My Little Pokemon: Sun and Moon

by WezzaHD

Rating: everyone
Tags: Sunset Shimmer, Pokémon, Discord, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Spike, Adventure, Equestria Girls
Length: 87067

In the Equestria Region exists researcher Twilight Sparkle who, after discovering a terrifying legend, must set out to save everyone... And, unfortunately for her, make some friends.

In the Equestria region, a young researcher named Twilight begins the next phase of her studies, only to be thrust into a life she didn't expect or want. She has been learning about Pokemon for as long as she can remember, from the very best, but now Celestia's pupil must embark on a familiar yet different journey, reluctantly making allies to stop the storm of chaos coming.

inspired by the art of SelenaEde

Published 2014-12-22 15:40:03 UTC
Last updated 2023-12-31 23:54:30 UTC

The Journey Begins

There was nothing. Up, down, left, right, front, back, not a single thing she seemed to be able to see. All she could do was simply walk forward. Feeling a wind blowing, she raised an arm to block the gust going in her face. Soon, things became clearer. She still couldn’t really see, but at least gained an idea of what was around her. Firstly, it was dark. Almost pitch black. Secondly, a thick mist was layered onto that very night. She could barely see her own hand in front of her. Her arm was heavy, and with each step she seemed to slowly get more fatigued.

Her first instinct was to use her free hand to find her phone, a torch, basically anything on her person that could generate some sort of light. Six times, she thought she had found something that might help, but each was a disappointment. The first time had been a piece of metal in a specific shape, attached to a piece of fabric. Initially she thought she might be able to reflect it on something, but any light seemed determined not to show itself so she put it in her chest pocket. The second time was against her sleeve, after she bumped into something that felt like a tree. It was round and hard with something stemming at the top, likely a fruit. As she held onto the fruit she noticed an uncomfortable feeling in her feet like a pebble or something had made its way into her shoe. She knelt down to try and dig out whatever had slipped into her shoes. In her right shoe, was what she definitely knew to be some sort of glass or stone, while in the right shoe there was a leaf that seemed to have fell in when she bumped the tree. She also felt something brush through her hair and brought her hands up to feel something small, rubbery and stretchy to add to her handful of junk. She sighed, wishing she had something to actually help her.

Suddenly, a glimmer in the night. A smile came to her face.

She was happy when she finally found some direction, and walked forward to the small blue light. She got closer and closer, ignoring the increasing wind as well as the chills that began to run over her back. Ignoring these became increasingly difficult as she neared the striking blue light, while a beeping rang in her ears only becoming louder and louder until…

“Huh?!” She shot up out of bed, eyes wide. It took her a second to register her surroundings; a larger than average room with clean white walls, two beds AND a large amount of shelves that nearly covered the lower half of those walls. Then, her look of shock quickly turned to a smile on her face.

“It’s time!” A young girl burst out of bed, screaming. A smile on her face. She burst up, jumping and running around her bedroom before.

“Uugh…” In a separate bed, a younger boy groaned. “Twilight..;. You’re being really loud…”m He said. But the girl didn’t hear him. She was too busy running to the bathroom with a change of clothes in hand.

“Can’t help it Spike, it’s today after all~!” Twilight’s sing-song voice chimed from behind the door. Before even a full minute, the door burst open and from her pajamas, she had gone to a short -sleeved white T-shirt covered by a purple sweater vest and a skirt a deeper shade of purple.

“...Come one Twi, just go back to sleep.” Spike said, half his face bvisible from his pillow.

“How can I sleep on a day like this?” She said with a smile. “Because this is the day I…” She ran to the window, opening it. “...Go back to bed because it’s still not … Light out.” She turned back to her bed, or more to the nightstand behind it and looked to the alarm clock that showed the time of 04:00.

“Uh… Hehehe…” She blushed in embarrassment.

Her alarm bell rang out.

“It’s time for real now!” Twilight jumped up, running to the bathroom so she could change again.

“Come oooon…” Spike groaned. “Can’t you wait five more minutes?”

“I already waited until the alarm Spike, what more do you want?” She said, before picking up her bag making sure it was properly organised. She hadn’t spent an hour organising her back till 05:00 for nothing after all. “Now come oooon. You need to get ready too!” That goes for you too Hoothoot… Where is Hoothoot?” She stopped and looked around.

“Hoot.” A voice came from below her. She looked down, and something hopped out from under her bed. A brown bird with a large circular body, a tiny pair of wings that stood on one leg.

“There you are.” She smiled, leaning down. Hoothoot hopped onto her arm.

“Hoot.”

“That’s right, it is time to go.”

“Hoot.”

“I don’t know why he’s not dressed either.”

“Stop making comments through Hoothoot to me.” Spike sighed, standing up. “I’ll be down in a minute.” But she was already out of the room, and he heard a knocking in the hallway.

“Muuuum! Daaaad!” She yelled., banging on her parent’s door. “It’s time, we have to get up get up get up!”

“Five more minutes…” Her mother Velvet said, still groggy through the door.

“Why does everyone keep saying that?! My advancement won’t wait 5 minutes!” Twilight whined.

“Wait downstairs and get yourself some apple juice.” Night Light said.

“Okay…” Twilight huffed, before turning around.

“And don’t get your brother to take you either!”

“Aww!” The young girl groaned. Her brother was a busy guy, but he’d stayed the night so he could see Twilight off collecting her trainer’s licence. Her father chuckled.

“We’ll be down soon!”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay!” Her face lit back up and she ran downstairs, going to the fridge and pouring herself some apple juice. She sat on the table with a huff, tapping her foot impatiently. She periodically looked between the kitchen door, the window where a Beautifly flew past on a lovely cloudless day. She leaned forward through the door to see if they were going to magically appear on the stairway. They did not. So she sighed, before walking upstairs back to her room. She entered, seeing it empty meant that Spike was probably getting changed somewhere else.

Twilight went straight to her bookshelf, knowing exactly what she was looking for. She got to the right shelf and moved out a few gemstones Spike kept, before getting the book she wanted: “Timeless Tales of Legends Among Us.” A book of rare and legendary Pokemon, along with the tales surrounding them. She definitely found them interesting, especially since some were even true. Though most of those she’d read hundreds of times already. She wanted to flick through for something she’d not often looked at.

The Renegade Pokemon Giratina banished and trapped in its own world? No she’d read that one 20 times already. Perhaps Yveltal, the Destruction Pokemon? Far too morbid for her mood. She kept coming through, and was skimming through Cresselia’s legends, before coming across a name in it: Darkrai. That wasn’t a tale she was very familiar with. She flicked through as quickly as she could to find the page, before smiling. There it was, the page on the Pitch Black Pokemon.

The counterpart to Cresselia, Darkrai. The book told stories of people who fell victim to Darkrai being sent into nightmares of which had no end. They would never wake up from these dreams without the help of Cresselia. It turned to shadows and resided on Newmoon Island. It even mentioned something about it being host to a great power that could plunge the world in darkness.

“Twilight, come on!” She heard her dad call out to her.

“Sorry!” She yelled, running back downstairs where her father waited.

“Honestly… He said. “You’ve got to be here if you’re gonna insist we all get up at your set time.”

“Sorry.” She giggled, blushing. “I was just reading an interesting book.”

“It’s fine.” He smiled, patting his daughter’s head. “We’ve come to expect that by now.”

And so, they each sat down. Twilight perched next to her older brother.

“Hey little trainer.” Shining chuckled.

“Hi.” She grinned, hugging him.

“You must be thinking about what you’re going to do with that licence now that you can start a journey.”

“Well that’s easy.” She smiled. “I’m going to help Celestia even more and study Pokemon to higher levels!”

“Well… With a licence you’ll be able to go to all corners of the region. You could utilise that more.”

“Well yeah, there’ll be more places to study and research.” She smiled. “But my home is here. And so is Miss Celestia. Oh!” She turned to the clock. “And we have to go see her soon!”

“We’ll get our things together soon.” Velvet smiled. “Then, we’ll all go with you.”

“She said she has something to tell me too!”

“What do you think it might be, Twily?”

“It could be so many things, like a special item to research or a new area of study.” She gasped. “Do you think it’s a new area of study?! I really hope it’s that.”

Shining chuckled. “Maybe it will.”

“And maybe then…” She gripped a Pokeball in her hand. “Maybe then I’ll be able to use you again.”

“Twilight, an invitation came through the letterbox.” Spike looked at it, holding an envelope. “Looks like Moondancer’s handwriting too. Maybe we could stop at hers first?”

“Maybe later. First let’s get that training licence.”

So, they each got ready, getting their coats and shoes on before heading out into the streets. The city was bright and beautiful, most people walking around having something that cost at least 200 bits on them. Even some of Twilight’s clothes weren’t cheap, but she never cared much about that unless it was someone of her lab coats that she grew too big for. Most of their expressions were either dismissive or smug, though some looked tired and she could hear a few yawns as she walked with her family.

Soon, they found themselves at one of the parks. But, they couldn’t see who they were waiting for.

“Well that’s weird.” Shining frowned. “They should be here by now.”

“Guess they’re running late.”

“Princess Celestia doesn’t get late!” Twilight protested.

“Come on Twily, I’m sure she’ll be here any second.”

“I’m sure we just got the wrong spot. Celestia is the most perfectly punctual person in the region.”

“I think you probably hold that spot, Twi.” Spike remarked.

“Of course not! As much as I would like to think that, Celestia is always on time. We must have the wrong spot is all. I’ll go look for her.” At that, Twilight ran off before anyone could stop hefr.

“Geez, she really is focused.” Her mother gave a slightly tired smile. “Spike, could you go with her? Make sure she doesn’t go too far. We’ll wait for the Champion here.”

“You got it!” Spike replied, before running off in Twilight’s direction.

The young girl in question walked into the park, looking around for any sign of her mentor. As she walked, she heard screaming.

“I’m sure she’s here somewhere.” Twilight frowned, eyeing every person she could find, but there was no sign of her. In her search, she saw a figure in the distance and ran towards her. Under a tree the woman stood, her back turned.

“Miss Celesti-” On closer inspection, she found that she was incredibly wrong. The stranger’s hair and clothes didn’t match in the slightest. This woman was wearing all black, and was a redhead. The shadows were darker than she realised, but still she had been reminded somehow of her mentor. “Oh… Uh, sorry.”

“Give me a break.” The girl was checking her phone. Her head tilted down not allowing for a good look at her.

“I-I was just looking for someone.”

“In case you haven’t noticed, there’s no one else here. They all ran away after they were attacked by a Pokemon. It’s still lurking somewhere here. You should leave while you can.”

“But I need to find her! Or else I’m keeping her waiting!” Twilight proclaimed. The redhead chuckled.

“You won’t be able to handle what’s in there. You’ll just fail.”

Twilight felt a little angry at this, but didn’t say anything. Before she could answer back if she wanted to, the redhead was already walking away. But she had to find her mentor, and if people were in trouble then she needed to act, too!

Soon, she found herself going off the path in her search, but found nothing. She sighed, ready to turn back before something caught her eye. One of the shadows appeared to be moving among the trees, a shadow unlike others, one that didn’t seem to be cast by anyone or anything.

“Hoothoot, Foresight!” Upon order, her Pokemon flew up into action, its eyes glowing like a pair of flashlights that shone straight at the shadow to reveal what she was sure to be some sort of ghost type. Hoothoot only got a partial view, but it was enough for Twilight to see a piercing sapphire eye staring straight at her.

Suddenly. Twilight felt a chill run down her spine. Goosebumps on her arms made themselves clear each second the eye stared at her.

“H-Hoothoot, use-” Suddenly, a blast of cold energy shot at Hoothoot before she could even finish her sentence. The flying-type’s instincts and keen sight allowed it to dart to the side despite its shock. However, once it got its barings and they looked back, the shadow was gone.

“Hoothoot!” She ran to her Pokemon, worried. On the side of its round body,ice was creeping up on it while it shivered. “Hold on!” She reached into her bag after removing it from her back. She pulled out an Ice Heal after rummaging through it for a moment and sprayed it on Hoothoot. Soon, the ice disappeared and the flying-type’s energy returned. It moved its tiny wing up and down before hopping up.

“Hoot!” It cried before flying on Twilight’s shoulder. When she looked back to the shadow, it was gone.

“Where did it go…” Twilight wondered, before hearing a voice call out behind her.

“Twilight!” Spike yelled, running up to her. “Come on! You don’t wanna keep the champion and the professor waiting, right?”

“Oh! Of course! I couldn’t find her! Uhh…” She looked around. The park had been empty save for a few others, no sign of anyone in danger, and her best bet would be to report this to Celestia anyway. “Let’s go back, Spike!” Immediately, she ran back to where her family was.

“Wh- Hey!” Spike yelled, running after her. “I’m supposed to be the one bringing you back!”

When the two kids returned, two extra people were waiting with their family. One was a dark-skinned woman wearing a labcoat, rings in her ears. Her red lips curled into a smile as she saw the family. Twilight found it odd for a professor to have a mohawk, but she decided not to mention it, the woman must have her job for a reason after all. And next to her, was a much taller woman who Twilight definitely recognised. That long multi-coloured hair to the almost regal way she seemed even when just standing still. Eyes that held knowledge the young girl could only dream of looked down at her with a smile.

“Hello, Twilight.” Celestia said. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah I…” She stopped, before clearing her throat to compose herself. “I did, Miss Celestia.” The purple-haired girl nodded.

“You don’t need to be so stiff around me Twilight. It’s a big day for you. That being said… professor?”

“Yes.” The Mohawk woman said, getting something out of her pocket. After rummaging for a moment, she pulled something out and handed it to Twilight, who stared at the device with wonder.

“Is… Is this..?” Pressing a button on the side, the thin device opened up showing two screens turning on.

“Your very own Pokedex. It will serve you well in what comes next.” Zecora said as she reached in her pocket before pulling out a thin sheet of plastic. She handed it to Twilight, who stared at it with wonder.

“My trainer card.” She looked at the photo of herself, narrowing her eyes before nodding. “Looks still looks alright.” Celestia just smiled, remembering how demanding she’d been to the photographer to retake, trying to get the right picture that Twilight deemed ‘befitting of a student of Canterlot trainer’s school’. She had nearly run the photographer’s wits into the ground before thanking him when he finally got the ‘right picture.’

“Those two precious tools are sure to help you in your research; a catalogue for any and every Pokemon, and a symbol that you’re finally an official trainer.”

“Yes!” She jumped up, cheering before looking up at her mentor. “Oh! That reminds me! What IS the next step in my research? Looking into the mystical secrets of the megagestic Ninetales species? Researching the more dangerous-” Her eyes widened. “Hold on a second!” She slid her bag off and began to rummage in it before immediately pulling her book on legendaries.

“Hm?” Celestia looked to Twilight with curiosity as she flipped through the pages.

“Ah! Here it is!” Twilight showed the page to the champion with a look of concern.

“Darkrai…” She read the title.

“It’s an incredibly powerful legendary Pokemon. It travels through the shadows and brings nightmares. I have reason to believe I saw one today in this very city and even, this very park. Hoothoot and I saw it but it got away.”

Celestia didn’t say anything, her eyes drifting from Twilight to the picture in the book.

“Twilight…” She said, before giggling. “You truly must stop spending all your time around these silly old books.” She turned the book to see its cover. “I think I’ve read this one a long time ago. It really is old, I’m surprised you were even able to find a copy.”

“Wh… I really did see it!” Twilight protested. “Just before you got here, it was a shadow that attacked Hoothoot and I!”

“I’m sure it was just a regular ghost-type wandering under the trees, it might’ve been agitated or more likely it was probably just trying to scare you, you know how much ghosts love their tricks. You probably read about it the night before and the excitement of today just got to you. Besides, if you really did see a Darkrai, you’d be in an eternal sleep with perpetual nightmares.”

“It’s not my imagination I really-”

“Twilight, the Champion is a very busy woman and it’s probably making her busier going to the trouble of seeing you off personally.” Night Light frowned.

“Yeah at least you get to go off…” Spike muttered.

Despite Twilight’s frustration, she still looked back to Celestia.

“Still, I’d like to know what the next step in the research I partake for you? I’ve studied every Pokemon the school has to offer as well as those native to the city.”

The champion shook her head. “Twilight, you misunderstand. Life is more than simply research and study. That trainer licence means you can go out into the world, battle and mould memories for yourself. Therefore, I do indeed have a task for you, and the next phase of your life. By all means research, but I want you to grow with your Pokemon and take on the Pokemon League challenge. At the very least you must defeat all eight gyms.”

“W-What?!” Twilight’s eyes widened. “Battling??”

“You heard me. This is the task given to you. It’s the most effective way to bond with your Pokemon, after all.” Celestia smiled.

“But to take the League Challenge would mean that… I might have to fight you.” She muttered the last few words, as if saying them was tantamount to treason.

“Perhaps… Perhaps you might even become strong enough to defeat me.” She smiled, before seeing her student looking as though she was about to faint. Before Twilight could even begin to plead with Celestia to not joke about such things, the champion placed a hand on the young girl’s shoulder, calming the young girl’s senses. “But more than that, I’d like you to go out and make friends of your own. That, my student, is your most important mission.”

“Ye… Yeah.” Twilight said, but her tone sounded neither enthusiastic nor genuine. This didn’t make any sense. She was smart, she should be researching the mysteries of this world, not wasting her time battling.

“I’d suggest starting in Ponyville.”

“Huh? But… wouldn’t it make more sense to start in the Los Pegasus gym?” She looked up to Celestia, confused.

“Ponyville has more Pokemon night and day, and Los Pegasus is still just a walk away.” Zecora explained. “You can travel back there with me, even visit my lab in the Everfree.”

“It always helps to record information from a Pokedex, from learning about the largest Steelix’s Hyper Beam to the smallest Gastly’s Hex.”

“I see.”

“We can head out now, in fact… You seem to be already packed.” The professor glanced into Twilight’s bag, organised with every possible essential. “If not… Well, Ponyville is a good place to gather supplies.”

“Well… Why not.” She still sounded frustrated.

“This is quite the milestone, Twilight. Do you really want to spend it sulking?” Celestia asked.

“No…”

“Then why don’t you give your family a smile as they see you off? You three wouldn’t like to leave on a bad note, would you?”

Twilight frowned, looking to Zecora then back to Celestia. “Three?”

“I mean, unless you have some issue with Spike accompanying you.”

At that, the young boy stared up in surprise. “Wait… What?”

“Your parents spoke with me and they’re okay with going off with Twilight. You’re nearly at the minimum age to become a trainer yourself. So long as she doesn’t mind being responsible for you.” Celestia said. Spike’s eyes widened at the prospect, before a smile formed on his face and his eyes shone.

“Oh, I don’t mind at all.” Twilight’s tone seemed to brighten. “And I can even take the time to teach him if he misses out!”

“Aww…” Spike sighed, hunching forward.

“By the way, Twilight, might I borrow this book for a bit? I can’t remember the last time I read this.” Celestia asked.

“I… I guess.”

“Thank you very much.” The champion smiled.

“Shall we, then?” Zecora smiled. “If you have something else you wish to attend to, I am happy to wait. Just not tomorrow or another later date.” She giggled.

“Oh, right.” Twilight blinked, before walking back to her family and hugging her whole family. After a moment, the two kids went over to Professor Zecora. “We’re ready to go now.”

“Very well.” The professor began to walk off with Spike and Twilight behind her, waving their family off.

“Bye!” They all shouted while Celestia smiled.

“I hope you’re ready, Twilight. This is where your journey begins.”

Author's Note

Okay, so that was chapter 1. Since it was inspired by SelenaEde's art, I recommend checking her channel out in the link in the synopsis. Also, Hoothoot is owlowisious.

Ponyville

"Celestia doesn't trust me."

"Twilight..."

"Every day I do my best under her tutelage, but she just dismissed what I said right off the bat like I was some sort of conspiracy freak."

"Well she does have more experience than you, so I'm sure she knows what she was doing" Spike reasoned

"Yeah, but it just annoys me that she didn't even have a second thought on it"

Spike sighed, as Twilight got out a book from her rucksack and buried herself in it. Spike sighed and got out a small box. He opened it and took some small gems out. He collected rare items like gems, not because they could be sold for high prices but because they were difficult to find. Spike was a bit of an explorer, so he enjoyed finding things. He used to have more than this, but his parents accused him of being a hoarder, and made him get rid of some. He really didn't see what the problem was though. So it made the room a bit crowded, it was his stuff. Besides, they weren't even his biological parents; he didn't know who his real parents were.

He took his thoughts away from that and looked at the rock tied around his neck likes necklace. The Rock was reddish beige with a streak of scarlet going down the middle. This one he had found on a trip to Saddle Arabia.

It really interested him; there was just something about it that made it more special than the other gems that he had collected.

"Tini!" He was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a Pokemon cry to his right. A Dratini slithered past him.

"Dratini!" a man ran over and picked up the Dratini "You really shouldn't run off like that, I don't know what I'd do if you got lost. Oh what a world that would be!" He clung to his Pokemon and kept going on about how worried he was. The melodramatic man had blonde hair and a moustache and wore a purple shirt. He wore a purple shirt and designer jeans.

"I'm sorry, did he cause any trouble?" he turned to Spike, Twilight and Zecora, who currently had her eyes closed, but they weren't sure if they could call it sleeping.

"Hm?" Twilight looked up from her book "No, we're fine"

"Yeah" Spike followed up "But can I ask, where did you get that Dratini?"

"Oh, they can be found in Ponyville, in the Everfree Forest"

"The Everfree??" Spike was shocked, but didn't raise his voice.

"I know they're very peaceful for something you find in one of the most dangerous places in the region. Anyway I have to get back to my seat, bye"

"Bye" This caught Spike's attention; being able to get dragon types in Ponyville.

Spike didn't have a Pokemon like Twilight did, but he hoped to get some soon, maybe even before he was ten. Spike was nine, so he could go on journeys and even catch Pokemon as long as he was with Twilight and had her permission, but couldn't compete in gym battles and fight in the Pokemon League until he was actually ten. He didn't know what Pokemon he'd decide to get yet, but it'd probably be something like Charmander, since it was almost like a dragon- type. Or maybe he would get an actual dragon- type like Axew or Dratini instead of a starter.

Eventually, they all arrived in Ponyville, a small and quiet but cheerful town. She could see almost everyone had a smile on their face. The three stepped off the train and stared at the place.

"Why don't you two look around? I will wait here, where I am easily found" Zecora waited on the path to the Everfree forest while the two decided to explore the town. Zecora said that she had something for Twilight,but she and Spike had insisted on going into the Everfree to see some of the Pokemon, so Zecora said she would wai for them.

Twilight started by seeing where the Pokemon Centre was. Twilight bought some Pokeballs and gave three to Spike. Her parents had given her 10,000POKE, so they would be fine for money. Right next to the Centre was a bakeries called Sugarcube Corner, with a sign that read "Baking delicious treats for people and Pokemon alike". They decided to eat something before they checked out the Ponyville gym.

They walked inside and waited in the queue that was fairly short. It wasn't long before they reached the front and looked at the selections behind the counter. The person behind the counter wasn't there.

"I'll be with you in a minute!" said a happy and joy- filled voice that came from the girl that was meant to be asking them what they wanted, but it didn't bother Twilight as they were deciding what to eat between her, Spike and Hoothoot. They decided what they would each have and the girl conveniently came back when they did.

"You two new in town?" Someone behind her asked.

"Yeah?" She answered and he chuckled.

"Brace yourselves"

Wha-"

"Hello" Twilight turned around as the girl behind the counter piped up. "I'm Pinkie Pie, and welcome to- " She gasped before she finished her sentence when she saw Twilight.

"D- Do I know you?" She looked extremely shocked to see Twilight, who was very confused.

"Um... no?"

Pinkie let out a loud gasp. "That means I've never seen you before, and THAT means you haven't been properly welcomed to Ponyville!" She stared at the girl, who was nearlt covered in pink; pink hair, pink skirt, pink shirt, and pink shoes. The only things that weren't pink were her socks and gloves, which were blue and yellow with stripes and polka dot patterns.

"Properly welcomed?"

"Yeah, I have to throw you a party!" she pulled a lever and music started playing, and a sign flew down in front of the the counter that read "Welcome Visitors"

"I'm Pinkie Pie; Ponyville's Baker and Party Planner, and this is Sandile"

"Sandile!" a Pokemon came out of her hair, though it had a vacant expression in its eyes.

"Uh... Hi?" Twilight was confused as to what was going on. "I'm Twilight, this is Spike and Hoothoot"

"Hi"

"Hoot"

"Sorry it's small, but Mr and Mrs Cake said to cut back on these but I can't help myself sometimes"

"I can't possibly imagine why" Twilight thought to herself

"So I can only give you a small welcome party. Here's a free piece of cake and Pokemon food for the Hoothoot" Pinkie gave them some cake and skipped back to the counter but the music was still playing,

"She's kinda odd, but I got free cake so I'm not complaining" Spike said as he took a bite out of his slice.

"It's too sweet for me" Twilight said as she pushed hers away.

"More for me" Spike shrugged and gobbled Twilight's slice down.

"Do you have to eat like that, Spike? It's everywhere." Twilight criticised

"But it's so good! It's the best cake I've ever had." The boy exclaimed "I'm gonna ask if she has any more"

"Nope" Twilight grabbed him by the shirt "That's enough sweets for you; we're going to find something healthier to eat. Besides, we don't want to keep Professor Zecora waiting"

"Aaw" Spike pouted, and allowed himself to be dragged by his older sister.

Spike began to walk on his own two feet once they were a good distance from the bakeries and wandered around for something healthy. He didn't really care about it, so he just zoned out and followed Twilight, not really looking where he was going, and bumped into someone.

"Oh!" There was a small thump, as whoever it was was carrying a lot of bags.

"I'm really sorry, let me get those for you" Spike apologised as he got her bags picked up her bags, but saw something shining in them; gems. "Wow, you sure have a lot of gems; they're..." He looked up to talk to the girl, and he was instantly smitten. "... Beautiful." He was staring at her as if he had just achieved enlightenment.

Twilight sighed as Spike offered to take them back to her house.

"Oh no, I really couldn't make you carry all of these" she insisted

"It's fine, I can carry them all" he claimed as he barely lifted all of them up. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Give some to me" She took some of the bags from Spike. "Where do we need to go?"

"Oh, to my house" She smiled as they followed her. "I'm Rarity by the way."

"I'm Twilight and this is Spike" She gestured to the boy who didn't know he was drooling. When they reached her home, they put her things down and Twilight inhaled.

"How did you even carry half of this stuff?"

Rarity shrugged "You get used to it after shopping for a while, but sometimes even I can't carry everything"

"I understand" Spike said, still infatuated by Rarity that he forgot about the aching pain in his arms. They reached her crystal- white house and carried her bags through the wooden fences. They went through and saw how grand the house was compared to the outside; it appeared to be glowing and many items appeared expensive with amazing designs. The cushions were embroidered with initials in the corners.

"And I must say, I adore your necklace, Spike where did you get such an exquisite stone?" She asked. "It's almost like a gem."

"Found it in Saddle Arabia" Spike exclaimed, as they went upstairs to put them in her room, which had a mannequin and sheets of paper with designs on them. Twilight and Spike put their bags down and were both gasping for air.

"But enough about me, what about you two? Where are you from?"

"...Canterlot..." Twilight said in between gasps for air.

"Canterlot????!!!" Rarity was shocked to hear. "Oh how I've dreamed of living there" She hugged Twilight. "You are so lucky. We are going to be the best of friends"

"F- Friends?" Twilight said as Rarity released her from her hug.

"Why yes, oh and you must tell me about everything the-" she stopped as she realised they weren't there anymore, and she heard the door downstairs close. "They must have somewhere to be" she thought aloud. She noticed something sparkle on the ground.

"It's that boy's necklace! He must've dropped it when he left." She thought "Oh I must return it to him." She picked it up and walked out the door downstairs.

"Well I'm glad that's over" Twilight commented as she once again had to drag her younger brother through the town.

"I'm not"

"I just want to get a couple of apples and not run into anymore crazy people." She had seen a sign in Ponyville that pointed to a place that sold some fruit.

"Hoot." Hoothoot chirped in agreement.

"Let's just get to Sweet Apple Acres and go to Zecora's." she grumbled. "Look, it's there right now." She cheered up and hurried Spike along.

"I really wish you would stop pulling me everywhere." Spike commented.

"Oh, sorry." Twilight smiled sheepishly as she realised how impatient she was being. "I just want to get through this with no more craziness."

They walked over to an empty stand and sighed in disappointment.

"Well, time to go back to Zecora."

"Wait!" Twilight was about to turn around but was stopped by Spike. "Do you hear that?" Twilight stopped and focused on trying to hear something like Spike had said. "Yeah, it kinda sounds like... cheering, and Pokemon." They went past the stand and followed the noise, whith slowly got louder. There were a bunch of people who all looked similar in one way or another watching a Pokemon battle. The one nearest to them wore a black shirt along with some yellow shorts with a cyan jumper tied around her waist and had strange hair with all the colours of the rainbow. "Probably dye..." Twilight thought.

The person on the far end wore tattered shorts, as well as an orange shirt, brown boots and a stetson. The cowgirl had a Herdier while she person nearest was fighting with a Nincada.

"Use take down!" The cowgirl ordered as the Herdier began to charge.

"Sand- attack!" The Nincada shot sand in the Herdiers's eyes and it fell down.

"Now scratch!" Nincada ran forward to scratch the Herdier. They both looked close to fainting so it would just take one or two hits to do them in.

"Bite!" Nincada tried to deliver the finishing blow, but found its leg caught in Herdier's mouth, and soon its whole body. It eventually released Nincada from its jaws; knocked out.

"Nincada is unable to battle, Herdier is the winner, which means the winner is mah granddaughter is Applejack!" An old lady shouted.

"Ain't no way ah was gonna lose in front of mah entire family!" She was gestured to all the spectators of the battle when she noticed someone she had never seen before.

"Excuse me, but do ah know you?"

"No, I just wanted to buy some apples." She looked at the girl's Herdier. "That was a pretty good battle, you need some Super Potion?"

"Nah, she'll be fine." The girl insisted, but the Herdier panting suggested otherwise. "On second thought, yeah, ah'll take some." The took the Super Potion from Twilight and sprayed it on Herdier.

"Hey!" The girl who lost pointed at Twilight. "You a trainer?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you and Applejack battle?" She suggested.

"What?"

"Yeah, you look like a trainer."

"Because I AM." Twilight replied

"Ah don't mind another one if Herdier agrees." Her Herdier barked with enthusiasm. "Ah guess that's a yes, so how 'bout it?"

"Well I would but I really just came for some apples, and I really have to go so-"

"No." Spike butted in. "You've been dragging me around all day, just battle with her. It'll be your first real battle, anyways. Why not give it a shot?" Twilight sighed at her brother's firm insistence. She supposed she did have his full of shirt- dragging, and sighed.

"Fine."

"Alright, so what's it gonna be?" The girl known as Applejack asked. "How many Pokemon? Though ah only have two." Twilight glanced at a Pokeball, but shook her head.

"One on one."

"Alright. Ya up for another round, Herdier?" Herdier gave another bark and she nodded. "Alright, let's go!"

"Ah don't believe ah got yer name, what was it?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"I'm Applejack, and that's Rainbow Dash." She gestured to the girl who had just gotten her into a battle and was currently sitting with the others before they shook hands, or rather Twilight's hand was nearly crushed by Applejack's.

Twilight and Applejack went to opposite sides of the field and got their pokemon ready.

"The battle between Twilight Sparkle and Applejack shall now begin!" Hoothoot and Herdier both got into battle stances.

"Let's see what the Pokedex has to say about you." Twilight got out her brand new device.

Herdier: the Loyal Dog Pokemon.
It has black, cape-like fur that is very hard and decreases the amount of damage it receives.

"Ah'll let you have the first move." Applejack said, and Twilight nodded. This was her first real battle. Sure, she had train with the champion but she had always been holding back, this was a full- rested pokemon battle.

"Hoothoot, use peck!" Hoothoot flew over to Herdier and started pecking it, but it didn't look like it did much damage.

"Go, Twilight!" Spike shouted.

"Use bite." Herdier shook Hoothoot off of its back and started snapping it's jaw at its opponent, who frantically flapped its wings, barely avoiding the attack.

"Take down!" Herdier went charging for Hoothoot, who was just landing.

"Quick, dodge!" Twilight panicked and gave the command in hopes that her Pokemon would be able to avoid it. Regardless, it was a direct hit and Hoothoot was blown back into a tree.

"Let's do another take down!" Applejack yelled and Herdier began to charge while Hoothoot had just gotten up.

"Reflect!" Herdier looked up to see that the attack had done little to nothing like it had before.

"What the?" Applejack was confused, as was the Rainbow.

"What the heck?" Rainbow asked. "A moment ago, that Pokemon barely took one now the attack didn't even bother it."

"That's what reflect does." A man with blonde hair and a red shirt sitting next to her said. "All physical attacks will do next to nothing for a while, and all of Herdier's attacks are physical; it ain't good for Applejack. Not to mention the recoil damage Herdier has."

"Now, use confusion!" Hoothoot's eyes lit up and Herdier felt a pain in it's head. When the attack was over, Herdier looked dizzy.

"Alright, it's confused!" Twilight cheered.

"Argh! Use bite!" Applejack was frustrated. Despite her Pokemon's dizziness, it complied and landed a hit on Hoothoot, but reflect had rendered that attack nearly useless, as well.

"Peck!" Herdier was once again pecked by Hoothoot, and it was clear that Herdier was weakened.

"Let's try another take down!" Applejack tried her most effective attack, but Herdier ran into a tree and hurt itself.

"Confusion, again!" Twilight pointed at Herdier, who was clenching its head again, before it fell unconsious.

"Herdier is unable to battle; Hoothoot is the winner!"

Alright, Hoothoot!" Twilight ran onto the field hugged her Pokemon.

"Hooray, Twilight!" Spike happily shouted.

"Wow, you're really good." Applejack; who was holding Herdier in her arms, congratulated Twilight.

"Thanks, but now I have to-"

"Why don't ah introduce ya to mah family, since a lot of them are here for our annual reunion. We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' friends."

"That sounds familiar, somehow." Twilight thought.

"Friends? Well, I'm in kind of a rush, so-"

"Don't you wanna stay?" A little girl asked with baby doll eyes. Twilight stared back at her for a moment.

"Somehow that felt familiar, too." Twilight was walking along the streets, but it was nearly at a running pace.

"Twilight, can you slow down a little?" Spike asked.

"Because of you I ended up stuffing my face with nothing but junk and apples." Twilight said frustratingly. "You can keep up."

"Alright." Spike sighed. They had been looking around the town for about an hour, but they could still see her there, as well as a cottage not too far from there, that looked like a sanctuary or a day care, but there was no way Twilight was stopping again. She stopped at the outside of the Everfree where the Pokemon Professor was still waiting.

"I take it that you are done, so into the Everfree you can come?"

"Yeah, though I don't think that this town is for me, so let's just-"

"STOP!" They quickly turned around to the sound of the voice, and saw a couple of people running into the forest.

"OUT OF OUR WAY!" One of them yelled. After that, there was a girl running after them. She stopped right next to them, getting her long pink hair out of her face. She was a yellow dress with a green coat over that.

"W-Wait, those Pokemon don't belong to you!" Her shouts were in vain as the figures went into the forest.

"Oh my, what it wrong, Fluttershy?"

"W- Well, I was taking care o- of my cottage, b- but those guys came up to me and told me to give some to them. B-But I told them that they weren't mine to give and that they were wild, so they... they kidnapped those poor Pokemon!" She stuttered, not taking mind to the stranger next to the professor. Zecora nodded at Fluttershy's explanation.

"Twilight, Fluttershy, come on. We must save those Pokemon."

"I- Into the Everfree?" Fluttershy shivered and got out a Pokegear. "Alright, just let me call some friends to help."

Author's Note

Question: what did you all think of Twilight VS Applejack?

Whitetail Woods

The six girls and Spike walked through the Everfree forest's more peaceful sibling; Whitetail Woods. This place had mostly harmless bug- types, like Caterpie and Wurmple.

"Twilight?"

"Yes Rainbow?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Well I suppose mainly research, though these gyms would make my Pokemon stronger and help me when I'm looking for some dangerous Pokemon."

"What about the League? Do you ever want to enter that?"

"Oh no; I don't think I'll ever be THAT good; not to beat my brother and especially not my teacher."

"Who is your teacher?" Rarity asked.

"Celestia."

"WHAT???" They all turned to Twilight with shocked looks on their faces, but Pinkie Pie was just humming cheerfully.

"Y'all mean to tell us that you've been taught by the champion herself?!"

"Yes."

"My word." Rarity said. "I knew you were from Canterlot, but this news is just astounding."

"Well no wonder that Gengar of yers is so gosh- darn strong."

"Um, speaking of which, why is it so aggressive?" Fluttershy said quietly. "I mean, I'm sure it has its reasons for acting that way, I was just curious is all but if you don't want to say anything that's fine."

"I don't know why he acts that way." Twilight sighed. "He just does."

"It's not really something she likes to talk about." Spike explained.

"Tailow!" They heard a Pokemon chirping above them and looked to see a flock of Tailow flying by.

"I've got one of those, ya know." Rainbow smiled. "A lot of my Pokemon came from Whitetail Woods, actually." She chuckled as she noticed the sky darkening. All the wild Pokemon appeared to be in a rush to find a spot to sleep; going to the insides of trees and holes in the ground.

"It looks like it's getting late." Twilight commented. "In hindsight, we probably should've left in the morning."

"I agree." Fluttershy cowered behind her friends as her Bunnelby rolled its eyes. Later on, they all stopped and got their sleeping bags out, as well as returning their Pokemon into their Pokeballs. Eventually, everyone was in their sleeping bags, but had yet to get to sleep. Pinkie had cooked their dinners, so their bellies were full. All of the girls were chatting, except Twilight who was buried in her bag, mumbling something. Only Pinkie Pie noticed and went over to see what her new friend was doing.

"Hey, Twilight?" She asked as the girl in pure jumped slightly and looked up.

"What is it, Pinkie?" Twilight was clutching a Pokeball.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"Nothing really." Upon further inspection, the Pokeball looked like a Dusk Ball. "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, the other girls and I were just talking, and you were just on our own, and Spike is fast asleep. You wanna join in?"

"No thanks." Twilight shook her head. "I'd rather just stay here."

"Oh come on Twilight; if we're going to be travelling together I thought we could you know, get to know each other."

"You sound just like Spike." Twilight chuckled, glancing at the little boy in his sleeping bag with an egg kept safe in a ventilated jar and his Dratini in one of the Pokeballs she had given him. "Alright, I'll join in." She crawled out of her sleeping bag and carried it over to her new travelling companions, who gave her friendly smiles.

"So what were you three talking about?"

"Oh, just what we're going to do; our dreams and ambitions as well as just what we think the journey will be like"

"Okay." Twilight said. "Well I've said what I want to do, but I don't know about any of you. What do you all want to do besides stop this 'Team Chaos'?"

"Well dear, I feel as though I can make a career out of my designing." Rarity explained. "I can sell them to contest participants and maybe I'll even try my hand in a few; I could show everyone the beauty and grace of my Pokemon, as well as incorporate some of my designs into them. There's a Pikachu in Hoenn that wears different outfits in contests."

"Alright. What about you, Fluttershy?"

"Oh, well I just want to take care of Pokemon, I guess I'll be a Pokemon breeder..."

"Me? I wanna have the fastest Pokemon in the world so I can join the Cloudsdale Gym; which is where I was born."

"Well shucks, ah don't really know what ah wanna do." Applejack shrugged. "Ah guess maybe ah'll just spread mah families business across the region and-"

"Ralts..."

"What was that?"

"It sounded like a Pokemon."

"Oh, you don't think there's anything deadly here."

"Relax Fluttershy; you've been here hundreds of times before. You of all people would know if there was."

"W-Well, what if a deadly Pokemon wandered out of the Everfree and came here, and we could be about to be killed by a Pyroar or Trevenant as we speak?"

"Ralts..."

"Be quiet all of you." Twilight said. "Let me see what it is." She turned it on and shone the light around the trees and grass. She saw an injured Ralts. It was bruised everywhere and barely standing.

"Oh no!" Fluttershy gasped. The Ralts collapsed in front of Twilight, who quickly picked it up.

"Fluttershy, get some berries. I'll help it feel better with some super potion and-"

"Kaboo!" They heard another cry, but this one didn't sound injured. This cry was repeated multiple times, before some sharp objects were shot at them.

"Razor leaves!" Twilight shouted. Once the attack stopped, five of the same Pokemon appeared before them; all varying in size.

"Let's see what you are." She quickly got out her Pokedex.

Pumpkaboo: The Pumpkin Pokemon.
The pumpkin body is inhabited by a spirit trapped in this world. As the sun sets, it becomes restless and active.

The Pumpkaboo shot more razor leaves at them, and they took cover.

"Whoa!" Spike woke up and covered his egg. "What's happening? Are we in danger?"

"That we are Spike." Twilight answered as she reached for a Pokeball.

"Go, Hoothoot!"

"Hoot!"

"Use peck!" She pointed at one of the smaller Pumpkaboos, which Hoothoot began to viciously peck. The other Pumpkaboos turned to Hoothoot and shot razor leaves at it, and the small amount of damage Hoothoot would've received from the grass- type attack added up and took a substantial amount of damage.

"I have had enough of this!" Rarity said as she threw one of her Pokeballs. "Go, Duskull!"

"Duskull!" Her new ghost- type Pokemon cried out, ready to help its trainer.

"Use shadow sneak!" She pointed at another Pumpkaboo, and Duskull suddenly disappeared into the ground, then popped up right under the Pumpkaboo and struck.

"Use fury cutter!" Rainbow shouted, and her Nincada which she had just sent out began to slash at another Pumpkaboo with its claws.

"Kaboo!" The largest Pumpkaboo floated forward, while the others backed away just behind it. The largest then shot out a barrage of bullet seeds everywhere, and the others followed suit, then they all ran away.

"They left?" Spike questioned.

"Yeah, we beat them so badly that they knew they had to back off!" Rainbow grinned.

"Maybe, but I don't think we're done with them." Twilight inferred. "But for now let's get some rest, it's pretty late." Twilight looked down at the wild Ralts in her arms. "And this Ralts isn't very safe on its own right now, especially when it needs the rest more than us." She sprayed with super potion, then opened up her rucksack and put the Pokemon in so it could be used little bed for the small Psychic- type.

They all woke up, yawning and stretching out until they each felt completely awake.

"We all up?" Twilight asked, and everyone nodded. She looked to her left and saw the Ralts also waking up.

"Ralts?" It looked around slowly, but got more worried.

"What's wrong with it?" Rainbow asked.

"The last it remembers, it was attacked by a bunch of Pumpkaboo." Twilight explained. "I'd be a bit frantic if that happened to me." The Ralts pointed its horn at Twilight, and went towards it, but fell.

"Oh!" Fluttershy ran over to it with Oran berries in her hand. "Don't push yourself too much." She handed some to the Pokemon, who was hesitant at first but still took one, and soon the others.

"So what are we gonna do now?" Rainbow asked.

"W-What?" Fluttershy wasn't sure what Rainbow was saying.

"Well we obviously can't just let those Pumpkaboo torment these Pokemon."

"True." Twilight agreed. "I saw the Pokemon in a rush to find a place to sleep, and those sleeping spots looked more like hiding spots now that I think about it."

"Ah say we find those things and show 'em what for!" Applejack said with a determined look on her face.

"No." Twilight disagreed. "We need a strategy. They'll be ready for us this time, we may have only been able to draw them back because they didn't expect us but they will this time and they have the home advantage as well, which can make it even more difficult. I suggest we prepare for this."

"Okay, so we set train, set traps and stuff, right?"

"Exactly, Rainbow." Twilight sighed at Rainbow's rather blunt way of putting it. "Let's find a place to train." She said as she began to walk away from their camping spot to find one while the others followed her.

Once they were a fair enough distance from their camping spot, Twilight turned around to face everyone.

"Alright then, bring out all your Pokemon!" She said as she got her own Pokeballs out, except one.

"Come on out!" She sent out her Hoothoot and Eevee.

"Alright then, help us out everyone!" Rainbow shouted as her Shuckle, Nincada, Tailow and Eevee.

"Yeehaw! Let's do this!" Applejack's Herdier, Eevee and Phanpy came out to help.

"Very well, we require your assistance!" Rarity's Purugly, Duskull and Eevee popped out, as well as a Glaceon which Twilight had not seen before.

"Hooray!" Pinkie Pie sent out her Sandile, Shroomish and Eevee like everyone else.

"Can you help us? If it's not too much trouble that is..." Fluttershy threw her Pokeballs gently and quietly stood there at her Bunnelby, Audino and Eevee came out.

"Alright." Twilight looked at all the Pokemon for a second, analysing them. "Our Eevees won't be able to attack those ghost- types; they don't have any non- normal moves." She returned her Eevee and the others did the same. "That Glaceon will be useful though, so keep that out Rarity as well as your Duskull. And Fluttershy, does your Audino know any non- normal moves?"

"W-Well, it knows disarming voice..."

"So it knows move that'll attack all of them and never miss; Audino stays out. Same for your Herdier Applejack, I've seen it use bite. Rainbow, a lot of your Pokemon have advantages over grass- types, so we'll need you Tailow, Nincada and Shuckle."

"Alright, Twilight."

"Pinkie Pie, what ability does your Shroomish have?" Twilight asked

Oh, effect spore." Pinkie replied.

"Perfect." Twilight smiled while the Ralts just looked at her. They all began to train their Pokemon. Spike was not actually going to help them, but he was still training his Dratini with them. They had also been talking about a strategy of some kind. The Ralts just watched them, particularly Twilight.

"Alright, let's go over this again. First, Audino will attack them with disarming voice, then lead them over here, where Shuckle will-"

"Ralts?"

"Oh!" Twilight was so in the heat of explaining her strategy that she jumped slightly when she saw the Pokemon they'd saved go up behind her. "Hello?"

"Ralts!" The Ralts pointed towards the place they were training, and had a determined look on its face.

"I think it's saying that it wants to help." Rarity told Twilight.

"I don't know, it is at a disadvantage, and I'm not sure if it's fully recovered."

"Ralts!" It said again, and it made a bit of distance between itself and Twilight's Hoothoot, while she got out her Pokedex to record it's data.

Ralts: The Feeling Pokemon.
It is highly attuned to the emotions of people and Pokémon. It hides if it senses hostility.

"Alright then, Hoothoot go!" She pointed at the wild psychic- type.

"Ralts!" It let out a loud cry, and Hoothoot cringed slightly.

"Using growl to weaken Hoothoot? Pretty good, now use confusion Hoothoot."

"Hoot!" Hoothoot's eyes lit up, and Ralts clenched it's head, as if it had a piercing headache, and let out another cry, but this one stopped Hoothoot's attack entirely.

"A disarming voice!" Twilight thought to herself. "Okay, use peck!" She said to her Pokemon, who flew forward and pecked Ralts. Hoothoot then started to get its own headache, as Ralts had used its own confusion attack, then jumped away while Hoothoot was still suffering from the move. It opened its eyes only to have a disarming voice knock it down.

"You are pretty good." Twilight admitted while the Ralts smiled, but it's attention was drawn to the Dusk Ball on Twilight's waist, before it was hit by another confusion.

"Did you just get distracted there?" Twilight asked as she went up to the Ralts, who pointed at the Dusk Ball, which made Twilight frown.

"You can help us, sure..." Twilight said. "I'll put you with Fluttershy's Audino." She walked away. "I'll look around the woods some more to see if there's anymore good places to position our Pokemon."

"Ralts?"

The sun had long set, and they were all lying in wait for the Pumpkaboo to appear. They didn't expect them to appear just yet, but soon. Fluttershy had already layed out some of her berries as a trap. Twilight was away from the group, murmuring to her Dusk Ball again. The Ralts stared at her, and walked over to get a closer look.

"What is it?" Twilight looked up and saw the psychic and fairy- type in front of her, and it pointed at the dark- green Pokeball she was holding, and cocked it's head slightly to the right in curiosity.

"Oh, this? It's just a Dusk Ball I keep one of my Pokemon in, it's fine." She said, but the Ralts shook its head and gave her a look of concern.

"Right, you can sense emotions, can't you?" She sighed and got up. "I've got a Gengar in this Pokeball, but it's kind of aggressive. My mentor told me a while ago that if I talk to it in it's Pokeball, it might hear me. It sounds silly now, but I do it to stay close to Gengar in a way."

"He wouldn't listen to me at first, but after a while things got better; he began to actually stop ignoring me and we worked together a bit more in battle." She smiled. "Then one day, I let him out of his Pokeball for the day because Celestia told me that it was good to occasionally and that it helped the Pokemon keep their energy up and stay active. I don't want to say what happened on that day, but I've hardly let him out ever since that day, so I've just been back to square one with him..." Twilight trailed off.

"Ralts." The Pokemon hugged Twilight, and put its hand on the Dusk Ball.

"You need to be ready, those Pumpkaboo will be here any minute." She walked off, but gave the Ralts a smile, while Ralts ran back to its position with Audino.

She got her Pokegear out and decided to call Pinkie, who was lying in wait, watching the bait of berries for Pumpkaboo to eat as bait.

"Are the Pumpkaboo there yet, Pinkie-"

"It's like my Rattata is in the top percentage of Rattata!"

"What?"

"I said they're not there yet, silly." She giggled. "Wait, I see something rustling in the bushes." Pinkie stared at the bush intently. She was dressed in a black bodysuit with yellow goggles, and while Twilight would've said something, the others just summed it up to Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.

"Kaboo!" One of the grass and ghost- types they were looking for had come out and saw the berries. Four others came out and looked at them.

"Is that them, Pinkie?"

"Yup, and they look like they're having a good time eating, and-"

"Pinkie!"

"Right, sorry." She apologised as she put the Pokegear down. "Hope you two are ready." She said to Audino and Ralts, who walked out and minute one of the Pumpkaboo saw them, they became hostile.

"Ralts!"
"Audino!" They both fired a disarming voice; hitting all of them and not missing. They got angry, and followed the two Pokemon. They followed them, one was hit with a fury cutter, and another with wing attack, before Shuckle used struggle bug.

"Icy wind!" Rarity called out as a freezing cold wind was blown at the Pumpkaboo. The ghost and grass- types were all visibly affected by these attacks.

"Yeehaw!" Applejack cheered. "Now let's drive these varmits outta this forest for go-"

"Glaceon!" Rarity ran towards her Glaceon, which was just hit by an incredibly powerful razor leaf.

"Where did that come from?" Twilight turned around, to see a large Pokemon with three Pumpkaboo surrounding it.

"What's that?"

Gourgeist: The Pumpkin Pokemon.
It en-wraps its prey in its hairlike arms. It sings joyfully as it observes the suffering of its prey.

"Gourgeist!" It used shadow ball on Duskull.

"Use peck on Gourgeist, Hoothoot!" Hoothoot flew in to peck the grass- type, but then copies of the Pokemon flew around Hoothoot, causing it to stop using the attack out of confusion. The copies flew around everywhere, the real one attacked the Pokemon but no one could see where they came from.

"Hoothoot!"

"Glaceon!"

"Herdier!" These Pokemon as well as the others had to endure the barrage of attacks from not only Gourgeist, but the other Pumpkaboo.

"We have no idea of knowing which is which." Twilight thought as she tried to avoid the attacks, when she looked at Ralts. "Hold on..."

"Ralts!" She called the Pokemon, who had it's hand covering it's head and it turned around. "Use disarming voice!" Ralts took in a deep breath, and gave the attack everything it had. It hit all the Pumpkaboo and exposed Gourgeist.

"Use bite, Herdier!" Applejack pointed at Gourgeist, who was now trying to shake the Loyal Dog Pokemon off to prevent further damage.

"Ice shard!" Shards of ice were thrown at Gourgeist, as it was pushed back. Then it used astonish on Shroomish and began to move towards Ralts, but suddenly felt stiff.

"Effect Spore paralysed it." Twilight grinned. "Now Hoothoot, use confusion!"

"Glaceon, icy wind and Duskull, night shade!"

"Can you use disarming voice, Audino? If it's okay with you..." These attacks all at once damaged Gourgeist greatly.

Now use peck!"

"Bite!"

"Struggle bug!" Hoothoot, Herdier and Shuckle all attack Gourgeist physically at the same time. The fully evolved ghost- type could barely get up. It looked around; it was outnumbered and all its workers were knocked out. It floated up into the air and flew away.

"Yeah!" Rainbow Dash punched her fist in the air. "We did it!"

"Yes Rainbow, we did it." Twilight sighed. She looked around and some Pokemon were coming out of their hiding spots to make sure they were really seeing what was in front of them; the Pumkaboo were all knocked out and Gourgeist had been driven away. They didn't have to stay awake in order to avoid and stay away from those Pokemon anymore.

"Well it's time to go." Twilight said. "Los Pegasus isn't very far from here."

"I hear it's really cold this time of year." Rainbow commented.

"Well, it's a good thing I brought a coat then." Rarity said happily.

"Ralts?" They turned around to see the Ralts that they had helped.

"Do you want to come with us?" Twilight asked, and it nodded.

"Okay, go Eevee!" She threw a Pokeball and her Eevee came out. "Eevee has never been in a battle before, so I want this one to be its first." The Ralts nodded.

"Okay, use tackle!" Eevee ran forward quickly, and Ralts used confusion to stop it.

"Now swift!" When Eevee fell down, stars came from its mouth which hit Ralts.

"You're not the only one with an attack that never misses." Twilight smiled. Ralts then let out a large growl that made Eevee shiver. Ralts also let out its other sound- based attack.

"Swift again." The two never- missing attacks hit both Pokemon.

"Tackle!" Eevee quickly got up and ran towards Ralts, and landed a direct hit, but also tripped and damages itself as well. When Eevee quickly got off Ralts Twilight saw an opportunity and threw a Pokeball. It shook for a few seconds then went idle. Twilight smiled as she picked up the Pokeball.

"Welcome to the team." She smiled as she put the ball in her pocket.

Author's Note

Okay, just so you're all clear on the teams so far:

Twilight:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Growl, Confusion, Disarming Voice

Rainbow:
Shuckle
Tailow
Nincada
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rarity:
Purugly
Glaceon
Duskull
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack and Tail Whip

Fluttershy:
Bunnelby
Audino
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Pinkie Pie:
Sandile
Shroomish
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Applejack:
Herdier
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Spike:
Egg
Dratini

Next chapter, they'll be in Los Pegasus.

Swimming in the Deep

It was freezing. People usually steered clear of Los Pegasus at this time of year, though trainers had to come here if they wanted a gym battle and not to mention that this gym leader was a huge celebrity. All seven of the kids wore coats and their Pokemon were all in their balls.

They eventually made it to the Pokemon Centre and rested there, when Twilight went up to the PC in the Centre and call her parents.

"Hello kids." Her mother greeted.

"How are you two?" Her dad continued.

"Hi mum and dad, we reached Los Pegasus City." Twilight smiled. "I also caught two Pokemon, look." She got out two Pokeballs and released the Pokemon inside of both.

"An Eevee and a Ralts." Velvet looked at the two. "I'm so glad you've already caught your own Pokemon, you're growing up so fast."

"Twilight?" She turned to her father. "How's..."

"He's fine, but it'll take time. I'd rather not think about Gengar right now."

"Well how are you Spike?"

"I got an egg." He showed them the red and yellow Pokemon egg in its little case. "I also caught this." His Pokeball opened and a Dratini came out. "It's a dragon- type too, that makes it even better."

"Well we're happy that you're having a good time and catching the Pokemon that you like. So are you going to challenge the gym in that city Twilight?"

"Yes actually, though I'm going to train a bit first. I also met a couple of people too."

"Oh, so you made some friends, that’s great."

"Well they're just travelling companions really."

"I still think you should get to know them more."

"I don't have time to make friends when a deadly legendary Pokemon like Darkrai is out there somewhere."

"Oh dearie, I'm sure it was just a ghost- type roaming the streets." Night Light suggested.

"No, I'm sure of it." Twilight insisted "I'm going to call Celestia and ask if she can give me my book back soon."

"Well can we meet these travelling companions of yours?"

"Okay." Twilight sighed as she went over to her the five girls sitting in seats by the window while Nurse Redheart healed their Pokemon.

"Could you all come over here for a second? My mum wants to meet you."

"Oh we'd be delighted to dear." Rarity stood up as the others nodded. They walked over to the PC and were greeted by the faces of Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

"Hello." Night Light smiled. All five of the girls gave their names and talked about themselves, while Twilight stayed silent.

"So what are you going to do now Twilight?"

"Well I'll challenge the gym to get stronger so my research can take place in the more dangerous parts of the region. But before that I'm going to call Celestia to see if she'll give me my book back."

"Okay then, bye." Both her parents waved

"Bye." Their image left the PC. She then rang the phone next to the PC again a couple moments later. After a couple of seconds, a beautiful tall woman appeared on screen, with long flowing multi- coloured hair.

"Well hello Twilight." She gave her star pupil a warm smile.

"Hello, Ms Celestia."

"You don't have to be so formal Twilight, now tell me how you've been?" she asked while Twilight repeated what she had said to her parents.

"Well it sounds like the start of an adventure in the making. Can I see Spike's egg?"

"Sure." The little boy shrugged as he held up the egg for Celestia to see."

"Oh, it's red and yellow. It's like your necklace. It's also good you're starting to make some friends and not occupy yourself with books, Twilight." The champion smiled at both of them.

"Not really, but speaking of books can you return mine soon?"

"That's right, I still have your book. It is a very interesting and old book, talking about a parasite in Darkrai, and the people who will command legendary Pokemon to save the world."

"Yes that is interesting, I've read those parts before, but when can I get it back?"

"I'm not sure, I'll be training with Moltres most of the time." Celestia battled with her Elite Four monthly, to give them a chance to take her position as champion.

"Well okay then. Bye." She waved to her infamous teacher, who gave her signature caring smile and ended the call. "Well that's-" She turned to those five girl behind her, each with a surprised look that she had just spoken to the strongest person in the region and had multiple legendaries. Despite the looks she was given, she walked out past them.

"I'm going to be training for my gym battle now. You girls can join me if you want."

"Shellder!"

"Use confusion." Shellder was lifted up and thrown into a tree. Ralts was tired from doing this for the sixth time, and this one had been particularly strong. She was training Ralts to learn some new moves, since she didn't think the'd be able to cut it with just three moves.

"That was amazing Twilight." Spike was watching her train. "Say, can I train with you?" He asked eagerly.

"Are you sure? I'm not sure if Dratini will like it."

"Come on, I'm sure he'll work through it." He said. "Can you hold this Rarity?" He handed his egg case to as he got out his Pokeball. "Go, Dratini!" The Pokeball opened and his Pokemon looked around, before it tried to slither to a warm place before the tip of his tail was grabbed by Spike.

"Stop!"

"Wow, he really doesn't like the cold does he?"

"Come on Dratini, you can do this. Please battle." He pleaded but his Pokemon just continued to attempt at slithering away. "I- If you battle with me, I'll give you something extra warm after this." His Dratini stopped its struggling, considering the offer for a moment before nodding to Spike.

"Alright! What moves does he know, Twilight?" His sister got out her Pokedex to check like Spike asked her.

Dratini.
Moves: Thunder Wave, Twister, Wrap and Extreme Speed.

"Wow, your Dratini has some pretty good moves. I'd recommend holding on to Extreme Speed."

"Okay, can we begin now?"

"Alright then. I'll use Ralts okay?"

"Fine by me. Now use Twister!" Dratini slithered around in a circle and whipped up a small tornado before it was launched at Ralts.

"Disarming Voice!" Ralts cried out, sending a pink sound wave towards the twister, cancelling out both the attacks.

"Wrap!" Dratini quickly got close to Ralts and tightly wrapped itself around it.

"Confusion!" Dratini found its grip on Ralts loosening and it was soon lifted in the air then thrown to the ground.

"Twister!" His dragon- type launched its special attack again, though it did nothing. Spike had forgotten that Ralts was a fairy- type.

"Extreme Speed!" Dratini disappeared as it quickly got towards Ralts

"Double Team."Ralts made copies of itself which caused Dratini to miss and hit a tree.

Ralts looked like it was then in deep concentration after the battle, and Twilight stared at it.

"What's going on Twilight?"

"It's trying to learn a move I think." She then saw Ralts form some leaves surrounded by a colourful aura. "It's learning Magical Leaf. Forget about Growl Ralts." Her Pokemon nodded and it learned Magical Leaf. By the way Spike, Dratini could've used Thunder Wave to paralyse Ralts."

"Aaw." Spike groaned.

Some shady- looking people holding bug- like masks were creeping around outside the gym. They then put their masks away and looked around before one pulled a communication device out.

"Sir?"

"Yes? Are you all in disguise?"

"We are sir and we're ready to enter the gym."

"Then go in, and tell me how the battle went and who's challenging."

"We'll do that sir."

"Good, have your all Pokemon been enhanced?"

"Yes sir."

"Then it should be a breeze, oh how I wish that I could be there with you. Send me a picture."

"I'll do that sir."

"Good. Now have fun!"

Twilight stood with Hoothoot on her shoulder on the opposite side of the field to Sapphire. The field wasn't really a field though, but a pool of freezing cold water with about six or seven fairly large floats for the non- water Pokemon. There was an audience of people cheering for Sapphire.

"The battle between newcomer Twilight Sparkle and Gym Leader Sapphire is about to start!" A voice on a megaphone blared. "Sapphire will use two Pokemon and Twilight uses as many as she wants, now let the battle begin!"

"I'll go with three." Twilight decided before she threw her first Pokeball. "Go for it, Eevee!"

"Eevee." Her Eevee jumped out and smiled.

"An Eevee? Alright then, go Sealeo!"

"Sealeo!" The Pokemon looked happy and ready to battle.

"Hmm..." Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Sealeo: The Ball Roll Pokemon.
It has a very sensitive nose. It touches new things with its nose to examine them.

"You have the first move." Sapphire said.

"Okay, Eevee use Tackle." Eevee shot forward and jumped off the float to go for Sealeo.

"Water Gun." Water shot from Sealeo's mouth before Eevee could land its attack and it was blown back.

"Swift." Eevee shot stars from its mouth while in mid- air, and they landed exactly on target. "Now Tackle it while it's fazed!" Eevee shot forward again and that was also a direct hit, but it didn't do as much as swift.

"Body Slam." Sealeo jumped up in front of Eevee and came down quickly.

"Dodge!" Eevee quickly jumped out of the way as Sealeo landed on the ground and the float shook. Eevee jumped onto another one of the floating cylinders that were the only places non- water Pokemon could stand.

"Water Gun." Just as Eevee landed, it was hit with the water attack. "Now go underwater." Sealeo dived underwater where Eevee couldn't see. Twilight looked to try and see the opposing Pokemon, when she got a glance of it near Eevee.

"Swift." Eevee jumped up and shot the stars out again. Twilight knew that Sapphire would do this to go where Eevee couldn't see and also gain more control over the battlefield, so Twilight's best bet was to use the never- missing move to attack it and draw it out. Her strategy was proven to be successful, as Sealeo jumped out of the water.

"Water Gun again." The special attack knocked Eevee into the cold water and went back in to follow it.

"Get out of there!" Eevee shivered while paddling towards one of the floats.

"Water Gun." A blast of water sent Eevee flying away from its destination.

"Swift!" Eevee readied its attack but another water gun shot it up into the air. As it came down, it landed on another water gun and was bounced onto one of the floats.

"Body Slam." As soon as Eevee recovered and tried to get up it was crushed under the water and ice-type, before the opponent jumped in the water again.

"I'm lucky Eevee didn't get paralysed." Twilight thought. "But I still need to watch out for that body slam though."

"Use Aurora Beam." A beam of various lights shot from the water right at Eevee.

"Block it with Swift." The special attacks collided and smoke covered the field. The crowd cheered.

"Now Ice Beam."

"Wow, she sure is givin' Twilight a hard time." Applejack commented.

"Well I would expect such from the lady of pop." Rarity exclaimed.

"You friends with the challenger?" They looked to their left to see a girl with sunglasses and insane blue hair.

"Yeah." Rainbow Dash replied, and the girl chuckled.

"I always love watching Sapphire's matches; she always gives challengers a run for their money. I'm Vinyl Scratch by the way, and this silent gal next to me is Octavia." The girl next to her just sat silently and continued to watch the match.

"Rainbow Dash. This is Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Spike."

"Well dear, from someone who watches Sapphire's matches regularly, do you think Twilight has a chance?" Rarity asked.

"Maybe, if her Pokemon can get past Sapphire's strategies then I guess it's possible." She said. "You guys seem cool by the way, not like the other people sitting next to us. They just seem so serious."

"Well thank you dear and I hope we could meet again after this." Rarity smiled.

"Argh, that Sealeo is tricky." Twilight thought. "Quick attack!" Eevee quickly jumped on the floats and rammed into the Ball Roll Pokemon, but it did very little.

"Aurora Beam." The ice- type attack hit Eevee directly.

"It has to have a weak spot. Think Twilight, think. Wait a minute..." She thought back to what the Pokedex said.

It has a very sensitive nose. It touches new things with its nose to examine them.
Twilight smiled as she remembered this.

"Sealeo use Water Gun!"

"Use Quick Attack to dodge, also get closer!" Eevee quickly jumped onto a different float to avoid the attack.

"Don't give it time to rest Sealeo, keep up that Water Gun!" Sealeo kept on aiming for Eevee, who was getting closer and closer.

"Just a little bit more..." Twilight thought. "Now use Tackle and aim for its nose." Eevee rammed into Sealeo's nose and the effect was more visible as Sealeo was pushed back.

"Now Swift!" The stars hit Sealeo and it fell into the water. There was a momentary pause before Sealeo rose up unconsious.

"Sealeo is unable to battle, Eevee is the winner!"

"Vee! Eevee!" Eevee jumped around, happy that it had won.

"Well hon, are you ready for my next Pokemon?"

"Yes I am." Twilight replied. "Do you think you can still go Eevee?" Her Pokemon nodded in response.

"Dazzle us, Dewgong!"

"Gong, Dewgong." The Pokemon said as Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Dewgong: The Sea Lion Pokemon.
Its streamlined body has little drag in water. The colder the temperature, the friskier it gets.

"Ice beam."

"Swift." The ice beam went right through the swift and hit Eevee.

"Headbutt."

"Quick attack!" The two ran for each other before Eevee ran to the side at the last minute and hit Dewgong's side. "Keep it up!" Dewgong tried to hit Eevee but it kept using quick attack to move out of the way and hitting the water- type afterwards.

"Ice beam on that float!" Sapphire pointed at the float Eevee was about to land on and the Sea Lion Pokemon shot the beam. Eevee landed on the float but instantly slipped.

"Get up Eevee!" Twilight was quite worried; Eevee was helpless now since it couldn't even stand up on that ice.

"Headbutt!" Dewgong went into the water and jumped out when it was close to Eevee. The attack was a direct hit and Eevee blown back into the water. It finally came up with spirals in its eyes.

"Eevee has fainted, Dewgong wins!" The crowd cheered as the announcer spoke through the megaphones.

"Come back Eevee." She returned Eevee to its Pokeball and got out another one. "Go Ralts!"

"Ralts!" Her recently- caught Pokemon was ready to fight.

"And Twilight has sent out a Ralts! But will it be able to stand up to Sapphire's strongest Pokemon?

"Confusion!" Twilight pointed at Dewgong and Ralts used its Psychic energy to give Dewgong a splitting headache. Dewgong clenched its head with its find and tried to bear the attack.

"Headbutt." After the confusion Dewgong went into the water and jumped out when it was near Ralts.

"Double Team!" Copies of Ralts quickly spread out across the room. Dewgong decided to charge for one but all it hit was a copy.

"Disarming Voice!" Each copy let out a huge cry resulting in the room being filled with nothing but large pink sound waves.

"You're doing well." Sapphire complemented. "But we won't lose, Signal Beam!" Dewgong's horn lit up and it let out a beam of light against all of the copies, which disappeared one by one.

"Confusion!" Twilight hoped that she could confuse the water- type or at least throw it off with the attack but this time, Dewgong endured the special attack and hit the real Ralts with the super- effective attack.

"Our fans have been patient Dewgong, so let's finish this battle with a beautiful ice beam!" Dewgong fired the shining bright blue beam at Ralts while the crowd cheered with excitement.

"Avoid the attack!" Ralts jumped off of the float. "Now Magical Leaf!" On command, leaves appeared astound Ralts from nowhere, all surrounded in a magical aura. All of the leaves were launched at Dewgong, who definitely felt them. Dewgong looked at Sapphire, who smiled at Dewgong and nodded, which caused her final Pokemon to smile back.

"Ice Beam." The beams shot at Ralts, who was dodging them by jumping from float to float, while its opponent was not letting up, but the Feeling Pokemon was also using magical leaf whenever it got a chance. Ralts kept hopping until it slipped on one. Twilight's eyes widened she realised what Sapphire had done; she'd frozen all the floats so her Pokemon wouldn't be able to use the only things they could stand on. Ralts tried to get up but before it could it was hit with another ice beam and frozen solid.

"Aqua Jet." Dewgong became engulfed in water and shot up in the air while the crowd began to get excited.

"Sapphire's signature move when she did contests." Octavia said, causing the others to jump. "I've seen that move in the contests I watched when I was younger."

"Now spin with Signal Beam!" Dewgong began to spin while its horn lit up and soon the signal beam was spinning around the aqua jet. Ralts was frozen and couldn't move, and Twilight was right now very angry that Synchronise didn't apply to freezing. Dewgong was in the air showing off the combination attack. Then it came down, enveloped in water and a shimmering spiral of light, going straight for the frozen Pokemon, as the ice was broken when the water- type Pokemon made contact and there was water covering the float that Ralts was on. Once the water cleared, Ralts was shown to be unconsious.

"Ralts has fainted, Dewgong is the winner!". Twilight frowned; Ralts had fainted so she had one Pokemon left to use.

"Hoot!" Hoothoot chirped, looking at Twilight straight in the eye, who sighed. "Alright then, go Hoothoot!" Her first Pokemon flew from her shoulder onto one of the floats, using the one talon it stood on to grip on the ice.

"And Twilight sends out her last Pokemon, a Hoothoot. Will it succeed or will Twilight lose?"

"Use Headbutt Dewgong." Dewgong shot forward with its horn pointed straight at Hoothoot.

"Dodge then use Peck!" Hoothoot flew up and viciously pecked Dewgong when it came down.

"Signal Beam." Hoothoot was still pecking Dewgong, so it didn't notice the water- types horn light up and blast Hoothoot away with the special attack, though not really doing much damage.

"Now Headbutt." Dewgong jumped up from the water and went for another Headbutt attack.

"Confusion." In mid- air, Hoothoot's eyes lit up and Dewgong got another huge headache while going for the flying- type, but it pulled through the weak telekinetic force and still landed a direct hit, albeit a less powerful one.

"Aqua Tail." Dewgong's tail became blue and it flipped forwards and slammed its tail into Hoothoot, who fell down onto the frozen floats.

"Now Ice Beam." The bright cyan blast shot down at Hoothoot, who just managed to avoid it in time.

"Confusion again!" As Dewgong was going down, it got hit by the psychic- type attack again, causing it to lose focus and turned its landing into a huge splash instead of a graceful dive.

"Aqua Jet barrage!" It rose from the water and was going straight for Hoothoot, who dodged but Dewgong wasn't done. It landed in the water and shot back out from where it had landed with the same attack, which Hoothoot dodged again. Twilight's Pokemon was being forced to do nothing but frantically dodge as the opposing Pokemon shot out from different places, and each time it came closer to contact. Hoothoot was tired, and didn't have the energy to dodge much anymore.

"Use Refle-"

"Hoothoot!" It was a direct hit when Dewgong rammed into it while enveloped in water.

"Now go up with Aqua Jet again." Dewgong went up with Aqua Jet. Twilight recognised that clearly.

"Hoothoot you have to focus!" She cried out desperately, while her panting Pokemon struggled to catch its breath.

"Now do another spin with Signal Beam." Dewgong readied the second stage of its signature attack by spinning again and allowing the beam of light to form a spiral around itself yet again and shine beautifully in the water, only this time it was stronger. It then came down, going straight for Hoothoot, and There was no doubt that it would be a direct hit. It did, and smoke filled the area due to the impact and friction.

"Use Reflect!" The smoke cleared and Hoothoot was perfectly fine, standing upright against Dewgong's attack, with a glass- like wall between them. Twilight smiled, she knew that Reflect would minimise the physical damage taken from the attack, and didn't have to worry about Signal Beam, because it was a bug- type move so that wouldn't do much. She had called the move just before Dewgong hit and was extremely thankful that she did.

"Now, full- power Confusion!" Hoothoot's eyes lit up and Dewgong was pushed away and forced to change direction into a wall.

"Dewgong has fainted and the victory goes to Twilight and Hoothoot!" The crowd cheered enormously, and Twilight held Hoothoot up, who was panting and gasping for air.

"That was amazing Hoothoot." She smiled. "You deserve a nice long rest."

"You battled really well Twilight." Sapphire smiled. "You battled well and got the crowd excited. Even after I retired from Pokemon contests, I always love to give a good show to the audience and that's what you did Twilight, you got them hyped and they enjoyed every minute of it. So, I award you with this official Pokemon League Deep Badge." She handed Twilight the badge to put in her badge case. "I'm also giving you this." She handed Twilight a small disc. "It's the TM for the move Ice Beam. It's one of the strongest ice- type moves out there and can freeze your opponent."

"Thank you Sapphire. It's been an honour battling with you." Just as she was about to turn and leave, someone burst through the door.

"Sapphire you have to come quick, there's chaos in the city! People in masks are stealing things left and right and attacking buildings and we need our gym leader to stop them!"

"What?" Sapphire's eyes widened. "But my Pokemon just lost a battle." She turned to Twilight. "Can you get these two to a Pokemon Centre quickly?" She gave two of her Pokeballs to Twilight.

"Okay. I need to heal my Pokemon as well. I'll find you when they're done."

"And we'll help clear the city of any of those rapscallions who dare threaten the peace."

"Us too!" Vinyl and Octavia got out their Pokeballs. "Let's go!"

"Not so fast!"

Author's Note

Twilight:
Ralts.
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.

Spike:
Dratini.
Moves: Thunder Wave, Wrap, Twister and Extreme Speed

Anyway, how was the first gym battle? Let me know in the comments.

What Happens in Los Pegasus...

"Not so fast!" The group turned around to see seven people pointing their Pokeballs at them.

"And who are you?" Vinyl asked.

"We are Team Chaos, and we'll be taking all of your Pokemon, starting with the Gym Leader's." The one in the middle pointed at Twilight, who was still holding Sapphire's Pokeballs.

"She won't be handing anything over, but YOU SEVEN on the other hand will be surrendering and telling us everything you know about what's happening or else." The seven criminals chuckled at Rarity's demands.

"Oh is that so?" The Middle girl twirled her red and yellow hair around one finger as she laughed at them.

"Twilight, run." Sapphire whispered, as Twilight ran away to find the Pokemon Centre while the red- headed girl saw her escaping.

"Deal with these guys." She said to all her grunts. "I'll follow the girl." They nodded as they got their Pokeballs ready.

"Go with her Tavi." Vinyl said to her friend who followed the red- head.

"Destroy them, Beedrill!"

"Shock 'em dead, Galvantula!"

"Release your spores, Parasect!"

"Sharpen your blades, Scyther!"

"Come on out, Ditto!"

"Annihilate them, Durant!"

Six very dangerous and dull- coloured Pokemon were threatening them, but they wouldn't give up. Sapphire was the first to get out her own Pokeball.

"Dazzle us, Cloyster!"

"Make some noise, Exploud!"

"Show your elegance, Purugly!"

"Come on out, Phanpy!"

"Speed through them, Tailow!"

"Have a good time, Shroomish!" They stood against the six grunts who looked very confident.

Twilight ran towards the Pokemon Centre. She would've stayed and fought with the others but her Pokemon needed to be healed at the Centre, as well as those of the Gym Leader. It also had to be quick as the leader needed her Pokemon healed. She was almost there as well, and got a large grin when it appeared in her line of sight. She was nearly there, then she could help and-

"Baltoy, Ice Beam!" She stopped when her path was blocked by a wall of ice. She looked behind her, and saw a girl with red and yellow hair in a leather jacket walking calmly towards her, a Baltoy on her left.

"Well aren’t you a golden girl?" She gave a fake smile. "I'll be taking those gym Pokemon now and, why not yours as well?" She had seen Twilight battle, so she knew that most of her Pokemon were knocked out so she used her weakest Pokemon to threaten Twilight.

"Well? I'm waiting."

"No." Twilight said with a look of defiance on her face.

"Fine, have fun thawing out. Baltoy, Ice Beam again." Baltoy was ready to fire, but was suddenly blasted away by a great gust of cold wind full of snow and ice. Twilight turned around to see a girl with long neat black hair, and was dresses like she was late to perform in an orchestra. She was riding an Aurorus.

"What the heck?" The redhead was extremely surprised, but she quickly composed herself. "And who are you?

"I am Octavia." She said simply. "Who are you?"

"Your best friend, if you don’t get in my way, now leave please."

"No I can't, you're threatening an innocent trainer and attempting to steal her Pokemon so you'll be coming with me."

"I'm afraid not, Baltoy, Psybeam!" Her Pokemon got up and shot the special attack at Aurorus, who was completely un- fazed.

"Ancient Power." A group of rocks formed around the fossil Pokemon and they all shot at Baltoy.

"Quick, dodge!" Her Pokemon avoided all of the stones being hurled towards it. "Now keep using Psybeam!" Baltoy obeyed and kept on using the same attack while still trying to dodge, as both the Pokemon and its trainer knew that just one or two attacks would make Baltoy faint, but she wasn't actually trying to beat the Aurorus.

"One more Psybeam!" Baltoy had been doing its best and it had shot several Psybeams, so far but it was doing them able frantically dodging all the attacks that the ice- type had launched. This Psybeam hit Aurorus straight in the face and unlike the others appeared to have some affect. Aurorus was suddenly dizzy and struggling to stand up.

"Aurorus is confused." Octavia thought. "Use Ancient Power!" Aurorus formed the rocks again and looked ready to fire, but the rocks shot towards the Pokemon that formed them. This girl was smart; she knew that she couldn't beat Octavia's Pokemon, so she was aiming to confuse it so it wouldn't be able to follow her when she went after Twilight. Speaking of which, she was currently running into the Pokemon Centre.

Twilight was very anxious. She was waiting for both the gym leader's Pokemon to heal and hers. All she could do was wait and hope that Octavia was holding the lady off. She had explained to nurse "Redheart" Joy the urgency of the situation, and she completely understood.

"Alright, here's the gym leader's Pokemon." She handed them to Twilight. "Now I just need to heal your Pokemon and you'll be good."

"And while you wait, you can give me the gym leaders Pokemon." Twilight whipped around and saw her assailant walking towards her. Twilight backed away, stopping at the counter while the redhead calmly advanced in on her.

"Fine. Baltoy, use Earth Power." Her Pokemon rose up into the air, and slammed down; making the ground crack with pure energy radiating from the small fissures that it was creating.

"Ummm, go Dewgong!" Thinking quickly, Twilight sent out Sapphires main Pokemon. It came out in all its shimmering beauty. "Sapphire isn't here right now. We need to beat this girl if we want to get to her." She said when Dewgong turned around and looked at her in confusion.

"Now use Aqua Tail to knock Baltoy out of the Centre!" The Water- types tail began to flow blue as it shot towards Baltoy and the ground- type shortly made contact with its tail and it flew out the centre and landed in a wall.

"Baltoy, return." The psychic’s owner ran out and returned her Pokemon before giving Twilight a grin. "Fine then. Go Rotom!"

The Pokeball erupted and what came out surprised Twilight. It was a red lawnmower with huge eyes and a sharp- toothed grin. The whole thing was surrounded by a green energy of some sort.

"I don't think that's what a Rotom looks like." Twilight didn't know much about Rotom, other than what it looked like and the fact that it's a very rare Pokemon. The Pokemon did look somewhat like a Rotom but there were too many differences.

"What, this is the best Celestia’s golden girl can do?" She laughed. "Looks like you've got a lot to learn about Rotom. Now Ominous Wind!" A great purple wind blew from Rotoms mouth towards the water- type, who stood strong against the ghost- type attack.

"Ice Beam!" Dewgong shot the sub- zero beams at Rotom, who sped to the right and avoided the attack. "Keep using it!" Rotom raced around Dewgong, who was constantly trying to fire Ice Beams at the opposing Pokemon, who was simultaneously laughing at it.

"Leaf Storm." Rotom stopped and opened its mouth, releasing a huge spiral of leaves headed straight for Dewgong, who attempted to slide away on the ice, but still got caught by a bit of the attack.

"Aqua Jet!" Twilight was analysing the ‘Rotom’ while the Pokemon she was borrowing battled. She knew nothing about this Pokemon, though little was known about Rotom anyway. She had no choice but to improvise while Dewgong shot forward and was close to Rotom.

"Thundershock." Rotom sent a small bolt of electricity towards Dewgong, who took double the damage much damage due to the Aqua Jet conducting the electricity such sent Dewgong crashing to the ground.

"Now Leaf Storm." It sent another barrage of leaves but this time, it was a direct hit. Twilight returned Dewgong before it got too hurt. She had to send out another Pokemon.

"Go, Gengar!" The ghost- type jumped out of the ball with its trademark large grin.

"Use Shadow Punch!" Instead of following its trainer’s orders, Gengar chose to make its hand glow purple, and flew forward to hit Rotom with a Poison Jab. Rotom was pushed back and was hit with another Poison Jab before it could retaliate.

"I didn't tell you to use that attack!" Twilight cried out, desperately trying to get her Pokemon to listen to her, while the redhead watched with a growing smile.

"What a joke. Ominous Wind!" Another gust of wind blew from Rotoms mouth and blew Gengar into a wall. With an angry look on its face, Gengar threw a Shadow Ball at the opposing Pokemon, who dodged.

"Thunder Wave." Rotom vibrated and the poison- type was surrounded by small electrical waves. It tried to move, but suddenly became stiff.

"Confuse Ray!" For once, Gengar used the attack and confused Rotom, but rolled its eyes before doing so, as if saying "Ugh, fine" and sent the Ray towards Rotom, who began to get dizzy and lose control of its wheels.

"Rotom!" The redhead cursed, gaining a furious look on her face as she saw Rotom constantly trying to stay in control of itself. "Ominous Wind, now!" Rotom could not hear its trainer while spinning aimlessly and hit a wall, which did some damage.

"Shadow Ball!" Instead of continuing to listen to its trainer, Gengar used Poison Jab again and decided to attack from above to do more damage while Rotom was just moving itself from the wall but was still struggling not to spin. Things didn’t seem good for the redhead, but she had a thought.

"Ominous Wind while spinning!!" Rotom obeyed and stopped resisting the confusion, when it began to let out the dark wind and spun around in place as if doing donuts while Gengar was still coming down. The wind spun with Rotom, which created a tornado around it and stopped the Shadow Pokemon in its tracks, which resulted in it battling against the attack, constantly trying to push through it but Rotom eventually won and the super- effective attack spun Gengar in the air and did huge damage to it. “Sorry, but Sunsets always come before Twilight.”

"She used the confusion to her advantage." Twilight thought. Her eyes were wide with surprise. "That was an incredibly clever move. Just who is this girl?"

Shroomish was blown back into the wall by a strong Fury Cutter from Parasect, who was already advancing on its opponent, not giving it time to recover. Purugly was enduring the Twineedle attack from a Beedrill, and began to use Slash, which Beedrill swiftly dodged by flying around Purugly. Exploud using Hyper Voice, it was struggling to overcome the same attack being performed by Ditto, who had transformed into a greyer version of Exploud.

"Protect!" That's what Cloyster was forced to keep doing to defend itself against the powerful and very quick electric attacks of Galvantula.

"Rollout!"

"Iron Head!" Phanpy clashed with Durant for the fifth time, but was beginning to tire out.

"Wing Attack!"

"Fury Cutter!" Wings and blades clashed in the air as Tailow and Scyther flew up in the air, constantly trying to hit each other with their attacks. Taillow went in for another Wing attack but Scyther moved to the left and hit Taillow in the back with a Slash attack and it looked like it was going to crash before it gained control of itself and flew over to Scyther at full speed, dodging the scythes and hit the bug- type with the flying attack, but Scyther had quickly recovered and used Slash to successfully knock Taillow down as if it was nothing.

"H- Heal Pulse on Taillow, Audino..." Fluttershy said. She was trying to hide from the grunts, but still tried to help by healing the Pokemon that were hurt.

"Argh!" Applejack grunted. "These gosh- darn Pokemon are too strong!”

"And they're all ugly shades of grey, it's hideous!" Rarity wailed.

"Another Fury Cutter!" Parasect tried to move forward, but felt a pain rushing through its body. Parasect was poisoned.

"What the?" The grunt was confused. "How did you get poisoned?"

"Idiot!" The grunt using Galvantula yelled. "That Shroomish has the ability effect spore!"

"Well how was I supposed to know that?"

"Argh, shut up! I've nearly broken through the defences of that stupid Cloyster!"

"Ice Beam!" Galvantula shot back by the ice attack into the wall.

"You stupid Galvantula!" The grunt berated her Pokemon. "Use Thunder!"

"Protect!" Cloyster tried to use the move again, but it failed and was hit by the powerful attack.

"Oh no." Fluttershy gasped. "Heal Pulse on Cloyster." Audino healed Cloyster from a distance.

"I can't keep beating these Pokemon if that Audino is going to heal them..." One thought. "Galvantula, use another Thunder on Audino!" Just as Audino was done healing Cloyster, it was too late to avoid the attack and took the devastating attack. The normal- type fell to the ground with bruises covering it's body. Fluttershy's eyes were wide with surprise and fear, until they shifted into pure rage.

"How... dare... you..." She seethed. "You invade the gym, harass and threaten everybody, try to steal Pokemon, and now you've severely injured one?! HOW DARE YOU?!" She yelled as she got out a Pokeball. "Bunnelby, go!" Her Pokemon was surprised at its trainer, but didn't complain.

"Ha, you really think that that pathetic little normal- type can beat my Galvantula?" She laughed. "Use Thunder!"

"Mud Shot!" Galvantula shot the Thunder, but it was blocked by the ground- type attack.

"Double Slap!" Bunnelby's ears glowed and it jumped towards Galvantula and hit it with its ears repeatedly.

"Slash!" The attack hit Bunnelby directly since it was so close and pushed it back. "Keep using it!"

"Use Quick Attack to avoid it!" Bunnelby avoided the physical attack and kept dodging while Galvantula kept slashing.

"Mud Shot!" Bunnelby hurled a blob of mud at Galvantula, which landed straight in its eyes and lowered its accuracy.

"I've had enough of this! Wild Charge!" The grunt snarled as Galvantula’s body became enveloped in electricity.

"Quick Attack to dodge again!" Bunnelby obeyed its trainer and ran in the direction of the pool, with Galvantula following.

"Jump and use Mud Shot one more time!" Bunnelby jumped up and threw the mud at Galvantula as it followed it into the air. The attack hit the big- type directly in the face and blinded it, causing it to miss Bunnelby and fall into the pool. Since Wild Charge was still active, Galvantula shocked itself with the increased electricity of the water. When it rose up from the water, it had already fainted.

"Alright Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash congratulated.

"Um... thanks..." Fluttershy quickly shifted back to being shy after the battle.

""Exploud, use Fire Fang!" The teeth of the loud noise Pokemon began to burn a bright crimson red as it bit the torso of the copy, who yelled out in pain. "Now send it flying!" Explore threw the transformed Ditto up into the air. "Hyper Voice again!" The sound attack hit the sound Pokemon directly, and transformed back into its original form when it fell to the ground and fainted. The two then easily helped the others take the remaining grunts down. Soon they were surrounded.

"You are all under arrest!" Sapphire exclaimed. "Put your hands behind your back and-" She was cut off as she jumped back, barely avoiding a Flamethrower.

"Where in the hay did that come from?" Applejack and the others looked around.

"Up there!" Rarity pointed up and saw a red Pokemon in the distance.

"W- What is that?" Fluttershy quivered.

"That's our way out." One of the grunts grinned before they all ran out the door. The seven tried to chase them, but were blocked by another Flamethrower.

Sunset grinned, her Rotom was easily beating the opposing Pokemon. That Gengar was stronger than she expected, but despite the power gap it was easy since it wouldn't even listen to its own trainer, so all Rotom had to do was rile it up so it would be angry and predictable.

"Even your own Pokemon know you’re not worth listening to… What a disgrace. Now Rotom use-" Before she could finish, her Rotom was hit with by a Blizzard from the Aurorus behind her. "What?" Sunset was very surprised. "It should have been confused longer than that!"

"True, and while it lasted far longer than expected, the fact of the matter is you're surrounded, and right now surrender is your only option." Sunset glared as Octavia set out the facts. All of them were true, she was surrounded and Rotom had barely withstood that attack. But she still had one more trick up her sleeve.

"Go Grumpig!" She threw the Pokeball and a Psychic- type came out with a grin on its face. "Use Flash!" It let out a huge blinding light from its eyes which forced everyone to look away. By the time the light cleared, Sunset was running away from the two.

"After her!" Octavia jumped on Aurorus's back and chased her after helping Twilight up jump on as well. Sunset was far away but Aurorus was slowly gaining. Sunset suddenly made a turn for awhile alleyway that was too narrow for the ice- type to go through so the two had to continue the chase by foot.

"There she is!" They saw Sunset turn a corner to the left and quickly followed her through the straight path. Suddenly, something jumped down in front of them. A large dark chestnut Pokemon with beige lower legs blocked their path, it growled at them as its red mane began to heat up and fire formed in its mouth.

"A Pyroar." Octavia whispered.

"Hey, there it is!" Twilight and Octavia turned around to see their friends, the gym leader and Vinyl.

"What are you all doing here?" Twilight asked.

"That Pyroar made us lose those grunts!" Rainbow pointed at the Pokemon standing in their way.

"Twilight, do you have my Pokemon?" Sapphire asked.

"Uuh yes, here you go." Twilight handed Sapphire her Pokeballs.

"Good, now Go Dewgong!" She threw the Pokeballs and sent out her strongest Pokemon. "Use Aqua Jet!" Dewgong became enveloped in water and shot straight towards the Pyroar, who began to glow yellow with sparks flying off of it, and it easily overpowered Dewgong with its Wild Charge.

"Go Exploud!" Vinyl threw her Pokeball and sent out her normal- type again. "Use Crunch!" Exploud ran over to the opposing Pyroar with its teeth ready to clamp down on the fire- type, but let loose a huge orange wind of unbearable heat. When the Heat Wave stopped, they found that the grunts, Sunset and the Pyroar were all gone.

"Where did they go?" Twilight looked around.

"I don't know." Sapphire said. "But I don't think that this is the last we will see of them, and then there was theat Pyroar, it was unbelievably strong. I'll alert the League."

"You shouldn't have interfered. Let them get thrown in jail like those idiots we sent after the professor.”

"Oh come now, while they weren't able get the gym leaders Pokemon, they did provide a good distraction for the biggest threat to our plans." The redheaded girl smiled, a hand on her hip.

"I suppose, but I would've let them rot; made sure that they paid for being so clumsy."

"Oh please, just demote them or something."

"Ugh, can you just interfere less? If you do it too much they'll begin to expect us."

"Well, there's always next time."

Author's Note

Sunsets Pokemon:
Baltoy
Moves: Earth Power, Ice Beam and Psybeam.
Rotom (mow)
Moves: Leaf Storm, Thundershock, Ominous Wind and Thunder Wave.

I didn't explain this in the previous chapter, but all the Nurse Joys in the Equestria Region have the nickname of Redheart.

King of the Desert

The seven young trainers were had went from Los Pegasus to the San Palomino desert. After they had beaten the Team Chaos members, they found out that several strong Pokemon had been stolen behind their backs, and the owner of the Pyroar was still unknown, not to mention its whereabouts. They had also parted ways with Octavia and Vinyl, who had gone separate ways from them after they spent the night in the city.

"Ugh, this heat is simply unbearable!" Rarity whined.

"Ah don't know what yer complainin' about." Applejack said, as she was barely affected by the heat at all. "Ah feel fine."

"Well don't get comfy." Twilight warned. "Sandstorms are common here, and can pop up out of nowhere."

"Yeah well, we'll be careful." Rainbow dismissed the warning and kept walking along carelessly. "Say, what can you catch here? Is there anything fast?"

"Well you can find rock, ground and the occasional steel- types here, since those are the only ones who can handle living in conditions like these." She informed. "…But there are still Pokemon who don't have any of those types that live here like Cacnea, Maractus and Darumaka."

"Ooh, what if I catch a Gible or a Trapinch or something?" Spike wondered. "That would be so cool!" Twilight smiled at her little brothers daydreaming about having a strong dragon Pokemon.

"Well they can be found in deep beds of sand, like that one." She pointed as some sand that was a darker shade than the other sand.

"Well then, let's see if we can catch any." Rainbow grinned as she ran into the sand. "Go Nincada!" She threw the ball and her ground and bug- type came out. In the sand, a Cacnea jumped out and launched a Pin Missile, where some of the spikes covering its body shot out and hit Nincada, who had not been expecting the sudden attack.

"Alright then, use Leech Life!" It quickly recovered from the special attack and jumped onto Cacneas back, biting it and draining its health, while it was desperately trying to shake the insect off, and Nincada held tightly until It launched Pin Missile, then Nincada jumped off and the attack hit Cacnea.

"Now Fury Swipes!" Nincada raced forward, but Cacnea used Sand attack and Nincada fell and tried to get the sand out of its eyes while the others just watched Rainbow battle.

"Alright, I'll just register that Cacnea in the Pokedex and... done." Twilight said.

"Maybe ah'll look for somethin' mahself." Applejack said.

"Alright!" Rainbow shouted. "I beat it and- wait; I forgot to catch it, now it's in the sand somewhere!" She groaned. "Fine then, any other wild Pokemon want to battle? We're on a roll!" As if to answer her question, she found herself in a horde battle against five Baltoy, which Twilight also registered as she hadn't done it when she was against Sunset.

"You okay Nincada?" Rainbow asked as she went up to her panting Pokemon, standing in front of five ground- types with spirals in their eyes. "You up for one more or do you want to rest?" Nincada looked at her then walked forward towards the sand and Rainbow smiled. "Alright then, who's next?!" As if answering her question, something began to rise out of the sand, and it was bigger than any Baltoy or Cacnea. Its back was a tough silver metal that began at the head, and ended at its tail. It stepped fully out of the sand with its four short legs showing its stocky, armoured body. It glared at the bug- type with its angry sky blue eyes and roared.

"Ron!!!"

"What's that?" Rainbow asked.

"It's a Lairon." Twilight said as she got out her Pokedex.

Lairon: The Iron Armour Pokemon.
It habitually shows off its strength with the size of sparks it creates by ramming its steel body into boulders.

"Well then, let's go Nincada, use Fury Swipes!" The bug- type began to scratch Lairon vigorously, but it wasn't fazed I the slightest and stayed out where it was, while its body glowed and shone.

"It's using Iron Defence." Twilight informed Rainbow.

"Fine then, use Dig!" Nincada burrowed underground, while Lairon simply stood there with its defences up. When Nincada finally jumped up from the ground and hit Lairon, who was visibly effected by the ground- type attack, but responded by charging forward and hit Nincada a couple of metres away. Just as Nincada was getting up, the steel- type began charging again.

"Use Dig again!" Nincada buried underground just before Lairon could deliver the final blow. After a while, Nincada quickly jumped up from the ground and attempted to hit Lairon in the face, but is get it tried to move away the steel- types jaws clamped down on the Pokemon, preventing it from escaping. It then threw the but- type into the air another few metres away, but instead of a Take Down its entire body became a bright white; as if using silver Aqua Jet and ran towards where Nincada was landing.

"It's using Iron Head!" Twilight said. "If that hits then Nincada will lose!"

"Uuh, use Dig one more time to avoid it!" Nincada straightened its body so it was facing the ground, but before it could even touch the ground, it made contact with the steel- type move and hit a nearby rock. When the smoke, cleared, Nincada was shown to have fainted.

"Wowee!" Applejack was impressed and curious. "Ah think that ah'll have a go at battlin' that thing." She turned to face the Lairon. "If you're up for it, that is." It responded with a growl and a determined look.

"Alrightey then, go Phanpy!" She threw her Pokeball and out came the Long Nose Pokemon.

"Use Rollout!" Phanpy curled up in a ball and began to roll in the direction of Lairon, increasing speed every second as it got closer and closer. In response, Lairon used Iron a Defence and hardened its body while it charged at Phanpy itself, trying to beat it with sheer force. Their sides clashed and they ran in opposite directions before turning around and repeating the process, with Phanpy getting faster and stronger with Rollout and Lairon becoming more and more durable with Iron Defence. Eventually the two stopped and locked eyes with each other until Lairon went in for a Take Down.

"Defence Curl!" Just before Lairon hit Phanpy, it rolled up into a ball as if it were about to use Rollout, but it stayed in place as the steel- type hit it and it was instantly in the air, still curled up in a ball.

"Bulldoze!" After the mention of the ground- type move, Phanpy ceased its Defence Curl and came down twice as fast as it had come up, with its front feet glowing as it got closer to Lairon, who roared and let out an ear- piercing screech that sounded like scraping metal, and Phanpy stopped using its attack to cover its ears, and Lairon hit it with an Iron Head.

"Wow, it used Metal Sound Phanpy off guard so it could attack." Twilight was amazed.

"Well it won't last long!" Applejack insisted. "Take Down!" Phanpy got up and quickly charged at Lairon, who simply stood there and took it.

"It's still strong from Iron Defence." Twilight exclaimed.

"Now Bulldoze!" Since Phanpy was close, Lairon couldn't stop it in time and the attack hit it directly. Lairon fell to the ground and Phanpy jumped away.

"Double Edge!" Phanpy's entire body lit up with a bright white and charged towards Lairon, who responded with an Iron Head. The two quickly got closer and closer to each other, both running at their opponent with their strongest attack until they collided and there was a huge flash of light which blinded everyone. Soon the light cleared and he two Pokemon were both panting, and struggling to stand up. Lairon had taken more damage than Phanpy; by the ground- type was suffering from recoil damage. However, it seemed that Phanpy was standing a bit more upright, while the opposing Pokemon wobbled a bit more but refused to fall as it turned around to face the small blue elephant. It appeared to be readying another attack as its body began to change from black and silver to a blue colour.

"Wait a minute..." Twilight began before her eyes widened. "That's Head Smash!" As she spoke, Lairon began to charge towards Phanpy with the incredibly powerful attackunately, Lairon went from blue to black and silver again when the attack was halted before it could reach Phanpy and Lairon fell to the ground. It got back up and tried to do the attack again, but got the same result. It got angrier, and kept on trying the attack, while Phanpy kept dodging whenever it came close.

"Bulldoze!" When Lairon got close again, Phanpy slammed its feet down on the steel- type and it fell down again, but still refused to faint.

"It really doesn't want to lose, does it?" Twilight commented.

"One more Bulldoze!" Phanpy was tired, so Applejack decided to finish it with the super effective attack, and Lairon fell back in the sand.

The seven found some cabins for use in the desert, as it was known how brutal the sandy grounds could be, as well as the Pokemon in them.

"That was an interesting Lairon wasn't it?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah." Applejack replied. "Ah hope to see it again."

"Um, excuse me?" Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in?" Applejack answered hesitantly, and a man entered.

"Hello." He said. "We're y'all talking about a Lairon?"

"Why do ya ask sir?" Applejack questioned. "And who are ya?"

"Pardon mah rudeness." He apologised. "Mah name is Silverstar, ah live in the next town from here." He said and they all introduced themselves to him. "Yeah, did the Lairon by any chance know the move Head Smash?"

"Yes actually." The smart young girl answered. "Well, sort- of; it didn't seem like it had fully learned it yet..."

"Yup, Head Smash is one of its egg moves, but it always had trouble perfectin' it, even after it evolved it could never get that move right. It'd be its strongest move if it could."

"Do ya know where it usually hangs around?"

"Yeah, though it usually keeps to itself when doin' somethin', it ain't a fan of askin' for help."

The next day Silverstar introduced them to a friend of his who was more familiar with the desert and its Pokemon, a boy named Sandy Dune who was about five years older than them but shorter than Silverstar, took them to the place in the desert where he said that Lairon trained. It was a lot like a secret spot, which was full of sandy hills and rugged rocks, as well as a few cacti. There wasn't much else to it than that, other than the go- goggles he gave them all in case a sandstorm whipped up. Unfortunately, Silverstar had to leave that day due to some sort of tension going on in his home town. They could hear grunting and smashing sounds the came from the other side of the area.

"That noise is probably Lairon trainin'." Sandy exclaimed. They made their way further through the small desert valley and it was exactly what he had said. The same steel- type that Applejack and Rainbow had battled yesterday was ramming its body into rocks, trying once again to use Head Smash, but each time ended the same way it had in the battle yesterday, with Lairon falling and crashing. It kept doing this until it smashed the rock, but not because it got the move right. It moved on to the next stone, and did the same thing. They were about to go over and reveal themselves, but as they did they saw another Pokemon fly down.

"A Vibrava!" Spike smiled. It hovered towards, then a couple metres away from Lairon.

"What's it doing?" Twilight wondered.

"It's probably challengin' Lairon." Sandy told them. "Lairon currently holds the title for bein' the strongest Pokemon in the desert, and there are others who want to challenge him ah suppose." After he was finished they watched the battle. The dragon- type vibrated its wings to use Sonic Boom, but Lairon countered with Metal Sound and the two attacks cancelled each other out. Vibrava then flew down, slamming into the sand and making the ground erupt with Earth Power, of which Lairon took a significant amount of damage compared to Sonic Boom, but Lairon charged at it with Iron Head when it was on the ground. It hit directly and knocked Vibrava back in the air, to which it responded with a Dragonbreath that didn't do much. Lairon hardened its body with Iron Defence when its opponent went in and used Feint Attack, which left it open for another Iron Head. As it was blown back Lairon noticed the seven trainers from yesterday and went in for the final attack, and once its body became a light blue. It was holding the attack longer than it had before, but it ended the same; it fell down and crashed into Vibrava, knocking it out as they both slammed into a nearby rock. Lairon stood up and saw that it had beaten its opponent, but it merely grunted in frustration and went back to training with the rocks.

"Howdy." Applejack walked up to it, while it stared at her for a second, then put its focuses back on its training. "Yer really puttin' a lot of work into this attack." She whistled. "How about a sparrin' partner?" She offered. Lairon thought for a moment and walked a couple of metres away before stopping and turning around.

"Huh, it ain't often that Lairon accepts help." Sandy commented.

"Go Phanpy!" She called out her ground- type again, who saw Lairon and got ready for battle.

"Phanpy will use Rollout on ya and ya have to endure it." Applejack explained. "Anything confuse either of ya? Neither of ya mind?" She smiled as both Pokemon shook their heads. "Alrightey then, use Rollout!" Phanpy rolled towards Lairon, who braced itself for the impact. The first couple were fine, and it easily took them, but as it went with that attack it got stronger every turn, and it got more difficult for Lairon to take the attack.

"Y'all wanna stop?" Applejack asked, and Lairon shook its head. "Okay then, keep going Phanpy!" Soon Lairon was getting pushed back after another several Rollouts. "Stop Phanpy." Her Pokemon stopped using the attack.

"Now let's try that Head Smash again!" Lairon stepped back, before it faced a rock and began to charge. It got faster and faster, when the attack began to activate, and it was surrounded by that same colour. As it got closer to the rock, it held the move, but it was taking more and more effort with each passing second. As it was still running, it couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on the ground. They were all stunned for a moment, before Applejack ran over to check if it was alright. It slowly got up and grunted. Fluttershy ran over hand gave it a sitrus berry.

"Wow." Sandy whistled. "You two have made a lot of progress together; Lairon's really gotten stronger. This'll be excellent for my research and-" He stopped as he saw the sunset. "We had better get going, some dangerous Pokemon come out at night."

"Alright." Applejack sighed. "See ya tomorra." They all left, unaware that they were being watched.

They all went back to Lairons spot the next day. When they entered, they saw a battle between the steel- type that Applejack had trained yesterday, and a Krokorok. Despite the disadvantage, Lairon was leading the battle. As the Desert Croc Pokemon trapped it in a Sand Tomb, Lairon remained un-fazed, even when its opponent followed it up by running in for a Bite, but as it was close enough to sink its teeth in; it was blocked by Lairons tail, which began to light up. The next thing Krokorok knew it had been slammed to the ground then thrown back.

"Wow, it learned Iron Tail." Applejack was amazed.

"And it forgot Metal Sound." Twilight said as she scanned Lairon with Her Pokedex to check its new move. Lairon noticed Applejack began to charge towards it to deliver the final blow, and they all knew what it was trying to do. The attack began and ended as it had the previous times. It grunted as it crashed into Krokorok, and used Iron Head to finish it.

"Wowee!" Applejack cheered. "Lairon's doin' great!"

"I know!" Sandy piped up. "It's defeated some strong Pokemon so far. It's a shame Silverstar isn't here to see this, but he had to go back to his home town due to some dispute."

"Well ah reckon when he's done, maybe we can do some more training..." She stopped as all the people and Pokemon turned their heads to look at something coming their way. The Pokemon backed away in fear while the people simply stared at the grass- type that walked towards them with an ominous smile on its face. Its body was a grassy green and was covered in spikes. Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Cacturne: The Scarecrow Pokemon.
It becomes active at night, seeking prey that is exhausted from the day's desert heat.

"Well that's odd, Cacturne are nocturnal so they shouldn't be out here in broad daylight." Sandy wondered while the Cacturne kept walking, but stopped when it was a close to the steel- type.

"It looks like it's challenging Lairon." Spike inferred, clutching the case that held his Pokemon egg. The two desert Pokemon stared each other down, before Cacturne's spikes lit up as it used Pin Missile. The giant spikes were launched towards Lairon, who took the attack, but it was stronger than expected and the steel- type stumbled backwards slightly. Lairon then ran forward with Iron Tail, but Cacturne didn't move, and simply stood there as its opponent got closer and closer. Once Cacturne was within hitting distance, it used Needle Arm when Lairon swung its tail, and quickly overpowered it. The Iron Armour Pokemon slid towards one of the rocks and crashed into it, breaking the large piece of stone. Lairon got back up, only to be greeted wih another Pin Missile. Meanwhile, everyone else was in pure awe.

"Wow..." Sandy began. "I don't think I've ever even seen a Cacturne that's anywhere near that strong. I... Don't think Lairon will win this." Lairon recovered and ran forward using Iron Head, while Cacturne simply grinned. When it was mere centimetres away, dozens of spikes extended from Cacturnes body, protecting Cacturne and hurting Lairon.

"It used Spiky Shield!" Twilight gasped. When Lairon jumped back it hardened its body wih Iron Defence, while the grass- type laughed and stared its foe down, when sand began to rise and spin around it. "Now Sandstorm!" The attack got larger and larger until it covered the whole battlefield. Lairon looked around before it saw its target, and quickly ran forward with Iron Head, but it disappeared.Cacturne kept on reappearing and disappearing around it.

"Why is it suddenly so fast?" Applejack questioned.

"It must have the ability Sand Veil!" Twilight exclaimed. "It's able to evade attacks more easily now, which isn't good for Lairon." It didn't even notice the Needle Arm behind it before it struck.

"Lairon!" Applejack called. "boost yer defences!" Lairon heard Applejack and took her advice by using Iron Defence. When Cacturne rushed in for its attack, it did a fair amount less, and Lairon took the opportunity to use Iron Tail, which knocked Cacturne back. It got angry and disappeared into the Sandstorm. Lairon then saw a series of Pin Missiles heading straight for it, and responded with an Iron Head, running in the direction of the Pin Missiles and taking each and everyone, but not stopping at all. Cacturne was surprised and it got hit and fell down. In that moment Lairon began to glow in a familiar colour while the Sandstorm subsided.

"Is that..?" Applejack began.

"Let's hope." Sandy replied as they all watched. The two Pokemon readied their attacks and ran towards ran other. Lairon with Head Smash and Cacturne with a Needle Arm in both arms. They got closer and closer, and hey we're all amazed at Lairon holding the attack this well. The both kept running until hey were right in front of each other but something crashed down between them, forming smoke and causing the both of them to cancel their attacks. The smoke cleared and what emerged was a large blue water- type, floating in the air.

"What's that?" Twilight wondered as she got out her Pokedex.

Jellicent: The Floating Pokemon.
The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished.

After reading the entry Twilight felt a bit uneasy. Cacturne on the other hand rushed at the new challenger, who responded with a Sludge Bomb. Cacturne used Needle Arm while Jellicent dodged and hit it with a Shadow Ball from behind. As it got up Cacturne felt something else hit its back, but it wasn't an attack, it was an Ultra Ball. It disappeared into the ball, which shook a couple of times before stopping. Everyone was silent. Everyone stood in pure silence at what had just happened, and were even more surprised when a cloaked figure walked straight past them. The Jellicent floated towards the figure and got returned to its ball. The mysterious person then stepped towards the Ultra Ball and picked it up. They turned and gave a glance to the seven trainers, and walked away.

"...Wow..." Was all Rainbow could say..

A couple of hours later, they had gotten ready to head out. It seemed like there were a lot of strong Pokemon appearing, like the two they had seen today. One of which had strength comparable to the Pyroar that they had seen in Los Pegasus, but they had one more thing to do.

"Well." Applejack smiled. "Bye Lairon, it's been fun." The steel- type nodded in agreement and smiled cheerfully at Applejack. "Ah hope that y'all get stronger and someday perfect that attack." Lairon nodded, then Applejack got an idea.

"Lairon, what if you come with us?" Lairons eyes widened, shocked at the offer given to it. It stood there thinking for a small moment, before turning around and walking away and stopped after a few metres.

"Okay." Applejack could see the challenge, and got out another Pokeball. "Come on out Herdier!" The canine Pokemon emerged from the ball and jumped to the ground. "Dig!" Herdier tunneled underground, while Lairon hardened its body. Herdier burst up from the ground and landed a direct hit, but the steel- type retaliated with an Iron Tail. "Leer." Herdier gave Lairon an intimidating stare to lower its defences. "Now Bite!" Her Pokemons teeth sunk into the metal body of its opponent, not doing much damage at all, while Lairon used Iron Tail.

"Take Down!" Herdier charged into Lairon and knocked it back. She then threw a Pokeball at it and it began to shake. She simply looked at the ball, waiting to see what would happen before it broke and Lairon came out.

"Guess ah need to battle ya a bit longer." Applejack said."Use Take Down again!" Herdier used Take Down while Lairon activated Iron Head. The two attacks collided and both Pokemon ended up on opposite ends of the field. "Now Dig!" The normal- type went underground again, and Lairon used Iron Defence. When it burst up, Lairon attacked with Iron Head.

"Get under it!" Herdier ducked when Lairon used Iron Head, waiting until the armoured Pokemon was directly above it. "Now Take Down!" Herdier jumped up and used the attack on its belly, causing it to fall on its side.

"Now let's try this again!" She said as she threw another Pokeball at Lairon. The ball shook and shook, with the farm trainer watching patiently waiting for the result, until it stopped and the ball beeped. Applejack gave the ball a warm smile as she picked it up. They all began to walk further through the desert, with their new friend.

Author's Note

Applejack:
Herdier
Moves: Leer, Dig, Take Down and Bite
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze, Defence Curl and Double Edge
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Lairon
Moves: Iron Defence, Iron Tail, Iron Head and Head Smash

So I've decided to make the Pokemon (aside from the pets) represent a character trait from their mane 6 trainer. For example, Ralts is Twilights desire to help and Lairon is Applejacks stubborn attitude.

A Peewee Problem

"Use Scratch!" Nincada jumped at Ralts and vertically scratched it with its claws.

"Disarming Voice!" Twilight said after looking at her battling guide. Ralts quickly recovered and let its sound waves loose at the bug- type.

"Leech Life!" Nincada bit Ralts and sucked its energy out, healing itself.

"Um... Confusion!" Before Nincada could get away, it was lifted up in the air, and slammed to the ground. "Now Magical Leaf!"

"Woohoo!" Spike cheered. "Go Twilight!" After he stopped cheering, he put his hand on the case that kept his egg safe. "I can't wait till I battle with you." He smiled, before looking back at the battle. It had seemed like Twilight was about to win, but Rainbow quickly turned the tides and had Nincada hit Ralts with a Scratch, knocking it out.

"Wow that was really close." Rainbow said. "But I'm just too amazing. Of course, you were still awesome too Twilight."

"Yeah, you really did great Twilight." Spike smiled.

"Well I'll still go and find some other trainers to battle, after Ralts is healed and everything." Twilight tended to Ralts while everyone else did their own thing. Spike was currently sitting in the shade with his egg and Dratini.

"What do you think Dratini, do you want to practice something?" His Pokemon squealed in delight as they went into the deep sand, where a Scraggy popped out.

"Okay Dratini, use Twister!" The small tornado surrounded Scraggy, who took significant damage, but it jumped head first and slammed into Dratini with a Headbutt.

"Now Wrap!" While Scraggy was close, Dratini wrapped itself around the fighting- type, who desperately tried to remove it but failed. Scraggy then decided to grab some sand and throw it at Dratinis eyes, causing it to release its opponent and focus on shaking the sand off.

"Dratini!" Spike got worried, especially when it got hit by another Headbutt.

"Extreme Speed!" Dratini suddenly began moving at blinding speeds, and hit Scraggy head on, despite falling down to the ground itself. "Now Thunder Wave!" Dratini quickly recovered and sent a small electrical shock towards Scraggy, who then found it difficult to move, but still managed to land a Low Kick. When Dratini got up, it faced the Leer of its opponent, and backed away slightly.

"Don't let it intimidate you, counter is with your own Leer!" Both Pokemon glared at the other, but ended up frightening each other and both backed away. Scraggy was the first to recover and ran to hit Dratini which made Spike very worried, but suddenly stopped due to the paralysis.

"Whew" Spike thought. "Now use Twister!" Dratini whipped up another small tornado, but Scraggy jumped right through it at rammed into Dratini with Headbutt then went for a Brick Break and hit Dratini with the horizontal blow. Scraggy then began to move more slowly.

"Yes, the paralysis!" Spike thought happily, but this joy was short- lived as Scraggy's skin suddenly started to crack and break. Scraggy shed its skin and was no longer held back by a status condition. It then hit Dratini on the head with a Brick Break and the dragon- type fainted.

"Dratini!" Spike ran towards his Pokemon while Scraggy jumped back into the sand.

"Are you okay?" He held his Pokemon, who woke up and nodded. Spike let out a breath of relief while he carried his Pokemon to Fluttershy. He waited patiently while Fluttershy did her work.

"I'm sorry Dratini." He said as he clutched his egg case. "I swear, I'm gonna help you get stronger, and I'm gonna be strong too." He looked at his egg and smiled. "We'll all be super strong!" Suddenly, his egg began to glow.

Everyone was gathered around the egg, which was out of its case and glowing even brighter than before. Spike had an extremely excited look on his face and all the girls were happy for him.

"C'mon, hatch already!" Spike whined impatiently.

"Don't be impatient Spike." Twilight scolded her adopted brother. "It'll hatch soon. Don't rush it."

"Alright." He pouted. After several more moments, the egg glowed at its brightest, and Spike had no choice but to cover his eyes, as well as everyone else. Once the light died down, the Pokemon was shown, stating at all of them with its small black eyes. It had trouble standing on its talons as it wobbled slightly.

"Chic." It chirped happily, as Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Torchic: The Chick Pokemon.
Torchic sticks with its Trainer, following behind with unsteady steps. This Pokémon breathes fire of over 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, including fireballs that leave the foe scorched black.

"Hello." Spike greeted his new Pokemon. "I'm Spike." He waved, and Torchic gave another happy chirp.

"Hoot." Twilight's Hoothoot jumped down from Twilights shoulder to greet the Pokemon but when it got close, Torchic let out a loud growl causing the flying- type to step back.

"It just used Growl." Spike faced Torchic. "Why did you do that?"

"W-Well." Fluttershy piped up. "Pokemon love battling by nature, so it's probably eager to start."

"Okay then." Spike smiled. "You wanna battle Torchic?" His new Pokemon nodded eagerly. "The. Let's do it!" Twilight and Spike walked away from each other, and stopped when they were far enough apart to send their Pokemon out. Hoothoot and Torchic were then facing each other with the former being calm and the latter incredibly excited and enthusiastic. Applejack was the referee.

"You have the first move Spike." Twilight offered.

"Okay, use Growl!" Torchic lowered Hoothoot's attack.

"Confusion!" Twilight looked at her battling book, and decided that since Hoothoot's physical attack stat was lowered, a special attack was her best bet. Torchic was flung into the air and it landed having taken significant damage.

"Scratch!" Torchic's small talons glowed as it ran towards Hoothoot.

"Confusion again." Torchic was stopped in its tracks again as it felt the large pressure on its body.

"Now Peck." Torchic was pecked viscously before it fell down and its eyes spiralled.

"Torchic has fainted. Hoothoot wins!" After Applejack announced the conclusion of the battle, Spike went over and picked Torchic up.

"Hey Spike, that was a good battle." Twilight said. The fire- type woke up and chirped loudly, letting out another growl.

"I think he still wants to battle." Spike looked at his Pokemon. "You wanna battle, Rainbow?"

"Sure. Go Nincada!" Her bug- type popped out of its Pokeball.

"Use Ember!" The newly hatched Pokemon shot the small balls of fire at Nincada, who easily dodged.

"Scratch!" Nincada jumped at the fire- type and gave it a small slash across its body.

"Growl!" Nincada stepped back after the Growl.

"Don't let up Nincada, your attack may be lowered but we can still win this with Leech Life!" The insect Pokemon bit Torchic and sapped its health.

"Argh, use Scratch!" Torchic tried to scratch Nincada while it was close, but it jumped away easily.

"Dig." Nincada burrowed underground, leaving its opponent to try and figure out where it was. Eventually, the bug- type rose up and hit Torchic directly.

"Torchic is unable to battle, Nincada is the winner!"

After Torchic recovered quickly and wanted to battle again. "You want to do another one Torchic? You got it."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "You two have done a lot. Why don't you two rest?"

"How about me dear?" Rarity stepped forward.

"Uuuh..." Spike zoned out as he stared at Rarity, before finally shaking his head to get himself out of his daze. "Okay."

"Show us your elegance, Duskull!" Her ghost- type floated in front of Spike's new Pokemon.

"Uuh, use Ember but be gentle...." Torchic, not hearing its trainer's mumbling used the attack at its full- power.

"Shadow Sneak!" Duskull sunk into the ground avoiding the Ember.

"Now Peck!" While Duskull was still there, Torchic's beak lit up as it viciously pecked the ghost- type.

"Confuse Ray." Duskull's eyes glowed, and Torchic was suddenly very dizzy. It struggled to stay standing, wobbling with every step.

"Umm, Peck again!" Torchic ran towards what it thought was Duskull, but instead hit a tree. It was stuck and tried to pull its beak out of the trunk.

"Astonish!" As soon as Torchic got its beak out of the trunk, it was hit by the ghost- type attack which knocked it out.

"Uuh, Fluttershy! Battle me!" He pointed at Fluttershy, who jumped at the finger pointing at her.

"U-um, are you sure? Maybe y-you two should rest, if it's not too much trouble? I don't want to bother either of you or anything, but it might be for the best..."

"Yeah, you two have been battling a lot. Maybe it's time you both rested."

"Come on Twilight, one more battle?" He whined. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Alright, ONE more battle, then you both rest."

"Yes!" He and Torchic cried.

"Oh okay, go Bunnelby if that's okay with you." Bunnelby snorted and hopped onto the battlefield.

"Peck!" Torchic quickly ran towards Bunnelby with its extended beak.

"U-use, umm..." Torchic was right in front of Bunnelby, but it was blocked by the normal- type's ears on its forehead. It tried to run more forward, but Bunnelby's ears held it in place.

"Ember!" Torchic ignored Spike and continued trying to Peck Bunnelby, who responded by lifting its ears up and hitting Torchic in the face three times with Doubleslap.

"I said to switch to Ember Torchic, why didn't you?" Ignoring its trainer, it tried to Scratch Bunnelby.

"Maybe, if it's okay with you Bunnelby, you could use Quick Attack?" Obeying its trainer, the normal- type quickly dashed away from Torchic, then dashed back into it from its side. This time, Torchic used Ember only for Bunnelby to avoid it and hit Torchic head- on again.

"Scratch!" Torchic's talons glowed as it tried to scratch Bunnelby with kick- like motions, but the normal- type hopped away.

"Growl!" The fire- type let out a huge cry that caused Bunnelby to clench its ears and lowered its attack.

"Tackle, it that's alright..." Bunnelby shot forward.

"Peck!" They both collided, and Bunnelby easily overpowered Torchic. The young pokemon fell to the ground, once again with the spirals in its eyes. Spike stared at his knocked out Pokemon. When it got up it glared at him, before turning its head away. He had lost, once again.

"I think we'll take that rest now."

Spike and Torchic tried to rest together, but Spike was thinking once again to himself. He wasn't able to win even one of those battles. Was he a bad trainer? He even had a rare dragon- type Pokemon and he still couldn't win. The others won most if not all of their battles, so why couldn't he? He wanted to be strong, just like Twilight. He had tried to get Torchic in its Pokeball, but it didn't seem to want to just yet. He stared at his lucky necklace, as did Torchic, who seemed to be just as, if not more fascinated with it than he was.

"You wanna look at it? Here." Spike took his necklace off and handed it to Torchic, who tried to pretend the stone didn't catch its attention when Spike looked down. Eventually, the fire- type turned around, looking at Spike and the necklace expectantly. He was just about to place it around his Pokemon's neck, when something jumped out of the sand and grabbed it from his hands. He looked to his left and saw the same Scraggy from earlier. Spike was about to get Twilight, but Torchic got angry and ran towards it, causing both Scraggy and his Pokemon to get away.

"Torchic, wait!" He cried out in vain while trying to run after them, but not only did the Chick Pokemon ignore him, but to make matters worse a large sandstorm whipped up and they were weren't anywhere to be seen. He wanted to get the girls to help him, but he couldn't see them either, so he was on his own. He put his go- goggles on, and ran in the direction of Torchic and Scraggy. In this weather, there wasn't any time at all to look for the girls so he had to do this by himself.

The girls were able to reunite shortly. Fluttershy was the first to find Rainbow Dash when she first caught wind of the weather. After that, the others gathered and made sure each was safe, when Twilight suddenly got extremely worried.

"Spike!" She cried. "He's still out there! We have to find him." The others nodded in agreement and they set out in the storm to find the young boy.

"He couldn't have gotten far, right?" Pinkie asked.

"Maybe, but remember what Silverstar said; that there are lots of dangerous Pokemon out here in the desert." Twilight replied. "I won't let my little brother get hurt."

"Torchic? Torchic? Where are you?" Spike called for his Pokemon, but got no answer. That didn't exactly surprise him though, since he could barely even hear himself over the sandstorm nor did it calm his nerves, especially with the fact that it would be even more difficult for his Pokemon to hear him in mind. He knew that he really needed to find Torchic, and fast.

He would've had no idea how long he had been searching for if not for his Poketch. He had been out in the unknown for only 10 minutes, but it felt like an hour or maybe 2. The hostile sand- filled winds of the desert were pushing against him, making it difficult to run and even walk. He was currently doing his best to walk through the sand. It was almost as if the wind was deliberately trying to make him fall over no matter how long he had held on for. He could barely see ten metres ahead with nothing but the sandstorm all around. However, something was very odd about the sandstorm. The sand seemed dark and it felt like the sun wasn't even there. He doubted he could've seen the sun in a regular sandstorm, like in the one created by that Cacturne when Applejack caught Lairon but here it just felt... gone, almost like it was night- time.

After about five more minutes, he found something. It was a cave with a fairly large entrance. He would have to go in there for now, since the sandstorm was only getting worse. He entered the cave, leaving the sandstorm behind. Once he was inside, he allowed himself to breathe more easily. He continued his trek through the cave. He heard a few Pokemon cries; one of them sounding a lot like Torchic. Since he was more able to do so, he ran towards the sound to see both Torchic and the Scraggy, playing Tug of War with his necklace. They both struggled, but Scraggy eventually won and was about to run off once again.

"Stop!" It turned around and saw Spike again, holding a Pokeball but merely laughed as it was about to continue its run. "Go, Dratini!" He sent Dratini out once again. Torchic chirped in annoyance, as it wanted to battle for the necklace. "Torchic. You're tired and you've been battling all day. You're going to sit this one out." He said firmly. The young Pokemon was surprised, and moved behind Spike while grumbling a little. "Wow where did that come from?" He thought to himself before throwing his Pokeball. "Go, Dratini!" When Scraggy saw the dragon- type, it grinned and put the necklace on.

"Wipe that grin of Scraggy's face with Extreme Speed!" Dratini dashed towards Scraggy at blinding speeds, but the attack was avoided causing Dratini to crash into the wall, making a lot of echoed noise inside the enclosed cave. It was dizzy enough after having hit its head and it was not prepared for the Brick Break to the face which caused it to slam once again into the wall. It went in for a Headbutt, but Dratini ducked and Scraggy hit the wall itself.

"Wrap!" Scraggy was clenching its head when it suddenly found itself getting wrapped by Dratini. Scraggy could barely move; it tried to get Dratini off, but to no avail. Dratini was slowly whittling it down; it knew it had to do something so it used Sand Attack to distract Dratini. With the sand its eyes, it was distracted, causing it to loosen its grip on Scraggy.

"No!" Spike called out but thought quickly. "Use Twister!" Dratini shot a devastating tornado filled with dragon- type energy. Once it made contact with its target, Scraggy was launched up before it slammed into the ceiling and fell to the ground. Once the smoke cleared, it jumped out, coming at Dratini with a barrage of Brick Breaks.

"Dodge them!" With its serpentine body, it avoided each and every one of the attacks thrown at it with graceful dance- like movements, while Torchic watched in awe. It worked well until Scraggy changed tactics and it hit Dratini with a Low Kick. When it fell over, it closed its eyes to avoid getting anymore sand in its eyes. When it opened them, it was greeted with a Brick Break.

"Use Extreme Speed!" Dratini dashed at Scraggy while it was close. The fighting- type got hit straight in the stomach and blown back. It landed on the ground and it was mad when it got up.

"Twister!" Scraggy was about to Headbutt, but it took a dragon- type tornado to the face. It growled at Dratini when it recovered.

"Now Thunder Wave!" The fighting- type was about to retaliate with a Brick Break, but its body went stiff.

"That paralysis won't last for long! Let's finish it off with another Twister!" The roaring tornado forced Scraggy back. "Now Extreme Speed!" It didn't even see Dratini coming after it hit the fighting- type directly. It slammed into a wall, and its eyes became spirals. Spike was stunned for a moment before a huge grin appeared on his face.

"Yes! We did it Dratini!" He cheered as he held his dragon- type up in the air. They both smiled at each other while Torchic stared at the fainted Scraggy who had beaten it, then back to Spike. "Now, let's get my necklace." It removed the stone from the unconscious wild Pokemon's neck and put it on his own. "Now let's get out of here. The girls are probably worried about us." He went to leave with the two when he heard a huge roar, as well as dozens of small cries. He saw a large number of Pokemon running in the direction of the entrance/ exit. He heard the roaring again, but this time it was louder and closer. He took no time in running and went for the way out, but before he could go even three metres, an eruption in the ground in front of him blocked his path. He turned to see a large red Pokemon on four legs. It had two stone humps on its back as well as a dark aura around its entire body. He knew Twilight had said something about it at some point, like she had about every other Pokemon but he couldn't remember its name. He looked into its eyes and saw only darkness, nothing more.

He, Dratini and Torchic all tried to back away, but ran towards them in a rage, which was barely avoided by Spike and his Pokemon. It was sort of like a tackle, but it felt like something was different about it. However, it also meant that Spike and his Pokemon's path to the entrance were now blocked. It readied a dark fire in its mouth, and was about to fire when something jabbed its mouth shut. It turned around in a rage and saw a certain ghost- type Pokemon using a poison- type move on it.

"Gengar?" Spike thought aloud. He also saw Herdier, Purugly, Audino, Shuckle and Sandile as well as all of their trainers.

"Give it another Poison Jab Gengar!" The ghost Pokemon happily obliged as its hand glowed a bright purple once again. Once Camerupt was hit in its side, it merely shook it off, not even poisoned. "A Camerupt!" Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Camerupt: The Eruption Pokemon.
Camerupt has a volcano inside its body. Magma of 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit courses through its body. Occasionally, the humps on this Pokémon's back erupt, spewing the superheated magma.

Twilight gulped at the entry, but shook her head. The Camerupt then shot fire at them all from its mouth, but it wasn't a normal fire attack like a Flamethrower, it was as if it was made of pure darkness. The fire spread out hitting each and every one of the Pokemon, and they all took significant damage.

"What move was that?!" Rainbow asked.

"Let me check..." Twilight looked at her Pokedex.

Move unknown.

"What?" Twilight frowned. "How could it be unknown?" Before she could wonder some more, the same attack was shot at them.

"Gengar use Shadow Ball!"

"Gyro Ball Shuckle!"

"Purugly use Slash!"

"Herdier, Take Down!"

"Extreme Speed, Dratini!"

"Woo hoo, Foul Play Sandile!" Gengar shot the Shadow Ball at Camerupt's face, stunning it and blasting smoke everywhere. Once that smoke cleared, the Camerupt was greeted with five Pokemon ramming into it. It was being slowly pushed back by all the Pokemon, and their trainers were all smiling at the sight of their Pokemon beating the ground- type. However, these smiled were soon shattered when Camerupt whipped up the dark flames once again and sent all of them flying, destroying their progress with a single attack. It reared up for another one, but Gengar shot a Shadow Ball out and the two special attacks collided, filling the cave with smoke.

"Yes! We can finish this! Then we can take it in and analyse its strange attacks!" Twilight was suddenly quite positive. "Let's bring it home, Gengar! Shadow Ball!" She pointed at Camerupt, only to wince as a giant shadowy hand flicked the back of her head, making her stumble. "GENGAR!" She looked to the ghost-type, who pretended not to know what was going on. She sighed. "Nevermind! Ralts, Hoothoot!" She unleashed the Pokemon from their balls. "Confusion!" They both shot the same psychic attack at Camerupt. By the time it wore off, the fire-type was dizzy and weak, and Twilight smiled.

"Come on Spike. Let's go!" Twilight said as she and the others returned their Pokemon. She grabbed Spike by his right arm and pulled him away, with Dratini around his neck and Torchic in his left arm. The rest of them followed.

"What were you thinking going out there in a sandstorm?!" She asked angrily, while the rest of the team was being healed by Audino. "Do you know how dangerous that is?! Do you know how lucky you are to not get hurt?! What made you go out like that?"

"Torchic ran off after a wild Scraggy, so I went after him. I couldn't let him get hurt like that, there was no time to get any of you." He exclaimed. Twilight stared at him for a moment, before sighing.

"I still wish you would've come to us for help Spike. I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt."

"I'm not a baby, I can handle myself." He pouted.

"Anyway, I'm just glad you're fine."

"Yeah." Spike turned to Torchic. "And I'm glad you're fine." He had a group hug with his Pokemon. After a moment, the hug broke up.

"So, are you ready to go into your Pokeball?" He asked and Torchic nodded. "Okay." He brought his Pokeball out and pressed it on Torchic's head, causing the ball to open and a red light to envelop Torchic. Once it was in, the ball shook for a couple of seconds before it stopped. Hee couldn't wait to do some more training with both Torchic and Dratini.

While the seven trainers walked away, Sunset Shimmer was sitting in a lab in an undisclosed location, analysing the reports and notes taken from checking on the Pokemon. The scientists were all doing their work properly and efficiently. Just as she was about to leave the lab, her Pokegear began to ring.

"What are your reports?" The voice asked.

"My report is that the Shadow Experiments have been developing properly; some have even emerged early though we did encounter problems containing them, but everything is okay now."

"Excellent. When will the first batch be ready?"

"I estimate that they will all be ready in a couple of says sir. Of course, we will need more Pokemon to experiment on for the second batch."

Author's Note

Welp, I'm back. Hoorah!:pinkiehappy: I hope you all liked this Spike- focused chapter:twilightsmile:.

Spike's Pokemon:

Torchic
Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember and Peck
Dratini
Moves: Extreme Speed, Twister, Thunder Wave and Wrap

A Stone-Cold Surprise

The group collectively groaned. They were past the worst of the hot desert, but were still suffering from heat and exhaustion, nothing but tired groans to break their silence. The only two not suffering through the fatigue nor the sun's rays were Applejack, taking the hot weather relatively well and only occasionally removing her hat to wipe the sweat from her forehead. The other, was Pinkie, who was not hunched over with aching legs like any of the others. In fact, she skipped ahead of all of them with a large smile on her face as if the bright sun glaring down at them was non-existent, leaving most of the others to wish they were a fire-type Pokemon that could take the heat.

“How… Are you so okay with this, Pinkie...?” Twilight stared at the pink-Haired girl in disbelief, or at least as much as her tired face would allow.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Pinkie turned to Twilight tilting her head.

“What she means is we’ve been walking for hours and your body just seems to ignore that.” Spike pointed out from under Twilight’s shadow. “Have you even sweat once?”

“We’re ladies, of course we don’t sweat. We glow!” Rarity chimed in, who was repeatedly dabbing her forehead with a handkerchief.

“Well AJ is glowing all over me.”

“Sorry, Twi.” Applejack, one of the less tired of the group, apologised, before hearing a gasp from Pinkie, who pointed in the distance with wide eyes.

“THERE IT IS!” She yelled, a large smile on her face, the others looking to where she was pointing confused.

“Where… What is?” Rainbow frowned.

“All I see is a drab ol-” Before they could even finish, Pinkie was zooming off towards a clearing with barren ground, the only thing sticking out of the ground were stones, where no grass grew, and though the sun was shining bright, the area had s dullness to it.

“Hey Pinkie, wait up!” Rainbow Dash ran after her hyperactive friend, the others following behind.

“Is this really the environment to be running?” Rarity complained, following near the back of the group. “I can only reapply my makeup so much!”

“Where are we going that’s so important?!” Twilight groaned, trying to catch up to Pinkie, who was still leaps and bounds ahead of them. They followed the pink-haired girl through a gate onto a barren field. Along with the boulders sticking out of the ground, the group saw a house, with a windmill and a large silo on either side of it. They were the only things that really stuck out on this barren landscape, and that wasn’t really saying much looking at the buildings.

“Is this some kind of farm?” Twilight wondered aloud.

“Doesn’t look like no farm I’ve ever seen.” Applejack frowned, looking around.

“It’s not just a farm!” Pinkie smiled, opening the door to the cottage. “It’s hooooome!”

“Huh?!” Everyone looked surprised.

“This is where you live?” Twilight looked around in disbelief. Though she wasn’t as socially aware as others, even she felt dull just being there.

“Yep! Myyyy humble abode, as Rares would say!” She giggled, giving her best impression of a high class woman.

“That laughter can only belong to our dearest Pinkamena.” A monotonous, gloomy voice piped up. The group turned to see an older man and woman walk in the room. The man, who immediately took a seat, had combed back grey hair, covered by a black hat, a pair of sideburns on his face that accompanied a stiff stern look that he wore as naturally as the clothes on his back.

“Indeed husband. It would appear she’s returned to us. With guests, no less.” The woman said. Pinkie just leaped at the two, wrapping her arms around them and pulling them into an incredibly tight hug.

“Greetings, Pinkamena.” They both replied.

“Meet my friends!” Pinkie grinned, looking back to the group, who all gave polite “Hello” responses to Pinkie’s parents.

“We offer our greetings. I am named Igneous Rock Pie, son of Feldspar Granite Pie.” Her father introduced himself.

“Yeah… That person who we definitely know of.” Rainbow muttered, smiling awkwardly. “Feld… Something. Definitely know who… that is.”

“Know me as Cloudy Quartz.” Pinkie’s mother nodded her head, introducing herself after Igneous.

“Nice to… Meet you.” Rarity said. “I very much like your name. I’ve worked with a lot of jewels and I can’t say I’ve used cloudy quartz in anything recent, it’s still a nice gemstone. I must say though.”

“Come. If Pinkamena hath chosen to acquaint herself with thee, then thou art welcome to stay here.”

“Oh uh, thanks.” Twilight just smiled at the back of the group while the others, who felt no less awkward, looked around.

“Make yourselves at home!” Pinkie giggled, leading them through the lower floor of the house. “There’s tons to do here! We’ve got books, we’ve got fields and the yummiest food! And Rares, the mines are the prettiest place in Equestria!”

“How delightful!” Rarity smiled.

Cloudy raised her hand. “Perhaps it would be best if you didn’t go in the mine. It… Isn’t so safe right now.”

“Oh...” Pinkie tapped her chin. “Well there’s still tons to do!”

Twilight took a seat in their living room while the others went off outside. Cloudy had gone off to do work around the house, while Igneous went off without her looking. Pinkie, meanwhile, stayed in the same room with the purple-haired girl, happily humming to herself. A couple of times she thought she saw a frown, but since it disappeared quickly, Twilight shook it off and looked around. Everything just seemed so… old fashioned. Not to mention grey. The floor was grey, the walls, table, even the shelves. Probably because it was all made of stone. Trying to entertain herself, she went to the shelf to pick up a book she could dig into. Sliding a random one out, she smiled and looked at it.

Simply Stone: The life cycle of the boulder.

“Are you going to read that?”

“GAH!” Twilight’s eyes widened and she jumped, turning around. Behind her stood a woman wearing grey clothes that were the definition of the word ‘simple’. Her hair was a dull shade of purple and her expression apathetic. “Wait… What?”

“I asked if you were finished. That book’s my favourite.”

“MAUD!” Pinkie leaped forward and hugged the new girl, who like Igneous and Cloudy, barely reacted, just stared straight at Twilight for a moment before looking to Pinkie.

“Hello Pinkie.” She said in an incredibly apathetic voice. “You’re back.”

“Hi Maud! I missed yooouuuu!” She continued hugging Maud, before looking back to Twilight. “Twilight! This is my sister Maud!”

“Oh uh, hi Maud.” Twilight waved.

“Hello.” Maud replied in her emotionless voice, not doing anything else. Twilight looked left, then right. Maud still stared at the trainer, only feeling more awkward with each passing second.

“You… wanted the book?”

“Yes. I really like it. I read to Boulder all the time.”

“I didn’t know… rocks were such avid readers.”

“He’s very smart, so the book is important. I’d be really unhappy if anything happened to it.” Another awkward silence followed. That is, until, Pinkie’s squealing.

“How are you Maud? I missed you so much! I feel like I haven’t seen you in FOR-EVER!”

“I missed you too. I’m bursting with excitement now that you’re here.”

“I know, right?? We have so much catching up to do!”

“I can tell you about this interesting crack I found. Along with this other crack.”

Before they could continue talking, a jovial knock was heard at the door.

“Huh? Someone else?” Pinkie said, confused.

“I wonder who that could be.” Maud added.

“I’ll get it!” Pinkie hopped up, before cartwheeling her way to the front door and swinging it open. Waiting outside, she saw a pair of brightly dressed men. They looked to be the same age, their red hair both had streaks of white on making them look like they had large wads of toothpaste for hair. Their faces both seemed the same aside from a large twirled moustache one of them had resting on their face. They wore white and blue striped blazers with t-shirts underneath, black bowties tied on their respective collars and a pair of black business trousers. The two both had a smirk on their faces as they began speaking.

“Hello, mis-”

“Sweet Arceus, it’s door-to-door clowns!” Pinkie cheered.

“Wha- We’re not clowns!” The moustached one yelled.

“Ohhh… Chocolate store owners?”

“No.” The non-moustached one replied.

“Ice cream salesmen?”

“No I- Well maybe… Have we done anything with ice cream, Flim?” The moustached one tapped his chin.

“I don’t think so. Better put a pin on that one, Flam. Aaaaaaaanyway, little missy. We simple salesmen simply sought to inquire with one Ignatius Pie. Might we speak to him?”

“He is unable to at this time.” Cloudy Quartz walked in front of Pinkie, folding her arms. “Anything said to him can be said to me.”

“Hm… I see.” Flim leaned against the doorway, still with a smile on his face.

“Well, tell him the world famous Flim Flam brothers stopped by, and let him know the offer still stands.” Flam leaned on the opposite side.

“I mean, it’s 15/85 now, but the offer is still open.” Flim added.

“I shall let him know. Will that be all?” Cloudy’s tone was stern, her hand on the door.

“Er, yes.” Flim stood up.

“We’ll be off then.” Flam stepped back. “Hope you can still catch us while the door’s o-” Cloudy shut the door in their faces.

“What was that about?” Twilight frowned, thinking about how weird those two guys were.

“Simple salesmen.” Cloudy responded, contempt in her tone, as she walked away without another word, heading upstairs

“Mum?” Pinkie asked, but she got no answer. Even Pinkie seemed to feel the tension in the air.

“Is she always like that?” Twilight turned to Pinkie, whose usual happiness had been deflated.

“No… She’s always so much happier.” The usually bubbly pink trainer said. “It’s felt like this since we got here… Maybe we should ask dad what’s wrong with her?”

“That won’t help.”

“AHH!” Twilight jumped back, Maud suddenly appearing between the two with her neutral expression. “Can’t you ever make a sound?!”

“I just did. It’s called talking.” Maud replied, her eyes drifting to Twilight.

“What did you mean it won’t help, Maud?” Pinkie asked, ignoring Twilight. “What’s wrong with mum that dad can’t talk about?”

“He’s...”

Applejack and Rainbow were walking outside, looking around even though there wasn’t much to look at. Aside from the cottage and the silo, it was just what they saw when they first entered.

“Rocks and grey, rocks and grey, rocks and grey! Isn’t there anything else here?!” Rainbow groaned.

“Doesn’t lookit.” Applejack commented, a piece of hay in her mouth, a more content expression on her face. “But it is a rock farm. Even if I… don’t really know how exactly they can be farmed.”

“The only thing slightly more interesting is that really big rock over there!” Rainbow turned her attention to the edge of the cliff the farm sat on; they couldn’t quite see how far down it was from where they were. What they could see, was a gigantic stone that towered over them easily with a size that rivalled the silo. With nothing else to do, the pair approached it to get a better look. For a stone, it was smooth on the surface and curved perfectly as if someone had sculpted it into a perfect egg shape.

“Kinda looks like a giant egg.” Applejack looked up at the large stone, a little amazed by its sheer size.

“Geez, the only halfway cool thing here. A slightly different rock.” Rainbow groaned, having looked at it for a few seconds and was already bred again. That, is, until she got an idea. “You think I could climb it?”

“Rainbow… That doesn’t sound like a very good idea. This thing’s right on the edge of a cliff. Kinda wondering how it hasn’t fallen to begin with.”

“Come ooon, it’ll be cool. And there’ll actually be something to do before we get back to travelling.”

“Still doesn’t seem like a good idea.”

“Oh, I get it.” Rainbow nodded with a smile. “You’re daring me to do it.”

“Never said that.”

“Well joke’s on you!”

“No.”

“If you think you can psych me out you’ve got another thing coming!”

“Rainbow, no! You couldn’t climb something that smooth anyway!” Applejack reasoned.

“That’s what you think!” And with that, she sent out Shuckle. “Use Sticky Web on my hands!” Her Pokemon obeyed, and soon both her palms were respectively covered with a sticky net. Immediately, she leapt onto the boulder, making her way up only grunting when she moved her hands up, finding it difficult to pry them off the boulder each time she moved, but a grin was still on her face. At the bottom meanwhile, AJ just sighed.

“Yer gonna get yourself hurt, ya know that?” She yelled up at Rainbow.

“Ha, you wish!” She yelled right back, making AJ shake her head before frowning. She could hear something coming from right behind her. However, when she looked there wasn’t anything there. For a moment confusion hit her, but it was cleared up when she heard the noise going up the rock. Whatever it was, it had already passed her.

“Uhh… Rainbow? Y’all might wanna get down from there!”

“Please, you wish! I’m almost there!” Rainbow chuckled, looking back at Applejack. “Just a couple more-”

“HEY!” Rainbow’s eyes widened from the voice, though that wasn’t the most surprising part. What was surprising was when she turned back, there was an angry young woman right in Rainbow’s face, scowling at her.

“Wha-whoa!” In her surprise, Rainbow arched back, causing her to lose her grip and fall to the ground. “Ow…” She groaned, rubbing her head as she got up, while the young woman dropped down, while Applejack stared incredulously at the girl and how she was able to get above Rainbow so easily. The farm girl saw that the woman had a head of light grey hair despite her young age. Her clothes, meanwhile, were far darker, almost more black than grey. Her long-sleeved shirt was buttoned up and messy, while her trousers weren’t much better off, covered with dust, dirt and rips.

“Hey yourself!” Rainbow glared back at the stranger. “What the heck is your pro-”

“You don’t get to climb that boulder!” She snapped right back, not even letting the energetic trainer finish.

“What? What’s the big deal?! It’s just a rock!” Rainbow protested.

“Just a rock? That’s Holder’s Boulder! And I’m not about to let trespassers do whatever they want! Now SCRAM, BOTH OYOF YOU!”

“Whoa there.” Applejack went between the two. “This is just a misunderstandin’. We ain’t trespassers. I’m Applejack and this is Rainbow Dash. We came here with Pinkie Pie.” The stranger narrowed her eyes at the two, before folding her arms.

“Tch, makes sense that she’d bring people here. Makes more sense that she didn’t even bother to tell you the rules.”

“Hey, who died and made you the boss?!” Rainbow pointed at the stranger.

“Remember the name Limestone Pie.” She gestured to herself, her scowl reinvigorated. “Because that’s the name of the one who gets things done on this farm!”

“So that would make you Pinkie’s sister.” Applejack nodded.

“Isn’t this farm owned by the two oldies in the house?” Rainbow rolled her eyes and looked back to the cottage.

“They own the farm, but I make things happen!” She only seemed to get angrier as she advanced on the two. “First rule: Whatever I say, goes. Second rule: Don’t touch the boulder!”

“Okay okay, we got it. We won’t touch the boulder. We didn’t know nothin’ about it before now.” Applejack looked between the two hotheads and gave a hopeful smile.

“Hmph. Well now you do. So, don’t let me catch you doing it again!” Limestone snapped, before sitting in front of the boulder, watching the two, who slowly made their way back to the house. Suddenly, a roar echoed through the fields and she stopped, turning around to the cliff before running towards the cliff, taking a path down. Rainbow and Applejack watched her with confusion. The pair looked at each other, before following.

Fluttershy’s head was down, her eyes directed at her own hands. She hadn’t done much since she arrived, other than looking for a place to sit down and pass the time but she couldn’t stay seated for too long. There weren’t many places in a rock farm a nature lover like her could really stretch out and do something, so there was nothing to take her mind off her worries. So, she walked onto a different part of the fields from Applejack and Rainbow. Rarity had decided to tag along with her since she feared getting lost. Frowning to herself and fidgeting every now and then, Rarity looked to her with concern.

“Dear, might everything be alright?”

“I don’t know… I… Don’t think so… Did Mr Rock Pie look a little off to you?” Fluttershy muttered, seeming in thought as the two walked farther from the farm, but remaining close to the edge of the cliffside.

“Dear, are you sure it might not be because of all the yelling going on over by that large boulder? Or maybe it’s the cliffside?” Rarity asked. Though Fluttershy had a long list of fears, heights were hardly the biggest. It made her a little more tense, but it wasn’t even in the top 10. Conflict was another thing she preferred to avoid, which was why they were walking in the opposite direction of the angry voice by the boulder. They could hear Rainbow’s voice too, which wasn’t surprising.

“Oh look!” Rarity turned her head away from the argument, noticing a pathway down the cliff, which the two promptly followed all the way to the bottom.

They’d find a clearing, with stones cut and organised like tables, an entrance in one of the walls which Rarity could guess lead to a mine. She stared at it, remembering what Pinkie had said about what a sight it would be to behold. Perhaps even new inspiration for her. Anything to brighten up this drab farm visit.

“What do you say, Fluttershy? Shall we step inside?” She gestured to the entrance.

“Oh… Umm… Okay.” She nodded.

“Perfect!” Rarity nodded, and the two walked in. But instead of being greeted by a shining array of gemstones and crystals just waiting to be mined, all they saw was regular old rocks. It didn’t matter where they shone their flashlights, it was all the same. The only difference was how tightly Fluttershy clung to Rarity as they got farther away from the entrance, away from the natural- albeit dull- light.

“There isn’t much here… At all.” Rarity frowned. “What was Pinkie saying? Perhaps she was lying to make us more excited?”

“S-She is pretty good at… H-hyperbole.” Fluttershy muttered, but she was so close Rarity could easily hear it.

“What a disappointment… Just a little more.” Rarity sighed. “Then we’ll leave. How about that?”

“I would like that.” Fluttershy admitted, trembling. Rarity nodded and reached into her pocket pulling a Pokeball out.

“Perhaps what we need is something used to being in the dark.” She threw the ball in the air. “Duskull, reveal your elegance!” As such, the Requiem Pokemon showed itself, floating in the air as it looked down at its trainer. “Duskull dearie, might you help us explore this dark and dreary cavern?”

“Duskull!” It nodded, and the group set off.

After a while, Rarity squinted her eyes. She could swear she saw something in the distance, glimmering against the light of her torch. She, Duskull and Fluttershy approached with a new sense of excitement, Dusukull taking the lead.

The trio would find themselves in a shining area, full of beautiful gemstones sticking out of every wall. Rarity would look around, bringing her hands together with a look of joy on her face, Duskull floating around the area in happiness, taking a close look at each one. Not the sort of gems she found digging around Ponyville.

“This!” Rarity cheered. “Now this looks more like what Pinkie was talking about! This is what she was talking about! Ah, what a beautiful sight!” She took the sight in while Fluttershy relaxed a little. Rarity loved her gems, and finding them was already a treat, but especially on that farm, it was something she appreciated even more. She felt in her element right now, relaxed and not just bored. “My my, these truly are beautiful. I could only imagine the sorts of dresses and designs I could create with these exquisite pieces.” As she smiled and fawned, Duskull’s sights were set on a particular point, it went past all the gems and looked curiously at the thing stuck underneath the rock. It appeared to be another gem, but it was a darker shade.

“Hm?” Rarity noticed Duskull’s curiosity and knelt down to see what her Pokemon was staring so intently at. “What is that? It’s too dark to be amethyst…” Fluttershy stayed where she was but shone her torch their way. She was about to go join them, not wanting to be separated from them when she saw something near them.

“Umm… Rarity?” She piped up, her voice echoing in the cave. The fashionista and her Pokemon looked up from the corner, to see what Fluttershy was pointing her light at. It… was like a small tree, with a rough brown trunk. It had two long branches, each with three bright green fruits on them.

“Fluttershy dear? Is that a… Tree?” Rarity frowned.

“N… No. it’s-” Before Fluttershy could finish, the tree leapt forward, swingfing its branch at Rarity and Duskull, knocking the two of them back.

“Ah!” Rarity cried out, as she fell to the ground next to her ghost-type. “What in the world?!”

“That’s a Pokemon…. It’s called Sudowoodo.” Fluttershy explained, but even she was surprised. Usually, this Pokemon loved pretending to be a tree in a forest. They weren’t like most rock-types in that they didn’t make their homes in caves and the like. Yet here one was, clearly agitated and ready to fight. Immediately, it jumped at the trainers, a rock in its arm, flinging it straight at them.

“I will not simply stand by and allow myself to be attacked!” Rarity declared. “Shadow Sneak!” As she pointed at the Sudowoodo, Duskull’s shadow extended towards the enemy Pokemon, but the Sudowoodo blocked as it burst out to attack, causing it to slide back. However, the Sudowoodo quickly countered as its own shadow began to quickly extend in the same manner as Duskull’s had, hitting the ghost-type head on.

“What?” Rarity looked confused. “This thing can learn ghost-type attacks? It certainly doesn’t seem like the sort of Pokemon that could.”

“It’s probably Copycat…” Fluttershy muttered. “M-Maybe we should leave, Rarity.” As she turned around, there in front of the exit stood a girl a little younger than herself, with long grey hair covering one of her eyes going down to her shoulders. Her demeanour was reserved but her face was determined. Like most people she had seen around here, her clothes were very plain, just consisting of a long grey skirt with a black blouse. In her hand was a Pokeball.

“Uhhh… Rarity? I think I found Sudowoodo’s trainer.” Fluttershy stepped back as Rarity looked around to see the new trainer walking closer.

“Wh- Who are you?” Rarity asked, but instead of an answer, the Sudowoodo attacked again, cuausing her to dive out of the way. When the fashionista got up, heshe looked down to see dirt all over her outfit. “Ah! My beautiful clothes!” She wailed, before glaring at the new trainer. “Oh, you’re going to get it now! Night Shade, Duskull!” Her ghost-type obliged, shooting a shadowy beam from its eyes at the rock type causing it to hit a wall. The trainer looked surprised, and muttered something which the Sudowoodo reacted to as it shot off another Shadow Sneak, sending Duskull flying in the air. Suddenly, a roar was heard echoing deeper inside the caves. But Sudowoodo didn’t stop, jumping up and hitting the ghost-type with another Rock Throw and watching it fall to the ground, fainting.

“Ah! Return!” Rarity, pressed on her Pokeball and watched her Pokemon vanish in a red light, Next, she brought out another ball. “Alright missy you asked for this! Dazzle the world, gl-“

“Hey!” A rough voice echoed out through the cave, as the silent trainer stopped, turning around. Standing there was Limestone Pie, her arms folded as she looked on at the people and their Pokemon. “Marble, who are these people?”

“Umm…” The quiet girl’s gaze softened significantly as Limestone stood next to her.

“Intruders, right?”

“Mhm.”

“Hold on!” Applejack piped up right behind Limestone. “These ain’t intruders!”

“Yeah! They’re our friends!” Rainbow added. Limestone turned back to look to the two before sighing.

“Uuuuuuugh! Are ALL of Pinkie’s friends this annoying? What am I saying, I already know the answer.”

“So… That would make you another one of her sisters?”

“Limestone, Remember it! Nothing gets through this farm without me noticing! The softie is Marble.”

“Mhm.” She nodded, her Sudowoodo running back to her.

“Certainly wasn’t soft in her battling.” Rarity muttered.

“Hm?” Marble looked up.

“Nothing.” Rarity raided her arms. “Umm… Might I ask, but I didn’t see either of you at the house.”

“No time to play greeting with a couple of guests.” Limestone folded her arms. “We have work to do.”

“Like making your Pokemon stand on their own in dark caves?” Rainbow pointed at Marble, who backed away slightly.

“That’s-”

“That’s important!” Limestone snapped, cutting Marble off. “We gotta protect our mines somehow!”

“From what?”

“From… I-I don’t know!” Limestone yelled. “Business has sucked! We make most of our money off selling fossils and evolutionary stones, but we haven’t been seeing nearly as many good stones to mine. And of course NOW we have a couple of idiots trying to take this place down! It just doesn’t add up with what’s in the silo! I know someone’s been taking our stuff, but I don’t know how!”

“Well… What does yer pa say?” Applejack asked.

“Dad… He’s not gonna listen.” Limestone sighed.

“Why wouldn’t he?”

“He’s what?!” Pinkie’s eyes widened.

“Quiet down, Pinkamena.” Cloudy raised her hand. “I won’t have anything disturb him. Come on up, now.” The four three girls went upstairs, led by Cloudy until they reached the door to Pinkie’s parent’s room. Cloudy slowly opened the door, showing a simple, old-fashioned room. The wallpaper was grey with a simple desk pushed off to the left. The bed, the pillows and the linen on it all looking like they came from a different time period. `In the middle of the bed, Igneous Rock Pie lay breathing heavily but slowly. He seemed so low on energy with parts of his face tinted a faint purple. It was like he was now that his age was clearest.

“He’s been like this for about a weak now.” Cloudy turned to the girls. “He does a good job of hiding it whenever he’s well enough to get up. Maudileena, only got returned about a moon or two before you Pinkamena, so this’ll be news to both of you.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” Pinkie asked, worry creeping into her high-pitched voice.

“Your father knew the both of you were returning soon. He wanted not to worry you, or to see you unhappy. It took practically everything he had to get out of bed so he could greet you.” Cloudy sighed, before slowly closing the door. Twilight looked between the members of the Pie family in front of her. Pinkie looked down to the floor, her hair less poufy and her shoulders drooping. Maud stared at the door with eyes that betrayed no emotion or thought.

“This past week has been busy.” Cloudy continued. “He fell ill a week ago. Those salesmen showed themselves to our door, offering their services and having us allow them to drill on our land. They wanted to split it 25/75. Igneous refused, which they didn’t like. They left with the threat to run us out of business. Now not only have we been getting a shortage of stones, but Igneous fell ill a few weeks ago as he entered.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Pinkie asked, looking to her mother with distressed eyes.

“Your father asked that you weren’t told. He didn’t want to make you unhappy.” Cloudy sighed.

“Work can’t be that bad.” Twilight piped up. “Even if just one person is gone.”

Cloudy shook her head. “There aren’t many of us on this farm. If even one person is unable to work, it becomes a detriment. He is always the one up earliest, running the farm and going first into the mines. Now though, our work is cut down significantly. Limestone has currently taken his place, but her stubbornness takes after her father.”

“But we have to do something, don’t we??” Pinkie grabbed her mother’s arms.

“Pinkie’s right.” Maud said, stepping forward while shooting a glance at Twilight.

“Indeed.” Cloudy said.

“We gotta go get Limestone and Marble back here!” Pinkie raised her finger in the air.

“No need.” Maud pointed to the window without looking back. “They’re already here,” Through the window, they could see Limestone and Marble Pie, along with Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity walking back from the cliff. Soon after, the door opened and all of them came piling in.

The travelling group and the Pie family gathered in one the living room, where everything was explained to everyone. Marble and Fluttershy both stared at their feet with looks of concern on their faces. Rainbow and Applejack were looking at Pinkie who was shifting and fidgeting in her seat. Rarity looked to one of her Pokeballs while Limestone just sat with her arms folded as she scowled.

“So that’s the problem.” Cloudy, who was standing, finished up. She sat next to Twilight; whose expression was mostly neutral if a bit uncomfortable from Maud occasionally peering her way.

“Dang…” Applejack said. “That’s a lotta stuff on yer plate right there.”

“Well we can’t just let it happen!” Rainbow banged her fist on the table.

“I must agree with Rainbow. Something must be done.” They all seemed to agree.

“Whoa whoa whoa what’s all this ‘we’ business we’re talking about?” Limestone glared at the group. “I don’t recall asking for your help and WE don’t need it!” She gestured to herself and the other Pie family members.

“Limestone, come on.” Pinkie pouted. “They can help, they’re my friends!”

“We don’t need anymore strangers getting involved with this form. Heck, they don’t even know the first thing about rock farming.”

“Well… Uhh… They could learn!” Pinkie raised her finger in the air.

“Tch, yeah right. They’d probably just break anything worth selling. We’re better off just doing this our way. We’re only one man down, anyway.” Limestone’s eyes drifted down to her feet.

“Limestone, you know dad’s gonna get better, right?” Pinkie said.

“Of course I know that!”

“He’s gonna get better.”

“You said that! Geez, what is with you?!”

“He will.” Pinkie smiled.

“...But what if he doesn’t?” Limestone looked down slightly.

“Hm?”

“But what if he doesn’t?! I’ve… I’ve never seen him like this.” Limestone snapped. Fluttershy began to speak.

“But… Umm, it isn’t anything to worry about. people get sick all the time-”

“He doesn’t!” She snapped. “Even if you did see him sick, he kept on going. He’s always done stuff… When I get up and look out the window, he’s always there ready to start digging. But… Now there’s no one there. But we just gotta take all his stuff and do it ourselves! It’s that simple.”

“It doesn’t seem especially simple if things are this bad.” Rarity commented.

“Yeah? Well it is.” She folded her arms.

“We can’t just keep going business as usual, pretending there’s nothing wrong when there is. It’s hurting the farm and it’s hurting you.” Pinkie spoke, staring at her sister with concern in her eyes. “And dad will get better. He’s super strooooong!” She flexed her arms and puffed up her chest with a determined expression.

Limestone stared at Pinkie’s silly pose for a moment, before closing her eyes. “I’m in charge, you got that?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way!” Pinkie giggled, smiling as she could’ve sworn she heard a small laugh coming from Limestone.

“But we still gotta get to those mines, and you idiots don’t know the first thing about rock farming, so you better follow my lead!”

The travelling group and the Pie family each spread out through the mines, each one given a pickaxe. They followed the lead of the sisters, Limestone directing them to the best places to pick at. At first, they were all determined and energised, ready to help and work. But as the day went on it was apparent that they were coming up with nothing if not very little. Many of them were sweating, some more than others, while those that hadn't yet worked up a sweat were becoming impatient. When they reached the point where Rarity had been attacked by Marble's Sudowoodo, she knelt down and let Duskull out, kneeling down. Limestone looked confused.

"Aren't you supposed to be walking?" She asked, but Rarity said nothing. Soon, they could see a couple of things glowing underneath the ground. They got digging, and eventually uncovered what was beneath seeing a Waterstone and some Heart Scales. Limestone knelt down to look at them, and they stopped glowing the moment she touched them, no longer needing to.

"Duskull is quite amazing, no?" Rarity smiled while the requiem Pokemon danced around its trainer.

"Yeah..." Limestone nodded. "This... Will help a lot."

And so, they made their way through the mines, but this time Rarity took the lead, Duskull floating around the walls and floor of the cave trying to search for more gemstones and fossils to fill their cart with. While they came across more than before, finding those hidden beneath the floor, it wasn’t enough. Limestone started becoming more impatient and desperate again, clenching her fist. They had gone farther than any of them even knew the mine stretched, farther than they’d ever needed to go.

“Maybe… We should… Turn back…” Twilight panted from the back of the group. She out of all of them wasn’t used at all to this much walking, much less impromptu mining.

“No way..! We’ve almost got enough… It’s just a little more.” Limestone protested. Before she could say anymore, a yelp was heard. Each of them turned, to see the source of the noise was Marble Pie, who was currently on the floor and looked like she was in a lot of pain.

“Marble!” Immediately, Pinkie went to go help her little sister, but found a hand on her shoulder stopping her from going any further.

“Wait!” Twilight yelled, and they all turned to her confused. “Look down there.” She was staring at Marble’s legs, and they all did the same. Her lower legs were covered with scratches and cuts, purple marks dotting her calves and ankles. She looked back up at them, in a lot of pain, her cheeks gaining a purple tint. While the others watched, the youngest Pie sister got visibly weaker. Twilight pointed at something near her legs, which they shone their torches towards. On the ground there were dosens of spikes sprawled loosely around, some small and others taller.

“What are these things?” Limestone looked confused as she gripped her flashlight wanting to go help Marble.

“Toxic Spikes. A move used by poison-type Pokemon. You step on them and they poison you. They’re used to stop other Pokemon from entering conflict then take them down. But what are they doing here? This doesn’t look like a place that would any poison-types.” As she wondered, she noticed Maud was looking somewhere else; the wall where most of the Toxic Spikes were gathered and shone her light on it.

“The surface of this part of the wall is smooth.” Maud commented. “It’s not quite as rough or bumpy as the rest of the wall, and there’s a circular line surrounding it. This boulder isn’t a part of this wall at all, it was put here.” She stared at the wall.

“Your dad must’ve thought the same thing.” Twilight commented.

“So the one behind this boulder is the one who made dad sick?” Maud took a small step forward. “So then we just have to get rid of it.”

“Before that, we have to do something about these Toxic Spikes.” Twilight said, and Maud glanced at her expectantly. “Rarity, you’ll need to have your Glaceon freeze over this ground and these spikes. Bring out Lairon too, Applejack.” The beauty queen and the farmhand complied, bringing out their Pokemon.

“Ice Beam, darling!” She pointed to the floor, and the ice-type immediately opened its mouth and shot the attack at the floor, freezing it solid. “Perfect!”

“Well now we just gotta break that wall. Could use Lairon for that.” Applejack commented.

“Not quite. The ice is too slippery, and this cave is too narrow for it to build up any meaningful momentum. We’ll need something strong to push something else-”

“Okay.” Maud picked up a Pokeball of her own. “Here’s Boulder.” The three-legged rock type appeared, looking straight at the wall. “You can push him.”

“Oh. That’ll work just fine.” Twilight nodded, looking to Applejack and nodding at her. Lairon shifted until it was right behind Boulder, who stood on the ice. “Shove it now!” The steel-type immediately lunged forward, pushing the Boldore with all its power, sliding towards the wall.

“Strength.” On Maud’s command, Boulder began rushing with energy and on all three of its legs, jumped towards the giant stone once it was close enough, and rammed into it. Usually, Strength gave the power to move stones a fair distance and had to be continually used, but the group watched as the giant stone practically flew back, going until it slammed into the first wall in its way with shock, while Maud wasted no time, stepping on the ice and slid forward to the now-revealed pathway and the others, quickly shaking themselves out of their stupor, followed.

The noise they heard was far louder as they entered, making each of them curious. It sounded like a drill was cutting into stone. Most of them couldn’t tell the direction, but Maud was able to direct them while glancing at the walls. All the passageways were clearly dug out it was just a matter of finding out who the digger was, and they walked until they saw something digging through the rock and soil.

A large machine dug through the cave, creating a labyrinth of its own. It was a giant cylindrical vehicle with a pair of huge drills on both its front and back. Slowly, it moved forward on its tank tracks. On its sides meanwhile, small panels opened, releasing mechanical appendages that had each had one of three on the end respectively. A Pickaxe, a hammer or a tube. At random points in the walls, the pickaxe and the hammer would hit the walls, smashing all debris out of the way. Eventually, a valuable stone would drop out once the machine hammered enough and the tube would promptly suck it up, transferring it to some hidden compartment inside the vehicle. The group watched this entire process, all shocked except Maud.

“What is this thing?” Limestone frowned.

“A… pretty weird vehicle. Like a giant drill.” Twilight thought, as she narrowed her eyes, realising she was able to see the cockpit from her angle. It was a two-seater, with two people filling those seats. The Flim Flam brothers had cheerful looks on their faces as they kept steering forward. Limestone, Maud and Pinkie and Marble caught her eye and upon seeing the brothers.

“You better not try to stop me Maud!” Limestone snapped as she stomped up to the drill.

“Wasn’t gonna.”

The Flim Flam brothers steered the drill forward with devilish grins on their faces, the noise from the drills blocking out any noise that wasn’t the vehicle working its magic. It would only be a little longer now, and they’d succeed in driving that mining family out of business. They could practically feel the money dancing in their pockets. That is, until they suddenly stopped moving.

“Huh?” Flim frowned looking down at the controls. “Blasted thing won’t move!”

“Crank the power up higher brother!” Flam raised his finger in the air.

“Excellent idea, brother!” He rested his hand on a dial, but before he could press it the vehicle shuddered, and the two could see themselves moving away from the tunnel they’d been drilling into.

“I said crank the power, not the reverse gear!” Flam yelled.

“That… Isn’t me… Is it hotter than usual in here?” The two turned around to see something holding on the drill in the back. A large, angry-looking rock type with a hunched back and spiked shoulders gripped the drill, pulling the vehicle away and into a more open area, its eyes hotter than the pile of burning coal on top of its head and back. Its arms were so hot, the back drill had melted in its hands, which crushed anything that remained leaving only the cockpit intact, which the brothers scrambled out of screaming. As they tried getting up, the group of trainers stood over the brothers.

“You’re gonna drive us out of business, huh?” Limestone sneered. “And exactly how many of our gems were you planning on doing that with? Coalossal really wants to know.” Twilight looked at the Pokemon with wide eyes and a smile.

“Whoa… I haven’t seen a Pokemon like that before.” She got out a Pokedex, aiming it at the rock-type.

Coalossal: The Coal Pokemon
It's usually peaceful, but the vandalism of mines enrages it. Offenders will be incinerated with flames that reach 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.

“…Come now, ladies.” Flim laughed a lot more nervously as the Pokedex spoke. The two backed away from the group. “There’s no need to do anything rash.”

“After all, it’s practically positive proof! Proof that our special little tool is more than useful!” Flam continued. “After all, it’s not something any of you can do. Sounds to me like they know that the Miracle Mining Master…”

“Is just better than them.” The brothers threw their Pokeballs, and on Flim’s side a blue Pokemon stood at his feet, sharp teeth in its mouth and barbs sticking out its back. It stood on two feet, while the purple Pokemon at Flam’s feet stood on all fours. It was coloured purple rather than blue, and along with its small but sharp teeth and the barbs on its back, it had a horn on its head.

“Oh. So they’re probably...” Twilight looked to the two Pokemon with mild curiosity, pulling her Pokedex out, first looking at the blue one.

Nidorina and Nidorino: The Poison Pin Pokemon
When resting deep in its burrow, Nidorina’s barbs always retract. This is proof that it is relaxed. Nidorino’s horn contains venom. If it stabs an enemy with the horn, the impact makes the poison leak out.

“As I thought, poison types. That certainly explains the Toxic Spikes.” The bookworm muttered. Meanwhile, the salesmen were gathering all the fallen fossils and stones they could into a bag.

“Venom Drench Nidorino, aim for the eyes!”

“Don’t forget a Stomping Tantrum to clear a path for us, Nidorina!” The brothers called out their attacks, but none came. They looked down in confusion, to see their poison-type Pokemon stood stiff, shuddering as if trying to move while sparks travelled over them showing that they were paralysed, spores floating around their bodies. They looked to the source of the spores, seeing Pinkie’s Shroomish.

“You’re the meanest clowns I’ve ever met and you’re not going anywhere!” Pinkie raised her finger, pointing at the two with a scrunched up angry face. “We… Should probably step back though.” The six girls and one boy stepped back, while Pinkie, Marble, Maud and Limestone stayed exactly where they were.

“Bullet Seed/ Rock Throw/ Rock Blast/ Incinerate.” On their respective trainer’s command Shroomish, Sudowoodo, Boldore and Coalossal fired their attacks at the brothers and their Pokemon, forcing them to drop the stones as they were launched all the way out of the tunnels from the attacks, getting sent far away from the rock farm with a twinkle.

The next day, the group got ready to depart. After making their way out of the mines, they had come home to Fluttershy making a Pecha Berry soup for Igneous. He was well enough to get out of bed the next day, where his daughters were all there to greet him and Pinkie wrapped all of them in a hug. For a moment they were uncomfortable, but as always, it didn’t last long and they smiled. Rarity was given a series of Heart Scales for all her help, while Twilight analysed them with glee, and took a considerable interest in Coalossal, a Pokemon she had never seen before.

“So, what’s the hottest temperature Coalossal has ever reached?”

“I don’t know, just really hot!” Limestone groaned. These questions had come nonstop over the last day, much to her irritation. “Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere anyway?”

“Ah! Right, that’s true.” Twilight blushed, looking back to the others. Pinkie was zooming between each individual member of her family.

“It was so good seeing you all! I mean, aside from the getting sick part where we were all worried and the farm was in danger but after that when things were better it was great seeing you aaaaaaaaaaall! Look at how happy everyone is!” She cheered, spinning around on one foot.

"They look about the same to m-" Before Applejack frowned, but shrugged and smiled. “Well, it was mighty kind of ya’s to have us here.”

“You guys are pretty weird, but you’re also awesome.” Rainbow grinned, raising her hand. Fluttershy and Marble stood next to each other awkwardly, a strange understanding between them before separating to their respective groups while Pinkie danced around.

"It's been soooo good, but..." She stopped in front of her dad. "Pretty please tell me next time, okay? You don't gotta pretend around ol' Pinkie! I'll smile through thick and thin!"

Igneous paused, before giving her a smile of his own. "Very well, Pinkamena. I shall keep that in mind."

“Hey Twilight, are you coming?” Spike asked.

“Right, yeah.” She nodded, turning around… Only to see Maud suddenly standing in front of her making her fall back in surprise. “Uhh… Hey Maud.”

“Hello.” Maud watched Twilight get up and brush the dust off her clothes.

“Looks like we’re going so… Bye.” She smiled awkwardly, still not entirely comfortable next to the rock-obsessed girl.

“I wonder…” Maud thought. “Why Pinkie chose then to leave, and why she chose you. Why it was you she wanted to go off with. What does she see in you? I don’t really get it, but there’s a lot of things about people I don’t get. All of them, Pinkie really cares about them, she’s happy.” Finally, she spoke out loud.

“You’re smart, Twilight. Take care of Pinkie.” She said, before turning around and walking back to the others. Shrugging, Twilight went back to Spike and the others, and they all continued their journey rested and rejuvenated.

Author's Note

Howdy! Been awhile, hasn't it?

Been a little into Fimfiction again lately and with Sword and Shield coming out a couple of days ago with this finished around that time. Don't really know how often I'll be uploading but I had enjoyed writing this chapter. Ended up way longer than I expected. Hope you guys enjoy either way!

Rarity's Pokemon:
Purugly
Glaceon
Moves: Ice Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Mirror Coat, Tail Whip
Duskull
Moves: Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Foresight, Astonish
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Pinkie Pie's Pokemon:
Sandile
Shroomish
Moves: Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Headbutt, Bullet Seed
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Marble's Pokemon:
Sudowoodo
Moves: Copycat, Rock Throw, Low Kick, Wood Hammer

Maud's Pokemon:
Boulder (Boldore)
Moves: Strength, Rock Blast, Iron Defence, Power Gem

Limestone's Pokemon:
Coalossal
Moves: Incinerate, Tar Shot, Rock Polish, Ancient Power

Flim and Flam's Pokemon:
Nidorina
Moves: Stomping Tantrum, Double Kick, Flatter, Toxic Spikes
Nidorino
Moves: Venom Drench, Horn Attack, Flatter, Toxic Spikes

Rumbling Thunder

After making their way from the Rock Farm, the group were on the way to Appleoosa, for both Twilight and Applejack’s sake. The former for her gym battle, and the latter sent to retrieve something sent. They were very nearly there, and had decided to take a break in the forest on the edge of the city. Rarity, Fluttershy and Pinkie decided to take the time to sit down, and eat some of the delicious baked goods Pinkie had stored in her bag. Rainbow was sitting on the edge, cleaning Shuckle’s shell, not because she cared about whether it was clean or dirty, since the way she saw it Shuckle was awesome either way, but Rarity had kept bugging her about it, only stopping now to eat. Applejack was lying against one of the trees with a piece of hay in her mouth, resting and enjoying the sun now that it wasn’t beating down on them so harshly. She didn’t typically relax, but enjoyed taking in the moment with her friends. However, a small explosion brought her out of that moment.

“Wh-?!” She dropped the hay from her mouth and flailed her arms, looking to her left. A tree near her had been struck with something, a small amount of smoke rising from the broken bark. “Can ya be more careful with that, Twi? Blasted attack almost hit me!”

“That’s impossible, Applejack. Swift is an attack that never misses its target, and the target was that tree.” Twilight explained, her Eevee standing in front of her with it’s legs poised.

“You know, you could relax a little? You’re in a nice forest with nice food and nice people.” Rarity reasoned, sticking her finger out with a smile on her face.

“We’re almost at Appleloosa, so unless you want me to be underprepared against the gym leader Thunderhooves, then I will continue and make the utmost preparations. This was a task given to me by Celestia herself, and things will only get more difficult after Sapphire Shores. Free time like this is the perfect time to train my Pokemon.”

“Well can ya at least do it a little farther away? Ya might end up gettin’ one a’ us hurt.” Applejack sighed.

“I suppose I could use this opportunity to go out and train against some wild Pokemon and do a little extra research while I’m at it. Very well.” She nodded, taking a step away from the group and venturing off into the woods while Applejack watched with a sigh.

“Sometimes, I don’t get that girl.” She shook her head.

“Rather enthusiastic, isn’t she?” Rarity smiled, pressing her hands together. “Dedicated to a craft. Respectable, is it not? I wonder if everyone from Canterlot is like that?”

“Dedicated is one word for it.” Spike muttered, before going back to staring at Rarity.

“Much better! No distractions.” Twilight smiled, her hands on her hips. She’d been looking through her encyclopedia and searching for any absent berries or fruit that might be beneficial to her while walking, but came up with nothing but a small brown jacket someone had irresponsibly left behind, looking like something Spike might wear if he was trying to be cool. Eevee on the other hand was staring back at the direction they came in. “We won’t worry about them. So it’ll be fine if we just train.” With that, she sent all her Pokemon out (except Gengar). Ralts and Hoothoot.

“We’re going to be doing serious work from here on out. We’ll start with practicing long-range attacks on some trees now. If any wild Pokemon come out, don’t hesitate against them. But if it’s one we haven’t seen it’s best to weaken them, and I’ll be able to send them off to Professor Zecora. Understood?” All three of them nodded, and they went out.

Eevee kept practicing its Swift on the trees, while Hoothoot flew above and landed on a tree, its eyes glowing with Foresight as it sought out any wild enemies hiding or lying in wait. As they were about to attack, it unearthed them, before Eeevee changed its targets from trees to the wild ones hitting them with Swift and knocking them back. Under Twilight’s orders it didn’t let up until they were weak, and she threw a Pokeball at them, catching all sorts of Pokemon such as Cubone, Spinarak, Seedot and Foongus, registering them in her Pokedex. She smiled at the results, nodding to herself and thinking about how perfectly things were going, and if Celestia would be proud of her for all the new research she was doing. As she was looking at the Pokedex, something leapt up from behind one of the trees shooting at her in a Rapid Spin. When she looked up with wide eyes, she called out to her Pokemon.

“Ah! Hit that thing!” She ordered, raising her arms in defence. Ralts was the first to respond using a Magical Leaf, hitting the Pokemon head-on and making it miss Twilight. When the trainer lowered her arms, she recognised the tan figure with its clay body and red markings.

Twilight gasped as she looked to the Baltoy, the fight in Los Pegasus flashing through her mind, and she began looking around for the redhead it surely belonged to, but no sign of her.

“A wild Baltoy. Of course.” She sighed, before looking at the Baltoy. It wasn’t making any move, waiting to see what she’d do. As she stared back at it though, she felt frustration building up in her body. Despite not actually being there, Twilight could see the redhead it had belonged to, laughing at her.

“So this is Celestia’s golden girl?”

Twilight clenched her fist.

“What a joke.”

“Deal with it Ralts.” On her command, the psychic-type fired off another Magical Leaf, but this one was stopped short by a Mud Slap, before the Baltoy spun straight at Ralts and knocked it away.

“Come on, just hit it with a Magical Leaf and it’ll go down.” Ralts was hesitant at Twilight’s sterner tone, but began firing off the same attack, but small boulders came down both blocking the blows and pinning the fairy-type down. The Baltoy went in for another attack, but as Twilight was about to order another attack, something with multiple legs dropped on her head, causing her to scream. She tried swatting it off her, but it jumped down in front of her. Baltoy’s attack was blocked by a Nincada, who jumped on it and sapped its strength with a Leech Life.

“Look like you’re having some trouble with this thing.” A snickering voice spoke behind her.

”What do you want, Rainbow?” She sighed.

“To watch your training. It looks awesome. You’re beating so many other Pokemon!” The sporty girl pumped her fist with a grin.

“My Pokemon are getting results for the most part, if that’s what you mean.”

“What I mean is you guys look awesome.” She smiled, stars in her eyes.

“...Right. Well maybe you should get back with the others. You’ll be caught in the crossfire after all.”

“I’m not worried about that. I’m too quick on the draw. Have to be if you wanna be part of Spitfire’s crew.”

“Well I’m afraid they’re a lot faster than you. Your speed couldn’t compare to theirs.’’ Twilight shrugged, stating it as if it were matter of fact, not really caring what Rainbow thought.

As the two spoke, more Pokemon made their way out of the grass and trees, their eyes glowing as they hungered for battle against the pair of outsiders. Twilight was about to turn to them and continue her training, pretending Rainbow wasn’t there. “That so? I bet I could beat every Pokemon in this area before you could blink.”

“Fine, go ahea-” Before Twilight could finish her sentence, Rainbow had summoned Taillow, along with her own Eevee.

“Wing Attack the bugs, Scratch the ground-types and Quick Attack everything else! Oh, and be as awesome as possible while you do.” Taillow flew around the woods, hitting the wild insects with its wings, while Nincada and Eevee dashed along the ground, hitting everything they could with their speed with their claws and paws. In a few seconds, most of the wild Pokemon had fainted. Twilight was shocked at how quickly she’d worked, wondering if the girl’s ability to cover ground could assist her in other ways, but before she could say anything the multicoloured trainer pointed to the last Pokemon standing, the Baltoy. “Now all in one direction!” The trio turned to where their trainer was pointing, jumping at their final target.

Suddenly, it was knocked back into a tree and fainted from a single hit, but it wasn’t from an attack by any of the two trainers’ Pokemon. Instead, the Baltoy had been knocked to the side by a glowing metallic tail that belonged to something else entirely, something that had leapt in front of them, taking. The thing in question was large, having a feline appearance with a mess of shaggy black fur that had a blue muzzle pointing through, snarling at the Baltoy it had just defeated with a mean look on its face. Roaring, it hit the downed Pokemon with another Iron Tail, sending it into another tree and, if Twilight’s ears weren’t failing her, cracked it.

“What in the…” Twilight muttered, but before she could do anything else its eyes shot towards the two of them, making them flinch. It snarled, swinging its tail at all three of Rainbow’s Pokemon, who managed to avoid it and gain distance, stopping at Twilight and Rainbow’s feet.

Emanating electricity from its body, hitting all Pokemon in the area. All of Twilight’s Pokemon and most of Rainbow’s had taken heavy damage from the attack, a few of them even fainted after the single attack. But it wasn’t done. Eyes full of rage, its gaze was now directed at the trainers. Once more, electricity surrounded it. When it looked Twilight in the eyes, she could tell it was aiming for her first. But all her Pokemon, tired already from the constant battles, had fainted. She thought she was done for, until she realised something pressed against her feet. When she looked down, she realised there was still one option. Nincada was there. When it shot the electric attack, her legs moved, scooping Nincada up on the top of her foot and kicking it straight into Luxray’s attack.

“Nincada!” Rainbow looked at it with wide eyes, before glaring at Twilight. “What did you do that for?!”

“Relax already.” Twilight sighed, relaxing slightly, before pointing at Nincada, who was completely fine as it landed on the electric-type’s head. “It’s a ground-type. Electric attacks are useless.”

“Whoa…” Rainbow blinked, before grinning. “Let’s get ‘em now Nincada! No more messing around!”

“All you do is mess around.” Twilight thought, watching with a sigh.

“Leech Life!” On Rainbow’s command, Nincada bit into the electric-type, who for its part grit its teeth, trying to shake the bug-type off. Suddenly, it arched its body back, once more becoming surrounded with electricity. “Hah, nice try buddy, but that won’t work!” She smirked, acting as if she’d known the whole time.

“Uhh… Rainbow?” Twilight piped up, staring at it. Once more, it was focused on the pair of trainers, with its body arched back, before leaping towards them.

“Get down!” Rainbow grabbed Twilight, pulling the two under some bushes while the electric feline jumped over them, its body crackling with lightning and its eyes full of rage. As it landed, the pair watched it run through the woods, not even turning back to them. Twilight sighed, shutting her eyes before they shot back open again when she felt something land on her head.

“Ahh!” She got up with a yelp, waving her arms above her head to brush Nincada off, while Rainbow just snickered. “Not the time, Rainbow!”

“Come on, you gotta admit it was pretty funny!”

“I don’t have to admit anything.” Twilight sighed, before they went back to their Pokemon, using their Potions and a few Revives. Rather, Twilight used hers and Rainbow asked to borrow a few on account of leaving most of them behind at the picnic.

“What in the world was that?!” Rainbow, staring where the Pokemon had just been, asked.

“It’s a Luxray. An electric type and a powerful Pokemon at that. They’re natural hunters. I’ve read about it before.” Twilight sat against a tree trunk, sighing and rubbing her head. “It was so agitated… I guess it was just lashing out at everything in sight, and we weren’t actually being hunted by it. But what I want to know is what was it doing here? This isn’t its natural habitat at all. It’s far too hot for something with that much fur, and an electric-type in a place where ground-types are so common is unlikely. It’s got to belong to someone.” She glanced to Rainbow, whose eyes were directed elsewhere, and sighed. “Are you listening?”

“Uhh… Twilight?” Rainbow muttered, looking around the woods with a tone that made the Canterlot girl wonder if it was something important. “I think I found the owner.”

Twilight followed Rainbow’s gaze, the two of them seeing a foot poking out under a bush. The two approached the foot seeing the body attached to it, was a young man in torn jeans and a T-Shirt, along with a singed black jacket tied around his waist. His most noticeable feature was high pale cyan mohawk. And judging from his condition and what those two had just ran into, it was fair to guess that his torn clothes weren’t a fashion statement.

“Well, this guy looks crazy enough to try to own something like that, so he’s a definite candidate.” Twilight spoke, but Rainbow didn’t immediately respond.

“...Rainbow?”

“I know this guy.” She softly knelt down staring at him, before grabbing him by the collar. “Hey Thunderlane! Wake up!” After shaking him for a few moments, he groaned opening his eyes slowly.

“What the… Rainbow? Is that you?” Thunderlane asked, slowly standing up.

“Rainbow, do you know this guy?” Twilight looked confused, and Rainbow chuckled.

“This guy? It’s just Thunderlane. He’s from Ponyville too. Oh and don’t let the mohawk fool you, dude’s a real wimp.”

“I am not! Stop telling everyone that!” He shot back, before wincing. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“I’m travelling now. We ran into that Pokemon that almost got us. Was a real monster, yeesh. You called it a Luxray, right?”

“That ‘monster’ is mine.” He sighed, looking at the confused expressions of Rainbow and Twilight as he straightened up, wincing and holding his forearm. “A few weeks ago, my brother and I got jumped by a couple of guys. They were really strong, and I ended up losing my Luxio. Not just that, but it wasn’t enough for them and they took my brother’s only Pokemon too. He was so distraught, soI promised him I’d find them. ‘Leave it to your tough big bro’, that’s what I said. Now… I found Luxio, but it wasn’t the same anymore. It evolved, and it attacks everything in sight no matter who. But I’d never forget the first Pokemon I ever got.” He gritted his teeth, both anger and pain written all over him. “I don’t know what they did to him, but they warped Luxio. My partner is caring and protective, but now he attacks everything in sight.”

Twilight listened, silently in thought. The way that Luxray had acted was far more aggressive and actively hostile than most wild Pokemon she’d seen. It reminded her in a way of the Camerupt in San Palomino, but it felt different. For one, it hadn’t used any strange moves and while it was hostile, the Camerupt was far angrier than this electric-type, and there was something about the aggression too, aside from its intensity. She couldn’t explain it but something… felt different between the two. For its aggression, the Luxray seemed more normal so to speak. But perhaps if she subdued it, there would be use in bringing her closer to an answer.

Rainbow, meanwhile, had stood up. “Right, that settles it. Thunderlane, we’ll help you find your Luxray and bring it back. Your brother’s Pokemon, too.”

“Works for me.” She folded her arms. “Shall we get going, then?”

“Yeah, we just have to…” Thunderlane trailed off as he looked past the two of them at something on the floor. The girls turned back to follow his vision, seeing the brown jacket Twilight had abandoned. “That’s… That’s Rumble’s Jacket…. That’s my brother’s!” His eyes slowly widened. “Did he follow me here?! Where did you find that?!”

“Uhh… By a tree.” Twilight sounded worried now.

“I have to go!” Thunderlane bolted immediately, ignoring any plants and bushes in his way, with Twilight and Rainbow following close behind, not that it was difficult, he couldn’t run that quickly in his condition.

The small group followed Luxray’s trail, leading them past the woods and towards a range of hills that Twilight remembered was called Macintosh Hills, the land getting more sandy and stony as they went on, not to mention uneven with large boulders jutting out of the ground. They heard some grunting and yelling in the distance, heading towards it, thinking that Luxray and Rumble might be there and, as it turned out, they were half right.

“Argh! Hold still you little brat!”

“Let me go already!” A young voice yelled. The group hid behind some rocks, peeking out and seeing a couple of people in erratic, but matching uniforms carrying along a small black-haired boy they’d tied up, but his kicking was the cause of much irritation for each of them if the look on their faces was anything to go by.

“First the Pokemon start getting loose, now we have to babysit crybabies like you. I’m not in a good mood right now.” The grunt who seemed to be the leader of the two, said with a growl. Their uniforms were a pale grey with blue pinstripes, red lines on the edge of the sleeves, collar and bottom of the trousers, yellow gloves on their hands with black rings all over them and pointed edges on the fingers making them look more like talons than hands. The tops of their shoes were an even darker grey, almost metallic like armour, their eyes covered with circular lenses that looked like a Venonat’s eyes.

“And if you keep messing around then… Well, what good is setting a trap without bait?” The young boy’s eyes widened, the voice and fight leaving him quickly after that. Thunderlane watched with a clenched fist and gritted teeth, indicating to the girls that this was the brother he was talking so much about.

“We need a plan.” Twilight muttered. “If we can distract them and keep a certain distance away before capturing them and freeing-”

“Uh, while you were talking rainbow already just went over there.”

“Huh?” Twilight bnlinked, looking up to see Rainbow was indeed gone, running towards the group, stopping right in front of them.

“Hey! Let him go!” The hot headed girl pointed at the small group, already having summoned her NIncada and Taillow to her side, while the pair of goons looked to Rainbow in shock.

“There are people here too?!”

“This is just great, more messes to clean up.” The pair sighed.

“I know who you are! You’re Team Chaos, aren’t you?! You won’t do whatever you want here!”

Twilight saw the pair flinch, before leaning forward with scowls on their faces to try and look tough, bringing their Pokemon out while Rainbow was giving her’s commands.

“Taillow, hit them with Wing Attack while Nincada Scratches the kid’s bindings!” Taillow flew in the air, before diving straight down at the Team Chaos grunts, while Nincada scuttled along the ground at top speed to Rumble with its claws primed and ready to cut through the string. However, neither of them reached their target. As Taillow was about to reach the grunts, it was stopped when something leapt up into the air, jabbing the bird in its chest with one of its stingers that glowed purple, knocking it back into the sky before its wings had even connected.

Instead of the strings, Nincada struck a Pokemon, one covered its body in leaves, leaving only its yellow nonchalant face exposed, but even then it refused to show more than its eyes. Before Nincada could do anything, the tall grunt smirked.

“Cover it, Swadloon.” It opened up the leaves, wrapping them around the ground insect.

“Just cut your way out!” Rainbow yelled, but became confused as nothing happened. She caught a glimpse of a sticky string connected from the lax bug’s mouth to the inside of the leaves it used to cover Nincada, who flailed frantically as it was covered in just ten seconds.

Twilight watched in shock as Rainbow’s fast Pokemon were dispatched almost as quickly as their own attacks, looking to the one that had attacked the flying-type. Now that it stood still, she found it similar to a grey wheel, with eyes on the side and four stingers that seemed to be the closest thing it had to limbs.

“You shouldn’t have messed with us, girl. Team Chaos crushes all in its way.” The shorter grunt commented, a smirk on his face. “Just like how Whirlipede will crush your little bird with a Rollout.” The wheel-like Pokemon immediately began spinning, before leaping up at Taillow, who flapped its wings out of the way, but Whirlipede kept trying the same thing, slowly but surely increasing in speed each time.

“Throw it, Swadloon.” The tall grunt commanded, and Swadloon flung the cocooned Nincada up straight at Taillow. The bird dodged, but its eyes widened when it was hit with a Rollout.

“Did you forget about Whirlipede? You might be fast, but he gets faster with every second.” The short grunt folded his arms as both her Pokemon dropped to the ground with a third. “But some people just can’t handle that type of chaos.” Rainbow reached for another Pokeball, about to call out her Eevee.

“String Shot.” Swadloon shot its silk at her hand, keeping it - and her Pokeball - shut. The sporty girl grit her teeth, trying to tug her hand away. The grunts looked to the side with a smirk, and Rainbow followed their gaze and realised Whirlipede hadn’t slowed down, and it was coming right at her. Her efforts redoubled, but she didn’t get fare. She thought she was a goner until she was successful in her pushing, not only flying back but bringing Swadloon with her right into Whirlipede’s rollout, hitting its ally head-on.

“What?!” The grunts were shocked, about as shocked as Rainbow was.

“Ralts!” A certain cry made her turn around, to see tTwilight’s fairy-type Pokemon standing on a rock.

The grunts drew their attention to the small Pokemon. “A psychic-type! Get it, Whirlipede!”

The wheel-like insect drew back and turned around, going straight for Ralts, much to Rainbow’s concern.

“No!” She ran straight towards Ralts, unsure of what she was going to do but knew that the small Pokemon wouldn’t even last a hit against that kind of momentum. But she was still attached to Swadloon, and couldn’t make it before it collided with it and the stone, destroying both. But Rainbow’s shock was short-lived when Whirlipede was knocked into the air by a Psychic attack,. Ralts… stood fine next to Hoothoot, whose eyes were glowing, an afterimage being what Whirlipede struck.

“I’m formulating a plan and you just run right in, Rainbow.” Twilight stood up with a sigh. “At least I could make a new one while your attitude showed me what the enemy can do. Ralts might not be strong, but it makes for a good decoy.”

“Heh, I knew I could count on you!” Rainbow smiled, giving a thumbs up while Twilight just sighed. Whirlipede came down, deactivating its Rollout, but it was struck with an Iron Head from something in the air before it could be commanded again, falling unconscious next to Swadloon. The Team Chaos members stepped back, their Pokemon getting defeated easily, as the ferocious stone reptilian Pokemon flew down towards them, Thunderlane walking forward, his arms folded.

“S-Stay back! We’ve got friends all over, you kids won’t get off scot-free!”

“Give me one good reason why Aerodactyl shouldn’t tear you both apart with smoldering hot teeth.”

“What were you thinking?!!” Thunderlane yelled at his brother, who had just been untied. “Do you have any idea how hurt you could’ve got?”

“I just wanted to try and help get Luxio back…” He mumbled, looking down at his feet, while Thunderlane just sighed.

“I don’t want to lose you too.” He gave the black-haired boy a tight hug, which he reciprocated with a sniffle. Both Rainbow and Twilight smiled. Thunderlane turended back to the two of them. “Thank you both.”

“No problem! That’s what friends are for!” Rainbow grinned.

“What are you smiling about? You just got yourself in trouble.” Twilight folded her arms.

“Well hey, it all worked out in the end.” Rainbow proclaimed, pointing at Twilight.

“Through sheer dumb luck and the fact that I saved you. Otherwise you’d be roadkill without the road.” Twilight pointed out.

“Well at least I decided to do something! They might’ve got away while you were rambling about all that nerd stuff!”

“Uhh… girls?” Thundrerlane tried speaking up upon hearing something echo, but the girls ignored him.

“Don’t blame me just because being headstrong failed, which isn’t exactly surprising.”

“Hey, just because I can think on my feet doesn’t mean I’m headstrong!”

“It’s a lot better to think with your brain.”

“Girls!” Thunderlane yelled, attracting their attention this time.

“What?” They both yelled right back, making Thunderlane arch back for a moment, before speaking.

“Something’s coming… And I think I know what it is.” As he spoke, another roar echoed out. The grunts, scared, tried to wriggle away as fast as they could. But even if they had been fully mobile, they would not have been able to outrun the black-furred feline that sprung up the hill. Twilight saw it bounding towards them from down the hill and got another Pokeball out, Rainbow and Thunderlane doing the same.

“Get behind me, Rumble! Come on out Electrike!” Thunderlane ordered and while his younger brother did so he threw his ball up in the air, summoning a small green canine with a pointed tail.

“Use your Nincada, Rainbow!” Twilight looked to Rainbow.

“You don’t need to tell me twice!” The sporty girl grunted, summoning her bug-type while Twilight brought out Eevee, before checking her Pokedex for any other important data.

Luxray: The Gleam Eyes Pokemon
It can see clearly through walls to track down its prey and seek its lost young.

“I see. We still have some time. If we want to beat this thing we need to restrict its movement. if you can dig a hole, then-” Twilight got cut off, as Luxray closed the distance, releasing electricity from its body as it charged, forcing the group to break apart, missing most of them save for Electrike. Luxray slid on the ground, turning back to face them with rage written all over its face.

“It’s me! Don’t you remember, Luxio?” Thunderlane pleaded.

“Technically it’s Luxray now.” Twilight commented. “And this isn’t the time for that! Rainbow! Your Nincada!”

“On it! Quick Attack!” Rainbow grinned, her bug type swiftly rushing Luxray, hitting it in the head. “Like that? Cuz that’s not all!” She got out another Pokeball.

“Rainbow, you need to make it use dDig! That’s the most effective move!” Twilight protested, but Rainbow just grinned, sending Taillow out.

“Wing Attack that thing and make it dizzy!” She pointed at Luxray, and both her Pokemon dashed towards the electric lion, darting around it. Taillow flew circles around the feline, hitting it at different angles with its glowing wings, Nincada scratching its face and legs. Twilight panicked when its body sparked with electricity, gobefore shooting lightning straight at Taillow. Only for it to curve at the last second and head straight for Electrike, who received the attack without a scratch. Twilight looked at the small canine confused. Even if it was an electric-type as well it should’ve sustained some damage. Come to think of it, it had taken an attack from Luxray before but if anything it looked better for wear rather than worse.

“That Electrike…” Twilight began.

“Its ability is Lightningrod.” He grinned, and a look of realisation was written on Twilight’s face.

“Huh?” Rainbow meanwhile, was confused.

“All it means is we don’t have to worry about Electric Attacks.” Twilight turned back to Luxray, a smile on her face. “Now don’t let up! Swift, Eevee!” Twilight’s normal-type shot stars straight at the feline, while Rainbow’s Taillow and Nincada kept up their assault. It attempted another Thunderbolt, that went straight to Elektrike. “If we’re safe from electric attacks then I can send you two out!” Twilight called out Hoothoot and Ralts, ordering the former to use Reflect and the latter to hit Luxray with a Confusion.

“Alright! We’ve got this i n the bag!” Rainbow smirked, pumping her fist in the air. Even Twilight could find it hard to doubt that. Luxray was injured, panting, with its frustration intensified but fatigue crept in. “Now one more time, Taillow! Hit it with a Quick Attack!”

Taillow darted around Luxray again, even faster than before. The feline bore its fangs, before snapping its jaws in the air. Both Rainbow, Twilight and Thunderlane were shocked to see Taillow between its sharp fangs, as it tightened its grip making the bird Pokemon cry out in pain from the Bite attack.

“Ah! Help Taillow, Nincada!” Rainbow ordered, and Nincada jumped to action hitting Luxray with a Fury Swipes.

“Keep up your assault, Eevee.” Twilight ordered, making Rainbow look to her.

“Hey! You might hit Taillow!”

“Swift isn’t the type of attack to miss its target. Even if they were, your Nincada is fast enough to avoid it.” Twilight shook her head. True enough, the stars exploded on Luxray but while Nincada was close it got indirectly hit by one of the small explosions and smoke surrounding the Luxray, as well as the Pokemon around it.

“Hey! you just hit Nincada!” Nincada wasn’t that hurt to the contrary, but between the attack itself and the resulting smoke it was stunned, but that was all that was needed.

When the group saw Nincada next, it was launched into a rock. As the smoke cleared Luxray’s tail shimmered like silver or stainless steel.

“That’s Iron Tail!” Thunderlane yelled, a confused look on his face. “But he never had that move. I don’t even think he can learn that easily.” Luxray spat Taillow to the ground, before its eyes glimmered as it looked to Electrike and it pounced straight at the canine, Eevee firing off more Swift attacks but it did nothing to deter the lion.,

“This isn’t good.” Twilight watched with wide eyes. “Luxrays are known hunters, their instincts unparalleled.” Even if they ran, would they be able to escape something sas monstrous as this? And if it managed to defeat Electrike, then it could use its attacks freely. “Ralts, use Confusion on Electrike, get it away from there!” Before Luxray could sink its teeth in, Electrike was flung away into the air, where it was caught by Hoothoot, who flew as high as it could. Unfortunately with its small body and the extra weight it couldn’t get far, while the feline was already leaping up at them.

“Hoothoot, throw Electrike now!” Twilight yelled, and Hoothoot obeyed, tossing Electrike as far as it could, the flying-type getting hit by Luxray's teeth. “Good! R-Rainbow, that means we’ll need your Pokemon too!”

“Hey, they’re still hurt!” Rainbow shot back.

“Reflect is still active, they’ll be fine.” Twilight waved her hand.

“Just like Hoothoot?” The flying-type in question was knocked to the ground wincing in pain. Aerodactyl roared as it flew down with a Fire Fang at Luxray’s back, but it was met with an Iron Tail, knocking it away.

“Electrike is our best defence against that thing so we need to keep it safe! What don’t you understand about that?”

“That’s not true, we need to attack with full force before it can strike!” Rainbow shot back.

“I don’t see why you’re complaining when you’re the one who should’ve just used Dig in the first place, but you wanted to show off with your bug’s scratches!”

“We can’t go that slowly like you or we’ll lose-”

“You’re the one who doesn’t think things through! We’ll lose if we rush in like you!”

Before Rainbow could retort, they heard a cry of pain. Electrike was knocked into a boulder. It tried getting up, but soon fell, fainting.

“Electrike!” Thunderlane gasped before glaring at the girls. “What are you two doing? We need to help Luxray. Can’t you see it? Luxray is hurting so much. He saved Rumble so many times, but now...” He gritted his teeth, an arm over Rumble, who stared at what was happening in despair. Thoughts ran through his head, before he stepped back, and started running.

When they all turned back to Luxray, someone was right behind it. The trainers froze when they saw Rumble standing right there.

“Please stop.” He pleaded, staring at what was once his brother’s Pokemon. Luxray, who had been approaching the cornered Electrike, turned back to look at Rumble. The boy was sweating, but his fear for himself was outweighed by the worry for someone else. “I-I don’t know what happened to you, but this isn’t you. You’re just out of control and afraid. Please, stop.” He smiled. “We’re here for you.”

Thunderlane was already running towards him, screaming his younger brother’s name, only getting halfway when he found himself tripping, his injuries sustained making him sloppy.

For his efforts and leap of faith, Luxray leapt towards him, its fangs shining with an attack readied.

In the heat of the moment, Twilight didn’t know why her body moved like that with such urgency, why she managed to outrun even Rainbow Dash who’d been charging forward with her, or why her first instinct wasn’t to formulate a plan or bark out orders. She just ran, tackling Luxray, knocking it off course just enough to make its fangs break off a piece of a boulder near Rumble. She felt that her words wouldn’t travel as fast as her feet, which was idiotic to her since there were very few things that were faster than sound. Yet, it worked. Instead, Luxray’s attack hit a rock. The bad news was the fully-evolved electric-type glaring back at Twilight, its body charging with electricity without warning. Twilight screamed, immediately letting go as her body and clothes became burnt.

It was then that Rainbow caught up, she dived forward, pulling Twilight away from another attack from Luxray’s fangs.

“Wing Attack, Taillow!” Rainbow ordered, and the flying-type shot forward, darting around and hitting Luxray over and over, while the elecfeline’s eyes gleamed, and it readied its fangs.

“Rainbow! That won’t work again!” Twilight complained. “Lightningrod’s no longer an option and Reflect isn’t there to pr-”

“Wait for it.” Rainbow grinned, and a growl could be heard coming from Luxray, followed by a thud. Confused, Twilight turned her head to see it had tripped, its paws and body wrapped up in a sticky string, the end of which could be seen in the grip of Taillow’s talons. “You said we needed to stop it moving, right?”

The feline in question was thrashing around, sinking its fangs into the string, and it was starting to break it apart. Its body emanated with electricity, helping to burn it off.

“Yeah but… I don’t think it’ll hold for long.” Twilight pointed out, and Rainbow just chuckled.

“Just needs to hold it long enough.” As Luxray began getting up, the ground beneath it cracked. Suddenly, Luxray’s eyes widened as it was hit in the stomach by Nincada, who had shot right out from the ground. It winced in pain for a moment, its shining eyes squeezed shut. When it next opened them, its eyes were unfocused, and as it began to fall to the ground, Thunderlane threw his Pokeball.

“Man, my uniform was ruined.” Twilight sighed. Her clothes were in singes now, covered with dirt.

“Hey, you got off easy.” Thunderlane winced as he leaned against a rock, staring at his Pokeball. Rumble sat next to him, Thunderlane’s hand on his head.

“Come on you too. We gotta get back soon.” Rainbow insisted.

“I guess we’re not that far from Appleloosa. Spike will probably be wondering where I am.” Twilight said.

“Then we shouldn’t waste time. Now come on already!” Rainbow pulled Twilight up, grabbing her arm and leading her to where their friends were. At least, where Rainbow assumed their friends were.

“I’m in no rush to be around large groups of people right now. Not after an idiotic move like that.” Twilight sighed, rubbing her head. “Glad you finally used Dig through. At least one of us made a good decision in the end.”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow frowned.

“Me jumping in there. It was so brash and idiotic, and only got in the way. I don’t even know why I thought it would be a good idea.”

“Idiotic? Twi, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen you do!” Rainbow raised her arms in the air, a huge grin on her face. “You just ran in there, not caring what happened to you and tackled that huge thing like it was nothing!”

“It was very clearly something. Just one look at me proves that.”

“Still, it was awesome! Almost as awesome as me, I dare say.” The energetic trainer gestured to herself, chuckling. “And that’s impressive cuz I’m pretty awesome.”

Twilight sighed. “Let’s just get back to the others. We’ll be at Appleloosa soon.”

“Don’t you worry about that! I’ll get us there and to Appleloosa before you can blink!” Rainbow grinned, pulling Twilight along once more while Thunderlane and Rumble hurried behind as fast as they could. Twilight and Rainbow hadn’t recognised at the time why Twilight did what she did, doing a move so unlike her, going in herself rather than commanding her Pokemon. In that moment when she could see Luxray raring to attack Rumble, the thought of Spike flashed through her head, and she would try to protect him all the same.

Author's Note

Hey guys, back again! Sorry for the long wait, but things should be getting back on track now. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and look forward to Appleloosa next time!

Twilight's Pokemon:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.

Rainbow's Pokemon:
Shuckle
Moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw
Tailow
Nincada
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Thunderlane's Pokemon:
Aerodactyl
Iron Head, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang
Electrike
Quick Attack, Leer, Shock Wave and Bite
Luxray
Moves: Thundershock, Iron Tail, Spark, Bite

Barreling Bulls

Camerupt was blasted once more, knocked back into a wall but its rage never yielded. It grunted, trying to shake off its injury, but its body was covered in others just like it. Still, it stood back up with a roar that echoed through the dark cavern. The grunts stepped back, the torches in their hands trembling as they illuminated the fire-type.

Sunset just stared at it, annoyed.

“Quite frankly, I don’t know what you have to be upset about. You’re not the one who has to come here and clean up this mess.” She commented as it got ready to fire another attack. She snapped her fingers, Rotom fired another Hydro Pump. “Do you have any idea how much damage you caused? Of course you don’t. You can’t think of anything but destruction.”

The impact combined with the type advantage in the move left another injury on the monster’s hide.

She stood unflinching in front of those weak grunts.

“That’s why you need a capable trainer to command you. This kind of destruction is random, disgusting, useless. You lack direction, lack purpose.”

Smoke blew out of Camerupt’s snout, partially obscuring it in the cave. It was getting ready to charge.

“Again, on its leg.” Before Camerupt could take its first step, the high-powered blast of water hit its leg, causing it to kneel. Something bubbled from its humps.

“Aim for its back this time.”

As Camerupt stood up, Rotom shot another Hydro Pump at the humps on its back and its eyes widened. The water sprayed all over it and steam went everywhere. Sunset knew that it focused on wide-ranged attacks, and in an enclosed space like this, could be deadly. Still, she smiled.

“Trust me, stick with me and the sky will be the limit to your chaos.”

“I don’t see why we had to take this detour.” Rarity whined as Applejack stepped ahead.

“It might’ve been nice if we had this option from the start.” Twilight commented.

“Come on, where’s your sense of adventure?” Rainbow grinned. “Applejack said she had something important that she needed help with, that the fate of her family rests on this task!”

Twilight sighed. One of the neighbouring towns was meant to have a gym she could challenge. She supposed that coming this way had given her more of a chance to research the local Pokemon but she had got attacked by that rogue Luxray. Besides, it WAS just a detour, and if it was important to the farm girl then she supposed it couldn’t hurt. She glanced back to Rainbow, she was still supporting Thunderlane, with Rumble going behind them, a worried look on his face. His elder brother was doing his best to walk so as not to worry the young boy, but he could only do so much. They were out in the wilderness, so he’d just have to go on with them.

But out of the forest there was another patch of land before they’d get to Appleloosa and she really didn’t want to have another surprise attack, so having this truck here could be a welcome rest.

The fate of her family, huh? Must’ve been really important.

Applejack for her part was going round to the back of the truck, and flung the cargo doors open with a smile. Twilight and the rest stared at… a tree. Any slack she might’ve given the farmer was gone.

“Your family depends on one tree.” She said it out loud and it sounded even dumber. She slowly looked to AJ who was actually quite proud, though for whatever reason Twilight could not discern. “You… Know you have more, right?”

“...She didn’t mean that.” AJ cooed to the tree like it was a child, and the group was dumbfounded. She then looked at them with her hands on her hips. “Come on, ya can’t just make an orchard outta one little tree. The family’s been sending over a bunch to our family ‘round these parts, but they keep disappearing. How are we supposed to start farms if the trees never even make it to the dang town?! Mac and Granny are busy enough back at home without me, so this is the least I can do.”

Well, at least they weren’t in a desert. Twilight supposed it was one way to the next town. She stared at the tree with Spike, who was climbing in to get a closer look, probably for an apple.

“Spike, get out of th-” Before she finished, he ducked. Something smacked Twilight and she fell back. She rubbed her face as she looked up. A cluster of pink bounced around. This was, surprisingly, not Pinkie pulling some sort of prank on her, for this cluster was actually a collection of small pink objects, each one had a face with a varying expression. They were eggs, some clean, some cracked. They shook threateningly.

Twilight had dropped a fair few items. Some balls, her Pokedex, some potions were strewn both in and out of the truck. She was red in the face from both her frustration and from the mark the Pokemon had left, but she still had one left. Gritting her teeth, she pointed at the pink Pokemon.

“I have had it! Hoothoot, Peck!” The flying-type leapt up from her bag and flew towards the Pokemon, pecking every single egg that made it up. It was knocked this way and that, and as Hoothoot was about to deliver one more, but its beak came in contact with a wall of light. Twilight recognised the move.

“So it knows Reflect as well. Fine, Confusion. Throw it out!” Hoothoot lifted the injured Pokemon up. From the damage it received, it must’ve been a grass-type, but that didn’t matter. Hoothoot spun round, throwing it out of the truck. It didn’t get very far, the Confusion wasn’t that effective on it, but it landed on something and it was gone. The empty Pokeball that had sucked the attacker inside shut. It shook for a moment, before a red light beeped on the opening mechanism. Twilight was surprised, not having thought about catching it, but sighed. She supposed it was for the best. Pinkie and Rainbow were snickering to themselves, she shot them a look and they pretended to be staring somewhere else.

The bookworm rubbed her face, picking up the ball and heading to the front of the truck. She needed her rest anyway. The group crowded into the driving area. Twilight found herself squashed between them all, the door barely closing from the numbers. The car drove along the set path, and they were off.

Twilight sighed. She couldn’t even see out the window or enjoy the view that much, pressed into the back with the driver, the group, PLUS Thunderlane and Rumble, but she didn’t care. She’d had quite the busy day, and could use some rest. Putting some earplugs in, she leaned back as much as she could and began to drift off.

“Well ain’t this nice? A beautiful forest, a comfy ride, and friends to enjoy it with.” Applejack sighed, smiling. She couldn’t quite see the town yet, but she knew they were close. The farmer had never minded being in close proximity much. Her family was a close bunch anyway. Her family… She stopped smiling. Applejack wondered how they were doing. Was Mac getting on alright by himself? Applebloom was still growing up, was she learning new things? Even Granny’s rambling…

She shook her head, trying to distract herself. This cargo, it always went missing right before it arrived. She guessed if you wanted something done right you did it yourself.

“Couldn’t we at least sit somewhere a little less crowded?” Rarity complained.

“Hmm…” Applejack thought for a moment. “Well I guess ya could sit in the back with ol’ Bloomberg.”

“You want me to sleep with… The tree?” Rarity looked to Applejack as if the farmer had just said she wanted to burn down a fashion store.

“Sure. If yer lucky an apple will fall straight on yer face on this road. It’s pretty bumpy.”

“That’s not funny.”

“What isn’t?”

As the two of them spoke, the ground got clearer. The trees cleared away, and they could see a town on the horizon. Applejack smiled. As did Rarity, as it meant she could get off this bus. Fluttershy also had some discomfort but kept quiet about it. Twilight by this time was asleep. Rainbow was only half-asleep, but she was getting there, mostly stopped by Pinkie who was bouncing in her seat, humming a happy tune. The partygoer stopped as she saw something else.

A bunch of Pokemon along the fields. Mostly ground-types like Numel, Graveller and Rhyhorn, but there were others that stuck to large groups, and these weren’t ground-types. At least, they didn’t look like it to the farmer. Their bulky bodies were covered with brown fur, their eyes yellow with black markings around the sides with large horns on both sides of their heads, but their most notable feature was the fur that these horns stuck out of, big dark afros. Applejack recognised this as a herd of Bouffalant. Some different ones were strewn along the field, but the main one was the normal-type bull species. They got closer, running right by the truck, Pinkie staring out at them with a smile. In her seat she was high up, staring down at the bovines.

“I feel… BIG!” Pinkie looked out at the Pokemon charging through. “Grrrrrr!” She made the meanest face she could think of, before snickering. She roared even louder. “I’m a big mean monster coming to eeeeaaaat yooouuuu! Juuust kidding!! I’m not a monster! Or… Am I? ROOOAAAA- AHH!” Pinkie yelped as the truck rocked a little. “What? I can do other sounds, like an Arbok or a Gourgeist or a PrimeaaaAH!” She wobbled once more, she would’ve fallen off her chair if it hadn’t been for the seatbelt. “Tough crowd.” She rubbed her head, but they were bumped once more. Rainbow stirred.

“What in tarnation-“ Applejack’s eyes widened. “Quit bargin’ ya dang bulls! Scram!” Predictably, they didn’t listen. She grit her teeth and got out a Pokeball. “Rollout!” She sent Phanpy out. It instantly went into a ball, bouncing between the different Pokemon, hitting them and knocking many of them down. But not enough.

As Rainbow was stirring, she saw something move: A shadow getting above the truck. She was the closest to the door. She tried opening the door, but had to close it when the rocking combined with the packed truck made the others viable to fall out. Instead, she climbed out the window, getting on the hood. What was on the cargo wasn’t a Pokemon, it was a girl. Her skin was tan, her poncho a slightly lighter shade of brown than her skin. She wore a white and purple headband that held long black-tipped feathers at the side of her head.

“Hey! What do you think you’re-“ Before Rainbow could even finish, the girl leapt down between the truck and the cargo. Rainbow grit her teeth. She slid down.

The strange girl was at the bottom, reaching down to something, before noticing something in the corner of her eye. A Taillow shooting towards her. She leapt up, before looking up to see Rainbow leaping down at her in the narrow space.

“Hey! Get out of here or I’ll make you!” The new girl was surprisingly acrobatic. Sure, both the rainbow-haired girl and her flying-type were fast but they clearly weren’t good in small spaces. With each swoop Taillow was getting closer. She then looked to Rainbow, who was also getting closer. The feathered girl decided to close the distance herself, Taillow right behind her.

“Darn it, st-“ Before Rainbow could finish, the feathered girl was right in front of her. The next moment, she wasn’t, but a Taillow who couldn’t stop its own momentum crashed into its trainer.

The feathered girl, who had ducked below at the right time, used that moment of distraction. She undid the latch and the truck came loose. She whistled and all of a sudden, the hordes of Pokemon changed their position. She leapt down on a Bouffalant with fabric on its horn and they took off. For a moment the group was relieved, until Applejack noticed that their load was lighter.

She looked out the window, and saw her cargo was gone. The cowgirl was filled with shock. But that shock soon turned into rage. Twilight was rubbing her head. She’d absolutely no idea what had been happening, waking up to the truck rumbling, and had been desperately trying to carry herself back into the waking world, but by the time she was fully awake, it seemed to be subsiding. She was struck with a feeling of relief that it was over, only to groan as she heard Applejack shout a whirlwind of country profanities.

The car slowed down and she rubbed her head, hoping she could massage the headache out of her temple. The purple-haired girl looked around the window, then to everyone in the driver’s seat. Her face paled.

“Wait… Where’s Spike?”

There was always something going on with these girls. It could never just be peaceful, could it?

He’d been in the cargo with the tree the whole time. Twilight had been too tired to give any substantial protests. There weren’t any seatbelts, after all! She understood why he did it, however. The truck itself was packed with noisy rambunctious girls conversing and laughing.

Even so, she considered it a dumb decision. On top of not having a seatbelt, there wasn’t any seat at all. Just… A tree. Who would want a tree for a bed, anyway?!

Needless to say Twilight was unhappy getting off that truck, but she didn’t waste much time stepping off, but nearly jumped back when she saw the smiling face in front of her and fell back. A pale-yellow shirt with a brown sleeveless jacket to match his Stetson, with worn denims on his legs. He was saddled atop a grey quadruped with a body that was hard as stone.

“Howdy!” He chirped. “So nice to see all of ya! Y’all must be friends of cousin Applejack, and any friend of hers is a friend of mine! Speaking of which!” He ran over to Applejack, giving her a big hug. The farm girl, despite her mood, was not one to turn down a family hug, nor could she resist her cousin’s infectious attitude.

“How are y’all doin’? Ya don’t look too good, we should grab you a bite to eat! Got plenty to eat in the town!”

“Braeburn!” Applejack stopped him, right as he was about to list every minute building that was there. “Not that we don’t wanna hear but-”

“Oh, that reminds me! Your family sent their regards, along with a little somethin’ for ya!” He patted his cousin’s shoulder.

“They did?” Applejack’s voice softened for a moment. A small smile made its way to her face.

“Yeah! They miss ya real bad.” He smiled. He reached behind him, taking a small red box out and handing it to his cousin. “Now what are we waitin’ for? I gotta drop ol’ Rhyhorn off! The pen is on the way to the orchard, oh I can’t wait to show ya that!” He raised the reins in anticipation.

“That’s what we wanted to speak to you about! The tree is gone!”

“What?” Braeburn stopped.

“It was attacked by a buncha Bouffalant.”

He sighed. “So even you couldn’t stop them.”

“This place seemed perfect… But when our town was really gettin’ established, we got a visitor from the next town over. A gym leader. He wanted us to take our orchard down. I couldn’t tell ya my surprise! Of course, we couldn’t do that, and he told us that things were gonna get tough from here. Since then, it’s been one thing after another! Bouffalant take new trees out before they even arrive, Gligar are invadin’ the trees we DO have.” His fingers reached under his hat, rubbing his head.

“If he had it his way, this here town wouldn’t even exist.”

“This town is still so new; we don’t even have a mayor yet. Everythin’ and everyone depends on that orchard in one way or another, but they just want us to move it.” He then looked more determined. “He doesn’t own this land. We belong here as much as anyone. If only it were just the trees, too. Houses and pens break suddenly. Pokemon showing up, while our own disappear. Even my own Rhyhorn… This little guy here is just another from the pen.” He sighed, giving them a small smile. “Sorry for bringin’ y’all’s mood down like this. Why don’t ya go and look around the town, hm?”

Twilight walked off instantly after his explanation into the nearest shop she could see, the bell ringing as she opened the door.

“Why, is that the sound of a customer I hear near? Come right on in dear!”

Twilight walked forward and put money on the counter. “Coffee!” She said, before slinking onto the counter, her head resting against it. “Guh… Please.”

“Why, what a prodigious choice! There’s not a bean too lean for a valued customer!” A peppy showman’s voice spoke, before she could hear the pouring of water, the grinding of beans and the whirring of a machine. “You’ve got a strong work ethic, I can tell! Working your waking moments, throwing yourself into things! The guys and gals in this town work hard, so they need something just as strong as they! And you’re not from around here, are you? Travelling is just as strenuous!”

“Mhm…” Twilight nodded idly. Soon, a cup was slid over to her.

“One cup, madam! Keep those open eyes staring at starry skies!” Another similar but slightly different voice spoke, but she didn’t care much. At least, not until she looked up.

“Thanks, I really needed th-” She went silent. Her hand was frozen on the hot cup as she stared up. The two redheads behind the counter stared back at her. The first clean-shaven man was at the counter, while the moustachioed doppelganger behind him was midway through cleaning a cup. All three of them had their mouths agape.

“Twi? What’re ya-“ Applejack stopped mid-sentence. She had entered, the others following behind.

“YOU AGAIN?!”

Just about everyone in the cafe said those two words, a circle of arms pointing at each other.

“What a catastrophic calamity!” Flim groaned.

“What the heck are ya doin’ here?!” Applejack demanded.

“They are here to destroy our way of life once more!”

“Not this time!” The non-moustached fellow pulled an attachment from his coffee machine. “I have a steamer and I’m not afraid to use it!”

“Answer the question!” Pinkie insisted, her eyes narrow as she stood behind Applejack, her face scrunched with suspicion.

“Hmph! How dare you, miss! First you run us out, then you invade our steady Cafe venture?! Preposterous I say!”

“Couldn’t agree more, brother!”

“Oh, come on! After everything you put Pinkie’s family through, you can’t possibly pretend to be victims.” Rarity folded her arms.

“Hmph! Well not like it matters. We’ve got new work, a new business! So unless one of you buys something we’ve no interest in any of you!” Flam stuck his tongue out.

“Didn’t I just get something?” Twilight held her disposable cup up.

“Well… I suppose you technically did.” Flim said through a strained voice, before sighing and putting his salesman smile back on. “Well young misses! We might’ve heard through the applevine that the ones you’re looking for aren’t just some Pokemon crashing against the first thing they see. Why, it’s a whole town conspiring against this place. Why, I even heard they might have something big planned.”

“And what might that be?” Applejack asked.

“How should we know? We are just the coffee brothers.” Flim smiled.

“Perhaps call us next week when we’re the ‘walkie talkie and radio’ brothers.” Flam waved his hand, and they both shrugged.

“Fine, whatever. Let’s go Twi… Where’s Twilight?” She looked around. Twilight wasn’t there anymore. Now that Applejack thought about it, she hadn’t seen Rainbow in a while either.

Twilight panted as she walked further from the town. As if sitting in a stuffed truck wasn’t bad enough, now she was on her own who-knows-where wiping the taste of bad coffee out her mouth. She was still tired, nearly finished with her water, but she had to find him. Whatever was happening, she didn’t want her little brother in the middle of it. Even with that rest, her legs still ached. Thunderlane, despite being injured, was the object of envy right now, in the town with HIS brother. But she couldn’t worry about that now.

“Twilight?” She stopped, looking around. The bookworm had heard a voice, but she was so tired she couldn’t tell where or who it was from. Looking around, she tried to pinpoint where exactly it had come from.

“Twilight!” She stared at a rock. The lavender girl was left blinking. Had the noise come from the stone? Rubbing her eyes, she walked over to it. All of a sudden, she was grabbed and pulled to the other side of the rock. She looked up to see Rainbow’s face.

“Whu… Rainbow? Why are you-”

“Shhhh! They’ll hear you!”

“Who?”

“Them!” She spoke with a hushed tone, pointing to a few Bouffalant that appeared to be idly grazing.

“...Those are Pokemon, Rainbow.”

“The same ones that took Spike away?” Rainbow folded her arms. Twilight said nothing, she would give Rainbow that.

“That girl has, like, armies of Pokemon wrapped around her finger. For all we know they could be sentries, spotting any trespasser!” The athletic girl flung her arms out.

“Rainbow, spotting them for what? There’s no town in sight. Plus, how would she even be controlling them? Most trainers can only handle six at best, and even then…” She clenched her Dusk Ball.

“You might’ve been napping, but I saw it. That girl has some way of controlling them! Who even knows what she’s doing with that sort of power!”

“M-Maybe, but doesn’t it seem a little…” Twilight stopped. “Well, I guess it doesn’t matter if it’s 1 or 100. I’m not leaving here without him.”

“Yeah… Uh, you sure you can do this? You’re not looking too good.” Rainbow stared at the tired Twilight.

“Tired? Me?? Hahahaha, who says I’m tired?!”

“Uh… No one.” Rainbow blinked. “Maaaaaaybe you should go back.”

“I’m not leaving him!” Twilight proclaimed, before walking two steps and tripping on a stone. Rainbow knelt and rolled the bookworm on her back. She coughed up sand and sighed. “I remember when he was small, he’d follow me everywhere. He asked these small questions and I’d answer every time, almost like he was my student.” She softly chuckled, leaning against the boulder. “He always seemed so fragile, like a gust of wind could knock him over and shatter him. There are so many things that could do that without a second thought. We haven’t even scratched the surface. I don’t want the dark to take my brother from me. But… I don’t know if I can help him, but I still have to. Nobody else will. Do you have any idea what that’s like?”

“...Yeah.” Rainbow whispered, before grinning as she pulled Twilight up. “But that just means we have to be careful, covert!”

“Hoot!”

“See? Your partner agrees with me.”

“Hoot! Hoot!” Her Hoothoot, which had been resting in her bag for shade, was now flying up above the rock.

“O-Okay, quiet down-”

“Hoot!”

“Twilight, can you do something?! That bird’s gonna blow our cover!” Rainbow said through gritted teeth. Twilight nodded, frantically looking through her bag for her Pokeball. Rainbow looked back up, hoping that the two Bouffalant hadn’t seen her, but said Bouffalant were gone. She blinked, looking around. “Huh? Where did-” She turned around. The two normal types were right behind them. As were many others. They were surrounded before they knew it.

“TRAITOR!” Rainbow yelled at Twilight’s partner, who flew off into the herd. The Bouffalant advanced.

“Wait!” Familiar voice said, they could hear someone small pushing through the crowd of normal types. When he finally made it through the wall of muscle and fluff, he panted, as if he had been underwater. On his head perched Hoothoot, calm as ever.

“Spuh…” Twilight couldn’t even finish her sentence before she crashed.

“Mmm… Huh?” Twilight slowly blinked, the first thing she saw was a window on the ceiling showing the night sky, filled with stars uncovered by the lack of light pollution that was usually rife in big cities. Her first thought was how beautiful it was, while her second was where the heck she even was? Rubbing her head, she sat up and looked around. She seemed to be in some sort of house, but there was nobody inside. She made her way to the door, stumbling a few times. There was a light through the door, yet it was night? The bookworm flung the door open.

She was near a campfire, with both houses and tents all around. It was an open area, where people were walking around and talking to each other, most of them were accompanied by a Bouffalant but there were some with other Pokemon like Numel, were the two she recognised, Rainbow and Spike.

“Finally! How am I supposed to be awesome if I’m worrying about you, huh?” The athletic girl folded her arms.

“What happened?” Twilight rubbed her head.

“The heat made you pass out. We had to stay here so they could look at you.” Spike explained. “Don’t worry though, these guys were cool about it.”

“I doubt the ones kidnapping you were ‘cool’ about anything.”

“Eh, they were just after the tree. They didn’t know I was here.” He explained. “Their business isn’t with me, or you, or any of us.” He explained. “This is a moving town. They’re kinda like nomads, except they take their home with them, and the Pokemon help them out!”

“The moving Bouffalant Village… I’ve heard of it.” Twilight muttered, walking over to Spike and giving him a big hug. Putting it on a map was pointless, since the travellers never settled, always going to a different part of the hot south.

Twilight sighed, falling back. It had been a long day. Typical wasn’t it that now it was night, and she wasn’t as tired. Fine, wouldn’t be the first all-nighter she pulled. But in a way, this was perfect, if this was the moving village then her objective, the next gym leader, was here.

“They’re really interesting! Most of them don’t even use Pokeballs. They travel all over the desert and see all sorts of things and collect all sorts of gemstones too. I’ve got a few more for my collection. Between here and Pinkie’s farm, it’s been a blast!”

Another approached the group. A familiar tanned girl with copper hair, the feathers in her hair shuddering in the wind.

“Are you doing ok Spike?” She asked. “I wanted to say sorry again for what happened.”

“Oh uh, it’s fine Little Strongheart. I’m as good as ever!”

“Alright, but just Strongheart is fine. You’re smaller than I am.” She chuckled a little.

Quick to change the subject, Spike turned to the others. “Uh, girls, Strongheart. Strongheart, girls.”

“Hello there.” She smiled. Twilight, who had not actually seen this girl, simply waved, but Rainbow was shocked.

“You!” The two of them both pointed at each other.

“Still have a headache, girls!” Twilight groaned. Immediately, Rainbow was in the blonde girl’s face.

“Oh, so this whole town is in on it, huh?!” Rainbow clenched her fist.

“We didn’t mean to hurt anyone! I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!” The feather-headed girl insisted.

“Didn’t mind hurting me or Taillow!” Rainbow grabbed Strongheart by the poncho.

“I mean, technically you hurt yourself.” Strongheart pushed her fingers together embarrassed, but Rainbow glared further. “U-Usually I unhook it without anyone seeing me, I didn’t expect anyone to actually chase!”

“You think I’m gonna listen to you?! You and your minions over there rammed into us and stole!”

“They are not my minions, they’re allies!” Strongheart proclaimed, her hand on the Bouffalant next to her. “We didn’t want to hurt anyone; I didn’t want to hurt anyone!”

“Tell that to the truck you nearly tipped over!”

“This place is suffering because of what they do! Maybe they were a little rough, but they have less space to move, to live. Do you have any idea what that’s like? Every day they get more restless.”

“Please hold on.” Twilight walked up, rubbing her head. “Where’s the gym leader, Thunderhooves? I-I’m taking the gym challenge, so I need to face him.”

Strongheart frowned, looking down. “I’m sorry, he isn’t accepting requests for battles right now. He’s going through a rough time… Maybe you should meet him.”

The group moved closer to the large campfire. At the centre was a large figure. Easily over 6 feet. Twilight figured he’d even tower over her brother.His expression was solemn. He wore simple clothes with a grey shirt and trousers, but there were a few items of note he had on his person, he had a coat lined with dark fur, along with a cyan necklace a shade darker than Rainbow’s clothing. He was an older gentleman with long hair and brown skin, but by the looks of him his age would do nothing to diminish the strength he obviously possessed.

“This land… It’s become damaged. Foreign Pokemon invade while the indigineous ones get pushed out. It’s all the fault of those newcomers! First, they came here, where I could at least watch over them, but they won’t listen to a thing I say!” Thunderhooves grimaced. “This land doesn’t belong to them, it’s the Pokemon that use and travel through here. Even as a gym leader, I cannot claim ownership of these plains. Yet they believe they can simply do as they please. This land has been disturbed by those who do not understand it, invasive species appear while the native ones disappear, even…” His expression turned to one of sadness. “Even my own partner has vanished.” His sad expression turned to one of anger. “Diplomacy has got us little and lost us much. If nobody else will fight for this land, then we will. We owe it to them!”

Twilight listened silently. She understood what they were getting at, newcomers callously destroying land in pursuit of their own needs, pushing out Pokemon that are essential to that area. She sighed. It seemed her gym battle would have to wait; he didn’t seem to be in a state to hand out badges.

For a moment, Rainbow didn’t say anything, just thinking it over. No space to move, to run.

“Do you get it now Rainbow? Twilight? They aren’t bad people; they’re just thinking of-”

“Get it?” She turned to look at them. “What I get is that these guys were just trying to help their friends and got punished!” No space to move, to run, to even do anything. These guys and their Pokemon couldn’t fly, what could they do? It was time to talk to the town.

The next morning, the group at Appleloosa were all packed. While Twilight had rushed forward, the others had stayed behind to gather more intel and devise a plan, but none of the townsfolk had much to say outside of venting their own frustration. There was another reason. Applejack was worried that they might try something the moment she left, like a herd of Bouffalant running through without warning. Once she’d calmed down enough to decide that the town was doing fine enough for her to go out without any surprises, she was off with the others. She would not let her family come to harm.

“What blistering heat! Wouldn’t you agree brother?”

“Oh, I wish I could agree, but with the Flim Flam Protector Brella, you can shield from the toughest conditions rain or shine!”

“Oh of course, how could I forget?!” The two salesmen laughed. “Yes, this treacherous landscape is almost as breezy as the breeze from this brolly-”

“Must you two go on?” Rarity groaned. It had barely even been 15 minutes. She had got her beauty sleep, so why was she feeling bags forming under her eyes?

“Oh, come on!” Flam put his free hand on his hip. “You already dragged us out here! You mean to tell us that we can’t even speak?”

“About the jist, yup.” Applejack rolled her eyes. The farmer didn’t really want to rely on them, but it was necessary. Most of the townsfolk seldom went beyond the orchard and these two travelling salesmen knew this place like the back of their hands, so they were the best bet for finding Spike, Twilight and Rainbow. ’If they were lucky, that thief of a girl, too. It hadn’t taken much, the group’s not-so-subtle hinting that it was only fair after all the stress they put Pinkie’s family through and an even-less-subtle growl from Lairon. “All ya need to do is lead, no sales pitches needed.”

Braeburn put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a hopeful smile.

“I’m sure we’ll find your friends. We won’t let anyone hurt em. If they’re with you, then they’re family, and apples protect their family.”

Of course. Applejack knew that better than anyone. Apples helped each other and protected each other, but she could do neither while travelling. She wasn’t happy to hear about the attacks on the town, but if it had to happen, she was glad it was happening at a time when she was passing through. She’d do her part, even if she had to put up with those two.

That being said she didn’t expect those two to keep their mouths shut for long, which would mean another reprimand. Who knew how long they’d be out here f-

“Yay, I found them!” Pinkie gasped as she jumped up on a rock, waving her hands around. She seemed especially happy as she ran over to Twilight, Rainbow and Spike, her arms wrapping around the athlete first. Applejack thought the party girl might just be happy to not spend more time with the two salesmen than was needed.

Likewise, the rest of the group rushed forward, greeting their friends with relieved looks.

“We’re so glad you’re okay Spikey!” Rarity wrapped the boy in a hug that left him babbling like a buffoon, and Fluttershy checked him for heatstroke.

“We’re happy all of ya are okay.” Applejack let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding the whole trip.

Twilight leaned against a rock, having more or less gotten enough sleep to function.

“How did you get him back??” Pinkie leaned forward, looking between the two girls. “Was it tough? How many of them did you have to fight?”

“Didn’t fight any.” Rainbow smiled, choosing to omit the part where she was caught.

“What do ya mean?” Applejack paused. She could see someone peeking from behind a rock and frowned. She walked past the group before they could stop her and saw one Strongheart letting out an ‘eep’ as she was caught by the farmer.

“There ya are.” Applejack’s look hardened as she got a Pokeball out.

“Wait!” Rainbow got between the two. “She just wants to talk!”

Applejack stopped, she didn’t open the Pokeball but her hard expression remained.

“What about?”

“Well.” Rainbow smiled, dragging the two back to the rest of the group, bringing Strongheart directly to Braeburn. “They want to explain why the trees need to be moved off this land.”

Braeburn had a cautiously optimistic look on his face. “That would be a good thing to kn-”

“Funny, since he can explain how important those trees are to this town.”

Strongheart looked up at him. “Well… That would be useful inf-”

“They’re messing everything up around here!”

“They’re messin’ things up? We ain’t the ones attackin’ trucks or ruinin’ pens! My family and this town worked hard on this place! Why does it need to be changed?!” Applejack clenched her fists, her and Rainbow getting in each other’s faces.

“Hold on!” Twilight raised her arms, pushing between the two. “It was an honest mistake, right? Let’s just go back to town, ok? We can explain and talk there, and they can talk things through.” The bookworm nervously suggested. Those two might’ve been heated, but the ones actually involved seemed fine, so her best bet of getting through this was diffusing. Applejack and Rainbow folded their arms, looking away from each other.

“Is it… Always like this?” She looked at Pinkie, Rarity and Fluttershy, who nodded at varying speeds. Sighing, she walked back with the rest of them.

The group walked back, Flim and Flam quietly leading the way.

The others looked at Strongheart as she passed. They hadn’t seen her directly but recognised the clothing she wore, the belligerent Thunderhooves having stormed his way through the town with demands a fair few times, so the idea that she might be trouble crossed their minds, though they were confused what she was doing with Braeburn and the newcomers.

Strongheart herself was looking back at them and all around the area. She had never actually been into the town before, only Thunderhooves and a few others had.

“Braeburn?” Silverstar approached, that same uncertainty in his eyes. “Uhh… Everythin’ alright?”

Braeburn paused for a moment. “I think we need to sit down somewhere.”

They all found themselves back in the brother’s cafe, each of them taking a seat. The Appleloosans had coffees of some sort. Twilight, now rejuvenated, was drinking tea, adjusting her pose while sitting like she was trying to imitate someone, but that someone wasn’t there. Rarity was doing something similar, except she was trying more to look like the talk of the town than simply intelligent. Pinkie munched on an apple pie that she shared with Strongheart, who took to it instantly.

“Uhh… So.” Braeburn cleared his throat and Strongheart looked up, pie crumbs on her face.

“Right.” She wiped her mouth, chuckling a little. “W-Well, you didn’t know about the trees, it was an honest mistake. Maybe… You’d be able to move them?”

“Well… Where? It’s kinda the only flatland around here.”

“What if you moved the town?” Strongheart asked, and they were flabbergasted.

“Move the t… Are ya mad, girl?” Silverstar ran his hands through his hair.

“Even if we did that, where? West of us is a desert, and there’s already an orchard in use up north. This is the only flatland we can use.” Braeburn asked, and Strongheart looked at the floor.

“Well things can’t just stay as they are.” She insisted. “The Pokemon are getting restless! We see changes every day! It’s moving faster than we can believe. If we don’t fix this soon, it’ll come crashing down on this place.”

“Is that a threat?” Silver’s gaze hardened.

“N-No, it-”

“Deary me, it seems like the poor girl is having trouble articulating her concerns.” Flim interjected. Strongheart looked down, nodding.

“Unfortunate, but she is just a child, after all.” Flam noted. Strong heart looked down.

“Well… What about some?” Strongheart suggested.

Braeburn paused. “How much would that be?” He asked.

“That place is kind of part of their route. If we can make it wide enough for them to pass through?” She suggested, both hope and anxiety clear in her voice.

The two, Braeburn especially; were thinking this through.

“That’s still might be a lotta trees… I Dunno, maybe-“

“If there’s a problem, I can bring Thunderhooves over, he’d explain it better than me.” Strongheart suggested. They had dealt with the gym leader before, and the apprehension was written on their faces.

Still, they relented.

“Fine.” Silver groaned, though he wasn’t looking forward to it. He was the closest thing to a mayor the town had yet, and while his hat was certainly in that ring, he worried about the trouble it would be worth managing a conflict like this. He was sure to lose his hair early.

“Why, what a cornucopia of compromise!”

“Put the tunes on with our Flam Jam Radio! Sure to raise the roof or mellow any fell-“

They were out of there as the brothers went on. Strongheart ran off out of town to head home.

Applejack watched with folded arms, becoming more relaxed as the situation dawned in her mind, ending with her leaning against the wall, a relieved sigh making its way from her lips.

They waited a long time, when they were starting to set things up. It was a long journey from one town to the nex and Strongheart was going, presumably on foot, but she knew her way.

Applejack was leaning against the orchard fence at the time. She sighed, stretching out. Eevee was on her shoulder, looking around.

“Sight to behold, ain’t it?” Applejack smiled and Eevee looked to its trainer. “You ain’t actually seen our farm in Ponyville, have ya?”

Eevee shook its head.

“Well, lemme tell ya. This orchard, like the one at home, is the pride and joy of our family. We depend on it, and it depends on us. That means it’s our duty to protect it.”

Eevee slowly looked around, like it was trying to commit each individual tree to memory, it even seemed determined to do so. Applejack found it cute, patting Eevee on the head.

Looking up, Applejack saw some movement. With a swift motion, she kicked the tree and something fell down. A Gligar. She sent Eevee to attack it, getting all the ones she could now see. Applejack ran after it, before almost slipping on a patch of dead branches and moss. She steadied herself and sighed.

If her brother was here, he’d probably tell her to take things one at a time. She missed him, she missed all of them, wanting to give her sister the biggest hug, but she was out here, and she’d make them proud. It was in front of her, her duty to protect and she would.

As she watched the bat Pokemon scurry away, she saw another, onto of its apples in hand. She was about to command another attack when she felt the ground shake.

Confusion and worry overtook her as she looked around, and ran back up towards the town.

“What in the blazes is happeni-“ She saw the faces of the townspeople turned in many directions. She followed one of their gazes and her eyes widened.

Bouffalant charged straight towards the town, getting closer every second. Not one, not ten, not even fifty. She wouldn’t be surprised if every one of them was coming right at them.

“TAKE COVER!” Applejack yelled, and immediately everyone was snapped out of their stupor, straight to panic. They scrambled into their homes. Applejack threw two Pokeballs, sending Phanpy and Lairon out.

It wasn’t long before they were overwhelmed. Phanpy was knocked back mid-rollout while Lairon was butting heads with as many as it could.

“KEEP GOING, LAIRON!” She half-ordered, half-pleaded. “Please!” She heard a roar and turned around, more coming from more directions. Lairon sent an Iron Head forward, but when one took Revenge on Lairon, the steel-type was knocked to its side. Applejack ran towards her Pokemon. Most were too angry to even focus on one thing, ramming their bodies into anything they could see, and one saw the vulnerable Lairon. She ran in front of the Pokemon, in a vain attempt to shield it and stepped back as the vengeful bull charged at them, the purple fabric on its horn blowing as its body glowed with a red fighting aura. Applejack braced herself.

Suddenly, it fell. The raging bull cried out in frustration. It was shaking its head, like it was trying to get something out. She saw that its face and hair were covered in sand. Applejack looked down, and saw a Sandile she recognised. As the Bouffalant got up, it saw a yellow powder glimmer around it. In front of it was Shroomish. It tried charging again but it was more sluggish this time.

“APPLEJACK!” The farmhand turned to see the familiar cry of Pinkie, who ran towards APplejack and her Pokemon.

“Pinkie!” AJ was relieved her friend wasn’t hurt.

“The heck is going on?!”

“An attack! We gotta find the others!” She said that, but there were too many of them to get through. Right now, there were a fair few blocking the street. “Dangit! How the heck are we gonna-“

“Confetti!” Pinkie smiled.

“What?” Applejack was incredibly confused, but before she could ask another question Pinkie grabbed the farmer’s ankle and raised it up, placing Shroomish on Applejack’s foot.

The next thing the Bouffalant knew, a grass-type was slammed in its face, releasing a cloud of yellow spores on impact.

Above them, they could see something. The townspeople had made it to their roofs, and those that had Pokeballs threw them up, raining attacks down but that just made the Bouffalant hit the houses even harder.

In the distance a Bouffalant was knocked in the air, followed by more. Groups of Rhyhorn were charging through the berserk bulls, knocking past them. Riding on one was Braeburn. He stopped when he made it to the girls, the rock-types with him.

“You girls alright?” Braeburn asked.

“Just fine! Did you see anyone else?!” Applejack was worried about if any others were caught out in the street.

“Haven’t yet, just about to!” He raised an arm, pointing at the largest Bouffalant crowd. “Up and at ‘em, boys!” He led his herd through the streets. Even though he wasn’t riding his Rhyhorn, his handling of this one seemed to be no worse for wear. He charged forward on a random one, leading the others with a swift expertise.

Applejack ran through the town, looking where she could. “Girls? Y’all ok??” She looked around, getting close to the orchard, before seeing a familiar face lying on the ground. Fluttershy had her arms sprawled out and wasn’t moving. The farm girl rushed over to her friend.

“Fluttershy?! Say something!” Applejack’s initial panic died down when she heard Fluttershy stir. Breathing a sigh of relief, Applejack supported her friend. By now many of the bulls were defeated but the town was half wrecked. But she’d run through a good portion of the town, everywhere except-

Applejack leaned Fluttershy against a wall, sitting the shy girl down and headed for the orchard.

Looking down at it, she could see a bit of damage. Some of the Bouffalant must have made it to the trees, but they hadn’t got too far before they were dealt with. She allowed herself to be hopeful. Then, she got closer. Branches slashed and torn off their trees. Some had even been toppled over, but those that hadn't had their fruit bitten and destroyed. In the trees she could see a long white feather with a black tip. She grabbed it and looked around, walking out of the orchard. She looked up at the ledge to see Twilight and Rainbow, along with Strongheart, her headband blowing in a light wind. AJ looked down at the feathers in her hand and became filled with anger.

Author's Note

Happy Pokemon Day everyone! Hope you're all having a good time! Had some nice announcements today, and I hope you'll enjoy this as well. We made it to Appleloosa, yay! Got to do a bit of an episode recreation too, but I hope it's different enough. Anyway, cya next time!

You can see this story on FFN, too.

Twilight:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.
Exeggcute
Moves: Reflect, Stun Spore, Absorb and Leech Seed

Rainbow:
Shuckle
Moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw
Taillow
Moves: Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Peck and Growl
Nincada
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Applejack:
Herdier
Moves: Leer, Dig, Take Down and Bite
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze, Defence Curl and Double Edge
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Lairon
Moves: Iron Defence, Iron Tail, Iron Head and Head Smash

Strongheart:
Bouffalant
Moves: Revenge, Fury Attack, Tackle and Leer

Legend of the Gliding Girl

Despite what Rainbow thought, she had nothing that could properly defend against these things or take them head-on. She was pulled to the side by Twilight. Though, Rainbow was confused. What were all these Bouffalant doing here?

She was pulled from her thoughts as she saw a group of townspeople. They’d been caught in the middle of the street, backing away with a walk that turned into a run, but the Bouffalant was too fast. It was closing it, until it received a Quick Attack right in the face from a grey bird. It stumbled and missed the group, hitting a wall. The bull shook its head and saw Taillow flying in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Hey! Move already!” She yelled at the townsfolk, snapping them out of the stupor they had found themselves in when they thought they were about to die. They ran. She turned back to the Bouffalant. “Hey ugly! Why don’t ya pick on someone your own size?!” She yelled.

The fact that neither she nor Taillow were even close to Bouffalant’s size mattered neither to the wild bull nor the athletic trainer. It charged, she rolled out of the way. Taillow flew up into the air, coming down with another Quick Attack, hitting faster and harder with the downwards momentum. The Bouffalant roared, launching Tackles and Fury Attacks where it could, but no matter what it did, or how strong its attack it couldn’t land a hit, only breaking more barrels and buildings. Taillow flew circles around it, and Rainbow smirked but out of the corner of her eye she saw something charging and jumped out of the way. Another one. No, another two, she avoided narrowly, sending out her Eevee and Nincada. The two did similar patterns to Taillow, jumping around and using their small size to their advantage.

Around the corner, more charged. Avoiding became more difficult. She began to run, maybe lead them all and get them in one place, but more blocked off her path.

Taillow flew out of the reach of many, before whipping down and flying through the crowds, hitting and confusing them, Nincada jumping on their faces and attempting to Scratch, only to be knocked away. Well, their anger was directed at her. Good, but the question “was she supposed to do now?!” Came to mind as they reared back, sending Tackles and Fury Attacks in her direction.

She returned her non-fliers and ran at one of them. If she could time this just right, maybe she could land somewhere safer.

As the Bouffalant was inches from her, she grabbed it by the horns and flung herself up. Rainbow cheered.

“Ha! See ya later! That’s what happens when you mess with Rainbow Da…” She just noticed how high up she was. She knew she was a good jumper, but this was almost like she was flying. Rainbow looked down at her body, covered in a light pink aura. She was floating towards a building and saw Twilight on top of it. On either one of the bookworm’s shoulders was Hoothoot and Ralts, their eyes glowing. Rainbow was brought down and Twilight’s Pokemon sighed in relief.

Twilight walked over, kneeling as Rainbow stood up. The purple girl asked.

“Rainbow, what’s happening?!”

“How should I know?!” She yelled, trying to think. She needed to get through this and find Strongheart!

There was a crash, the house wobbled. A Bouffalant had just rammed through it. Rainbow’s eyes widened. She grabbed Twilight and jumped down just before they fell, Hoothoot and Ralts floating them to the ground before dropping the two at the last second, slumping from their power being exerted. Unfortunately, both exits were blocked by crowds of Bouffalant.

Twilight turned to her friend.

“Rainbow! You have a Shuckle right? What moves does it know?”

“Uh, Sticky Web, I think Withdraw and-“

“Perfect! Aim it at their legs!”

“Oh uh, okay!” She brought out Shuckle, who she gave the command. Strands of thick web hit the ground. Paying no mind, the Bouffalant all charged forward, only to trip as their legs got stuck, causing the ones behind them to trip as well.

For the moment they slowed down, and the girls ran. They saw destruction everywhere they looked.

“We need to find Strongheart! She’ll know what’s h-” The wall beside them blew apart as a Bouffalant rammed through the house in blind rage, knocking the two over. Their eyes widened as they turned around. Rainbow began to move and scramble up to try and get Twilight out of there, but she had no time. The bull bored down on them; its eyes full of anger.

“Strongheart!” Rainbow looked to the girl.

“They’re out of control! We need to get somewhere safe!”

Much of their time was spent avoiding the raging bulls, jumping and climbing out of their way, making sure Twilight was behind them. Along the way they found Spike and Rarity. Then, they saw one of them rammed away by a Rhyhorn. More of them patrolled the streets, attacking the bulls. Each of them was relieved, but Strongheart couldn’t help but feel a pit of guilt inside her. Her friends, attacked and destroyed like this… Why?

The dust had settled, the townspeople left their houses weary and tired. Many of them were depressed, with not much to be happy about. Their houses were destroyed, many of the people were injured.

Rainbow rubbed her head. As she wondered where Applejack was, she saw the farm girl approaching.

“Hey, AJ! You o-”

“You.” Applejack pushed past Rainbow, focused purely on Strongheart.

“Yeah?” Strongheart looked up, worried. From the tone of AJ’s voice, she wasn’t friendly.

“I believe these are yours.” She held up the feathers in a clenched fist. “Found ‘em in the orchard.”

“What?”

“Applejack, what are you talking about?” Rainbow approached.

“The branches, the crops. Destroyed and near unusable.” Braeburn pulled up on a Rhyhorn, a dejected look on his face.

AJ's face twisted. “Bet you think it’s real funny. Messing with this town, with people’s livelihood because of what you think is right.”

“W-Whoa.”

“There she is!” One of the townsfolk yelled.

“I saw it with my own eyes, she was the one controlling them like she did against my truck!” Another proclaimed. They recognised him as the one who drove their truck into Appleloosa.

“The bulls were a distraction. The trees must’ve been their true targets.”

“It wasn’t enough, was it?” Silverstar walked through the crowd. “Just takin’ down a few trees was never gonna be enough.”

Strongheart stepped back.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Rainbow stepped in front of Strongheart. “You guys don’t actually think she did it, did you? That she’d cause all of this over a few trees??”

“Rainbow, you’ve barely known her a day and on that day, she stole from me and near-destroyed a truck!”

“Our shop was destroyed in the attack!” Now the Flim Flam brothers spoke up.

“Strongheart is the one who saved Twilight, Spike and me! I mean, sure I could’ve beat them all myself but you gotta appreciate the spirit you know?”

“I saw her lurkin’ around.” Applejack said.

“Did you actually see her?” Spike asked.

“I know enough to know it was her.” She held the feathers up in a clenched fist.

“It… Has been weird how quickly the Gligar have been appearin’.” Braeburn thought for a moment.

“Yeah, like they were brought here."

“There’s gotta be another reason!”

“It must’ve been the Gliding Girl!” Strongheart said.

“Are ya still on about that?!” Silverstar put his hands on his hips. “Blamin’ everythin’ you do on ghosts and folktales.”

“The orchard has been weird lately. People have said they’ve seen weird things in there.” Braeburn put his hand to his chin.

“Not you too, Braeburn.” Applejack looked to her cousin, folding her arms.

“We’ve been traveling through these parts for some bit. We’ve seen those bulls only go out of control when that young madam is around!” Flim spoke up.

“Stands to reason, doesn’t it? Stop her and stop the attacks! I for one don’t think my shop can take a round 2. Can any of you?” Flam continued. There was a pause. They looked to Strongheart and began walking towards her. She backed away.

“Don’t make this difficult, kid.” Silverstar said. Those that still had healthy enough Pokemon brought them out, surrounding Strongheart.

“Stun Spore!” Twilight yelled as she summoned Exeggcute, spreading the yellow powder and stopping them in their tracks.

“Run!” Twilight yelled, pulling Spike along, Rainbow and Strongheart easily running with them. A Pokeball hit Strongheart’s partner, and since it was in no position to resist it was an easy capture. Once it was finished the ball was levitated into Rainbow’s hand.

They reached the edge of town. Nearly there. Suddenly, something round rushed past them, shattering a boulder in front of them. The round object unfurled to show Phanpy. It stood in front of them.

“Don’t drag this out. That gal ain’t goin’ nowhere but back with me.” Applejack stood behind them, her arms folded. Rainbow stood in front of the group escaping.

“I’ll catch up to you guys. Get outta here.” She grinned. Strongheart stared at Rainbow, before she was pulled along by Twilight and Spike.

“I told ya, you’re not goin’ anywhere!” Phanpy rolled after them before something stopped it. A strand of white silk was wrapped around it, keeping it in that ball shape. With one movement, Shuckle pulled the thread - and Phanpy - back between the two.

“Rrrgh… Rollout!” Phanpy curled up into a ball to try and knock Shuckle out of the way, only to be stopped when the rock-type performed the same move, clashing with the ground-type. They seemed evenly matched. Applejack saw Strongheart in the corner of her eye. Each second getting farther away. She got out another Pokeball, summoning Herdier. “Take Down!”

Herdier immediately broke out in a run, heading towards Shuckle in hopes of breaking the stalemate by striking from the side.

“Quick Attack!” However, Herdier ended up being the one struck as Taillow crashed into it at high speed, making it slide back, but it did not fall. “Gotta try a little harder than that! You should know me by now!” Rainbow grinned.

Before Herdier could strike back, Taillow was high in the air but just as soon as it rose it descended with another Quick Attack. It hit Herdier over and over, the canine enduring the hits yet never falling. Taillow came down once more.

“Now! Bite!” Herdier moved out of the way, sinking its teeth into Taillow’s body. The bird squawked in pain, flapping around to try and get free but Herdier wouldn’t budge. Both Herdier and her trainer knew that the best way to deal with this opponent was to block off any source of movement.

“N-No! Wing Attack!” Even with Taillow’s active attacks, Herdier did not budge. The two of them summoned their Eevees.

“Quick Attack!” Rainbow went first, hitting her opponent’s Eevee, who instead of responding directly, went over to Shuckle.

“Tail Whip!” Its tail brushed against Shuckle. Not long after, Shuckle was overpowered by Phanpy, knocked back. Finally, she kicked another Pokeball right by Rainbow. Behind her, the tall steel-type Lairon stood, ready to obey its trainer. It stomped the ground, daring Rainbow to try something.

Rainbow looked around in the pincer attack she was caught in. It wasn’t good. Applejack’s expression softened.

“Rainbow, please. I can’t play around with this. This is my family’s life, their careers, they gave up a lot to make something of themselves here, but these guys don’t care just wanna throw their weight all around on us. We’re gonna bring ‘em their just desserts, and they have to understand that we can’t just take this. If we can just clear out everythin’, then maybe things can start to look up…”

Rainbow Dash smiled, and for a moment AJ was hopeful.

“Don’t you worry AJ. Leave it to us and we’ll get to the bottom of this. But first… SWIFT!” As Rainbow ordered the attack, each of AJ’s Pokemon braced themselves, but the attack wasn’t aimed at any of them. Rather, it hit the ground in front of them, creating a cloud of smoke.

“Rollout!” Shuckle burst through the smoke, hitting Herdier’s side and making it let go of Taillow. By the time the air cleared, Rainbow was already too far away, running as fast as she could. The only one who could stop her now was Lairon. Immediately, Taillow, Eevee and Shuckle all rushed the steel-type with Wing Attack, Quick Attack and Rollout. It didn’t even budge.

“Fine. Iron Head!” Its body glowed silver, and it knocked all three back, and Rainbow caught them but she didn’t stop running. It squared itself, prepared to block her path, until the steel-type’s eyes widened. It stumbled, in pain and curling around its stomach. On the ground where it once stood was a hole, Nincada poking out.

“I gotta thank Twilight for this! She was right, Dig is great!” Rainbow ran past Lairon as she looked back at Applejack. “All that smoke, you didn’t even see me bringing it out and sending it underground, huh?” She grinned. “Like I said, we’ll figure everything out AJ! Don’t you sweat it!”

The walk through the desert was silent. Rainbow caught up with them eventually. The land was as plain as before, but along the path they could occasionally see the unconscious bull Pokemon lying on the ground. Breathing, but beaten up.

“Rainbow!” Twilight turned to see the athlete.

“Are you okay?” Strongheart asked.

“You kidding? Applejack wasn’t nothing I couldn’t handle!” Despite her boasting, she was wiping the sweat from her forehead.

Strongheart’s face was riddled with guilt. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. My partner even got hurt. I had to abandon them…”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, right.” She rummaged in her back and pulled out a normal Pokeball, she handed it to Strongheart.

“What’s this?” Strongheart asked.

“It’s your Pokemon.” Rainbow smiled. “I totally caught it for you.”

“Hoothoot levitated it here. You can release it afterwards if you want, but at least this way it should be easy to carry.”

“Wow, I… thank you.” The feathered girl smiled, clutching the ball before sighing. “I still can’t believe this happened… Almost doesn’t feel real. I had dreams about this happening… All those bulls and bats surrounding me, the people in town chasing me. I’d cower behind rocks and trees and now…” She rubbed her face. Before she knew it she was brought under Rainbow's arm.

"We aren't letting anything like that happen! So you can trust us!" Rainbow grinned.

Twilight looked to Strongheart. “How… Did all this happen?”

“We were just getting ready to bring Thunderhooves to the town when all of the Bouffalant just started getting mad. I tried to calm them down, but they wouldn’t listen. Even my own partner…” She looked down. “They all went. I grabbed on to try and do something, but in the end, I couldn't save anything.”

“You saved us.” Spike reasoned. Strongheart gave him a small smile.

“Where was Thunderhooves in all of this?” Twilight asked, and Strongheart’s smile faded.

“He… They all began charging. We knew they were headed towards the village; he had no choice. He sent his Pokemon at them. He only managed to stop half; the rest got away.

Twilight ran her hands through her hair, processing this. The group that attacked the town wasn’t even the entire herd. For all that destruction it had still been a bullet dodged.

Applejack’s walk back was dejected. Not only had she failed to catch the one responsible, but her friends were also on a wild goose chase. Eevee looked up at her with sympathy in its eyes, whining like it was trying to say sorry for letting them get away. She gave her Pokemon a small smile, picking it up. She stared off at the town. They were just starting to rebuild but with the small number of uninjured, it wasn’t a process that would get anywhere fast. Others spoke to each other, sharing slices of apple pie with smiles on their faces, but underneath those happy faces was sorry for the future. Applejack knew because she felt it too.

An arm wrapped around her.

“…You don’t think she was actually hit by the Lady Glider whatchamacallit that gal was talkin’ about?” Applejack asked. Braeburn paused.

“Heck if I know. Things have been so crazy lately I might just believe it.” He gave a light chuckle, patting her on the back. “She’s awake now, though. Ya can ask her yourself. I’m sure she’d love the company.” He gave her a small smile, and she smiled back.

“Thanks, cousin Braeburn.” She gave him a big hug, before walking off to one of the few unscathed buildings. Some injured were resting there right now, among them was Applejack’s familiar pink-haired friend, awake.

“Thank goodness! Fluttershy!” The farm girl walked over.

“O-Oh, Applejack! Thank you so much for asking, I’m doing very well. The town has been very nice to me given… what happened.” She spoke, glancing to the other injured.

“Ain’t nothin’, Appleloosa is full of the best people you’ll find in the region, they’d never turn a blind eye to someone in need. But… What happened to you?”

“I… I don’t know, I just…”

“Well I know!” Applejack proclaimed. “Ya got too close to those things and they punished us!” She put a hand on her hip, before her expression softened. “Look Fluttershy. I know ya care about these ones, but some Pokemon are a lost cause. Some don’t want to be friends; they just want to hurt. They don’t care about listenin’.”

“And have you listened…?” Fluttershy muttered. “They’re just trying to live their lives. They need help.”

“My family are livin’ their lives. They need my help.” Applejack protested, clenching her fist. “We can’t give ‘em a pass just cause ya think they’re cute.”

“They’re doing the same thing… They have their own families, and they work hard too…”

“They’re a buncha pests, is what they are! Pests who don’t think of what others want, leechin’ off the town’s hard work!”

“Are you sure you’re talking about them?” Fluttershy muttered, pulling the covers up to her neck. “There’s other sides to this…”

“What? So, these folk can be the ones who give everything up? Shy, that’s not gonna happen.” Applejack scowled slightly, before signing. This wasn’t what she came here to do. Fluttershy looked away.

“Sorry…” Fluttershy whispered.

“Get some rest, okay Shy?” Applejack gave her friend’s back a gentle pat, before walking outside. Braeburn was waiting for her. “So uhh… About this Glidin’ Gal, do ya think she’s really tellin’ the truth?”

“Well… Everyone’s grateful to have the orchard, but it’s had a few tales develop. Sometimes people say they see someone in the corner of their eye, but everybody’s story is different. Some say they see somethin’ move so much they can’t tell if it’s man or Pokemon. Why, I even heard one guy said he couldn’t even stand up and had to feel his way out with his eyes closed!” He chuckled a little. “No person’s ever gone missin’ but it’s a lotta crazy history.”

Whoever or whatever this thing was, it was sure to come finish the job, and that Thunderhooves won’t stop until the forest is gone. I say we catch ‘em in the act and get the Gligar. Let’s do it tonight, be done with this whole thing! Whaddya say?”

Braeburn gave her a hopeful smile. “I say we save Appleloosa!”

The group made it to Buffalo. It didn’t feel happy or casual like before. There were still many fainted Bouffalant around, the townsfolk doing their best to bring them into the town for treatment. Some were awake, but they didn’t seem angry, likely because they hurt too much to think about it. Everyone was solemn, but none more than the gym leader who sat where the campfire had been last night. He stared at the burned mass of wood and ash.

“...Thunderhooves?” Strongheart asked.

“These Pokemon that we ally with, that help us… we would be nowhere without those Pokemon… The same ones I raised my hand against. Perhaps I should be glad my partner is not here. He would be so disappointed if he saw me now…”

“No. He would understand that you did what you had to, that you protected people!” Strongheart proclaimed.

Thunderhooves paused for a moment. He stood up and hugged her.

“I’m glad you’re alright.” He spoke.

“Tell me, what happened?” The large man asked, and they began to explain. The more they talked, the more his frown deepened.

“...I see. So, you mean to tell me that we betrayed our friends for nothing.”

Twilight spoke up. "Maybe if we spoke to-"

“Talk to those who do not want to listen? I didn’t listen to the Pokemon who have only ever helped us and look where it’s got us! It’s clear they can wait no longer. So, I will not keep them waiting.” He walked through the streets. Appleloosa. The Pokemon hated that town, the spirits hated that town. So he would do what must be done. Strongheart looked down, before running off. Thunderhooves sighed.

"I was planning on retiring, you know. Passing the title of Gym Leader onto someone else. Strongheart's always done so much, of course she'd be my first choice. All the League needed from me was a word. Maybe it's for the best. My closest friends and allies disappear around me, and I do nothing? What kind of gym leader would I be? I... Can't fix anything, but maybe there's at least one thing I can do." He made it to the centre of the town.

“Everyone! Heal up and prepare! We will not allow those Appleloosans to walk over us any longer! It is time we give back to our friends.”

“Well that didn’t go well at all.” Twilight sighed. She’d helped Strongheart escape because she thought it might stop a fight, but it seemed like they were on the verge of one anyway.

“This isn’t good.” Strongheart looked especially worried.

“You keep going on about this ‘Gliding Girl’. Who or what exactly is it?” Twilight asked.

“An old tale. The story behind it is one I heard as a kid. A little girl wasn’t accepted by her home and ran away. Eventually, she found herself in a forest where she got lost. There she was accepted by a group of Gligar. She lived as one of them, making her way up and down trees like she was gliding. One day, it’s said she sprouted wings and flew off into the night.” Strongheart explained. “What are we going to do?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We find this Gliding Girl and prove it exists!”

“You want to find a ghost.” Twilight frowned. She knew of ghost-types, but ghost people weren’t real. There also weren’t, to her knowledge, any type of Gligar that was a ghost-type. Still from what Applejack had told her, the destruction had seemed deliberate. Perhaps there really was someone else behind this. “Fine, but the town will be on alert. They won’t just let us go in. We have to move later. They couldn’t destroy the whole forest in that amount of time, so whoever it was will probably act again to finish the job. If we can sneak in and get to the orchard, we can catch them red handed.”

“Nobody has ever really seen the Gliding Girl before. She always stays in the corner of your eye and moves through the trees, and people say different things about what she can even do.”

“We just gotta bust in and kick their butt!” Rainbow pumped her fist. She liked this. “If we can catch the real guy then not only will AJ and her family be okay, but Appleloosa will back off of Strongheart!”

“Alright. Let’s do it.” Strongheart nodded, a small smile on her face and a warble in her voice.

Later that day, the people of Buffalo were fixing and healing. None were in the mood to talk, so all they could do was rest. The sun was starting to go down but it wasn’t quite setting yet.

“Even with Strongheart and her Bouffalant it’ll be a long way.” Twilight said.

“Well we better find her and go now!” Rainbow smiled. They went to the camp Strongheart resided in, but they couldn’t find her. They looked all over the tent, trying to find any sign of where she might’ve gone, until they came across a note.

Sorry girls, I’m getting a head start. I can’t wait while a full fight breaks out. None of you need to get hurt.

-Strongheart.

“She left?!” Rainbow exclaimed. “If she goes back there on her own they’ll find her and catch her, and she’ll be arrested for something she didn’t even do!” Rainbow grabbed Twilight by the arm, running off into the plains.

“Y-You don’t need to pull me Rainbow, we were going this way anyway!” Twilight protested.

“Then you better hurry!”

So began the journey to the Appleloosa orchard. By the time the two arrived, the sun had long since set, the night seeping in. It hadn’t been as much trouble to infiltrate the town as they’d thought. Since much of the town was recovering physically and mentally from the destruction, many he elected to take an early night. That just left the orchard. It was an absolute mess, the broken branches and destroyed harvest still littered much of the ground. That being said, many trees themselves still stood tall.

“Wh- Rainbow?!”

“Applejack?!”

“What are you doing here?!”

“This is my family’s orchard, I got more right than you, so why don’t you tell me about what you’re doing?”

“We’re gonna prove Strongheart’s innocence and stop whatever this is once and for all!” Rainbow pumped her fist, grinning. Applejack, however, rolled her eyes.

“Come on, ya still think that?” The farm girl questioned. While she did believe in ghosts, everything about this said to her that it was a person, not a phantom.

Twilight got between the two. “Hey uh, how about we work together. We can’t find Strongheart.”

“Gave ya the slip again, did she?” Applejack grinned at Rainbow, who fumed.

“She’s likely in here anyway, why don’t we just look?” Twilight suggested.

“We do kinda have the same goal.” Braeburn smiled at his cousin.

“Fine.” Applejack grumbled.

They began walking through the forest with flashlights, trying to find Strongheart or the hint of some sort of ghost or weird hybrid. Just… Something.

“There!” Applejack pointed at a bush. They walked towards it, there were a few feathers sticking out, exactly like the type Applejack found before, the type that Strongheart wore. “Ya said she came here? I’ve heard all I needed to. I say we cut our losses and find that g…” She paused, looking down at the bush. Now that she was close, she could. See a brown hand poking out of the bush. The group approached, pulling it, finding an unconscious Strongheart. They were shocked.

“Oh no! Are you ok?!” Rainbow shook her new friend slightly, causing the runner to stir.

“Uuugh…” She opened her eyes looking up at them. For a moment her eyes fluttered, like she was trying to recall something before that confusion was replaced with fear. “Run away…”

“Wh-” Before they could say another word, a tornado surrounded them. Through the wind they could see dosens, maybe even hundreds of pairs of eyes. Then, the slashes came and the girls were forced to scatter.

“Quick Attack! Sticky Web! Fury Cutter!” Rainbow summoned Taillow, Shuckle and Nincada, trying to hit as many as she could, but with each one that went down, three more took its place.

“There’s too many of ‘em!” Braeburn winced, trying to keep track of each of them. An impossible task.

“G-Gengar! Help us out with a Shadow Ball!” Twilight threw her Dusk Ball in the air. Out of it, came a large shadow that cast darkness even on the tornado. It raised its arms, holding a sphere of darkness. It grew larger and larger, and Twilight smiled.

“Yes, that’s it!” She became hopeful… until it threw the Shadow Ball straight at the ground near the trainers. “...RUN!” Each of the girls jumped out of the way, managing to get through just in time, but they were knocked back by the impact. They would’ve gone straight into the horde of Gligar if they too weren’t sent flying by the force of the attack. Everyone was on the floor, groaning as the smoke cleared.

Twilight rubbed her head.

“That wasn’t what I meant, Gengar!” Currently, the shadowy Pokemon was sitting on a branch, feigning ignorance as it stared down at Twilight, a shrug, and a look of mockingly fake confusion. It then looked up at something, prompting Twilight to follow her belligerent Pokemon’s gaze. On top of a branch was a shadowy figure. Covered head to toe in a cloak that flapped in the wind like wings. She wore a mask of a smiling Gligar.

“There she is!” Rainbow and Applejack began to run forward, but they froze. As the Gliding Girl stared down at them, their bodies wouldn’t move. She turned to run, and the storm of Gligar surrounded them again. Twilight looked around, trying to gain some sort of sense. She could barely see Spike, couldn’t see Rainbow at all. Gengar probably couldn’t hear her, but even if it could...

Suddenly, many of the Gligar fell to the ground, hurt and shivering with their bodies partially frozen.

“Ice Beam!” The same thing happened, and much of the storm was blown away. Their vision was cleared, and Twilight summoned Hoothoot. Its eyes glowed like flashlights to the source of the attack, finding Rarity with her Glaceon at the side.

“Applejack had me check the perimeter, I wouldn’t dare go in here if it wasn’t an emergency, but when I heard your screams…” Rarity ran a hand through her hair and smiled. “Well, I could turn your terror into relief! And as for you vermin. I suggest you leave before this beauty really shows her claws.”

Most of the Gligar paused, looking at Glaceon in fear. They backed off. One small Gligar, however, shot out from the group straight at the ice-type.

“Have it your way. Ice Beam!”

From the trees, a shadow flew over them headed in Rarity’s direction. Before anyone knew what happened, Glaceon was knocked down, it’s Ice Beam missing and hitting a tree. Then, the creature’s fangs glowed a burning red and it clamped down on Glaceon’s back, the ice-type screaming in pain. It threw Glaceon with its teeth, making it hit a trunk. When he fell to the ground, it had already fainted. Immediately, it flew away. The small Gligar cried with gratitude, before it was pushed aside by its elder, hitting a branch with a wince.

Hoothoot had caught a glimpse while Twilight’s Pokédex beeped. She picked it up and opened it.

Gliscor: The Fang Scorpion Pokemon
Its flight is soundless. It uses its lengthy tail to carry off its prey... Then its elongated fangs do the rest.

The Gliding Girl ran through the forest, her footsteps silent as she avoided any broken branches and twigs. Then she saw something coming and stopped her run, stepping back as Taillow’s attack just missed her. She turned around, seeing Rainbow.

“Hide behind your army all you want! Sure it’s tough to get through, but nothing a little Dig can’t handle!” Rainbow smiled and shrugged. The phantom girl looked down at her leg. A string was attached. Shuckle’s Sticky Web had led a trail right to her. “You’re just not fast enough to escape from me!” Taillow and Nincada shot at her, not to do serious damage but to try and incapacitate her. Despite their speed, the Gliding Girl dodged each attack with surprising agility.

“Quick Attack!” Rainbow sent both Taillow and Eevee out, the two shooting towards the opponent, who jumped out of the way onto a branch.

The girl raised her arm, parrying a Fury Cutter from Nincada with her own claws, but Taillow was circling back around with a Wing Attack, but the girl leapt up. The athlete clenched her teeth. She was sure she was faster than this girl but couldn’t seem to land a single hit. The way she moved was like she knew what Rainbow was doing. The moment Rainbow made a move, the masked girl was already dodging.

Behind her, more Gligar swarmed around, the athlete’s quick Pokemon moving with and around the swarm, trying their best to avoid them as Rainbow brought Shuckle forth once more.

“All you’ve done is caused pain for my friends. Applejack’s family is suffering and my new friend is being chased because of you. Some guardian.” Suddenly, the swarm stopped. They squirmed, trying to scatter, but it was like they were stuck as one. Rainbow smiled. “They weren’t just flying around! They were wrapping Shuckle’s webs around your pets. How do you like that?!” She used Sticky Web to swing up to the Gliding Girl, her hand outstretched to reach for the girl’s mask. “Now you’re on your own!”

Suddenly, Rainbow’s eyes widened. She was stopped as a long black appendage wrapped around her arm. She looked up. A black creature floated in the shadows, it’s claws outstretched for battle and it’s yellow eyes staring down at Rainbow, daring her to do something.

Taillow’s Quick Attack hit its back. Yet, it didn’t react. Eevee did the same. Nothing. Nincada leapt up with a Fury Cutter, but it was blocked with one claw. Nincada tried to jump away, but found that it’s legs were caught in its claw. It opened its mouth, and it began to get bright. Rainbow saw Gliscor’s face illuminated in the flames. It leaned forward.

“Rollout!” Before the flames could touch Nincada, Gliscor was hit square in the face by a spinning object, causing it to drop both Nincada and Rainbow. The Pokemon rubbed its face and smiled.

Gliscor was rushed by all of Rainbow’s team at once, but it barely reacted to Taillow’s wings or Nincada’s claws, raising its pincers to block Eevee’s swift. The only attacks it even bothered dodging were Shuckle’s, gliding out of the way of its webs, flying up from Rollout. Then, it retaliated. In a blink, each one was knocked to the ground with movements that Rainbow could only describe as Acrobatics.

Shuckle wasn’t fast enough to evade, while the rest weren’t strong enough to retaliate.

Gliscor smiled, looking down at Rainbow before smacking her with its claw. The Gliding Girl stood up, moving closer and Gliscor stopped for a moment. It bore its fangs, before looming over Rainbow, but she was getting up, prepared to defend herself. She never got the chance as another large spinning object hit Gliscor in the stomach making its eyes widen. It was knocked away, sliding on the ground. By the time it got up the object was rolling back around. Gliscor flew up with a smile, only to see a canine on a beach leap towards it, knocking it back with a Take Down. The Fang Scorpion growled, smacking Herdier away but in its frustration, it was distracted and Phanpy hit it harder and faster. Looking up, Gliscor saw the two get back, standing beside an angry Applejack.

Behind the cowgirl was Twilight, Hoothoot’s eyes glowing and shining on the Gliding Girl like a spotlight.

“Even in the dead of night you can’t hide from Foresight.” Twilight commented, a smile on her face.

Nowhere to hide, the Gliding Girl rushed at Applejack, but while they were focused on her the small Gligar flew past them slashing at the webs Shuckle had made, and as Twilight was about to send her Pokemon to restrain the girl, they were overwhelmed by the new influx of the flying-types. There were too many, she could barely see in front of her.

Applejack turned to see Twilight. She wanted to go help the bookworm, but that moment distracted her and the phantom woman slashed at the farmer with her claws. Applejack ended up with 4 scratches on her cheek, not able to fully avoid it. Applejack grabbed the Gliding Girl’s arm before she could move back. With rage in her eyes, the farmer raised her leg and kicked the masked girl in the stomach.

Herdier ran at Gliscor but was only met with a stinger to the stomach. Phanpy attempted another Rollout, but Herdier was thrown right at it. Each time Phanpy got close, Gliscor dodged, and Phanpy only hit a tree, cracking the bark each time. Applejack noticed this, distracted and the Gliding Girl lunged at her. Applejack had no time to dodge, but then she found herself on the ground, pushed out of the way. AJ looked up to see Strongheart having taken the scratches, grazed but alright.

“A-Are you okay?” Strongheart asked, but before she could get an answer Gliscor knocked Strongheart away with a claw.

Applejack was stunned. The girl she’d been chasing around and accusing was now defending her. She wanted to defend her family from any threats but here one of those so-called threats had just saved her from two enemies and was now in more pain than before. If such a girl was what she’d been fighting against, then Applejack wondered as she picked Strongheart up, if she was wrong the whole time.

Gliscor shot back down at the two. Applejack hadn’t got Lairon out because she was both worried about the damage it would do to the forest and just not being a good match for Gliscor but now wasn’t the time to worry. As she scrambled she couldn’t find any Pokeballs. She must’ve dropped them. She looked around but Gliscor got closer, until something was shot at its face.

Gliscor stopped, seeing Applejack’s Eevee stand on top of a stone. Herdier and Phanpy were on the ground, not quite fainted but with little energy.

“Eevee get outta there!”

The Eevee had joined Applejack’s team quite recently. It had never even been to her farm. It fired another Swift, but this time Gliscor didn’t flinch. Instead, it flew in front of Eevee, swinging a Night Slash at it. Eevee fell and Gliscor was satisfied, until the small Pokemon fired another Swift right at Gliscor’s eye. The Fang Scorpion howled in pain, and indifference now turned to rage. Night Slash, Fire Fang, Poison Jab, all aimed at Eevee, beating it down until Gliscor was satisfied, all while Applejack watched in horror.

Once Gliscor was finished it turned around, advancing on the two girls. Applejack turned to the others, still overwhelmed by the never ending Gligar swarm. The farmer stood up, standing in front of Strongheart, shielding her. She wanted so badly to do something, to fight back, and with Gliscor coming closer it was seeming like that would be inevitable anyway.

Suddenly, a bright light shone behind the Fang Scorpion. As it turned, two sharp objects slashed it in the back, making it howl in pain. Eevee was back up, standing on that mossy stone. Except it wasn’t Eevee, but something bigger. It’s brown fur has turned a pale gold, with a green tuft on its head. It’s ears and tail were much flatter and wavier, their shape and colour resembling leaves.

“Leafeon!” It cried. Applejack was stunned. Gliscor shot towards Leafeon, sending another Night Slash its way. The attack hit head-on, but Leafeon stood its ground, pushing back against the slash even as it hit. This surprised Gliscor. It’s stinger shot forward with a Poison Jab and Leafeon jumped away. Again and again it tried to hit Leafeon but to no avail, like the grass-type had an innate understanding of its environment. Applejack couldn’t be sure either, but it almost seemed like Leafeon’s injuries weren’t as severe while Gliscor was getting sluggish. She then noticed a seed on Gliscor’s body, with vines steadily growing out. Even with that, Leafeon was still on the defensive, a few attacks grazing the grass-type and bringing its injuries back.

She then looked down, seeing Herdier and Phanpy stand up. Gligar was readying another Poison Jab.

“Phanpy, Herdier! Get up, Eevee needs your help! Herdier, Bite!”

Gliscor’s tail never made it to Leafeon, it was held back by Herdier’s powerful fangs.

“Now toss it!” As Gliscor was still surprised, Herdier acted, throwing Gliscor away from Leafeon.

“Razor Leaf and Rollout!” Leafeon’s sharp leaves spun parallel to Phanpy’s rolling, and the two attacks hit Gliscor head-on, causing it to cry in pain. It hit the ground with a thud. Panting, it could barely stand. Applejack was about to call out another attack, when two people stood in front of Gliscor. The small Gligar, and the masked Gliding Girl.

“Wh- Get outta the way!” Applejack demanded, but the two didn’t budge. Gligar gave Gliscor an Oran Berry, and it rose somewhat, slightly recovered. Then, it smiled. The Gligar and the girl dressed as one were both knocked to the side by Gliscor’s claws. It flew up past the trees out of the forest. Applejack cursed. With the Gliscor gone and the girl down, the other Gligar scattered.

She looked at the Gliding Girl. She was knocked into a tree, struggling to move. Leaning down, Applejack took the girl’s mask off. Fluttershy stared up at her friend with glassy eyes.

“Fluttershy?!” Applejack was shocked, realising she’d gone to town on one of her closest and most fragile friends. She was immediately worried, but Fluttershy didn’t answer. “Say somethin’! What’s happened?!” Applejack grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulders, her voice becoming shakier.

Twilight approached. “She won’t answer. I think I know why. Foresight!” Hoothoot looked around, chirping when it saw a flash of yellow. “Confusion!” The yellow thing was caught in the psychic energy. Twilight got out her Pokédex.

Abra: The Psi Pokemon
It sleeps for 18 hours a day. It uses a variety of extrasensory powers even while asleep.

“One of those powers includes Hypnosis.” Twilight explained. “It usually sends Pokemon to sleep but with more time and tuning it can control you or make you think something else.”

“You’re tellin’ me this whole thing was because of a stupid Abra?!” Applejack stood up and Twilight raised her arms.

“And whoever sent it.” She explained as Applejack stomped forward. “We just have to be careful. When it feels threatened it uses-“

Abra was gone.

“…Teleportation.” Twilight sighed. Rainbow heard a soft groaning, one that people could barely hear, but she recognised as her friend waking up.

“Fluttershy!” She knelt down to her friend’s side.

“R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy said as she rubbed her head, but her fake claws ended up getting stuck. In the end, Rainbow and Rarity had to pull both the metal-tipped leather gloves off her. Fluttershy paled when she saw them. “Oh dear, those don’t look safe!”

“What do you remember?” Twilight asked.

“Umm… I remember feeling better and getting up. I had the most terrible nightmare, so the bed felt really scary! I kept seeing a strange yellow Pokemon in the corner of my eye, but it always disappeared. I’d seen it before but couldn’t get a good look. I tried following it. Then I… Then I… Was here.” She said, before wincing and rubbing her stomach.

The girls looked at each other.

“Before? Where’d ya see something like that?” Applejack asked, her face and voice still ridden with guilt.

“Umm, I think in town, around that… that coffee place.”

At first they were confused, until they remembered the cafe owned by…

“We need to call Pinkie.”

By the time they got back to town Pinkie Was already there, the group made their way to the back door, where they could hear rustling. Applejack peaked through the door.

She saw the two brothers rapidly packing, worried expressions on their faces with Abra floating leisurely above them.

“Hurry up, brother! Those cantankerous cohorts collide in the morning! We have to be gone by then!”

“You think I don’t know that? Not like it’ll matter; we did our part and iit went exactly as she said. Nobody will even miss us when we’re off.”

“Y’all sure about that?”

“Yes, quite sure miss.” Flim said casually, before his eyes widened and he looked up, seeing the group that had messed them around before, along with Strongheart and Braeburn.

The two paused. Abra teleported away again.

“Coward!” Flam yelled, yet the two of them also began to bolt for the opposite door. However, they found their bodies stiffening as they reached for the handle. Yellow spores were all around them, spread by Shroomish and Exeggcute.

“Nowhere to run.” Applejack folded her arms, Leafeon on her shoulder. “Shoulda guessed it sooner that it’d be you two.”

“W-Wait! We were just following orders!”

“From who?”

“We looked for other money-making means, but without stones to sell we had a slump. Luckily we got a ton of resources and machines to fund our future ventures! In exchange, we just had to cause a bit of ruckus.”

“A bit? You framed one girl and used our friend like a pawn!” She yelled. Meanwhile, Twilight looked through the things they were packing away. Money, machine parts, TMs and a strange-looking radio. It was a cube shape and seemed to have a red flashing light on it. She moved it around, looking at it when her finger came quite close to a button.

“STOP!” Flam yelled and Twilight froze. She turned, seeing him looking right at her. “Have you gone mad?! Don’t switch it on!”

“Huh?” Now Twilight was confused. “Why not?” The brothers looked to Strongheart’s Bouffalant outside, then back to them.

“We haven’t the slightest idea what you’re talking about!” They lied, but the mean looks from the group jogged their memory. “B-But we are willing to learn!”

“Talk. Now.” Braeburn folded his arms.

“The radio emits a certain sound. Normal people can’t hear it but Bouffalant can. When they do, it triggers something in them. They become unbelievably violent. Each week they replace it with a newer one, upgrading it. This one, it’s the best one yet.” Flam explained.

“...You said that whoever hired you wanted you to cause chaos. Why?” Braeburn asked.

“Why, they wanted a distraction! Something about gathering their own resources in peace.”

Now, Twilight was thinking. All this, just for a distraction? No, not just a distraction, a test. Pokemon that were enraged to an unnatural degree. Almost like they were made for chaos. She had an idea of who was really behind this, and would see it through. She even figured she might run into that girl again. Her fist clenched. She felt like the closer she got to this the closer she’d get to figuring this whole thing out. These girls could be a bit much but they’d need all hands on deck. Whether that girl was there or not, she would get closer. Twilight wanted nothing more than to fix things and put everything right.

Both she and Applejack, at least, had that in common.

Author's Note

Another chapter already? Sweet Celestia and/ or Arceus! Anyway I hope you’re all ok and that you enjoyed the newest chapter in this little arc. The next chapter will be a longer wait than this one but I hope you guys enjoy it when it comes out. Until next time!

This story is also on FFN.

Twilight’s Pokemon:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.
Exeggcute
Moves: Reflect, Stun Spore, Absorb and Leech Seed

Applejack’s Pokemon:
Herdier
Moves: Leer, Dig, Take Down and Bite
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze, Defence Curl and Double Edge
Leafeon
Moves: Razor Leaf, Quick Attack, Swift and Leech Seed
Lairon
Moves: Iron Defence, Iron Tail, Iron Head and Head Smash

Rainbow's Pokemon:
Shuckle
Moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw, Rollout
Taillow
Moves: Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Peck
Nincada
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rarity:
Purugly
Moves: Slash, Assist
Glaceon
Moves: Ice Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Mirror Coat and Tail Whip
Duskull
Moves: Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Foresight and Astonish
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Strongheart's Pokemon:
Bouffalant
Moves: Revenge, Fury Attack, Tackle, Leer

Flim and Flam's Pokemon:
Nidorina
Moves: Stomping Tantrum, Double Kick, Flatter and Toxic Spikes
Nidorino
Moves: Venom Drench, Horn Attack, Flatter and Toxic Spikes

Other:
Abra
Moves: Hypnosis, Teleport, Confusion and Dream Eater
Gliscor
Moves: Fire Fang, Poison Jab, Acrobatics and Night Slash.

Preparation

The winds blew through the open area, rustling the leaves of the orchard. The small Gligar watched others of its kind fly through, smiles on their faces as they pillaged and ate the prized fruit. They didn’t understand why they were there, why they had been taken from their homes and placed here, but they didn’t really care. It was a hospitable area with lots of yummy fruit. They likely would have migrated to this area regardless. Humans were on the edge of this forest, always on the edge. Good. But also bad.

Sometimes they could fly into the human’s habitat and take as they pleased. But it also meant the humans would come in and try to attack them. Though they had never managed to completely capture all of the Gligar, they were getting better. The one looked up at its elder, who was currently panting. He had sustained a good few injuries and had managed to escape without being caught. The large one was strong, but did not feel strong enough, and resented its that. Its ears twitched, many fluttered in panic. They recognised the scent approaching: Human. Immediately the large one spread its wings, flying towards the source. Its pincers were raised, before it was smacked to the side by an invisible force. Even so it stood up, only to get smacked around some more. The small one tried to fly in to help, only to be met with the same force and slammed into a tree trunk. The larger one hissed at its junior, before roaring and trying one last time to attack the human, its claw darkening. It was forced to the floor, made to look up at the human and

“...You’ll do. You are strong, but not strong enough. Let’s change that, shall we?”

“Damn it!” Thunderhooves punched a wall, a look of rage on his face. Silverstar tipped his Stetson over his eyes.

Earlier in the morning, a group in Appleloosa had begun setting up a manhunt. While Applejack and Braeburn had worked to catch the thief in the act, they had intended to take this problem right to the source, apprehend her at that stupid moving town and if she did happen to be acting in the orchard that night, then they’d simply wait for her to return or chase her to the ends of the earth. They had been prepared to even brush aside their obstacle of a gym leader and had figured they could get a drop by going early in the morning. What they hadn't expected, however, was for said gym leader to bring the fight to them. He only had two thirds of his Pokemon and was fighting a group. His Pokemon were injured, but that was true across the board.

It was only when the traveling girls appeared, Twilight’s Exeggcute and Pinkie’s Shroomish had leapt up in the air, spraying Stun Spores down at them that reached further thanks to being lifted in the air by Taillow and Hoothoot. They had been stuck in place as the group went between them, both sides shocked to see her there. They explained what happened with Flim and Flam, before giving them Cheri Berries from Fluttershy’s supply and taking them back. They had been confused but didn’t want another bout of Stun Spores, each side having someone they trusted within that group. It wasn’t until they were back in Appleloosa when Thunderhooves was the first to speak up. Rather, vent his anger at the realisation.

“So we were made fools out of.” He growled, walking and kicking a boulder. Strongheart put a hand on his back, giving him a sympathetic look.

“I-I guess but… It’s ok now!” Pinkie piped up. “I mean, Strongheart’s here and fine.”

“Listen…” Twilight walked up to him. “We need to focus right now. They might’ve given you the runaround but we can still set things right! We still have the brothers and can find out where their base of operations is.”

“We can strike back against them!” Applejack said. “Ain’t not way we’re lettin’ ourselves get duped again.”

“We were messed around by one Gliscor.” Strongheart looked to them.

“Not to mention half the town’s still tryin’ to pick itself back up.” Braeburn sat on the floor with a sigh.

“B-But we have to do something!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Do something with what, exactly?” Braeburn asked. Twilight paused. This would be a bit of a quick job, but they would need all the help she could get.

“Anything but let this keep going! Come on, these people are manipulating people and Pokemon! They’ll keep doing it if we let them! That Gliscor was beaten once before, we can defeat it again. But for numbers I might have a little help with that.” She said, before running off into the town.

“...Twi’s right, you know.” Rainbow stood up. “We’re not just gonna take this lying down. They messed with your friends, your family. We can’t just take it! It’s like spitting in the face of all the ones you were fighting for like 5 seconds ago. Sure ya messed up, but you all did it because you care about those important to you!” They looked to Rainbow, nodding to themselves. She was right, but they still needed to get better. They couldn’t push their Pokemon like that and would need to wait.

“What a mess this has been…” Thunderhooves sighed. “Perhaps I’m getting too old for this anyway.”

“Umm…” Fluttershy stepped forward, removing her rucksack and showing her variety of berries and medicine. “I-It’s not enough for the whole town, but if I can make up for it at all…”

They looked at many of the berries and healing items that the shy girl had on her person. Yes, this would do.

Applejack rubbed her head as she walked through the streets, looking around at it all. She remembered when she had first set out, wanting to spread her family’s name across the region. She had initially planned to start with Los Pegasus but then the attack happened and that was that. Of course, here her family had already taken shop there so there was no real need to sell or advertise anything really and this was nice if she was being honest. She had been looking forward to coming here, even though it hadn’t been long since she had gone off she had already missed her family. She thought it would be nice going to see her cousins but it had just been stressful, and now she had got her friend hurt.

The friend in question was sitting on one of the benches near the orchard. They had wanted her to stay in bed but she couldn’t just stay there.

“Eep!” Fluttershy squeaked, before looking to AJ. “Oh, hello there Applejack.”

“Howdy Flutters.” The farmhand gave a small smile to her timid friend before putting on a stern face. “Ya should be restin’.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all. I’ve been doing much better after all. Pinkie has been telling the funniest jokes.”

“That’s great!” Pinkie cheered, juggling her three small Pokemon with a smile. “I was gonna Raichu a get well soon card but that’d be too Farfetch’d!”

Fluttershy giggled and clapped.

“Right… Uh, Flutters I just wanted to apologise again, I had no idea-”

“Oh no no no it’s fine really, I suppose I should have been more careful is all.”

“...Ya don’t need to blame yourself at all. You were being controlled. I… I let my guard down and it meant ya got involved with those- HEY!” She looked up to see that small Gligar looking down at them with an apple in its claws, jumping slightly and looking around.

“Yeah, YOU!” I see ya up there!” She pointed at the Fly Scorpion Pokemon who frantically flew away, dropping its apple.

The apple fell with a splat to the floor. On further inspection the half-brown apple seemed to have gone off quite a while ago.

She stared at the thing with a sigh. “Can’t get anything done, can I?”

“D-Don’t say that!” Fluttershy insisted. “You’re a great sister and your family are so lucky to have someone like you looking out for them. Just like the Pokemon do! M-Maybe we could… Possibly… If we consider it… Work with them?”

“Work with pests?! That hypnosis musta messed with your head more than I thought.”

“I-It could work.” Fluttershy insisted. “Please, it isn’t their fault, they came to survive just like you. Pleeeaaase?” She looked up at Applejack pleadingly.

“I… Wait, Pinkie? What are you doing?” The party girl had joined in with the pleading look.

“Looked like fun.” She smiled.

“We’re havin’ a serious talk here.” Applejack put her hands on her hips.

“Aww, come on!” She waved her hand dismissively. “Not like blaming yourselves helps or anything! We know who’s really to blame anyway. Those evil guys who hired those dummy brothers!”

AJ and Fluttershy listened to this. She was right after all. Part of Fluttershy wanted to go with them to help, but a bigger part knew she wouldn’t be of much use and was still quite exhausted from the night before. She would only slow them down.

“We’ll give those meanies a piece of our mind for ya!” Pinkie smiled, wrapping them both in a tight hug. Pinkie was always like this, and they couldn’t help but appreciate it. Even Fluttershy who was squeamish about others was smiling at her friend. Pinkie grinned and giggled. To them the bubbly girl seemed like someone who could laugh off any adversity, and it was an infectious quality so they couldn’t help but laugh with her. Yes, everything would be okay.

“Dang it… Where did that thing fly off to?” Even so, AJ squinted trying to see where the Gligar flew off to. Pinkie joined her friend in her efforts, and did not see a Gligar. She did, however, see something else.

This was not an unfamiliar Pokemon to her. She had seen it a few times in her life. A white Pokemon almost like snow, dark claws, dark tail and a dark face that was such a deep indigo it almost seemed pitch black. She could tell its red eyes were looking directly at her. She had seen it before, she saw it a few days before Marble almost fell into the quarry, a week prior to. She had not, however, seen it when she returned to the farm to visit when her dad was sick. Rather, she had a sense that something else was at play and knew that it would be alright. She considered it a friend, her magic friend who always seemed to show up when things went wrong. She in a way had managed to develop her own little sense for these things. It was hard to describe but usually worked. Yet here she saw it and in one blink, it was gone.

“Didya see it?” Applejack asked the two of them.

“Nope!” Pinkie said.

After they all broke up to recuperate from the previous night Twilight was on her own for a bit, walking through the town. She knew that they had to rest for a bit, but she couldn’t help feeling restless, like even this short amount of time was something being wasted just sitting around, but her Pokemon right now were all eating berries and recuperating. Maybe Dash was rubbing off on her. Looking around at the half-broken town, she saw a bench that had managed to maintain its stability. So she shrugged, sitting down. Might as well use this time to prepare.

So she put a video on, one she had taken of someone near and dear to her. Dust cleared on the video, exposing a well-worn battlefield contrasted with the pristine Canterlot buildings around it. At the centre of it all was a pair of Pokemon. One a muscular simian that almost looked like a ball of fur and anger from the hateful expression on its face, metal braces on its wrists. The other meanwhile, floated a few inches off the ground. It looked like a large sword, crafted beautifully. By all accounts it shouldn’t have been able to move, yet it stood there with its eye staring back at its opponent, a Primeape whose coat was full of dirt and sweat. The fighting-type snorted as it pumped its fists, charging at its opponent, yet…

“Aerial Ace!”

A familiar voice called out and Aegislash moved like a blur, she couldn’t keep track of it and neither could his opponent. Her big brother smiled, his arms folded, enjoying this match as much as his sword Pokemon. None of the Challenger’s Pokemon had been able to get past Aegislash and now Primeape was the last on the list. The angry thing panted, shakily standing up.

Ra…” She heard a voice below her and turned her head. Ralts was there, looking up at her.

“Hm? I thought you were with the others?” Twilight raised a brow, but Ralts just raised its hands shakily climbing onto the bench. “I guess you were eager to get in there too, huh? I can’t wait either. I’ve just been trying to prepare.”

Ralts looked up at Twilight, before turning its attention to the video. The bookworm blinked for a moment.

“Oh, this? This is from when I was a kid. It’s my brother battling on here. He’s one of the strongest there is, the sword and shield of the region.” She said with no small amount of pride. “I never expected to be battling like he was, but if anyone knows about battling, it’s him. I haven’t been able to reach him recently, he’s a really busy guy. I was just wondering what he’d do if he were here...”

There was a screech from the video.

Despite itself, Primeape was madder than it ever had been before. Each pummeling had made it angrier, but it had no answer. It clenched its fist, which accumulated with a phantom-like energy. Even on the low resolution Twilight could still see the veins on its arm bulging like it was watching, and its braces shattered from its wrists.

Its fur had turned a dark grey, its hair floating like wisps. It roared as it changed and grew. This new Pokemon rushed forward and struck Aegislash with all its rage, knocking it out as the crowd roared from the changing tides of battle.

Ralts gasped, but Twilight smiled. “Don’t worry… It’s not over yet.”

Shining smiled and just threw another Pokeball out. A humanoid Pokemon stood resolute. It was much thinner than Aegislash, a green upper body and a white lower body. Sharp protrusions hung out its elbows, a red point hanging from its chest.

“Ra…?”

“Gallade is one of his best Pokemon, and if you thought Aegislash was fast…”

“Rage Fist!” The ghost fighter rushed forward, jabbing as hard and fast as it could, even after its power boost and recovery, it couldn’t land a single blow on Gallade as it backed away.

“Psycho Cut!” On Shining’s command its arm glowed with a pink energy. The next moment it was behind Annihilape. The angry Pokemon fell. Shining won and the crowd cheered, one little girl behind the camera was cheering especially loud. Ralts was left in awe.

“Most of his Pokemon are quite durable. Gallade, though? That one’s fast. He switched up his strategy on the fly and took on a different type of battling. He really is an amazing fighter.” She smiled, and so did Ralts, but the psychic sensed something else. Twilight sighed.

“I… Never expected to be doing something like this. I always thought my place would be in a lab or library, but between this and that… Thing I saw. Nobody takes me seriously, so I have to do what I can and that means getting stronger no matter what it takes.”

She rubbed her forehead, but looked up from her video with determination. Ralts moved towards Twilight with its arms outstretched, only for her to suddenly shoot up and knock the psychic down by mistake. “So that’s what we’ll do! We don’t let chaos prevail, will we?”

Ralts stood up, nodding with a smile.

“Still, we’ll need all the help we can get…” She hummed in thought, watching the town. Then she saw a familiar electric trainer.

Author's Note

Hey everyone! This was originally going to be part of the next chapter but felt it worked quite well as an interlude of sorts, just to slow things down a tad since we've had quite long chapters as of late. Remember when they were like 2-4000 words, haha?

I won't do the trainer files since it doesn't need to come up this chapter. Regardless I'd love to hear your thoughts and such! Hope you have a Happy New Year!

An Eruption of Chaos (part 1)

When Twilight returned, she was with a familiar face with a mohawk and black jacket.

“We have at least one powerful Pokemon on our side.” Twilight beamed, and Thunderlane gave a sheepish nod.

“I want to help out. Twilight told me what happened. If these guys are making Pokemon stronger and angrier… It sounds like what happened to Luxray, and that means they might have Rumble’s Helioptile too.” His tone picked up, becoming more hopeful. They couldn’t say no, especially when they didn’t know what they were up against, any numbers could only help.

And so, they formed their group. The traveling trainers (minus Spike and Rumble) along with Braeburn, Silverstar, Thunderhooves, Strongheart and Thunderlane, would all be heading forth to crack open this mystery. They waited that afternoon for their Pokemon to heal up before heading out. The aim of this mission wasn’t to attract attention, they would probably try to run, but if they could stop everyone and get to the one in charge then it would be worth it, and she would be confident they could if it came down to it. Applejack had managed to defeat Gliscor once and she was confident she could do it again. Between that they had a gym leader and the local police. They were confident in themselves.

The group had received a fair bit of information from the Flim Flam brothers. Every couple of weeks they were checked and if needed, supplied with money, parts and resources, the date that happened to be the following morning. All the group needed to do was wait and follow them up. When the vehicle came round they had the brothers act as though everything was normal, and when those semi-armoured goons left, they just followed far behind, Rainbow’s Taillow flapping behind to make sure they were never lost along with Hoothoot’s impressive sight. As such, they made their way to Macintosh Hills.

Two men in strange outfits drove down a path, before veering off the road. They weren’t too worried, the car was a pretty good off-road vehicle. One of them looked up, paying the insignificant bird no mind, especially not for a routine supply run.

Eventually, Taillow returned to the group after the van had made its way up to the hill, through an opening in the side. These hills, near the Badlands where many powerful Pokemon roamed, meant most people did not come around here to a secluded edge of the region. The hills acted as a wall between that powerful land of chaos, and the area surrounding. While there generally weren’t many stories of Pokemon walking outside the Badlands, most didn’t venture this far to find out, and there weren’t many reports of anything beyond those strong Pokemon in an area that, until now, wasn’t settled by many humans, leaving little reason for most to even go this far, the fear almost stronger than the Pokemon that roamed beyond the hills.

“Ok, once we get up there we’ll need to split up into two groups. One who finds the people in charge while the other frees the Pokemon. Me, Rainbow, Rarity, Braeburn and Strongheart will go find the ones responsible. Applejack, Pinkie, Thunderhooves, Fluttershy and Thunderlane will go save any Pokemon they’ve got trapped here.” Twilight explained. “We don’t know what sort of security they have so we need to stick to a plan.

Rainbow and Strongheart were the fastest there, and could outrun anyone trying to escape. Twilight herself needed to be able to get to the bottom of this. The rest were mostly strong trainers who could handle any goons or Gliscors in their way, though she wasn’t sure what Braeburn could do.

With that in mind they followed Taillow up to the hills, and Taillow flapped around the entrance, past the van that was already empty. The entrance was covered with metal, not easily broken through but Rarity came through with a Duskull and a hairpin, the place luckily not having much of a complex lock.

The group walked through, looking around. The place was clearly built quickly, or was still in construction, a rush job either way. The first part of the entrance was like a cave held up by rusted metal bars with boxes both full and empty around, but as they went further the metal looked more refined. The stone floor became flat with metal paved over the stone, but even that was kind of shoddy.

They couldn’t exactly disguise themselves, so they had to make their way through quickly. At the moment it was mainly a big hallway, but some large boxes gave them enough cover. It wasn’t long before they saw a few of those goons walking around. They knew there would be a holding facility for the Pokemon, and despite the insistence on bringing Luxray, it would be ideal if its use was kept to a minimum.

One grunt was walking around, clearly not having much to do. He’d moved most of the boxes that his annoying boss had told him to. They had two supply runs: One that came to them, giving them the right equipment to keep this little lab in place, and the second was one they did for those annoying shopkeepers if they had a request within reason. Still, the quantity of supplies had been progressively thinning, so his back would at least thank him for that. His back would thank him even more if he took a seat on one of those stupid boxes, so it was what he did. He’d been lifting so much, the least his boss could do was let him sit down on one of them. There was one right there waiting for him, so he happily offered his posterior, and as he took a seat he felt relaxed. The others were too scared to go against the lab’s boss but he wasn’t scared of nothing! He could see those saps standing on their feet, looking away from him. He was sitting but they were the ones far below him. Farther… Farther… Farther… Wait.

His back hit some heavy boxes that thankfully didn’t fall on him, and before he could question what invisible force had pulled him back, he was yanked by the collar around the corner, a hand placed on his mouth, seeing himself surrounded by… A bunch of girls and a punk? And… a gym leader. That bravado quickly fettered off as the situation sunk in.

He tried to move, kick out of their grip, but it was like his body was weighed down. The purple-haired girl cleared her throat, and he saw the Hoothoot and Ralts on her shoulders.

“If you want out then we need you to start talking.” She said in a measured voice, but her glare was all the same. “Tell us about this place, what are you doing here, who’s your boss?” Soon, the blonde cowgirl took her hand off his mouth. However, he scoffed.

“She can go take a permanent vacation in the Badlands for all I care, all of these wimps can, but I’m not about to rat them out!”

The rainbow one took exception to this, ramming him against the boxes, which didn’t fall thanks to their weight, but did rumble concerningly.

“Rainbow, quiet! You want us to get spotted?” The purple one spoke with gritted teeth.

“Oh, come on! He deserves it!”

“We have a plan, Rainbow. We need to stick to it. You’re going to tell us where your boss is and where those Pokemon are.”

The grunt scoffed. “I don’t know why you’re even so mad about the Pokemon. They’re better, stronger. I swear, if you saw them now you’d be thanki-”

Thunderhooves leaned in, his own sneer far more intense, grabbing the grunt with a single arm.

“All your toying with our home, our lives, our friends… It has not put me in a good mood.” The gym leader leaned in further, and the grunt arched his head back as best he could, lifted further to the point where his legs were dangled, his grip tightening. “It’s not a good idea to give me a reason.”

He still had that bravado, but right now he was with someone who lacked the patience to give said grunt an inch, and his will to survive outweighed his ego.

“Alright, alright! We’re using this place as a hub to research and test things out, then send reports back. Only a few of us have been stationed here.”

Twilight got closer. “And where are the Pokemon? And whoever’s in charge here?”

“This place isn’t exactly big, it has an east and west entrance. East is the holding facility, west is where my lovely manager stays.” He scoffed.

“Who is she?” Twilight pressed.

“Hey, I may not like her but I know she’s not happy when word is spread without her talk. Can’t believe I get bossed around by someone younger than me…”

“I am losing my patience.” Thunderhooves snarled.

“L-Look, the one overseeing the lab knows more than me and she’s always in her office!”

Twilight thought for a moment. “What does ‘she’ look like?”

“Well she has long red hair and ain’t that much older than you two really.” He explained. That confused the others, but Twilight knew who it was.

“Where’s her office?” The bookworm asked.

“O-Other side of the building.”

Thunderhooves dropped him. “We will tear this place apart to find them. If it turns out you’re lying you won’t be able to hide.”

“You’ve also to tell us who designed those disasters you call uniforms!” The one dressed in white scoffed, bearing down at him. “They’re all so disjointed, like they don’t even know what they want to be.”

“Not important Rarity.”

“Hmph. I beg to differ.”

As those two bickered, the cowboy and cowgirl he was pretty sure were related looked at him and he groaned.

“Ugh, what now?”

The guy spoke up. “This is the lives of people and Pokemon, all good and honest. How can ya be okay with ruining the lives of them, of our family?”

The grunt could’ve stopped, could’ve let them bicker and rant at them, but his own bravado came back, and he was just too pissed off, the words slipped out his gritted teeth. “Come on, you really think anyone in this nowhere place would’ve mattered? Do you really think they could’ve become this awesome with the two-bit trainers and farmers they were taken from? Who even cares about some cowboys and their apples, huh? Don’t blame me just because you were the ones doing all that work for nothi-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence. Instead, he was kicked in the face by a pissed off cowgirl, straight into the boxes, the force making them topple over, one hitting his head and knocking him out cold while the others crashed onto the ground, the impact echoing through the cave.

Twilight was not having a good time right now. Before the group knew it, they were spotted by a bunch of grunts who sent out a variety of bug and poison-types. Swadloons, Burmies, Parasects and Scythers. Any hope of sneaking around had been lost.

“Applejack! He could’ve given us more info!” Twilight yelled, no longer needing to keep quiet.

“There weren’t nothin’ more a guy like that coulda given us.” AJ protested not exactly feeling bad about this some jerk getting knocked out. There would be no more time to argue as the grunts present attacked. Their group mowed through the low-level Pokemon like grass, but the pandemonium was impossible to ignore, the cameras focused on the group and soon more grunts would come.

Twilight had Hoothoot out, while Rarity’s Glaceon froze them, allowing Hoothoot, Nincada, Bouffalant, Glaceon and a Graveler Braeburn brought plowed through the horde of minions effortlessly, he and Rainbow’s Nincada in the front, the latter using its digging capabilities to launch sneak attacks. Hoothoot and Ralts stayed on Twilight’s shoulders.

After their bug Pokemon had failed, most of the grunts turned tail and ran, some trying to rush with their own two hands, thinking they could catch the group off guard. Rainbow however took pleasure inn standing between them, rushing them with her own fists and dispatching them with the cockiest but not unearned grin.

“Oh yeah! Who’s the best?” She asked as one went behind her, trying to grab her, only for her to flip him. “That’s right, ME!”

Rainbow beamed, the rest enjoying their respite while one bookworm was simply annoyed.

“Let’s just focus on getting to the bottom of this.” Twilight sighed, not pointing out she could’ve done something with her psychics, Ralts even cheering Rainbow and clapping. Braeburn and Strongheart agreed, wanting to get back at the one who had tricked them like this. They heard a rumbling as they turned a corner, only to see a group of Rhyhorn charging with rage in their eyes. They were shocked, but managed to get their Pokeballs out. One Rhyhorn managed a Take Down, but it was stopped by Strongheart’s own Bouffalant. The two collided, wrestling against each other in a fight for control. The others went past and Rarity made her move.

“Reveal yourself, Glaceon! Ice Beam!” The ice-type would shoot the cold energy at the second one, making it slow down as it growled.

“Ralts, Confusion!” The Pokemon’s eyes glowed, pushing back against the third Rhyhorn with psychic force. Each Pokemon struggled against their own Rhyhorn. The first was caught in a stalemate. The second broke through the ice hitting it, while the third was gaining ground. Ralt’s. Arms shuddered as it tried to keep its ground, but Rhyhorn was getting faster. Hoothoot joining managed to slow it down. Then the second was knocked off its feet by a Nincada that burrowed beneath it. The first managed to knock past Bouffalant. Strongheart didn’t panic, just giving her Pokemon a worried smile.

“Reckless as always…” She knew exactly what her Bouffalant was trying to do and would follow it through. “Revenge!” Bouffalant glowed with a fighting aura, ramming back into the first Rhyhorn, making it hit a wall.

Braeburn watched this, hesitant. He recognised these Rhyhorn from his own ranch, and it broke his heart. People thought Rhyhorn was something aggressive, but that wasn’t the way he knew them. Something that was strong and knew it, with respect that was not given but earned. Here however they were unrecognisable to him. This was not the aggressiveness of something territorial or brandishing its power, but blind rage.

Ralys was still struggling with the third, the rock-type pushing back on the psychic force holding it down. Twilight cursed and got out a Pokeball, about to summon Exeggcute. However, there was a crash. Debris blew everywhere as one of the walls blew open behind them, causing them to stumble.

“A-At least wait until we open the passageway up!” One voice pleaded.

Another began: “I-It’s still too early, we can’t control it properly! Why would she ask us to-”

“Boss’s orders! This place is under attack!” A third voice replied.

The group turned around, and where they had once seen a wall was open to a whole other hallway, the sides falling off to show a perfectly square doorway, as if it was meant to open up. A group of goons stood behind a form that was familiar, yet different.

Like the Rhyhorn, its body was grey with a horn on its nose. Unlike the Rhyhorn, it was bipedal with a far more defined horn. It stared down at them with narrow red eyes, their heads barely going up to its striped abdomen. This was Rhydon. It roared as it knocked its apparent handlers away and stomped towards them, poised to attack.

The gang of invaders ordered their Pokemon, from Revenge to Ice Beam to Confusion. It blocked each, only getting angrier. Instead of attacking, however, it got on all fours, rearing its body back, stomping its back legs into the ground before charging at them full force, its horn glowing. It knocked all Pokemon out of the way with that single attack and the trainers had to scatter, but with the pincer they were caught in, there was little place they could go. They had been trapped.

Everyone watched as it got up, but only Braeburn paid close attention. He recognised that stance. Moving as if it were on all fours it reared itself back and rushed forward at the group, ignoring all attacks as they narrowly managed to avoid the assault, instead the rock-type crashed into the wall.

Everyone backed away as the stone crumbled around Rhydon, it turned around and glared at all of them, and got back into a charging position. Strongheart and Bouffalant stood in front of the group, and as it charged the normal-type returned the favour with a Fury Attack, only to be knocked back after the short-lived clash, sliding along the floor. Strongheart ran to her partner, who slowly got up, shaking it off with a grunt, but as she and Bouffalant prepared to attack Braeburn stood in front of the large rock-type.

“What’s goin’ on with ya? I don’t know what happened, but I know this isn’t you! Why are ya-“ He stopped as Rhydon raised its Arm, before bringing it down like a Hammer, Braeburn saved from the impact when Strongheart tackled him out of the way. Rhydon stood up, shaking its head as it knocked into the walls and floor. In that moment Bouffalant took Revenge and rammed into its chest, knocking Rhydon back a bit.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Strongheart yelled at Braeburn, but the cowboy looked in thought.

“My partner… I’m in charge of a lotta Rhyhorn but he’s the one I’ve been through thick and thin with. The way he moves, it’s definitely him but He…It was like he ain’t the same guy.” The first thing that came to mind was the radio doing what had been done to the Bouffalant in town, but judging from Strongheart’s partner still being fine, it seemed that this frequency had only affected a certain type. Also, much of that anger was chaotic, in some cases they had even fought with each other. There was rage in Rhydon too, but he could see it, a desperation and lucidity in it. He knew his partner better than anyone.

Rhydon roared at all of them, tossing Bouffalant out of the way before the ground-type was hit by another Ice Beam from Glaceon while Nincada scratched at its eyes. Rhydon grabbed the insect and threw it straight at Glaceon. The rock-type’s horn began spinning. It got in that same stance.

“All of ya, move!” Braeburn yelled as Rhydon rushed in with a Drill Run, the group scattered but managed to avoid the brunt. By this point the grunts had already cleared out of that portion of the hall, but the force was making it rumble more and more, and as Twilight’s psychic Pokemon attempted to hold it down all at once, it simply broke through. They needed to get out of here. If they could find the source of all this they could get back. Exeggcute was using Absorb attacks from a distance but despite the type advantage it was still minor damage. Twilight smiled until Rhydon glared at her and her team.

Raising its glowing Arms, Rhydon swung them at the ground like a Hammer. The impact sent everyone back, blowing dust everywhere, though through it they could see the pure rage in its eyes. Through that dust it charged, making its way towards Twilight with another Hammer arm, roaring, its hand poised to either crush her or her team beneath the attack.

“Wait!” Braeburn cried, leaping on his trusted partner. For a moment there was hesitation, before the rage set back in and it tried to get them all in one fell swoop, roaring. It might’ve got them, too, had it not taken a Revenge to the back from Bouffalant, throwing the attack off and making its fist slam into the ground instead. They were all relieved until they heard a rumble. The ground began to crack open.

The group lost control as the impact formed a crater. Stones flew everywhere, knocking all of them back.

Some however were not so lucky, flashes of purple and beige falling to the crater that was formed.

Strongheart landed with a thud, her lavender headband nearly blowing off in the process. For a moment she didn’t quite realise where she was, but as she looked up and realised she was in Rhydon’s sight, she had a pretty good idea, but she was still dizzy from the fall, stumbling over the rocks she could normally do somersaults over. It stomped towards her with its fist raised.

“Hey!” Braeburn’s voice rang out as a rock hit the back of Rhydon’s head, then a few more. That annoyance was enough to make it turn around, glaring at its partner, the cowboy who held another stone in his hand.

“Watcha goin’ over there for, huh? Ya weren’t plannin’ on ignorin’ your own partner were ya?”

It hurt Braeburn seeing his trusted partner like this, moving without thought, logic or anything but a blind rage. He threw another rock, and it roared.

“Run, y’all!” Braeburn yelled. “We’ll keep this guy distracted! The rest of ya go the other way round!” He ran as his closest friend chased him, followed by about half the others.

Pinkie, Rarity, Thunderhooves and Strongheart had run through, trying to find another way in. So the group ran and Rhydon followed, only to find itself stopped by the Applejack, Braeburn, Rainbow and Thunderlane, Pokeballs all poised and ready to fight. Rainbow had been at the front as Nincada cut through the Pokemon of various grunts trying to ambush them as they fought their behemoth of an opponent, many of which seemed to focus on her. Not like they could catch her, she and her Pokemon ran circles around them but she did well in stopping them before they could try and trap the now-smaller group in a pincer.

Applejack meanwhile had sent Lairon out, ramming Iron Heads into Rhydon’s torso, sending it back and doing its part, but when the rock/steel-type got struck with Hammer Arm from the significantly stronger Pokemon, the damage it felt was more significant. However, it refused to give up, bolsterinng its Iron Defence. It landed an Iron Tail on Rhydon’s face, only for said behemoth to strike back with a Drill Run, making Lairon slide back.

Meanwhile, another trainer felt a tinge of hesitation, staring at a certain Pokeball. If he was going to get through this he needed to take this chance, throwing the ball in the air and allowing the beast within to break through.

“Iron Tail!” Thunderlane called out, sending his Luxray towards the Rhydon and hitting it head-on, making it slide back with a grunt. He felt relieved at that. Luxray had somewhat calmed down over the time in Appleloosa.

“That’s it!” He grinned, allowing himself to feel confident.

“A Pokemon isn’t gonna forget its trainer that easily!” Rainbow pumped her fist, looking back at them past the slew of grunts and fainted Pokemon that she had dealt with. Nincada was tired, but it was holding on. Thunderlane had a different thought though.

“I’m not sure that’s it… Like, not completely.” He said, watching Luxray roar with a frown. “When I tried letting Lux out, it was still angry. Only barely calmed down… But I think if it’s here, then it has something to focus its anger on. We… We still have a way to go but I know my friend is in there.”

Thunderlane allowed himself to smile again as Luxray pounced out of a Hammer Arm’s way, swinging another Iron Tail straight at the rock-type’s face. While he had been pretty hesitant to do this, to help his brother’s Pokemon he’d take the risk, he’d believe in his Pokemon and go through with this.

Then, a voice rang out through the speakers on the walls. A female voice speaking with confidence and authority.

“Guess you made it this far. Good for you. Makes me wonder what we even keep these goons around for.” A voice sighed on the speaker. “But that’s fine.”

“Guessin’ you must be the one in charge here.” Applejack spoke with barely-contained contempt. There was a chuckle from the speakers.

“I suppose so. Which means you’re the ones making a mess and are going to come for me?”

“Ya got that right! You…” Braeburn grit his teeth. “I hope you’re prepared, lady. The moment I lay eyes on you, I’ll take you down for both my partner and the town you ruined!”

“Ruining your town? I did nothing that wouldn’t have happened eventually anyway. We only sped it up. The wildlife you disturbed would’ve grown progressively more restless from the sudden changes until they’d get sick of it and fight back, while other little pests would capitalise on it and see your orchard as a food source. Either way your town and crops get ruined.”

“We woulda been able to adapt!” Braeburn insisted.

“It only happened in the first place because your town decided you knew better than the people and Pokemon who spent their lives here. Still, it must be quite the reunion with your Pokemon. They might not be yours, but there are more than a few friends to meet.”

In the distance they heard a crash.

“Oh, and you have our Luxray too. I’ve been searching for that. As you can likely see, this place was put together very quickly, so many of our Pokemon escaped. It really is embarrassing how little we had to make this work. Luckily most of them have been recaptured, leaving that Luxray. Though if I remember, it came as part of a set…”

Thunderlane whipped around, facing a camera. “Where’s my brother’s Helioptile?!”

“I’m afraid you’re wrong…”

At that moment something dashed over them, standing in the middle of their group. The thing that landed was small, its horned head and neck almost completely black save for its yellow lower jaw. It stood on two legs, its eyes filled with rage and its yellow body leaning forward, raring to attack.

They barely had time to think before an onslaught of electricity Discharged from every inch of its body, sending a shock through most of them. Nincada jumped in front of Rainbow to block the worst of it while Thunderlane leapt behind Luxray. He’d wished he had Electrike out but against Rhydon it hadn’t been needed, not expecting this attack.

“The correct term is Heliolisk~.”

As quickly as it arrived, it scurried off past Rhydon, whose hand slammed in Luxray’s face.

“Quite the package deal…” Her voice sounded slightly distorted from the speakers getting a minor brush from the shock. “We’ve managed to make something out of a snivelling child’s Pokemon. He’s been serving as our generator… Now though? Who knows where he’ll go~.”

“Iron Tail!” Luxray slammed another straight at Rhydon, who grunted as it hit a wall. Thunderlane clambered up and onto Luxray’s back. “Follow that lizard!”

“Idiot, wait!” Rainbow called out, but Thunderlane didn’t listen. He and Luxray ran off to try and catch Heliolisk, leaving Lairon to defend against Rhydon’s onslaught, leaving it to take the devastating onslaughts, shocks going through it from the Hammer Arms. AJ watched as Lairon was knocked back, and could take no more, making her clench her fist.

“Consarn it! Leafeon, come on out!”

Thunderhooves, Strongheart, Rarity and Pinkie walked through the hallway, Pinkie managing to get through any goons by stunning them with Shroomish, the rest sending out their own Pokemon to clear the path once said spores had cleared.

Eventually they’d made it to a different part of the facility. This one had slightly wider halls and the floor was sandy, but what was the most notable part was the cells at the other side, each with the silhouettes of different Pokemon inside. The moment they took a step inside a monitor opened up showing a shadowy figure.

“I guess bugs really do have a way of getting everywhere, huh?”

“What the heck is this place?!” Pinkie asked, looking around.

“Oh, this? It would be our holding facility for most of our special Pokemon, ones that have potential, but might’ve spent their whole lives weak had we not interfered.”

Rarity looked through the doors. She saw a pair of doors wide open into an empty cell, the doors walls and floor covered with dents, punctures and scratches; she guessed it belonged to that awful Rhydon. Still, a good few remained intact despite how worn they clearly were. There was one at the back though, with a familiar silhouette that sent a chill down her spine, one that she knew Pinkie felt too.

In that moment, a familiar Gliscor shot right past them and approached one of the doors, smashing what was presumably the opening button to the point where it’d be broken. The door opened and it showed a Cacturne walking out with a grin that betrayed no small amount of rage, and as it looked down at them it belted out a laugh that almost seemed like a roar. Rarity realised this was the same Cacturne that had fought with Applejack.

It had been stewing in there after its defeat, wanting to grow stronger. Then it had been the tests, the grass-type had grown and was left with a power that it had wanted to use since it got here, wanting for so long to vent the increased rage it felt.

“Pin Missile.”

Its spikes launched towards the group, causing them to scatter with screams. Rarity looked up, noticing Gliscor moving to open the door at the back.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Attacking her friends and getting her clothes dusty in this disgusting facility, this woman was going to pay, starting with her pet bat. Rarity threw a ball straight at Gliscor. “Show your elegance, Glaceon, Ice Beam!”

The ice-type burst out and shot the cold attack at Gliscor’s back before it could do anything, making it howl in shock and pain, before glaring at Glaceon.

“Needle Arm.”

Its arm sharpened, covered with green energy and it shot forward, swinging at the ice-type.

“Shieldon, Iron Defence!” A small Pokemon stood between Cacturne and Glaceon, taking the attack straight to the face and slid back. It had a cream body, but a large flat face shaped like an oval, a face that shone like metal, felt like it too. It stood in front of Thunderhooves as he folded his arms.

“Take Down!” Both he and Strongheart yelled, the latter summoning Bouffalant as they rushed Cacturne.

“Spiky Shield.”

Cacturne took both attacks, but in the end it was the assailants who got hurt and jumped back from the grass-type. Their trainers gritted their teeth.

“Sandstorm.”

Cacturne raised its arms and from nothing, the room was trapped within a whirlwind of sand. When they charged again, Cacturne was gone. They began seeing its shadow all around, each time they tried to hit they were always just that bit too slow, their opponent toying with them.

The sandstorm had been good for Gliscor too. Its type was usually good in open spaces, typically outdoors. Despite this being an enclosed space where it wouldn’t have the advantage, the new weather had given it an edge to hold its own against Glaceon and Shroomish. It smacked them around with its claws and tail. The occasional Bullet Seed had managed to hit it, however, which had ticked it off enough to focus on Shroomish, rushing and hitting it with Fire Fang. It flew in for the kill, dodging the seeds that kept shooting at it. Gliscor went above Shroomish, swinging its stinger down in a Poison Jab and knocking it away. A thud could be heard as the grass-type hit the wall. It laughed, celebrating for a moment before blinking as it saw pieces of purple powder like confetti surrounding it. It felt strange, queasy and perplexed. This distracted it enough for Glaceon to land another Ice Beam.

The Fang Scorpion snarled and lunged at the ice-type before something bit on its wing and it winced. It looked down to see a light brown crocodile’s jaw clenched on it. It was small, with black stripes along it. The attack, strangely enough, had also barely even hurt. It had done enough to be surprising, sure, but there wasn’t much pressure behind it.

“Yeah, woo!” Pinkie cheered for her Pokemon’s useless attack. Gliscor grunted and smacked it off.

Meanwhile Bouffalant and Shieldon were panting, having received many Needle Arms but nearly unable to respond in kind.

It swung at Shieldon once more, but instead of hitting it, it smacked a barrier that appeared in front of it, Protecting the fossil.

“Take Down!” Bouffalant rushed forward on Strongheart’s word.

"Spiky Shield.” Cacturne smiled, and those spikes dug into Bouffalant’s body. Cacturne laughed and waited for Bouffalant to move back, except it didn’t. If anything it pushed further, really digging its head into those spikes. Instead Cacturne tried to move away, but that wasn’t an option either, realising why the normal-type had pushed forward. The bull’s stupid afro had caught on the spikes, dense hair stopping them from pushing any further. Bouffalant charged faster.

“Revenge!” Strongheart commanded and Bouffalant was surrounded with a red aura. Cacturne grew frantic.

“Take Down!” Thunderhooves followed up, and the two slammed the grass-type into the wall with an even louder thud. It fell to the ground.

Gliscor was put on the defensive. It was strong, but in a 4v1 when one of those 4 was a gym leader? No way.

She should have been in trouble yet she chuckled.

“Heeeey, what’s so funny?” Pinkie pointed at the screen. “You’re losing! It’s 4 on 1 now!”

“I’d call it more of a 5 on 2.”

“We already dealt with your Cact-”

Suddenly, something dashed past them and landed in front of them. Before they could even respond Heliolisk shrieked, Discharging shocks all around.

“Iron Tail!” Luxray leapt through the lightning, swinging its tail at Heliolisk knocking it back. Behind them stood Thunderlane. He had been following on Luxray’s back, but that little lizard was way faster than he remembered. Still, he had it cornered now and with all these trainers here it was a no brainer.

“You’ll have to do better than that to throw me off!” The mohawk trainer yelled.

“That’s fine. Still made for a good distraction.”

On cue, Gliscor smashed Camerupt’s lock.

For a moment Thunderhooves stepped forward, only to be horrified as he stared at the face of his most trusted Pokemon. He should have been happy, yet there was no familiarity in Camerupt’s eyes, no joy or even sadness as it let loose an Earth Power. Gliscor grabbed Heliolisk and carried it out of the room, brushing past Thunderlane.

“Wait-” Before the electric trainer could say anything else Luxray was struck by the attack, sliding back.

Seeing them side by side let Pinkie and Rarity compare the two and fully realised the difference. Cacturne and Rhydon had all been angry, attacking anything around them. Yet Camerupt, somehow, was on another level. When they looked into its eyes they saw nothing but rage, like all other emotions had been locked away. With the others, there was something beyond all that rage. A dark aura surrounded the fire-type that the others didn’t have. All while the leader laughed.

“Knew if I led you here you’d be the first on Camerupt’s hit list. Now, if I were you I’d run. That one won’t even fully listen to me. Makes for a good guard dog though~.”

The Pokemon within the invading group fought as teams while Gliscor and Cacturne fought essentially as individuals.

Each word she spoke pissed Thunderhooves and Strongheart off more. The gym leader spoke.

“…What did you do to my partner?” His voice was a snarl.

“He’ll show you now.”

The monitor switched off.

“So you’re still going down there. Cute. Looks like it’s pretty tough without the cat to back you up.” The voice spoke up once more to the group fighting Rhydon.

“You! What did you do to my partner?!” Braeburn demanded.

“Oh this was yours? Must be a hell of a reunion.” The voice chuckled on the speakers. Braeburn just grit his teeth.

“What are you mad at me for? Not like I forced you to butt heads with the others. It’s not my fault you made it so easy. I mean look at yourselves, you’re a bunch of scared rodeo clowns planting trees, and yet you want to blame me for moving things along? The natural outcome is still there, even if sped up. Honestly, what does it even matter if the price is paid now or later?”

“And what about what ya did to his partner? Ya wanna tell me that’s ‘natural’? His own friend don’t even recognise him.” Applejack butted in.

“What about it? The power speaks for itself.” The voice spoke with no small amount of confidence.

Rhydon knocked Lairon back with another Hammer Arm, sending it sliding towards Applejack. She could’ve dodged but didn’t move an inch. The two slid back, AJ planting her feet in the ground and surprisingly slowing it down slightly. She panted, before looking at Lairon.

Lairon’s body was covered with dents and bruises. For all the durability its typing provided it, the rock/ steel-type’s quadruple damage wasn’t doing it a great deal. Applejack never paid much attention to that sort of thing.

“They’re friends and partners, they help us and we help them, and we’ve all had just about enough of you.” Applejack watched Rhydon roar as it lunged, only for it to be struck with a pair of Razor Leaves, taking its own x4 damage. This was effective. It was about to do it again before something suddenly struck its back. A Poison Jab.

Gliscor floated above the two, its fangs poised and an angry smile on its face.

“Big talk. But can you even try when your group is this short?”

She had been talking about Thunderlane, about how their edge had been lost. However, Rainbow felt something was wrong, and looked around. She didn’t remember if this was the exact team that Twilight had planned, but it had been pretty close, especially since she had wanted to stick with Rainbow and Braeburn. While she had seen Braeburn go, it begged a question in her mind.

“Uhh… Where’s Twilight?”

The lavender girl laid at the bottom of the crater, unmoving but not unliving, merely unconscious. She had found herself flailing in the air, watching the group run away before her head hit a rock and everything went black. Her neat and tidy clothes were covered in rubble and dust. She knew she’d been hit in the head at some point, she couldn’t tell what was going on, shifting in and out of consciousness. She tried to call for help but only coughed from the dust in the air.

She thought the bigger numbers and a gym leader in two would give them a fighting chance, but she was caught off guard. During the fall she had tried to call out for Ralts and Hoothoot to stop the rocks however briefly with Confusion, but did not have the time, shocked by how fast it had all happened, buried beneath the ground she stood in a second. She wanted to think of where she went wrong, but she heard footsteps moving towards her. Was it two pairs?

“Rainbow…? Is that… You…? Help… I can’t…” She couldn’t turn her head to properly see, but if she could she would have seen the Rhyhorn stomping towards her. The other two had been knocked out and its trainer/ handler had dashed, there was nobody to control it, attacking whatever it could see or hear. Twilight fell back into unconsciousness, a sitting duck before she even realised the danger she was in.

The Rhyhorn only saw an enemy, and was about to charge when it saw something. In front of Twilight, something shakily stood. Ralts struggled to stay up, but it managed. It, like the other Pokemon its trainer had called out, had been injured in the fall. Ralts wondered where they were and what had happened, but as it glanced at the pile of rubble that half-covered Twilight, it had a pretty good idea.

Rhyhorn roared and charged with a Horn Attack, but before it reached it was stopped by an invisible force. It tried to fight against this, gritting its teeth. Ralts shuddered, its arms raised in the ground-type’s direction. A struggle between physical and psychic force.

Rhyhorn took a step forward. Then another. Closer and closer… Each one gradually got easier as Ralts panted as it weakly tried to keep up its fight but it was a losing battle, but it didn’t stop. Each push against Confusion was more mental strain. Ralts looked up to see Rhyhorn towering over it, and got knocked back into the bottom of Twilight's shoe. The ground-type was like a monster, roaring, its horn gleaming and its fangs bared.

What did the psychic think it was doing, trying to fight against something as heavy as this? Trying to be something she wasn’t, Rhyhorn might have found it humorous in the right state of mind, watching the small Pokemon try to be something it wasn’t. In the end, all the fairy could do was delay the inevitable. Yet, it kept going, to the point it was becoming dizzy and nauseous from the mental strain.

Barely conscious, Ralts pulled a last ditch effort. Every last inch of psychic power that Ralts could muster, and rather than holding down it forced the power outward in one big push. Rhyhorn didn’t stop in its tracks. Instead it was thrown back right out of the crater. The stones around Twilight and her Pokemon were not flung, but moved just enough to allow for enough wiggle room. First Hoothoot managed to crawl its way out in time to hear the sound of something heavy hitting the ground with a THUD! It also saw Ralts right in front of Twilight, not even conscious enough to be aware of its own success.

The owl was about to move forward when it heard a groan coming from beneath the stones. Its trainer was awake, so the owl turned and began to get to work, carefully moving the stones and rubble out of the way, piece by piece. Groaning turned to coughing, and slowly Twilight sat up, rubbing her head.

“Wh… What happened…?” Twilight slowly pushed herself up. She saw Ralts lying there, frowning for a moment, but before she could figure out what had happened the bookworm realised there was nobody around. She climbed out of the crater, looking for the others, but she couldn’t see any of them. Alone. No friends, not even a lurking grunt. The place felt empty, almost barren. She sighed, returning Ralts and Hoothoot. Then, it got very loud.

A crash rang out through the facility, followed by screaming of both people and Pokemon. Not just the cry of the girls or grunts, but the cry of that monstrous Camerupt.

Author's Note

Been working on this and the next chapter whenever I've had a moment, hope you enjoy this as you play the DLC!

Twilight’s Pokemon:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.
Exeggcute
Moves: Reflect, Stun Spore, Absorb and Leech Seed

Applejack’s Pokemon:
Herdier
Moves: Leer, Dig, Take Down and Bite
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze, Defence Curl and Double Edge
Leafeon
Moves: Razor Leaf, Quick Attack, Swift and Leech Seed
Lairon
Moves: Iron Defence, Iron Tail, Iron Head and Head Smash

Pinkie Pie's Pokemon:
Sandile
Moves: Bite, Rage, Sand Attack and Sand Tomb
Shroomish
Moves: Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Headbutt, Bullet Seed
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rainbow's Pokemon:
Shuckle
Moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw, Rollout
Taillow
Moves: Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Peck
Nincada
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rarity:
Purugly
Moves: Slash, Assist
Glaceon
Moves: Ice Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Mirror Coat and Tail Whip
Duskull
Moves: Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Foresight and Astonish
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Thunderhooves Pokemon:
Shieldon
Moves: Iron Defence, Take Down, Protect and Metal Sound
Sandslash
Moves:

Strongheart's Pokemon:
Bouffalant
Moves: Revenge, Fury Attack, Tackle, Leer

Thunderlane's Pokemon:
Aerodactyl
Moves: Iron Head, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang
Electrike
Moves: Quick Attack, Leer, Shock Wave and Bite
Luxray
Moves: Thundershock, Iron Tail, Spark, Bite

Braeburn's Pokemon:
Rhydon
Moves: Hammer Arm, Drill Run, Megahorn and Rock Tomb

Other:
Cacturne
Moves: Spiky Shield, Pin Missile, Needle Arm and Sandstorm
Heliolisk
Moves: Discharge, Volt Switch, Eerie Impulse and
Gliscor
Moves: Fire Fang, Poison Jab, Acrobatics and Night Slash.

The Rider's Eye

Twilight rubbed her eyes, examining the data again. The redhead had dropped it in her exchange which gave the bookworm a chance to examine it. She couldn’t sleep, so she spent every waking moment looking it over.

Much of it was information most wouldn’t be able to understand but as a would-be researcher she was just starting to grasp it. Though she was quite bitter about being railroaded she supposed in some way it was for the best, helping her to explore the region in a more in-depth manner. However she just kept on getting railroaded. A part of her had wanted to move ahead at multiple points but many of the other girls had had their problems and she stayed quiet, plus Spike could be pretty pushy about this sort of thing so only times like there were when she was able to fully examine data.

A few key words kept showing up. “Sunset”, “evolve”, “shadow”. One she gathered was the name of the redheaded woman that she kept running into. As for the others… from what she could tell there was some sort of formula that could enhance power and aggression within Pokemon. She could see numbers and charts examining different dosages as Pokemon of similar levels were given this formula based on their size and power, all of which ended up being recorded. Different notes hinted at the use of chemicals stimulating growth hormones that tricked a Pokemon’s body into believing it was about to evolve.

It was all interesting, she wished she could send it off but Bouffalant had knocked down satellites in their little rampage and that Rotom had waterlogged all their communication, that only left her in Appleloosa’s small library with a single computer that, while lacked internet, gave her enough to work with. It was annoying that she would have to wait until the next town over to find someone to fix it but they had agreed to give her a paper map, which she supposed would be of help. Waiting to get to the next possible town to send this stuff off wasn’t a problem. It was just annoying. She couldn’t understand the point of all this. There were things she had discovered on this journey, but could have discovered more had she not been tied down by this task of making friends. She could’ve gone to the town sooner, could’ve not been bogged down by so many random whims. Spike seemed to be trying to get her to stick to it like Celestia had given the boy his own little mission, ugh. At least in a place like this she could feel at ea-

“TWILIIIIIIIGHT!”

…Scratch that. Said brother was at the door. She turned to look at the boy, his arms folded.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Yeah how did I know Twilight Sparkle was in a library?” He rolled his eyes. “It’s like you don’t hear yourself sometimes, now come on. Didn’t you wanna fight that gym leader today?”

That was right, much of the repairs had made the place manageable, so now Thunderhooves had enough time to be allowing himself challengers. It was quite surprising, but she supposed some people really could do it all.

“Right, right…” She groaned and sat up. “Lemme just…”

Then dropped right back down. Spike sighed.

“You studied too hard again, didn’t you?”

A few hours after a bit of forced rest from her pushy brother, Twilight was ready to take on the gym. Well, it was that in name only. Thunderhooves liked to move around a lot but always stuck to the same general area of the desert and drylands in the southeast, so she didn’t expect him to have an actual gym to battle with, though this was fine with her. It didn’t matter where the official battle took place so long as it was indeed official. However, it seemed they had designated a special spot for this one.

“We almost thought we couldn’t find you! But I know you’re not the type to chicken out.” Rainbow grinned, though AJ knew that worry laced the athlete’s mind. Thunderlane had left with Rumble not saying a single word to them or anyone. Twilight paid little mind.

“It’s what I came here to do to begin with. While I didn’t expect the… Series of events that occurred in this town I must keep sight of my original purpose: to grow stronger.” The bookworm replied. “Though, none of you need to go out of your way to spectate.”

“Hey now, most of the repairs are done.” Applejack explained. "Besides, I wanna see how my friend and cousin are gonna roughhouse!"

Twilight, walking alongside the other girls, would be following the signs. Eventually they would be taken to the ranch where much of the Rhyhorns were kept. It seemed as though most of those missing had been found, though were being kept in a separate pen to reacclimate. Next to that pen they could see a guy in a hat watching them, not having noticed the girls yet.

Twilight walked over, about to say something when the man spoke.

“Think they’ll be alright?” Braeburn asked.

The bookworm blinked. “Excuse me?”

“They’re gettin’ mighty better those ones. Can probably reintroduce ‘em to the rest today or tomorra. Sure things are better now, but what about in the future? Even if we’ve all got along, made our peace, are we gonna be strong enough? Sometime in the future those guys might come back, and I don’t believe whatever it was they were doin’ is gonna end with us. When that day comes, will we, will I be strong enough?”

Twilight paused. She knew he was right, she just hadn’t expected it.

“Suppose this must not make a lotta sense. Not much we can do but be strong for us, ya know?” He turned to the group, flashing them a smile. “Anyway, if yer here now it’s for a gym battle, right? Come on over.”

He would walk round the ranch and they followed, following him to the farthest pen where zero Pokemon reside.

“So when does Thunderhooves get here?”

“Now what in tarnation does Thunderhooves have to do with this?” Braeburn chuckled, walking to the other side of the pen.

“Well… Doesn’t the gym leader need to be here for the gym battle?” She asked, and Braeburn turned to look at her, a Pokeball in hand, letting Rhydon out.

“Kid, the gym leader’s already here.”

“...Huh?” Twilight blinked.

“If there’s anything anyone’s learned from this it’s that a lot can happen over a few days.” The cowboy waved his hand.

“Dang. Ain’t that a fresh slice of apple pie after a hard day’s night? My own cousin, a gym leader!” AJ grinned. “Ain’t no way Thunderhooves can fail as a leader if he’s already makin’ choices like this.”

Braeburn rubbed his head, chuckling. “Aw shucks, he was lookin’ to pass the job on anyway, and I guess he saw somethin’ in me and let me tell ya I do not make a habit of disappointin’. Besides, his Pokemon ain’t in much of a battlin’ condition.”

“But isn’t your Pokemon, like, super injured too?” Rainbow questioned.

“You’d be surprised. When he first came to me with the offer ya shoulda seen Rhydon. He was more excited than I was.” He chuckled, and the rock-type grinned, slamming its fists together. Indeed, it seemed to have recovered much over the last few days, raring to go. “But hey if yer so sure then it’ll be an easy match, won’t it?”

Twilight nodded, taking a Pokeball out. “Long as I’m fighting a gym leader, I don’t care.”

“Feistier than I took ya for! Let’s get right up to it!”

Twilight stood at her point, looking at the other side of the battlefield that had only earned the ‘battle’ moniker that very day. She didn’t entirely know what to expect, not just because of the unexpected gym leader change but the battlefield. It wasn’t like the fight against Sapphire that had been largely dominated by water, though that didn’t mean it was neutral territory.

The field’s ground was barren both from the unrelenting heat as well as the groups of heavy Rhyhorn that up until that point had been stomping down on it, the only thing that covered it were boulders of varying sizes dotted here and there. While the perimeter of that pen was fenced off, the battlefield itself had fairly large stones encircling it, allowing the ref to stand there while the rest of the girls and Spike watched on their own little benches.

Between the gym leader and the challenger, standing at the edge of the battlefield was a pale, square-shouldered man with grey hair gelled back, a black and white-striped shirt with dark grey trousers.

He would raise his arms and called out: "Three on three! The match between the challenger Twilight Sparkle and the gym leader Braeburn will now begin!"

However, she had seen his signature, so he knew a little about him.

“Come on out, Graveler!” Braeburn threw a ball, his first Pokemon being released onto the field. Before them, stood a large boulder-like Pokemon standing on two stubby legs, a crest standing up above its eyes with four three-fingered arms, two outstretched at its sides and two tucked into its body.

A common Pokemon Twilight noted, before checking the dex.

Graveler: The Rock Pokemon.
It rolls down slopes to move. It rolls over any obstacle without slowing or changing its direction.

Quite a headstrong Pokemon, but maybe she could work around that. She thought for a moment, before throwing her own ball.

“Go, Eevee!” The normal-type’s ears twitched as it looked around before its eyes set on Graveler and backed away slightly. “Come on Eevee, you have to be stronger than this! If we can’t get past this hurdle we’ll never get better. If we can move headfirst then we can win.”

The Pokemon looked to Twilight, before back to Graveler and stood its ground, still shuddering.

“Let the battle begin!” The ref raised his arms, before standing back.

“Swift!” The stars Eevee shot hit Graveler directly, but the boulder grinned through them all.

“Rollout!” Tucking its limbs into itself, Graveler rolled towards Eevee. The normal-type’s attempts to run were futile, getting hit twice by the attack before narrowly dodging the third.

“Phew.” Twilight sighed. “Quick Attack!”

Eevee’s own speed increased as it dashed towards the rock Pokemon, moving even faster than the boulder had a moment ago. Braeburn, however, was ready.

“Rock Tomb.” As Eevee ran, a large stone crashed in front of it making it dart around, but was soon surrounded like the tomb the attack was named after. Twilight saw a stone heading straight for it, and yelled.

“Dig!” The stone crashed right where Eevee had been, but the normal-type was burrowing underground at a rapid rate towards Graveler. Twilight smiled, but so did Braeburn.

"Y'all think that that will keep Eevee safe? Magnitude!" With a stomp, the arena began to shake with such force even the audience felt it, so of course Eevee would feel it directly. Braeburn and Graveler noticed the small mound a few feet away from the rock-type, already preparing their next move until Twilight called her’s.

“Double Team!” When the hole burst open dozens of Eevees leapt out everywhere, leaving both leader and Pokemon flummoxed, but instead of trying to gauge which was the real one Braeburn had a better idea.

“Rock Tomb!” Those summoned stones fell from the sky, hitting each and every Eevee before they reached Graveler, but when the last one faded the gym leader was confused. The battlefield was empty. The rock-type looked around before seeing another small mound build up below it, and before it knew it, the Dig landed as Eevee burst up and attacked.

“Rollout!” Instead of falling, Graveler countered, rolling into Eevee knocking it even farther.

“Get away and use Dig!”

“Like we’d let ya!” The rock-type broke through a stone Eevee had hid behind, but it was too late, the hole had already been made. Graveler stood up, looking around trying to prepare.

“Come up even further!” This surprised both the gym leader and his Pokemon, while Eevee came out half a field away. “Now Quick Attack on the rocks!”

Eevee jumped from stone to stone, outrunning the Rock Tomb crashing down the normal/ ground combo slammed into a shocked Graveler, but wide eyes gave way to a grin.

“Seismic Toss!” It grabbed Eevee and leapt into the air higher than should’ve been possible while the Evolution Pokemon was trying to break free. Soon the rock-type stopped, only to fall at over twice the speed. Nearly at the earth, the hand that held Eevee stretched out to throw.

“SWIFT!” Twilight yelled the attack and before it could be thrown, Eevee shot those stars straight into Graveler’s eyes, making its grip loosen and before it could brace itself, the two crashed into the ground sending sand everywhere. When the dust cleared, a sandy Eevee stood tall, panting while Graveler lay face-first and unmoving.

“Graveler is unable to battle, Eevee is the winner!”

A relieved Twilight sighed as Eevee bounced back over to its trainer with a smile. The bookworm fed it an Oran Berry to help.

“Stay sharp. I’ll need you later.” The normal-type was returned.

“Dang…” Braeburn returned the rock Pokemon, but grinned. “Ya beat Graveler, but we’ll see how ya handle my next Pokemon!” He threw his next ball, and what burst out towered over them. A large snake-like creature with a body made of stones stared down, and a flash of worry went through Twilight’s head. She knew that Onix were big but seeing one in person was something else.

“Go, Ralts!” She sent out her fairy-type.

“Rock Tomb!” Braeburn took the lead, and those stones crashed into Ralts quickly burying it.

“Disarming Voice!” Noise erupted from the rock pile before breaking apart as the psychic’s sound broke it free. “Now Magical Leaf!”

Leaves lifted themselves around Ralts with an invisible force shot at Onix’s face, nearly costing the snake its balance.

“Not bad, but how about an Iron Tail!”

“Dodge, quick!” Ralts barely managed to dodge the glowing silver tail swung its way.

“Y’all won’t be able to dodge soon! Rock Polish!” Onix’s body flowed and shone.

“Magical Leaf!”

“Iron Tail!”

As Ralts readied the leaves to shoot, the snake’s tail moved quicker and struck the psychic cutting off its attack and sending it flying. Ralts hit a boulder, but Onix was already slithering its way.

“Stop it with Confusion!” As Onix went in for another Iron Tail, it felt a force holding it back. Both Pokemon struggled to overpower each other. Eventually, Onix’s steel attack sent Ralts flying, following close behind.

“Quick, Magical Leaf!” Ralts shot the leaves midair, hitting the snake’s face just in time. “This is pointless… Return!”

Just before Onix launched its attack, Ralts was sucked back into the ball where Twilight called her next Pokemon. “Go, Exeggcute!”

The cluster of eggs bounced around as it was summoned. She was hoping to save Exeggcute for the last opponent but the fairy’s weakness left her no choice.

“Fine. Rock Tomb!”

The stones crashed into Exeggcute, making it wince.

“Absorb!” Through the cracks a beam shot out, hitting Onix and draining it, partially recovering Exeggcute.

“Iron Tail!” With its speed, that tail whipped through the stones and sent Exeggcute flying.

“Stun Spore!” However, Exeggcute’s skybound position allowed those yellow spores to spread across the battlefield, and it didn’t matter how fast Onix was, the sparks of paralysis travelled along its stony body.

“Why you little… Fine, if ya think Onix needs to be mobile ya got another thing comin’. Dragon Breath!” In revenge Onix shot a blast of draconic energy at Exeggcute, who was frantically hopping away from the attack.

“Leech Seed!” Right before it was hit, the grass-type shot those seeds that upon impact, grew into vines loosely hanging around the snake’s body, draining it even further.

“Argh… Rock Tomb!”

“Reflect!” As the rocks crashed down, they hit a translucent barrier reducing the damage.

“Dragon Breath!” Exeggcute had to leap around to avoid the special attack that Reflect couldn’t protect from, each dodge sapping more of Onix’s health, and with its sluggish movements Exeggcute got right underneath the stone serpent’s head.

“Absorb!” The attack struck and the snake’s eyes widened. Exeggcute got out the way just in time for the rock-type to crash to the ground.

"Onix is unable to battle, Hoothoot is the winner!" The ref called it.

“Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about!” Rainbow pumped her fist.

Applejack watched and sighed. “My cousin’s not havin’ a great time right now.”

“Uh, duh! He’s losing!”

“Why, he’s simply not used to his new look.” Rarity chimed in.

“Huh? Isn’t he wearing the same stupid outfit when we first saw him? That’s not even a problem.” Rainbow proclaimed. Rarity scooched a few inches away from the athlete.

“Those Pokemon… Um, I think they might be new…” Fluttershy muttered. Applejack sighed.

“Well that’d make sense. Long as I can remember, cousin Braeburn always had a knack for Rhyhorn ridin’. He barely looked the way of other Pokemon. I doubt he expected to land in this position, and with Pokemon he’s had for a few days. It ain’t a great day to be him.”

“Well jeez, that sucks, but it makes sense. Losing is, like, half a gym leader’s job.” Rainbow stretched her arms.

“Hey, now… I wouldn’t count my cousin out just yet.”

Braeburn stood there with his mouth agape, and began to look really worried, before shaking it off and reminding himself that he hadn't lost just yet; he still had one last Pokemon.

"Go, Rhydon!" Braeburn sent out the ground- type, and it let out a great roar.

“Let’s bring this home, Exeggcute.” Twilight said, and the grass-type jumped in agreement. Because of all the absorbing attacks, Exeggcute was nearly full-strength. While Rhydon was strong, it had evolved before it was ready, meaning it wasn’t as strong as most Rhydon, which meant she could beat it. “Leech Seed!”

“Rock Tomb.” The seeds never reached the rhino, buried beneath the stones.

“Now Hammer Arm!” It leapt forward, its hand swinging into Exeggcute and knocking it to the other side of the field.

“From just that… Twilight muttered, before shaking her head. “Absorb!”

Exeggcute shot the beam, trying to refill itself but Braeburn grinned.

“Megahorn.” He ordered and ducked down, Rhydon doing the same as it bounded forward, avoiding any boulders and slamming its glowing horn against Exeggcute, knocking it up into the sky. When it finally hit the ground, it didn’t move.

“Exeggcute is unable to battle. Rhydon is the winner!”

“Whoa…” Rainbow stared in awe, definitely impressed. “Talk about quick…”

"Don't worry, Twilight still has two Pokemon left." Spike replied confidently.

"'Chic." Torchic chirped as it stared up at him.

Twilight herself was annoyed. It was faster than she thought, even seeming faster than the Rock Polished Onix. Megahorn was annoying, but she could think of something where speed didn’t matter.

“Now go, Eevee!” After returning the grass-type, she threw a ball and the Evolution Pokemon stood tall, more confident than before. “Use Dig!”

Eevee quickly burrowed underground, impossible to tell where it would come from, but Rhydon and Braeburn were both silent, until an attack was called.

“Hammer Arm on the ground.” The rock-type raised its arm high, and smashed the ground in front of it. Dirt and rocks flew from the force, exposing Eevee and its tunnel, both it and Twilight shocked. “Again!”

A direct hit left Eevee crying in pain.

“Uh, Swift!” The normal-type obeyed, but Rhydon gave no indication the stars did any damage.

“Drill Run.” Rhydon spun its body like a drill, ramming into and sending Eevee spinning through the air. “Now Megahorn!”

Twilight watched the rhino bound towards Eevee. “Dig to avoid it!”

Eevee barely managed to avoid the glowing horn, burrowing once more.

“Ain’t ya learned a thing? Hammer Arm!”

“Quick Attack!” Eevee leapt out surprisingly quickly, before Rhydon’s arm could touch the ground, Eevee shot out with its combo move again, but Braeburn grinned.

“Up!” Braeburn swung his hand in the air. Rhydon’s glowing arm similarly changed course in the opposite direction and intercepted Eevee, flinging it up before Braeburn crouched, putting both his hands out in front of him. Rhydon looked up at Eevee, going on all fours and rearing its body. Even Swifts would not faze it, staying still right until the normal-type was in range.

“Megahorn!” Braeburn and Rhydon both leapt up, and Eevee collided with that powerful attack. Thrown across the field, it landed against a stone with spirals in its eyes.

"Eevee is unable to battle, Rhydon is the winner!" Everyone was in awe at what had just happened. Twilight, with the advantage, now had one Pokemon left before they knew it.

“Woowee! That’s how an Apple does it!” Braeburn cheered, both he and Rhydon raising their fists.

Twilight was sweating. All of her previously-working strategies had gone to a grinding halt. Even if Exeggcute lost she’d been counting on Eevee to make up the difference. Reflect was still active, but even that hadn’t helped as much as she thought. A prematurely-evolved Rhydon was still strong, but this was only half of the explanation. Twilight hadn’t accounted for the sheer precision such a bulky Pokemon could present. She could understand it from the speedy serpentine Onix at least, yet the broader slower Rhydon seemed quicker somehow. She couldn’t understand how this wide-bodied rhino could be so maneuverable.

She returned Eevee and stared at her final ball. She hadn’t wanted it to come to this, the psychic-type had been even weaker than she thought, but now… Well, she had to take this chance. She couldn’t afford to surrender.

“Go, Ralts!” Twilight threw the ball and once it was sent out, the two opposing Pokemon stared at each other, things seeming to slow down.

“It ain’t right.” AJ piped up, and Rainbow blinked.

“Huh?”

“Ya called Rhydon quick earlier Rainbow, but it ain’t quite right. Braeburn’s done been personally trainin’ his partner not for battle, but ridin’. It’s just like knowin’ the best way to strike a tree and make them apples fall down. If it didn’t know the best way to run, to move and use its heavy body, then my cousin wouldn’t be callin’ himself a rider.”

“Megahorn!” Trainer and Pokemon leaned forward as Rhydon charged.

“Double Team!” The behemoth struck an illusion, the copies surrounding the rock-type.

"Ya think that'll work again? Rock Tomb!" The field was once again bombarded with falling stones, landing on the copies until the real Ralts was revealed.

"Now Drill Run!"

"Disarming Voice!" The sound waves did nothing to stop Rhydon as it shot towards Ralts undeterred, blasting the psychic into the air, where it was more vulnerable. Reflect was still active but Twilight couldn’t let her Pokemon be a sitting duck. “Quick, Magical Leaf!”

“Hammer Arm!” Braeburn’s arm made a sweeping motion, and as Rhydon did the same it managed to knock the leaves away before slamming those arms onto the ground, pushing off them and charging at Ralts who frantically kept summoning the undodgeable leaves, but Rhydon’s horn was beginning to glow, deflecting each and every projectile.

“Megahorn!”

Braeburn and Rhydon alike leapt up, the latter striking its opponent directly. The Drill Pokemon landed, while Ralts crashed onto its back.

Rarity gasped, almost wanting to look away. Spike was quite worried, too, but none were so stunned as Twilight herself.

“Ralts is unable to-”

“Wait…!” Fluttershy, who had previously been covering her eyes, tried to speak up, pointing at the battlefield.

“Look!” Rainbow spoke a little louder, and they glanced to the battlefield.

“Ralts, are you…” Her Pokemon was trying to get up while Rhydon stood waiting. It seemed like it was going to stand… Only to fall back to the ground.

The ref got ready to call the match when the pained groans of the psychic-type sounded out. It tried once more to stand up. However, this didn’t make Twilight hopeful, only wondering: “Why?”

Even if Ralts stood up, so what? It didn’t change that Twilight had no answer for this. The two moved like they were in sync, she could almost see Braeburn right on Rhydon’s back. She hadn’t realised the biggest threat wasn’t the rhino’s fearsome might but its trainer’s ability to make use of it. Braeburn was adept at handling large, heavy Pokemon. He could imagine himself on their backs and figure out the best moves. Even with Pokemon he wasn’t yet used to, had had her on the ropes. He had a rider’s eye.

This was a mistake. Even with an advantageous move she should’ve gone with Hoothoot.

“Ralts… Just stop. You’re not strong enough, I shouldn’t have put you through this. There’s always next time.” Twilight spoke with a pained expression, before looking at Braeburn and holding a small white towel, throwing it into the air. “I forfei…”

She stopped as she saw that the towel did not land on the ground but instead floated in the air, and back to her hand. Her eyes widened as she looked at Ralts; with a blue light coming from underneath its hair and Twilight could see a glimpse of its eyes, staring back at her. Slowly but surely, it got back up and stood proud and upright and let out a small battle cry.

“Ralts, what are…” Twilight trailed off, amazed at her Pokemons hope which she soon found flowing inside of herself. Her own perceptions seemed to matter very little. What mattered was the here and now, the understanding the two shared that, even if they could try again, even if this loss was of little consequence, they both had the simple unexplainable need that it wouldn’t end like this. “You’re right… Yeah, let’s play this one out. You ready?”

Suddenly, another blue light began to emanate from Ralts, but this time it covered the psychic- types entire body. This second surprise almost made Twilight cover her eyes from the light, but she could still stared, as did everyone else.

Ralts grew taller, its limbs longer until finally the light vanished, and what was left in the place of Ralts was a new Pokemon. Instead of its hair covering the upper part of its head, it showed more of its face and grew more on the sides. What was once a gown was now an elegant ballet dress. The horn that used to stand in the centre of Ralt's head had split in two, and there was one on both sides. It looked back with a smile, snapping Twilight out of her stupor and pulling out her Pokedex.

Kirlia: The Emotion Pokemon.
The cheerful spirit of its Trainer gives it energy for its psychokinetic power. It spins and dances when happy.

“So is there still a battle?” Braeburn grinned. Twilight grinned right back.

“You bet there is! Kirlia, Disarming Voice!” Kirlia’s scream was stronger this time, making Rhydon actually have to defend itself.

"Hammer Arm!" Rhydon attempted to hit Kirlia, but it gracefully dodged everytime, except one, making it stumble. The psychic had still taken so much damage, Reflect petering out.

"Now Megahorn!" While Kirlia was still close, Rhydon charged with its shining horn, but the small Pokemon jumped straight on its back and an towards its face, where it gave Rhydon a peck on the cheek causing the rock- type to go completely red in the face while Kirlia jumped back, energy going into the psychic.

“That move… I think it was Draining Kiss.” Twilight muttered. Rhydon reared on all fours.

“Drill Run!” Braeburn leaned forward as Rhydon flung itself spinning towards Kirlia.

“Confusion to the left!” Kirlia couldn’t stop the rhino’s charge, instead using its psychic force to redirect it, sending it crashing.

“Rock Tomb!” Still tired from the force, Kirlia got buried beneath the stones, while Rhydon stumbled up.

“Draining Kiss!” Kirlia leapt up and gave Rhydon another peck, recovering further.

“Keep it goin’!” Rhydon repeated the attack, hoping to overwhelm the psychic.

"Jump on the rocks!" As the rocks began to fall, Kirlia leapt on them getting higher and higher until it was above Rhydon. “Now Magical Leaf!”

Those ethereal leaves rained down on the rock-type, making it almost fall, but just as Braeburn got worried they made eye contact, and grinned at each other, Rhydon rearing back as Kirlia fell.

“Megahorn!”

“Confusion!”

Rhydon almost hit Kirlia, but discarded stones and leaves were levitated up, shooting towards the rhino’s face, providing a cover that threw it off and allowed Kirlia to land on its head.

“Now Magical Leaf!” Both the leaves in the debris and newly-summoned leaves shot from every direction in an onslaught. In a roar, Rhydon attempted the final Megahorn just as its eyes were struck by the leaves, and both Pokemon landed, panting. They were unmoving for a moment, then a large crash could be heard. The rhino had fainted.

"Rhydon is unable to battle, Kirlia is the winner! The winner is Twilight Sparkle!" Everyone cheered at the seats.

"Congrats, Twilight!" Spike said.

"Ya see? Anyone Rainbow Dash approves of never loses!" Rainbow congratulated.

Twilight smiled, walking over to Kirlia and picking it up. “Kirlia won. That’s who I owe this victory to.”

The tired fairy raised its arms, its trainer feeling oddly gratified by this whole thing. Was it possible a part of her… enjoyed that? It didn’t just feel like a simple trial to her. Meanwhile, Braeburn walked over to his own Pokemon on the battlefield. He put his hand on Rhydons back for a moment, before returning it to its Pokeball.

"Ya put up a great fight." He turned to Twilight and Kirlia. "And so did both of you. Thanks for the fight, and ah proudly award ya with the very first Land Badge."

Twilight took the green and brown badge with a satisfied smile, putting it in her case as the group cheered.

Twilight sighed as she walked back to her room. Today was definitely an event for her. After the gym battle and subsequent Pokemon Centre visit, the group had dragged her to another celebration in the town, where she had stayed for hours both on the benches and pulled into certain activities, even showing off her impressive dance moves, seeing the stunned expressions of everyone that was most certainly amazement. Eventually, though, evening had turned to night and though she indulged the party, she’d had all she could take, rubbing her head and pulling Spike with her before he embarrassed himself trying to impress Rarity in an apple pie eating contest, not that she understood what was so impressive about gorging one’s self with pies but it didn’t matter, she got to her room and opened the door, except it was already open.

Twilight’s eyes shot up as she looked around. Nobody was there, but there was also a notable nothing: every note and document she stole was gone. She looked around for any trace of it, tearing through her bag, the beds under the pillows and mattresses.

“What are you waiting for, Spike? We need to get looking!” She yelled.

“Uhh, Twilight?” Spike spoke up.

“What, do you see them? Do you see something, anything??” Twi was getting frantic, grabbing him by the shoulders, but he just pointed at the window. Twilight peered out of it, and managed to get a glimpse of a hooded figure turning a corner.

She stared for only a moment, before bolting back downstairs and out the door. Spike was insisting they call the others, but Twilight couldn’t let this chance up. She just managed to catch them at the edge of town, about to walk away.

“Hey!” Upon Twilight’s yell, the figure stopped. “You’ve nearly destroyed this town and everyone near it. What more could you want from here? Isn’t it enough for you?”

“I have no idea what you mean.” Sunset’s voice spoke, the redhead turning around and looking at Twilight with a bored expression. “I’m the one recovering my own research. I guess the golden girl really does have to have everything.”

“This ends here, Sunset.”

The redhead snickered. “Oh, okay! Then by all means, little princess. Close that last page.”

Twilight and Sunset both threw Pokeballs. Twilight summoned Kirlia, Sunset got Rotom out. Still in that washing machine form, the electric-type hopped in place.

“Magical Leaf!”

The emotion Pokemon summoned the leaves, shooting them straight for Rotom.

“Ominous Wind.” That gust of black wind blew the leaves and Kirlia back in a gust so strong Twilight’s own vision was blocked, seeing only blackness, not even her own hands visible and making her cry out and suddenly, it stopped. She looked around for Kirlia trying to find it, glancing to Sunset, who was pointing right behind Twi. She turned, seeing Kirlia slammed against a wall.

“Perhaps this was too much for you.” Sunset returned Rotom with a smirk. “Let me get something a bit more your size.”

She pulled out another Pokeball, summoning a cyan Pokemon with scrunched eyes and a pointed mouth, its expression kinda dopey. It stood on four stubby legs and behind it, Twilight could see a tail with odd markings that resembled eyes.

“Woooobbuffet!” The balloon-like Pokemon said. Twilight scowled.

“Disarming Voice!” Kirlia stood up, letting the strongest scream it had, the soundwaves shooting towards the strange blue Pokemon.

“Mirror Coat.” What happened next was a blur. Twilight only barely got out the way. Those pink soundwaves were shot right back, nearly hitting her but definitely knocking out Kirlia.

“...What?” Twilight’s eyes widened.

“I can’t understand it, you know. You too studied under her, but this is what you care about. All those advancements and progress stomped out, and for what? Loud noise? A slice of apple pie?”

The purple-haired girl scowled, sending three Pokeballs out. Hoothoot, Exeggcute, Eevee stood there surrounding the Wobbuffet but each attack she called ended the same, bouncing off the dopey Pokemon like it was made of rubber. “Swift, Confusion, Absorb!”

“Spinning Mirror Coat.” Wobbuffet turned like a spinning top, turning the attacks onto different Pokemon, everything but the target was hit. What was more, it had locked each Pokemon into their moves with Encore, able to do nothing but fire off the same worthless attacks. Twilight was wracking her brain for something, anything to do to try and get her leads back before looking at her last Pokeball, Gengar. Sunset grinned.

“What, did you think we were equals? That someone like me would be on the same level as a loser like you? Call out that ghost or don’t, it doesn’t matter how strong your Pokemon are, when the problem is you.”

“What?”

“When the lands across the world began to be taken over by humans, there were Pokemon that couldn’t accept it, so people made these trials, these gym battles letting trainers prove themselves, to show that you can put your trust in a strong leader. When the trainer is weak, the whole team suffers.”

“That… That’s not true. I’m getting stronger, I-”

“Even if that was true, I’ve made stronger Pokemon in a much shorter time. If we had the chance, Rhydon could’ve completed its transformation into a Shadow! But it’s fine, there’ll be countless others like it. Can you imagine?.”

“You… You won’t get far. The others will–”

“And there it is! You see, that’s exactly the problem. In this world we learn how to be strong, make strength for ourselves, but you? An excuse for a trainer who requires others to make up for their own failures. Where are these fabled friends you need, hm? Partying, eating? Worse than you. We both know they wouldn’t even hear your screams over the good time they’re having.”

“Leave her alone!” A voice yelled. Sunset and Twilight turned to see Spike there, Torchic on his shoulder. The redhead could only snicker.

“Aww, you need this baby boy to protect you? How sweet.” As Spike called an Ember, Wobbuffet darted in front and deflected it right back, knocking Pokemon and trainer away.

“Spike!” Twilight yelled, before glaring at Sunset. “Don’t touch my brother!”

“Why not? What could you do about it, write a report? I mean, look at yourself, a naive girl out of her depth. You’re the furthest thing from reliable! If I hurt him right now…” She summoned Luxray from her ball. “You’d just watch like a good little girl.”

“So why don’t I…” Sunset got out another ball, before stopping. “What do you want? … What, now? … Are you serious? … Ugh, fine.”

She turned back to Twilight, a grin.

“Well, I’m not a monster. In fact, you want to study us so much that one is all yours. I’ve got to go.”

Twilight stormed over to Sunset, her fists clenched, not sure what she was going to do but knew she had to do something.

“You’re not going anywh-” The bookworm’s eyes widened. She froze, unable to move a step closer to the redhead who just watched amused before climbing atop the cat.

“Heh, I guess it really doesn’t matter, but still… I’d hate to have someone as weak as you as my sister.”

Like that, Sunset rode off on Luxray. Twilight stood there for a moment before staring at Spike. She felt so unbelievably worthless right now, barely even a challenge for the balloon. What would be the use of calling Gengar out? That Pokemon barely even listened to her as is. That ghost like everything else in this region, a power she was too weak to control, but she knew she didn’t have to stay that way.

“Hoo-wee! That right there might be the most fun I’ve had since we left home!”

“I’ll say! Or I would if you left me any of that cider!” Rainbow grumbled, slouching in a chair.

“Hey now! It was Strongheart who dared Pinkie to drink so much, now me. How ya doin’ anyway, Pink?”

“Heeheehee, apples…” The pinkette was still dizzy, all of them reminiscing about the night and how everything in this town felt ok, but they would keep going on their journey, travelling through the region. Right now they were sitting in the lobby area where the receptionist sat quietly. They were just waiting for two people.

“Where’s Twilight?” Fluttershy muttered, the lobby quiet enough for everyone to hear her.

“Indeed, her and Spikey are normally so punctual.” Rarity commented. “Perhaps we should check on them?”

Finally the receptionist piped up. “Twilight? She and her brother left hours ago. Handed in her key and everything.”

They all stared, shocked.

“...You serious?” Applejack asked, and the receptionist shrugged.

“Sure as can be. Was here right at the start of my shift. Seemed in a hurry. Oh uh, I think she left yous guys something.” She handed them a note, all five girls walking up and reading it, concern written on all their faces. None of them would know where Twilight was, or what had happened. She and Spike now walked alone through the forest and swamps, sure that the choice she made was right, for the good of the region.

“Did you really need me right this second?”

“Don’t be such a fuddy duddy, Sunset. You of all people should know this. Gathering not just numbers, but powerful ones and developing heavy hitters within small timeframes will make things way more fun!” A whimsically amused voice chuckled.

Sunset groaned, clinging to Luxray as it bounded already far from Appleloosa.

“If that’s all, then it’s no matter. I even passed through there myself.” A devious and distinctly feminine voice piped up.

“I appreciate it but i would prefer–”

“Uncover all the secrets of the Shadow Pokemon first, then look towards your preferences.” A gruff voice piped up.

“He’s right. A few brats messed around, that’s all. I’ll have my men deal with them.” The feminine voice added.

“You’re not taking this seriously enough. They’ve already interfered with two, they tell more people it will be a problem for us.”

“Now now dear, I am taking you seriously. In fact, I’ll even send my best to deal with it. You should only be worrying your pretty little head with those experiments of yours. Your work and understanding will be the key, after all, to overtaking this region. So get it done quickly.”

The line switched off. Sunset scowled, knowing exactly who they’d send but could do nothing about it, just head to the next research centre.

Author's Note

Whew! Managed to get this one out just in time! Hope you liked this one and hope it was an improvement over the last gym battle! I guess it's the end of an arc. Dunno when I'll jump back into it but I will, I hope you've enjoyed what's happened and I hope you enjoy what will come!

Happy New Year!

Twilight’s Pokemon:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Kirlia
Moves: Confusion, Draining Kiss, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.
Exeggcute
Moves: Reflect, Stun Spore, Absorb and Leech Seed

Braeburn's Pokemon:
Graveler
Moves: Rollout, Rock Tomb, Magnitude and Seismic Toss
Onix
Moves: Rock Tomb, Iron Tail, Rock Polish and Dragon Breath
Rhydon
Moves: Hammer Arm, Drill Run, Megahorn and Rock Tomb

Sunset's Pokemon:
Baltoy
Moves: Earth Power, Ice Beam and Psybeam.
Gliscor
Moves: Fire Fang, Poison Jab, Acrobatics and Night Slash.
Luxray
Moves: Thundershock, Iron Tail, Spark, Bite
Rotom (wash)
Moves: Hydro Pump, Thundershock, Ominous Wind and Thunder Wave.

Other:
Wobbuffet
Moves: Encore, Counter, Mirror Coat and Destiny Bond

Team Chaos

Twilight waited for Fluttershy, who was calling for help, but she wasn't very enthusiastic about it. While some help was appreciated, she did not want to see anymore locals. Zecora was the only one here that she could bear with; the rhyming didn't really bother her. What did bother her however, were the friends she was talking about. She was friends with a those insane girls from before! And Twilight thought that Fluttershy was pretty nice too, well except for that Bunnelby of hers that kept giving her dirty looks. Now she was surrounded by the most annoying people she had ever met.

"I hate coincidences." She thought to herself. Part of her hated what a big coincidence this was, another part of her hated Spike for sidetracking her in this town so much and the last part hated her teacher for suggesting she go to this town in the first place!

"Hey, you okay there?" Rainbow distracted Twilight from her seething. "You look like your head is about to burst into flames."

"Just fine!"

"Uuhh, okay?" Rainbow was slightly sceptical to if Twilight really meant what she said, but she shrugged and turned to Fluttershy.

"You ready yet, Shy?" She looked at her childhood friend, who was looking over her supply of berries for the third time.

"N- Nearly, Rainbow." Fluttershy was half preparing to go into the forest, and half stalling because she was scared to go into it, but she wouldn't let those Pokemon get hurt by those guys, whoever they were. Just then, her Bunnelby jumped up behind her and pushed her with its ears in the direction of the forest.

"Oh!" She helped, surprised at her Pokemon's sudden course of action. "A- Alright, let's go. If it's alright with all of you, that is..."

"Let's just go already." Twilight snapped and walked into the forest with Spike, and the others followed.

They entered the forest, and instantly all shivered, except Zecora. The Everfree was like a cave; there was no tall grass so the Pokemon would appear anywhere. Rarity and Fluttershy were the most scared out of all of them.

"Do any of you feel like you're being watched?" Rarity asked. She couldn't shake that feeling. "Do you think that those horrible men know that we followed them here?"

"I h-hope not." Fluttershy's eyes began to dart from left to right, while her Bunnelby rolled its eyes.

"If they are close, they better come out of they know what's good for them!!!" Applejack said, putting emphasis on the last part.

They kept on walking, and Rarity noticed two red lights following them. The light reminded her of something, so she picked up the pace and went over to Spike.

"Spike dear, you left this at my house." She pulled out his necklace, which still radiated a certain power that she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"My necklace?" Spike searched around his neck to find it wasn't there. He hadn't noticed it was gone; he was too busy being dragged around by his sister, and was too caught up in her battle to see there as well. But he was glad it was found before he left, and by such a beautiful girl, nonetheless.

"Skull..."

"Did anyone else hear something?" Rarity's arm froze as she was about to hand Spike his possession back.

"Sort of, I gue-" Spike was cut off as something sped up to them. Spike nearly fell and Rarity dropped his necklace, and the entity swooped down and grabbed it, surprising everyone.

"Duskull!" it cried. After Rarity got over her initial shock, she gained an angry look.

"You unhand that necklace right this instant!" She demanded. "That belongs to a this boy right here." She gestured to Spike.

"Duskull, huh?" Twilight got out her Pokedex.

Duskull: the Requiem Pokemon.
Duskull wanders lost among the deep darkness of midnight. There is an oft-told admonishment given to misbehaving children that this Pokémon will spirit away bad children who earn scoldings from their mothers.

Duskull simply turned around to leave.

"Go, Purugly!" Rarity shouted as she threw a Pokeball up in the air.

"Use slash!" Rarity pointed at the Duskull and Purugly jumped forward with its paw ready to use its attack, but it went right through the ghost- type, and it ran off, going through the trees Spike sunk his head down and looked at the ground.

"Normal-- type moves wont effect ghost- types, Rarity." Twilight told her.

"I'll never see my necklace again." He said, and then Zecora came up to him.

"When we find the Pokemon, we will look for your possession, hopefully that will cure your depression?" She inquired.

"Yeah, I guess." He said and they continued walking, unaware that they were being followed.

After some more walking, they heard something. It sounded like arguing.

"This is all your fault!"

"Mine?? If you hadn't suggested we go into the Everfree, we wouldn't be lost!"

"Can you blame me? We were stealing some Pokemon, and you were too lazy to pack any Pokeballs."

"Shut up; these things won't stop moving. I feel like a cartoon burglar."

"Again, whose fault is that??"

"I still don't get why Sunset can't do this herself; she's got a legendary, for crying out loud!"

"Yeah; why're we doing her dirty work; we deserve more respect than this."

"Yeah!"

"Where the hell are you three?" A voice came from one of the guy's Pokegear.

"Oh, uuh, we're on our way."

"You three idiots had best be. I have better things to do than wait for you." The voice said sternly before the Pokegear went silent.

"Alright." Twilight whispered. "We need a plan; someone has to make a distra-"

"Hey, you!" Rainbow Dash jumped out and pointed at the criminals. "Stop right there! We know you took those Pokemon, so let them go!" She demanded. The one in the middle laughed.

"You really wanna take ME on?" He had a cocky grin on his face. "I'm a dragon master!!" He shouted out.

"But didn't they say-"

"SHUT UP, CRACKLE!!!" The one called Crackle had messy green hair with in idiotic look on his face, while the other wore black and was completely silent.

"Bring it on!" Rainbow retorted as she threw a Pokeball.

"Go, Shuckle!" A red shell was all that came out of the Pokeball, but the legs and a head emerged from some of the many holes in the shell.

"Heh, come on out Druddigon!" He threw a Pokeball and a red and blue dragon came out and Twilight got out her Pokedex

Druddigon: The Cave Pokemon.
It races through narrow caves, using its sharp claws to catch prey. The skin on its face is harder than a rock.

"Use bite!" The Druddigon followed the command and sunk its teeth into its shell.

"Struggle bug!" Shucks began resisting Druddigon who was forced to let go, but Shuckle looked hurt after doing so.

"That Druddigon must have the ability rough skin." Twilight concluded. "I wouldn't risk any physical attacks, Rainbow." She called out. "Use a special attack."

"Alright." Rainbow nodded. "Use rock throw!" Shuckle dug rocks from the ground and threw them at Druddigon, but it seemed unfazed.

"Dragon rage!" He shouted, and Druddigon seemed to get really angry, and energy seemed to build up in it's mouth, before it fired. It was a beam of pure rage that Shuckle never stood a chance against.

"Shuckle!" Rainbow Dash ran towards her fainted Pokemon. "You okay, buddy?" Her fainted Pokemon didn't answer.

"Anyone have a berry or something?" She asked her friends and Fluttershy came over and passed her an oran berry from her bag. "Thanks, 'Shy." Fluttershy smiled at her friend's gratitude, but didn't notice Her Bunnelby hop toward the Druddigon in time as it attempted to use doubleslap, only to be affected by rough skin and knocked away by Druddigon.

"Bunnelby!" She ran over to her Pokemon and also gave it an oran berry.

"That thing sure is strong." Applejack frowned. "Twilight, you have any Pokemon that could take that thing down?"

Twilight gained a hesitant look on her face. "Well I do have one, but..." She stared at the Pokeball she had just taken out. She looked at Professor Zecora, who was battling with the one named Crackle. Zecora had sent out a Mismagius while her opponent had a Fraxure.

"I don't think our Pokemon are strong enough for this." Rarity said. "If you have anything that can help, I'd use it."

"Twilight was still hesitant, but sighed. "Go, Gengar!" She threw a dusk ball a fully evolved ghost and poison- type.

"Gengar!" The Pokemon cried while it stretched out as if it had just had a rest. It then looked around and saw its opponent.

"Gengar, use confuse ray!" Twilight ordered, but Gengar used shadow ball instead and hit Druddigon.

"Hey!" Twilight called to Gengar. "I said confuse ray!" Gengar didn't listen to Twilight and floated around Druddigon.

"Use dragon rage!" The man called out, and his Pokemon fired its attack at Gengar, who was dodging the attacks with ease. It then looked at the trainer commanding the dragon- type, and noticed their uniform. Suddenly, Gengar looked furious and began firing shadow balls at the trainer.

"Hey! Watch it!" He called out as he frantically dodged the Pokemon attacking him.

"Stop it, Gengar!" Twilight tried to stop her Pokemon, but it just kept going.

"Druddigon, what are you standing there for?!" He shouted at his Pokemon. "Protect me and use bite!" The Druddigon despite being weak from the ghost- types attacks obeyed and ran at the Gengar with its rough teeth out, but it was suddenly confused.

"What?" The opposing Druddigon had been hit with a confuse ray, but not by Gengar. They all turned around to see the Duskull from earlier; still holding Spike's necklace. It then vanished into thin air for a couple of seconds, to reappear and hit Druddigon then pull away.

"It used shadow sneak." Twilight commented.

Gengar wasn't attacking the trainer, but was also paying attention to the Duskull, but used shadow ball to finish the Pokemon off when it was about to get back up, and Druddigon was knocked out. Twilight noticed her Pokemon preparing for attack again on the trainer and quickly returned it to her Pokeball.

"What's gotten into you? It's bad enough you don't listen to me and now you attack people again?" Twilight said as she put the Pokeball back in her pocket.

The three criminals stepped back with everyone advancing in on them.

"Yeah, well we still have those Pokemon, so-" He looked behind him and saw that the bag wasn't there, but with Pinkie Pie.

"What're we gonna do, Garble?" Crackle asked.

"We run!" Garble and Crackle turned around, but saw an angry Medicham blocking their path.

"You're not going anywhere!" The seven kids and professor turned around to see the town's local gym leader; Mayor Mare. She stepped forward with two officers that with uniforms that looked like armour.

The two were handcuffed and were taken away by the police.

"We'll get out!" Garble shouted. "Then you'll know not to mess with Team Chaos! We'll conquer Equestria!!!"

"Weren't there three?" Twilight asked as she looked around.

"I'm not sure." Rainbow said as they all walked away, with the Professor leading them, unaware that they were once again being observed, but not by a Pokemon.

"Should we attack them?" One of three figures asked. They were all dressed identically, with trousers and dark purple shirts that looked like they were made for sport. They each word a black face- mask to match their trousers and had yellow goggles on.

"No." Someone behind them said. "We will observe for now, but report their failure back to the base." The three in front nodded, and they all disappeared.

They went to Zecora's lab with the freed Pokemon where Duskull offered the necklace to Rarity.

"Thank you, but it's not mine." Rarity shook her head. "It's his." She gestured to Spike, who Duskull then turned and gave it to, and turned to go before stopping and going up to Rarity, who stared at it with a questioning look.

"Ah think the little guy wants to go with ya." Applejack smiled.

"Is that true?" She asked, and the ghost- type nodded.

"Alright." She got out a Pokeball and Duskull tapped the button. The ball shook for a couple of seconds, before going completely still. The wild Pokemon in the room cheered for her. The Pokemon consisted of six Eevees, a Dratini and an un-hatched egg.

"If the subject I may shift, I still must give you that gift." Zecora handed Twilight a device.

"A Pokegear?"

"I hope it is not too much, to ask if we could keep in touch?"

"Of course Zecora." Twilight said as turned it on and registered the professor's number.

"Well, I guess we had better go." Rainbow said as they all turned to leave, but the Eevees followed them, with enthusiastic and determined looks on their faces.

"You guys want to come along as well?" Twilight asked, but the looks on their faces already had an answer. "Alright then, pick who you want to be with and we'll go." The Eevees all spread out and picked their trainer.

"Well I already have a Glaceon, but why not?" She said happily as she got out another empty Pokeball, and soon they all had an Eevee except Spike.

"I wish I got one" Spike sighed; he was extremely eager to get his first Pokemon. He then felt something wrap around his leg; it was the Dratini.

"Twilight, I think it likes me."

"I think so too." Twilight said.

"I guess Dragon- types are drawn to me." He beamed as Professor Zecora looked at the egg, then at his necklace and smiled.

"As well as that Dratini around your leg, it might be wise to take the egg."

Twilight and Spike stood on the edge of Ponyville. They looked back at it for a second before they left. Hoothoot was on Twilight's shoulder and Dratini was wrapped around Spike, who was also holding a container to keep the Pokemon egg safe.

"This town has been... something, but it's time to go now." She said. "Now let's head to Los Pegasus first and continue the research for this Pokedex."

Spike and Dratini shivered at the thought of the ice- types there.

"Where do ya think yer goin'?" Twilight turned around and saw Applejack, along with all her other friends and they were all wearing rucksacks.

"What are you all doing?"

"Why, we're going with you of course." Rarity said.

"Zecora spoke to us and we realised something." Rainbow Dash piped up.

"Those guys called themselves a team, and it means trouble if there more of those meanies."

"A-And using those Pokemon for evil."

"Plus those ruffians said they wanted to take over Equestria."

"Besides, you two seem like you could use a couple of friends." Rainbow smiled.

Twilight wanted to tell them she was fine and they could go their separate ways, but Spike looked at her.

"Would it really kill you to make some friends Twilight? They could really help you."

Twilight looked at Spike for a second, then sighed.

"Come on, all of you." She said as the five other girls smiled and went up to her. They all began to walk along the path, heading towards Los Pegasus.

Author's Note

Since they each have Eeveelutions in Selena's art it made sense for the mane six to acquire them at the same time.
Also, Twilight will warm up to the rest of the mane six, since the events of the first couple of episodes of MLP don't occur here.
Finally, Garble. I won't add those who haven't been included in SelenaEde's art very often, and Garble is just sort of a semi- rival for Spike, but you won't see him often.

An Eruption of Chaos (part 2)

Rainbow dash ran through the halls, or what was left of them. So many halls had been blown through this formerly straightforward place had been turned into a maze.

“Follow that idiot!” Applejack had yelled. Rainbow had of course protested, with the response that how would Applejack deal with any of this? AJ however had smiled. “Think this is my first rodeo? Dang, if ya think I’m that weak then ya better get back quickly, yer meant to be fast ain’tcha?”

How could Rainbow refuse a challenge like that? Fine, Rainbow would trust that. However, she was dealing with her own issues, such as the fact that many of the grunts seemed to be crowding around her, standing in her path as she pushed forward. They sent out all manner of Pokemon. Sewaddle, Dwebble, Orbeetle, Nuzleaf, Murkrow, each one that came her way she cut down with Nincada, who was getting stronger each battle. The problem was the amount. Each time she got close to Thunderlane and Luxray more of those idiots showed up blocking her path, seemingly leaving the rest of the group to the larger Pokemon. Taillow helped clear the path, while many of the small Pokemon were ones Nincada could deal with pretty easily. Still, as awesome as it made her feel she needed to help Thunderlane.

“When are you guys gonna learn? I’m too awesome for you to take down, now outta my way!” Nincada blew through another bunch, before shuddering. Rainbow frowned. “You can keep going right?”

Nincada looked to her and raised its claws. Rainbow grinned. “Attaboy. Thunderlane still needs us!”

Rainbow remembered what Twilight had said for a bit about type advantages. Nincada being ground had helped against Luxray, so Heliolisk would be the same. By now she had knocked most of the grunts away, and saw Thunderlane on Luxray chasing after Heliolisk, so close now but speaking of ground-types something else stood in her way. It looked kinda like a spinning top or some sort of toy Pinkie would use for her parties, but way way too old-looking. Red markings over its eyes and body that almost seemed to glow and flat appendages that almost seemed like arms. Baltoy stood before her, no trainer around.

“Aww come on, another one?” Rainbow glared at the thing. “I’m on a winning streak right now, no way I’ll lose!”

Thunderlane had been chasing Heliolisk for a while. Luxray may have been strong but couldn’t compare to the speed of this lizard. He supposed he should’ve expected it but he was here now. It wasn’t just the speed either, but the size. Each time he thought he was getting closer that thing would slip through his grip. So focused he couldn’t stop for anything.

As he spoke, the speakers lit up beside him, he could see faint shocks from each one he passed by.

“Interesting type, electric. In the right hands, its force is as explosive as fire. So much focus on power and speed, it’s a typing that can take you anywhere. Lose before you know it.” Thunderlane kept going, trying to ignore that smug voice following him. “So many advantages and very few weaknesses. Just one.”

Before he knew it, Luxray got a slash to the torso and Thunderlane was knocked off, both of them falling to the ground as they saw Gliscor floating above, its fangs pointed into a smirk. Heliolisk stopped, and the two could hear footsteps coming from around the hall, where they saw a red-haired woman in a leather jacket, a smile on her face, before walking over to Luxray and kneeling down to get a better look at the feline.

“Agh… It really wasn’t enough? You really had to go for Rumble’s Pokemon too?”

“What can I say? They had potential.”

“He’s my brother! Yet Lux barely even recognised him, all the time we spent together…”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. This much power is wasted on people like you. They’re lucky I found them, made them better.”

“Better?! When I found Luxray it was in pure rage, not even knowing friend from foe.”

“Not really true though. You were just a foe. Now though, you’ve confused poor Luxray, want it to play nice, leaving it with no outlet for that power and rage. If it was with me I could’ve provided the means as it progressed, but those mooks… I really can’t trust them with anything, huh? I had to go all around this place cleaning up their mess, you know! Found everyone, except for the Luxray you graciously brought back.”

“You don’t have to do a thing she says!” Thunderlane turned to Luxray, but Sunset still smiled at the feline.

“Poor you… So confused. Caught between your old trainer and your new one. You don’t understand who you should listen to right now, so understand the hierarchy, and what will happen if you don’t listen to it.”

She snapped her fingers. Gliscor grabbed Thunderlane by the tail, and for a moment worry flashed in Luxray’s eyes. Even if it was still difficult to think straight beyond the rage, it understood that it would not allow this to happen, it could not, and it knew what it had to do. So, Luxray closed its eyes and relaxed its body, relenting.

“Strong and smart, I knew I picked well.” She turned back to Thunderlane, flashing him a grin. “Seriously though, thanks again for the help.”

Twilight walked out through the rocks. So much chaos going through this whole building, she could see the halls around her, the destruction even having made new pathways. Roaring and the sounds of battling could be heard from pretty much every corner, but she knew she couldn’t get bogged down by battles. Already knowing she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by Camerupt, no, she had to go to the source, to the one in charge, and then she’d be able to bring this whole operation down eventually. As she was thinking of which one to go through something flew over her, nearly blowing her off her feet. Gliscor went right past her, going down one of the new holes that was made. Scrambling to her feet, she had returned Ralts and Hoothoot. Gliscor was managing to move quickly, but she could just barely follow. Either because it had trouble moving in confined spaces or just plain because it was in no rush, she managed to follow behind. Eventually though, she lost sight. Then she heard a few loud thuds and ran.

Initially she saw Baltoy in her path, and the realisation hit her, turning a hunch into a confirmation. That girl was here.

As she reached for a Pokeball, Baltoy was struck by a final Fury Swipes and fell, seeming to faint.

“Aww yeah!” She turned, seeing Rainbow pump her fist. “That’ll teach you to mess with-”

“Rainbow?”

“Twilight!”

“What are you- Shouldn’t you be with the others? What’s going on? Shouldn’t you be with your group?”

“Thunderlane’s brother’s Pokemon is here! I had to go after it!”

“What… R-Rainbow, listen, we have to find the person in charge. This is bigger than one Pokemonn. If one part comes down, the re-”

She paused, seeing something glowing. She would turn around, noticing that the source was Nincada; it was evolving. Before she knew what was happening, Nincada shuddered, its back opening up to reveal wings, wet and new, they flapped a few times and truly took form. It shot out, and Nincada’s transformation was complete.

Unlike the pale Nincada, this Pokemon was mostly black, with accents of yellow, two pointed crests on the side of its head, above a pair of gleaming red eyes staring down at Rainbow. A pair of grey arms hung at its sides as it hovered in the air.

“What in the- AH!” Twilight gasped as the insect was in front of them in a blink, its flapping wings almost sounding like a low motor. She was stunned, not normally seeing a Pokemon evolve this way. Normally they just changed form, not leaving a husk of their former body behind. Though she had heard something like this was common for bug-type Pokemon. Slowly, she took her Pokedex out.

Ninjask: The Ninja Pokémon
Ninjask moves around at such a high speed that it cannot be seen, even while its crying can be clearly heard. For that reason, this Pokémon was long believed to be invisible.

“Woo! You evolved, Nincada! I mean, we fought enough guys to get through here and of course we could beat them, we’re awesome, but it got sooo boring. Then that spinning one came and now we’re stronger, faster; there’s nothing in our way.”

Twilight wanted to think more about this, but she didn’t have the time. She could still hear those sounds.

“Hurry, we need to go!” Like that, the pair ran for the noise.

When she got there however, she was too late. An unconscious Thunderlane sat against the wall. On the other wall, stood a redhead in a leather jacket, three Pokemon surrounding her. Gliscor, Heliolisk and Luxray.

“More of you? Oh, and the golden girl~! Glad you all went to the trouble of bringing Luxray here, it’s a full set again. Your reward… Mega Kick.”

Heliolisk shot into action leaping into the air, the girls and their Pokemon barely managing to dodge before Heliolisk cracked the wall with a single swing. It landed on the ground to swing another, until Ninjask blocked it. Initially, the bug-type was on the defensive, narrowly avoiding each shot and slashing at a Heliolisk who avoided it. However, something was happening. Each second that went by, Ninjask seemed to be dodging by wider margins, more artfully. This caused Heliolisk to grow more frustrated, firing off a Discharge, but even that was avoided by Ninjask. Rainbow pumped her fist. “Yeah, Dig!”

Ninjask shot into the ground as Heliolisk tried its Mega Kick. Only a few moments later the bug shot up below Heliolisk, knocking it back. Rainbow grinned, but Sunset’s expression remained unchanged.

“Time to prove your worth Luxray. Thundershock.” Ninjask zipped around the area once more, but Luxray’s eyes darted wherever it went, before finally shooting the bolt straight at it, hitting dead on and to Rainbow’s surprise, her once ground-type cried out in pain. It didn’t seem to matter how fast it had been going.

Twilight was surprised watching Luxray follow the battle so intently, before remembering its dex entry: It can see clearly through walls to track down its prey and seek its lost young.

A Pokemon with exceptional eyesight. This was bad.

As Ninjask fell to the ground Rainbow was left shocked, but Sunset just smirked.

“What, you didn’t actually think you could fight me, right? Your little bug might be faster now, but I’ve seen images of Ninjask before, and I know that those wings most likely made it a flying-type. Its speed cost it that immunity. It can’t quite defend as well… Shame.”

Twilight’s was aghast. She remembered what Rainbow had said, about having to fight a bunch of easy grunts, then Baltoy. Right as she thought of it, the clay Pokemon spun from behind towards its trainer who returned it. “Don’t tell me you planned this…”

“Do you understand yet? Pokemon need experience to evolve. Of course, even this has exceptions such as stones and learning certain moves. If you know what strings to pull, you’re the perfect trainer.”

She turned, hopping on Luxray and bolted. Twilight followed, but ended up bracing herself when she saw Heliolisk swinging a Mega Kick at her. However, the kick never landed. Ninjask was in the air, shaky. Sparks still danced around it.

“I’ll handle this one, go!” She said that, yet when Ninjask tried to avoid another attack, it seized up with the telltale signs of Paralysis, leaving it wide open. It hit the ground, and Heliolisk hissed. It ran up to Rainbow, aiming another Mega Kick at her. She raised her hands to block, but the kick never landed. She looked up, seeing something new. It had a light brown body with tattered wings and a gray abdomen. Narrow eyes watched Heliolisk as a sickle-shaped halo floated above its head. They didn’t know who this mysterious Pokemon was, but they heard it mutter a single word:

“...dinja…”

AJ and Braeburn weren’t doing too well. Each time Lairon pushed back decently against Rhydon, it was rewarded with Hammer Arms to the body. It kept getting back up, but stubbornness would only get it so far. Braeburn stepped forwards.

“I don’t know what they did, but I know you’re stronger than this. We took care of the other Rhyhorn, you always watched to make sure they were ok…” The cowboy could see Rhydon glancing at him after it knocked Lairon away again.

“I know you’re not just some wild swingin’ monster!” Braeburn dodged again. “We spent so much time together, training. Please, what happened-“

“Move!” Lairon shot forward, landing another Iron Head on Rhydon.

He was nearly knocked off his feet from the shock waves, before he watched Lairon get a Drill Run. AJ sent her other Pokemon out, but each one was swatted like flies. Phanpy knocked into Applejack making them both hit a wall. By this point, Rhydon was looking down at him, that rage still in its eyes, but something was in there.

“It makes me mad just thinking about whatever they did to make you like this… You’re the kindest, most helpful Pokemon I know, and I wanna help you back! Whatever they did to make you angry, I wanna get back at em with ya! LET’S HIT ‘EM BACK TOGETHER!”

Rhydon advanced forward, raising an arm to swing. Applejack scrambled up, trying to get to her cousin before he was felled by his own partner. She was too slow.

Braeburn closed his eyes.

The impact was heard throughout the hall. When Braeburn opened his eyes, he would not find a scratch on him. Rhydon however, stumbled from the force of its arm swung into its own stomach. It looked down at its partner, breathing heavily before striking a wall with a roar. It swung wildly wherever it could, making more holes in the facility. One after another, the place became even more destroyed, but one of the holes it made burst open with black flames, making Rhydon stumble back.

Braeburn was confused, until Pinkie Rarity Strongheart and Thunderhooves burst through, all looking sweaty and singed.

“Whuh-”

“Run!” Rarity cried, and the group of four made some distance.

“Applejack, this thing is crazy! We need to use Lairon!” Pinkie grabbed AJ’s shoulders.

“‘fraid that’s not an option. Lairon is as good as down.” Applejack looked at her friend apologetically. Applejack gave her friend an apologetic look.

“It’s not crazy! That’s my partner you’re talking about!” Thunderhooves protested.

“Whatever you want to say, this might be the worst case scenario, dearies.” Rarity spoke, and the group realised that they were pincered by Rhydon and Camerupt. There was little space to move, some might be able to get out the way, but all of them?

Pinkie looked at the two, and it was clear to her how different these behemoths were. One was filled with rage, begging to be let out, but the other? When she looked at Camerupt, she saw a face where everything but rage had been sealed off, leaving only something that wanted to destroy.

Camerupt leered down at the group, looking between them, before focusing on the cowboy whose back was turned. It had chosen its target. Rhydon had, too. Both Pokemon moved, Camerupt eager to release its Frustration. Yet inches before the impact, it was knocked into a wall.

Rhydon stood, panting with a raised Arm that had just Hammered its target. Braeburn looked up at Rhydon, and the rock-type looked back. Through that rage, there was understanding and for a moment, the cowboy felt overjoyed. However, a roar snapped him back into reality. Camerupt had stood up, its rage now focused on what was probably the one being here who could handle it. Rhydon roared back.

One of Camerupt’s humps grew red hot, before Pluming Lava wherever it could reach. Rhydon rushed forward, taking the brunt of it and trying to prevent it from spreading to the group. Braeburn looked around, before his look hardened.

“Rhydon, if you can hear me… use Rock Tomb!” The large Pokemon looked up, before summoning rocks to fall around the hall, specifically around Camerupt. Some hit it of course, but most stopped the flow of lava from reaching the others. “Now Drill Run!”

The rock-type rushed forward, the attack hitting Camerupt square on. “Keep it up!”

Drill Run after Drill Run, desperately trying to knock that camel down at it winced. However, it got sick of taking punishment and released a black fire from its mouth. Rhydon froze, its eyes widening as it stumbled back. Braeburn was surprised.

“What in the… That was a fire-type move, it shouldn’t have done that much!”

“We’ve seen it before…” Applejack spoke. “Whatever that move was just now, it weren’t no fire move. I’m sure of it now.”

The rock-type stumbled back, arching its head before coming back down on Camerupt with a Drill Run like a mallet, only to be met with that Shadow-like Fire once more. Braeburn however, knew it wasn’t just that. Even if it won, it had still taken punishment from Luxray and Lairon, and now had to fight something much stronger.

“Rhydon’s taken too much damage, I don’t know if it’ll last that long.” Braeburn spoke, worried.

Thunderhooves stared at his partner, still not able to comprehend how truly different it was. He closed his eyes.

“Forgive me, my friend…” He sent out Shieldon. Whatever these people had done, he would make them pay. “Metal Sound!”

The fossil let out an ear-piercing noise. The others shut their ears, but Camerupt felt the effect. “Now Take Down!”

Shieldon rushed at Camerupt, ramming into its side. It did some damage, but when Camerupt retaliated with Earth Power it proved minor. Shieldon was knocked out near-instantly. Thunderhooves grit his teeth, sending out his next Pokemon. Sandslash brandished its claws.

“Rollout!”

“Hammer Arm!”

Thunderhooves and Braeburn called out their attacks at the same time; Rhydon hitting Camerupt in the face, Sandslash hitting it in the back. However, that left it in close proximity to those humps, allowing it to take Lava Plume head-on.

“Move that thing away!” Braeburn yelled, and Rhydon knocked Sandslash out of the attack’s range, but the damage was already done. Sandslash stood up, not quite out but having suffered serious injuries. Once the cowboy had made sure that Sandslash was as alright as it could be, he found himself looking around at this place. He thought about how Pokemon went in here, stripped of everything but their power, and used like tools. He looked back to Rhydon, who was still holding on, thinking about the times they would ride along the open lands and through their town, how his friend’s face would light up.

“This place has caused a whole lotta pain… Hey, Rhydon.” The rock-type glanced back to its trainer. “Sorry I couldn’t find ya… But if you’ll still have me, let’s tear this place down.”

Twilight was flabbergasted by what was going on. Ninjask had been felled, in its place was this… husk of an insect. Yet when Heliolisk launched its Mega Kick the attack did nothing. She watched as the electric-type got more desperate in its attacks, but shrugged them all off. What even was this Pokemon? It almost seemed like an evolution of Nincada but she knew that it had already evolved into Ninjask. Slowly, she got out her Pokedex.

Shedinja: The Shed Pokemon
Shedinja is a peculiar Pokémon. It seems to appear unsought in a Poké Ball after a Nincada evolves. This bizarre Pokémon is entirely immobile—it doesn't even breathe.

Rainbow smiled as Shedinja floated around her. “Hey, looks like it’s on our side!”

Of course. They couldn’t think too long about this, not wanting to leave the redhead to do whatever she wanted. The bookworm looked at the Pokedex once more.

“Finish this lizard off then! If the Pokedex is right this thing should have the same attacks as Ninjask!” Twilight said frantically, and Rainbow winked before pointing at Heliolisk, and calling out a series of attacks, before finishing the electric-type off with a Dig.

Finally, Heliolisk fell.

Rainbow pumped her fists in the air. “WOO! Yeah, Shedinja!”

The ghost-type spun around her, the two seeming to do this little dance. Twilight however was unamused.

“We can’t keep standing around. That girl can’t have gone too far.” Twilight protested, before glancing to Rainbow who was picking up Heliolisk. “We can come back, there isn’t much time!”

The bookworm didn’t know how much time she had, and didn’t want to push it. Looking at the hall that Sunset bolted down and ran. Rainbow gently lowered Heliolisk’s passed out body onto Thunderlane’s lap, her smile smaller.

“You better sit tight. Soon, all your friends are gonna be back.”

Twilight ran as fast as she could, even if this wasn’t very fast but now that her way was cleared she knew she had to keep moving. This was the closest she had ever been to discovering what exactly it was these people were planning. Luckily she was moving through a part of the base that did not seem to have suffered much damage. Much of this place was put together quickly, likely to account for the fact that powerful Pokemon would be tested on here but this small area had a certain amount of cleanliness to it, so it likely had few Pokemon if any. She hadn’t seen any grunts either, telling her that she and her group had likely dealt with the vast majority. Eventually, she would come across a door ajar and stopped. She looked around, finding the area empty.

The room was dishevelled, with open filing cabinets lined up against the wall, the vast majority of them being empty. She took a step forward, before hearing a drip. She would look down, seeing her foot in a puddle. As she walked in further she would realise just how drenched this room was from the walls to the cabinets, tables and lab equipment. On the other side of the room was a large screen with a chair and large keyboard, a little more like a small cinema than a normal desk with a computer. She took a step forward before yelping as the thing sputtered sparks. Twilight jumped back, raising her arms as if that would’ve helped.

Well, that scratched checking the computer. Both it, and what little paper remained in the cabinets had been waterlogged by what she could only assume was Sunset covering her tracks. She glanced to her right, seeing a small doorway, and curiously water leaking right from underneath.

As she opened the door, she was greeted with a low rumbling noise. The room was dimly lit but she could just about see all the wires and technology, along with what appeared to be a generator, wires coming into it from a strange contraption almost like an open cage, but it was so small. Whatever the cage was, she realised it must feed into the generator somehow as its power that it provided the base wouldn’t come from nowhere… But what?

Then she remembered: Heliolisk. The team must’ve been using it to power this facility by keeping it in this cramped thing. With the whole place being torn apart and invaded, there wasn’t any further use for it. Neither the cage nor the generator, however, were the source of the rumbling or water.

She turned her attention to something near the cage, a large square device that whirred and vibrated. She took a few steps closer, before frowning at what she saw. She could understand the other devices, everything here had a purpose, but this device she couldn’t understand one bit, especially not in a room as important as this one. What was a washing machine doing here?

The white machine was rumbling and leaking, dripping water everywhere. The thing was turned on but there weren’t even any clothes inside it, just overflowing with water both from the trunk as well as a pipe in the back. She couldn’t let this place become even more damaged. Though the lights were dim she could clearly see the off button. Approaching, she outstretched her hand.

She never reached the off button, when in the corner of her eye she could see the pipe turning to her, not simply spilling the water on her, but shooting it at her, straight in the stomach right to the door. She was dazed for a moment, trying to process what just happened as she held her stomach. She looked up, seeing not a white washing machine, but one of a reddish orange, a blue glow surrounding it. It angled its pipe at her with pincers that looked like large clothespins, barely managing to dodge the Hydro Pump.

“Whuh… What in the…” She was moving round the room at a frantic pace, trying her best to avoid the high-pressure water. This Pokemon looked almost like the one Sunset had at Los Pegasus, but that thing had wheels and seemed more like a grass-type, this thing was using water with no hint of grass. She theorised that this might be an evolution of some kind, or perhaps one that happened to look similar, which had happened before, a concept she was familiar with. She looked around the room, what little equipment there was, getting destroyed and rendered useless. She scowled, picking a Pokeball from her hip. “Exeggcute, Absorb!”

The grass Pokemon fired off a red beam at the water Pokemon, draining and stunning it. Twilight used this moment to make a run for the still-open door, reaching her hand forward, but as she was just a step away her foot slipped, and she dropped to that wet floor. The washing Pokemon smiled, shooting a Hydro Pump at her. Twilight stared down the blast wide-eyed, but it didn’t reach her.

That hollow shell of a Pokemon stood between the two, shaking off the attack like it was nothing.

“Leech Life!” Rainbow’s voice called, Shedinja hitting the water-type and making it stumble. “Get up already!”

Twilight blinked, turning around to Rainbow, who was pulling her up. “Where were you??! Aren’t you supposed to be fastI?”

“How about we get out of here fast!”

The machine advanced on them, firing a Hydro Pump that Shedinja blocked once more. Twilight didn’t understand how the bug-type could take such a powerful attack with so little damage but Rainbow didn’t care, simply calling an attack.

“Quick, Leech Life!”

“Absorb!”

Twilight yelled shortly after, and so Shedinja and Exeggcute hit their enemy head-on, giving the girls a window to bolt. They passed through the doorway, thinking they were safe. As they were about to return their Pokemon, a shadow loomed over them in the dimming lights. They turned, only to be knocked to the side by a grinning Gliscor.

The Fang Scorpion wasted no time, attempting to sting them over and over as they frantically moved.

“Wing Attack!” Rainbow threw out Taillow’s Pokeball, and the summoned bird smacked at Gliscor with its wings, but the ground-type batted those attacks with ease before hitting the bird’s back with Poison Jab.

“Disarming Voice!” Twilight frantically called out her Psychic Pokemon, but as Gliscor grinned through the attack it told her how little damage it did, and Ralts got its own Jab to the stomach for its struggles.

The Fang Scorpion laughed down at them. They tried to run, but Gliscor catching up was simple Acrobatics. Its pincers outstretched, ready to grab their meddling necks.

Suddenly, something slammed into it, the speed and weight knocking Gliscor into the wall. Twilight and Rainbow turned back to see Gliscor struggling against Bouffalant, Strongheart standing and watching the two with a determined look on her face.

“Are you two okay?” The girl in the poncho asked with a bit of worry.

“Don’t look away!” Twilight yelled, and the bull was knocked back. Gliscor growled, shaking off and floating in the air.

In the outer area or a forest Gliscor could easily glide through the trees. Here however, it was a bit restricted. This gave the group a better chance against the Fang Scorpion. Twilight thought as much, anyway…

“Disarming Voice!” She called the attack out, but just as Ralts got ready, it was struck in the back with a dark smoke-like wind. The water-type stood behind her, Shedinja already having fallen to Rainbow’s shock.

Rotom: The Plasma Pokemon
This form of Rotom enjoys coming up with water-based pranks. Be careful with it if you don't want your room flooded.

As a Hydro Pump was sent her way, they barely avoided it.

So it wasn’t an evolution, but some other form that it could take, though Twilight didn’t quite understand how. Still, she wouldn’t get the chance to wonder as she dodged those attacks, Rainbow barely having time to return the fainted Shedinja. Bouffalant tried to charge, but Gliscor grabbed it by the horns and sank its teeth.

“I thought this Pokemon was supposed to be invincible!” Rainbow whined.

“No Pokemon’s invincible, Rainbow. There had to have been a weak spot in its defence that Rotom took advantage of.” Twilight replied. Of course, if anyone could take advantage it would be one of that woman’s Pokemon. Ralts tried another attack, but that Ominous Wind knocked it square into the wall, unconscious.

Even with three trainers here, it was too much. Even so, Twi knew that with the Rotom here its trainer couldn’t be far behind. She could stop all this at the source.

She managed to duck out of the way of another Hydro Pump, running past the Rotom to the hall determined to not let this chance slip through her fingers once more. She round a corner only to narrowly dodge a Thundershock. She looked around for the source, summoning Eevee and Exeggcute to her side. It didn’t come from Rotom’s direction, and there were too many more holes round that corner yet she could see a shadow prowling through them.

“You are getting really annoying, you know that?” The bookworm heard a voice echo through the place. “Guess this is what I get for being nice and letting you go. Not like that’s ever got anyone anywhere. Sorta like you.”

“Why should I care what a coward like you thinks? What you’re trying to do is going to doom the region.” Twilight responded, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from.

“Not doom, revolutionise. Things are so stagnant. Nothing grows in a world like this but we can make strong Pokemon in an instant. This is just another advancement. Even the rules of evolution are nothing.” That smug voice responded. “Look how just one was a threat for all of you combined. Not that the likes of you are much of an accomplishment, but it’s just proof that we’re going in the right direction.”

“You’re going to cause a lot of pain in this little quest for power. Is that really alright?” Twilight asked incredulously. Her opponent scoffed even as Twilight pinpointed the voice’s source.

“Power is the key and we hold it. It’s just a matter of time.” Twi moved closer to the broken down door of a break room. “It’s not my fault everyone else is too weak to see what’s coming.”

The purple girl took a step in the room and the danger began immediately. Luxray shot a Thundershock at Exeggcute, stunning it before it could do anything. Eevee had already dug a hole on Twilight’s orders and while it was toying with the grass-type, but when Eevee burst from the ground it was met with an Iron Tail. Each time it tried it was countered before it could do anything, Luxray always found the. Twilight barely had time to give orders as the redhead walked out of a hole in the wall clutching a bag, grinning as she watched the feline toy with its prey before knocking them both down. Luxray advanced on them, its body already flowing with electricity. Sunset snapped her fingers, Luxray fired.

Instead of landing the attack, however, the Pokemon was hit in the face with a spinning ball, the speed and weight knocking it back. Sunset, nearly dropping her bag, turned her attention, recognising not a ball, but a small blue elephant Pokemon, its cowgirl trainer right there with it.

What was more, Gliscor and Rotom flew back to Sunset’s side with traces of ice and seeds respectively on the two. Not far behind were Pinkie with Shroomish and Rarity with Glaceon. Rainbow and Strongheart stood there as well, Bouffalant beside her. Most of the group was here.

Twilight blinked, but before she could ask Applejack just smiled.

“Ya don’t gotta worry about them bigguns. Thunderhooves told us to come here, and if I may say he had a good sense for that.”

Rhydon and Camerupt roared as they hit each other head-on. Hammer Arms met with Frustration, the strongest either had seen. Thunderhooves watched his greatest partner, and though he hated himself for thinking it there truly was nothing but hatred the burning camel seemed to hold. Braeburn might’ve thought he had the advantage, but even though the move was weak on Rhydon. Camerupt seemed to have no problem pushing the rock-type back.

Rhydon grunted, its back to the stone wall. It slammed its fists into Camerupt’s face over and over, which only seemed to make the fire-type angrier. First came the Lava Plume to the face, blinding the rhino. Then it let loose those dark flames, and Rhydon’s typing mattered even less. It wasn’t damaged in spite of the typing, it felt like something else entirely.

“Drill Run!” It heard the voice just in the corner, but it was enough to snap it out of its pain. Grabbing Camerupt’s head, Rhydon twisted and brought its horn down, doing more real damage to this thing. “Now Hammer Arm!”

Rhydon knocked Camerupt back, making another hole but gaining some distance between the group, allowing the rock-type some needed recovery time.

They didn’t know where the grunts were, assuming they had all bolted by now.

“There’s somethin’ way too weird about this thing.” Braeburn commented. “It uses fire but it’s like it… Doesn’t.”

“Then the tinkering of these madmen is much worse than we thought. I hate to say this, but it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to stop Camerupt without defeat.” Thunderhooves sighed. This wasn’t like being a gym leader and watching it get beaten in a loved battle, this was causing pain to a partner he knew was hurting against its will. Braeburn understood as much.

“Sheesh… I can’t say I blame ya, I guess. But it don’t change a thing. I’m not sure if we’re capable of beatin’ somethin’ like that, but we gotta try, right?” The cowboy watched Rhydon make its running start, right as Camerupt’s humps glowed. “Wait!”

When Rhydon ran over, Lava Plumed everywhere and Rhydon stopped, blocking the blow and standing in front of the humans. Braeburn could hear those pained grunts.

Braeburn ran over to Rhydon, clambering atop the rock-type’s back. Thunderhooves wondered what the hell that fool was doing, even Rhydon seemed confused.

“Jeez, what did I tell ya?” The cowboy smiled. “I told ya, there’s no need to protect us. I’ll be right here with ya.” He pulled something out of a bag. The reins he had always used with his partner. He offered them up to Rhydon. “Whaddya say?”

Rhydon looked at them, leaning his head towards them. Braeburn nodded, and as Sandslash distracted the camel, Braeburn fastened them on as best he could. He had no saddle, but that didn’t matter. He turned to Thunderhooves.

“Go find that girl! Leave the rest to me!” He spoke, knowing the gym leader wouldn’t want to see his partner like this. Thunderhooves didn’t show he was grateful, just giving Braeburn a look of trust and ran to punish the one responsible.

Camerupt was mad, Lava Plumed from its humps to take out every enemy at once.

“Rock Tomb!” On Braeburn’s orders, stones fell to the ground around the beast, making a burial that both hit Camerupt and contained the lava, something Thunderhooves found impressive.

“Hammer Arm!” Rhydon rushed forward once more, and as Camerupt summoned the Earth’s Power Braeburn kept an eye on the ground, tugging the reins to move Rhydon away each time the attack aimed. Going left, right, left, right, each time it was aimed Rhydon moved with the tugging reins, the two moving as one until Camerupt was hit square in the face. Another wall destroyed..

They could see it, Camerupt was sluggish, yet Rhydon was in worse shape, burns and bruises on its body.

Braeburn hesitated and Rhydon paid in the form of a Shadow Fire. The rider veered to mitigate but enough damage was done, followed by a Frustration to the side, slamming the two into another wall but instead of breaking into another room this wall cracked, and Braeburn got a hint of daylight shining out from the side of Macintosh Hill.

Braeburn had an idea, but just hoped Thunderhooves didn’t hate him for it. He called out Hammer Arms and Rock Tombs, not packing as much power as they would have but that let Rhydon conserve energy and even if they hoped it, they knew those wouldn’t beat Camerupt, just annoy it, ramming it in the face and humps to throw off any fire attacks, leaving the mad Pokemon’s only option to rush forward, its Frustration having reached its peak. Braeburn pulled the reins to avoid most of the attack, and doubled Camerupt’s momentum with another well-placed Hammer Arm, sending it crashing into the wall, which crumbled immediately.

Yet it hadn’t been enough, the stubborn camel stumbled, but did not fall out of the cave. Braeburn cursed, trying to think of what to do next, before Rhydon decided. The rock-type shook its rider off, and before the cowboy could ask what it was doing, it lunged forward, its body rotating as it collided with the Camerupt, who countered and they became a mess of stone and flame barrelling down the hillside until finally they released each other.

When Braeburn peered out the cave he saw the two lying halfway down the hillside, both knocked out.

Braeburn sighed, wanting to go down to his partner before noticing a shadow a few busted walls away. Thunderlane was sitting there, barely conscious with Heliolisk in his lap. Leaning down, he picked the trainer and the Pokemon up, before slowly making his way down the hill.

To Sunset, this was becoming more trouble than it was worth. Another attack flew by her, and a black square dropped from that bag. She cursed, surrounded by subpar trainers, but surrounded nonetheless. In taking on these large groups her own Pokemon had suffered, Gliscor especially. No matter how strong, it was in an unsuited environment unable to bring out its full potential.

“Give it up already, there’s nowhere for you to run.” Rainbow grinned. She and Applejack stood in front of Sunset’s closest exit, the emergency door, not to mention Thunderhooves, most of whom’s Pokemon had not taken much damage, and was one of the few who wanted her to escape the least. Even so, she would not consider herself in trouble.

“I beg to differ. I’m going to leave and none of you will do a thing about it.” She held the same confident grin, something that almost threw the group off, leisurely taking a step towards them, sending them further on edge. Good.

“Have you even seen the position you’re in?” Strongheart questioned.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re way too easy to manipulate. Like the bulls you tame, you only see red for something you already hate. It makes you get mad and desperate, you couldn’t even see what was happening under your nose. Why should now be any different?”

“Please, we’ve seen all your tricks. Even those strong Pokemon are too tired to fight back.”

Sunset smiled, looking Strongheart in the eyes. “Not only am I going to escape, but you’re going to help me.”

“Why would I even do that?”

“Why not?” Sunset shrugged. “You’ve been helping me so far, why stop now?”

“...What?”

“Here’s a little pop quiz: How did we manage to sow that discord hm?”

“You used our own legends against us, your Abra hypnotised Fluttershy here, of cour-”

Sunset laughed.

“I mean, those sightings were going on long before those idiots got your other girl. Besides, we needed someone who could be quick to wear the costume, someone acrobatic. Those idiots picked an understudy when our star wasn’t available.” She looked at Strongheart. “Who do you think fits the bill most, hmm~?”

Strongheart paused as those words dawned on her. She didn’t want to answer.

“I mean, it’s not like it was just your body that made you perfect. That distrust of others, the need to protect others from a perceived enemy, Abra just had to focus that hatred a bit more.”

“...Shut up.”

“Combined with your own little legends, we gave you a hand in dividing them all. Settlers thinking it was some plot by you, which in a way it was, while your own friends thought it was an angry spirit, when really it was one of their own making things worse for them.”

“Shut up.”

“So why don’t you turn around and bow to your audience? After all, we couldn’t have picked anyone better~.”

“ENOUGH!” Strongheart yelled, dashing at the admin who stood in the same place. The feather-headed girl swung a kick at her enemy, but her foot stopped inches from the admin’s face, for Strongheart could not go any further with a Gliscor’s tail wrapped around her neck. The words died with choking and gave short-lived struggles as she was barely able to breathe. The group began rushing over, before Gliscor propped the rider girl up and they stopped. Gliscor snarled, daring them to keep going but none stepped forward.

“So for that, I thank you for your help once again. You’ve been an excellent partner.” Sunset patted Strongheart’s head. “Now! I trust you all know what happens if you get too close.” She climbed on top of Luxray’s back, before looking at all of them. Slowly, the group stepped back, making way. “You can keep this place. I’ve no more use for it.”

She and the Pokemon ran, leaving the group with few options. They ran after Sunset as fast as they could, but by the time they got out the cave the redhead was already riding into the forest, Strongheart lying disposed at the bottom of the hill, her face full of despair.

“Hey, why don’t ya take a break big guy?” Thunderhooves looked up from his work, seeing Braeburn there with a smile. The large man paused. He had just finished handing the last of the planks to an Appleloosan who was taking it and handing it up to some of the guys on the roof, where a nomad and settler were repairing different parts of a home, a similar sight for many different parts of Appleloosa.

“The effort will take a good while. It is best not to stop now.”

“Aww shucks, it won’t be too long.” Braeburn grinned, and things almost seemed too bright. The big guy really couldn’t say no to this Appleloosan.

“Very well.” Thunderhooves relented.

“Hoo-wee! Let’s get you a seat!” Brarburn pulled the gym leader along with a smile to a bunch of benches in the town square, right where everyone was, both the new and familiar people having sit downs, talking together.

A few days had passed. It was kind of hard to believe that this place was what it was before, such a hotbed of chaos. He was ashamed, admittedly.

“How is… Uh…”

“Camerupt has been… The same.” Thunderhooves answered the question the cowboy was dancing around.

“...Oh…”

“It seems he truly does not recognise me, or perhaps he doesn’t care.”

Braeburn was sympathetic. Rhydon, enraged as it was, had already begun returning to normal with its treatment. Camerupt on the other hand was roaring and threatening others with eyes of pure malice for everything around it. This had left Thunderhooves little choice but to keep the fire-type in its ball.

A hand rested on the large man’s shoulder.

“We/ll figure this thing out. They did somethin’ different to Camerupt but whatever it is we’ll flip it right back, so ya don’t gotta worry ‘bout a thing. Now have some pie, ya deserve that much.”

Thunderhooves looked down at the pie on their bench, one of many that various people were seated around and enjoying. A particularly big slide had already been cut out for him, the golden apples sticking perfectly inside that deep brown crust. He dragged a finger along it before sticking his fork in, moving it up to his mouth and taking a bite.

First was that crust, the edges slightly crispy, but the further you dug the softer it became until he got to those apples, juicy apples perfectly peeled and cored leaving only the delectable interior that was both succulent and crunchy in the way only fruit could be, both sweet and tart. The pie was like a walking contradiction, and he couldn’t get enough.

“That was the most delicious thing I have ever eaten! Why, I must have more!” He declared, eating as much as he could with no objections from the others, who chuckled.

“Ya got no idea how happy it makes us to hear that, big guy! It’s the type a’ food that makes family and friends, an honour to share it with ya.”

“Remember my first pie? Hoo-wee, I couldn’t get enough a’ the stuff!” Someone sat down next to them, Silverstar tipped his hat.

“Takin’ a break too, sheriff?” Braeburn asked.

“If I’m being honest, I wanted to see how the results turned out.” Silver responded, watching a woman with a clipboard make her way up to a podium. Braeburn blinked, before realisation struck his face.

“Oh appleseeds, is that today?” The blonde slapped his head, while Thunderhooves looked between the two.

“What do you mean?”

“This town is so new we didn’t have a proper mayor yet! We were holdin’ an election for that but I just figured it was gettin’ postponed.” Braeburn explained. The woman got ready to announce.

“The results have come in all nice and tallied! The mayor you kind folks have chosen to lead this fair town is none other than… Thunderhooves!”

The gym leader went from barely listening to choking on his pie. Everyone present clapped as he looked around, dumbfounded.

“Hey, congrats buddy!” Braeburn patted the big guy’s back.

“I… I don’t understand. I do not recall putting myself down for leadership of this place.” Thunderhooves exclaimed.

“I guess someone put in a good word for ya.” Braeburn chuckled in an unsubtle way.

“You would have someone like me lead you? After I was so easily manipulated?”

“There’s not a single person here who didn’t fall hook line and sinker for that ploy, fella.” Silverstar noted. “We’re all in the same boat, but Braeburn over here told us what ya did. If ya hadn’t held back so many of those bulls, things coulda been a lot worse. Ya hated us but still protected us.”

“Even so, I know I am… not well-tempered. Now more than ever. I failed my people, and I failed my partner. I am unsure if I could manage two groups of people when I have just finished one.”

“It ain’t like you’ll be goin’ in alone.” Braeburn patted his back. “We can work the details out, and we’ll all be here, and if we agree. we’ll talk together about what to do, but we trust ya. You should try it too.”

“For the time being I suppose it is not bad… Everyone is rather sick of treating each other like outsiders. If you are willing to listen not just to me, but to the Pokemon and land, then let us discuss the particulars in the future then.”

“Couldn’t be happier!” Silverstar smiled. “We’ll be makin’ both places better after this!”

“After more pie?”

Braeburn grinned. “We agree already.”

The day was turning to evening, the beginning of a sunset peering above the roofs. Strongheart sat exhausted, watching the world go by. She saw both the nomads and settlers rebuilding the town together, the people of the moving village helping to carry various planks and pillars while the Appleloosan doctors took many of the Bouffalant in, doing their best to help those bulls make as quick a recovery as possible. Much great progress had been made, and though they still had a way to go, everyone seemed to be getting along. Things were in the process of changing. Apparently there were plans to truly educate Appleloosa about the ecosystem they had claimed as home, and how to work with it to make things happier for all.

Even with one Gliscor gone, they hadn’t been able to rid themselves of all the Gligar, instead, on Fluttershy’s suggestion, a section of their orchard had been cordoned off for the remaining Gligar. The orchard… Sighing, she shook her head trying not to think about it. As she stood up, she tried to get her mind off it, wanting to help out. The house she had just been helping with was finished. Things for now seemed to be reaching peace. She just wished it hadn’t taken such chaos to reach this state. She had done a great deal herself, but she wasn’t satisfied.

Walking through the town, she saw the men and women of both villages reluctantly speaking with each other, each with their own varying degrees of comfort, whether that be from guilt or their own lingering resentment she wasn’t sure, and supposed it varied from person to person, but she could hear the caution in their passing voices. She was quite aimless, every house she asked seemed to have their hands full.

Strongheart found herself on the edge of town, seeing a house that wasn’t much done, not having many people around helping and in a weird way it was a relief; something she could do, be a part of. She was about to call out to the group, before she heard a wind rustle the trees. Trees… She turned to her left, seeing the orchard below. Aimless as she was, she hadn’t realized she had come so close, and found herself staring at them for a moment. It was amazing how simple trees could cause such a problem.

She stared closer and closer, then there was movement. Not simple leaves rustling but a person. A figure in a cloak, and a smiling Gligar mask.

Eyes widening, Strongheart broke into a run, going as fast as she could. The closer she got the more detailed it became, that familiar outfit on a tall figure retreating into the woods, like Strongheart could see every crease and cut on the outfit and when she got there… Nothing. Vanished before her eyes. With frantic motions she looked around everywhere, trying to find any sign of the Gliding Girl, she looked down, the footprints were proof that someone was there, but no others could be found, not even claw marks. Taking a closer look at the footprints, something felt off about them. Slowly she set one of her feet into them. A perfect fit.

Suddenly, she became nautious. A pit formed in her stomach as she watched the forest move and bend around her. She grabbed at the nearest tree but it distorted out of her reach as if avoiding her touch. She fell, looking up at the forest twisting around her, rejecting her. She blinked and all the tears and scratches on the trees became clear, half-eaten rotting apples with the screaming of people blaming each other, her at the centre of it all.

“Stop!” She squeezed her eyes shut and cried.

“Stop what?” She gasped as someone piped up behind her. Strongheart hadn’t expected anyone to answer and opened her eyes in shock, greeted by a normal orchard, the trees and leaves in as good a condition as they’d always been. She looked around for any signs of distortion but it had disappeared. Her dizziness and nausea, however, remained. The voice spoke up again. “Ya doin’ ok there?”

It was more recognizable this time. Strongheart slowly turned her head, and saw Applejack crouched down.

“Y-Yeah.” Strongheart lied, and AJ just gave a knowing look, sitting down next to the poncho-clad girl.

“Lotta stuff’s happened here, huh? Good to uh, move forward.”

“..Can we really just forget about it?” Strongheart frowned.

“Shucks, who said a thing about forgettin’? Don’t think any of us should forget what we learned here. We gotta remember it and the parts we played.”

“Some, bigger than others.”

“They were controllin’ yer head. That ain’t on ya.” AJ didn’t want this poor girl to blame herself just like Thunderlane had.

“We got tunnel vision. So focused on what was in front of us, we saw the symptoms, not the disease.”

“You’re right you’re right. We couldn’t see what was goin’ on.”

“So what if it happens again?”

Applejack looked at Strongheart, who spoke up once more. “What if she comes back and the same stupid thing happens again? That girl might have lied when she said she was done with this place. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt just because-”

“Uh, howdy?”

They both turned around, seeing Braeburn there with a small smile.

“Hope I’m not interruptin’. I just wanted to say thanks for given’ this little town a second chance, and you don’t need to take the blame for all of this. It happened because a lotta people were too dang stubborn to see the bigger picture. I learned that people can take what scares ya and use it against ya, so Strongheart ya best not let that fear win. I can promise I won’t let it happen again, but I can’t do it alone.”

He knelt down, putting a hand on the Strongheart’s shoulder. “Will y’all help us?”

Little Strongheart stared up at him for a moment, before a small smile made its way onto her face. He offered her her own slice of pie, and she, like Thunderhooves, took it. It tasted of many good things, but most of all, it was comfort, home. A taste that promised things would be okay.

AJ nodded as she looked at the two, her cousin always was the sentimental type, but that was what was so great about him. She turned her head to the orchard. She was glad to see all this. Apples weren’t meant to pull people apart. She blinked as she felt something under her hat, before it plopped down into her lap, Leafeon lying in it. The two stared at each other and she chuckled, running her hand through the Eeveelution’s fur.

Author's Note

And that's the 2nd part! Hope you all enjoyed it! Nearly at the end of this saga or arc, I guess. Next will be the last step on this part and I'm hoping to get it done before the end of the year. In the meantime let me know your thoughts on this pair!

Twilight’s Pokemon:
Hoothoot
Moves: Peck, Foresight, Reflect and Confusion
Gengar
Moves: Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray, Poison Jab and Shadow Punch
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip
Ralts
Moves: Confusion, Double Team, Disarming Voice and Magical Leaf.
Exeggcute
Moves: Reflect, Stun Spore, Absorb and Leech Seed

Applejack’s Pokemon:
Herdier
Moves: Leer, Dig, Take Down and Bite
Phanpy
Moves: Rollout, Bulldoze, Defence Curl and Double Edge
Leafeon
Moves: Razor Leaf, Quick Attack, Swift and Leech Seed
Lairon
Moves: Iron Defence, Iron Tail, Iron Head and Head Smash

Pinkie Pie's Pokemon:
Sandile
Moves: Bite, Rage, Sand Attack and Sand Tomb
Shroomish
Moves: Stun Spore, Poison Powder, Headbutt, Bullet Seed
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rainbow's Pokemon:
Shuckle
Moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw, Rollout
Taillow
Moves: Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Peck
Ninjask
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Shedinja
Moves: Dig, Fury Swipes, Scratch and Leech Life
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Rarity:
Purugly
Moves: Slash, Assist
Glaceon
Moves: Ice Beam, Baby-Doll Eyes, Mirror Coat and Tail Whip
Duskull
Moves: Night Shade, Shadow Sneak, Foresight and Astonish
Eevee
Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Swift and Tail Whip

Thunderhoove's Pokemon:
Shieldon
Moves: Iron Defence, Take Down, Protect and Metal Sound
Sandslash
Moves: Rollout, Defence Curl, Sand Attack and Bulldoze

Thunderlane's Pokemon:
Aerodactyl
Moves: Iron Head, Ice Fang, Fire Fang, Thunder Fang
Electrike
Moves: Quick Attack, Leer, Shock Wave and Bite

Braeburn's Pokemon:
Rhydon
Moves: Hammer Arm, Drill Run, Megahorn and Rock Tomb

Chief Thunderhoove's Pokemon:
Sandslash
Moves: Rollout, Defence Curl, Sand Attack and Bulldoze
Shieldon
Moves: Iron Defence, Take Down, Protect and Metal Sound
Camerupt
Moves: Lava Plume, Earth Power, Frustration and Shadow Fire

Sunset's Pokemon:
Baltoy
Moves: Earth Power, Ice Beam and Psybeam.
Gliscor
Moves: Fire Fang, Poison Jab, Acrobatics and Night Slash.
Luxray
Moves: Thundershock, Iron Tail, Spark, Bite
Rotom (wash)
Moves: Hydro Pump, Thundershock, Ominous Wind and Thunder Wave.

Other:
Heliolisk
Moves: Discharge, Volt Switch, Eerie Impulse and Mega Kick