As the four trainers continued their walk back to Sycamore’s Lab, Twilight was beginning to feel like a third wheel. Noah was deep in conversation with Ash and Serena, and there didn’t seem to be any signs of them stopping. Despite this, she was enjoying being alone with her thoughts, and how excited she was to finally be receiving her team of Pokemon.

”Hey, Twilight?” Ash said, snapping Twilight out of her reverie.

“Ah, yes, what is it?” she stumbled over her words for a few moments, before she composed herself.

“I was wondering what Equestria’s like.” Ash responded. “Can you fill me in? Cynthia told us about a few things, but I was hoping to get a sense of the bigger picture.”

“Certainly!” Twilight said, eager to not only be included at last, but also to enter her “lecture mode”, as Spike called it. “Well, where should I start? I suppose I could begin with the three Pony tribes…Many, many years ago, even before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s time, there were three tribes of ponies present in the world. The Earth Ponies supplied the primary amount of food for all three tribes, in exchange for protection by the Pegasi, and for the Unicorns to bring forth day and night.”

“So, the sun and moon don’t rise and set on their own in Equestria?” Serena asked. ”Why is that?”

“That’s a tricky question, Serena.” Twilight replied. “Even before the pony tribes existed, there was a great magical event known as the Rupture. We know that this even caused the sun and moon to stand still, but it also paved the way for the existence and use of magic as a whole. There are few records that survived the passage of time that reference it, and fewer still are even legible enough to read.”

“That makes sense.” Noah murmured. “but that doesn’t answer the questio of how Equestria was formed, Twilight.”

“I’m getting to that.” Twilight replied. “When the harvests began to fail as winter set in, the three tribes became desperate to secure whatever resources they could. That led to hoarding, then more shortages, and eventually, the combined agreement to find a new home.”

”So, the three leaders of each Tribe, Princess Platinum, Chancellor Puddinghead, and Commander Hurricane, along with their aides, set out to find a new land to settle. Once they arrived in what is now Equestria, their continued conflicts led to the arrival of the wendigoes.”

“Wendigoes?” Serena asked.

”Wendigoes are creatures of ice that feed on negative emotions, such as anger and hatred.” Twilight replied. “They spread winter-like conditions wherever they go, and as the tribe leaders continued to argue over which tribe would rule the land, they were sealed in a cave by frost and ice.”

“Luckily, the tribe leaders’ seconds, Clover the Clever, Private Pansy, and Smart Cookie, were able to reconcile in time to save the land, and their leaders. Equestria was formally created shortly after that. Then, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna took over the duty of raising the sun and moon each day and night.”

Twilight was about to continue into the legend of Nightmare Moon, when she was shoved to the side by Noah. Before she could scold him, Twilight saw a long, metal arm with a claw on the end lash outwards and snatch Pikachu from Ash’s shoulder.

“Pikachu!” Ash yelped, grabbing onto the arm with both hands, his grip tightening as his knuckles turned white. ‘Hang on, buddy! I’ll get you out of there!”

“What’s going on!?” Twilight gasped, rushing over to assist Ash. “Who’s doing this?”

“I’m glad you asked!” A woman’s voice barked out, sharp and authoritative. “Now’s the proper time to introduce ourselves once again, twerps!”

“Twerps?” Noah muttered to himself, readying a Poke Ball, only for a high-pitched grinding noise to sound through the area, and Noah’s Poke Balls, along with Ash and Serena’s, to fly out of their bags and towards a large hot-air balloon, styled in the image of a cat-like Pokemon.

“Who do you think you are?” Twilight yelled. Then, three figures, two humans and a Pokemon that matched the look of the balloon jumped up, with the Pokemon holding a control board of some kind. The other two, a woman with sharp pinkish red hair done in a long curved tail, and a man with neck-length, wavy blue hair, both wearing white clothing styled with a red "R",began to chant as one.

Prepare for trouble!
And make it double!

To protect the world from devastation!
To unite all peoples within our nation!

To denounce the evils of truth and love!

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie!
James!

Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light!
Surrender now, or prepare to fight!

Meowth!
That's right!

As they finished, Ash gritted his teeth and yanked at the claw keeping Pikachu hostage with more vigor.

”I should’ve known…It’s Team Rocket!” he scowled. "I thought you guys retired!"

"Well, after getting a fresh outlook on life, and receiving a new mission from the Boss, we're officially back in business, and getting that Pikachu is first priority!" Jessie proclaimed.

"You thought you'd seen the last of us, didn't you?" Meowth taunted. "Guess the table's turned, twerps!"

"And not a moment too soon!" James laughed, placing the stolen Poke Balls into a bag. "What a fine catch for us!"

"Give those back…" Twilight yelled, stepping forward, her hands beginning to glow with magical energy. "Or else!"

"Or else, what?" Jessie cackled, only to abruptly stop at seeing a lavender aura begin to form around Twilight, growing in power with each passing moment.

"Or you're going to find out what happens when you make the Princess of Magic angry." Twilight replied, raising her right hand as more magical power formed around it.

"Hit us with your best shot!" Meowth stuck his head forward in a teasing manner. As the three criminals continued to laugh, Twilight smirked, a plan forming in her head at lightning speed.

"I plan to!" Twilight roared, summoning a magical wave in the air, and with a flick of her hand, the wave sliced through the arm holding Pikachu like a hot knife through butter. Team Rocket's laughter died out in an instant as they witnessed it happen.

"Um…I think we made her angry…" Meowth said, now feeling quite frightened.

"You think?" Jessie yelped in annoyance. "Get us out of here!"

"What do you think I'm trying to do!?" James shot back, furiously working the balloon's controls. As it began to move away, Twilight raised her left hand, and grasped the balloon in her magic, before yanking her hand downwards. The balloon smashed into the ground accordingly, and before James even raised a hand to grab the bag of stolen Poke Balls, it was gone in a flash of light.

Twilight caught the bag as it reappeared in her arms, and Ash, Serena, and Noah quickly retrieved their respective Poke Balls. Pikachu then dove in front of Twilight, electricity crackling from his cheeks.

"Well, that's something you don't see every day." James said flatly, only to jump to his feet alongside Jessie and Meowth. "But that won't stop us!"

The two human members of Team Rocket then each threw six Poke Balls of their own, and out came Jessie's Seviper, Yanmega, Wobuffet, and Gourgeist, alongside her Swoobat and Jellicent, both of which had evolved during their time away.

In a similar manner, James released his Amoongus, Morpeko, Carnivine, and Mime Jr, but just like Jessie, his Yamask and Inkay had evolved into Cofagrigus and Malamar.

"Looks like they've shaped up their teams, and even evolved some of their Pokemon as well." Ash said in a low voice. "Pikachu, let's go!"

"Delphox, help out!" Serena added, as her partner was released from its Poke Ball. Noah also sent out his Salamence, and as all the Pokemon involved took up battle stances, Twilight lowered her eyebrows.

"Three of our Pokemon against twelve of theirs." she mused. "If only I had Pokemon of my own, I could help…but maybe…I don't need a Pokemon to be useful right now!"

"Looks like you're outnumbered!" Jessie called. "Seviper, Poison Tail! Yanmega, Bug Buzz!"

"Cofagrigus, Shadow Ball! Morpeko, Dark Pulse!" James added, and as the four Pokemon let loose their attacks, Pikachu, Delphox, and Salamence braced themselves against the incoming moves…only for them to impact against a lavender colored shield of light.

Ash, Serena, and Noah turned to see Twilight's magical aura had returned in full force, and she then fired off a powerful beam of magical energy towards Team Rocket. With one powerful blast, all four Pokemon that had led the attack were knocked out in an instant, reducing Team Rocket's force from twelve to eight.

"That ought to even the odds." Twilight said, stepping forward. "Everyone, let me handle this. If I need help, I'll let you know."

The other three trainers looked astounded, but they followed Twilight's words and stepped back, their Pokemon going with them.

"Okay, let's go!" Twilight yelled, sending out a rapid flurry of energy blasts. As Team Rocket's eight remaining Pokemon began to charge, readying attacks of their own, Twilight braced herself for whatever would come next.

Author's Note

So, yeah. I decided to give Team Rocket a bit of a buff in this story. I feel that since they resumed working for Team Rocket after their separation, I like to think they spent some time training and working hard to be able to compete with Ash's team.

Anyway, I'm sorry it took so long to get an update out in general. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Next time - Two new trainers inervene in Twilight's battle against Team Rocket, and Twilight receives not one, but six Pokemon form Professor Sycamore at long last.