

“Heh, yeah. A few other regions are pretty big, too. Kroel is massive and mostly unmapped I hear. It was all over the news when it showed up again. Skarance exports so much stuff these days, I mean you’ve heard of ‘em, of course. An entire Region owned by a super corporation... weird place I bet.”

I nod. “Probably better than Orre though. I hear they got this evil crime organization or something running the place. Last I heard, they’re wusses compared to the Chainers, but they gotta be good if they get enough rumors about owning an entire region.”

“Orre, huh? Never heard of the place. I heard of this one Region, Hoenn? There was a big thing about ten years back. Apparently, there was almost a big cataclysm with tidal waves and heat waves and stuff. Some kid stopped it. Some random trainer stopped the whole thing, apparently.”

I recall the events of Emerald. “Not what I heard. I heard the kid managed to do something where he tamed this weather dragon Rayquaza and the dragon made the two pokémon who were doing the world-wrecking calm down and go to sleep or something. Sounds crazy, but every rumor has a grain of truth behind it, y’know?”

“Yeah, I guess. Still, taming a ‘weather dragon’? Seems pretty far-fetched if you ask me.” The lifeguard looks up and shouts across the Cube. “Hey! No running in the pool building!” He starts moving around the catwalk towards the other side, and I’m left on my own.

For a moment, anyways. Then, the Goldeen girl pops up, and set herself down on the edge of the pool. “Hey.”

“Hi. Can I help you with something?”

“So, what’re you in town for?”

“Well, mainly challenging the gym, but I figure that can wait for tomorrow. Lots to see and do, who wants to just rush around everywhere all the time?”

“Oooh, nice. That your Carvanha?”

I look down at the fish, no longer pestering the Marill and just amusing herself in a tame way for once. “Yeah, she can be a handful, but I can handle her.”

“Really? I hear they’re super-tough to train. Takes a real strong hand to keep ‘em under control.” the girl says, turning this way and that as she talks.

I shrug. “We’ve come to an understanding. She behaves, I feed her better than she would in the wild and she can do whatever she wants aside from that.”

“Oh, you’re the empathetic type. I like that. Hey, what’s the rest of your team look like?” The Goldeen girl leans forward, and I notice the top of her swimsuit doesn’t fully cover her cleavage. Still, that’s a common problem with swimwear.

“They aren’t swimmers... well, not aquatic at least. Geodude, Litwick, Magomental, GLaDoS my Voltato, and an Oddish. Only got six at the moment but that’s all I need at the moment.”

“Well, I got my three beauties. My precious Goldeen, my Finneon, and my darling Marilurk. They’re all such dears. Y’wanna meet ‘em? I’m sure they’ll like you.”

“Sure. Hey, if you’re the battling type, we could try that. I haven’t had much practice with truly aquatic opponents except for a Barboach.”

“Oh, sure. But I meant meet them socially, y’know? So they can get a good feel for you.”

“Sure, I’m just offering a battle if you want. Not gonna force you into anything after all. I’m not that type.”

“Heh, that’s cool. Here, let’s show him your stuff, my pretties!” She says, before pulling three pokéballs -where from I have no idea- and throws out her three pokémon. Looking at them, I recognize the two straight off the bat, being common to other swimmer-girl-type trainers in the games, but the third I only remember from the Aquarium, and only from an info-plaque. Marilurk... looks terrifying. It’s like an angler fish, but with crab-shell, little tentacles, and giant-ass teeth. A glowing lure protrudes from the front of its head, and the zillion triangular teeth seem perfectly pointed at me.

“And don’t worry about Marilurk over there. He’s a perfect gentle-fish.”

“Eh, seems nice enough. They’re only dangerous if they’re after you, y’know?”

“Or you dangle something in front of them. Still, these’re my pokémon. I love all three of them, and I caught them myself.”

“Same here. I could have chosen a starter, but I figured my first pokémon should be earned, y’know? I’m not a fan of taking stuff for free if I could achieve it myself. Day later, I got Geodude, Carvanha was the second, and the rest came along soon enough. Only been a licensed trainer for, Idunno... two weeks? three?”

“Oh, that’s cool, I guess. Geodude’s such a... simple pokémon, though. You should get some more elegant pokémon, like Goldeen.”

“I’d get any pokémon I get a good chance at adding to my little group of friends, but I don’t spend enough time around water to find any Water types. Carvanha I got because I knew I’d need one and she seemed the best option available. But if you know where I can find a Goldeen that’d be great!” I need more ‘fish’ Pokémon, and a Seaking would be great to have.

“Well y’know, bigger fish are better in the long run, y’know.” She winks at me again. I’m not sure how to interpret that.

“Yeah. Anyway, I’ve been treading water for, like, twenty minutes now, wanna get onto solid ground? Maybe meet up sometime later? Not that I’m leaving now, but, y’know.”

“Ooh, I think I’m up for that. There’s a food court in the mall across the street from here. Wanna meet in, say, an hour?”

“Sure, sounds great. I’ll probably bring my friends too, they might be hungry by then as well.” I give a quick ‘bye’ and swim down out of the cube, making sure I fall into the main pool headfirst and straight. After a much more smooth entrance to the grounded pool, I swim over to the edge and sit down to catch my breath. I don’t know how I managed to tread water that long, that’s a new record for me for sure.

Chapter 44

After our swimming session and the three of us are all back outside the gym and dressed, I recall I never got that girl’s name, even though I made plans with her. “But I did say I’d introduce her to you two, so... let’s go get something to eat I suppose. We got about, ten minutes to kill until then.”

“Wait, you met a girl, darling?” Rarity asks, sounding intrigued.

“Yeah, met her back in the pool. She seemed pretty nice. We decided to go get some lunch, I said I’d bring you two and she liked the idea.”

“Well, keep going. Is she nice?” Rarity asks, smiling slightly. Well, broadly, actually.

“Yeah, she was pretty friendly, we chatted about what Pokémon we had, and she left, saying she’d like to get something to eat with me. I’m not one to say no to food.”

“Mmhmmm... She left, you said? Hmm... mumblemumblenotgood.”

I check my éTech. “Yeah, I got about nine minutes ‘til I gotta show up, might as well spend some of that time getting there. Come on, I think you’ll like her.”

The three of us get a move on, Rarity fussing over my hair for some reason. I guess her OCD just shows up differently from Twilight’s.

The mall is fairly easy to find, and the interior looks a lot more lively than just ‘a few NPCs walking around idly’ that the games always showed. Eh, probably just so the player didn’t have to hassle with crowds. Probably why an official Pokémon MMO never showed up, waiting in line for the Pokémon Center? Jesus Christ that would be horrific. I find the food court and it takes a bit of looking around, but I finally recognize the girl without her bright orange/white swimsuit on. I lead the humanized ponies with me to the table and sit down. She takes a moment, just standing there and looking at Twilight and Rarity.

“Hi there. Kinda funny, but I just realized we never got each other’s names earlier. I’m Anthony.” I hold out my hand across the table.

She looks a bit like she’s snapping out of a daze, and gets her attention on me.“Oh, right. I’m Starlet.” She looks back and forth for a moment, then sits down in the seat opposite me.

“And these are my friends, Twilight and Rarity.” I nod to them. “We aren’t exactly a close-knit team, but they’re nice to have around on adventures.”

“Uh-huh... Well, uhm, this is one of my favorite places in the mall, in case you’re wondering.” Starlet says, smiling again at me. About this time, a waiter comes over, and sets a quartet of menus/placemats on the table for us. There’s some burgers, some sandwiches, some- oh yeah, I made a deal. I look around and find a nearby empty tank filled with water. I toss Carvanha out into the container, plenty of space for her to move around in. “Alright, you held up your end of the bargain, now I’m gonna hold up mine. Two bloody-raw steaks coming up.”

I sit down at the table and turn back to the menu, to see what I’m getting. Where’d I leave off? Oh yeah, the sandwiches and different kinds of fries... the hell is a Smeargle Fry? Do I want to know?

... I’m morbidly curious. As I flag down a waiter, Starlet lets her own Pokémon out into the tank, and Twilight and Rarity let their own Pokémon free to wander, as at least a dozen other trainers have done as well. The restaurant is much more spacious, likely for this reason. Eh, might as well, but I keep Magomental and Geodude in their balls. One is a little... fucking disgusting, and the other is moody.

The waiter comes over and I ask about the Smeargle fries. Turns out, they’re sweet-potato fries that’re colored with Smeargle ink, which is safely edible and makes them taste better. They’re meant for kids, but they’re popular enough that they’re also served in larger amounts for adults and teens.

“I’ll try some of those, a roast beef sandwich, and a pair of uncooked steaks for Carvanha.” And the waiter doesn’t even bat an eye at me asking for meat let alone uncoo- right, not in happy-pony-vegan land. Keep forgetting even with all the humans around.

Sitting back for a moment, I get ready to talk, until I see Starlet’s face contort into an expression of horror, while looking over my shoulder.

I turn quickly, ready to fend off any attackers... and see only Carvanha and Starlet’s Marilurk goin’ at it in the tank.

A moment later, I feel my face contort into an expression of horror as the thought sinks in. I know Carvanha isn’t the most civilized but... having a fuck while in the middle of a mall while everyone can see it? Granted that’s a sign of just how little Carvanha cares what others think but... oh geez. “Listen Starlet, I’m soooooo sorry, I have no idea what’s gotten into her.” Other than your Marilurk. He’s quite assuredly ‘gotten into’ Carvanha. Oh god, that’s what a Marilurk’s tentacle-bits are for? I’m not going to sleep well tonight, I can tell.

I shudder. “I’m... I’m just gonna recall everyone and go, I’m sorry.”

“Er, no, no... it’ll be fine... uhm, Finneon, make a Smokescreen in the tank, please. Sooner, please.” Starlet says, “I’d rather it happen sooner than later.”

Once the tank is clouded and it’s not visible what’s going on inside it from the other end of the food court, our food arrives. I set aside the slightly-bloody steaks in the little plastic wrap they came in. I’ve got a feeling she’ll be hungry in a few minutes. Or however long it takes. I just begin eating my sandwich, trying to avoid what is probably the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to me that I didn’t cause in some way.

“Ah, anyways... well, how far you planning to go with the League?” Starlet asks, looking at me.

I swallow what I’m chewing and reply. “I’m gonna aim for the Elite Four. Probably gonna take a while, but I think by that time I’d be able to give it a good try. I mean, if I’m gonna be collecting badges, no point in stopping halfway, right? I like to do my best.”

She giggles. “I’m sure you do. But I meant, are you planning on just doing the local circuit, or do you plan to go worldwide? The League isn’t just here in Otari, after all.”

“I know, I might go after the others too, but I’d just do it one at a time. Though if I do end up winning this circuit, I might go try my luck in the Johto League. Possibly Hoenn. Never been there personally but I know it’s a place worth checking out. So, what are your big plans for the future?”

“Well, I’m only training because strong Pokémon are beautiful Pokémon. And vice-versa, of course. Still, I plan to someday go and win it big in the Contests, with my dearest trio to conduct me ever higher... I mean, being a star is in my name, right? I can totally do that.”

“Being a star is... kind of second-nature to me as well in a way.” I grin. Yeah my powers are pretty much null now, but I still have the core. “And Rarity’s going for a coordinator too. Hey, maybe you’ll end up competing someday, I’d definitely see that!”

“Oh? Who would you be cheering for?” Starlet leans forward, towards me.

I think for a moment then shrug. “Well, I could say one thing now and end up cheering for the other later. I’m not sure. Both of you seem like you’d do well.”

Starlet looks rather taken aback by that answer, and sits back in her chair. After a few seconds, she taps Twilight and Rarity and makes a head gesture. “Ah, can I talk to you two for a moment?”

The two humanized ponies shrug and get up, following the human lady. I turn and notice the tank is no longer fogged up and our Pokémon are finished, Carvanha looking very... satiated. Well, a deal’s still a deal... I toss the slabs of meat into the tank in front of Carvanha who gobbles them up hungrily.

“Listen, next time you wanna, er, indulge,” Carvanha makes a weird purring noise at the back of her throat, “that’s fine just, come on, there are kids around here y’know? Do what you want just keep it subtle, okay? You wanna get laid, go for it, just don’t make a scene or anything, ‘kay?”

Carvanha just gives a nod and goes back to just idly floating, still coming down off of her escapade. Marilurk looks pretty happy too. Eh, Starlet can handle her own Pokémon. Not gonna act like I’m the boss of it.

After a while, I’ve nearly finished my sandwich and start on the fries. They are pretty good. I notice the girls coming back from their chat and they sit back down.

“Uh, so, I was kinda thinking something completely different was going on here... I’ll, uh, leave you my number, but I kinda need to get going. I’ll talk to you later.” She says, not meeting my eyes. She scribbles down a number on a napkin and leaves it with me, and taps her éTech to her plate to pay for it. Then, she recalls her Pokémon and leaves.

I have no idea what just happened. I turn to Twilight and Rarity. “You didn’t say anything too... pony-ish and set her off, did you?”

“No, no, it was, er, all you, darling.” Rarity assures me. Twilight nods in agreement. They both seem... embarrassed for some reason.

“Well thanks Rarity, making me look like a jerk. I was just trying to be friendly.” I sigh and pocket the napkin with her number on it, planning on registering it in my éTech later. When the girls finish the rest of their food, we decide to just leave.

Chapter 45

Sighing, I pay for my food in the traditional way, figuring I’d ask how the ‘scan the plate’ thing Starlet did actually works. I’ve been in enough trouble to know that Dining and Dashing isn’t something I want to risk. The three of us recalling our pokémon, we head out into the city... and get properly drenched. Right, I forgot this place is Seattle on steroids... sigh. That said, a Poliwag is running around like it’s on drugs or something when a guy a bit older than me runs up. “Did you see a Poliwag aro-”

“Went that way.” I say, pointing to where I saw the pokémon run off to. “Kind of an odd sight though. Poliwag are good swimmers, but their footspeed is equal to an inebriated toddler... but that one was hauling tail like crazy.”

“Heh, yeah. My girlfriend loves Water types so I went out to Unova and caught this guy thinking it’d be an easy pet to watch.”

“If you need some help-”

“Nah, I got this.” The man fishes a plastic candy dispenser-like object out of a pouch and shakes it. “Swirls! Lunch!”

In another display of land-walking unheard of from the species, the Poliwag bounds back around the corner and bounces happily at the guy’s feet. The man chuckles and a treat is popped out of what I now recognize as a Pokéblock case, and said treat is gobbled up quickly and the Poliwag is returned to its ball.

“So, Unova huh? You see Driftveil city?”

“Only in passing. I just went because I figured a port town would be a good place to ask about Water pokémon. I’m more of a Bug typer myself, came from Hoenn. Moved out here to be closer to my girl.”

“I’m guessing she’s worth the long trip, eh?”

The guy nods happily. “Way better here with her than in Rustboro City, just a little more damp.”

“Say, how do you have a Poliwag that can run like that again? You just caught it like that?”

“Hmm? Oh, no way man. My girl not only likes Water types, she’s crazy-good with them. I dunno how she does it, as I said, not that informed on Water types, but I swear she could take the dumbest fish in the sea and she could make it an athlete in a bit over a month.”

That catches my attention. “You don’t say? You mind if I go see her? My Carvanha is a little... touchy. You think she could tell me what I’m doing wrong? I mean, Carvanha listens to me fine, but she’s also a little... psychotic.”

The man shrugs. “Not sure about her skill in psychology or anything, but if you have a Water type that needs a bit of instruction, she’s the one to go to.” He looks at his éTech. “Crap, I gotta get going, but hey, I’ll give you my number so you can maybe chat with Sammi later.”

We swap numbers and he walks off for his next destination. “Awesome. Well girls, looks like we may have found someone to help us out. Dunno who this Sammi girl is, but if she’s good, we may have just found a tutor who can give our swimmers a better edge.”

“Even Feebas?” Rarity asks incredulously.

I laugh. “Yeah, though Feebas will be able to do plenty later on, she just needs some time.”

“Well, Spheal is getting enough training, I don’t think he needs any help.” Twilight muses. “I mean, he’s not perfect but he doesn’t have to be...”

“Well, whatever you two choose, I’m going to see her about Carvanha at least. Even if she can’t get this nutso fish to cool down, at least give me a way to direct the crazy in a more productive direction.”

“Okay yeah, you have a point. So when are we going?”

I think it over. “Eh, maybe tomorrow. Or the day after. We can just do whatever for the rest of today.” I stretch and get a sheet of water in my face. “Let’s get out of this rain at least.”

The girls and I duck under an awning, and I see that the lab/museum we visited previously is only a couple doors down.

“Think we should take a look? I mean, I know the Chainers aren’t really our business, but the way they’re sort of tying themselves to our lives should have a bit of investigation.” I take a look at the building but can’t see the giant hole or any signs of damage from here.

“Yeah, given that the last several times something major has happened, it has been important in the long run.” Twilight says, looking at the door again. There’s a guy in a security outfit standing next to the door, not really at attention but not looking like he’s going to fall asleep either.

I walk up to the door, making an effort to make it clear I was going inside so the guard would have a chance to stop us if that’s what he’s here for. Wouldn’t be surprised considering a moon-cracker level laser was just swiped by a psychotic cult.

“Hey, museum’s closed to visitors right now.” The guard says. He doesn’t step to bar the way, though.

“We’re not visitors sir, we’re here to check on a friend who was here during the attack. May we come in and see Dr. Halsey?” I say, going for casual but professional with the possibly-armed security in front of me.

“Oh, yeah, he’s in lab three. Gimme a sec; I’ll call one of the other guards to escort you in. Can’t be too careful, right?” The guard reaches for a walkie-talkie on his vest.

“Hey, considering last time I was here I had a Chainer holding a gun to my head, I’d say it’s appreciated.”

The guard nods, and speaks into his walkie. A moment later, another guard opens the doors from the inside, and beckons us in.

As we walk, I’m idly watching the doors on the right, and see one labeled ‘Lab 3’ that we pass by.

“Uh... Halsey’s in that one... sir?”

“Actually, that’s just a precaution, in case someone tries to incapacitate the exterior guard. Lab three is actually the break room for security right now.”

“And jump the thugs when they bust in. Nice. So I was only in one part of the building during the attack. The place doesn’t look that roughed up... did they really just come here for the laser?”

“No, a couple other labs are ransacked. The thing is, they were dressed as civilians until they attacked; most of the Chainers were part of a tour group at the time. Anyways, here’s Halsey’s lab for now.” The guard says, taking a moment to speak into his walkie. The door in front of us, labeled ‘BkUp Lab 7’, unlocks and then then clicks open.

Walking in, I see that of the mentioned ransacked labs, this was not one of them, as the place was the usual sterile environment of a professional researcher’s lab. But what would they be looking for besides a giant freaking laser? First they seem as organized as the mafia, then a member jumps us like a petty thug, and he gets rescued by more of his gang as if they’d been doing it all their lives. What gives with this group?

Clearing my head of the thought, I see a pair of Corta standing on a little platform giving me the ‘robot stare’ and it’s kinda creepy.

Twilight is looking around the room in awe, and Rarity is leaning in with interest towards a computer tower with a sleek design to it.

“Hello, who’s that at the door?” Halsey’s voice calls from behind a couple server banks.

“Hey doc, just came by to see how the place is holding up after the raid. Everyone okay? Last place that got hit by them had a sizeable body count. Granted the bodies were of Chainers as Xavius Big Damn Heroe’d his way through the place, but still...”

“We’re lucky; only a few of the other researchers had to go to the hospital, along with a young child who sprained his ankle. As for Xavius... well, those big rescues are the bread and butter of his job, after all.”

“So I take it their threat of EMP’ing the Corta to android heaven was empty? No non-human ‘staff members’ missing?”

“None unaccounted for, I’m happy to say. And judging by the remains of the EMP device found in lab six, I doubt it was empty, merely thwarted. Anyways, have a seat, all of you. I love to hear about people’s journeys with pokémon. It makes me feel like a young boy again!” The smile on Halsey’s face is contagious, and we all sit down to talk.

“Well, considering we’ve only got one badge each, ‘cept Rares is a Coordinator but ribbonless... we don’t have that many adventures under our belt. I just recently got my sixth.” I could actually talk about events that intrigued me from my playthroughs of the games and might take a week to get through them all... but I’ll avoid that.

“Very nice! What sort of pokémon do you prefer? Please, each of you, I’d love to know.”

I shrug. “Well I’ve always been partial to Grass types. I only have two right now, but I can tell you plenty about them in general. Looking for a Snover, but I don’t think I’d find one anywhere around Great Barrier.”

“No, but you might be able to find them in the peaks. There’s several Ice-Types there, some from other regions and a few that are native to Otaria. A few of my coworkers in the Biology department make use of this one that is effectively a giant ameoba in an ice shell. It’s truly fascinating what you can find in extreme climates. Oh, and you young lady, what sort of pokémon do you like?” Halsey asks Rarity.

“I happen to like any pokémon with elegance and grace... or that is simply adorable, like Ledyba.”

“Ha, that fits for a Coordinator, alright. Just remember, stronger pokémon have a wider movepool to pull from for contests.”

I chuckle. “She’ll be fine, she got a varicoloured Feebas.”

“Most impressive! Those are quite rare here.”

“I figured. I spent- I mean I’ve heard stories of trainers spending weeks just to find one. It being varicoloured was a shock. Strangest thing though, it was owned by some salesman who was rolling some kind of scam with a tank full of Magikarp. Sure some of them in there were gold, but a shiny Feebas... I’m pretty sure he made a mistake risking that.”

“Huh, never heard of a Magikarp scam before. I know there’s a carnival game when the time rolls around; kids fish Magikarp out of a big tank and get to keep ‘em. Good way to get a docile starter if the kid’s too poor to pay for any tutoring or doesn’t plan on adventuring around.”

I laugh in agreement. “Anyway Twi, you’re up. What do you like?”

“Well... with so many choices, I thought a balanced, well-trained team would be better than focusing on any one aspect. After all, balance allows for them to cover each other’s weaknesses with their own strengths, making the group stronger than any individual.”

I roll my eyes. “He meant what you prefer not what you think is the best. I like Grass types and all but I’m going nowhere with just Oddish and GlaDOS.”

“Oh... uhm... good ones?” Twilight doesn’t seem too sure of what to say.

I facepalm. “She’s... new to this.”

“Haha, I can tell. Still, it’s alright to prefer balance to choosing one, singular type or trait. I happen to be a fan of Electric types and Psychic types myself, but I’m not really a trainer. I can, however, say that I think she’s right for choosing harmony over taking a crippling overspecialization. Several of the Elite Four have been defeated simply because someone brought a decently thought-out plan for taking their specific types.”

I nod. “Yeah, my favourite tactic would be using TMs to surprise my opponents. Not many would expect something like a Gengar knowing Flamethrower.”

“Hmm, I’ll admit, I wouldn’t see it coming. Though several folks have taught their Gastlys something like Explosion, so I can see it being just unexpected enough to work.”

“Yeah, nobody on our team can make use of that Zap Cannon you gave me, but I’m sure we’ll find something that can use it.”

“Really? None of your pokémon? That’s a shame; near Autumnwash, you can catch a Voltato. They can learn Zap Cannon.”

“They can? Oh, well then I guess GlaDOS can use it. I just figured that since Electric seemed more like it’s secondary type it wouldn’t get much, thanks. Guess I’ll have something to fall back on if Zoli gets me on the ropes.”

“Ah, yes, our illustrious Gym Leader. He’s in the history books, you know.”

“It may be a bit cocky to say but... I can say for absolutely sure, he’s never faced me. Though Twi might need some help. Only got one Grass type and no Electric type, on top of her only Swimmer being a Spheal. Been trying to think of a way to round out her team.”

“Oooh... she’s going to have trouble. You might want to talk to Franklin, over in the Anthropology lab, uh, lab eleven I think. No, ten, sorry. He might have a TM she could borrow. He has a bunch of the really old ones from when they burnt out when used.”

“Really? He got an old copy of Substitute? I’ve been thinking my Litwick could benefit from it later down the road...”

“I don’t honestly know. He collects them because they’re part of history. Oh, and if you do meet up with him, keep in mind that the Marowak he has as an assistant gets a little moody at times.”

“Marowak. Just tall enough to make sure your kneecap wouldn’t be the same again... Thanks for the tip.”

“You’re welcome. Hey, after you get your badge, come by and say hello. I’ll have something for the three of you.”

“Thanks! Well, we’ll probably make the challenge tomorrow. I want to practice... somehow. My first battle for my first badge went... well, it went, let’s just say that.”

“Heh, I know what you mean. If you need any advice, just say so. Oh, here, did I give you my number? I might get updates regarding the Chainers, and I assume you’d want to stay as up-to-date about that as possible.”

“Yeah, already got your number, thanks though. At least it’s good to chat under less... strenuous circumstances too. So I guess we’ll see Franklin and head out. I’ll keep you posted if I learn anything too. With a gang like this, information on them needs to be spread fast before people and pokémon get hurt. By the way... what exactly could they use that laser for?”

“Well, beyond carving their initials or insignia on the moon or some other such nonsense, the laser was actually being developed for deep-earth mining. It would work just as well beneath the ocean as in a cavern hundreds of miles below the surface of water or earth. Ooh, listen to me, waxing poetic about about a laser.”

“No big deal. But I think their guy who had us at gunpoint said they were going to wake something with it... What could they wake up with a digging laser?”

“Well... with that incident involving Groudon and Kyogre a few years back... well, they could be trying to wake either of those. But neither of those species has been seen in this region, and the Chainers haven’t had any presence outside Otaria. So, I honestly don’t know.”

“Well, hopefully their insane master plan isn’t waking up the Titans. If those two wake up... well, let’s hope Rayquaza doesn’t mind a third round or we’re done for.”

“Especially as none of the great Regi live around here, either. Of course, that’s more of a topic for Franklin to talk with you about.”

I nod. “Well, stressful situation aside, it’s good to know everyone is mostly unharmed and our loss wasn’t something to worry about after all. Talk to you soon?” I extend my hand to shake.

He takes it gladly, with a firm, warm grip. “Good luck to both of you with your gym challenge!”

With parting words of our own being said, we take our leave and look around for lab ten. After getting directions from another guard, we find our way to the lab, which is in a corridor connected to the actual museum itself. Once more, the guard pages us in, and we come in to a room that is significantly less sterile, having piles of books, almost a dozen desks crammed in around the walls, veritable snowdrifts of loose papers, charcoal rubbings of hieroglyphs, and much more clutter beside. There's even a large meteor and what looks like a brick made from a meteor sitting on the table, and an Unown ‘!’ floating placidly over the shoulder of a researcher looking over a pile of notes.

The researcher looks up, and seems a little confused for a moment. “Are you here with the sandwiches I ordered?”

“Uh, no, sorry. Dr. Halsey suggested we come see you.”

“Ah, so the rusty old computer nerd finally sends someone my way! What do you need to know? I have information about relics, ruins, and all sorts of ancient civilizations. I’ve even got a set of late eighties pop band CDs from when they were popular!”

Looking around the room my eyes fall on the Unown ‘!’ again. “Have you ever determined how the Unown work with their seemingly symbiotic relationship that requires a mass of them but grants reality-bending powers? That’s a mystery I’ve pondered for a few years and been wanting some insight.”

Franklin looks at me with his mouth open. “They do what?!”

“Uh, actually, sir,” Rarity interjects, “we just wanted to know if we could use some of your older TMs. Dr. Halsey said you have many, and we were so hoping...”

“Oh... fine!” I relent. “But the Unown, I’d love to chat with you about them, I can explain some... er, theories that led to my thoughts on their potential. Like, for one, they all clearly communicate with each other in some sort of telepathy some of the strongest Psychic types can’t dream of. When they get together and are numerous enough they have boosts in power, as if they feed on each other. Like one Unown alone of any kind could hardly be a threat, but there’ve been... stories I’ve heard where great masses come together and they can warp the fabric of spacetime.”

Franklin seems utterly shocked. “I- I’ve never heard of Unown doing this... I mean, there’s at least eight variations on the Ruins of Alph, scattered around the Regions, but the Unown at those sites never seem to actually do much. Where did you see them doing this reality-warping you mentioned? I’ve never- was this at a ruin, or at a preserved site?”

“Neither, think of it more like folklore... but even legends have some basis in truth. I heard that the ruins of Alph have some odd effect on radios. Have you ever had a radio on while you were exploring? Some believe the noises you hear are the Unown talking to each other and that it’s interfering with our connections. It’s the only explanation as all the caves around Johto have perfect radio reception from Goldenrod being so close by. If we could get a recording and unscramble it, maybe we could find a way to understand them. Wouldn’t that be cool!?”

“Where are you getting these theories? I can’t say I’ve been everywhere, but I don’t think I’ve heard those particular hypotheses about the Unown. The various Ruins have been known to have that radio effect, but so do several mountains and caves.”

“Well as I said, it’s mostly folklore that I’ve expanded on. It could be nothing, but there’s so much about the Unown that could be true... it’s hard to say what’s impossible. How many Unown have you ever seen together at once?”

“Uh... about thirty. Not including the stone tiles found at some sites, though rumors of them being Unown somehow sealed away has never been confirmed.”

“Uhm, as lovely as this conversation is, darlings, may we please look through your TM collection?”

“Yes, yes, of course. Now, I know a few researchers who have claimed that not all Alph-style ruins are perfectly euclidian. A few rooms that overlap, for example.”

Rarity huffs and goes over to the easily visible, if rather dusty, TM case on one of the shelves. Twilight looks like she wants to join her, but settles in at the table where Franklin and I are talking.

“Well, it’s undoubted that our written alphabet has a few connections to the Unown... if that’s the case then there stands to reason that it’s possible current day writing was based on their shapes, and this theory leads to the hypothesis that there are at least twenty-six varieties of Unown out there.”

“Well, actually... that’s false. Given that there’s at least eight different sets of Unown, correlating to different sets of ruins...” This throws me for a loop.

“Hmmm... I’m only familiar with stories of the ruins of Johto, I’ve not heard anything from other regions, but it still seems likely that they could, in large enough numbers, have some very amazing effects. Like having the Unown form phrases or such with their bodies. The power they have is varied, but also rather weak and yet they have been around for so long. Even the oldest pokémon gain some form of special survival ability, but the Unown are noticeably... well, underwhelming in their sole capabilities from what I know.”

“Well, it helps that there’s literally nothing we know of that preys upon them. And there’s some evidence that they, along with a few other species, are examples of truly ancient artificial species.”

“You have a point, but I still wouldn’t be dropping the idea of them being able to work together to accomplish monumental tasks like other Pokémon. The mysterious power the Unown use just makes it more easy to assume that they could have some otherworldly effects. I get that they could be seen as artifacts, but I’ve always figured they had some other purpose, or a reason behind the legends I’ve heard.”

“Well, unfortunately, it’s a little difficult to confirm. Otaria only has two sets of ruins, and neither are in the Alph civilization style. One of them still contains massive amounts of tachyon radiation, actually, so there’s quite a bit of postulating that it’s from the future. Still, either way...”

“But you’re sure it’s not connected to the Alph ruins. I suppose so, none of what I’ve heard tell of the Unown time travelling. Anyway, it again could just be a hypothesis standing only on crazed whispers... at least there’s a mystery solved. Though I would like to talk with you more on ancient stories and... weed out the conjecture from the facts.”

“That sounds simply delightful! Here, have my number. I do a lot of field work, so we might even meet up at some point.” He scribbles down his number on a piece of paper and slides it over to me. “As well, do you have any further questions? Perhaps about something other than the Unown? Enigma here isn’t very talkative, so I have to admit a great deal of ignorance where the Unown’s direct history and biology stand.”

“Understandable. Hmmmm... if I had to ask of another old wive’s tale... Clefairy. Are they truly pokémon from space? I see no reason not to assume there are other planets with Pokémon on them, but Clefairy just seems too... I don’t know, at home here, they don’t seem too different from other Fairy types.”

“Well... uh... That’s more of an astronomy question, or perhaps monstrology. As far as I know, they tend to live on high mountains and are active while the moon is visible. As to whether they come from the moon, I don’t know. However, they wouldn’t be the first pokémon to come from space. Deoxys, Luminight, Comettail, and several others are all known to have come from either deep space or high orbit. Why, there’s even old folklore about the Millennium Comet being an actual pokémon that grants wishes. And that only passes by every thousand years, so that’d definitely be a deep-space pokémon.”

“Agreed. As for staying within the bounds of our planet, there’s one you might be able to answer certainly. Is it true that Conkeldurr taught people to make concrete, or is there evidence of it being found where there’s been no proven evidence of their evolutionary family being in the same place?”

“Well, yes and no. In places they lived, there’s very strong evidence that they either taught it to early humans first, or learned it from precursor civilizations and taught it back to us when we lost that knowledge. Elsewhere, it usually takes many centuries longer for it to develop in the historical records, unless a land with Conkeldurr happens to be a trading partner.”

“Well, I’m an inquisitive mind, so you might hear more from me, I enjoy talking and theorizing. My partners are... Not much, ah, wilderness or cultural education.”

“Ah, I see. Well, you have my number. I should probably see about-” he’s interrupted by someone else opening the door, with a pair of white lunch bags held up.

“Uh, order for Doctor Orville?” the guy at the doors says.

“Ah, there’s my sandwiches! You three go ahead and wander off for now. My dear friend Marowak can be a little touchy this time of year.”

“Alright, we’ll see you later then, it’s certainly nice to talk with people who can help me get my facts and stories straight. I’ll call if I have made any potential discoveries.”

“Always good. If you happen to get around to it, you should definitely stop by the Tachyon Temple Ruins. That’s the one I told you about earlier. There’s some very interesting pokémon there, and I think you’re the sort who would like that.”

“Oh very much so. Well it seems you have your lunch and Rarity got some TMs... we’ll leave and see if we can find anything in those ruins. Might be an edge towards getting my second badge. As they say, knowledge is power. Seeya again.” We shake hands and part, Rarity rolling her eyes as we finally get to leaving. “So what did you grab? Only ones he had duplicates of, I hope, we don’t want to take anything he has no replacement for.”

“Ooh, I saw one for s-” Rarity starts before stopping. “Wait, I thought those were his extras.”

“Maybe but I’m not sure. Well, he’s a smart guy, he wouldn’t leave important stuff laying around... okay his place was a total mess, but Einstein was a slob too.”

“Who’s Einstein?” Twilight asks.

“He was a great human scientist, discovered how to use nuclear energy for practical applications.”

“What’s nuclear again?”

I facepalm. “Fucking wizards...”

Chapter 46

“So... what TMs did you grab? Anything good?” I say, peering at the colored disks Rarity was holding.

“Well, I have one labeled ‘Hyper Beam’, and one labeled ‘Horn Drill’, and three labeled ‘Attract’, though one of them is a little cracked. I’m not sure if it still works.” Twilight says.

Rarity looks at the labels on hers, and tells me, “I took two named ‘Secret Power’, one called ‘Pay Day’, and I found one called ‘Metronome’. The last one sounds musical, so it’ll be perfect for my competitions!”

I grab the disk “Ohhhhhhhnonononononono this is dangerous!”

“Anthony! Give that back and explain!” Rarity says, frowning and putting her fists on her hips.

I put my finger through the little center hole of the CD. “Metronome is a very random attack. You have no idea what it’ll do. What it does is, when used the user may use any move any pokémon in existence could ever use, from Fury Swipes to Doom Desire. Your pokémon could either start shooting flames from it’s mouth, grow a giant claw made out of steel, or explode and you have no idea what is going to come next. Few pokémon can actually learn it, but it’s just as likely the user could end up hurting itself more than the opponent. If you’re on your last leg and you need a trump card and don’t care at all what might happen as long as there’s a chance you win, that’s when you use metronome.”

Rarity looks a little mollified. “Well then... it sounds as though it is rather chaotic. Though, if it’s so dangerous, why is it so freely available?”

“A lot of TMs were freely available because they only had so many uses. One per, to be exact. These disks can only be used once.. The TMs we got from Xavius and Halsey can be used as much as we want, but if we were to teach a pokémon...” I look through the stack of older disks. “...Hyper Beam, we’d only be able to do it once without another one. Only one of our pokémon could learn it unless we got more of the same kind.”

Twilight nods in understanding. “So the more powerful moves on TMs were given away on the single-use disks, but when the reusable versions came out, they stopped being made to keep the battle fair, right?”

“Exactly. I mean, I wouldn’t go out and buy twenty copies of Hone Claws. Double stat boost or not, the move isn’t that good, so they made more permanent disks, but with weaker moves. Of course a few stayed around like Protect, but as different ‘selections’ came out, some moves were lost and therefore unavailable. These would be the only way we could manually teach a pokémon Substitute or Metronome or Softboiled, but if we wanted to do it many times we’d need a lot. Since that would be a horrible thing to do to Richard’s collection we need to be careful with this. Keep in mind that these things went for upwards of five-hundred thousand dollars apiece, but in this day and age, where TMs are reusable, unless we tried selling something like Explosion, we wouldn’t be getting anything for them and if I had Explosion, I’d have used it right away, not sell. it.”

“Really? And what does Explosion do, other than create some form of explosion, judging by the name?” Twilight asks, looking at me as we resume walking.

“Well, remember when I said when you should use Metronome? As a last-ditch effort where you didn’t care what might happen but you had to win... Well, Explosion makes the user... explode. Remember that Koffing the Chainer had? That’s what the flashing probably was. Like, boom. The pokémon can be taken to a Pokémon Center to be healed or revived with items but otherwise that pokémon is going to be out of commission for the duration... Well some pokémon use this tactic as a base means of self-defense, but not all pokémon than can learn it will exactly... uh... be in any condition to move afterwards.”

“That seems a bit self-defeating, though. If it’s knocked unconscious, how does it defend itself?”

“Simple. Because of this tendency, those Pokémon no longer have any natural enemies. I don’t care how hungry you are, would you rather go another half-mile or so to eat, or eat this object that is guaranteed to literally blow your face off?”

Both of the girls wince at the thought. “Alright, that makes sense... But how many TMs are there?”

“Individually, or based on the variety of move? Individually, who knows, millions maybe. By variety... well as I said, it changed over the years and some were dropped but as a total... I think there were about a hundred or so, give or take twenty-five.”

“Oh... that’s quite a few.” Twilight says, looking thoughtful, “Well, it would be prudent to collect as many as possible, yes? They do seem quite useful.”

“You’re a quick learner Twi, that’ll get you far in this world. Yeah, but you also don’t want to spend money frivolously. Rare is it that you’d just find one that someone dropped, and while they aren’t as expensive anymore, it’s more than we have between us to put it lightly.”

The girls nod.

Rarity pipes up. “Oh, Anthony. That mall we went to earlier... perhaps after a few more battles to get some money, do you think we could stop by again? I saw some marvelous dresses on display.”

I’m about to respond when I realize we just walked outside of the lab, my attention grabbed by suddenly having my head soaked again in a matter of seconds. “Rarity, you have a medieval-age dress you made yourself and some decent travelling gear. You have adventure outfit and a ‘fancy occasion’ outfit what else would you need?”

“Well, a nice sundress sounds divine, and some more airy shoes would go well with that. As well, a fine dress for competitions would be a good idea, and I’d love to buy one of the dresses to take it apart for ideas. Ooh, think of the things I could learn, darling!”

“Fine, but you’re buying that stuff on your own dime. You wanna go on a shopping spree you need to earn the money yourself, and as trainers, there’s always a good way to earn money.”

“Or lose it, considering it’s a gamble.” Twilight admonishes.

“Really now? So, how else do we get money while we’re on a cross-continent journey living off the land and whatever we can buy, meaning we can’t possibly have a stable job or income unless we stopped our adventure flat?”

“I’m just saying, it is a gamble, Anthony.”

I relent. “Okay, I won’t deny that it is, but hey... it’s the same for whoever we challenge. We know what we’re getting into, they know what they’re getting into. Unless you specify that the battle is for sport or training purposes only, everyone involved knows somebody is going to open their wallet at the end.”

“Oh, alright. Wait, even for gym battles? We weren’t charged for our losses in Autumnwash.”

“Nah, the League doesn’t do it. They aren’t against trainers battling for money, but it is a good way to, in this society, keep the economy running. Why not the standard greeting involve some money changing hands just to keep the cash circulating? It’s just economics. And some League-Registered areas may also have prices, but it’s not a constant, a notable place being Battle Parks.” We walk into the nearest pokémon center and I gratefully take the towel by the pokémon at the door before drying myself off and feeling like a drowned rat once dry.

“Say, we went to the Aquarium. There was a bunch of aquatic pokémon there, and a bunch of them didn’t look like you’d find them in a lake. How would anyone catch those?”

“Well, trainers either swim out into the ocean themselves -or dive down themselves- or they get assistance from a pokémon to help them. It takes a really talented pokémon to ferry itself and it’s trainer into the ocean and back out so it’s usually something a Trainer would do once they’ve gotten a third or fourth badge. But yeah, they just go out into the ocean and catch them. It’s just another environment, like a forest but more wet.”

I recall the girls’ rather... less-than-amazing talent in the gym swimming pool and quirk an eye. “You... can swim right? Even as ponies you can...”

“Well... I will admit dear, I’m not particularly graceful in the water as my natural self. But I have become rather alright as a human.” Rarity says.

“I know the basics, and I’ve practiced as a human. But I’m too heavy in the water to swim naturally,” admits Twilight, blushing embarrassedly.

I sigh. “Alright... Well we’ll stick by the shorelines and get ourselves some decent seafaring pokémon before heading for the ocean. Spheal would actually be a good diving buddy once it evolves, but Sealeo aren’t meant for long horizontal water-travel.”

“As in, diving? Well, that’d be alright if we can find a way to bring air down with us. I know a few spells to help with that, but I can’t really cast them while human.”

“You ponies think too small. Did you forget what I said about human adaptivity? We have ways of bringing air down underwater with us, clothing that increases one’s ability to swim through water and even some devices that can allow someone to withstand thousands of pounds per square inch of water pressure deep below the water’s surface, now we are in a public place can you please stop acting so... so..” I sigh. “Stupid?”

“Sorry... I just don’t know what your limits are. You talk about some things, but I don’t even know what to look for to find out what I should look up.” Twilight shrugs. “I just honestly don’t know where to start, and you don’t exactly hand out a tutorial on ‘how to understand the human race’.”

“Usually because we’re the only race that has a written language, we suppose if you can read our stuff you must be human already or at least a damn smart pokémon and therefore familiar with humanity’s culture. You guys are aliens and it gets a little weird talking to you like this when you look like a pair of totally average teenage girls just out of High School.”

“Average?!” Rarity shrieks, looking utterly indignant.

“High school?!” Twilight yells, looking insulted.

I glare at them. “First off Rarity, all your self-improvement tricks aren’t exactly going to convert with you to other forms. I mean sure you’re still really pretty but come on, you aren’t exactly sticking out.” I jab my thumb at the other anime-girls around, young, shiny-haired with nary a mole or spot to be seen and bright clear eyes. Every single one of them. It’s actually a little creepy now that I take a moment to actually look.

“Well... I suppose that’s true. I don’t have a coat to brush like this... but still, I am sure I’m above average.”

“And for a teenage girl, that is the most average thing you could possibly utter. Just saying. And what’s with you Twi? You have as bad a nightmare with High School as I did?”

“What, no! I just think you should give credit where credit is due; I’ve already attended an established and esteemed university.”

I quirk an eyebrow and walk up to a random guy and tap him in the shoulder. “Hey, did you know that this girl here graduated at top of her class at a school built by a giant horse who moves the sun?”

The guy looks at me weirdly. “Are... you alright?”

I grin. “That’s all I needed.” I sit back down and lean on the table, looking at Twilight. “You were saying...?”

“Just because it doesn’t exist here doesn’t mean it didn’t happen! Or would you like me to treat you like an infant because your life before you showed up in Ponyville didn’t happen there?”

“See, it’s funny because my life before coming here didn’t happen here either, so technically speaking, all I did was read different books from you.”

“So, then, you’re in the same cloud here. How about you don’t insult my education, and I won’t insult your... everything.”

“You’re mistaken on two fronts. One, I don’t get puffed up and flustered at insults being thrown my way unless you insult my friends, who also happen to be your friends. And two, I meant you look like you’re just out of High School, as in your age.”

“Oh... well, then, I retract my previous statements.”

Rarity simmers down as well. “I suppose if you merely meant I looked young, then I cannot fault you. I am youthfully radiant.”

“Anyway, let’s go over what we have and what we need. I still say we aren’t going to get very far into the second gym yet-” That reminds me. I pull out GlaDoS’ ball and zap the little guy onto the table we’re sitting at. He chirps at me happily.

“Heya buddy, how about some extra juice?”

“?” the Votato makes a noise that’s hard to interpret as a word, but is unmistakably a querying tone.

Fishing out my -and our only- TM case I pull out Zap Cannon and apply the disk to the Voltato’s head. There’s a bit of a... trick of the light maybe, from the disk and... uh... “So... did it work?”

GlaDoS shrugs, an odd gesture from a potato, but an unmistakable one nonetheless. I should probably tell it what move that was supposed to be.

I pick up the little guy and drop him on my shoulder and I gesture for the girls to follow me upstairs to the specially-made battle area. I doubt that a high-powered Electric attack would be welcome in an unprotected room full of damp people.

Once the four of us are in the contained area, the girls on the ‘observer’ benches on the far side, I toss out Geodude.

“Alright, I need your help to test something. You’re a tough Ground type, think you can handle a little Electricity?” Geodude nods, and I turn to GlaDoS after setting him down. “Alright, you stay right here, Geodude, you stand over there.”

My pokémon are in place and I stand behind GlaDos. “Alright, here goes nothing... GlaDoS! Zap Cannon!”

The little pokémon’s entire body pulses yellow, starting at its root-tips and coming towards its eyes. Right in between its three eyes, a gold-and-green orb forms, then blasts off at Geodude, several arcs of electricity connecting it to the ground below as it flies. The impact makes Geodude shudder and grimace, but doesn’t leave a mark.

“Heh, alright! Zoli’s going down!”

“Uhm... Anthony, do you need glasses dear? That did nothing at all...”

“Geodude’s a Ground type, Electricity is nothing to him. Want me to prove it? Get Feebas out and see how much ‘nothing’ she can take!” GlaDoS extends a vine-like root up to me and I give the guy a low-five of success.

“Ah, that’s interesting. It certainly looked good, though... hmm, perhaps that could be used for effect.” Rarity stops for a moment and pulls out a pad of paper, and appears to be scribbling down ideas, near as I can tell.

“Whatever, that’s Zap Cannon, so that’s how TMs work. Uh...” I flit through the TMs in my case, Rarity not having put the new-old ones in yet. “Captivate... Eh, fine. Hey Rarity I got one for you to try.”

“Oh? What is it?” she calls back, standing and coming down to the arena.

“Here, it’s the TM Xavius gave you, Captivate. It only works if the target is... interested in the user’s gender but it lowers the target’s stats so they aren’t going to be very effective with using their Special Attacks like Flamethrower or Solarbeam or... Zap Cannon.”

“Oh, that seems quite useful. Now... how do I use it?”

“You just... take a pokémon who can learn it and tap the disk to their forehead and it sort of... transfers the information, converting data on the disk into knowledge in the pokémon’s head. I think early technology being too young putting a strain on the disk is why it only worked once. But this and Zap Cannon are more recent so it’s multi-use.”

“Well, however it works, I’m sure I’ll find a good use for it. May I keep the disk?”

“Sure, just be careful. You can still damage or break it like anything else, and I already made it clear that we couldn’t replace it. Anyway, wanna teach it someone and give it a shot?”

“Hmm... yes. I think I’ll teach it to Ledyba and Glorious!” Rarity immediately begins reaching for her pokémon.

“Uh, Ledyba yeah, Glorious no. Honedge are... well let’s put it this way: pretty or not, do you really think you could, biologically, consider a possessed sword to have a gender?”

“I’m not a taxonomist...” Twilight starts. “And pokémon are pretty amazing but when he says it like that.... I have to agree.”

“So yeah, Ledyba. Sewaddle could probably learn it though, truth is, most pokémon with a gender can learn it, so I guess it’s to our advantage that this one won’t die after one use.”

“Erm, Anthony, Glorious may be metallic in nature, but even I can tell you that these ‘Honedge’ have genders. I took the time to check, just in case. Wouldn’t want to offend, after all.”

“Still, I don’t think a ghost sword could give a pokémon ‘the look’ or anything.”

“Hmph, fine. But I’m only trusting you because you have more experience. I’ll teach Glorious to captivate anyone the normal way.”

“Suit yourself. Alright, so who’s getting it first? Ledyba?”

“Of course. Come on out, dear,” Rarity cooes to her pokémon, and the giant ladybug crawls off her back and hovers to the ground. Rarity gently presses the Captivate disk to the pokémon’s forehead, and the ‘trick of light’ happens again.

“I’m guessing it worked, yes?”

“I suppose, but the only way to know for sure is to try it. And Ledyba really should battle more at least so she can evolve. Whether you like to battle or not, it’s how she’ll grow and you saw what she’ll look like.”

“Indeed. Hmm... perhaps you and I could battle? Just to give my own pokémon some more experience battling. As much as I care for them, they simply won’t be a match for many of the things I’ve seen you looking at on your éTech. I must make sure my darling dears are as ready as they can be.”

“Sure... alright.” I toss out Oddish, recalling Geodude and GlaDoS afterwards. “Tell you what, I’ll even fight without using any harmful moves at all, sound good?”

“That sounds perfectly fine.”

“Alright, I warned you...” I say as I step over to the opposite side of the arena, my freshly-caught Oddish just kinda... following because there’s really nothing else to do, it certainly doesn’t seem terribly attached to me yet, which I can understand.

Chapter 48

Next few hours are spent just relaxing, Twilight actually nodding off a bit. I’m still not that tired though, so I’m just going over strategies in my head. I figured I’d use Geodude, just not using Rock moves might not be enough... but I don’t want to hold back much either... eh, I’ll just wing it I guess. Really though, it seems like Ledyba should have evolved by now... maybe it just needs a few more pushes.

Either way, Rarity looks ready, though Twilight is still asleep. Dunno what she does to exhaust herself but... whatever. Rarity and I head back upstairs and take our places at the field. I notice that the next field over has some trainers getting ready to start their own match and one of them goes over to a panel on the wall I never noticed before.

A few button presses and their field terraforms to have one side be a pool, the other side becoming more rocky. Huh... neat. I’ll have to remember that for later, it could be useful for group practice. I return my attention to Rarity, who is already opposite me with Ledyba hovering beside her, wearing it’s game face.

I grab the Premier ball from my belt and hurl it into the middle of my side, Geodude looking about as hardy as ever.

“Alright... I said I was gonna go easy... but I’m still not going to give you the win.”

Rarity looks over her eTech one more time, Ledyba taking it’s place hovering above its area, before replying. “I don’t expect you to. Shall we?”

I nod. “Geodude, Tackle.”

Geodude raises a rocky eyebrow at the simple command, but complies all the same, throwing himself bodily at the bug-type.

“Use Supersonic, Ledyba!” Rarity responds, and the shrill noise sends Geodude stumbling, hands over his... ears, I guess.

I ponder my options. As a Flying type Ledyba won’t be hurt by any Ground type attacks. However there is one thing he can do while standing still.

“Rock Polish!”

Yeah, it’ll make him even more dizzy but hey, it’s something. Yep... after buffing himself on the ground, he’s pretty much teetering around, but he isn’t so bad that he’s falling over himself at least.

“Dazzle him with a Light Screen, Ledyba!” Rarity shouts, and the shimmering barrier flares into existence right in front of Geodude, making him flail backwards away from it, more out of shock than anything. “Brilliant job, darling!”

Well, that shouldn’t be that big a problem, most of my attacks are physical. “Alright, calm down and focus!” Geodude regains his bearings, shaking off the confusion. “Okay, now Rock Smash!” This is less to do anything and more to see that it actually worked. I mean I’m pretty sure it did but better safe than sorry.

Geodude nods, and pauses a for a second, then brings down a fist coated in brick-red light, the attack smashing into Ledyba... which knocks her back about half a foot and nothing more.

Yeah, that’s what 1/4th effectiveness looks like. “Alright Rarity, now let’s see you actually beat Geodude.”

“Hmmm... The Fighting type is extra-effective against rock types, right?” Rarity asks, looking down at her éTech.

“Yeah, but it has to hit. Rock Polish!”

Geodude begins to spin up, as Rarity shouts, “Mach Punch, six times!”

Wha-?

Ledyba makes a sound like a diving airplane, and brings six fighting-energy-empowered fists in to plow into Geodude’s face, stopping him cold in the midst of starting up Rock Polish. Chips of rock and a spray of gravel bounces around the field, and Geodude is embedded in the reinforced floor by the impact.

“I- I know you said it’s not always down to simply pummeling your foes, but... I must admit, that was cathartic to watch.” Rarity says, looking rather pleased with herself.

“Yeah yeah...” I return Geodude to his ball at about the same time a swirl of silver light overtakes the bug-type, and Ledyba shines with an inner light. Her whole body shifts in small amounts, becoming slightly leaner and taller beneath the harsh glare. After a few moments, the light is too strong to look at, and Rarity and I avert our gazes, turning back to see Ledyba has evolved into a Ledian.

“Oh, my- you look gorgeous, dear!” Rarity says, reaching out to hug Ledian, who hugs her back with all four arms.

“Yeah... You watch, I’m next. That said... you wanna try out Ledian in a real fight?”

“Actually, I’d rather go see if I can refit some of those dresses I made for her. Ooh, she’s going to look so amazing!”

...What’s the point of having a pokemon just evolve if you aren’t going to immediately see what practical differences it made? Whatever. Seriously though, I’m next, and the pokemon closest to evolving is... I scan my éTech over my collection, still in their shrunken balls. Oddish will become a Gloom in two levels, and the second closest is... Geodude, but he’s off by six levels. Oh well. I still have the most varied team of all of us.

I head back down to our room where Twilight has woken up. Back to a pony again. Guess sleeping really is the trigger, not just a late hour. “Heya sleepyhead. So what’s your plan for the rest of today?”

“Hmm? Oh, well, I should check on my pokemon.” Twilight yawns, then uses her telekinesis to allow her pokemon out. Twirunt immediately hops onto the bed and snuggles in next to her, making her giggle.

“Humph.” Mossulk, evidently not wishing to be left out, shuffles over to the side of the bed, and peers over the top. I’m not actually sure it can reach the top of the bed, now that I think about it. I’ve seen some impressive horizontal movement out of it, but not much actually high off the ground.

Pignite takes time to stretch and begins doing some warm-up exercises, while Spearow flutters over to Twi’s bed and grips onto the headboard, then leans down to nuzzle the top of her head. Wispeery and Spheal settle in at the desk and the clothes basket respectively, looking happy with the arrangements.

“Well, good signs of your treatment of your party. So you missed it, but Ledyba evolved a bit ago, so Rarity is refitting some clothes for her.”

“That sounds pretty nice. Oh, I was looking over a few brochures that the Center leaves in the rooms. There’s apparently a contest hall here in the Great Barrier Port.”

“Think Rarity should enter, try and do bette-”

“No! I couldn’t possibly! I can’t make her cutest dress fit in time!” We hear shouted from outside.

“Guess that’s a no then...”

“Well, it’s also a Journeyman Hall, so she’d need at least two ribbons on a single pokemon before she could enter.”

“Huh... I’ve heard of Super Contest Halls that require three ribbons on one pokemon to have it be eligible, but I didn’t know there were any options that required less than three before. Oh well, we can at least watch, right?”

“Of course. It says that the fee for just getting tickets is only 25, and that they have a contest twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.” I check my éTech. The next one is in a couple days.

“Well we might even be able to raise that much from some battles before then. How’s that Rarity? Would you at least go watch?”

Rarity walks in. “I’d love to... but I am still not entering any contests until my pokemon are presentable. After all, I want them to look their best.”

“Fine. Though I might enter a Contest once or twice. Not gonna be a habit, but clothes and fancy accessories aren’t the most important part.”

“Of course not; being talented, graceful, and efficient is far better.” Rarity says, striking a pose.

“It also takes practice.” I remind her. “Of which you have slim to none considering how your first and latest one went. You should work on coming up with a routine before entering next time.”

“Anthony, I’m entering a contest, not a gym.” Rarity sniffs haughtily, “I already have a few ideas for routines. Whenever possible, my darling dears and I work on them.”

“Alright... but if you think that the Contest circuit is going to be less competitive than the Pokemon League Gym challenge, you’re in for a shock. Just because it doesn’t involve fighting doesn’t mean it can’t get... strenuous. Anyway I need to wait here another hour or so while Geodude gets healed. What can we do until then?”

“Well, you should probably let your other pokemon out, Anthony. According to the éTech, trainers should allow their pokemon to roam freely for at least one-to-five hours a day aside from battling in order to maintain a healthy and companionable relationship.”

“I would, but the room is a bit crowded with your group at the moment.” I mention. “My pokemon may be small enough to fit, I think they’d also like some stretching room.”

“Well, you do have a few options. There’s more than just the one battle room, and I think there’s an indoor recreation area for pokemon. According to the brochure, this is the single largest PokeCenter in the region.” Twilight points to an open brochure, levitating it to me when I give her a look indicating I’m not about to trip over her pokemon to look at a piece of paper.

“Yeah, alright. Though I think I’ll keep Carvanha in if she starts drooling over a Lillipup.”

“Ooh, I’ve seen those on the éTech... ah, page? Yes, I think that’s the term. It’s something one of the other breeders showed me, and it’s full of common pokemon for breeders to raise, and Lillipup was fairly high on the list. Of course, I’m not much of a dog person, but I think I could get along with one,” Rarity gushes.

“Eh, if I were entering a contest I’d get a Glaceon. If I had the opportunity. Anyway, I’ll see you two later.” I leave the room and shortly after closing the door, I hear a shriek from Rarity followed by a ‘Oh my word it’s gorgeous!’ indicating she looked up Glaceon. I sigh and shake my head at her rather extreme enthusiasm as I look around for the Recreation Area, finding it after a bit of asking around.

Walking into the multi-environed room, I let my team out, each of them heading to their respective biomes they find most comfortable, Oddish finding a tree and burrowing under by the roots for a nap while Carvanha just swims around in the pond. Everyone else just gets comfortable and relaxes, aside from Litwick, who decides to spend her free time playing some form of tag with some other trainer’s Roggenrola.

Overall, it’s pretty peaceful here, with a decently simulated forest and what amounts to a small picnic area in the form of a grassy hill. High above, a glassy dome covers the park but lets in the natural sunlight.

“Uhm, excuse me, but is that Voltato yours?” I turn and see a guy next to me, pointing a thumb at GlaDoS who is... I’m not quite sure what he’s doing but whatever it is involves digging up some of the park’s turf. “Uh, yeah, I think so...” I still can’t figure out what he’s doing. “What’s he doing exactly?”

“I’m not sure, but you can’t have your pokemon tear up the area. Please make it stop.”

“Oh, right... Uh...” I head over to GlaDoS. “Hey, the uh... people said you can’t do... whatever you’re doing...”

GlaDoS rolls his eyes and stops ripping up grass, moving over to Oddish and joining it underground. Okay then.

I return to the guy. “Uh, he’s stopped... whatever he was doing.”

“Just don’t let it happen again.”

“Right...”

Chapter 49

The day has finally arrived, and I’d won a few battles so I could pay for the three of us to get in and see the contest. We file into the stands, along with the rest of the crowd. Of course, all pokemon in the stands are to be recalled unless they can fit on your lap. Luckily for Rarity, Ledian is now skinny enough to do just that and still watch. Once the stands are jam-packed, a spotlight is aimed at the judges and an announcer.

The announcer is a tall, good-looking young man with vibrant orange-and-green striped hair. On anyone else, it’d look terrible, but he somehow pulls it off.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, children of all ages, welcome to the Great Barrier Port Journeyman Contest!” The announcer has flair, and a sense of showmanship too, posing like a pro. “Today’s contest is going by standard single contest rules, and twenty-nine contestants have registered! It’s going to be an impressive run today.”

The announcer turns to gesture at the judges table, which has three people at it. The first stands up as the announcer calls out, “Contesta Jr, the four-year contest-judging wiz!” The young man waves cautiously to the crowd.

“Our very own local Nurse Joy!” said Nurse stands up as well, giving a little bow.

“And finally, the thirty-year veteran judge, all the way from his home in the Kanto Region...” The final judge stands up, an aging man whose appearance nags at my attention for some reason. His purple hair has three streaks of silver-white in it.

“James Lewis Stuart!” The man stands up, and the recognition clicks in my head.

Holy shit... I look closer at the guy and... oh my god, that’s freaking James from Team Rocket! Wow... guess that’s a clue as to exactly when I’ve been dropped in here.

James looks out at the crowd and keys his mic. “As usual, the Rocket Corporation has donated the prize money and paid for the ribbon for today’s contest! I hope you all enjoy it.”

That voice... older but... that is James, and he bought Team Rocket out? Woah... I wonder if I could go down after this and shake his hand or something... Wonder what happened to Jessie? Maybe she actually finally struck it big in the Contest circle after all...

“And now,” the announcer calls, “for the first contestant, Emily May from Autumnwash Town!”

A young girl with a darkly-colored pokemon floating behind her steps confidently onto the stage. “Emily May is competing today with her Darcape!” Cheering and applause fill the stadium.

Huh, the person isn’t familiar, and neither is her pokemon. Should be interesting.

The pokemon used a combination of Shadow Ball and Psychic to psychically juggle a trio of explosive ghostly projectiles. The effect was impressive, but not that good-looking, which resulted in an overall poor score.

The next is a middle-aged man with a Vileplume, which he puts through its paces getting a glittering cloud of multicolored spores, before funneling them down to make a sparkling statue of honey or nectar, which it stuck in place by the layers of debilitating pollen.

Third is a young boy with a Rattata. This is actually where it gets interesting, as the trainer, Robert, throws out a trio of hoops, which begin to roll around the stage. The Rattata goes through one, over another as it rolls towards it, and finally leaps on top of the third and runs along it to propel it along the ground at a fair pace, before bouncing and getting the three hoops to stack, balanced on top.

Now that is talent!

I nudge Rarity. “See what I mean about appearances only being half the game?”

The judges call out the scores for Robert.

“An excellent use of natural talent and the Quick Attack move!” Contesta Jr. says, clapping and giving a 9.5 rating.

“A beautifully cared-for pokemon; that Rattata wasn’t even out of breath at the end!” Nurse Joy yells, slamming home a 9.8 for Robert.

“Superb work and training to accomplish such a difficult feat,” James says, “and your bond shows clearly in how perfectly you both pulled it off.” A calm motion and a solid 9.7 pops up for Robert. This places him easily two full points higher on the average than even the previous guy’s Vileplume.

So now there are still a bunch to go... but with the numbers already being passed around, it might be over right now unless someone just dominates the entire thing with one trick.

The next eight or so are rather tame, though none are truly disappointing. This is, after all, a minimum of two ribbons into each contestant’s career.

A guy with a Machamp doing a routine with juggling half-ton barbells is finishing up and I yawn. It’s just an overload of cool, I suppose.

Then, the lights dim as discs of shadow eclipse all but the spots illuminating the entrance to the stage. From the dark tunnel comes a lithe, humanoid shape. The shape resolves into a Gardevoir with the local ‘tunic’ look, a blue scarf around its neck, and a glint of some form of metal at its left hip.

“Ah, a special treat for you all, folks, it seems Otaria’s four-time Contest Grandmaster has shown up again... Xavius, and his Gardevoir, Lya!”

Dafuq? I heard that wrong, right?

“For Lya’s third Contest, it seems Mr. Night has brought her to our own fair contest hall. Let’s see what he’s put together this time!”

The whole room goes silent.

I could probably hear a pin drop on the other side of the stands.

Lya steps forwards, slowly and calmly. Suddenly, a flash of light announces the arrival of a sword... from her hip. That’s what the metal was, I see. The Gardevoir begins moving in a slow, steady pattern, blade cutting gracefully through the air. Then, something truly unexpected happens:

Her sword clashes against another sword, and Xavius is standing there with the competing blade.

The hall is still silent, but I swear I hear a gasp from someone nearby as the two begin trading blows in what I can tell is a carefully-practiced stagefight, though it’s more stylized than what I learned for the show-tournament in Medieval Club. In fact, I think it might be fencing, though that’s just a guess based on how thin their weapons are; I’m more of a shortsword guy.

After about half a minute, they stop, bow to one another, sheathe their weapons in smooth, fluid motions, and turn to bow to the judges as the shadows pull from the lights. It’s at this point I see the psychic emanation fade from the Gardevoir’s eyes. Which means... she was the one keeping up the shadows the entire fight? She didn’t even seem taxed by the effect... and last I checked, Gardevoir can’t do that, meaning she had to fake it with a move combo... kept up while swordfighting with Xavius. Holy shit that’s good.

Then, the silence is broken as everybody starts cheering and applauding wildly, many standing to do so.

“Magnificent use of combined moves! Excellent grace and form! Gardevoir can’t even learn the Swords Dance move, but was able to accomplish this entire routine anyways! Incredible accomplishment, once again!” Contests Jr. shouts, clapping so hard his hands are turning red. A perfect 10.0 flashes for his given score.

“A beautiful display, and masterfully done! I loved the movements; so pretty to watch, and also useful!” Joy exclaims, also standing and applauding. Her own score is given as a 9.8, likely for something she saw that wasn’t 100% perfect.

James, however, is quiet, and not applauding. He looks... contemplative. The score from him flashes at an 8.8, causing a ripple of surprise to go ‘round the contest hall. “Lya... please lift your right arm.”

Wait, what?

The gardevoir freezes in place for a moment, before slowly raising her arm as asked. From here, I can see the thin red line of a fresh cut, along with the blood gently weeping from it.

“I thought I saw a mistake. A daring and admirable routine, but the end result was not a perfect one. Good job, Xavius, and I hope to see you do better next time as well.” In spite of the almost... cruel tint to the words, James does sound genuinely hopeful. Of course, if Xavius is somehow a ‘grand master’ of the contests, maybe he should’ve known this was a risk.

One thing is left to do though, once everyone has gone. Preliminary elimination and then a sort of competition between the top ten to determine the winner.

“All the scores are now set,” comes the announcement, “and here are our top eight contestants, with only four drop-outs and one no-show: Robert West, and his talented Rattata, Damien Wheeler, with his fantastic Vulpix, Tessa Scotsman, with her resilient Wobbuffet, David Tenman, with his Rotom, Daniel Irons with his Dusclops, Alexis Thompson, with her incredible Velocial, Xavius Night, with Lya the Gardevoir, and Rebecca Trelawney with her Alakazam! After a ten minute break, the competition round will begin, and each contestant will face a single-elimination fight to the finish! We’ll be right back everybody, so freshen up and get a drink, because things have only begun!”

I’ve never been one to get up to do do anything but stretch during intermissions, and I don’t really feel the urge to act differently today so I take the extra room of missing people to loosen up after sitting mostly still for the past... Idunno but it feels like an hour or two.

Having stretched, I sit back down between the girls. “So these are all pokemon who, at the very least, have only won two contests before. Guess you’ll have to come up with some really mind-blowing stuff if you’re planning to keep up, Rares. A nice-looking dress alone doesn’t look like it’ll cut it once you get through the easy ones.”

“Well, as wonderful as the outfits are, I never expected them to solely carry me through these challenges. I have plans, Anthony. Just because they don’t involve fighting each other, doesn’t mean they’re obsolete or inapplicable.”

“I never said that fighting is the only option, I’m saying you’ll need to win more than once with all your pokemon or you’ll only end up being able to enter one and that means you have to come up with some dang good routines for your entire party.”

“I know, Anthony. You may not have noticed, or really checked, but most of my free time now is dedicated to either writing home or working on new routines with my pokemon. I’m also thinking of trying to find a good pokemon to send home for Sweetie Belle. Something adorable and hardy. Like those Spinarak I’ve seen on the breeder’s page.”

“I can’t imagine your little sister and her friends with any pokemon at all ending in something other than another disaster. Don’t you think they’re rambunctious enough as is? You wanna give them a pet with super powers?”

“Oh, Anthony, there’s plenty of evidence that Pokemon make excellent foalsi- er, childsitters. I’m sure something with the ability to wrap them up would simply be a bonus. And think of the sleeping bags! Why, you could dye each cocoon and have it be individual for each of the Crusaders!”

“Babysitters. And your underestimation of the destructive capabilities of those three never ceases to amaze me. You realize that when they realize that the string is sticky and bouncy the first thing they’ll think of is, like, making a giant slingshot or something, right?”

“Well... I suppose I’d want to also get something more responsible. Ooh! Another pokemon recommended for taking care of children is Houndoom!”

I feel my eye twitch. “No. No way. If you give them a meat-eating fiery demondog bigger than all three of them combined, I’m calling CPS on you.”

“What? But it said that Houndoom are extremely loyal and loving, and are good with children...” Rarity looks upset at having been misinformed.

“You’re thinking of Growlithe. A Houndoom is likely to see three little fillies and think ‘dinner’ before ‘friend’. And even if they trained it, can you imagine how often things might end up on fire just so they could, Idunno, try to earn their marks in firefighting?”

“Well... I suppose you might be right. Still, there must be some pokemon who would be able to help keep them in-line.”

“...fine, I’ll think about it. Seriously though, those three are trouble, and there aren’t many pokemon that couldn’t make them even more dangerous. All I can imagine is them doing something stupid like, Idunno, poking a Magikarp one too many times or something...” I get an idea. “Well if you can manage to feed it, get a Snorlax. Don’t move much and they double as both a giant bed and trampoline or emergency raft. I doubt the Crusaders have eliminated every possibility that involves flooding the town.”

“A thought that I’d rather not contempla-” Rarity is caught mid-sentence by the announcer.

“Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Competition Round of the contest!” The announcer continues to grandstand on the stage, making my attention wander, but my attention is brought back in full when he begins announcing the rules.

Now, I’ve seen the competitions in the shows. Usually, the second half of the competition is an elimination-style battle setup that relies on a points system based on the appearance of your moves. Here, though...

“As you know, ladies and gents, the second half of the contest is Otari Rules, and does not involve direct combat! Indeed, each of these pairs will be trying their darndest to avoid interrupting the other’s display. If either pokemon fouls the other, both are eliminated from the competition right then and there.” Huh, not a bad idea. The announcer continues. “Each contestant will have one minute to make their display more impressive than the other’s without disruption or disrupting, with the winner continuing on to the next matchup! Those that don’t succeed will receive their consolation prizes, and second and third place will still receive their cash prizes, as usual! Alright, everybody, may the games... be-gin!”

The first matchup is between Robert and Daniel, their pokemon each setting up on opposite corners of the platform. Daniel’s Dusclops immediately begins setting up a series of circling purple flames, each one pinging with an eerie tone.

Robert’s Rattata begins grabbing wooden blocks from its trainer, quickly stacking them -with just mouth and tail- into a curved ‘hangar’-style construction, once again wowing me with the skill that Rattata has.

Meanwhile, the Dusclops starts letting off deep, rumbling-bass Shadow Pulses. After a few moments, the fires stop making noise, and the Dusclops stops pulsing. Then, it thrums like a speaker set to ‘earthquake’, and I feel the bass in my bones.

Rattata, impressively, starts working to the music, now leaping higher and higher with its Quick Attacks to place the blocks in an ever-taller tower of shocking stability.

Finally, the rumbling in the floor is causing the entire towers to shift and sway, though it’s being reinforced with incredible speed and precision by the insanely swift normal-type.

Finally, the minute is up, and the music stops and the tower is easily ten feet tall.

“Alright, everybody! Certainly an inventive start to this round, that’s for sure. What do the judges say?”

Contesta, of course, goes first, saying the tower, while simple, is still impressive without any human intervention. Nurse Joy thought the use of simple pokemon moves that normally have nothing to do with sound to produce music was an impressive idea, and James took a moment to say that while both seemed very good, he prefered the building to the music, as the building was made to survive the music, but the music was utterly unaffected by the tower. Accommodation and adaptation are key. Thus, the win is given to Robert, who sits off to the side with an average score of 9.8.

Next is that Damien guy with his Vulpix, and Alexis with the velociraptor-looking Velocial. If I remember right, that’s the one that turns into ice-Godzilla. Well, as long as it doesn’t evolve in here I suppose there’s no huge deal... maybe.

Damien gives orders to his pokemon, but Alexis physically goes to assist hers. The end result is Damien with a fiery puppet show, and Alexis with a glittering ice statue of the Judges at their stand, each with ‘10.0’ engraved on their panels. The judges get a kick out of that, and Alexis is praised for her accuracy to form, progressing to the next round with 9.6 as her score.

Next after that is Tess and Xavius, and this time Lya has bandages around her middle. they’re stained a little red, but not excessively so. I suppose she just didn’t want to lay down for an hour to let the healing set in.

It doesn’t, however, hamper her, and she quite effectively shuts down the lights, and begins going through a complicated series of martial arts moves with the only light coming down on Lya. Tessa’s Wobbuffet doesn’t even get much visibility, much less do anything impressive enough to pierce the shroud of darkness over the stage.

Xavius leaves with a 9.5 end score.

The final match for the round is David Tenman and Rebecca Trelawney, his Rotom and her Alakazam trading hairy eyeballs on the stage as they try to outdo each other, ending with the Rotom possessing a microphone and sending out lullaby music to everyone.

Rebecca’s performance, unfortunately, is forgettable through the sleepy haze the judges and... we the audience are in. Not sure if that counts as cheating. David moves on to the next round with 9.1 as his score.

The next two rounds go even faster. Robert and Alexis face off, this time with the provision that they can directly interfere with each other’s performances, and Alexis is able to prevent the Rattata from doing well enough to continue, leaving Alexis with an average score of 9.7 afterwards.

Xavius and David pair off, and Lya starts the round by disabling every device within the legal range of the match, leaving Rotom without anything to possess and stripping its trainer of ideas. After the judges get their mics working again, Xavius receives an average score of 9.5 once more, due to Lya almost blowing up the judge’s table trying to use Telekinesis to shove Rotom.

And then, it’s on to the final round.

I can’t wait to see how this turns out for them.

Chapter 50

Once the round is over, the announcer calls out that it’s almost time for the award ceremony and final scores to be tallied, the lead winner getting a cash prize as well as their pokémon getting a Ribbon. Runner-ups will get what amounts to booby prizes and participation rewards, but the announcer still makes those sound pretty good. This guy is pretty good even if I can see through it. That said, the absolute losers go home with nothing, but that’s standard. At least it’s not like a pokémon battle where losing costs you money. I mean, the audience pays to see it, but sign-ups are free at least.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen, over the course of the contest, each of the remaining contestant’s scores were tallied, and here are their final scores! Their overall score to this point will decide who takes home the First Prize Trophy and the associated Ribbon! Over the five rounds, she’s racked up...” a drumroll starts, building tension, “Forty-six-point-two points!” he shouts, with much of the crowd going nuts.

Then, it’s Xavius’ turn, and he awaits patiently as the announcer begins his call as well. “And over the last five rounds, in a stunning display of care and precision, with an amazing performance in total, Lya has earned a total of...” again, the drumroll, “Forty-eight-point-five points!” he yells, accompanied by fanfare. “An almost perfect score! Come up, and receive your prizes, Mr. Night!” he calls, and the guy steps up, giving a bow and shaking Alexis’ hand. He nods and accepts the trophy gratefully, and carefully pins the Ribbon to Lya’s bandage.

Man, I’ve got to go talk to him. This is so cool!

While the rest of the crowd is standing and cheering, I decide to make my way down to the lobby once most of the booby prizes are dished out. Hopefully I’ll be fast enough to catch Xavius before he runs off and disappears again.

He seems really good at that... maybe he’s part ninja but shows his face anyway? Woah... what’s that? I see some strange pokémon I’ve never seen before in the group of the ‘absolute losers’ circle, the ones who messed up in the preliminaries. Maybe I’ll stay to find out what they are. I scan the group of people faking happy smiles and their pokémon waiting for their two seconds in the spotlight as ‘honorable mentions’ and I wonder... what the heck are all these pokémon. Only one or two are familiar.

One guy, looking like a bird-trainer sort, has a huge, white halloween-style ghost on his arm, or that’s what it looks like for a few moments, until a pair of huge black eyes swivel around to look at me, and I realize it’s a huge, white owl... and that he’s not holding it up, but rather has his hand above its feet to hold it down. Its cry sounds like it’s saying ‘dieeee’ and trailing off to a hiss, until I can process that it’s starting with a ‘g’ sound, not a ‘d’ sound.

Flying and ghost type? Haven’t seen one of those since the Drif-line. Seems interesting.

In one pool, a pokémon sits, sticking out of the ground and looking like a long piece of kelp, except that it keeps turning to watch anyone who walks by the tank. It’s a bit like an aquatic Diglett, I think, until its pops out of its burrow to swim to another hole, then pokes back up out of the ground. Wait... oh yeah, I saw one of them at the aquarium... but it looked like just tank decor at the time. Cool, must have tried some camouflage trick or something.

The next I see looks like an armless raptor, but only bulldog-sized. It has massive jaws, but doesn’t appear to have any eyes. It does, however, have a pair of eye-spots, large orange patches rimmed in dark brown. Definitely not getting any info on this just from looking, but the announcer is vague on what it actually did, other than mentioning transformation. I snap a picture and plan to have it cross-referenced later.

The other I don’t recognize looks like a cross between a Boldore, a Golurk, a Sableye, and a Super Saiyan. It’s like a walking set of rocks, with large golden-yellow spurs of semi-clear crystal. In fact, they look almost like clearer versions of thunderstones, strangely. Whatever it is, the announcer mentioned it using Thunderstones in its display, but had messed up, needing more practice, not a new routine.

Oh well, I’ve seen some cool moves and some new pokémon, I’m ready to catch Xavius again, hopefully getting a longer audience with him this time. I get up and make my way to the lobby the girls just follow after me, though Rarity asks if it’s really over already, shortly after we reach the lobby exit..

“Not quite, but I wanna see Xavius, I mean... he’s a coordinator too? What the heck hasn’t he done?”

“I’m not a breeder, nor have I ever tried to participate in those little micro-game tournaments. Y’know, where you coach pokémon through little challenges, like having Scyther cut logs at the right time and stuff? Never really got into it.”

“Ah, the Pokéathalon stuff? Yeah, not sure if I wanna try that myself either.” I respond before realising I was talking to Xavius. “Oh, uh, hi! Er yeah... but uh... you’re probably wondering why I’m kinda... following you around, chasing you down and all, huh? Not trying to be a weirdo or anything but uh...”

“I saw you in the crowd, and figured you come seek me out. So I beat you to it. Don’t worry about it, even if you’re stalking me, you’re more polite about it than the last one. Took me six weeks and two separate restraining orders to get rid of her.” he says, giving a shudder.

“Oh, wow. Well you won’t have that problem with me sir, I just , well... You win at pretty much everything I’ve seen you do, you’ve saved my life, you’re really great with pokémon but can do fine even without pokémon so they don’t do all the work... I guess what I mean is... you’re the kind of trainer I’ve dreamed of being since my pokémon fascinating took root and uh... got any tips beyond ‘love your pokémon’? I mean, I know that’s important but it’s a little generic and I think I already have that covered.”

He laughs. “Well, here’s one: never discount a pokémon for its oddness. And I don’t mean species that seem weird, I mean individuals. You know Peanuts, my Metagross? He’s been... odd since he was a Beldum,” he says, “but I’d never trade ‘im for another. Heh, you should meet the rest of the team, some time.” he thinks for a moment. “Actually, barring anything emergency-wise, I have an hour or so open for lunch. My treat, we can chat, and you can bring those ladies who’re with you.” he says, giving a nod to Rarity and Twilight. “Assuming they want to come along, of course.”

I turn to the girls, knowing that they’ll probably follow me wherever I go anyways as long as we stay within city limits. Don’t want anyone getting lost or anything. “What do you think? Know anywhere good around here? I haven’t really studied the local map of this place.”

Twilight and Rarity both nod, and they begin to babble back and forth, each suggesting their own preference, until Xavius interrupts them. “Woah, woah, woah... here, I know a place. It’s called the Indigo Buffet, and it’s got authentic Kanto cuisine, and some stuff from elsewhere, like Unova and northern Otaria. C’mon, I’ll show you.” he says, waving and starting off.

I follow along, willing to take any advice we might be able to get from this guy. And I’m interested in what was odd about Peanuts. Sure it was real big for a Metagross but that didn’t seem to be what he meant by odd. Plus he’s buying. Free food is always a bonus, especially for a trio without any cooking utensils at all.

The place Xavius leads us to is, perhaps unsurprisingly, rather nice-looking. At the door is a long line, but he steps right up to the front and says something to the guy at the door, who’s standing alongside a Hitmonchan leaning against the wall. The guy nods, and opens the door, and Xavius waves us in, smiling. “Ah, it’s good to have friends, eh? I know the Maitre’d and the cook, and they owe me a free meal or twelve. C’mon, sit, have a menu!” he says, gesturing at a fine-quality table he plonks down at. Frankly, I feel a touch underdressed here. I wouldn’t normally care, but literally everyone seems to be having a pleasant time, and the waiter who comes up has a smile that doesn’t seem forced.

“What can get for your entree, sir?” he asks Xavius, who asks for... something. I have no idea what he said, but he said it fluently, and it sounded like... Japanese, maybe? Either way, the waiter nods and turns to Rarity next, asking what she’d like. Somehow, she’s already figured it out.

I feel so lost... everything here is so fancy!

Well, since Twi’s the other girl she’s asked next and she doesn’t seem to be faring any better than me. Okay, maybe a bit better. A big bit...

After a few stumbles, she figures it out, and makes her order, something with bread. Then, the waiter turns to me.

“Uh... I’ll have some... uh...” Think man, what’s fancy food in the Pokémon world? And Kanto... think man, he’s looking at you! “Uh, Farfetch’d soup?”

I pray to Arceus that’s acceptable and watch as the waiter looks at me with surprise. Xavius looks at me and appears confused. “Ah... that’s a joke, right?” the waiter asks, his smile turning a bit confused.

“Uh, yeah, just a joke. Sorry, uh...” I take a quick look at the menu and do my best to pronounce the first thing I see as well as a side, also picked from the top.

“The Zucc an’ fries? Alright.” he says, nodding. “And what would everyone like to drink?” he asks, and Xavius orders a pitcher of Pecha juice for everyone.

I decide to break the silence before it has a chance to get awkward. "So why'd you name your Metag- er Beldum 'Peanuts' anyway?" Not the best conversation starter but... it works.

Xavius chuckles. “Because I originally had a really great, awesome-sounding name, but it turns out he has a peanut allergy. No, don’t ask why a giant carnivorous pokémon was eating peanuts. He’s a little... crazy. So, Peanuts it was. But I have to be careful, because he’s way more powerful than average; he’s not allowed in league battles as a result. However, he’s a really good companion. Funny enough, he’s actually why I’ve got a prosthetic.” Xavius says. Immediately, thoughts of a metagross chewing his arm off flash into my head.

“He... bit your arm off? Like, just... chomp?”

Xavius bursts into laughter. “No, no, not at all! He gave me a hug, and accidentally crimped my arm really badly. It had to be amputated.” he explains, and I realize that both of the girls look to be torn between frightened and disgusted by the thought. Still, that should help show Rarity pokémon shouldn’t be given to the CMC.

“And ah, I recall your Blaziken... she was...” I pause fully. “I’m trying to think of what she might have been doing without implying she was feeling me up but...”

He shakes his head. “No, no, that’s exactly what she was doing.” he sighs. “She’s got... problems. I adopted her well into her fortieth level or so. I still don’t know who her original trainer was; his ID code wasn’t attached to her.” he says.

“So, she uh... huh, okay. Well, that’s interesting.” A cause for hyperarousal is early childhood trauma. Either that or she’s really horny all the time. “Well, enough about that. Say is there a place in here where we could have everybody meet everybody?”

Xavius nods. “Yeah, but it’s a separate part of the restaurant. We can move over there if you’d like.” he says. Rarity and Twilight mention wanting to, and that seems to make up the guy’s mind. He flags down the waiter, asks about the room, and we all start getting up.

“It’s a big room, but even so, Peanuts is staying in his ball. He’s too big even for here.” Xavius explains. Rarity and Twilight have surprised looks, but I recall seeing Peanuts back during the second Chainer raid and yeah, that Metagross would blow a hole in the ceiling just by shrugging. Still, there seems to be room for everyone else.

I toss my team out two at a time and introduce them. “And the last two are Oddish and Magomental. Don’t have names for them but I think they’ll get me far, Bug and Grass types are kinda my thing. Anyways, I don’t have any others right now, just the six. Looking for a good candidate for seventh.”

“Well, themes certainly help you choose your focus. And getting a Magomental is pretty good; they turn into really impressive creatures at their second stages. You decided which route you’re taking it?”

“Is there something I don’t know about Magomental? I know Gloom has a split evo, but I uh... well the info I got my hands on didn’t cover Otaria. So this region will be an... adventure.”

He chuckles. “Yeah, Magomental has a split evo as well. It’s based on what you trade or use a Link stone on it with. Did you want to go defensive or offensive with it?” he asks as they settle into their tables, pokémon greeting each other, Xavius’ coming out of their pokéballs on their own. It looks like he’s got a Feraligatr, some variant of Eeveelution, a Castform... so many rare pokémon.

I look at the wriggling mass. Bug and Psychic type... “But one Confuse Ray from Litwick, and the hardest part of the catch was waiting for the ball to finish...” Said candle pokémon taking its usual spot on my shoulder. “Defensive.”

He snickers. “Yeah, it loses that epic vulnerability once it evolves the first time, and then you either use a Link Stone or trade it while it’s holding a Alloy Shield or a Dragon Fang. Since you want to go defensive...” he says, and fishes around in his coat, then pulls out a little red-and-white storage capsule. “Here, one Alloy Shield. Lekgolem is a really powerful pokémon, so be sure to hang onto that.” he says.

I put the Alloy Shield into my bag and look at Magomental again. “Yeah, maybe I’ll have a good name for you once you evolve. At the moment everything I can come up with is stupid. Unless you like the name ‘Swarmy’ that is.” The mass continues to squirm and move. It doesn’t seem to care, or even recognize my comment.

“Yeah, I’ll think of something later on. Oh yeah, I know what I want for my seventh! You know where I could find a Machop?”

“Eh, probably in the mountains, but only if they’re runaways or released pokémon. They aren’t naturally found in Otaria.” he says, sampling his dish, which is some sort of noodle and soup.

“Well, that complicates things, but no problem I suppose. Not gonna be heading for the mountains any time soon. Probably won’t leave this city until I finally get my second badge. Unless you two have any better ideas?” I aim the second part at Twi and Rarity.

Twilight looks up from her salad with bread strips. “Oh, uhm... I was thinking the same, though I planned to stop by the library and see if there’s anything in it that catches my attention.” she says.

“You mean like an entire shelf. Guess I’ll be taking the challenge first again. Either way, I suppose that’s fine. So I'm probably gonna take my pokémon to the gym to get some swimming practice. Wouldn't want any of them to risk drowning just because they lose balance."

Xavius looks up at me. “Don’t worry about that. Zoli has a platform up at the top with him for land-based pokémon.” he says, and tries a bit of Rarity’s dish, as she samples some of his.

“Yeah, but I’d rather have my pokémon be prepared for a random environment change. Who knows, I just might run into Kyogre. It flooding the place would put me at a serious disadvantage otherwise.” I eat some of my fries, the zucchini really not being my choice of dish.

Xavius shrugs. “Not around here, you won’t. The closest we have is a few Regi in the mountains, desert, and in one of the bigger cave systems.” he eats a bit more.

I pause my munching on the fries. “How ...touchy are the Regi? Enough to make said caves dangerous or are they fine with people and other ah, non-pokémon?”

Xavius shrugs. “They have their own territories around, but most are hibernating. They tend to go comatose for about a hundred years at a time, and the last time they were up and about, Ash had woken Regigas in another region. So, y’know... forty years ago? Thereabouts?”

I nearly choke on my fries. Ash? Forty years? Wow... so if that was James back there, which I’m absolutely sure of, then... dang. Wonder what the gang is doing now...

Either way, that’s really interesting to think about. Oh well, probably not gonna meet him or anything so I’ll just worry about my own adventure. Speaking of... “So where would you suggest we go once we’re done here in the city? We’re gonna be sightseeing too and I was wondering if you knew any neat places to go that aren’t tourist traps or anything.”

“Hmmm...” he says, then takes a few moments to eat, chewing over the thought and the noodles. “Well, Crevasse Village is pretty cool. And there’s some really impressive caves in the depths underneath, and you can go deeper there than just about anywhere else in the whole Otari region. There’s rocks down there identical to those ones found a while back in Unova.” he takes a long slurp of noodles, sending a bit of juice everywhere. “Oops, sorry.”

I take another bite of my zucchini but decide to just let my Pokémon have it. “No problem. Anyways, you mean Chargestone cave? So the rocks are naturally magnetized and electrified? Yeah, that’d be cool to see in real life. Oh, I just remembered to ask: I know there’s a private reserve, but does Otari have a Safari Zone open to trainers to catch from as well?”

“Yeah, it’s up north. Near the volcano, you can’t miss it.” he takes another bite. “Mmm... I love good ramen.”

Magomental is the only one that took to the baked veggie, none of my teammates seeming interested in zucchini. And a Safari Zone near a volcano? Neat! “So I don’t wanna be killing the mood here but... What’s the news on the Chainers? Found the ones that ran off with that laser yet?”

Xavius shakes his head. “We’re investigating, but we still have no idea where their main base is. It’s frustrating; we’ve even gotten international agents coming in, but there’s been no luck so far.”

“Right... figures. These guys are serious business. Anyway since it’s a down moment I should probably explain Twilight...” He doesn’t look up from his food, but motions for me to continue. “Well, I take it you’ve never heard of Equestria before... either way, uh... You know, I think it’d be better if they explained. I’m not exactly a genius on ponies really.”

Twilight looks up from her salad and clears her throat, getting into ‘lecture’ mode. “We are, as Anthony sort of implied, ponies.” Twilight undoes her spell and takes her place at the table as a pony. “We were originally planning to send Anthony home but he had... other ideas and it messed up our magic, sending us here to Otaria. I admit it’s been a little frustrating and scary at times, but I’m beginning to like my new friends, even if I’m still getting used to the life of ah... do you have a more appropriate word for ‘horribly underprepared traveller’?” At Xavius’ shake of the head Twilight continues. “Yes, we aren’t that accustomed to this world, but it’s certainly interesting. I’ve recorded our adventures in a log and sent copies to Princess Celestia, would you like to see them?”

I roll my eyes. “No Twilight, you don’t have to turn in your homework... Besides, reading someone’s exploits isn’t as fun as doing them.”

“Actually, if you’re willing to send those on an email, I’d love to look them over when I have some free time. This all sounds pretty interesting, but I’ll admit that I’m a bit too time-stressed to look into them. I know that there’s a few of the extremely powerful Legends that can move through space and time, and there’s rumors that there’s a partner universe stuck to this one.” he says, finishing off the last of his food.

“I’m of the personal opinion that the connected universe is mine, not the one of Equestria’s, but I suppose if Terra is an alternate of my Earth the way this Earth is, it may be more of a venn-diagram than a linear connection, likely with one of our worlds being the crossover point.” I say, but Twilight looks confused about something.

She rummages through her bag and takes out a small paper journal. “Uh... how do I ‘e-mail’ something like this?”

I roll my eyes again. “You scan it first, then you send it to him using the internet.” Twilight looks even more lost now. “Yeah, ponies aren’t exactly technologically inclined.”

“We’re fast learners, Anthony.” Rarity says. “These éTech devices may be hard to use with hooves, but I’m fairly sure we can figure out how to make a... uh...”

“Digital copy of the journal.” I offer.

“Yes, that.”

Xavius chuckles. “Eh, it’s not quite as weird as seeing a Muk clean a drainage pond.” he says, shrugging.

I eye him incredulously. “Pics or it didn’t happen.” Xavius looks through his éTech and, after a while, holds it up to me, showing that exact scene. “Well... damn... Anyway, yeah, I know plenty about pokémon, but everything related to Otaria is pretty new to me. Twi’s the magic user, and Rares is the... uh... she’s the...” I look at Rarity.

“Lady of the group? Graceful one?” Xavius finishes for me, flashing a smirk and look at Rarity, who giggles and titters, waving a hoof in front of her face in a classy ‘do go on’ way.

“Sure... well, she’s a breeder and coordinator, so we aren’t all trainers, but I suppose that’s true too. Anyways, there’s not a lot to talk about I can think of... oh! Geodude here was my first, but also the hardest to catch. Which of your team was the ‘difficult’ capture?”

Xavius looks at me for a moment, thinking, then nods. “Not one from my current team, but my own Larvydra was a difficult catch, as I got it as a Swarva. Oh, and I caught a Pyresprout by grabbing it and running as fast as I could and using a ball later. Heh, I had second-degree burns that were visible for months after that.”

I’m not familiar with the first pokémon, but I recall the name ‘Pyredhendron’ belonging to those gigantic ent-like grass/fire types, and this sounds like a pre-evolution. And recalling what they looked like... “Running from the parents I assume?”

He chuckles. “And a hungry Victreebel that was wa~ay more active than I ever gave those things credit for.”

“Said it before, gonna say it again: Never underestimate a Grass type.” Oddish looks over at me and smiles. “Sure it was cheap, but this little guy can win a battle without a single offensive move. Right Rarity?”

“I was unprepared and you abused Ledian’s love of flowers, you cheated!”

“Did not!”

“Did so!”

“Meh, fine I cheated. Still a win though. Oddish are boss.”

Xavius laughs into his arm, his entire body heaving with laughter. “You two are like a married couple!” he wheezes between gasps.

I look at Rarity and back at Xavius before responding with a rather flat “Eww.”

Rarity grins. “Agreed, I could do much better I’m sure.”

“You could.” I admit. “But you could do a whole lot worse too.”

Xavius laughs again, then stops as his éTech begins to beep. He pulls it out, looking worried, until he sees what’s on it. A look of wonder shows on his face. “Ooh, I have a way better destination than Crevasse Village, and it’s right nearby! You know those plains? Go out tomorrow morning and carefully keep an eye out for big, black-and-green shapes. You’ll understand when you get there!” he says, smiling broadly.

“An alert system for pokémon migrations and outbreaks?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “Nope, just a calendar. This is a once-a-year thing, so you’ll want to hurry. Or get a tent set up out there and be up early; I’m sure there’ll be others doing the same.”

“Wow, I guess we should go now then. Wouldn’t want to miss a chance like this. Should probably stock up on balls though, not sure of how easy this’ll be.”

Xavius wishes us luck as we recall our pokémon and, after getting the rest of my fries in a doggy bag, we head for the Pokémart. Upon entering I scan the shelves for Ultra Balls but I only see the basic beginning merchandise. Not giving up I head to the cashier. “Hey, do you have any special pokéballs? I’m looking at a complex catch tomorrow.”

The man inspects my jacket and, seeing my lone badge, smiles. “Yup, I got some stuff for ya! Take a look!” He holds up a list of items under ‘one badge’. Oh yeah, the Pokémart has badge limitations, right. I scan the list. No Ultra Balls yet unfortunately, but I do see Great Balls, Super potion, basic Repel spray, and the usual status healers, but a Full Heal isn’t available until I have three badges. Damnit, guess I’ll have to make the best of it. Grabbing a Burn Heal like I wanted on my first shopping trip, a can of Repel, a pair of Super Potions and two Great Balls I check my money and see I just spent almost half my cash on this and I’m left with 3500. Ouch, I’m gonna have to win some battles soon. Oh well, I might be able to get a battle in with a trainer tomorrow. Xavius said the event would draw a lot of trainers.

I suggest the girls buy whatever they think they’ll need, Rarity being forced to choose from the basic stock as she hadn’t gotten any badges or ribbons in her case. Twilight is very interested in some of the new healing items available to her. “A freeze heal? Like, it’ll warm up a pokémon if it gets too cold?”

“Nah.” I reply as I stick my purchased items into my bag and sync the inventory with my éTech. “It’ll fully thaw out a pokémon if it’s frozen solid, using it on just a strong chill or a bad cold would be overkill.”

“O- overkill?”

Right, death implications and ponies don’t mix. “Figure of speech, it won’t hurt a pokémon but it will be pretty much wasted on anything lighter than frostbite or something.”

“Ah, alright. Wow. I’ll take one of those.”

Chapter 51

We get to the plains and see there are already some tents up and what seems like a trainer-meet. I even see someone set up a machine that is labelled as a portable trading device. Some trainers are flashing badges and telling stories, some are just chilling on the grass, a few are battling or training alone... wow, it’s like a real-life Pokémon trainer’s convention!

There’s over a dozen kids in variations of the ‘bug catcher’ attire, and there appears to be a two-man team of what would be, in the games, a Bug Maniac and a Bug Catcher.

“Well, might as well get a spot set up for ourselves. With all these people I’m willing to bet it’ll be packed by tomorrow.”

“You mean this whole field?” Twilight asks, looking around. “That’d be a lot of people.”

“You got that right Twi. I mean, if Xavius set up an alert it should be a big deal considering how many circles he’s apparently talented in. Also congratulations, you’ve stopped saying ‘pony’ in public finally.”

“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask... is that normal? For a human to have so many areas of expertise?” Twi looks confused, and... idunno, something else.

“That many? Not really. Though a pokémon trainer does tend to try and focus on multiple areas. Lots of ways to be strong and all, so it’s more about how many skills you have than how good you are at just one skill. Leave a hole in your dam wall and water will get through even if the wall is several meters thick and all, you know? But yeah, Xavius is special in that he succeeds in all the areas attempted, that’s the sign of a future pokémon champion. Didn’t see any badges on him though.” I look around the fields for a green and black shape Xavius said to look for, but it seems too early.

She chuckles. “Ah, okay. So... do you have any idea what we’re looking for, other than black and green shapes?” she asks. I remember the odd prevalence of the bug-catching trainers, and the sheer number of bug nets around.

“Definitely a Bug type, so expect it to be insect-like at least, judging by the type of people around here.”

“Huh?” twilight asks, and Rarity turns towards me. “Is that what their outfits mean? They do seem awfully coordinated compared to other trainers I’ve seen.” she says.

“Well, if you intend to specialize in one type you tend to wear appropriate things, like a beginning electric trainer wearing grounded shoes and some rubber gloves. Looking at the sea of bug nets out there I’d say we’ve got insect enthusiasts out here.” I look around and see a few generic trainers, but most of them are indeed dressed like various Bug mainers. “So, I guess we just mingle for now, have fun while we settle in.”

Twilight and Rarity nod, the two of them saying they plan to do exactly that before heading off. Well, they’re getting more used to being on their own, at least. I get to work setting up my hammock in a chosen spot a bit away from the mass of people and figure I can let the girls be alone as long as they stay relatively normal, and they can always call me if they need to. They are right that they're getting used to the éTech pretty quickly.

I think about the hammocks. They are indeed more comfy but it might be nice to have some cover to keep off rain and snow.

One of the bug trainers, a random guy, waves at me. It feels... odd. I’m just... a part of this group, just by showing up.

Oh yeah, that’s how humans work. Damn I got out of Equestria just in time didn’t I? I walk over to the guy once I’ve made sure that the hammock will sway but not fall. "Hey there. So I'm not sure what pokémon we're expecting tomorrow, but I'm gonna guess it's a Bug type. No spoilers though please, I'm new to the region. Want all the surprises I can get."

He chuckles. “No problem! I’ll tell ya this, though, you got here in time. Every year, this place gets super-crowded, cuz it’s right in time for the migration to start. Just don’t catch any that are carrying anything; those’re ones owned by trainers, letting them migrate.” he says, a good note to keep in mind. Now, what sort of animals migrate... no, keeping my mind clear, I’ll find out soon enough.

“Right. Scarves, ribbons, bands, gifts from the trainer like that?” I decide to clear up exactly what I’m looking for to mark the pokémon as out of bounds.

“Exactly. Some just have name tags on lanyards, but those have LEDs on them to keep ‘em bright. Anyways, if you don’t know why everyone’s here, what alerted you to the migration?” he asks.

“Oh, just some guy named Xavius. We’ve been meeting up a lot lately ever since I ran into the Chainers. It was a few days after I got to Otaria.”

The guy gapes and his mouth opens and closes like a fish’s. “Uh... wow. You said you’re new here? That’s pretty cool, he’s been-” whatever he was going to say is interrupted as his own éTech goes off, and he looks up, saying, “Crap, I have to go. My wife’s got the kid’s all kitted up, but we need to get ready for tomorrow still. We’re also planning on catching some Lunaverde tonight, after all.” he says, and begins walking off with a wave.

I wave back and make a note to look into that Lunaverde pokémon if I can’t catch... whatever’s showing up tomorrow morning. Wait a second here... I’m in a crowd of people and I don’t have to play babysitter for the ponies while they try to integrate! Time for some good old interaction. And in the pokémon world ‘interaction’ means ‘battle’.

Though I want this to be fun, not over fast and since most here are likely to have bug types... I think I’ll do a bit more research into Magomental. Huh, not a bad moveset, let’s see, right now mine would have... Minimize, Pound, Leech Life, Confusion, and Hypnosis. Not bad for a level 18 really. I pick Magomental’s ball out of my bag and talk to it. “Let’s see how you do in a fight with another Bug type, shall we?”

You know, I’m not sure if Pokémon can even hear from inside these things... It’s implied they can but there’s moments where that seems impossible. Oh well, I’ll find out later.

Luckily I see a guy dressed up in beige forestry gear, definitely a bug catcher judging by the net he’s got. “Hey there, you up for a battle? Magomental needs some work.”

“You have a Magomental? Nice job! And sure. You wanna do it just for training? I don’t have a lot of money on me, and I need to get lunch tomorrow for my friends and I.”

“No problem. I spent half my cash on stuff for tomorrow anyway. And yeah, found this Magomental just outside this haunted house in the forest.”

“Oh, that place? Ha! That place is a riot.” he says, laughing. “Anyways, let’s move away from the crowd a little. I’ve got a Wormine that needs training, too, so we can both get something out of this.”

“Works for me.” We head for a little place set up with white chalk markings in the grass, apparently set up earlier by some trainers who got here way before anyone else.

I toss out Magomental and wonder what a Wormine looks like. I don’t have to wait long as the other guy throws his ball in the air and the white light fades to reveal a six-foot-long worm that looks like it’s capped with a yellow safety helmet, a spiral pattern running down the entire creature. Worm on worm fight? Guess it’s fair, to a degree.

“Alright Magomental, let’s see how you do. Start with a Pound!”

The mass begins to rise, aiming for the huge worm, and the other trainer yells for it to dig. With a whine like a power drill, it spins and dives into the ground, leaving only a muddy hole behind, its mucus leaving the hole impassable and slimy. I only have a few seconds to decide a counter-strategy to digging.

“Magomental, minimize!” That sentence had a lot of ‘m’s for two words... right, focus on the match.

Magomental quickly compacts itself, trying to avoid the attack... however, it doesn’t make a difference, as the Wormine erupts from the earth below, slamming into and through Magomental, sending tiny worms scattering as the larger pokémon coils up nearby, turning back towards my pokémon.

“Uh, try Hyp-”

“Magnitude!” I hear the other trainer call. At least he’s sticking to Ground type moves. The sudden shockwave from the Wormine’s tail thumping the ground isn’t that strong, around a 3 or 4 if my guess is right, but it definitely hits Magomental. this pokémon is certainly fast for being a giant earthworm.

Well, if physical combat isn’t working... “Confusion!”

Magomental turns its main mass towards the opponent and a shaky wave of confusing (heh) psychic waves slam into the wormine, whose ‘helmet’ opens to reveal it’s actually some kind of beak, with teeth inside like a miniature Sarlacc. It lets out a loud, low cry of ‘Wuuur!” before the other guy calls for it to Dig again.

Hmm, how can I hit something so big and fast? This is a problem. Wait, I got an idea! Just gotta wait...

The Wormine spears out of the ground, going through Magomental again, putting it right in the center of its power, and now! “Hypnosis!”

Magomental manages to catch the Wormine just as it’s processing my command and it stops but I can’t see what’s actually happening with it’s covered face. Soon though, a light snoring buzz noise is heard above the noise of the distant crowd. Yes!

“Alright Magomental. Leech Life.”

Bug vs. Bug is a not very effective move, which means less chance to shock the opponent awake before Magomental can regain it’s HP and be ready to make a comeback.

The other trainer gives a frustrated grunt and begins stomping on the ground with one foot. At first, I think he’s just letting out frustration, but then his Wormine begins to stir.

Clever, it feels vibrations better than it hears words, so the stomping... “Very clever. Alright Magomental, swarm all over it, don’t let it get away and keep going with Leech Life!”

My pokémon churns forward, squirming around the worm and embracing it, and the both begin to struggle back and forth, the other trainer yelling encouragement to his pokémon as I do the same. Time to tip the scales. If it’s busy physically, it’s likely not mentally prepared. “Confusion!”

The Wormine is indeed caught unprepared, and reels from the attack, tearing free of Magomental’s grip, but it lands and twitches on the ground instead of responding, and the guy nods. “Alright, I give. I don’t want ‘im being too wiped to help out later.” he says, recalling his pokémon.

We recall our pokémon and shake hands. “Nice job though, you sure had me on the ropes for the first part, never seen a Wormine before, didn’t know what to expect. But that was fun!”

“Thanks! Mine’s a bigger one than usual, too. They come in all sorts of sizes!” he says. “I’m Nathan, by the way. You here for the migration, too, then? Or wandered by on accident?” he asks, smiling.

“Migration. Though not sure what pokémon it is. Was tipped off by a pal. New to Otaria, which is why I’ve never heard of a Wormine. So how big do they get, really? You say that your’s is big and it was pretty large. Are they generally a few feet?”

“Oh, it’s variable. There’s a pokémon, what’s it called... oh, yeah, Pumpkaboo. It’s like that, they range from about a foot to around six feet, like mine.” he says, shrugging.

“I gotcha. So yeah, just hanging around. Never seen a gathering of trainers like this. Well, all bug trainers at least. Magomental’s my only Bug at the moment but I’m working on expanding my team.”

“That’s a good idea. A pokémon like U-” I shush him quickly.

“Don’t know what we’re looking at here, want it to be a surprise, no point in sightseeing if everything’s spoiled and all that. You understand.”

“Oh, alright, yeah I can understand that. Well, I’ll give you a hint, at least. It’ll be flying, but it’s not a flying type.” he says with a grin and a thumbs-up to me.

“Yeah, that works, thanks. But what’s strange about a bug type flying but not being flying type, right?”

“Oh, when you see its other type you’ll understand.” he says.

“Vague and enticing, nice. Now I’m really looking forward to this, thanks! Maybe we’ll run into each other later.”

“Sure! Lemme give you my number.” he says, rattling it off.

“Thanks.” I give him mine and we go our separate ways, wishing each other luck. It feels pretty good to just be... human again. I take out my last basic potion and spray Magomental. “Nice job back there, you earned this.” It rumbles appreciatively.

“Not much of a talker, are ya? Oh well, that’s fine. I admit I had my doubts, but maybe you’ll be more than worth it after all. Well done working under pressure.” I return my wiggling mass to it’s ball and I honestly not only am appreciative of it, I’m starting to like the little guy...s. The maggot-thing is starting to grow on me. I chuckle as I imagine myself denouncing Grass types and becoming a Bug Catcher. That’ll be the day I say Bellsprout is a stupid pokémon. In other words, never.

Now what else is there to do around here before it gets late. I notice that the sun is starting to set, but it’s the twilight-hours when the bugs get going so I’m sure there’s going to be plenty of after-hour activity. So, what’s the next thing to do? I take a look around and note that it’s getting pretty dark. I guess I underestimate how bright and illuminating Luna’s moon was. I must say that, now that I think of it, the nights are a lot colder and darker than in Equestria, excluding the middle of Winter. Oh well, darker is better for some pokémon. Wonder what sort of nocturnals will be out...

I scan the area another time and aside from the mass of bug trainers, I don’t really see anything. Wait a minute. Everyone’s a lot quieter. Those guys are heading for the trees. Odd, maybe there’s something in the forest. I decide to join in the new venture, scanning the trees for anything pokémon-shaped.

But there’s nothing. There’s a mossy tree trunk though. Wait, moss is green, not green and orange. And a lot more scraggly. That looks distinctly fluffy. A moth-like pokémon!

Now, how to approach it? Oh well, might as well ask ‘Dexter’. You know, I wonder if my own éTech AI has a name... that would be interesting to know.

I set the éTech to mute so it doesn’t startle the pokémon and scan it. It takes a bit for the scanner to find it, a testament to its good camo. Nevertheless, it’s found and I see the info printed across the screen:

Lunaverde, the Luna Moth pokémon.

- These pokémon almost exclusively come out at night, and their soft, furry bodies and wings catch detritus from the air as they fly, straining the air clean as well as getting them food.
- These pokémon feed on composting leaves, chewing them up and leaving some behind for their young. Their bodies are soft with moss and lichens.

Cool! A natural composting machine! Now that’s eco friendliness at it’s best! That said, it seems more useful than just a composter. Alright, I’ll give it a shot. and this is the pokémon that first guy was talking about finding. Cool! Alright, let’s do this!

I take a moment to consider who I want to use to fight this thing. ‘Dex says it’s Bug/Grass so... Litwick might be too much, and geodude may be at a disadvantage... No water for Carvanha, Magomental deserves a rest... So it’s either Oddish or GLaDoS. But if I go with GLaDoS, Electric isn’t effective on Grass, and Grass isn’t good against Bug. Looks like it’s Oddish.

I toss out the pokéball and point at the tree silently until Oddish notices the Pokémon. “Don’t wanna spook it.”

I creep up to the moth and tap it very gently on the head. Oh my god that’s so fluffy! “Uhm, excuse me, could I try and catch you please?” The pokémon rotates its head around, revealing two large, green compound eyes and a look of surprise as it settles on me. One of the facets is pale, and moves around, apparently showing where its attention has settled, and it seems more surprised that I asked than anything.

“I admit it’s odd for me to ask a pokémon, but I do want to be nice and this isn’t just a video game.”

“Luun~?” it asks, evidently finding it as unusual as I do, but it flutters its wings and lifts off from the tree, hovering in place and turning to face Oddish and I.

“So yeah, I guess we can start this when you’re ready. I think we are.” At a nod from Oddish, as well as a shrugging motion, we get ready for whatever the Lunaverde is going to do. “Alright, your move.”

The moth pokémon nods, and makes a motion with its wings, and green light pulls from Oddish towards the Lunaverde, and it trills. Absorb, most likely, judging by Oddish simply making a face at the attack, not reacting much. The moth pokémon seems a touch frustrated, evidently not knowing what types Oddish was before.

“Okay then... if it can heal, a little DoT won’t hurt it much. Poison Powder.”

Oddish shakes its head leaves, and a sickly-purple powder flies out, which the Lunaverde flutters its wings to repel. Then, it amps up the power, and a flurry of wind lashes out, a series of slash marks materializing in the dirt leading towards Oddish, barely giving ti time to dodge, and it’s still hit by what can only be an Air Cutter move.

“Okay, it’s packing heat, problem... Uh, Stun Spore?”

That turned out to be a bad idea as the spores are blown back as before, but hitting Oddish an paralyzing it. “Damn, that was a bad move. Alright then, uh... Geodude?” I halfheartedly toss out the Premier ball as I recall Oddish. This is not going how I planned.

Geodude takes his usual battle stance. Okay, gonna need to be careful here. “Tackle.” Geodude looks at me, obviously questioning the weakness of the move I chose. “Well I don’t wanna beat the crap out of it... Besides, it knows absorb. If you aren’t careful you’re screwed.” My pokémon rolls his eyes. However, he quickly heaves himself into a tackle, his weight preventing the wind shear from its next Air Cutter from deterring him, and he strikes it down. He lands nearby, and the pokémon flares its wings, soft moss on it clearing the dust from the air before it can really disperse, and the pokémon flutters back to the air, going almost backward to do so.

“Alright, I was gonna do Magnitude next but... oh well. Hmm...” I need to think. Well let’s see, it likes it clean since it’s wings are... then if I... “Geodude, Mud Sport!” I shout my idea, hoping it’ll have the effect I’m hoping for.

The mud goes up, and lands on the moth pokémon, the weight making it struggle to stay aloft, and it’s forced to land, a look of panic crossing its expression.

“Now Magnitude, not as hard as you can, but really give it some oomph! It’s types should soak most of the damage.”

Geodude nods, and does his raise-and-slam technique, the resulting ripple flipping the Lunaverde onto its back, wings splayed out, and its little legs wave in the air futilely. It stops moving, and covers its face with one set of legs, the second set going up in the air in an ‘I give up!’ pose.

I toss a Pokéball out at it. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of the box and clean you up first chance I get, alright?”

As a response, the ball shakes only once before dinging. The ball flashes white, then seems to dissolve into little pixels that fade, one by one, rapidly. I turn and see a couple Bug catchers behind me clapping.

“Nice job!” one shouts.

“Not everyone’s that nice, you’d make a good coordinator I think!” the other says.

I chuckle and raise my hands. “Nah, already got a coordinator in the group, I’m just trying to be nice.”

The catchers nod and return to their business wishing me luck. Alright, seventh catch! Victory! And another catch tomorrow, too. This is really going good. That said it’s very late now. I pull up my éTech and call the girls as I head back to my hammock.

“Hey you two, I just got my seventh! How’s things on your ends?”

“Oh, just wonderful, darling!” Rarity gushes. “I met a few other trainers here with some truly gorgeous bug types of their own. There’s one here that’s like a big beetle, but it has this truly impressive horn! A Heracross I believe it was called. Very industrious pokémon, from what I can tell. Oh! I also saw a Leavanny in action, and I am most impressed! I simply cannot wait for my own to get there~!” she sounds like she’s really enjoying herself, and Twilight also looks pretty happy.

“I’ve been discussing types and how they’re discovered with several of the other trainers here. This is John, he works at the Devon corporation, and they apparently have an intensive study on types that’s been on-going for decades. Apparently, they practically discovered the Steel type themselves!” she says, also gushing.

“Devon!?” I say, honestly surprised. “Aren’t they based in Hoenn? You mean they’ve expanded out here? That’s great! They do basically whatever the Silph Co. isn’t working on. Ask if they have made any discoveries in evolution, you’ll find it pretty interesting. Heck, write it down and share later.”

“Way ahead of you, Anthony!” She says, beaming.

“Just don’t forget to meet back up before it gets too dark out, we’ll need to be sticking together tomorrow so none of us are lost in the morning rush.”

“Oh, right! I completely forgot! Oh, I’ll just get their numbers, and we can conference later. They showed me how to set one of those up, too!” she says, reaching off-camera to pick up her bag, strapping it on, and telling me ‘bye’ before hanging up.

I must say, it may be a whole new world, but hearing things like Devon having finally expanded is great! Silph may have invented Pokéballs and all, but Devon deals with all the stuff that works with Pokémon personally. Wonder where their Otaria branch is located. Be interesting to go there. It’s also great to know that the girls can be out on their own in public. They really are fitting in better than I gave them credit for. Maybe I was a bit harsh before. Oh well, live and learn.

I get back to my hammock and get in, noting that a lot more tents had been put up around. And these are the early ones. Can’t imagine how many people will be here come morning. Oh well, as long as the girls stay close during the stampede I assume there’s going to be, we should be fine.

Chapter 52

I wake up to large amounts of clamoring and a sea of people. I’m shaken out of my hammock and hear a “Sorry”.

I look up and see Twilight. “You were going to sleep through it, I figured you’d be mad if you missed it.”

“No, no, you’re right.” I look around with a big yawn and notice it’s just barely pink out, sunrise still a good hour away but the crowd has already tripled from last night. I rub my eyes and stand up. Another yawn and a quick full-body shiver to get my blood flowing and I’m mostly awake. “Didn’t miss anything, did I?”

“No, not yet. But everyone seems to be getting ready. Everybody has their pokéballs out, and several have their pokémon out, too. I’ve got Spearow waiting to call out if he sees anything - the dex says they have excellent eyesight.”

I see a lot of Bug types obviously, but most non-Bug specialists seem to have Grass or Fire types... Grass isn’t that good against bug though and isn’t Fire overkill? Huh, must have to do with the second type. Now what type is strong against Fire... eh fuck it, too early to think. I check my éTech and see I got about six hours of sleep. Probably tired ‘cause it’s so early then. Another yawn escapes me and I spit out a relevant factoid I can remember through my morning mental fog. “Fearow can spot prey three meters under the water’s surface without having to slow down from top speed. They also fly higher than most other bird pokémon by a long stretch.”

“Fearow... is Spearow’s evolved form right?”

I give a confirmative grunt in response. “Jus’ lemme stretch or somethin’. I’ll be awake in a minute.” I do a few calisthenics to get my muscles woken up and eventually my mental fog lifts. “Much better. Oh, and Fearow are lightweight with large wingspans. They can glide for hours on end with only a couple initial flaps. Gonna have one hell of a pokémon when that little guy grows up.”

Twilight smiles and claps happily. She acts a bit like Pinkie whenever she’s given praise. Probably one of the reasons I don’t mind complimenting her, really. “So yeah, I caught a Lunaverde last night. What’d you learn from the Devon guys? Anything interesting?”

“Oh! they have two branches here, for one thing. And one is right here in the Port!” she says. “as well, it seems the made something they call Evolite, which is apparently an ‘artificial mega stone’, but I didn’t have time to ask about that before we started talking about evolution as a whole, and the two forms of it shown here, being evolution, in which organisms change over time, and the term ‘Evolution’, which refers to the metamorphosis of given pokémon, and where that originates from, and it turns out that really ancient pokémon, from fossils well before the point where they can be revived currently, didn’t have any Evolution lines. At all.”

“Wow, so you mean years before Kabuto there were still pokémon but they couldn’t evolve? That’s amazing. And an artificial Mega Stone? That’s... fascinating, wonder if it works the same way, I’d love to check it out. Guess we’ll head to their Great Barrier Port branch before taking the gym huh?”

“I still want to see the library, but other than that, definitely. Hey, we can go to Devon together, and then you challenge the gym while I’m at the library, how’s that?”

“Works for me.” I nod in agreement. “But first let’s see what’s got this crowd so eager. Say, where’s Rarity?”

“Oh, she’s talking with some Bug-Type breeding specialists. They’re over by the tent being run by the League to act as a Pokécenter.” she says, gesturing towards a white tent with a red top, and the league symbol in white on it. It’s a little far off, but now that I know what to look for, I can see it’s got four lanes cleared for easy access.

“Right, should take Oddish to them. Got paralyzed during last night’s catch and I didn’t get any Paralyze heals. The badge limitation on items sucks. I know it’s for balance but a full heal would be better and cheaper in the long run.” I turn for the tent when I hear a screeching noise from above and see Twi’s Spearow circling above us, then landing on the grass by Twilight. “Looks like he saw something.”

A ripple of conversations stopping passes through us, followed by the shout of, “Look! They’re ready!” from several directions, and I look to see the sun just barely peeking from the horizon... along with a series of huge, wide shapes, each butterfly-like, but angular and sleek, as if for racing, their wings slightly translucent and shedding long stripes of green and blackish lighting across the fields as a swarm of six-foot-long butterflies begins to near.

Well, they’re flying, but I recall being told they aren’t Flying Type, and the trainers using Fire types still baffles me. Oh well, might as well take the hint. “Alright Litwick, guess you’re up.” I toss the ball into the air and Litwick forms on the ground, happy and playful as ever. It turns to see the swarm and a look of awe covers the tiny little face on the living candle.

“Liiiiiiit...” Admittedly, I’m fighting back the same reaction. It’s like a living storm of gemstones...

Oh! I think I know what types it is.

A secondary Rock type would make Fire moves do normal damage, not super effective, and bug protects the Rock type from Grass. Clever trainers these guys. Well, since this is a once-in-a-year event I might as well catch two, right? I mean, I got two Great balls, might as well use them.

I stare at the spectacle as the mass gets closer, moving pretty fast like a sparkling green-black cloud in heavy wind. I feel like it’s coming right at me and I’m ready to fare the storm. Just another few minutes and they’ll be here in force. “Ready Litwick?”

“Lit!” it says, puffing up its little candle chest.

“Alright. It’s Rock too so don’t be afraid to give your flame all you got. Here’s the plan: When they get close, try and catch a pair in a Fire Spin, get them to stop. But ones with scarves and the like are off limits. Got it?”

The response is the same and reaction doubled, making the candle look adorably puffy. Awwww... Right, focus. Deep breaths. Get ready. Almost here. Get ready. And I’m ready. Let’s do this thing!

The swarm is mostly moving just over the height of the tents, so about ten feet up, and a few trainers are actually releasing their own right now to let them join the swarm. I’m distracted for a moment by a particularly heartfelt kid and his own pokémon, handing off a bright red scarf from the kid’s own neck.

Then Litwick chooses her targets, and uses an ember to tag a pair of them flying close to one another, then following with a Fire Spin as ordered, the two huge butterflies moving to hover within the vortex. Around me, others are doing the same with their own Fire Spins and a few are using Wrap similarly. A trainer with a Haunter simply has it glare at one, terrifying it into staying nearby.

I return focus to the two in my fire spin, noting I’m not the only one dealing with more than one at a time. Guess catching two or three isn’t unheard of. “Alright Litwick, Confuse Ray on both of them!”

Litwick nods and quickly sends out circling orbs of eerie light, and the two butterfly pokémon try to split up to dodge them, one succeeding and turning to speed forward, wing edge gleaming before slamming it into Litwick, wings literally slicing through the fire and I get a better look at it in passing. The wings are like two panes of glass or polished stone, fittingly, but they come to a wicked-sharp looking edge, definitely bladed. Litwick doesn’t have time to dodge, before being thrown away by the attack.

“Alright, different approach. Use Smog!” Litwick sends a cloud of the smoke and toxic particles, and the butterfly isn’t able to blow it away in time before getting a facefull of it. I finally locate its head, hidden by its dark coloration and shiny coating, making it look like just more neck. Its eyes blink, revealing that its eyelids are also crystalline and green. It gives a sickly cough.

“Alright, I think it’s ready!” I toss a Great Ball at it and cross my fingers that the 1.5 multiplier is enough. the ball shakes and rattles hard once... twice... three times... there’s a pause, and everything seems still, until I hear someone nearby yell ‘damnit!’ right as the Great Ball clicks.

I watch as the ball pixilates away and return my attention to the one still in the vortex of fire. “Alright, Will-O-Wisp that one, Litwick!” Smog might be too much, but I’m gonna try using a normal ball this time, and I think the DOT will work in my favor.

The eerie, ghostly orbs of fire chase down the drunkenly weaving pokémon, smashing into it and leaving its normally glossy wings shrouded in dust. It makes a high, keening noise, and beats its wings to try shaking off the clinging embers. Finally, the pokémon lands on two sets of legs, the other set high in a defensive posture, not unlike the Lunaverde last night.

I toss a regular pokéball and focus hard, blocking out the other commands from the trainers around me. Come on... the ball shakes. Come on... another shake... Come on... A third shake, this is it, catch or fail. I brace myself as there’s a fourth wobble and... the click! Yes!

I watch the ball pixelate just like the first and I feel elated. Three catches in one day and a night! I head off to the pokémon center tent, feeling very proud of myself. I hand my paralyzed Oddish still in its ball and my slightly damaged Litwick off my shoulder to a Chansey who looks them over then smiles, assuring me they’ll be fine. I head further into the tent and notice a PC. I can check out my new catches, alright. I swap Glados for the first of the mysterious flying Bug/Rock types, choosing the first capture. I hold the Great Ball up to the light. Not as shiny or impressive as the pokémon inside it, but the fact that it’s inside is a great feeling in itself.

I decide I should look around for Twilight and Rarity, just to see how they’re doing. I do see a familiar girl, but it’s not Twilight or Rarity though. “Amy! Hey, been awhile!” I call and wave as I pick my way through the crowd to the younger girl. “How’ve you been?”

She’s panting, and looks frustrated. “I- I couldn’t catch one. My pokémon were either too powerful or not powerful enough.” she says, looking like she’s about to cry.

I take pity on the girl. “Yeah, I know how that feels... I got one, but other than checking it off my ‘catch’ list, I don’t really know what I’m gonna do with it.” I say, holding up the Great Ball.

Amy lights up. “Hey, I have an idea! How about we make a trade, my Ghowl for yours? I forgot it was today until the last minute and wasn’t prepared, but I could still have yours, right?”

I think for a moment. “And a Ghowl is...”

“Right, you’re not from Otaria, a Ghowl is a Ghost-and-Flying type. It’s really pretty, but I’m not getting much use out of her.”

I decide that’s a fair trade, level not being important to me at the moment. “Alright, you have a deal. I think I saw some guys setting up a trading machine yesterday... uh, over there.”

We head over and I see a tent where the people were, but no special logos. Guess it was just a couple people deciding to share their equipment with the public. “Hey there, can we use your trade machine?” Amy asks first before I can even say hello or anything. She must be excited. Ah to be young like that when you can get away without introductions and it’s not considered rude...

The middle-aged man nods. “Sure! That’s what we set up for. Some collectors aren’t good at catching pokémon, after all.” He gestures at one of the two sleek, modern-looking machines. There’s a pad on either side, and simple intake ports just above them. Monitors are attached to both sides. I always assumed it showed the pokémon in the balls so you knew the other person wasn’t cheating you. And probably to scan for illegal pokémon too.

Nevertheless, we place our balls on separate pads and the balls are, rather than sucked up as I imagined, digitized by the intake ‘pipes’ and, in a similar way to the PC transfer effect, are scanned back, showing which pokémon was in what ball and the trainer IDs and such. I select to have the ID’s be overwritten and soon the machine, which made no noise except a few whirrs and beeps, redigistructs our pokéballs, the Great Ball now on Amy’s side. I take the Pokéball Amy had placed down and confirm it with my éTech that, yes it’s a Ghowl, and it’s ID has been printed to mine, rather than saying it was Amy’s originally and then traded. Cool, another Ghost type!

Amy looks totally psyched as she takes the Great Ball and tosses it out, and seeing the pokémon in a less frenzied or mobile state, it looks very pretty. Rarity will probably catch one herself and maybe have it work on a double-contest routine with Ledian. I’d like to see that.

Amy is excited as a... well, a young girl with an incredible pokémon, so I just give her a quick ‘seeya again!’ and make my leave, looking for the other girls. Giving Amy exactly what she wanted makes me feel pretty good, and I do have one in the box so I still have my own anyway... and a Ghowl too! Along with that Lunaverde I’m doing fantastic for just having one badge! Whoo! Today’s barely started and it’s already awesome, I can tell this is gonna be a great day.

I may have been done but the migration sure wasn’t. It’s like a maze of people and it takes a while but I finally manage to find the girls amongst the growing crowd of people and pokémon. Some guy with a Larvesta is having some serious trouble and I give him an apologetic look to say “Great pokémon, sorry about your shitty luck.” I get a “Can’t win ‘em all.” look in return and I continue on my way towards Twilight, Rarity seeming to have ran off in the last few seconds.

“Heya Twi, where’s Rarity?”

“Oh, she’s, uh, a little upset. She did her best, but she couldn’t catch any. She was really enthusiastic, but once they’d all passed...” she sounds pretty sad, too.

“Jeez, guess all our team luck went to me today. I caught two and one was traded for a Ghowl...” I suddenly get an idea. “Hold that thought Twilight, I’ll be right back.” I head over to the pokémon center tent and, picking up Oddish and Litwick, I trade Oddish and the Ghowl into the box and take out my second... wow, I don’t even know what they’re called yet. I laugh at my stupid aversion to spoilers.

Oh well, time to be that great friend that the ponies always wish I’d suddenly become. I head back to Twilight. “I got it, so where’d Rares run off to?”

“Oh, not far, dear... I’ll be fine.” Rarity says, though a noticeable sag of her shoulders is present despite her usual perfect posture. I walk up and sit down next to her.

“No luck huh?”

She just shakes her head. “And they were so enthralling! Did you see the way they sparkled? It was like a living gemstone in flight! And the way it-”

Rarity is probably going to continue waxing poetic about whatever the name of this pokémon is. “I have something for you. Here” I hand her the ball with mine in it and she takes it. “Still officially registered to me, but you just catch something I want later on and we can do a real trade and make that one yours for real.”

Rarity tosses the pokéball and out comes the second ‘whatever’ I caught. It takes a moment for it to sink in but once it does, I have to cover my ears from Rarity’s squeal. It does leave me open to a bone-crushing hug but... it actually feels pretty nice.

She giggles and laughs. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Hey, no idea what I’m even gonna use one for. I just wanted it to have it. Besides, you seem like you could put it to better use. So... enjoy I guess. But don’t think that this means you don’t owe me one later.” I grin.

Rarity just sighs. “Even when generous you’re still you, I suppose. Alright fine, it’s a deal. If I get something you want, we’ll trade.” Still, she’s smiling.

I nod and leave Rarity and her pokémon to their introductions and head over to Twilight. “That was really nice of you. Almost like you’re actually becoming a better person.”

I laugh. “Me? Become a better person? That’s the day Discord decides chess is fun without changing the rules.” This draws a laugh from both of them.

“That’s what you say,” Twilight responds, grinning. “But not what I’m seeing.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna get all mushy on you.” I say defensively, “Just figured... ah what the hell, I had extra.”

“Yeah, but I still say you’re improving.” she says, smiling.

“You keep thinking that when I buy you coffee and then switch it with hot chocolate.”

“You’re evil.” comes the still-happy response, and we share a laugh about how ‘evil’ that really is.

Not that I wouldn’t do it.

Chapter 53

We walk through the raining-as-usual city of Great Barrier and duck under the awning of the local Devon branch building, and attempt to get dry as best we can before heading inside soaking wet.

What we see first when we get inside is a tasteful lobby, and we’re assaulted by an airstream that drags the moisture off us. The floor is a thick glass or crystal pane covering over a huge variety of fossils set up like a mosaic. There’s a few people sitting at a table nearby, one of two such tables. They look like researchers, except one who looks like a Ranger. Whatever they’re talking about, it seems like they’re really into it. There’s a secretary behind the lobby desk, smiling and humming to herself as she works.

I walk up to the secretary. “Excuse me, uhm, who would we talk to about your work on Mega Evolution?” I must say, out of all things, it’s the one I’m most excited on getting my hands on first. Wonder what pokémon on my team can Mega Evolve...

“Oh! There’s a tour in a couple hours... or, wait... oh, it’s nearly noon, nevermind. It’s in about three minutes. Unless you meant buying an Evolite? You need four badges, and they’ll be available at most Pokemarts.”

“Ah, well the thing is I’d have to know what one of those is and all. Let’s just say I’ve been out of the loop for a while and I’m trying to catch up. So where does the tour start?”

“Well, the guide will be down... oh, there he is! Dr. Kale!” she waves off to one side, and a young man in a labcoat and staring at his éTech looks up. “Oh, hey Bethany... wait, is the tour starting already?” he asks, looking a bit surprised. “I’m sorry if I kept you three waiting.” he says to... well, the three of us.

“No, still a few minutes.” I reassure him. “We’re just early I suppose.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I’m actually pretty new here; I’m the intern.” he says, extending a hand for a shake. then, he realizes he’s about ten feet away, and steps forward to try again.

“Trust me, it’s no problem. I remember what it’s like to have a first week. Never easy. But you seem like you’ll do well if you ask me, as long as you know what you’re talking about. Arceus knows I didn’t when I started my first job.”

He chuckles. “Yeah. Here, I don’t think anyone else is coming, not with this rain. It’s coming down pretty hard.” he says.

“Goes to show who’s tough enough to weather it. Or stupid I suppose. Either way, here we are. And an unplanned private tour sounds pretty nice. You’ve got a pretty curious couple of guests here.” I say indicating myself and Twilight. Rarity is mainly here because there was nothing else for her to do in all this rain.

“Well, let’s get it started! Uh, I’m supposed to take you up the building first, then come back down through the basement. This way!” he says, waving them along and heading back up the stairs to the second floor. “Well, how much do you know of Devon already?”

“Can’t speak for the girls, but I know that you guys deal with more personal experiments and research with Pokémon. Silph Co. has invented more devices that are used worldwide as well as being a larger chain, but they also don’t tend to do any work with actual pokémon, so Devon is smaller, originating as a small building in Hoenn, but more personal and it’s inventions are more intended for pokémon rather than their trainers. Right?”

He looks at me with surprise, eyebrows high. “Wow. Maybe you should be leading the tour...” he mumbles, then checks his notes, which I see are on his éTech. “Uh... well, yeah, you’re right.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna take your job. As far as your actual experiments and developments... I’m about forty years behind.” Assuming Ash got to Hoenn the same time I did.

“Oh, well, then let me catch you up!” he says, smiling. “Well, we’ve made numerous developments. Here on your left, we have dozens of programmers, chemists, pokémon professors, and other scientific persons. They’re all working on Evolite, an artificial crystal developed at first by accident. Originally an attempt to create artificial Evolution stones, the first Evolite crystal was found to have the same radiation patterns used by Tyranitar to Mega-Evolve. the project got shuffled, and... well, there’s somewhere along the lines of forty-ish listed Mega Evolutions discovered through alterations and modifications to the Evolite matrix.” he says, and sure enough, the large area beyond looks like a typical office space, full of cubicles and computers, and people milling around or working hard on those computers.

Twilight raises her hand like a student. I sigh. “Just ask him, Twi.”

“Oh, right.” She blushes. “What’s ‘mega evolution’?”

I admit, I know next to nothing about it myself other than it requires a strong bond between Pokémon and trainer. More of that ‘Friendship is magic’ stuff being used to beef up pokémon.

He brightens up noticeably. “That’s actually my field of study! Mega Evolution isn’t fully understood still, but what we know of it is that when a pokémon has a powerful enough bond with their trainer and is then exposed to large amounts of particular forms of radiation unique to that particular species. The result is a powerful, but short-lived super-powered state for that pokémon. Only the strongest of emotions can trigger a Mega Evolution, most notably the strongest of Friendships, true love, and, we’ve unfortunately found, bitter hatred and utter terror. We’ve, ah, done very little research into those last two, for hopefully understandable reasons.”

“Yeah, hurting pokémon isn’t exactly the kind of things good people do.” I assure him. “And this Evolite... the secretary said it could be bought if you have four badges. What purpose does it serve to a trainer? What’s it’s exact relation to Mega Evolution?”

“Oh, it replaces the naturally-occurring Mega Stones, as it’s far easier to make than they are to find. There’s less than two-hundred instances of the natural Mega Stones found in the world each year, and of all sorts of varieties. The Evolite is affordable, and it works on any pokémon species we’ve found the right signature for.”

“So when you say Evolite Matrix, you’re referring to a matrix of signatures that any pokémon that can Mega Evolve will be able to draw their signature from, as long as theirs is logged into the Evolite Matrix, accessible through the Evolite itself?” Twilight asks, beating me to the question. It is good to know that we’re on the same wavelength here though.

Dr. Kale nods. “Yeah! We have to produce updated Evolite every few years, as new forms are discovered. And, of course, Mr. Devon mandated that the Evolite can be replaced with newer ones with only a 100 charge for restocking fees. Not everyone wants to swap them out, and we’re always willing to sell the older versions to people who don’t need one. For example, the original series of Evolite works on all the Mega Evolutions found naturally in the Hoenn region, like Camerupt or Gyarados.”

“And later versions cover other forms like Alakazam and such?” I ask for clarification. “But not everyone will have an Alakazam so they don’t need the updated one so it’s not a good deal until you develop a version with a Mega Evo the said trainer can use?”

“Precisely. And, of course, we’re always looking for new ones, and we’ve even found five or six that don’t have associated natural Mega Stones as far as we know.” he says.

“Sounds useful. Moreso than buying and carrying around a bunch of Mega Stones for your whole team. And I assume the ‘four badges’ limit is put in place for balance as well as limiting them to trainers who have the experience to be responsible with them, similar to the higher tier pokeballs that Silph designs.”

“Right. That and most trainers don’t have a strong enough bond to even use them before then, so it keeps new trainers from wasting their money on something they can’t use. They’re really talked up in advertisements and talk shows, so many trainers start out wanting to get them right away.”

“So aside from Mega Evolution, what else has Devon been researching?” I’m still very interested in Mega Stones and how the Evolite works but I want more questions answered.

“Oh, plenty of things... I’ll show you on the next floor!” he says, waving us onward. “Up here, we can restore fossils, and have been working on numerous archeological projects. One of the things we’ve really wanted to get worked on, and have been enabled by the engineers here in Otaria, is true deep-sea searching for fossils and ancient pokémon.” He waves us around, and this floor looks more like a lab. In fact, it’s like it’s straight out of Jurassic Park. “The local species of fossilized pokémon are all notably more violent and aggressive than in other regions. Stinultra and Scorpirex are pretty terrifying to look at, too.” he says, shuddering.

“And about how many species can you reliably revive here in this lab alone?” I ask.

“Oh, around twenty.” he says. I can see the fossils for Kabuto, Omanyte, Shieldon, and others. There’s even a large chunk of amber in what looks like a hi-tech cradle.

“And how long does the process take? Several months?” Twilight asks. “And what’s that a fossil of?” She says, pointing to what I think is a Root fossil.

“Ah... Root fossil, I think. This isn’t my department.” he says, blushing.

One of the scientists comes closer. “Hey, Kale, this a tour group?” he asks. Our guide nods his head. “Cool! I was actually about to finish reviving a fossil, should answer the cutie’s question.” he winks at Twilight, smiling, drawing a blush from her.

We are led to another device this one looking similar but with a tank connected to it, creating an underwater, sea-floor environment perfect for a Lileep or Omanyte.

He flips some switches, and presses a button, pulling out a large, spiralling fossil and sticks it into one side, where it is levitated in midair, and a laser-beam-type thing begins to dissolve it in layers. Honestly, it looks like something out of Tron’s ‘download’ process. “There we go, all the sampling had been done earlier this week, so we already know how it’ll turn out. It appears it’ll be around level eleven and should be varicolored.” he says, smiling back at us, though mostly to Twilight.

I take out my éTech to scribble down notes. “And how can you tell the level or if it’ll be varicoloured or not? Is there specific genetic code you can gain from studying the fossil, or is it all speculation based on similarities to previous revivals?”

“Oh, the sequencer checks its DNA, as well as analyzing its growth stages to figure out what level it was at. There’s still residual life energy in the fossil, or else we wouldn’t be able to revive it, and that energy is like DNA for how powerful the pokémon had gotten.”

“Fascinating....” I put his response into my notes. “So that looks like a Helix fossil, the designation for the remains of an Omanyte, right?”

“Yup! They’re pretty common all over the place, but they’re most common in the Kanto and Johto regions. I also have a Dome fossil I’m going to be reviving later today, it’s nearly done sequencing.” he says. On the screen attached to the machine, various stats and details show up, and the guy adjusts a few dials and slides a few icons around on the screen. Then, he hits a button quite obviously the ‘start process’ button, which begins doing the tron thing again, this time inside the tank.

I watch as the Omanyte materializes in front of me. “You mentioned this starting last week. Is that the typical duration for helix fossils or is it the same for all fossils? Or, is it variable?”

“Well, most fossils only take a week or so, though a couple species are notably more complex. And there’s one that has had some problems; we’re still not sure what went wrong with Carpalethe, but it didn’t revive properly.” he says, shaking his head. “It wasn’t a failure, just not what we’d expected.”

“Not to seem like a reporter or anything with all the questions, but what do you mean it didn’t revive ‘properly’?”

“Uh, we were expecting something like a large Dragon-type, judging by the arm fossils we found. However, it turned out to be a partial Ghost Type, and they search for digsites, presumably to find the rest of their bodies. However, we’ve only ever found more of the forearms and claws. And they never seem to manifest anything else.”

“So you couldn’t identify the type it would be because it was a new fossil your machines weren’t familiar with, or is it more complex than that?” I ask inquisitively. This is simply fascinating!

“More complex. The energy signature was... confused. Fragmental, really. I was on the team first sequencing it, and, to be honest, we all thought it matched Dragon types the most. However, we revived the first few together, as ancient pokémon usually do better in small groups when first revived. Once we have a decent-sized population, we can then simply put new arrivals one by one with them” he says, as the Omanyte nears completion. “But in Carpalethe’s case, we put in the forearm and got... well, two forearms and a ball of ectoplasm, really. It also didn’t seem all that confused, like most pokémon are when they first revive.”

I nod, understanding. “I see and would the fossil being Ghost type lead to assumptions that there were fully corporeal ghost types like Drifblim and therefore able to die and fossilize, how old is the fossil to get an idea of a Ghost type’s lifespan?”

The man is about to respond but he’s caught off by a yelp of surprise and we see Twilight with the Omanyte on her arm. “I just wanted to feel the shell! It won’t let go!”

I laugh. “Sorry Twi, but I don’t know much about Omanyte really, no more than the usual trainer. You’re gonna need to figure that out yourself.”

The researcher chuckles, and reaches over, gently stroking the pokémon between the eyes, and it relaxes its grip. “I, meanwhile, have been working with extinct pokémon for the last several years. He was just startled by, as far as he knew, falling asleep and then waking up somewhere completely different. Don’t worry, unlike Omastar, they don’t tend to nibble when nervous.” he says, picking up the heavy pokémon with a grunt and drops it back into the tank, where it scoots around a little, apparently calming down.

“Seriously though Twilight, don’t just stick your hand in a tank.” I admonish her.

“Right, sorry, just curious.” She says, a little quiet.

“Hey, no problem. The thing I’m most worried about is something happening to the pokémon. Speaking of, is that tank a one-way mirror like at the aquarium, or can it see us from in there?” The second part is aimed at the scientist next to me.

The scientist laughs and waves his hand in front of the tank, the Omanyte’s gaze following it as it moves. “This tank is meant for relatively docile pokémon, and we find it best to let them see humans as quickly as possible; otherwise, we’d never be able to get them acclimated to humanity’s presence.”

“Right. And about how long do you keep a pokémon before setting it into the wild, likely in a comfortable habitat?”

“Well, first, we move them to the Basement here; you’ll understand when you see. Then, we move them out to the Preserve, where they can grow used to modern pokémon species.” he shrugs. “Times are based on the individual pokémon.” The little purple tentacles on the omanyte twitch and wiggle as it begins floating slowly around the tank.

“And exactly how much does the process cost? Like the machine, the habitat-tank, the power the machine needs, the tools used in the beginning study... how much would you say it all takes, moneywise?”

“Uh... lots? I’m not entirely sure, I’m not running finances or anything. But I’d wager it’s along the lines of a multi-million Poké setup for this lab alone.” he says, shrugging again.

“Well, I can’t really think of any more questions... oh, wait. You know prehistoric pokémon, right? Like, you work with them directly?”

“Of course! Did you have any questions about any in particular?”

I turn to Twilight. “Show him Twirunt.”

Twilight gasps happily and releases her pokémon, the little Tyrunt appearing and looking around, then looking confusedly up at Twilight.

“Twirunt, named somewhat after his surrogate mom here, was ah... well he was the only egg that survived the Chainer operations at the Reserve facility. Was kind of a shock when he hatched, thought all the eggs had gone cold. So what can you tell us about this guy other than he’s one hardy little fella?”

The scientist’s expression darkens for a moment at the mention of the Chainers, but upon being asked to take a look, he kneels down, still maintaining a bit of height and looks up at Twilight. “Can you ask him to sit down? If you’ve rather adopted him, it’s best if you give him orders; he probably wouldn’t listen to me.” Twilight nods, then asks, Twirunt sitting down hesitantly. The scientist’s gaze runs over the small pokémon, and he carefully checks it over.

“Well, my diagnosis is... he’s perfectly healthy. In fact, just a little more healthy than I’d expect from one his size, and his ruff is coming in more fully than I’d expect. Whoever his father was, it must’ve been an impressive pokémon.” he says, smiling up at Twilight while gently petting the pokémon’s head.

“Do you think that machine, or one of them, could tell us what his father was? Like, just species?” I ask, now curious.

“Probably not. The few times we’ve successfully reunited prehistoric families was by pure accident, I’m afraid. However, if the father wasn’t from a prehistoric line, but rather a modern, breeder or trainer owned pokémon, then they’d be in the League’s registry. Every pokémon brought in for breeding an endangered, recovering, or revived line back into plentiful bounty, they’re kept careful track of.”

“So could you do like a DNA test of this guy or something and narrow it down from the pokémon that have been recorded to breed with any Tyrantrum?” I inquire. I’ve always been interested in genetics and how they work. “Heh, maybe we can find the guy and tell him he’s an uncle or something.”

“Hmmm... shouldn’t be a big pool to check from. Again, you can check the database whenever you’d like, it’s open access.” he says, smiling.

“Alright then...” I pull out my éTech and begin searching, though Twilight finds it before me. “Here we are. Only... wow, only ten records, one’s another Trainer-bred Tyrantrum and... there’s a few in the uh... Charizard line... And... Anthony, what’s a Salamence?”

“Dragon Type, real powerful if the trainer knows what it’s doing. A very impressive bit of evolution. It evolved and got wings due to a desire to as the rumor goes. Anything else there?”

“Yeah uh... A Garchomp and and as I said the rest are Charizard.”

I nod. “Let’s check the others first. So how do we figure out what this guy’s dad was?”

“Well, now that we have that figured out, a quick test can figure out what types the father was, which should help us figure out from that list. At the very least, figuring out if it’s flying or not would be able to halve the list, right?” he says, smiling.

“Right. So do we have him, like, spit in a cup or do you need a blood sample?”

“Actually, just a single hair is fine.” he says, taking a single hair from Twirunt’s mane, the ruff shedding it easily. He takes the hair and moves to a machine across the lab, which he mentions is the Sequencer, and the machine grabs the hair in its anti-grav grasp and begins to scan it. A few moments later, and it shows that the father has the flying type. Well, that narrows it down.

“Alright, so that narrows it down to... not the male Tryantrum. Still the Ch-”

The second type is revealed to be Fire type.

“Okay, that’s a Charizard. Is there a way to narrow it down further or is it too complex?” Twilight asks.

“Actually, there’s only one Charizard who ever had time in the Primal Reserve. You, miss, got lucky, because that Tyrunt is the offspring of the Champion’s Charizard.”

My eyes bug out. “Wh- Y- Holy crap, man. Dude, Twilight, That’s insane! That’s awesome, and so cool! The champion’s charizard is your baby’s dad! ...That came out wrong.” The others all look a bit shocked at the way I worded that. Ah well. Still, so awesome! “The point is, if you train Twirunt and get him strong... It’ll be like having a pokémon the champion gave you! This little guy is, well, only on a technical scale but he’s practically royalty or something!”

I stare at the Tyrunt as it just looks around the room, oblivious to its cultural stature.

Twilight looks down. “Huh. I have honestly no idea how to feel about this. I mean... I’ve known royalty most of my life, but...”

“Feel proud, I would! I mean, you lucked out like nobody else! This guy’s gonna get you far if it takes after its father. It takes a lot of skill and power to become a champion, and a pokémon the champ has raised is, like, the coolest present ever, and this... this is like second best possible! Wonder if the champ even knows this little guy’s alive...”

“Probably, actually. I’ve met him once, and he does care about his pokémon.”

“Wow, so... who knows, maybe he expects some trainer to come fight him with a Tyrantrum and then his Charizard can test its biological son... and you’re it’s adopted mom! Twilight that is so cool!”

She giggles. “Yeah, I guess.” she says, smiling and crouching down to give her Tyrunt some scratching, which he happily accepts.

“So, you know a lot about Tyrunt in general so... how do we take care of one?” I ask the researcher.

“Well, give him lots to chew on, make sure to give him fairly strict instructions, and don’t let him stay awake too long. As long as he’s well fed and cared for, he’s going to be pretty easy to take care of. The sheer number of available pokémon from ancient times and prehistoric times in this region means there’s plenty of information available on this.” he says, “If you’d like, I can send you a few copies of the studies.” he offers to Twilight.

“Heh, a ‘how to raise’ manual would have been great when taking care of Spike... sure, I’ll take them.” Twilight replies with a laugh.

He happily gives her the info, along with his number, and asks her to call him if she ever needs help.

“Yeah, this is great, but I wanna see what else the tour still has to offer.” I say, walking back to Dr. Kale. “Come on, who knows, maybe we’ll learn something even cooler!”

“Oh, yeah! The next floor is tech research and the break room. This way!” he says, and the four of us move to follow. I catch a glimpse of the scientist looking sadly as Twilight leaves. I think he’s got a crush.

Either way, Dr. Kale brings us up the stairs, and we come to a split floor, three-quarters filled with people excitedly working on a multitude of machines and different devices. In one corner, there’s a black-and-white suit of some kind, though it looks a lot like a space suit from a video game. There’s two people in lab coats, and one in a red hoodie with a symbol I recognize on it: that’s the Team Magma symbol!

Okay... calm down... maybe he’s just a cosplayer or something... in a tech research lab. Against better judgement (according to my brain and gut) I hold my tongue and just ask Kale. “Team Magma?”

“Oh, yeah! They’re on loan from Silph. They have a lot of tech firms they fund, and some of their technicians are true masters. Devon is actually funded in large part by Team Aqua, if you didn’t know. Their environmental synergy research is vital to much of our research, and the two work together to make sure knowledge is shared. If it wasn’t for Aqua, there’d be very little research on stuff like the suit over there, which is a Null suit. They’ve also helped us develop numerous green technologies, to help keep from damaging the environment. And team Magma lends us researchers and technicians sometimes, to overcome engineering constraints. They’re brilliant!” he says, beaming.

Well, if Devon trusts them, and I mean Mr. Devon himself... alright. I walk over to the high-tech suit and voice my opinion. “Looks like an initial design for one of those weird Team Galactic onesies.”

The Magma guy turns. “Oh, hey, are you from the tour? And no, it’s a Null suit. It’s meant for nullifying dangerous environmental factors, like intense heat, cold, or radiation. It’s a prototype, sure, but the people here have done an incredible job. I’m just helping them with fixing the power issues.”

“Yeah I’m with the tour.” I reply idly, looking over the suit closer. “Do you think this could withstand heavy pressure? You know, for use far below the planet’s surface or bottom of the ocean?”

“Oh, easily. We’ve solved that problem a long ways back. The problem is the power supply... it’s no good, and dies after only an hour of use, so it’s pretty useless for actual exploration.” he explains. “We did, however, make a version specifically for diving. The Diving company here in Great Barrier Port makes use of them, and they have wireless charging from the subs.”

“So I could, theoretically, put one of those on and, with a sub nearby, go walking on the bottom of the ocean?”

“Well, yeah. As far as I understand it, that’s exactly what the Dive company does. They bring trainers down much further than they could with just pokémon. The move Dive is impressive, but... oh, speaking of pokémon moves, I was asked to hand these out if I saw any trainers along the way!” he says, reaching into a pocket, and pulls out a TM cd. “It’s the move Dig. You know how it works?”

“Yeah, first turn is a burrow that dodges most attacks but amplifies damage taken from ground-shaking moves, and an attack from below next turn. Not sure how many of my team can use it but I know Geodude can for sure. That one multi-use?”

“Yeah, it is. It can also be used to get out of caves and the like if you’re in a pinch. Just hold onto your pokémon, and they’ll get you out.” he says, smiling. He doesn’t seem too bad.

“Thanks. We’ll take one. The three of us are sharing the TMs we get, travelling as a group. Though Rares isn’t a trainer.”

“I find being a coordinator much more stimulating to my knack for appearances. And breeding is more educational than the ‘art’ of combat. By the way dear, where did you get that odd outfit? It seems rather... well it stands out quite well, to put it lightly.”

“Ha! It’s my uniform. Team Magma takes pride in its image, at least these days. I’ve read about the early days though, when our founder was more idealistic than practical.” he chuckles.

“From what I ah... read.” I begin. “Maxie was... how do I politely refer to someone who wanted to start armageddon by draining the ocean?”

“Ah, ‘eccentric’ is the usual.” the guy says, still chuckling. “But yeah, he turned that around after he saw what that could lead to. Hoenn almost got alternated roasted and drowned until he and Archie got taken down a peg each.”

“Yeah, I’ve been out of the loop for a while. Last I heard Maxie and Archie were fighting like children in a sandbox, now I hear they’re teaming up sorta?” I’m still checking out the suit. “Probably out of the question but, you mind if I try this on?”

“Er, yeah, I’d mind, and your information’s around thirty-five years out of date. You’re, what, twenty?” he says, chuckling. “Your parents probably should’ve had a talk with your school system if they left that out; the Reformation of Aqua and Magma are almost as important historically as the Rocket Corporation’s policy changes ten years later.”

"To be totally honest, my school system never covered the goings-on of the pokémon world, or pokémon at all unless I tried to make it the subject. Trust me, it sucked big time."

He looks at me with definite concern and sympathy. “Ah, one of those isolationist towns. Well, don’t worry, there aren’t any here in Otaria, there’s Pokémon coast to coast.” he says, clapping me on the shoulder companionably.

I nod in acceptance. “Thanks, been wanting to get to a place like this since I was five. Guess good things do happen if you wait, right? Anyway, you say this thing’s battery lasts for an hour, while you can’t get much exploration done in that time, have you ever used it practically before?

“Not yet. We have better-working versions in use all over the world right now, but they only have protection against one or two environmental hazards each. This suit will have all of them, and they suck a ton of power.” he explains, hands moving as he speaks.

“Right, makes sense. Anyways, I’m out of questions at the moment, but a bottom-of-the-ocean pokémon might do me good against Zoli when I make my challenge, know where I can get one of those in-use versions?”

“As I said, the Dive company. You should be able to find them on the docks, every day.” he says. “I don’t know their hours though; I’m not a trainer, and they’re meant for something like a deep-sea safari zone trip.”

“Ah, gotcha. Thanks for the tip. Come on girls, let’s see what else this tour has.” The researchers wave good-bye, and Dr. Kale escorts us up the stairs.

“The next floor is the main Office, meant for Mr. Devon whenever he stops by, or the local manager otherwise.” he stops at the top of the stairs, and knocks politely. “Sir? It’s the noon tour.” he calls through, and the door buzzes and clicks open.

On the other side is a youthful man with blue hair, smiling at us. “Come in! Come in!” he calls, waving to us. At his side is a canine shape with fur that looks like it’s wearing an older-style spacesuit, complete with a wide ruff of fur that looks like the cuff where a helmet would attach. The dog wags its tail, and barks, “Laik~!”

I take out my éTech before pocketing it and turning to ask the man. “Sorry, force of habit. What’s that pokémon there?”

“Ah, this is my Laikoyal, a pokémon technically native to this region. I’m Mr. Devon, the youngest.” he says, standing and extending his hand towards me as we walk into the room.

I shake his hand but give him a confused look. “What do you mean ‘technically native’? Have they been migrated and are now native or what?”

“Actually, they’re adapted from another pokémon species, and meant for space. They were sent into orbit, and the first one came back as a new type, and looking different.” he says, “My father helped with the breeding process, though he’d tried to breed in a Steel-Type component.”

“Changing type via breeding? Isn’t that impossible?” Rarity asks. “I’m still a novice breeder but I assure you I’ve never heard of anything of the sort before. At least not naturally or... safely.”

“Well, there’s actually several pokémon who change types over time, and very carefully selective breeding can, over time, result in new traits and abilities arising, like with Furfrou’s appearance, Burmy’s cloak changes, and Eevee’s incredible adaptivity. All but a few of Eevee’s evolutions are entirely the result of human kind’s alterations or influence on the species.”

“I see... and what type did it become while in space?” Twilight asks. “And how would replacing it with Steel type affect it?”

“Well, we’ve found that steel types are highly resistant to nuclear radiation - like that found in space. As for what type it was... well, it ended up getting the name ‘Void’, and is being found in other pokémon as well. It just fits many pokémon’s resistances and abilities better in many cases, than the types they’d been thought to be before. Like when Steel-Types were discovered, and the type was added to Magnemite’s type listing, explaining its resistance to rock and ice moves we’d previously been unable to explain.”

“So like how Deoxys was originally classified as a Psychic type to explain it’s otherworldly powers, but now you can confirm it’s this ‘Void’ type as well, or instead, right?” I ask “What other Void types are there?”

“Only a few, that we know of. Laikoyal here is a pure Void type, and one of Eevee’s evolutions is a Void Type. There’s also a pokémon from common folklore here in the Otari region that lives atop mountains and sometimes comes down. And I’ve seen a Luminight, they’re adorable. The other one we know of is Comettail, but those only show up every quarter-millenia. Every fourth appearance is usually coinciding with the Millennial Comet that passes by another region.”

I nod. “And Deoxys? Is it now a pure Void type or Psychic and Void?”

He nods. “Fully replaced its previous classification, though there’s only two we know of around the world, and they’re pretty reclusive. We’ve only seen them once since the new type was discovered.”

I think that over and another question comes to me. “What of Clefairy and their confirmed connection to the moonstones? If they can be classified as Void type, wouldn’t that mean that they really did come from the moon?”

“Well, we’re still pretty sure they came from the moon, but no. They aren’t a Void-Type, as far as our testing shows. One of the big things we’ve found is that Void Types are utterly immune to their own-type attacks.” he says.

“So what moves have you determined are Void type?” Twilight asks, pulling her éTech out to take notes like I did earlier. If the type is so rare though, I don’t think I’ll need to write this stuff down... yet.

“Well, we’ve identified a few. Starburst is a move that hits multiple times at once, using shots of low-dosage radiation. Actually, something to mention, almost all the Void-typed moves are Special moves, similar to Psychic moves. Oh, right, and there’s a move that strips off immunities when it hits, called Graviton Barrage, and Zubzilla learns a move called ‘Radiant Beam’ that is... terrifyingly effective, though it’s not a Void-Type itself. It’s a charging attack, and it can inflict some powerful side effects.”

“So downstairs, there’s a prototype suit that will protect against all environments, and I was told that there are less variable versions for sale. Is there one on the public market that could allow one to spacewalk?” I ask. I’ll probably be more interested in Void type if it can actually be a factor in my life.

“Well, probably a few, actually. But the problem would be in getting to space; it’s not a cheap thing to do, after all.” he says, chuckling. “That said, most Void types aren’t actually in space, they’re just in radiation-common places.”

“Right.” I reply. “First there’s getting high enough, then through the atmospheric layers. So where would I go to find a void type? Someplace afflicted with radioactive fallout? Because I’m not going there, no way.”

“No, but there’s a place called Rustoil Metropolis. They have a working nuclear reactor, and a few Void Types have appeared near there.”

Rustoil? What kind of name is that for a city? Maybe it’s like Black City and it’s completely industrialized to all hell. Oh well, we’ll probably end up going anyways just to see it at least. “So what was this pokémon before it changed?”

“Uh... I think they used to be an offshoot of Herdier, actually. However, Laikoyal don’t evolve, and their genealogy is in Dad’s files. I’ll be honest, it’s not something I’ve personally looked into.”

The pokémon, having heard it was being talked about, woofs out another “Laik!” and wags its tail harder. I kneel down by it and scratch its ear. I’m more of a cat person, but dogs are fine too.

The pokémon practically wags its butt off as it leans into my hand. Mr. Devon chuckles. “Seems he likes you.” he smiles again.

“Yeah well, I have a way with animals. Heh, you should see Twilight when I do this for her.” I grin as I switch to the pokémon’s other ear. “Ow!” I rub my head as I turn to see Twilight staring angrily at me, the pain in my head telling me she hit me. “Yeah yeah, kick me while I’m being nice to animals. Anyway, I don’t really have any more questions, do you guys?”

“Well, I would like to know where I might find one of my own...” Rarity says, looking like she wants to join the petting, but given the pokémon has black fur, and her current dress is white, she refrains.

“You still looking for a good pet-slash-bodyguard for your little sister huh? Well... these guys if they’re like this one, would be fine, yeah how good are these guys as babysitters?” I ask Mr. Devon.

“Very good! They’re extremely loyal, and are very sweet in disposition. They’re also surprisingly tough. Either way, they do make a good babysitter, and are plenty smart.”

“And where would I go to catch one to send home?” Rarity inquires.

“Well, they’re mostly found with breeders, but there’s a small wild pack that lives near the spaceport, up north. It’s in the desert, and a little far from everywhere else, but once you’re further north, you can easily get specific directions.” he says. “Or, I can give you a number for a breeder I know. She’s also up north, but she’s in Russet Plateau.”

“I’ll take that number if you’re offering, thank you.” Rarity smiles and Mr. Devon hands her a note with the number written on it.

“Alright.” I say, patting the Laikoyal on the head and standing up. “I think I’m ready to head out. You said there’s only one more floor, right Mr. Kale?”

“Yup! the basement. Mr. Devon, sir, the Elevator, please?” he asks, and the manager presses a few buttons, a wall panel shifting to reveal an elevator. “Alright, this way!”

Mr. Devon waves goodbye as we head into the elevator.

“So, when we’re done with this tour, I think I’m gonna head over to the gym and scope out my competition, see exactly what I’ll be up against. Need to be prepared and all.”

“And I’ll head over to the library.” Twilight says. “What do you have to do, Rarity?”

“Er, not much, actually. I suppose I may go practice more of my contest routines.”

I pause to think. “I can’t speak for Otaria, but I think I recall Sinnoh having practice rooms made out of the preliminary rooms, and they’re available to coordinators when contests aren’t being put on. You could probably go there to at least be out of the rain.” I suggest.

“Ooh, that is good to know! Thank you, Anthony. And even if not, I can still ask around.”

“Yeah. So what’s in the basement?” I ask, turning to Mr. Kale as the elevator dings. He simply gestures, and I see...

Holy cow.

There’s rows and rows of large tanks, simulating tidal pools, deeper water, plains, and even dense forest, and dozens prehistoric pokémon are happily living in them. Scientists in everything from sweaters to labcoats mill about, taking notes and socializing with the pokémon. The path for the tour is separate from the scientist’s paths. There’s even what looks like a ‘petting zoo’ area for some of the cuddlier pokémon. And along the way, there’s even some pokémon I have no idea what they are, though I can guess the giant pair of fossil forearms and claws floating around and helping scratch away the stone from around other fossils is a Carpalethe.

“Wow, when you said you revived lots of pokémon here, you weren’t joking. So what’re these guys doing, just watching and recording?”

“And helping socialize the pokémon. Some of these are actually breeding populations, and they need to produce offspring that don’t see humans and think ‘snack food’.”

“I imagine that was difficult for species like Tyrantrum. That would explain the issues with breeding them.”

“Yeah. And Tyrantrum tends to eat partners who try and mate and aren’t worthy. That’s been the bigger problem.”

“Guess even an ancient apex predator had to accept the Champ’s Charizard as ‘worthy’, huh. Still can’t believe how lucky you are Twilight... hey, do you think her Tyrunt could possibly learn Flamethrower?”

A scientist in a polo looks up and chuckles. “Sorry pal, not even a champ’s Charizard could pass that on.” I frown, that would have been- “Fire Fang on the other hand is definitely on the table.”

Oh, that rocks! I thank the guy and he laughs and goes back to his work.

“So, this-a-way, then.” Kale says, leading us down our path. Along the way, the floating pair of arms hovers close and reaches for Twilight, who freezes up in what I assume to be fear. The pokémon makes an odd, echoing moaning noise. Slowly, its hands pat down her head, back, and arm. For several seconds, it just pats her down, then makes a disappointed noise, and floats past her. Weird.

“So Twi, how does it feel to be the experiment subject?” I chide her.

“Uh... I’m not sure what that was, actually.” she says, looking more confused and a little... I’m not actually sure what the other expression she has on is.

“Anyways, I don’t know about you, but I am going to pet a Shieldon.” I say as I walk up to the ‘petting tank’.

Sure enough, there’s one in the area with just a fence, and the scientist there lets me in. The Sheildon toddles towards me, and looks up, making a lowing noise that I swear was a question.

I kneel down and get on my belly so I’m not ‘taller’ than the little guy and hold out a hand for it to inspect.

It sniffs, then butts its head against my hand, similarly to the Laikoyal did, but Sheildon is a much stronger pokémon, and I feel a jolt of pain in my wrist from the impact.

I wince and bear it as I use my other hand to pet the pokémon’s back, which it seems to appreciate. After a little bit the Shieldon seems done with playtime and walks back to its little food tray. I return to the group, calling that a success. “The guy is several billion years old, and still acts like any other pokémon. Guess some things don’t really change, huh?”

“Heh, it helps that one was young to begin with. And only a couple dozen-million years. But yeah, we’ve also got an Amaura in here, if you’re interested. She’s a sweetie, really.”

“Sure, come on Twilight, pet an ancient pokémon that will likely let go.” I chuckle, remembering her ‘curiosity killed the cat’ moment with the Omanyte earlier.

She blushes a bit, but comes into the enclosure, and approaches the Amaura. The four-foot pokémon leans forward to sniff the pony-girl’s hand, then continues to look her over with curiosity.

“I’m not sure what colors mean what, but I think I recall something about the little sails on it’s head changing color with it’s mood.” I inform Twilight. “It’ll probably change once it makes it’s decision.”

The Amaura’s fins ripple through a rainbow of color, and it nuzzles her hand once, then plods slowly past her, apparently satisfied with simply saying hello.

“Guess she’s just not feeling friendly.” I say, shrugging. “Oh well.”

The scientist giggles. “Yeah, she tends to be perfectly content with acknowledging people’s existence and calling it a day.” he says, as the Amaura settles into the corner, and snuggles down to sleep.

“Thrilling life.” I remark sarcastically. The scientists chuckles. “So all my prehistoric and fossil-related questions have already been answered so unless anyone’s thought of something new to ask, I’d say I’m done here. Not to rush through this, but I am kind of looking forward to checking out the gym as more than just a big swimming pool.”

“Alright. Let’s get you through th- uh, ma’am, I don’t think you can just adopt them.” he paused when he saw that Rarity was cuddling... a Kabuto? The pokémon seems utterly content be held close, and she’s got a Lileep and another Amaura trying to stick close to her.

I turn to Twilight. “Think we should leave her here for a while so she has something to do?”

Rarity coos to the pokémon, and Twilight nods. “As long as the scientists don’t mind...” she says, trailing off as she sees said scientists crowding around to talk to her about her techniques, even as Rarity continues to simply be gleefully snuggled by the pokémon.

Kinda reminds me of Fluttershy, actually. If we brought her with us, she’d definitely be a breeder... And probably try to bring them back home. I imagine Fluttershy snuggling an Eevee and I swear it almost hurts with how cute the mental image is. Maybe best if she isn’t here.

Chapter 54

We leave the Devon building and head out only to get drenched by the signature rainfall of Great Barrier. Man, I hope the next place we find is called ‘Sunnydale’ or something. Oh well, I’m heading to a Water Type Gym, I’m expecting to get soaked anyways.

Twilight and I go our separate ways, her heading for the library. It takes a minute to remember where the gym is but I soon get my bearings and head for it. You know... maybe I can make my challenge today... Yeah! Just a trial run, but I’m gonna do it! Maybe I’ll even win too, that would be great!

I run to the Pokémon Center and rush to the PC, switching out Geodude for Oddish, and Magomental for Lunaverde. The more Grass types I have, the better, right?

Ghowl flies so that works out fine, and Carvanha is a swimmer. Alright, let’s do this! I make my way to the gym, psyching myself up by taking deep breaths and humming a victorious-sounding tune to myself. I walk inside and I walk to the area labelled ‘Gym’, the opposite direction from the public pool.

I pick out a swimsuit with Feraligatr trunks and even some similarly styled flippers and swimming gloves, with some yellow-tinted goggles to top it all off. I look in the locker-room mirror and I look like a badass! Or a total geek... No, I’m going with badass, this is the pokémon world, and this is not considered ‘weird’ here!

I walk out into the gym area and take a look at my surroundings.

There’s the same design as before, with the vertical sections of the water paths, and on closer inspection, I see that some segments of the gym have metal coverings, meaning I’d have to be upside-down or otherwise not aligned ‘up’ as I go, or diving.

Well, shouldn’t be a problem, I think I’ll be fine. Let’s dive!

After a bit of swimming, I come to a platform which I climb up onto and see another person on it, clearly geared up to be a gym trainer.

“My first bit of competition, huh?” I ask, referring to the trainer across from me, half the small ‘arena solid platform, the other half water. “Well, let’s not waste time. Carvanha!” I shout the name as my second catch materializes in the water, chomping the air as usual.

“Alright, straight to it. Go, Aquana!” A pokémon that looks like a light-blue iguana materializes on the edge of the platform on his side.

Huh, a land-based pokémon? No, it must be amphibious, no doubt. Well in that’s the case, might as well get it into the water where Carvanha can do some damage. But how? A leap would just put Carvanha on the platform, and her dragging skill isn’t exactly spectacular... How do I get this pokémon into a losing position?

“Alright, use Camouflage, Aquana!” my opponent shouts, and the pokémon gets a metallic sheen on it rippling over it up from the metal platform. Well, that cuts my possibilities down, a lot.

Carvanha seems to be growing impatient, too, so I’m on a timer until she decides to do something herself, likely a rash decision.

I need a move I can use that will disrupt it but doesn’t have to physically connect... Hmmm... I got it! “Screech!”

The sound waves ripple out and smack into the Aquana. The pokémon screeches and backpedals, and for a second it looks like it’s going to fall off the platform, but instead hooks its toe-claws into the edge of the platform and swings into the water stream underneath.

I hope Carvanha’s predatory instincts caught it though and shout my command “Aqua Jet!”

The other trainer smirks, and shouts, “Acrobatics!” and I see the Aquana do something under the water, resulting in throwing Carvanha bodily out of the water.

I return my only swimmer and replace it with my next Pokémon. “Go GLaDoS!” The little pokémon appears at the edge of the platform, and... and I forgot to grab the surfboard to use as a floating platform... damnit hindsight!

The potato pokémon just sits there, and looks questioningly into the water, and I hear the other trainer call for Acrobatics again.

“Shockwave, electrify your body!”

Glados complies, but the now-steel-typed Aquana slams into my Voltato like a missile before landing, scrabbling, on the platform on my side.

Hmm... Wait a minute... How does that work again? It’s using acrobatics, but it’s a steel type now. “GLaDoS, return.” I grin as I assure myself this gambit could work in my favor. “Litwick!”

The other trainer guesses at my trick and begins ordering his pokémon back into the water, but I have a moment to make use of Litwick’s speed before the pokémon can properly backpedal into the pool.

“Confuse Ray!” I shout, grinning ear to ear, Litwick having enough trust in me to not question the fact that it’s in a Water gym. That or the little girl’s got serious guts.

The Aquana is struck by the eerie, flickering light, and begins backpedalling off to one side instead, then stops and shakes its head, trying to get its bearings. “Acrobatics, again!!” my opponent shouts, and the Aquana gets ready to make the attack, apparently not confused enough... but Litwick might be fast enough.

Still, Litwick’s fast, so the slight disorientation will probablybe enough for a “Dodge and hit it with Fire Spin!” I was right, he was so caught up in using Acrobatics that he didn’t use Camoflauge in the Water, so it’s still Steel type... “And make it hot!”

Litwick nods, trusting in me, and helix of fire picks up the metallic pokémon, holding it steady and unable to escape back to the safety of the pool’s water, screeching in anger and pain.

“Alright, now Night Shade!” I know Litwick isn’t that High level, but it’s something, and I don’t have many moves effective against Steel.

The ghost-type move rocks the lizard-pokémon’s mind, and it goes limp, fainted from the combined attacks, and my opponent sighs and recalls his pokémon. “Darn... still, I’m only the first. And if you leave now, you’ll have to face me again and again!” he says, smirking at me. He can’t be more than twelve, but he’s got the look of someone with utter confidence. “Also, don’t look up.”

“I’m too smart for that trick, kid.” I keep my eyes locked on him and keep swimming forward... but then the cube runs out and I start falling... up? Oh shit I was upside-down! Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck “Owwww...”

“I warned you!”

I recover from my impromptu belly flop, the second of the week, and continue on, ignoring my stinging stomach. Well, ignoring as best I can. Nevertheless, it’s not long before I come to another trainer.

I climb up onto the platform, this time sure that I’m standing right-side-up. Just to check I spit up ward and it... lands in my face... yep, right-side-up... *sigh*.

Wiping the slob off me I return my attention to the other trainer. “Alright, I’m more prepared this time.” I warn.

“Sure, sure.” she says, snickering. “I saw that belly-flop.” she then winds up and pitches a pokéball, and a heavy crab-looking pokémon hits the metal floor. It has six legs and a pair of equal-sized pincers, and is covered in spikes, barbs, and a barely-visible pair of glowing red eyes.

“Alright time out, that’s a new one to me.” I say and take my éTech, which thankfully has a clip to attach to my trunks so it doesn’t get dropped when I fall freaking upwards...

I hold up the device to the strange crab-like pokémon and let the machine do it’s work.

Crushacean, the Spiny Crab pokémon.

- These pokémon live in the deep trenches and darkest depths found around Otaria. They can withstand incredible, crushing pressure and intense cold.
- The short spikes on these pokémon are sharp and plentiful. They have been known to be able to cut through the armored shells of scouting submarines passing by.
- Their claws are surprisingly weak, though their spikes make up for that. They usually only eat small nibbles of detritus passing by, but have been known to tear apart passing Relicanth when very hungry.

... And it’s not at all a water type. It’s a Steel/Ice hybrid.

Now that’s just begging me to use Litwick again. I grin and call the bluff. “Go, Ghowl, let’s see what you can do!” The pale white pokémon appears, hoots once, and hovers in mid air, flapping only occasionally to maintain position.

I use my éTech and scan Ghowl to check it’s moves. Only level fifteen but... Yes, I can definitely use this. “Hone Claws!”

Ghowl’s claws flash past one another, and my opponent grins as well. “Supersonic!” she calls, and the high-pitched noise rattles past me and Ghowl, barely missing. “Now, Dive, while they’re distracted!” she calls, and the huge crab simply cannonballs into the water. I’m hit with the water from my side of the challenge platform.

“Keep your focus Ghowl!” Luckily I hadn’t removed my goggles so my vision is obscured but not impaired by the splash. Finally foresight works for me. “Use Shadow Sneak!”

Ghowl’s shadow coalesces into a long, stretching streak that darts into the water... moments later Crushacean bursts from the water and begins falling at Ghowl like a giant spiny meteor. “Follow up with Avalanche!” the girl shouts, and a torrent of ice chunks flash out and smash into Ghowl while it’s pinned under the bulky, spiked crab.

I don’t want to lose Ghowl that soon, and I don’t want it unhappy with me as a new trainer. “Ghowl, return!” The little red laser from the pokéball absorbs Ghowl just before the ice crashes down, though I do see that in a split second a few stray... ice... balls? Whatever shape they were they did hit Ghowl dealing some damage before the recall. Yikes, hope it isn’t serious, that’s Ice Vs. Flying...

I ponder my options. A steel type stops grass moves from being super effective and makes poison null so Oddish is out... Doubt Lunaverde could handle a direct hit from Avalanche, the double weakness would crush it. Guess I have to take the initial bait and go with fire. “Litwick, again!”

The girl smirks. “Alright, Dive again!” she says, and the Crushacean simply hops backwards and crashes into the water again, sinking out of sight once more.

“Minimize!” The pokémon is huge and with a small pokémon getting smaller, this’ll either be horrible... or a huge advantage. Given Litwick’s speed, I’d probably bet on the latter. “Then dodge when it comes up!.”

Litwick scrunches down into itself, and she makes to dodge just as the water begins to bubble. The hulking crab pokémon launches from the water once more, and slams down... caging Litwick perfectly, but not harming her. Yet. “Use Clamp!” she says, and the larger pokémon dexterously reaches under itself to take a snap at the trapped Litwick.

“Fire Spin! Heat up the platform” Crabs may be fast, but one thing they have trouble with is balance.

Litwick tries, but the fire just pours off the crab’s armor, and the Crushacean gets grip on her, the water-type Clamp locking her in place as the Crushacean pulls her free, steel spikes scratching her time and again as it brings its arm up to slam her down, ignoring the helical flames.

“Confuse Ray and get out of the way!” Litwick cries out, but complies, the eerie light whirling in front of the pokémon’s eyes, the huge crab reels from it, but doesn’t let go, and begins to teeter back into the water.

“Minimize again! See if that works!”

Litwick scrunches down farther and barely slips free as the larger pokémon slips into the water. However, my opposing trainer simply begins shouting encouragement to her pokémon, who is apparently not out of the fight. How tough are these things?

And how can I beat it... Idea! “Continuous Ember, heat up that water!”

The water begins to steam and bubble almost immediately, but Litwick looks tired. After only a few moments, my opponent yells for another Dive attack.

Well, I got it, time to use it. “Litwick! Super Potion!” I spend my turn healing my pokémon with the advanced medicinal spray and I’m not sure how healthy Litwick was, but now she’s 50HP tougher. “You ready to continue, girl?”

She gives a sigh, but nods. Then, the Crushacean bursts from the water again, armor glowing faintly from the heat, and it lands a foot away from Litwick, and lashes out with its spike-covered claws, missing by another foot and almost catching me by accident. I hope it’s an accident. I mean, I already own one psychotic pokémon...

Though that would get her disqualified for harming the trainer on purpose or not. Her pokémon, her liability.

“Alright Litwick, a little more and you can rest. Confuse Ray again, push it back into the boiling water!”

Litwick sends another blast of light, and the Crushacean makes its first noise of the match besides Supersonic, an unnatural-sounding, metallic shriek. My opponent actually looks a bit scared at this, as the Crushacean slams both its huge, spiny claws into the ground, leaving huge, cratered pits in the terrain, and begins to charge at Litwick, and by extension, me. Whether or not that girl ends up responsible, I’m pretty sure that thing could paste me and Litwick if we don’t move or divert it - and there’s nowhere else to go!

I hastily return Litwick and duck and cover, hoping I can avoid being turned into street pizza by curling into a ball.

The Crushacean barrels past, slamming into the metal gaurdrail and collapsing. It makes another warbling, unearthly shriek, and turns around, weaving drunkenly as the trainer recalls her pokémon, and I realize I’d seen the attempted trails a couple times before when it had been charging me.

“S-sorry. He gets really competitive, and... sorry.” she says, blushing in embarrassment and shame.

“So do I just leave and heal my pokémon or do I win because I’m not the only one with a psycho on their team?”

“You win, you beat him. here, I’ll give you my Super Potion for your Litwick.” she says, fishing the potion bottle from her bag.

I take it and, sending out Litwick to heal her and then recalling her, move on. “Good luck with that thing.” I call to the girl before jumping back into the water. She waves, still blushing.

No more trainers, but a practical maze of water cubes and currents. I’m completely exhausted from swimming in various loops and flips, including the final trip which was like a spiralling waterslide with a cover that made it dark other than vague shapes in glowing colors and the hints of teeth showing on the walls in blurs and passes. It’s a bit like a combination slide and ‘tunnel of terror’ based on the super-deep sea theme.

Neat special effects. I’d be more impressed if my muscles weren’t sore, and the entire thing had been underwater, meaning I’d had to hold my breath for what felt like hours, but looking back was likely closer to thirty seconds at high speed.

Eventually the slide is over and I’m dumped into a small pool of water in front of another, larger platform, still made of steel but painted and such to look like a dock of sorts. I approach who must be the gym leader and unceremoniously flop onto the ‘wood’. “Gimme... a sec... Huuuuuuh.... hahhhh...” A few more deep breaths later I can stand and get an actual look at this ‘Zoli’ guy everyone’s talking about.

He’s a tall, lithe, athletic man, and he nods, sitting on what amounts to a Lifeguard’s chair. “Take your time, no need to hurry. Unless you need to get somewhere else, after this, then you might need to hurry, but... anyways, I’m Zoli. What’s your name?” He offers me a hand both to shake and help me up. his short, dark hair includes a close-cropped beard, which reaches all the way past his ears.

I take his hand as well as his offer. Breathing hard a little still. “Anthony. Jeez, I’m in worse shape than I thought for a trainer...”

“Haha, that’s alright. Swimming takes dedication, man, and it’s not for everyone. Sorry bout Lisa’s Crushacean, by the way. I’ve been trying to find something to help him chill, but... no go so far.” He gives an easy smile and a placid shrug. “Ah well, she’s got promise, and I think she’s the one who’ll get him in line.”

“Lemme guess, you aren’t going to use a Water-type either?”

“Oh, I’ve got my tricks, from years of free-diving and swimming in the currents and undertow of this port city I call home. The whole of the sea is open to me, and I’ve chosen some of the best for this. I even swam in just about every river, lake, and oceanic Route in four regions, not including Otaria. So yeah, I have some pokémon that aren’t water types. But not all pokémon under the waves are.” he smiles and chuckles. “Wow, I really went off there for a moment, sorry ‘bout that.”

I smile. “I actually have a theory that the League plants a chip in every leader’s brain that makes them wax poetic about who they are, why they’re amazing and all that. Seriously, everyone’s got their own little tirade.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me, man, but I do that from time to time without being around a Pokémon Gym. I actually write poetry, so it’s all cool.” He clears his throat. “Anyways, you feeling better? I got plenty of water if you need a drink.” he says, smiling at his own little joke.

“Thanks, but I already had one about partway here. Anyways, I’ll be okay. Let’s start.”

“Alright, let’s get this started then!” he says enthusiastically, and he hits a floor panel, causing the large cube we’re on to shift and expand, revealing it’s four angled corners, a central diamond, and a whole ton of water rushing up from below to fill it. All around, I hear a few trainers shout whoops of enthusiasm, and a quick look around reveals that there’s a small audience of kids and young adults in swimwear on other platforms or floating in hovering pools and watching us.

“Great... I get to suck with people watching it. I’m just lucky my friends back ‘home’ won’t see it.”

“Hahaha, it’s all cool, man. Don’t worry, we’re not recording or anything.” he says, laughing. “Now, lemme toss my first...” he flicks his wrist, and out comes... a Lapras! Ooh, I’m so jealous! The pokémon makes a musical lowing sound, and looks at me for a moment before shaking its head. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Anthony!” he calls, and dives into the water himself. I catch a glimpse of metal around his mouth; I think it’s a rebreather.

Well he did say he’s an adventurous swimmer, I wouldn’t put it past him to have some related toys and tech. Alright... Lapras... Ice and Water... Okay. “GLaDoS! You’re up!” The little potato appears on my side of the ‘arena’ standing on the platform like before, only this time I’m a little less confident. But only a little.

I hear, over speakers, Zoli’s slightly-muffled voice call out, “Start us off with a Confuse Ray, girl!” and the Lapras complies, sending out a charged series of eerie light-orbs, each flickering with ethereal power.

GLaDoS is wobbling around so I give instructions. “Just stand still, close your eyes and wait for it to pass.” I’m aware that leaves him open to an attack but I’d rather he be oriented when it happens.

“Ice Shard next!” he calls, and Lapras begins to fire sharp chunks of ice at GLaDoS, though she still hasn’t actually moved from her position.

Damn, if he wasn’t on metal I’d have him dig underground to avoid that... damn, I knew I forgot to pass that TM around! Oh well, after this. Uhhhh “GLaDoS, Vine Whip, see if you can knock those shards off-course while you dodge!”

The potato pokémon nods, opening his three eyes and dodging one way and lashing out in the other with lengthening vines. Most of the shots are knocked off-course, but a few peg him directly, throwing him back towards my feet. He’s tough (ish) though, and gets shakily back up, defiance in his eyes.

I realize what I should have started with and facepalm. “Sunny Day, weaken those Ice moves!”

My Voltato nods, then concentrates, and the whole room brightens, turning hot. Ooh, that’s actually rather nice; I’ve been standing, wet, in an airy and high-up area of the gym, and I hadn’t realized how cold I was getting.

Also, that means that Lapras and any of his other pokémon will feel the heat. Now I finally have an advantage! “Thundershock!”

GLaDoS begins charging his attack, and send the bolt just as Zoli responds with, “Use Sing!”

A calming, soothing song begins to resonate from the Lapras, who takes the hit with a wince, but without stopping her melody. The song... is... making me... sleepy. H-holy cow.

Just gotta... stay awake... come on. “GLaDoS...” I look to my pokémon. GLaDoS stumbles a bit on his rootlets, but turns, all three eyes drooping. It’s... rather adorable, actually.

“Uh... another... Thundershock...” I point to myself. Hey, if Ash can take it from a hyped-up Pikachu, I can take it from this little guy.

Ow! Owowowowowoowowowowwowowwwwoooooooooaaaah! Holy shit am I awake! I feel like I just chugged a 2 litre of Dr. Pepper or something. Like I just stuck my finger in an electric outlet, wait I kinda did, like I just ate a sirachi-burger, is this how Pinkie feels holy crap this is disturbing as hell but awesoooooome! Okay so I’m seeing quadruples of everything and I can’t hear crap but woah this is a fucking rush!

I take a few deep breaths and look around. I’m still hyped up but not to the extreme of seconds before, and what a couple of seconds it was! Damn! Still rushing a bit, whoooo... I look down and see that GLaDoS didn’t hit himself with the Thundershock and is dozing softly on the platform. That is adorable! I recall him, the sun still bright, but probably not gonna last much longer, gotta take advantage of it.

I take a moment to think over my options and- ah fuck it. “Lunaverde!” I realize now that that’s pretty stupid but I guess I have to try it out sometime.

The moth pokémon appears and flutters over the pool, looking around with its large eyes. It looks back at me over its shoulder questioningly.

“I’m half insensible at the moment dude, just roll with it, ‘kay? Uh... Air Cutter!”

The pokémon seems to shrug and begins to whip up a strong wind, visible scythes of air tearing towards the Lapras, who takes it and gets... scruffed, really. The attack just doesn’t seem strong enough, but she does pause for a moment. “Alright, Lapras, Ice Shard again.” Zoli’s laconic voice calls out, and his Lapras begins to comply.

“Fly up and out of range!”

Lunaverde begins to comply, but is relatively slow, and multiple Ice shards hit my pokémon, driving it to one side. She begins to circle the battlefield, fluttering softly to maintain altitude. Even from this distance, I can see she’s been hit in the wing, one of which has a bend in it now.

Able to think clearer, I return Lunaverde and throw out Oddish. “Start with Stun Spore!”

Oddish spins while materializing, throwing out the paralytic powder in every direction, before even getting a look at where the opponent is, and catches Lapras off-guard, showering her with it. Nearly gets me, too, adding to my ‘close calls of the day’ list.

“Alright, good job, now Absorb!” Oddish nods, and makes an inhaling gesture, and tiny green orbs of energy ‘drip’ out of Lapras and into Oddish’s open mouth. “Alright, now Acid!” It won’t do as much damage, but a lowered Special Defense means Absorb will do more later.

Lapras cries out as the acid splashes across her, and Zoli makes a sad sound. “Alright... Perish Song.” the words make my heart begin to race again, and a mournful song goes up from Lapras. Oddish cries out, and begins to weep, tears streaming. I can almost see a countdown timer ticking away precious seconds as the large pokémon continues its song.

Oh shit, how do I combat that? I can’t remember! Damnit, my brain is still fried, I can’t think! What do I do!? Uh... swap out? Is that it? Yeah, Swap out! But for who? Uh...

A crescendo rises, then falls, and phantom notes fall from the sky, Oddish suddenly toppling over into the pool right in front of me, and Lapras does the same, being called back from underneath.

I recall the face-down bobbing Oddish and continue thinking. Now I really have to send someone new out and the sunlight has faded. Ghowl might work, yeah. “Ghowl!”

The ghostly-looking bird appears on the metal surface as another pokémon appears in the water: Malamar. I’d recognize that squiddy-looking pokémon any day. And I know exactly what it’s going to do. That goddamned Swagger combo.

“Ghowl, use Peck!” If I use Hone Claws I’m digging my own grave.

The command comes for Hypnosis, and the psychic strike pulses from the pool and catches Ghowl before it can land a hit, followed by Ghowl landing in the pool, right near the swiftly rising Malamar.

Damnit, not what I was expecting...

“Now use Psywave!” The psychic attack is launched just as the Malamar breaks the surface, and it picks up Ghowl and throws it at my feet, still asleep. “And finish with Foul Play.” The Malamar’s tentacles get a nasty black veil about them, and it begins to strike viciously at Ghowl, definitely making the pokémon go from ‘asleep’ to ‘fainted’ with only a few uninterrupted strikes.

I return Ghowl and throw out Carvanha. Better than nothing at the moment, really. My pokémon snaps at Malamar, who sinks into the water, and Zoli calls for, “Superpower.” Malamar’s strike literally knocks Carvanha out of the water, making her land at my feet, where she snaps angrily and thrashes about.

I just push Carvanha back into the water. That move was almost it for her after the first battle, but... not many options. “Aqua Jet!”

Carvanha speeds at Malamar, striking the foe dead-on. thankfully, Malamar sacrificed resistance to Water moves for a more effective move pool, so the attack does plenty of damage. “Superpower, again.” Zoli’s voice calls, and I know this is it for Carvanha. The piranha pokémon’s unconscious body sails out of the water, and I return her mid-air.

“Lunaverde again! Silver Wind if you can!” Hopefully the times-four effectiveness will turn the tides. Lunaverde begins to whip its wings, a scintillating metallic wind pouring out to zip at Malamar, who simply takes it, Zoli not throwing a command. Then, the pokémon is returned. “Alright, Malamar, that’s good enough. Go Starmie!” the ten-pointed shape appears under the water, and zips around in a wide circle.

“Absorb!” My pokémon begins to draw immediately, and Zoli responds with, “Rapid Spin!” the pokémon flies from the water at Lunaverde, who is still suckin’ down energy as fast as it can.

“Switch to Air Cutter, blow it away!” The attack begins, but not soon enough. By the time I’d finished my sentence, Starmie had just gotten too close, and smashes into my already-injured pokémon. The characteristic ‘Hy-ah!’ of the Starmie echoes out as it begins spinning in for a second pass.

I have no choice, and it’s Fire against Water... “Lunaverde return, go Litwick!” The candle pokémon appears, looking hale and hearty again after the previous battle’s resolution, but she looks surprised to see the hovering Starmie. “Unless GLaDoS wakes up... you’re my last hope. Gotta try, right?”

“Lit!” my pokémon seems in agreement, and turns to face his pokémon.

“Bubble Beam.” Zoli’s voice comes, slow and calm.

“Minimize!” This ought to work better since the attack isn’t physical. I hope.

Litwick scrunches down and begins to hop between bubbles, dodging deftly and scrunching further at every break, each bubble’s popping sounding like a gunshot. There’s dents in the floor from the Starmie’s attack, and Starmie is missing with every single one. I think it’s fair to saw both Zoli’s and my jaw have dropped a combined length of three meters.

“Holy Arceus...” I breathe. “This might be possible!”

“Alright, switch to... Hydro Pump. Flood the stage.” Zoli says. The bubbles stop coming, but... there’s a brief moment, then a torrent of water pours from Starmie’s gem, doing exactly as ordered and flooding the stage.

“Litwick... you wanna keep trying?” I ask the little burning candle as the water level starts to reach my feet and her... base?

Litwick looks concerned, and backs up, the water cascading off the metal around her, and the torrent of water has stopped only a few feet away from me, likely because any closer would risk, well, me.

“Alright, you’re more important than a stupid badge anyway. Alright! I’ve had enough! I forfeit!” I recall my Pokémon and turn to leave.

The Gym leader surfaces, and I see he’s got a bubble-mask on over his face, which he takes off. He holds onto the side and nods to me as his Starmie stops. “Hey, that was a good try, but you should probably raise your pokémon a bit more. Most of your pokémon were about half as powerful as mine, though you did an excellent job with what you had.” he says. “Also, the slide back to the floor is over there.” he says, pointing.

“At least it’ll be a fast trip back to the center. And... thanks. I’m glad I at least got as far as I did... but I’ll be back. Count on it.” I warn as I head for the slide, getting ready to head down.

“I look forward to it!” he calls after me. The ride back down is a bit bittersweet. It’s much more fun than the first slide to Zoli, but I don’t really feel like having fun now. But I had no idea his pokémon were so tough. Twice my level? How the hell did I even get to him in the first place?

Well, next stop is the Center. Luckily it’s actually not far and I hand the local Nurse Joy my pokémon. “Zoli did a number on us.” I explain, gesturing to my lone badge to indicate how it ended. “Hey, you know where I can go to toughen up before next try?” I figure Nurse Joy is a good source of rumors as, well to be fair the pokémon center is frequented by trainers constantly an she’s like the bartender: she’d hear anything that’s talked about.

“Oh, well... there’s plenty of good spots down here in southern Otaria. In fact, it’s why it’s considered the best place for a new trainer to start off. However, heading a bit further south would get you nearer to the coast, and there’s some more powerful pokémon there. There’s also a few towns in the forests, but they’re further west. That might be a good place to try. Oh, but you would’ve missed the Faire, it was earlier this week.”

“Nah, I made it to the Faire, ran into a bit of excitement there, more than I expected at least. Some kid’s parents bought him an illegal Pidgeotto.”

“Ah, that’s always a shame. Those pokémon can’t be returned to the wild, after all.”

“Yeah... anyways, I guess I’ll just hang out here until my team is good again. Just hope Ghowl and Lunaverde don’t hate me for getting them so beat up in their first battles with me.”

“They should be fine. Just don’t go getting into too many difficult battle like that in the future, okay~?” she asks, almost singing the last word. “I hope you do well on your adventures.”

“Thanks... Still, didn’t expect the second gym to be so much higher level.”

“Well, it is halfway across the continent from the first.” she says, smiling gently.

“Really? Wow, the region is smaller than I thought. It only took us a few days to walk here.”

“Otaria is longer than it is wide by about once again. That is to say, it’s almost twice as long north-south as it is east-west.”

“Ah, gotcha. Was thinking of more of a square shape like Kanto. Though when you factor in the connected Johto region, it’s like an opposite of Otaria, huh?”

“Most maps tend to distort it a little bit; we cover a fairly large area, and it’s big enough curvature makes mapping it properly difficult.” she explains. “It’s a six-week trip from the southernmost coastline to the northernmost coast. Assuming you have bikes, of course.”

“Yeah... still a bit above my budget at the moment, not exactly raking in the money.” I shrug. Anyway, I’ll just go rest a bit. Still kinda sore from the ride up to Zoli...” I yawn, making me realise how tired I really am. “Talk to you later Joy... oh, and be careful with Carvanha. She’s... touchy.”

With that, I head over to one of the larger cushions in the Center and decide to sleep until my team is healthy again. Really damn good job out there though...

Chapter 56

I decided the first order of business I should attend to is put Luna back in the PC, maybe train her when we get to a lower-level area. I take Geodude out and swap GLaDoS for Magomental. I need some kind of Bug type on my team after all. That done I see Twilight walk in the door with a plastic bag that I assume is carrying/protecting some books. Once the PC is finished, I walk over and plop down on the couch where Twilight has already opened a book. “Heya, how was your day Twi? Learn anything?”

“Oh, several things! I’m taking some time to learn about electrical power and how environmental power works, and I think I might be able to start making a more efficient model for the electrical systems in Ponyville and other rural areas. You humans have made incredible progress on finding ways for small towns to have easily renewable power. It’s been a problem in Equestria for decades, ever since electrical power was first used for powering a city, but only large enough cities could host a coal-based power plant without the pollution getting out of hoof... there’s a dam near Ponyville that we could even easily convert into a hydropower dam, or we could make a wind farm... there’s so many possibilities!” she says, giggles happily as she continues reading, her eyes never leaving the page.

“Yeah, get equestria more modernized.” I reply. “You should be more responsible with it than we were. Heck, look up airplanes for a way to mass-transport cargo and non-flying people.”

“We have air balloons Anthony, they work fine. Our airships are enough to get anything anywhere in under a week.”

“Sure but can it go several hundred miles per hour while staying stable?”

“Hmm... no, but with the right parts they can teleport six or seven hundred miles at a time.”

“Still, you wouldn’t believe what war has made us invent.” I say, deciding to let Twi read her book. “Whatcha check out?” I take a book from the plastic, water-proof bag and look at the cover. “Pokémon Breeding for Dummies?”

“It’s for Rarity. You had a lot of books like that... but it would seem ‘dummy’ means something else here.”

“If you mean dummy as in a puppet or something, then we have those too. We also use it as slang for a... well it means a dumb person but in this case they mean ‘newbie’ or ‘beginner’.” I flip open and the layout seems just like the other “X for Dummies” books back home. The first warning tag says ‘don’t worry about IVs, they will be covered later. Don’t be eager to start breeding for a profession until you’ve read through chapter twenty!’

“Wow, this thing covers breeding for a profession? Rarity might get a lot out of this.”

“Yeah, but the librarian said I have to return it in a week. It might be a lot to get through.”

“Well, we’re fast readers. We can always just read the book and tell Rarity what we know.”

“I am perfectly capable of a large read, darling. Have no fear, I am a rather prolific reader as well. Though admittedly not to your or Twilight’s extent.” Rarity says, and I notice she’s still got an Omanyte attached to her arm.

“I’m assuming they let you keep one?”

“Yes, he just doesn’t seem to want to let go. Isn’t it adorable? Just-”

I interrupt with “Lookit the giant eyes and those itty-bitty little arms! Isn’t it adorable!?”

“I know!” Rarity agrees, but Twilight seems nonplussed. Probably due to her first encounter with an Omanyte. The Omanyte itself is looking pleased at all the loving attention. “I’m looking forward to helping these little ones repopulate. Get them off the endangered list.”

“Wow, they’ve brought Omanyte from extinct to endangered in forty years or less?” I ask shocked. “That’s amazing progress!”

“It certainly helps that they’re such cuties~!” she says, tickling the Omanyte who seems to be in utter heaven from the attention, and coos.

“Yeah, that helps. Would explain why there are fewer Kabutops than Omastar. I mean, Kabuto is cool and all but not exactly an Omanyte in appearance. They’re those little Trilobite things back in those little habitats.”

“Oh, those’re cute too! though I can see why they’re less popular, they do look a touch menacing.”

“Evolved form doesn’t help.” I lament as I show her a picture of a Kabutops on my éTech. “Razors for arms aren’t exactly popular with the kids. Well actually the kids think they’re way awesome, but I mean that in the safety sort of way.”

“They doo look intimidating... but I could see them looking quite stunning in the water.” she says, and I point out that they can have Swift Swim as an ability.

“Amazing to look at and fast and sleek? My, pokémon may never cease to amaze me!”

A chorus of “Amen!”s come from the various other trainers in the pokémon center. It’s good to know you’re surrounded by like-minded individuals.

“Anyway.” I yawn. “I had a busy day. Despite taking a nap, I’m kinda beat. Not that tired yet but still... Luna did a good job out there for what she can do.”

“Wait, Luna?” Twilight asks, looking up to me from her book, and Rarity looks startled as well.

“Huh? Oh no, wrong Luna. That’s what I nicknamed my Lunaverde, the moth pokémon I caught before the migration event. I think they’re like the sister pokémon, like Butterfree to Beedrill. Or there could be no relation. Hold on, I’ll go get her.” I go to the PC and replace Magomental with Luna and, once the ball digistruction is finished, I toss it out and Luna appears next to the couch Rarity and Twilight were sitting on. “Luna, this is Twilight and Rarity.”

The two ponies-turned-girls wave, and the moth pokémon waves back. “Luu~uun!” she says, smiling gently. Well, smiling in the way a moth can, but it’s definitely a smile.

“Yeah, and I got a Ghowl too. No name for that one yet.” Ghowl is sent out and hoots in that badass, spine-chilling way it does. “Isn’t that cool?”

Both ponies shiver in their seats, but Rarity steps closer and begins cooing over Ghowl’s feathers, gently running her fingers along the pokémon’s head and back, which the pokémon seems to enjoy.

“Heh, I don’t think Rarity will even need a ‘for dummies’ book, an adept’s manual seems like it’d do more for her than one for beginners.” I say as I watch yet another pokémon fall for Rarity’s seemingly expert touch and honeyed words. “Maybe I get why you’re so popular with the stallions after all. If you could pet them with hands you’d probably have to beat them off with a stick or something.”

“Oh there’s one stallion I’d like to beat with a stick, but other than that I’ll just stick to my natural beauty for that. It’s already more than enough I assure you.”

“Hey, this group only has room for one egotist.” I warn.

“It’s not being egotistical if it’s true...” She smirks in reply and flutters her eyelashes innocently.

“Definitely see why the guys like you.” I say, chuckling. “Anyways, Twilight’s gonna take some notes on what she’s reading here and send them to Celestia to update your power sources... what have you learned today Rarity?”

“Oh, I’ve actually been practising a routine between Glorious, Glimmer, and myself.” she says. “Specifically, I was inspired by Mr. Xavius’ performance; I think with some work, we could easily do something similar.”

“Who’s Glimmer?” I ask.

“Oh, I named the pokémon you gifted to me Glimmer, as she gleams so beautifully in the light.”

“Ah yeah with the jeweled wings and such. I figured you’d like it and I’d already got Ghowl from Amy, and Luna from the wild so... Yeah. Speaking of Bug types, I haven’t seen Sewaddle out much, how’s it doing?”

“Oh, she’s doing excellently~! I did have a few sparring matches with some fine trainers I met at the mall.” she says, beaming.

“Cool. Zoli just trounced me and I did a bit of training. Carvanha is starting to listen to me better now that we’ve settled on an agreement of what is food and what isn’t.” I say, sighing. “How about you Twi? Getting any use out of Wispeery aside from using it as a booklight?”

“Oh, yes! Wispeery has been exceptionally helpful in general; apparently, it knows the sorting system in the libraries, and has been rather useful in some unusual battles... did you know there’s a variant where each trainer uses two pokémon at the same time?”

“Ah dang, I was hoping I could explain double battles before you wound up in one. There are even some contests that use the same idea, two pokémon at once for joint performances. There are also triple battles and Rotation battles. Triple is pretty self explanatory but I can go into detail later. Rotation battles are like double or Triple battles but only one pokémon is active at a time despite them being out on the field. You can spend a turn ‘rotating’ your team to switch to another. Those two variants haven’t made their way to the Contest circuit for... obvious reasons. Would just make things really complicated.”

“Understandable.” Twilight says. “But the double battle was really interesting, and I did some research into it. There’s apparently some incredible synergy between abilities and moves that only apply in double battles. There’s an ability, called Leadership, and it boosts allied pokémon, which is an interesting idea, and I want to know how that works!”

“Teamwork.” I explain. “It’s like a move called Helping Hand. It doesn’t do any good to the user but in a double or triple battle it boosts the abilities of its partner. Again, just like Mega Evolution it’s taking that Magic of Friendship you talk about and turning it into useable effects. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Absolutely. The more I learn about this world, the more I think it’d be good to, eventually, make a more stable connections between here and Equestria, and open permanent relations. I could see this world and ours becoming very close, very easily.”

“Yeah, ponies are physically similar to pokémon but mentally are like humans. Who knows, you guys may be the missing link between ‘Mon and Man. That would be pretty interesting, wouldn’t it?”

“I suppose, though that would be a bit odd.” Twilight says with a chuckle.

“Like life isn’t odd at times.” I chuckle in return. “So yeah, Zoli beat me pretty easily. I gave as good as I could though, but his pokémon were twice my level. Sometimes, smarts aren’t an excuse for low numbers sadly.”

“And sometimes dumb luck isn’t an excuse for a little smarts, dear.”

I glance at Rarity, who has a perfectly innocent look on. “Did you just fire a shot at me?”

“Of course not!” Rarity say defensively. “I was just commenting that you seem to be less intelligent than you say.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, ponies and humans will get along just fine.” I reply honestly.

Rarity smiles and nods, “Well, I’m sure there’s many humans who are plenty intelligent enough, given you seem to be on the baseline.”

“Baseline? Oh then you must be under it. I’ve got plenty of years of experience.” I reply snarkily. “Not that you’re stupid. Just somewhere right below me.”

Twilight scoffs. “Sure, Anthony, whatever makes you feel better.”

“Okay then. I look better too.” I say, booping Twilight on the nose. “Boop!”

Twilight swats at my hand, face scrunched up as she backs up a bit.

“So, jokes aside, when are you gonna try fighting Zoli? One bit of warning, the gym trainers use swimmers, but not Water types.”

“Really? Well, that seems different than most of the other Regions... I found a site, called Wikipedia, and I, uh... got a little lost. That said, I now know quite a bit about geovoric species in this world!” she pauses, blushing, “I, uh... started by looking up the color spectrum and how it’s measured.”

“Yep, that’s Wikipedia. You start with one subject and a few clicks later you’re studying something else entirely.”

“Yeah. Uhm, anyways, yes I’m planning to challenge Zoli, but his Gym Profile says he’s around level thirty, so I’m still training my pokémon.” she says, then stops, remembering something. “Oh, right! I saw an advertisement for those underwater tours. Apparently, they run every two hours, down at the docks.”

I check a clock. “Well, I don’t have anywhere to be for the next few hours. Wanna check it out?”

“Yeah!” Twilight says, and Rarity agrees as well.

“Alright then, let’s see what the bottom of the ocean looks like.” I get up and stretch. “So Twilight, it’s a bit far off, but you’ll want Pignite with you when you fight Zoli. His gym has a good amount of Steel types.”

“Really? that’s... impressive. The information I found says that Steel types are usually rare or reclusive.”

“Well, either way, bring Pignite. The second gym trainer has a Steel and Ice type. Litwick didn’t have an easy time, but a brawler like Pignite, or Emboar if he hits that level, might be able to handle it.”

“Alright, thanks for the tip, Anthony.”

“Hey, it’s what friends do. Now let’s go check out that tour. After it’s over, I’m gonna go to sleep. Been a big day.”

The girls agree and we head for the docks. Looks like we got there just in time as there are a few other people in tourist get-ups gathering around at the dock, a quartet of submarine tops visible next to them. There’s a man or woman next to each sub in sailor’s attire, and a sign saying ‘Four passengers per sub’, along with the price (300 per passenger) and some safety guidelines.

“Guess we’ll have a guest with us on this one.” I fish out the fare for myself and head towards one of the submarines. “Unless you wanna go on your own sub, that’s fine with me.”

Before either can say anything, I realize that most of the subs have groups of two or three lined up already, meaning there aren’t enough spots in any single sub for all of us.

I shrug. “Guess that answers that. Oh well, have fun I guess.” I walk to one of the three-person groups and join them. “Seeya in a couple hours I guess.”

The girls give a wave, and the two line up behind a young couple. After a while, the attendants are ready to take our fares and I’m helped into the submarine. Never been in one before and this is pretty cool.

Inside, it’s surprisingly spacious, though it’s still like a car, but tubular in shape. There’s so many windows on this thing, though, huge, curved panes of glass or something allowing all four of us to look around as the submarine begins to cruise out of the port. It’s a bit like a car ride, actually, in that there’s no tossing or turning like a boat would have as we go.

I ask my first question. “So how deep exactly is the bottom of this ocean?”

“The deepest part has only recently been found to be about six miles straight down. There’s also more areas down below that, but those are in caves and the like.” The attendant answers.

“And this thing has lights on it right? So we can actually see down there, right?”

“Oh, yes. There’s also a full pokémon team attached to this vessel; I’m a trainer, too. And besides, once you’re in the individual pods, you’ll each want to use the deep-sea pokémon that come with them, as unless you already have one, you’ll need something adapted to the depths.”

“I don’t have anything but a Carvanha.” I admit. “But how ‘deep sea’ are we talking? Lanturn level deep, or deeper?”

“Oh, Lanturn are good for the depths you’ll be at. We’re stopping only two miles down, at a shelf before the Abyssal Crevasse. There’s all sorts of intriguing pokémon down there, including some like Relicanth, that are much, much rarer above that point.”

“So I could get a Relicanth photo for my collection?” A now interested tourist asks, waving his camera.

“Easily! They’re attracted to the lights we use, so it’s common to find them. Just be careful; Crushacean tend to pick off Relicanth when they’re hungry, and they’re faster down here than the subs are.”

“We aren’t going to get eaten, are we?” One girl asks, and that gets everyone else worried, me included. I’ve almost been pasted by one of those things.

“No, no, no! Of course not, that’s why we’ll have pokémon with us.” the attendants says, calmingly.

“Would my Octillery be able to help then?” the third guy asks.

I add to that question. “What constitutes a ‘deep-sea’ pokémon exactly? Like I know there’s more pressure further down, but what pokémon can survive that deep? I doubt my Carvanha could but what about a Palpitoad or a Wailmer?”

“Wailmer, yes, but I’m not sure about Palpitoad. Most Deep-Sea Pokémon are ones already adapted to the depths. There’s a few that are transitory, like Zubzilla, which can dive easily down to around three miles, and have been known to eat Krakinos, which can only be found in the Crevasse itself.”

“So Octillery...?” The guy asks but I shake my head.

“Last I checked, Octillery are more along the lines of river pokémon since that’s Remoraid’s habitat, right?”

“Octillery are actually found in the ocean. Remoraid also live in the ocean, but have been known to find their way into rivers and streams. However, since Remoraid won’t evolve if it has too little territory, they never become an Octillery in the relatively cramped confines of a mere pond or lake.” The sub begins to dive, over a deep, dark blue expanse below us. The light begins to fade slowly, internal lights giving us enough illumination to see by.

“Are there any ancient pokémon down here that have been sent back into the wild by the local Devon people?”

“Yes, actually. Stinultra sometimes find their ways down into the depths, though there hasn’t been any fossils recovered of pokémon that are native to the depths. However, Krakinos are rumored to live for six to eight thousand years, meaning that it’s entirely possible that they qualify as naturally ancient pokémon.”

I nod, my question answered, and turn to look out the window. I wonder what I might be able to see, even if we aren’t going all the way down like I thought we were.

As the light dims all around, We all begin to see faint, sparkling lights in the distance, along with the lights of the other subs, until they fade into the distance. Finally, some of the floating blots of light resolve into a small school of Lanturn and Chinchou. Another school passes by, these being Finneon and Lumineon.

“In ten minutes, we’ll be two miles under, and your podcrafts will disengage. As such, we are activating them now, so please make sure you’re tucked in and buckled up!”

I do as instructed and get myself all strapped in. This is so cool! “So do we drive them ourselves, or do the pokémon move it around on a predetermined tour path?”

The guy across from me, dressed like a fellow trainer, smiles at me. “This is my third tour. It controls like a video game, two joysticks and a control panel.” As he speaks, metal and plastic-or-glass rods and panels begin to slide into place, until we’re each in an individual pod. “We each get to go our own separate ways. If you need to send out a pokémon, there’s a pokeball symbol on the dash pad, and the one with the Depths balls is below it.” The attendant finishes explaining much the same to the other two, the tourists.

“Depth balls? You mean balls designed specifically for pokémon that live in the high-pressure environment? Geez, those Silph guys cover all the bases, huh?”

“Ha! Nah, they’re like Safari Balls, just for the sub tours. They’re kinda torpedo shaped, to fly out better under water.”

“Cool...” I look for the button and, underneath the pokeball button there’s one with an image of a black-and-gray torpedo, with a pokeball button on the back of it. Neat! Wonder if I can get myself a eighth, ninth, damn, I’ve lost count of how many I have already! Doesn’t that only happen if you have like, forty or more?

Oh well, I’m not gonna catch all of them, but I am gonna catch plenty. Mostly I’m just gonna see what I can find on my journeys. I can’t believe I’m in a pod in the deep ocean! Next great environment will probably be a volcano, that’d be awesome! I start to drift off, daydreaming about what cool places I’ll see, but I’m snapped back when the attendant announces that the pods will separate now.

Oh man, here we go! Once I’m fully separated from the others I test the controls a bit and see that it is indeed quite like a video game, left for moving, right for turning, and the buttons are for various lights and cameras and there’s a pedal like a car. Oh well, I’ll just ignore that, I want to take this slow so I can see everything down here!

Twin headlights illuminate the world around me, and I see that the pokémon I have ‘rented’ are a Lanturn, a Marilurk, and... nothing else, darn. Still, I’ve seen both of those pokémon before, so at least I’m not having to dig out their ‘dex entries.

Though I hope I see some new pokémon, obviously. I return to daydreaming somewhat as I drive around in my little sub-pod, seeing... nothing really so far. I think I see movement but each time I move the lights towards it, nothing’s there. Then, I see a lone Finneon begin to go by, at a fair clip. Which means it’s probably being chased... but by what? I train my lights and camera on the direction the Finneon was coming from and see... nothing yet. I’ll give it a second to catch up, Finneon are pretty fast.

Then, out of the dark, a series of tiny, glowing lights move rapidly in my direction, and a Marilurk shows up, oddly graceful in spite of looking like a toothy football that got bits of black concrete stuck to it.

I wonder what else there is, maybe I can land myself a Clamperl. Marilurk aren’t really my style. Then again... Nah. I don’t know how many torpedoes I have and I don’t wanna waste one.

The Marilurk continues on its way, and I look down, seeing a huge column of black ‘smoke’ rising from the seafloor. Looking to its base, I see a colony of tubes with little pale eyes, forming a mini-volcano with the ‘smog’ rising from the center. It looks like a deep-sea sulphur vent, until it sluggishly skitters off to one side.

Cool... but not what I’m looking for. I already have a pokémon that only works in water. I notice there’s a comm system available, probably so the attendant can keep in touch. I decide to use it to ask a question. “What are the chances of me finding a Clamperl down here? I’m at...” I check the little dial that measures depth “A little less than two miles under.”

“Not very good. Clamperl aren’t very common in Otaria.” the response comes. Darn, oh well. If I see a Relicanth, I’m definitely catching that.

A few moments later, I think I see a Huntail, judging by the long, thin shape sliding through the water. It isn’t until I get closer that I see it’s something like a massive, translucent gulper eel, whose mouth opens to reveal little glowing patches inside its mouth. That mouth is open wide enough to swallow the submarine!

That is scary and awesome! I’m using a Depth Ball on this thing! Should be safe, right? I mean, there’s the Marilurk and Lanturn behind me still and they don’t seem worried.

“Alright buddy...” I chuckle at my impending joke. “Open wide.” And hit the button to send out a torpedo. The missile-shaped pokeball is shot out with a series of bubbles trailing it, and the phantasmal eel turns, seeing it. Its jaws shut and it watches the incoming pokeball, then turns almost invisible. If this were a video game, it’d be like it was turning intangi- the ball just went right through it. It must be part ghost type. A little counter appears over the ball release, indicating I’ve used one of twenty.

Well, there’s more chances to get something at least. Still, I open the communication line again. “Uh... this thing just turned invisible and the Depth Ball went through it.”

“Ah, that’s a Gulpar, then. They’re part ghost-type, and can phase out if they have enough energy. I’d suggest electrical attacks,” the response comes.

“Thanks for the tip.” I say and think on how to zap it when I recall I was issued a Lanturn. But those are for assistance. Does that also count as assisting in captures or not? Guess I’ll find out. I press the little button in the shape of a pokeball and the sub ejects a pokeball and a Depth Ball. Out of their respective balls comes the Marilurk and the Lanturn. Not sure what level they are so I’ll have to go with safe bets on what they’ll know. “Lanturn, Thunder Wave that Gulpar.”

Luckily it can somehow hear me from outside the submarine pod and looses a wave of sparks towards where the previously invisible pokémon is regaining its tangibility.

Let’s see, what else can Lanturn learn at relatively early levels? Oh, right, “Electro Ball.”

The decreased speed from paralysis would make that even more effective, though since the Gulpar is just floating there I can’t really tell if it was actually paralyzed or not, it’s just staring me down. Nevertheless, Lanturn’s orbs of light glow even brighter and form a sphere of energy that is sent straight for the Gulpar, who begins to try swimming out of the way, but is hit instead, thrashing wildly at the attack.

Next hit should be disorienting, but not damaging, so, “Supersonic.” The Lanturn opens it’s mouth and sends waves of sound I can almost see in the lit-up water nearby it. It’s pretty neat, but the Gulpar is less than pleased by the effect and starts thrashing wildly. This is my chance. I push the Depth Ball button again. Fire two is a direct hit as the missile-shaped ‘ball’ pulls the gigantic eel inside. It doesn’t shake in response to the struggle, flashing a blinking red light.

The red light at the tip starts flashing rapidly and then it stops abruptly. “Uh, the light went out on the Depth Ball. What’s that mean?”

I’m answered by a ‘ding’ and a flashing light coming from the control panel, and snap my fingers in success. “Nevermind, I got it!” I say happily. “Maybe this will help against Zoli.” The second part is said more to myself really, but I decide to let the others rate my catch, see what they think.

“I see you’ve caught a Gulpar, good job, pod three.” the pilot of the main sub says over the comm.

“Thanks, glad I got assigned a Lanturn, couldn’t have done it without the help.” Lanturn looks bashfully at me as if to say ‘It was nothing, really.’ The Depth Ball digistructs back to the PC marking my, uh... I count on my fingers by naming them. “Geodude, GLaDoS, Magomental, Litwick, Oddish, Luna...” I count the rest silently. “Ten! I have ten now! Sweet!”

I feel a sense of accomplishment, akin to when I first caught a pokémon in my first game I’d ever played.

Man, Silver version was such a long time ago... It makes me think of how far I’ve come. Now catching real pokémon. This is never going to stop feeling great! I thank the Lanturn again and it’s recalled by the sub, the Marilurk, mostly forgotten at this point, is returned as well.

Alright... where next to go? I could continue along the shelf, with chances for the pokémon around here, but the tour guide mentioned there’s more powerful and rare pokémon down in the crevasse. Both sound pretty enticing, to be honest. I decide to compromise and go around the shelf and head for the crevasse if I don’t see anything interesting. Nothing stopping me from doing both after all.

Continuing along the shelf I don’t see a whole lot, though I see a few odd pokémon but nothing compared to my recent catch. Not much can compete with a Water/Ghost type in ‘coolness’ so far. I decide to start diving, but keeping a close eye on the shelf in case I miss something just as I’m leaving.

I see a couple Magikarp, but other than that nothing really. I decide to pace myself in my captures, limiting myself to only one more. Don’t want a team so big that some get neglected. I think of all the pokémon in the games that I’ve caught just for the pokedex data and never using them... Geez, I’m fucking heartless to those ones. Just gotta be careful to keep my team small for now.

Suddenly, in the corner of my eye, I see a bright bloom of purple and blue light from the side of the crevasse, and a vaguely humanoid body atop a flow of violet... lava, I think, pours from a crack in the wall, which reveals itself to be a sulphur vent, like the many others I’ve seen down here.

An underwater possible-fire-type? Hell yes! That’d make Zoli’s gym trainers a joke! I try Lanturn again but the lava creature takes a look at my sub and Lanturn and begisn to slide around the side of the cliff vaguely down, apparently deciding at a glance it could do better than me in getting a trainer.

“Get back here! I want you to beat a gym for me!” No response. Damnit... well, there’s always that pokémon I suppose. Down to the Crevasse. But I do make a note to take this tour a few months later and get one of those whatevers. I will have one, even if not today, even if it’s not that one... I’ll catch one.

Sinking down into the Crevasse I check my little depth meter to see how far under the sea level I am at this point. In the quiet darkness, time seems to stand still, so I have to rely on machines to tell me what’s going on.

The hull groans softly every few yards I drop, but there’s no signs of damage, and I keep descending. Along the way, I check for a ‘user’s manual’, and find a tutorial program in the systems. And apparently, this sub can go down as far as 3500 meters, way farther than I’d thought previously. Also, it’s a bit odd that the instruction guide is in metric, but the tour guide was using imperial. Weird.

Either way, it doesn’t matter, what matters is finding out what’s down there. I go deeper and deeper, the, uh... depthometer? Whatever it’s called says I’m at 1500 and still doing fine so I decide to push a bit further. I’m descending still when I see something. It’s not clear and it’ gone when I shine the light. Must be another Gulpar. Am I still in that territory? Guess I have to go deeper then.

A few moments later, something, long, sinuous, and at least twice as big as the Gulpar slides past my view, barely grazing the pod in passing, but I feel the entire mini-sub shake and rattle under the impact. A gargantuan shape, covered in rocky plates and small, glowing tendrils, a squid-like pokémon longer than a bus slides out of the shadows. A pair of huge, crab-like claws untuck from between its mantle of tentacles, and the tendrils begin to enwrap the hull, saucer-sized suction cups gripping the clear material.

Now this is a pokémon, whatever it is! I do my best to calm down. It’s probably fine, just checking me out, deciding if I’m a threat. I try moving to another window to see out of, but it too is blocked by giant suckers. One word echoes in my mind when my eyes return to the crab claw: Kraken.

Ohhhhh shit. I open the comm. “I think I may have... a problem.” Mangled static comes over the comm in response, and I realize I may have strayed a little far from the tour group.

I release Marilurk and Lanturn and issue my first command of ‘Help!’. The two pokémon backpedal instantly as they see the colossal pokémon, identical looks of fright on both their visages as they retreat back into their balls. The immense, kraken-like pokémon begins to shift me to one side, and holds my pod up near its eye, which is almost as big around as the pod itself. The strange, gigantic pupil looks at me, but I can’t see any malice in its gaze. Slowly, the gargantuan pokémon uncoils itself from me, grabbing me in a claw instead, and pushes me gently upwards.

I can take a hint, that’s for sure. I make the sub rise up and away. I swear that was as close as close gets! I wait until I can hear more than static over the comms and I hear calls for ‘pod three’ which is apparently me, to check in. “Yeah, I’m here I just saw something really really big down there.”

“You went well below the depth for the tour; it’s not safe down there.” the tour guide says, sounding a bit panicky. “Please, please don’t go into the Crevasse itself again.”

“Not sure if I’m gonna stray outside of the shallow end after this.” I reply as I continue moving the sub pod upwards as I await my reply, deciding deeper really is where the scariest shit in the ocean lives. “Dunno what that thing was but I thought I was fish food for sure. So uh, what exactly has tentacles, claws and has eyes bigger than I am? What was that thing?”

“Oh my- that was a Krakinos!” someone else on the comm yells. “Those things are so~o strong!”

“And big.” I say in confirmation. “I take it that a tiny little Depth Ball wouldn’t cut it if you tried to catch it?”

“Are you seriously considering-”

“Oh hell no, not on my life, no way I’m going back down there!” I say, defensively. “I’m just curious.”

“W-well, technically, they can be caught in any ball. They are, in fact, the evolved form of Marilurk, and they don’t need much in the way of upgrades to make the balls able to hold them. Most pokémon centers install those on the ball immediately when a pokémon like that is caught.” the guide explains.

“Explains a lot. That thing must be big as a mountain! And they’re just a stage one evolution? Geez.”

“Indeed, and they’re usually about fifty-five to sixty feet long, actually.”

Okay, so not a mountain... but close. “Anyways, I’m making my way back up. I’ve had more than enough ‘adventure’ here to last me the rest of the week.” I admit. “Sorry, curiosity is definitely my major weakness.” I admit.

“Well, as long as you’re fine, then it’s no problem. I’ll engage the autopilot when you get close, so just sit back and relax.”

“Gotcha. So I know this girl who has a Marilurk. You’re saying she’s gonna end up with one of those, and I let it bone my Carvanha?”

“Uh...” the response is probably what I should’ve expected, but still... I need to know the answer! Maybe not from the poor guide, though.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just sit still until autopilot takes over.

I climb out of the pod and I breathe in heavily, swearing that pod was starting to get claustrophobic. “Well... that was eventful.” I make my way from the docks back to land, vowing t keep away from the ocean depths for the rest of my days.

I see Twilight and Rarity exiting their own sub, chatting excitedly about what they saw and how beautiful it was and all that. Finally they get close enough to me. “What did you see, Anthony?”

“A gigantic eyeball with tentacles and claws. It grabbed my pod and let me go before it could decide to eat me!” They look at me like I’m telling a tale. “Really! I saw a Krakinos! It was huge!” I spread my arms out to emphasize it’s giganticness.

“A- a what, dear?” she asks, sounding utterly baffled.

I pull out my eTech and look it up and show a picture. “According to this they weigh two metric tons. Is that big enough for you?”

“Two m- assuming they’re anything like Equestrian tonnes, that’s simply gigantic!” Rarity says, eyes wide as she looks over the data, and Twilight nods.

“Yes, they’re comparable. I brought a few weights with me, in case we needed to measure Bits out for conversion, and the local weight is fairly similar, based on the units I’ve found.”

I nod. “I told you it’s huge, I’m just glad it wasn’t hungry or I’d be eaten!”

Twilight pipes up with, “Actually, they don’t eat anything smaller than a Wailmer, and the submarine pods were rather smaller.”

“...Still, it was huge and it had me right in its claw. I can’t believe it evolves from something so relatively small...” I yawn. The experience must have tied me out. Well, it’s about sundown anyway. “But whatever, I’m here and not eaten. I caught something.” I interrupt myself with another yawn. “But I’ll show ya tomorrow.”

Author's Note

Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy with holiday stuff.

Chapter 57

I wake up in the Center, where I just barely got to before collapsing last night. I also slept in my clothes again and that ensured I didn’t get too restful a sleep. Nevertheless, the girls are nearby, ponies again as with every morning. I just scooch over and use Twilight as a pillow, her being much more comfortable than the couch cushion I laid on all night.

Unfortunately she wakes up when I try to ‘fluff’ her.

“Mur-wha?” she grumbles sleepily, looking around. “Anthony? What’re you doing?” she asks, looking utterly baffled and not entirely awake.

“Trying to sleep. You need to be comfier...”

She furrows her brows in tired confusion. “M’not? But I’m not a pillow...” she says, looking adorable as she puffs her cheeks out in sleepy frustration.

“Don’ care, are now...” I readjust my position, putting my face in Twilight’s back and trying to sleep. She’s not that plush, but she’s at least soft.

She murrs and mumbles some more, but evidently isn’t feeling energetic enough to bother booting me off, and just goes back to snuggling with her own pillow.

A few hours later, I’m awake and less tired. I stretch and stand up, deciding that Twilight would make a better pillow if she got less exercise. Then again, aside from our adventures, she sits around mostly. How does she not look fat?

Oh well, I’ll leave the two of them to wake up on their own. I go over to the PC and take a closer look at Gulpar. Using the terminal’s built-in ‘dex I check out the entry for it, see if there’s any fodder for a good name in there.

Gulpar, the Big Mouth pokemon:
- These eerie pokemon can open their mouths almost eleven feet wide, and their sinuous bodies have been known to float in the air when taken from the water.
- Their translucent bodies make them hard to see, but the insides of their mouths are full of glowing lures visible only when their mouths are open. They can swallow almost any living pokemon whole.

Well, can’t think of a better name than Gulpar from that, but still, it can ‘swim’ while out of water? That’s useful. I switch Ghowl for it, and Geodude for Chantlette. Should probably have them get used to me.

The switching sequence done I go up to the arena area upstairs and see that a few trainers are having a battle. I go over to the next arena section and release my pokemon. You know, with Ghowl and Litwick on my team, I’m getting a lot of ghostly pokemon.

Oh well, I’m sure my next one will be a grass type or something. But I gotta remember to pace myself.

The Gulpar appears, and looks just like a swimming pokemon in the games do, just hanging in midair and undulating slowly. Pale, glossy-white eyes watch me, the first third of its nine-foot-long body wrinkled with deep furrows where its mouth is pleated shut.

Chantlette looks around, gets one good look at Gulpar, and shrieks in terror, darting around behind me leg and pressing her face to the back of my knee, still screaming in fear.

“Chill out, same rule as all my other Pokemon: no eating something unless it’s wild. That means my pokemon are not gonna get eaten by my other Pokemon. I just caught the both of you recently so I figured you should get used to each other. And everyone else as well.” I toss out the rest of my team. “This isn’t everyone, but most of them. So... yeah, get acquainted.”

Carvanha looks at Gulpar from the pool and her reaction is one of leery unfriendliness.

Other than that, introductions go well. “I figured you wouldn’t need to meet Geodude, he... doesn’t really care who else is on the team. He does him and I do me as it were. Other than that, we’re just missing Luna, Ghowl, and GLaDoS.”

I get an idea. “I’ll be right back. You guys... mingle for a bit.” The only ones who are really moving are Magomental who is swarming as usual and Gulpar who is phantom swimming.

I figure they’ll be alright, Litwick backing up Chantlette against the more monstrous of my group.

I head down to the counter to ask Joy a question. “Hey, I know there’s a six-pokemon limit, but I just want my team to meet some newcomers. Am I allowed to have them all meet up at once as long as I don’t leave the Center, or is that still illegal?”

“Oh, that’s perfectly fine! We actually have a Party Room, meant for birthday parties and other celebrations; it’s not in use right now, so if you want to let all your pokemon out for a stretch, feel free! There’ll be an announcement if it gets booked for anything.” she says, smiling gently at me.

“Thanks! I’ll go get the rest of them then.”

“Oh, no need, you can access a console in the room itself,” she clarifies, still smiling happily, “Just remember to select a pool for your swimming pokemon before sending them out.”

“Okay, that’s great. And don’t worry, if it suddenly gets booked I won’t be a hassle.” I head back upstairs and, looking around, I find that the lobby that leads to the arenas does in fact have what amounts to a Union room, so I head back to the arena room to collect my team still out of their balls. Last I saw, Litwick was backing up Chantlette, so I’m guessing they’ll get along. Or at least Chantlette won’t be scared. The scene I come to when I enter is not that different from when I left, everyone just sort of sitting around and waiting for something, though a few are getting introduced without prompting. I have a feeling Geodude is gonna be anti-social as usual so I figure he’ll just be off by himself. Either way, I recall everyone and move to the party room where they’re let out.

The place looks a lot more welcoming than the sterile environment of the arenas, the party room decorated with bright colors, though the walls are a weird, blank gray with faint, dark lines forming a hexagon pattern. There’s a few bland chairs and tables, but a closet in one corner is already brightly colored and labeled ‘The Party Station’, and it has a computer console on the door. Heading over, I see that it noticed my approach and opened up, listing off several options, and has a button highlighted that says ‘Theme’.

I search around for a sort of greeting theme and I get kind of close with a ‘Welcome’ party setup. I go with that, and decide Twilight and Rarity would probably like to join me. Not sure how acquainted their pokemon are either.

Upon hitting the button, I sense more than see movement behind me, and I turn... and see that the whole room has become brightly lit and simple, tasteful colors and patterns cover the walls and floor, even the tables gaining a color and pattern like wood, but repeated. Two and two go together in my head, and I realize the room must be set to have pattern displays in everything to let the room be customized on the fly.

Those of my pokemon capable of clearly-readable emotion are impressed with the room as well. “This will probably do better than an arena.” I notice Carvanha is jumping up and down and recall the pool Joy mentioned. I search the console for something like that and part of the wall pulls back like part of the Aperture Science Testing chambers, revealing a large pool set into the wall with glass that had been covered, giving Carvanha a good view of the room, Gulpar floating casually over to settle into the water as well, much to Carvanha’s distaste.

“Alright, now that we have a better place set up, I’ll go get Twi and Rarity and then we can bring out everyone.” Luckily the room is overall big enough to house several Snorlax, so there’ll definitely be enough room for the full entourage.

Downstairs again, the ponies are getting interesting looks. Right, they seem like pokemon and they can’t just turn human or speak at random, lest someone faints like the last Joy we met. I just come over and get them, ushering them up the stairs. “We need to figure out a better way for you guys to be ponies in public without getting all the attention.”

“Well, not everyone minds as much as you do.” Rarity says coyly.

“Yeah yeah, you’re pretty, I get it. Now come on, I found a room where every one of our pokemon can meet up. Don’t want our teams to be strangers.” After they agree we enter the party room and I head over to the console at the back... yeah, I can withdraw my other teammates too, while before only the ‘switch’ button was highlighted. Guess this one must be special.

Soon enough my entire team is out and getting acquainted with each other, as well as Twilight and Rarity’s pokemon. I never realized how many pokemon we had altogether. The place isn’t crowded... too big for that yet, but there’s certainly a lot more space covered.

Feebas gets into the pool of water and immediately swims up to Carvanha to give a glub-ified ‘hello’, though my fish just looks put off by the other’s enthusiasm. “Come on girl. You too Geodude. You get out of the corner and at least say hello.”

“Your pokemon aren’t all that friendly Anthony.” Twilight notes, her entire team getting along fine, same with Rarity’s team. Mine is the only one with any anti-socialites aside from Twi’s Spearow, and that’s only when it comes to others outside her team.

“Thanks for noticing.” I reply, voice dripping sarcasm like sap from a spiled tree in autumn. “You got any crazy spells to ease the tension? A mood-booster or something?”

Twilight shakes her head. “None that would be a good idea. The only spells like that I know are the Want-It Need-It spell, and the Evening Star’s Emotional Outburst, but that just amplifies emotions, it doesn’t make new ones.”

Well great. Guess it’ll have to be done the old-fashioned way as usual. I decide to work on my team first, deciding to work with Geodude first. “Come on man, the sooner started the sooner over, right?” I turn towards him, expecting him to be in a corner, but he’s actually having some sort of conversation with Glimmer. Rarity’s pokemon seems to be perfectly happy hovering in midair and talking with him.

Huh, guess the gruff demeanor is a cover...

Well, I know that right off the bat that Carvanha will be trouble, given he reaction to Gupar and Feebas. I figure I’ll work on her later, seeing Sewaddle having some sort of... well, bee-like dance-conversation of sorts with Magomental. Either that or they’re dancing as well as they can without limbs. Odd sight but pretty funny to watch. Glorious is hanging with Litwick. Oh yeah, that’s right they both lived in the house. They probably already know each other. Chantlette is looking at Pignite like he’s going to eat her but Pignite just seems confused. Man, this is going really well... and not at all at the same time.

Twirunt is sticking next to Twilight, who in turn is simply talking to Rarity in a corner. The white pony’s Ledian comes over to me and waves with two hands.

“Heya. So, we don’t get much chance so... what’s being evolved like?”

The Ledian begins to speak at a high speed, making wild gesticulations and absolutely losing me. General impression, though, is that it’s a generally very positive feeling.

“Yeah, trying to get my team higher level. You’re lucky, being contest pokemon. You don’t have to evolve to be fantastic in your area... well, Feebas maybe, but you get the idea.”

Ledian nods sagely, then pauses for a moment, giving me a ‘one moment’ gesture, zipping off, then zipping back with a red flower, and tries to offer it to me. The pokemon takes an exaggerated sniff from it then offers it again to make sure I get the idea.

I take the flower and smell it. It’s actually really pretty. I don’t often get flowers that smell, they’re usually out of season... but if all flowers smell like this, then they’re more than just pretty, this is nice. “Very nice.” I say aloud. “Did you make this or... whatever Bug pokemon do with flowers?” I rub my head in embarrassment, not really knowing. Never was that educated in ladybugs. All I know is that they ate aphids.

Ledian shakes her head, and when I try to return it, she just pushes my hand back to me with a smile. Seems it’s a gift.

I decide to stick it in my empty berry pot to preserve it, thankful that it can substitute for my lack of a green thumb, one of the few things I didn’t inherit from my mom. “So I figure you’re having fun. What did you think of the Journeyman’s contest?” I ask, recalling she was the only one of our pokemon who watched it.

Ledian nods happily, making more happy noises. Man, I hope I can pick up that weird translation ability people in these situations always seem to develop.

Oh well. “So, have you met Luna?” I notice said moth is just sitting on the wall doing... whatever moths do on walls. I just know that that’s where they tend to gravitate and Luna is no different.

Ledian turns sees the moth pokemon and makes a curious humming noise. Ledian turns back to me, tilting her head in query. I’m guessing she wants to meet the pokemon, and I’ve admittedly not had much time with Luna myself, besides the Gym battles and brief training.

“Yeah, I’ll go with ya.” I say, Ledian hovering behind me as I walk up to Luna and pat her fuzzy body gently to get her attention. Boy, is she soft or what? “Hey there, wallflower.” I say, chuckling at my own joke.

Luna turns her head around, making a soft cooing noise. “Luune~?”

“Listen, I figured we should talk a bit, outside of battle. I haven’t really been giving you a break and that’s unfair of me. I want you to know that first off, I like you, and I don’t care how much you lose, you’re still mine, y’know?” The furry moth pokemon gives a hesitant nod. “Good. I don’t want you to think I just caught you to fill out a collection like some of those bug catchers around. I’m just having a hard time finding a way to accommodate your small movepool. I... don’t really have any TMs you could use.”

The pokemon nods, fluttering away from the wall to hover in front of me, patting me on the cheek with a fluffy leg, the fluttering to the table, where I see some food has been delivered. I don’t remember ordering any, though...

Oh well, guess it’s complimentary. That’s good. I don’t really know what most of my team eats. Well, Magomental finished that zucchini easily and Carvanha is definitely a carnivore... GLaDoS seems fine with photosynthesis and nutrients from rich soil... Same goes for Oddish, and Litwick seems fine without food, ‘eating’ off of me. Gulpar looks like a meat-eater... Ghowl... either eats nothing or like an owl. Not sure about Geodude. He seems content to eat human food.

Well, diets aside, I have a pretty diverse team, I realize. I mean, I already know I have good type coverage but... These guys are from all kinds of environments and geni. It’s pretty cool, and I notice that Chantlette is getting along better with Pignite since I last saw them, and as well, Litwick has moved atop Chantlette’s hat brim. Mossulk is just ‘harrumphing’ at Gulpar through the tank, and Gulpar is making strange motions that I read as communication. Maybe. Could be wrong, though.

This whole way of pokemon communicating and being able to understand each other baffles me. If another person came up to me and started speaking Swedish, I’d have no clue what they’re talking about... but these guys... it’s like they all speak the same language... metaphorically speaking. Half my pokemon don’t actually talk.

Chantlette puts on her dark sunglasses, then poses in an obviously forced ‘gangsta’ pose, making several pokemon laugh at the ridiculousness. She also cracks a smile at the attention. Well, at least she’s just skittish, not shy. I figure Carvanha will be the biggest hassle here, so I just leave her to ignore Feebas, who seems to be adamant about making friends.

I figure I should mingle with pokemon that aren’t my own, but most of them seem occupied already. Spearow and Ledian are in a sort of aerial conversation of their own, Luna joining in. I look over to Spheal who then rolls off to become a beach ball for Feebas, who is happy she can find someone other than Carvanha to play with.

Well... all in all, it looks like a pretty good party. The only person who doesn’t have someone to socialize with but wants one... is me. Huh. Well, only one way to fix that: become part of a conversation in progress. I walk over to the ponies and listen in to find out if they’re talking about anything interesting.

Twilight, continuing on from something Rarity had said, explains that pokemon can be turned into digital data, and that there’s terminals to observe and interact with them in this state. Something I didn’t know, but I’m not sure if I’m too interested in that at the moment. Unless it’s like a video game. That’d be pretty neat, except I’m already living my favorite video game.

With a sigh I head over to the table and look around for something to eat.

Sitting down, I find a plate of pancakes, next to a plate of what looks like a few basic poffins, for the pokemon. Y’know, I’ve always wondered what one of those things tastes like.

I grab a red one and take a careful bite, expecting a flavor like spicy dog food or something. Instead I get what tastes like a mouthful of cayenne pepper, or maybe what I imagine accidentally licking a lava flow would taste like.

Thankful for my being cautious and only taking a small bite I spit it out into a napkin and grab a drink, noting that the cups are filled with a sort of punch that cools down my mouth, though milk would be best but I don’t see any. I decide to try a different poffin, and pick a Yellow one, being more a fan of sour than spicy, and hoping for better results. Again, I take a small bite just in case.

It’s like sucking the essence of a lemon, or having a ground-up Warhead painted onto my tongue. Even with my tastes, this is just too much. Man, I hope the higher-grade poffins taste better than this.

Oh well, that’s another bust. A pink one might be so sweet I go into cardiac arrest so I leave the poffins for the pancakes, but they’re a little bland. I reach for some syrup until I get an idea. I take a knife and put teeny tiny little slivers of the yellow poffin and use it as a topping, and with the combined flavor of light sour on pancakes, it’s better than any syrup could make it. Well, maybe not that blackberry syrup I concocted once but there was barely enough berries and sugar to make enough for more than one waffle.

It seems the ponies are hungry and wanting breakfast so I offer one of my ‘spiked’ pancakes to them, and they give it a taste.

Twilight’s face is priceless, as it’s caught between ‘oh no this is gross’ and ‘I absolutely love this’, the two expressions warring with each other across her face. Rarity takes a few munches and politely nods. I don’t see her take a second bite, but she isn’t alternating between trying to spit it out and take another taste.

“I admit it’s a bit stronger than the usual ingredients I experiment with but this is pretty good. And these are low tier so they are pretty easy to make. Poffincakes? Panffins? Idunno, I’ll think of a name later. So what do you think? Not bad for a random science experiment, is it?”

Twilight’s face is still stuck, but Rarity nods. “I believe having a bit more spice to it, perhaps a bit of a drier flavor. The sourness isn’t well balanced, and is too strong in the pockets its formed. But a good first try, yes.”

I gratefully take the comment. “I was best in Home Ec class. Did I tell you the time I attended class and was supposed to make baked goods, but I came in nearly unconscious?”

“This sounds like the start of the Baked Bads incident...” Rarity comments with a hint of fear and a look of concern.

I chuckle. “Okay, so this morning we were trying a new form of medication, supposed to do... something to make school easier or something. Anyway, I accidentally OD’d on it and couldn’t even see out of my right eye. I went through the recipe as best I could, but I was literally falling over onto the ground. And eventually they took me to the hospital before I could touch the heated oven to put the hush puppies in. A few days later I got back to school and I got an A for them. I can cook while half insensate.” I add. “And my mom was there, she can confirm.”

Rarity and Twilight are both staring at me in shock. Rarity whispers, poorly, to Twilight, “He’s like an alien version of Pinkie.”

“How? The fact that I’m a damn good baker, or that I’m bragging that I can cook while having bodily spasms?”

“More that you can cook even while virtually incapacitated. Pinkie has successfully baked a three layer cake on her own while -for reasons that have yet to be adequately explained- she was tied to a chair with three hooves secured.”

I laugh. “Maybe she and I should have a bake-off some time. I make a damn good Flan, so I’d have to say grain products aren’t the only things I can do. Anyways, yeah I experiment randomly. Eitherwhats, it seems this little meet-up is going well except for Carvanha, but that’s fine. She can be antisocial if she wants. Anyways, thoughts on my more recent catches?”

I point at Luna and Ghowl communicating with one hand, and gesture at Gulpar with the other hand.

Twilight looks at them with interest, and Rarity actually comments. “They certainly seem like they have plenty of potential.”

“Oh, yeah, you need to see what Gulpar can do. Hey, open wide!” I call the last part to my pokemon, swimming idly in the tank.

The massive eel-pokemon rises from the water, not a single drop falling from it as its mouth opens wide... wider... wider still... until it’s actually partially phased through the floor and ceiling.

“Awesome!” I comment, and toss one of my Panffin things into the gigantic black-hole-esque maw, which is lined with various lights.

The pokemon simply closes its mouth with a snap and a rush of air as it goes from around eleven feet wide open, to completely closed in the blink of an eye. I await Gulpar’s opinion of my cooking. The ghost eel simply swallows, with absolutely no other reaction. Well, at least he doesn’t dislike it. “How’s that for cool? Caught him while on the tour before I ran into the Krakinos.”

I look around, and I can’t find either of the ponies... or about half the other pokemon in here. Finally, I locate them, all huddled together in terror under the table, eyes wide.

I nod. “Yeah, kinda scary the first time huh? No worries though, he knows the difference between friend and food.” At least I figure so, considering he hasn’t tried eating Spheal, Feebas, or Carvanha even though he’s had every opportunity to. Gulpar slowly settles back into the water soundlessly, blank, pale eyes staring sightlessly at either me or the huddled mass under the table, it’s hard to tell.

I roll my eyes. “Fine... scardey cats...” I take out the oddly-shaped depth ball and recall the eel from inside the tank. “There, he’s inside his ball. Happy?”

The group remains shocked and awed, eyes still wide and scared and... Y’know, now that I think of it, that’s absolutely adorable. I pull out my eTech and take a snapshot, happily keeping it for either blackmail or other such material later. I’m sure Pinkie will just love getting ahold of a copy or six.

“So do I have to drag you all out? Carvanha isn’t impressed, she’s got more guts than you all.” Granted she didn’t see the inside of the mouth, just got a less-scary rear-view but still. Geodude scared shitless? Never thought I’d see that.

Actually, on a second look, Geodude’s expression hasn’t changed, and he’s actually slowly petting Twilight, who has a deathgrip on Twirunt. Twirunt, meanwhile, is convinced he needs to protect his momma, and is growling slightly, eyes darting around, evidently having not recognized Gulpar as a threat.

Pignite, being the largest of the present group, however, looks like someone just ordered extra crispy bacon, and Chantlette is whimpering, Litwick patting her back supportively, seemingly not afraid either. Must be a Ghost thing.

Sighing, I begin to work on getting the ‘scared monkey’ impersonators out from under the table. Seems a lack of courage has ended this party early... darned prey instincts.

Chapter 58

I recall my pokémon into the system and go back to my team of Oddish, Carvanha, Chantlette, Litwick, Magomental and Gulpar. Figure I’m gonna need to do some grinding if I want to face Zoli on even terms.

I leave, letting the ponies and their pokémon to recover from Gulpar’s performance. But hey, if they don’t have the guts, that’s not my fault. Hopefully the other trainers agree. I head over to the arena area and the two people who were battling before are finished and getting ready to take their teams downstairs for healing.

“Hey, one of you wanna try me once you’re back, or you done for the day?”

The girl of the pair nods. “I’m game. What’s your level?” she asks. She’s got the look of an athletic type.

I mentally go over my team. “Average of eightteen. So not that high. I’m looking to toughen up.”

“Oh, I might be a bit over your head; I’m averaging twenty-five. You still up for a go?”

“Well I have one at twenty-four so... just a one-on-one, but sure.”

“Alright, that works for me,” she says, and gets back into her place in the arena.

I take a moment to look over Gulpar’s moveset and confirm I can manage with this. I make my way to my spot opposite the woman and toss out the depth ball, which feels a bit off in my hand with its oblong, finned shape. Maybe I’ll try giving it a football throw next time, or throwing it like a giant dart.

Opposite me, the girl throws out what is definitely an eeveelution... but I have no freakin’ clue which one. Wait, I think... Quarkeon? Yeah, it looks a bit like a larger Eevee, but parts of it keep vanishing with a rippling line of energy marking where the sections of is and isn’t. In the parts that aren’t, I can see right through the pokémon. Otherwise, it’s just a black-blue bigger Eevee.

I nod and consider my options. Figure it should be safe to go with “Stockpile.”

Gulpar’s mouth bulges a bit, but there’s no other visible changes. The girl responds with, “Void Fog!” and the Quarkeon concentrates, one eye slipping out of reality as the other glows. A thick, black fog boils out of the ground, cloaking the field and Gulpar suddenly screams, writhing in place as the fog seems to wrap around my pokémon, leaving behind reddish burns everywhere it touches. Jeez, what kind of move is that?

Though given the nature of the pokémon using it, maybe the better question is what isn’t that move? Alright, time for a new tactic. “Aqua Jet!”

Gulpar dashes forward, a streak of water behind it as it slams into the half-phased pokémon, knocking the Quarkeon back. “Sand attack!” the other trainer calls, and the sudden blast of dust particles lands in Gulpar’s eyes, and the massive pokémon shrieks again in frustration.

“Now use Starburst!” she cries, as I’m still trying to get Gulpar’s attention, and a series of six-point three-dimensional stars fly out, each one glowing with an unnatural green-yellow light. The three ‘stars’ smash into Gulpar, finally reorienting it on the Quarkeon for me.

I recall I never asked or looked up what beats Void type, undoubtedly what this one is. Aqua Jet didn’t do much so... “Spit Up!”

Gulpar purses its lips and fires the glob of stockpile-stuff at Quarkeon, who takes it to the face and cries out, being thrown back. It shakes its head, swiping at the gooey mass stuck to it. The nasty mess phases out with the pokémon as well as it vanishes. I was worried about that Void Fog move but with the reveal that it seems weak to the Normal type, I think I might win this! Most of the pokémon is visible, but its head has vanished completely.

“Stockpile again while it’s stuck!”

“Use Solar Wind!” the other trainer shouts, and the eeveelution reacts perfectly normally, as if nothing of it was missing, and a stream of golden light streams from midair where I assume its mouth is. The light slams into Gulpar at the same time it finishes Stockpiling, and the pokémon responds with an instinctive Spit Up again. Gulpar shrieks and backs away, sinking to the floor and hacking up a nasty-looking fluid and whimpering piteously.

Damnit... Figures I’d lose my first battle against a new type... I recall Gulpar and about to admit my defeat when I see that the Quarkeon is already being recalled, from laying on the floor without moving beyond breathing. I- I won?

Wow... I was about ready to open up my wallet, but since Gulpar was collapsed but at least writhing a bit, that proves it had a bit more health. So I legally win even though Gulpar is just about knocked out. “Never fought a Void type before... geez, what kind of moves were those?” I ask the girl.

“Void-type, of course. Most Void moves are pretty strong, but they tend to be pretty exhausting, and can have some unpredictable effects with the stronger moves. Solar Wind can actually power up the target sometimes.” she explains, tapping commands into her éTech to send me some money. “I think the explanation is that it’s a form of radiation only found in pokémon and certain deep-space storms.”

“So it’s a gamble... interesting. Well, thanks. I thought you had me on the ropes from the start, honestly. Good job.”

She nods and smiles. “It was close, I don’t think either of us were expecting your pokémon to Spit Up there at the end like that. Oh, you should get ‘em checked out, it might be Badly Poisoned or Burned.”

“More Void randomness I assume?” She nods. “Radiation burns-slash-sickness then. Figures. Space Pokémon are weird. Anyway, thanks for that, I’ll go get him back to normal.”

She nods and waves. “I’m an Eevee trainer, by the way. You want my number? I’m pretty sure you’ll be a tough nut to crack in the future.” she says.

“Sure!” We exchange numbers and walk downstairs to the hospital area, turning in our Pokémon at the same time. “So what’s it like training Eevee? I mean, they’re cute but I could never get the hang of using one in combat, and evolving it too quickly ended with disaster.” I explain, detailing my experience with Eevee in the games.

“Well, you need to figure out what they’ll be best at later, usually in the first five levels or so, and work with that. Don’t try to mold the pokémon to the evolution; they’ll have a strength you can take advantage of easily enough. I usually evolve my Eevees around level 10, because I can tell what they’ll be good for by then, and can work with them.”

“Ah... I did the opposite. I noticed my Eevee was slow so I gave it a Thunderstone hoping the speed boost could compensate and I’d have more rounded abilities. I... kinda regret that now that I know what I do now. I ended up trading it away.”

She nods sympathetically. “I can understand that. Too many people try to round out specialized pokémon, which often result in them missing their potential; I actually started my first couple years as a contest coordinator, until I decided I’d do better showing people that Eevee have more potential than they think. It helps that there’s been so many new variations discovered in the last couple decades.”

“Yeah, I was looking them up a while back. The one that creeped me out the most was Hostileon. Something about it getting frequent heart attacks or something?”

“Yeah, they’re super-rare, because you have to actively mistreat the Eevee to get one. As a result, almost all of the ones being trained by legitimate trainers are rescued from abusive trainers. They’re powerful, but not worth it in my mind.”

“And uh... What was it... Zephyreon or something? How do you get one of those?”

“There’s a temple up in the mountains; it’s called the Sky Temple, and there’s a couple other places like it in other regions. Sometimes, an Eevee trained there will evolve into a Zephyreon instead of any other eeveelution.”

I nod in understanding “So like Glaceon needing to be in a specifically cold environment. So how do you get a Quarkeon?”

“Exposure to interstellar radiation via meteorites. He happened across one in this one place, uh... Fallarbor Town, I think? I was touring around Sinnoh, I think.”

“Yeah, that’s where those team Galactic nutcases were doing their space projects. Dunno if they discovered anything before getting kicked out though. So where would you suggest I go to get my pokémon tougher? Gonna need to do some grinding to fight Zoli.”

“Oh, the forests are all around, just a little ways north. You gotta really sit around and battle, though, I know a bunch of people who just sorta go train for an hour a day, and that won’t get you anywhere this century.” she says dismissively, and I remember that this is more or less exactly what I’ve been doing... whoops. “Oh, and it’s best if you make it a routine; y’know, same thing each day until it’s a habit.”

“So is there an alternative? Like a special place to go for this or is it just gonna have to be done several days at a time?”

“Sorry, there’s no easy road to awesomeness.” she says, shaking her head sadly. “Well, not legally anyways, but only losers cheat like that.”

“So I gotta get more than just a few hours in each day then. Alright, well it’s not called grinding for nothing I suppose.” I thank the girl and head off back to the forest to the North. This is gonna take a while.

Several days of grueling grinding later, each of my pokémon in my main team have gone up at least five levels apiece, complete with Oddish evolving into a Gloom. I’ve been falling asleep each evening, almost as tired as my pokémon.

I collapse onto the cot I had assigned to me at the center. Figures I’d need to rent a room for a week or so just so I have somewhere private to crash in peace.

Either way, I made a ton of progress and I think tomorrow I’ll sleep in and rest up then work on fighting Zoli one more time. I should be strong enough now... Really wiped out at the moment though. I go to lay down and drift off, but morning comes way to quickly and the next thing I know I’m out of bed and kitted up for my fight. I’m yawning like crazy. Definitely just gonna while away a few hours.

I hear a knocking at the door. “Yeah, whatcha wan’?”

“I hear today is the day you fight the gym again.” Twilight says through the door.

“Eh... maybe tomorrow.” I reply.

“You aren’t seriously going to spend all day training again are you?” she asks, sounding a bit angry. “Your pokémon are worn to the bone!”

“Actually I’m gonna spend today sleeping, as is everyone else.” I respond, interrupted by a yawn. “But can’t sleep... Already awake.”

Twilight shakes her head. “You’re literally too tired to fall asleep, aren’t you?” she asks.

“Yeah...” I admit. “Got any spells for that?”

“None that’re healthy, Anthony. You need to actually sleep normally... unless you mean a spell to simply knock you out, which I can do.”

“Yeah, do that, thanks.” I’m aware I’ll probably have a headache when I come to but... “At this point it’ll be worth it.”

She sighs, her horn flaring and my head feels light suddenly, and I fall asleep insta-

I get up and note that I do indeed have a headache, but a tolerable one. I check my éTech and note that I’ve been out all day yesterday and it’s tomorrow afternoon. I get up and Twilight walks in again. “Oh good, I thought you weren’t going to wake up for a week. I’ve been forgetting you humans aren’t as resistant to magic as ponies and pokémon.”

I smack my dry lips. “Need a drink.” I grab my canteen from my pack and take a rather long drink until the cottonmouth is gone. I then smell myself. “Yeesh, need a shower. I’ll be right back.”

I head to the Center restroom and turn on the water, letting it slowly wake me back up. Much better now that the headache is going away. I stretch and finish cleaning up. I get myself back into my trainer clothes and prepare to face the gym. “You coming with Twi? Or you gonna hang back until you’ve done some grinding of your own?”

“If I end up like you, I think I’d rather just try after you and get it over with.”

“Shut up, I’m perfectly fine.” At this I trip on my shoelace for the first time in years. “That was not ironic, that was just a coincidence.” I say as I pick myself up.

Twilight shakes her head. “Either way, I’ve been training my pokémon against other trainers here in the city. My team isn’t doing so bad, either.”

I shrug. “Whatever. I still got my team tough and ready. I’m gonna win this time.” I say as we approach the gym. I notice that the Feraligatr-themed swimsuit is available again so I take that. Twilight comes out with a Goldeen dress not unlike the one Starlet wore, though Twilight makes it look a lot better.

Either way, I’m ready this time. Both for my opponents and for the crazy rides along the way. I get to the first platform and see the same trainer as before still there. “Heya.”

“Hey, back again huh? I heard you were so burned by Zoli that you went grinding trying to get better.”

I grunt. “So what? It worked, and I’ll prove it, starting with you.”

“Yeesh, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. Oh well, you asked for it!” The boy tosses his ball out and reveals the same Aquana as before and I consider my options carefully before opening with Carvanha like last time.

In most cases, the scene would be identical to the previous one, but the wary glances of recognition between our pokémon says just one thing better than any spoken word: Rematch.

I decide to set the mood by using my éTech as an MP3 player, searching the internet for a good tune. This will work.

As usual, the Aquana is ordered to use Camoflauge and I respond with Rage. The attack is allowed to land, doing no noticeable damage against the now-steel type. The attack of Acrobatics comes and I’m ready. “Assurance!”

The other pokémon is faster, but I planned on that, Carvanha taking the hit, now looking pretty steamed, Velocial coming off with a bit of a scrape. Then Carvanha makes her attack.

Rage’s boosted Attack, plus STAB, plus the boost from rough skin’s preliminary damage puts Assurance well within the 100 damage range, enough to get through the Dark < Steel type combo for some noteable damage. A far cry from before. “Swagger!”

Carvanha chomps her jaws and blows a few bubbles, puffing up her chest area a bit. The Aquana gets pissed at the taunting and rushes for Carvanha. “Aqua Jet!”

They meet in the middle and both land a strike, though in its haste to attack, Aquana didn’t attack with it’s best tactics, leaving it at a disadvantage and sending it into the water. “Bite!”

Now that the foe was in her element, Carvanha gnashes her jaws around the opponent, latching onto it and chomping repeatedly. Still in an angered frenzy, the Aquana is soon finished, unable to calm down and think clearly.

The battle is just about over. The trainer calls for acrobatics and the command gets to his pokémon, letting it tactically fling Carvanha off with a quick tail slap when Carvanha goes to take another bite, sending her to the other end of the pool.

This time, I don’t recall her as she’s in about as much of a frenzy as the Aquana was, but still sensate. I call for an Aqua Jet and the Aquana isn’t fast enough to react and takes the full force, shoving it out of the water to land by its trainer’s feet, barely standing.

The trainer shakes his head. He says, “Alright, I’m done. Your Carvanaha’s too much for Aquana,” and recalls his pokémon.

“Of course she is. That’s what we trained for.” I recall my rather happy Carvanha from the pool.

“You stopped Grinding yesterday right? How are you so rested? Most trainers get a battle-hangover.”

I grin. “I have good friends who know neat tricks. Anyway, onwards and upwards as they say.”

This time I’m aware of the water flipping upside-down. It’s just a matter of feeling the current shift slightly, I was just unprepared and unlearned before. I dive down into the cube below me and climb up onto the platform with the same girl as before. My muscles have finally gotten used to swimming so my childhood skills are back finally.

“Alright, this time I want a real battle, no pansy wins because of a psycho pokémon. I’m gonna win this one by kicking butt, not special treatment.”

She nods, “I got a different pokémon this time. Kingler is actually my dad’s pokémon, but she’s pretty docile, actually.”

“Alright then, let’s begin. GLaDoS!” I call and summon the pokémon who announces his presence with a proud “Tay-to!”

The second gym trainer sends out the Kingler and I nod. First thing’s first... “Vine whip! Bind that claw behind it’s back!”

My pokémon does as requested, but isn’t able to get enough leverage, the Kingler using its relative size to its advantage as it advances towards my pokémon.

“Shock Wave then.” I command and GLaDoS looses a wave-like beam of electrical energy at the vulnerable Water type who is forced to take the blast full-force.

“Respond with Vicegrip! Use that pincer strength!” she yells, and the Kingler’s large claw begins to move open, steadily and ominously as it gets closer with an almost eerie inevitability. Suddenly, it dawns on me: It’s using the Vine Whip as a guide for its claw! The pokedex entry states it’s normally hard to aim, but if it’s tethered to its target...

On the other hand... blessings in disguise. I let the Voltato get caught and squeezed painfully. It’s a risk, but an effective one to get that close. “Toxic!”

The potato-pokémon squeals violently, and a purple goo sprays out from its eyespots, getting the Kingler, ironically, in the eyes. The strike couldn’t have been better if I’d aimed the shot myself; the Kingler squeals in pain, dropping GLaDoS with a bit of umph, almost enough to send it off the platform, and stumbles back, falling to the water and shaking itself violently.

The trainer opposite me recalls her pokémon immediately, and waves me on, before simply leaping off towards the actual pool at the bottom of the gym, evidently heading for a healing station.

My team doesn’t need healing stations. I call for GLaDoS to use Synthesis a few times to fully heal before recalling him. My team is in perfect condition to fight a gym leader. I take the wild ride and this time decide to enjoy it. Aside from the massive wedgie I get from my shorts, I do enjoy it quite a lot and I’m in front of Zoli’s platform before I know it.

He greets me with a wave, saying, “Hey man! Heard you’ve been training pretty hard. You up for another round already?” he says, already reaching for the bottom to extend the Leader’s Platform to its usual battle state.

“Yeah, nearly wore myself out, but very worth it. Let’s save the small talk for after I whoop ya, huh?” I say, feeling pretty darn confident.

He chuckles. “Sure, and good luck.” he says, slipping on his mask and diving into the water as soon as it’s open, and I get a glimpse this time that the mask has a Dragonite design theme, and so did his shorts. Huh.

I nod and await his first pokémon, already planning on what mine will be. Eh, I’m impatient. I hurll the torpedo-like Depth Ball deep into the water and out comes Gulpar in his usual ghostly swimming in place motion.

I fold my arms. “Impressed?”

“Would be if I didn’t have one too.” comes the reply, tone laid back but still snarky. “Anyways, say hello to Lapras again~!” he says, and the pokémon rises from under the water, presumably where it was released for battle.

“Hello Lapras.” I say, still feeling confident. “Gulpar, Coil.”

My pokémon coils into a large, slimy ball, and the Lapras looks vaguely uneasy about the eel-like pokémon. “Use Confuse Ray, Lapras.” comes the order, and Lapras begins to charge and fire the attack.

“Dodge it!”

And just like it did with the Lanturn I rented, it turns intangible... but the nature of the move is not favoring it and my pokémon begins writhing crazily, large mouth opening and closing as if trying to eat imaginary prey.

Shit, that’s one good Confuse Ray for sure. “Ice Fang!”

Gulpar orients using my voice, facing away from me -which almost puts it on-target- And then lunges forward with a mouth trailing snowflakes and hail, gliding through the water without any trace of passage. A moment later, I see it has gone out the other side of the battle cube, and is trying to find its way back to the battle.

“You should probably recall Gulpar and re-deploy ‘em. While confused, I don’t think it’s gonna find the field easily.”

“Yeah well, your Lapras is pretty nuts to use that Confuse Ray full blast.” I say as the Depth Ball absorbs my pokémon and I toss him out again, spending my turn on that, meaning Ice Fang doesn’t go through. Still... “Stockpile!”

Gulpar, now no longer confused from its brief stay in the ball, begins to bulge its mouth, blind eyes staring sightlessly at the battlefield.

God, I have such awesomely creepy pokémon.

“Stockpile again.” I call and watch as the ball of stuff expands and further fills the giant maw. I await Zoli’s move before executing my plan.

The command comes next over the announcement system, “Alright, use Toxic, Lapras.” Lapras, seems to hock a purplish loogie at Gulpar, who is too busy drawing in more for the second Stockpile to phase out or dodge, and gets splattered right in his mostly-open mouth.

I nod. “Spit Up!”

The glob of goo flies out, and the surprised Lapras gets smacked hard enough to flip her over, crying out in shock and pain. The almost musical cries of distress are upsetting, honestly, but I don’t have time to feel bad, I need to win this.

I call for a second Ice Fang, the giant maw opening rather wide as the teeth let off snowflakes in the water. More focused this time, the move lands with a mighty, not to mention freezing, chomp. I’m aware that it won’t hurt Lapras much, but I think it’s almost done anyways.

The Lapras makes a keening noise, and then turns to red light as she’s recalled. “Much better than your first try, now for Malamar, as with last time.”

This time, the pokémon doesn’t give me the same feeling of chills as it did last time, as Zoli either doesn’t know or just doesn’t use the Swagger combo. The squid-pokémon jets through the water, then rises above it malignantly. “Start with Swagger.” the command comes, and the Malamar struts vigorously in midair above the water.

“Gulpar. Bite!” I call for the normally-damaging move in hopes of a flinch, and the angered Pokémon rushes forward for the attack but with it’s gigantic mouth barely scratches the Malamar in its haste to attack the taunting Malamar.

“Now use Payback.” Zoli says, and I remember that Gulpar is part Ghost type, and may not have done much damage, but it did hit that Malamar first technically speaking. Before I can do anything, the squid pokémon’s strike comes, slapping Gulpar out of the water and onto the platform at my feet. I can see the traces of foam at the edges of my pokémon’s mouth, probably from the Toxic Lapras had hit it with.

I do a mercy-recall and toss out Luna. “Start with a Tail Glow!” I say, preparing for a devastating counterattack in a moment.

“Hit it with Rock Slide before it power up all the way.” Rock Slide? Can Malamar really learn Rock Slide? Evidently so, as a series of phantom stones materialize in its telekinetic grasp, and begin to pelt Luna, hard.

“Think you can take it?” I ask my pokémon, not wanting to see it hurt too badly. Luna whimpers, but nods. “Alright, then Silver Wind!” I figure I at least got a slight Special Attack boost from the beginning of Tail Glow so Silver Wind should be powered up beyond a standard Double-Super-Effective.

Luna flaps her wings and sends a breeze of silvery dust which becomes a gale and the Malamar takes it like a champ... until it falls over, getting up to it’s full stature again, but not without serious effort.

“Absorb!” The attack finishes off the distressed Malamar, as the pokémon aren’t exactly hitsponges anyways, and the level gap is much smaller this time around. Malamar vanishes in a flash of red.

“Starmie, start things out with a Rapid Spin, then an Ice Beam.” Zoli says, and I can’t even see where his pokémon is, as he’s releasing them under the water. After a moment, the Splash-Zzzzzzz! of a Starmie breaking the water, followed by a “Hy-ah!” from the pokémon itself, comes from behind me, and I feel the wind ruffle my hair as it passes within a hairsbreadth of my head to slam into Luna right between her wings, backing off only long enough to build some distance, then blasting the freezing ray at my pokémon while I’m still reacting to Zoli’s pokémon’s near miss of my head. By the time I’ve physically turned back to the battle, Luna is fully encased in ice.

Needless to say, Luna being a glass cannon is evident as that two-hit combo is all it takes to knock her out of the sky. I recall her before she hits the water and plan my next move. I need to be careful of that Ice Beam...

And the Hydro Pump I recall being used to flood the stage. That’s it, I need a good fast swimmer. “Carvanha, you’re up again!”

My pokémon does a flip upon materialization, before hitting the water, then begins to circle around the hovering starfish.

I got this one set. Water and Ice moves aren’t very effective on Water types, so Starmie has to stick to Normal moves, Psychic completely ruled out by Carvanha’s Dark type. “Now Bite it!”

Carvanha leaps from the water as Zoli shouts, “Counter with Signal Beam, knock it away!”

The Starmie catches my pokémon right in the mouth, but Carvanha refuses to be stopped, and keeps going, powering through to clamp her teeth around Starmie’s central segment, biting hard. There’s a faint crackling, like of glass being broken, and the Starmie simply passes right out, gem bearing a brand-new crack. Nothing fatal for a pokémon, but... dayum.

That’s what a physical Dark attack on a Special Defending Psychic type looks like for sure. I grin at Zoli and allow myself a quick brag. “I totally called that!”

Zoli chuckles. “You haven’t won yet...” I see him swim up from the water and line up with the opposite platform from me, performing a flip athletically to get back on the floor and pulls one more ball. The others he’s pulled have been net balls and dive balls, but this one... it’s just a plain Pokéball. “One last guardian at this pass.” he says, pulling off his mask and letting out... a full-grown Blastoise, who stomps and bellows a challenge. Duuude. That’s a good show.

Only thing that could make it more complete would be it Mega Evolving, which I fully plan on happening. And in that case... “Carvanha, good job. Alright Gloom, you’re up!”

The Blastoise hunkers down, glaring across the water. “Alright, Blastoise, let’s start this off right. Bunker Up!” Ooh, that’s a new move!

I give it a few moments to complete, if only to see what happens, and it’s no disappointment. Blastoise tucks in its body a bit, then summons a sort of barricade in front of it formed of the steel floor it’s standing on, complete with firing slits for its cannons and a thin view right at its eye height both standing and in firing stance.

Not bad... but I have a way to get through that. “Stun Spore!”

“Blast it back, wet spores don’t float.” Zoli’s response comes, and his pokémon begins to simply fire a low-pressure torrent to down the floating cloud, turning the water in the pool an ugly yellow.

Gonna have to get through that bunker another way... “Sweet Scent!”

As Gloom lets loose with the attack, Zoli responds with, “Ice Beam, twin-linked.” As I wonder about the second half, I prepare to order Gloom to move, when I see that both of the Blastoise’ cannons are glowing with blue-white energy, each about to fire their own Ice Beam attack. There’s no way Gloom would stand up to a double-strength hit like that!

But I know who can... I recall Gloom and send out Litwick starting off with an order to “Minimize, now!”

With Litwick’s small stature shrunken down further, the blast barely grazes her, but the resistance to the move nullifies any lingering pain. “Flame Burst, heat up that bunker!”

Litwick lets loose, and I barely hear the response of ‘Water Pulse!’ from Zoli. The two attacks strike each other in the middle of the field, and an explosion of steam obscures the entire Gym. Thankfully, the steam is rapidly cooling towards ‘tepid’ in this Gym.

Well if fire doesn’t work, let’s try poison. “Smog! Smoke it out!”

Litwick immediately begins to pour out a thick, greasy smog, the purplish tint showing its toxicity. The cloud fades into the steam cloud, and the field slowly begins to clear, revealing the bunker... with no Blastoise in it.

“Now use Hydro Pump!” Zoli calls, and the large turtle pokémon strikes from the side, having sunk into the water away from the yellow streak of stun-spore tainted water. The powerful blast strikes Litwick before either of us can respond and throws her down, the thunderous punch of the water visibly knocking her out in a single shot.

Alright then... “GLaDoS!” I call out and the potato pokémon comes out again as I recall Litwick. “Start with Sunny Day!”

Boost to my speed should help, along with the weakening effect on ice moves should help protect Voltato from all but a Skull Bash.

Zoli nods. “Alright, Blastoise, return fire with Ice Beam, twin linked again.” he points as he speaks, and his pokémon nods, heaving itself out of the water with a quick mini-Rapid Spin, then turns and begins to charge the cannons on its shoulders to fire from both again.

“Dodge it and use Zap Cannon!” I order and my little buddy manages to dodge the powerful but notably slow attack. Twin-Linking seems to reduce accuracy at the benefit of more power in the attack. Which means I was right: Speed and size is indeed key in this fight. That and Blastoise being notorious for high Defense and low Special Defense should make Zap Cannon hurt plenty.

GLaDoS’ entire body pulses, the energy drawing in from its green, chlorophyll-filled limbs inwards, the base orb building between its eyes and then firing out as a strong beam, tagging Blastoise and redirecting the Ice Beams skywards from the recoil, and the larger pokémon shivers and tries to stand up, but locks up part way, face screwed up in consternation.

“Follow up with Toxic, then with Vine Whip!” My pokémon nods, then fires out the purple goo that is a Toxic attack, following up with a withering barrage of Vine Whips, until Zoli simply recalls his pokémon. “Enough, enough man. Good job, though you should remember that the muscle-lock of being Paralyzed prevents toxins from seeping into a pokémon’s system in the future.” he says, hitting a button and retracting the corners of the gym field together. Lights come on all around, revealing there was... an audience stand!? And an actual observation deck and everything, complete with a large anti-splash guard and more than a few dozen people watching. Including some I recognize from earlier last week; it’s the contest judges, including James.

“Uh... was this a contest and nobody told me? I think I just botched this up in that case...”

Zoli chuckles and shakes his head. “Nah, the audience room is just open for viewing most days of the week; it helps bring in extra money for maintaining the Gym and all. Electricity ain’t free yet after all.” he says.

“So uh, do they decide if I won, or is that still on you?” I ask, unsure.

“Nope, still me. And you did great; you showed dedication to continuing your work and you held through in the battle itself. You were thinking quick on your feet and keeping calm throughout. There were a few hiccups, but nothing I think you won’t rectify with more experience. C’mere, I got a badge to give ya.”

I stand up straight, feeling very proud of myself at the praise. Somehow I get the feeling that I’d feel less accomplished if I’d won this last week without all that grinding. Maybe I should throw the first match in the third Gym... nah. “Thanks. It was a pretty wild ride. My team’s a bit unbalanced now but... worth it. I just have one question.”

“Go ahead.” he says, pulling out the case that holds the badges.

“A friend of mine is gonna challenge next. Am I allowed to watch from the stands?” I want to see how Twilight’s attempt goes. I probably won’t be allowed to follow behind her and such.

Zoli nods. “Yeah, sure. Entrance fee is 150, anyone’s welcome.”

“Great!” I say, glad I’ll be able to watch. Twilight says she’s been training to and I want to see her skills. “I’ll be watching... and give her the run-around, she’s a lot smarter than she looks.”

I head to the locker room and change into my trainer gear and come up to Twilight who has been swimming around with her pokémon in the public pool area. She really does look good as a Goldeen, except her purple hair clashes greatly with the ‘sunset orange’. Oh great, I’m turning into Rarity. “Hey Twilight, your turn.”

She nods and swims over, recalling her pokémon.

“And I’ll be watching. There’s the obvious challenge of winning but how about something harder to boot?”

“Oh? What do you mean?” she cocks her head in confusion as she asks the question.

“Convince me this nerdy little shut-in has what it takes to be a pokémon master.” I say, grinning. “I wanna see you win as much as anyone... but really try. Really really try. Now go get ‘em.”

She chuckles at the compliment, then stops at the insulting meaning, then shakes her head, chuckling again. “You’re really something, aren’t you, Anthony?”

“Odd, most people choose ‘crazy’ over ‘something’. Twilight’s complimenting me, oh whatever will I do?” I snark back and give her a gentle nudge towards the arena. “For real though... I wanna see you give it your all.”

She nods and walks off and I go in the opposite direction, seeing the ramp up to the spectator’s balcony-area-thing. I pay the fee and get in. Unfortunately the place is positioned so I only have a good view of when she’ll fight Zoli, not the gym trainers, but still... a very good seat for her fighting Zoli. It’s a bit of time, but eventually I see Twilight fly down the final slide to Zoli, landing a lot more gracefully than I did the first time. I see Zoli look her over and I can’t quite hear what he says but given Twilight’s reaction it’s a compliment. They take out their balls and the battle begins.

By this point she’s lost Pignite and Fearow as I expected, and right now she’s got Leichengst, which is Mossulk’s evolved form. I never saw it evolve so I take out my éTech and study it.

Lichengst, the Brooding Pokémon.
- These grim, brooding pokémon will gather in small groups, and will refuse to respond to anything bigger than themselves. Whenever one would evolve or simply gets too big, it gets ostracized from the group.
- The mossy bodies of these pokémon glow slightly, often forming shapes like skulls or highlighting spikes. They try to look menacing, but they don't really mean any harm.
Grass Type, Poison Type

Weird... Either way, she’s up against Blastoise. This is the final leg of the match. Let’s see what you’re made of Twi. Don’t dissapoint.

She starts off with having the sullen pokémon use Grass Knot, which is immensely effective against the heavy Blastoise, then continuing with a Slam, grappling in the process. After only a few moments, the two are locked, hands to hands and trying to shove each other off the platform, Zoli watching and occasionally giving pointers, but the two pokémon are evenly matched in size, and there isn’t much they two can to to each other at this level and distance.

Finally, Twilight’s Lichengst gets the upper hand, and tips over the heavy Blastoise, then does, much to my amazement, a full-on piledriver with its spiked elbow. Wait a sec... Pignite is a wrestler-style pokémon, and Twilight’s mentioned she’s done some double battling. Has she been cross-training her pokémon? Is that even legal?

Well, Zoli doesn’t object, rather recalling his pokémon and nodding. The same ceremony goes through, and Zoli gives a slightly different speech, complimenting her on her cross-training (called it) and her creativity, as well as being able to get a Lichengst to actually listen to her, which he says is very impressive.

I wonder why it listens to her as well. As a human she’s about as big as it is. Maybe it trusts her since it knew her since it was ‘younger’. Or because it knows she’s actually a lot shorter as a pony. I’m betting on the latter.

Though Twi’s moves have got me thinking... what can my pokémon teach each other? They’re a little too diverse. Or are they? I can teach them new tricks by combining moves they already know. And I just got an idea of one for GLaDoS, but sharing techniques... I don’t think my team is capable of that, I rely too much on their special abilities as opposed to their generic ones... but that’s what makes them individuals in combat.

I’ll think of something later, I’m sure. I take down a note to remind myself to teach GLaDoS that combo move and watch Twilight get her badge. She looks so happy, heh. And she does look pretty good as a Goldeen. Oh well, I wonder what the next gym has in store for us...

Chapter 59

After we leave the gym, Twilight and I plan to have a little celebration, but Rarity reminds us that anything major will cost money which we’re currently rather low on. We have enough to feed ourselves but not all that much besides.

“Well, I was fighting some trainers.” Twilight says. “I bought items every now and then to keep my team healthy but I still have some left... Not sure if we should use it for a party.”

I have to admit that Twilight’s right. “So we have a bit of extra cash between us, but we should decide what to splurge on.”

“Coffee!” Rarity practically hisses at me before composing herself. “That’s what we need.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine, you go do that. I’ll check out where the next place is. I’m getting tired of all this dang rain.” The girls rush off to get their drug while I pull up my éTech map and check where the next gym is.

I look at the listing, and blink, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The third gym is in the northern desert on the other side of the freaking continent?!

No, I don’t think so... that makes no sense. I recall the little forest town with the Ren Faire. That farmgirl said she was the gym leader. Why don’t we just go there first? This map must be buggy or something.

After a bit more waiting, Twilight and Rarity come back. “You find your poison?”

They huff. “It’s not poison, it’s just coffee.”

I roll my eyes again. “Considering what all goes into coffee, yes, it’s poison.”

“What are you talking about? It’s ground up beans in boiling water -or milk- like hot chocolate.”

I reach into Twi’s bag and pull out the instant coffee mix and point to the ingredients. It does indeed have coffee beans... and about five other ingredients with three-syllables each. “Any ingredient that has more than two syllables and you can’t pronounce without trying a second time is bad for you, because it’s been manufactured.”

Twilight huffs. “And it’s stronger than regular coffee! There’s no problems, Anthony. Right Rarity?” she says, turning to her friend, who is clutching what I see is a bag of ‘Organic’ labeled beans, with a look of horror on her face as she stares at the instant-coffee.

Well, at least she got stuff that isn’t chemically-saturated.

“Serious business Twilight, this stuff is going to keep you awake alright, but when you start getting the shivers I am not gonna be sympathetic.” I toss the instant coffee back into her bag. “Anyways, our next stop is that town with the Ren Faire, so it shouldn’t be long. If we leave now we should get there by...” I take a second to think about how fast we can get somewhere. “Well, we’ll get there before sunset at least so we won’t be walking through the woods at night.”

The two give varying noises of agreement, and grab their own stuff. I notice, though, that Rarity has a sixth pokéball with her.

“Woah, when’d ya get that one?” I ask, indicating the now-occupied sixth ball slot. “While Twi and I were out training?” I figured Rarity just sat around or went sightseeing. Didn’t expect her to take initiative without any kind of backup. “What’s in there, a Purrloin?”

“Yes, she’s a pokémon named Freyjaloof, and I got her from the Breeder’s conference I attended while you and Twilight were preparing for your Gym battle.” She pauses for a moment, then asks, “Would you like to see her?”

“So uh... what is a Freyjaloof, Rarity?” Twilight asks and I nod as well, to indicate my curiosity.

“Sounds like a Fairy type name, or Normal.” I say, adding my guess.

She nods. “Right on the first, but here, let me show you~” she says, a lilt in her voice on the last word, and she sends out the new pokémon. Freyjaloof appears, a large, definitely feline pokémon, covered in a huge amount of fur in a steel-gray color, ears covered in fluff that gives the pokémon the look of wearing a winged helm, and she purrs upon seeing Rarity, and sits straight-backed at attention next to her trainer. “Freyyy~Yah!”

“Well, it’s not a Purrloin, but still a cat. So what can it do?” I ask. “Is it like most Fairy types and mainly a contest pokémon, or does it have an offensive movepool?”

“Oh, this dear is a Fairy and Fighting Type, and she’s quite adept at both. In the training sessions I’ve done with her, I’ve been most surprised by the diversity of her moves, actually.” Rarity says, picking up the cat, but making an ‘oof’ of effort in the process, as the pokémon is evidently far heavier than it looks, and it’s a foot-and-a-half tall cat.

“Well hopefully it and Glorious will make good offensive partners so you aren’t useless in a fight. If those Chainers show up again I’m not sure we’d get away otherwise. It’s important to be ready for a battle at the drop of a hat.”

Rarity nods. “I still don’t like the thought of fighting if I can avoid it, but I don’t doubt those ruffians are in a much different mindset.” she pets her new cat as she speaks, and the pokémon seems perfectly content to snuggle close to her.

“Right. Well, we should get going now so we don’t end up in the forest at night.” I set my éTech to put a waypoint on the Pokémon Center of Elderoot Town and we head out, Rarity deciding to recall her pokémon as carrying it is a bit of effort for her.

Without much in the way of hostile pokémon stopping us, we are about halfway through the woods and the sun is getting fairly low so we opt to pick up the pace. Luckily it’s just getting to be night when we arrive, walking in the Center door with just a sliver of sun left.

We hole up for the night and decide to get a look at the town in the morning. Rarity wants to wear her outfit she made when she was here at the Faire and I see no problem in it. “Just don’t expect everyone to just go with it. Ren Faires are cool and all but they don’t last all year. You may be getting more attention than usual.”

She shrugs. “I am entirely alright with that. Either way, I’ll be wanting to speak with as many people as I can anyways, so this will only be a benefit.”

Oh yeah, that’s something I forget to do in the games as well, talk to the city folks to see what’s going on. Oh well, we have Rarity for that now so I guess it’s fine if I don’t.

We settle in for the night and it’s morning before I know it. I get up with a bit of difficulty, still a bit weak from my grinding spree despite my day-long nap the other day. I rub the sleep-crud from my eyes and slip back into my travelling gear, pausing to revel in the sight of the second badge on my jacket. I’m making good progress. I walk downstairs and I see the girls are already up, relaxing on the community couch, though they’re back to ponies.

Twilight is the main center of attention, though Rarity is also attended by a couple of people looking her over. Every single one of them (minus a brave 10-year-old who has claimed Rarity’s foreleg) is maintaining a respectful distance and keeping their voices low as they talk with one another and the ponies.

I sit down by Twilight. “And what’s got you so popular all of a sudden?”

She looks up at me, then back at her crowd. “Alright, everyone, my friend is here, and I’ve got to go. I wish you all well~!” she says, and begins to move out. Rarity reluctantly does as well, and the crowd of humans looks fairly disappointed. Once we’re outside, Twilight turns to me. “Well, we came down just to see what was going on- oh, right, there was some noise, which turned out to be a party of some kind. You slept through it. Anyways, we came down, and everyone was just more interested in talking to ‘the new pokémon’ to keep going with the party.”

“Guessing the kid interested in Rarity was the birthday boy?” I deduce, noting that it was the only kid I saw there.

“I’m not actually sure, dear, but he was simply adorable.” she says.

I laugh, recalling a ‘fact’ I heard once. “Yeah, human kids are cute, mainly so the parents don’t end up killing them. That’s a joke, because kids are crazy difficult to control. Anyways the map is buggy it said...” I check the éTech. “And it’s still bugged, it says the third gym is across a desert on the other end of the continent.”

Rarity’s brows furrow, and Twilight checks her own, levitating a stylus to interact with the surface without using her nose while she’s quadrupedal. “Hmm... you’re right. I guess we have more travelling to do then, though it does say there’s a gym leader in town.” she comments.

“Yeah, I met her briefly during the uh... issue at the faire.” I say, recalling my getting trounced by that illegal Pidgeotto. “I figured we’d come here before going halfway across the land just to find we could’ve just gone a bit backwards. Makes sense to me.”

“Oh, alright, that sounds reasonable.” she says, then notices something on her screen. “Oh! It says there’s rare and potent herbal remedies here in town, that are much more effective than standard healing potions and the like.” she says, pointing at what looks like a Yelp review, but for a small shop... not that far from here, if the attached map is correct.

“Looking for cheap, more efficient equipment for keeping your pokémon in top shape. You’re thinking more like a trainer every day.” I say, ruffling Twilight’s mane. “Alright, we’ll stop by there when our supplies start to get low. I still have a few super potions.”

“Oh, alright. Anyways, what more do we need to do today? I mean, I’m going to be checking out some of the things this town has to offer, as it’s fairly similar to several towns in Equestria. Much closer to our style of architecture, as well.” At the last part of her comment, I look up and see she’s right; it’s not as bright and colorful as Ponyville, but it’s got a similar rustic grace and sturdiness to the buildings.

Huh, I thought the place was just decorated like this for the faire, but apparently there’s a reason this is the perfect place for a faire considering the place already looks like it stepped out of a medieval novel.

“So what is around here?” I ask, checking buildings for any interesting places. “Hopefully there’s a place where I can train some more.”

“More? Didn’t you just get off a grinding binge?” Rarity asks curiously.

I shrug. “Yeah, for six pokémon. I have more than that and that means some of my team is behind. I want everyone tough as they can be at the same time.”

Twilight nods. “That is a good reason. I’ve been avoiding catching new pokémon so that none of mine become neglected. Although, I’ve been thinking of maybe catching one as a registered Companion instead of a trainer’s pokémon.” she says.

“Oh? You mean like Rangers have? That sounds like an interesting idea.” I admit. “But I’m not sure, there are certain privileges official companions lose when they change over from being standard trained pokémon. At least, that’s what I knew last.”

“Oh, from what I saw, Companion pokémon are actually sort of like... pets? They aren’t meant for battling, but rather having a pokémon you want with you, but won’t participate except in day-to-day life. They usually don’t get as strong as actually Trained pokémon, but they’re useful, such as a fire-type for lighting campfires, even if the rest of your team is already well balanced, and is simply not able to light small fires safely. Or because it has an interesting ability that doesn’t apply in battle, like a Rotom that is possessing a flashlight, acting as your light, instead of battling.”

I nod thoughtfully. “Yeah, but I can’t think of anyone on my team I’d like to deny training. I mean, I’m sure they can be used in emergencies and non-league administrated battles, but I probably won’t do that. I suppose you’ll be signing Twirunt up for that? I figure if Rarity’s gonna do that she’ll choose Ledian.”

“Oh, a Companion pokémon isn’t considered a part of a team, and so basically lets you have seven pokémon with you, but one or two aren’t allowed to participate in league challenges.” she clarifies. “That includes Contests and trainer battles. Again, I’ve only been thinking about it. Many people have pokémon like Jigglypuff as their companion simply to make it easier to fall asleep at night.”

I shrug. “Maybe I’ll find a pokémon that would be good for that but at the moment I’m fine the way I am. Not much need for a companion pokémon right now. I mean, most trainers would set their starter as their companion, or a baby pokémon they’re raising but I don’t have anything like that, and Geodude I’d prefer stay legal for official matches.” I think for a moment. “Maybe Ghowl could be my companion, but I’m not sure just yet.”

“I’m thinking it probably won’t be needed, as I can cast spells that will do most of the things pokémon abilities would be needed for, but if we ever decide to split up for any reason, you having a firestarter or someone to break stones would be useful.”

“I have the waterproof matches in my bag, and I can always just call out Geodude to use Rock Smash if I need it.” I say. “I also have two swimmers and two fliers. I think I’m set without a Utility Companion as it stands.”

“Alright, it’s just a suggestion. Oh, I forgot! Zoli gave me one of those TM discs, and said he forgot to hand you one as well. Or, well, he called it an ‘HM’ instead. Those’re the rarer ones, right?” she says, pulling out a blue-toned disc.

“Yeah, rare as in they have to be given as gifts or found. You can’t buy them. They tend to have very effective moves whether in or outside of battle. What’s that one, Dive?”

“Yes, actually. He said you were in a hurry to get to the stands, and he spaced for a moment.”

“I figured, a scuba diver type of guy gives out Dive. Oh well, it’s cool that we only got one, since we are sharing our discs. We should probably teach it to our pokémon next chance we get, though we’ll need a way to breathe underwater so we can dive with our pokémon.”

“Oh, he gave me one, and handed me yours as well. And I think he said something about a place to buy rebreathers, but I was, uh, a little distracted.” She blushes at the thought of having not taken notes.

I wave it off. “No big deal, we can always go get some later. At the moment though we’re currently in the forest and the next stop is across a desert. I doubt we’ll see much water aside from a large lake here or there. Some bikes would be more helpful really.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard about those... something about motorless transportation, though I haven’t found any mentions of places to purchase any. How do they work? I didn’t actually find any descriptions of how their systems work, or what does drive them.”

I roll my eyes. “Bikes are indeed motorless transport. I saw a shop for them a while back but I didn’t mention it since they were way above our price range. As for how they work... you sit on them and pedal. Requires practice though.”

“Oh, that sounds easy enough. Well, we’ll look into them later; is there anything else to discuss for today, or...?” she lets the question trail off.

“Nah. I think we can just wander around, check the place out... maybe scope out the gym and see what our competition is. Shouldn’t be that much worse than Zoli’s gym since it’s so close.”

Twilight nods. Rarity, however, looks towards the herbs shop. “well, Twilight, if you would kindly give me my disguise, I believe I would like to browse the herbs shop. It sounds most intriguing.” she says, and Twilight does so, also turning herself human in the process. Thankfully, nobody’s around to question it.

Also, Rarity is, as requested, back in the ‘princess’ outfit from the faire again and I hate to admit how hot she looks dressed like that. If the magic didn’t get any attention, that certainly will.

Eitherwhats, she heads into the shop, and Twilight simply shrugs. “Well, shall we head to the gym, Anthony?” she asks, smiling over at me.

“Sure. Let’s see how it goes.” We get near the gym and see another trainer walking out, sticking a badge into her case, indicating a win in a not-so-subtle fashion. “Hey, you just win that badge?”

“Oh yeah, it was easy. My team barely broke a sweat! Good luck in there.” She smiles and walks off. This gym sounds like a pushover.

“Well Twi, wanna watch a few matches and see how it looks, or should we get going for the challenge ourselves?” I ask, grinning at the thought of seeing this gym challenge being so easy that girl can just walk out and act like the place was nothing at all. Finally an easier badge.

“Hmm... The first. It should be educational, and if we’re both watching, I can ask you questions if I have them!” she says, smiling and bouncing in place, not unlike Pinkie Pie for a second.

“Alright, let’s go in.”

Upon entering the door to the old-timey-looking gym, we see that it’s set up like the hall of a minor lord or lady in medieval times, keeping up the theme, with a plethora of cobwebs, and what at first looked like floral patterns on the walls, until I realized they were carefully cultured vines growing up the walls, and a series of trainers standing in full (if oddly colored) armor form an honor guard heading up the hall. No puzzles, no traps, just a gauntlet of trainer battles,a t least two of which are obvious double battles, from their spacing. That armor keeps bugging me, though... I know I’ve seen that material before, but I can’t place it. Ah well, there’s a camouflaged sign pointing to some stairs that lead up for ‘Visitors’, with an automatic turnstile with a swipe-pad for our éTechs.

I swipe mine and hear a confirming beep and pass through the turnstile. I expect Twilight to follow suit, but she’s studying the little machine and asks, of course. “How does it work?” I roll my eyes and grab her éTech and swipe it and pull her through the turnstile. “But how does it work?”

I sigh. “It’s technology.” We get to some stands and await for the next challenger. It’s actually a somewhat long wait. We only get to see the Leader’s match, which sucks, but it should be good enough. But this does take a while. Guess everyone’s heading through the desert right now... idiots.

Finally, I see a guy wearing a red bandanna with a pokéball symbol on the front in white on his head, the rest of his garb pretty impressively travel-worn. Finally, the gym leader, whom I met when she looked like a farmhand, finally reveals herself, this time dressed as a princess out of a fairy tale, and looks down at the challenger with a small grin.

The usual call-and-response challenge starts, and she pulls a pokéball with a gold-lattice cover off a nearby pillow, where I’d mistaken it for a prop gem or bauble, and throws it out, revealing her first pokémon. A Crustle with a coat-of-arms matching the one flying on the Gym’s banners painted onto each face of its ‘shell’ appears with a small burst of recorded fanfare, baring its claws menacingly.

Looks like she’s even got special capsules for this. And let’s see... with the vines, I imagined a Grass gym, but Crustle... this seems more like a Bug gym. Or it’s like Zoli’s gym and she doesn’t open with the gym’s signature type. At this point it’s a toss-up. The trainer throws out a pokémon that looks like a muscular, beaked smoke cloud coming out of the top of a brick chimney. I figure I’ll look up what that is later, the current reason for being here is to scope out the gym. Studying can wait.

The pokémon lets loose a deep squawk, and its trainer begins having it use fire-based moves. The Crustle certainly tanks the hits well, until a Rock Smash attack sends a deep crack all the way through the Crustle’s stony shell, dropping the bug/rock-type straight into unconsciousness. Strong pokémon, that’s for sure, but not that strong. The Bug type should have protected it from the Fighting type move like it’s Rock type supported the Bug type. Guess these pokémon really aren’t that impressive.

I await the leader’s next pokémon, the woman sending out a... Holy shitberry pie what is that monstrosity!?

A massive tangle of tube-like limbs with giant, circular mouths filled with ring after ring of tiny teeth at their tips writhes in place and gives a titanic roar. Four eyes, placed with radial symmetry, sit near each mouth, but I’m a little afraid of looking away from this thing long enough to check if they’re real eyes or not. The main body is long and worm-like, and it shrieks again, sending shivers up and down my spine of instinctual, reptile-brain panic.

Okay... maybe this gym isn’t so easy... I await the trainer’s response, which is similar to mine until he makes his command of, lightly paraphrased, ‘kill it with fire’. The oven-bird pokémon begins to let loose a torrent of golden-yellow hot flames, but the massive worm-monster simply ignores it. The gym leader responds with a move called ‘Hydra Fang’, and all five of her pokémon’s heads dart down to take a chomp at the bird-pokémon, who ducks inside its brick armor, not unlike a scared Spiritomb.

Hydra Fang? Great, dragons have a typed bite move now... another thing to worry about. That said, it’s not that surprising it exists. I await the response to the retreating tactic. Surprisingly, the trainer doesn’t lose his head at being less than ten feet from this whole scenario, and calls for Eruption, the result of which actually does get the hydra-worm’s attention, as it had just stuck a head down the top of the chimney-like top. A blast of molten-hot stone and fire catches it in multiple faces, and it breaks back, writhing and shrieking, until the gym leader calls for it to use... Psychic? How the fuck can it learn Psychic?!

Wait... this is clearly a Bug type gym, given that it was either bug or grass and that’s notably not a Grass type. And a bug pokémon that uses Psychic moves- shit, is that what Magomental could become? No, I chose Lekgolem with the Alloy Shield... thank goodness.

Either way, it proves effective at bypassing the smoke-bird-oven-chimney’s stone shell, and the pokémon’s heated glow in the little oven hole goes out. Its trainer recalls it, and sends out his next pokémon, a Clefable. Now we’re talking; a Clefable can totally take a dragon type thanks to its Fairy advantage... huh, how did they not figure out that one sooner? Would Clefable have just... stopped taking damage from Dragon attacks when the type was discovered?

Or maybe it was discovered when people realized it took less damage but not because of it’s insane tankiness? Huh... Now I wanna ask the Devon guys again. I wonder if they have an ask site or something.

Either way, though, the Clefable can take the shots better. It’s not winning at this point, until...

“Metronome!” the trainer shouts, and the battered Fairy pokémon raises an index finger, tiny hand coated in a blue glow.

I nudge Twilight and say “You wanted to see what Metronome can do? Just watch.”

There’s a flash of light, and a sudden, freezing wind blows into the Gym, strong enough that I can feel the drop in temperature even here in the stand, and- woah, there’s ice forming on the stands! It only takes few seconds of this cold to settle in and the massive dragon-worm stills completely, unmoving and coated in a layer of frost. It’s not frozen, though, and the shivering Gym Leader recalls it, meaning that was... Sheer Cold. Wow, it’s freaking freezing up here, and we’re sixty feet more more up and half again that far away. We wouldn’t be able to see at all without the glass over the viewing area having all sorts of zooms and image enhancements on it. I can’t imagine what it’s like down there on the floor.

The Gym Leader looks a little iced over herself, though mainly due to her now having purple lips and bluish skin, no actual frost forming on her. That said, she’s shivering less than I am. “S-s-s-s-seeeeeeee? M-m-metronom-m-m-m-me.”

Twilight nods jerkily, arms clasped around her torso. “H-h-how d-do you m-m-m-manage w-without f-f-f-fur?!” she demands, lips gone a bit blue from the cold. Strangely, none of the others up here even look more than slightly chilled. Weird.

“We m-make clothes out of f-fur.” I say, as the Gym leader throws out her next pokémon from its gilded pokéball, a large spider that does a flip and lands on its four rear legs, raising its forelegs, all four of them, in a fighter’s pose. It even has a red bandana and a black belt that flutters in the cold wind of the Gym. The trainer visibly sighs and recalls his Clefairy, tossing out a Fearow.

I decide to take the éTech out and look at that one at least. A quick scan later the machine beeps in recognition.

Spidleweed, the Flipping Spider pokémon
- These pokémon skitter across the desert, doing what looks like flips to flick across the desert at high speeds. They also use their incredible legs to strike as if kicking and punching with amazing accuracy.
- They move with surprising grace and speed. Their belts are made from their own silk, and dyed with ink made from cactus flowers. They can move across even fiery lava by moving fast enough.
Bug and Fighting Type

It’s got pretty decent stats, too, even distributed across everything but special attack, though its speed is impressive. Huh, the data says it’s native to deserts; I may have to pick one up along the way.

Still, aside from a giant worm, so far there aren’t that many impressive pokémon. The leader is losing quite quickly.

The Fearow dives at the Spidleweed, who is promptly told to Bulk Up, and the pokémon makes some poses, before simply grabbing the dive-bombing Fearow out of mid-air by the beak and diverts it to the side. The next move the pokémon uses is Agility, and the Fearow is diverted a second time, being made to once more skid across the icy floor... wait, that’s what it’s doing! Ice is doubly effective against flying types, and if you don’t have any of your own... Shit, this dude dug his own Fearow’s metaphorical grave with that Metronome... maybe there’s more to this leader than her looks. Still, I’m not convinced she’s that big a deal, just smart.

The trainer backs his pokémon off, having it use Defog, clearing the ice from the entire gym in a single go. Impressive; I’d almost forgotten Defog removes all terrain effects, myself. That said, a Fearow would have to be pretty high level to have the power to blow away coated-on ice. Maybe the levels here are higher than I thought.

Then the trainer calls for his Fearow to use Heat Wave, and the Spidleweed covers itself to escape the fiery flurry. That means that Fearow is also a bred pokémon, because that’s an egg move, and hard to get into a line by accident.

After only a few moments, the Spidleweed is crispy, and the Fearow is told to follow up with Drill Peck, and this time the spider can’t deflect the attack. The pokémon is recalled, and the trainer looks pretty psyched. I have to admit, I am too, he’s pretty good, and this has been a somewhat stronger battle for both sides than I’d expected.

The gym leader nods respectfully. “Now that I’ve taken your measure, it’s time for the true battle to begin.” the leader says, confident and calm, and both the trainer and I take a double-take at that. Real battle? This was just her toying with him?

Next she sends out a Leavanny, this one with a pokeball without any fancy covers, it’s just gold-and-black. And not yellow, either, gold. Specifically the top is a shiny gold while the bottom half is a deep onyx black.

The Leavanny bows respectfully to the Fearow, who wastes no time going into a diving Drill Peck, but the Leavanny blurs backwards, a massive web of sticky strands practically materializing to snag the pokémon, who is, in the blink of an eye, trussed up completely, with the Leavanny sitting delicately atop the cocoon like it had simply decide to take a seat, no rush, no danger. The only part of the Fearow visible is its nostrils, poking out of the silk strands. The trainer, looking horrified, recalls his pokémon, and the Leavanny lands without a sound on the Gym floor once more.

Holy crap, and Leavanny aren’t supposed to be all that fast. This thing is either really high level or EV-trained specifically for speed. Either way I’m thoroughly impressed now.

The next pokémon the trainer throws out is a Beedrill, who is then coated almost immediately in a bright, purple-white light, and something on its trainer glows in sync. Moments later, the Beedrill reveals itself again... as a Mega Beedrill, raring for the fight. There’s a strong feeling of... well, it feels like that courage I feel when I took on something way more powerful than me back in Equestria, coursing throughout the entire Gym, along with feelings of happiness and joy and... wow, so this is what it’s like being near a Mega Evolution? No wonder it’s such a big thing, culturally.

That, and the appearance change is amazing. The stinger has become more streamlined and drill-like, fitting the name, and the number of arm-stingers have doubled, as it buzzes around on six wings, darting back and forth as if it’s almost teleporting as it sways, vibrating as the buzzing fills the arena, a high-pitched whine betraying just how fast those wings are moving.

This- this is gonna be amazing.

The trainer calls for a series of moves in a rapid clip, starting with Electroweb and ending with Poison Jab and Assurance, his pokémon blurs into action, the Gym Leader doing the same, and I can’t see a single thing happening because it’s all happening too fast for me to parse. I notice all the folks next to me are all looking down at their eTechs, and I see one of their screens; it’s the fight, but going at a slower speed. There must be an app for this, but I don’t have time to hunt it down, the pokémon out there are breaking up from each other, both covered in scratches, dings, and cracks in their chitin. Both are breathing heavy.

I decide to look up a High-Speed Camera app later and watch the following. First to move wins I suppose, but then that would go to the Beedrill who is still managing to hover, if a bit wobbly as a wing is noticeably been clipped somewhat.

The tension is building as the trainer and the leader stare each other down as do their pokémon, seeming to be waiting for the other to move first and leave themselves open.

At almost the same time, the two pokémon are given instructions, and the two flash at each other one more time, before landing on the opposite from where they started. The room is silent for a moment, before the Leavanny wavers, collapses.

The Gym leader pulls the last pokemon from the fifth pillow waiting, and lets loose... a Vespiquen. I’d be unimpressed, but this leader has obviously been saving her for last, And the beehive pokemon gives a menacing glare towards the Mega Beedrill, and doesn’t even wait before sending out a flurry of tiny, single-comb Combee, which I suppose are them before they’re trio’d up to act as actual workers. The swarm becomes a cloud of angry attackers, and the Beedrill cannot withstand it, and is recalled. The trainer pulls out another pokeball, and throws out a large pokemon, looking like a ball of darkness with a long coat and hat, bearing a massive hammer that glints in the Gym’s lights.

I have no idea what pokemon that is, or anything about what it could be. The cloak looks almost kingly... if it was a kid’s story about a king that was short and pudgy.

The pokemon hefts it, and I see a yellow star-shape on the hammer’s head, and the trainer calls for a Heavy Slam, which his pokemon goes for with a flying leap and just bowls right into the Vespiquen. The response is a Fell Stinger, and it catches the larger pokemon right in the belly, and is followed up with another Attack Order. The large pokemon goes to take a hammer-swing at the bug, but it turns out to be a feint, and the hammer catches fire and is somehow used as a wheel to charge the Vesiquen. I’d have never credited the attack as being possible, but there it is.

The Larger pokemon is told to use Rollout, and the attack’s first strike is right on target. The Vespiquen takes the hit, but recovers with Heal Order, and the Rollout is barely dodged the second time. Suddenly, the rolling pokemon just outright collapses, falling to the ground, hammer striking down with a final-sound thud that echoes throughout the chamber... and with a ‘snikt’, the Vespiquen retracts the eight-inch long stinger it had stabbed the other pokemon in the side with. I hadn’t seen it coming, and it hadn’t been ordered by the Gym Leader. The Vespiquen, acting under her own impulse had landed the final blow, and the trainer doesn’t send any more pokemon out after recalling the large hammer-wielding pokemon.

I am thoroughly impressed and, I hate to admit it, but maybe this is the fourth gym after all... I take a deep breath in through my teeth and turn to Twilight. “Looks like we’re heading for the desert.”

Dessert is less fun with only one S

The first thing I do is change out Carvanha for Chantlette and Luna for Geodude. I figure the sandy environment won’t agree with Carvanha well, but Geodude would be alright. Thinking for a moment I swap GLaDoS for Ghowl and consider myself ready team-wise.

“Kinda sucks you guys don’t have more pokémon to use, the Desert is likely to be pretty harsh.” I say, sitting down next to the girls. “Let’s buy a few potions, we can pass around reusable TMs and then I say we’re as ready as we’ll ever be. Oh, wait... I have an idea!”

“Oh? What’s your idea?” Twilight asks, as Rarity carefully polishes Glorious, who is humming gently.

I grin. “We get some swim gear from Great Barrier first. Some underwater goggles would really help if we run into a sandstorm. We wouldn’t be able to see, but our eyes would be protected.” I lean back. “How’s that for thinking ahead?”

“Well, darling, we could do that... or I could make us some goggles.” Rarity says offhandedly as Glorious resheathes itself, attaching itself securely to her hip.

I quirk an eyebrow at the suggestion. “How do you plan on making the lenses? Need I remind you we don’t exactly have any laying around and they are the most important part.”

She scoffs. “As if I’d be caught so unawares.” she says, and holds up a hand, six clear gems in her grip. “I’ll just cut and polish these diamonds down to the right size, they aren’t worth much.” she says. Each of them are at least an inch across and clearer than glass.

I forgot their economy is so backwards. “Actually, I have a better plan for those. We sell them and buy some goggles and some of those weather-protection suits.”

“B-but I can make much nicer clothing for us!” Rarity protests, looking unhappy. “And besides, they’re just diamonds, Anthony.”

“Yeah, and need I remind you how much these people payed for your Bits? The economy’s flipped here.” I say, reminding the girls of our large tab we acquired for just one coin. “These things could buy us some serious equipment, and I’d rather buy my equipment than have them made. You’re very talented Rarity but I don’t expect you to know how to make clothes for desert travel.”

“Well, actually, I’ve researched fashions of Saddle Arabians, and the reasoning for them... I’m sure I can make something appropriate and proper for desert traveling.” she says, crossing her arms.

Twilight gets in-between us. “Let’s compromise. We’ll sell the diamonds and if they’re worth as much as Anthony claims, Rarity can use the money to buy any materials she’ll need to make our gear. Sound fair?”

“Fine.” I relent. “Let’s do that. But make sure your fashions also include practicality.”

I get a muttered agreement in return as well as a comment comparing me to Applejack and having no vision. I just roll my eyes. “Come on, let’s get these appraised.”

I’m stopped when I recall I know not one place where we could go to do that. Not the Pokemart, they don’t do that kind of thing. It’d have to be a third-party company or something.

“So who do we know of that could break this diamond into local currency?”

“What about that guild the lady with the hammocks mentioned?” Twi suggests. “She took the Bits, maybe we can find more of them and ask if they can do it?”

I nod in consent. “Yeah, that works. We just have to find a place with that Torterra sign, that’s their symbol. Heck, maybe we can ask around.” I head up to Joy and ask her if the guild has a place in town. “I... can’t recall the exact name, but they have a Torterra and Pokéball as a symbol.”

“Ah, yes, they actually have a trading post a little ways out of town, to the Northeast. It’s along the trail out of town.” she says, smiling brightly.

“Thanks Joy.” I see why everyone is able to just up and trust this family with their pokémon, they’re all really nice and helpful. “Alright girls, we’re off to the trading post. I suppose we can get any extra supplies we’ll need. But first let’s pass around TMs to our teams. I think Geodude knowing Dig will be helpful.”

The three of us check our TM stocks, and use the multi-use ones as much as possible. That Metronome TM is still sitting in my bag, unused.

And it’ll stay that way if I can help it, and Twilight agrees with me, explaining the result of the move being used in the Gym to Rarity.

“Alright, Geodude and Pignite both know Dig and Rock Smash now, and Gulpar has Dive. I think we’re set on field moves. Also, I’d suggest changing back to your travelling gear before we head out Rarity. We don’t want trail dirt getting on that dress.”

“Yes, yes, I suppose...” she says, sadly going off to change clothes.

I mean, sadly, going off to change clothes. And once she’s back we head out, going Northeast like Joy told us, and there is indeed a trail. We follow it for a little while until Rarity points out a building with the symbol on it. The building is a pretty nice, wood-walled house, single story, with a business windowsill at which a young man is leaning, plenty of signs saying that the owners buy and sell goods.

“Let me do the talking as usual.” I tell the girls. I am the unofficial leader anyways. I take one of the gemstones and walk to the window. “Hey, I got something for trading.”

He waves. “Sure, whatcha got?” he asks, looking kinda bored. He also, now that I’ve got a better look at him, appears to be maybe eightteen.

“Well, not sure how much it’s worth, but my friends and I got this.” I hand him the jewel. “And yes, it’s real, it wasn’t easy to get.” Rarity seems ready to mention that it was, but I give her a small hand signal to keep quiet. If he thought it was easy to get he’d think it was a fake.

He picks it up. “What is it? Glass?” he asks, the large chunk of crystal carbon looking rather like glass in its current state.

“Maybe. But it doesn’t feel like glass to me.” I say honestly. “I think it’s a diamond.”

“Of course it’s a diamond!” Rarity says, no longer holding her tongue. “Being able to tell the difference between glass and a jewel is like second nature to me. It is one of my special talents.”

The guy looks it over. “Huh... that’s a big diamond. Lemme go get my grandma, she’s the one who knows about this kinda thing.” he turns towards the inside of the shop, and simply yells at the top of his lungs, “HEY GRANMA! WE GOT CUSTOMERS AND STUFF!!”

My ears kinda hurt a little now. Nevertheless, ‘granma’ seems to get the message loud and clear, as I hear some shuffling from inside the shop.

“Yes, yes, I’m not deaf. No thanks to you shouting all the time...” She looks up at me and Rarity, and asks, “So, what’re you trying to offload?”

“A diamond.” I say simply and Rarity nods, adding “And how much could we get for it, honestly?”

She plucks it out of my hand, and looks it over. “Hmm... well, it’s flawless, its water is excellent... well, not to list off all its qualifications... I’d say it’s very valuable; several hundred thousand poke, that’s for sure. Why’re you trying to get rid of it?” she narrows her eyes at us. “Stole it?”

“No way, we just don’t need it as much as we need supplies, and we’re broke. Trying to go through the desert but the Pokemarts won’t accept that as cash for supplies and gear. Kinda stupid that way, really.”

“Well, makes sense they won’t take it; they prolly don’t have enough money on ‘em. This thing’s probably worth more than most of the stuff in this shop, and I’m pretty sure you don’t need that much Repel and Escape Ropes.

“No.” I sigh. “But we’ve ah... peddled with the guild before, we’ve already used up everything on our current tab though so we’re gonna have to open a new one. As for what we need... yeah some repels and escape ropes would be nice but only three of each for each of us. Rarity knows what we really need. Fabric, right?” The last bit is aimed at the humanized pony to my side.

“That and a few other things. A seamstress like myself uses more than just fabric... though I can do a lot with it anyways, I’m going to need some other things as well.”

I nod. “Yeah, we get it Rares, you’re fantastic with a needle and thread, now just tell her what we need. Hope we can get the rest of the cash from it on credit to use elsewhere.”

“Yes, I’ll have to open an account for you... who’s going to be the registered seller?” she asks, looking at the three of us. Before I can say anything, Rarity steps forward and says she’s the one who found it.

“Yeah, that’s true. Fair enough that she gets the money.” I say and Twilight agrees. Seems she’s still trying to do the calculations of what the conversion rate would be between our worlds. I just nudge her. “Don’t worry about the exact numbers, end result is that you could come down here and turn a hell of a profit with your currency.”

She nods, but absently, and continues to turn her mental gears. Rarity works with the old woman to figure out what she needs, and the young man and I just sort of sit off to the side, him pulling out a GameBoy Color and playing something on it. At least, that’s what it looks like at first, until I see it’s just a case on a smartphone, and he’s playing some sort of app game.

I don’t really have anything to do myself so I just mind my own business and study the region map. Turns out the desert covers most of the northern third of the continent. A notice pops up for something called “Chatter” that has little notes other trainers are saying about various places. Current notes are on the Desert since that’s the selected location. One advises to bring a water or grass type that can filter water out of the air. Another mentions just bringing deep canteens, and a trio of people are swearing that all-terrain bikes are a must-have for the full trip one edge to the other. Whoo, looks like we’re in for a long walk. There’s also a few warnings not to expect just rock, ground, and steel types, but to watch out for sandstorms anyways.

I look up what this ‘Chatter’ thing is and it’s apparently like Twitter but specifically for Pokémon trainers, breeders and coordinators. Cool, a live network for everyone to communicate. Seems like a good idea. I note that the services symbol is a Chatot, hence the name Chatter. I lurk around a few chat rooms and look around profiles for any advice on getting through the desert, but nobody seems to want to share their exact experience to the letter. But it does seem like we’ll be taking the trip alone just the three of us. Most people talking about it are speaking in past tense. Which means I’m behind the crowd. Damnit.

Still, there’s mentions of two cities in the desert, and it’s apparently connected to every town not in the south parts of Otaria. As well, there’s apparently a large ruin... oh, right, Dr. Halsey mentioned it. Something about temporal anomalies. I make a note to check it out when I’m more comfortable with the desert. It takes a while but Rarity, having now made an actual list of what all she’ll need, has received what she could get from the woman. I remind Rarity of the nine-pack repels and ropes. She uses the still-huge tab to pay for those and we’re set for a long trip.

We head back to the place we’d been staying, and Rarity spends the afternoon working on new outfits for each of us. In the meantime, Twilight and I start to have a discussion.

“So yeah, gems work way different here. The clearer a jewel is the more it’s worth.” I say.

“But... the more colorful a gemstone is the better it can hold magic. Clear gems are only for very advanced unicorns, what use could a species that naturally doesn’t have any magical affinities like humans use clear gems for?”

I shake my head. “No, it’s like Bits. You use them as currency because that’s what they are best used for. And since the diamond is rare... well let’s put it another way. How do you determine the overall value of a gemstone in Equestria?”

“Well, by their color, clarity, luster, potency, and complexity.” she says, rattling them off.

“Also by their affinity, size, and cut, dear.” Rarity says, while working on the clothes.

I nod. “Well I’m no expert on gems but since they have no magical applications to us, all we care about is color, opacity, size and cut. Diamonds are worth the most usually because they have little color or opacity. That is to say they are generally colorless and clear. Cut and size are other factors as well, a cleaner cut is preferred as well as a larger size, but size isn’t always a big deal if the other three are sufficient. It’s just that colored gems are so common that they aren’t worth much, but since complex gems as you put them are harder to get they have much higher value. What do you mean by ‘affinity’ by the way?”

“Oh, the elemental and magical affinity of the gem.” Twilight says, “Some gems are better for different types of magic, such as Emeralds being notably useful for enchanting spells because its matrix is similar to the matrix of the spell being cast. Basically, an enchantment put into an emerald and an opal, each of the same size, and with the same amount of power and skill for both spells, the one in the Emerald would be more powerful, because it is in the more efficient vessel.”

“Ah, well... gems don’t work like that here so it’s based entirely on how rare the traits are.” I explain. “Anyways, I know you need to practice with your fingers Rarity but wouldn’t it be faster to use your magic like always?”

“Hmm? Oh, I honestly didn’t notice.” she says, then shimmers and turns into her pony form, and resumes sewing. Huh, guess she’s adapting pretty well. Better than Twilight at least. That said they’re both getting better. Either way it’s another few hours but all of our new outfits are ready. I never really bothered to see what Rarity was doing so when she presents them I’m a bit surprised. They actually don’t look half bad, mine basically being some genuine traveler’s gear, including a padded vest and a t-shirt, leaving my arms bare from the elbows down, though the sleeves apparently roll down with a flick. Twilight’s is nearly a ranger’s outfit, but has a face mask and a set of goggles, compared to my smaller sealed glasses.

Rarity, oddly, gave herself the most basic one, something akin to a long robe in alternating cream and russet red, with a hood that will hide her head. I think it looks most like Obi-Wan’s robes, and they fit her even as a pony. There is, however, a face cloth with large goggles that give her an adorably shy appearance.

I stuff my outfit into my satchel to put on before we get to the desert, my current getup more suited for the forested areas we’ll be travelling through before we reach the desert.

Chapter 61

The map says there’s two routes to the desert. One is through (or over, map isn’t clear) a mountain range in the east and the other way is... similar, but it takes us west to Crevasse Village, that place with those cool magnetized rocks like in Chargestone cave. Given my interest in showing off something cool and Rarity being naturally interested in special rocks, it’s a two-to-one majority vote for Crevasse, Twilight wanting to check out this place called Mushroot which is along the other way through the mountains. We decide on Crevasse now and Mushroot on our way back when we come for our fourth gym badge.

Once everyone’s happy with the arrangement, we step into the thick forest, barely any sunlight coming through the mat of canopy above us, not unlike the second forest we came through a few weeks ago. Has it been a few weeks? Or a few days? Hard to tell, the adventure has me so distracted. It reminds me of how I’d lose entire Summer afternoons playing the games for hours on end. The thought brings a nostalgic smile to my face and the forest is less threatening now, the darkness no longer a sign of worry but a sign of hidden adventure.

Together, we venture in, the light growing dimmer until we are, actually, having some troubles following it. There’s movement in the underbrush, but there’s nothing threatening about it, and the tall grass that lines the road may be swaying, but we’re not in any danger.

I can see the movement of pokémon, most of them staying out of my immediate view, but there’s plenty I can recognize. There’s a few Metapod and Kakuna stuck up in the trees, along with a few similar cocoon pokémon, like one that looks almost like a pile of autumn leaves barely hiding a pair of eyes that watch us cautiously.

The occasional Nidoran, male or female, peeks out as well, wiggling noses and generally looking adorable.

Other than the scenery though, the walk is pretty slow and uneventful. That means it’s safe, but also kind of boring. That said I’m not looking for a battle just yet, don’t want to get back into my grinding habit this soon after coming off it.

We stop for a moment as a small group of Eevee cross the path, playing and goofing around with each other, a large, green-yellow-and-red pokémon I remember being Arachneon shepherding them along and keeping an eye or three on me and the girls, antenna-ear twitching and the hourglass-shaped bands of color on its tail flaring slightly as it watches us. Eventually, the family makes their way across the path completely, and the watchful parent turns and leaves.

Double checking to see if any other pokémon were going to cross, we keep going and we start talking, Rarity starting the conversation asking what those adorable things were.

“Eevee, they’re the ones that can evolve into any type. Not sure how it evolves into that though, I forget. Either way, it’s the Bug variant. Combine that with all the cocoon varieties here I’d say this forest is more ‘Bug’ type than ‘Grass’ like the last couple.”

“And what’s it called?”

“Arachneon, I’m pretty sure. All Eeveelutions, evolutions of Eevee all end in ‘-eon’. Not sure why but I think it’s a clearer way to indicate it being an Eeveelution without having to explain it in detail.”

“So... Like Glaceon?” Rarity asks, likely recalling the ‘absolutely gorgeous’ Ice-Type I brought up at the mansion a while back.

“Yep, that’s the Ice Type variant. Like I said, there’s one Eeveelution for every type except Normal. Normal is the type of Eevee itself.”

Twilight looks back, trying to get another look but they’ve passed by a while back at this point. “Do they make good pets?”

“Oh yeah, great pets, they’re soft, cute, docile... a lot of non-trainers keep them as companions and pets actually.”

“Hmm, that’s good to know. Versatile, appealing visually... Perhaps we should consider one as a gift for the Crusaders? They seem like they’d get along fine, and without as much risk as some of the more... violent pokémon.” Twilight suggests.

“Now that is a good idea. Tell you what, if we catch one, you can send it back along with your next report to Celestia. Just tell them how a pokéball works and who it’s for and they’ll love it, I’m sure.” I think for a moment. “I might send a few evolution stones for them to use if I get one, so they can choose what they want it to be.”

“Alright, that sounds wonderful, Anthony!” Twilight says, beaming at me as we pass a large clearing marked as a public campsite, with a sign asking visitors to clean up after themselves and use the garbage disposal unit for any wastes and uneaten food trash. The sign points to a large, cylindrical metal container, with a sleeping Gulpin in the bottom. Seems like the perfect method of garbage disposal to me.

That said, it’s not even past noon, and we don’t need to stop just yet. “We can make a small camp somewhere else further along. All we need to do is pick up anything we use and throw it away properly later. Potions and the like are recyclable, but they don’t naturally degrade.” Though I think Silph Co. was working on that for future models, but they’re still not environmentally friendly yet as far as I can tell.

“Wait, but why is there a pokémon in that cage?” Twilight asks, looking concerned.

I just laugh. “That’s not a cage, it’s a trash can. That’s a Gulpin. Their body is 80% stomach and their stomach acid can melt down just about anything. So basically it’s like when Applejack gives old food to the pigs. We can’t eat it, but they’ll love it. Only, Gulpin can even eat plastic and rubber. Just not metal as far as I know.”

“Well, that certainly seems efficient. Still, why is it stuck in the trash can? Why not just have it living in the campsite?” she asks.

“I...” I honestly have no idea. “I don’t know, but the little guy seems fine the way he is.” Just to be sure though, I head over to the can. As if sensing my presence, the Gulpin rolls back upright, looking like a bean-bag pillow as it does, and belches, a crumpled soda can flying out to rattle against the garbage can, and looks up at me for a second. The can is, itself, completely clean, nothing but bare aluminum left.

I figure, “What the heck.” and take the aluminum out and crumple it into a ball which I stick in my bag to get rid of later. “He seems happy enough, guess if he’s not complaining there’s no need for us to.” The Gulpin shrugs, and cozies back to sleep.

“Well, if you’re sure.” Twilight says, until we begin to head off again.

Rarity, who’s been quiet this whole time, doesn’t speak up until around twenty minutes later. And, of course, it’s a near-scream, as she points at a stump by the side of the ro- wait, no, the ‘stump’ is moving, and scuttling towards us! It has two small red eyes peeking out from under the stump, and six long and thin legs, black pincer-like claws also jutting out as it menaces us.

“Para! Parasssect!” it says, clicking and gurgling the name.

I don’t recognize the look, but I recognize the name, and I assume it’s another variation native to Otaria like the others. I just tell Rarity that “I got this.” and send out Ghowl. “Aerial Ace!”

My pokémon erupts from her pokéball, and streaks at the Parasect, who gurgles and clicks angrily, taking the hit, which dislodges a small cloud of spores. Ghowl, taking the cloud in the face, crashes to the ground, twitching and shivering, muscles unresponsive. Damn, it’s got Effect Spore!

I return Ghowl and turn to Twilight. “Get Pignite, Parasect are Bug and Grass types!”

Twilight nods, throwing out her own pokémon. The Parasect bristles, the flat mushrooms on its stump flaring and a flurry of spores fly out, though Pignite burns them out of the air before it gets to him.

Twilight yells, “Alright, use Flame Charge!” and her pokémon leaps forward, sheathed in flames. The fiery pig slams into the aggressive Parasect, throwing the dangerous pokémon back, fire burning away the released spores before it can affect Pignite. The pokémon finally goes down, the two hits settling the score for it.

“Alright Twi, looks like you have been practicing.” I say as I check over the Parasect variant from where I am. “Not sure if that’s it though, Parsect are pretty hardy.”

I wait for a twitch or movement from the Parasect. I assume it’s out or playing dead and step closer, Litwick’s ball in my hand. However, the pokémon seems to have simply taken too much punishment too fast, as I realize Twi and I had swapped place with barely any hesitation, and my adrenaline is pumping hard.

Finally, the Parasect shifts, getting unsteadily to its ‘feet’, and gurgles at us again, raising its shaking claws again, menacing us as best as it can in its current state.

I toss out Litwick and turn to Twilight. “I’m thinking a double Ember will finish it off. What say?” She nods, smirking at me confidently.

The Parasect responds by shooting a geyser of spores into the air, and our pokémon start up the ember, only for it to violently detonate the spores, which I now realize is a Powder attack. The explosion throws all our pokémon, Twilight, Rarity, and myself back, and by the time we recover, the Parasect is nothing more than a rustle in the grass and a fading scuttling noise.

I groan to signify my being alive. After a moment, Twilight helps me to my feet, both of us rather shaken. We get Rarity up and backtrack to the campsite for a rest. “Not my best idea...” I admit. “Forgot that could happen. But good response time Twilight... maybe we should do a tag-team tourney sometime.”

“Y-yeah, maybe!” she says, panting a bit, a huge smile on her face. Apparently, I’m not the only one the adrenaline is pumping through.

Rarity straightens out her hair, looking miserable as she tries to get the dust and soot out of her clothes and coiffure.

“Need some help washing off?” I ask. “Maybe Twilight could use Spheal to make a small pool. I... don’t have anything like a wash cloth on me, sorry.”

“No, no, dear, it’s alright. I’ll just need to change clothes when we stop. I suppose it can’t be helped; we are traveling through the wilderness.” she says.

“Right.” With that, we run out of conversation and decide to just get moving again. Hopefully without another encounter. I’ve got a spare repel on me though... “Hey, just to be safe, let’s get some of this stuff on. It’s like bug spray for pokémon.”

“Does it smell like insect repellant?” Rarity asks, clearly not a fan of the idea.

“No clue.” I admit. “But it’s a basic repel, it won’t last that long if we use it between three people. It’s meant to be one per person, but I’ve only got one extra and I’d like us to save ours for emergencies like if our teams are in critical condition and a fight would risk our lives.”

“Alright, that makes sense, let’s save it for later. Still, the books I read stated that encounters like that on roads is pretty rare.” Twilight comments as we get moving again.

“If you think so...” I mutter, putting the repel back in my bag but syncing my éTech with it and setting it to the top of the retrieval list just in case.

So far, Twilight seems right as the Parasect is the only eventful encounter thus far, other pokémon being content to just give us wary looks. All forest pokémon except for one small OOPP*

*Out Of Place Pokémon

A Snorlax. Those live in the mountains... And it’s blocking a fork in the road. God I hope this won’t be like that episode in the Anime. That’d be a disaster.

As we approach cautiously, we see that it’s not fully blocking the road, and there’s someone passed out against the Snorlax. Or, at least, he looks like he’s sleeping. There’s an industrial-sized bag next to the two of them, and the Snorlax reaches into the bag and pulls out... a fistfull the size of my head of Cheetos, brings it to its mouth, and stuffs it full. The man lifts a hand, puts it in the bag, and mimics his pokémon.

“Uh... Hello?” I say, cautiously. Hopefully the guy is just eccentric and not some crazy forest-person.

The guy’s head snaps up, and I see he’s got a small white tube in his mouth, the end smoking. “Oh, hey, sorry bout blocking the road.” he says. “You guys want some food?” he asks, proving once and for all that the Pokémon World’s humans are the best ever.

“Sure!” I realize I haven’t eaten in awhile. I’m still not used to eating regularly now that my star core is dimmer than a 1-watt bulb. I grab the Cheetos and stuff them into my mouth much like the guy and his Snorlax did earlier. When in Rome... damn that is cheesey. I hand some to Rarity but she just takes a look at the dust it leaves on my fingers and makes a gagging noise. Twilight is more adventurous but only uses the tips of two fingers to grab some.

“Scho.” I say, mouth full. “Whatcha doin’ out here? Training?” I then realize how what they were doing was not training of any kind.

“Nah, gettin’ away from my adoring fans. Only so many people I can take a day, y’know?” He shifts to get comfy against his Snorlax again.

“Adoring fans? You a rock star or something?” I ask, confused. He looks like just a normal guy.

“Nah, I’m with the League.” he yawns. “I know a couple rock stars, though. They’re nice, but loud as fuck.” he says. A beeping from his jacket pocket gets his attention, and he checks it. “Ah, damnit... I can’t go six hours without someone needing me... Sorry, guy, I gotta get going. Duty calls and all that.” he says, standing up and dusting off his hands revealing he has a belt with three ultra balls and three pokéballs on it. He pulls out an ultra ball, returns his Snorlax (bag of Cheetos and all) to it, and pulls out a pokéball, throwing out a Pidgeot. “Alright, gotta fly.” he says, hopping on the large bird’s back, and the two zoom off at high speeds.

I pause at the randomness of the encounter and something clicks in my head the moment it unfreezes. “Girls... we just met the Champion.” At their confused looks I explain. “Remember? First he says he’s in the league, and Winston said the Champion has a Snorlax! If he’s not the champion, he’s at least part of the the Elite Four, right!?”

Twilight gasps, looking delighted, then stops. “W-wait... then why is he just sitting in the forest in the middle of nowhere?”

Rarity pipes up as well, asking, “As well, why is he causing such a mess? Aren’t the Champions and Elite four comparable to nobility, albeit based on capability, not lineage?”

I shrug. “Idunno girls. Who are we to judge? I mean, look at us, we’re not even in our own universes. Compare that to just being elsewhere on the same continent and it seems he’s more entitled than we are, champion or not.”

The two nod. “I suppose that makes sense.” Twilight says.

Rarity looks less happy, but also agrees. “I had simply hoped there’d be more... I don’t know, grace to a master pokémon trainer.” she says, sounding pouty.

“Well I don’t know, Rarity, maybe when you become champion, you can decide how the champion should act... oh wait, you’re not taking the league challenge.” My response practically oozes concentrated Snark.

“Hmph. Expectations are not the same as requirements, else we’d have far more problems in the worlds than we already do.”

“I’m just saying that technically speaking, becoming champion shouldn’t make you act any different and he’s no different from any of us. Started from just a starter and a few friends and now he’s at the top. Unless of course you think I don’t have what it takes to be champion, simply because I’m... well, me.” I admit I have many vices I indulge in, including sloth but hell, I like to think I’m champ material anyways.

“No, I’m not saying that... just that you’d act more dignified if you felt you had a reason to.”

I grin. “You’re right, but I think I’d rather have fun being champion than act dignified. Anyways, shall we get going? The day isn’t getting any longer.”

She nods, sighing, and Twilight chuckles. We look at the split road. “Alright, we need to take... the left fork. That’ll take us towards Crevasse Village, and there’s apparently a research facility along the way.” Twilight mentions, looking at her map.

I wave her off. “Eh, I’ve been inside enough labs for the month, but if you really wanna go in...” Twilight nods excitedly so I relent. “Fine, let’s check it out. What company owns it?”

Rarity sighs. “One of these days we’re going to go somewhere I want, like an art gallery or such. You might do well to get some culture.”

I just shrug. “I have plenty of culture. Just not the kind you like. Considering how much I know about pokémon I’m the most cultured one in the group. I’m just not the high-class type of cultured.”

She rolls her eyes and we continue on. Twilight checks the map as we walk. “It says the facility is owned by a local company, but contracts with Devon.” she comments, not paying attention to the path.

I briefly consider waiting for her to walk right into a tree but I just angle her shoulders to aim her back on track while she continues reading the map off her éTech. “Don’t hurt yourself, bookworm.”

Twilight just mutters something about my comment being ‘better than ‘egghead’ at least.’ as we continue. After a bit more walking we come to the landmark of a facility and take a look at it, Twilight not having been able to actually describe what it looks like. It’s a tall, cylindrical building, like a can of soda with a half a golf ball on top, the domed roof covered in little pits and windows. The whole thing looks really pristine, and I can see a scientist-looking guy and a ranger, with a Wooper next to him, talking outside the door. The scientist looks ready to tear the hair from his head, and the ranger doesn’t look happy either. At this distance, I can’t hear what they’re saying, though.

We walk up to the door and Twilight seems a bit uneasy at the situation so I do the talking as usual. “Is this a bad time?”

The scientist looks up. He sighs. “Y-yeah, it’s a bad time...” he brightens. “Or maybe not! Hey, can I send you kids to help me find something? A thief broke in, and stole some of our lab equipment and a few pokémon. They’re vital to our research!”

“Chainers?” Comes Twilight's immediate and slightly fearful question. The scientist nods.

The Ranger speaks up, “One of those pokémon is a rare one, called Radiotite. It’s very dangerous, and gives off radiation constantly. It’s a hazard to all nearby pokémon and animals.” he explains. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any pokémon in the nearby area I can recruit to help, except maybe to find it, but that’d put them at risk too. This is a job I need trainers for, if you’re willing to help.”

I sigh. “Well, usually when we deal with Chainers, Xavius is around to help but it looks like a Ranger is the best we’re getting. What do you think girls, bet we can handle this?”

Twilight and Rarity think it over. “Well, we’d be poor examples for everypo- body back home if we turned down the chance to help someone with a problem like this.” Rarity says, straightening up confidently. “We’ll put down that Chainer, and rescue the pokémon! Carefully, of course.”

The scientist nods. “Alright, you’ll want some radiation suits, then. We have some inside, and these’re pretty unisex.” he says, waving us in, and heads inside.

...Aren’t radiation suits already unisex? I mean, they’re blocky enough for any body type like a firefighter outfit, right? We go in, and see that there’s, for one thing, a basement. In said basement, there is what can only be a nuclear power chamber, but it’s been busted into, and there’s a Conkeldurr in a massive yellow radiation suit bending the thick, reinforced radiation shielding back into place, on the other side of a blast window.

“Here, the suits are in this locker. Take one of the ones labeled ‘Guest’, as the others are fitted to particular researchers.” he says, gesturing to a series of yellow, heavy duty radiation suits. I see one of the female researchers in one, and refine my opinion of the idea of them all being unisex. For one, it’s clear she’s a she, and there’s clearly defined armor plating around the vital organs, and several sections of the suit are definitely for holding pokéballs, and a gauntlet on her left arm has a flip-top computer built into it. On the, er, rear hip region of the suit, I can see a Magma Innovations stamp, meaning it must be one of the other suits mentioned back in the Devon building.

Damn, these are high-tech. Alright then. I head for the locker labelled ‘Guest’ as instructed and see that the girls are already trying to get into their suits. I grab my own and it takes some time since it’s still a little big on me on top of being stiff and rubbery. I feel like I should hardly be able to move once I get this thing on all the way, but the woman researcher seems fairly dextrous so I guess it’s only uncomfortable getting it on.

It’s tight around the shoulders and thighs but the lower legs, chest, and arms are a bit too big, clearly not meant for someone of my body type, but it’s the only suit available for me so I keep going and eventually I’m kitted up, and I barely recognize the girls with their suits on, them clearly having gotten suits similar to mine, though they wear them better despite being completely identical with them on. “Can you two hear me from inside this thing?”

There’s a click, and I hear Twilight’s voice from speakers built into the helmet. “Yes, it seems that there’s some kind of transmitter built into the helmet. I can see a few buttons, I think they’re chin-activated...” she says, looking it over thoughtfully. Looking down myself, I can see that they’re labeled, two for channel selection, and one for the emergency frequency.

“Alright, then. Guess we’re set.” I grab my pokéballs and stick them in the suit’s ball-slots and I heft my bag back over my shoulder, then pause. “Wait... our stuff could get irradiated, right? We should probably leave our gear behind in case...” I say, not liking the idea of going in potionless to a possible Chainer den.

“We can look after your stuff for now. We’ll lend you a few Max Revives and some Full Restores.” he says, offering me a small, yellow pouch, which he sticks to my hip. It simply locks into place, possibly magnetically, and has a simple, easy-access top. “If your pokémon start suffering radiation sickness, a Full Restore will fix that. It’s functionally identical to Poisoning or Burns, so respond accordingly.” he says.

I sigh, glad I can bring along some healing equipment, not to mention stuff I can’t legally buy myself but this seems like an emergency. If the League has a problem with this circumstance, the Ranger doesn’t say so. Once we’re comfortable with the new locations of our items and pokémon as well as our communication system we proclaim ourselves ready. Then an idea hits me. “How do we track the Chainers?”

“Chainer, singular, and he left a trail that’s easy to follow: All the dead vegetation. That Radiotite wasn’t happy about being taken.” The ranger says.

“Works for me. Hopefully this is going to be like the Chainer that tried to mug us and taken down easily... relatively speaking.” Twilight comments.

“Right, we don’t want to think that it will be easy though.” I warn. “Pride comes before the fall.”

“That was... very poignant of you, Anthony.” Rarity says.

“It’s a saying.” I say, tilting my head. “Don’t act full of yourself or you’re asking for karmic whiplash.”

“Indeed.” she says, voice slightly tinny from the comm link.

“So, we all ready?” I ask, figuring it wouldn’t hurt to ask again just to be sure. The both give their affirmative, and the researchers and ranger give us good luck wishes.

Outside, the trail is clear, now that I know what I’m looking for, the yellowed, dead foliage giving a clear, if wobbly trail to follow.

“So what do our Cutie Marks mean?” Twilight asks confusing me greatly.

“Cutie Marks?”

“These.” She says, indicating the logos on our hips and I recall the tradition of putting Cutie Marks on armor in Equestria, and the logos are almost where a cutie mark would be, albeit much smaller and with text next to them.

“It’s the logo of the people who designed it, Team Magma in this case.”

“Oh.” Twilight says, the conversation ending as we walk through the path of dead wilting plants. “So what could the Chainers do with a... whatever they stole? Aside from the apparently obvious that is.”

“Not sure.” I admit, and I search the gauntlet computer to see if it has an éTech. It doesn’t, not really, but it does have a directory of radiation-wielding pokémon.

The one they mentioned, Radiotite, is listed as a local pokémon, and has a linked pokedex entry:

Radiotite, the Radiation pokémon
- These pokémon generate impressive amounts of heat and electricity. Their radioactive natures make them dangerous to be around.
- They tend to find places where they will cause the least harm as they don't wish to be harmful to others. However, just having them out for extended periods of time can irradiate huge areas of the land.
Void Type

Huh... that seems ridiculously dangerous. No wonder the ‘nuclear room’ was breached; it must’ve been where the Radiotite was being kept. It looks almost like a Radiation warning symbol, made of uranium rods and a central core, like the middle of a bomb. It also kinda looks like it’s wearing goggles fit for a mad scientist. Not sure about the implications on that.

“Doesn’t say much really other than how dangerous it’s mere presence is. And it’s a Void type like those Space pokémon too. So I’m guessing they’ll probably use it like a bomb and use it to threaten innocents.”

“That sounds really bad...” Twilight says, and I agree, as does Rarity. That said, there’s not much more conversation fodder so we just follow the literal trail of destruction to its inevitable end... but what we’ll find is still unknown.

After ten minutes of walking, we see a Nidorino, almost knocked out and smoking from a really nasty burn along its side. It’s laying by the side of the path of dead plants, and is definitely in a lot of pain. It barely reacts to us showing up, other than weakly trying to move away from us.

I’m tempted to use a Full Restore on it, though the thought is combatted by my strategy game instincts to save it for emergencies on my team, not a wild Pokémon.

It is more of a Ranger’s job. The best thing to do is to take it to the Ranger we left, but it would easily take two of us to carry a Nidorino. And we can’t split up here in potential Chainer territory. This is a problem...

Rarity, always the Element of Generosity, uses one of her own Full Restores on it and coaxes it back deeper into the forest away from the radiation-sick path. She keeps proving how good a breeder she makes, doesn’t she?

Twilight is mostly shocked at how effective the Full Restore was. “I know we shouldn’t have these yet, but these are a lot more effective than Super Potions. Even Leichengst still has a few bruises after using a Super Potion, and he’s usually in worse condition than that Nidorino was.”

“Yeah, but Leichengst doesn’t have that much HP, and neither does a Nidorino. Super potions heal about fifty HP. For weaker pokémon, that’s a ton but on mid-tier pokémon it’s not. You’d use a Hyper Potion or such which heals two hundred HP per use. Full Restores are, as the name suggests, a full heal for pokémon who have a ton of health like a snorlax or kangaskhan. It also heals status effects at the same time, hence the Burn getting healed as well. The point of preventing us from buying it is that they’re expensive and overdoing it usually. Don’t practice CPR on someone who just has a scraped knee and all, you know?”

The explanation over, we continue on through the dead foliage and hope we get there before the Chainer can get away or call for backup, or whatever he plans on doing.

About three minutes later, we pause as a loud explosion rocks the forest, sending leaves scattering to the forest floor. Looking up, through a gap in the trees, a thirty-foot-tall mushroom cloud rises, something that looks like snow beginning to fall from the hovering cloud.

I silently pray it’s ash and not shrapnel or worse, because it’d likely fall on us unless we get clear. The girls don’t seem to understand what a mushroom cloud symbolises, but they get the word ‘Bomb’ pretty easily and that’s all the explanation I need to give and they duck and cover. I follow suit, but I end up in a very uncomfortable position with my suit getting even tighter around the chest. Eventually I can’t hold the ball-shape and just watch the cloud, still hovering menacingly and letting loose little flakes of ash, but it doesn’t seem to be expanding beyond its thirty-foot height. There’s also no blast wave. Still, that’s probably a good indicator of which direction to go.

I get up and start moving slowly forward, but one of the girls grabs me by the arm. Rarity suggesting that it’s, “not wise to be walking toward an explosion.”

“Yeah, but how else are we gonna get that pokémon back? Unless you wanna see that happen in a populated area.”

The girls relent, and I lead us towards the mushroom cloud, the air turning thick with ash and tinted green, until we come to a large clearing, where we hear someone yelling and swearing.

“Get in the fucking ball! I don’t care what kinda special effects you can make!” Peeking through the devastated foliage around the blasted clearing, I can see a pokémon, definitely the Radiotite, hovering a little ways back from a guy in a radiation suit. The guy is brandishing a black-and-purple pokéball, with a chain design made of capital C’s instead of the usual band. Definitely a theft ball of some kind, and the three with stretchy bands around them to keep them from opening are likely holding other pokémon from the research facility.

“Radii!” the pokémon yells shrilly, then releases a torrent of toxic-looking goop, which simply slides off the stolen suit. It’s looking tired, and the mushroom cloud is starting to dissipate now, the ash no longer falling and the air turning clear. Evidently, it’s a field or weather move of some kind.

I decide to take full advantage of the suit’s air filters and toss out Litwick, ordering a Smog cloud. My plan being to rush the guy while he’s distracted and hopefully blinded by the haze.

Litwick pops out and blasts the smog out, but the guy simply turns with a ‘huh?’ and looks at us, then snarls behind his helmet. “Oh, c’mon! Really? Well, I can’t deal with distractions right now... Machamp, go! Break ‘im in half! Ignore the candle.” he says, and throws out a pokéball, a branded Machamp forming out of the light, the pokémon bearing a nasty-looking scar where one eye used to be.

Then it hits me; that chainer ordered the Machamp to go after me, not Litwick. I can only think of one Pokémon who could help me. A literal bigger fish. “Gulpar, open wide!” I yell as I toss the Depth Ball, running as fast as I can away from the Machamp.

The four-armed pokémon stomps towards me, until Gulpar appears, mouth gaping wide as it reveals itself. The mouth is easily three times wider than the Machamp is tall, and the fighting-type realizes quickly it’s outmatched.

“Litwick, Confuse Ray!” I command, hoping to stall the Machamp Further. “Girls, Help me out! Gulpar, Dive!”

The Chainer throws out two more pokémon of his own, a pokémon that looks like a cockroach made out of a roach motel, ironically, and a pokémon that is definitely in the Eevee family... and looks berserk already. Before either pokémon can be given orders, a blast of ice comes out of the forest from ten feet to my left, hitting the Chainer himself, and Rarity comes out of the woods nearly twenty feet to my right, Glorious in her hands and her entire helmet lit with blue light from the inside, as if there’s azure flames inside the helmet instead of her head. She advances on the two pokémon, sword-pokémon held in a guard stance.

I toss out Geodude as well and order a Magnitude on the field, Litwick to use Flame Burst on the likely-bug-type cockroach pokémon, and Gulpar to strike from his dive.

Gulpar reacts first, phasing up out of the ground with a spray of water and slamming into the Machamp, still disoriented from the Confuse Ray. With its mind and body unbalanced it falls over. That’s when Magnitude hits and the ground begins to shake. Everyone aside from Geodude and Rarity seems pretty unbalanced and the Flame Burst hits just slightly to the left of its target, making the burst effect required to do any damage at all.

The Chainer, iced to the tree is shouting obscenities and trying to free himself, and the Radiotite moves in towards him, a sickly green light forming around its body as it does so. The Chainer notices, and his shouting turns to screaming, until a silvery-green beam fires out towards him. It plows through the tree he’s iced to, and he stops screaming.

All three of the Chainer’s pokémon look towards the shredded tree the remaining bits of person left attached to it, and begin covering their heads and shaking, violently.

Before I can figure out what’s going on, it gets worse, and the Machamp begins having what can only be a seizure, foaming at the mouth and thrashing hard enough to leave massive rents torn from the forest floor. The bug is doing much the same, and the Eeveelution is thrashing and throwing clods of dirt and stone far enough it’s actually burrowing into the earth.

“Shit! Get them some Full restore. They’re gonna go into shock if left like that! Twilight, you get the pokémon he stole. Rarity...” Rarity seems to be coming off her weird symbiotic state she gets when she holds Glorious and looks a bit dazed so I decide to let her rest and apply the Full Restore myself. “Twilight, forget the pokémon, get the ranger here, now!”

I’m not qualified for first aid on a pokémon, but the ranger is. I ration the full restores out to the pokémon as best I can with the two I was given across three pokémon. It’s not going to be as complete a heal as it should be.

Twilight is already off like a shot, into the forest. Rarity shakes her head, Glorious going back to its sheath, and begins to pull out her own supplies. However, there’s a problem. Any pokémon here is many times stronger than myself, Machamp unbelievably more so. I haven’t missed my powers more than now, because that Machamp’s thrashing is keeping me from getting close. A hand barely taps a huge tree and sends it flying; there’s no way I’d be able to survive getting closer than that.

The Eeveelution is practically buried, and has stopped moving entirely, and the roach’s two eyes have started glazing over, the pokémon foaming at the mouth in purple and green, but otherwise unmoving.

Shit, we need that Ranger, now! Come on... think. What can I do? I rack my brain for options and come up with one to help the Machamp. “Gulpar, wrap up Machamp, keep its arms tied as best you can. Litwick, give this to the roach-thing.” I say, passing a full restore to the candle. “Rarity, you handle the Eeveelution.” She looks towards the hole, nodding, and moves towards it. I grip the remaining Full Restore in my hand and wait for Gulpar’s restraints to work.

The eel pokémon wraps around the seizing Machamp and hisses at it as the pokémon thrashes blindly, eyes rolled fully back. Litwick is over by the roach, trying to puzzle out the potion. In spite of having seen the thing in use before, it just doesn’t seem to understand how to make it work. Damn hold item restrictions...

I get the Full restore in my hand to the machamp, just spraying it in general, not really sure where to aim most of it at. Once the bottle sputters, signaling it’s emptiness, I look at the Machamp and note that it didn’t do any good at all. The tied-down Machamp is still going nuts. I leave Gulpar and head towards Litwick, taking the potion. Once again, the Roach seems unaffected by the cure-all and I assume Rarity is having similarly bad luck on her end.

“Damnit Twilight, where’s that Ranger?” I ask out loud, and Rarity gives a gasp, and I turn to see that she’s got a hand to her mouth, or at least her helmet over her mouth. I cringe. It died. It must have died. Damnit... We’re too late. I stand up, calling back my team, Gulpar included. I failed them. Whatever that Chainer did to them, or what the Radiotite did, is out of my hands.

A few minutes later, the Ranger runs into the clearing, no suit and slightly out of breath, looking at the the Machamp, who is heaving for breath and still unresponsive, and the cockroach pokémon, who has stopped gurgling, and actually looks to be recovering, hopefully.

He pulls out what would look like a toy on anyone else, barely pausing to swear, and a Jigglypuff sitting on his shoulder does something to it, and a pink-colored ribbon of energy pours out, wrapping around the struggling Machamp. The fighting type slowly stops thrashing, and its breathing goes normal, eyes closing as it slips into slumber. The Jigglypuff nods once to the Ranger, and hops off, heading back into the forest, its job done.

“The Hostileon...” I manage. I think it’s a Hostileon at least. Would have to be one of the ‘negative bond’ evos and it didn’t look ghostly like Spectreon. “I think it’s... Gone.”

The ranger nods. “Most likely... this has been a problem with taking on any Chainer above recruit level. A lot of them have pokémon with hypnotic suggestions implanted in their minds to make them have a seizure if their trainer is put out of commission... speaking of, where’s the Chainer himself?” he asks, looking around in confusion. I realize that the blasted tree that Chainer had been on looked very much like it had simply been hit by the initial blast.

“The Radiotite. It just... blew him apart with a beam of some kind. He was over there.” I say pointing to the tree. “Now he’s over there. And there... and... you get the joke.”

The ranger nods again. “Radium Pulse. Steel attack; wouldn’t be blocked by the suit.” he says, gulping slightly, as he see the Radiotite, who is hovering in the middle of the field, the three rods around it circling slowly as it stares at the epicenter of its field of destruction. It looks... sad, actually.

“Arceus...” I breathe. “So what do we do now?”

“We get this one to a Pokémon Center!” Rarity shouts, holding the Hostileon. The Ranger goes over to check it, putting some fingers by it’s neck.

His eyes go wide, and he gasps. “It’s still alive!” he says, quickly scooping the dirt and debris away from the pokémon, carefully lifting it, in spite of getting numerous scratches and punctures from the short, sharp spikes coming out of its fur. The pokémon is barely breathing, spiked tail hanging limp. The Ranger looks at me. “Can you get the stolen pokémon back to the Research facility? I‘m going to need to make a sprint to get this guy to help before it’s too late.” he says, even as another spike opens up yet another wide, bleeding gash on his chest.

He must get those a lot... “Uh, The roach-thing maybe. The Machamp... No, not like this. I’d need to carry it in a ball.”

“I’m going to put down a beacon, League members will be here shortly, but this Hostileon can’t wait a half-hour; I’m going to be moving fast.” he says, crouching into a sprinter’s stance, dropping a small, cubical device that starts beeping, before getting a secure grip on the Hostileon. “I’ll contact you three later; gotta go!” he says, concern in his voice before he takes off, easily four times faster than Twilight had, and I see him begin to skip between trees, jumping from one to the next with movements I’d only attribute to an anime character, not a real person.

So I guess we just sit here and wait for the League to get these two. No, wait... Maybe. I go over to the roach thing and try to lift it. Failing that I attempt to roll it over onto it’s side for a better lifting angle.

Slowly, it gets to its feet on its own, looking up at me with a faintly dizzy, confused look. “Smok~?” it says, in a querying tone. I notice it doesn’t have any Chainer symbols on it.

“Are you okay?” I ask, figuring I’ll be able to at least interpret a simple yes or no.

It shakes its head, blinks unevenly, then nods, slowly. It looks around, apparently not sure where it is. It may have been simply stolen, thrown in a ball, and handed out, and hasn’t been out since it was taken. Or even caught wild. It looks up at me, and the little vents on its sides give a puff of smoke and a sound like an exasperated sigh. The smoke smells foul, but doesn’t seem to be dangerous.

“We got rid of the Chainer, but we need help.” I explain. “The League will be here in a bit for the Machamp. What should we do with you?”

The pokémon gives a sound like ‘Idunno’, and steps a little to the side, nibbling at some grass, then at a rock, then at some, uh, leftover Chainer. It doesn’t seem to distinguish between any of them. It eats all three pretty evenly.

“This your habitat? If you’re comfortable here, you’re free to go I suppose. Do you have a trainer you were stolen from?”

The pokémon shakes its head to my first and second questions. It begins nibbling on a chunk of glass from the Chainer’s suit, and it looks kind of adorable as it does, little legs holding the clear piece of glass to its face as it noms away at it.

“So what do we do with it then?” Rarity asks and I admit I’m unsure.

“Said it doesn’t live here... so we have to find a home for it. Hold on.” I point my éTech at the pokémon and bring up its data. Which is interesting to say the least.

Smokroach, the Survivor Pokémon
- These pokémon are surprisingly hardy, living virtually anywhere in Rustoil they aren't exterminated from. They can ingest materials even other poison-types find too toxic.
- A Smokroach can't be killed without completely destroying the body. They can live for months without their heads, and still breed with more than fifty percent of their bodies missing.
- Smokroach infestations are serious business. They'll eat virtually anything, and that includes the foundations of houses and skyscrapers. They are a major problem in Rustoil Metropolis, but aren't found anywhere else in Otaria.
- Rumors of a Smokroach colony have surfaced in Black city, far away in Unova. The city officials deny any such infestation.
Bug and Poison Types

Huh, so it’s not even remotely local, at least to this forest. And it seems like a durable pokémon, too, no wonder the Chainer had one. They seem like great sabotage pokémon, for sure.

Wait... the first grunt we caught said he was from Rustoil, and the Dex says that’s where this thing comes from. Is Rustoil a location of a Chainer base or something? There’s two points of information pointing to Chainer activity there at least, but the League probably already knows this, right? First things first, what to do about the Smokroach. “I guess we wait for the League to transport it back to Rustoil City to be released. The Machamp... I’m really worried about. Don’t know if it’ll go back into shock when it wakes up or not.”

Rarity shrugs, and Twilight finally shows up, panting and gasping for breath. Seems that Ranger moved a whole lot faster than her by a long shot. She looks around, takes a few breaths, and then says, “I told the research folks that their pokémon are... are here. A couple of them are... are suiting up to come get them.” she says, then leans against a tree, trying to get her breath back in whole. “Humans really... can’t run that fast... or far.”

I just nod in response. “The Ranger left with the Hostileon, it’s alive for now. The Smokroach is perfectly healthy... the Machamp is still immovable and the League will be here to pick it up to a Center.” I say, giving a full update. “Honestly, for another go against the Chainers, this is by far the worst one yet.”

Twilight and Rarity nod. We wait largely in silence for another twenty minutes, until the sound of some kind of rotors or something catch our attention. Overhead, a vehicle comes into view, looking like a stubby-winged plane with powerful turbines in the wings, making it a VTOL of some kind, and it demonstrates this by coming down to land in the blast crater, the Radiotite moving out of the way. Immediately, medical staff and people in combat armor with the League symbol on it stream out of the VTOL, and begin to fan out.

Dear Daisy

As the League... soldiers, I think, fan out, I see a couple of pokémon among them, a pair of Bisharp, and a Nuzleaf, the latter of which leaps into the trees to act as lookout.

Unfortunately I have no way to tell if these guys are League but I’ll just have to trust them on it and roll with it. One thing that we can do is request that the girls and I take the Radiotite back. That way even if they are Chainers they can’t get their prize without blowing their cover.

I go up to the nearest person and make my request. “We should be able to get it back safely, the only caveat is that the containment chamber might still be wrecked, but we have suits for it.”

The soldier shakes his head. “No, sorry. We’re going to wait until the researchers get here. We’re not releasing the pokémon to anyone else.” he says, eyes flinty.

“Fine... I’m just saying we’ve been duped by the Chainers before, I wouldn’t call this a success until it’s all over. Slimy bunch of guys but they’re smart.” I look to the blasted tree with Chainer painted all over the remains. “Most of the time.”

The soldier nods. “Understandable, but still. You need any medical attention, by the way?” he asks, eyes flicking over me. It sounds like he doesn’t think I do, and I don’t, but still.

“Nah, we’re good. The suits protected against any lingering radiation, and overall his pokémon are the most hurt due to... whatever psychopathic brain rewiring they did to them. Oh, yeah, that Smokroach is wild, and there was a Hostileon but a Ranger is getting it medical attention. The Machamp is the biggest problem. So I guess if you just take the Smokroach back to Rustoil that’ll be it for that end.”

He looks down at the Smokroach, which is sitting by my foot. “Huh. Seems to like you.” the soldier comments. Looking down, I raise an eyebrow at the Smokroach, who is chewing apart a piece of plastic and rubber from the Chainer’s suit remains.

“Well, it would be nice to have another Bug type on the team...” I kneel down to the Smokroach like earlier and address it. “So how about it? Wanna come along? Fair warning, we won’t be headed to Rustoil for a while so you won’t be ‘home’ for a while if you join.”

The Smokroach looks up at me, still chewing, giving no other signs of life, let alone interest one way or another.

“Uh... is that a no?” I honestly can’t tell. The Smokroach makes a small shake of the head. “So... No that’s not a no, or yes it is a no?”

The Smokroach just stares at me, giving a slow blink as it finishes off the scrap of rubber. “Smok.”

I‘ll be honest, I thought it would be easier to understand pokémon. “Well, we’ll head out once the researchers have the Radiotite and if you want to come with... just follow us I suppose. If you wanna go back to Rustoil you should stick with the League guys.”

“Smok.” I wish I had a pokémon that could translate like Rocket’s Meowth. Speaking of... I’ve seen James, and he basically turned the Rockets into good guys... so what did Meowth do without a life of crime? Go back to the Fuchsia City streets?

As I’m pondering, the sound of footsteps comes through the forest, shortly after a four-tone signal comes from the trees, presumably the Nuzleaf notifying the soldiers. The scientists break the treeline, all suited up. Within minutes, they’ve collected the pokémon, and are heading back. The League is about ready to leave as well, the two Bisharp having loaded the Machamp into the VTOL and then ignored the Smokroach, who doesn’t seem to want to go with them, I guess. The soldiers load back up, and begin to lift off.

We decide to follow the researchers back and hand the suits over once we’ve returned to the facility. “So was anything else stolen, or just Radiotite?”

“Just some lab equipment, but most of it was too damaged by the EMP from Radiotite’s attacks to salvage. We’ll have to order some new machines, but we’ll be fine. Hey, how far are you headed?” the researcher asks.

“We’re planning on going through the desert to get our third badges, but once our league challenge is up we’ll probably explore Otaria quite a bit. Is there something we could deliver for you or such?”

“Well, if you’re headed towards the Russet Plateau, it’d be nice if you took a package of hardcopy notes and test results up with you. There’s a naturally radioactive cavern under the plateau’s base, and some of our research is into the effects of extremely long-term exposure.

“Alright, Russet Plateau? That’s...” I check the éTech map for the location and see that it’s actually a League town, and has a Gym. We’d end up there one way or another. “Yeah, we can do that I think.”

The researcher hands me the package and I take it, sticking it in my bag that magically (or rather, technologically) shrinks it down along with anything else I put in it. I wonder how that works, but however it happens it’s very efficient and explains how the bag in the games can hold so much stuff. But really... to me it just looks like a standard satchel. Single strap for the shoulder and a fabric bag. At least... it looks and kinda feels like fabric.

Either way, the package fits perfectly and I’m ready. As long as nothing preoccupies us again, next stop is Crevasse Village.

We end up walking the rest of the day, stopping at another rest stop, and continuing on the next day. According to the map, we’re about... fourteen days from Crevasse Village by this road. There’s a potential short cut through the woods, but there’d be the risk of no campsites and hostile pokémon aplenty to deal with. I decide I shouldn’t be the one to choose and ask the girls. “Two weeks of safe walking, or take a risk and only go for a few more days?”

Twilight thinks, and votes the shortcut. “There’ll be more chances to collect rarer and more powerful pokémon, and train our own, something very unlikely to happen while on the road.”

Rarity shakes her head. “But at the same time, if we run into something really dangerous, we won’t be anywhere near a place to aid our pokémon, or save us if we get injured!” she counters.

The two debate back and forth, but both have solid points. With a sigh, I take out my éTech and get a RNG app going. “Odd number we go Shortcut. Even number, we go the long way.”

The app gives us a twenty-three. “Okay, shortcut it is.” Twilight says, sounding happy she’d won the small argument.

Rarity simply sighs and readjusts her bag on her back. “Very well, forest it is... but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

I roll my eyes. “We’ll remind you to rub it in our faces if it comes to that, but come on, we aren’t going to be totally alone. Well we will but we won’t be going in totally blind.” I access my éTech again and open up the map. Once I get the name of the forest we’re going through, Midia Forest, go figure, I check it against Chatter. “We’ll see what advice other trainers have about the place. See? It’s dangerous, but not unprepared.” I feel pretty smart right now. “Okay... let’s see...”

First post:

Lots of bigger pokémon the deeper you go. Lots of tough pokémon. Good training area, but pakc lots of revives n stuff

The second is a little better, and doesn’t make Twilight wince from spelling mistakes:

Be careful about Nidos. they have dens all over the forest. Also Victreebel started growing there, and they eat people no joke.

“Alright, so we should put these Repels to use if we get in trouble... And we still have those Max Revives from earlier so we’ll be okay for a bit. Rarity, if you have any Sitrus berries planted I suggest we use them instead of potions as they’ll likely do more good than what we can legally buy right now.”

Rarity, in typical fashion for a decent gardener, harvests her berry pots and gets about five to six berries per plant. Unfortunately I was the only one with Sitrus berries, her plants having mainly Pecha and Oran. Still we have literal handfulls of Oran berries so that should be fine.

I hand Rarity my remaining Sitrus berry to grow for later. “Okay, so we’re set for healing and restorative items, we have Repel, and Escape Rope, not to mention some decent Fire types and Geodude knows Dig in an emergency. I say we’re set. Anything I’m forgetting?”

The two think. “Nothing I can come up with, Anthony.” Twilight says. “Oh, and we should probably make sure to have this app I found, for the éTechs, it makes it work as a flashlight.” she says, pointing to, well, a flashlight app. Sure enough, it makes the screen turn into a super-bright light source.

Rarity and I get the app, luckily free as with most ‘adventure utility’ apps and we consider ourselves ready. After that, we simply turn to the forest, and step off the path.

Almost instantly, it’s darker than nighttime. Indistinct shapes make up everything, to the point that it’s hard to tell if something near or far, and the flashlight app becomes invaluable to us all, as the color is adjustable. Something I remember from my science classes is that red light doesn’t ruin your night vision, and we all use that in order to see clearly.

Twilight takes a bit of convincing that light color affects eyesight but when she tries to use a spring-green color to match the forest, she quickly agrees she saw better with red. “Science.” I say. “Isn’t it amazing what you can learn?”

“Well, pony eyes are likely different from human eyes so it probably isn’t exactly something I’d send to Celestia along with my actual discoveries.”

“Still, human eyes and pony eyes are different enough that ponies see a color humans can’t. What did you call it? Octarine?”

“Mmhmm.” Twilight says, confirming my accuracy. “It’s the color of unicorn magic.”

The conversation continues and so far there aren’t any real issues. No giant pokémon at least. Rarity gets caught on a branch, but it doesn’t tear her clothes so we don’t have to stop, but when she does scrape her pants she makes us all wait while she gets out her sewing kit.

A growl issues forth from the undergrowth nearby, making all of us jump.

My natural instinct is to grab a ball off my belt and Twilight does the same, though I’m not sure whose ball I grabbed until I throw it out and Chantlette materializes. Twilight’s choice, or lackthereof, is Wispeery.

From the undergrowth comes... an Ivysaur?! Hell yeah!

I make the command first and order a Hex attack. Chantlette pauses, taking in the situation but follows through.

The Ivysaur shakes its head, taking the attack before extending vines and moving to strike with them, until Twilight calls for a Night Shade, the attack catching the Ivysaur off-guard.

“Confusion!” I decide to use a Super-effective move. I’d rather come out of this with less damage than a new Pokémon.

The Ivysaur takes the hit again, and cries out, resuming its Vine Whip attempt, smacking Chantlette across the face before grabbing her and rearing back to throw her.

I make a tactical recall, but the vines seem to prevent it, the wrap effect in place. Damnit, uh... Litwick! “Flame Burst!” I yell as I toss out my Ghost type.

Litwick not only begins letting out enough light to actually let us see in this gloomy forest, but also lets loose a blast of fire that wraps around the Ivysaur and blasts it. The grass-type cries out in pain and rage, and lets loose a torrent of razor-sharp leaves. No need to guess what move that is.

“Fire Spin, burn those leaves up. Chantlette, Confusion again!”

My pokémon leap into action, metaphorically speaking, and the Ivysaur tries sending out a cloud of noxious purple pollen, while Twilight orders another Night Shade.

The pollen falls onto Chantlette, and Litwick gets scraped by a leaf but does manage to burn the rest. After a bit more punishment I recall Chantlette, not wanting her to be knocked out so easily. She’s definitely poisoned right now.

It takes Twilight sending out Pignite, but the Ivysaur eventually gives up and saunters away. It wasn’t that badly hurt from what I can tell but it was just fed up with us. Damn... I can’t imagine what it would take to catch that thing. It must be high level.

Rarity hands me a Pecha berry which I feed to Chantlette immediately and she’s cured. Luckily nobody on our end got that badly hurt, Chantlette being more caught off-guard than damaged by the vines, and Litwick took that leaf like any fire-type would, and is decently healthy still. But if it weren’t for Pignite I doubt the Ivysaur would have given up.

“Still... not bad, a close scrape, but not bad.”

The girls agree and Rarity replies with “Speaking of scrapes, if I can repair my pants now...” She gets out her sewing kit again and this time there’s no interruption. “There. Much better. Oh I can still see where I mended it. I’ll need some new pants later...”

“Fine, but for now let’s get through this forest. Chatter says it took this guy about only two days to get through.” Admittedly I saw his team, and he’s higher level than all my stuff combined and he already had his sixth badge... but we can manage, right?

Nevertheless I feel fairly confident we can make it. It’ll just take us a bit longer. The éTech, in it’s infinite pre-programmed wisdom, calculates it’ll take at least a week to get through. Ouch. “Well, it’s still about half the time it would take for the safe route.”

“You say that so dismissively.” Rarity comments as we walk. “You know this is dangerous, we’ve seen it’s dangerous... there’s still time to go back and just walk a bit further.”

“A week of walking is not a ‘bit’ Rarity.” I reply. “And I’m sure we’ll be alright as long as we stay smart about what we’re doing and keep moving.”

She gives a long, theatrical sigh, rolling her eyes. “As you say, Anthony. Either way, we should get moving, no matter the direction we choose.” she says.

“Agreed, now are you finished mourning your pants yet? We need to get going before it gets even darker.”

She sighs in response again. “I do not mourn clothing, though it is a shame. Yes, I’m finished. It’s just a rough fix. Perhaps if I had better light or you held your flashlight steady it would be better but... C’est la vie. Let’s move on.”

It’s a bit more walking but eventually we decide we need a rest. My éTech’s satellite clock says it’s afternoon and we were wrong: It really can’t get much darker in the forest. This means that our internal clocks will be the ones deciding when to sleep and when to move. I just hope our internal clocks are in sync or this could be a problem.

There’s some noises from the local pokémon but they either don’t want to bother with us or are too far away to notice us for now. Our best bet is to stay quiet and hope we don’t run into anything like that Ivysaur.

Most of our brief rest is spent in silence as we just rest our legs, the girls opting to switch back to ponies simply so they can move longer distances. I’m given the option of becoming a pony as well to help with travel but a stink eye is all it takes to dissuade Twilight’s offer.

We’re preparing to leave when we hear a hiss-click, coming from just above my head height, followed by something streaking out of the canopy and slamming into Twilight. The pony cries out in surprise and fear, and we get a glimpse of an Eeveelution... specifically another Arachneon.

That would be the downside to being a pony. You are smaller and therefore more likely to be considered prey or competition. I toss out Geodude and he gets to work on defending Twilight without need of an order. I just focus on keeping my éTech aimed at the Arachneon so he can see it.

My pokémon swats the offending pokémon off of Twilight, and the Arachneon rounds on Geodude. Its red eyes gleam in light of my éTech, and I’m struck with a pang of irrational fear. The wild pokémon puts on a burst of speed, snarling and snapping at Geodude, and I call for him to use Rock Throw, the super-effective move should at least stun the thing.

Geodude rips up a chunk of rock, and chucks it at the Arachneon, who nimbly dodges the attack before racing forward, but not at my pokémon. Instead, it’s heading for Twilight again, who is only now starting to get back up, shakily.

I toss out Gulpar and hope the two of them can manage to hold it off. The Depth Ball opens and out comes Gulpar, swimming in mid-air as usual, who eyes the situation but waits for an order. Geodude doesn’t wait, though, and swats the Arachneon back on his own.

“Bite!” I order Gulpar and he goes for it. “Twilight, you okay?” I’m having a hard time trailing Arachneon with my light and it’d be nice to have Twilight to help light up the place with her magic.

Twilight, doing her best to get out of the way, is lifted by Rarity’s magic as Gulpar opens its huge mouth, starry-looking inner mouth dazzling the Arachneon for the few precious seconds needed for the eel to complete the attack, jaws wrapping around the Eeveelution.

I come up with a very quick way to end this little battle and shout it out before I can really think about what I’m ordering. “Gulpar, Swallow!”

The small, struggling bulge of the Arachneon begins to move faster, until I see a vague movement, like a second jaw, inside of the Gulpar’s mouth, and the Arachneon goes still. Then, it begins to slide back into the Gulpar’s body, becoming visible as it passes into the see-through parts of the eel-pokémon. The Arachneon’s neck is clearly broken, blood smeared on the insides of the Gulpar’s throat.

I decide to recall Gulpar so we don’t have to watch while he digests. My stomach is a bit turned but I do manage to say that “Well, it was either it, or us and I’d prefer it not be us.” I figure it’d be best if we each had one of our pokémon out each at least for immediate protection and Twilight chooses Lichengst, I pick Ghowl, and Rarity already has Glorious strapped to her back.

I notice that, on the back of Twilight’s neck, are a pair of spots of blood, fairly large and oddly colored in the red light of our éTechs. Ghowl’s body actually looks like it’s glowing a bloody red in the faint light, and seems to radiate it in all directions.

“Uh, you get bit Twi?”

“I- y-yeah.” she says, stammering a bit. She wipes at her forehead, as if hot, but the dark is actually a little cold.

“You’re poisoned I’d say. Arachneon likely gets its name from being spider-like so we should treat this like a spider bite. Problem is, I don’t recall the procedure.”

She shakes her head. “No, I’m f-fine.” she says, looking at me with slightly glazed eyes. There’s no way that’s ‘alright’, and even Rarity is trying to get her attention. Unfortunately, Twilight doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to her, instead rubbing her muzzle with a forehoof.

I sigh. “Rarity, hold her down while I look this up.” Thank god for world-wide wifi. I pull out my éTech and check for ‘Arachneon bite’.

The notation on it says that ‘poison fang’ isn’t even a possibility, but the data mentions that the tail’s spines are actually poisonous. That means it’s not the bites that’re poisoned, but rather another injury I haven’t seen yet. But how do I help her? I search the internet again, this time for ‘Arachneon poison’ “Rarity, you look for where the wound is while I look for how to treat it.”

The search this time lists it as a ‘standard pokémon-based venom.’ It also mentions that standard antidotes for trainers and any poison-curing method for Pokémon should work without any problems, provided it doesn’t take more than an hour or two to get used. Apparently, waiting more than an hour or so can cause permanent nerve damage. But it’s listed as a ‘minor chance’ side-effect otherwise. That’s a minor side-effect?

I take a Pecha berry from Rarity’s bag and tell Twilight to eat it. “Hopefully your pony physiology should make that work good enough. Good thing you guys heal fast.”

Twilight shivers as she takes a bite of the staunchly sweet Pecha berry, chewing and swallowing, then coughs, and collapses, shivering and shaking, sweat pouring off her. Damnit, why didn’t that work? The only thing I can think of that might be causing her to still be poisoned is either she can’t use Pecha Berries, which is silly considering she made use of Antidotes earlier, or what’ever poisoned her is still doing it.

Wait, the Arachneon’s tail is made of spines, like quills... like on a porcupine. Which are barbed.

“Rarity! Have you found the wound like I asked yet?” Honestly I trust her eyes in this darkness more than I trust my own. Rarity snaps out of her shock of Twilight’s collapse and levitates her éTech over Twilight, switching it to white light. It hurts our eyes a bit, but it’s a lot more illuminating. “Find it? We’re looking for a-”

Right there, sticking barely out of Twilight’s haunch, are the broken ends of at least three long, hollow quills. A quick check of the éTech reveals that yes, this is a fairly common problem, and to also check for ones broken flush with the skin, or just under it.

“Rarity, think you can get those out of her? They’re barbed, so don’t pull them straight out or it’ll get worse.” I am fully relying on Rarity now since I know for a fact I know nothing about what needs doing and hope Rarity’s extensive list of talents includes light surgery or something.

Rarity nods, gulping once, focusing her magic to three points, a few tiny specks of light flitting over Twilight’s coat, pushing down the fur nearby them. Twilight winces, still shivering, until the tiny orbs of light resolve into four more magical grips. Rarity whispers something to Twilight, who winces, before the quills are pulled out. To my vague horror, the needles slide out, long and still wickedly sharp, and one is at least two inches long before the break, and another is almost four inches long. Twilight, for her part, doesn’t cry out, merely whimpers piteously. As much as I chide them for being so unprepared, I can’t say I blame her. The quills look like jumbo-sized needles from my nightmares, complete with barbed tips fit for a torture device.

This time, she’s able to eat a Pecha Berry, but there’s no way we’re going anywhere for a little while, not with her so injured. As much as I’d like to suggest a potion, I’m not sure it’d be 100% effective, given that Twilight’s still shivering a bit after eating two of the poison-healing berries, though not traumatically.

“So... I guess Rarity’s right. We should just get out of here now and take the boring path. Boring is boring, but boring is also safe.”

“Finally realized that such decisions should not be made with a simple coin flip?” Rarity asks, still mothering Twilight a bit.

“Yeah yeah... You’re right and I’m wrong, now let’s get Twilight out of here.” I get Ghowl to fly up through the treetops and find us the shortest route out of the woods, while I get Pignite to help me in carrying Twilight, myself supporting her back while her pokémon takes her front.

In a few moments, Ghowl soundlessly breaks through the canopy and simply circles around. She hoots once, then lands on my shoulder, giving a small shrug. Checking my eTech doesn’t help either, as it simply shows I’m in Midia Forest, on the west side, and somewhere off the path. The estimate puts us three days from the nearest place with a pokémon center, and that’s a ranger station. Heading back to town, it seems, would be just as arduous, and I’m not sure where, precisely, the road is, other than ‘vaguely east’. The GPS doesn’t show what direction I’m facing, either, so that’s no help.

Rarity sighs. “Is this the part where we just start yelling for help and hoping someone hears us?”

“No, it’s the part where we think up a real plan. Not all of my plans have been awful, just most of them.”

“I’m just saying-”

“Say nothing, I’m trying to think! Okay, here, we figure out a way to tell which direction we’re facing, spray ourselves with repel and head east, the quickest route out of here. It’s the afternoon. And if the sun sets in the West...”

“Well, I’m sure your Ghowl can point us east, then, as that’s where the moon would rise from, right?” she asks. At my nods, she gestures for Ghowl to get moving. “It’s the fastest way, then.”

“Ironic.” I say. “We tried to take the fastest way earlier and it found us in this mess... now we’re trusting the fast way again and hoping we make it out of here with Twilight’s nervous system intact.”

“Well, I don’t see you coming up with a brilliant way to find the road!” she counters, “It isn’t as if we can teleport there; Twilight’s the only one of us who can do so with any distance!” she sounds irate, and I understand why, but it’s still pushing my buttons.

“Right back at you! You’d be dead a while ago without me, you wanna say this is my fault? Fine, what’s your genius plan? Oh wait, It’s the same as mine!”

Rarity begins to shout back, until purple-pink glows encase both our mouths, and we’re both silenced by Twilight. “Please... I’m feeling better... already. It’s j-just really painful... that’s all.” she says, standing on wobbly legs, and she’s clearly favoring her right back leg, the one whose haunch was injured. “Just... let’s keep going, otherwise we’ll j-just be stuck. Any bird pokémon c-can find north, and we’ll head that way towards c-Crevasse Village. I’m getting better, I just need to exercise care with my l-leg.” she says, blinking every time she stutters.

“I’ve been a lot of things to you Twilight, but today I’m going to be your parent. No. We’re going back. If it takes us a week to get through here when all this happened in a few hours, it’s not safe. We’re going to take the long way.”

“It’s the same d-distance to Crevasse Village. I checked it on m-my éTech. We may as well finish our journey, r-rather than w-waste it.”

“Fine, but you’re taking the middle.” I reply firmly. “You’re in no condition to be at the front and we are not letting you take the back to be picked off. It’s the rule of nature to go after the sick and injured for the easiest kill, and I’m not sending you home in a body bag. Or worse, in pieces.”

Twilight nods. “Unders-standable. I think we should also have at l-least two pokémon out each, for safety. Anthony, you should s-send out Litwick and have Ghowl out, for light, Rarity, you should h-have Glorious and Ledian, for the s-same reasons, and I’ll have Pignite and Wispeery out.” she says. As she talks, she sends out Wispeery.

Given that half the pokémon she mentioned were already out, Rarity and I toss ours out, Litwick hopping on my shoulder and Ghowl taking the other one. Glorious unsheathes from Rarity’s back and floats behind her as Pignite and Wispeery taking either of Twilight’s sides keeping the injured pony surrounded on all sides. Ledian seems the least comfortable with the situation but soldiers on.

Our little circle around Twilight never falters as we all keep pace with each other and we’re left relatively alone. A few sounds scare the heck out of me every now and then but other than our nerves being on constant high alert we’re mostly safe... though this could just be the calm before the storm.

Along the way, we see other pokémon in the gloom of the dark forest, but none challenge our convoy. Eventually, we wander far enough and are getting tired, that we come across a huge clearing, easily a hundred feet across. A single large boulder sits in the middle of the clearing, covered in moss. The sky above is just turning to night, stars twinkling gently in the gathering dusk.

This seems like a good place to rest for a bit so we all sit down. “Sorry about yelling at you Rarity.” I saw, taking a deep breath. “I was stressed.”

Rarity ponders my apology for a minute but accepts it. “I understand, and I admit that, with the information we have about the world compared to yours you have kept us relatively safe... But that does not entitle you to be the boss of us, this is a team, and while you may lead us your word is not final and you need to learn to accept that you are not in charge.”

“Fine. Well it’s getting dark out, what do you think we should do? Sleep or keep going after a brief rest?”

“I think sleep is in order,” Rarity says, “Twilight could use the rest, and so could I.”

“Alright... but we should probably have a lookout guarding us just in case. I don’t think many of the natives would like us sleeping in their forest.”

Rarity nods. She begins to speak with her Honedge, as Twilight and I set up tents. Rarity is still helping as she speaks, driving the small metal stakes with precision even when her attention and gaze is pointed elsewhere, and the sword-pokémon keeps caressing her with its long banner-arm. It’s a little unnerving, actually. Still, it’s very helpful, and we get ready quickly. Rarity speaks up. “I think we can leave the Ghost-types on watch. Glorious says that it doesn’t need to sleep often, and Wispeery can keep them company.”

“Alright. And not much gets by Ghowl so she can watch from... well, wherever she feels like really.”

Ghowl rises and glides from my shoulder to the little group of Ghosts, before landing on a tentpole, using the T-shaped bit as a roost. Still as silent as ever there’s not even a click of her talons on the plasticy material.

I get into my hammock and close my eyes, hoping I don’t have to open them again for a long while. I’m worn out from all the excitement. Sleep comes almost instantly...

When I wake up I note that, by the gray in the sky, it’s that magical time of morning just before sunrise. Magical, because there must be some reason I’m awake at this god-awful hour... wincing, I just lay back and try to sleep when I hear a noise.

“Bella~~some!” Looking up and unzipping the entrance to my hammock-tent, I look out at the mossy rock, and see a Bellossom standing atop it. The sun is just beginning to send its first few rays across the land, and lights up the Grass type from behind perfectly. Suddenly, there’s rustlings in all directions, and I realize that a huge portion of the field is covered in Oddishes, each burrowing peacefully into the ground. A few look odd, being decidedly redder than the rest and having their leaves in the shape of ‘earmuffs’ or ‘headphones’ instead, and are unburrowing instead. A series of fast shapes flit in from the tree line, and eight hummingbird-looking pokémon line up, each slightly higher than the last. It only takes me a moment to realize why, as each one’s wings are holding a tone at a different note along the octal scale.

An Exploud stomps out of the forest, standing next to the rock, a pair of Whismur following and sitting down, and several grass types filter in as well. It only takes me a few moments to realize why the positioning of the rock felt odd, as I realize the Bellossom is using it as a conductor’s stand, and holds out a long stick to use as a baton.

I get comfortable and wait for the little show to start. I’m still tired but this has my attention.

The Bellossom points to each of the hummingbirds in turn, who beats their wings faster for a moment to sound their note louder, checking each one for being on tune, and the Exploud has its mouth open, catching each tiny note and feeding it back to the clearing at full volume. One final hummingbird pokémon, larger, less dumpy and more streamlined, and begins to beat its wings to produce sounds like a violin, cello, and drum set all in one. Then, wonder of wonders, I see a small, humanoid pokémon step up just a single ledge below the Bellossom, looking like a small child with a series of notes streaming off as its green hair.

A Meoletta! Man, if it wouldn’t disturb the musical I’d try to catch it right now!

The pokémon orchestra is finally rounded out by a pair of Farfetched landing, pulling out actual violins of their own and using their leeks as bows, and they all begin to play.

Many of the pokémon are clearly just there as spectators, but the Oddish-looking pokémon are joining, the hummingbirds are playing notes that sound like most of the orchestra between the nine of them, and the Exploud is swaying gently as it transmits the sound for the entire forest to hear, the Meloetta singing oddly familiar lyrics.

After a few minutes, the performance is over and I give a light golf clap, the Meoletta bowing to its small audience, and I note that the girls slept through the whole thing. Only our pokémon and I are awake, still, we’re very happy.

Soon though, drowsiness catches up with me again and, still hearing the beautiful song in my head, I drift off again.

The sun is high in the sky, likely almost noon, before I notice it through the thick canopy around the clearing and I wake up, seeing the ponies chatting over hot cups of coffee, likely having used their own mix each as Rarity seems awake and chipper while Twilight definitely seems under the effects of near hyperactivity induced by all the chemicals in her instant coffee mix. With a sigh I slip out of my hammock and sit down to join them. “So I take it Twi’s feeling better?”

“Yup!” she replies, nodding her head energetically. “Never felt better!”

“That’s probably the coffee, but if you say so.”

“I’m glad that we managed to get this far. Sorry about yesterday though, I hope I wasn’t much trouble.” Twilight says, smiling.

I wave it off. “You didn’t get stuck on purpose, so... water under the bridge. So what are we talking about?” I figure I’ll tell about the little performance this morning when I get the chance. Maybe I should have recorded it...

Rarity looks over to me. “Well, actually, we both had the strangest, but most peaceful dream this morning. We were discussing it to see how similar it was... Is there a keeper of dreams in this world?” she asks.

“Yeah, Cresselia. Darkrai deals with the nightmares. And this dream wouldn’t happen to have involved a bunch of pokémon singing and making music, would it?”

“Er, I’m not sure about pokémon, but yes. It was such a lovely piece...” she says. Given that there’s very little sign of the whole event at this point, I can understand why they thought it was a dream. I wonder if that happens every morning here, or only on certain mornings? Or just at random?

Either way, “It’s noon and we should probably get going again. We still have a lot of forest to get through.”

The girls nod, and we take about ten minutes to take down the tents and pack away breakfast, and only after we’re done actually eating breakfast. Once more, we get set for the dark forest, stopping when I see one of those Oddish-like pokémon go wandering by, the most ‘I have no fucks to give’ look on its face. Every other one I’d seen this morning had the same look.

I figure we might as well leave it be and continue on. If it doesn’t care, then we don’t either I suppose. Then again that could be just it’s default expression. Either way it’s not being a bother so we silently agree to just pass by each other and not interact. I do hope to get through this place fast after all.

We make our way back into the forest, and begin heading north. For the first hour or so, with all our pokémon out, there’s little that disturbs us, beyond a couple of territorial Nidos that get taken down easily. The ground is getting rockier and hillier, and we keep coming across remnants of various areas, burned to the ground. And then...

Then we come to what at first seems like another clearing, until I recognize the remnants of a house, partially overgrown, the blackened wood and stone underneath the obvious remnants of a burned house. Looking around, I shiver a bit, and the oddly geometric shapes start making more sense, the shadows of a dead town seeming to pull closer all around. Ghowl moves closer along my shoulder to my head, evidently as spooked as I am. A mournful noise fills the empty, burned village, and I look around for its source, Twilight and Rarity doing the same. Finally, we realize there’s a tower in the center of town, still standing, a bell tower. H- how did I not see that walking in? Either way, we should explore it.

I mean, as long as we’re prepared... which we seem to be, considering this far we’ve actually had no problems at all with our entire teams out and ready, aside from obvious exceptions like swimmers and young, our team is full of pretty decent escorts so I’d say we’re ready for some exploring. Heck, we might even be able to snag some unburned loot from the houses maybe.

“Alright, let’s check it out. Just keep a lookout for anything suspicious.”

“A burned down village in the middle of a trailless forest... sounds like a great place to explore.” Rarity says, smiling.

Twilight agrees in similar fashion and we begin walking forward, more or less straight to that interesting bell tower. So far there’s just burned village but there’s probably something important here, right? I intend to find it, and the best place to check is the biggest building, which happens to be the bell tower.

We make our way there, the only oddity to the ruins being that there seems to be no pokémon here. Small puffs of ash rise with our every step, and I realize there’s no signs of rain here, but also no sign of the sun, just heavy gray clouds overhead. Maybe this isn’t such a good idea... Ah, where’s my sense of adventure? It’s probably nothing, just a large lingering ash cloud or something, no big deal.

We walk until we pass a ruined house, a crunch from underfoot catching my attention. Moving my foot, I look down and see... a doll. Or part of one. My shoe broke the plastic of the face, leaving it cracked, broken. It is, otherwise, oddly pristine amidst all this ruin. The body from the shoulder down on one side and the armpit down is gone completely, besides some stuffing leaking out onto the ground.

Oh man, I just remembered something really funny. ‘You are a diamond in the rough, like a flower surrounded by.... shrapnel an’ stuff.’ Hahahaha, oh Scooter... Okay so it’s a doll and not a flower but still, it works because it’s a pretty thing amidst a bunch of garbage. Well, broken now, but still.

Laughing lightly to myself I move on, heading for that bell tower. There’s gotta be something cool in there.

Chapter 63

Walking through the burned town, I wonder how long it’s been here. Probably long enough that whatever was left behind is given up as lost... which means it’s free for the taking. We might even find some items. But the first thing on my agenda is to check out the bell tower as it’s probably got some clue as to what happened. The girls don’t need much convincing to come along so finally all three of us agree on what to do. It’s refreshing not having to argue. Maybe we should stay here for a bit longer.

We all reach the bottom of the bell tower itself, and see that it’s really big. Fifteen stories or so, and almost thirty feet to a side. It’s dark, and there’s obvious fire damage along its facade, but no actual damage to the structure itself. The door hangs half on its hinges on one side, the other side of the double door completely flat and laying facing into the tower. The center of the door is splintered and broken, and beyond it, I can see a mosaic on the floor.

Huh, this reminds me of the Burned Tower. Maybe if we go in we’ll find a legendary Pokémon! I clear away some of the debris to get a better look at the mosaic. Maybe it’s a hint as to what’s in here.

On the floor, there’s pictures depicting humans and pokémon bringing offerings towards a tower with a bell at the top. The mosaic spirals outwards to flow up the stairs, and following it reveals more of the story.

The people brought gifts of worked goods, and pokémon brought gifts of food. And they did for a very long time, with something living in the tower itself. Something that gave books... no knowledge from the tower to the people and pokémon. Whatever lived in the tower was there because it had made the tower, or was the tower, it’s hard to tell, and it gave its knowledge freely.

But then, a human, or maybe a small group of humans, began to use the knowledge they’d gotten for something... awful. They began to try making better pokémon, not by careful breeding or love and guidance towards a new ideal, but rather by tapping into darker powers, and forcing changes on the pokémon instead. And so the master of the tower gave forth a new secret to man and pokémon, but it was a trap. The secret broke the bond that made humanity and pokémon one and the same, severing their languages for a time, and forcing them into conflict. As well, the master of the tower left, leaving them with no guidance or knowledge to aid them.

In its leaving, a terrible fire was unleashed, but not one with flames, but rather a burning within that ate away the insides, and devoured the mind. Now, the Yellow Tower is abandoned, and this tale will be told to all who venture close.”

I blink as I realize I’m standing at the top of a tall tower, with no idea how I got here, Twilight and Rarity looking just as baffled. I feel like I’ve just given a speech and- wait, how do I know all that stuff about the tower?

Unless... the presence in the tower isn’t gone and it’s here somewhere. That would explain my recent fixation on checking it out, as well as why I can’t remember even entering the village. All I remember is the seeing the town, seeing the tower... and now I’m at the top of the tower. Weird.

“So we should find whatever force is still here and try and figure this out. Or leave, but seeing as how it wants us here and we don’t have much choice in the matter...”

Twilight looks confused, eyes wandering in random directions. “Uurgh, my stomach is roiling...” she informs me, shortly before puking all over the mosaic. And my shoes. Rarity is rubbing her head, looking like she just had a massive headache. Come to think of it, I’ve got a bit of a headache, too. Looking up, I can see most of a massive cast-iron bell, a full quarter of it missing and laying on the floor... nearly ten feet away. What broke this place? And why did it bring us here? Can we leave?

“And if the headache would go away, that would be great. Just tell us what you want.” The vague headache remains, and Twilight wipes her mouth, eyes settling into more normal orbits.

“Let’s, ugh, just try to leave. If it doesn’t work... well, we’ll figure out something then.” she says, wincing at the pain and nausea.

“Fine.” I concede. “But if it doesn’t like us trying to leave it’s not my fault.” With that I head for the stairs, pausing at the top of them in case whatever wants to stop me gets the chance to do so, while Twilight just trods down the steps, Rarity close behind her.

We reach the ground, in passing seeing the mosaic. It’s weird, but it doesn’t seem to be more than really simplistic pictograms now, with none of the meaning I got out of it walking up here. Weird. We walk out of the tower, and the headaches and nausea vanish instantly. Seems it only wanted to give us the story... and when we turn around, we can’t find the tower. We’d literally just stepped outside the tower!

Well... that was quite the interesting adventure. Nevertheless I check the internet for anything about a bell tower in Midia forest. Maybe there’s an SCP file or something. But I seem to be beyond the range of the nearest wifi tower as I get no signal. The local functions work so there’s no anti-electronics field or whatever but I can’t contact anything outside the forest.

“Okay this just went from weird to weirder, let’s get out of here and head for Crevasse.” The ponies nod fervently, and as we leave the burnt village, our pokémon come back to us; I hadn’t even noticed they’d left.

Even weirder, because I’d never forget Litwick or Ghowl, much less leave them behind. The owl, perched on my shoulder, gives me a nuzzle as Litwick hugs my shoulder, flame lighting up as she settles in.

“Yeah, good to see you too.” I pat the both of them and continue on, the girls having their own reunions. The episode of strangeness over though, it’s back to the forest. We have Ghowl reorient us to face North-Northwest and we keep going. Hopefully this is the last time we see that tower.

Shaking it off, we tromp through the forest, until we get to another clearing. This one seems pretty normal, just a decent-sized glade with a ten-foot-diameter stump in the middle. Totally normal.

On the stump, which is only about three feet tall, is a wide ring of mushrooms, and in the middle of them is a few Clefairy and a Clefable, along with some Cleffa, all asleep in the most adorable pile of sleeping pink fairyness I’ve ever seen.

Rarity looks at the Clefairy and gives a d’aww face and asks if we can catch one. “Up to you, you’re the one who wants one.”

“Hmmmm... well they are absolutely delightful but...” She bites her lower lip. “Well, just asking isn’t out of the question, right?” I give a simple ‘go ahead’ gesture and Rarity carefully walks up to the mound of pink pillow-like pokémon and gives one a gentle nudge.

The Clefairy rolls over and yawns, one of the most adorable things I’ve ever seen, and blinks up at her. Before she can ask a question, the Clefairy smiles and reaches out to boop her on the tip of her nose, giggling. Rarity chuckles as well, after her eyes uncross, and the other Clefairy in the pile begin to wake up at the noise.

Knowing exactly what a grumpy-from-just-waking-up Clefairy is capable of, I take a step back. Maybe two just to be sure.

However, they seem to find Rarity just as delightful as she finds them, and they all toddle over to investigate, seeming cheerful as they snuggle her, getting snuggles in return.

That is so adorable! So cute... I kind of want one now too. I walk over to the Clefable, now roused by the rest of its family. “So can she keep one of your friends or...?”

The Clefable gives a shrug and a look of ‘don’t ask me!’ as Rarity goes down under a giggling mound of Clefairy and Cleffa, whom I’m guessing are using Tickle by the sounds of her laughter. Twilight seems very entertained by this, and has a more sedate Cleffa between her forelegs as she sits down and watches.

“Alright, I guess we’ll take one... I guess Rarity gets to pick.” I cough and repeat myself so I get Rarity’s attention. She is, however, rolled over on her back, the Clefairy obviously too entertained with their ‘capture’ and the Cleffa are giggling as they roll her back and forth between two lines of them. What is it with Rarity and being good with itty-bitty adorable things?

“Welp, guess Rarity isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Nope.” Twilight giggles as she gives the Cleffa she has a little squish, noting exactly how squishy and soft they are. “So, what are these?”

“You have a Cleffa, the bigger ones are Clefairy, and the tall one on the stump is Clefable.”

“Clefairy... I’ve heard that name before. Didn’t you bring them up when you and Mr. Devon were discussing Void types?”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s been confirmed that the Clefairy line are, at minimum, extraterrestrial pokémon, but not exactly deep space like most void types. As such, these guys are classified as Fairy Type. Originally they were pure Normal type but they were quickly relabeled once the Fairy type was officially discovered.”

“Huh, so do taxonomic changes like that happen often?”

“Whenever we learn something new about a pokémon it’s all updated. That’s why the library doesn’t carry many books on individual pokémon species. They can’t rewrite a book the way you can edit a webpage, so it’s all gone digital now. Hence the éTech and the Pokedex app.”

“Well, that does make sense.” Twilight says, the Cleffa snuggling down and closing its eyes, evidently content to nap again against Twilight’s chest fluff.

Lucky bastard... Twilight that is. Either way, I figure this is a relatively safe place in the forest if all these pokémon are content to just nap here, all their younglings out in the open and free to roam. It could be stupidity, but they can’t all be stupid, right?

Of course, it could also be the fact there’s, like, twenty of them here, and they’re all probably in possession of Metronome, which would deter even the steeliest of challengers if every single one of them got ready to use it. Actually, now that I think about it, no wonder it’s so peaceful here.

I sit down and relax while watching the pokémon play with Rarity. “So Twilight, you think she’s decided which one she’s keeping?”

“No, I think she’s simply enjoying their enthusiasm.” Twilight observes with a faint smile, Rarity now having begun to snuggle back in earnest, holding three or four of the pokémon to her chest and nuzzling them. Almost as if copying the white pony, Twilight nuzzles the top of the Cleffa’s head, making the little pink pokémon smile and trill happily.

“Are you gonna keep one?”

“Mmm... maybe.” she says, pulling out her éTech and having it check the Cleffa’s data. After reviewing it, she smiles again. “Well, they certainly seem interesting. I think I might, but I don’t want to just send this little guy back to the Box. It just seems... unfair.” she says, giving a little pout.

“Well, the boxes are there to keep pokémon safe and comfortable without forcing us to break the six pokémon limit. I make sure all my pokémon get a turn outside the box, and once I have twelve pokémon in all, I’ll just switch out teams every now and again. As long as you don’t just leave them there it’s perfectly fine. As a breeder without her own ranch or similar place to raise pokémon, she’ll need to make use of those boxes until she has outdoor room for all the pokémon she’s going to end up with.”

Twilight nods, then sighs, resting her chin on the Cleffa’s head. The ponies seem content, when the sound of ruffling plastic catches my attention. I turn, and see that there’s a Bulbasaur and the Clefairy, with a deck of playing cards out, and when I look over the Clefairy offers me the deck.

“Sure, I’ll play. You know Texas Hold ’em?”

So it turns out that pokémon have fucking incredible poker faces. I think I lost around 500 to those two, and I was too frustrated to even try catching the Bulbasaur.

“What do they even do with money anyway?” I ask aloud, sighing. Still, it’s not a huge dent in my wallet so it’s no big deal really, but it’s more the principle that has me down. Oh well, I lost fair and square. It’s only a few more minutes but soon Rarity needs a rest from all the playing. “At least you aren’t unathletic. A lot of fancy people I know wouldn’t even attempt to exercise.”

“Sweat and dirt may never be in fashion darling, but a well-toned and exercised physique is required for one trying to make an impressive image.”

“True. So have you decided which one to keep?”

“Ooh, right...” she says, looking around. “Would any of you darlings like to come with me~?” she asks, adding a bit of a note to the end of her word. The Clefairy all think about, and most shrug, but one toddles over and smiles, hugging her around the muzzle. Judging by the little brown ‘heart’ shape under one eye, I think it’s the one that she first poked.

“Interesting birthmark on that one.” I say. “But it’s not varicolored. Not sure how popular it’s eggs will be but it’ll make a good companion.” I say, giving my analysis. “Oh speaking of breeding I’d like you to take a closer look at Carvanha some time. This guy I met says she’s actually got some decent stats and that her eggs would be worth a lot.”

Rarity agrees and, once the Clefairy is in a pokéball and sent to Rarity’s box, a few congratulations are passed around before we head off into the forest once again.

A bit further ahead, and yet the forest is still pitch black and looks the same as everywhere else. Trees and undergrowth all over. I start to think we’re lost but since we never took a turn anywhere, we should still be headed East which is the way we need to go. It’s just taking days. Very. Long. Days. I’m just glad the flashlight app isn’t terribly draining for the éTech’s battery. Speaking of, I haven’t charged mine since I got it and I don’t even know how to charge it... That’d be good to ask when I get back to civilization.

The next thing we come to is a Nidorino and a family of young Nidoran, the Nidorino is probably the dad. Well, all of us have had enough experience with grumpy Nidorino to know not to mess with it so we move on, doing our best to avoid eye-contact with the dad. We manage to get by with a simple grunt from the Nidorino before he goes back to his kids. The kids don’t seem to understand what a trainer is or... much of anything. They’re about as big as my forearm and that’s it, so they’re really teeny. And they’re just playing or wrestling or whatever that is, and as cute as they are they aren’t worth risking a tangle with daddy so we just keep walking, nothing to really do about the situation with the watchful father eying us peevishly.

After that, we come across a small clearing, barely ten feet across, with a bunch of Bellsprout just sitting there, rooted, their mouths open to the sky. Likely, they’re catching bugs like that.

Well, I’m a big fan of Bellsprout and while my last attempt to catch one ended badly, I’m willing to try again. I nudge Ghowl off my shoulder, and she glides over to the nearest Bellsprout. She just nudges it and the Bellsprout seems to snap out of its trance.

The Bellsprout looks over at the Ghowl, then at me, gesturing to itself with a leaf, like ‘who, me?’ while looking me in the eye.

“Yeah you. Wanna pass this up? I’m sure one of your pals will be up for a fight.” I say, holding out an empty pokéball to signal my intent.

The Bellsprout wiggles to uproot itself, and the entire field of Bellsprout all look down from the sky to stare at us as the one I’d targeted squares its little... shoulders? Leaves? It’s the same motion, but it’s literally a slender stalk and a giant head, no shoulders or anything. Anyways...

“Start with Hone Claws, let’s get some prep work out of the way.” I order, and Ghowl flutters into the air, rubbing her talons on a piece of wood, leaving them polished and gleaming. “Aerial Ace!”

The Bellsprout lashes out with a Vine Whip... at a nearby tree, grabbing it and dragging itself out of the way of the Aerial Ace, though the follow-up swipe still catches it. Impressive attempt, but it couldn’t work against a no-miss move like that.

Still, that’s some quick thinking, I think I got the cream of this crop of Bellsprout for sure. I can tell just by looking at it this will make one hell of a catch. Not that there’s any doubt with a pokémon like Bellsprout. I guess I’ll have to stick to no-miss moves though. “Alright, Shadow Sneak!”

As the attack comes in, the Bellsprout lashes with vines at Ghowl, smacking her into a tree, interrupting the attack rather than dodging it. It didn’t do much damage, but that also wasn’t needed in this case. Clever, clever pokémon indeed, makes me want this particular Bellsprout all the more. Looks like I’ll need to fight it Grass/Poison to Grass/Poison. I recall Ghowl and send out Gloom. A quick look at this particular Bellsprout’s level, a very nice nineteen, I decide that Gloom at level twenty-seven should do fairly well defense-wise. “Alright Gloom, give it a Mega Drain!” I’ve tested it’s physical defense, let’s see it take a special attack... even if it’ll only do 1/4th normal damage.

The Bellsprout gives a bubbling growl of defiance and begins to spray a thick, yellow-green fluid at Gloom, which sizzles and spits as it eats into the ground.

Acid at level 19? What the heck? I call for a time out. No naturally born Bellsprout could do things like that, it has to be specially bred. “Hold up... You aren’t already owned are you?”

The Bellsprout gives me a sad look, lowering its leaves and bell, shaking its head. Not owned, but those are clearly bred-in moves... oooh, I think I know what’s going on here.

“You got abandoned... why? You look spectacular to me...” Admittedly the fact that it’s a Bellsprout puts stars in my eyes but come on!

The Bellsprout gives a leafy shrug, then gives itself what would be in a more humanoid pokémon a chest thump, but I have no idea what it’s supposed to signify.

Time for more digging. Wow, it even has Petal Dance! Must have been a good breeder... Waitaminute. Oh, it’s got a Hardy Nature. That is indeed a caveat against Bellsprout as a species but, “To get rid of a pokémon just because it’s nature isn’t desireable?” I ask aloud. “I’ve done my share of digital EV and IV training but that’s just heartless.”

The girls look at me oddly. “Wait. This pokémon was released simply because of... what?” Rarity asks.

“It’s nature is ‘Hardy.’ That’s not favorable for the Bellsprout line at all. And apparently the guy who bred this thing wanted a perfect Bellsprout and... released this one because it wasn’t perfect.”

Rarity gasps, looking utterly disgusted and shocked at the idea. That, at least, is a good sign for a Breeder. She looks down, “Oh, you poor dear.” she says, reaching down and scooping up the pokémon for a hug.

I give the little guy a pat on his twig-like back with my finger. “Some trainers just... well they want to be the best so badly that if their pokémon aren’t up to snuff they ditch them. It’s not illegal but... a real dick move either way.” Rarity nods, and the Bellsprout hugs her back. “Well I don’t care. You showed some serious skill back there. That trick with the tree? Genius for a pokemon all on it’s own.” I admit. “I’m surprised your trainer didn’t want you. Well you can come with us if you like. I know skill when I see it, and I’d say you’re overflowing with potential.”

The Bellsprout nods emphatically, and all the other Bellsprout begin to clap their leaves and make encouraging noises. It seems they’ve all been hoping for this guy to get a good trainer.

“Well, once we get out of this forest I’ll take you out and see what you can really do. I don’t judge by numbers, I judge by spirit. How about we finish this battle up and you can show me what you’re made of?”

The Bellsprout nods, and Rarity puts the little guy back down, backing away. The Bellsprout gives me its best angry eyes (still adorable) and braces itself.

I nod to Gloom who steps forward again and gets into its own battle stance. With both pokemon giving their own planty war-faces it’s enough to make Rarity give out a sigh with how adorable they are. She gets a meaningful look of ‘We are not cute, we’re warriors!’ from both Gloom and the Bellsprout and she backs away further chuckling.

I give the Bellsprout my best war face and for some reason this puts Twilight into a laughing fit, barely trying to cover her laughter.

“Anyways!” I say. “Let’s get this restarted. Gloom, Stun Spore!” Sure a cheap move on such an agile pokemon but given it’s smarts, paralysis seems my best bet at victory.

The Bellsprout nods and simply hops back, lashing out with vines to grab a branch above and pull itself up out of range of the attack. A moment later, a hail of acorn-like projectiles comes streaming down from the canopy, pelting Gloom painfully. Not doing enough damage to do more than sting, but still...

Bullet Seed too? Damn, the old trainer may have been a dick but must be one hell of a breeder. I’ll have to find this person and high five them before kicking their ass... With renewed desire to have this Bellsprout and no other, I order Gloom to use Acid. It’ll be not very effective but better than a Grass move.

The blast of fluid melts away the foliage to reveal... nothing? I’m confused, and for a moment am afraid it ran off from nerves or something, until it comes swinging on a secured vine, moving way faster than I’ve ever seen a pokemon who isn’t meant for speed moving, passing by and smacking Gloom in the face before pulling a Spider-Man and just zipping back into the canopy. Gloom cries out, and I see that she’s rubbing at her eyes, which are now puffy and inflamed a bit. A bit of purpley powder is around her face, and I realize that Bellsprout just delivered a Poison Powder at about thirty miles an hour right to Gloom’s eyes. If she wasn’t a poison type, she’d probably have been blinded, but I think Bellsprout was counting on that.

Well, Gloom is crying now, no way to see the way she is so I recall her. Next option I can think of is Litwick so I toss her out. When the little candle appears, she looks around, not seeing her foe immediately, costing her a chance to fight back against the Bellsprout’s next move.

The wily plant pokémon attacks from ambush again, this time with a spray of purplish acid that coats Litwick, snuffing her flame and drastically reducing her power output as a result. The little candle begins to panic, trying to light herself again.

I take a lighter from my bag which I got along with the waterproof matches and have a bit of trouble getting Litwick to hold still long enough to light her. She finally gets her yellowish flame back and her blue eyes look very thankful as she turns back, now knowing that there is a foe somewhere around. And I need to figure out how to trap it somehow.

Fire Spin would keep Bellsprout contained, but how do I slow him down long enough to hit him with it? I’m not gonna let this guy stump me, no way!

Litwick puts up her little hands, balled into an approximation of fists, as the light seems to brighten, spears of sunlight striking down through the canopy. The thin shafts of blinding light give me an idea of what’s coming next, but I have no idea where the clever little pokémon is at this point. Sure enough, a four-inch-wide beam of concentrated sunlight spears through the canopy at an odd angle, moving like a death laser towards Litwick, who panics again and gets out of the way in time for it to miss. And now, she’s looking more determined than ever. Looking up, I can see the Bellsprout huffing and panting on a branch, light already collecting on the back of its head.

Before the next Solar Beam can be ready, I order a Flame Burst and Litwick aims the explosive ball of fire straight for where the Bellsprout is resting. Even if it gets away in time it’ll clear up more of the canopy and remove part of its vantage point.

The coils of flame scorch the wood, and the Bellsprout cries out in surprise, the light scattering from it as it jolts, the same thing as happened to throw off Ghowl earlier. Alright, now to turn this to my advantage!

“Smog! If it can’t see it can’t run!” I call out and Litwick agrees, sending a plume of dark gaseous smoke towards Bellsprout. Thankfully it’s partial Grass Type makes it vulnerable to Poison attacks.

The toxic gas blasts forth to cover the Bellsprout, resulting in coughing and the pokémon coughing hard enough to knock itself off its perch. The little plant falls to the ground, literally bouncing back to its root-feet when it lands, though it pauses to give another squeaky cough. Seems that Smog really got to it.

I decide now is the time... and a great pokémon like this deserves a Great Ball. I toss the red, blue and white sphere at the Bellsprout hitting it squarely in the chest and it’s absorbed into the ball. Now for the most important part of the capture... the wait.

Even through all the damage it has taken and the Great Ball’s effect, the Bellsprout isn’t giving in. Despite it wanting a better trainer, it shakes the ball violently from inside, making the ball actually hop into the air once or twice from the force... And just before I think it’s over there’s one last shake, like the Bellsprout nodding from inside, and it dings before digistructing to my PC.

Holy shit... I have a Bellsprout. And a damn good one at that. I pump my fist in the air and all the other Bellsprout are cheering, and dancing. The girls look mighty happy as well. And the overall good mood sends me into overdrive and I just begin jumping up and down like an excited child. Dreams do come true!

Chapter 64

“I think I’m gonna name him... uh.” I pause, realising I can’t come up with a good nickname for Bellsprout. “Brute-Root? No, too Venasaurish.” I turn to Twi and Rarity. “You got any ideas?”

It’s been nearly an hour since I caught that scrappy little Bellsprout, and I already can’t wait to evolve him to a Weepinbell and then a Victreebel. A tougher pokémon is always a plus.

The girls both give oddly exasperated sighs and tell me they don’t have any ideas. Man, they seem so glum now. Wonder why. “Oh well I’ll come up with a name later. So I’ve been talking about Bellsprout for an hour or so now... what’s on your minds?”

“Ooh, well, Anthony, I’m mostly just waiting to see if there’s any place to rest soon. These roots are doing terrible things to my hoo-, er feet.” Rarity says, sounding exhausted. Admittedly, the last half hour or so has been mostly uphill and downhill over rough roots, but still, it’s not that big of a deal.

“Well, I don’t know if we’ll find another clearing or not, and if we do, it might be inhabited.” I warn. “Wouldn’t want to tangle with claimed territory.”

The girls sigh and nod. We keep going until we find a small copse of trees isolated from the others nearby with a thirty-foot clearing of open grass. Pausing at the exterior, I can smell a sweet scent and hear the buzzing of insectoid wings... and I can see a few of those hummingbird pokémon, too, the smaller ones that only make one note. What’s on the trees is what takes my breath away.

A bunch of what are clearly Heracross are tending the trees and getting sap and nectar, but they’re in a fairly diverse set of colors and patterns!

Rather than the standard deep blue, the most attention grabbing one is a nice buttery yellow color with a black belly, and a different-looking horn. I consider making another capture, but I recall I’m low on pokéballs. Another that wanders by has almost no horns, and is mottled cream and black, with a red shell, and is noticeably half again as big as the yellow one, who is almost half again taller than the normal Heracross that are also here.

This brings a whole new level to how diverse pokémon really get. These are the kinds of things that the guys at Game Freak definitely should have put in the games. That said, if they tried, they’d have to drastically limit how many different species of Pokémon are available in order to leave enough memory space. Or, you know, move the games onto a console. That would be nice but I kind of like having my Pokémon in my pocket. They aren’t called ‘Television Monsters’ or anything after all.

That said, as cool as these all are, we’ve all gotten a new pokémon. Well, except Twilight, but she seems content to just look.

After a while of watching the beetles drink tree sap and generally fly around, none of them really pay us much mind, other than one that’s larger than the rest and has a rainbow-colored carapace. “Hera?” it says, looking more curious than anything.

“Just passing through.” I inform the Bug/Fighting type. I figure the sooner we’re out of here the better. These pokémon don’t seem too used to humans this far into the forest and we wouldn’t want one of them thinking we’re a threat.

The Heracross nods, and waves towards the copse of trees, welcomingly. There’s plenty of space to sit down and the like, and a couple of the hummingbird-looking pokémon come down to investigate the girls and I. They make their own humming notes, and even I can identify that they’re humming a chord between them.

Hmmm, speaking of music, I wonder if the éTech has a music-playing app. Would be nice to have some travelling music. Either way, figuring it would be rude to deny a warm welcome like this, we sit down and wait for whatever they have planned. It’s a shame Fluttershy wouldn’t be able to leave her animals in Equestria to come here. I think she’d like it a lot with all the birds.

The pokémon go back to their lives, but it’s extremely peaceful in this little glade, a fallen log acting as a good sitting spot. Rarity lets her own pokémon out, smiling as she looks around, pulling her éTech out to do something, a stylus in hand. I’m not sure where she got it, but the motions she’s making suggests she’s drawing. Twilight is squatting down to look at the more inquisitive pokémon coming up to her, such as a Happiny, an Eevee with a ‘mask’ pattern, and a Venipede with an almost wavy, watery-looking pattern on its shell. All of them seem inquisitive and interested, not skittish.

I decide to just relax. We’ve technically already done that today with the Clefairy, but I suppose we’re not really in a rush. Stop and smell the Roserade and all that. Just... there’s nothing to do besides sit around.

Speaking of Roserade... or, rather, Budew, one comes close, toddling up towards me, with a white-and-orange bud atop its head.

The pokémon around here seem to have all kinds of variations unseen in the fields and smaller forests. I figured that there’d be all kinds of subspecies, but I never really imagined any alternate looks for pokémon outside of Generations one and two.

I just look around at all the Grass types and such. Supposedly this forest takes up a huge chunk of Otaria, and with all the thick foliage it seems hard to believe that so many clearings would exist here. Probably a result of trainers trying to make more of a trail through it. Though I see a lot of fallen logs, I don’t see many stumps so it’s unlikely most of these are the result of log-cutting.

The mat of roots and vines along the ground do however seem to form a carpet that looks more natural and less alive than the Creep from Starcraft, green and brown rather than a sickly purple-red and not pulsing or slimy.

I hear a faint sound from the log under my rear, and shift to see what it is. Inside the hollow log, a trio of Shroomish are looking up at me, each with a slightly different pattern of spots and colors, including one that looks just like the mushrooms on a Paras’ back. The inside of the log also has a sleeping Venipede, and some cobweb-looking strands all over. “Shrum!” one of the mushroom pokémon says, looking at me with its... head tilted. Its body? Its torso? I’m not sure what to call that part of it. The not-feet?

Either way I’m not sure what the Shroomish want, but they don’t seem to have a problem with us being here so they’re just curious I guess. Again, not many people come this way. I just give it a wave and continue looking around to see what there is to see. While it is light enough to see close by, the canopy isn’t allowing enough light to see more than a few meters by so I wave my éTech around to see what I may be missing on the edges of the clearing.

The clearing itself is pretty and pristine, but I can see a few leering eyes and dangerous shapes in the forest beyond the clearing, including the shape of a Nuzleaf.

I decide to follow Rarity’s example and let my pokémon out, though mainly for protection. If they want to play and explore though I suppose that’s fine. I send out Litwick and Chantlette to just play with each other or whatever they’ll do.

The two pokémon stick to the shade, but do seem to be socializing with the other pokémon. This includes Chantlette managing to climb atop a gigantic Heracross and get a shoulder-ride around at a veritable snail’s pace.

She seems to be enjoying it though. You know, I know my pokémon’s levels, but I don’t really know their ages. Litwick could be anywhere from a child to a hundred or something, being a ghost type, and while the others may not have the same range, they are still a mystery. Geodude does act the most mature of them though.

Still, from the way they act, I’d say Litwick’s probably the youngest, maturity-wise, or maybe Chantlette. They’ve both got the ‘I’m totally serious now’ while still being silly and carefree attitudes that come with being almost a real teen.

So there’s not much going on, and Speaking of Geodude I’ve never seen him fight a serious Grass type. Would be interesting to see a fight between him and a Heracross too. He doesn’t get out as much as everyone else wither so... I just look to the tree with all the Heracross on it. “Anyone up for a battle? Just for fun?”

“Geez Anthony,” Twilight starts. “Again? I mean you just got Bellsprout.”

Oh yeah, I need to come up with a good nickname. Either way, one of the Heracross, a yellow-shelled one that’s twice as large as a normal one, trundles over with its head on level with mine and tilts its head, poking a finger towards me, and giving a querying, “Cross?”

I ignore Twilight and just say “You’ll do.” I toss out Geodude and stand up from the log. Rarity looks up but soon goes back to her drawing. Whatever she’s doing must be important. Geodude bursts from his Premier ball already in a battle stance. He looks at the Heracross then at me and back at the Heracross, holding it’s fists closer to it’s body.

Okay, Bug and Fighting... Ground won’t be very effective, but with the type defenses and weaknesses, Rock should be just fine. Not sure how high level it is but that should be okay as long as Geodude dodges any Fighting moves. The Heracross offers a handshake to Geodude, who takes it, and they move back to acceptable distances. “Okay then, Rock Throw!” I can always call for Smack Down if the Heracross tries flying.

Geodude slams a hand underground, hauling out a respectably large boulder to huck, which the Heracross simply smashes apart with its horn. Can Heracross learn Rock Smash, or was that another move used for this purpose?

It could be Brick Break, I know they can learn that. I may have to use a Ground move, but for other reasons than straight damage, but I need to stay away or the next rock mashed up could be Geodude... or he just needs to be fast enough to dodge. “Rock Polish!”

Geodude begins to follow through, as the Heracross closes its eyes, and gets into a pose that makes it look like its charging a hadoken. An orange-red-brown aura coats its arm, and just as Geodude finishes the Rock Polish, the Heracross lashes out, smashing Geodude right in the face, a loud ‘CRACK’ echoing through the clearing, and Geodude goes cross eyed as he lands, ten feet behind where he started, half-embedded in a tree.

“You okay, Geodude?” That could only have been Arm Thrust, and that had to hurt. Maybe I should have gone with Defense Curl instead.

“Duuude...” Geodude says, blinks several times, until his eyes clear back to their normal position, and he tries pulling himself out of the tree. Unfortunately, a combination of sticky sap and a lack of leverage is keeping him stuck. It’s like a Crusader event, but with pokémon.

Tree sap and pine needles aside, I jog over to Geodude and help unstick him. He’s naturally got a chunk of sap stuck to his side, but I can’t do much about it. It’s picking up all kinds of debris and making him kinda mossy.

“Still got this?” Geodude pauses for a moment, then nods, putting his fists up in a fighting stance again. “Alright, then how about we try a Spin Dash, you up for that?” Heracross looks a bit confused at the name, obviously being a name it’s never heard of. Combo moves do tend to have a leg-up on normal moves anyways.

The Heracross begins to do its own charge-up for another Arm Thrust or what have you as Geodude charges his own spin, and the two finish their lead-up almost at the same time, the two attacks hitting mid-sequence and sending a concussive blast around the field and a blast of dirt, dust, and small debris. The closed-in trees around the clearing do little to cushion the sound and it echoes like a staccato. That said, Geodude put his full-body weight into that strike, that has to be enough mass travelling fast enough to at least match a decent fighting-type move, Rock type or no, right?

The debris clears and the other forest pokémon return to see the aftermath, as interested as I am. Geodude and Heracross both stand up... well, Heracross stands up while Geodude pulls himself up with his arms. I can tell by the looks on their faces that both of them are pretty out of it right now. Neither is going to last much longer at this rate.

I could pull out my last Super Potion and juice up Geodude, and just trash this Heracross, but it should be saved for an emergency. I figure item usage wouldn’t really help much either, and most of my heavy-hitting moves are Ground type so... might as well go with a classic Tackle. It does have the same base attack as Rock Throw anyways, just no STAB. “Tackle it!”

Geodude prepares for his attack, but stops when the Heracross raises a hand in a ‘pause’ gesture, then makes ‘no more’ motions.

“Right, sorry. Forgot nobody’s gonna take you to a Pokémon Center afterwards.” I rub my head and recall Geodude. “Hey Rarity, you got any spare Oran berries for this one?”

Rarity is busy working on something on her éTech, and doesn’t hear me, but a Grotle trundles out of the grove with a pair of Oran berry bushes on its back. The Heracross takes a few and nods back to the Grotle, who seems perfectly fine playing medic.

“Well, that works, thanks guys. I tend to get carried away.”

“Cross cross.” The large beetle-pokémon says, waving it off.

“Good, glad we got that settled. Now then, I wanna try something.” I take out my éTech and scan Geodude to check his status. HP is indeed in the red, but he can move at least and... yes, he levelled up from a brutal fight like that. If memory serves, he should be able to use Bulldoze. That’ll come in handy. I give Geodude my thanks and return him, planning to keep him out of the metaphorical game until I can heal him up.

I do note that with all the fighting and debris being kicked up, some of the forest floor has been torn up. Bound to happen when a Fighting type goes against a Rock/Ground but jeez. “You guys can fix this, right?”

A few of the grass and bug-types in the area nod, and sure enough it’s all stitched together and neat, with new grass planted in less than a minute. Looking back over my companions, I see that Twilight is snapping a picture of the masked Eevee, and Rarity is sucking on the end of her stylus, or chewing it, I’m not sure which.

Well, they can be disinterested all they want, it’s not doing them any favors. Granted that fight put Geodude pretty out of it as well so I guess I only halfway benefitted from that. Oh well, not everything goes perfectly.

It takes some time but eventually the girls are done doing whatever and we move on, the various pokémon waving us goodbye. “So what’s got you so focused, Rarity?” I ask, noting that she barely looked up once from her éTech.

She doesn’t respond, but does doodle something on her éTech. Y’know, I do wonder what’s on there that has her attention so fully. I back up and look over her shoulder and see that she’s been designing some sort of outfit, based on a nature theme. Guess she got inspiration from the forest or somesuch, but now that we’re out of the clearing and not on a road of any kind... “It’s a bit dangerous to not be watching out for potential danger, you know.”

She flicks the page, revealing the next outfit over, which is a snazzy suit in wood browns and forest greens, with a picture of one of the larger hummingbird pokémon on the breast pocket, and it looks much nicer than the others. She flicks past it, and reveals six doodles crammed onto the page, each of a different dress with what are very obviously pokémon-themed motifs, including one made for ponies with a shroomish motif in the red-and-white speckles pattern of the odd one that had been hiding in the log.

I never saw her look up once, how did she see them? The next doodle catches my attention even more, because it’s of a long, serpentine green pokémon with small arms on its upper torso, looking like it’s in flight, and while I recognize it, it’s also got large, red-gold feathers in place of the fins and sails I’d expect of it.

“Where’d you see a Rayquaza...” I ask aloud. “Those things don’t leave the upper atmosphere unless you tick one off.”

“Hmm? Oh, I saw it going by above. It looks really quite elegant...” she says, voice trailing off as she flips to the next page, which has a pair of dress designs made for it, one for ponies and one for humans, and it calls forth images of a Rayquaza in flight and the serpentine grace of the pokémon, all smooth lines and fiery color contrast.

“You’d certainly be the toast of Chinese New Year with an outfit like that.” I note. “Though the feathers might be a bit out of place. Have you considered a more Celtic dragon design instead?”

“Hmm? I’m not sure what you mean. Oh, I took a picture of it, if you’d like to see.” she says, and does something to get to her pictures folder, and shows off an indistinct picture, though it matches the drawing she made. I’m not sure why it has the red-gold colored feathers, though.

“A Celtic dragon looks a bit like this.” I say, holding up my own éTech and showing her a picture I got off the net. “Still kinda snakey but more of a regal, spiky look to them.”

“Hmm... perhaps, but I suppose I’d have to see one. That looks like a nice design, but I’d rather not just poach an icon wholesale.” she says.

“I get the feeling.” I say. “So you gonna get some more fabric by pawning off another diamond and sending one of these home?”

“Perhaps. I might simply save the ideas for when we get home, or ask for a delivery of Bits the next time Twilight sends a message back; we can get small things or send them perfectly fine.”

“Yeah, you guys have a weird currency system.”

“We’re weird?” Twilight asks. “You’re the ones who think gold and clear diamonds are worth much. I can’t even believe how much that diamond went for. The conversion rate is pretty imbalanced if you ask me.”

I shrug. “Probably because what’s rare to us is common to you. Like selling salt to desert-folk.”

“Why would desert-folk want salt?” Twilight asks confusedly.

“Well, think of it this way: You live in a place where keeping things cool can be difficult, and that means food spoils quickly. Before the discovery of refrigerators and the like, salt was used to preserve food to keep it from spoiling as fast. And since that was their food, it was more useful to them than whatever forms of currency they have. So you could go over to, say, ancient Saddle Arabia, give them a couple four-pound bags of salt and walk away with a truckload of Bits with both sides feeling like they got a fair trade. Economics.”

“Well... I... suppose...” Twilight says, looking like she’s doing all the calculations in her head to figure out the full implications.

Rarity looks up. “It’s why I purchase Fancee Silk, or make my own, rather than buy Saddle Arabian, because it’s cheaper but of the same quality. As well, it’s cheaper for Pinkie and the Cakes to get their cooking supplies from Vanhoofer’s general area, or near Appleoosa, than it is to buy them from somewhere nearer to Canterlot, where there’s less arable ground. Different places have different goods for trade and sale, and need other goods more.” done with her commentary, she goes back to drawing, humming something under her breath.

“Yeah.” I say. “That pretty much covers it. Us bringing Bits in from Equestria and using them as currency here would be like that, only it’s trans-dimensional rather than continental. Don’t tell me Celestia’s star pupil fell asleep during Geography like C- Student Anthony...”

She shakes her head. “I, uhm, never studied economics.” she says, blushing hard and refusing to meet my eyes. Admittedly, since she’s currently in human form, it’s kinda cute, but still. I can’t let her live this down, it’s something she could know, but doesn’t, and I do!

“I’ll just stick this next to pokémon on my list of things I got over you and let the rest of this slide.” I grin, giving Twilight a squeeze. Damn her making a cute, easily-forgiven human. With a squeak and a sigh, Twilight lets it it go as well and we get ready to continue walking. Not much to see in the dark shadows all around us as Rarity packs in her éTech, and we head off once more.

Three minor encounters and another short pit stop to cuddle a few Eevee and a Leafeon with a blood-red leaf coloration, like a Japanese Maple’s leaves, and we find our way to another clearing as night begins to fall. Another day, another few dozen miles traveled through this dark forest. I get a map of the forest again, but with GPS being a bit fritzy with all the tree-cover it’s difficult to pinpoint exactly how close we actually are to getting out. The forest is nice but not something I’d like to deal with for a lot longer.

The girls set up their hammocks and I do the same though they fall asleep almost immediately while I’m struck by another bout of insomnia, so I just let my mind wander. Admittedly my imagination doesn’t want to be kind to me in the dark, shadow-covered forest. It’s practically pitch black everywhere I look. I see all kinds of strange shapes in the forest and while I know that it’s just pokemon, indicated by the noises they make as the nocturnal species start waking up. I just pull out my éTech and see if I can’t find some simple puzzle game to pass the time. I find one similar to Tetris Attack and start playing that, though I see something move out of the corner of my eye. This happens, but usually it goes away. This time the shape walks into the clearing, likely attracted by my light. That said, putting out said light would mean they would see me while I couldn’t see them so I switch the device back to a flashlight and aim it in the general direction of the shape.

A pale, blue-white shape moves out of the darkness, faintly glowing from the light of my éTech, and I realize from the shape that it’s a Meganium, evidently shiny or simply different in subspecies, a wide frill of silvery petals fanning out from the base of its neck, and a pair of little heads peek up from behind those petals on its back, revealing them to be a pair of little Chikorita of the same colors, and a Bayleef follows behind, looking a bit shy.

The small family moves into the shafts of moonlight pouring into the clearing, seeming to gleam like milky marble, and they all open their leaves and petals as far as they’ll go, and the two Chikorita hop down off their parent to toddle around the clearing.

I take a moment to stare at the adorable little Grass types as they wander around, occasionally giving a yawn here and there. One of them wanders up to my hammock but is called back by its parent. The little one just seems to be smiling a lot, and wanders back into the moonlight, until the larger of the two Chikorita begins to gleam brightly, glowing more and more until its light fills the clearing. After a moment, a smallish Bayleef is standing in its place, the light fading.

You know, one of these days I’m going to get some of these spectacular forest-night events on camera and show the girls what they miss by sleeping all the time. I mean, I usually end up dead tired from lack of sleep more often than any other reason, but still, a nightlife is important too.

A yawn escapes me though and I begin to feel drowsy. There isn’t a whole lot of nightlife to be had in a forest anyway. I watch the family do their moonbathing while I get comfortable in my hammock, sleep slowly taking me as I yawn again. With a third yawn I decide to continue my thinking in the morning.

It’s been two days, and we’ve travelled far enough that GPS has kicked in again. We’re only about three hours from our campsite to the main road leading into town. We’re all worse for the wear, but I honestly can’t say we’d have had as much fun or seen as many amazing things on the road itself. Nevertheless...

“Ugh, I can’t wait to get to a lodge or something and get a shower.”

“Seconded.” Rarity says, sighing.

“Or sleep in a real bed.” Twilight adds.

I sigh in agreement. “But don’t forget we’re just seeing a few sights then passing through. That desert is our real obstacle.”

“Right. But at least we won’t be tripping on roots and wiping spiderwebs out of hair every three steps.”

Speak for yourself, I think the webs are helping keep my hair neat and shiny. “Yeah, but don’t forget the desert will have it’s own problems like Trapinch and such.”

We just continue in silence until we finally see what looks like a path. Not so much a dirt road as parts of the ground that have been walked on plenty of times, pointing us in the right direction out of here. We start talking about Crevasse rather than the forest for a change.

“So given the environment, we’re likely to see a few Electric types.” it’s then that I realize that I’m the only one with a Ground type in our party. “But it’s a populated area, not a cave like Chargestone, so the pokémon should be mostly safe.”

We start our trek up a long series of winding stairs, thankfully all shallow and wide, easy to climb. That said, I wouldn’t mind a ladder. All the time in that forest not to mention thus far has been mostly horizontal travel, and I’m getting that occasional itch to climb something. I can see that a definite place we’ll end up on is a mountain, but that’s too far off from now. Maybe the next Gym will have a climbing challenge.

We finally make our way to the top of the slopes, and look down at what would normally be a massive gap in the mountain... but instead is a massive gap in the world, strung side to side with hanging bridges and buildings held in place by a massive network of chains, webbing, ropes, vines, and uncountable numbers of other forms of binding everything together, forming a roughly eight-layered city hanging in mid-air. It’s like an acrophobic’s worst nightmares all cobbled together. Plenty of flying and climbing pokemon abound, and in the darkness below, small flashes and rumbles of lightning-like discharges light off.

I take a deep breath. “On second thought, maybe we should keep this visit short.”

“What? But we spent the last few hours talking about the stuff we might be able to do and see.” Twilight says confusedly. “What’s changed your mind?”

“How about the fact that I don’t do good with heights. I like climbing stuff but I’ve got some pretty bad acrophobia.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. Now let’s go and get this over with alright?”

“But... well... this just sort of comes out of nowhere you know, you never mentioned-”

“You never asked.” I reply shortly. I steel myself and take a breath as I test the bridge. It takes several weeks, or a few minutes I’m not sure, but I make it to the city where Twilight and Rarity are waiting for me. “There, I did it, are you happy?”

“Yes, we can finally move on. Really, it makes no sense that you’d suddenly have a fear of heights.”

“It is not sudden, I’ve been this way since I was little!”

“I’ve never seen any evidence of-”

“Name one time you’ve seen me look out the train window on a trip up or down Mt. Canter.”

Twilight opens her mouth to respond but then puts a hand on her chin. “Okay, I guess I just never noticed the evidence.”

“Good, now the sooner I forget the fact that we’re on a floating city, the sooner I’ll feel better.”

“Well, it’s not really floating, so much as suspended by an impressive array of-”

“Not. Helping.” I hiss, getting Twilight to shut up. I just walk into the city proper. “Like I said, the best thing for me to do is forget, and I know one quick way to forget.”

Twilight thinks for a minute, as does Rarity. Twilight comes to a conclusion first. “But, me wiping a memory that small would take a lot of power and time, I’m not sure I could-”

I facepalm. “I meant get plastered to the fucking floor.” At the failure to understand the metaphor, I sigh again. “Drunk, I’m talking about getting drunk!”

“Oooh...” Twilight says, as Rarity rolls her eyes.

Rarity gives her own suggestion, “Either way, though, we should at least see some of the sights, and simply concentrate on not looking for a particular one that has phobias attached.”

“Just a bit of liquid courage and I’ll be all for that, right now, I’m tense as a weasel on the first day of Spring.” I’m highly doubting they’ll get that reference, but I don’t really care this time so I just look around for... I’m not sure, I’ve never been to this place before, I don’t know what a bar would look like.

“Uhm, okay then.” is the only response I get, but that’s about what I expected. We quickly head towards the Pokécenter first, and get inside. It’s got a rustic charm, mostly made of wood and metal panels, but I get a momentary panic attack when I look down to check out the floor mural and find that the white half of the pokeball is just clear glass looking into the abyss beneath us.

Walking to the counter while staying as far away from the glass, I hand Joy my Pokéballs and sit down on a couch, sighing heavily.

“Wait...” Twilight asks. “We’re right above the canyon, but you’re fine as long as you can’t see the way down?”

“You don’t have an irrational fear of heights, you don’t get it. The main point is that it’s irrational.”

“And as a rational person you are still affected?”

“The second part of that is ‘fear’ which is a lot harder to rationalize than, say, mind-sucking aliens, or mutant parasites that implant themselves into your memories and telepathically befriend you so they can suck out your internal organs and sell them on the intergalactic black market.”

“... Those both sound pretty silly.” Twilight says, as Rarity talks up the Nurse behind the counter.

“Just get me a couple drinks and I should be buzzed enough to not care.” I say, waving her disbelief off. “I’m a lightweight, should take three bottles, maybe two if I chug them fast.”

“I have no idea where I’d even get alcohol, Anthony. I didn’t see any buildings labeled as a bar, pub, inn, or other alcohol-serving establishment.”

I give a heavy sigh. “Of course not... Oh well, guess I’ll have to find some other way to get my mind off things.” I look around the Center for some sort of distraction but my eyes gravitate to the glassed floor again, making me push myself closer to the couch.

Twilight just sighs. “What were the things Pinkie suggested for helping you calm down again?” I wait for her to recall, and I get a good idea when given her facial expression, she recalls the suggestion of ‘sexual release’. She shakes her head and blushes furiously. “Okay, maybe Pinkie wasn’t thinking of very viable solutions, heheheh...”

“No kidding.” I say, rolling my eyes. This unicorn is way too much of a shut-in if just the word can send her into a blush. That said, the blush looks nicer on her as a human than a pony. She’s got more of a ‘nervous adorkable girl-next-door’ look. No, bad brain, we don’t go there. “Anyways... what is there to do that doesn’t involve being near an edge?”

“Plenty, actually.” Rarity says, walking back to us, a pamphlet of some kind in her hand.

“Yeah? Like what?”

“Well, there’s cave exploration, cave tours, two separate museums of local stones, and something advertised as a ‘mini-gym’. It has prizes and the like. Ooh, and there’s something called a ‘Mystery Maze’ that has trainers and puzzles, something I think we’d all be able to enjoy together. There’s several things I think Twilight and I would enjoy, but most of them involve climbing and the like, so I don’t think you’d enjoy that... oh, and it says there’s an actual hotel here for once, though it specializes in... ah... well, it’s advertised as ‘alternative sleeping arrangements’, so I suppose we’d be best looking it over before we try it.”

“Yeah. And as for the climbing, I like it.” I explain, getting odd looks from the girls. “What? I do, I like it, I just don’t do well if I end up looking down is all. I mean, I’ve had my share of training how to climb a giant rock... who hasn’t?”

Beat.

“You girls have tried rock-climbing before... right?”

“Er, no... but I was referring to line-climbing. It’d be out over the main parts of the crevasse. Though now that I think about it, that does sound nice... if very difficult.”

“Yeah.” I say. “No chance of me doing it without a net, or blinders of some kind that keep me from looking down but if you need some help I could always teach you basic climbing. We’re bound to do it some time as trainers you know. It’s not all horizontal travel you know.”

“That sounds lovely, Anthony! I would love to sometime.” Rarity says, smiling.

“Alright, but you’re right about line climbing, not my cup of tea. Hey there’s an idea! If I can’t get blasted, I can probably get some sort of herbal relaxant. Those should be available here, right?”

“I didn’t see anything like that either...” Twilight says, nervously. “But we can always look, right?”

I give another long sigh. “Fine, but after that where’s that maze thing? I’m always up for a good puzzle.”

“Ah, about two layers up, and a few streets over. There’s elevators or climbing points, traveller’s choice.” Rarity says, reading directly from the pamphlet.

“Sounds good to me.” I say, getting up and stretching. “Come on, let’s find a place quick, my nerves are shot right now.”

Rarity nods and heads over to the counter and starts talking to Joy again. Soon enough Rarity comes back to us. “Well, there’s a few places to get some tea around here, but not a very large selection. We’ll just have to check around and hope we find what you’re looking for.”

I shake my head and crack my neck. “Wor-orks for me, just gotta wait on my team and we’ll be shoving off.” At this point, Joy comes over and hands me a tray of Pokéballs, a premiere ball, and a Depth ball barely fitting into the slot intended for spheres. I take by balls and thank Joy for the speedy work and we all head for the door.

We come to the first place Joy mentioned having tea and it’s a little corner shop,. More of a stall with a roof and seating places really. Nevertheless it looks decent enough.

“Hello hello hello!” the proprietor calls, a series of colored teakettles on a series of burners in the back. The whole village sways ever so slightly with every movement of the wind.

On the edge of the stall, a Murkrow sits, settled in. It’s got more of a low fedora look to its hat, rather than the normal, vaguely witchy-looking hat most do, and has a ‘coattails’ tail setup rather than the poof.

I sit down at one of the tiny tables and the girls do the same. “Something to help me relax a bit. Not used to heights.” I say. “Not too picky.”

Twilight looks at the menu printed above the stall and pauses, clearly not being used to the selection. “Uh, you wouldn’t happen to have some coffee... would you?”

The guy sighs and rolls his eyes. “No. But I do sell black tea and green tea.”

I rub my temple. “She’ll want black.” I say.

Rarity simply asks “What sorts of honey do you have to go with your tea?”

Speaking of honey in tea... “Rares, you ever tried blackberry honey in herbal tea?”

“Hmm, I can’t say I ever have, dear, most of home’s honey is clover-based.”

I shake my head and grin. “Clover’s good for putting on crackers and toast and such but you gotta try what you can get from other plants. Blackberry has a sweeter taste, but a bit more tart than apple.”

“Apple... honey?” Twilight asks, curiously.

“Yeah, it’s hard to get in big supply, especially since whenever it’s made people tend to snap it up the second they can. Kinda like cider season, but honey takes even longer to make so that’s likely why the Apple family doesn’t make honey.”

“Huh, I’ll have to ask Applejack about that in my next letter...” Twilight says, scratching her chin.

I nod. “Anyway, sorry to interrupt.” I say, aimed at the stall owner. “What do you have for honey?”

“Well, we have some pretty mixed Combee honey, and some Spicy Embee Honey, but I have to charge for that.”

I nod. “I’ll just go without, I’m here to relax. Not sure what exactly the honey will taste like, so I’m not sure if you should, Rarity but I guess since we have the money, I say ‘try it’ at least.”

“Well... I suppose I can do that.” Rarity says, and the guy nods. A quick transfer of money later, and our tea is being poured, and a tiny glass bottle of orange-red honey is set before Rarity.

“Careful there, it’s not like most honey flavors. It’s got more bite than cinnamon-infused stuff, and it literally warms you up. If you can get a bigger bottle, it’s great to have if you go into the mountains proper.” the tea-salesman advises. “But as you can guess, it’s expensive. Beezooka are really territorial about their honey.”

“Makes sense.” I nod and take my cup, and Twilight does the same. She doesn’t seem too enthused. “It’s not bad, but... I’ll just stick with coffee.”

I sigh. “To each their own. In the future though, this stuff is a lot better for you, if more likely to bite you later depending what it’s made with.” I return to my own cup and take a long drink, the warm tea heating me up and helping me relax. “It’s all plants, so it’s not something you’d want to make out of something like flax. And while mint tea can be good, if prepared wrong it can really upset your stomach. That stuff you’re drinking is probably the closest you’ll get to coffee right now though.”

Twilight nods. Meanwhile, Rarity has added a small drop to her tea, and takes a dainty sip, then adding another drop before declaring it perfect and working on drinking it.

I take a teensy bit of the honey and, putting a drop on my finger, suck on it for a bit. “Not very sweet and not all that sticky but-” I’m caught off-guard by the aftertaste and I note that it is indeed very hot. “Dang...” I take a sip of my own tea and it blends in with the honey, setting the ‘bare spice’ flavor to a warm buzz. “That’s some strong stuff, I can see why they’d want to defend it.” As I drink the tea, the combination with the honey actually does make me feel warm all over, like I’m sitting in the sun at the beach, or wearing a thick coat. It’s really good stuff!

I briefly think about buying a small jar of the stuff to carry with us, but given how expensive it is, I have a feeling doing that would deplete this guy’s stock of it, which would be pretty unfair, so I just make a note to buy some from a store where it’s not in such low stock. I finish my drink and sigh, feeling a lot better.

With a stretch I get up from my chair and, waiting for the girls to finish, we pay for the tea itself and leave, taking the rest of the little teeny jar with us. Only three drops out of it, but it seems like it’s already almost gone. A crazy thought crosses my mind. “Heh, maybe we could find one of those hives and get some of the honey ourselves.”

“I’m not too sure, Anthony. That merchant said Beezooka are territorial; they sound pretty dangerous.” Twilight warns.

“I’m just saying it might be fun to try as long as we’re careful, but whatever. Let’s see about that Mystery Maze.”

Chapter 65

We walk into the first floor of a large tower and see a bunch of screen panels, with an Eastern theme to it all. I step forward into the first room, a small one with a single panel painted blue, and a quick test reveals it’s a door that slides, locking into place with a click on the other side, with just enough sticking out that I can pull it back, by lifting a little lever to unlock it each time. A quick check of the other side reveals there’s no lever or latch there.

“Oh, it’s a door puzzle.” I say to the girls. “You go in a door and it locks behind you and you have to find the end.”

“So it’s like a labyrinth?” Twilight asks worriedly.

“Nope, worse, you can’t immediately see where each way goes.” Twilight takes a careful step inside. “Oh come on, it’s not that bad.”

“Well, you haven’t had horrible things happen to you while stuck in a hedge maze...” She grumbles.

“You got to laugh at my fears, now I get to laugh at yours. Fair’s fair.” I say, sticking out my tongue. Twilight sighs and bristles a bit, but doesn’t argue. Rarity pulls out her éTech, and pulls up her drawing program, and sketches the first area and the door. Good thinking on her part. “See? we’ll have a map of the place. We’ll figure this out in no time, just as long as we stick together.”

The words ‘stick together’ seems to make Twilight cringe a bit for some reason, but we keep moving. With Rarity drawing out our map, we continue on through the first door.

Once the first door closes, Rarity makes the required notes and I see that there’s several more passages branching off, though several are dead ends, one of them painted green. Hmm, the entrance-side of the first door was blue... this must be another door.

“And if it’s going by the temperature scale like I figure, blue coming before green, the next door we want is yellow, then orange, and getting closer to the color red as it goes.”

Twilight nods at my deduction but pauses. “But what if that’s what they want us to think and it’s intentionally not the right way?”

I ponder that assumption and she’s right. “If they knew we knew about that sort of code then they likely would avoid using any kind of code to make it difficult.”

“Or they could simply be indicators for something else, such as the type of challenge on the other side.” Rarity points out. “Or so that you can tell if it’s a door you’ve come across before, if you didn’t think to map this out.”

“True, I doubt many trainers are used to puzzles like we are, it could be that and the color code means nothing. I mean, this is the first puzzle so it’s not supposed to be that hard.”

We all continue to think on the second puzzle of ‘how much do they expect us to know before coming in, and what have they planned for?’ Eventually Twilight comes up with a compromise. “We take the green door and if there’s a yellow door through that we’ll take it anyway and see where it leads. If that’s not the trick, then we’ll know then. The worst possible outcome is they send us back to the beginning which is already right behind us, right?”

I nod, and Rarity follows suit after thinking on her idea. “Alright then, green it is. if it’s wrong we can just try one of these other passages.”

With that, I open up the green door and we all walk inside and take a look around, searching for the assumed yellow door.

A few twists and turns later, we come to a ‘dead end’ with a blue door on it. Hmm... well, there goes the ‘code’ idea. Maybe it’ll show up later.

“So Rarity, how many turns did we take exactly? Where are we facing in relation to the entrance?” This can’t be the blue door we saw before, but... “If we ended up going backwards, then maybe the doors change color the closer you are to the exit and blue is the color of the farthest section?”

“Mmmm... actually, I think we’re facing the same direction as we started, but I’m not sure how far we are. I haven’t been measuring; on reflection, I wish I had my tape measurers so I could have been.”

“Yeah, that would be helpful.” Twilight sighs. “But no matter, we have only one door ahead of us and, assuming Anthony’s new theory is wrong, maybe we should take the blue door since the last time we saw a blue door it was the right way to go.”

I’m about to protest but she’s right. Blue seems to get us places, while green gives us more than one option... wait a second... “We went through a Blue door and it only gave us one option. When we went through the green door, it was right after the blue door, and it led us here. Maybe the trick to this door puzzle is to take fewer doors. What if we were supposed to go down the passages by the green door?”

“I’m not sure Anthony, that might be a bit too confusing for the first puzzle, you know? It is supposed to be easy... relatively speaking.”

I sigh again, Twilight being right once more. “Okay, let’s try it.” Twilight opens the door, sliding it to the left as opposed to the last blue door which slid right. I ponder if that means anything as well, but we’re already through. As soon as we pick another door, this one will lock behind us.

We walk along, and eventually find another green door, but in a separate corridor, is a yellow door. There’s also a couple other passageways that’re cut short by dead ends with no paint.

“So... green or yellow?” Twilight picks green while Rarity picks yellow. I’m too unsure to pick one over the other.

Twilight argues with “Well, last time we picked a green door it took us through a passage, which seems to be the goal.”

Rarity retorts with “But we’ve already seen both blue and green doors. It’s likely we’re supposed to pick what we aren’t familiar with, because that’s the nature of a maze: sending one through unfamiliar territory.”

Hearing both arguments I finally decide to go with Rarity on this one. “She has a point, mazes are supposed to keep you lost all the way until the end. Sticking with what you know isn’t going to help you find the end. And think about it, the last door was blue and now we’re presented with a green door just like last time, but the last green door put us going backwards according to the map of turns we’ve made.”

I open the yellow door and Rarity follows, Twilight taking a last look at the green door before following along.

We walk through the corridor behind it, until we come to a dead end, no door. Twilight swells with pride, but doesn’t say anything, choosing instead to smirk knowingly.

“Alright, alright, we go back and take the green door. Maybe that’s the pattern: blue, green, blue, green.” Backtracking we come to the yellow door we entered a moment ago and slide it open and walking through the green one. At least there wasn’t a door to pick to lock the yellow one.

We go along, until we make two more turns, and find another dead end, with a purple door in the wall, already open. That’s... weird, especially since it’s still a dead-end, even with the door open.

“So... what does an open purple door mean?” Twilight shrugs, unsure. “Fine, well it’s all we got since now we know Yellow was a bust and the door back has locked at this point.”

“Doesn’t that mean that we’re stuck if we can’t go back through the blue door?”

“Wait...” Rarity says, confusedly. “How do we know it closes doors behind us?”

Twilight shrugs pointing at me. “Anthony said that.”

I raise my hands in defense. “Hey, that’s how most door puzzles go. The other kind is one that changes corridors, making and removing dead ends as you open and close doors, but that’s a little confusing for a first level puzzle, right?”

Rarity huffs. “Well either you’ve been wrong this whole time, or you’ve gotten us trapped, one or the other.”

“I never said I had all the answers, I’m just throwing out ideas like everyone else. If we aren’t trapped then for all we know the yellow door is the right way to go and closing this purple one opens the way.”

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” Twilight recites, so I slide the purple door closed and we head back to the yellow door which... opens, proving that I was wrong. “Sue me, I’m just trying to figure this stuff out.”

“Badly” Twilight mumbles.

“I’m not afraid to kick-” I pause when Rarity waves a hand in between the two of us, then points down the hall beyond the yellow door.

“Dears, not to disrupt your lovely argument, but there’s no dead-end at the end of the Yellow hallways anymore.” she points out, and Twilight and I both look. Sure enough, there’s now a corner several feet further than previous end of the hall, that leads off to the side. The edge of a purple door is visible in the wall, though it’s not painted on this side.

“So what does that mean, if you’re so smart?” I ask, pointedly at Twilight. “Seriously, if you think I’m just shooting crap, what’s your brilliant plan to get us through?”

“Well since we’ve made progress, how about checking out that purple door and see where it goes? As long as the corners aren’t making us face the entrance’s direction, we’re making progress since the end can’t be on the same side as the entrance.. Otherwise the building would be shaped very differently.”

She begins to lead us off, and we head along the way, following a long, circuitous route, until we come to a chamber like the entrance, except it has a staircase leading up and a door labeled ‘EXIT’. There’s also an electric board, with the words ‘0/1 Hidden Items Found. Floor Grade = 0%, Tower Grade = 0%’’ flashing on it.

The girls and I look amongst each other, Twilight’s sense of accomplishment deflating the second she sees the number ‘zero’ after the word ‘grade’. “Hey uh, maybe we should go back... that item could be useful...”

I glare at Twilight. “Uh, yeah, I don’t think so.”

“But... look, it says we aren’t done yet!”

“We were at the entrance, and that door says ‘exit’. That means we’ve found the end, Twilight.”

She rolls her eyes. “And I’m sure that explains your less than stellar view on education.”

“I only got kicked out of my first high school because the teachers hated me!” I growl. “You know what, fine! Rarity, give Twi the map. She can find the item on her own time. We’ll stay here and wait for her to come back. Deal?”

Twilight looks stricken at the suggestion, and she doesn’t accept the map when it’s offered.

“Or she can go without the map, if the teacher’s pet thinks it’s ‘cheating’ or whatever. Seriously, it’s your choice: We go up now and move onto the next puzzle, or you can save your precious, meaningless ‘100%’ grade.”

Twilight whimpers, then shakes her head. “N-no, we’ll just do better on the next floor.” she says.

“Damn right we will.” I grumble, at least somewhat glad that Twi is starting to kick her addiction to A’s. Rarity is giving her concerned looks, but she’s probably just making sure Twilight doesn’t freak out over the grade.

The next floor is nothing like the last one. Well, it’s at least different in theme. The last floor was more classic eastern with paper walls and such. This is more... well, I’m sure there’s illusions involved, because it’s a series of stepping stones over ‘lava’, and each one has a picture of a pokémon on it.

“Oh, I know this kind of puzzle!” I say excitedly. I get some raised eyebrows in response. “For real this time. I’ve seen this kind of puzzle before. We hop across the right stones and get to the end. If we step on the wrong stones they’ll sink into the lava.”

“And how do we determine which stones are the right ones, exactly?” Twilight says, the other eyebrow rising.

“Simple.” I say, grinning. “Just figure out what the difference between the pokémon on the stones is. We step on the right kind of pokémon and we’ll be through this one in no time.”

“And you’re sure this time?”

“Yes I’m sure. We just have to figure out the similarities and differences of each pokémon and figure out which trail to follow.” I shrug. “Or you could just disregard my solution and just run across the room and hope you don’t fall into the lava.”

Twilight is about to retort but pauses. “Fine, but Rarity decides which ones to step on.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine. So, let’s figure out the differences of the first stones.”

The first three stones are a Vulpix, a Flareon, and a Glaceon. Each set of stones in a given row is a set of three, so this should be relatively easy.

“Alright.” I say. “Before we can figure out which are the right ones, we need to figure out which ones do what.” With that I leap onto the nearest stone, which was the Flareon.

The second both feet plant themselves on the stone, a faint rumble fills the room, and out of the corner of my eye, I see more lava pour from a hole in the wall, into the lava below. It pours for several seconds out of many holes, and I see the level of the lava below rise, along with the temperature. I’d say, at a guess, it raised about two inches, and there’s only about eight more inches until the top, when the pouring stops.

“Okay, now we know Flareon is the wrong one!” I say proudly while the girls look nervously at the lava. “Come on, we still have a few more to test. Who’s next?”

The girls stare at me like I’m insane. Which I am but I also know what I’m doing so it’s not severe insanity.

“Fine then.” I jump to the Glaceon, figuring I’d test the Eeveelutions first. That will help narrow down one similarity at least. I make my hop over and land on the Glaceon tile. I wait... but there’s no rumble.

The girls stare at me incredulously. I grin heroically. “Now, Flareon and Glaceon have plenty in common, and usually at the start of these puzzles, only one of them is the right one, which means we have to figure out the difference the Glaceon has that isn’t shared by both Vulpix and Flareon.”

“And if you’re wrong, we fall into the lava.” Rarity points out.

“Yeah, but apparently Glaceon is the right one. Now, Flareon is wrong but Glaceon is right, so it can’t be relation to Eevee. It can’t be how they walk since all three are quadrupeds. The difference I see is...” I trail off to let the girls make their own conclusion.

“Well... Uh...” Twilight mumbles, reminding me she doesn’t know what a Vulpix is yet.

“Glaceon isn’t a Fire type?” Rarity guesses, and I clap.

“Right you are. So we just follow the ones that aren’t fire types and we’ll be over there before you know it!” With that I study the next set of tiles.

The next three are easy; Arcanine, Litwick, and Sneasel. I step to Sneasel, and look over the next trio; Charmander, some sort of bee-looking pokémon with lances that I don’t recognize, and a Rotom in a Fridge.

Not sure about the odd, not-a-Beedrill Bug thing, I skip over it and leap to the Rotom, again, the stillness of the room approving my selection. I continue hopping across correctly-guessed platforms until I notice that the girls aren’t following. “Come on, it’s no trouble at all! Just jump where I’m jumping!”

The next tiles I see are a Bellsprout, a Houndoom, and a Snover. Not a fire type, and Bellsprout has yet to prove me wrong. They’ve mostly been Ice types up until now, and now would be the chance for them to switch things up. Ice is weak to fire, as is grass, and if Ice is safe Grass must be fine too. “Get a move on, this is noth- Agh!”

I touch down on the Bellsprout pillar, but it starts shaking underneath me and I note the lava is getting deeper as the pillar catches on fire!

I leap for the next pillar over which is the Houndoom. The room rumbles again and the lava level rises another few inches, and I watch as the Bellsprout platform sinks down into the lava despite the level stopping a few inches below where the pillar was, meaning grass (and potentially Bug types) are not only bad, but very bad.

The girls stop yelling, looking at me worriedly as I hop to the Snover to safety.

“N- no problem!” I yell. “Just stick to ice-types only!”

I look around the room and note that I’m about halfway. I have to consult the éTech a few times to determine which is an ice-type, but I make it the rest of the way just fine, until about six more layers on. There’s nearly twenty sets of stones until the door, but I’m about two thirds of the way there.

“See!? Nothing to it!”

Rarity and Twilight stare at me then at each other.

I look at the next three stones. There’s one of the those big tree things that punch stuff, an Abomasnow, and pokémon that looks like a mountain erupting.

I scan the mountainous pokémon out of curiosity, but the éTech chirrups a bit and a notice requiring an international upgrade flashes across the screen. Damn, I’ll have to go off guesses from here. Well, I know what an Abomasnow is, and it’s an ice type so... With a nervous leap I land on the Abomasnow platform and... it begins to sink like before. Agh! He counts as Grass type! I leap over to the mountainous pokémon out of instinct of the unknown and watch as Abomasnow falls into the lava. Breathing heavily at the close call I stand up, now a bit less sure about my chances, and the girls still aren’t going.

Next set of tiles are... Castform in its natural state, Typhlosion, and what sorta looks like Groudon, but spikier. Castform and Groudon aren’t fire types, but Castform can be a fire-type, so maybe that one’s the bad one.

That said, Castform can also be an Ice type and I’m pretty sure that Groudon-looking thing isn’t a good choice so I decide to go with Castform. The lava raises, leaving me with only a few more screw-ups, but at least it didn’t fall in.

The next trio that gives me trouble is Magcargo, Magby, and Vanillite, not because I can’t figure it out, but because the previous trio was Dewgong, Venusaur, Ho-Oh, and it’s a long jump to the Vanillite tile.

I make a huge leap to the Vanillite pillar, but it seems I misjudged the distance and only get most of my body onto the platform, leaving a foot to be just a few centimeters away from the lava and my other leg got scraped on my landing.

The girls shriek and I give a bit of a whimper but thankfully the ‘lava’ is just really really warm. It doesn’t hurt, but it’s extremely uncomfortable, so not enough to scar me or anything... But I definitely know I don’t want to actually fall in, as it feels like I’m above a pot of water boiling on a stove. I stand up, having to lean on my scraped leg as it hurts less, but I wave to the girls telling them I’m okay. Mostly. I look ahead at the next set, expecting it to be an even larger leap or some other no-win situation.

Avalugg, Spheal, and Weavile. Well, I guess after the last, a break would be a good idea, given that I’m pretty sure this is meant for kids to be trying, not grown adults. Anyways, I gratefully take the freebie and look ahead, noting that I’m not really doing too bad. The exit is a lot closer than the entrance now.

Next trio is... actually a duo. In fact, the last six are all duos, with the middle missing. Meaning these are freebies so I can make my decision of which path to take now, not later. The duo is what looks like a flaming Weepinbel, clearly not the pokémon to choose, the other being a Beartic.

Clever... but I suppose as long as the first one I jump to is safe I might be able to leap across six of these platforms and get by even if they’re wrong, as long as they don’t fall in. Well, given the current level of the lava, it’s more like I’m allowed two fuck-ups but if I move fast, it may not really matter, right?

I choose the Beartic and look ahead of me, the next and only feasibly available pillar showing a Lampent, and the next after being a spider-looking pokémon that looks like it’s made of bars, with some kind of gas or something inside its hollow abdomen. The picture’s not the best, and not in color, so it’s hard to tell, and the éTech can’t see that far with the waves of heat coming off the lava below.

May the spirit of Leeroy Jenkins guide me to victory. And chicken.

With a deep breath I take a running leap at the Lampent and, barely stopping, just close my eyes as my feet spring me onto the spider-thing. I feel two rumbles and immediately leap to the next one ahead. I’m not even looking at the tiles but as I jump I can feel the lava rising.

Eventually, I make it to the other end, though by the time I do the pillars are just barely showing above the lava and I’m pretty out of breath... but I made it at least. I figure I’ll give my legs some time to rest and half-crawl to the exit staircase and look at my score.

‘Secret Item Code? _ _ _ _ _’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 4
Floor Grade: 85%
Tower Grade: 42.5%’

I pump my fist in the air and shout to the girls “85! I got a B! That’s passing!”

Twilight looks, again, a bit pensive at my lower expectations of ‘passing’ but she nods and prepares to take her turn, the lava having receded once I’d moved to the exit. She gives the room a look of concentration before making her leaps. She’s a bit more hesitant than I am, but she does make fewer mistakes. After scrambling quite a bit with the long jump like I did, she doesn’t have any problems until she comes to the no-win tiles and fumbles, but manages. She sighs once reaching the exit and looks at her score.

‘Secret Item Code? _ _ _ _ _’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 2
Floor Grade: 90%
Tower Grade: 45%’

“Ninety.” I say, patting Twilight on the back. “You just have to get an A, don’t you.” She rolls her eyes and we watch as Rarity begins her turn.

Rarity looks over the first three panels, and begins to make her move, skipping athletically from panel to panel, barely pausing to look at them, moving gracefully and flawlessly, until she approaches the halfway point, with the no-win row. There, she stops, and scrunches up her face in consternation. After a few seconds, she starts looking around, probably for a way to skip the row. She stops when she sees something right above her, brows furrowing as she pulls out a pokéball, sending out Glorious, speaking to it for a moment before the sword pokémon sheathes itself, and lays flat, Rarity sitting primly on the ghost-type and letting it raise her high enough to see something she writes down, before looking down, shrugging, and simply having Glorious ferry her past the no-win row and hopping off, moving once more gracefully to the exit.

Not a single time did the lava pour, and not a single column sunk. She steps up to the score screen and enters a series of letters and numbers, and a carry-capsule pops out, as she smiles at Twilight and I.

‘Secret Item Code? X2JG7’
‘Bad Tile Hits: 0
Floor Grade: 120%
Tower Grade: 60%’

I stare at Rarity and at her score, switching between the two and I notice my mouth is hanging open. Rarity just smiles happily as she takes the item. Holy shit. Really, I mean holy shit! “How the hell did you...?”

“Well, the tower rules only say ‘no pokémon battling’ outside designated areas, darling.” she says, and begins to head up the stairs.

I smack my forehead. “I could have had Geistowl carry me across most of this thing!”

Twilight nods and, recalling her ‘A’ scoring, just shrugs and stays happy with what she got. “But it could’ve gone so much better.” Twi and I just decide to cut our losses and follow behind Rarity onto the next puzzle. This time I’ll be aware of who I brought with me.

We step to the next floor, and see Rarity looking concerned, and we all get a look at what’s ahead. A single, straight path, with a computer screen on the door ahead of us, displaying a string of words. There’s no other ways through, and the door looks like it’s reinforced.

“I’ve never been good with riddles...” Twilight admits in a disappointed tone. I have to agree, but after Rarity’s display I need to come up with something.

“It looks like we can just head to the exit if we answer this.” Rarity points out. “But I have a feeling even a wrong answer will get us through but with a lower score.”

“Yeah.” I agree. “A sort of ‘At least you tried’ award of points. It doesn’t give us much to go on though, barely any hints or anything.”

Stepping closer, I see that the screen is just a simple black-and-green setup that’s easy on the eyes, and has a keyboard. As well, there is a button that says ‘Hint?’, though I don’t trust that question mark on the end.

“Wait...” Twilight says, trailing off for a moment. “It says ‘Catch’ and ‘Who am I’ not ‘What am I’; that means it must be a pokémon, right?”

“Yeah... yeah you’re right. Though the only pokémon I know that have pearls, the item, in the wild are Shellder, Cloyster, and Clamperl. And it says ‘no stone required’. That means that you wouldn’t need a stone to get it, and the only way to get a Cloyster in captivity is to use a Water Stone, but not if you catch one wild. Then it’s a Cloyster!” I run my fingers the terminal and type in Cloyster and hit the Enter key.

The computer changes its text to nothing but a large checkmark, and the door gives a hiss, then opens, revealing... another door and computer. Crap.

Still, I got that one right on the first try. I thump my chest in success and grin at the girls. “Aw yeah, like a boss!” With that I walk up to the next terminal as the girls sigh and follow behind me.

I roll my eyes. “Easy, it implies the pokémon is ancient and it’s one with the Suction Cups ability. It’s either Cradily or Lileep.” I say, knowingly. “And Cradily are a lot more active than Lileep, and if prey thinks it ignores that means that it stays still. It’s Lileep for sure.”

Smirking, I put in the answer, get another check, and step through. Another door, another riddle.

Okay, this one is a bit confusing. Body in blue, tallest of two. Wait, it’s blue and the biggest of a pair. What two can’t breed but are known to fight? Groudon and Kyogre. Groudon may be heavier, but Kyogre is much bigger in scale.

“Kyogre.” I say as I type it in and enter it in.

The screen flashes an X in red.

“What?” I think that’s right... no, wait... fight together not with each other, and they can’t breed together. Well, I can’t really remember if they can breed or not. Can they? I always assumed they could... No, Plusle and Minun both have the Fairy Egg group, it’s not Minun. They’re also the same size...

What pair can’t breed, has a taller blue member, but can’t breed?

“Hmm... well... wait.”

“Ugh, would you just pick already?”

“Look, I’m going through these as smart as I can. I mean, it’s not like you know more pokémon species than I do.”

Twilight sighs and resigns.

Rarity sighs as well but in exasperation. “I swear, you two fight like a pair of angry siblings sometimes.”

“Yeah well at least I-” Click. “Rarity, you’re a genius!” I give Rarity a big hug and enter “Latios” into the terminal.

Another red X and my grin falls.

“What the fuck!? Latios and Latias can’t breed, they’re practically built to be a pair, and Latios is blue and bigger! This is bullshit!”

“Calm down Anthony, just keep thinking.”

“Fine... Hmm... let’s see...” I hear Twilight open her mouth but I hold up a hand to silence her. “Not now.” Okay... Well, there’s Karrablast and Shelmet. Karrablast is blue and bigger and they are supposed to fight together, as they are set to evolve at the same time when traded with each other...

But can they breed? I can’t remember that. I wonder if using a pokédex is cheating... probably.

Twilight steps up to the console and sighs, hitting the ‘hint’ button. “I’ve had to swallow my pride already, now it’s your turn Anthony.”

“No! I got this, I got this! Damnit!” Before I could move Twilight away she’d already hit the hint button.

I pause and let the hint sink in. I jab the keys to enter “Sawk” into the terminal and hit enter, sighing.

A green checkmark blinks on the screen, and the door opens.

“Okay, I know this one. Dragonair live in the water and evolve into Dragonite and that’s when it gets wings arms and legs, and Dragonite is a pretty rare, potentially mythic pokémon. But it also gains the flying type which does nothing but hinder its type resistances.”

Twilight seems unable to fight my logic, so I enter Dragonite in and stand back, gritting my teeth, half expecting another red X. However, it’s another right answer.

“Ha! Got it, back on track!”

“Regigigas.”

Another check mark.

“Alright, onto the next one!”

Harbinger of calamity. Absol? I type Absol into the terminal and enter it in. I mean, it has to be right, unless there’s another pokémon who’s supposed to be a doom-bringer in mythos.

Another check, another riddle, though this room has two consoles, one on the door, the other on a wall.

They both have riddles, the one on the door being

I decide to answer that one later, already figuring the answer. “I’m gonna get us that special item this time!” I stride over to the wall’s riddle which is

Okay, this is a bit tougher. No nightmares sounds like Cresselia, but... the pokémon that sees emotion is Gardevoir. Can Cresselia see fear?

Mind’s touch hoards them? Uh...

Sighing, I go for the hint button, but it’s not in the same place. I begin to think there isn’t one when I find it. It was in a slightly different place.

But... I already used one hint. Maybe... well I don’t see a camera around here, how would they know if I used my éTech? I mean, this pokémon doesn’t really sound like any I know, meaning it’s home is here in Otaria, which isn’t fair to me.

Checking the éTech for Psychic types native to Otaria is pretty easy, and reveals several, and onyl a few seem applicable. Chantlette’s evolutionary line, something called Darcape and its evolutionary line, possibly a pokémon called ‘Sensinja’, which is apparently a psychic-fighting type that prefers pacifism, and a pokémon called Tantabus, that is noted for not being Psychic type but still being adept at emotional manipulation.

The one that fits the most of the riddle is Darcloak, Darcape’s evolution. I type that into the terminal and cringe as I wait for the result.

The terminal blinks for a moment, then corrects to ‘Darcape’, and gives me a checkmark.

Twilight gives me a dirty look, likely for using a pokédex but come on, it’s not fair if the person literally can’t know the answer. Besides, it’s not like it directly tells me the answer, I still have to use deduction skills.

Anyway, the wall terminal changes to a series of digits and letters, which I copy to my éTech, since it’s already out.

The next riddle, this one to continue, is the same as before, with likely the same answer. I was going to guess Sableye since they eat gems, but now that I know that it’s also covering pokémon from Otaria, I search the éTech’s encyclopedia for ‘Gem-eaters’. I expect there to be about twenty to choose from, explaining the door’s difficulty.

The top is, of course, Sableye, which I remember does live here, but it’s mentioned about half a dozen other pokémon, including Onix, Geodude’s line, and the Aron line, as well as one of Eevee’s line, Krysteon.

Well, let’s see... I forgot Aron also ate more than just rocks. I know it can’t be Onix or Geodude, but a more territorial species like Aggron... No, that line drinks mineral water and eats iron ores.

Maybe Krysteon? I already got the item code without a hint, that should be plenty of extra points. I type in Krysteon for the answer and await the response, which is a...

A big fat X, damnit! Well, it can’t be the Aron line and Onix is known mainly for it’s absurd underground speed... That leaves Sableye and Geodude’s family. Just to be sure, I look up the pokédex entries on Geodude and it’s evolutions.

Nope, Geodude Graveler and Golem all just eat normal rocks. Should have gone with Sableye from the beginning. I type in the name and get...

A checkmark, of course. Damn, damn damn...

“I knew it, and I hesitated... See Twilight? When I stop to think too much, I get stuff wrong. Trust your gut more often.” In response to my lesson, Twilight looks down at her stomach and remarks that she’s hungry. I just roll my eyes. “Ha ha ha... There’s some trail mix in my bag.”

Taking the snack out and munching on it, Twilight follows Rarity and I into the next room.

The next riddle is kinda... odd.

Okay, definitely a local pokémon, because the only one that comes to mind are typical Desert pokémon, but they can all be harmed pretty easily.

I pull out my éTech again and look up pokémon, using “Steel”, “Desert”, and “Otaria” as keywords.

The first thing that comes up looks like an odd... giant cactus. with a beard. Wearing a sweater. But it swears it’s a pokémon. I select to animate the image and it does indeed move, shifting from position to position and holding for a couple seconds.

I type in the name, Senifluf, and wait for the machine to process my answer, which it replies with a green check.

“Hah! Only a few more doors to go now!”

“Idunno, are you sure we should be doing that? I mean, it’s kinda like cheating, Anthony...”

“Look, if you don’t like it, you can try answering these by yourself while Rarity and I answer the questions my way.” I offer, “But keep in mind that with all the pokémon that these could refer to, if I don’t know it, I guarantee you wouldn’t know even half of them.”

Twilight looks quite put off, but admits that she’d probably have at least done some studying beforehand. I point out that nowhere did it say that there would be riddles when we entered.

“Besides, if flying over a gap with Glorious isn’t cheating, I fail to see how this is. I mean, these things are standard issue, they probably expect everyone and their little brother to come in armed with one, right?”

Twilight looks conflicted, but finally gives in, and we can get going. The next room’s riddle is much like the others.

“Who are we?” Twilight asks. “That’s new.”

“Yeah, clearly a pokémon with multiple heads and therefore multiple brains. At least that’s how it sounds, for a single pokémon to be referring to itself as ‘we’.”

“Multiple heads? But the only thing like that is Cerberus, who guards the gates to Tartarus...”

I nod. “You have a point. Loyalty is kind of a dog thing, and having a bark gives it away. It’s probably a pokémon similar to cerberus... but the only one I can think of is Houndoom, and it’s got only one head.”

Twilight rolls her eyes. “Fine, use your cheat sheet.”

“Admit you’re stumped too, first.” I grin.

“No.” Twilight replies, mocking my grin.

“Fine.” I pull up the device again and do a search for multi-headed dogs. Several tries later, and there’s still no results.

“Okay... maybe it is asking for multiple pokémon... wait a second. Laikoyal, that pokémon that Mr. Devon had. That one sounds right... no. It says leader after.”

“The riddle sounds like a sort of oath a Guard would take” Rarity says.

“Yeah, maybe it’s a police animal.” I look those up and as usual the top result is Growlithe, but another result shows a distinctly canine set, painted in black and white with a red-and-blue set of ‘goggles’ similar to the lights on a police cruiser, named ‘Pupolice’ and ‘Dogendarme’.

Yep, those look like the winners alright. I enter the Basic and evolved form’s names into the console and await my checkmark, which flashes across the screen. I grin at the girls. “See? No sweat. It just takes a good eye.”

“A trait I am often praised for.” Rarity says, knowingly.

I sigh, but smile. “Yes, indeed. Thank you Rarity you were very helpful.”

The next door I open leads to yet another riddle:

Okay, this one has me a bit baffled. Strongest of the weak? Weak in what way? Bad stats, or a lot of type disadvantages? First but last? That doesn’t make much sense at all. Playful and Powerful? Well the first thing that comes to mind is Mew, but it’s not weak, is it? First but last... that doesn’t help either.

I sigh and hit the Hint button for the second time this entire run.

Real friggin’ helpful there. Not in Sinnoh? That covers, like, barely anything! Some hint... But it’s all I got to go on. It doesn’t show up in Sinnoh.

Rules out a few I suppose, but it doesn’t discount Mew, yet. Still, it can’t be anything but Mew at this point, but how is it the ‘last’?

Well, it’s the last entry in the Kanto Pokédex but come on, they can’t mean that, can they? Not a single Kanto pokémon has been the answer to any of these.

But that would make a Kanto pokémon perfect for the last one. It could be Mewtwo... No, nobody’s sure if it even exists... but then again the same can be said of Mew, but at least Mew is more confirmed than Mewtwo yet.

No, it can’t be either of them, right? Too mythical, right?

I’m still thinking when I see the terminal flash a green checkmark and Twilight at the console.

“H- How’d you do that?”

“Well, Mew is-”

“It was Mew?”

“Apparently. I was reading through an article on confirmed legendary pokémon and-”

“Obviously but... That was my idea first!”

“But you weren’t gonna use it, either.” Twilight grumps.

“No, but that’s because... Mew was too easy an answer!”

“Sure it was. Face it, you didn’t take your own advice and didn’t trust your gut.” Twilight points out, defeating any arguments I had prepared.

I hang my head, sighing. “Yeah...” I then brighten up. “Ha! You took my advice, which means I was right!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Twilight mutters as she walks for the door.

The next room has another score screen, along with an Exit door, and stairs leading up. I go over to the screen and type in the code I got for the special item. Once it’s dispensed I open up the containment capsule and find...

It’s a TM case, containing a single TM. I read the label on the disk and it says it’s ‘TM98: Retaliate’

“Aww, come on... Oh well... what’s my overall score? I aced most of those!” The machine finishes tallying the scores and gives its standard readout.

‘Secret Item Code? X116H’
‘Hints Used: 4
Floor Grade: 80%
Avg Tower Grade: 47.4%
Floor 2 code: 11324’

“That’s a good score.” I say, feeling a little better about my less than amazing item. I figured it might have been a pearl given the first question but... whatever. I add the disk to my case and leave the case there to be recycled. “And we have a code for the second floor, so we can always come back and not have to deal with the maze room.”

Twilight nods happily at that. “It would seem we get the code for the floor below the one we complete.” she says. I mean, that’s obvious, so I don’t know why she’s saying it, but I suppose it makes her feel better.

“Alright girls. A quick rest, then onto the next floor.” They agree with me and we sit down to relax for a bit.

Chapter 66

After our chance to recover our mental and physical energy we head up the stairs. I know that I saw something about there being battles, but so far there haven’t been any. Also, I can’t recall how many floors there are to this. It is good to know that we can continue without needing to start all over if we need to leave.

Upon reaching the next floor, I see that it’s another ‘labyrinth’ setup, but this time with an open room, and floor tiles edged with glowing lines. There’s one ‘entrance’, but there doesn’t seem to be anything blocking us from just walking across the area to the door on the other side. There isn’t even the gleam that glass would give from the hard, flourescent lights.

Guessing it’s a tile puzzle. One of those spinny, ‘you keep moving until we say you can stop’ things. Great. Without a bird’s-eye view of the place it’s gonna be difficult if that’s the case.

I go to step over one of the glowing li- “Sonofabitch my nose!” I grab said part of my face as I realize that it’s actually an invisible wall puzzle. Probably more tricks to it than that but seriously... ow!

“What? How’d you hurt yourself?” Twilight asks, looking more curious than concerned, and Rarity is similar.

I sigh. “Invisible barrier of some kind.” I knock against the air where I got hurt. The place I ‘knock’ against gives a gentle ‘whoosh’ noise, and I see faint ripples of distorted air move outward, quickly lost in the generally bland decor on this level, probably a purposeful choice.

Twilight goes to inspect it but comes back more confused. “I can’t figure out what kind of spell this is... Wait, is this that... what was that phrase you used?”

I frown. “Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

“Yeah, that... but it isn’t indistinguishable, so it’s not that advanced, right?”

“Considering that whatever counterspell you can pull out of your ass won’t do jack. I’d say that’s advanced enough.” Twilight mumbles something, still inspecting the wall, along with Rarity. I trust her eyes more than Twilight.”What do you think? Is there some sort of chink in it that reveals where a wall is?”

Rarity looks down, then steps confidently forward, bypassing the barrier entirely. Looking down, I see that there’s a gap in the colored lines on the floor, like a corridor lit by landing lights. I fight back the urge to face-palm, seeing as how I’d already looked at and discounted the lights as decorations. Still, this is Rarity’s kind of challenge. There’s only about enough room for one human to walk comfortably in the ‘corridor’, and maybe enough room for two ponies if they were really snuggly about it, and willing to half carry one of them.

“So... I say Rarity takes point. I’m clearly not that good at finding invisible stuff.”

Rarity and Twilight both crack smiles at my choice of words, and I roll my eyes.

Rarity turns and takes another step but gasps as she begins to turn. A moment into the turn, and I realize, she’s not turning, the floor under her is turning, and she’s not facing to the right of where she’d been facing, and the lines on the floor indicate that she’s in a straightaway section, and no longer lined up with the entrance. In fact, the entrance is now closed off from the rest of the maze.

“Well... uh...” Twilight seems at a loss. I’m no better really. “So how do we know which way to go if we can’t see the walls and if we get turned around?”

I think for a moment and ponder what could be done. I recall Rarity having used Glorious, maybe... I toss out Chantlette and explain the situation.

If the ability ‘Super Luck’ can activate outside of battle this might be easier than just blind guesses.

Chantlette looks up at me, then gives the most adorable little shrug, before walking the edge of the line of lights, before turning back to me and shaking her head. Evidently, once someone’s in, they have to stay in.

I thank Chantlette for trying anyways and return her. Gloom might be able to spread acid or spores on the walls so we could see them, but that would risk it hitting us and I doubt that would be very healthy... They probably have a kinetic immunity deal and Geodude punching it would do nothing...

Geistowl wouldn’t do so well here, its wingspan too big to fit comfortably. Litwick can use smog but that runs the same risk as Gloom and Gulpar is definitely too big for a space like this. He’d have to straighten out like an unbending stick and that would be pretty unhelpful.

“Anyone have a pokémon that could help? Something with Foresight would probably be the ultimate cheat.” The two shake their heads, not sure what pokémon could be used. I mean, I know just about every pokémon we have like the back of my hand, but I guess they don’t.

“Darlings, I’m going to try going to the next corridor over, and see what happens.” Rarity says, and begins to walk towards the next tile. Unable to think of any better ideas I just stay back and watch the ground Rarity walks on very carefully so as to not miss anything.

As soon as she steps onto the next tile over, this one a different color and an elbow turn section, the tile rotates ninety degrees, just like the one before, this time resulting her being aligned with the first piece still and a new piece, which is a + intersection.

I walk up behind Rarity and realize that the elbow had rotated with her, cutting us off. Twilight starts freaking out but I calm her down after a bit of time. “She’s fine, we’re fine, we just need to stick closer together before stepping on a tile. Rares, try stepping off that curved tile you’re on now and turn it until it connects to us again.”

She tries, but it seems the tiles don’t move exactly the way I expect them to, and that is made pretty much impossible given her options, permanently separating us until it becomes ‘our’ turn. Meaning I have to just sit and watch.

Rarity begins moving from tile to tile, considering each one carefully, with the occasional comment from Twilight and I, until we can’t see which tile type she’s on. There’s only four variations of tile, thankfully, or this’d be really complex, but she gets close to the other end... before rotating a corner piece wrong, and getting stuck. A loud, harsh ‘wrong’ buzzer blares in the room, and the tiles all light up as a straight-line corridor facing back to us. Rarity follows it along and steps back into the entrance area, and the maze resets, though the entrance is in a new place, and the first actual tile is a T-shape, not a | piece.

I for one, greatly miss my powers. if I still had them, I’d be able to just walk through these walls, but in my ‘impotent’ state there’s little I can do. “So, does Rarity give it another shot, or should we do our best to stick together?”

“I’m not sure Anthony...” Twilight says. “These halls are so small there’s not much room for us to walk together...”

“Well, it’s either we try anyways or we go one at a time.”

“Uh... well...” Twilight seems to have a hard time coming up with a solution. But I get one.

“You said size spells are simple, right?”

“What does that have to do with-”

“Shrink us. We’ll be small enough to fit in one place at a time”

“It... doesn’t quite work like that, actually. I can’t just... remove mass so...”

I sigh. “Fine, then we go one at a time.”

“At least not without a template. Size is a branch of transformation, so I could feasibly turn us into something smaller as opposed to outright shrinking us.”

I shrug and take out Litwick.”

“Do it, then. Litwick can be your template.”

Twilight thinks for a minute. “Well, I’ve obviously never tried it with a pokémon but, I can try.” in a flash, Twilight and Rarity are back to ponies, and Twi’s horn lights up. “Okay, just need to concentrate.”

A beam of magic hits Litwick and then it splits off and hits me and the girls. Changing like this is not entirely comfortable. I’m reminded of the depiction in Animorphs where not everything changes at once and so it’s very strange, especially where internal parts are concerned but when it’s over I look down at myself and note that I no longer have feet but a sort of cup-like object. But it’s apparently part of my body as I can’t hop out of it or take it off like it was a pair of pants.. And very tiny hands.

“I think it worked.”

“Yeah, we look like Litwick. Uh... mostly.” I look over at Twilight, who appears to be a deep purple Litwick with bright, lavender flame.

Rarity seems to be a white, flower-shaped candle with a wide base and a purple flame. In any case, my Litwick comes over and hugs me. “You’re so cute like this!” she says.

Wait.

“You serious? We can talk to Pokemon like this? How the heck does that work?”

Litwick shrugs, but can’t keep the big, goofy grin off her face. It’s a lot more... natural, and less ‘so cute Imma die’ than when I’m bigger than her.

“Anyways, I guess we can try this.”

“Uh... there may be a small problem.” Twilight says. “We changed mass, and pretty drastically at that. We may not be heavy enough for the tiles to recognize as a full-sized person.”

I think for a moment. “Well, if all four of us jump on it, the combined weight and force should be enough to simulate a light footfall. Like a small child at least.”

Head-bobs all around answer me, and we make our way to the maze.

I figured it must be pretty weird to walk around without feet, and I’m proven right. But at least I’ve a flat bottom so I’m not falling over. It’s just a very odd sensation. “Jeez Litwick, how do you handle... hopping around like... this all the time?”

“Uh, ‘cuz that’s how I move?” she says, shrugging mid-hop as she goes.

Yeah, probably like metaphorically riding a bike to her. It takes a while of hopping around and some light general conversation to pass the time, as well as a few failures, but we eventually manage to figure out the puzzle and we’re all out of the maze, and together no less.

“Alright, this is miles better than being a pony, but I’m not a fan of being stepped on so...”

“It’ll last for another few hours.” Twilight says, shrugging her tiny arms.

I let out a heavy sigh. “Great.” With that, I hop up the stairs to the next floor, needing some assistance along the way.

Eventually we get to the top of the stairs and enter the next room. I’m way out of breath from all the hopping and climbing. That said, it makes it clear that Litwick do breathe. In fact, this spell would be very helpful in learning all kinds of things about various pokémon.

I flop onto the top step and heave out a tired. “Finally...”

When I look up I see Litwick and a giant, furry leg. I look up at Twilight confusedly. “I thought you said it was another hour!”

Twilight shrugs, grinning slightly.

“I hate you so much...” Rarity chuckles, commenting that they know I don’t mean it., but right now I kind of do. “Fine, just make me human again.”

“Actually I can undo the spell, but I’d need a template to do a human, so you do have to wait a bit longer. We can carry you though!”

“I hate magic...”

The next floor up is rather different, and Twilight and Rarity quickly duck back down. There’s three trainers standing in the room, and what I can now tell are probably the spin-panels from the games on the floor, judging by all the arrows and knee-high blocks on the ground. Each trainer is standing on a gray tile, with a gray tile near them, or in front of them, and the gray tiles also make up the normal floor. And going off the shininess of the white sections, I’m guessing they’re super-slick to make the whole thing work.

Still a Litwick, I hop onto one of the first spinny panels. Might as well get this over with. I must admit though... as frustrating as the puzzles are in the games, the whole spinning thing is actually pretty fun, and strangely doesn’t make me even slightly dizzy.

After a bit of time, I finally stop at... a small group of gray tiles, surrounded mostly by incoming arrows, though there’s two outbound tiles as well. One thing I’ve noticed is that there’s some purple-colored arrow tiles standing out among the green arrows. I kinda want to figure out what they do, but none are in my immediate paths right now, I think.

I take another randomly selected tile. I figure it’s no problem really. The worst that would happen is getting sent back and these puzzles always have a way to leave if you get stuck. Maybe that’s the purple arrows.

A spin across the tile later, and I almost trip on the next set of tiles, causing me to begin toppling... only to get caught by a slim arm. “Woah, there! Hey little guy, what’re you doing here on your own?” I look up and see a young woman’s face, smiling down at me.

She has nice, auburn hair and deep purple eyes. Not too animeish but enough to stand out. Her outfit is what I suppose could be called a battle skirt, with some nice flower designs. Then I recall she’s somehow holding me in a hand. Oh right, still a Litwick. Oh well. I look back to the entrance and call out for them to follow, speaking the native tongue of my current form.

Twilight and Rarity step out into view and, Litwick riding on Twi’s back, waves to me. I wave back and ask her to ask Twilight when it’ll wear off at this point.

Litwick pokes at Twilight, and talks animatedly, but Twilight just gives me a shrug and a smile. Meanwhile, the young lady holding me gives an immediate squeal of joy that would normally hurt my ears, but isn’t actually too bad in my current state. “They’re so cuu~uute!” she says, looking literally starry-eyed, and the other trainers in the room turn to look.

I pause for a bit, realizing that none of them know how I got here. I think on how they could get here when my choices were complete random chance, but I get an idea. I signal for Twilight to teleport everyone over here to me.

The girls talk to each other in hushed voices, as the lady holding me whispers down, “Are they your friends, little guy?”

I give a nod and a small hop to indicate that she guessed right. I then make a motion to suggest putting me down. Luckily she interprets it well enough that I’m put down on the ground gently. I look up at her, smiling down at me and manage to note that she’d be about my height, maybe a bit taller when I’m human.

After a few moments, Twilight lights her horn up, drawing another squeal of joy from the woman, and some gasps from the other two trainers, and both ponies and my pokémon appear ont eh tiles with me, though it’s a little crowded.

“Now?” I ask Twilight, and Litwick relays. Twilight thinks for a minute then nods. Her horn lights up and the next thing I know I’m back up to full size. “Whoo... that puzzle downstairs sucks when you aren’t tiny...”

Jaws drop all around us, including the woman I’m now just a few curly hairs shorter than.

“Yeah, I know, quite the doozy of a room you got up here too. So, do we battle or are you here for some other reason?”

“Uh- buh- uh-” she just sorta stammers for a few moments, eyes anime wide and completely confused.

A guy across the room calls out, “Are you all pokémon still, or...?”

I wave back. “Nah, I’m the only natural-born human in this little gang. It’s okay to use pokémon tricks like that on puzzles, right?”

“Uh... I don’t think it’s been said you can’t...” the guy says, still on the other side of the room.

“Ah, good, we’ve been using tricks like that most of the way here. Well, mainly these two.” I indicate Twilight and Rarity as I recall Litwick to her ball. One day I’ll have to ask them what it’s like in there... “So, we battle now, right?”

The girl blushes. “Uh, r-right. Uhm... gimme a sec...” she says, stumbling a bit on her words as she pulls out a remote. All the white and arrow tiles nearby flip over to gray, giving us room to spread out. “Uh, are those your first pokémon you’re going to use?” she asks.

“Nah, I got others. Not as flashy, but still pretty tough.” I take out Geodude’s pokéball and toss it between my hands a few times. “So, what’s your pick? I know mine.”

She nods, “Right, right.” she pulls her own pokéball out. “One pokémon each?” she asks.

“Sounds fair.” I toss out Geodude who looks around at the puzzle room but he focuses on the woman in front of us when he sees the ball in her hand. “Ready buddy?”

I get an affirmative nod and we await the reveal of her pokémon of choice.

She smiles and tosses out a pokémon I recognize, but also see has a new coloration pattern. the Vulpix shakes itself off. “Piii~iix!” it chirrups, sitting back to look at me, tails swishing slightly. It has a grey, black, cream, and brown coloration, mostly gray, but otherwise looks pretty normal.

Well, cool coat or not it’s still a Fire type and that gives me a huge advantage right off the bat. I have Geodude start with a “Magnitude!”

The fox pokémon is nimble though, and jumps over what would have been a solid six.

“Alright, Fire Spin to keep him in place!” the other trainer calls, and the Vulpix responds immediately, the flames notably hotter than normal, reaching a much brighter yellow, rather than red, and I can feel them from a good six feet away.

Geodude is literally solid as rock and takes the heat like a champ. Judging by the way the Vulpix likes to move around, that Speed should be taken down a notch. Luckily, Geodude is pretty high level and knows a variety of moves, including “Bulldoze!”

Geodude dashes forward similar to a Rollout but with less spinning and the Vulpix once again makes a quick jump over Geodude, just as I planned. “Smack Down!”

The Vulpix dodges as the girl calls for Confuse Ray, and calls immediately after that to follow up with Will-O-Wisp, and both an orb of fire and that eerie ghost-light orb begin to head for Geodude, but they split up and head for him from opposite sides, catching both Geodude and I off-guard. I didn’t even know you could direct those moves like that, let alone at the same time.

Gotta think fast. Geodude can’t jump like that Vulpix and if left and right aren’t- Down! “Dig!”

Putting the TM to use, Geodude goes to burrow through the tiled floor, when he slams his fist down, though, the tile simply flips over, and he drops under. Huh, guess the tower owner saw that eventuality coming... or had to replace a lot of tiles already.

Both of the orbs smash into each other just above the tile that had flipped over barely a moment later, obliterating each other. The Vulpix begins to look around with wide eyes. “Keep calm, use Dig, too!” she calls, and the Vulpix visibly relaxes and dives under a panel, barely avoiding Geodude popping up behind it.

“Magnitude!” Now that it’s underground those jumps are impossible!

Geodude slams his fists down, and a ripple of tiles jumps up for a moment, followed by a hollow ‘thunk’ as the Vulpix hits the underside of one. A moment later, and the Vulpix bursts out of the tile behind Geodude, slamming into him, though it looks like the Vulpix has taken quite a beating, and is standing shakily but determined at the girl’s feet, still trying to maintain a battle-ready posture.

That said, it made a mistake taking on a Rock type with a physical attack, especially when your best-known stat is Special attacks. I call for a Defense Curl, to prepare against another dig attack

“Alright Vulpix, now for your trump card, use Energy Ball!” she calls, as Geodude completes his orders, the little fox pokémon summoning a ball of green energy over its tails and launching it at the presently curled and immobile Geodude, though to his credit, he’s already uncurling to try dodging.

My pokémon is smashed back by the attack, but seems to shrug it off, for the most part, and I call for a Rock Throw before the Vulpix can fire again.

Geodude reaches under a panel and snatches up a decently-sized rock and chucks it at the Vulpix, who is knocked down and out by the attack, the girl sighing and recalling her pokémon.

I give Geodude a high five which hurts my hand a bit considering it’s like slapping a solid rock, but I grin and bear it as I recall him. “Like I said: Not too flashy but far from chumps.”

“Well, you did great!” she says, smiling at me. I like her smile. “Here, I have one part of the Secret Code for this floor.” she says, taking my hand and pulling out a marker, writing down three digits down, before writing below that another set of nine numbers. Once she’s gotten me back on the normal panels, she hits the remote again, and the floor sets itself back to the spin-maze again. “You gotta beat the other two if you want the rest of the code.” she says.

I grin, pretty sure I can take the other two. “The only problem will be getting to them, believe you me. I’ll have that booty before you know it.”

Not sure if she got the double entendre there but luckily she just waves it off as me having an odd way of speaking or something like that.

Two spins on the tiles later, and I think I’ve got a clear shot lined up to get to the guy who’d asked if I was a pokémon earlier.

I take a step and wait for the spinning but not dizzying trip to end though I’m on the path to a purple tile. At least that’s what I could tell from the arrows before stepping back onto the puzzle. I cringe, preparing to be warped back to the entrance... but I just spin right over it, the arrow flipping to face the opposite direction.

Oh, so that’s what that does, good. Though I think the girls will likely have to keep teleporting to me, there’s no other way for them to really follow me. Unless they think it’s cheating too much and demand they take their own turns.

Thankfully, I’m not really susceptible to all this spinning, or I’d be dizzy beyond belief. I land on some gray tiles, and a very young girl, just barely ten, is waiting on the panels for me. “Hiya! You ready to battle, or do you wanna skip out on the Secret Prize?” she asks.

“Like I’d miss the chance to get free stuff.” I take out another ball, this time Geistowl’s. I toss it in the air, but not actually throwing it, as I wait for the rules of the fight to be decided. “I’m guessing since this is the second match we use two pokémon?”

“Sure, if you’d like. We each have three pokémon, so it’s really up to you.” she says, and tosses out... a Togepi, who has pentagonal shapes on its shell instead of triangles. Huh. Same colors, though.

I nod and toss out Geistowl. “We can do three if that’s what it takes to get that code.”

“Nah, we can do two, then Greg can do three.” she says, and giggles. “We gonna battle or what, mister?”

“Aerial Ace!” Geistowl gives a haunting shriek, but makes no other sound as she soars up and dives down at the Togepi. For this to be so far into the tower, I expect the Togepi to have something special about it, so I decide to stick with a move that can’t miss.

“Metronome!” As a first move, child?! Are you nuts?!

The little Togepi waves it fingers, and a shimmering barrier surrounds the pokémon and Geistowl just phases through the little egg.

“Bu-... wha-?” What was that? It couldn’t have been substitute, and I can’t think of another move that... oh this is one lucky girl... I steel myself and start to think of a strategy that can beat randomness... “You’re pretty risky, Lucky Girl.”

The girl just giggles and calls for Metronome again. Once more, the Togepi trills and gleefully waves its arms, a burning kanji streaking out at the now-terrified Geistowl, who gets slammed by the Fire Blast attack. Two perfectly useful moves in a row from Metronome? There’s gotta be something funky here.

I think of one way to get at the baby fairy type though. “Shadow Sneak!”

The girl goes to call for Metronome again, but Geistowl’s intimidating dive-bombing scares the Togepi senseless, making it run for its trainer as the ghostly attack strikes the little pokémon’s shadow and sends it skittering across the floor, now crying and wavings its feet and arms in distress. The panicked trilling of the Togepi actually does kinda hurt me emotionally, but I don’t think it’s a pokémon move.

Or it could be Fake Tears, who knows what this thing can pull out of it’s shell. I order a follow up with Peck, a lighter attack just in case.

The Togepi screams in fear, and the girl returns the pokémon before Geistowl’s attack lands. she holds her pokéball, looking like she’s about to cry as well. I, uh, might’ve gotten a little carried away there.

“Hey... I just... I figured we were playing for keeps this far up the tower... and you using Metronome like that is-”

“Big meanie!” the girl yells, and tosses out an Ultra Ball. A massive, gargantuan really, stony pokémon lands on the floor, the thud hard enough to knock me from my feet. And the Gigalith looking down at me doesn’t look happy its trainer is crying.

I consider Geistowl’s options and figure making her go against a heavyweight Rock type won’t be a smart plan so I go with “Gloom! Mega Drain!”

Gloom immediately set about draining the Gigalith, who just gives an enraged roar as the little orbs of life-essence drain from it. “Use Return!” she shouts, and the entirety of the pokémon’s body begins to gain an off-white glow, the power concentrating into the stony giant’s crystalline growths.

“Giga...” the pokémon begins, before launching itself at Gloom, who looks panicked at the nigh-unto-six-hundred-pounds of stone and rock charging her. “Liiiith!” comes the finisher, and I’m honestly afraid for a few moments that my pokémon has just been turned into fertilizer, until the Gigalith climbs off, revealing a very battered, but still conscious Gloom, though she seems really shaken.

This girl just went from lucky to powerhouse. Time for me to do the opposite. “Gloom, Lucky Chant!”

Gloom begins the chant, and the girl shouts for a Heavy Slam, and I can only hope the luck increase can help me dodge this.

“Gloom, get out of there, and use Sleep Powder!” If this thing can’t move it’s incredible weight around, I stand a chance yet.

Gloom spins as she dodges, leaving a cloud of Sleep Powder where she was standing, which the steely-colored Gigalith lands directly in, getting a facefull of the stuff. The Gigalith looks surprised, blinks twice, then crashes to the floor, completely asleep. I breath a sigh of relief.

I smirk at the girl. “You wanna call this now, or keep going? I’ve still got both Gloom and Geistowl, and your only one left is sawing logs like no tomorrow.”

“Nooo! Wake up! Wake up, Giggles!” the little girl yells, running over and trying to pick up the gigantic rock pokémon herself. There couldn’t be more drama in this moment if the pokémon had died, rather than merely fell asleep. It’s even still snoring, loudly, so it’s definitely not dead.

I walk up to the girl and pat her on the shoulder. “Chill, he’ll be peachy as soon as he wakes up. No real harm done.”

“But I dun wanna lose!” she says, tears streaming down her face.

“You were given a code to give to anyone who beats you, right?”

She nods her head sadly, and digs in a pocket sullenly, before tossing me a small business card with three more alphanumeric symbols on it.

I take the card and, pairing it with what I have on my hand, I’ve got two-thirds of the code. I step onto the next spinning tile. If I’m right, that purple tile is still flipped, which means if I can get to it it’ll take me in a new direction. I look around for a route that leads up to the tile but, finding none from my current position, I head for another randomly chosen tile.

Luck has proven to be on my side so far and even when it wasn’t I turned things around. Maybe this puzzle will be easy. If it is... maybe the prize sucks. That would be a bummer.

Two more purple arrows later and I’m stuck in a triple-loop for half a minute, before finally coming to rest at the exit. Given that the exit was accessed via a purple arrow, I can go right back into the puzzle.

I want that prize, so I decide to head back and take a different path. Hopefully, one that takes me to the final guy, Greg I think the little girl said.

Two more tries later, and I’m stuck in a corner. the only way off it leads to a purple arrow that I already know will currently take me to the exit... wait, I can send Twilight over, if she’ll teleport to me and go first.

“Hey Twilight, over here, I need some help with this one.” I call to the pony, who are still getting the interested looks from the trainers in the room, probably wondering what kind of Pokemon they are.

Twilight teleports over, having already tried getting around and needed a few moments to get her eyes to stop rolling like they were googly eyes. She smiles up at me, apparently keeping her ability to speak on the down-low in this room full of trainers.

“You go, then I’ll go. It’ll take you to the exit, but it’ll take me to the next guy if I go after. Hopefully. Then we can get that prize. She nods and steps onto the tiles, though I’m wondering why she gets so dizzy but I don’t. Maybe it’s motion sickness or something.

Immediately after her, I step forward and am whisked away, spinning through the other side of the loop, and ending up just a straight-line path to Greg, who looks like a fairly stereotypical ‘neckbeard’ type. Notably overweight, wearing a button-up shirt that could be used to make a tent, and sitting in a folding chair instead of standing like the ladies. I really hope he isn’t one of those mean sorts of larger people.

I prefer jolly-fat to nasty-fat. Well, Golden Rule and all. I wave to him and give him a warm greeting. “Hey there, you’re certainly hard to get to. Bet you’re worth the trouble.”

“Nah, you just took the wrong turn back there. Clever use of your pokémon... you wouldn’t be willing to trade one, wouldja?” he asks, grinning broadly. Jolly-fat, thank goodness.

I think about it, but I guess I can’t just trade Twilight away, no matter what I might get in return. I mean, she’s still my friend and all, even if a little bit of a headache. “Nah, I’m pretty happy with my team. Can’t really think of any trades that could improve it. But hey, we all have those pokémon we just can’t let go, you know?”

He nods sadly. “Ah well... as you might’ve guessed, I’m more of a collector than a trainer, but I do my part. Bad knees kinda eliminated the ‘climb mountains and swim the rivers and lakes’ part of the adventuring thing.” he explains, and pulls out a pokéball.

“Collector huh? Well let’s see what kind of neat stuff you have. Three on three?”

“Yup! Let’s start off with you, Meowth!” he yells, letting out the most heart-rendingly adorable Meowth I’ve ever seen. That’s just not playing fair, I can’t attack something that cute!

“Mewth?” the Meowth even sounds like a kitten!

“Omigosh where did you get that!?” I ask. “It’s adorable! What breed is that?”

“It’s a Munchkin breed. And yeah, that’s my little princess. She’s actually not very good at battling, but she’s a great conversation opener.” Greg says. “They’re msotly bred for contests and the like, but it’s hard to get any, because the ‘normal’-” he says the word with actual air quotes from his fingers, “-genes are more dominant, and any sort of inbreeding, even for specific traits is highly illegal. And a pedigree is an absolute must if you get one of these cuties.” he says, the Meowth giving another cutesy ‘Mewth!’ when she recognizes she’s being talked about.

“Wow... I don’t really have any special-bred pokémon. Well, I have one but he’s in the box. My breeder friend is still a beginner but I think she has real talent. She might be able to get me one of those munchkin things. Hey, can I pet it, later?”

“You can right now. If you’re willing to show me your pokémon, I’ll show you mine, and we can call this a ‘peaceable resolution.’” he suggests. Given how dainty this Meowth looks compared to normal, I’m inclined to agree.

“Sure! This one I got way under the waters of Great Barrier.” I toss out Gulpar who bursts out swimming in place. “I actually ran into a Krakinos down there, but was too scared to try catching it.” I rub my hands together nervously. “I... kinda panicked when it grabbed the rent-a-sub.”

Greg goggles at the thought. “Wow! Those are seriously impressive pokémon. And your Gulpar is pretty neat looking too. Can you get ‘im to open wide for me? I wanna see what type of spotting he’s got.”

I nod. “Yeah, sure. Gulpar?” My pokémon opens it’s mouth wide enough for me to see into. “I use this as a scare tactic. It works on most wild pokémon. Helps out when my less sturdy team members are in need of a Pokemon Center.”

“Very nice. Looks like an Orion subspecies. See, you can identify the constellation pretty clearly from here.” Greg says, pointing it out. Seeing as how I’ve never been one to stare into the mouth of a predator capable of swallowing a school bus whole, it’s a new thing indeed, and I’d never even thought to check until now. Sure enough, there’s a pretty clear recreation of the constellation Orion, and the starry night sky around it. Why on earth would a deep, deep-sea pokémon like this have a constellation pattern in its mouth?

“Kinda strange when you think about it, but it’s really cool!” I agree with Greg. “Oh and I think you might want to see my starter.”

“Sure, sure. What’d ya get? A Charmander? Treecko? A Piplup?” Greg asks, sounding genuinely curious.

I chuckle. “I’m not your run-of-the-mill trainer. I don’t take handouts when it comes to pokémon.” I hold up Geodude’s premiere ball. “First catch, and I didn’t even have a pokémon to battle with at the time.” I swear I’ve been waiting ages to brag about my first capture also being my first pokémon. “Got him shortly after I got my license.” I toss out the Geodude and, like me when I first saw Geodude, Greg notes the more smooth edges on Geodude, indicating an adult, just one that hasn’t evolved yet.

“Yeah, and I’ve been making sure to pass around TMs to my party. He knows Rock Smash and Dig.”

“Very nice. Here, lemme show you my Golem.” he says, and fishes around in his bag for the pokéball, tossing it out. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but seeing something that literally made Rarity gasp loud enough to be heard from across the room was not it.

A huge, solid ball of spiky gemstone crystals stands in front of me, shining like polished amethyst.

“Dude, that’s amazing! Where’d you get that, a volcanic area?”

“Nah, it’s all in what they feed on. Just like with Onix, if you feed them enough gemstone-based foods, they’ll start to exhibit it. Most of Kanto, Johto, and Kroel are grantie and limestone, though, with very few gemstone deposits, so these guys are pretty rare. Otaria is lucky in that one of its mountains is basically the world’s largest geode thanks to one of our legendary pokémon doing something to it. That’s been mined for decades, and there’s still enough to go around for the pokémon.”

“Wow, I need to see that! So I could get Geodude to look like that if I feed him gems? Wonder what would happen if I fed him a Fire Stone?” I jokingly suggest. “Probably nothing.”

“Oh yeah, but you wouldn’t want to waste your elemental stones like that anyways; even with our rich deposits of gemstones, elementally charged stones are pretty rare. Except Thunderstones, which which you can find in the caves below galore.”

“Geez, thanks for the tip. I’ll admit I don’t have many interesting stories to go with my pokémon though. Geodude and Gulpar are exceptions of course but some of my captures went pretty normally. Though Carvanha I snagged when she was too full to fight back after her school ate a wailmer.”

“Yeah, they tend to do that. Hey, why don’t you show me that one you said was in your box?” Greg asks.

“I don’t have a way to switch out pokémon that I know of. I’ve been mainly using the consoles at Pokemon Centers. Is there , Idunno, a PC app for the éTech?”

“What? No, you can just use the one at the exit. Here, lemme turn off the slip-tiles.” Greg pulls out a remote and hits a button, all the white and arrow tiles flip over to reveal gray tiles.

I thank Greg and rush over to the exit which does indeed have a console for me to use. I swap out Gloom for Bellsprout and head back over to Greg, holding up the Great ball. “This contains the best Bellsprout you’ve ever seen.” I toss out the Grass type and it gives its stem-chest a thump.

Greg leans forward to offer his hand to Bellsprout, who hops up. He looks the pokémon over. “Oh, my, you’re a rare example, indeed! Who’d you commission to get him? There’s no way someone would just part with one like this without promising to, first.”

“Yeah, apparently this guy was abandoned because some high and mighty breeder figured a Bellsprout with a Hardy nature was beneath him. So I was walking through the forest on my way here and ran into him and he certainly gave me a run for my money trying to catch him.”

“What?! That’s an outrage! Hardy may not be the best nature for a Bellsprout, but that’s no reason to just... toss one out! Ooh, I hope you find his original trainer once this guy’s reached his peak, and you can really show that turd what’s what.”

“You bet I will, but you gotta respect someone who can get their hands on a level nineteen Bellsprout that can use Solarbeam. Well, respect him until you kick his ass.”

He nods, reaching for another item from his bag, pulling out a candy bar and offering it to Bellsprout, who looks utterly delighted. A torn wrapper later, and Bellsprout is happily mouth-plugged with half the candy bar still sticking out.

“Hah, little guy’s got a sweet tooth too. Guess trainers and their pokémon do tend to resemble each other.” I laugh, and Greg laughs as well. “So I’ll be honest, I’m actually not native to Otaria, and since coming here I’ve seen some really interesting pokémon. Specifically variations on ones I know already. Like this gigantic Heracross, or a Gardevoir wearing a tunic instead of a dress. Is that just a special thing in Otaria, or have I just had a bad eye until now?”

“Just a bad eye, man. All pokémon have some degree of variation - didja just think they were all the same?” Greg gives a laugh. “That said, Otaria has some variations that are only found here, just like Kanto and Hoenn, and all the others.” he says.

“Speaking of, where’d you get all your Pokemon? Like, what sorts of regions have you been to? Sure you may have a bad knee but you can always take a plane, or a boat, right?”

“Oof, nah. I do a lot of overseas trading via the ‘net, and some stuff around here. I can’t travel ‘cuz of a heart problem; too high altitude and it gives out, and on the ocean there’s too little help if something goes bad. Thankfully, here in Crevasse Village, there’s actually a heart specialist that lives here, or else I’d have to live in someplace like Rustoil.”

Yeesh.” I say, sighing. “Well here’s an idea! I’m going to be sightseeing all over the world. Let’s swap numbers and I can send you pictures and such, we can talk about whatever cool pokémon we come across.”

“Sure! That’s pretty cool of ya, man.” he passes me his number and vice versa.

I thank Greg for his time and I’m about to leave but he stops me long enough to give me the code. “Oh man, thanks, I almost forgot about the prize!”

I thank Greg again and, getting back onto the puzzle, eventually make my way to the exit after a few mistakes. I check my grade, recalling I was too... Litwick-y to check it last room.

Time To Completion: 6:55
Floor grade: 51%
Avg Grade: 55%

And it seems that’s our group score, since it’s not even giving Twilight’s and Rarity’s numbers, probably assuming that they ‘left’ since they’re in their pony forms right now. Speaking of, the stairwell is out of sight of both floors, so they can transform back into humans if they wanted.

Oh well, I guess that solves that. I plug in the code for my prize and await the little capsule, hoping for something like a Magnet or a Poison Barb.

The tray opens, and shows another item capsule, this time containing... Five Ultraballs! Yes! That’s awesome! Now I can catch some pretty high-level pokémon. Much happier with my prize this time, I walk up the stairs and, once the girls are back to humans, we approach the next floor.

Chapter 67

This floor, number six going by the number on the ground, looks different from the others, being extremely high-tech looking, with a series of evenly-spaced pillars, a line of blue light tracing between some. The light is red, and many of the pillar’s toppers seem to be mirrors and the like, and have grip pads and what looks like Lazy-Susan style spinners on them, letting them be rotated. honestly, it looks like a gigantic, puzzle-style game of Lazer Chess.

Okay, this might be hard without a bird’s-eye-view...

I go up to one of the first turning pieces and see that, as expected, some can’t be moved. There’s also a single pedestal with a blue base and a little computer screen, unpowered, on it, and one that’s red, and both have sensors on them. I think the red one is for finishing the floor, and the blue is for the secret prize.

I walk around the room, studying the different ‘pieces’ of the puzzle. Rarity has a good eye, this might be her kind of thing. Or Twilight’s, hard to tell really. “So what do you think? Think we can get the prize?” I’m pretty certain I can get to the exit alone but I want more prizes.

Twilight looks it all over, looking confused. “I have no idea how this is supposed to work.” she admits, looking utterly baffled, while Rarity looks contemplative.

This actually confuses me. “Come on Twilight, you can’t be serious that you’ve never seen a laser array before. It’s like a circuit.” I push the piece with a button on it and it shoots out a laser, at which point I move to one of the turn-y ones and move the laser around the room. “You just have to complete the circuit.”

“So... it’s a circuit using a laser? Interesting... how does the system know when the path is complete, or that it’s the right path?” she asks, examining one of the pylons.

“These sensors. They’re like eyes. They activate when the laser hits them. But since there’s nothing for them to ‘look at’ then they’re off. Our job is to bounce the light from the laser around the room using mirrors and make the laser hit the consoles here. It’s a light-based puzzle.” I stand up and look around the room. “As for the right path... well, usually these puzzles are built with only one solution. You get one laser and only so many mirrors after all.”

Twilight nods. “Well, what kind of output do you use to measure your laser light emissions? The one’s I’ve used are all magic based, but you said none of this would be, so I assume there’s different units involved.”

“It’s in the name laser, of course.” I explain, eyeing Twilight oddly. “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. It’s measured by light level or how bright it is. Watts of electricity and such.”

“Watts, huh? Interesting...” she continues to examine the pylons and the beam itself, evidently more interested in their design than the puzzle.

Rarity steps forward and motions me over. “Anthony, every one of these mirrors is angled precisely, and the arches are all perpendicular... but is it possible to rotate them halfway between the right-angle points?”

“Let’s find out.” I grab one of the pieces and try turning it part way, but once it starts rotating, I can’t stop it from finishing until it clicks into the new position. So much for that, but it was worth a try. “Guess not. So we have to somehow make the laser hit this blue panel and the red one at the same time with just right angles and perp. Angles... This is gonna take a bit of thinking...”

“As in... perpendicular, right?” Rarity asks?”

“Yeah, that’s a thing I do, make shorthand in speech.” I go up to one of the mirrors and aim my finger from it to another mirror to predict where the laser would point after that. “Obviously the first one will be used, but I’m willing to bet some of these are dummy pieces, they work, but aren’t part of the solution.”

Twilight is still looking over the mechanics, though is getting adventurous. “Don’t take panels off, Twi. You break it you buy it and we don’t have that kind of money.”

Actually, if I win a few battles, we might but we’d be flat broke after. And if Rarity can get more gems from Equestria maybe our money troubles are yesterday... But still. “Just leave it alone and help us figure this out. I’ll buy you a smaller version of this. They sell them at game shops.”

Twilight more or less ignores me, but at least she’s not taking apart the pylons to look at their mechanisms anymore. The main light enters from the ceiling and hits a mirror angled to make it level with the ground. Twisting a few of the pylons leads to me getting the laser to go through an arch, where I run into a... peculiar result. The arch apparently has some sort of screen or something, because the laser changed colors going through it. Instead of red, it’s now green, and I’m afraid this puzzle may require some color-matching on top of the already difficult maze.

“The guy who built this sure knows how to make ‘em good, huh.” I say to nobody in particular as I move to the arch and turn it around a few times. I already tried sliding a few of the pylons around but they’re all mounted to the floor, which does relieve some of the puzzle’s difficulty.

The arch itself rotates, but now the laser doesn’t go through it at all, just lights up the side of the frame. Now I need to figure out what the other arches do to the laser beam. Especially since I see one or two that look like the angled mirrors, but neither has a backing.

Likely how the beam is supposed to split. Twilight, not entirely satisfied with her now-halted exploration comes over to help solve the puzzle. I look around the room and try to... wait. “Hey Rares, can you make a drawing of this place? Make a sort of top-down view of it?”

Rarity nods, and hips out her éTech, to work on it. Meanwhile, I rotate a few pylons to direct the laser through one of the backless, angled arches. This time the laser splits, one red and the other purple, and I sigh, still going nowhere just yet.

Still... “That answers the question of coloration. Red clearly open the door, but you need to make it blue to get the prize...”

“And Since purple is in blue’s spectrum, we just need to aim the purple laser through another arch to make it blue.” Twilight continues my thought.

“And since one is already being used to make the light purple, we can’t shift that without coming up with a way to redirect the laser to hit it at a different angle.” I add on.

Twilight just nods while Rarity looks a tiny bit lost. Guess circuitry was never really her thing. Still, I’ve messed with this sort of thing before on a smaller scale. It’s just daunting with how big it is.

A few more twistings later, and we’ve gotten the beam to turn orange instead, but is just a few rows over from the blue sensor pylon, while the red beam is not quite at the red one.

At least that reduces the options of which arches the purple has to go through. Orange isn’t even in the cold spectrum. That said... if I put it through the arch that turned the red one green...

Half a dozen twists and some help from Rarity later, it’s going through the green arch... and is green now.

I sigh heavily. “Well, back to square one, but at least now we know initial color doesn’t change the outcome. We can just shoot the red one through arches until we find the blue one.”

“This is a little over my head now...” Rarity admits. “Even with this drawing, I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

Twilight comforts her friend. “Don’t worry, circuitry has a steep learning curve. Even I’m a bit stumped now.”

I nod and begin my search for the blue-shift arch. It takes a very convoluted setup and the red beam is no longer even close to the red sensor, but I now have a single blue beam. “Progress!” I half yell-half sigh.

Rarity and Twilight look up from their éTechs, which they’ve been browsing for... for... I have no idea how long I’ve been at this, but I’m getting hungry.

I note that Twilight left me a few packs of trail mix so I munch on that. Eventually I’m tired of all this and just solve the puzzle, opening the door only.

Twilight looks a bit shocked at how easily I did it. “But... I thought...”

I sigh. “I don’t want the prize anymore, let’s just go.”

“Okay, but how did you get it so quickly?”

“Whaddya mean? I figured out the red-only path like, ten minutes ago. I thought you had as well.”

“Uh, well, no I was working on getting the blue one. And I think I have it.”

“Ah. Well, show me what you got then.”

Twilight walks over and twists several of the pylons, and they quickly match up. However we all stand there, waiting for something to happen, once the blue beam is on the pylon. After nearly a minute, I check it over, and it’s even the same shade of blue.

“They have to be lit up with the right colors at the same time!” I moan. Then I’m struck by an idea looking at the path Twilight made. An idea bursts through my head and I’ve already solved it in my mind. “Twilight, you’re a genius!”

I go over to where the red beam is split up and turn one of the arches around so the laser goes through it. Okay, step back, maybe I still have it. Come on... I readjust the beam a bit and eventually, through a complex workaround, manage to get the laser to aim at both panels with the right colors. Instantly, the panel at the base of the blue pylon lights up with a blue checkmark, and I hear a vending-machine-like clunk near the door.

“We’re geniuses.” Twilight says, smiling. Rarity sighs a tired sigh and heads for the door.

Twilight and I go over to get our gold sta- our prize and celebrate our intelligence. Huh, it’s not a gold star, but rather a gold nugget. Nice.

That’d definitely be enough to get Twi and me a laser chess set. “Alright, now let’s see how we did...”

Apparently, this one is pass or fail, with an added 10% over, meaning we’re sitting pretty at over 60% for the whole tower.

“We’re doing pretty well I’d say.” The girls agree and we move onto the next floor. As smart as I feel now for solving that, I’m hoping the next challenge is physical...

The next floor is larger than the previous floors, and has a small card table and two people sitting at it. A large pokeball on the floor and the markings on it means this is meant as a battle floor. A stand with six pokeballs faces me, labeled ‘rentals’.

Well, not something I’m a stranger to. I grab the six balls and figure looking over them is allowed. I toss them out one by one and I see I’m getting...

A Sandshrew, a Machoke, a pokemon that looks like a chimney-sweep I think I’ve seen before, a Cacturne, a Clefairy, and a Castform.

I grin. I can make this work. I approach the table, where the two trainers are getting up. “So is this a double battle too, or do you guys take turns?”

“Actually, this one’s a test of your pokemon knowledge in battle.” the guy says, the girl sweeping up the cards form the table and settling them into the card box I presume they came from.

“And how do I earn the floor prize? The main challenge alone will be cake, believe me.”

“Oh, ace each test without losing a single pokemon.” The guy clarifies. “You do that, you get past and get the prize, but you only need to pass four of the tests to move on upstairs. Only one of you has to take the tests.”

I look at the girls. “Give me five minutes. This won’t take long.”

“Pride cometh before the fall.” the man warns.

I just raise an eyebrow and grin.

The first challenge is facing an Empoleon who uses Hydro Cannon, which Sandshrew is my pokemon for, using Dig to evade the attack and smashing it for Super Effective damage.

“C’mon, a child could do this!”

“That’s the idea, buddy. This is an all-ages attraction, y’know.” the guy retorts.

The next one is similar, Machoke using Endure to survive Hyper Beams spammed by a Gyrados, then retaliating with Thunderpunch.

The next one, for the ‘Swifpuff’ as it’s called, the pokemon apparently learns plenty of fire moves, which are used to thaw and attack after being hit repeatedly by a move that apparently has a 100% freeze chance, but doesn’t do damage.

Even with a movepool I’m not familiar with, this is going easily. Eventually it’s down to the last matchup and, the last pokemon standing is my rental Cacturne.

“Pride cometh before the fall...” I quote the man from earlier and pull my hat over my eyes for dramatic lighting on my face. “But have I fallen?” Twi and Rarity roll their eyes as they head for the door, me staying back to get my prize. “It is kind of refreshing to have an easy puzzle after the one downstairs though.”

The guy laughs. “Yeah, but some people find that easy, and this challenging. Anyways, here’s your prize.” He hands me a CD case, with a TM inside. “Recycle, in case you’re wondering. It’s a good move, allowing pokemon to reconstruct used items. Good paired with a pokemon with traits to use human-made items.” the guy suggests.

“Or using Fling or Natural Gift more than once.” I nod.

“Huh, don’t know about Fling, since, y’know, the item’s thrown, but yeah, sounds like you know what it does.”

I take the TM, telling him to ‘Recycle’ the case, and follow the girls, only stopping to check my overall grade. I may also get the password for this floor in the next room. I could use a lunch break.

But first, one more puzzle. We walk into the room and hear the sounds of something... whirring? Clicking? Something extremely mechanical is going on, and we get to see the end of the room apparently rearranging, because a series of panels has just retracted in the walls, leaving it looking like a large, Gym-grade battle stadium, with a layer of dirt and grass, and trees, though there’s some pretty visible edges in the ground where the individual pieces are apparently separated between uses. Standing opposite us is a man in a fancy suit, and two people dressed nicely, but not as much as the middle guy, who is smiling.

“Greetings all, and welcome to the last part of the tower. I’m the proprietor, Nicholas Puzzel. And yes, that’s my real name.” The man doffs his hat in a bow, before standing straight again. “So, first off, how have you enjoyed the tower so far?”

“Some were pretty difficult.” I admit, “But others were way too simple. Except for the ‘floor is lava’ room. That one scaled up pretty quickly.”

“Ah, yes. There were a few different versions of that floor; I’m still trying to get the setup just right. Anyways, on to this tricky setup! This, you see, will be a rotation battle... but as you might guess from me having my assistants here, it won’t be the usual sort, but will also have rotating trainers. More than that, any rotation of pokemon will result in their trainers rotating control in the opposite direction.”

“So if I start with my pokemon, then if I switch to her pokemon...” I say, pointing at Twilight. “She will be the active trainer.” I say, pointing to Rarity.

“Yes, indeed! Now, obviously, I have a bit of an advantage, as my assistants and I have done this quite a bit. As such, your team will be allowed three paused rotations, wherein you may take as much time as you’d like switching, and wherein neither side may perform moves.”

“Sounds fair.” I say. “Alright girls, let’s show this guy we can be a team. All of us.”

Twilight and Rarity nod, and I turn back to Nicholas. “I suppose we each get six pokemon so that each person gets a turn to show off each pokemon?”

“Three to a team, actually, so choose your pokemon wisely. You have sixty seconds to decide which pokemon to send out.” he says, putting his hands behind his back and waiting patiently as a timer shows up on a wall, digitally counting down.

I already know who I’m picking, one who’ll be able to react accordingly and is very versatile. Time for Bellsprout to shine. I turn to the girls and ask what they’ll be using.

Rarity chooses Freyjaloof, and Twilight is having a hard time deciding.

“Come on Sparkle, thirty seconds!”

“Uh, Uhm... Pignite!”

And the buzzer sounds.

Nicholas nods and reaches for a pokeball, which each of his assistants do in perfect unison, each throwing a ball and striking a team pose in the process. My team isn’t nearly as flashy, we all just chuck out our pokemon, Bellsprout taking pride of place.

I nod to Rarity to my left , then Twi to my right.

“Let’s get this started!” I toss out Bellsprout and explain the situation to him. “Think you’re fine with this? Switching out at the drop of a hat?”

Bellsprout nods. “Bell!” My pokemon gets into a ‘battle ready’ stance. To either side, I hear Rarity and Twilight giving their own pokemon encouragement, when something strikes me. I don’t think any of these pokemon have even met, let alone fought together before. This could get... interesting.

But the battle has already started and it’s too late to switch over to Geodude so... Bellsprout and I take our positions while everyone else does the same and I take a deep breath before watching Nicholas and his groupies introduce their pokemon.

Nicholas throws out a Maskary, his assistants throwing out a crested, black Dodrio and a... Is that a Great-Ball-themed Voltorb?

Dude, if they come in ‘Repeat Ball’ I have got to get me one of those! Though this one’s ‘eyebrows’ make it look really pissed off.

Well, no time like the present. I note that the Maskary is, from my research, a Dark and Ghost type I think. Well, might as well go with a basic move for now, pull a surprise technique later for a late-game shock.

“Acid!” The move results in a flow of the gooey fluid streaking towards the Maskary, who dodges, And is instructed to reply with Scary Face, which the Maskary does gleefully, the lights darkening for a moment with the force of presence the masked pokemon puts forth. Bellsprout shudders and stalls.

Hmm... well, at least it’s not ‘running scared’ level of fear so I think once the move ends we’ll be ready for a counterattack. That said... I decide since it’s my turn, I can take a moment to look around the room, specifically the ceiling.

The vaulted arches going high into the ceiling are set up with some kind of hologram of the daytime sky, clouds going by at time-lapse speed, which is kinda cool, but also a bit disorienting to look at.

Still, the arches would allow Bellsprout a vantage point similar to the trees. But I’m not sure I want to test it just yet... I still want to save Bellsprout’s real talent for later. Don’t play your trump card on turn one and all.

I decide to have Bellsprout go with a Vine Whip. The Maskary is fast, but so are the vines.

Nicholas calls for Mimic, and Maskary grapples Bellsprouts vines with four of its arms, resulting in a tangled mess of limbs and greenery.

“Bullet Seed while it’s stuck to you!” Bellsprout unleashes a veritable bullet hell upon the Maskary, not letting up after a single attack cycle. The Maskary cries out, until Nicholas calls for it to use Shadow Claw and tear the vines off.

A blur of violence and shredded greenery, and his Maskary is free of Bellsprout’s entangling grasp, as well as giving a four-armed cycle of slashing strikes at my pokemon.

Damn, that’s a good trick, but I’m not out of moves. “Freyjaloof!” I switch positions with Twilight and Rarity’s pokemon steps up while I tend to Bellsprout.

My pokemon has several gashes weeping a clear, runny sap, but still has fire in his eyes. He’s shaking a bit, but apparently still has some fight in him. Dunno what that other trainer was thinking. A Hardy Bellsprout is the shit! Little guy’s got stamina for days.

Twilight seems totally new to Freyjaloof though, as am I, so I don’t really know what it can do, just that it’s a Fairy type of some kind.

Twilight’s pulled out her éTech, though, and is consulting it, calling for a Misty Terrain, and fog rolls in from the sides of the arena, just about waist height... which is high enough that Freyjaloof is hidden in the mist. Maskary, on the other hand, is looking around, and Nicholas is nodding appreciatively. “Are you ready to restart the match?” he calls, and Twilight nods. “Good, then I’m switching, too.” he says, and rotates out for the Dodrio, all three crested heads peering into the mist, one of them tracking something through the thick, low-lying fog.

I have no idea what Twilight has planned but since I’ve switched out and got Pignite up if she switches to me... I think... hold on, no it’d be Rarity, I’ve still got Bellsprout. Luckily, he’s still in it.

Twilight begins to call for Low Sweep attacks, tripping the normally fast bird pokemon and sending it crashing to the floor, where Twilight calls for Bite attacks, the assistant opposite her calling for Pecks and Fury Attacks. Honestly, though, it’s hard to tell who has the upper hand here, as the mist is still obscuring everything.

The worst part about the rotation is that until Twilight swaps to me, I can’t do anything, not even heal Bellsprout. That command is up to her.

After about half a minute, the mist begins to clear, The dodrio almost literally... no, completely literally tied in knots, while Freyjaloof licks its paws atop the knocked-out bird. Damn, Rarity’s got a fighter, finally. Still, that leaves us with two to go.

The other assistant swaps in, with the voltorb, who crackles and grumbles at Freyjaloof, and Twilight calls for another swap, this time to Rarity and Pignite.

I just hope Rarity knows what Pignite can do. I know Rarity’s battle style is more like putting on a show, not brute force, Pignite’s speciality.

Guess this is pretty difficult, moreso than I initially planned.

Rarity furrows her brows, calls for the match to begin, and has Pignite use Ember. A good start, but against a Voltorb?

The assistant calls for a dodge, and the Voltorb goes straight up to do it, sparking yellow. I didn’t even know they could jump! Odd... but I guess balls bounce after all... Speaking of, that’s a move that if used, would put Pignite in the yellow right away.

Voltorb then goes for a Spark, Rarity calling for him to ‘just punch it!’ and Pignite using Arm Thrust. The blow knocks the floating Voltorb away.

Well... that’s certainly out of character for her but... it works so no complaints just... ‘punch it’? What kind of command is that!?

Pignite gets into a ‘tough guy’ stance, and snorts a bit of flame out his nose, as the Voltorb is instructed to use Rollout, spinning down from its high seat in the air at Twilight’s pokemon. Rarity calls for another punch, but this time the Voltorb just smashes Pignite flat down, likely just from momentum, and begins circling for another go. How the hell is a Voltorb flying, anyways?

Nevertheless it’s apparently a legal move otherwise this place would have been under the League’s boot a while ago so... I let it slide and figure I’ll ask how later.

Rarity looks pretty frustrated with it, as well, and calls for Pignite to grab the Voltorb. I close my eyes and rub my temple, recalling exactly what would follow. I just use my éTech to silently send a message to Rarity telling her to cover her nose if she doesn’t like the smell of bacon.

Rarity looks confused as her pocket buzzes, and she barely misses the call for Selfdestruct, which throws Pignite back pretty hard. The porcine pokemon tries to sit up, but collapses, while the Voltorb looks absolutely cooked, but happy.

Smug sonofabitch... Well, looks like Pignite is out of the match, leaving us with two pokemon, one badly hurt, and Nicholas with his Maskary all alone. I think we can pull this off.

Nicholas rotates back into the fore, and Rarity looks between Twilight and I, expression asking which of us to go up.

I French-point to Twilight, indicating she should use Bellsprout. He’s got some fight left and I’m guessing he’s wanting to get it out before this is all over. Besides, otherwise it’s me and Freyjaloof and I know nothing about them.

Twilight takes the fore again, and Freyjaloof pads forward with her, giving a haughty ‘Free-yow’ at the Maskary that leers at us.

Wait, I thought Twi would have... Oh, right, we rotate opposite. Damnit, oh well, Bellsprout will be able to handle whatever’s left of the Ghost type... right?

Rarity’s pokemon stands steady as the Maskary uses Night Shade, though Twilight flinches at the move, before calling for a Bite attack. The cat-like pokemon lunges forward to strike, but neither of us expected for the return shot to be Psybeam, which knocks back Freyjaloof. Rarity’s pokemon gives a pained meow, then faints. Looks like I’m up. With Bellsprout. I call for the match to start, but my first motion is...

“I’ll use a Super Potion.” It’s my last healing item, but that nugget should be able to buy me ten more at least so I’m not afraid to use it. With Bellsprout back up to full health, at least back in the green judging by the mostly-closed wounds, he’s ready for a second round... and he looks as fired up as a plant can be without bursting into flames. “Alright, your move, Nick.”

Nicholas nods, smiling, and calls for Double Team first thing. As a series of duplicates appears to fill the area, Bellsprout and I try to spot the real one in the fakes.

Then I get an idea. It’s by far one of the least effective, but would certainly get the job done. “Bullet Seed. Spray and pray!”

Bellsprout nods and begins to go nuts, firing a bullet precisely at each copy, the shots going right through all of them.

Wait, all of them?

Neither of us are on guard when Nick calls for an Astonish, and the Maskary lunges from behind me at Bellsprout, startling my pokemon into ceasing his attack, followed by another Shadow Claw. Nick calls for a Shadow Punch next, and I know it won’t miss, but maybe there is something I can do about it when it arrives. The Maskary gets ready to plunge its four hands into little pools of darkness at its base, and I recall what Bellsprout did with Aerial Ace back in the forest, barely getting scratched. “Zip line!”

Bellsprout gets the idea and snags a nearby tree’s branch, pulling itself quickly out of the way of a torrent of four Punches in a row, getting nothing more than grazes from two of them.

“Solar Beam!”

Bellsprout puts its little leaves to the sky, artificial sunlight streaming down to collect at the front of its bulb, the Maskary getting ready to try another Astonish. I can only hope Bellsprout doesn’t flinch...

Bellsprout takes the hit, but finishes collecting sunlight, turning instantly and unleashing it on the Maskary point-blank, throwing it into another tree on the opposite side of the stadium, where it retreats into its mask and refuses to move. Nicholas recalls his pokemon and nods. “Excellent job, trainers!” he calls, holding his arms wide and beaming at all three of us.

I recall Bellsprout, who is pumping his leaves in the air like fists, in a victory dance. “All it takes is a good mind for your team... and a good team to fall back on.” I say, giving Twi and Rares a thumbs up each. “Granted I was totally lost on how I’d fight with Freyjaloof, and I suppose I just got lucky it never happened.”

Rarity sighs. “I really wasn’t ready to command Pignite, though. Sorry for that, Twilight.”

Twilight just shrugs. “It’s no problem, Rarity.”

“Yeah, we won, so we can leave and head to the Pokemon Center... feeling proud that we managed to do this entire puzzle house in one go. Speaking of, what’s our final grade?”

Nicholas pulls up a screen from a wrist-mounted gadget. “Just shy of seventy percent. You missed a few of the secret prizes, but that’s all extra. Just remember, if you’d like to give a try at the tower again, feel free to, though the layout will randomize each time you arrive. Oh, and here’s your prizes!” he says, hitting a button, and three tubes with item capsules rise out of the ground. “Each of these has a ticket worth 5000 at any pokemart, or can be used to get a free bike, ferry pass, or SkyPass at their associated vending locations.” he explains.

Considering how expensive Bikes tend to be, I guess the others must be pretty expensive normally.

“Dunno about these two.” I say, referring to the girls. “But I’m getting a bike for sure. It’ll help with travelling a lot.”

Nicholas nods. “A good choice, though I’d suggest also thinking about getting a Ferry Pass at some point; there’s several islands you can’t go to without one, and they’re normally 30,000 each.”

My mouth hangs open. “That’s... a lot of cash...” I rethink the bike option now. “Well, unless we all get bikes, I guess that would be the most economic of us...”

“And if I get some more gems from home, we should be able to afford some bikes.” Rarity says. “It really is astonishing how much they go for around here. They’re found so easily.”

“Bikes’re about the same.” Nicholas clarifies.

Right, they’d have to be otherwise the bikes would be a bad deal. Still, they would certainly help with travelling... “How about we hold onto these and decide later?” The girls nod, also unsure of how to spend our limited-availability fortunes.

“Well, I hope you return sometime, or at least recommend us to other travellers!” Nicholas says, smiling and bowing again, before pointing us towards the exit. “By the way, there’s a recovery machine installed in the wall, by the door, in case you’d like to heal up before you head out.”

We thank the strange, but nice man and heal our teams up and everyone is ready to go. I sigh as we exit out into the village again. “About seventy. That’s a B, and a B is passing.”

“I’d still like to try again to get a 100...” Twilight says. “Uh, after lunch, all that puzzle solving has made me hungry.”

Rarity and I agree and we decide to look for a place to eat. Given that we are now on the top floor of the village, there’s likely more impressive places to eat than that tiny stall of a tea shop. It was cozy and quaint but a little... little.

Up here, I can see things in all directions, a network of ropes, vines, chains, and other assorted bindings obscuring the depths below. I can see a couple of the buildings sticking out of the mesh of securement points. One of them’s gotta be a restaurant or something.

“I dunno about you girls, but I’d be up for some Cuban.”

The girls just stare at me. “I’m actually kind of hungry actually.” Twilight says and I facepalm.

“Cuban, as in Cuban food.”

“Ohhhh... what’s that?”

“Food. From Cuba.” Gettin’ real tired of this ‘foreign to humans’ thing.

Twilight and Rarity give ‘ahs’ and ‘now I get it’ type comments. Rolling my eyes, I ask Rarity for directions to the nearest food place of any kind, as I doubt there’s a decent place with a specific type of food other than, maybe, burgers around here. And now that she knows what goes into them, Rarity has sworn off burgers, as well as ramen.

Vegans... ruining everyone’s fun. Don’t they realize there’s a place for all of God’s creatures right next to the mashed potatoes?

Personal views aside, we make our way towards a place that apparently specializes in a vegetarian palate, though it doesn’t allow pokemon to be out of their balls in the restaurant.

Fair enough I suppose. We head for there and sit down. I’ve never been much for salads, raw veggies being my least favorite in general. Luckily they have some things I’ll take, but mostly on the dessert menu. Thinking it over, I decide we did well enough on the tower to congratulate ourselves a little.

I get some vegan pizza, the only thing on the menu that actually sounds edible, and the girls try to order flowers again. The waiter seems a bit quizzical at ‘Daisy sandwiches.’

I sigh and say they’ll want a Caesar salad each. Tofu is edible, even if I don’t like it.

The food turns out decent, the pizza actually not being half bad. Turns out, it was vegetarian, not vegan, so there was plenty of cheese on it.

The salads went over as I expected for them. They say it tastes a little processed. I don’t get it, it’s raw cabbage and leafy stuff, you don’t process that. But whatever. After we’ve eaten and are energized again, we decide to go sightseeing. “So what’s the first landmark on the top layer?”

“Well, there’s a natural history museum, a sightseeing point that goes from up top to the bottom - oh, but you wouldn’t like it, it’s meant for staring into the gorge below - and there’s also a SkyLine tram system - oh, it uses one of those SkyPasses that Mr. Puzzel mentioned.”

I shudder at the idea of looking down into the void from this high. “And where does the SkyLine go? A lower layer?”

“Actually, it connects the sides of the chasm, and offers a ride into the depths. Apparently, it leads all the way into a disused mine, which is now an attraction of its own, and a set of natural caves, which are apparently ‘Trainer Certified’.”

“Huh, well then, I’m still not sure about using our passes on the SkyLine. Bikes would certainly help anywhere there’s a road.”

“I would like to know more about what each of them are good for. What exactly is a SkyPass used for, and how often are Ferry Passes useful?” Twilight asks.

“Well, I’m not sure.” I admit. “I know that ferry or plane, and likely SkyLine, are the only ways to get to other regions. It’s all water out there between each one.”

“Ah, I see... well, should we be going to other Regions often?” she asks.

“No, but it would certainly be nice, just going through different regions, seeing what’s there. Maybe making a few challenges to see what trainers from other places are like.”

Rarity nods. “It would be rather nice to see other region’s contests.”

“And seeing what their technology and culture looks like!” Twilight adds in.

“Yeah, so when we’re done with the league here and Rarity’s got a few ribbons, we’ll probably check out other regions.” The other two nod and agree, but we still need to figure out what we’re doing for the day. It’s only a little after noon, maybe 2pm, even though it feels like we’ve been in there for days.

“Well we could always look for a battle. Likely that there are plenty of electric and Flying type specialists out here.”

“Yes, but perhaps we’d find more in that cave system. There’s other ways to get down there, the SkyLine simply takes us there the easy way.” Rarity says.

“Well, if we wanted to take easy ways, we wouldn’t have gone through the forest. So why don’t we check out the caves?”

The other two agree, and we head off to find the way down. However, it’s less than ideal.

“C’mon, Anthony, it’s even got a guard rail!” Twilight says, shaking the wooden rail. I can hear it creak. The floor is made of wood, too! And it’s slick! And there’s nothing under us except a terrifying abyss of darkness and hopelessness and darkness that’ll consume our souls and drag us forever away!

“How about we instead find some stairs, huh? I mean, we could just walk down some stairs rather than take this obvious deathtrap.”

“Dear, these are the stairs,” Rarity admonishes, “It’s this or the SkyLine.”

“Fine, we take the stairs...”

Twilight turns to Rarity. “That was surprisingly easy. He’s so conservative with money it overrides his fears.”

“One of us needs to know how to budget or we’d be broke by day one.” I say as I begin my slow, careful walk down the steps, staying as close to the middle as possible, avoiding the sides.

Twilight rolls her eyes, thinking I can’t see her. Either way, we make our way four hairpin switchbacks that leaves a solid lump of abject, existential terror sitting in my gut, until we get to the entrance of the cave, where there’s a large signboard with some rules and notes on it.

Welcome to Shockpoint Caves!
These caves are full of powerful electromagnetic stones, many of which have been active for millennia!

Science is still working to understand the exact workings of these powerful stones, though it’s notable that many sections of these caves are capable of natural levitation, electrical discharge, and other amazing things! Some of the larger sections of the caves are completely disconnected from the surrounding rock, held in place by magnetic crystals!

Notice: If you’re bringing any Electric, Steel, or gemstone-based Rock type pokemon into these caves, be warned that they may have odd effects while inside of the caves! While there have been no dangerous effects recorded, it is still a possibility, so have your Pokeballs and recovery items on hand!
Notice: Wild pokemon abound in these caves, and they are allowed to be caught. However, keep in mind they are still wild pokemon, so don’t expect them to act like a trained pokemon. Children are advised to remain near parents or guardian pokemon at all times during your excursion.

Thank you,

The Otari Ranger Corps.

“Well, we’ve been through worse, right?”

Twilight nods. Rarity thinks to herself for a moment while nodding, then speaks up, “Do you think there’s going to be any of those pokemon we met in that first cave, Anthony? I can’t remember what you called them, it was something-eye, I remember that much.”

“Sableye. They eat gems as I explained, but it’s possible that there might be some that get a taste for charged rocks. If there aren’t though then it’s highly unlikely.”

“Well, I hope we do, I’m sure they’d look fabulous... unless these charged stones aren’t nice-looking, and that’d be a shame.”

“Only one way to find out.” I say, walking into the caves. “We might even find some Electrike. They’re small and pretty cute if a bit rambunctious. It’s all the electricity in their fur. Makes them move real fast.”

“That sounds like Pinkie Pie... but electrified.”

“Nah, not that rambunctious, they just have some literal extra energy. Also they have a tendency to bite.” I take out my éTech to use as a flashlight, expecting it to be really dark.

The first thirty feet of pitch-black tunnel seems to prove me right, twisting and turning until we come to a stony doorframe, with a strong gold and blue light shining through it. A cautious peep around the corner reveals that there’s a crystalline stone glowing a cool cyan blue and floating ten feet above the ground in the center of the next room, streaks of yellow lightning circling it like the electrons of a molecule model.

I take the opportunity to snag a picture. “Send this to Celly, bet she’s never seen anything like this in her several billion years.”

“I don’t think it’d fit through the portal.” Twilight whispers.

I expect a comment from Rarity, but she’s not behind us, instead slowly walking towards the twenty-foot-tall gemstone, a hand outstretched. Given that there’s bolts of lightning as big around as my head circling that thing, that seems like a terrible idea.

“Uh, Rarity, what are you doing? That’s raw electricity, you know that, right?”

She doesn’t seem to hear me, and she’s about to walk right into a veritable ring of continuous discharge.

I run forward and tackle her to the ground before she gets too close to the electricity.

I end up getting a little scraped from the sliding impact but it’s tolerable. What isn’t tolerable is, “Are you nuts? Those are literal beams of death flying around!”

Rarity shakes her head, putting a hand to her face, looking rather dazed. “Ooh, what- why are we on the ground? I thought we were-” she cuts off as she looks at the crystal above us and I see her eyes go wide, pupils expanding like that shark in Finding Nemo when he smelled blood.

I give Rarity a quick and not very gentle smack. Not enough to hurt but enough to get her attention. “You touch that thing and you’re as fried as that cow you ate a few weeks ago.”

Rarity doesn’t seem to hear me, which is frustrating, as I’m right in contact-conduction range, and she’s trying to reach for it. I think it’s a bad idea for Rarity to stay in this room, but I don’t want to give up on this trip. She’s pretty light, so I think I can get her to the next room if I move fast.

With a sigh, I throw her over my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, one of the few tricks I mastered before leaving the scouts, and lead us away. I sigh and just groan, “Women...”

I quickly drop her in the next room, where she does the ‘headache and confusion’ routine again. Thankfully, the crystals in this cave are much less impressive, and give much more even lighting, rather than ‘pulsing death-lights’.

I hand my éTech to Twilight. “Looks like we’ll just have to show her the picture, because letting her see it in person seems a bad idea.”

Twilight nods. “Yeah, I think that was a bad case of Cutie Mark Destiny Syndrome kicking in. It can sometimes get bad, even when transfigured like this.”

“Like what kind of bad? I doubt it usually leads ponies to their deaths.”

Twilight looks nervously away and rubs the back of her neck in a tic I know rather well.

I sigh. “Right, those times when you freak out? Are you sure it’s that and not just a thousand grams of neuroses in your bloodstream?”

“No, just about any pony can succumb if presented with a strong enough object or event that ties to their cutie-mark closely. Such as, for example, Rarity coming across something unique and beautiful she’s never seen the like of before.”

“Strange.” I say with a grin. “She never acted that way when she met me.”

“Obviously.” Twilight says, nodding. “Now when she first met Prince Blueblood, before she found out what he’s like... well, she put up with some things that’d normally make her go berserk.”

“Like what? Did he hold his fork wrong?” I ask, mockingly.

“No!” Rarity yells. “He... he... he was a completely self-centered, absolutely selfish...” She pauses looking for the right word.

“Prick?” I suggest.

“I don’t even know what that means, but I doubt it’s bad enough.”

“Aquaman?” I suggest again.

“He was an asshole!” Rarity shouts, loud enough for some of the electricity in the room to stop and be like ‘whut?’

“Uh huh...” I nod a touch nervously, because I saw about half her hair spring out of place at the outburst. “Anyways, same rules apply as before. Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints. And I do mean touch nothing. That’s not me being bossy that’s me being protective.”

“Then I’d hate to see what you being bossy is like.” Twilight mutters.

“Just follow me and keep your hands to yourself. If Rarity zombifies again, just drag her out of the room.”

Twilight nods. “Alright. Oh, should we have our pokemon out already?” Twilight asks.

“Not a requirement, but it would be useful I suppose.” I take out my Premiere Ball and send out Geodude. A Ground type should be a huge advantage against any Rock or Electric types.

And sure enough, I hear a cry... and it sounds like an Aron, actually. Now that’d be a good addition to any of our teams! I immediately begin looking around for where the sound came from, the noise of static electricity hiding echoes well. However, it sounds like it came from a bit above me, and I scramble onto a ledge to look around. After a moment, I hear something... further above me?

Spinning around and looking up, I see an Aron walking across a wall like a spider, little arcs of electricity connecting it to the wall whenever it steps away, and moving towards a little blue crystal about half a foot from my head.

That is amazing!

I watch as it goes for the crystal, likely to eat it. It’s a neat trick but I doubt it could do it anywhere but these caves, so taking it out of here would likely remove the trait that made it cool in the first place. But it’s still an Aron.

“No fair!” I hear Twilight call from below. “You got Bellsprout Rarity got Clefairy... I haven’t gotten one yet!”

“All’s fair in love and war.” I call back as I climb up onto the ledge fully.

“This is neither, it’s pokemon!” She says and tries to climb up onto the ledge with me, not being as athletic. I sigh and pull her up. It’s either that or push her off and I’m not that obsessive about having this Aron.

“Fine, but you only get one try.”

“I only need one.”

We turn back towards the Aron, and see that it’s sitting, mostly upside down, happily munching on the blue crystal, and I notice that part of its shell is similarly blue. Also that an eating Aron is adorable as hell.

“Me first, I saw it first.” I claim and return Geodude, taking out Bellsprout. “Vine Whip, pull it down to us!”

Bellsprout nods and lashes out, snagging the almost-finished Aron, tugging it off the wall... only for it to develop a bright blue chain of electricity that drags it back to the wall, bringing a very surprised Bellsprout with it, leaving my pokemon dangling and panicking as the Aron, now stuck by its back to the wall and effectively turtled.

It’s a like the Three Stooges, Pokemon edition.

I decide to just use a ball, and throw it at the Aron, where it falls to the ground at my feet before shaking with the Aron’s resistance.

Another shake, then the pokeball cracks in half as the Aron pops out, a single tear running down its cheek as it sees that the crystal it was eating is powder on the floor, before glaring at me and Bellsprout, who has landed in front of me.

Twilight steps in front of me. “That was your try, now it’s my turn!” To her credit, she sends out Spheal, a good matchup against an Aron.

The Aron puts up a leg, as if telling her to wait, before dashing forward and tackling Bellsprout hard, barely missing my leg, before beginning to swipe with sharpened legs.

“Bellsprout, Petal Dance.” I call as I get up, avoiding the next swipe. Bellsprout nods and begins to let loose with a torrent of green ‘petals’ and begins whipping them around the area, striking the Aron before it does another slamming tackle, mashing Bellsprout into a wall, doing it again before snorting and nodding at Bellsprout’s fainted body.

And as the Aron turns to me it gets a jet of water in the face from Spheal. “You already had your turn. Besides, it looks like it doesn’t even like you, so you can’t be its trainer.”

The Aron turns towards the Spheal that struck it, and makes another charge, this time with the intent of striking the water-ice type, looking utterly pissed. Twilight’s Spheal is knocked across the room, though it evidently didn’t take much damage, judging by the faint ‘wee!’ coming from it.

“Come on, Bellsprout gets mashed, Spheal gets a ride? Like that’s fair.”

“All’s fair in love and war.” Twilight says, mocking me from earlier.

“You’re finally getting snarky, and I’m not enjoying it as much as I’d hoped.”

Twilight doesn’t answer me as she calls for another attack, the Aron doing pretty well against the water-type, but finally seems to be collapsing. If Spheal hadn’t been, well, a pokemon used to getting headbutted around by its family, it probably would’ve been in more trouble, and Twilight makes the capture.

I sigh, relenting the victory to her as the ball is digistructed to the PC.

“Fine, you have a new pokemon, happy?”

“Very!” Twilight says beaming.

“Great, then you can let your good mood catch you on your way down.” I say as I get down from the ledge, and tap my foot waiting for Twilight to make the jump. She scowls at me, and climbs down awkwardly.

“Graceful as fuck.” I comment sarcastically.

“Shut up. I spent my time improving my brain rather than my muscles.”

“So did I.”

“Whatever...”

Chapter 68

We continue along, Rarity thankfully resisting the other stones enough to curb any oncoming episodes and Twilight is looking up Aron on her pokédex.

“Can’t believe you caught that.” I mutter. “You don’t even know what it is...”

Twilight just gives me a sideways glance. “And yet I’m on par with your skill level.”

“Badges mean nothing.” I say, puffing up a bit. “Neither does amount of pokémon caught.”

“And yet, again, we’re on seemingly the same level.”

“Pfft, in combat maybe...”

“Darlings, it’s rather hard to take nice photographs with you two arguing like an old married couple.” Rarity says getting us to shut up.

“A-anyways...” Twilight starts, blushing in the bluish light of the levitating stones. “There’s another map over here, and it says there’s another cave nearby, and is noted as ‘battle safe’.” she says, gesturing at the park-map style board set on one wall, the faded plastic-coated paper peeling slightly. I notice that there’s no metal in its construction... likely because of the natural Aron population.

“Alright, we keep going then. Though don’t expect a lot of terribly interesting pokémon down there. If this place is battle-ready then there’s likely been plenty of trainers down here who’ve caught most of the good ones.” I look deeper into the cave. “I just hope that the parents of whatever special species were left so that they can breed and repopulate.”

“It would be a shame if something happened to a species and they could no longer breed due to unavailability of a mate...” Rarity muses, sounding exactly like a breeder.

“Yeah, like there’s a place similar to these caves in Unova. Tynamo have become incredibly scarce since that’s their only habitat and they can’t seem to live anywhere else and uncontrolled catching...”

“Could quickly lead to them being endangered.” Twilight finishes, and I nod.

“Worse than that, they would need a specially-made area in a natural reserve to breed in before they go extinct since they have only one habitat unseen in other regions... unless there’s a pool of water in these caves. They’re eel-like. Well actually the Tynamo themselves are more like leeches, but you get the idea, they need electrically-charged still water. Likely mineral-rich as well.”

“That’s awful... but the brochure said that they still haven’t found the bottom of this chasm, so I don’t think the local species are in as dire straights.” Rarity says, “However, if the water in here is compatible... hmm...” she puts on an ‘I’m thinking this over’ face and begins to stare off into the distance.

The three of us continue on, just looking around as we delve deeper into the cave system. At least with these signs around we know we won’t get lost.

We all end up in a large room with a ‘window’ facing out towards the chasm, and we can see the far wall, but not down, and looking up reveals a bunch of slumbering Zubat and a sleepy-looking Golbat watching over the colony on the roof. They don’t seem active right now, and I spot a few tiny, fuzzy yellow spots on them, evidently a transplanted Joltik colony.

The girls look at the Zubat nervously, recalling our first encounter with them but I just remind them to stay quiet and we keep going, slowly so as to not wake them with the sound of footfalls. Now would be a chance to get myself a Joltik, but I’d rather not wake the horde of Zubat so I resign myself to waiting to get one until later.

In the next chamber over, it’s a long tunnel, and barely tall enough for the three of us, with semi-regular ‘windows’ facing out into the chasm, all of which I pointedly ignore the existence of. I get to the end and turn to talk to Twilight and Rarity, only to see that Rarity has stopped, and is inspecting a piece of wall with a rounded yellow stone on it. I’d seen a few others around, and just assumed they were part of the environment.

“What do we have here?” I ask, taking a closer look at the one Rarity was searching.

I take a picture of the stone and plan on running it through a reverse image-search but apparently the internet doesn’t work with all the electrical interference, so we’ll have to study it the old-fashioned way. It looks like a four-inch-wide rounded nub of yellowish rock, with six small crystals, also yellow coming off on two sides. I feel around it to see if it would be plausible to dig it out of the wall. “No good, it’s solid rock all the way through.” I announce as Rarity seems to have had the same idea. “We’d need actual digging tools.”

Rarity pulls out a small set of tools, looking like a tiny pick, hammer, and set of pliers. I’m about to comment on her strangely prepared bag, but the rock suddenly begins to skitter away up the wall at the sight of the tools, revealing it’s a spider-like shape made of rock, with a limb under each of the six crystals, and a tiny set of eye-like gemstones on the front, which appear to have widened in fear at the sight of the little titanium pickaxe.

“Well, that’s something you don’t see everyday...” I admit, having no idea what pokémon it could be. Twilight takes her éTech out and it chirps, having identified the creature.

Sparkite, the Piezoelectric pokémon
- These little geode-based pokémon generate electricity from within due to the pressures exerted on them. The harder the force applied to them, the stronger their jolts become.
- Thanks to thousands of years of compression, they've adapted to turn that physical stress into electrical charges, which they can then use as a defense mechanism.
Rock Type, Electric type

“It’s like a kinetic repulsion field...?” Twilight asks confusedly. “The more pressure you put on it the more it resists?”

“More like the more pressure you put on it the stronger its electrical abilities become.” I correct as Rarity tries coaxing it back to within arm’s reach.

The little, spider-like pokémon seems rather timid, but it does finally come back to Rarity, gripping her outstretched hand with its two, front-most legs, which I see come to blunt, crystal tips. “Spar?”

“Oh, you’re such a dear... we’ve never seen something quite like you~” she coos to the pokémon, who shyly ducks its front half.

“Yeah... not sure how useful a Rock-Electric type really is though.” I say. “It has a definite advantage over Flying types, but most of its natural resistances are made moot by a secondary type. Heck, a Ground type like Geodude would just waste it.”

“Well, see if there’s anything else special about it.” Twilight suggests. “Agh, the interference in here is... wait, gimme a moment.” she turns into a pony once more, and levitates the éTech outside of the cave, poking at the screen with a stylus. “Ha! I’ve got connection~” she sing-songs, grinning broadly.

“Not a bad trick.” I admit. “So what’s it say? It should have some special form of self-defense. Otherwise it wouldn’t last long in a normal cave.”

“Well, apparently, it has three different abilities: Sturdy, Static, and something called Lightning Infusion. Apparently, it can make Thunderstones.”

“That’s interesting... but how does it survive down here? Like does it learn some move to keep away Ground types? And what about Aron? If these things are mineraloids, they’re definitely on an Aron’s menu. They love mineral-rich foods and rocks.” I ponder for a moment. Static would help deter being eaten, but that would mean that only the ones with Static wouldn’t get eaten and that Infusion ability would be considered a birth defect... The biologist in me is screaming for some kind of answer to how this creature survives.

“Well, if they’re making food, then they’d be valuable as-is, not eaten, right?” Twilight reasons. I’m not sure of the logic, but the pokémon world does have its occasional weird circular-logic symbiosis setups.

“So... then the rarest ability one could find would be sturdy as they don’t have a bodily repulsion effect, and can’t make food so if they’re unprotected and can’t provide they must be the ones that get eaten, and as such are the hardest to find.” I deduce. “I mean, that sounds logical. If it’s food and can’t provide better food by living then it would get eaten.”

“That does make sense... morbid as it is.” Twilight says, nodding. “Wait, it has an evolution.” she says. “And... it’s way bigger than this little guy.” she says, brows furrowing, her tail swishing on the floor as she sits back. “And it has much better stats, too.”

“Wouldn’t be the first pokémon to be weak but evolve into a super-monster.”

“A- Actually, Sparkite has really amazing base stats.” Twilight says, eyes going wide as she reviews it. Her head snaps to where Rarity is, happily playing with the little pokémon, who is seeming very friendly, and generally acting adorable. “Here, take a look, Anthony.” she says, and passes it to me. Looking at it, I can see why she was shocked. Around 450 base stat total for that little guy? That’s crazy.

“These guys must, if you excuse the pun, rock the Little Cup.” At the confused look I explain. “The Little Cup is a tournament that is for small, young pokémon. Low level, small size, etc. Basically it’s a play-battle scenario for all the little ones to participate in without their trainer having to worry about someone throwing out a Garchomp and just obliterating their tinier partners.”

“Like how pegasus fillies wrestle?”

“Kinda, since a pokémon bred for battle would likely start training from a young age and that’s the safest place to go to have them get experience since everything is around the same size and level. The only advantage you could have is stats, and it’s too early for EV training to take effect. But these base statlines... These guys are insane even at low levels...”

“Yeah, and this says they’re only considered ‘rare’ because they aren’t found anywhere e-” a sudden, low thud catches our attention, and from the direction of the cave full of Zubats, which is rapidly emptying of said avian terrors, a large shape begins to arise out of the cave wall, revealing a large, three-legged humanoid shape, composed of floating stone chunks, with crystalline points that emit electricity, binding it together at its ‘joints’. The three legs look like chubbier versions of the ones on the little Sparkite, but they aren’t attached, and begin to motor like crazy getting that mass of stone moving as it charges the Zubats and Golbat, scaring them out of the tunnel. It only pauses to unleash a blast of electricity to help with chasing them out and keep the Golbat from getting any ideas, before its torso turns towards us, four crystal eyes glaring atop its chest, as it doesn’t have a head.

Why do so many pokémon in this region have no heads or too many?

Either way... “Looks like mom woke up...”

The other two nod, and we all begin to scramble away down the tunnel, the monsterosity behind us roaring out in fury. Twilight, still a pony, picks up more speed than Rarity or I, and picks us both up in her magic, screaming as she pours on the speed while carrying two adult humans.

Part of me wonders if it’s fear-fuel, or if she’s actually that strong with her magic, but most coherent thoughts are replaced by wishes for her to go faster.

After nearly a full minute of her running and Rarity and I encouraging her abilities and certainly not screaming in incoherent fear while holding each other and hoping she doesn’t run us into a stalactite, we finally break free onto a long rope bridge, which Twilight runs down at full tilt. I can’t exactly recall how fast those things could get, but whatever it is, I hope Twilight has already outrun it.

I chance a look back and see that it has, in fact, refused to follow us onto the bridge, simply growling angrily. Looking at my companions, I see that Twilight is collapsed and panting, and Rarity is looking shell-shocked and clutching her bag- wait, that’s not a bag, that’s the Sparkite!

“Rarity!” I hiss. “Give the scary pokémon it's kid back!”

She doesn’t respond, just sitting there wordlessly. In the distance, the large rock pokémon slowly returns to its cavern system.

I just stare at Rarity as I move Twilight onto my lap, which I figure to be much more comfortable than the wooden bridge “If that’s how you plan on ‘catching’ pokémon from now on, I’d say you’ve got serious problems, Rares.”

Rarity just continues to stare into the distance, and I realize she’s looking pretty white and breathing really shallowly. A quick glance at the Sparkite in her death-grip shows that it is, reflexively, releasing electricity from the pressure. Great.

I sigh and set Twilight back down as I help Rarity, my first job being to lay her on her back and pulling her arms off the pokémon to end the ‘can’t let go’ effect, being careful to not touch the Sparkite myself.

The moment she’s not gripping it, the electricity stops, and it scuttles in a small circle, poking her and giving a worried-sounding “Spar?”

I honestly forget the procedure for treating shocks at this point, so I just wing it, and hold her down gently and trying to ‘wake’ her. “Come on, just shake it off...”

Rarity recovers slowly, but does so, still looking a bit pale. “Ah-ow...” she mutters, her breathing slowly returning to normal as her muscles relax, one group at a time.

“Electrocution is not fun.” I clarify. “Just be glad this was just standard paralysis. Twilight, how you holding up?”

“I- I’ll... be fine... just... exhausted...” she says, panting, looking about to pass out.

“Yeah, you don’t look fine. We should probably stay here for a bit. And Rarity, no more hugs for Sparkite.”

She nods shakily, and gets to standing up, the Sparkite tugging on her skirt hem when she starts to walk away, evidently wanting to come with.

I roll my eyes. “Looks like your incredible charisma has gotten you yet another teammate, Rarity.”

“I- I suppose so...” she says, still sounding very out of it, though she gently picks up the Sparkite, who seems to like the hug.

“Rarity, just put it in a ball. You can take it out of the PC later. Right now he’s a bit of a hazard to literally carry around.” I say with a sigh.

“R-right.” she says, pulling out a ball and tapping it to the stony pokémon, ‘catching’ it without any trouble. The ball immediately transfers to the PC.

Now that that was over, the only thing left to do is wait for the girls to recover and move on. We probably aren’t going to leave any time soon, at least until that thing calms down.

Now that we’re on this side of the bridge, I get a good look around, realizing we’re on something of an island, likely a pillar of some kind... though why there’s cords attached to the sort-of corners of the little pillar we’re on is a mystery.

I hazard a look over the side and see that the cords are there to keep this little island up and that it’s mostly just hanging here. In other words, a dead end. I thought the caves would go further than this. Then I realize I’m standing literally on top of a semi-floating platform and hastily make my way back across the wooden bridge. Nothing to see here. Nope.

Looking to the sides eventually leads me to find... a ladder. A rope ladder leading down the side and to the floor below. That might be our way out, but only if-

Another crashing noise and the creature has burst through another wall, and chases me back across the bridge to the island. Damnit, it was waiting for me!

“I don’t have your kid, leave me alone!” I moan as I just start climbing down the ladder simply to get away from the angry parent. The large pokémon growls and smashes into a wall, tunneling away once more and making the cave more unstable, no doubt. We have gotta get out of here.

I just gesture for the girls to follow me down the ladder when they’re able and continue my downward climb. Going up is always so easy, but down is a nightmare.

Thankfully, we get to the floor just fine, and Twilight takes a moment to turn into a human once more, though she complains that now her ‘everything’ aches. We start off, but I quickly realize this part of the cave wasn’t on the earlier maps, and we’re potentially lost.

“Do either of you remember the way out?” Rarity asks hopefully, looking around.

“Yes.” I say matter-of-factly “It’s up that ladder, across the bridge, and past the giant pokémon that wants to turn us into paste for taking its baby.” Rarity sighs. “Well excuse me, I wasn’t the one who gets every other pokémon they meet to follow them. Some pokémon are best left where they are, y’know?”

Twilight makes a frustrated noise. “Stop, Anthony, she gets it. Let’s just work on getting out... wait, you have a pokémon that knows Dig, right?” she asks.

I nod, holding out my premier ball. “Geodude should be able to bust through this rock wall just fine... Or heck, depending on the level, take out big, rocky, and scary up there.” Geodude appears and looks up at me, waiting for instruction, as there’s nothing to hit in arm’s reach this time. “You can get us out of here, right? Just, you know, dig us a way out?”

He gives a nod... er, a shake of his body. He gestures towards his body, and then waits.

“I guess we just grab on, or...?” I look at Geodude. He’s a little small for all of us to fit on top so it must be something else I’m not understanding. He nods again, and waits for us to get firm grips, before lunging at the rock face and smashing into it, fists windmilling violently as he tears forward, dragging us into the dirt. I can hear Rarity crying out, and Twilight is practically spooning me as we hold on for dear life to Geodude, who is shovelling the pulverized stone behind us, barely leaving room for our toes as he goes along at an impressive pace.

I was thinking it would have been like he digs a hole and we follow him through it by crawling but I have to admit this is faster. After a few minutes of holding on, my knuckles white with the grip I have, my arms start getting tired of being used to drag the entirety of my weight and that of the girls.

Moments before I begin to lose my grip, we burst free of the pitch-black darkness inside the stone, and land on the exterior platform, the seemingly-rickety planks easily taking our sudden arrival with the exact same creaks and groans as when we were gingerly stepping from one to the next. Once everyone is back to their feet I recall Geodude, and we begin our trek back, myself still not trusting the maximum capacity of the boards as I go.

“So I say we call this venture a bust and try the caves again later...” The girls nod, and I realize they’re holding tight to either side of me, having lost their handholds on Geodude’s rather smooth body. Maybe I shouldn’t have been having him use Rock Polish quite so often; he’s getting rather spherical. That aside, we’re alive and we aren’t being chased, so we just resolve to head back to the pokémon center and work on a new plan for what to do before we leave in a few days. Or maybe even tomorrow. “Anyone got any safe ideas?”

“Uhm... going back and sitting on a couch for a little while?” Twilight asks. “I have some books I’d like to read... and a few pokémon I want to research.”

“And I think I’d like to work some more on my designs... I think I have an idea for a dress based on that larger one...” she says.

“Of course you do...” I sigh. “Alright, guess we’ll just take the rest of today slow then.”

Shortly after we’ve gotten to the center and each had a shower to get the dirt and stone bits off of us, we just find ourselves sitting around the center, reading our own books. I put mine away, done with reading for the time being and I start just letting my mind wander.

Not really having much for my mind wander to I just start fiddling with my éTech, looking for something to do. One thing I’ve been missing a lot is music so I start searching for that. After a bit I find that there’s an actual music app and it begins asking for names of songs I like. I put in a few I remember from before I came to Equestria and find that... most of them actually exist or have very similar counterparts if they don’t exist exactly as before, putting more evidence into the idea of the pokémon world being like an alternate Earth.

After a bit I find one I haven’t heard in awhile, an old favorite with a nice soft but somewhat haunting melody. Glad to see the band exists here and in roughly the same shape, I hit the play button and begin listening to the song while I think of something else to do.

It’s not exactly as I remember it, but that could be just due to not having heard it in a while. The talking about myths and strange occurrences makes me think more about the different pokémon around here in Otaria. Letting the music play in the background I pull up the pokedex and begin rifling through it for interesting-sounding names.

I come across Sparkite, and the pokémon listed directly after it, Granectric, sounds like it’s probably the evolved form that had chased us. I figure I could look over it, maybe find a weakness to exploit if we come across another one.

I open that in a separate tab and go back to the pokedex, finding a name that is entirely new, Rapices. I suppose I haven’t quite got my fill of Water types, so I decide to check that one out after, opening a fourth tab for that one and going for Granectric’s entry.

Granectric, the Ancient Charge pokémon
- These powerful pokémon are very durable. They turn any physical assault directly into electrical potential.
- There is a very large amount research being put into finding a way to use their ability to turn kinetic energy into electrical potential.
- They roam the vast tunnels of their native chasm, and will attack anything they think is a danger to their young.
Rock type, Electric type

Hmmm... and it evolves... like Mamoswine or Yanmega, by knowing Ancient Power when levelling up. So it’s actually considered a truly ancient species... interesting. Well, with its statlines on display I can see exactly why it was so territorial and protective: If I was that tough I wouldn’t exactly be very charitable for no reason.

As for weaknesses, the immediate thing that comes to mind is Grass type as they resist Electrical damage and are effective against Rock. And they don’t learn any really special moves. The only moves that they don’t get STAB from are Dig and Dazzling Gleam. Fairy moves? Strange, still it leaves it wide open to a sufficiently strong Ground type, Ground being immune to half its moves and normally resistant to the other half and it take times-four damage from Ground moves. Yeah, a sufficiently strong Magnitude from Geodude could probably handle one if they were on the same level... wish I thought of that, would have made leaving a lot easier.

Oh well, 20-20 hindsight and all. Let’s see what Rapices is. Must be a fish with a name like that...

Yep, it looks like a metallic-armored swordfish, nose looking like, well, a rapier. Steel type, and definitely a fast one if the fin design is functional as well as looking cool.

Rapices, the Swordfish pokémon
- Rapices can often be found in pairs, sparring one another. They do this to hone their sword like noses. They always bow their head before beginning battle.
- They roam the seas and are surprisingly friendly to humans, though they will fence with anyone they think has insulted them. Their pride is highly important to them, as it is how they rank themselves.
Water type, Steel type

Huh, interesting. Might be useful if I didn’t already have Carvanha... where can I get one? Huh, says something about a Hagane region... whose pokedex looks very... unique. It’s mostly incomplete though as it says I need the region’s pokedex upgrade.

Available on the eShop for 6,000. Yeesh, I think I’ll just get it for free when I go there for real. Still, I know where we might go after Otaria at least, so long-term plans are set in stone now. But what about short-term? I guess we just keep heading for the desert.

Y’know, now that I think about it... I’ve seen a bunch of pokémon that, well, don’t look like the ‘standard’ model I know from the movies, games, show, and merch. So what’s up with that? I get to looking on the éTech for ‘subspecies’ and ‘pokémon variation’, wondering what I’ll find.

And holy crap, there’s just so many possibilities.

Every Region, and there’s at least fifteen going off this list, has some natural variations to its pokemon, similar to the way Gastrodon varies between the two halves of Sinnoh, but it’s across continents. And... looking at this map, I can see why. This version of Earth has, from the looks of things, about three continents, and an absolute shitload of islands and the like, many the size of Japan or Madagascar.

This place will certainly keep us busy until we start getting old, that’s for sure. Heh, we’ll have quite the stories to tell when we finally get back home. heck, this is even sending me recommendations for stories of people doing just that.

Speaking of home, the music has kept playing other songs by similar bands, some I know, others I don’t, but all in the general theme of Abney Park’s typical style. Not bad but what I’ve been really missing is metal, something I just can’t always seem to get right when playing the Lyre. Probably should wait until I’m not in a public hospital before blasting something like that though.

My music itself, the mysterious and flowing style seems to have enraptured Twilight’s subconscious as she has started humming along with the music as she reads. Eventually I return my attention to the various pokémon subspecies and variations, finding things like different kinds of coat for Vulpix to Golurk with a more ancient, ‘ruined temple guardian’ look.

After a bit more browsing I decide to stop, my back getting a bit stiff from sitting still for so long. I get up and walk around, looking at what the girls are doing, Rarity’s working on those dress designs based on the Granectric, and beside it in a huge contrast is the feathered Rayquaza design. The idea of a Rayquaza with feathers is rather silly if you ask me, but if it works it works I suppose. Twilight’s reading about more of our more basic scientific discoveries.

The one she seems to be ogling the most at is clockwork and steam-power. “Yeah, they look pretty cool. Amazing what you can do with brass pipes and gears, huh?” I say, leaning over her shoulder. “You should look up some of the more fictitious examples of steam-power’s applications. Steampunk might even be possible with a bit of unicorn magic.”

“I think some of these designs are entirely workable even without unicorn magic.” she says, changing tabs to one showing steampunk designs, including a ‘steampunk Golurk’ idea for a novel cover, called the Brass Giant.

“Huh, yeah, but things like clockwork golems might be a bit hard without some magical help. Steam power is versatile but it has its limits, that’s why we currently use electricity generated from wind water and sunlight.”

“Oh yes, and I’ve actually finished the potential designs for turning Ponyville’s dam into a hydroelectric one and it should only cost a few hundred bits to set up. Compared to my calculations, that price is nothing compared to what we’d save by converting.” Twilight says happily. “I’m learning so much that can help us... I had no idea you humans were so resourceful. Some of these things I’ve only seen in the Crystal Empire’s library, and even then they were just rough ideas. Here... they all fully work.”

“Yeah, amazing what a resourceful species can do without magic, huh?”

“Well I wouldn’t say completely without magic. A few of these could be vastly improved if put in the right hooves.” she pauses. “Also... I’m not entirely convinced humans don’t have magic.”

I can tell by the tone that her use of the word hooves was inflection, not a verbal mistake.

I shrug and use one of my favorite lines. “Sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic.”

“That’s... rather profound, but I’m sure there’s some kind of magic here, and I will find a way to harness it.”

I chuckle and squeeze her shoulder. “If anyone can, it’d be you.”

“Why thank you Anthony, it’s unlike you to have much confidence in me.” She replies with a sideways glance and a small smile.

“Yeah, just don’t expect it too often.”

“There we are.” She replies, rolling her eyes and returning to her device, smile still in place. “But I am serious about there being magic here. One of my research topics was into ancient shrines and religious artifacts... they tend to be good places to check for early magic, and there’s some works that are literally impossible without magic, such as pocket dimensions inside of a shrine in Kanto, or the entire region of Kroel just... not existing for one hundred years to the outside world.”

“Well don’t overwork yourself. You still have to focus on getting badges and training if you want to keep up with me.” I remind her as I flop back onto the couch, swiping through more music options. I change the tunes to something more upbeat and Rarity sighs.

“Oh I liked that so much.” She says. “It was like slow dancing in darkness.”

“You can get your own music, just look up songs you’d like to hear.” I advise, turning off my music.

Rarity begins searching through her éTech for music and after a while of swiping and scrolling finds one that makes her eyes visibly light up. “Oooh, this one sounds so romantic!”

The song begins to play and I... recognize it immediately as one of my old favorites, but definitely not romantic in the way Rarity likely imagines. This is made immediately apparent by the sounds of the instruments, but it seems Rarity’s interest is piqued and I wince as she listens to the heavy tones and rather... dark lyrics.

“That... is not a love song...” Twilight says, slowly, hearing it as well. “Is it?”

“Ah, no.” I say, “That’s Alice Cooper.”

“Well... given the lyrics I can’t say the title is misleading but I was expecting something softer and less... violent.”

“Then Alice is not the singer for you. Here, try Abney Park, they’re... gentler.” I suggest.

Once given the name of the band and told how to spell it, Rarity finds the music I had been listening to. “That is much better. I must say, I didn’t exactly believe songs like that existed despite your claim of their popularity. I was under the impression your staged performances were created on the spot...”

“Nope, and for that reason, I say it might be best to run a song by me first. I’m just glad you didn’t get one of Alice’s more raunchy songs.”

“She makes more like that?” Twilight asks.

“Almost all his songs are like that. Yes, Alice is a he.” I correct.

“But, that name sounds so feminine...” Rarity comments. “Why would a male singer’s name be Alice?”

I just shake my head. “You really wouldn’t understand.”

I pause when we’re interrupted by a nurse coming over. “Hello everyone~! I just wanted to come over and make sure everything’s alright; you’ve been sitting at these two tables all afternoon. I’ve never seen trainers sit in one place so long, so...”

“Well, we had reserved the rest of the afternoon to exploring the caves... but we ran into an issue and had to make an emergency exit.” I explain. “There was a Granectric that got exceptionally ticked off when one of us caught a Sparkite.”

“Ah, yes, they sometimes come up from the deeper parts of the crevasse. On behalf of the village, I’d like to offer my apologies; however, it’s actually fairly far into the evening. You’ve been sitting over there since shortly after noon, and it’s nearly eight.”

I look out a window and see the position of the sun. “Oh... wow, we did spend all day here, didn’t we?”

Twilight blinks as she checks the time on her éTech, and Rarity looks a bit confused by the time passing us by, but shakes her head. “Ah, it seems we all got a bit carried away with our own little projects... ah, Nurse, are there any night events you might recommend?”

“Oh of course!” she says, smiling happily. “At night, you can lay on one of the glass-floored buildings and watch the Crevasse Constellations form. They’re the results of large deposits of charged crystals moving slowly along set paths, and they can take up to a year to complete a circuit, just like real stars! They’re really pretty and romantic; I met my boyfriend ‘stargazing’.” she blushes a little at the admission.

“And exactly how thick is the glass, and how secure is it?” I ask, skeptical of this pastime’s safety.

“Well, it’s not actually glass, unless you go to one of the really old buildings, but they made their glass nearly a foot thick. The portion here in the Center is actually an impact-proofed polymer of some sort. I don’t really know the specifics, but I do know it’s tested by having a Machamp wail on the sheet for two minutes before being certified.”

I shrug. “Good enough for me, I suppose.” I say, “So where is it?”

She points over at the pokéball symbol in the floor of the main lobby, and I realize that it’s not a black-over-white pokeball, but rather just an open window pointing down. “Also, we can get more comfortable beds to post over it. We don’t get a lot of traffic here in the Center at night, thanks to that hotel opening up two layers up, but that just means it’s quieter here.”

I nod, walking over to the pokéball symbol. “Alright, so it’d be just like, what, looking down at the night sky or something when the glowing starts?”

“Pretty much. I mean, there’s actually rooms with glassed floors, they have beds with face-pillows that let you lay down facing the floor. Like the ones in a massage place.”

“Huh, cool. Guess we’ll take a room then. You got one for three, or....?” I trail off, letting the nurse reply.

“I have a room for four, but effectively yes. There’s no reservations, so you’re in the clear.”

“Alright, we’ll take a room then.”

The nurse smiles and nods. “Right this way. And are you going to stay for several nights or just for tonight?”

“Just tonight... unless you girls can think of anything else to do while we’re here that might take a full day?”

Twilight thinks for a moment. “Well, we should probably retry exploring those caves, we didn’t get very far before we had to leave.”

“Alright, we’ll see what there is to see, and hopefully we won’t have to dig ourselves out again.” I reply, entering the room the nurse shows me to.

“You three enjoy the view.” She smiles and walks back to her station. We walk in and instantly take note of the very see-through floor. It’s very well polished and we’d hate to ruin or scratch it so we leave our shoes inside the door on a rubbery mat, and walk in our stocking’d feet. It’s so far down that I can’t see the bottom, which helps a bit. It kinda looks like an optical illusion, or a long corridor, rather than an endless drop into slightly-blue darkness.

I get on of the beds and lay down, staring into the abyss and while it’s a little odd, it certainly isn’t as bad as I’d expected. I hear Twilight and Rarity move to their own beds and we just stare silently, waiting for the ‘stars’. It really is a lot like looking at the night sky. I sometimes have to remind myself I’m looking down. It’s somewhat disorienting but in a subtle way that doesn’t freak me out completely.

After a bit of waiting I see a little glowing light and more begin showing up. It is a little like stars. On the other hand, I can see them moving, slightly, and as the sun sets, I can get a better look at them. There aren’t as many towards the middle, which I realize is probably because it’s much further down than the sides. As the last of the light bleeds away to night, more lights begin to join, and some easily-visible moving lights drift into the chasm, likely pokemon like Volbeat and Illumise coming in.

It’s a bit strange, but even though I know I’m looking down... I can’t help but feel calm. The multitude of tiny lights don’t flicker like stars, instead pulsing gently, and I’m not entirely prepared when there’s a sudden line or beam connecting two of them, and the outline of a Gengar’s grinning face shows up for a moment as the beam splits hundreds of times into other nearby lights.

It’s a really fantastic display and the whole thing is indeed like stargazing, but if the stars were more... alive. I think about taking a picture but my body is tired and refuses to move from the restful position I’m in. I resolve to just look and watch, though I am feeling pretty drowsy already. Another beam, this time golden yellow instead of electric blue, fires and splits, this time between different lights, and forms a massive, wireframe of a Yanmega.

My body still refuses to take a picture, though I can look at it again tomorrow night. It probably won’t be the same display, but it will be just as nice, I hope. I’m given a bit of a jostle and I hear Twilight ask me what the design is. “It looks like a pokémon, what kind of pokémon is that?”

“Yanmega...” Wow, even my voice sounds sleepy. I guess today was more tiring than I thought. “It’s a... a Bug type, prehistoric. You can look it up in the morning...” I punctuate with a yawn and soon enough I catch a glimpse of another design, a silver-colored Mew’s outline, before my eyes close and I drift off.

Chapter 69

I wake up, my back feeling odd as I had slept on my stomach all night. I’m a bit surprised at how they managed to make sleeping on your belly comfortable enough. But the oddity of the sensation lasts long enough to make me feel a bit unrested.

Today we go back to the caves and make some actual progress. Geodude is going to be our bodyguard as he should be tough enough to handle any Electric, Rock, or Steel types. The only thing we’d have to worry about is a cave-dwelling fighting type like a Meditite... Are those native to Otaria? I need to check that out.

I take my éTech’s Pokédex and look up the pokémon reported local to the Crevasse Village Caves. The results are mainly Aron and Sparkite as well as their evolved forms, general cave fare like Zubat and Woobat though the latter is a bit rarer. No Meditite in Otaria at all, so no chance of those, though there are various sightings of ‘scientifically interesting Onix and Geodude specimens, including a rumor of a Crystal Onix with magnetic properties. A few Gible and Gabite sightings, too.

That’s supposed to be much further into the caves, though, and much further down in the chasm. Y’know... I wonder if there’s something like a tram that goes deeper into the crevasse, and if so, how much does it cost?

A minute of research later, and I find there is, in fact, one such tour, but it only runs evenings and nights, to let the local bat-pokemon populations run down. We eventually decided to take that one later

“Alright, everyone ready?” I ask, turning to the girls. Rarity keeps clamoring about the view last night, how wonderful it was. “Yeah, we saw it, there were some interesting formations.”

Twilight finally breaks off from the conversation, nodding enthusiastically. “Alright, let’s get moving, I acquired a map from a Ranger who said there were a few hidden caves deeper in. Also, apparently the Granectric shouldn’t be there today - it tends to migrate, it seems.”

“That’s good, but as usual, we have Geodude to get us out of a pinch. Anyways, we spent most of last evening sitting around, I want to make up for that by getting an early start.”

“Just give us a few minutes for our morning routines.” Rarity bargains, and I decide that an unprepared and unhappy pair of young women would be a pain to carry around so I wait for them.

Once everyone is ‘fresh’ and ready, we head off, going down from the Center and past the same sign we saw first, taking the same entrance. Apparently there’s more than one, but they aren’t ‘official’ entrances and some are actually repurposed exits.

After dragging a spellbound Rarity past the immense gem in the main entrance again, I give my two cents on the matter. “Cutie Mark overdose or not, whatever it is, I say we get Rarity some blinders.”

“Ew, no!” Twilight says, looking genuinely disgusted. “That’s really rude of you, Anthony!” she says, and Rarity just looks like she’s too angry to speak.

“Well, if she gets all dopey every time we go by a particularly big gemstone, how else do we keep her on track? I doubt a blindfold would be high on your list of suggestions.”

“At least it’s better than blinders.” Rarity says with an unnecessary amount of vitriol in her words.

“What’s the problem with- Wait... oh, this is like the whole underwear thing isn’t it? Don’t tell me, to a race of sentient ponies, blinders are, like, BDSM gear or something, right?”

“What? No! They’re- it’s a- ergh... it’s a... negative thing from before the Unification of the Three Tribes. Earth ponies had blinders put on using magic to make sure they didn’t look at stallions that were, ah, ‘above their station’ while working.” Rarity says. “It’s a brutish and barbaric custom, and was rightly stamped out.”

“Yeah well unless you can resist the gems this time, despite showing little self-control any other times, even the first cave we ever went inside, we need to have some way to keep you looking forward.”

“Well, if the sign by the stone is accurate, there aren’t any others that size and power level anywhere in the recorded parts of the chasm.” Twilight rationalizes.

“Fine, we stick to the mapped-out sections. Not gonna risk carrying one of you home in a bodybag because you thought with your cutie-marks and not your brains.” I reason, and the girls do admit that they wouldn’t like that outcome. “So if I recall, and I could be wrong as I was panicking at the time, over there is where we met the Granectric.”

“There’s a new tunnel where it came through.” Rarity says, peering into it. “Oh my... Anthony, take a look at this.” she waves me over, “You too, Twilight, you may find this interesting as well.”

We both come over to the new tunnel entrance, and look inside. The rock on every side is perfectly smooth, except at the entrance and exit, where the rock is buckled, cracked, and broken. A quick hand-swipe clears the thin layer of dust from the tunnel wall, revealing numerous layers of the material, a rosy, glass-like layer, then a smooth brown, then a sparkling green.

I take a picture and then start inspecting it physically, running my hand along it. Totally smooth. There’s a razor-thin layer of blue crystal, and it carries just enough of a charge in it to make my fingers tingle.

I keep touching the cave wall to see if it makes my hair stand up. It doesn’t, but it’s still pretty neat. Either way, we continue the unprofessional inspection but eventually can’t really find anything more interesting about it than what we can see and touch.

Moving on, I thumb Geodude’s shrunken ball on my belt, ready to call him out in a split second if he’s needed. Figures my starter would be my vanguard but it’s still amazing how dependable he’s become.

Something in the darkness on the other side of the tunnel sparkles gently, the glimmer catching my eye. I grab the ball in a cautious reflex but steel my nerves enough to not enlarge it. After a bit of waiting, granted it’s only two seconds, I advance on the glimmer.

The tunnel is angled, and I slide easily down, without being in danger of catching anything on anything, and stop at the lip on the far side, looking at the spot that had glimmered. I pull out my éTech and use the flashlight functions and feel my jaw drop at what I see. A huge cavern stretches out in every direction, wobbling and weaving in every direction, the sides smoothed off in many places. There’s small clusters of crystal everywhere, and looking at where my feet rest, I realize that it’s right between two long pieces of the blue magnetic crystal. Thinking back, I remember the other side of the tunnel being between two as well...

The Granectric must be using them to navigate by when there’s no light and it’s tunneling!

I have no idea what that information will be good for, but it’s still pretty cool, now that I know. They must see electro-magnetic fields or something.

“Watch your step.” I call to the girls. “But it’s pretty safe.”

Being the adventurous girl she is, Twilight slides down next and immediately begins snapping pictures to send back, and she even tries to pick up a crystal for more inspection, but can’t pull them out so she’s forced to bend over and... admittedly that’s a really nice view. Now if only she were someone else, because I don’t want to think anymore about how cute those little blue-and-whites are on her.

Next comes Rarity, taking careful steps and only sliding a little. She looks around and tries to take some crystals herself but also fails. “These would look fascinating on a skirt... And the tingle, maybe I could find a use for that, too.”

I shrug. “Any girl could find a use for an oblong shape that tingles.” I point out, earning a look of confusion, then rage, and a slap in the face. “I deserved that.”

Moving on from the immediate surroundings, I take a better look around. As far as exits go, there’s the way I came, and three others, two of which are Granectric holes. I head towards the first Granectric hole I saw, but before I make it far, I trip, falling flat on my face and nearly losing an ear to a shard of blue crystal.

The thing I’d tripped on is an uneven lump of rock with a small, hair-like carpet of tiny crystals, and it quickly reveals itself to be a Geodude, as it rips itself free of the ground below, looking at me with a pair of literally flinty eyes.

“Uh, sorry, just passing through.” I hope that works. This is technically a new tunnel and as such, it’s doubtful many trainers come this way so this Geodude is not likely to give intruders a pass. The Geodude grumbles, flips me the bird, and starts walking off on its hands, muttering what are probably obscenities in its language. Well, that’s as much of a ‘pass’ as I expected I suppose.

About to sigh in relief, I turn and trip over a less forgiving Graveler.

“Lerrrr!” the pokemon lifts all four of its arms, and shows itself to be about a quarter-again the usual size, and covered in short, blue crystals with tiny arcs of electricity going between them, and a strange... well, on a more fleshy pokemon, I’d call it a birthmark, but I’m not sure how that applies here. The Graveler has a strange discoloration of darker stone circling one eye, and making a weird lightning bolt shape going up from it.

“I’m willing to bet you are much grumpier than your friend...” I say, reaching for my belt of Pokéballs in preparation, bracing myself for whatever reaction the Graveler may have.

The Graveler shouts in fury, and spreads its four arms menacingly, letting loose crackling arcs of electricity that connect to all the nearby yellow crystals, but arc away from the blue ones.

I figure Geodude would probably be a disadvantage in a fight like this against his evolved and much angrier form, so I decide to go the ‘bigger fish’ route and reach for Gulpar’s ball- wait, it’s got Electric affected moves, doesn’t it? Better safe than sorry, and the safest I can get against a Ground/Rock type with Electricity is “Bellsprout, Petal Dance!”

The command made, I hurl the ball past the Graveler and Bellsprout appears behind the strangely-typed pokémon and immediately begins the whirling petal storm, launching it at the boulder-like pokémon, the white-spotted petals striking... and flying off the crystals, shredded. The larger pokemon turns around and roars again, slamming all four limbs into the floor and tearing out a huge chunk of polished rock and throwing it viciously at Bellsprout, who immediately dodges by grabbing a crystal spur with Vine Whip and getting the hell out of there.

Well if we can’t hit him with physical effects... “Solarbeam!” I follow the command by sending out Geodude to back up Bellsprout. He should be able to give Bellsprout enough time to charge it up, though I expect a long charge-time this far underground. “Geodude, Rock Smash!”

Geodude, spawning from the red light of his Premiere ball leaps towards the Graveler and delivers a flying fist straight at the second piece of crystal-and-rock it was tearing up, smashing it to a thousand, shimmering, tiny crystal shards that honestly wouldn’t be out of place during a contest tourney.

The pokemon doesn’t seem happy about it, and reaches two hands for a chunk of wall, the other two going for the floor, evidently getting the idea to try two attacks at once.

Smart... I see Bellsprout charging up, the back of his head and the inside of his mouth glowing a faint yellow. He’ll need another good five minutes at this rate... damn lack of sun access. “Geodude, Magnitude!”

Luck seems to be against me as the result seems to be about a three, and the Graveler’s high defense eating up the Super-Effective attack like nothing. Geodude attempts again, this time giving the Graveler a hard time standing, and it rolls backward. It yells, angry more than hurt, and finishes the roll, coming back to its feet. Friggen round pokemon...

It reaches for the ground and tears up two chunks of stone, chucking them in a one-two shot at Geodude. A chill fills the room as a freezing wind tears through the cave, coming from Twilight’s Spheal. God, I keep forgetting how awesome backup is.

That said, the Special attack getting through the Graveler’s high Defense stat coupled with the Ice-beats-Ground typing, she admittedly does more damage than I did with a Double-super effective.

Said damage is quickly ignored though, the Graveler only stalled, hurling a second chunk of rock at Spheal. That’s Rock on an Ice-type. If that hits... “Geodude, Rock Smash!”

Geodude attempts what he did earlier and goes to send a flying fist through the rock but misjudges his own speed and gets hit by the rock... and shakes it off like nothing as the crystal chunks break apart, shedding blue sparks. I know Geodude is tough, but even a Rock-on-Rock attack should have done something... I’m calling shenanigans. Something’s funky with this Graveler.

My thoughts are interrupted by hearing a piercing squeal. Spheal tried to fire a Water Gun at Twilight’s command, only to have the Graveler send an Electric current through the water stream, leading straight to Spheal for a super-effective blast that knocks Spheal back several meters. Those crystals all over him have got to be messing with his typing.

I scan the strange pokémon with my éTech but just get general Graveler information. Damnit, this isn’t helping. But if that’s true that his base typing is off... Solarbeam won’t be nearly as effective as I thought. We’re in for a longer fight than I thought.

As if to accentuate my point, Bellsprout launches a beam of bright light that envelops Graveler and the light refracts against all the crystals in the room, filling the place with a bright light, brighter than the initial beam, again, a trick I’d expect to see during a Contest. And the Graveler comes out of it in pretty decent shape as I thought. We’re gonna need more help than just Spheal, and we can’t risk Water types any more. Chantlette is in no shape to handle that thing, Litwick would just get stomped... It’s up to Twilight.

She gets the look I give her and sends out... Pignite. That was either really smart or really stupid. Hard to tell at this point. A Fire Charge later and while it did more damage than I expect it to on a normal Graveler, it still shakes off the physical attack with relative ease. Twilight ponders for a moment, likely going through move options.

Graveler take the opening to hurl a chunk of Rock at Pignite that does about as much damage as I expect for once, Pignite able to get up fairly easily. Twilight orders an Arm Thrust and the Graveler roars at each of our Pokémon, very angry now. “Bellsprout, Vine Whip, Geodude, Rollout!”

My pokémon stop moving and just turn to talk to each other before running into one of the tunnels. They just left? What the fuck?

Pignite’s Arm Thrust lands and, strangely but expected at this point, merely send the Graveler back a bit. Okay, at this point, he’s guaranteed not a Rock type, and he shows off Electrical powers. As far as I can tell, it’s Ground and Electric... That makes only a small bit of sense though. The how swimming through my head and distracting me from any solutions.

My thoughts are interrupted by a speeding boulder that cannonballs right into the Graveler. Geodude uncurls and uses the bounce of the impact to launch himself back, where Bellsprout is waiting, Vine Whip being used to grab Geodude and launch him again, though with significantly less force than before. They must have needed prep time and more space.

The second impact ends with Graveler stumbling a second time and roaring in absolute rage, but still not in danger of losing. We need to keep pressure on him somehow, keep him off balance. I relay the information to my pokémon and the girls, Rarity tossing out Freyjaloof and Glorious, Twilight sending Lichengst to back up Pignite. I already ruled out three other of my pokémon, and Gheistowl doesn’t have room to really do much in these caves... I’m stuck with just my two.

That said, once Lichengst manages to get a literal drop on Graveler, the strangely-typed pokémon is held down by Lichengst’s weight, random shocks and punches seeming to not bother the weighty Grass type. That said, with Lichengst in the way, I don’t have any truly damaging moves that wouldn’t also hit Twilight’s pokémon.

Rarity seems to be looking through movelists again, but settles on a good choice. Glorious complies, using Metal Sound. The lower Graveler’s special defense the better chance we have. Freyjaloof runs in and swipes out Graveler’s feet from under, getting rid of the last of the pokemon’s leverage, now on its face with Lichengst sitting grumpily on its back.

With Graveler almost entirely under Lichengst, it’s in a prime position for a powerful attack from below. “Geodude, Dig!”

My pokémon digs under the ground and after a few moments, I see what’s visible of Graveler fall away, as if... Geodude just dug a hole under him and, rather than attacking, sent the Graveler plummeting down the hole. Do I have smart Pokémon or what?

I hear a frustrated series of grunts, then the sound of stone hammering stone for several seconds, then silence. Twilight, Rarity and I wait with bated breath, until a stony hand reaches up from the hole, broken crystal chunks embedded in the knuckles as my Geodude hauls himself from the hole, dragging up the Graveler, who is unconscious and sporting an impressive, concrete-colored black eye.

“Aw yeah!” I cry, jumping in the air. “Way to show ‘em evolution and type isn’t everything!” I ponder giving Geodude a fist-bump but realize how much that would hurt so I just settle for giving him some extra food or a special treat when we get back. We get the Graveler settled into a nook to sleep off the concussion, then we recall our Pokémon and keep going.

“That was... a very odd battle.” Twilight says, making the understatement of the month.

“Yeah, no kidding. Whatever that was, it was not a normal Graveler.” I agree. “It had definite electric properties, and any Rock-Ground type would have been destroyed by that many grass, Ground and Fighting attacks. That thing was some strange alternate type.”

“How, though?” Twilight asks, very confused and interested.

“I honestly have no idea, it could be the environment. Geodude and their line are what they eat after all and maybe eating those electricity generating gems all the time altered that Graveler on a deeper level than just physical appearance.”

“So your Geodude could become like that if he just ate from this cave?”

“Theoretically speaking? Yes.”

“Fascinating... what other effects does this cave have on various species, I wonder.”

“Same, but I’m glad we managed to get out of that situation without having to run away this time.”

“That was not running away.” Rarity says. “That was a tactical retreat. We were heavily outmatched and confused as well.”

I nod. “Yeah, exactly. Anyways... nice work team, now let’s hope we don’t have to do that again.”

“I would have liked to capture that pokémon for further study...” Twilight says, looking back where we left the Graveler. “It’s just so... interesting.”

“Agreed.” I reply. “But catching an unconscious pokémon is illegal and I doubt he’d be happy to come with when he comes to so we’ll just have to do research.” That word alone seems to put a happy grin on Twilight’s face, Rarity and I sharing a grin of our own as we walk along, deeper into the caves. We decided to take the more normal-looking path, as we didn’t want to potentially run into another Granectric this soon after an encounter like that.

We follow the natural path, and find another large cavern, with thin, looping tunnels heading out from there, and an Onix, moving slowly as it chews into the rock face, moves like a massive earthworm into the stone. The pokemon has a definite blue coloration to it, and it’s not made of solid stone sections, instead having pitted sections revealing blue, electrically charged crystals like the caves around it.

Twilight and I take a moment to watch the spectacle, mentally taking notes. Sure I already knew this was how Onix moved, but seeing it first-hand, along with seeing the actual motions required was new enough to warrant a stop, even if it wasn’t for its odd body. Rarity doesn’t find it ‘pretty’ enough or whatever to watch and just sighs and waits for Twilight and I to get back to spelunking.

Several pictures taken later, we move on to the next room, a dead-end with a back wall spiderwebbed with cracks. Heh, if only this were the Legend of Zelda universe. Any wall like that in Hyrule would be bombable, and this deep into an optional cave is definitely either a Silver Rupee or a Piece of Heart.

Hmmm.... I do have a pokemon with Rock Smash...I call out Geodude again. “Alright, think you can break this wall the rest of the way?”

He gives an affirmative nod and charges at the wall, fists ready to break through, aiming for the biggest crack available. His fist connects and goes right through it, to both his and my surprise, Geodude pulling his hand back and peering at the drywall-thin layer of stone, simply reaching out and breaking off chunks like piece of stale bread until it’s big enough to walk through, and it’s evident from the other side that the ‘wall’ was just a runoff of ancient stone deposits, an incredible but evidently quite fragile formation. And inside...

The hell is that?

A stone monolith, about four feet high, with a series of Unown letters covering its surface, like a tablet fused to its stand. The glyphs are perfectly intact and so crisp-edged it takes me a moment to realize they’re barely deeper than the thickness of rice paper, and ever so slightly darker to make them stand out.

I take out my éTech and try to make a call, but like before, no connection down here. “Dr. Franklin would probably love to see this.” I say as I take pictures.

“We can just tell him it’s here and he can come by on his own.” Twilight points out. “But this is really odd. They look like letters, but with eyes.”

I nod. “They’re pokémon. Unown.” I find a decently-connected string of them and read it aloud. “Antiquitus maris Titan dedit pluviam mania vitam protulit. Tempore, cum Titan aure coacta furorem maris, terram eiectus puer aquarum dormiret somnium...”

“What?” is all the response I get from Rarity.

“It sounds like Latin.” I say. “Let’s see... this is going to be rough but... Tempore, like temporal maybe... titan is obvious, terram sounds like it comes from the root ‘terra’ or ‘earth’... aquarum seems to be aqua or water... dormiret could be ‘dormant’ and somnium is definitely related to sleep.”

Twilight just looks at me dumbfounded. Rarity does too but for very different reasons.

I continue. “So time, titan, earth or ground, water, and ‘dormant slumber’. Dunno about you but aside from the singular titan and the ‘time’ relation, that sounds like Groudon and Kyogre.”

Twilight stares at me with intrigue. “You know Romane? Like, know it know it? That’s... interesting.”

I shake my head. “Not Romane, Latin. Although it’s likely just a different name for the same language like how griffon is German to me.” I take some more pictures and decide to send them to Dr. Franklin as well as give him a call when we get out of here. “Either way, there’s lots more cave to explore, so let’s get t-”

Before I can finish talking, the cave suddenly rumbles, and a piece of milky, waxy-looking stone falls from the ceiling.

“Move!” I yell, and grab the girls, dragging them out of the little cave inlet as it collapses inward, almost leaving us trapped under or behind a cave-in, but thankfully the rest of the cavern does not break. “We okay?” I ask, checking in with Twilight and Rarity to make sure we didn’t lose anything in our hasty retreat.

“Yes, we’re okay.” Twilight says, though Rarity is making distressed noises about her now dust-covered dress.

“We can get it cleaned later, for now, we should just check out what the rest of these caves have to offer.” I look back to the caved-in area. “Ah well, I’m sure Franklin could dig through this, and if not we have pictures to send.”

Twilight nods. “Yeah, I guess it’ll have to do.”

We figure dwelling on the potential disaster doesn’t do us any good so we leave the area, passing back through the tunnel where we found the Onix. Eventually we backtrack to the place where we fought the strange Graveler and take a different path, the one that looks like a Granectric had been through.

“So, where should we go next?” Twilight asks.

“Back to the Pokémon Center, I want to change out of this before it stains.” Rarity pleads.

“Since when can dust stain?” I ask in disbelief. “It’ll just wash out.”

“I don’t want to be the first to have a dress ruined from dust.” She replies, but doesn’t split off from us.

“It’ll be fine, Rarity. As for where to explore next, I think we might want to do one of the other areas, actually. There’s apparently a staircase all the way down to a much lower level of the chasm.”

“Alright then, let’s take that one.” I say, having another question unanswered. “Hey Twilight, is there a word for a hypochondriac but with clothes?”

“Yes, fashionable.” She replies with a small smile, though Rarity doesn’t look amused.

I laugh. “So where’s the staircase exactly?”

“We’d have to head back to the town, cross to the other side, and then head down. That set of stairs goes down the other wall of the chasm.”

I shrug. “Alright, that works I suppose. Better than spending another entire afternoon in the Center like last time.”

“As much fun as reading all day was, I have to agree. Especially since the other one has actual tour guides, and they’ll lead us past some interesting crystal formations.”

“Okay, a tour would be nice. As cool as blazing new trails is, I’m afraid we may not be so lucky with the next cave-in.”

“Yeah.”

We make our way back out, blinking at the rays of sunlight reaching through the tangled mess of supports above.

Author's Note

Hey all, I'm going to give the Nuzlocke challenge a third try. Check my blog for details.

Chapter 70

After a bit of a trek and a climb, we get back to the Pokémon Center and Rarity rushes upstairs to get washed and redressed. I settle for just rubbing a smudge on my jacket, which just ends up smudging further. Meh, no big deal. I mean, at least it’s dirt and not scars or burns. I’d hate to see what prolonged physical exposure to those electrified crystals could do.

I pull out my éTech and send Dr. Franklin the images of the Unown writing, along with the short message of ‘Groudon and Kyogre?’. The message sent I head over to a table and wait for Rarity, Twilight cracking open another book to pass the time with.

Feeling boredom pull at my brain again, I wonder what’s taking so long. I decide to look up that strange Graveler, wanting to see if my hypothesis that it eating the crystals mutated it’s type was accurate. The first result isn’t on eating habits, but rather something called the Delta Gene. Loosely explained, it’s apparently a gene that, when ‘woken up’ inside a pokémon during its developmental phases before being born or hatched, it will... wait, Delta Gene? Like the Delta Species deal from the cards? Reading further I discover that I’m pretty much on the nose with that. The Delta Gene, when activated in the Pokémon’s DNA will change its typing, either in whole or in part.

It seems to have a specific type change based on which species has the Delta Gene. Like for example a Pikachu with the Delta Gene awoken would have, say, the Steel typing instead of Electric, and that Steel typing would be the same for any Pikachu with the awoken Delta Gene.

It goes on to explain different tricks scientists have used to successfully breed in and activate the Delta Gene in various species of Pokémon. It’s all really fascinating, but that species-wide rule would mean that the Graveler couldn’t be part Electric through the Delta Gene, as they don’t appear to have said gene at all. So I’m right, the typing change was achieved purely through eating enough of the stuff. The other fact was that the Graveler didn’t have any special markings. Delta Pokémon have a very specific ‘birth mark’ in the shape of what I can affirm is definitely the Delta symbol used in the card game. Man, this is pulling lore from every aspect of the fandom. Pretty glad I paid attention to most of it, otherwise I wouldn’t have a leg up on some of these things.

I wonder what the Delta Gene does when intermingling with any type changes of Mega Evolution, and decide to look that up. Hmm... only a few of the pokémon with Delta Gene potential have Mega Evolutions. I wonder if that’s connected at all?

The Delta-shifted Mega Evolutions all have a completely different type set from normal, more so even than the regular Delta Species, and there’s six or seven research articles pinned to the information. All of them talk about ‘molecular and souletic disruption’ and ‘extreme instability during form transition’ being the primary causes of Delta Species pokemon normally not getting any kind of Mega Evolution, though most of it is from before the mass-produced artificial Mega Stones were being sold.

Looks like further research is required. Either way, I close the various tabs I’d opened on Delta Genetics and move on to the actual Graveler. Using the location of the caves and the description of the Graveler, I actually find Chatters first, detailing a few other trainers having encountered similar phenomenon. Apparently we were one of the the first ones to ever manage to capture one from the caves, in the way of Twilight’s special Aron. There’s mentions of the local Ranger Corps making use of the local variants often, though, and there’s apparently plenty of people who live here and have them as Companion pokémon.

I go to- *ping!* Oh, cool, I got a message back from Franklin. I pull it up to see what his opinion is.

Reading it off, I feel my brows coming together. ‘There are many myths associated with this region; it has always been a conflux of numerous other regions. One of the myths associated with Otaria is one of a series of beings more powerful than any native to this world, but who lived here. This may tie into that mythology, though if it does, it’s a new piece of information.’ There’s more, but it’s mostly him talking about how he wished he could examine the tablet personally, but tablets like that always seem to vanish or break when dedicated researchers get near them.

‘Darn’ I text back. ‘Would love to see what else we could dig up on it. Would need actual digging though. Cave-in might’ve crushed it’

A moment later, the reply comes to me. ‘Even worse. Likely nothing remains. Thank you for the pictures, though. If I find anything else out, I’ll be sure to message you.’

I text back a smiley face and our conversation ends there. I am about to continue looking up more about the Delta Gene but Rarity comes down and is wearing, obviously, an entirely different outfit. She just can’t be content with wearing something she already wore, can she? “Next time, maybe use some of Sewaddle’s silk to just patch up a tear and move on. We can’t have you changing clothes in the middle of an adventure. Slows us down a lot”

“I’m sorry, Anthony, but I wish to showcase my outfits and make sure they’re comfortable. The easiest way to do so is to give them a try-on myself.” she says.

“Fine, but we should probably move on. I think once we take an actual tour of the caves, we should move on. This place is nice, but I’m looking forward to another badge.”

“Understood, Anthony. Oh, I’ve made some alterations to our desert gear, I’ve spent some time looking over some of the outfits used at present, and I rather like some of the alternate designs.” she says, “Anyways, we had settled on trying the deeper gorge tram later this evening; will we be heading off in the morning, then?” she asks.

I nod. “Probably, not a whole lot else to really stop us. So until the tour starts in...” I look at the time. “Three hours, what do we do for now? Going back to the caves early would be a bit redundant.”

“True... So what do you suggest?”

I shrug. “If they don’t have a Contest Hall or anything to spectate at, I say we just look for a few trainer battles.”

“Alright; we can see if they have any breeder’s meet-ups while we’re out, too.” she says.

I nod and tap Twilight. Once she looks up I inform her that we’re heading out. “If we can’t find anything else to do, we’ll try for a few trainer battles. Bellsprout and Chantlette are one level each away from evolving and I wanna see what I can do with their larger movepools.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! Give me a moment and I’ll join you.” she says, moving to put her stuff away.

Once we’re all set, I get the map app up and see what’s around. After confirmation that there’s no Contest Hall around, and that there won’t be a breeder meet-up in this area for two more days, we all settle to getting some battles in. I’d like to test my current team against someone I’ve already fought but nobody in my phonebook who battles is local. It’d be a trek back towards Autumnwash before I could meet up with anyone again, assuming they stayed where they are.

A few minutes of eyeballing the map, we find the local ‘battle area’, though when we arrive, it’s little more than a thick wooden platform held up on several of the thicker strands. All in all, it’s more or less the manifested form of many of my fears. There is no way that’s in any way stable enough for a Snorlax to land on, or a Gyrados to use... any attacks on. Still, there’s stands near it for watching, and there’s already a pair of trainers battling.

Taking a breath and sighing, I head for the stands, resigning myself to waiting until the next area before evolving any team members. The current battle is a standard single match between a Marowak and a pokemon that looks a bit like a pale, black-and-white drider.

I decide to let my eTech give me a name and description, so I scan it and turn up the speaker while I watch the creature.

Horachnia, the Elder Widow pokemon
- These pokemon use their appearance -like that of a human woman- to lure human adults into their snares and traps. They also eat other pokemon, though their preferred prey is human adults.
- Due to a weird mental disconnect, Horachnia do not consider human children to be edible, perhaps mistaking them for young Spidead. As a result, they are protective and gentle around human children.
Bug type, Ghost type

Huh... disturbing. The name ‘Spidead’ leads to its previous stage, which looks like a little girl version of a black-and-white drider, and they apparently also eat adults, preferentially. Looking up, the trainer for this one still looks young.

Wonder if he’ll end up eaten when he grows up... That would suck as a birthday present.

The Horachnia is weaving webs of black-and-white silk all over the field, hemming in the Marowak, though the ground-type is making good progress. While not exceptionally effective, its move pool can include a move that is proving exceptionally useful here, as the Marowak uses another fire-charged fist to Fire Punch the webs away from itself, but it’s running out of room to move in. And given that the rest of its moves are largely ground, normal, or fighting type... well, it’s a bad matchup for the Marowak.

Hmmm... Chantlett might not be able to do much, but I think Litwick might stand a better chance with it’s smaller size and bigger flames than Fire Punch offers. But no way am I setting foot on that rickety little thing. Fuck that sideways with a cactus.

The Horachnia hems in the Marowak, before finishing with an X-shaped swipe of its claws, leaving lurid purple marks on the Ground-type’s body, the poison seeping in quickly and finishing the job.

Once the battle is over, the trainers shake hands before parting, the small child recalling his spider pokemon, then pulling another pokeball, throwing it, and charging for the edge of the platform. The pokemon forms as the kid leaps off, and is caught by his Pidgeot.

My heart, meanwhile, makes a break for orbit before I can calm down.

As I’m taking deep breaths to try bringing my heart rate down from a million or so, Twilight steps up onto the platform and is soon joined by another trainer and they set the rules of the battle, discuss monetary winnings and such before walking to opposite sides. Twilight sends out Pignite and the new guy sends out his own Pokémon, a Mienfoo. The little pokémon assumes a respectful stance and bows to Twilight’s Pignite, who mimics the bow.

The battle begins with a stand-off of sorts, both Pokémon circling the platform in defensive stances, before the Mienfoo sits down on the platform and closes its eyes. Twilight orders Pignite to use a Take Down, and Pignite obeys, leaping at the smaller pokémon, who stays very still, and starts to glow faintly. Pignite lands- and Mienfoo blurs out of the way, rolling to the side and delivering a leaping kick to Pignite’s middle, and following up with a barrage of open-palmed slaps.

Pignite, though off-balance, is hardly hurt and Twilight gives him the order of a Flame Charge which easily connects, the Mienfoo toppling from Pignite’s weight. Mienfoo is told to reply with a Force Palm, and Pignite’s response of an Arm Thrust ends with their hands barely missing each other as they cross paths. Twilight bites her lip and takes a moment to think about her situation, a risky move when against a faster opponent. But her eventual order of a Smog attack ends with Pignite belching out a cloud of gaseous smoke and the Mienfoo is thrown into a coughing fit, unable to physically repel the cloud. Without any delay, Pignite is given the order to use Flame Charge again and connects once more, but the force of the attack launches Mienfoo out of the Smog cloud. Mienfoo returns to it’s sitting position and glows a bluish color as opposed to the orangish one before. Twilight, having learned her lesson, orders Pignite to back off. With Mienfoo staying still and Pignite not moving at Twilight’s behest, they seemingly resume their standoff, neither of them very hurt. Suddenly the other trainer tells his Mienfoo to use Swift and the smaller pokemon sends several waves of stars at Pignite.

Twilight calls for a rollout and, while the stars connect and slow down Pignite’s rolling, it doesn’t stop his advance and he slams into Mienfoo... who glows another color, this time a definite red, and begins skillfully dodging each of Pignite’s oncoming attacks until Pignite slows down his spinning and stops.

The battle continues, Pignite’s overall size and strength matched by Mienfoo’s maneuverability, but eventually Twilight seems to get tired of the back and forth and orders a Take Down which has Pignite land on Mienfoo, just slightly too slow to keep it’s leg out of range. Once Pignite had landed on the smaller pokemon and had readjusted his position into that of a more traditional wrestling hold, Mienfoo was having a harder time moving with its body pinned. A bear hug from Pignite later and Mienfoo is crushed, for the most part, and taps the platform, signaling it’s giving up.

It wasn’t the flashiest of battles, but it was interesting to see a pair of Fighting Types from completely different fighting styles combat one another. Still, once the Mienfoo was held down, it’s motion-heavy moves couldn’t get it out of Pignite’s grasp. Twilight happily accepts a handshake and the money prize, returning Pignite and heading back to the stands. After several more less interesting matches, the three hours have passed and it’s time for the tour of the caves.

I give my two cents on Twi’s battle. “Nice use of Smog, but next time if it starts using Detect like it did against Rollout, a Mienfoo is likely to sit back and use status boosting moves. It’s good that you kept the attacks up, or it would have had the chance to boost its attacks to the point where it could have outmatched Pignite. If you simply started with Take Down as soon as Mienfoo was hit by Smog it would have been over much quicker and it wouldn’t have had the chance to use anything like Swift.” I think about it knowing and using Swift. “Actually, if you didn’t close the distance with rollout, it might have just spammed Swift until Pignite was out of the fight. He really needs more ranged moves.”

“I’ve looked over his move pool, and there’s not really any that he can use that will be all that useful; with how high his attack is, anything like Flamethrower would be largely wasted.” she says, “However, thank you for the analysis, it’ll help a lot next time I battle. I hadn’t realized Meinfoo are so... agile. It kinda reminds me of how Rainbow Dash fights when she’s doing martial arts.”

“Yeah, that’s Mienfoo’s deal, it’s heavily based on a lot of fast, quick movements, that’s why once it was held down it couldn’t do much. It wasn’t able to move around.”

“Makes sense. There’s a lot of things under the various types that count, like the very different styles of fighting in Mienfoo and Pignite, or the way that some pokemon are Electric type because they produce electricity, while others simply use it, channel it, or eat it.” she says, and I nod. The pokémon world is very diverse indeed.

Chapter 72

Shaking off the data entry, I scramble up the craggy outcropping just in case the thing can jump, and I help the girls with their climb and we end up on the same platform as the Marowak.

We give our respective thanks for various instances of saving each other, and decide to resume heading towards the actual mountain range we’d decided to take the difficult, quick way past. Up and over the mountains themselves.

The pathway meanders back and forth, the rich resin scent catching our noses as we find ourselves walking by pine trees. Along the way, we spot a few Combee idly checking through the pines, even a couple of the ones with a red-spotted female in their comb. Something else I spot, which catches my eye more strongly than the Combee: several Pineco glare at both the flying bug-types and my little group as we pass, Rarity pausing only for a second to cuddle one of the Combee for a moment before letting it go.

I shake my head. “Just don’t hug a Vespiquen. They may get the wrong idea.”

Rarity smiles innocently but stays silent and we continue on. The Pineco look a bit perturbed by us but not enough to detach and land on us in attack. I keep a hand near my belt, ready to grab a shrunken pokéball just in case.

Higher up still, we see a snowflake coming down directly onto the path. A quick and nervous glance back down the mountainside shows we’ve gone a really far distance up today, though the pass and the peak alike are quite a ways higher still. I suggest that we set up camp. Twilight agrees when I bring up that we may want to do so here rather than higher up, where the tents may not be warm enough.

“It’ll also help keep us awake if we’re rested. I don’t know how high this goes but if we get exhausted due to oxygen deprivation it could be unavoidable if we’re tired to begin with.”

And for once, it seems Pony science according to Twilight agrees with Human science.

We all begin unpacking the tents, getting everything set up on the flattest area we can find on this slope, and I pull out Geodude to help us bring up dirt berms to flatten it out further. The sun is setting, yes, but it won’t be down for another hour or so, and we’ve got the camp set up. There’s even some wood collected from trees not infested with Pineco. The problem arises of what to do next.

“I say we should probably get to bed early since we’ll have to make the trek back down the mountain and then hopefully get to the desert in one day.” though the girls seem a bit hesitant to sleep.

“I’d feel a bit easier about this if we kept a few lookouts. I’m not enthused about those angry-looking pokémon back there.” Twilight admits.

“If you mean the Pineco, then Pignite would have no problem with them. He can stand guard until you guys fall asleep. Personally, I’m beat after that adrenaline rush from the Shriekoid and then the trek up here.” I say, yawning. “I imagined there’d be a lot of running, just not... for our lives.”

Rarity yawns daintily. “I’ll ask Glorious to stand watch as well, I’m going to curl up with Sewaddle.” she says, sending out both pokémon and explaining to the sword pokémon. Then, she picks up Sewaddle and carries it into her tent, evidently to use it like a stuffed animal. Twilight sends out Pignite, who accepts the guard duty readily, even saluting.

I curl up in my unmounted hammock, using it as a sleeping bag and soon enough I’m asleep.

I wake up when I hear a very shrill noise, like a banshee only sounding sort of happy.

My splitting headache waking me up much too fast for my liking I stick my head out of my tent and see a faint glow slowly growing dimmer inside Rarity’s tent. I blink for a second to try and ease the pain in my head but it stays for a good minute more.

Whatever she woke me up for better be important...

Rarity, back to a pony again, steps out of her tent and presents a giant green orb. I frown at her and roll my eyes, the upward glance revealing a fair amount of snow falling from above me. A few flakes land on the green thing and it shivers closer to Rarity for apparent warmth.

I then notice the green has the texture of a giant leaf and... oh, Sewaddle evolved. Huh. Also, it’s snowing. Didn’t think it was that cold up here. Chilly for sure, but not enough for more than a few flakes by my estimation. Eh, whatever. Weather fluctuates.

The Swadloon seems happy enough just to be cuddled, Rarity wrapping her hooves around her evolved Pokémon. Twilight opens her own tent, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. I jump at the sound of a whooshing flame, until I see it’s just a tired Pignite lighting a fire for us, yawning mightily afterwards.

“Jeez, didn’t have to stay up all night, big guy.” I say, blinking away the last of my headache. I notice that Glorious is laying across Pignite’s lap, akin to the sword of a hero resting at a fire rather than a wrestler-pig and another sapient being who happens to be a sword.

Well, seen weirder. I stand up and begin putting away my hammock-bag and tent, the girls doing the same. We all silently agree to making it over this mountain ASAP as none of us are terribly fond of the dropping temperature.

The trudge upwards at first seems alright; the snow on the ground actually gives us a little more traction on the frozen earth. However, as we go higher, we quickly find that the frozen nature of the ground is only making it harder to move on, the snow piling as high as my knees. I’m glad for the heavy boots Rarity gave me when we got into colder weather gear this morning, but it’s still awful.

As we climb, I notice a couple of Snover off to one side, huddled together like they’re talking. They seem to be amiable enough, and we pass them by without incident. However, on their backs and on several of the trees and rocks are scratched-in symbols. Etched designs that look angular and vicious, though they’re never more than a scant millimeter or three deep.

Too narrow for most bear-like pokémon I can think of, so maybe Sneasel? Marking trees for communication is something they do, right? I’m pretty sure, and it’s cold enough up here for them. Damn, and me out of pokéballs. Oh well, we can come back later when we’ve gotten farther and can get better equipped.

We continue on, though I do advise the girls to be wary of any dark-colored, fast-moving objects. “They may not attack us outright but Dark types seem to like swiping our stuff. Last time it was just a hat, but this time we don’t have anything we could spare.”

“Oh, I read about that. They’re called, uh...” That’s odd, Twilight having trouble recalling something she read. She gets it eventually. “Sneasel.”

“Yeah, nasty little guys. They make good pokémon for trainers who prefer a less direct means of attacking in combat. Most of their moves are Ice and Dark to match their typing. Chill an opponent and then disorient and rough them up when weakened.”

“That’s hardly sporting.” Rarity comments. “They sound rather unfair.”

“Nah, they’re glass cannons.”

“Glass... cannons?” Twilight asks. “I’m going to assume you aren’t referring to actual artillery devices made of glass.”

I nod and explain the concept in simple terms. “Think something that can pack a powerful punch like a cannon, but made of glass so it gets severely damaged easily. It can dish out damage but a few direct hits, or just a solid single strike and it’s done for. An example of a supportive variation on this would be Ledian. Plenty of status moves to keep the opponent away, but a solid Rock-Type move would drop her in an instant.”

Rarity’s brows furrow, but Twilight nods. “I see, so a Sneasel can deal a lot of damage and avoid taking damage in return, but can’t stand up to taking a lot of damage? That sounds like a good pokémon for double battles if you team it up with a tougher, heavier pokémon.”

I nod. “Yeah, you’d want that high-damage-taking pokémon to be something with a lot of survivability and resilience, and possibly ways to keep itself healthy. Blissey makes a good tank... tank referring to how durable and sturdy they are while still being able to do decent damage.”

“So a Glass Cannon and a Tank? These are all rather... warlike terms.” Rarity points out. “Aren’t there rules about using pokémon as weapons?”

I shrug. “They’re actually terms from combat strategy games, it just translated really well to these scenarios. It makes things go a bit smoother for people who know what the words mean... a lot like acronyms really.”

“Which originated in use by the military.” Twilight notes. “So we’re back to the ‘war’ issue.”

I cringe. “Let’s just say... the rules are there to prevent any histories from repeating.”

“You mean, there were actual pokémon wars?”

I nod. “Human soldiers backed, or in some cases frontlined, by pokémon. It was really common early on, apparently. It’s not an era the people are proud of. There are still some remains of certain wars to this day in some regions.”

“Wow... so they adopted pokémon battling from these wars?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure if anyone knows which came first, battling or lethal combat. Most early depictions of pokémon with humans show the pokémon being tamed in one way or another. Likely because until humanity could tame them we were either a weak nuisance or an easy snack.”

“That is a very dark history.” Rarity notes.

“Yeah, there’s not a lot to really be proud of sometimes. But hey, that’s why there’s the Pokémon League. It’s to keep that stuff from coming back. I like bending rules as a hobby, but I know they’re there for a reason.”

Twilight chuckles. “And what of Equestrian law? You admit we may have good reasons for our rules as well?”

I roll my eyes and ruffle her mane. “Nah, you’re just a bunch’a stupid ponies.”

“Keep saying that and I might believe you.” Twilight says with a small smile. At least she isn’t going to start a whole thing over a joke.

As we continue on, bantering in a good-natured fashion between the three of us, a snowstorm starts to kick up. Normally I’d say we could manage it, a little snow never stopped Ash’s stupid ass, but when a fog rolls in with it up from the way we came rising towards the peak, there’s little choice in the matter. What worries me though, is the way that even the Snover we’ve been passing are starting to cover themselves in mounds of snow, something I’ve never heard of them doing. When we pass a Glalie using Ice Beam to create a dome of ice and snow over itself and a small colony of shivering Snorunt, I start to think there’s something more to the icy-cold fog rolling in.

I honestly don’t know what to expect, really. There are too many powerful Ice types that can create fog or are simply adept at hiding in it. The first thing that comes to mind is Weavile, which could be a problem... but not enough for a Glalie. Whatever it is, it’s a predator, and a high ranking one at that.

We need to be careful. I send out Geodude, and Pignite who had been trucking along behind us and watching our back, gets in front of Twilight. Glorious seems to have been recalled, though Swadloon is taking the cold weather like a boss, the fear of a Super Effective Ice attack clearly not fazing the stern look on it’s face, even as it covers itself further with its hood.

Gonna say it again. Grass types are fricken’ badasses.

The fog encroaches steadily, and I can practically hear the frost forming on unprotected pine boughs... and the sound of something moving far more quickly through the snow than we are. The girls, being ponies, give away their own noticing of the sound as I watch their ears swivel to face backwards, tracking the noise as it moves behind us. Both of them look nervous, and Swadloon turns to face behind us from Rarity’s back.

Geodude is eyeing behind us as well but is still moving ahead. I guess he’s thinking what I am: if he can attack first with a good Rock move, he could do some appreciable damage to an Ice type before getting a Super Effective attack to the face.

I miss the initial movement, but Swadloon cries out and I turn in time to see a massive six-legged spidery shape. It charges from the wall of fog, seven spots glowing a bright orange-red that are positioned like eyes. It hisses violently, and slender sticky threads spray out everywhere, falling invisibly in the snow. If we make a mistake while running, we risk getting caught on one, and that could be far more lethal than simply staying where we are.

I ponder my options aside from Geodude. Gulpar might be a help, an apex predator in his own environment... On the other hand, Litwick would be more able to take an Ice Type. I decide to settle on Litwick. As I reach for her ball, the spider-shaped pokémon snarls and the bottom half of its head splits open to reveal jaws covered in sharp chunks of ice, all curving inwards like sharp ice picks. The creature’s body is icy all over, and its abdomen is entirely hollow, just a cage of glassy ice. This pokémon is certainly huge, easily as tall as I am. The quiet terror is broken as it shrieks loudly and lunges forward with a pink-tinged blur of speed... is that a move?

I don’t have time to send out Litwick, we have to deal with what we have. I take a moment to think about options. If it’s going to attack physically, Geodude may be able to take it. But if it swaps to a ranged attack he’s done for already. He’ll have to play support here, Pignite is our best bet. Luckily Twilight’s already picked up on this and requests an Arm Thrust.

The lunging Ice pokémon takes the hit to the face and is slammed to the side, but doesn’t seem to have been ‘super effected’ by the attack; what could be combined with- oh, duh, spider-like, it must be Ice and Bug.

But that means... I grin. “Hey Twilight, wanna test something?”

“Is now really the time to experiment?!” she yells back as the spider-pokémon tries to lunge directly at Pignite, the fog following close behind.

“Idunno, but I just got an idea.” I carefully lean closer and whisper my plan into Twi’s ear. I don’t want to risk our attacker to hear my plan. Twilight looks confused, intrigued, then a bit worried.

“Are You sure he can take that kind of damage safely?”

I nod. “He’s tough. I also have a potion in case he can’t.”

Our aggressor charges towards us again. Pignite tries to slap it away before getting a nasty bite on his shoulder. Pignite shrugs it off, but it definitely had to hurt.

Twilight and I coordinate our pokémon, the team of Pignite and Geodude readying themselves for whatever we may have planned. At our consecutive commands, Geodude hops into Pignite’s arms, ready for Pignite to set him on fire before Pignite begins spinning him around several times and hurling Geodude like a flaming hammer; it hits the aggressive pokémon dead on with a fairly-disturbing ‘crack’ noise that I hope indicates decent damage to an exoskeleton.

Either way the roundabout way of having Geodude end up using a Fire move with added Rock typing seems to have done a good job with a simulated Quadruple Super Effective, but the fog is still up around us. There could be more of them that we wouldn’t see at this rate. I’m about to administer my only Super Potion and call for a repeat when the spider-pokémon comes out of the fog from a completely different direction, this time heading straight for me.

Crap, where did that webbing land? Which direction is safe to run?! The pokémon leaps at me, and I feel myself getting flung to the ground. I feel cold needle-teeth slip into the flesh of my right shoulder and numbness spread outwards from the bite.

I cringe in pain, but in a moment it just feels completely numb with no hurt at all. That seems like a bad thing and I go to do the only thing I can really do with my chest pinned: click the button on Litwick’s ball and send her out to assist. I... can’t... feel my arm, shit! I need to just... push the fucking... button!

A sudden lance of light and heat hits the spider from the side, sending it hissing to the side, where it snarls nastily at Twilight, who is huffing and panting, horn smoking. Her magical levitation lifts me to my feet and pulls me away from the creature, and I realize I can’t hear the wind even though it’s howling all around before. I’m quickly losing feeling in everything else. Twilight looks like she’s trying to talk to me, but I can’t hear a single thing right now.

We need more power to take this thing down, and I’m practically out of commission. I use my still-good left arm to grab Litwick’s ball and send her out with a throw that falls mere feet from me. I hate using my left...

Annoyances and concerns aside, Litwick pops out, immediately on-guard with a look of defiant confidence... that melts into horror on seeing the enemy we’re facing. Whatever it is, it’s an ice-type that’s scaring a fire-type. I don’t like that, but we’ve got to take it down. And if it is bug-type as well, we need to concentrate our fire attacks.

I yell for a Fire Spin. Thankfully Litwick’s trust in me is stronger than her fear and her yellow candle flame flares red and sends out a helix of flames. The consistent swirls of fire nearby bring some warmth and feeling back to me, and I begin to hear again. The first sound that comes back is the terrifying roaring of the hostile pokémon, and Pignite smashing it with heavy-handed fire attacks.

If I can thaw out enough t- agh! With the numbness gone, the pain from the sharp bites races to my chest and I barely register falling to my knees. Gotta just, stay awake... I’m not gonna die to something I don’t even know the name of...

Suddenly, Geodude comes down out of the air, a rip in the thick, cold fog following him and revealing a swaying pine tree high above as he cannonballs into the spider pokémon’s back with a powerful crunch, like stomping crisp ice underfoot. The lights of its eyes go dark as it falls to the snowy ground, twitching slightly, everyone in our group panting as the storm slows all around us.

I’m helped to my feet by both mares and after a bit of time to rest, my chest is slightly better. I can at least move. I give my team a weak thumbs-up, which Geodude and Litwick resolutely return, and smile. “Can’t believe the last thing I thought about was wanting to know what that thing was...”

The sound of an éTech’s pokédex chime makes Twilight and I jump, and we both see Rarity pointing hers at the monstrous pokémon. “It’s clearly unconscious... and I’m curious too.” she says when she notices us looking.

Taravanche, the Heat Hunter pokémon
- These large arachnid pokémon are ambush hunters. They attack anything warm and suck the heat from them to keep their own bodies from freezing up entirely.
- They spray traps made of natural adhesive beneath the snow, and wait until something gets stuck in it. Their mostly hollow bodies crave warmth, but they are afraid of fire and the sun, so they burrow into the snow to escape it.
Ice Type, Bug Type

So fire was the right option, this one was just reckless or stupid enough to attack us even when we used fire on it. Or prideful, I suppose, not sure which. Given that its baseline stats is above five-hundred, I can see why they’re lone hunters, too.

Either way, that’s another crisis avoided. I shake the feeling back into my legs and we all prepare to keep going. I look down as my eyes catch a dark shape amidst the white snow and notice a Sneasel approaching, and another and another and in seconds we’re completely surrounded by them, a big circle of their eyes locked on us, a chill not related to the cold running up my spine.

I cringe as I see the circle get tighter. The circle draws tighter and tighter and then they... part? A few Sneasel back off and a Weavile leaps up to take their place. Instead of the expected crown of red ‘feathers’, the Weavile is wearing an icy skull with seven eyeholes in it. A bright red mark, like freshly spilled blood, forms the symbol for Delta across its chest, and it snaps at me in its own language.

I stare at the δ mark and manage to stutter out a plea of “Don’t kill us...”

The Weavile grins, a sadistic look under that fanged helm of ice and bone. “We not kill fellow hunters, human.” it says, the words harsh and guttural, but without any slurring to indicate a lack of practice or intelligence.

I look at the skull it’s wearing and back at the Taravan- oh, now I get it, they- Wait a sec, it can talk!?

“Uh... uh... hi?”

“Your pack hunts well. You got bit; sweets of the cocoa plant help with recovering.” the Weavile advises in its rough pronunciation.

Sweets? But... the cocoa plant is bitter like nobody’s business. Still, I’m not one to argue with a talking, mis-typed Weavile. I look around for a plant that looks like cocoa, but up here in these mountains? No way. I decide to go with the next best thing and take out some of our remaining trail mix, which has more than a few chocolate chunks in it. As the chips melt in my mouth, I feel warmth like summer sun on my skin spread throughout me, chasing away the deathly chill of the bites. This is... way better than trail mix has any right to be, this must be what the Weavile meant after all. I should share some of this with Pignite since he was bitten as well.

I offer a handful of the mix to Twi’s Pokémon who, upon seeing my near-instant recovery, takes it gratefully and tosses the entire handful into his mouth. Soon after, he’s feeling better and chewing happily. I turn back to the Weavile. “Thanks, but...” Where there’s hunters there’s prey, usually. “Are there any more of those things? I’m not sure we could handle another attack by ourselves...”

“Good hunters hunt alone. Great hunters help pack. Greatest hunters help all packs. Big Hunter is good, not great.” the Weavile says, shaking its head.

I think about that for a second... oh, they’re a solitary species, okay. “Well, that’s good. I guess Taravanche are a problem up here?” Gotta say, now that it has a name, it’s not as terrifying.

“Not for great hunters. And not for Greatest Hunter.” the Weavile says, tapping its own helmet with a claw.

“Yeah so, Greatest Hunter, do you know of a way over the mountain with less resistance?”

“Continue the way you travel, hunter. You have not strayed from the safest path; it is rare that Big Hunters crawl so low, but youth brings much recklessness.” Greatest Hunter gestures, and I realize the Taravanche’s head is only about a third the size of the skull on the Weavile’s head.

So that was just a small one? Damn, no wonder this guy is called Greatest Hunter. I thank the Weavile, who bows, and we move on. Though the mystery of what type it is with the Delta gene calls my curiosity. A quick search through the internet via my éTech reveals that there’s no record for a Weavile with a Delta gene. I just made a new discovery! I go back to Greatest Hunter and, pointing to the Delta symbol on it, ask what it ‘means’. Maybe it knows.

“Means I am Greatest Hunter. Mother was Greatest Hunter before me. Fight better in ice and snow. Hit harder. Break ice easy, run longer and faster. Was only pup in clutch with mark of Greatest Hunter.” it says, the group of Sneasel having set up a temporary camp in the short time since the girls and I had walked away, already dragging the downed Taravanche close to a spot I recognize as a firepit in the making. Seems they’re prepping dinner... I shudder.

Still... I take a photo of the Weavile, and a second with a zoom-in on the Delta symbol. I label the photo “Fight/Ice” and move on, planning to show my findings when I get to the next town. Maybe I’ll get my name in something for this!

Greatest Hunter goes back to the meal work, and I return to the ponies, both of whom are looking at me funny. “Did you not feel like you were being sized up for a dinner plate, Anthony?” Twilight asks, looking up at me.

“Are you kidding? I was expecting to be gnawed on the second I saw that Weavile. I’m actually surprised it even wanted to talk.” I answer, shaking the last of my non-cold-related shudders away. “I think he was the only reason the others didn’t even try to go after us. A Dark/Ice type disobeying a Fighting type with equal speed and more strength? Bad move.”

Rarity shudders. “Sounds like the last move you’d make... all of those Sneasel looked like they wanted to... eat us.” she closes her eyes, continuing with, “and that loathsome ‘hat’ that big one wore...” I can kinda see where she’s coming from on the whole ‘skull of your fallen foes as a helmet’ thing.

“Well they didn’t eat us, and we’re still walking. Not to mention on supposedly the fastest path, so we should be fine from here.” I point out. “I don’t trust those Sneasel, but that Weavile seems to respect us for beating the Taravanche, I don’t think it would lie for no reason if it had already decided to talk to us.”

“Let us hope not, darling...” Rarity says, sighing and looking slightly ill.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to get off this mountain without further problems.

Aw, shit, why’d I have to think that?! I can’t believe I jinxed us already.

A Whole New World To Live In

I’m standing in the throne room of Canterlot in front of the princesses.

“Are you ready Anthony?”

“Yeah... about that. A few questions just to clarify some things.”

“Very well, what would you like to know?” Luna asks, looking a little bored.

I begin my questions. “You’re sure this will send me home?”

“Of course.”

“Do I really have to bring Twilight though? She’d just be a pain!”

“Hey!” Twilight yelled in protest.

Celestia rolls her eyes. “Well, if you ever need to come back, she’s the only one who could get you back. Also, you will be sent with Rarity.”

“Rarity? Why?”

“Because.” Twilight clears her throat for an explanation. “The spell requires two unicorns, and she’s the best candidate as she’s fairly good with magic herself, so although getting back will be more difficult, it will still be possible.”

Celestia and Luna nod, confirming Twilight’s explanation.

I let out a sigh. “Fine, well where is she then?”

As soon as I say that, Rarity runs up with some luggage. “I’m here, I’m here! I just couldn’t leave without some of my supplies. If the weather is as uncontrollable as you say, Anthony, well... I just want to be prepared for any occasion.”

I turn to Twilight. “And you’re supposed to be the smart one?”

Twilight scoffs. “I’m sure I can handle whatever your crazy world throws at me. I’ll be fine!”

“Alright, alright, if you say so.” I turn to the princesses. “Okay, I guess we’re ready. How does this work?”

Luna answers. “Simple. My sister and I will generate the magic power needed, and all you must do is think of where you want to go. Then, you will be taken there. Just imagine being back on Earth or something.”

An idea flashed into my mind. “Really?”

“Yes really!”

“I apologize for my sister. She hasn’t been getting much sleep lately. Are you ready Anthony?”

I grin. “Oh yeah. You bet I am!”

Celestia gives me a cursory glance, but just does that weird pony shrug thing. “Alright. Are you ready sister?”

“Yes, now let’s get this over with, I’m tired!”

The two princesses’ horns start glowing, then the glow merges, gold and midnight blue combining into a swirl of energy.

“Just think of your home.” Celestia reminds as the glow envelops me and Rarity and Twilight by extension.

I grin widely. I wasn’t going home. I was going somewhere better!

I think about our destination and the glow completely envelops us in a blinding light, swirling with the blue and gold, then everything goes white.

When the glow subsides and I shake the bright floaties from my vision, I see we are on a dirt path through a large grassy field.

Twi and Rares are looking around, and Twi makes the first comment. “This place doesn’t look that different from Terra...”

“Yeah.” I say, rolling my eyes. “Because your planet and Earth have to be completely different in appearance. Besides, if I’m right... we’re not on Earth at all. Well, my Earth at any rate.”

“What.” Came the flat reply from both ponies.

“I saw a chance and I grabbed it. If I’m right, we’re where I chose to go. Though I admit it does look a lot like Earth... I might have screwed up and sent us home anyway.”

“Well good!” Twilight shouts. “I can’t imagine- Wah!”

A tiny brownish lump shoots up from the ground right in front of Twilight, scaring her enough to make her rear back and topple over.

Then the little lump speaks, sounding rather pleased. “Diglett!"

"Oh hell yes! Whooooooooooo!”

The Diglett looks up at me, very startled, and burrows back underground with the insane digging speed inherent to it’s species.

Twilight stands up. “What was that!?”

“I did it! We’re in the Pokémon world!”

“The what?”

“Pokémon...” I just breathe out the word as I look across the wide open landscape of grass and blue sky.

“What is a... Pokey-man?” Rarity asks.

I chuckle. Noobs. “Poke-Ey-Mon are like animals, but with extraordinary powers and abilities. They come in wide varieties from the smallest of insects and birds, to giant monsters, all with their own distinct traits and strengths, as well as weaknesses.”

“So they’re magical beings?” Twilight asks.

“Nope, their powers are all natural. Some of them draw power from the elemental basics of the universe, and in some cases, the power of the mind itself. It may seem like magic, but it’s not. It’s something much more. That thing that came out of the ground and scared you is a species of Pokémon called a Diglett. It’s one of the smallest recorded Pokémon, among Ground types. Their abilities include burrowing at speeds faster than one can register. They use this technique to surprise foes and avoid attacks.”

Twilight and Rarity just look at me confused. I grin. “Try to keep up. You’re in for one wild ride.”

As we walk along the path, I feel the urge to sing. I know it’s not Harmony doing it, we’re not in Equestria. We’re not on that planet. We’re in the Pokémon world, and I’m just so pumped that I start singing as I walk.

“I wanna be the very best, like no one ever was! To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause! My whole life has led to this, time to test my skills. I know I just can't miss, gonna show the world!”

"Born to be a winner, born to be a champion! Born to be a winner, born to be the very best!"

Aw what the heck, I’ll do the full version, I’m just so excited!

“Every challenge along the way, with courage I will face! I will battle every day to claim my rightful place!”

“Come with me, the time is right, there's no better team. Arm in arm we'll win the fight. Gonna live our dream... Born to be a winner, born to be a champion! Born to be a winner, born to be the very best!”

I pause to indulge myself in an air guitar solo

“I was born to be a winner, born to be a champion! Born to be a winner, born to be the very best! Born to be a winner, Pokémon!”

Twilight looks up at me. “Wow Anthony... that was awful!”

Right. When I’m not aided by magical artifacts, my singing sucks. “Eh, bite me. It’s super effective against Psychic!”

Rarity sighs. “Well at least you’re happier than I’ve seen you in.... Odd, I’ve never seen you this happy in two years of knowing you.”

“Well duh!” is all the reply I give. “Pokémon!”

“So...” Twilight begins. “What are we doing?”

I... hadn’t thought that far. “Uh, well... I guess for now we keep walking along the trail until we reach a town or city. We could even see more Pokemon along the way!”

I end up being right, as there are many Pokemon to see in the grass along the path. The ponies and I are equally awestruck, but for different reasons. I start pointing out various Pokémon, giving brief explanations of their species, types, habits, etc.

“And that one there is called a Rattata. They are small Normal-types, and though they start out weak, their potential speed and reliability is an asset to any beginning trainer. One of it’s signature moves, Super Fang can be used to take a tough opponent and severely weaken it, making for quick victories even against foes they are weak against. It evolves into Rati-”

“For the love of Celestia, shut up!” Twilight yells. “You’ve been talking non-stop about every single creature we see for the last two hours!”

I shrug. “Well sorry for being the smartest one here.”

“Excuse me?” Twilight responds indignantly. Seems she still thinks she’s knowledgeable. Time to turn a few tables.

“Alright then miss Star Pupil of Celestia, tell me exactly what you should do if being attacked by an aggravated Lairon?”

Twilight looks stumped. “Uh...”

“Or the best way to deter a gang of Primeape?”

“Er...”

“Say you disturb a nest of Beedrill? Lost in a cave with a bunch of Sableye? Treat a Jellicent sting? A hungry Seviper?”

“I- I don’t know!” Twilight just flops to the ground, defeated. Rarity rubs her back to console her.

“I’m serious, Sparkle. Out here, I’m the one with all the answers. You know a ton about magic, more than I ever will, but here in this world all that knowledge is worthless. You’re gonna have to listen to me, alright?”

Twilight just nods sadly and gets up. “Fine... but how about you only give us lectures when we ask for them?”

I give her a sideways glance. “Pot, meet kettle.”

That got a bit of a chuckle from Rarity, while Twilight just rolls her eyes.

It seems my earlier assumption was wrong, as we end up in front of a forest rather than a town. Walking in, the thick canopy makes it rather dark, with rays of bright sunlight coming through. We see even more Pokémon. A Murkrow quickly pulls it’s head back into it’s nest when it sees me staring at it. I see a Cascoon resting at the base of a tree and a Stantler drinking from a tiny nearby pond.

“Isn’t this place amazing?” I whisper. To disturb such a place with loud noise... a truly terrible crime.

The ponies are still looking around at all the Pokémon, Rarity almost screaming when a Spinarak drops down from a branch in front of us.

“These creatures are very odd, I’ve never seen anything like them before. Some are so beautiful while others are... less than appealing.”

I’m about to make a witty retort when we see a pair of angry Combee chasing after a Teddiursa with a paw covered in golden honey. The Combee speed forward and corner the little bear and start slamming into it with their bodies.

Twilight and Rarity gasp loudly at the relatively violent scene. I hold them back and watch. “You do not want to interrupt a Pokémon fight, especially one outside of the Pokémon League’s jurisdiction. This could get ugly.”

“I’d say it already is!” Rarity exclaims. “Those things are beating the poor dear to death!”

“Yeah, and if we get involved, we could become targets as well. Also, that ‘poor dear’ most likely got that honey by stealing it from the Combee’s colony, given the fact that Combee are normally rather docile.”

The two mares didn’t want to see any more, so we just walked around the fight and continued deeper into the forest.

Chapter 5

Rarity went through her battle much more defensively, trying to carefully keep her pokémon safe and out of reach, while launching lots of ranged attacks.

Overall, I am rather impressed. the battle is taking longer, but Rarity’s Pokémon are much less injured than mine end up as. Not knowing many attack names or the movesets is a problem, but she seems to get the gist of it at least.

More importantly, each pokémon that goes down is making her look absolutely miserable, whether hers or her opponent’s. She’s definitely not good as a Trainer, but she’ll do well in the competition circle.

Eventually they are down to their last Pokémon each, Rarity making surprisingly good use of a Sliggoo against an impressively resilient Tangela, neither making much headway. The Sliggoo was just healing from all of Tangela’s attacks and Tangela unable to deal enough damage without getting in range of Sliggoo’s Poison Tail, which I assume was bred in.

“Rarity, Sliggoo can use-!” I stop myself. Gotta remember. No helping! “Just... do your best.” I facepalm, jeez it can be hard being the smart one.

I just sit quietly and watch, my brain screaming advice silently, hoping through some mystic power I can inject my strategies into her brain. It works as well as that time I tried to blow up cars on the freeway using the power of thought alone: It only worked once.

The two continued to circle, until finally, Rarity told Sliggoo to just close in and hit it already, her own frustration with the half-hour long match just as evident as mine. Thankfully, poison is plenty effective against grass, and the Tangela was down.

Now I await for the professor to tell Rarity she passed. I mean she obviously would be very protective, something trainers have to be... though perhaps not to her extent...

“Well, you did quite well in the practical, though your test scores were only so-so. You need to brush up on move names, and type advantages. All of that aside... you passed. You’ll need to speak with someone certified if you want to become a Licensed breeder, but I can give you your Trainer Card and get you on the road to doing the other parts of this.”

Rarity takes it well, and the Ledyba that’s been following her toddles over and receives a hug from her.

Next is Twilight... who comes in looking more nervous than I’ve ever seen her. She came out looking mostly like a normal human, though her three-tone hair won’t stick out here in the Pokemon world. Yay for anime genes.

She looks at the arena, and steps up, and the exam battle begins.

It was a short, brutal battle. Twilight kept trying to give good advice, but it was often good advice for another situation. I mean, I figured she was doomed from the start as she tried throwing a shrunken ball first... but this battle. Yikes.

Gotta give her credit though, she’s obviously doing her best.

Her first matchup was a really bad one, with a fight between a Scyther and a Roselia going exactly how it sounds like it would, only with a bit less blood and a lot more crying.

The second matchup, between that same Scyther and Twilight’s second pokémon, a Swadloon, went a little better until the Scyther used a Wing Attack and ended that fight. Twilight actually took down the Scyther when her next pokémon was a Lairon, but she wasn’t able to figure out how to beat Professor Basswood’s speed with the Monferno. The fire-fighting combo bludgeoned that poor Lairon.

“You did very well on your test, you got all but one of the questions right and you showed a lot of pluck in continuing with the heavy type disadvantages you faced.” Twilight smiled happily at the review, but the smile broke when the professor continued. “However, you did abysmally at leading your pokémon, and nearly got them severely injured several times during the battle. You tried being too cautious, and then tried being too aggressive, and the sudden switch in tactics was ill-timed.”

As Twilight wilts, I can’t help but feel a little sorry. She’d only even heard of these things today, and she spent part of the morning nearly unconscious from being knocked around by one.

“I’m going to pass you, but you need to concentrate on working on these deficiencies. Merely knowing the statistics and the premade strategies will only get you so far.”

I stand up and walk over to Twilight. “Yeah, books and tests only go so far. Doing it is different, and you just need practice. I might be able to consider you my rival in a month’s time if you get better every day! If you’re lucky.”

Twilight scowls at me, but she actually looks too cute for that. It’s strange, but I’m starting to see human faces as ‘adorable’. I think I spent too long in Equestria.

“Alright, you three, let’s just go look up your records, and then get your Trainer Cards matched to them, and you’ll be all set.” I feel ice slip through my veins. She hadn’t meant I needed no record, she’d meant I needed a clean record. This might go over very poorly.

“Well, actually, professor... there might be a problem.” I think Quickly. “Twilight and Rarity won’t be in there, for obvious reasons... sentient Pokemon and all. I, uh...”

I can’t think of any excuse for myself, I am so doomed!

“Yes?” Basswood quirks an eyebrow, and the girls are looking confused.

“Wait, you have a national identification system? Do they work through those computers?” Twilight asks.

“Well, computers in general, yes. But those computers back there are specific for certain tasks, so their capabilities are heavily limited.”

“So... those are limited?” Twilight asks, looking shocked. “that’s... that’s amazing!”

“Ahem!” Basswood clears her throat, and we pay attention again. “So... do you have an excuse? Or are you going to tell me your real name, and let me figure out what’s going on? Or do I need to call in an officer and have you arrested?”

Drastic times call for drastic measures. “I... I won’t be in there, because I’m not entirely human either...” I Spark up, my glow a bit more faded than I recall, but my skin is still gray and slightly transparent, leaving little to the imagination that I’m not ‘normal’.

“Uh-huh. And the fact that there’s more than two dozen ways you could be faking that, or otherwise doing with any number of psychic abilities, makes your demonstration hold little weight.” right, psychic abilities are something humans have here.

I try to demonstrate a bit more variety. I hold up my hands and summon flames from my palms, again, oddly lacking the power I’m used to, but still... fire! It’s not as impressive as I’d thought it would be, not much more than a candle flame.

“Okay, you have a basic grasp of pyrokinesis.” Damnit... Gotta up the ante. Electricity? Worth a shot. I generate sparks now, shifting to my Dynamo form for a proper demonstration of high-powered electricity. A single spark jumps between my fingers, and I feel a wave of dizziness begin to overtake me. Where the hell did my powers go?

“No, wait! Really! I’m a stellar being, a living star, I swear! Twilight, back me up on this!”

“He really is. Though, us being pokémon wasn’t accurate... We’re ponies, from Equestria. It’s another world.”

Basswood looks at her for a moment. “Oh. Uh... I don’t... I don’t know what to say to that.”

“Listen, I know it sounds crazy, but believe me, I used to have a lot more power than this. I've saved towns from demons! I don’t know why I’m so diluted now, but really, we’re from somewhere else!”

Basswood inhaled deeply. “I- I‘m going to have a friend of mine come in, and make sure you’re telling the truth. It’ll take him about a day, so I guess I can put those two up in the guest bedroom. You can stay on the couch. don’t make me have to track you down, got it?”

“Yes ma’am...” Dang, this was not going as planned... but with a foolproof lie-detector backing us up, we’ll be in the clear by tomorrow morning! ...Right?

“Now if you don’t mind, I need to go send him a message.”

I turn to the girls, still feeling wiped. “Sorry... I figured it would be a bit easier than this. I guess I just wanted it so badly that... sorry.”

The night was a long one, but at least dinner was spaghetti and meatballs. Explaining that was fun.

Chapter 24

Stepping into place, Twilight and I give each other confident looks, mine a smirk and hers a smile.

“Just so you know, I’m not going to make this easy for you.” I remind her as I throw out Geodude. “Let’s see what you can do to this.”

As Tepig hits the field, Twilight is already scowling a little. Still, she looks confident. “Alright, then, Tepig. Let’s start with Smog!” Wait, her Tepig knows Smog? I can’t remember when Tepig learns that, but I think it may already be able to evolve. As in, at least two levels or so ago. Either way, I call for Geodude to dodge, by my momentary hesitation lets the hit connect, the gaseous cloud making Geodude hack, cough, and wheeze, windmilling his arms to fan the smog away.

“Alright, interesting choice... Magnitude!” Geodude coughs twice, then slams his fists into the ground. A low ripple spreads outwards sluggishly.

“Alright, jump the pulse! Then, use Defense Curl.” Twilight instructs, and Tepig nimbly jumps over the incoming attack, before tucking in its ears and such. There’s really not much for a Tepig to curl in defensively.

I also have a rather sneaky trick planned. “Geodude, Rollout!” Geodude coughs again, sounding like he’s going to hack up a lung, but begins to charge up a roll, picking up speed quickly as he charges towards Tepig. The little piglet squeals and tries to dodge, but gets almost flattened by Geodude’s first pass.

“Alright, Tepig, get ready to knock him off balance with a Flame Charge!”

I wait for a second and then... “Tepig, jump!”

The pokémon doesn’t hesitate and leaps into the air, and I get a good look at its look of confusion right at the top of the arc. Right as it lands, Geodude finishes his pass, and smashes into Tepig again, sending the pokémon flying. Twilight gives me a dirty look. “That’s against the rules, Anthony!”

I’m too busy laughing like crazy. “Oh god... can’t believe he actually... hahaha! Oh.... that is priceless!” At this point I’m holding my sides, but I do calm down after a moment. “This... this is outside of, hah, official league jurisdiction, and no rules were specified at the start. Oh, that’s hilarious. Tell you what: Just for that, I’ll let you win this!” Geodude gives me a dirty look at the suggestion, and stops his Rollout entirely. “Hey, don’t look at me in that tone of voice.”

Tepig, impressively, stands back up, and snorts defiantly.

“Well? What are you waiting for? I thought you wanted to prove your pokémon was tough enough, Twilight? You aren’t getting anywhere by standing around and doing nothing... but then I guess I can get whatever results I want out of Tepig myself.” I’m probably gonna regret egging her on like this, but my good mood won’t let my paranoia get in the way.

With an angry look, Twilight points at Geodude. “Tepig, start with a Tail Whip, then Flame Charge.” I raise an eyebrow. That’s not going to do much. The pig leaps into the air to Tail Whip and then begins wreathing itself in flames. The piglet charges faster than normal, covered in fire, and Twilight yells something else. “Change to Tackle, now!”

I narrow my eyes. What’s the point of losing Flame Charge’s extra damage or it’s speed boost? She knows it doesn’t take effect until it connects, right?

“Now, as I showed you!” she yells at the last moment. “Pivot- and buck!” I look up, barely catching the moment as Tepig spins on its little front hooves, and turns the high inertia into Double Kick. Holy hell, she tutored her pokémon. I thought it took, like, mystical powers or something, idunno. Or a set of special-edition TMs, or something.

“Huh, interesting...” It takes me a moment to notice that Geodude has been knocked back by at least five meters and is completely out cold. I return Geodude and then it starts.

At first it’s sort of faint, but Tepig is slowly being engulfed in a white light. Seeing it first-hand... evolution is an awesome experience.

“Wait, he’s doing it again! What’s going on, Anthony?” Twilight says, voice full of worry. Oh, right, she doesn’t know what Evolution is supposed to look like, and she looks like she’s getting ready to intervene. No wonder Tepig already knows Smog, she accidentally stopped him from evolving previously!

“Wait! Let it happen... this is gonna be so cool...” I just breathe the last part out as I watch the glow completely surround the little pokémon and it seems to turn amorphous for a second before slowly shifting to a new shape, the radiating glow shifting the form of to resemble a Pignite. Eventually, the bright light sparks with a huge flash that forces me to cover my eyes, and then after I lower my arm, I can see the white silhouette fade into swirls of pale rainbow that settle into the new shape and the glow fades away slowly, revealing the new figure before us.

“Pignite!” The newly evolved, bipedal pokémon flexes its new muscles in a ‘macho man’ pose.

“Buh- wha?” Twilight stands slack jawed. “Th- that’s what ‘evolution’ is? I thought it’s a process by which organisms change over the course of-”

“Actually, that’s just the term that’s used. I don’t know who coined it, but they obviously meant to use the word ‘Metamorphose’. Still... incredible. Isn’t it?”

“Wow...” Twilight’s speechless, and I have to admit, I’m still in awe myself. That was almost unbelievable, but it happened right here, in front of me! So cool. I start to do the only thing I can think of to do. I just start up a slow clap and a few of the straggling trainers around the battle park pick it up after realizing what the glow was.

“Congratulations, Twilight. Your Tepig has evolved into a Pignite.”

Twilight immediately begins looking over her ‘new’ pokémon, machine-gunning questions and chattering happily. Heh, Pignite doesn’t seem to mind, and I shake my head. Off to the healing kiosk for me, then to find Rarity, then to work on leaving. This is shaping up to be a pretty good day, that’s for sure.

Wonder how long it’ll take for Pignite to become an Emboar... All I know is, evolved pokémon or not, Twilight is not going to beat me.

After some research into next gym’s location, and find that it’s on the eastern edge of the island, though thankfully Autumnwash is already about halfway there. There’s a long road leading across the plains that goes straight to a city called Great Barrier Port. Apparently, it’s best known for its beautiful reefs and amazing beaches, along with the large islands it has ferry access to. All in all, the islands seem the most interesting, though, as they are basically covered in the adventurer’s sign for great loot: lots of mystery.

“Well, I got one badge, and we aren’t going to get into the league without all eight, so I guess our next stop will be this Barrier Port place.” At least I think there are eight here... it could be different, but I’m not sure. Oh well, guess I’ll find out later.

The other two acquiesce, and we get on the move. The long journey is listed as a two- or three-day trip, simply from sheer distance. Still, it’s supposed to be a nice road to travel, so that’s good.

As we leave out the east gates of Autumnwash, we find ourselves walking along a few hills, beautiful flowers, grass, and other such niceties everywhere. The side of the dirt road is filled in with really tall grass, the grass itself almost as tall as I am. Every now and then, I can hear pokémon move in the long grass, along with the occasional childish laugh. It’s nice, temperate day, so we make good progress before we stop to try testing ourselves against the local wildlife.

I figure since GLaDoS is fairly low-level compared to the rest of my team, it should get some experience. Fighting Winston’s pokémon helped, but it didn’t get me that far. I look for some wild pokémon who would pose a moderate challenge to an average Electric/Grass type.

Spying a Vivillion fluttering past, I take the opportunity to see how strong GLaDoS’ electric attacks are now. I toss out the ball with an order for Thundershock. It should be high enough level to use it if I’m not mistaken.

The little potato pokémon closes all three of its eyes, and a crackling, golden blast of electricity flies out and flash-cooks the Vivillion, sending the bug/flying pokémon down in a smoky spiral. Well that seemed... final. “Okay then, guess you’re tougher than I thought. Maybe find something with less of a disadvantage, then.” Easy victories are nice, but not much is gained from them, usually.

“Tay-to!”

However, I quickly found that anything without a specific resistance or immunity to electricity took very little effort from GLaDoS to take down with mere thundershocks. I’m finding myself amazed that this pokémon isn’t considered more worthy of high-use.

Then, we run across a particularly speedy Spearow, who pecks the hell out of my pokémon before I can recall the poor, out-sped spud. Geodude, however, is fully capable of taking that nuisance out, and I just give GLaDoS some time to rest.

I figure I might as well just move on, but I recall why Pokémon never got into the whole ‘multiplayer campaign’ thing. Waiting for your companions. I may be able to just walk past all this, but apparently Twilight is taking every single opportunity she gets to get the hang of her newly-evolved pokémon. I admit, Pignite’s doing pretty well.

After some time, even Rarity comes back with the look of someone who’s just done something they feel is noteworthy. Specifically, her Ledyba looks sleek and content, and likely just beat the crap out of several things. Once Twilight’s done having Pignite fight a half-dozen various pokémon, we get ready to move out. There were some Shinx in the long grass, but they kept fleeing every time I got close enough to actually see them. Given their electric natures, I didn’t really want to try tackling them myself, regardless of their level.

Besides, I already have an apparently strong Electric type. I can skip on a Luxray I suppose. I just wonder what will happen on our three day journey. If it’s going to be like this the whole way, this will probably be really slow going.

Several hours and a short two-v-two battle against what could only be a ‘cute couple’ battle duo later, I’m feeling rather tired. It’s nearing the end of the day, and walking around is finally getting to me. Thankfully, the girls are fully willing to set up camp before it gets dark, and we get our tents ready. There’s still light out when we finish, so we just sit around and tend to our pokémon.

GLaDoS is able to get better after a few minutes using Synthesis, while my other pokémon just seem to be recovering fine on their own.

“So... what now? I mean, we should sleep obviously, but it’s not that late yet.”

Twilight settles down, a pony once more. Twirunt is asleep at her side already, and she just pulls out her éTech. “I want to read some more, if that’s alright. There’s so much to see here!”

Rarity seems too busy polishing her Ledyba’s shell, the red gleaming even in the evening sunset.

Well, I guess there really isn’t anything to do then. Eh screw it, I’ll just do what Twi’s doing. I set up my hammock and pull out my éTech once I’ve settled down. Now what do I want to look for?

Chapter 47

I figure Ledyba will be faster, so I just let the battle start. I already know what I’m going to do I mean... I’m using an Oddish.

“Alright, Ledyba, let’s start with... ooh, what moves do you know...” Rarity stops and pulls out her éTech, pulling up the information and looking at it with a serious air to her.

It’s just two words, do I say them now? Sure, why not. “Sweet Scent.”

Ledyba immediately turns to Oddish, eyes wide and a goofy grin on it face.

“Wait, Ledyba, where are you going?” Rarity asks as she looks up, Ledyba hovering calmly towards Oddish.

“Sleep Powder,” is my next command and, due to Ledyba’s current proximity and sensory inebriation... the bug is on the ground catching Zs in seconds. “Battle’s over, no harmful moves used. I win.”

“Oh... well that rather defeats the point of this exercise! The point was for Ledyba to receive some training!”

“And if you really aren’t going to be that interested in battling regularly, you’re most likely only going to be in battles where your safety is concerned, and in that case you wouldn’t pick up your damn phone and try to remember what you can and can’t do.”

“I suppose... I suppose I’m not very good at this. However, I’m not trying to become a trainer.” Rarity heaves a sigh. “I will admit... I would like to be better at this, but I don’t think it’s my forte.”

“Alright then, Sewaddle. This shouldn’t be too hard on it but I do warn you that while I can go easy on you, there’s only so much restraint my pokémon can show before they start acting stupid, and I won’t have stupid pokémon.”

“Alright, and I’ll try to be a little more... active.” Rarity pulls Sewaddle’s ball free, and releases the pokémon. “And I’ll have her move list opened in advance, at least until I know the list better.”

“Good plan. So, Bug and Grass against Grass and Poison, no real type imbalance here so... go first I guess.”

“Ooh! Well, Sewaddle, try a Bug Bite!” Rarity yells, only glancing at her device once. The little pokémon makes a charge-leap at my Oddish.

“Acid.” I say, shrugging. With Sewaddle’s typing, it’ll only do typical damage, so it’s not going to be that spectacular, but I am trying to at least give her a chance.

“Tuck in your little head, dear!” Rarity shouts, and Sewaddle does exactly that, the splash of acid rolling off its coat of leaves. Huh... must have Overcoat. Either way, Sewaddle is able to get close enough to rear back and chomp on Oddish’s leaves, making the plant pokémon stumble and start trying to shake off the worm.

“Poison Powder, give it a bad taste in it’s mouth.”

Oddish shakes up a plume of green-purple powder, and Sewaddle lets its dogged grip go. Rarity glances at her tablet again. “Wrap it up with String Shot, and make sure to weave it for extra strength.” Sure enough, Sewaddle fires a blast of sticky thread, then another, and another, the three braiding into a vastly stronger cord.

Y’know, if she would just memorize the movepool of her pokémon, this would be vastly easier for her.

“Alright, Poison Powder again, and make it stick.”

Oddish goes to comply, but the strands of silk splatter its leaves, though the length quickly becomes dyed purple and green from the powder sticking to it. Huh, well guess it’s good Oddish is a Poison type. If I used Stun Spore that could’ve been bad.

“Now pull it off its feet, dear!” Rarity yells, “But gently, we don’t want to hurt the dear.” Sewaddle looks like it wants to contest that, but complies, staggering Oddish until my pokémon tips over. Without being able to spread and move its leaves for balance, Oddish can’t stand up, and is stuck face-down.

“Well, I’m not all out of moves, Oddish is still conscious.” I ponder for a moment. “Acid, melt your way out. The thread is strong but not invincible.”

Oddish tries to fire a blob of acid, but the attack has to be fired from the mouth and... oh crap. Oddish starts flailing and rolling to get out of the puddle of its own making, but the puddle has melted a divot into the floor.

“Sewaddle, pull the poor thing out!” Rarity says, her pokémon pulling out Oddish. Oddish looks really disgruntled.

“Hey, it was an idea and it could have worked, don’t act like this is all my fault.” I recall Oddish. Sewaddle looks fine but... “Hey Rarity, you been growing Pecha berries? The heart-shaped pink ones? Give one to Sewaddle, it’ll clear out any lingering poison, wouldn’t want it to suffer before we notice.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Come here, dear, you’ve earned a treat.” The berry is pulled out and Sewaddle admittedly looks pretty adorable, munching on the pink fruit that is literally bigger than it’s head. Rarity grew a ripe one... she is pretty good.

Rarity hugs her pokémon, cradling it like a child. That’s... oddly attractive.

“So yeah, sleep isn’t a terribly bad affliction, just let Ledyba rest and she’ll be up and perky as ever. As I said, non-damaging moves used on her. But yeah, you show skill at execution, but you really need to memorize what you can do so you can use that skill effectively.”

“Well, it just came to me.” Rarity tittered.

“Really? A professional seamstress using a silk-based move? That must not have taken long to ‘come to you’.”

“Well, I’d seen Sewaddle use String Shot before, and realized that it’d be far more effective braided. Like a silk rope!”

“Yeah, just need to figure out how you’re going to use that in a competition where the goal is to look good, not just tie up the other competitors, which, now that I think of it, would be totally illegal and have you disqualified.”

“Yes, yes, I know. But pokémon aren’t only used for battling and contests, dear.” Rarity says.

“If they were, this place would be boring as hell. You should see what a garden run by Grass types can look like. Just, y’know, what knows what a plant needs better than another plant? Anyway... this might help you out if you actually need to fight occasionally.” I open up my TM case and, taking out Aerial Ace, tap it to Ledyba’s head and the not-light thing says it transferred. “There, Aerial Ace, a high-power move that actually gets a boost from Ledyba’s typing. Most offensive moves it learns are just poke damage and don’t get STAB. This would help against other Bug types and Fighting types.”

“Ah... what is ‘stab’? I mean, other than an action.”

“It’s more trainer lingo. STAB is an acronym for Same Type Attack Bonus. A move of the same power is more effective if used by a pokémon with the same type. Sure a ghost type could learn, say, Flame Wheel, but even if the ghost type has the exact same stat in Attack as a Fire type using the move... who do you think is going to pull it off easier and better?”

“That does make sense.” Rarity says.

Twilight, joining into the conversation, asks, “So are there moves with more than one type, and can get this stab-bonus twice?”

“No, as far as I know moves only fall into one type, while pokémon can have one or two. It gets pretty important to remember the bonus as it really is useful. I mean, Ledyba as a species don’t really do well with straight out physical combat, but since it’s a Flying type, the only way she could be outperformed in the same move by a non-flying-type would be if she was outclassed in pure strength. There are a lot of variables, but once you start to see the mathematics behind it all, it really comes down to a few simple equations.”

“Oh, well that should make it easy.” Twilight comments.

“Yeah. You don’t have to be good at math to do this, but it does help. Anyways, I’m thinking Spearow could also benefit from Aerial Ace and since this thing won’t run out, we should probably spread it around. It is a good move and all. Guaranteed hit, won’t miss, perfect accuracy no matter what as long as the target hasn’t made itself physically inaccessible to the attacker like being underground or such.”

“That does sound like a useful move to have.” Twilight says, pulling out Spearow’s ball. The angry-looking bird appears in a flash of light, and hops grumpily across the ground.

I kneel down to the ornery fledgling. “Hey there buddy, wanna learn how to really kick some ass?” I ask, holding up the disk.

Spearow caws, and pecks at my hand, making me drop the disk. A moment later, the bird leans over, and rests its head on the TM. The light goes again, and Spearow hops away, no longer apparently interested.

“Feisty little guy you got there Twilight, just be sure he doesn’t get too out of hand.” I begin sucking on the sore spot on my finger. That really hurt, even though my time with chickens has seen me pecked not that rarely.

“I try not to... he’s very well behaved with me.” Sure enough, the feathery nuisance caws again and hops onto her shoulder before nuzzling her hair.

“Alright. Still, now he should do better... but I think that’s as far as Zap Cannon or Aerial Ace will go for our current team. What was the TM you got again, Twi?” I return to my TM case, still idly sucking on my damaged finger. “Roh Shah... Rock Smash. That’s a good Fighting move. You mind?” I ask, waving the disk slightly.

“Uhm, go ahead. And sorry about Spearow, he doesn’t seem so angry around me.”

“I can tell. And don’t worry, I’ve had worse.” I get Geodude out again. “Alright, this time I got something for you to learn.” I apply the TM to Geodude’s forehead and after the typical light of success, I smile. “Alright, now you can even show those other Rock types what kinda heat our team’s packing. Actually... Hey Rarity, how about Ledyba fights Geodude when she wakes up? With her typing, I just rule out Rock moves and she’ll stand a pretty good chance.”

“Hmmm... Perhaps another time. If you’re alright with it, perhaps we should return to our rooms, and go training outside the city tomorrow? I’ve rather dried off with all this exertion, but I’ve become rather fond of bathing like a human.”

“Yeah, let’s have a rest, and I admit that that was kind of unfair; but seriously, that’s what moves that don’t do damage can do. You don’t have to punch the other person’s face in to win a battle with pokémon. Keeps things a lot more professional and a lot less messy that way.”

Rarity seems a bit confused. “I never took you for the type to want fighting to stay clean...”

I shrug. “It’s standard trainer etiquette. I mean if you just go around blasting everything in your path out in the wild you’ll just wreck the scenery and environment for everyone else, and in an urban setting you could tear up a road if not careful and it’s just plain rude to leave a public battlefield a crater-pocked mess.”

Chapter 55

I wake up, still feeling rather drowsy, but definitely awake. I also feel really thirsty. I realize that I don’t even have a canteen or anything, that’s a problem. I get some water from a vending machine and make a mental note to get some more adventuring gear.

I pull out my éTech and, figuring a call would be inappropriate if Twi’s still in the library, I send her a text. Never was that fast at it, but I do alright I think.

Back at PCenter. Lost battle. Where are you?

I then realize she has no idea how ‘texting’ works. Hopefully she can figure it out, she’s smart. Smart enough for that, right? After a few moments my éTech makes a little chirping noise and I see I got a reply.

Stick at library. Stack. Struck. Distillery. S T I L L.

Wow, either she’s got some bad skill with touchpad keyboards, or she’s got an autocorrect problem.

You’ll get used to it.

Hop sew. Quack.

Yep, autocorrect.

Rarity still at Devon?

New idle

I’m guessing “no idea”

Oh well

Hall can Yule ready think?

Simple. I speak ‘stupid’

cum for expulsion. Express. Experience.

:D

?

Turn éTech sideways.

Awake cut

Gonna head out, get stronger to beat Zoli.

Gold lunch

Sighing at her continuous unintentional mistakes, I take my pokémon from Joy and head off. I figure I should stop by the coast so Carvanha can level up some. That is the problem with being a non-amphibious fish pokémon, only one environ is viable.

I go down to the docks-like area in Great Barrier and, though it is made mostly of rustproof metal, it’s painted to look like it’s made of nailed-up driftwood so it looks pretty welcoming. I notice that there are a few people out on small boats training and battling, at least the ones not riding on pokémon have boats.

Luckily I have a surfboard big enough for me and a small land-based pokémon so I’m set without needing a boat. Though I’ve never surfed in my life. I gently plop the board out into the water and, stripping down to a pair of trunks I was allowed to keep from the gym, I realize that swimming pool water is very different from ocean water. For one, there’s salt. For two... “G-g-g-gee~eez” It feels like my toes just fell off it’s so cold! I scramble onto the surfboard and, laying on my stomach, paddle out to a more open area.

After a bit I come across a wild Tentacool and figure it would be okay to try and toss out Carvanha. “Sorry about the Water gym earlier, but I’m gonna make sure you don’t lose next time. Now let’s see you beat a Tentacool, should be easy, right girl?”

Carvanha nods, apparently alright past the defeat. She growls and begins to circle the Tentacool, who is eyeing her cautiously.

“Might as well start with a Bite.” I suggest, and Carvanha agrees, leaping towards the squid, jaws wide open.

At the sight of all those teeth barreling at it through the water, the Tentacool squeals and begins to try jetting away, only to get chomped right on the head by my much faster pokémon. It begins to thrash wildly.

Carvanha looks up at me for... confirmation I suppose. “Well it’s wild, so... I suppose it’s alright, and you earned it from sticking to it back there... Alright, you can eat it.” My pokémon gleefully begins to chew up the Tentacool, which goes limp and begins to leak purple blood into the water after only a couple more bites. Carvanha seems satisfied.

“Alright, now let’s look for some actual competition.” Carvanha nods and I paddle my board towards another trainer in typical swimwear floating on a Wailmer. “Hey, think you could help me toughen up Carvanha?”

The guy nods. “Sure, sounds great. Gimme a sec.” he says, and pats the Wailmer, who backs up a bit. “Go, Croconaw!” he tosses out a black pokéball that creates a burst of sparkles as it opens, revealing the pokémon.

I just stare at the effect. “How’d you get the confetti? I’ve been looking for a seal of that but all I ever can get is rainbows and stars!”

“Oh, there’s a shop in Port Squall, a ways north. On the other side of the bay, actually. If you’ve got a bike or a fast Surfer, you can get there in a day or three.” he says.

“Well, my only swimmer is Carvanha here and she needs to get stronger if she’s gonna get me to the Elite Four. That’s why I’m here. Anyways, let’s get this battle started, right?”

“Sure thing!” he says, and points at Carvanha. “Use Crunch, Croconaw!”

“Dodge it!” Carvanha is fast, but so is Croconaw... I hope we can outpace it anyways... and... yes! she dodges. “Counter attack with “Aqua Jet!” In an even greater burst of speed, Carvanha dashes straight for Croconaw and slams head-first right into the alligator pokémon’s chest. Not doing much damage, but definitely knocking the wind out of it. “Bite!” I call and Carvanha goes for the stomach again, this time jaws open.

The other trainer calls for his pokémon to dodge, but the pokémon is too stunned to respond in time, and ends up floating, dazed, on the surface. Carvanha, in a surprising show of kindness, nudges the fainted pokémon towards its trainer.

“Jeez! That’s an impressive Carvanha you got there!” he says as he recalls his pokémon. “I hope you get ‘er bred at some point, those eggs would sell for a ton.”

“Heh, just caught her in the wild. Guess I have an eye for winners. She’s a bit psycho, but she’s good... just not good enough to beat a gym full of pokémon twice her level. As for breeding her, I’ll probably donate my pokémon for my friend to practice on at least. Whether we’ll get eggs is kinda up to her though.”

“Well, that’s a good plan. I’m assuming they’re a breeder, then? It’s good to have friends in that circuit. Anyways, you wanna try facing my Azumarill? She’s being trained for Search and Rescue, actually, but some combat training for her would be helpful, too.”

I nod. “Sure, we can give it a shot. Honestly whenever Carvanha loses it’s usually due to a cheap shot or level unbalance. What level are your pokémon? I don’t want to just send you to the center...”

“Azu is twenty-six, Croc was level twenty-two.” He reaches for a ball with what is either the Dive Ball or Net Ball pattern on it, I can’t see if there’s black or white on it from the way he holds it.

“Alright, Carvanha is only nineteen, so... a bit above half that. Should be interesting to see. You up for it?” The second part is aimed at my pokémon. Don’t want her getting over her head, but in typical form, she responds with a snap of her jaws and gets ready for round two. “Okay, guess that answers that. Don’t hold back!”

The next pokémon appears in a small burst of bubbles, and the Azumarill chirrups as she lands. “Zuu~!”

“Remember Carvanha, this one’s owned so you can go all-out, but no eating, ‘kay?”

The trainer looks at me oddly. “That’s a joke, right?”

“I mentioned she’s a little psycho and... well... carnivores gotta eat too. Don’t worry, your pokémon are safe, she knows the rules of trainer battles.”

Apparently full from the recently-eaten Tentacool, Carvanha is fine with the no eating rule, she snaps her jaws, but does give the Azumarill a meaningful glare.

The guy gulps, but orders his pokémon onwards, “Defense curl!” he calls, and Azumarill begins to tuck itself in a bit.

Good start against a foe who relies heavily on physical moves, but... “Screech!”

“Alright, follow up with Rollout!” he shouts, and Azumarill nods, tucking and rolling along the surface to strike Carvanha, taking advantage of the damage-doubling effects of using Defense Curl first.

“Assurance!” I yell. Carvanha could have dodged, but since Azumarill took damage due to Rough Skin after using the Rollout, Assurance will have an attack power of 120 on top of STAB!

The attack goes down, slamming Azurill. The large aqua-rabbit cries out and flies back, floating on the waves and sinking a bit, large tail keeping her from doing straight down. “Double-Edge!” my opponent yells, and the bobber vanishes for a moment, then Azumarill flies from the water head-first, and torpedoes back down to smack Carvanha, even under the water.

“Assurance in return!” With the 120 power and STAB again on top of the damage the pokémon already takes from recoil and contact it should be in the metaphorical low red now.

Carvanha strikes out again, and this time, Azumarill doesn’t recover, launched all the way to her trainer’s Wailmer, and landing atop the whale pokémon. He recalls his pokémon, and bows his head. “Well, looks like I need more training, still. Ah well, that’s fine by me! Here, twelve-hundred for winning.” he says, transferring the funds.

“Thanks, seeya later and good luck! Well Carvanha, what do you think? Wanna keep going?”

Carvanha gives a sharp nod, but I can see a large purple bruise forming on her red-and-blue skin, right where the Double-Edge landed with a perfect hit. “Yeah, I don’t think so. Later, once you’re better. Okay? And I’ll buy you dinner for a great job, how’s that sound, girl?” Carvanha sends out a few bubbles, but does an armless shrug and I recall her. “You really did do awesome against a foe twice your level... or thereabouts.” I paddle us back to shore, the water not as cold now for whatever reason. I decide I should head for a forest to train Lunaverde and Ghowl.

I opt for the forest where I first caught Lunaverde and head there now, sending Twi an update text. She’s still at the library as I guessed. That pony sure does love books.

It doesn’t take long and I send out my two flying types. Lunaverde looks around then back at me questioningly. “Don’t worry, I’m not releasing you, I just figured you’d do better on your home turf than in a Water gym or a port.”

The pokémon continues to look at me, cocking its little head. Gosh that’s adorable... most pokémon are, actually. Ghowl just sits on a branch, looking at me with its little ‘halloween spoopy ghost’ face.

“Anyways, let’s get you two a bit stronger so you can do better, whaddya say?” I get a wing-flutter and a hoot of indifference in response and take them both as a ‘yes’. “Alright, Ghowl, you’re first. Same rule as Carvanha: as long as you don’t eat owned pokémon, you can eat whatever wild pokémon you want, so if you beat a Rattata or something, you can have it for lunch, deal?” It hoots again, this time sounding like a wispy wind going through trees. Well, it certainly sounds like a haunted house’s soundtrack.

“Alright then, let’s get started.” I look around and walk through the forest and look for wild pokémon. The first thing we come to is an Oddish which actually seems to have seen us first, but isn’t running away.

Guess that works. “Okay Ghowl, guess it’s not a meal but it is competition now. Astonish!” Ghowl rotates its head to face the pokémon doing nothing for a moment. The Oddish looks towards me in confusion, and Ghowl springs forward, shrieking evilly, sending the Oddish skittering back in fright. Well, I guess that’s one way to ‘astonish’ someone...

“Peck before it gets away!”

Ghowl swoops silently at the Oddish, matte-black beak zipping out and snapping at Oddish. Strangely, the Ghowl hasn’t made a single noise this whole time, other than the first shriek during the Astonish, where a shrieking noise is normal. Then again, owls are supposed to be very quiet so it fits I guess.

Another easy win for me though, and it doesn’t look like the Oddish was strong enough for Ghowl to level up, meaning “We’ll keep going, find something more worth your time.” The pokémon hoots again, still sounding like an eerie wind.

We come across another Oddish, but deciding they aren’t good competition we pass by them and keep looking, Ghowl flying behind me silently like a detached shadow, not even making leaves rustle when it lands on a branch. It’s actually kind of cool really, how quiet it is. I can hear all of the forest noises this way.

I faintly hear a pokémon’s cry and identify it as a Nidoran. Male or female I can’t tell,but whatever gender it is, I’m reminded of the Nidoking... well, if I’m expecting it I should be alright I suppose. Alright, let’s do this. I tramp through a few bushes and can’t find where the sound came from. I then feel a tug on my shoulder and see a Nidoran♀ is trying to bite a hole in my satchel. I shake it off and “Ghowl, Shadow Sneak!” Ghowl swoops in from behind the Nido, its silent shadow hitting her as the owl pokémon passes harmlessly above the sharp needles of the Nido’s coat. “Finish it with Peck!”

Ghowl gives a single hoot as confirmation, the sound dopplering around like a ventriloquist’s trick, making it hard to pinpoint where, exactly, my pokémon has gone, until it swoops in over my shoulder and lashes out with its beak. the Nido cries out, and topples, fainted. My Ghowl then flutters to my shoulder and settles on contentedly.

Man I wish I had a mirror, I bet I look badass! Better than having a Pikachu on my shoulder, that’s for sure.

I keep walking, but don’t find anything else unfortunately, it seems my trek has been noticed by the other wild pokémon and I’m being avoided. However, out on the path comes a particularly gutsy looking Chantlette, who looks at me with a combination of curiosity and bravery in her eyes.

“Hi there. Wanna try and beat my Ghowl?”

“Chan~!” the little pokémon says, and pulls something from behind her... with a flick of her wrist, a pair of angular sunglasses are slipped onto her face.

“Who do you think you are? The squirtle squad? Fine then, let’s see what you got!” I nudge my shoulder and Ghowl goes up into the air without any takeoff of any normal variety, it just... floats upwards, then opens its wings to fly.

That is awesome! “Alright, start with a Shadow Sneak!” I recall Chantlette being Psychic (or was that Ghost?) making ghost super effective, again on top of STAB.

The owl streaks out, zipping over the Chantlette, who stumbles as the shadow passes over her, but who then lashes out with a psychic attack of some kind, attempting to throw the lightweight flyer into a tree. Thankfully, Ghowl slips out at the last second and only clips the plant a little.

“Nice dodge, Ghowl! Now try a Growl!”

It’s not much of a ‘growl’ as it is a haunting, skin-is-now-crawling tone, like the sound in a horror movie right before a killer strikes. This region must have one hell of a movie industry, if all their sound effects can be produced locally. The Chantlette is only slightly affected though, just pausing for a bit allowing me time for “Peck!”

The smaller pokémon cries out and flails, then lets loose another psychic blast, and Ghowl begins to bank off-center, likely confused.

Well, best bet against a Psychic type is bug so... “Good job Ghowl, go Lunaverde!”

The moth pokémon swaps places and banks in a more controlled fashion to flutter between the me and the Chantlette.

“Silver Wind!”

Lunaverde begins to send the metallic breeze at the Chantlette, who actually ducks and braces, crying out. Then, the little witch-pokémon begins to chant under her breath, and I can’t really hear it, until her body begins to glow in alternating red and blue colors.

With a steady motion, she then throws something from where she’s crouched up at Lunaverde, and I see a long, thin needle sink into my pokémon’s thorax. Lunaverde cries out and flaps back and away, pulling the needle free and looking more hurt in the emotional sense than in the physical sense. From where I’m standing, the needle is visibly dipped in some form of poison, judging from the hissing circle of dead vegetation on the ground.

Poison sting? How did... what did it do? Nevermind. “Lunaverde, Absorb, get that health back!”

The Chantlette responds, as little orbs of life-force begins to get drawn from her, by singing in a clear, high note... that quickly turns mournful, and I feel a pang of sadness hit me. I think... that’s probably some form of sound-based attack, judging by the way Lunaverde also reels, looking confused and sad.

Well, I know one way to get that pokémon to quiet down. “Lunaverde, enough.” I recall the moth and send out my next “Oddish, open with Sleep Powder!”

The Chantlette’s voice falters as I make my command, and Oddish’s sleep-inducing pollen settles all over the battlefield. Immediately, the little witch-pokémon’s eyelids begin to droop, and she falls to what I guess are her knees, glasses slipping off. Within moments, she’s curled up and sleeping on the ground.

Well, no time like the present I suppose. I toss a pokéball at the Chantlette and watch as it jiggles weakly, not enough energy used for a proper shake.

*Ding!* the ball digitizes and de-digistructs, being sent to my PC.

“Alright! That makes...” I pause to do a mental headcount of my team. “Nine! Alright, I’m on a roll!”

So I got some training done and got a bigger party. I notice though, that I’m down to my last pokéball and one Great Ball, so I’ll have to hit the ‘Mart soon. I look around and see that at this point, the pokémon of the forest are scarce, probably more willing to be hidden than captured or beaten so I figure I’ve cleared out this area. Well I guess I’ll head out to the plains proper and see what’s out there now that the migration is over.

I see a Munchlax waddling around and consider it, but if I catch it it’ll eat everything I have, so I pass it up. I see some Pidgey but they fly away. Then I see a strange-looking snake pokémon with... well, all the colors really. I mean, this could give Rainbow Dash a run for her money as ‘most colorful’. Maybe not catching it, but I can beat it. “Lunaverde, go get ‘em!”

The snake pokémon rises a bit from the grass and hisses menacingly, “Raaain!~” it quickly slides into the grass and comes up full-body green. It quickly slides up on a rock.

Must be Camoflauge or something. Well, that puts it in perfect position for “Silver Wind” the pokémon is hit by the wind and topples over in surprise, disappearing into the tall grass for a moment. Damn, it ran away, oh well better luck nex-

The pokémon launches itself from the grass, no longer mono-colored, and wraps itself around Lunaverde, crimping her wings and making her fall to the ground. The snake latches its jaws round the back of Lunaverde’s head, body fully entwining my pokémon’s.

Well, no idea what type it is normally but since it doesn’t require movement and it’s close... “Absorb!”

My pokémon begins to try drawing in energy, but the snake simply shakes its head, disrupting my pokémon’s concentration, coils closing further. I hear a faint pop from Lunaverde’s exoskeleton, and she gives a wheezy cry.

“Okay, tag out. GLaDoS, you’re up!” I throw out the potato, but the return function seems to be disrupted by the snake’s coiling. Damn, Lunaverde is being trapped by a Wrap attack! “GLaDoS, get that snake off Luna!” Hey that’s a good name, Luna... the night Princess probably won’t mind, right? I pause for a moment realizing my command. “And don’t use electricity!” if GLaDoS zaps the snake, it’ll hit Luna too, limiting my options.

GLaDoS nods, and sends rootlets out, grabbing the pokémon by the tail with, agile, dexterous and gentle motions. Quickly, the pokémon is unwrapped, and Luna gasps, crawling away with her wings almost bent in half and severely crumpled. I realize now I’m not that good at instructing ‘glass cannon’ pokémon like her just yet, gonna need some training myself...

I recall Luna and order GLaDoS to “Fry that sucker!” the potato complies, golden-yellow electrical arcs surging down his vines to zap the snake pokémon who convulses into a variety of pretzel-like contortions. The pokémon, once GLaDoS is done zapping it, hangs still for several seconds. After a moment, I realize it’s turned brown. Then, it begins to come alive again, quickly winding along the vines that were supposed to be holding it.
“It’s Ground type now, Vine Whip!”

The attack from another set of roots slap home, and the pokémon hisses and falls off the first set of vines, rolling into a tight knot on the ground, head covered by the rest of its body. “Raaain.” it hisses, sounding disgruntled as it shifts back to its normal rainbow coloration.

“Any other types you wanna try, or you gonna give?”

The pokémon sullenly hides under its coils, hissing again.

Yeah, it gives. “Alright then, seeya, I gotta take care of Luna.” That said, I call her out and she immediately covers herself as best she can. “Don’t worry, I got something for you.” I look through my bag for a super potion before I see something better: my sitrus berry plant has finally bore fruit, giving me two of them in total. I give them both to Luna. “Here you go girl. Sorry about getting you hurt so much.”

Luna gratefully accepts the berries, pulling them to her face and nibbling them, wings uncrimping a touch, her legs reaching athletically back to straighten the pokémon’s wings.

She finishes the second berry off and looks much better, a cumulative total of most of her health returned. I pull out my éTech and check her. Yep, back in the green, though still kinda close to yellow. And she’s high enough level to know Mega Drain! Yes! And I think of something else to make her a better physical fighter. I pull out the TM case and get my reusable copy of Aerial Ace. “What do you think girl? Wanna give it a shot?”

She coos and looks at it, the spots on her compound eyes following the reflection on it.

“Take that as a ‘yes’ then.” I place the disk to her... well, where her forehead would be but whatever and wait for the disk to do its thing. I wait a few moments, but nothing happens. She ruffles her fluffy wings, looking up at me.

“Guess that’s a no-go then. Oh well, Mega Drain is good enough. You did pretty good today... I’m proud of you sticking with me even though I keep getting you beat up. I’ll do my best to remember your low Defense stat in the future, okay?”

At Luna’s response in the form of a small chirrup, I recall her and GLaDoS. Hold on a second... I keep the Aerial Ace disk out and summon Ghowl out. “This should work for you, yeah? Whatcha think? Aerial Ace?” The Ghowl nods, and leans forward, bowing its head for my benefit. Damn, this is a well-behaved pokémon, Amy must have done a bang-up job before traded to me. I’ll have to remember to call her up and thank her some time.

The disk responds the way it should this time and the move is transferred. “There, now you can use your beak and talons in attacks.” I decide to let Ghowl stay perched on my shoulder as I head back to Great Barrier in the hints of the sun beginning to set. Today was good. Troublesome... but good.

Chapter 71

We watch a couple more of the battles unfold, Rarity commenting on their style, me commenting on their choice of move and countermove, and Twilight asking questions; a few are ones I’d never thought to ask, like ‘why does a Charmeleon use firebreath instead of projecting from the fire on its tail?’ and ‘if the Pokédex says Tangela’s innards are unknown, how do they know if it’s alright when they scan one?’

A few others follow and I’m stumped. I just shrug. I at least give my two cents on the Tangela question “Maybe when we scan it it’s more like Western medicine as opposed to Eastern. So, they’re comparing its current standing to that of what an average, unharmed Tangela is like?”

“But... what about the varying levels? Not all Tangela are the same, so... is it just looking for proportionate health rather than actual current health? That’s... odd.”

I nod. “Yeah, medicine practices being different depending on their location of origin are weird in themselves.”

After four more battles, the sun is beginning to set. A small group of trainers still intend to battle, but it’s time for us to do the late-night caving run before we head off tomorrow.

I gather the girls, the three of us walking along with a pep in our step, likely from the thrill of seeing something new without any chance of actual danger; as well, we’ll be closer to those constellation shapes.

We arrive at the same time as four other people, and the tram shows up minutes later. Twilight seems to be chatting with a young man in a lab coat, while Rarity is back to doodling on her éTech pad as the tram starts up. Throughout the ride, I keep my eyes locked on the windows of the tram, as the cliff face goes by... because the first thing I had noted on walking in was the clear floor of the vehicle.

I’m not looking down, I’m not looking down... God this window is boring...

Thankfully, I’m spared from the dilemma of ‘look down or be bored’ by someone poking my arm. I turn around, keeping my head straight ahead so as not to glance down. Please don’t let them be shorter than me...

I find myself mechanically lowering my gaze to the young boy sitting with his back to the solid, not-transparent tram wall. “Hiya mister!” he says, grinning at me.

“Can I help you?” I ask, locking my eyes onto his. They’re brown.

“I noticed you’ve got pokemon; what kinds’ya got?” he asks.

“Well, right now I’ve got a Bellsprout, a Geodude who was my first pokemon, a Gulpar, this Litwick who followed me from a haunted house, and a Geistowl which I got in a trade... kind of a rag-tag team really.”

“Wooow... I’ve got a Snakapillar, ana-ana Eevee!” he says, before reaching over to pick up the sleeping pokemon by his side, who wakes up from the action. The little pokemon looks up at me, confused for a moment before smiling, batting at my nose with a paw.

I boop the Eevee in return and grin. “You gonna evolve it?” I ask before going for the followup. “What’s it gonna be?”

“Idunno. But I loves ‘im!” he says, before holding Eevee in a close hug, the pokemon making happy noises and clearly enjoying the hug. At this rate, it’ll be an Umbreon in no time.

And in that case... “Well, it might not be long, so you may want to look into it.”

“Oh, okay.” he says, face still stuffed into the chest fluff of the little pokemon, who is nearly as big as the kid’s torso.

I think about evolution on my own team. Bellsprout is one level away from it, Geodude is only two or three now. Litwick still has a ways to go. Not sure about Chantlette, and that’s just my current six. I pull up the éTech’s Box Manager app (which should have been in the games since Gold, seriously) and get a look at the others.

Well, the only ones who can evolve are Gloom, Magomental, and Carvanha. Gloom needs a stone either way, and the other two are a ways off, requiring around level thirty each.

Maybe after I evolve Geodude and Bellsprout I’ll work a bit more on Luna and Carvanha. I close the app and continue looking out at the rock wall beyond my window.

Sure, I’m not gonna see another ancient tablet thing, but I’d like to see something.

The tram clicks to a stop right as my head raises the last bit of the way, and we all shuffle out, the tour guide waving us towards the entrance to the larger cave system. High, high above, the lips of the cliffs loom, and the sky is obscured by the dark-gray fog in the deeps. The town itself looks like a tiny spider’s web suspended above, and I feel a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach at the thought of how far down we’ve gone, given that they still don’t know where the bottom is.

Needless to say, I hurry into the cave instead of looking over the edge like many of the others stop to do. Bright blue lights are embedded in the walls of the obviously-artificial entrance, designed to look like the open mouth of an old mine, but much larger. The tour guide begins talking about the history of mining the walls for valuable gemstones and the rich, rich veins of metal; from iron and copper, to platinum and iridium.

That’s a good question I just thought of. “What exactly do you use iridium for if you can get steel so much easier?”

“Actually, Iridium is used as a hardening agent in high-grade steel. It’s also nutritious in certain geovore diets.” the tour guide says.

I nod and continue on. Mostly the cave is well-lit but there are a sparse few dark corners where something could be hiding... if they were about half a foot tall. To sum; it’s fairly well-lit. “I know there’s more natural areas of the cave without light for pokemon, but has there ever been any contesting for the entrance?”

“Yes, actually; there’s a fairly large swarm of Zubat and Golbat that roost in the larger cave further in during the day; it took a few months of hard work on the part of the Otari Ranger Corps to get them to let us conduct our tours through here safely at night. In return, this area is restricted, and off-limits to trainers trying to catch or battle wild pokemon.” she explains cheerily, as we step into the much larger cavern, the scratched and scuffed ceiling showing the extent of its use. The ground is kept clean, however, and there’s ancient pictures scratched into the walls. “What’s even more interesting is that these paintings are signs of an ancient human civilization that made their homes this far into the chasm, with no modern tools. Though much other signs are gone, it’s suspected they had reached the bronze or iron age by the time they had vacated the chasm.” as she speaks she waves an arm to the pictures. “The art is, as far as anyone can tell, is a chronicle of them fleeing a homeland that burned, fleeing from the anger of a god. Likely, they had aggravated a local, but powerful fire type, such as a Beezooka, which chased them far before they settled here.” she concludes. However... part of the picture looks like it’s showing a bell tower. A voice, like a part of my own brain turned sinister, whispers, REMEMBER

I grab Twilight and point to it. “You remember that too, right?” I whisper. “The Tower?” Judging by Twilight going pale at the image of the picture and the faint twitch of an eye, I’d say she remembers... and heard the voice, too. She looks badly shaken.

At about this point, I hear the tour guide saying that she’s about to turn off the lights, to give us a feeling for how dark it must’ve been for the original settlers of this dark cave. The blue glow vanishes, leaving us in total darkness... except for the pictures on the wall, which seem to be glowing brightly without emitting any light into the darkness all around, like an afterimage on the back of my eyelids from staring into a bright light. Everyone in the group yelps and chatters, muffling my own surprised noises and Twilight’s terrified squeal. It’s about this time I realize that Rarity isn’t with us.

I squeeze Twilight’s arm tighter as the pictures seem to flow in a slow circle around the perimeter of the room. “This is not part of the tour... just don’t flip out and act normal when the lights go ba-” the lights flicker back on, the glowing pictures perfectly normal in the artificial light. “-ack on.” I immediately look around for Rarity, who is just amongst the other people, talking about the darkness. Apparently Twilight and I are the only ones who saw that. “Just act natural.” I repeat.

Twilight gives a shaky nod, as the tour guide leads the small group onwards. The next cave is full of various banded rock formations and has a few interesting fossils embedded in the walls, and everyone is told they can lean in close and even touch them, as everything here is very durable.

Then, she steps over towards us, a look of concern on her face. “Are you two alright?” she asks, looking between the two of us, specifically Twilight’s white-knuckled grip on my arm.

“It’s fine.” I lie, covering for us. “Just... had a few bad experiences with really dark places. Bit of lingering fear, nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry! It’s a regular part of the tour, I didn’t think to ask about something like this.” she says, looking genuinely apologetic.

“It’s fine, we should be facing our fears anyways.”

Twilight gives me a sideways glance and, when the tour guide returns to the front, mouths out a silent ‘Bell Tower?’

I nod and reply, “Likely the same one. Something is really wrong about that place, and it reached as far as here. This could be more serious than I thought.”

Twilight shakes her head. “We... we’ll have to find out more about the Bell Tower. Maybe Dr. Franklin will know something?” she suggests, and I nod.

“At the very least it won’t hurt to ask. If only I could remember exactly what... well, what I said when we were back there.”

Twilight nods. “I... I can remember what you said, but I know part of it was said by me, too... it was so...” she shudders again, unable to describe the feeling. ‘Oily’ is the closest word I can conjure, but even that does it no justice.

“We can talk later. Let’s just get through this tour.” But something in the back of my head reminds me of something that... honestly scares me deeply. ‘It was just a tiny one, wasn’t even the real thing, but it put so much shit in my head...’ Question is, will I end up like Stross... or Clarke? M-moving on, we come to the next part of the tour.

The tour guide shows a long stretch of wall, covered in pits and small breaks. “This is an area where the local ground and rock types regularly shuffle fossils and elemental stones closer to the surface for us; aren’t they so nice?” she says, sounding chipper. Next to her is a small donation eTech reader, which I assume is to maintain the cave tour and keeping everyone in it happy. “As such, it’s a spot where you can easily uncover fossils, stones, and other little things to keep! There’s a small set of excavation tools; each person may collect up to two items! Be sure to check them here at the counter before you pocket them so I can identify them for the census!” she says, before letting us loose on the rugged rock wall.

I must say, the real thing is nothing at all like the minigame in the Underground from Diamond and Pearl. That said, I have no way of knowing what I’ll find, so it’ll likely be more interesting than just a plate or a Green Shard.

I tap and hammer and chip away at the wall in my little designated spot, using a heavier hand-pick for the first part until I come across a chunk of dark, greenish rock that visibly stands out against the pale gray and red-brown striations in this section. Swapping for the smaller tools, I quickly uncover... a Leaf stone! Guess Gloom is going to evolve after all, just need to get it some more moves before the evolution dries its movepool up.

Going forward, I’m not finding anything else of interest in this vein and Rarity shows me a piece of shimmering clay that she found. Considering I could use a hold item like that, and she’s better at finding valuables even without magic, we agree to swap places.

Settling down in her area, I’m digging along with not much progress. Seems that lump of Light Clay she found was all there was but- wait, is that the edge of a Nugget?

I begin carefully picking around the chunk of yellow-gold material, finding it to be a spoke or spike of some kind. Confused, I follow the jagged piece towards its center, and find a starfish-shaped chunk of yellow rock... better known as a Sunstone.

Cool, now I can get a Bellossom- or do I want a Vileplume? Shit, this just made things harder... I have no idea what I may want... It’ll be a huge difference between the two, and I’m stuck. I sigh and bring the two stones over to the tour guide and she looks them over.

“Very nice finds! Which will you be using first?” she asks brightly, smile never leaving her face.

I shrug. “Whatever I decide to turn my Gloom into.”

“Well, I’d go with a Bellossom; I’d love to have such a beautiful flower-pokemon with me all the time!” she says, giggling slightly. Well, she’s definitely living the stereotype, but at least she’s friendly.

“Yeah, but have you seen how far into the league a Vileplume can take you? They are tanky little soldiers.”

“Hmm... I guess so. And Vileplume nectar is a vital part of many perfumes...” she says, looking contemplative. Ugh, this doesn’t actually help me decide at all.

Rarity comes over having found two more items from my spot, demonstrating once again her vastly superior eye for detail.

She hands back the Clay, taking instead a chunk of glittering Amber, and a Dawn Stone, which glimmers softly, even in the relatively low light. Twilight comes over with a Hard Stone and some kind of long, fossilized, needle-like stinger.

We’re all checked out and eventually so is the rest of the group, everyone having found at least one thing. Calling this a successful dig, the tour guide leads us onwards, to the last part of the tour: a massive section of the cave system where there is no wall separating it from the chasm outside, a railing built with what looks like heavy glass panels built between the bowed-out metal bars, and she lets everyone know they can kneel or even lay down on the glass and look down.

According to her and the people who do crowd around it, the ‘first floor’ of the chasm is visible, the second drop also in the distance.

I’ll take their words for it.

“Sir, why don’t you come over and look at some of the constellations?” the tour guide asks. I swallow a retort that’d be far more rude than she’s earned, and instead just shake my head. “Well, if you’re certain, sir...” she says, and the group oohs and aaahs at the terrifying, lethal drop.

Once everyone is done tempting fate, we make our way through a looping tunnel that takes us back to the entrance, peeking out of a door hidden behind a ‘support’ at the beginning of the tour. As we’re boarding the tram, the tour guide thanks us all for the donations people gave and for taking the tour, and several other ‘save the wailords’ type talk about the caves and cliffs.

We eventually just head back to the pokemon center, getting a room before we all simultaneously pass out. Today was exhausting and absolutely awful. First the heights, then the Bell Tower fiasco, and now I have a choice to make that’ll dictate how I use my Gloom from the point of my choice onwards.

I just... wanna sleep.

In the morning, we’re packing up, and Rarity shows off her new versions of the desert-wear she’d been working on. Her own is a rather pretty-looking set of billowing, majestic-looking white, purple, and gold robes that give her the look of a princess in (rather poor) disguise, or perhaps just a princess who expects to see the sun in a desert eventually. Twilight’s looks more like it’s meant for a guy, except for some of the cuts to the outfit that are evidently made for letting her skin breathe. Specifically, it’s almost a spitting image of Jafar’s ‘visier’ outfit, but in purple and pink, not black and red, and with an open coif and cape to help shield her from the sun. My own is now much nicer, baggy pants that come down to just under my knees before constricting to a snug fit, footwraps to keep the sand out, tucked inside of heavier boots for better traction, and the top is something suited to a king out of a romance novel set in Agrabah than anything truly historic, but it looks really good and will keep the sun off of most of me.

I do insist she make the chest actually close. I don’t have manly-man pecs to show off.

Well... okay, they’re nice, but not what I’d call ‘manly’ by any stretch.

Either way, they’re packed up. According to the map, there’s only a thin slice of arid badlands between here and the next mountain range, and it’s either cross there or follow the range itself until we arrive at Cacturnopolis.

Fun fact from the map’s guide to the city: the Cacturne and Cacnea that it’s named after are actually imported and simply took well to the location.

Wonder what sorts are native to this desert, if the standard cacti pokemon are out? Though I do recall that Senifluf thing from the puzzle tower. It’s apparently a native pokemon.

We trek across the bridge to the far side of the chasm (dontlookdowndontlookdowndontlookdown) and get to the other side, and begin to walk the winding path down the mountainside, this one bare of trees and covered in tall, sharp rocks. The long, steep slope stretches away from us, and I can see the badlands below, full of deep cracks and small canyons of its own, rust-red as it leads towards the shimmering, golden-brown desert to the northeast.

The air grows warmer and drier with every step towards the mountain’s base, but there’s still clouds in the sky, trapped and huddling between the two mountain ranges like lost, scared sheep. By the time we make it down off the mountain, we’re all exhausted and overheated, and take the time to rehydrate at a well-placed pump spring, taking a few minutes to pump the murky stillwater from it first.

Rarity, obviously, has reservations about drinking directly from the pump and has to fill her canteen twice. Once for herself and once to carry. Twilight, thankfully, seems to have gotten used to the idea that ‘roughing it’ means doing unladylike things sometimes. Though I will have to have a talk with her about leaning over when wearing a skirt that makes my highschool cheer squad look modest.

As we’re getting resupplied, a Luxray saunters out of the badlands, a few Luxio and a couple Shinx following. When they see we’re pouring water, the Luxray steps forward and paws at the pump, before looking expectantly at us. Considering that the pump does have a trough under it, I’d assume it’s meant to be used with pokemon in mind. Still, the dex had said nothing about the Luxray line being found in Otaria.

As Twilight pumps some water out for them, I point my eTech in their direction, my brows furrowing when I get a ‘Pokemon not found in regional Dex. Please download National Dex. Pay 5000[pokedollars] to upgrade now?’

I hit ‘No’ as fast as I can. My bank can’t handle a dip that big, no fucking way. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to figure it out another time.

All I know is these can’t be from Sinnoh, it’s way too far to swim, that’s for sure. Though I guess if one got released and started a pride with a pokemon in the same egg group... That’s possible.

The small group of big cats drink their fill, get a quick bath, and then depart, Twilight and Rarity both having cooed at their fur and appearance, the pokemon being remarkably friendly for apparently wild ones. Only supports my theory on their origin, really.

We start off again, making our way across the dry, cracked dirt, leaving plumes of reddish dust to follow us. Overhead, I see what looks like a bunch of strange kites or parachutes, drifting slowly across the sky, connected to small clouds or something.

Interesting... Maybe these will show up. I aim the eTech at one and it takes a second but comes up with... Drifblim? Okay, that’s a bizarre alternate design... And the others are even stranger. I could catch one... if they weren’t out of reach of my farthest throw.

What catches my eye next is a Wailord-sized pokemon puttering along behind the group, dark purple and gold in color, looking like a zeppelin with a cloud in place of a gondola, and six long ‘pennants’ just like a regular Drifblim’s hands trail behind it. What the hell is it? The others are all definitely ‘Drifblim sized’, but this one is massive compared to them. A four-vane propeller on the nose pulls it resolutely after the others, though much slower.

Whatever it is, it’s huge and is by far one of the largest, or at least longest, flying type I’ve ever seen. It also has no visible wings, so it’s likely related to Drifblim. Maybe an evolution? The eTech confirms my suspicion, bringing up its file.

Zeppelaft, the Dirigible pokemon.
- These large, placid pokemon are said to never land, drifting endlessly among the clouds. The propeller at their rear spins continuously.
- It is said that if a Zeppelaft's propeller were to stop, all wind in the region would go still. This is, however, not proven.
- They pluck berries and steal food in passing as they drift by. Their six hands are quite deft, and are strong enough to lift a Rhydon in each arm and continue flying.
Ghost Type, Flying Type

I ask for just how big they usually are, so I can get an idea of just how high up it is in order to be... huge, sure, but at least what seems to be many many miles up.... 23 feet?! Okay, so not as huge as I’d thought, but still big! Oh, that’s the nose-to-tail measurement. Smaller still, but pretty big nonetheless. And with that comment of how strong its arms are... man, it could carry us anywhere!

That would certainly be beneficial later down the line. Maybe I should find a Drifloon to evolve...

Turns out, Drifloon are recorded to be in the area, meaning I’d have a chance... if it wasn’t followed by many Chatter posts about the thermals in the desert making them fly way too high to catch without a flying type or really, really long-ranged pokemon. Maybe Geistowl...

Yeah, it’s a new ‘route’, I think I can indulge myself with a new pokemon. A series of much smaller fliers, all purple and shaped somewhat like stunt-flier paper airplanes towing clouds come into view up above, these easily in range of Geistowl.

I toss out my bird pokemon and it flutters silently onto my shoulder, apparently having decided on its preferred perch. I nudge it into the air and tell it to go after the paper-airplane things which my eTech claims are Drifloon.

Geistowl jerks straight up into the air before opening its wings, slicing into the sky as a blank sheet bird-shaped white on the sapphire-blue sky. Twilight and Rarity are both walking along as I do, looking up to watch the ensuing battle. I also see Twilight readying a pokeball, evidently thinking about whether to send Spearow into the fight.

I shrug. There’s room for duplicates on this team I suppose. I nod to Twilight and Spearow flies out of her thrown ball, tailing Geistowl with what I can only imagine is a look of hopefully-friendly competition.

The two peel off towards different targets, and the swarm of paper airplanes scatter, and I realize more than half of them aren’t the normal purple-and-yellow colors, ranging from green and blue to white and red, dozens of patterns and shapes on their wings. Geistowl looks as confused on which to go for as I am, so I single out one that’s mostly red along the body, a jagged transition to white withe a thin stripe of blue between the other colors on each wing. A white star-outline is centered on its back as it flips upside-down above me, a little face visible where a cockpit would be on an actual plane.

Geistowl dives, and I call for a standard opener: Confuse Ray. If I can get the first turn advantage and get it unstable it should be easy enough for Geistowl to bring down where I can catch it.

My pokemon begins to harry it, using Pursuit to convince it not to try breaking off from the fight and the occasional Aerial Ace to nudge it back into line, very clearly not using its full power as the terrified paper-airplane prepares for a near-ground encounter as I ready a pokeball.

With a heave, I toss my one remaining pokeball and it flies... too far to one side, damnit. I scramble over and snatch up the ball as Geistowl chases the Drifloon back towards me for a second pass.

This time I don’t miss with my throw. The pokemon bounces off the ball, before getting sucked in. The ball falls to the ground, shakes a couple times, then goes still, digistructing away after a few moments in a flash of light. Ha-ha! It didn’t even fight back!

... With how scared it was, I kinda have to wonder if wild Geistowls eat them or something.

Either way, Twilight’s Spearow comes back down, giving me the evil eye, apparently blaming me for Geistowl’s success. It didn’t stand a chance with its primarily-Normal type moveset against the Ghosts.

I go to return Geistowl, Twilight leaving her Spearow on her shoulder. The bird-pokemon seems happy to be out and about for once, but Geistowl definitely looked forward to going back into its ball. Probably, now that I think about it, because it’s a nocturnal pokemon, and it’s the middle of the day twenty miles from a desert.

Either way, I get a dirty look each time Spearow cocks its head my way. I know I’m not exactly the greatest guy ever, but what did I do? Heck, I taught it Aerial Ace.

We continue on and come to what appears to be a fight between two wild pokemon. A Marowak and... a pair of, uh... no idea. I take out the eTech once again.

Shriekoid, the Pack Hunter pokemon.
- These pokemon prefer to group up, unlike the solitary Tremoid. They can see in the infrared spectrum, and their reckless nature leads to them being very hard to avoid.
- The strange evolutionary processes of this pokemon are well-documented, and are being researched to see, perhaps, other pokemon that seemingly have no evolutions may instead simply have very bizarre ones.
Ground Type, Normal Type.

The dex also mentions it evolves from a pokemon called Tremoid and into a pokemon called Blastoid... which evolves into Tremoid? What the actual fuck?

As I look up the data, the Marowak uses its bone club to smack one Shriekoid aside and fend the other off, and I see that there’s a Cubone huddled behind the Marowak.

The question is... do we help, or just move on? I’m still deciding when the entry states they are nomadic, and aggressive carnivores. It makes me rethink our choices and I suggest we walk around.

The scene is a good several meters away, so it’d be a big circle and-

I hear what I can only describe as a Metal Sound attack and I turn to see Rarity and Glorious going to defend the mother and child. This has ‘bad idea’ written all over it, but it seems Rarity is putting wild pokemon before personal safety.

Oh well, if we are going to help we may as well do it the right way. They’re ground type, so... I send out Gulpar and Bellsprout, Twilight getting Spheal who, honestly looks like it would rather be anywhere else.

As we send out our pokemon, another quartet of the Shriekoids arrives, coming out of the tight arroyos of the cracked earth. The six pokemon quickly square off, still partially outnumbering us.

Twilight starts with ordering an Aurora Beam, the multi-hued laser knocking one of the Shriekoids about to attack the Marowak and Cubone to the ground.

I have Bellsprout slink it’s way up to the Marowak, where it offers a leaf/hand to the parent. The Marowak hesitates but when Bellsprout just Vine whips a Shriekoid, grabbing and slinging it a good several meters away into the hard cracked ground, the Marowak takes the proffered leaf and the two begin work on the closest. I have Gulpar keep the further ones away from the fight. Rarity and Glorious are basically acting as support and Twilight is using Powder Snow to group-hit the ones that Gulpar rounds up, the little terrors unsure how to act in the presence of another predator that is clearly out of its environment.

In time, the group is sent shrieking into the badlands, their eyeless faces battered from the assault. The little mouths on legs are clearly looking more for easy meals than a real fight at the moment. Rarity is tending to the Marowak and using some of her berries, pouring the Sitrus berry’s juice directly onto the wounds, and I watch as they close up before my eyes. I think I may have found one of the ingredients for the higher-grade Potions.

Granted, I’ve always had my suspicions they were made from berries, just... maybe not so directly. I figured it was either synthesized or modified.

I stop for a moment as I see the Cubone, seeing the bladed skull it’s wearing, definitely from a Fraxure. I look over at the Marowak, pulling out the eTech again and asking if it can identify gender. The Marowak, it seems, is male. Huh, guess the Cubone thing holds true...

Poor guy. Oh well... Nothing to do now. Best to leave it with its dad. We recall our pokemon and-

I’m thrown off my feet as something tills the earth, and the Marowak grabs his kid and makes a break for the rocky mountains. A large, solid shape surfaces for a moment, and the Jaws theme begins playing in my head.

I don’t have time to pull up my eTech this time as it breaches from the hard earth nearby, definitely moving towards us as we all scramble to our feet and begin to sprint for the mountainside, hoping the Marowak knows what he’s doing in heading there. The sound of the creature surfacing behind us, like an evil, land-based dolphin, follows us as we sprint away. Another Shriekoid steps out from behind a rock, right in my path. I vault over it as if I’d actually practiced, a move so fluid and perfect I’d never do it again if I tried. Sparing a glance back, a beaked maw splits open the ground and pulls the predator under without pausing for a moment. The scared, pained shrieks of the grabbed pokemon as orange blood washes the ground every time it surfaces spur us on faster, and I watch as our antagonist simply munches the pokemon on the go.

We need to get away from this thing somehow. Twilight looks to me. “Remember the Nidoking? M- Maybe Spheal could-”

“No time!” I shout. “Just run!”

I look about my surroundings, checking for anything I could use, but it seems scaling the rocky hills like the Marowak did is the best option. Assuming this thing can’t jump.

Ahead, I spy the Marowak, which is gesturing for us to come closer, and is atop a large pile of rocks, jutting from the side of the mountain. We all steer towards it, ignoring smashed knees and skinned hands as we climb like crazy to the top. Below, the pokemon in the dirt circles several times, giving me the chance to ID it with the eTech.

Tremoid, the Ancient Wurm pokemon.
- The large pokemon burrow beneath the dirt and sand, and hunt by using vibrations in the ground. These pokemon are especially attracted to rhythmic motions on the ground.
- The strange evolutionary processes of this pokemon are well-documented, and are being researched to see, perhaps, other pokemon that seemingly have no evolutions may instead simply have very bizzare ones.
Ground Type.

H-holy shit, this thing evolves into those tiny Shriekoid? And it ate one?! The Tremoid slowly works on leaving, porpoising through the dirt and heading back out into the Badlands proper.

What the hell, pokemon?!