Lillie, feeling excluded from the conversation Nebby was having with the Princesses, decided to go ahead and see where Fluttershy had gone off to. She hadn’t seen the pony since she went to go take care of Salamence, and the thought of leaving her with something that terrifying scared her. She didn’t know what she could do, having not attempted to use any Pokemon moves yet, but having a Pokémon with her would be better than nothing.

As she circled behind Fluttershy’s cottage she, saw the pegasus at work, hanging a sign over a small building in the back. It was smaller than her house, but it was also bigger than a typical shed. Her wonder at what this place is was satisfied as she read the sign (which she had realized what in english), the words ‘Fluttershy’s House for Pokémon etched into it. Lillie realized that this must have been why she was so willing to take in the Salamence, as she was taking care of some herself.

“Pix!” Lillie shouted, getting the pegasus’ attention. “Vulpix!”

“Oh, hey Lillie,” Fluttershy said as she fluttered down to the ground. She rested a hoof on Lillie’s head, the motion causing the former human to jump back. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hug you or anything.”

“Vulpix pix!” Lillie said, Fluttershy gasping in shock as she heard what was being said. “Pix vulpix vul vulpix.”

“I’m so very sorry Lillie, I didn’t realize Twilight had done that,” She responded, making a mental note to remind her friend about researching her animals without permission. “Twilight is a scientist, which means that she… well you probably know what a scientist is. I promise not to pull your hair or squeeze you like or do anything like that.”

Lillie didn’t enjoy the way she was being treated, but she figured this is what it would be like until Nebby is done with her mission. She still hated the idea of being pet after what had happened moments before, but she remembered how Luno’s Mawile, Eaie, had been when they first met. Lillie was there when the trainer caught the Mawile, and seeing how Eaie slowly went from being unwilling to do anything to one of Luno’s most trusted Pokémon. She didn’t want to be like Eaie was during the start of the adventure, and being willing to let Fluttershy pet her would prove that.

Slowly and cautiously, Lillie walked back up to Fluttershy until she was within petting distance. “There we go,” Fluttershy said as she rubbed the Alolan Vulpix’s head. “That feels nice, doesn’t it?”

“Vulpix,” Lillie answered, nodding slightly.

All her worries seemed to melt away as Fluttershy stroked her, a feeling that should have worried her more than it did. The pegasus was gentle, her hoof only leaving as Lillie fell to her side in bliss. Her tails wagged, not wanting it to end, but it sadly did. She noticed that her fur had started to harden again, though she never meant to in the first place. Fluttershy had stopped as soon as she felt the fur on Lillie’s body turn to ice, intrigue taking over.

“Well, I guess you’re still rather young,” Fluttershy said with a giggle. “Pikachu told me that younger Pokémon don’t always have the best control over their powers. Oh, you want to meet the other Pokémon here?”

Fluttershy didn’t wait for an answer, but Lillie decided it was for the best. Having someone around who would be able to understand her during her time here was much better than the alternative. She just hoped that none of them asked her to battle. That would be a disaster for her.

Fluttershy watched the Vulpix walk into the shelter, smiling as she saw how much Lillie was willing to trust her. With that taken care of, she made her way to the edge of her forest where Salamence was currently resting. She had heard from Nebby that her world had ways of almost instantly healing a Pokémon’s wounds, but the method did not exist in Equestria. Instead, she used a mixture that Zecora had made for her, as the zebra was the only one who knew of the Pokémon before today. Taking out a wet washcloth, she poured a small amount of the mixture into the center. Next, at the suggestion of Nebby, she took a few berries she had squeezed it with the cloth.

“I really do wonder if this will work,” She mumbled to herself, looking over the blue and yellow substance that was now covering the mixture. “Well, she is a legendary, so she must know what she’s talking about.”

Carefully and gently, Fluttershy placed the washcloth over one of the many injured areas on the Salamence's body. After a little bit she put more pressure on the spot she was rubbing, her mind completely focused on what was in front of her. Suddenly, Salamence moved, causing her to drop her focus. He turned to face the pony, growling at her to show his discomfort.

“Stay still, you don’t want to hurt yourself more than you already are,” Fluttershy told him. “Besides, you did promise to behave.”

—- Meanwhile, not too far away —-

“So Necrozma tried to take your light too long ago?” Nebby asked, making sure she had received the info correctly. “Then, you must have helped seal him, right?”

“No, but we did drive him out,” Luna answered. “My sister and I fought him for a while, but we was more powerful than anything Equestria has ever witnessed. Tirek, Discord, none of them compare to his power.”

“Yeah, that sounds correct,” Nebby nodded in agreement, the painful memories of being controlled by Necrozma coming back to her. “I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Luno, and I owe her my life for what she did. Necrozma he… used my body as a source of energy in order to take Alola’s light for himself. Everything about this body felt so great and then he just took it away.”

“You’ve mentioned this Luno before, though you haven’t told us who they are,” Celestia acknowledge, noticing how often Nebby seemed to refer to this character. “They must be very important to you, and a hero no doubt.”

The moment Nebby heard the word hero she got nervous, knowing well that Luno would break at the word. Yes, she was a hero in more ways than one, but she didn’t like the idea of being called one for one simple reason: attention. She took the island challenge not for popularity, but for self-recognition and the experience. Becoming a champion was not something she had expected, but she was okay with it because Alola needed one. Being know as the hero who defeated Ultra Necrozma and Rainbow Rocket on the other hand, it was one of the few things that pushed her buttons. Nebby swore she heard someone hit a wall somewhere.

“Yeah, probably not the best idea to say that in front of her,” Nebby told them with no context, hoping that the warning would be enough. “As for who Luno is, she is my trainer, or more broadly a Pokémon trainer; someone who journeys with Pokémon and battle other trainers for the title of champion. She’s really laid back, to the point were almost nothing can really phase her. In fact, she is so laid back that it’s near impossible to tell if she is sad, angry, annoyed, excited, or really anything other than happy.”

“Whoa now,” Twilight said, a certain description concerning her. “Did you just say these Pokémon trainers… battle others! Like they use Pokémon to fight and simply watch!”

“No, the trainer doesn’t just watch. They wouldn’t be a trainer if they didn’t take part,” Nebby reassured, though it was only Twilight who needed reassuring. “I guess, if you want to be fancy about it, the trainer is like a strategist or tactician and we are the soldiers. One Pokémon can only bare a small number of moves, usually around four or so, and it’s a trainers job in the heat of battle to strategize the best way to defeat the opponent. Again we can’t die from a Pokémon battle since our aura’s protect us.”

Both Celestia and Luna had found themselves intrigued at the explanation Nebby had given them. Twilight, however, was still overwhelmingly uncomfortable about the entire situation. An entire civilization battling for fun, using creatures of mystical power in a way that seemed absolutely wrong to her, and both sides enjoying it was not something she could imagine. Her rational side was overthrown by her more irrational side, starting to panic as Nebby continued.

“Let’s see, an example,” The Lunala mumbled to herself, before being reminded of a particular battle she had experienced. “Oh, right! I remember this one time Luno, the rest of her team, and I had found this Gethsis guy from another world. That was not long after Moonlight had joined us, but it was Eaie and Angel, the former being a Mawile and the latter a Furfrou, who carried most of the fight. A Mawile can do this thing called mega evolution that allows them to take a more powerful form, and she took down half of Gethsis team of five before fainting. Fainting is what happens when a Pokémon can no longer battle.”

“You’re not getting the point Nebby!” Twilight exclaimed, no longer able to contain herself. “Battling isn’t right! You’re hurting other Pokémon that didn’t do anything wrong, and even than I’ve found that talking can be more effective. If you are willing to do something like that, than I was clearly right before when I said-”

“Twilight, enough!” Celestia shouted in the Canterlot voice, instantly shutting down her former pupil’s argument and cause a chill through Nebby’s spine. Celestia, glad to see Twilight had stopped, cleared her voice before explain. “I’m sorry to go against you Twilight, but I fear you are taking what she is saying wrong.”

“But Celestia-”

“Tell me, Princess Twilight, do you know anything about the history of Nebby’s world?” Luna asked, picking up where her sister had left off. When the Princess of Friendship attempted to speak again, Luna had already prepared a reply.“I can see that lie from miles away Twilight, nopony is going to be fooled. The answer to my question is no, whether you want to believe it or not, and it will always stay no matter what books you read or what beliefs you have. These battles, these trainers, and these Pokémon are complete unknowns from a place we know nothing about, and it is not our place to try and force change on something so natural.”

“You don’t understand Luna, these trainers are making these creatures battle,” Twilight said convincingly, trying her best to get her viewpoints across to the others. Her eyes looked away, back to the Everfree that she had been in not so long ago. “How in the world can that do any good for anypony?”

“In order to understand that, I ask you to change ‘the world’ to ‘their world’,” Celestia explained, approaching her former pupil and using her front hooves to shift her gave towards the Princess. “Our world is not their world, and as such the beliefs, histories, cultures, and morals they live by are different. I can tell from the way Nebby has explained that this isn’t something Pokémon are forced to do, at least in that way. It’s clear that their view of battling is different from that of ours, and we have no business changing it.”

Twilight couldn’t believe what she had just heard the princesses say, having always seen Celestia as someone who hated things such as violence and harm. She understood where Celestia was coming from, but that didn’t make Twilight think she was any less right. This was not a position she was use to being in, having always felt she made the right call and that she was correct in the end. To be told she was wrong, that this ‘battling’ wasn’t as bad as she thought it was, seemed absurd.

“As much as I would like to continue this, I believe that it’s time we turned in for the night,” Celestia suggested, stretching her wings as she looked to Luna. The younger sister nodded in agreement, and the two turned back for Ponyville. “Twilight I recommend you think this over and give some thought as to what I’m saying. Till then, we bid you farewell.”

—- I’ve started to realize how repetitive these are —-

Lillie groaned in annoyance, looking behind her to Popplio, Ashimari, who had decided to snuggle with her tail and fall asleep. Neither Fluttershy or Nebby had come to check on her or any of the other Pokémon inside since she last saw them. Looking out, she saw the moon was high in the sky now.

“They’re liking asleep by now,” she thought with a yawn. “I guess it makes sense for that Fluttershy… pony? Right pony.”

Lillie ended her thought there, noticing how heavy her body was. She looked at Ashi, who wouldn’t wake up no matter how much she moved. Her tails were stuck, which meant she was as well. So, with a heavy sigh (or ‘vul’ as she heard), Lillie resigned herself to the fate of sleeping right there, Popplio crushing her tail, and closed her eyes.

Author's Note

From this point forth, I’ll try and focus more on what I actually wanted to do: have Fluttershy take care of some Pokémon. Sorry it took so long getting to this point.