Sunset Shimmer and the Land of Pokémon

Chapters

Welcome to Lumiose... Take a Seat
The First Step for a Trainer... and The First Flop for a Pokémon
The First Battle
Paralogue One
Fantastic Fashion Fallacy
Beginnings of a Journey... and Jumping the Gun
Revealing Resounding Revelations
Paralogue 2
Royalty and Runaways
A Magic Show! The Rival Appears!
Confession and Contest
Paralogue 3
Mega Madness, Part 1
Mega Madness, Part 2
The Gym of Shalour City
Paralogue 4

Welcome to Lumiose... Take a Seat

“Ugh… my head…” Sunset Shimmer muttered, trying to get back to her senses. “Feels like I got hit by a truck…” She reached a hand up to her face, rubbing the drowsiness out of her cyan eyes. Opening them, she found herself slumped over in an alleyway, albeit a very clean and very well maintained one. “Just where am I?” She asked aloud, hoping one of her friends was nearby. She sat up, when a lump of fluff fell off her head and onto her lap.

It squealed, huddled face down. It was a lump of gray fur, shaking and shivering, obviously cold. It kind of resembled a cat, and Sunset stroked its back, attempting to comfort the poor feline. “You alright, little one? What were you doing in my hair?” She picked up the animal, and dropped it immediately when it looked at her with large, imposing eyes. Sunset scrambled away from it, shocked mostly by its otherworldly appearance.

“Purr?” It squeaked out, getting to its feet. It stood up on two little paws, the upper limbs acting as arms. Its body was covered in a layer of gray fur, and its eyes were large, purple disks that stared at Sunset, blinking occasionally. It had two ears that were firmly clamped against its head, but that didn’t seem to bother it. It hobbled over to Sunset, who didn’t back away. “Es?”

“Just… what are you, little guy?” She asked, reaching out a hand to pet the creature. To her surprise, it seemed to enjoy the contact, relishing the feeling. Sunset smiled, and stroked its soft fur some more, until the creature hopped up into her fiery red hair. “Hey! Get down from there!” The little creature shook its head. “You’re just going to stay there, even if I try to grab you, huh?”

“Espurr!” The little one cried out.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” Sunset replied. Sighing in defeat, she stood up, the creature poking its head out from on top. She found only one road out of the alleyway she was in, so it was obviously her choice for travel. The beige walls to her sides seemed to lead on forever, and branching pathways led to even more dead ends. Eventually, Sunset stumbled out of the alleys, and found herself in a larger courtyard. The courtyard had a pillar of a ruby-colored material, a spire pointed towards the sky. A hanging sign nearby said, ‘Rouge Plaza.’ Sunset walked around the plaza, spotting a pair of teenagers talking to each other.

The teens had pale tan skin, and were dressed in rollerblading gear. The boy had green pads, while the girl had yellow ones. At their feet were a pair of creatures Sunset had never seen before – one resembled a green snake with arms and legs, while the other looked like an otter with blue fur and a seashell on its stomach. The creatures were chatting aimlessly, just as the humans were. Sunset approached them with a smile on her face, and the odd cat-like creature perched on her head. “Hello,” She started. “I’m afraid I’ve gotten rather lost. Could you tell me where I am?”

“No problem, miss,” The boy replied. “You’re in Rouge Plaza. It’s in the northern sector of Lumiose City, so I’m not surprised someone’s lost. Is it your first time here?” Sunset was confused by the names. There’s no place called Lumiose City that she’s ever heard of. Trying not to show how confused she was, she nodded her head. “In that case, why not head on over to Professor Sycamore’s research lab? He’s always willing to help out others. Just head down that alley there, and follow the edge of the city until you see a large, brown building with marble columns. Can’t miss it.”

“Thanks!” Sunset said, before walking down the chosen path. She glanced up to the hidden creature as she left their earshot. “What are they talking about? Maybe I should have asked them if they knew where Canterlot was…” She walked out into the main street of Lumiose, cars driving to their destinations along the large, curved road. As she walked, she saw more and more people accompanied by more strange animals. “Maybe it’s good I ran into you,” She said to the creature on her head. “I probably don’t look too out of place with you there.”

“Purr!” The creature replied, before pointing its small hand out to Sunset’s left. She saw a large, tan building with stone orbs flanking the front gate. The plaque on the wall outside the gate said, ‘Sycamore Residence.’

“Well, that couldn’t be more obvious.” Sunset said, and walked up to the building. A sign on the front porch said that the lab was open to the public, so Sunset let herself in. The interior was nice and cool, with plush blue carpet lining the floor. To her right was a small area with seating, and a few bookshelves around. Straight ahead was what looked like an elevator, and to her right was a reception desk. Sunset walked up to the desk, and greeted the representative there. “Hello, I was wondering if there was a ‘Professor Sycamore’ here? Or maybe he’s out?”

“No, he’s in his lab, it’s up on the third floor. He wasn’t expecting any visitors today, though. If you’d like, I’ll take your name and go inform him that you’re here.” Sunset gave her name, and the receptionist nodded, grabbing a stack of papers and heading for the elevator. “Have a seat in the waiting room, Sunset. I’ll be back down shortly.” The flame-haired girl thanked the receptionist, and sat down. Out of curiosity, she picked up a nearby magazine.

“Let’s see here… ‘New Champion defeats Diantha in title match, with the aid of her beloved Pokémon.’ What’s a Pokémon? Is it a weapon or something?” She muttered. The more she read, the more confused she became. “’Our new champion says she couldn’t have done this task without her friends by her side.’ Well, that’s cool, I guess.” Sunset flipped a few pages forward, getting to a new article. “Huh. ‘Lumiose’s own Professor Sycamore publishes research paper and notes on new Mega Stones unearthed in Hoenn. Speculation on their corresponding Pokémon continues.’ There’s that word again… What exactly is a Pokémon?”

The creature on her head poked her ear. “Espurr!” It said, pointing to itself.

“You’re a Pokémon?” Sunset asked. The feline nodded and repeated the same word it said before. “Well, that clears things up a bit. Maybe they just call the animals near here Pokémon? The thing next to that girl in the picture doesn’t look like you, at any rate.” Next to the blonde-haired girl in question was a larger ‘Pokémon,’ this one being taller than her and resembling a bipedal fox with a flaming stick in its paw. Before she could read any more of the paper, the elevator door opened, revealing the receptionist from before.

“Professor Sycamore seems more than happy to see you. Go on up, he’s in his office on the third floor.” Sunset offered her thanks, and walked into the elevator. Several buttons lined the right hand panel, ranging from ‘1 – ground floor,’ ‘3 – research office,’ or ‘5 – personal residence.’ The last one had a keyhole next to it, obviously meant so that visitors couldn’t get to the professor’s living quarters. She tentatively pushed the third button, and the doors closed without a sound.

“Hopefully he’s welcome to random teenagers asking him for help in finding out where on Earth they are.” Sunset said to mostly herself, though it was also aimed at the Pokémon in her hair. It simply purred once more, and the elevator doors opened with a ‘ding’ sound. The only rider stepped out, walking into a room full of pictures of the same man in different locations. In each, he was with a variety of different creatures, or people with those creatures. “Hello? Professor Sycamore?”

A head popped out from behind a desk in a corner of the room. “Ah, you must be Sunset Shimmer. Come in, have a seat!” He gestured to the chair opposite his desk, as he took residence of the larger chair behind it. The man had long, black hair and wore a white lab coat over a blue dress shirt. The man placed several items on his desk, most notably a sort of sphere that was red on the top and white on the bottom. There were three of them, all neatly placed in the center. “Trés Bien! I heard you were rather lost. Well, don’t worry too much about it; most new trainers can be a little intimidated by Lumiose’s size.”

“Trainer?” Sunset asked. “Sorry, but I’m just a normal high school girl, who’s just trying to find her way home. Have you heard of a town called Canterlot?” Sycamore looked at her curiously, before laughing. “I’m sorry, did I say a joke, or…”

“Non, non, it’s just a nervous habit of mine.” Sycamore sat up, thinking. “Hmm… no, ‘Canterlot’ doesn’t ring any bells… could you tell me what region you’re from? Maybe that could help me out.”

Sunset thought for a second, believing his mention of ‘region’ to mean ‘country.’ “Well, Canterlot’s a large city in the United States. Is that what you meant?”

Sycamore knit his brow together. “Sunset, I’ve been almost everywhere on this planet. There’s no such place as the United States Region.” He looked at her, the Pokémon in Sunset’s hair cowering under the flaming locks. “Are you messing with me, or are you telling the truth?”

Sunset gulped. “T-The truth, sir.” Sycamore got up, and walked over to his bookshelf. “Um, sir, is anything wrong?”

“I do not know if you truly are telling the truth, Sunset.” The professor said. He grabbed a rather large tome, and placed it on the desk. “But, for some reason, I am inclined to believe you. My gut’s never really steered me wrong, so I’ll carry the notion for a little bit.” He pondered a question, before asking, “Sunset, do you know what Pokémon are?”

She pointed to the creature on her head. “Uhh… this is a Pokémon, right? I read about them in a magazine downstairs.”

“Just as I thought…” Sycamore said, sure in his hypothesis so far. “Sunset, before you walked into my building, did you have any idea what Pokémon are?” She shook her head. “Just as I thought.” He placed his hands on his desk, looking seriously at Sunset. “I have reason to believe you are not from our world entirely, Sunset.”

“W-Wait, what? Just because I don’t know what Pokémon are?”

“Exactly.” Sycamore said. “As I said before, I’ve been all over this world. And Pokémon are present everywhere on it, always have. Everyone knows what Pokémon are; they’re a part of our daily lives all around the globe. For you to not have known what they are, especially after one riding upon your head…”

Sunset fell back in the chair, stunned. “I’m… I’m in another world?”

Sycamore hit a button on the telephone on his desk. “Miranda, please hold my appointments for the day.” He said into the speaker. “I think Sunset here is going to need more than just a little of my attention right now.”

The First Step for a Trainer... and The First Flop for a Pokémon

“…And that’s the general gist of it, Professor.” Sunset said. Sycamore had asked her to detail where she was from, to ascertain once and for all if she was from this world or not. When she said she was from another world still, Sycamore raised his eyebrow in disbelief, but let her continue. She said how she found new friends in Canterlot, and how she mysteriously woke up in a Lumiose alley. “I don’t have any clue how I got here. One second I was relaxing with my friends near the portal to my home dimension, but the next thing I knew, I woke up and this guy,” she pointed to the Pokémon on her head, “was using my hair as a bed.”

“Intriguing…” Sycamore said, before smiling. “Well, you seem to have your adventures straight, and I must say, that’s too imaginative to just make up on the spot. In fact, it’s so far-fetched it just has to be true.” The professor laughed, and continued. “What kinds of Pokémon exist on your world, or worlds, I should say? Any particular types abundant?” The professor had that odd look in his eye, the same look Twilight always had when she’s found a new and interesting thing to research – she just has to know it all. “Or maybe you have your own types, which we didn’t even think could exist! Oh, this is so exciting!”

“Uhh… we don’t have Pokémon on my world. Either of them. At least, nothing that matches your description of what Pokémon are.” Sunset replied. “Look, professor, I’m happy to help you understand my world, but I really want to get back to it. Is there any way you could help me…?”

Sycamore sighed. “Well, I don’t know if I personally could help you…” He said, rubbing his chin. “But I think I know someone who can.” He got out of his chair, and pulled out various maps until he brought out one of a large island, the title of the map reading ‘Hoenn.’ “I have a colleague who lives in Littleroot Town here. He does a lot of field work, but recently he’s helped out the space program in Mossdeep City. They perform a lot of experiments with our Link Cable technology, so they could help you find where your need to go.”

“Why would they help me? To be honest, I’m still kind of surprised you believe me about all this.”

“To be fairly honest, I’m still housing a modicum of disbelief. However, you can go to them, or my fellow professor Rowan over in the Sinnoh Region,” The Pokémon Professor pulled out a second map, this one of another island with a large mountain range in the center. “He and his students have performed a lot of research into the properties of Space-Time travel and their dimensions. They could help you as well.”

“Thank you for your help, Professor, but I’m not sure…” Sunset was quickly cut off by the friendly man.

“No worries at all. I did not intend to rush you, mon amie. You have plenty of time to decide on which option to go with. I’m only saddened that I personally cannot help you further.” He tapped his desk, before smiling. “Although maybe I can. Tell me, Sunset, do you know what a Pokémon trainer is? I only ask since you’ve read my tabloids downstairs.”

The girl shook her head. “No, not exactly. Though from the terminology, I can guess they’re people who raise Pokémon as pets? There was talk of a ‘championship’ in that magazine, so maybe they train them for a sort of competition?”

“Yes and no, Sunset. You see, in our world, when a child reaches the age of, say, 14 or so depending on the region, they can go on a journey. They are accompanied by the Pokémon they make as friends along the way, and they partake in Pokémon battles against other trainers in order to get stronger. The Champion is regarded as the strongest trainer in a given region.” He smiled, looking at Sunset and the Espurr on her head. “If you’re going to be in our world for a bit, why not become a trainer? It could help you understand this world better, as I remember you saying you were a student back on your world.”

Sunset thought about this. “Battles? As in, fighting each other?” A nod from Sycamore. “Well, that does seem a bit too much, compared to my own worlds, but it’s the way you do things here… Do the Pokémon enjoy it, or..?”

“Yes. We don’t think of Pokémon as simple beasts to do our bidding. Our Pokémon are our friends, our allies. Some people and Pokémon are inseparable from each other, they are so close.” He chuckled. “The Pokémon themselves also enjoy battling, as far as we can tell. They might even be more inclined to do so that the trainers!”

Sunset nodded. “I understand that, I think. One of my friends back home is the same way with her animal friends.” She smiled, and said, “Sure, I’ll be a trainer. At the very least, it’ll help me blend in. Trainers travel around a lot from the sound of it, so I should be okay.”

“Trés Bien!” Sycamore said. “Now, there are a few things to iron out, but it’s a good thing I’m a professor – We’re kind of the authority on new trainers and the like. First, you need a trainer I.D. card, hold still…” Sunset looked confused, but was surprised when a flash of light from a handheld camera temporarily blinded her. A few seconds later, the camera printed a small card out on it with Sunset’s surprised reaction on it.

“There any way we could retake that picture…?” Sunset asked, but she was overall ignored by the Professor as he handed her three more items from a cabinet behind his desk. The first was a brown belt with six holes in it, the second was what looked like an oversized IPhone, and the third being a red tablet.

“This is your trainer’s belt, it’ll hold your Pokéballs; that’s an XTransceiver, It’ll let you talk to people from long distances (a personal gift from me), and the last item’s a Pokédex, an essential at-a-glance guide to any Pokémon you point it at.” Sunset took hold of the last one, and found its sensor on the back of the device. Curious, she pointed it at the Pokémon on her head, and clicked the main button.
“Espurr, the Restraint Pokémon. The organ that emits its intense psychic power is sheltered by its ears to keep power from leaking out. It has enough psychic energy to blast everything within 300 feet of itself, but it has no control over its power.” The machine in Sunset’s hands spoke this aloud, while displaying images of the Pokémon in question. It also detailed the Espurr’s ‘move list,’ whatever that was.

“This is great and all, professor, but aren’t you getting a little ahead of yourself?” Sunset asked this as tentatively as she could. “I mean, I don’t really know how trainers… well, even train Pokémon. I’ve only been here for a few hours now.” The girl sighed as she placed the device back on the desk. “I’m still… adjusting to the fact that this is my third alternate dimension. Heh, you’d think I’d be used to it by now…”

Sycamore nodded. “I can’t begin to imagine how it feels, Sunset.” He reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder, trying to console her. “But, maybe we could take your mind off it for a while. How about a Pokémon battle? It usually helps to clear up my mind, and it’ll help you get used to how my world does things.”

“…Yeah, why not?” Sunset asked, looking up with a smile on her face. Her fiery determination shone forth from within her. ”I could go with something to do right now.” She grabbed the belt and wrapped it around her waist, slipping the Pokédex into a pouch on it. The XTransceiver had a wrist clamp, and so she placed it where it was supposed to go. She was about to get up to accept the professor’s offer, when she realized how quickly she was going. “Oh, well… I mean I would, but I don’t exactly have a partner Pokémon… You do need one of those for a Pokémon battle, I would assume?”

Sycamore laughed. “Well, yes, normally you would need to get one. However, I would believe a Pokémon has already taken a shining to you.” He pointed to the Espurr on her head, which only stared blankly back at the professor. “I think it would make a great first Pokémon for you. Usually new trainers start with one of a few specially chosen Pokémon, given to them from a professor like myself. And although I think you would do great with the likes of maybe a Torchic or a Fennekin, this Espurr seems right for you.”

The Pokémon in question jumped off of Sunset’s head and onto the desk below. It faced the girl, pointed to itself, and had a smiling face and happy eyes. “Esp!” It said, continuing to point at itself.

“You’re alright with this?” Sunset asked it, and was responded to with a happy sound coming from the Pokémon. “Well, since my hair is your home now, I guess you could come along with me for now.” The small cat-like Pokémon happily jumped, before Sycamore handed Sunset a red and white sphere. “What’s this thing?” She asked.

“That’s a Pokéball. We use them to capture Pokémon who want to come along with us on our journeys. Think of them as little miniature homes for the Pokémon. In addition, any Pokémon you have on you in Pokéballs will automatically show up on your Trainer I.D. card. It’s a nifty little feature I came up with.” Sunset was thankful for the explanation, but was amiss on how to get it to work. Curiously, she pressed a single button she found on the side of the device, and the sphere split open into two halves, before the Espurr was sucked into its confines and the ball closed.

“Wait, what the heck-“ Sycamore placed his hand on her shoulder once more, to silently tell her that was supposed to happen. The ball fell to the floor, and shook three times before emitting a small shower of sparks. Tentatively, Sunset picked up the Pokéball, and hit the button again. The Espurr emerged in a show of red light, before shaking itself off and smiling back at Sunset. Curiously enough, ti then resumed its normal blank stare into space. “That means… Espurr is my Pokémon now?”

Sycamore nodded. “Indeed. Now, how about we do a little practice battle, as I suggested before? We can do it right here in my office; this Espurr and the Pokémon I will use are too weak to do any real damage.” Sunset nodded, and walked over to the center of the room, where there was more space. Espurr hopped along, following her, and stood next to her leg. Sycamore walked to the opposite side of the room, and threw out a Pokéball to the ground. “Alright, Sunset, time to learn how battles work! I choose you, Mon Amie, Gible!”

The ball burst open, and a flash of red light revealed a rather squat, sturdy-looking shark with arms and legs. It had a red underbelly, and a rather large mouth full of teeth. It stretched out, and cracked its neck (For a second, Sunset was puzzled as to where its neck actually was). Following the professor’s example, Sunset pointed forwards. “Alright, then… uhh.. I choose you, Espurr!” And yet nothing happened. Sunset looked down, only to see Espurr staring blankly forward, unmoving. “Umm, Espurr? Something wrong?” No response. “Espurr?”

“Espurr, are you alright?” Sycamore asked, obviously worried over the small animal. Espurr blinked once, then walked calmly out into the small battlefield and poked Gible’s nose. Espurr then sighed a little before slapping it across the face while its paw glowed a faint silver. Gible flew backwards into Sycamore, knocked out cold.

“Professor! Are you alright?” Sunset asked rushing over to the kind man.

“Yeah, that just took me by surprise, that’s all.” He took one look at his partner Pokémon, and laughed. “Espurr used slash, a move that’s notorious for landing critical hits. I guess Gible just couldn’t take it that much, or Espurr’s just that much stronger!” He laughed a bit more before taking out the Pokéball from before, and calling Gible back inside. Espurr simply jumped back into Sunset’s hair, sighing contently.

“Was that how a battle is supposed to go..?”

“No, not really. Normally, trainers tell the Pokémon what moves to use, and coach them through the battle. Espurr probably just wasn’t used to that just yet. Here, this is a prime opportunity to show you what a Pokémon center is, anyway.” He got up, brushing off his lab coat while walking towards the elevator. “Come on, Sunset, we’ll have that practice battle for real after I get Gible all healed up.”

With what could be perceived as a small animal and a large sweatdrop on the back of her head, Sunset followed. “Well, at least this won’t be boring…” She muttered to herself.

The First Battle

As it turned out, the Pokémon center was just a short walk across the street. It looked like a small hospital form the outside, and Sunset recognized what was becoming a common motif above it. The red roof housed a symbol of a Pokéball, and inside the same symbol was laid out in tiles on the floor. There were a large variety of people here, from uniformed workers of the Center to traveling trainers. “Welcome to the Pokémon Center.” Sycamore said. “Here you can get medical care and supplies for your Pokémon. Oh, and you, of course.”

“This place is a store too?” Sunset asked.

“Yes indeed! Do you see the two people in blue uniforms over there?” He pointed to the corner of the building, where blue tiles separated themselves from the normal red. A counter and various shelves dominated the corner, offering a variety of supplies from backpacks to odd little spray bottles. Sunset nodded, and the professor continued. “That’s where you can buy all sorts of medicines for both you and your Pokémon. Travel supplies can also be found there, but they don’t really focus on that stuff.”

“Hello!” A cheerful voice said. Sunset turned around to spot a cheerful girl in a nurse’s outfit, with shining blue eyes and large amounts of pink hair kept tidy by a ribbon. “Welcome to the Pokémon Center! Oh, Professor Sycamore, what a welcome surprise! What brings you here today?”

“Pinkie…?” Sunset asked under her breath, but Sycamore walked up to the woman. Other than the poofiness of the hair, this person struck a remarkable resemblance to the party girl.

“Hello, Nurse Joy,” Sycamore said, walking up to the counter. “I’m here to get Gible a good rest. He needs it after what happened with Sunset’s Espurr.” He gestured to the flame-haired girl next to him. “In fact, it would probably be a good idea to get Espurr healed up as well. In fact, I’d like to step into the back as they heal, if that’s possible? I’d like to run a few tests…”

“No problem at all, Professor! I’ll just need to see both Pokémon and their Pokéballs!” After a second of persuading, Espurr jumped off of Sunset’s head, only to stare blankly at her as it was carried away by the nurse.

“I’ll be back out here in a little bit, Sunset. In the meantime, why not mingle with other trainers? Get to meet some friends and whatnot?” Sycamore said, before following the nurse into the back of the facility. Sunset sighed, before looking around. Most of the trainers that were here had long since dissolved into tight-knit groups, talking amongst friends that they have been traveling with. Sunset saw a boy about her age sitting at a table by himself, though. He had red hair with blue-dyed streaks in it, and a pair of orange gloves covering his hands to contrast against his grey coat.

“Hello there!” Sunset said as she approached him. She sat in a chair next to him, and he turned to face her. His eyes were a soft hazel, and he smiled.

“Hello to you as well! Traveling trainer, I presume?” He said with a childish mirth to his voice. Sunset nodded. “Pleasure to meet you. I’m Klhan, and you are…?”

“Sunset.” The girl replied. “I’m guessing you’re a Pokémon trainer?”

“Yes indeed!” The boy said, grabbing a Pokéball from his belt. He opened it, revealing a small alligator-like creature. It was a seafoam green in color, with cobalt blue spikes running down its spine. “Totodile and I are gonna make a great team. We’re visiting a friend here in the Kalos Region, though. We’re from Johto originally.” Although the names were lost on Sunset, she still valued the fact he’d travel far to see a friend. “Where are you from, might I ask?”

“I’m from… well…” Sunset thought quickly, before unceremoniously spitting out: “I’m from a small village called Canterlot. You’ve… probably never heard of it, we’re not on the map.” She could feel a small amount of nervous sweat form on the back of her neck.

“Ah, a small town girl. I can respect that. It’s probably nothing like the hustle and bustle of Goldenrod City, or even Lumiose here.” Klhan said, smiling. “I was born in a large city, so I’m not that used to the countryside yet.” He paused for a second, before realizing something. “Hey, you’re a trainer too, right? Want to have a Pokémon battle?”

Meanwhile, in the back of the Pokémon Center, Professor Sycamore was staring intently at the screen in front of him. “Remarkable…” He muttered, glancing at the Espurr nearby. It was hooked up by wires to the machine, each one reading its heartbeat, pulse, and ambient energies of the Pokémon. “You’re not a typical Espurr, are you?” He said, but the Pokémon simply continued staring into blank space. The screen depicted the psionic energy of the Pokémon, displaying it as a light purple color. However, another coloration was present on the screen. A cyan aura was pulsing throughout the energy, adding to the Pokémon’s own.

“Is everything alright, Professor?” Nurse Joy asked, holding a small tray with a single Pokéball on it. Sycamore took the ball with a rushed thanks, before gesturing to the screen.

“This Espurr… it’s got an additional psychic energy attached to it. The thing is, I’ve never seen anything like it before.” He thought back to the ‘battle’ he had with Sunset. Now that he thought about it, Espurr’s species can’t use the move slash. The only explanation he has is this strange energy, which must have altered this Pokémon to be different to its peers. “It might change how this little one grows up, maybe even evolves. How fascinating…” He got up, and detached the Pokémon from the computer. “However, I’ll have to just ask Sunset to keep an eye on this little one for me.” He picked up the Espurr, holding it securely in his arms before bidding Nurse Joy a farewell and walking out into the main lobby of the Center.

“Well, I mean, I’ve never actually battle someone before…” He heard Sunset say as he spied the mound of red hair from across the room. Espurr jumped out of his arms and onto her head when the professor got near. “But I’m not unwilling to give it a try.” Sycamore smiled and decided to not worry Sunset about her Pokémon. That news can wait for later.

“Sunset, you’re going to give battling a try?” Sycamore asked. Receiving a nod from the teen, he gestured to the street outside. “Well, in that case I’ll be your referee. We have to make sure there’s nothing too dangerous going on, right?”

“Right.” Sunset said. On the street outside, she stepped out to face Klhan, and a few people stopped by to see the upcoming battle. “Alright, then… what am I supposed to say..?” Sunset said under her breath.

“C’mon, Totodile! Let’s go!” Klhan said, his alligator-esque Pokémon rushing out to midway between the trainers. Sunset stuttered for a moment, as she was sure that wasn’t what Sycamore had said before their battle. Maybe it was up to the trainer to decide how they introduce their Pokémon?

“In that case…” she said, grabbing Espurr off her head and placing it down on the ground. “Espurr, let’s show them what you can do!” She said, as the small catlike Pokémon hopped forward, staring blankly at the Totodile. The enemy Pokémon took one look at its opponent and laughed. Sunset sighed, but then pulled out her Pokédex, scanning her Espurr once more. She looked back at the section that was labeled ‘move list,’ trying to remember what her Pokémon could do.

“Alright, ladies and gentlemen of Lumiose!” Sycamore said, grabbing the attention of those that had gathered. “This is going to be a one-on-one match between two young trainers. Not only that, but this is Sunset’s first real battle! Wish her luck!” The crowd cheered, sending a sense of pride into the girl. “If both trainers and their Pokémon are ready…” Sunset and Klhan nodded, before turning their attention back to the field. “Let the battle begin!”

“Totodile, use water gun!” Klhan shouted instantly, and the Pokémon responded by spraying a fountain of water at Espurr.

“Ack! Espurr, look out!” Sunset said, but not soon enough – Espurr was knocked off its feet and impacted the ground not too far away. It got up soon, however, and dusted itself off. “You okay?” She asked, getting a happy ‘purr?’ as a response. “Alright, then. Use Confusion!” Espurr’s blank stare turned a light cyan, flashing multiple other colors as Totodile was struck by a small shard of psychic energy. “Follow that up with Slash!” Espurr’s paw glowed white, and it charged the wobbling Totodile.

“Totodile, use bite to counter!” Klhan responded. Totodile shook its head and its teeth glowed, chomping down on Espurr’s arm. Neither one wanted to end their attack, and so they fought against each other as hard as they could. Sunset smirked, as she saw and easy solution to the problem at hand.

“Espurr, use slash with your other hand!” She called out. Her Pokémon obeyed, smacking the enemy upside its head with its paw. Totodile flew backwards, but righted itself in midair and landed on its feet. Sunset had an odd thought, given the two creatures were fighting each other. She felt a need to push her partner to victory, to see it win.

“Aqua Jet!” Klhan said, and the Totodile shot water at the ground, launching itself with great speed at Espurr. Concerned for her Pokémon’s safety, Sunset looked at the ‘move list’ once more on her Pokédex.

Hoping it did what it sounded like, she called out, “Espurr, put up a Barrier!” Espurr’s eyes glowed slightly, and a shimmering shield of psychic energy covered its form. It didn’t stop the attack from connecting, but it did seem to toughen Espurr, making it feel less of the attack. “Good job, Espurr! Finish this up with another slash!” The Pokémon responded in kind, slapping Totodile across its face with a glowing paw. The alligator went down, and didn’t seem like it could get back up.

After a few tense seconds, Sycamore spoke. “Totodile is unable to battle. The winners of this fight are Espurr and Sunset!” Sunset smiled, as she understood why this world liked Pokémon battling so much. It was a rush of energy, and a drive to do better than you have before. Espurr hopped over and looked up to her, waving its small arms up to her. She laughed, grabbing the Pokémon and placing it on her head, as it liked to do.

“Great job, Espurr!” Sunset said, laughing. “Hey, Klhan,” she said, walking over to him. “No hard feelings, okay?”

“Yeah, it’s all good.” He responded. He returned Totodile to its Pokéball, and looked up to Sunset, offering his hand. “Nice battling skills. If you hadn’t told me otherwise, I’d have thought you were more experienced. I’ll see you around, Sunset.” He walked into the Pokémon Center, seeking to heal his Pokémon.

“So, have any fun?” Sycamore asked, approaching Sunset. “I’d wager you know how much we value Pokémon battles here by now.”

“Yeah, I can’t really explain it…” Sunset replied. “It’s the same kind of rush I feel when I’m playing my guitar back home, or when I’m competing in a sport.”

Sycamore nodded. “Indeed. Well, speaking of your world, have you given any thought to my two options?” He asked, optimistically hoping she had.

“Well, I have, but I’m still not too sure… Both the space technology you have and those myths about time/space travel both intrigue me.” Sunset replied. “However, I think I’ll go with…”

Author's Note

Cliffhangers. Gotta love 'em all.
More details on odd-energy-charged Espurr in upcoming chapters. I won't just leave it there, Riku.
Also, Klhan Star, thank you. I needed a trainer for her to battle, and you were just the person for the job. Thanks again!

Paralogue One

The breeze blew softly across the grass, each individual blade waving along with its fellows in the wind. A bell rang out from the nearby building, causing its inhabitants to rush out in a frenzied panic of teenagers. Six in particular wandered from their last classes and headed towards a statue near the center of the courtyard. The statue was recently rebuilt, having been blown to smithereens from the events that took place nearly a month prior.

“Hey girls,” A teen with rainbow hair said as she approached. She’s usually the fastest, and never lacking in the ability to prove that, but the sports fields where she spent her gym class are on the other side of the building entirely, causing her to end up the last one present. “Any word from Sunset yet? I didn’t see her all day.”

“Let me check, Rainbow,” her friend said, one with mulberry hair tied back into a bun. She was the newest member of the group, and still a little reclusive. In fact, she still wore her Crystal Prep uniform to her new school, even though this one had a very lax dress code. Either way, when she went to reach into her bag, a small, violet dog popped its head out, a worn book in his jaws. “Oh! Thanks, Spike.” She said, taking the book from his grasp.

“No problem, Twilight. I just want to get some air.” He jumped out of the bag, and proceeded to run a bit on the grass near the statue. Spike never got the magic out of his system, and so he can talk for an indefinite period of time. The book in the girl’s hands, however, had always been charged with magic. It was a brown tome, with the image of a red and yellow sun on the cover. The six knew the symbol was meaningful to Sunset, but they never asked why.

She flipped open the book, to a page that was still blank. The page opposite still shone with the message their friend received from the current reader’s counterpart in the equine world. “No, she still hasn’t sent anything back. Should we try to send her a message?”

“It’s worth a shot in my opinion, Darling.” A girl with immaculately styled purple hair said. She offered the girl a pen from her own bag.

“Thanks, Rarity. Let’s see… Dear Princess Twilight…” She stopped for a second, and giggled. “Don’t think I could get used to that one… We were just wondering if everything was alright over in Equestria. Sunset said she would get back to us by today, but we didn’t see any sign of her in school. We’re just a little worried, that’s all. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle and the rest of your friends at Canterlot High. That sounds good, right everyone?”

“It does, but it’s kinda hard to take it back now that you wrote it, Sugarcube.” The resident apple farmer, aptly named Appeljack, said. She smiled and tipped her hat afterward, eliciting a small group laugh at Twilight’s slight embarrassment. Suddenly, the book vibrated with a purple light, and Twilight turned to the next page.

“To all of My Friends at Canterlot High,” Twilight started to read to them all. “Sunset informed me that she was headed back to your world. She isn’t there? If she didn’t go to school, I would suggest trying her home, or calling her on those… ‘cell phones,’ right? She’s not over here in Equestria; we finished what I had asked her to help me with late last night. Maybe she just overslept. Your friend, Twilight. P.S. – Spike says hello.”

“That would be fine and all,” Rainbow said, checking her phone, “If I hadn’t already sent like, a bazillion texts to her asking where she is.” She looked a little jumpy.

“Not to mention the fact that ever since we found out she was living in that dreadful hotel, Sunset has been staying with me in my boutique.” Rarity added, looking more and more worried like her friends. “I didn’t see her on my way out this morning; if anything, the door to the room she’s been using was wide open and she was nowhere to be found. I had assumed she already left for the same or was still in Equestria.”

“I’m usually good at playing hide-and-seek,” A vibrantly pink girl added on, “But even I’m not this good…” The six friends looked in deep thought for a second, before she poked her head back up. “Hey, wait a minute. Where’s Dashie?” The now five friends looked around, not spotting prismatic head or tail of their companion. However, one did see something.

“Um, girls…” the last member of their group said, albeit shyly. “I think I saw the portal glow a little…” Turning their heads to the statue, one could catch the last fleeting glimpses of the portal to Equestria glow and fade away. “You don’t think…”

“Dash went through the portal, didn’t she?” Twilight asked. Receiving nods in response, she pinched the bridge of her nose. “Well, should we go after her or send a message to Princess Twilight?”

“Ah reckon we should go after her. No telling what kind of trouble she could get into unless we go there now.” Applejack sighed. “Much as Ah’d hate to drop in uninvited, the bigger problem is Dash most likely doing something reckless. Ah say we go to Equestria and try to sort this mess out.”

“Ooh!” Pinkie said, jumping up in the air, “I should totally find that world’s Pinkie! We can have a big two-world party! We can get the cakes to bake – maybe that world’s Cakes as well! Oh, and we’d of course invite the whole school and –“

“PINKIE!” The rest of the group said loud enough to catch the party girl in mid-sentence. She awkwardly rubbed the back of her head and apologized. Without another word, the friends looked to each other, nodded, and one by one stepped through the portal, not entirely knowing what to expect.

“Ugh… my head…” Twilight said as she collapsed on the other side. She reached up to rub it, only to meet with a protrusion from her forehead. “Huh?” She asked aloud, before looking at what used to be her hand. A lavender hoof shook in front of her face, and she screamed in surprise and shock before rolling backwards onto a pair of wings. A soft ‘meep’ sounded form the owner. Looking back, Twilight saw that the wings were a butter yellow in color, and belonged to a familiar-looking pegasus. “Oh, uhh… sorry… Fluttershy?”

“Oh, no worries Twilight, I’m sure you didn’t mean to…” Her eyes widened when she saw Twilight’s transformed face, the lavender unicorn looking rather adorkable with her glasses perched precariously on her muzzle. “Oh my gosh! A unicorn!” She squeaked out before grabbing her in a tight hug. “You’re so adorable! What’s your name? Can you talk? I really like your mane, it’s so pretty!”

“Fluttershy… I can’t… breathe…” Twilight squeaked out, her new barrel being crushed by the normally timid girl/pegasus. Surprised, Fluttershy dropped the unicorn in shock, while the crushed one caught her breath. The other three girls got up, only to examine their new forms. Applejack was pleasantly surprised to still see her Stetson on her head, while Pinkie was busy chasing her tail. Rarity screamed suddenly, and curled up into a ball. “Rarity, what’s wrong?”

“Darling, this isn’t just a bad thing…” She said, looking up, but still averting her eyes. “This is the. Worst. Possible. Thing!” She hung her head down, and sobbed dramatically.

“Uhh, Rarity? I don’t exactly see what the big deal is.” Twilight said.

“Twilight, we’re naked!”

“Rarity, Ah keep horses on Mah farm. They don’t exactly need clothes like humans do.” Applejack said. “And you know something like this would happen, Sugarcube. Twilight told us she was from a world of ponies. Uhh, the other Twilight, that is.” She added on the last bit by tipping her hat towards the unicorn in question.

“But… But… I can’t go and meet royalty like this!” Rarity protested. “The Twilight of this world may be our friend, but she is also a princess, and we are most likely in her castle! We are just too underdressed for this!”

“Ugh, what’s going on in here?” A voice said from the doorway in the room. The five teenage ponies turned their heads to see a small, purple lizard-like creature at the doorway. “Wait…” It said, rubbing his eyes with a claw. “Twilight? I thought you were in the library… and where are your wings?” His eyes shot open in realization. “Wait… you can’t be Twilight… she doesn’t wear glasses either. Who are you?” Suddenly, the mirror behind the group shimmered, only to reveal an identical lizard who came through.

“Twilight! I saw you guys go through the portal, and I didn’t want to be by myself and-“ He stopped when he spied the young drake across the room. “Whoa, you look just like a dragon!”

“I am a dragon! But who are you? You look just like me!” The first dragon said. Before anything else could be said, a lavender unicorn, albeit with wings, walked up to the room.

“Spike, what’s all the noise up here for? I’m trying to… Study…” Her eyes widened when she saw the mass of ponies and dragon near the portal, including a non-winged version of herself. “Spike, go get some snacks form the kitchen and meet me in the lounge down this hall. I have a feeling my friends didn’t come here just to hang out."

About a half hour later, and two trays of carrots and celery stalks later as well, the friends had retold what happened that morning to Princess Twilight. It would have taken a shorter amount of time, but Rarity had to be persuaded to move farther into the castle despite her lack of dress. Spike was busy learning how hands worked, as the native Spike taught him with the aid of comic books.

“Alright, so let me get this straight…” Princess Twilight said, grabbing a few sheets of paper in her magical aura. “Sunset didn’t’ show up to your house, where she’s staying last night, right Rarity?” A nod form the alabaster unicorn confirmed it. “She then never showed up to school, as Pinkie and Fluttershy can confirm, since they share a last class with her. You then contacted me about it, I gave you my response, and Rainbow Dash jumped through the portal. You all followed so she wouldn’t get into trouble, and here we all are. Does that sound about right?”

“That’s about as plain as it can get, your highness.” Twilight responded.

“No need for the formalities, err… Twilight. I’m not that big a fan of the royal appearance, especially when I’m with good friends.” The princess responded. She then regarded the rest of the group. “Well, we’re in a small problem here. Before we can help Sunset, wherever she is, we need to find Rainbow Dash before she gets into trouble. The only problem is… you girls don’t really know how to walk as ponies just yet.”

It was true, the five friends thought. When they walked down the hall, a few of them fell from tripping over their own forehooves. Fluttershy was relatively okay, but that was due to her having wings. She did get a little bit of practice flying whenever she ‘ponied up’ in the other world, though she was nowhere near as good as her counterpart in Equestria, let alone Rainbow Dash. Alicorn Twilight turned to Spike, and said, “Spike, please go into town and look for Rainbow Dash. Our Dash, that is. Knowing her, she’s either sleeping on a cloud or at Sugarcube Corner right about now.” The dragon not sitting like a dog saluted her, and ran off.

“In the meantime, let’s get you five trotting like ponies should.”

Fantastic Fashion Fallacy

Sunset smiled as she talked to Sycamore. “I’m sort of practiced with magical, space-time travel. I think I’ll go talk to your colleague in… Sin-oh, right?”

“The Sinnoh Region. I’ll be sure to call Professor Rowan about your visit.” The good professor pulled out a small map, this one labelled ‘The Kalos Region.’ “Now how about some directions, huh?”

“That would be great, professor. Thank you for all your help, considering how new I am here…” Sunset replied. Espurr stared at the map, turning its head slightly to the side.

“We’re currently here, in Lumiose City, the capitol.” Sycamore pointed to the largest circle on the map, labeled as such. “Now, the only port town in Kalos is Coumarine City, just a short jog through the clay fields northwest of here.” Sycamore frowned, and added on, “However, the power plant there is on the fritz again, and the authorities have blocked all access to route 13 for the foreseeable future.”

“So I guess I’ll have to take the long way around?” Sunset asked, receiving a nod from the professor. “Let’s see… in that case, it looks like I’ll have to travel down Route 5, pass through Camphrier Town, go along Route 7 until I hit Cyllage City,”

“Non, non.” Sycamore interjected. “The cave at the end of Route 7 connects to Route 8, where you’ll have to go south to Ambrette Town before going back up.” He traced a finger along the path. “However, from there it’s a relatively straight shot past Geosenge Town and Shalour City until you get to Coumarine. If you don’t stop for much, it should be about a week and a half of travel, maybe two.”

“A week and a half?!” Sunset said in shock. “From the map, it looks like I could travel the entirety of the region in a day! How could this take me a week?”

Sycamore chuckled. “The region of Kalos could look like something from a cartoon, Sunset. However, it is a very real and very vast place to explore. We don’t have the editing powers of the movies in real life, you know.” He sighed, and smiled. “And why not take the slow way around? It would do you good to see some sights while you’re here. Don’t rush through it trying to get home; enjoy your time here since who knows when, or if, you could come back?”

Sunset sighed in defeat. “I guess you’re right. Well, if I’m to be traveling for a week, I’ll need some supplies. The shop over there sells backpacks and food, right?” As she got up, she slapped her forehead hard enough to dislodge Espurr. The Pokémon fell to the floor and got back up, staring with a slight frown at Sunset. “Sorry there…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just noticed… I don’t have any of your world’s currency. I can’t buy any supplies.” Sunset sighed, pulling her wallet out of her jacket pocket. “I mean, I do have some of my world’s money, but here it’s just paper.” She pulled out a dollar bill to prove her point. “How can I buy anything when I don’t have any useable money?”

Sycamore thought for a second, before snapping his fingers. “There’s plenty of places in Lumiose that would like some help for a day. I’m not sure off the top of my head, but you could take a look around.”

“Well, I’m not unused to working as soon as I get dumped in a new place.” Sunset said dryly. “I’ll take a walk around. Thank you for all your help, professor.” Sunset made to leave the Pokémon Center, and Sycamore waved farewell.

“Be sure to call me on your XTransceiver from time to time! I’d be glad to help!” Smiling, Sunset walked out into the city, walking down the main street.

“Well, time to go job hunting, I guess.” She glanced up to the Pokémon on her head. “Do you have any ideas?” Espurr glanced around, then pointed to a glowing sign that depicted Pokémon battles. “No, I’m not that good at battling with you, Espurr. But thanks for the help.” Feeling lucky, Sunset walked down the street, confident enough to find someplace to give her a few bits for a day’s work.

“Why is it so hard to find a Celestia-damned job here?” Sunset asked aloud after three hours of searching. Every place when walked into did not need any help, or flat-out refused her. She almost had a job as a waitress at a local restaurant, but Espurr had angered the chef by psychically moving around all of his spices, making him mess up the dish he was cooking. Sunset denied it was her Pokémon that did it, but even she knew she shouldn’t go near that city block for a while.

“YOU!” A voice screamed out behind her. Wincing, believing it to be the chef in question, Sunset turned around, only to see a young woman no older than herself pointing at her. She had rather pale skin, and was dressed up in a violet coat/dress hybrid, matching her mulberry hair to a point. Her hair was styled in elegant curls, and her eyes sparkled with the color and shine of sapphires. “YOU are just what I’m looking for, darling!”

“Rarity…?” Sunset asked under her breath as the woman approached her. Espurr glared at the girl, as if daring her to approach the trainer it resided upon. Unfazed by it, the girl walked up and began to look over Sunset, inspecting her and her wardrobe. “Umm… can I help you…?”

“Darling, that skirt, with that shirt?” She said, pointing to the orange and violet items. “Sorry, dear, but I can’t let such a crime against fashion go unfixed. Come along, will you?” She started to grab Sunset by the wrist, and dragged her a few feet before the girl got her bearings.

“Whoa, whoa! Who exactly are you, and what’s wrong with my clothes?” She asked.

“Sorry, dear, where are my manners. I am Crystal, fashion designer and owner of Simple Rarities Boutique. When I saw you, I knew you had the means to make a great model for my new line, and I could really use the help. However, I got closer and realized how much in need of a fashion upgrade you really needed!” She said this with a dramatically disgusted look at Sunset’s skirt. “So, I’ll offer you this. You help me by modeling a few dresses and outfits, and I compensate you with a new wardrobe and some cash for your time. Deal?”

Sunset hesitated. Here she was, looking out for a job, and one suddenly (And quite literally) came up and grabbed her. “Sure. I was looking for a little work anyway. My name is Sunset. Sunset Shimmer.” She held out a hand, to which Crystal shook it.

“Fabulous, Sunset. We’d best be off! My fashion line awaits!” As it turns out, her store was not far from there, a small business tucked into an alley near Verde Plaza. The interior of the establishment was decorated with frilly lace and gentle curves of the architecture above. Mannequins were dotted around the boutique, each one posing a new dress or fabulous design. Farther into the back Sunset was led, to a small workshop filled with bolts of fabric and various sewing machines and threads. “Esmeralda, darling, I am in need of your assistance!”

“Gar!” A voice said form nearby. Descending from the staircase near the rear of the room was what looked to be a human with green hair, and red eyes. It had immaculately pure white skin, and its body seemed to be fused with its clothing, a green jacket and white, slitted dress. It smiled happily as it used psychic power to levitate a few bolts of clothing around to Crystal’s workshop.

“Whoa… Is that a Pokémon?” Sunset asked.

“She acts as though she hasn’t seen Pokémon at all.” A voice said inside her head. “I like her.” Sunset panicked, before noticing the Pokémon laughing. “My kind is known as a Gardevoir, and my personal name is, as you heard, Esmeralda. The pleasure is mine.”

“Whoa… telepathy. Neat, I’ve heard about powerful psychics like that, but I’ve never met one.” Sunset replied, secretly freaking out a bit. She herself had attempted telepathy back in Equestria, but never could figure out the right spell to use. “So, when do I start?” She asked, placing Espurr down on a side table. The Pokémon simply looked on as the bolts of fabric floated around in Esmeralda’s psychic grip, Crystal grabbing a roll or two and getting to work. Over the course of the next few hours, Sunset had her measurements taken and various garments created for her to try on and model for Crystal’s camera.

The sun had begun to set as they finished up, Sunset currently wearing a light blue mini-dress with a sheer yellow skirt, blue jeans, and a jacket that resembled her previous one, but slightly smaller and with yellow stripes on the arms. The resemblance to one of her outfits back home was uncanny, but she paid it no mind. After hearing about Sunset’s money issue, Crystal had made her a backpack to go along with it – black fabric with yellow stripes similar to the jacket, and on Sunset’s request, a red-and-yellow sun design in the center of the front pocket. “Thanks for your help, Rar- err, Crystal.”

“It was no trouble at all, dear. I should be the one thanking you for modeling those outfits. Why don’t you keep the one you’re wearing? It does suit you very well.” She walked over to the new trainer, and handed her a large stack of bills. “I do hope this is enough to compensate you fro your time, I know it’s not too much, but…”

Sunset looked at the bills, noting that the smallest denomination was 50. In total, she had acquired 5,000 of this world’s credits. “No, this is… this is enough. Thank you.” Sunset said, slipping her previous outfit into her bag, and slinging that across her shoulders while Espurr climbed up on her head once more. She went to leave, the door opened when a voice stopped her.

“Wait, dear!” Crystal said. She approached Sunset, a nervous look in her eyes. “I’m afraid to ask, but… where exactly is it you’re going?”

“Coumarine City, to catch a ferry to Sinnoh. Why do you ask?” The flame haired teen responded.

Crystal composed herself, and asked, “Would you mind terribly if I went with you?” Sunset was taken aback by the request, not expecting it. “Oh, it’s not any reason in particular, dear, it’s just that I have a friend over in Sinnoh who recently asked me to come visit. I knew you were going somewhere from our conversation, but I figured that if you were going to the same place, why not go together?”

Sunset laughed a bit. “Wouldn’t that ruin your new fashion line?”

Crystal made a few scoffs. “Oh, pish-posh, darling. My line won’t be ready to actually sell for a while now, and when I saw you on the street I was actually headed for the market to pick up some supplies for my trip. However, I did get a little sidetracked when I saw you, and how perfect you’d be to model it all.” She smirked softly.

“I see no reason that you couldn’t.” Sunset replied, holding out her hand. Crystal took it, the two shaking hands to solidify their newfound friendship. “So, when would you want to leave? We’ve got a long week ahead of us.”

“In the morning, Sunset. You can stay at my place for tonight, and tomorrow we will get our supplies and be off to Sinnoh!” The fashionista twirled around slightly, before heading back into the store. Sunset followed, still laughing inside over how similar her new friend was to another she already had.

Author's Note

New Chapter, New Character.
Calinjc: No, no, Sunset isn't going to have Dash as a rival...
GreatAzureDragon: You'll have to wait for now, but it'll be worth it to find out!
Riku: thanks for the fix! Edited and updated!

Beginnings of a Journey... and Jumping the Gun

The next day came by quickly enough, after a good night’s rest. Sunset carefully browsed the stock of food and supply items the small store had to offer. She had already bought certain items that seemed useful, such as medicine for both her and Pokémon, a small cooking set for camping, and a gray sleeping bag designed to withstand several weather problems. The only thing left to buy was food itself. Crystal, who was wearing a light purple shirt, was debating with Esmeralda on whether to get a certain kind of berry or not, but Sunset was more focused on the easy to make, just-add-water meals. “Can I help you find anything, miss?” The store owner called over, noticing her confusion.

“No, I’m just looking for now. Thanks, though.” In truth, it was due to the fact that she didn’t recognize many of the meals. She’s never heard of ‘Tauros Burger’ or ‘Steamed Krabby Cakes’ before. Assuming it was just their version of beef and shellfish, she grabbed more than enough packages for a two-week trip and went up to the counter. The total came up, and she paid using her remaining funds – which were now down to a simple 1,200 ‘Poké,’ as she found out the currency was called. “Alright, Crystal,” Sunset said outside, as they walked down the sidewalk. “Anything else we’d need? We’ve got clothes, medicine, food…”

“Do you have any Pokéballs, dear?” She asked. She was then faced with Sunset’s confused look. “Well, I’d imagine you are a trainer, one who’s not unused to travel. Surely you have more Pokémon than little Flandre.”

“Flandre?”

“Surely such a darling Pokémon deserves a nickname to match! Besides, I think it’s a great name for her!” Sunset considered that for a second, then realized Crystal could be right about that. She’s been going around calling her Pokémon by the name of its species. It would be like going around saying her name was ‘unicorn’ or human.’

“You alright with that, then?” Sunset called up to the Espurr on her scalp. It mewed happily, confirming its new name. Changing topic, she continued. “Why would I need more Pokéballs, exactly?”

“Oh, dear.” Crystal said flatly. “You’re a new trainer, aren’t you?” After a shy nod form Sunset, she continued. “Well, most trainers would like to travel with more than one Pokémon. So, having spare Pokéballs on you would let you take ones you meet with you as you travel by them.” She said, Esmeralda nodding.

“That’s how we met. Crystal was starting her own journey a few years ago, and met me on Route 4.” She said telepathically. “We’ve been together ever since, and we’ve cared for each other and the other members of our little family.”
“Other members? You have more Pokémon?”

“Oh, goodness yes, darling!” Crystal reached into her purse and drew out two orbs, one of them a standard red-on-white and the other was a black sphere with golden trim. She threw both orbs up into the air, and a red energy came out of one, spawning a large frog-like creature, blue in color and wearing its tongue as a scarf. The other released a creature that resembled a boulder, with three large legs and red gemstones growing out of its body. “Say hello to Rio and Dauntless!”

“Uhh… hello.” Sunset said carefully. The frog-like creature bowed to her, muttering something along the lines of green ninjas. The other simple stated ‘GIGALITH’ incredibly loudly before tackling Sunset to the ground, its skin surprisingly exactly like a rock as she went straight to the concrete floor. “Ow! Dear Celestia, that hurts!” Sunset almost screamed, but her voice was muffled by the rock creature above her.

“Dauntless, you know better than that! Get off my friend and apologize!” He groaned in protest, but ultimately did get off Sunset, who felt at least a dress size smaller form being crushed like that. Rio walked over and offered his hand, helping her to her feet. Meanwhile, Crystal returned Dauntless to his black Pokéball, sighing. “I apologize for his behavior. He is very affectionate towards others.”

“No… urk… problem…” She coughed out, grabbing her stomach to try to alleviate the now-fading pain. Flandre jumped up, shook slightly, and sat on top of her head. After a few minutes of rest, the pair traveled back to the Pokémon Center, and Crystal directed her friend to a collection of Pokéballs. “So, just get a few of these? The price for a basic one says 200 P.” Sunset ended up buying three of the spheres, if only due to her being curious as well. “So, if there’s absolutely nothing else,” Sunset said, after they left the building, “would it be time to leave?”

“I would assume so, Sunset.” Crystal said, checking her bag. “Alright, off we go! An adventure awaits us, darling!” She struck a pose before heading off towards a gate that had a large ‘5’ above it. Sunset merely smiled at her friend’s dramatic tendencies before following suit.

“I guess every world has parallels to each other,” Sunset mused. “It certainly helps with getting to know others, especially Crystal here. I’m technically already friends with her, after all!” The gate led to an open path, tall grass growing here and there along it. A skate park was located to their immediate right, several people practicing tricks on bikes and roller skates. The route stretched into the distance, the horizon blocked by a dense tree line.

“Hey! Watch out!” A voice called. Sunset barely managed to jump out of the way of a roller skater as she flailed slightly to keep on balance. “Sorry about that, I’m normally good at this, but there’s still some water on the course from the battle a couple of trainers had.” He offered her hand to Sunset, then Crystal. “The name’s Dominic. And you are…?”

The two girls introduced themselves, followed by their Pokémon. “It’s nice to meet you, Dominic.” Sunset said.

“It is to meet you two as well.” He said, before snapping his fingers. “Hey, you’re a trainer, right?” Sunset hesitantly nodded. “Why don’t we have a battle, then? It’s only customary for trainers who meet themselves to do so.”

Sunset started to sweat a little, but said, “Sure, I’ll battle you. I’ve only got one Pokémon, though.”

“No worries!” He replied, before skating backwards. He stopped a respectable distance away before he threw out a Pokéball. A small, cat-like being popped out, black fur covering its body with yellow rings circling its limbs and tail. “Umbra, come on out!” Crystal and Esmeralda retreated to a safe distance, sitting down to observe the fight.

“Alright, Flandre, Let’s do this!” Sunset called out, her Pokémon jumping off her head and taking its usual fighting stance. Its stance being a blank stare into the enemy’s eyes, however. “Use slash!” The Espurr ran up, paw glowing with power.

“Dodge it, Umbra!” Dominic shouted, and the Pokémon obeyed his command. “Use bite!” Umbra’s mouth clamped down on Flandre, and the Espurr cried out in pain.

“No!” Sunset shouted. “Slash! Slash!” Flandre flailed around with her glowing paw, but missed each attack as Umbra held on, biting even harder.

“Finish this up with crunch, Umbra!” The Umbreon opened its jaws wide, then slammed them down on Flandre, causing the small Pokémon to faint. “Yeah, that’s how you do it!” Dominic cheered and Umbra pawed at Flandre, trying to wake up the smaller Pokémon. Sunset ran over, concerned for her friend’s health, until she saw her regain consciousness. “You must be a new trainer, sorry if we went a little overboard.”

“No worries, I guess. You alright, Flandre?”

“Espurr!”

“I think she’s fine. Just some rest is in order.” Crystal said afterwards.

“What I don’t get is why Flandre didn’t last longer. Against a… Totodile, I think, she was able to take a lot more hits.” Sunset questioned.

Dominic laughed. “You don’t know about type matchups? Espurr is a psychic-type Pokémon, and Umbreon is a dark-type, which is very effective against the former.” Dominic explained. Sunset, however, was still confused. “Alright, let me give you a quick rundown…”

(Insert exposition here)

“…And that’s pretty much Pokémon type matchups and move types. Any other questions?” Dominic asked. The explanation had taken most of the day, and the three humans decided to walk along the path. The sun had begun to set as Sunset nodded in unsure understanding.

“Yeah, I think I’ve got it. Thank you for your help, Dominic.” She said, though it still didn’t make much sense. Pokémon had elemental types attached to them? It was strange and new, but her inner scholar awakened at the prospect of observing a brand new form of life. She was silently glad she bought that notepad and pen set back in Lumiose.

Soon, night was falling, and Dominic bid the party farewell. Sunset made a small fire to camp out, and the ready-meal of stew was rather good. Crystal was sleeping away in a tent she packed into her bag, Esmeralda with her. Flandre was fast asleep in the sleeping bag next to Sunset, and the girl herself was jotting down something in her journal.

Dear Princess Twilight, it read, I’m not too sure on this world just yet. It seems full of life, and lovable creatures to be sure, but I’m anxious to get home. I know you won’t actually read this for a while, but it helps me… relax, I guess, trying to have some sort of familiarity here. Flandre, my own Pokémon, is an affectionate friend, but kind of odd at the same time.

Apparently, Pokémon are the creatures of this world. They each have a ‘type,’ which is a kind of physical classification the humans here have come up with. Flandre herself is what’s known as a ‘psychic’ type. In short, I have a whole new form of magic to study here – the magic that makes Pokémon work the way you do.

I am also making new friends here, too. I’ve met a girl named Crystal, who reminds me a lot of Rarity. Maybe this world has parallels as well, but they’re called something different due to this world’s customs. Either way, we’re headed to the Sinnoh region together, to try to find a way for me to get home. Well, she’s planning on meeting a friend there, but still.

Your friend, Sunset Shimmer.

Below that line was a crude picture of Flandre and Sunset, each one looking happy. Smiling herself, Sunset closed the makeshift journal, and drifted off to sleep as well.

Author's Note

Two chapters in a day because Wynaut?
I have no actual schedule for posting up chapters, other than 'when I get it done.' I plan on keeping a steady pace as I have been, but don't worry if there's a long break between chapter either. It just means I'm making it better.
...On that note, I wanted this chapter to be done with quickly. I'm not good with writing small start-ups like this one, so please ignore the hopefully small quality drop in this chapter.
Booster Spice: So... a medal or a cookie for you? At least for the first bit.
Norwegian Boy: ...This chapter is my answer to that.

Revealing Resounding Revelations

Early the next morning, the two girls and their Pokémon had reached Camphrier Town. It was a quiet little hamlet, and a small-ish mansion could be seen in the north end of the place. A Pokémon Center could be noted near the western end of town, its uniform red and blue coloration easy to spot amongst the rustic buildings. “Ah, it feels nice to be back in civilization!” Crystal exclaimed.

“We’ve only been on the road for about half a day, if you don’t include us sleeping.” Sunset pointed out. In any case, Crystal was more than happy to run off towards the palace, shouting something on sightseeing while they were there. This left Sunset with Flandre and Esmeralda, the former munching on a berry form Sunset’s bag while the latter approached her.

“I apologize for Crystal’s… uniqueness. She can be excitable at times.” The Gardevoir said telepathically.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve got a friend back home who’s remarkably similar to her, if you’d believe that.” Sunset replied, sipping water from the reusable canteen she bought.

“I would be inclined to believe that, Sunset Shimmer.” Esmeralda replied, looking at the teen. “Especially since you aren’t from this world.” The two started to walk from where they stood, heading in the general direction of Crystal.

Sunset suddenly spat out the water she was drinking. “H-How do you know that?!” She exclaimed, followed by a less loud, “Did you peek in my mind using your psychic powers or what?”

Esmeralda held up a hand. “No, I never looked into your mind. I actually can’t do that. This telepathy is more like me speaking outward with my mind, rather than probing your brain. Anybody nearby can hear me.” The Pokémon smirked. “I’m just really attentive. If you recall, I was the first to awaken this morning, correct?”
“Yeah, you woke me up shortly after dawn.”

“I was busying myself before then cleaning up camp a little. I came across your journal, and I’m sorry, but curiosity got the best of me. I read the entry, and you said ‘this world’ in it, and you were sending it as a letter to a princess I’m sure doesn’t exist here.” Esmeralda sighed. “I’m also just a bit more attentive than Crystal. You didn’t know what I was at first sight. That pretty much doesn’t happen; everybody knows what a Pokémon is.”
“Yeah, I guess that would be a dead giveaway…” Sunset said. She hung her head down as they walked, Flandre almost dropping her berry from the sudden movement. “Hey, Esmeralda? Would you mind keeping that a secret, at least for now? I don’t want to risk losing a friend I just made.”

The Gardevoir smiled. “I suppose I could. Your past isn’t doing much harm, after all. But I recommend you do tell Crystal at some point.” With that, the Gardevoir soldiered on, headed at a slightly faster pace towards the mansion. Sunset was left both reassured and confused at the same time, but shrugged and moved to catch up with her new friend. Just outside the mansion, a small donation box was posted out, to collect money to keep the public space open and clean.

Sunset checked her wallet, just to be on the safe side. She sighed as she looked upon its contents. “Sorry, but I barely have enough for me. Heh, reminds me of my first few days back in the other world.” She closed her almost empty wallet and headed into the building, attempting to find her friend. “Crystal? Esmeralda? Where are you two?”

“Wahhaha!” Came an odd cry. It sounded like Crystal, and so Sunset ran over to where the sound seemed to come from. She rounded a corner, went up a flight of stairs, and saw the girl’s purple hair looking up at a tapestry. “It’s… It’s…”

“Crystal, are you okay…?”

“Oh! Sunset!” She almost screamed. “It’s simply horrible, darling! That tapestry is such a unique work of art, and there’s these large gashes all over it! I simply must fix it so that its beauty can be preserved!” The newer arrival looked up to the cloth in question, its picture showing a young knight from the days of old, a sword printed next to him with a blue cloth on its hilt. A large gash could be seen in the fabric, slicing the young knight’s picture in two.

“Oh, don’t worry too much about that.” Sunset turned to face the new voice, only to see a boy only slightly older than her walk up. He was wearing a yellow suit, with the bottom half of the jacket cut off to reveal a white undershirt. His eyes were the color of summer grass, and his hair was a startlingly contrasting pink. A yellow scarf was tied around his neck, held in place by a blue crystal. His voice was smooth, though, one that gave a sense of calmness near him. “It’s been like that for several years now. The person who owns this place doesn’t want it fixed. He says it adds to the feel of the picture.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.” Sunset said, approaching him. “My name is Sunset, and Miss Melodramatic over there is Crystal. You seem to know a lot about old art, uhh…”

“Oh! Right. My name is Nelson. A pleasure to meet you.” He shook the girl’s hand, smiling. “If by the Espurr on your head is any indication, are you a Pokémon trainer, by chance?” He asked.

“Yeah, I guess you could call me one. I’m still rather new, though.” Sunset admitted, as Flandre simply looked at the newcomer with wide eyes. Crystal walked over and shook his hand as well.

“It’s nice to see someone else here with a great sense of fashion, Mister Nelson.” She said. “I have to say, that suit is simply marvelous on you, it really brings out your eyes.”

“Why thank you Miss… Crystal, was it? I think I’ve heard of you – you own a boutique in Lumiose, correct?” At her nod, he smiled. “I thought so. I do believe I’ve seen some of your designs before. Remarkable, really.”

All of a sudden, it clicked in Sunset’s mind. “Wait, what did you mean by ‘someone else with a sense of fashion,’ Crystal?”

“Sunset, the skirt and shirt I found you in was absolutely horrifying. Any other clothing store owner would have sent you away almost immediately for you poor taste.” She said flatly.

“Ouch. Sounds like you weren’t from Lumiose, I guess.” Nelson said, wincing at the verbal lash Crystal gave.

“Yeah, you could say that.” Sunset said, but didn’t speak any more about it. “Crystal, we really should get going, though. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and I’d like to get to Sinnoh as fast as possible.”

“Oh, fine, darling. I just wanted to check out the sightseeing as we went, though. It’s not often I have the time to leave Lumiose, after all.” Crystal made to look at the tapestry one more time, before sighing and heading towards the stairs.

“Wait, you two,” Nelson said somewhat abruptly. “You said you were headed to Sinnoh?” A nod from both girls, and a Gardevoir. “As it so happens, I am headed to Sinnoh, as I’m only on vacation here in Kalos. My father lives in Canalave city, you see. Would you mind terribly if I joined you on your trip?” He saw the girls’ unsure faces, Sunset more so nervous. “I’m a good cook.”

“DEAL.” Sunset said, shaking his hand faster than Crystal could react. She was not a good chef in any sense of the word, as last night’s dinner was any example. Crystal and Esmeralda were kind enough to eat it without complaint, but Flandre did what everyone there wanted to – she spat out the food and dumped out what was left into the campfire. She had then jumped into Sunset’s bag and pulled out a few berries.

“Well, then I guess that takes care of that. My Pokémon are in the Pokémon Center, so if we could just head there, and I could get them, we can be on our way.” The party group agreed on this plan, and so walked over to the red-roofed building. “I’ll just be a minute.”

“No worries. I was thinking about going over our supplies anyway.” Sunset said, while Crystal went over to the shop in the corner of the Center. Digging through her bag, she regarded the multitude of potions and other medicines she bought before, as well as the measly food she luckily won’t have the chance to ruin for at least a while. Her cooking equipment was still in almost-new condition as well. On her belt she found the Pokédex the professor gave her. Curious, she looked through its database.

She found that almost all the entries were filled in, but there were some that were blanked out. Maybe they were rare species, or just hard to find or good at camouflage. She glanced over the entries for Gardevoir and Espurr, familiarizing herself with what her friends can do. She also saw that Pokémon could ‘evolve.’ She assumed it was some kind of metamorphosis. Sunset glanced down at Flandre, knowing now that eventually she’ll evolve into something called a Meowstic, and she’ll have better control over psychic powers.

“It’s like I’m a teacher for the Pokémon…” She muttered to herself, filling up with nostalgia as her own days as a student filled her mind. She smiled, remembering all of the good times she had with Celestia. Now that she could go back to Equestria, she really should go and apologize to her old mentor. The thought of such crossed her mind, and she nodded to herself, promising to do so when she got back. But for now, she had a student of her own, of sorts.

Before long, Nelson returned, with the addition of four Pokéballs on his belt. “Shall we get going?” He asked, before offering his hand to the sitting Sunset. She accepted his grip and he helped her up, and the two of them had to drag Crystal away from a few fashion magazines. Esmeralda simply sighed in annoyance at her trainer’s antics, and caving in and giving the clerk the money to buy the magazine. Satisfied, the three humans and two Pokémon exited the Center, headed on their way down Route 7.

Nightfall came sooner rather than later, and a small camp was set up. Crystal and Esmeralda retired to their tent, and Sunset chose to put her sleeping bag closer to the fire than last night, to warm up next to the breeze coming from the river next to the route. Nelson set up his own sleeping bag on the opposite side of the fire, after cleaning up the remains of dinner. He had gotten strong compliments from the girls, and the one Pokémon in the group who he could understand.

He slipped away from the campsite, heading to a small area of trees nearby. Looking around to see if anyone was nearby, he pulled the blue crystal from his neck, and opened it up. Inside was a picture of a boy and a girl, smiling. Both of them had the same pink hair and green eyes, and below them were two marks, one for each of them. The girl had a heart with a flower behind it, and the boy had a picture of a small cookie on a baking sheet.

“Ah, sister.” Nelson said, sighing. “Your projections were right. The research team was completely correct. There is a magical anomaly here.” He smiled, closing the small charm and retying his scarf with it. “And it- no, she is just what we were relooking for, all these years. We’ve done some pretty bad stuff since we got here, but now…” He pulled out a small device, one that had two bars on it. One of them was empty, always has been, but the other was half-full. As he turned, the bar filled as it faced Sunset’s sleeping form. “Now we might just be able to make this plan of ours work.”

Author's Note

One more chapter and a new companion! Don't worry, I'm not gonna flood Sunset with buddies. She's still too new to friendship for that. Just these two humans for a while. Anyways, expect the next chapter to have about 80% more horses, 20% more awesomeness, and 100% more Rainbow Dash.
Tatsurou and Jlargent: hopefully Esmeralda's abilities are more explained now.
KlhanStar: Thanks for the support, and being the first guy to at least say they noticed that.
Riku: I'm taking little liberties with locations. I'd imagine there would be more than one boutique in the Pokémon equivalent of Paris.
Fancy Fox: Ding-Ding-Ding! have a cookie.
GreatAzureDragon: "Blank Stare" is now a move. I will be using that.

Paralogue 2

“Rainbow Dash! Where are you?” Spike called out, the small dragon wandering through the southern part of Ponyville. He was constantly looking towards the skies, trying to catch any sort of prismatic head or tail of his friend. “Ugh. Why can we never find her when it’s not an emergency? She’s the second most colorful pony I know! It shouldn’t take this long to find her!” Spike was in luck, however, when he looked up. Above in the sky, two prismatic streaks flew past, creating identical multicolored contrails.

Up in the clouds, Rainbow ‘Danger’ Dash was racing a worthy opponent. She has never been this matched in speed with a pony ever since she raced Lightning Dust at the academy. And now, she might actually lose. Her opponent? She turned her head to the right, seeing a reflection of herself. Only there was no mirror present this high in the air – she was quite literally racing herself across the sky. “I don’t know what your deal is but I’m not going to lose to you, you imposter!” She shouted, grabbing the other mare’s attention.

The reflection looked back. “Who are you calling the imposter? You’re the second Rainbow Dash here! I’m the better one!” She said, calling her clone out on this dare. “I just waltzed on over to this world, trying to find my missing friend, and all of a sudden one of you is trying to copy me! I knew I was awesome, but I’m awesome enough to get fans across two worlds!” She flapped her wings harder, getting more and more speed. After finding out she could Pony Up at almost any time, Rainbow Dash got as much practice as she could with her wings. It felt a little too natural for her, which was why she was so good at flying in her new form.

“Why you…!” The first Rainbow Dash said, slamming into her rival. The other slammed back, trying to knock her out of the air. They clashed and fought in the sky, the twin contrails behind them becoming ever more entangled. Eventually, they grappled each other in the sky, no longer paying attention to where they were flying. Spike watched as the two of them flew towards the large crystal-like structure on the other side of town.

Meanwhile, Princess Twilight was watching as her friends from the other world got accustomed to their new bodies. Pinkie was the fastest learner, picking up on how to trot, gallop, and even hop as her counterpart did. Applejack was next, having raised horses on her farm so she already knew how they moved. The other three weren’t doing as well as them, but had a slow but secure walk down in no time. “Alright, girls, you’re doing just fine. I think you’ll all be alright if we go to look for…” She was interrupted as the window of the room crashed inward, a singular pegasus falling into the room. “…Rainbow Dash.”

“Landsake’s, Sugarcube!” Applejack said, trotting over. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine, Applejack. Listen, everypony, there’s this weird doppelganger of me, flying as fast as me outside! Twilight, just what is going on?” Rainbow said, turning to the unicorn in question. “I mean, I don’t think she’s a changeling, she was too fast, but… wait, Twilight? When did you start wearing glasses? And where are your wings?” She immediately got a little too close to the lavender mare, pressing her forehead against hers. “Just who the hay are you and what happened to-“

“RAINBOW DASH!”

“Oh, hey Twilight.” Rainbow replied to the thoroughly annoyed princess. “I was just, uh, checking out this incredibly suspicious mare here! She looks just like you! But with a less awesome mane style. I mean, a bun? That’s like, really low on the coolness scale. Like mullets.”

Princess Twilight slapped her forehead with a hoof. “Alright, so we have the Dash of my world. Rainbow Dash, meet Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight. They’re my friends from Canterlot High I told you about.” The princess turned towards the group. “Friends, this is the Rainbow Dash that lives here.” The five humans-turned-pony smiled and approached their friend’s doppelganger.

“Wait, whoa.” Rainbow said, turning to the Alicorn in the room. “They’re from the human world you told us about? Why do they all have the same names as us?” She looked at the five again. “Wait… that other me… was she from that world too?” A nod came from Alicorn Twilight. “Ah, crud. We were racing, and fighting, and we kicked off each other mid-flight. I ended up crashing through your window, but…”

“Darling,” Rarity said, walking up to the prismatic pegasus. “What exactly happened to our Rainbow?”

“She went flying towards the Everfree Forest.” Rainbow Dash said. “Aw, horseapples. Now we need to go and get her, now don’t we, Twilight?”

“Yes, Dash.” Twilight said. “I’ll help my friends here to the edge of the forest. You go and get the others. Chances are, with our combined parties, we’ll find her in no time.” She thought for a second, then pulled a few strands of blue ribbon from a shelf nearby, and tied them around the CHS group’s forelegs. “That will come in handy later. There’s two of everypony now.”

Inside a castle in the middle of the Everfree Forest, dust that hadn’t been disturbed in a thousand years suddenly was. A multicolored rocket blew through a window, crashing on the ancient tables in the large room. Dust flew into the air, re-coating everything in a fine layer. “Uhh, my head…” Rainbow Dash said to herself, getting shakily to her newfound hooves. She slowly walked around, glancing at the walls and old paintings on them. “Whoa, is this some sort of old castle? Awesome.”

She wandered down the hallways of the old palace, believing herself to be a pony version of Daring Do, the famous explorer. Rainbow Dash had watched all of her movies, and was pretty much her #1 fan, at least amongst the Canterlot High population. She envisioned ancient traps and treasures weren’t hard to come by, and she was steadily moving down in the more basement levels of the structure. What startled her down here wasn’t the old suits of pony armor. It was the laughing she suddenly heard coming from a room down the hallway she was in.

“What the…?” Rainbow muttered to herself, slowly walking towards the sound. It was coming from behind a slightly open door, and she peeked into the room. Inside was a large pile of ancient jewels and gold, lit by four shining torches. However, what drew her attention was the odd creature in the center of the room.

“Oh, her face was priceless! This world is just too much fun!” Came the voice of a young boy. It was coming from a small creature that looked kind of like a zebra, and obviously a child. His ears were pierced with two gold rings, and his left foreleg and right hind leg also had golden bands running down them. His coat, instead of being black-and-white striped, was striped with purple and grey. The stripes converged into what looked like a very intricate design on his flank. “I really should come here more often. Too bad dad doesn’t like us going off on our own all the time.”

It was at this moment his green eyes locked onto the door, only to see a flash of rainbow color. Smirking, he approached the door and flung it open, revealing Rainbow Dash. “Uhh… hello there…” She said, trying to back away.

“Hey! How did you find my secret hideout?” The colt said, running up to her. “You gotta be pretty smart to have found it.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I just followed your laughing, squirt.” She replied, causing the colt to laugh again. “It’s not that hard to figure out where something is with that flying through the air. Same thing goes on with me!”

“Ha!’ The young colt said. “I like you! You’re not boring like that unicorn I met. She kept going on and on about getting back home and not having time to play with me. Do you have time to play with me?” He asked, looking up to the older mare.

“Sure, squirt. I’ve got time to play.” Rainbow said. She did want to find Sunset, but taking a little time to make a kid happy isn’t bad. “What games do you know?”

“Ooh! Let’s play hide and seek! I’ll hide, and you seek! I won’t leave the castle, promise!” The colt said, jumping up and down excitably. Rainbow smiled, and covered her eyes with her hooves and started counting. The colt giggled and went to his hiding place, without passing by Rainbow at all.

“Alright, girls.” Princess Twilight said at the edge of the Everfree forest, to two groups of equines. “I’ll go over this one more time. In each world, everypony – and everybody – has a counterpart. It just so happens that I’m friends with each world’s version of you girls, as well as myself.” The ponies looked at each other one more time, each more so focused on their counterpart. Rainbow Dash, who was without a copy, simply hovered overhead, looking at the newcomers.

“Do you know what this calls for?” The human-turned-pony Pinkie said. Then, with an earsplitting cry of both pink ponies, they screamed “A double-dimension-super-terrific-new-friends-who-are-us mega-party!”

“Pinkie Pie, Ah think we’d best be waiting on that party until we’re all here.” Applejack said, the one without the ribbon on her fetlock. Both of the cotton-candy maned mares apologized.

“Now, the Everfree Forest is incredibly dangerous, so I want everypony to be careful.” Alicorn Twilight said. “That means no flying ahead, Rainbow.” The pegasus in question visibly sighed, but followed it up with an awkward-looking salute. “I have a few places I think we could look. Let’s start with Zecora. Maybe she knows something about where our friend went.”

“Wait, Zecora?” The other Twilight asked. Spike was sitting on her back, traveling with the group. Likewise, this world’s Spike was on the back of the Twilight he knew better, after meeting back up with them. “Isn’t she the kind herbalist from the more rural part of town?”

“Ah reckon so.” The Applejack from the same world said. “If our Zecora is an herbalist, it’s safe to assume the same of this world’s Zecora. Let’s all get on over to where she lives.” And so the traveling group of eleven ponies and two dragons headed into the woods.

“How can it be so hard to find a freakin’ purple horse-kid?” Rainbow muttered to herself, flying through corridors she’d already passed through to try to find him. “I mean, it’s not like he blends in with the walls or anything. He’s wearing a crap ton of gold, for crying out loud! Who even has that much?”

“I do, silly!” The colt said, seemingly materializing from the space in front of Rainbow Dash. She flew upwards into a hover to avoid his sudden appearance. “You were taking too long. I thought you stopped playing with me.”

“No, squirt.” She replied, landing in front of him. “You’re just really good at hiding.”

The colt didn’t believe her. “No, you didn’t want to play with me anymore. Nobody ever wants to play with me. They all want to get away from me, they think I’m weird. Even my family thinks that.” Rainbow was about to speak, to offer some form of comfort for the colt, but he spoke again. “Dad even took away some of my powers. Said I ‘shouldn’t have had them in the first place.’ Everyone wants to leave, and you were the same. That’s why you didn’t find me.”

“Kid, I was trying to find you! I wanted to play with you, especially a kid that looks so cool.” Rainbow said, sitting next to him. “I’d never leave someone hanging. I’m not that kind of girl.” Sudden realization hit her eyes. “But right now I am leaving one of my friends hanging. As much as I hate to do so, I do have to leave… I could come back and play with you sometime, though!”

The colt sniffed. “You won’t.” he looked up to her, his eyes changing to a dangerous yellow color. “They all say they will come back, but they don’t. You’re lying!” Magical energy filled the air as several of his rings floated off him, enlarging and filling with a purple miasma. “YOU’RE LYING! THEY ALL LIE!” And with that, a vortex started sucking in Rainbow Dash, drawing her into the ring. “NOW I’M MAKING YOU GO BYE-BYE, LIKE YOU WANT TO!” And with that, she was pulled through the portal, falling to the earth as she screamed.

Author's Note

Well, took a little while longer for this one. Sorry about that, but enjoy actual horse activity until the next chapter rolls along!
Booster Spice: Nelson is a pretty interesting character. As for his ranking, I'd say he's about there.
HB_DS2013: This is how I reply to comments. I've found that actually commenting fills up my notifications far more than I'd like, so this is just how I do it.
Jlargent: Rocket (three separate times), Magma/Aqua, Galactic, Plasma (twice), Flare, Snagem, and Cipher (Twice). 12 times, and that's just the games!
Riku: No cookie for you. try again!
ThePatcher: He does indeed know what magic is... And he's going about this smarter than Nerd-Twilight did.

Edit: if y'all want to know what happened to human RD, check this sh*t out.

Royalty and Runaways

Sunset woke up the next morning to the smell of eggs and potatoes filling the group’s camp. Nelson was busy tending to the meal, cooking it neatly over the campfire. Esmeralda was setting up his travel table and chairs, using the metal rods to support the thick and sturdy fabric. Crystal was apparently still asleep, as was Flandre. Sunset stretched a bit, before slipping on her boots and walking over. “Morning, Nelson. Breakfast smells really good!”

Nelson looked up to her and smiled. “Thank you. I’ve always been a fan of cooking, so I’m glad I’ve got people to enjoy it.” He gestured to a set of plates next to his bag. “Would you mind grabbing those for me? I don’t want to leave the eggs unattended.” Sunset nodded and grabbed the stack, bringing it over. Nelson piled a few eggs onto five of them, and Esmeralda levitated them over to the table. “Potatoes are going to take a bit longer than that. In the meantime, could you wake up sleeping beauty over there? I’m afraid I’ll receive a less-than-warm welcome from her this early.”

“I’ll wake her up. Trust me on this one.” Esmeralda said, walking over to the tent and ducking inside. Nelson and Sunset glanced at each other before shrugging, the former going back to tending to the potatoes being seared in the travel pan. He added some salt and pepper to the concoction, spreading them out on all of the remaining plates. He turned sharply when he heard Sunset cry out in shock, as she was being assaulted by a large bird clad in midnight blue feathers, red feathers showing on the inside of its wings.

“Nelson, help me here!” She cried out as the bird flapped around her. Nelson let out a sharp whistle, and held out his arm. The bird turned its head and landed on it, nuzzling up against his face. “What the…?”

“Sorry about that, Sunset. This is Nightshade, one of my Pokémon. I sent him and Terra out to look for some berries to compliment breakfast.” He looked up to the bird. “Listen, nightshade, this is Sunset. She’s a friend, don’t scare her again.” The bird let out what sounded like a half-hearted ‘honchcrow.’ “So, where is Terra, anyway?”

“Statement: I who would be Terrabyte has been slowed by the berries he who is Nightshade found.” A voice boomed into Sunset’s mind. Shortly after, she saw what looked like a giant metal spider with only four legs enter the clearing. It had a blue body, red eyes, and a large metal ‘X’ on its face. “Surprised conclusion: You, who are you, must be She who is Sunset Shimmer, as he who is Nelson told I who would be Terrabyte the identity this morning. Ammendum: I who would be Terrabyte is surprised that You who is Sunset Shimmer is awake so soon.” The voice was completely monotone in its delivery.

“Uhh… it’s nice to meet you too?” Sunset replied, somewhat off-put by the being’s speech.

“Joyous Exclamation.” Terra said, before walking off towards the table. Sunset then noticed the large basket of berries upon its back. However, she was too busy being terribly confused at what the Pokémon had said.

“You’ll get used to it.” Nelson said. “Ever since he evolved into a metagross, he’s talked just like that. Must be the supercomputer brain or something.” He chuckled as Crystal, Esmeralda, and Rio exited the tent. Once outside, Dauntless was let out of his Pokéball to eat and it took the combined efforts of all three humans and Crystal’s other two Pokémon to keep him from jumping on Terrabyte, whom he obviously thought a friend. Sunset woke Flandre, who simply hobbled over to a plate of potatoes and slapped her face in them, eating them as groggily and lazily as possible.

“Is that normal for an Espurr?” Sunset asked. “I mean, Flandre always seems so… out of it. I’ve seen her do nothing but stare blankly and that sort of stuff.”

“Well, every Pokémon has their own personality, like us humans.” Nelson responded after swallowing a mouthful of potato. “I guess Flandre is just tired in the morning. Who isn’t?” Sunset shrugged, and took a bite of the eggs. Her eyes lit up just as Crystal’s did as well, both of them obviously loving the tenderly cooked breakfast. “Heh, I guess you like it?” Nelson asked upon seeing this reaction.

“Darling, this is one of the best breakfasts I’ve had.” Crystal said. “I’ve lived in Lumiose for most of my life, but very few professional chefs can even come close to your cooking. And this is just eggs and potatoes! I would so love to try anything you can cook up.”

“Thank you, Crystal.” Nelson responded. “People always did tell me I had a talent for cooking.” The rest of the meal was consumed in relative silence, the group of friends and Pokémon too busy savoring their food. When all was said and done, Rio offered his services to clean the plates with his Water Shuriken attack. Sunset saw the small blades of water fly through the air and strike the plates with just enough force to clean them, but controlled enough to not shatter them. After Nelson packed it all up into his bag, the Pokémon bowed as he was returned to his Pokéball.

The group began to travel along Route 7 as they had started last night, Sunset admiring the forest to her left and the river of sparkling water to her right. Occasionally, she spied a painter standing to the side of the route, capturing the beauty of it on their canvases. Each one had one or more Pokémon with them, and a few Pokémon were painting their own portraits of the land around them, or each other.

As noon came, the sun shone high in the sky above the travelers. “Oh! Sunset, could we stop up ahead? I wish to visit a good friend of mine, if he’s here.” Crystal said, pointing up ahead on the horizon. A beautiful manor stood to their right, suspended above the water on a small outlet of land. It was a light lavender in color, gray almost.

“Sure, Crystal.” Sunset replied. “I don’t mind a short stop. It’s about lunchtime anyway, so maybe your friend can join us.” She glanced over to Nelson. “I mean, if Nelson doesn’t mind cooking for another.”

The pink-haired boy shook his head. “I don’t mind in the slightest. More friends the merrier, I say!” With that, the group steadily made their way over to the manor. As Sunset approached, she saw that the building had several flags waving outside, from ones similar to those she saw waving in Lumiose, presumably a ‘Region Flag’ similar to the countries of the human and pony world, as well as flags depicting things such as crowns and Pokémon.

The large oaken doors swung out to greet them as they approached, two butlers opening them from the inside. One of them saw Crystal, and smiled. “Announcing the arrival of Duchess Crystal of the Kalos Region, and her guests.” He said this into a microphone, the voice echoing down the halls. Crystal performed a slight curtsey to the butler who did, and he graciously returned the gesture with a bow. “A pleasure to see you again, Duchess. May I presume you are here to partake in the activities of this manor?”

“Possibly, my good sir. But first I wish to meet with an old friend of mine. Tell me, is Duke Fredrick here?” Crystal replied, slipping easily into a more posh accent. Sunset turned her attention to the paintings lining the walls, each one showing one or more Pokémon in battle or in regal attire next to their trainers. “Sunset, come over here for a second, if you would.” Turning to her friend’s call, Sunset walked on over, standing next to Crystal and the butler.

“I take it you’ve been here before?” Sunset inquired of her friend, who giggled.

“Yes, as any trainer would, of course. This is the Battle Chateau, where trainers can come to meet, train their Pokémon together, and partake in the activities befitting a noble status.” She gestured to the butler. “If you’d like, we can get you a title to start out with. These titles do go a long way if you go to other places of refinement around the globe. The Battle Chateau and the Battle Maison, for example, have locations worldwide.”

“Well, why not?” Sunset asked. “I mean, this place sounds pretty nice, and a fancy title might not be my style… but what’s the harm in that?”

The butler walked up to her, and took her hand. “Then it is a pleasure to call you Baroness Sunset for the first time. Welcome to the Battle Chateau.” He turned to Crystal, and spoke to her, “Duchess Fleur is in the Mirror Room. Please do be careful on your way there, M’Lady.”

“Sir, you can’t possibly be serious!?” Another butler said, shocked. Sunset, Crystal, and the butler they were near turned to face him. He was sweating slightly as he stood in front of Nelson, who was holding out his trainer’s ID card. “Sir, it’s an honor…” The butler said, before speaking into the microphone. “It is my honor to announce the arrival of Grand Duke Nelson, of the Orre Region!” The young man in question bowed to him, and the butlers nearby eagerly did the same in response.

“G-Grand Duke?” Crystal said, slightly off-put. “Oh, my hair! I need to look presentable…”

“Uhh, Crystal?” Sunset said, placing a hand on the unnerved girl’s shoulder. “I don’t really know what that means, but I don’t think you need to freak out about it. Nelson’s a friend, after all. I don’t think he cares about your hair or how you act-“

Crystal grabbed Sunset by the shoulders and had a slight crazed look in her eyes. “A Grand Duke or Duchess is the highest noble title one can receive! Only eight people in the world have that title, Sunset! And we’re in the presence of the only one from Orre! We need to be better dressed than this!” With that, she grabbed Sunset by her arms and dragged her into the nearby restroom.

“Um, Lady Crystal?” The butler who was speaking to them said. He received no response as Nelson walked up next to him, Esmeralda nearby slapping her head down into her face.

“My trainer sometimes goes a bit overboard when it comes to making an impression with nobles.” She said. “Why didn’t you mention this earlier, Nelson?”
“Exactly for this reason.” He replied flatly, mimicking the Gardevoir’s current gesture. “I don’t like all the flair and fame that comes with the title. I just like to battle a lot, and the location in Orre is a good place to do that. It’s a nice break from the Coliseum fights, at least.” As he finished his statement, the door to the restroom opened back up. Sunset was thrust out with her hair tied back in a loose but posh ponytail, and was clad in a turquoise dress that trailed down to the floor.

“I seriously question the fact that your bag can hold all of this, Crystal.” Sunset said as she walked away from the door, off balance as she walked. The fashionista who exited next had her hair tied back into a bun, glittering sapphiric jewels strung throughout it. Her gown was very large and regal, being a soft pink color accented by waves of yellow silk. “And the fact that you manage to keep all of this without any wrinkling involved.”

“Sunset, darling, one must always be prepared for a change of fashion. Especially if it means being in the presence of one of high status.” She opened a small compact mirror, making sure her freshly applied makeup was perfect. Sunset sighed and hobbled over to Nelson.

“Having some trouble there, Sunset?” Nelson asked, seeing her trouble. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I got this…” Sunset said, attempting to ‘get this.’ She held a hand over to the nearby wall, steadying herself. “I’ve just never worn heels before. I can’t walk in the damn things.” This was further proven when she took another step and almost fell straight on her face. She was saved at the last moment by Esmeralda grabbing her by her torso, and hefting her up to her feet. “Thanks.”

Sunset and Nelson proceeded to follow Crystal down the hallways of the Chateau, admiring the paintings and statues inside. Other trainers and members of nobility passed by, politely waving as they walked. Eventually, the three people and two Pokémon (Esmeralda standing next to her trainer and Flandre on top of Sunset’s head once more) came across a room filled with beautiful marble statues and mirrors. Dominating the far end of the room was a tall suit of armor carrying an imposing two-edged sword in one hand and a shield with a mirror built into it in the other. The image of a smoky gray warrior seemed to live inside of the mirror-shield, but Sunset could not find what was reflecting to make it. “Good show, love!” A masculine voice said, echoing through the room.

It belonged to a well-dressed man with periwinkle hair. His hair was styled in a loose wavy pattern, and one of his blue eyes was hidden behind a monocle. His skin was a good tan color, the man having gotten much sun lately. His suit was finely tailored, and had a white button-down beneath the black jacket. He was in the midst of a Pokémon battle, his partner being a small bird, colored red and white. It occasionally reached into a bag slung over its shoulder to charge an attack.

His opponent was a woman about his age in equally eloquent attire. She had long red hair so light it looked pink at first glance, with eyes to match. She was in a gown colored the same as her opponent’s hair, which was supported by slinging a sash over her left shoulder. She was completely silent in giving orders to her partner Pokémon, which was a sword that levitated on its own power, holding its scabbard in a ‘hand’ of blue ribbon. Sunset eagerly looked through her Pokédex for more information, finding the entries for Delibird and Honedge to be matches for the two.

“Now, my good friend, use Present!” The man called out as his avian Pokémon pulled a small wrapped box from its satchel, and tossed it at the sword. The girl brought an arm up as if she was blocking the attack, and the sword Pokémon responded in kind, using its scabbard to defend. The gift struck the scabbard and exploded, causing the room to shake slightly. The girl held her hand out and swung it upwards, and the sword mimicked her actions while coated in a shining aura.

The Delibird was hit, and went down for the count. Unable to continue battling, the man recalled his Pokémon to its Pokéball, and the woman beckoned her Honedge over. It sheathed itself and wrapped its blue ribbon around her waist, its sash complementing her attire. She smiled softly and walked up to the man, giving him a quick peck on the cheek before gesturing to Sunset’s group. The man looked up and smiled once his eyes landed upon Crystal.

“Lady Crystal! A pleasure to see you once more. I truly enjoyed your last fashion line; my wife here owns several of your dresses, in fact.” He said, eagerly walking up and bowing politely to her. She responded with a smile.

“Why thank you, Fredrick. And Lady Fleur, it is nice to see you again as well.” The rose-haired girl nodded, either unable to speak or simply choosing not to. Sunset couldn’t figure out which. “These are my friends, Baroness Sunset, and er… Grand Duke Nelson…”

“My word!” Fredrick said, bowing immediately. “I barely heard his arrival over the sounds of our battle, but I did not know I would be graced by his presence!” The consistent actions of the ‘nobles’ here reminded Sunset a little too much of the higher end of Canterlot society, something she never really was fond of. She scoffed to herself, but it did not go unknown for long. “And a pleasure it is to meet you, young lady. You seem… distant, from the proceedings. Is something wrong?”

“No, not really.” Sunset replied. “I’ve just got a serious case of Déjà vu all of a sudden. I know I haven’t met you guys before, but I feel like I have. You guys remind me of some people I met back home once, that’s all.” She gripped her shoulder, reminded of all the meetings that she accompanied Celestia with. She never fit in with the rest of the noble class and occasionally a few of them would point that out, however stealthily. “It’s nothing, really.”

Fredrick simply nodded as Fleur wrapped her arm around his. “I understand, Miss Sunset. Now, my dear Crystal, what brings you around to the Battle Chateau on this fine day?”

“Sunset and I are on our way to Sinnoh, and Route 13 is closed down again due to power failure in the area. So we’re taking the long way to the ports.” Crystal responded.

“Oh, well why didn’t you say so?” Fredrick said. “My lovely wife and I travel here by boat on the river, and it connects to Coumarine City. We’ll be spending the rest of the day here, but I’m certain we would enjoy your company, if you so desire.” The offer was tempting, at least to Sunset. Saving time in getting to Sinnoh means she would get back home sooner. Who knows how time worked between dimensions?

“I’m sure that would be lovely, Fredrick, but it’s up to the group, I assume.” Crystal said, turning to Nelson and Sunset.

“I’ve got no problems. I can cook on land, sea, and air, so no worries here.” Nelson replied, receiving a nod in response.

“I…” Sunset started, before thinking otherwise. She was reminded of the posh atmosphere after one look at Fleur, and she still felt uncomfortable, especially since Crystal lovingly ‘gave’ her the dress she wore. It reminded her a little too much of her home, and the older one with Celestia. “I… agree. That sounds like a great idea.”

“Sunset, are you alright?” Nelson asked, noticing her discomfort.

“Yeah, I’m fine… I just need some air.” She said, walking out of the room. Concerned, Nelson followed her after telling the others to keep enjoying their company. Sunset wobbled on her heels until she was fed up with them, removing the shoes and walking barefoot out of the Chateau. Nelson followed her as she walked along the shoreline back the way they had come, the afternoon sun starting to fall in the sky behind them. Sunset stopped by a large patch of grass, a few trees sprouting around them as well.

Nelson saw her look towards the sun and close her eyes. He frowned, unsure on how to proceed. He shook his head and walked up to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Sunset looked to him, small tears formed in her eyes. “Listen, Sunset,” the Grand Duke started, “I don’t know what’s going on in your head. You got kind of freak out back there. Want to talk about it?” She sat down on the grass, Nelson following suit next to her.

“I miss my home. I’m hoping to try to find a way back in Sinnoh, but I’m not sure if I could.” Sunset said. In her mind, the realization of how far away she was hit her. She wasn’t even sure how she got here, unlike the world of Canterlot High with the mirror. “I guess I’m just a little homesick.”

“We all get like that sometimes.” Nelson said. “My sister and I, when we travel, miss Orre a lot. It’s a big desert, lots of sand, and a lot more heat. But it’s the home we’ve made for ourselves for the past… I’d say twenty years or so. Being homesick is one thing. But look where you are now – a big Pokémon adventure, with Flandre by your side. I’d say that’s worth enjoying while you’re away from home.”

“Yeah. Sorry for that, and all. It only just occurred to me just how far away I am.” Sunset said. “Thanks for helping me out with this.” She hugged him, and Nelson was thrown off guard, completely unsure about how to proceed. Before he could react, she pulled away, a rosy tint reaching her cheeks form embarrassment. “Sorry… my friends and I hug a lot, it’s kind of a thing we do.”

“Uhh… it’s… erm…” Nelson stammered. Sunset laughed a little, before looking out to the water. They shared a moment of peace with each other, enjoying nothing but the breeze and the sounds of nature. That was, until the sounds of nature grew more violent. A loud cry came from nearby, and both of the young adults present turned their heads towards it. The tall grass nearby to them was rustling, a severely larger rustle following a much smaller one.

Sunset immediately jumped up, running into the grass. Nelson ran in after her, Pokéball in hand. The scene they saw was new to them, but familiar in nature to Sunset. A small group of Pokémon, resembling red and violet fireflies, was chasing a small white Pokémon, which had a black crescent-shaped horn coming out of its head. The white Pokémon was obviously very young, as pronounced by its occasional squeals that sounds a little too high-pitched. “We have to help it, Nelson!” Sunset said, somehow shouting while whispering.

“Sunset, it’s too dangerous.” Nelson responded. “Besides, this sort of thing happens all the time in the wild, you can’t risk Flandre’s or your own safety for a Pokémon you don’t even know!” Sunset shook her head before jumping into the clearing, Flandre landing near her and staring at the gathered Volbeat and Illumise. “That girl’s gonna get herself in major trouble is she keeps this up…” Nelson muttered to himself before jumping out as well, Nightshade coming out of the Pokéball he was clutching.

The gathered Pokémon were surprised at the new arrivals, but one of them cried out and flew straight at Sunset. Flandre jumped up and smacked it hard with a Slash attack, causing the Pokémon to ricochet into one of its fellows. Nelson ordered Nightshade to use Wing Attack, and Sunset called for Flandre to repeat her previous motion, and both attacks cut a swath through the horde of Pokémon before them.

Flandre’s eyes glowed while she attacked, and a few of the opposing Pokémon recoiled from an aura that struck them. Nightshade relentlessly pecked at the bug types, until they all scattered, too frightened of the massive black bird to go after their prey much longer. When the coast was clear, Nelson opened up his pack and gave small medicines to Flandre and Nightshade, who had gotten injured during the horde battle.

“Hey there, little one.” Sunset said in the meantime, crouching low enough so she seemed less frightening. “Are you okay?” The small Pokémon shook its head, looking down. “Well, the bad Pokémon are gone now. You’re safe.” The youngling looked up to Sunset with red eyes, and ran over to her, nuzzling her in thanks.

“So, what are we doing now?” Nelson asked. “I mean, it is just a baby, and now that you’ve rescued it…”

“I’m not sure. Do you know where your family is?” She directed the second part of the statement to the young Pokémon, who shook its head and muttered something unintelligible. “Okay, then. Do you know any Pokémon nearby who can help you?” Another shake. The creature pointed to itself and then swiped the dirt with its paw. It looked saddened while doing so. “Do… do you live on your own?” A nod, for once. Sunset looked upon the Pokémon as it gazed back at her.

Sunset looked at its eyes and saw herself, in a way. Lost, confused, and wanting to be strong, just as she was when she first fled Celestia’s school. This little one had run away from its home to prove to itself that it was great, like she had done. Sunset knew this was a dangerous thing to be – from personal experience, she knew this little one could become filled with spite and hatred. “Would you like to come with me?” She said rather suddenly, surprising herself.

The little creature cocked its head sideways. Continuing, not wanting to lose its trust, she continued. “I’m going on a journey, and you look like you want to as well. Why not come with me? I could help you grow strong, the right way. Not by picking fights with a group of Pokémon.” The little one looked a bit sheepish at the last bit, but nodded its head eagerly. Smiling, Sunset reached out and embraced the little one, hugging him close to her.

“Another Pokémon already, huh Sunset?” Nelson said. “He suits you, in a way. Now you just need to capture him in a Pokéball.” Sunset and the little Pokémon tilted their heads at him. “Capturing him in a Pokéball ensures that nobody else would be able to do that. They also give Pokémon a safe place to rest when you’re traveling.”

“Oh, I get it. Well, are you up for the idea?” She pulled a Pokéball out of Nelson’s bag, her own having been shoved inside due to Crystal’s antics earlier. The small Pokémon bopped the sphere with its snout, and a flash of red energy sucked it inside. The Pokéball shook a few times before emitting sparks, and laying still. “…Did it work?”

Nelson laughed. “Yes, it did. That little guy is now your partner, like Flandre is.” Cheering, Sunset ran back towards the Battle Chateau, eager to show Crystal their new companion. Flandre tottered after her, trying to keep up with the barefoot human. Nelson smiled as he pulled his necklace off and popped it open, looking upon the picture of the boy and girl once more. “She reminds me so much of you…” He muttered as he looked towards Sunset and the time of day matching her name in the background. He closed the locket and briskly walked after her, smiling as he remembered times before.

Author's Note

So, as to why this one took a while, three reasons. One, finals. Two, the Holidays are near. And three, I started this out as two separate chapters, and felt that neither one actually got enough done to count as a full chapter. So I made them one. Don't expect this to become the norm when it comes to chapter length, more like... a pleasant surprise. Also, someone was nice enough to inform me that this story was apparently featured. I was completely unaware if it was.
BoosterSpice - Seeing as though it's a move and not magic... wait... hold up...
Tatsurou - Arceus and Discord procreating, and made Hoopa... that was a disturbing mental image. Thank you for that.
Riku - Enope! Rainbow can be found in a much, much more awesome place.
SilentMech - Nuzlockes are fun to watch. Especially randomized Nuzlockes.
irdohr - That's why I put the Equestrian story in paralogues. you don't need to actually read those to understand Sunset's story, at all. Only read them for the full picture.
Cobalt Ravenscroft - I did try hard to make him a changeling... but Zebras are fun.
Jlargent - Most definitely. If I did it to only one, some people might raise an Objection!

A Magic Show! The Rival Appears!

The sun had begun to dip below the horizon as Sunset re-entered the Battle Chateau, young Pokémon in tow. A maid announced her arrival, title and all, but she paid no attention as she made her way to the rear of the establishment. She found Crystal, Fredrick, and Fleur sitting around a small table, enjoying cups of fresh tea while their Pokémon (minus Dauntless, who seemed to still be in his Pokéball) chatted nearby in their own speech. “Ah, Sunset, we were just talking about – Whahaha!” The last bit was what was becoming a trademarked scream that she did, which sounded similar to the CHS counterpart Sunset knew. Crystal had dropped her cup and looked in shock at the Pokémon Sunset was holding. “Sunset, why are you with… that?”

“What are you talking about, Crystal? This is my new Pokémon partner. He was being attacked outside by a horde of bug-types.” The young Pokémon looked up to her and licked her chin, smiling. “What’s so bad about him?”

“I’m not talking about the Pokémon, darling!” Crystal said, and pointed towards Sunset’s lower half. “I’m talking about all the mud on your legs and dress! How could you be so careless?!” She then proceeded to faint, falling to the floor in a dramatic slump. Fredrick laughed at the girl’s antics before turning to face Sunset.

“Well, in other news, I do wish you luck in raising such a young Pokémon. That Absol must be less than a month old, as it’s barely bigger than an Eevee.” Curious, Sunset brought up the Pokédex log on the creature she was holding. She began to look more and more worried after reading it for a few seconds.

“The ‘disaster’ Pokémon? Predicting terrible events? Is that all true?” She asked the remaining two nobles. Fleur nodded her head, and Fredrick copied her motion. Sunset raised the young Absol to her eye level, getting a good look at him. “Well, I don’t think you’re as bad as the Pokédex says. How could you cause a disaster?”

“I don’t know, but sometimes there’s a voice in my head that tells me to do things.” The Absol said, smiling. “It’s a nice voice. It’s calming, actually.” Everything was normal for a few seconds until the humans present realized what happened. Fredrick looked dumbfounded while Sunset yelped in surprise, dropping the Pokémon. “Oof!” He said, hitting the floor. “Hey, what was that for?”

“Y-You can talk…” Sunset said, more a question that a statement. Nelson chose this moment to arrive, gazing upon the situation for the first time.

“Oh! It’s the guy who helped save me! Hey guy!” The Absol said. Nelson froze in place, wearing the same look on his face as the other humans (sans Crystal, who was still passed out) and Pokémon had on theirs. His voice sounded to Sunset like it was childlike and slightly insane, but also smart and caring at the same time. He looked around at all of them, confused himself. “What’s wrong? Was it something I said?”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Nelson responded, deadpan in facial expression and tone. “In fact, it could just be that you said something in the first place.”

“Wait, you mean you guys can understand me?” The Absol asked. Sunset nodded. “Oh, this is about as cool as frozen Magikarp!” He jumped up and down excitedly before immediately stopping and looking at Sunset. “But how did this happen? I don’t remember putting a book to my face or anything…” Flandre walked up and said her species’ name to him a few times, in an effort to comfort him. However, the more she said, ‘Espurr,’ the more confused the Absol got. “Uhh, no offense there, but what are you saying? You sound like a Chatot singing the same song over and over again.”

Nelson strode over, bending low to meet the young Absol. “You don’t understand Flandre here?” A shake of the crescent-horned head. “Well, this truly is strange. You can speak the human language, but not the Pokémon one. What an odd turn of events.” Nelson smiled. “However, I do believe that we can, er, adjust to this.”

Sunset picked up the young absol once more, angling him so he could look at her. “So, I don’t really know what to call you… do you have a name?”

“Well, my parents must have given me one but I can’t really ask them about it seeing as though they’re dead and all.” He said nonchalantly. “You’re my trainer now, right? That’s kind of like a parent. How about you give me a new name?” Sunset thought for a minute or two about this. Flandre kind of came to her out of the blue, an odd yet mystical sounding name. This kid needed something to match him, though. Sunset thought back to all the myths she had read about back in Equestria and Earth, trying to think of something fitting.

“How about Abel?” Sunset asked him. The absol cocked his head to the side. “It’s a name for those who can become strong.” The absol, now christened with a new name, happily smiled at the sound of that.

“A lovely name, dear.” Crystal commented to the pair, waking up from her faint. “However, it is getting late, and I suggest we get changed and towards Fredrick’s boat. We don’t want to miss it, now do we?” With that, Sunset followed her into a restroom for the second time that day, leaving Nelson, Fredrick, and Fleur alone with the Pokémon in the room.

“So, what brings you all the way here from Orre, Grand Duke?” Fredrick asked, trying to make small talk while the others were away. Abel was nearby, trying to play with the other Pokémon, but failing due to not being able to understand. Feeling sorry for the youngling, Esmeralda acted as a translator for him using her telepathy.

“Nothing much. My sister wanted me to check something out that her research found out. Apparently, there’s this new kind of energy that’s recently popped up, one that causes Pokémon and humans to exhibit unique traits.” Nelson responded in kind. “Some effects we’ve seen in lab testing with this energy are new evolutions, differing moves learned between peer Pokémon, and even some humans gaining the ability to use Pokémon moves.”

“Astounding!” Fredrick exclaimed. “How come we haven’t heard of this on the news or anything? This seems like something the professors would jump all over instantly.”

Nelson shrugged. “Until about a month ago, the energy only existed in Orre, in a very small area.” Nelson stretched a bit, popping his joints to loosen up. “Now it’s shown up again in Kalos, and we wanted to track the source down before it fell into the wrong hands. We heard all about what happened last year with Team Flare; I hope it doesn’t come to that extreme again.” Fredrick simply nodded in response, smiling.

“Well, due to our most recent champion’s actions, and her friends, I do believe that we won’t have that problem anymore.” He continued. “How are things over in Orre, anyway? Is that nefarious Team Snagem stealing Pokémon again?”

Nelson laughed. “Snagem isn’t a team or anything. They’re just a band of bullies, no trouble at all. There aren’t many wild Pokémon in Orre, so people know how to battle and fight off thieves.” He reclined back in a chair, grabbing a small puff pastry that was on a platter nearby. “Snagem hasn’t really been much of anything after Cipher disbanded and they stopped getting Snag Machines from them. At best, they’re a bunch of glorified bikers now.”

“Seems like Orre has everything under control.” Fredrick said, taking the other chair while Fleur left his side to approach a passing maid. A few more minutes were spent before Crystal and Sunset exited the facilities, the former in a newer ensemble while the latter had put back on the clothes she wore earlier.

“Sorry that took so long dears, I just couldn’t decide what to wear.” Crystal said whilst approaching Esmeralda, the two of them headed to find Rio.

“How many outfits does she have?” Nelson asked.

“If I knew how she fit all of them in that backpack I’d tell you.” Sunset replied, before heading over to collect Abel and Flandre. She returned the absol to his Pokéball, and the espurr climbed up to her default traveling position. “Anyway, I think we were heading out, right?” A group consensus responded with the affirmative, and the group left the Battle Chateau, the butlers working the night shift beginning to walk in and respectfully bowing as they left. The wind was gently blowing as they left.

“Right. Well, my friend who owns the Parfum Palace was so kind as to let me use his dock by the river, so my boat is over there.” Fredrick said, Fleur at his side. “After an hour’s walk or so we should be there.” Sunset followed them back down the road they came from, admiring the last fading rays of the sun and the few stars that poked their way through the sky. As they approached a crossroads, the group turned to their left, headed down a well-maintained path that led towards an imposing estate.

“Well, this place sure looks fancy.” Sunset commented.

“Well, the owner of the Palace is insanely rich. I would expect it for him to put a lot of money into the outward appearance of the place.” Esmeralda answered, her trainer nodding in agreement. “It befits his regal status to do that.” The forest path opened up into a larger courtyard, which served as the front lawn to the building. A few guards stood in front of a large golden gate, while a few of their fellows were joining a group of people gathered near a small wooden platform near the edge of the place.

“I wonder what’s going on over there?” Sunset asked. Upon a second look, the platform had a small carriage next to it, a horse-like Pokémon with a flaming mane and tail hitched up to it. Curious, she walked up to the crowd around the stage, Nelson accompanying her. Crystal and Fredrick walked up to the gates, to negotiate entry to the property.

“Hey, do you know what’s going on here?” Nelson asked a young girl. The girl had silvery hair and violet eyes, and was clad in a purple halter top and jean shorts. She glanced over to Nelson, giggled, and pointed over to a poster on the wagon’s side. He read the text aloud for Sunset to hear. “It says, ‘The Great and Powerful Trixie, Traveling Pokémon Performer.’ I’ve never heard of her. She native to Kalos or something?” The poster had a picture of a familiar-looking girl to Sunset. She was dressed in stage attire on the poster, a periwinkle tunic hugging her body tightly and boots to match. She wore an oversized witch’s hat and an ankle-long cape of a more lavender color, though these were also decorated with yellow and blue stars.

Sunset rolled her eyes, as she knew what was most likely to happen. Still, a magic show given by someone who had talent for the human form of magic, with the aid of Pokémon, should be interesting. Within a few minutes smoke poured out onto the stage, and a girl who matched the poster exactly walked out onto the stage confidently.. She bowed as the crowd clapped for her flashy entrance. “Thank you everybody! Now behold as I, The Great and Powerful Trixie, dazzle you with feats of magic the likes of which have never been seen before!” She threw her left hand out to the side, a wand appearing in it instantaneously. Unlike the rest of the show or the performer, the wand was a simple and traditional black and white magician’s wand.

The performer aimed the wand to her right, and a ball of water materialized there. As she moved her hand so did the sphere, until she flicked it high into the sky. The ball of water was then intercepted by a jet of fire that also shot form it, forming sparkling droplets that rained down upon the crowd. As they applauded, Trixie followed it up with another wave of her wand, the smoke onstage swirling around her from an unfelt wind. The smoke curled up into its own sphere before becoming corporeal, forming a face of its own. “Ghastly!” It proudly proclaimed, before flying out over the crowd. Sunset was slightly impressed, and clapped along with the crowd.

“For my next act, Trixie will need a volunteer from the audience!” She proclaimed in the third person. Almost everyone in the crowd eagerly raised their hands, trying to be chosen by the talented magician. Trixie aimed her wand over the audience, trying to determine who to choose. She hesitated over Sunset for a second, a small falter in her stage look before moving on and choosing the girl in the halter top next to Nelson. The girl walked up onstage, only to stand inside a large box that Trixie’s Ghastly levitated from her carriage.

“Now, before your very eyes, witness as The Great and Powerful Trixie transforms this volunteer into a Pokémon!” The crowd murmured to itself, most people saying things as if they didn’t believe she could do exactly that. Smirking, Trixie closed the box the girl was standing in and tapped it with her wand twice. The box shrank to half its original size on the stage, and Sunset momentarily peeked underneath and saw that there was no trapdoor below. When the box re-opened, a small Pokémon hobbled out of it that looked like a bipedal mongoose. The crowd erupted into joyful cheering.

With a small pirouette and a flick of her wand, Trixie caused the area around the mongoose to erupt into smoke, and when it cleared the girl was standing there as good as ever. After she rejoined the crowd the show continued, each trick getting more and more spectacular. Sunset found herself wondering if this world’s Trixie actually knew magic. As with any good magic show, the ending was a disappearing act. The crowd watched as Trixie pulled her hat off her head, and tapped it three times with her wand. After placing her hat back on her head, it fell down her body, Trixie vanishing into the confines of the silk article. The Ghastly flew over and picked up the hat, showing the audience there was nothing underneath as it put the hat on its own head.

After a rousing cheer, the crowd dissolved into their own groups, Sunset still hanging near the stage. Nelson commented that he’d check on Crystal and the boat as he approached the main gates, getting stopped by the guards. Sunset merely turned back towards the stage, only to come face to face with its owner. “Whoa!” She said, falling backwards from the startling appearance. Flandre fell backwards as wall, falling flat on her face behind her trainer. “Hey, what was that for?”

“You…” Trixie said before shaking her head. “Trixie merely wishes to speak with you. Trixie saw you during her show, and she was… intrigued by you.” She helped Sunset to her feet and beckoned her to follow. Not sure if she should, she did so anyway after helping Flandre back to her feet. Trixie was leading Sunset back behind her wagon, where nobody else was around. “Tell me,” Trixie said, dropping the third person, “What do you know of magic?”

“Magic?” Sunset asked. She had to be careful here. She had no idea what magic was to the people of this world, but she decided to play it safe and give an explanation from Earth. “Magic is a bunch of illusions and sleight of hand tricks designed to make people believe something mystical has happened.”

“I see.” Trixie responded, before lowering her hand. “I… apologize, then. I thought you had merely seen through my illusions…” She sighed before continuing. “To make it up to you, how about I challenge you to a Pokémon battle? If you win, I’ll give you an encore presentation of my show.”

Sunset smiled. This is how the people of this world share friendship, after all. “Alright then. I’ve only got one Pokémon who I’d like to fight with, though. The other one’s kind of young and I don’t want him to battle yet.”

“This doesn’t bother Trixie.” The girl said, slipping back into a stage routine. “Trixie will only use one of her Pokémon, then.” She grabbed a Pokéball from her belt, and threw it high into the sky. “Dazzle the battlefield, Illusion!” The Pokémon that came out looked like a small black fox, with blue-tipped paws and tail, and a blue swirl of mane atop its head.

“Flandre, let’s show her what we can do!” Sunset called out, the Pokémon in question jumping from her head. Quickly looking at her Pokédex, Sunset identified her opponent as the Dark-Type known as Zorua. Knowing she had a type disadvantage, Sunset immediately thought of her options. “Given that Psychic Type attacks are useless here…” She thought to herself, having read the typing mechanics on her Pokédex the other day, she proceeded to call out, “Flandre, use Slash!”

The Espurr’s paw glowed in a white aura, and it was headed straight for the enemy before Trixie belted out, “Illusion, use Double Team!” The Pokémon smirked and flashed around itself multiple times, clones of the Pokémon appearing all around the battlefield. Flandre looked confused before striking the nearest image, causing it to disappear. “Illusion, use Fury Swipes!” One of the images leaped through its comrades, slashing across Flandre multiple times with glowing claws.

“Ah! Get out of there, and use, uhh…” Sunset looked at Flandre’s moves on her Pokédex once more, trying to remember what she could use against a dark type. “Use Disarming Voice!” Flandre responded by crying out cutely, somehow making the sound waves that came out of its mouth both visible and tangible. One of the shadowy images was knocked back from the blast, towards Trixie’s feet.

“Illusion, get up!” Trixie called out, as the Pokémon got to its tiny paws, not much left in it. Illusion shook, and gave a positive sounding bark. Before she could get any farther, Sunset told her companion to use Slash once more, on that one. The attack was about to connect, until Trixie called out to her friend. “Sucker Punch!” The Zorua jumped into the air to meet Flandre, and its lighted paw collided into the slash attack, causing a small explosion to occur. Both Pokémon flew out to the side, and both of them looked very much unconscious.

“Well… uh… I guess this is a tie, then?” Sunset said after a few tense seconds. Trixie merely agreed before grabbing a pair of Potions, walking over to the unconscious Pokémon.

Author's Note

Happy New year, Everypony!
So, the reason this chapter was a bit late can be attested to the following: I got Undertale, beat the True Pacifist ending, and proceeded to be bombarded with intense feels. Also, enjoy the new feature of my story - music!
KaijinZero: I'll try to introduce pokemon better as we go on. Thanks for letting me know. However, for the Absol, I wanted to not say the name, as Sunset didn't know what it was. The story is (mostly) from her perspective, and I want to keep it more constant by explaining things by the standards of what she knows.
Jlargent: Keep that in mind later on.
Tatsurou: Nelson's story will be revealed more and more as time goes on, but I've let quite a few pieces slip by so far.
Booster Spice: No, He's not Micheal, but you're good at guessing. Try again for that cookie.
Fictional Fanatic: Boots like those may have raised heels, but I was trying to imply comically large, needle-point heels. Boots with a slight raise and a square heel aren't really the same.
Talguy21: I only thought of Hk-47 after the fact, believe it or not. I was trying to imitate characters from Imploding Colon's amazing story, Austraeoh. Check that out if you want an amazing read.
Norwegian Boy: *Slowly raises hand*
Brony Pony: Indeed she is. but what will the next one be? Let the theories begin!
Xero Key: Unfortunately, she won't be taking the Gym challenge at all. She's a trainer in order to blend in, not to participate. I don't want this story to devolve into simply following the games with a pony-not-pony.
Lord Nopony: Trust Nelson. He may have his secrets, but hey... he's a nice guy that can cook well. Not trying to hide anything there.
RvB-DESTROYER: She's pretty used to superstition, too. I mean, she turned into a she-devil and knows almost all of Equestria's ancient myths.
Azure Ravenscroft: I gave her a Gigalith to achieve the same 'jeweled' effect without resorting to cliche.
GreatAzureDragon: Thank you!
...These comment response boxes are getting longer. This is a good thing... *Evil-villain-rubbing-hands-together-cliche*

Confession and Contest

"Well. That proved to be easier than I thought." Sunset mused to herself, leaning against the railing of the boat’s upper deck. When Fredrick told them he had a boat they could travel on for a while, he failed to mention it was a yacht large enough to boast two decks, full accommodations for up to eight people to have their own rooms, a well-stocked kitchen and bar, and plenty of luxury pastimes. Flandre was for once not on her head, the small espurr content to sleep in the bed in her cabin for the meantime. Abel was busying himself in the ship’s small study by reading a few books with the aid of Esmeralda. The moon was high in the sky, signaling the approach of midnight, as the flame-haired girl let out another sigh.

“What did?” A voice asked. Sunset turned to see Crystal walk over. She smiled at her, and gestured to the rail nearby. The girl nodded and leaned on it as well, looking out over the water. “I don’t want to pry, darling, but you look like you have a lot on your chest.”

“Yeah, you could say that.” Sunset responded. For a time, the two of them looked out upon the clear water, the moon and stars reflected in perfect clarity. Sunset’s mind wasn’t on the water, though. A mental battle was going on in her head, one side begging to keep everything in, the other wanting to confide in Crystal about her home. Crystal would most likely be appalled, or think she was crazy, or even call the authorities about a crazy teenager. Sunset thought back to Esmeralda’s words, and prepared herself for any reaction that could happen. “Hey, Crystal?”

“Yes, darling? What is it?”

“What would you say if… well,” Sunset paused for a second, to catch her breath. “If one of your friends was hiding something from you, and knowing it would make you think they were insane at best?”

“Well, I would of course be shocked at whatever news I was told at first, but ultimately I would realize that a friend wouldn’t lie to me.” The more high-society girl replied, a knowing smile on her face. The look went unbeknownst to Sunset. “Why do you ask?”

“Crystal, what if I told you that I’m trying to get home by going to Sinnoh… but my home isn’t there.” Crystal looked confused for a second, but let her continue. “I’m going to Sinnoh because Professor Sycamore told me one of his associates does a lot of research on the properties of space and time, and contemplating on traveling using them.”

“Well, that’s a noble pursuit in my opinion. Why wouldn’t someone want to know more about the mysteries of our world?”

“As much as I would like to, I’m going to find out all I can about this method of travel because…” Sunset took one last gulp of air before uttering: “Because I’m not from this world.” Silence filled the night. Sunset’s eyes were closed, hoping she didn’t create a rift in her newfound friend. Silence filled the air as she saw nothing through her eyelids. A small shuffling, and then a warm feeling on her shoulder. Opening her eyes, Sunset found Crystal’s hand on her shoulder as the more fashionable girl looked almost apologetic in the moonlight. “Crystal, I understand if you’re not going to believe me, but-“

“You quiet down now, Sunset. I won’t hear any of that.” Crystal said, her face bearing an indescribable emotion. “You kept this secret form me. I can understand why – you thought I’d find you crazy, or unstable, or, or… something. But Sunset, know that I consider you a friend.”

“But I’m not from here!” Sunset responded. “I’m basically an alien to you, how could you just trust me like that?”

“Sunset, dear, my other friends are a gentleman frog, a gemstone-covered boulder, and a psychic who can only talk via telepathy and has the power to create a black hole.” Crystal let this information sink in. “Compared to them, dear, this is normal. At least you look and speak like a human. Err, you are still a human, right?” She added a small chuckle to that last bit.

“Well, technically I’m a unicorn pony.” Sunset answered this as plainly as she could. Upon seeing Crystal’s flabbergasted face, she chuckled softly. “It’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time, Sunset.” And so the Unicorn-turned-human began to recount her tale to Crystal, the latter only interjecting to ask a small question. Sunset told her of her studies in Canterlot, her brief reign and fall over Canterlot High, the Dazzlings’ attempt to mind-control the student body, and finally the events of the Friendship Games. Crystal was astounded that one of Sunset’s friends in the other world was so similar to herself, even having a similar hairstyle and disposition.

“…and that’s when I woke up in Lumiose City, met with Professor Sycamore, and then ran into you. You know the rest, I guess.” Sunset finished up. A quick glance at the XTransceiver she had told her the story took them into the early morning at around two-thirty.

“So you truly don’t know how you got here to begin with?” A shake of flaming hair answered Crystal’s question. “Well, I don’t know how I would have acted myself. It’s a wonder how you haven’t gone crazy or anything.”

“Well, it is my second alternate reality than my first, and it’s similar to the one I call home. Culture shock was a thing for the first day or so, but I think I got used to it.” Sunset pulled out her Pokédex, flipping through the entries. “I mean, my academic mind found studying the Pokémon here fascinating. They’re a lot different than the animals of the other two worlds.”

The two aimlessly chatted into the night, stopping only to sleep when they thought it was too late. Sunset went back to her cabin to find Flandre curled up on her pillow and fast asleep, while Abel was curled up in a small basket. The small Absol looked adorable like that, and Sunset quietly changed into a nightgown Crystal fashioned for her and crawled under the covers of her bed.

In the morning, breakfast was served late for everyone’s benefit. Sunset lazily walked down in what she slept in, happy inside to find that Nelson and Fredrick did the same. Crystal however, was in a more fashionable outfit, and Fleur was nowhere to be found. “Well, I see someone isn’t a morning person.” Nelson joked as he sipped from a mug.

“Can’t talk. Need coffee.” Sunset muttered, flopping into a chair and reaching blindly for the pot of brown wake-me-up juice. When she flopped, Flandre was revealed to be in her hair, the smaller Pokémon falling out of the frazzled mess and straight into a sugary doughnut, which she munched on slowly but happily. Sunset poured herself a cup (Which spilt all over the table, causing Crystal to pour one for her while a maid cleaned it up) and drank out of it, savoring the taste and fragrance of dark coffee.

“So, while this method of travel is faster than walking there, we still have two or three days until we reach the ports to the open ocean.” Nelson said, silently chuckling at Sunset’s antics. “Any ideas on how to spend the time?”

“I for one will be getting some work done on my new designs for the Spring Season in a few months. Sinnoh must be full of new fashion ideas…” Crystal said.

“I’ll be relaxing with my beloved.” Fredrick said. “You all are welcome to use the facilities on my boat. Any friends of the talented Lady crystal are friends of mine!”

“You flatter me too much, Sir Fredrick.” The mulberry-haired girl then turned to Sunset. “What will you be doing, dear?”

The girl in question looked up, her hair still looking as if a flock of birds moved in for the night but her eyes wide and alert. “I’m not entirely sure. If at all possible, I’d like to have a Pokémon battle or two. I’m still new at them, and some experience might not be bad.”

“In that case, I’m free.” Nelson offered. “Shall we?”

“In an hour or so. I still need to wake up.” Sunset said. “And from the looks of it, my Pokémon need to as well.” She said this simply by looking over at Flandre, who had passed out in the doughnut she landed in.

In about three more hours' time, to be exact, Sunset and Nelson faced each other on the sizeable deck of the ship, a good amount of space to have a battle on. “Alright Sunset, I presume you know the normal rules. Since you’re new, this’ll be a one-on-one matchup, and we go until one Pokémon can’t battle anymore. Got it?”

“Got it!” Sunset replied, Pokéball in hand.

“Alright then! Arisu, let’s go!” Nelson said, tossing a red-and-white sphere out. After a flash of red light, a small Pokémon had appeared, sloth-like in appearance and lazily scratching its head.

“Abel, let’s show them what we can do!” Sunset said, tossing out her own Pokémon. The small Absol bounded out of the ball, ready to fight.

“Aww, we’re fighting a Slackoth? They’re no fun…” Abel whined, but still in a battle stance. “C’mon, let’s fight already!”

“As you wish.” Nelson said. “Arisu, be a dear and use body slam, please.” Nelson said this calmly, and the Pokémon he was talking to immediately jumped into the air, surprising both Sunset and Abel. The sloth then fell on top of Abel, crushing the smaller Pokémon beneath her larger frame.

“Crap!” Sunset swore, looking at her Pokédex to check on what moves Abel knew. “Uhh… Abel, use Night Slash!” She called this out and a blast of dark energy erupted form beneath Arisu. The Absol under her had pelted her in the sky, his horn glowing a dark purplish-black color. “Good job! Follow it up with another!”

“Aye Aye, boss lady!” Abel called out, jumping up and swinging his horn at the flying sloth. He laughed a little too much like a super-villain as his attack hit, knocking the Slackoth back.

“Arisu, please get up.” Nelson said calmly. She did so, seemingly alright. “Now, go ahead and use yawn, if you would.” The Pokémon simply did what the move implied, and Abel looked at Sunset.

“That’s all she’s gonna do? We got this…” Abel yawned deeply. “In the bag…” And with that, he fell to his side, fast asleep.

“What? Abel, get up! Now’s not the time for a nap!” But it was no use. Nelson politely asked his partner Pokémon to slash at Abel, the sleeping form unable to dodge. This continued for several minutes, until one Slash attack knocked the Absol back into Sunset’s arms. She held him in one and swiftly slapped him across the cheek. “Wake up!”

“Huh? Is it morning already…?” Abel said groggily.

“We don’t have time for this!” Sunset said. She threw the Pokémon at his foe. “Use Night Slash again!”

“What for- Whoa!” Abel quickly used the move, just in time to land the attack on Arisu. As the battle continued, blows were traded between the two Pokémon, each one just as fierce as the last. The battle lasted a good fifteen more minutes, until Abel landed a lucky hit on Arisu’s rib area with a bite attack, landing what Sunset would later know as a critical hit.

“Yeah! We won, we won!” Abel said victoriously, circling around and around Sunset’s feet before falling over, tired and exhausted from the fight.

“Nice battle.” Nelson said, returning Arisu to her Pokéball as Sunset did the same for Abel. “You’d make a good coliseum battler in Orre, if you trained some more.”

“Thanks. For now though, I say we let these guys rest. They need it.” Sunset and Nelson walked back into the depths of the ship, Sunset realizing that she found him more friendly than before. Perhaps this was more than a way to express one’s strength in battle? Maybe Pokémon battles can strengthen friendships as well, she thought.

Author's Note

Hooray for a new chapter! Fun fact, this chapter was on the site about a week and a half ago, I had just failed to hit the 'publish' button. Since I have the next Paralogue done now, expect that up by next week so I can keep up a pace. As always, comments responded to below.
Tatsurou: Undyne's theme has to be one of my favorites form anything ever. As for your hypothesis, well, you're on the right track.
Night_Moon60606: It was Trixie's starter. You can have uncommon starters in fanfics, and the show. A kid had a female eevee for a starter in Gen 1 I believe, and they're not common either.
HB_DS2013: Sounds delicious, and too late.
Lord Nopony: Thanks for the review! as for Abel's speech, look up at my response to Tatsurou.
Riku006: For Abel's character, well... have you ever played FE: Awakening? Think of Henry. Illusion the Zorua is Shiny, in fact. And I never said Nelson was evil.
Booster Spice: Yeah, probably he will be like SPike, though with dark humor mixed in. And Flamethrower will be a must!
GreatAzureDragon: good job noticing that. keep it in mind.
Norweigian Boy: I raised my hand to show that I, in fact, use Delibird quite often online.
RvB DESTROYER: No problem, I like responding to things! Abel is not shiny, but Trixie's partner is. I now see where you get the stigma thing from. I'll have to include that sometime.
Talguy21: It's one of my faves too. Esmeralda, though, is my #1 fave pokemon.
Thank you all for commenting! See you guys next chapter!

Paralogue 3

Twilight trotted through the forest as best she could, trying to keep her hoofsteps steady. Her counterpart with wings was too busy coming up with plans and strategies to search the Everfree, but she and the other ponies of Equestria thought it would be best to check the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters first. Twilight was still a bit unnerved about the idea of this world having doppelgangers of herself and her newfound friends, but the more she spent time with them the more she came to understand them as friends. She did kind of already know them, after all.

“Alright girls, here we are.” Princess Twilight spoke, gesturing to an old, decrepit castle with a fetlock. The lavender unicorn looked out upon it with a curious eye, spotting the signs of hundreds of years of wear and decay over time. Vines grew out of holes in the masonry, and windows were badly shattered or even nonexistent altogether. She could spot a few torn tapestries here and there, but most were in too much disrepair to make out what they had depicted in the past. “To search this place a little faster, let’s split into two teams.”

“Applejack, you and the other ponies who are from this dimension go and search the lower floors.” The Applejack without a ribbon on her hoof nodded. “I’ll take my friends from Canterlot High and search the upper floors.”

“Hey, Princess Twili- er, me… uh…” Twilight stuttered, before regaining her composure. “Perhaps it would be best if I went with the group of equestrians? It’s difficult enough trying to figure out which one of us we’re talking to at times, and if an emergency happens we don’t want to be confused.”

The other ponies considered this for a second, before the Rarity wearing a ribbon nodded. “It seems only fair, darling. Even though I’ve had a wonderful time talking to somebody who shares my interests almost exactly, it does get a tad bit confusing.” A murmur of agreement went through the group, though for the two Pinkie Pies it was more of a resounding cheer than anything else. With that said, the unicorn wandered over to the other group of ponies, with a Rainbow Dash lazily flying above them.

“Alright, girls, let’s go. Remember, we’re here to find Rainbow Dash, so keep your eyes and ears open for any signs of her.” Princess Twilight led the large group inside, only to branch off with the ribbon-wearing ponies and take a flight of stairs upwards.

“Alright y’all, let’s go on down into the basement. C’mon, Sci-Twi.” Applejack said.

“Uh, ‘Sci-Twi,’ Applejack?” Fluttershy asked, her voice a little less quiet with less ponies around.

“’Course. Princess Twi, she said that this here Twi likes all them science-ey things and studies them. So, ‘Sci-Twi’ is a way to help tell them apart.” The farmpony continued down the staircase, not looking back. “The other me came up with the same idea already. Fact is, she’s already asked for herself to be called just ‘AJ,’ since that’s her nickname at school.”

“Makes sense to me at least, Applejack.” Twi said, resulting in a small grin from the native Equestrians. Together they walked down the staircase into a lower hallway, torch scones lighting the place up with what little flame they still had. Twi was curious about them, as no fire should have lasted this long without someone (or somepony in this case, she mused) tending to them.

Meanwhile, the other group of ponies headed towards the higher reaches of the castle. The Alicorn leading them was smiling to herself upon the success of the mingling that both groups of her friends enjoyed. The smaller entourage of ponies with her walked and looked around themselves, mostly looking for their friend but also taking in the sights of an ancient and, at least to them, alien castle. One alabaster unicorn in particular couldn’t help but gawk at the ancient tapestries that lined the walls. Up ahead, a small glow could be seen coming from one of the rooms.

“Careful, everypony,” Princess Twilight said as they approached. “We don’t know what’s in here. It could be Rainbow, it could be a monster, it could even be…” They peeked their heads in, to see a peculiar sight. A small purple and gray zebra foal could be seen playing with a few gemstones. His neck and one of his legs was covered in gold bands, which jingled and clinked against each other as he tossed the gems up into the light of a window, watching the beautiful colors splash against the wall nearby. “…A foal?”

At those two words, the little colt jumped in surprise, then smiled as he ran up to the group of ponies. “Oh, hi there!” His voice squeaked out. “Did all of you come up here to play too? The shiny stones are really cool!” He looked out over the group some more. “Whoa, and there’s all kinds of ponies here! Winged ponies, horned ponies… you even have both! You must be really special!” He said the last bit with a smile towards the resident purple pony princess.

“Uhh… I bet they are… but what exactly are you doing here all by yourself? This isn’t exactly the safest place for foals…” Twilight cautioned.

“Ugh, you big ponies are always like this!” The colt complained. “I’m a big kid! I can take care of myself, and I like to have fun. This place is fun, so I like to come here! I even met that cool rainbow-haired girl, but she had to leave.”

“Y’all saw Rainbow Dash here?” AJ asked. “Where’d she get to? We’re trying to find her real quick, so we don’t have to worry none.”

“She didn’t want to play with me anymore. So she went bye-bye.” The colt said, before trotting over to the jewels. “Do you all want to play with me?” He smiled innocently.

The group of ponies came up from the basement, having found nothing of suspicion down there. They all also reasoned that Rainbow would not have been in the lowest floors due to there being no light and the girl’s tendency to keep moving. If she was down there they would have heard her, they all reasoned. “Twilight, darling, we’re done checking the basement. How’s things up here?” Rarity called out. There was no response.

The six equine figures trotted up the stairs to the second floor, attempting to regroup with the others. They stopped at a corner, however, when they saw the scene before them in the hallway nearby. Five ponies lay down on the ground, the orange one and the lavender one seeming to be bruised a little. “How come whenever I ask, they all want to not play with me?!” A small voice shouted out. The zebra colt darted out of a room and jumped on top of the downed Fluttershy’s wings. “All I want is a pony to play with? But is there ever enough time? NO! It’s always, ‘I’m looking for someone else’ this and ‘On a tight schedule’ that!”

The six eavesdroppers looked out in shock at what happened next. Five golden rings left the colt’s legs and suspended themselves over the five shapes. “Well, if you all want to go bye-bye too then go ahead!” The colt closed his eyes and the five rings sucked up the five shapes, taking the colt with Fluttershy into the ring. His voice echoed shortly before the rings disappeared. “I’m outta here! There’s nobody that’s fun here anyway.”

Silence filled the corridor as the friends looked on the now-empty hallway. They could say nothing as they simply stood there, gawking at the scene the colt left behind.

A man in a red-wine colored suit strode up into the barn doors. A ruffled cravat swayed gently as he walked, taking in the scene of the police officers combing every inch of the barn. Three white sheets lay in the center of the room, the bloodstains around them leaving no mystery as to what lay underneath them. The man walked over to another, who was wearing a ragged and old green jacket. “Detective, I take it you have a suspect, or did you call me out here for my own personal investigation?”

The man jumped and turned, clutching his heart. “You can’t do that, Mr. Edgeworth. You’ll give me more gray hairs than I can afford to have.”

“And if you don’t give me something you’ll be able to afford less, Gumshoe.”

“Sorry, sir!” The man said. “We’ve already got a suspect, but there’s one problem. She doesn’t seem to have any memory of what happened. But the story and the evidence all match. Her fingerprints, her alibi is shot, and we think her blood will match up with some of the samples we have. I don’t think this is one you need to do much prosecuting on.”

Edgeworth adjusted his glasses. “Knowing my colleague, we’ll see about that.”

Fluttershy awoke to the sound of rushing water. She felt it, too. Before long she sat up, only to find herself in the shallows of a river. She saw that she was human again, but she had no idea where she was. The scenery around her was lush and green, and several trees up ahead looked wild and free.

A low rumbling came form the forest within. A creature unlike any Fluttershy had ever seen brushed past smaller trees and bushes with ease. It looked like a large, red Wyvern with spikes lining each of its wings and its back. Its breath lingered with embers, and its claws glistened with venom.

Fluttershy got up, in awe of the beast before her. She carefully approached it, as any other movement might provoke it into thinking she was prey. She knew how animals thought, after all. When she got close, the beast roared loudly, challenging her.

Fluttershy smacked the Rathalos on its nose. Somehow, the beast then knew what it was doing was wrong and scary, and whimpered.

Rarity was not having the best day she could be. After the event with the little colt, she woke up to find herself in a jail cell. What kind of people do that to a lady? The cell was pristine and clean, with a bed, a small desk, and a secluded alcove with a toilet. At least it wasn't a dirty cell, she thought.

She ventured a look out of the bars. Several people in lab suits scurried around the room, looking at several screens and... specimens, for lack of better terms. Small gray people, purple bug-like things, and even mechanical torsos were dissected on tables. Rarity fought the urge to vomit.

"So, the test subject is awake." A woman with a heavy German accent said. "Good. Let the interrogation begin."

Confidently, the princess walked up the stairs to her father’s throne room. An uncertain frown was upon her face. “Father, I found something on the castle grounds that you might want to know about…”

“My dear Zelda, you know you can tell me anything.” The king said, stepping down from his throne and kneeling next to her. “What did you find? Did you finally unlock those powers of yours?”

“No, it was… someone. A girl, passed out on the front lawn.”

“That is indeed troubling, Zelda. I’ll send out a few maids to bring her into the palace infirmary.”

“Father, there are some strange things about her…” the king raised an eyebrow. “…She smells sweet, like candy. And she’s pink. Her hair, her clothing… it’s hard to look at her.”

“Well, we’ll make sure she’s treated right. After all most of our champions aren't very regular either.” He and his daughter shared a laugh.

Princess Twilight was barely conscious as she started to hear voices. They were talking about something above her, but she wasn’t really coherent until later in their conversation. She saw nothing, but she did make out a young girl’s voice. “…We have to do something…”

A slightly older male voice talked back. It sounded as if he was her own age. “Well, what do you propose we do?”

“I-I don’t know!” the second voice gasped, however, as Twilight opened her eyes. The girl was on her right, with cascading blond hair and a mustard-yellow dress. The boy on her left had royal blue hair and wore a blue tunic. Some sort of metal shoulder guard was on one side of him.

He spoke. “I see you’re awake now.”

`”Hey there,” The girl added in a clam tone.

“There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know.” The boy reached out his arm. “Here, take my hand.”

Author's Note

No music today, as I wasn't sure as what would fit.
Also, don't expect me to jump on all of these new stories right this second; I'm having a hard enough time trying to balance the two I got. As always thanks for reading!
Booster Spice: That was very punny. like the paper I draft this on, even tear-able at best.
Tatsurou: have a cookie.
shynight: he even has his own theme song.
Fictional Fanatic: Read and find out! input is encouraged!
Jlargent: (THIS)
GreatAzureDragon & Shadow Hero: Thanks for the support!
Keaton-furman-prower: you and me both. Honestly, no idea what to do for honesty yet.
raven618: Crystal/Rarity's hair color is 'mullberry' according to the guys I saw the movies with., at least.

Mega Madness, Part 1

The rest of the boat trip went smoothly, as far as Sunset could tell. She trained with her Pokémon in the mornings, battling against Nelson and Crystal’s own Pokémon in small matches so as to not tire out the young Abel or wreck the ship entirely. In the afternoons, she joined Crystal in the yacht’s minor study, brushing up on some common knowledge of this world. Soon, Sunset had become knowledgeable about most things Pokémon, from type matchups to general etiquette on the road to gyms and their leader’s functions.

For example, the city this boat was set to port near was called Shalour City. It wouldn’t dock in the town per se, just right next to it. The current plan was to stay in town for the night as they would arrive just as the sun was about to set, and set off for Coumarine City first thing in the morning. Sunset busied herself with a pocket guide to Kalos she had found, and one that Fleur was happy to give to her.

“So, according to this book, Shalour City is home to a Pokémon Gym, a hotel, and something called the Tower of Mastery.” Sunset said. Crystal was sitting next to her on the top deck of the boat with Esmeralda, while Abel played on Dauntless’s rocky spires. “Think we could have some time to check some of those out?”

“Of course, darling.” Crystal responded, smiling. “Thinking about taking on the Gym?”

“Maybe. I was more interested in the Tower of Mastery. Rumors say that those who practice and use ‘Mega Evolution’ live there. I’d like to learn as much as I can about Pokémon before I go home; who knows if I’ll ever be able to make it back to get another chance?” She said, before frowning a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound like that…”

“It’s no problem.” Crystal responded. “I understand how much you must want to go home. Every time I go to another region on a fashion trip or to meet up with a friend like this time, I get terribly homesick.”

Sunset looked quickly at the guidebook. “Yeah, but at least you know you’re able to. Who knows if I even can?” Crystal looked over to her, a look of concern on her face. Sunset noticed this and smiled widely (and, to some, in a slightly terrifying way). “I-I mean, of course I can! I just… need to find out how.”

“Sunset, dear, you don’t need to lie to me to make me feel better. I’m with you through all of this. No, why don’t we find out when the Tower is accepting visitors, hmm? It won’t do to have your curiosity stifled while journeying around this world.” She grabbed the guidebook and looked it over, before letting out a high-pitched squeal. “Ooh! A new boutique is opening up!” Sunset simply rolled her eyes and laughed.

When Fredrick’s boat had docked in the shallows of the river, the group of three humans bade him farewell as the rich man had to head back downriver towards Lumiose. Crystal grabbed the arms of her two companions almost instantly, dragging them off towards each of the unique shops the town had to offer. It took the combined psychic efforts of Esmeralda and physical efforts of Nelson and Sunset to keep her from dragging them into a fourteenth store only Crystal had any desire to go in.

“Crystal, why don’t you go and have fun shopping. Sunset and I can very well handle ourselves in a city.” Blinded by the sight of the stores in front of her, Crystal could only nod in agreement before leaving the two.

“Thanks.” Sunset said. “I’m not sure if I could have handled going into a store named ‘Pour l'amour du parfum.’ I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth…” Sharing a laugh, Sunset orientated the two towards the Tower of Mastery, looming over the bay in the distance. “That place looks more my speed. Let’s go check it out.” The beach-like road that led to it was moist from the receding tide. Sunset’s boots sunk into it with each step, making the walk there seem like it took forever.

Upon reaching the front doors, the two were relieved to see a sign that read ‘Welcome to the Tower of Mastery, home of the Mega-Evolution Guru. Visitors welcome every day from sunrise to sunset.’ The two massive doors that led inside swung open with relative ease and the two spotted a large, open chamber with a statue of a Pokémon on it. A few people were milling about, noses deep in books or battling with powerful Pokémon by their sides. One was even sparring against his Pokémon, a tall blue creature with spikes on its hands and chest and a wolf-like head.

“Welcome, visitors.” An elderly voice said. “What brings you two souls here today?” The voice belonged to an aging man with extremely large, gray eyebrows. He bore a happy smile upon his face as he walked over to the two with the aid of a cane.

“I was hoping I could learn more about Mega Evolution here.” Sunset said. “I, uhh, read about it in the guidebook and I’m kind of studying Pokémon while I’m traveling, so I thought it was a good idea to stop by.”

“Indeed it is! I’m always happy to teach young trainers what I know. Now, I could go into a long lecture about how this form of evolution works, but it’s best to learn by example. Jason!” He shouted the name, gaining the attention of the trainer sparring with his Pokémon. “I would like it if you were to battle this newcomer. She is curious as to how Mega Evolution works.”

The trainer and his Pokémon bowed. “I would be happy to.”

Sunset looked at the old man. “Uhh, no offense, sir, but I’m still a new trainer. I don’t think I could last very long against someone who can-“

“Then the only way to get stronger is to try.” The man said. Sunset pulled a sleeping Pokémon off her head and woke her up.

“Flandre, sorry to interrupt your beauty nap, but we’ve got a battle.” The Espurr simply stretched and let out a catlike growl before hopping down and staring at her enemy. For the first time Sunset could remember, Flandre looked back at her worriedly. “It’ll be fine, don’t worry.” This did little to relieve the psychic-type’s worry, but still she turned back.

“You may have the first attack.” Jason said.

“Alright, then.” Sunset weighed her options carefully before saying her order. “Flandre, use confusion!” The small psychic-type’s eyes glowed cyan, and a similar aura enveloped the opponent. To Sunset’s surprise, it gripped its head, obviously being affected by the attack.

“Lucario, aura sphere!” Jason shouted, while reaching to his wrist and clutching a white bracelet. Energy spikes shot through the air from it, latching onto a gemstone necklace around the Pokémon’s neck. A shell of purple light enveloped the Pokémon, before exploding outwards to reveal a transformed creature. It was taller and had longer limbs, more defined muscle, and strangely enough, more hair. It growled and launched a ball of blue light out at Flandre.

“Get out of the way, Flandre!” Sunset shouted, but to no avail. The ball had hit its mark, exploding and launching Flandre into Sunset’s chest. The two fell backwards, with the Pokémon obviously out cold. “Whoa…”

“Mega evolution is a way for Pokémon to get even stronger than they already are.” Jason said. “But to use it, you have to be in sync with your Pokémon. Have a bond that is stronger than the toughest metal.”

“But, you can’t accurately show how powerful a mega-evolved Pokémon is unless your opponent is equally as strong.” Nelson said, walking up to the scene. “With your approval, Mr. Guru, I would like to battle as well.” Nelson lifted up his arm, revealing a black ring that circled his wrist. It had a multicolored jewel set in it.

Author's Note

Hello again, everyone! Sorry for the wait; college got the best of me in the last few ~~weeks~~ months and I do apologize for that. But now that the summer's here, let's get right back into this story, shall we?
Fetch and The DriderPony: I do hope I can handle it. I'm only doing two stories at a time anyway, so it should be manageable.
Chaos Overlord 65: With the exception of Fluttershy (for obvious reasons) yes they will be separate stories.
Booster Spice: We don't need your containment policies, don't worry. *EXPLOSION* I, uhh, have everything under control.
Keatamon-furman-prower: they will be answered in time.

As for the universes, this is the list, as one of you got all of them correct last chapter.
Sunset and Fluttershy are in the Pokémon universe.
Rainbow Dash is in Lordran, in Dark Souls.
Rarity is on Sera, from Gears of War.
Applejack is in a California jail, from Phoenix Wright (I know it's a Japanese game; the English translations say it takes place in San Francisco or something).
Pinkie Pie landed in Hyrule Castle's Garden, specifically the one from Minish Cap.
And Princess Twilight is in a Ylissean Field, from Fire Emblem: Awakening.

Happy reading!

Mega Madness, Part 2

“Terrabyte, come on out!” Nelson half-shouted into the arena. Opposing the mega-evolved Lucario was the four-legged psychic Pokémon, metagross. Before much could be said, Nelson had already walked over to his Pokémon and attached a black band to Terrabyte’s left front leg that had a small, pale gemstone set in it. “I wish to show Sunset here what the power of Mega Evolution truly is, rather than a cheap one-sided sparring match.”

The guru nodded, smiling. “It has been a while since a good old-fashioned battle has taken place in these halls. You may proceed, guest.” Jason had taken the opportunity to use a small potion on his Lucario, healing him up for the second fight. “When you are both ready, you may begin.”

“With all due pleasure. Terrabyte, let’s do this!” Nelson tapped his keystone, and a brilliant violet aura erupted out of it.Similar to what happened with the Lucario, Terrabyte’s for shifted. He flew into the air, propelled by unseen forces as four new legs jutted out of his back. His four original legs became more akin to claws, and all four pointed forwards.

“That seems a little like overkill.” Sunset commented. Flandre simply looked at her trainer with a blank look, telling her to simply watch the battle. “Sorry.” The battle was soon underway, Terrabyte launching several high-powered psychic attacks and what seemed to just be flat-out lasers at his foe. The Lucario would respond with expertly timed counters and spheres of blue aura. Sunset was engrossed completely by the sights before her, often missing the commands of the trainers or what they said.

It was more than simple attacks in her mind. Each blast of energy, each punch and dodge of the battling Mega-Pokémon resonated with her innate magic. As a student under Celestia for so many years, she could start to see patterns and symbols in each attack; Pokémon moves were more than just techniques, she realized. They were this world’s form of magic! Sunset simply couldn’t see the signs of spellcasting when a normal-powered Pokémon used them. Even the Lucario’s physical attacks almost always had some form of magical augment on them.

Flandre busied herself with staring at the Pokémon who bested her. She knew she was outmatched by the older Pokémon, but that didn’t stop her from planning revenge.Knowing her strengths, she simply kept on staring at the fight in front of them, planning and planning.

The battle soon ended, however, with a victorious cheer from Nelson. Snapped out of her thoughts of magic and spells, Sunset saw the Lucario from before being returned to a Pokéball as it fainted from the fight. Within seconds after, the glowing aura left Terrabyte and returned him to his normal form.“Victorious Declaration: I, who is Terrabyte, have bested the opponent He who is Nelson engaged in combat with.”

Flandre clapped her paws together, glad for the outcome. She then scrambled up to Sunset’s head as the girl stood up to walk over to her friend. "That battle was intense. The Pokémon are alright, right?”

“Sarcastic Comment: I who is Terrabyte has never felt this much pain in his entire life.”

Nelson chuckled at his companion’s bluntness. "And that is why Terra is one of my go-to battlers. He’s helped me out of more than one jam back in Orre.” Nelson returned the large, spider-like creature to a Pokéball. “All of my team has. And that, Sunset, is better than any kind of power. The Strength-“

“Of friendship?” Sunset finished for him with a smirk. “I’m kind of well acquainted with the concept. Big thing back home and all that.”

“Well, yes.” Nelson answered sheepishly. Before they could comment further, the old man known as the Mega Evolution Guru approached them. He bowed slightly to Nelson.

“Marvelous! You do indeed know the strengths and limits of your bonds with your Pokémon. Thank you for sparring with my student, as I’m sure it was a valuable learning experience for him.” He turned to Sunset. “And to you, Miss, I hope you learned something about this particular method of battling while you were here.”

“I have. It was very thrilling and enlightening to watch the battle.” The Espurr above grabbed a strand of hair and pulled slightly. “Ow! And yes, I learned to monitor my own strength as well. Don’t worry, Flandre, I won’t put you in a battle like that again. ”The Pokémon made a noise of contentment, then curled back up. “At least, I won’t try to.”

“If you need a bit of extra help, well, here. Take this stone.” The Guru held out a small translucent sphere. It looked deceptively like a cat’s-eye marble, with a swirl of blues, greens, and pinks inside it, but after seeing two of these in action Sunset knew it was more than that. “I sense a potential inside you, Miss Sunset, and it would be a shame to see it wasted.”

“I don’t know, I mean, I’m still a new trainer and-“ She was silenced by Nelson’s hand on her shoulder. He motioned for her to take it. “Alright, then. Thank you, Sir.” Sunset reached out and touched the sphere, grabbing it and cradling it in her hand. The stone was warm, and Sunset could feel the power it held. She slipped the stone into her pocket, making a mental note to ask Crystal to make a glove for it or something.

“Now, to use it, you will need two more things.” The Guru said. “You will need a stone for your Pokémon, and more importantly,” He tapped sunset on her chest with his cane. “You need a strong bond with your Pokémon. Nothing can happen if you do not have the same faith in them as they do in you.” With that, the Guru walked off, administering to some of his students.

“Well, come on then, let’s go track down Crystal. Knowing her, she’s probably in some sort of clothing shop.” Sunset followed closely, her mind reviewing all of the information she’d learned from the Tower of Mastery. She had a working theory on Pokémon moves, and her own innate magic was itching to be put to use after being cooped up for so long. Perhaps, if her own magic could be used in this world…

Sunset shook her head. Not the time to think about this, after all. She had a friend to find. The streets of Shalour City were busy in the afternoon, people going about their business from shop to shop in the market district. Two heads of red and pink hair made their way into the city, searching for their dramatic companion.

When they did spy Crystal, Sunset surely wasn’t expecting her to be in the middle of a Pokémon battle. Rio held a calm stance across from what seemed to be a lioness with a long, straight mane the color of Sunset’s own hair. “What’s that one…?”Sunset asked herself, pulling out her Pokédex. She found the entry on Pyroar. “Huh. Fire type, proud, fast… sounds like my kind of Pokémon.”

Crystal’s opponent was clad in what could only be described as a blazing suit of red-orange, and their hair was done up to look like flames. Thick, opaque glasses of the same color hid half of their face from view. “Pyroar, use Will-O-Wisp!” The lioness responded by sending out several balls of ghostly blue fire at Rio. The frog was unable to dodge in time, and Sunset could see several burns adorn the creature’s body from the attack.

“That’s not good.” Nelson said. “A burn won’t just hurt over time, it’ll hurt as Rio moves. He’ll be weaker.”

Sunset seemed concerned for a second, then looked to Nelson with confusion. “Wait a minute. Rio is a water type, right? How could he get burned?”

“Human bodies are made up of mostly water, yet we can get burned.”

“Oh. Right.”

Crystal, oblivious to her friends, commanded Rio with a graceful “Rio, Water Shuriken, and aim high!” Two blades of water appeared in Rio’s hands, and the frog-warrior sent them spinning upwards. Her opponent laughed at her tactics, preparing for another move, but not before Crystal’s next command. “Double Team! Hit that Pyroar with everything you have!” Rio’s body split into multiples, each shadowy image concealing his real location.

“Wait, what’s he doing?” Sunset said. Nelson simply gestured to watch. In seconds, each clone of Rio would jump in turn and grab the flying water shuriken, and use them as melee weapons to attack. The clone would then throw them to another one, who was ready to jump in. The whole move seemed to drag on forever, but was over in a few short seconds.

“I do believe that the match is mine, good sir.” Crystal said, walking over to Rio as the Pyroar fell over wand was returned to its Pokéball shortly after.“ Though, I will have to decline your offer on joining your little team. Red was so last season.” And with that, she took Rio by his arm and left the man, who screamed and ran, swearing revenge.

“Who was that guy, anyway?” Nelson asked.

“Some pompous idiot who was with Team Flare, or whatever. Said that only the most fabulous will have a place in the world, but, well, we all know what happened last year and why that won’t be.” Crystal reached into her bag and pulled out a small medicine bottle.“Now hold still, Rio, this will only sting for a second.”

“What happened last year?” Sunset asked.

“We’ll tell you over lunch.” Nelson said. “I’m starving.”

“Oh, I found this lovely place just down the road, it looks fabulous!”

Author's Note

So, I finally updated. And Firstly, let me apologize for the year-long, unannounced Hiatus.
To put it simply, shortly after I posted up "Mega Madness, Part 1" and the latest chapter of "Rainbow Dash Explores Lordran," several really, really sad and depressing events happened in my life. I was thrown out of it, and into a place in my mind some people don't come back from. However, enough depressing talk, for I'm back, and I'm planning on staying for as long as it takes to finish not only Sunset's journey here, but all of the other stories I have planned.
So please, forgive me just this once on being a year and a half late with an update. I swear, that's never gonna happen again. Plan on bi-weekly updates at the latest, but as always, chapters will be released as soon as I am able to. I'm gonna try to ease my way back into this as best I can.
Thanks for understanding, and reading this after so long.
-The Skyrunner

The Gym of Shalour City

“Well, that sounds like a really close call.” Sunset said in between mouthfuls of pasta. The restaurant Crystal brought them to was a quiet little café on the end of the main road in town. Flandre in particular was engrossed by a small plate of doughnuts in front of her, her blank stare singling out each one before she’d make a choice to bite into one of them. “But, what’s I’m concerned about is the lack of the police involvement. I mean, the entire region was saved by five people our age? Where was everyone whose job this actually was?”

Crystal took a break from her soup to answer. “From what I heard about it, Team Flare made a big distraction at Lumiose City to occupy the police while they set up their weapon. I was out of town at the time, thank goodness, but it worried me to no end once I heard about it.”

“Still find it just a little strange, but that might just be me.” A thought struck Sunset. “What did happen to that Lys… Lies… Lies-and-her guy, anyway? Was he arrested, or what?”

Silence for half a second followed her words. Nelson spoke up. “Oh, Lysandre? Well, we’re still not entirely sure on that one. The site, you see, was deemed too dangerous due to radiation from the weapon to fully investigate. It’s unknown what happened to anyone trapped in there.” Nelson took a long drink from his tea. “Personally, I think he’s dead.”

Crystal almost spit out her tea at the notion. “Nelson, how horrid! No matter what he might have wanted to do, nobody actually got hurt outside of Team Flare’s base, so he doesn’t deserve that.”

“It’s a fact of the matter, Crystal. He was using the legendary Pokémon Yveltal to power his machine; you know, the one that brings death and darkness where it goes? The weapon’s misfire would have killed everyone still in that base.” Sunset was trying to follow the conversation, but between trying to listen and looking up Pokémon names in her handy little bestiary to understand which ones they were talking about, she could barely follow.

“No, no, nelson, you misheard. Lysandre was using Xerneas to power his machine, and so that beam would have made them all immortal due to its life energy.” She shuddered. “A dreadful fate either way for sure, but less so than being torn apart.”

“Well, maybe he could have used some of Xerneas’s power, but…” The conversation went on for some time, Sunset no longer able to follow. It ended without a definitive conclusion, but still one that the flame-haired girl didn’t understand. Sunset just chalked it up to poor media coverage and delivery that the result is vague. While the two were finishing up their conversation/argument hybrid, Sunset busied herself with cleaning off her Espurr’s face.

“Come on, Flandre, don’t give me this kind of attitude.” She said as the Pokémon glared at her. Unlike most of her stares, this one held annoyance and disdain from the actions of the trainer. It was soon that the three and their Pokémon left the café, heading towards the center of the city.

“So, anything else you girls want to do while we’re here?” Nelson brought up.“ There’s still a good amount of time between today and when the ferry to Sinnoh is supposed to arrive.”

“Ooh, Sunset, how about you try the gym challenge?” Crystal offered. “It was a fun thing to do during my little journey around Kalos, even if I never did finish all of them.” Sunset read about the gyms in her guidebook; they were places for young trainers to test their skills against ‘Gym Leaders’ and earn ‘badges’ to compete in the region’s Pokémon league.

“Well, I don’t plan on actually competing in a league or anything, but… what do you think, Flandre? Want to try it?” The Espurr’s response was a small, positive sounding chirp. “Well, I guess that settles it. Where is the gym here?”

“On the west side of town, it seems.That big, stadium-looking building over there.” Nelson provided. Indeed, the building was large, with a brown roof and several sizeable windows to let natural light in. The entranceway was akin to that of a sports arena, Sunset noticed, and inner still was a large track of polished and oiled wood surrounding a Pokémon battle arena.

“Wow, this is actually kind of impressive. What’s the track for, though? I thought this was a Pokémon gym.”

“Korrina, the leader here, likes roller skating. Each gym has the personal flair of its leader, to make it a bit more unique than each other.” Crystal added.“ Though, I could do without ever seeing Santalune City’s gym ever again. The leader was nice, but well… too many bugs.” She shuddered rather visibly at the thought.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The trio walked up to the track, which seemed to have been recently polished. “This is very well maintained. I wonder where the gym leader is, though.”

“Sawk.” A voice said behind them. Startled by the sound, Sunset turned around to see what could only be a man covered in blue bandages and wearing a white karate gi and black belt. He was holding a mop in one hand, while the other was motioning for them to step away from the track.

“Er, I’m sorry, what did you say?” Sunset asked.

The man sighed, then said once more, “Sawk.” Nelson and Crystal shared a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“Sunset, darling, you do realize that’s a Pokémon, right? Not a person?” Crystal pointed out. Sunset turned to the Pokémon with wider eyes.

“Oh, sorry, you just look… so much like a guy…” Sawk simply shook its head and sighed, walking away from the track. Sunset turned sheepishly to the others. “Did… I just insult him or something?”

“I’m not one to decide what a Pokémon is feeling, but… he did seem more than a little annoyed.” Nelson stated, causing Sunset to drop her head and sigh. This, in turn, caused Flandre to topple off of her perch and onto the track.

A sound of rolling thunder hit the ears of everyone present. A sliding gate opened on one end of the track, and three figures darted out of it at high speed. One of them was mostly white-clad, with streaming yellow hair in three ponytails coming out of a helmet. The other two were shorter and blue, but equally swift on the skates all three wore.

And all three were making a beeline for where Flandre lay on the track.

“Flandre!” Sunset cried as she jumped onto the track, grabbing her first Pokémon and holding her close just as the figures were about to hit her. Sunset yelled out in pain as only one racer hit her back and tripped over her, summersaulting over and onto its face. Glancing up through the pain, Sunset recognized the dazed form of a Lucario, but this one happened to be dressed in safety pads and a helmet.

“Whoa there, are you alright? I didn’t know I was going to have a visitor today, you know?” A feminine voice called out. It belonged to the human of the group, the girl Sunset initially saw. “Here, let me help you up.” With the aid of a hand, Sunset shakily got to her feet. Flandre licked her on the cheek, then climbed back up onto the girl’s head. “So, how can I help you? I’m Korrina, the leader of Shalour City’s Gym.”

“I’m Sunset. Sunset Shimmer. I’m, er, fairly new at this whole Pokémon Trainer thing, and well, came to challenge the gym.” Korrina smiled.

“Well, I’m rather free right now. Let’s have ourselves a battle.” Korrina skated over to the far end of the Pokémon arena, flanked by her twin Lucario. Sunset eagerly took the opposite side of the field as Crystal, Nelson, and Esmeralda took to the stands, the Gardevoir having been let out to observe and be ready with Heal Pulse for after the fight. The Sawk form earlier took a stance in the middle of the field, holding two flags.

“So, according to league rules, this will be a three-on-three match, and only the challenger may substitute.” Korrina explained. “The first team to knock out the other wins.”

“Sounds good to me, and in… wait, did you say three?” Sunset asked. Korrina nodded. “Oh, I only have two Pokémon.” Sunset said slowly, trying not to sound too much like a newbie at this.

“Well, we can’t have that. And it looks like your friends have Pokémon a little too powerful for you to be handling right now, so…” Korrina turned to the Lucario on her right, the one that tripped over Sunset. “Cobalt, why don’t you go and help her? That way it’s not too unfair for each side, since you know everything we can do and we know what you can do.” The Lucario nodded and walked to the other side of the arena, to stand next to Sunset.

“Uh, hi.” She said, causing an affirmative grunt to escape the dog-like Pokémon’s mouth. “Alright, then I guess we’re good to go, then. Flandre, you’re up first!” Sunset said, gesturing to the field, followed by the Espurr in question jumping off towards it.

“Machoke, come on out!” Korrina called, throwing a Pokéball. A large, purple-skinned, bipedal Pokémon came out, with bulging muscles and a fierce grin. Sawk, seeing both sides were ready, dropped the flags to signal the fight to start.

Sunset’s first Gym Challenge began.

Author's Note

I want to start off by thanking you guys for your support. It does mean a lot to me.
So, this will most likely be the last of the smaller chapters for a while. Like I said in the last chapter, baby steps while i get back into the writing groove. Next chapter will be Paralogue 4, and one that I'm especially looking forward to writing. After that, we'll duck back to Sunset and how her battle will go.
Also, back in Paralogue 3 I hinted at an expanded universe kind of thing for more stories. after re-reading it and figuring out i no longer held a passion for some ideas, I decided to change where Fluttershy and Rarity ended up, and I changed the game of the series that Pinkie went to. Not that this actually changes much, since they haven't been started yet and all. But it's still a change.
Thanks for reading, and as always, see you guys next time.

Paralogue 4

The small group of ponies stared at the empty hallway for longer than they’d like to admit. There was no trace of where Princess Twilight and the human-world’s version of her friends went, or even if they were there to begin with. “Alright, I’m not going crazy, right? I’m not the only one who saw that?” Rainbow Dash asked aloud, breaking the silence that lasted for a few minutes.

“Rainbow Dash, I’m not sure if we could all make that up if we wanted to.” Rarity confirmed for the blue pegasus, who landed next to the group.

“Oh this is bad, this is very bad…” Fluttershy said, which only made everyone else realize it as well. Applejack turned and started trotting out of the castle.

“Uh, where are you going, Applejack? Twilight just vanished over here!” Rainbow called.

“Ah know that. That’s why Ah’m gonna go fetch Spike and send a letter to Princess Celestia. No need to panic, she’ll know what to do.” Relieved by the farmpony’s logic, the five friends led Twilight (who didn’t know anything about this place, and confused by “Princess” Celestia) back to the crystal castle of Ponyville. “Spike! Where are you, little guy?”

“I’m over here!” Two identical voices responded. The sounds came from the map room, where a small blanket fort was set up in the corner. Two dragon heads popped out of it, one of them with a comic book on his head. “How did the castle search go? Did you find Rainbow Dash?”

“We, err, didn’t really find anyone, Spike.” Twilight spoke up. “We actually lost quite a few people.” The Spikes, not quite understanding, were told what had happened. One of them started to have tears well up in his eyes.

“You mean… Twilight’s gone?” he asked, receiving nods in return. “I need a moment, guys…” That Spike dipped into the blanket fort, and soft sobbing could be heard inside. The ponies in the room thought it best not to interrupt.

About half an hour later, there was a puff of green fire as the young dragon exited the blanket fort. “I sent a letter to Princess Celestia. She should know what to do. I hope.”

“So, what do we do while Celestia reads the letter?” Twilight asked.

“Um, I don’t think we need to wait very long.” Fluttershy said.

“Why not?”

“Because she’s right there.” The yellow pegasus pointed a hoof at the doorway, where the largest horse Twilight had ever seen stood. The creature was an Alicorn like this world’s Twilight, but her fur was whiter than the fluffiest cloud and her mane sparkled with soft, pastel pink, green, and blue. Her eyes sparkled with wisdom far beyond her years. Behind her was a smaller, but still large Alicorn colored midnight blue with the night sky waving in her mane.

“I came as soon as I read your letter, Spike.” Princess Celestia said with peace and kindness radiating from her voice. It soothed Twilight, let her know everything was going to be alright, just when she talked. “Is it true? Is the Twilight Sparkle from this word gone?”

“Er, yes, your majesty.” Rarity said. “We saw this strange little zebra colt teleport her away along with some friends of ours. We have no idea where they, or the little colt, went.”

Celestia looked troubled. “Sister, I may not have been as… social with our foreign neighbors since I had returned, but even I know that Zebras are skilled in alchemy and herbal medicines. They are not, however, skilled in magical arts like unicorns.” Luna said.

“I know, which makes this all the more frustrating. I know not where a zebra might have obtained such power, but it is not the important task at hoof. We must focus our efforts on finding Twilight. With Equestria down a princess, and one of the Elements of Harmony as well, we are weaker as a nation.” Celestia smiled. “Even though you had given up the Elements of Harmony recently, the Rainbow Power you possess is weaker without all of you present.”

“So then what are we waiting for?” A certain multicolored pegasus asked. “Let’s go find Twilight!” With that, the gathered ponies discussed plans of research and searching, Celestia and Luna offering advice when they could over the excitable group’s discussion. The unicorn in the corner of the room, however, could only look on with worry and concern.

“Spike, what should I do? What can I do?” she asked the dragon on her back, who seemed down as well. “They’re focused on bringing back their friend, but what about me? What about my friends? This all started when Sunset disappeared… Why are they-“ She cut herself off with a shrill scream, as a flash of light appeared in front of her. Soon her vision was filled with a soft, purplish-pink flank and a violet tail that had a single, cyan stripe running down it.

“Sorry I’m late, twilight, there was this thing over at Thorax’s hive and we had to deal with it and – oh my gosh!” The newcomer instantly dropped down into a bow upon seeing the two princesses in the room, and continued talking while ignoring the now-crimson Twilight behind her. “S-Sorry, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna! I didn’t see the two of you there!”

Celestia chuckled softly. “Starlight, after what you helped my sister and I realize about each other, you are a friend. No need for the formalities. Now, why don’t you come closer, and give poor Twilight over there some air.” Celestia blinked. “Wait… Twilight?”

“Ho boy, Celestia, you might want to take a seat for this one.” Applejack said, after which they informed Celestia, Luna, and Starlight what had happened. “…Then after Spike sent that letter, you know what happened since.”

“I see.” Luna said, turning to Twilight. “I give my deepest apologies for you and your friends, Twilight. Forgive me for not showing them the same worry as my own fellow princess.”

“Uhh… it’s no problem, Vice-Princip- uh, Princi- Vice-Prince…Luna.” Twilight managed to choke out, much to Spike’s amusement. “What? You try knowing someone by one title and then meeting their pony goddess counterpart!”

“If I may, dears,” Rarity said, “but we still don’t have a way of knowing where any of our friends went. It’s not like a solution will just magically make itself…” She slowed down her speech upon a glowing behind her, coming from the map table. Starlight was busying herself by casting a spell on it, the light form her horn slowly growing brighter and brighter.

“Starlight, what are you doing?” Celestia asked. “Magic as ancient and powerful as the map table can’t just be tampered with!”

“I’ve almost got it…” Starlight strained against the flow of mana in the air, then at once the lights dimmed and the map went blank. It fizzled and sparked at the sides, then the projection of a landscape reaffirmed itself. There was a large, white city that had a tower in the center of the map, with several outlier towns forming a web of roads and plains around it. “Got it! I just used the map’s natural ability to show where somepony is, and gave it a power boost to show us places other than Equestria. No meddling with the magic, only making magic stronger.”

“While it is impressive, we still have no idea where this is, or who may be here. As the story went, it looked like a vastly different place through each portal.” Luna added.

“I know who is in this place.” Celestia said, her face darkening. She simply pointed a hoof at the upper-left part of the network of roads and routes, where a symbol hovered. It resembled a red and yellow sun, and it currently resided above one of the larger buildings in the town.

Author's Note

Alright, one more side-story down, who knows how many more to go. Nest time, Sunset's first gym battle (And probably only, as she does want to get home, not partake in a worldwide tournament)!
Comment Response Corner:

Starlight Nova: Well, as mentioned, Crystal is this world's version of Rarity, just given a more 'normal' name for the world. Nelson, I guess, would sound a bit like Red from Pokemon Origins, but older (Red was 10, Nelson is 20-22). Esmeralda sounds like a generic noble lady, like French royalty (don't have a specific example at the moment). Terrabyte's voice is synthetic and robotic, and hard to replicate; it's like early Siri. Finally, Abel is smol and tiny, and his voice... he sounds like Happy from Fairy Tail's English dub.

Lordgraygem: Thanks for the support on not enforcing update patterns, but if I don't, well, I might put myself into hiatus again by accident. And nobody wants that.

AdverseFlower95: On the subject of talking pokemon, I made it so only powerful and smart psychic types can really speak, and at that using telepathy. Imagine being told your whole life that the only animals that can talk are really smart parrots (psychics), and then you pick up a corgi puppy (dark type) and it talks back. You'd be a little shocked too.

Edit: Hey, I got featured! If my count is correct, this would be the third time; I'm feeling a little popular.