Breaking Down

“You want magic?” Rainbow Dash yelled as she felt her Rainbow Power building within her. She looked back at the crater in the floor where she had been standing a moment before. “We’ll show you magic! We’re not gonna let you get away with this!”

The girls had grabbed hold of their Pokémon friends and ran out of the way of the Mewtwo’s attack a moment before it fired. The ground they had been standing on had exploded, sending Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle rolling from the back of the pack to the front.

“I don’t know…” Twilight Sparkle said, as she pulled herself up and looked their situation over carefully. They were greatly outnumbered, yet the gang members and their partners weren’t making a move.

“What do you mean? We can’t back down now. I sounded so cool!”

“But there’s something strange here. They’re goading us into using our powers. I don’t think we should use magic to do this unless we have to.”

“You’ve got no choice,” the Mewtwo said. She raised her arms and formed a Shadow Ball above her head. Her attack was fast. Gem barely had time to react, but she managed to raise a Protect over her friends just before the Shadow Ball struck. It exploded against the shield with such force that the cave shook.

“Excellent work, darling,” Rarity said to her Litten as the shield lowered. “Let’s try a Flamethrower attack! Drive her into a corner!”

Gem obeyed. A cone of flame tore through the air. The criminal’s Pokémon formed a line in front of their trainers, bowing their heads and squinting against the heat and light of the fire. The Mewtwo was unharmed, however. She had already teleported behind the group and grabbed hold of Applejack. The Mewtwo pulled against Applejack hard, her Psychic might enclosing around the girl with a fierce light. Applejack dug in her heels so deep that the soles of her shoes gouged into the stone beneath her. She began to glow slightly as magic welled up within her. She refused to be moved, but she didn’t Pony Up.

Archi took to the air in defense of his partner, firing waves of Razor Leaf attacks at the Mewtwo. She teleported again, but this time the girls were ready. They were spread out now, each of them watching in a different direction. When the Mewtwo reappeared, she was spotted immediately. Twilight Sparkle directed Poe in firing Razor Leaves across the cave. The Mewtwo dodged as the projectiles lodged into the wall. Pinkie Pie pulled a pair of pom-poms from her bag and cheered the group on in between calling out attacks. Her Popplio fired a Water Pulse at the Mewtwo as she flew across the cave wall. The first attack was dodged, but the second landed home. Pinkie Pie cheered as Leon clapped his flippers in celebration.

“It’s way too early to call this a victory,” Rainbow Dash scolded. The enemy was up against the wall now, her scowling face just visible behind her guard as bruises began to appear on her arms. “Nara, get in there with a Fire Punch while the enemy recovers!”

“Chimchar!” Nara yelled as he charged forward. His tiny, blazing fist collided with the wall as his target flew sideways. She created another Shadow Ball and launched it at the starter, but he jumped backward with a smile. His distraction had only lasted a moment, but it had been enough. A pair of Flamethrowers slammed into the Mewtwo as Nara landed next to Rainbow Dash. Gem and Ashley maintained their attacks for a full five seconds before stopping. Poe, Archi and Leon stepped forward, launching their own attacks as their friends took a breath.

“You’re better than I though you would be,” Giovanni said, softly. “I saw a hint of what I was looking for from one of you.”
His eyes fixed on Applejack.

“You managed to fight against a Psychic attack from my enforcer. No human should be capable of such a feat. If she hadn’t been holding back, I wonder if you could still have done that? Either way, such power shall belong to Team Rocket as well.”

“Are you ready for me, then?” said a voice from the shadows behind Giovanni. The group turned to look above them, where a teenage boy stood atop the back of a scowling Hydreigon. He wore a long, turquoise jacket with a black shirt underneath. A blue visor covered his eyes, his smile arrogant and cruel.

“Take them alive,” Giovanni said.

The boy nodded before raising his left arm. He fired a beam at the girls and their Pokémon. Fluttershy was the first to fall. The beam stuck her in the chest and she was frozen in stone just as she began calling for another Flamethrower attack. Ashley cried our angrily, and launched her Flamethrower at the boy and his Hydreigon. The boy ordered his Pokémon to dodge sideways and he fired another beam. This one hit Ashley in the back, turning her to stone as well and ending her assault.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t be using our magic?” Rainbow Dash asked Twilight Sparkle angrily. Twilight Sparkle hesitated, staring at their mysterious new attacker in confusion. That moment’s hesitation was all he needed. His third beam hit her in the shoulder, freezing her in place where she stood. Poe hooted in rage as the other Pokémon began firing ranged attacks at the Hydreigon, trying their best to corner it like they had the Mewtwo. The enraged Rowlet darted for the Hydreigon with a full speed Ariel Ace, but he was swatted away by the other Pokémon’s tail and sent flying to the far side of the cave. He collided with the wall and fell forward. A fourth beam struck him on the head as he landed, turning him to stone as well.

“Don’t worry,” Giovanni said, coldly. “No harm will befall you until we know the extent of your powers. We have much testing to do.”
He nodded to his Mewtwo, and the Pokémon froze the rest of the girls and their partners with a Psychic attack. The boy smirked at the easy targets, and ordered his Hydreigon closer. He raised his hand once more, pointing his gauntlet weapon at Applejack as she fought against the force restraining her. Rainbow Dash watched as her friend began to glow with the bright, orange light of her element. Pinkie Pie and Rarity were glowing now too, as they began drawing forth their magic. Rainbow Dash joined them, feeling the sensation of power coursing through her that always preceded her transformation. Just as the girls were about to Pony Up, a Stone Edge attack came flying through the air to hit the hunter’s Hydreigon square in the face.

“So it’s true,” said another new voice from the cave entrance. Both groups turned to see a woman dressed in black standing next to a Gastrodon. The Pokémon finished its attack. The Hydreigon toppled over and fell to the ground below amid the hail of rocks that had struck it. It landed atop its rider’s left arm and the boy screamed in pain as his bones shattered. The Mewtwo turned her attention to the new trainer, hesitating slightly as the girls she held struggled against her psychic grip. The woman threw a pokéball into the air and a Garchomp flew out. The grunts called out attacks as they sent their Pokémon into the fray. They began a furious battle, the young woman and her two partners against a horde of Team Galactic’s strongest. Rainbow Dash wanted nothing more than to join the fight. She struggled against her enemy’s grip, and her hand brushed up against her side. That’s when she noticed that her pokédex was gone.

She looked to her friends, then down to the stone forms of Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle. None of them had their pokedéxes.

“Where…?” she said. Then electricity lit up the cave. The girls peered through the battle to see that their Rotom-dexes were now on the other side of the room, electrocuting the Mewtwo that held them. The Mewtwo was just as surprised as the girls were, and though she held on for a second, she couldn’t maintain her grip amid six separate Thunder attacks. The woman’s Garchomp grinned and changed its target. The woman called out an attack, her Garchomp roared and it tore into Team Galactic’s line of Pokémon with a series of Dragon Claws.

Applejack flexed her muscles and brought out her magic in full. She Ponied Up, breaking the distracted Mewtwo’s grip through sheer force. The psychic backlash was enough to cause the harried Mewtwo to release the other girls and their Pokémon as well. She scowled at the humans for a moment before she was forced to engage the Rotom. The other girls followed Applejack’s lead and ponied up, as well. Rainbow Dash was the first to reach the Mewtwo. She punched the creature in the gut at full speed while the Rotom held her attention. There was a cry of pain and the Mewtwo doubled over. She tried to recover after a second, raising her head only to be punched in the face by Nara’s Fire Fist. She was knocked off balance and sent crashing into the ground below.

The girls and their Pokémon quickly piled on, launching attack after attack while the woman who had come to aid them defeated the rest of the grunt’s forces. Giovanni and the Team Galactic scientists were already fleeing out the back of the cave. The Team Rocket leader turned to look at his creation, his gaze hard and urgent. The Mewtwo met his stare and nodded. Seeing that they were losing, the Grunts tried to withdraw their Pokémon and flee, but Rainbow Dash darted through their line, knocking their pokéballs out of their hands at lightning speed.

The Mewtwo teleported away just as the girls were about to force her surrender. She appeared behind the grunts, and with a final scowl she teleported herself and the criminals out of the cave. The only enemies left were J’s apprentice and his unconscious Hydreigon.

“We need to go after ‘em!” Applejack yelled as she and Archi began charging toward the exit that Giovanni and his cronies had used. The open doorway led to another tunnel, but it began collapsing just as Applejack approached it. She was forced to pull back and watch her enemies escape.

“It’s just as well,” Rainbow Dash said as she walked over to their petrified friends. “We can’t leave Twilight and Fluttershy like this.”

“I’m afraid this young man’s device is broken, along with his arm,” the woman said as she knelt beside the fallen hunter. Her Garchomp stood behind her protectively, though the boy was no longer a threat. He moaned in pain as the woman set his arm as gingerly as she could. “He’ll be fine once we get him to a hospital. We’ll have to seek help for your friends in Eterna or Jubalife. Those are the closest places where help can be found, I’m afraid.”

“That’s ok,” Pinkie Pie said, cheerfully. “We got this!”

The girls gathered around their friends and let their magic fill them. The air shimmered, and after a moment Twilight, Fluttershy and their Pokémon were returned from stone. The girls sat up, their bodies shaking from the shock of being petrified, and were immediately embraced by their friends in a group hug.

“H-how did you do that?” the woman asked.

“The magic of our friendship makes us strong,” Rarity said as she helped Fluttershy to her feet. After she took a moment to make sure her friend was alright, she approached the woman and offered her hand. “Pardon, but we haven’t learned your name yet.”

The woman shook her hand and smiled as her Garchomp and Gastrodon cried out happily.

“I’m Cynthia, reigning champion of the Sinnoh region.”

“The tunnel isn’t completely collapsed,” Applejack said as she began knocking on the wall next to the exit Giovanni and his goons had used. The sound came back hollow several yards past the rockslide. “The doorway is the only thing blocked here. We gotta go after ‘em.”

“I’m guessing that exit leads to the outside,” Cynthia said as she directed her Garchomp and Gastrodon in gathering the enemy Pokémon together. “They’ll be boarding their aircraft soon. I don’t think we can catch them.”

“We need to check on the other half of our group, too,” Rainbow Dash said. “We need to know if they’re Ok.”

“You’re right,” Applejack sighed. “Let’s go search for ‘em then.”

“I believe this lair is now abandoned,” Cynthia said as she began scanning the room. “There is still a chance we might learn something, though. I will stay here to see if any of the grunts were careless enough to leave something of importance behind, and tend to their unconscious Pokémon.”

“Perhaps I can stay with you,” Rarity said. “I’m sure an extra pair of hands wouldn’t hurt.”

“I’d greatly appreciate it.”

“I’ll stay, too!” Pinkie Pie called. “I’ve still got quite a few poffins left over. We can have a ‘Yay, you’re free!’ party with the Pokémon when they wake up! Why don’t you stay too, Fluttershy?”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said as she hugged her Litten close. “I’ve had enough action for one day. Helping injured creatures is a welcome change.”

“The rest of us will go find our friends,” Applejack said. She led the other girls out the door and back into the long hallways of the mountain.

“So, Miss Cynthia,” Rarity said as she applied a soothing balm to the nose of an injured Mightyena. The Pokémon flinched as it waked, its body bruised and beaten by the Champion’s elite partners. “What brings you here?”

“I am Champion,” Cynthia said as she wrapped bandages on the leg of another Mightyena. “I must set a good example to the people of my region on how people and Pokémon are to interact. It is a duty I perform gladly. I have been planning a raid of this hideout alongside the Elite Four and the police for several months now. When I learned of your exploits on Route 210 I came to Celestic Town to meet you, only to find you had chosen to raid this place on your own. As powerful as you might be, that was still a very reckless choice.”

“Well, we couldn’t very well sit by and let these baddies hurt innocent Pokémon,” Pinkie Pie said as her Popplio spoke gently to several waking Pokémon. She patted their heads and began handing out potions with sparkling, pink bows she had tied onto their containers.

“As scary as this whole thing was, I’m glad we came,” Fluttershy said as she braced a Golbat’s wing with a splint. “I know these Pokémon were our enemies just a moment ago, but your Garchomp was still rather rough with them.”

“We held back, but perhaps not enough,” Cynthia said as she finished tying the gauze on a Golbat’s leg. “Battle wounds are all a part of the joy of competition, though.”

“I must admit, while I’m a new trainer and not exactly the rough and tumble type, Pokémon battles have turned out to be more enjoyable than I previously expected,” Rarity said as she sifted through her bag for a specific shade of gauze. She paused for a moment to look behind her at the far wall with the lectern. She had felt it when they entered, as if there was something standing there, watching her and her friends. She shivered at the feeling of her eyes meeting the gaze of some invisible specter, and she quickly returned to her work. The Pokémon she was tending to had been looking at the wall, as well. It shook its head, as if telling her to just ignore the presence, and nuzzled the gauze in her hand gently. She apologized to the Mightyena and continued her work.

“Those colors are quite beautiful,” Cynthia said as she watched Rarity choose a turquoise cloth with a bright sheen. “Where did you get those?”

“I made them myself. I figured, if my friends and I are going on this dangerous adventure we might as well look fabulous at every opportunity. I’ve gotten so many fashion ideas from this trip, and it’s been so much fun discussing them with my Litten in our down time.”

Gem purred and rubbed up against Rarity’s leg before sitting next to the Mightyena she was about to treat. Rarity parted the Pokémon’s fur on its back, revealing an ugly cut. She gingerly wiped away the blood with a plain cloth and sprayed the injury with a disinfectant. Then she placed a gauze pad on the wound and began wrapping gauze around its torso to hold the pad in place. A question entered her mind as she worked. It was one she had asked herself upon learning of this quest, and from it came another question that she chose to aim at her new friend.

“What does it mean to be a trainer and battle Pokémon to you, Miss Cynthia?”

Cynthia looked at Rarity for a moment, then looked back down at her next patient. She withdrew a potion from her belt and began feeding it to the whimpering Mightyena.

“May I ask a question in turn?” Cynthia replied. “From the perspective of the Pokémon League, you girls appeared out of nowhere. Your first acts in Sinnoh that anyone can point to is an attack on Team Galactic and the pacification of an entire route’s worth of anti-human Pokémon. Now you are taking your war on hatred to the leaders of this movement. You have quite an adventure before you. What do your actions up to this point mean to you? What do the implications of taking on Team Rocket and those under their umbrella mean to you?”

“We accepted this mission in order to bring peace and friendship to a land where such values are rapidly deteriorating,” Rarity said as she finished tying another bow with her gauze. “Our actions up until now have all been aimed toward this end. We want to help our Pokémon friends, while making more friends along the way if we can.”

“That sounds quite a bit like the dreams of every young Pokémon trainer. To this day, making friends with Pokémon, learning to understand them and teaching others how they might understand them as well are all goals I hold dearly in my heart. These are values I was taught when I was young. Then I left on my journey to become a Master Trainer. The trials I experienced on that long road hammered those values home. I wonder, where will you girls find yourselves when this is all over?”

“We’ll be at a big party,” Pinkie Pie said. She had been administering care and medicine along with the others, though she had also been making funny faces, forming her hair into funny shapes and telling jokes to make the Pokémon smile. Most of the Pokémon were watching her intently now, broad smiles on their faces as they looked at the pegasus shape she had fashioned out of her hair. It had buckteeth and seemed to be laughing at something. “I was promised a party at the end of this, and that’s what we’re getting. You’re welcome to come, Cynthia!”

“I think I would enjoy that very much,” Cynthia said as the group joined in Pinkie Pie’s mirth.