To Be A Masterby Someguy458Chapters(1) — It's A Whole New World(2) — A Wild Ketchum Appeared!(4) — The Professor is In!(3) — A Home Cooked Delia-cacy!(1) — It's A Whole New World"Remind me again why you woke us up so early?" Rarity yawned to Twilight as the Elements of Harmony gathered in the Castle of Friendship. AJ supplied a yawn of her own. "Land sakes, Twilight, not even Ah usually gittup this early..." Twilight smiled meekly. "Sorry, girls; I just couldn't sleep once I hit this breakthrough." "Mind telling us WHAT this breakthrough IS?" Rainbow Dash drowsily retorted. Pinkie jumped up and down excitedly, seemingly unaffected by the early hour. "Are we going somewhere fun?!" "You could say that," Twilight relented. Fluttershy grumbled, "Twilight, you'd better tell us what this is about, or Celestia help me..." Everypony else stared at the usually pleasant mare. They'd heard of ponies getting moody when tired, but this one was quite the surprise. The Princess cleared her throat. "Alright, do you girls remember those times I went to that alternate dimension where Sunset Shimmer lives?" Everypony nodded, so she continued, "Well, that all got me thinking: What if there are other dimensions out there?" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "So lemme guess: you went full egghead-mode, and researched non-stop since then." Twilight scoffed. "It wasn't non-stop! I got a whole 3 hours of sleep!" Rainbow simply rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I checked every book there is on quantum mechanics and parallel dimension theory, and I think I've figured out something." She stepped aside to show off the Mirror Portal, which was still outfitted with the mechanisms that made her return trip to Canterlot High possible. "Since this portal is already linked to another dimension, it figures that it would only take an extra bit of power to link to a different one." Rarity pointed out, "But won't that mean that the original link gets severed?" The Princess of Friendship shook her head. "Sunset's Journal should keep the connection." The group murmured in acceptance. Twilight's horn lit up. "Now, then, are you girls ready to visit a completely new dimension, unseen by pony-kind?" Pinkie nearly exploded with excitement. "Ooh, YES! I've always wanted to visit another dimension; this'll be just like my stories!" Twilight decided not to ask. Instead, she powered up her horn further, then siphoned that energy into the Portal. The machine did its thing, while Twilight's magic redirected the Portal's destination to somewhere other than Sunset's dimension. The Mirror warbled to life with that signature rippling effect, and once it settled into a stable state, Twilight could safely stop supplying extra power. "Alright, it should be set." Twilight couldn't help but prance in place giddily. "I know this isn't very scientific of me, but I'm too excited, so let's just jump in!" The others hesitantly looked at each other. "Ah dunno," AJ began nervously. But her words fell on deaf ears as Twilight excitedly jumped through. Everypony held their breath in anticipation, waiting for any sign that the experiment had worked. Several minutes passed. Pinkie fainted from holding her breath too long. Spike was considering jumping in after Twilight. Finally, a rock came tumbling back through the Portal. The group sighed in relief, thankful that Twilight was still okay. And so, with only a moment's hesitation further, they all stepped through the Portal. Applejack stumbled out of the Portal first, finding herself in a thick forest. She heard the others arrive behind her, but didn't actually look; she was too busy dealing with the wave of nausea that'd overcome her. Once that passed, she attempted to get up— Only to find that she was already standing. Odd, she thought, why'm Ah still so close to the ground? And— hey, what's on mah head? AJ felt for her face with a forelimb; indeed, there was something that felt like bone covering her entire head. Then AJ realized that her forelimb had digits now. "What in tarnation...?" She mumbled to herself, staring at the tan limb that was once her front right hoof. Then Rarity screamed, "OH, SWEET CELESTIA!" AJ turned at the sound, but froze when she saw what Rarity was screaming about. They'd all transformed when they entered the portal. That much was to be somewhat expected, seeing as how Twilight said she always transformed when she visited Sunset's world. But it was WHAT they'd each transformed into that was so concerning. AJ had become a strange, 1' 4" biped with a skull adorning her head, and claws on her digits. Rainbow Dash had become a 1' 8" eaglet, with a rainbow-colored feather on her forehead. Fluttershy had become a 1' 4" bird with cottony wings and no discernible neck. Pinkie Pie was now a 1' 4" ball of floating fluff with a tail and legs. That was it. No arms, no nothing. Spike was now one of the tallest of the group, a 2' tall, bipedal, dragon-ish creature with a small fire burning on the end of his tail. But Rarity's transformation was the most amusing of them all. Instead of the prim-and-proper fashionista she usually was, she was now a 1' tall caterpillar with a leaf headdress and six stubby limbs. And she was having an absolute FIT about it. "What in Equestria happened to me?!" She exclaimed. "My fabulously kempt fur is gone; replaced by this– this THING!" Fluttershy looked at herself and stated, "Oh my..." Then she felt her wing with her newfound beak, and decided to nuzzle into her cotton-y wings. Rainbow looked at herself. "Aw, nuts. Well, at least I can still fly..." Pinkie looked at herself, then started doing mid-air cartwheels with a strange amount of practiced ease. "Wheee! This is so much fun!" Spike looked at himself, then pumped his fist in excitement. "Sweet! I'm not a dog again!" Rainbow blinked. "What do you mean, 'again'?" Spike blushed, turning his already reddish skin even redder. "N-nothing..." Then Twilight's voice asked, "You girls alright?" Everyone turned to see their friend, and gasped. She seemed Equine enough, but there were just some things off about it, like the proportions. She'd become an off-white color, with fluffy magenta-streaked hair and a dark horn, but no wings to speak of. Everyone marveled at her. "Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "No fair, you barely changed!" "Hey, don't blame me," she defended, "I didn't choose these forms!" "Well, neither did we!" Rainbow retorted. "Don't look at me!" Rarity exclaimed, trying and failing to cover her face with her stubby limbs. "I'm hideous!" "Rarity, nopony cares whatcha look like," Applejack pointed out, "since all o' us're in th' same boat as ya." "That's easy for you to say," Rarity shot back, "you already have something covering your face!" Fluttershy took the opportunity to look at AJ, then nearly fainted. "Is that a skull you're wearing!?" Everypony else gasped, including AJ. The farmpony quickly grabbed the headpiece and took it off, then— Applejack stopped when she saw everyone else's expressions. They seemed frozen in fear by... By her face? She put the skull back on, and the others unfroze, shivering. "You know what?" Rarity stated, "I think I'm alright with my form now." Everypony else nodded in agreement; Applejack grumbled in offense. "Girls!" Twilight scolded, "We shouldn't be arguing like this! This is a whole new world we're in, and the first thing you want to do here is fight? Shame on you!" AJ and Rarity looked down dejectedly. "Sorry, Twilight." She nodded contently. "Good. Now, let's —" But whatever she was about to say, it was interrupted by a rustle in the bushes. The group fell silent, gathering together for safety as an unknown creature approached. A large yellow rat with a lightning-shaped tail leapt out of the bushes, then froze when it saw the group. Twilight blinked. "Huh, I was imagining something more threatening." The rat gasped, "Pika?!", then rushed back into the bushes. Everypony looked on confusedly. Then the rat came back, a young human boy in tow. "What is it, Pikachu?" he asked. "Pika Pika Pi!" the rat chittered, pointing at the group. The kid looked up, and gasped. "Woah, that's a lot of rare Pokémon!" "Wha?" Fluttershy vocalized. The kid turned his hat backwards, declaring, "I'm gonna catch 'em all! Go, Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped forward, a determined look on its face. "Pika!" And with that, the first fight of their visit began. (2) — A Wild Ketchum Appeared!Twilight and the others pondered over their situation. There they were, in a foreign world, transformed into foreign bodies. Not to mention that a human and a 'Pikachu' had discovered them, and from the looks of it, they weren't going to leave without a fight. Rainbow Dash, despite all of this, gladly accepted the offer. She stretched her tiny wings, then took off upwards as fast as she could. After rising about twenty feet into the air, she began a dive-bomb, aimed straight at Pikachu. The human kid called out, "Dodge it, Pikachu, and retaliate with Thunderbolt!" An instant before Rainbow's attack made contact, Pikachu jumped out of her path, and cried out, "Pika—CHU!" A large burst of electricity shot out of the rodent and hit Rainbow Dash, dealing double damage and paralyzing her. The sight made everyone witnessing it freeze in shock and fear. "Alright, we got it right where we want it!" The kid cheered, grabbing a strange spherical device from his belt and winding up a throw. "Go, Pokéb—" "WAIT!" The kid froze. "Uh... Did you hear that, Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded frantically, "Pi Pika, Chu Pi!" He pointed to the rest of the group, most of whom were still frozen. Except for Fluttershy. Fluttershy had instinctively leapt between Rainbow Dash and the kid, spreading her wings in a defensive manner. "That's enough; you leave Rainbow Dash alone!" The boy's jaw dropped. "Wha— you can talk!?" Fluttershy stood her ground. "I don't know who you think you are, but I will not stand by and let my friends get hurt!" The first one to break out of their stunned stupor was Rarity; she squirmed forward to join Fluttershy and added, "Neither shall I!" Spike immediately joined his crush. "Yeah, what she said!" Applejack waddled over and took up a defensive stance. "If ya wanna git Rainbow Dash, yer gonna hafta git past us!" Twilight and Pinkie both quickly joined them, and together, they stood their ground against the boy. Said boy, however, was staring as though he'd seen a ghost. "I-I-I'm sorry, I thought– how can you all– what's going– ughhh," he stuttered, before promptly fainting. The seven Equestrians blinked in surprise. "I think we may have overdone it just a bit," Twilight remarked. "Pika," Pikachu nodded in agreement. About thirty minutes later, the kid was conscious again. "Ugh... Pikachu, I just had the strangest dream; there were a bunch of talking Pokémon, and–" Then he froze as he caught sight of the eight figures looking down at him. Panicking, he scrambled backwards and blurted, "P-please forgive me! I didn't know you could talk; I—" Fluttershy stepped forward and held up a wing in a shushing manner. "Shh, calm down. We didn't mean to scare you; we were just protecting our friend." The kid relaxed a little bit. "If I'd've known you could talk, I wouldn't have attacked in the first place." Rainbow, her paralysis having worn off while he was unconscious, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yeah, why did you attack us?" He rubbed the back of his head nervously and explained, "Because I thought you were just normal Pokémon, and I wanted to catch you." The entire group asked simultaneously, "Pokémon?" The boy blinked. "You don't know what Pokémon are?" Twilight shook her head. "We aren't exactly from around here." "Well, I'll say!" The kid chuckled. "I'm Ash, by the way. And this is Pikachu." "Pika," the electric rodent nodded. The seven introduced themselves in turn. Ash scratched his head, shrugging off their peculiar names. "So, if you're not from around here, and you don't know what Pokémon are, then where did you even come from?" Twilight grimaced, dreading this moment. "Well, you see, —" Surprisingly, it wasn't Pinkie Pie that butted in this time, but rather Rainbow Dash. "We're from another dimension, where we live in a land called 'Equestria'. Twilight here modified a mirror she has, turning it into a portal that we used to get here. When we went through, we found ourselves turned into these 'Pokémon' things, and then you showed up." The other Elements of Harmony stared at Dashie, surprised that she'd summarized it so eloquently. Ash gaped for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, stranger things have certainly happened to me before..." Twilight did a double-take. "Really? You believe us, just like that?" He nodded, "Being friends involves giving the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the least I can do to make up for attacking is to trust you." Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right..." Ash took the opportunity to stand up. "Well, if you're not familiar with those bodies, then what're you back in your world?" AJ answered, "Most of us are Ponies." Ash scratched his head. "Ponies? You mean, like Ponyta?" Twilight blinked, then looked down at herself when he pointed. "Well, sorta." Spike chimed in, "I'm the only one of us who isn't a pony; instead, I'm a fire-breathing dragon!" Ash smirked, "You mean like Charizard?" Spike blinked. "Who?" In response, Ash pulled another one of those spherical devices from his belt and tossed it into the air. At the peak of its arc, it opened up and a white energy came out, coalescing until it parted to reveal a HUGE dragon (it was actually only 5' 7", but it seemed huge in comparison to Twilight and the others). Spike gawked, "Holy guacamole!" Charizard opened one of its eyes and smirked cockily, as if to say 'Yep, I know I'm awesome'. Rainbow Dash certainly knew that look. Twilight, however, was more interested in the ball that Charizard came out of. "How'd you do that?" Ash re-caught the spherical device, and held it up. "Oh, this is is a Pokéball. It allows trainers to catch and contain Pokémon." The Princess stared at it, awestruck. AJ pointed at Charizard and asked, "Who's the big guy?" Ash reached into his pocket and procured another device, then pointed it at Charizard. After a moment, the device opened up and began to recite: <> The entire group "Ooh"ed at this. Twilight pointed at the device. "And that?" Ash smiled. "My Pokédex. Professor Oak gave it to me a while ago; it contains all the known data on the known species of Pokémon." Fluttershy oogled at it. "How many is that?" He put a finger to his chin in thought. "Last I heard, it was somewhere around 890." Everyone's jaws dropped. "How do you keep track of it all!?" Fluttershy gaped. The boy held up the Pokédex with a knowing smirk. Then Twilight asked, "Does it know anything about what we've become?" Ash nodded, "Of course! Here, let me." He pointed it at Twilight, and a moment later, it read: <> Twilight blinked. "Really?" She studied Ash's face closely, then gasped. "Oh wow, it's true! And might I say, you're one of the noblest humans I've ever met!" Ash flustered. "Gee, thanks!" He next pointed his device to Fluttershy, and it returned: <> Fluttershy looked at herself and remarked, "I suppose I do look rather cloud-like." Next, Pinkie's turn. <> Pinkie gasped, then spat out a string of sticky substance, just like the Pokédex had said. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she no doubt began to think about the possibilities this gave her. Now, Rainbow Dash. <> AJ snickered, "That's definitely Dash." Rainbow Dash beamed, "Sure is!" AJ face-palmed. Rarity came next. <> Rarity gasped. "Oh, I see! That's actually rather fitting, now that I know that." Ash raised an eyebrow, "You like fashion, huh?" She smirked. "Darling, 'like' doesn't begin to describe it." They all shared a small chuckle at that. Spike's turn, now. <> Everyone blinked. "Did I hear that correctly?" Rarity asked. Spike self-consciously looked back at his tail, at the flame that was apparently his life force. "That's... Wow..." AJ stepped forward. "Hopefully, mah description'll lighten the mood." Ash visibly grimaced. "Well, uh, maybe we shouldn't..." She raised an eyebrow from under the skull she wore. "How bad can it be?" He sighed, relenting. <> Everyone stared at Applejack, who was absolutely mortified at just the thought. Then Twilight piped up, "But that wouldn't make sense; she didn't bring... Wait a second! AJ, you came through the portal wearing your hat, right?" She nodded. "Your hat must've become the skull instead!" Everyone sighed in immense relief, their existential crisis having been narrowly averted. Well, except for Spike; he was still staring at the flame at the end of his tail. (4) — The Professor is In!The Laboratory was particularly quiet today. Professor Oak was sitting under a tree outside, observing the Pokémon running around the fenced-in area. Among the Pokémon, a Bulbasaur was helping a Tangela practice its Vine Whip, several Tauros were grazing, and a Sceptile was on its own, meditating. Yes, today was particularly calm. Which was why Professor Oak was prepared for something to come and disrupt that. As such, he wasn't surprised when Ash came running up the path, shouting "Professor Oak!!" the whole way. He was even less surprised when the sudden exclamation broke the Tangela's focus, causing it to accidentally let a Vine Whip out, hitting a nearby Tauros. Said Tauros began to freak out from the pain, causing the whole herd to panic and stampede to the other side of the range. The tremors caused by this annoyed Sceptile, but he decided to break the chain, remaining calm and in place. Professor Oak watched all this play out, a large bead of sweat falling down his head. "Ash..." he muttered to himself. Finally, Ash reached Professor Oak, followed by a Galarian Ponyta, a Swablu, a Charmander, and a Swirlix. "Sorry about that, Professor Oak; I'm just excited to get this started as quickly as possible." Professor Oak took a breath to re-center himself. "Now Ash, it's good to see you again, but what could be so exciting that you felt the need to startle all the Pokémon?" The kid cleared his throat before replying, "I'd like you to meet Twilight Sparkle and her friends." Oak peered around Ash to look at the Pokémon. "My, that's quite an interesting assortment of Pokémon. Where'd you find them?" Ash turned to the Galarian Ponyta. "You wanna take it from here?" Oak raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The Ponyta stepped forward, and cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Oak. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a Princess from another dimension, and I'm very curious about Pokémon." Huh. Oak certainly wasn't prepared for that. The Professor brought them all into the Lab, where they proceeded to explain everything. "Fascinating..." Oak mumbled. "We already knew alternate dimensions existed, but to have several intelligent creatures come from one — and be physically transformed by the journey, no less!" "You already know about alternate dimensions?!" Spike asked. Ash answered, "Giratina lives in the Distortion World, and a bunch of Pokémon called the Ultra Beasts come from another universe." "That's right, Ash," Professor Oak commended. He then turned back to Twilight and smiled. "It is a privilege to even live to see this day, let alone be the one you came to." "The feeling's mutual," Twilight smiled back. "I'm really excited to learn all I can about Pokémon." The man laughed. "You remind me of myself. I think we'll get along well." "I can't wait to meet all the Pokémon you have out in that range," Fluttershy commented. "I'll get some snacks cooking!" Pinkie exclaimed, rushing off to find the nearest kitchen. Oak blinked. "How will she do that without knowing any moves?" Spike rolled his eyes. "It's Pinkie Pie; she'll find a way." Ash looked worriedly to where Pinkie had disappeared. "Still, I'd better go help her. Pikachu, you stay here — have some fun with Fluttershy, 'kay?" "Pikachu!" the yellow Pokémon cheered. Ash took off his hat and placed it onto Pikachu's head, before rushing off to find Pinkie. Meanwhile, at Ash's house... *Ding dong!* Delia glanced up from her book at the sound. "Who could that be?" she asked herself, before getting up to answer the door. Standing outside were two young adults of indiscriminate age, both dressed as scouts. The man had blue hair, while the woman had magenta hair. Three guesses as to their actual identities. "Why, hello there," the woman greeted in a clearly fake accent. "My name is 'Hayami',—" "—and my name's 'Eichi'!" The man continued, pitching up his voice in an attempt to sound feminine. "Would you like some cookies?" they both finished together, holding up an indistinct box. Delia stared silently for a moment. Then she slammed the door shut. Jessie groaned. "Nice going, James!" James scowled at Jessie. "Says the woman who decided we should act Japanese!" "Hey, I was working with the disguises you created!" He scoffed, offended. "I happen to like these outfits, thank you very much!" "Wouldja two stop arguin' already?!" A Brooklyn accent came from the box the two were still holding. The lid opened, and out popped Meowth. "You's both idiots, and dat's all dere is to it. Now can we leave before dat lady calls da cops or somethin'?" The two humans glared at him for a moment, before dropping the box to the ground. Meowth let out a pained yelp, climbing out of the box and rubbing his sore heiny. "This is so humiliating," Jessie grumbled as she began to walk away. "We haven't been able to catch that twerp's Pikachu, and we've been trying for..." She paused, "How long have we been trying?" James and Meowth looked at each other, but no answer came. She groaned again. "Why can't we do it? Is there something we're doing wrong?!" "Naw, it's dat kid he's always with," Meowth growled. "As long as dey're both together, dey're inseparable!" A minute of silent contemplation passed as they continued to walk. James looked up, then paused. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed towards Professor Oak's Lab, which had just come into view while they were walking. Within the fenced-off area, among all the Pokémon, was a Pikachu wearing Ash's hat. "Well," Jessie remarked, "that's certainly lucky." Fluttershy was incredibly happy. Even the fact that she was in a foreign world hardly mattered; right now, she was as content as could be. "My, that is certainly an interesting tale," she commented as Infernape finished telling her about his adventures with Ash. "I'm glad everyone came back alright." ~Me too,~ Infernape chattered. ~It's pretty cool how you can understand us without speaking our language.~ "Why thank you," she blushed. "It's my special talent. Now, how about you, Noctowl? Do you have any interesting stories?" ~Oh, do I! So, I'm actually what's known as a 'Shiny Pokémon' — Noctowls aren't usually this color.~ "Ooh!" Fluttershy awed. ~I know, right? They're really rare, and...~ As the Noctowl recounted everything it knew about Shiny Pokémon, Fluttershy's gaze wandered slightly. She saw a Snorlax sunning itself, Pikachu standing near the edge of the range with two people sneaking up behind him, and a Muk who was— Wait a second... uh-oh! Fluttershy gasped, drawing the attention of the Pokémon near her to what she was looking at. The two froze as they realized that they'd been seen by several Pokémon they were already acquainted with — including Pikachu now, too. "Uh..." the man began, "No hard feelings, right?" *BAM!* "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaain...!" Fluttershy stared in surprise as the two people were launched towards the horizon by several Pokémon at once. "Uhh... Will they be alright?" ~Unfortunately, yes,~ Unfezant grumbled. Pikachu then explained, ~Those guys are always trying to nab me to give to their evil boss!~ "Oh dear," Fluttershy looked off at where they went. "Who were they?" ~Jessie and James of Team Rocket,~ Infernape stated. ~Although they usually travel with a Meowth, too...~ Unbeknownst to them, however, Meowth had been waiting out of sight, and therefore, hadn't been blasted off along with the two. And now, he was staring at that talking Swablu, with poké-dollar signs in his eyes. Author's Note Oh hey, I'm back with another chapter of this? How special! Initially, Team Rocket was going to appear much later on, but I think it'll be better to introduce them now, so we can get plenty of use out of them. (3) — A Home Cooked Delia-cacy!Eventually, Ash stood back up. "Well, it's getting late; I really ought to be heading back home." He paused for a moment, then added, "Would you like to come with?" Twilight gasped. She looked to the others for their opinions, and when nobody objected, she eagerly replied, "Oh, yes please!" He nodded, beginning to lead the way back where he'd come from. "Alright, then let's go!" The group began to walk after him as he made his way through the foliage with surprising knowledge. After a while, they left the thicker part of the woods and got on a path. And in no time at all, they were met with a rather small village. A few scattered houses lined the road, and on a hill, a laboratory-looking building stood proud. That was it. That was the entire village, as far as they could tell. A few people were out and about, and whenever they noticed Ash's group, they'd stop, stare for a moment, then shrug it off and keep walking. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for Ash to have a bunch of Pokémon with him. Speaking of which... Twilight hung back to address the rest of the Equestrians. "Okay, girls, we should try and act normal. You saw how Ash reacted when he found out we could talk, so let's keep that to a minimum." Everypony nodded (AJ more hesitantly than the others). Eventually, they reached one of those houses, and Ash let himself in. "Mom, I'm back!" A sweet voice came from another room, "Welcome back! I trust you stayed safe out there?" Ash rolled his eyes. "Mom! I've been to Kalos by myself; I can walk down Route 1 just fine." A chuckle came from his Mom. "I know, dear. Now, did anything happen while you were out?" "Actually," he began, "I met a bunch of new friends!" "Oh?" Her interest was piqued. A moment later, a sweet-looking woman wearing a cooking apron stepped out of what Twilight assumed was the kitchen. She looked at the group and blinked in surprise. "Why, hello there!" "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!" The party planner immediately replied. Understandably, Ash's Mom promptly fainted. Everypony glared at Pinkie Pie, who looked confused. "What?" Thankfully, there were some smelling salts readily available in a closet. It wasn't even a minute before she stirred. Then, remembering why she'd fainted, she sat bolt upright and stared at the group. "Y-you can talk..." Twilight nodded. "Sorry about surprising you like that; Pinkie tends to get excited when meeting new people." Pinkie blushed, nodding. Ash's Mom stammered, "B-but that's not possible; the only Pokémon I've seen talk is Team Rocket's Meowth!" Ash thought for a moment before pointing out, "What about all those Psychic Types that can use telepathy?" She blinked. "Well, besides them." "And Rotom-Dex could talk, too." "And him..." Ash began to count on his fingers, "Then there was that Tentacruel that attacked Hutbur Port, some Gastly have spoken, there was that Slowking in the Orange Isles, Entei, Darkrai, Arceus, Manaphy could say a few things, Hoop–" "Okay, I get it," Ash's Mom gently but firmly stopped the callback-fest before it could get out of control. He rubbed his head bashfully, "Sorry." Twilight stepped forward. "We're actually visiting from another dimension, where we aren't Pokémon." Ash's Mom froze. "W-wha...?" Spike helpfully piped in, "Twilight here is incredibly smart, and she figured out how to –" "N-no," she clarified, "I'm just confused; why come here, of all places?" "Do you mean 'here' as in 'this dimension', or 'here' as in 'your house, specifically'?" "Both, really." Twilight shrugged. "We didn't choose a specific dimension, we just sorta jumped in. And your son here was the first one we met, and he's been nice so far." Ash blushed. "Aw, gee, thanks." Finally somewhat calm, Ash's Mother stood up. "Well, in any case, uh, welcome to the Kanto Region. My name's Delia, and, uh... would you like some food?" Twilight smiled. "Oh, there's no need for that; we're just passing through." Ash stepped forward. "But you ought to be hungry after your journey. It'll be no trouble at all, I promise." Twilight looked to her friends, who all seemed okay with the idea. "Well, experiencing the dietary needs of a novel body does sound tempting..." Everyone except for Spike stared in confusion. "Is, uh, that a yes?" Ash asked. She blinked sheepishly. "Yes." Pretty soon, everyone was in the kitchen, having dinner. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy joined Pikachu and another Pokémon (dubbed 'Mimey' by Delia) on the floor, while Twilight, Spike, and Rarity sat at the table with the humans. Rarity scoffed at the group on the floor. "Ugh, remind me why you're eating on the floor again?" AJ replied, "Well, Ah'm too short ta reach the table." Rarity muttered to herself, "I'm shorter than you right now, yet I'm doing fine." Fluttershy blushed, "I just wanted to relate to my animal friends, since I always feed them like this." Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno; it just feels right to me." Pinkie giggled, "Me too!" The fashionista rolled her eyes. "Why'd I even bother asking?" Twilight, meanwhile, was conversing with Delia. "...and that's when Ash offered to bring us here." Ash's Mom rubbed the back of her head. "Yep, that sure sounds like Ash; always eager to have a battle..." "I said I was sorry!" Ash protested. The three chuckled amongst themselves, before Twilight continued. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions I have?" "Oh?" Delia asked. "And what would those questions be?" "For starters, why catch Pokémon? What purpose, if any, does it serve, and what do you do afterwards?" Ash's Mom pondered that for a moment. "Well, it really depends on the type of person you are. Some people train them to do battle; others enter them into contests; a few do research; but most people bond with their caught Pokémon. But then again, I'm probably not the best suited for answering that question; the only Pokémon I've ever caught is Mimey, and that was just so I'd have someone to help with the chores." At the mention of his name, Mimey responded with a wave and a "Mime mime!" Delia waved back, then continued, "If you want a better answer, you could always go and visit Professor Oak. He lives down the road at the Pokémon Lab, where he researches all sorts of Pokémon." That piqued Twilight's interest. "Sounds like this Professor Oak is my kind of guy." Ash raised his hand excitedly, "I can take you to him first thing in the morning!" "Maybe not first thing, but yeah, I'd love to," the Princess agreed. After a moment, she addressed her friends. "Well, girls, looks like it's time to head home for the evening." Delia stood up. "Actually, why don't you stay here? We have plenty of room, and—" "As much as we appreciate your hospitality," Twilight interrupted, "some of us have things we need to do back home tomorrow." AJ nodded, "Ah need to make sure the farm's runnin' in tip-top shape." Rarity agreed, "And my boutique won't run itself." "I've got weather duty tomorrow," Rainbow bemoaned. "As much fun as it'd be to stay and explore..." "I understand completely," Delia said, her smile never leaving her face. "But I'm free," Fluttershy piped up. "After I make sure my animal friends are taken care of, of course." "And I'm sure I can make it, too!" Pinkie agreed. "I just need to get one of the Cakes to cover my shift." "I'm sticking with Twilight wherever she goes," Spike pointed out, "so if she'll be here tomorrow, so will I." "Then it's settled: Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike and I will meet you here tomorrow, and you can take us to Professor Oak's Lab." "Deal!" Ash grinned. He held out his hand, and Twilight held out her hoof, which he shook vigorously. "And so, our heroes head back home for the night, with the promise of further adventure! What awaits them in the Kanto Region? Only time will tell, as the journey continues—" "Pinkie, dear," Rarity asked, "Why are you narrating?" The party planner made a shrugging sound. "I dunno, it just felt appropriate."
(1) — It's A Whole New World"Remind me again why you woke us up so early?" Rarity yawned to Twilight as the Elements of Harmony gathered in the Castle of Friendship. AJ supplied a yawn of her own. "Land sakes, Twilight, not even Ah usually gittup this early..." Twilight smiled meekly. "Sorry, girls; I just couldn't sleep once I hit this breakthrough." "Mind telling us WHAT this breakthrough IS?" Rainbow Dash drowsily retorted. Pinkie jumped up and down excitedly, seemingly unaffected by the early hour. "Are we going somewhere fun?!" "You could say that," Twilight relented. Fluttershy grumbled, "Twilight, you'd better tell us what this is about, or Celestia help me..." Everypony else stared at the usually pleasant mare. They'd heard of ponies getting moody when tired, but this one was quite the surprise. The Princess cleared her throat. "Alright, do you girls remember those times I went to that alternate dimension where Sunset Shimmer lives?" Everypony nodded, so she continued, "Well, that all got me thinking: What if there are other dimensions out there?" Rainbow rolled her eyes. "So lemme guess: you went full egghead-mode, and researched non-stop since then." Twilight scoffed. "It wasn't non-stop! I got a whole 3 hours of sleep!" Rainbow simply rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I checked every book there is on quantum mechanics and parallel dimension theory, and I think I've figured out something." She stepped aside to show off the Mirror Portal, which was still outfitted with the mechanisms that made her return trip to Canterlot High possible. "Since this portal is already linked to another dimension, it figures that it would only take an extra bit of power to link to a different one." Rarity pointed out, "But won't that mean that the original link gets severed?" The Princess of Friendship shook her head. "Sunset's Journal should keep the connection." The group murmured in acceptance. Twilight's horn lit up. "Now, then, are you girls ready to visit a completely new dimension, unseen by pony-kind?" Pinkie nearly exploded with excitement. "Ooh, YES! I've always wanted to visit another dimension; this'll be just like my stories!" Twilight decided not to ask. Instead, she powered up her horn further, then siphoned that energy into the Portal. The machine did its thing, while Twilight's magic redirected the Portal's destination to somewhere other than Sunset's dimension. The Mirror warbled to life with that signature rippling effect, and once it settled into a stable state, Twilight could safely stop supplying extra power. "Alright, it should be set." Twilight couldn't help but prance in place giddily. "I know this isn't very scientific of me, but I'm too excited, so let's just jump in!" The others hesitantly looked at each other. "Ah dunno," AJ began nervously. But her words fell on deaf ears as Twilight excitedly jumped through. Everypony held their breath in anticipation, waiting for any sign that the experiment had worked. Several minutes passed. Pinkie fainted from holding her breath too long. Spike was considering jumping in after Twilight. Finally, a rock came tumbling back through the Portal. The group sighed in relief, thankful that Twilight was still okay. And so, with only a moment's hesitation further, they all stepped through the Portal. Applejack stumbled out of the Portal first, finding herself in a thick forest. She heard the others arrive behind her, but didn't actually look; she was too busy dealing with the wave of nausea that'd overcome her. Once that passed, she attempted to get up— Only to find that she was already standing. Odd, she thought, why'm Ah still so close to the ground? And— hey, what's on mah head? AJ felt for her face with a forelimb; indeed, there was something that felt like bone covering her entire head. Then AJ realized that her forelimb had digits now. "What in tarnation...?" She mumbled to herself, staring at the tan limb that was once her front right hoof. Then Rarity screamed, "OH, SWEET CELESTIA!" AJ turned at the sound, but froze when she saw what Rarity was screaming about. They'd all transformed when they entered the portal. That much was to be somewhat expected, seeing as how Twilight said she always transformed when she visited Sunset's world. But it was WHAT they'd each transformed into that was so concerning. AJ had become a strange, 1' 4" biped with a skull adorning her head, and claws on her digits. Rainbow Dash had become a 1' 8" eaglet, with a rainbow-colored feather on her forehead. Fluttershy had become a 1' 4" bird with cottony wings and no discernible neck. Pinkie Pie was now a 1' 4" ball of floating fluff with a tail and legs. That was it. No arms, no nothing. Spike was now one of the tallest of the group, a 2' tall, bipedal, dragon-ish creature with a small fire burning on the end of his tail. But Rarity's transformation was the most amusing of them all. Instead of the prim-and-proper fashionista she usually was, she was now a 1' tall caterpillar with a leaf headdress and six stubby limbs. And she was having an absolute FIT about it. "What in Equestria happened to me?!" She exclaimed. "My fabulously kempt fur is gone; replaced by this– this THING!" Fluttershy looked at herself and stated, "Oh my..." Then she felt her wing with her newfound beak, and decided to nuzzle into her cotton-y wings. Rainbow looked at herself. "Aw, nuts. Well, at least I can still fly..." Pinkie looked at herself, then started doing mid-air cartwheels with a strange amount of practiced ease. "Wheee! This is so much fun!" Spike looked at himself, then pumped his fist in excitement. "Sweet! I'm not a dog again!" Rainbow blinked. "What do you mean, 'again'?" Spike blushed, turning his already reddish skin even redder. "N-nothing..." Then Twilight's voice asked, "You girls alright?" Everyone turned to see their friend, and gasped. She seemed Equine enough, but there were just some things off about it, like the proportions. She'd become an off-white color, with fluffy magenta-streaked hair and a dark horn, but no wings to speak of. Everyone marveled at her. "Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash asked. "No fair, you barely changed!" "Hey, don't blame me," she defended, "I didn't choose these forms!" "Well, neither did we!" Rainbow retorted. "Don't look at me!" Rarity exclaimed, trying and failing to cover her face with her stubby limbs. "I'm hideous!" "Rarity, nopony cares whatcha look like," Applejack pointed out, "since all o' us're in th' same boat as ya." "That's easy for you to say," Rarity shot back, "you already have something covering your face!" Fluttershy took the opportunity to look at AJ, then nearly fainted. "Is that a skull you're wearing!?" Everypony else gasped, including AJ. The farmpony quickly grabbed the headpiece and took it off, then— Applejack stopped when she saw everyone else's expressions. They seemed frozen in fear by... By her face? She put the skull back on, and the others unfroze, shivering. "You know what?" Rarity stated, "I think I'm alright with my form now." Everypony else nodded in agreement; Applejack grumbled in offense. "Girls!" Twilight scolded, "We shouldn't be arguing like this! This is a whole new world we're in, and the first thing you want to do here is fight? Shame on you!" AJ and Rarity looked down dejectedly. "Sorry, Twilight." She nodded contently. "Good. Now, let's —" But whatever she was about to say, it was interrupted by a rustle in the bushes. The group fell silent, gathering together for safety as an unknown creature approached. A large yellow rat with a lightning-shaped tail leapt out of the bushes, then froze when it saw the group. Twilight blinked. "Huh, I was imagining something more threatening." The rat gasped, "Pika?!", then rushed back into the bushes. Everypony looked on confusedly. Then the rat came back, a young human boy in tow. "What is it, Pikachu?" he asked. "Pika Pika Pi!" the rat chittered, pointing at the group. The kid looked up, and gasped. "Woah, that's a lot of rare Pokémon!" "Wha?" Fluttershy vocalized. The kid turned his hat backwards, declaring, "I'm gonna catch 'em all! Go, Pikachu!" Pikachu jumped forward, a determined look on its face. "Pika!" And with that, the first fight of their visit began.
(2) — A Wild Ketchum Appeared!Twilight and the others pondered over their situation. There they were, in a foreign world, transformed into foreign bodies. Not to mention that a human and a 'Pikachu' had discovered them, and from the looks of it, they weren't going to leave without a fight. Rainbow Dash, despite all of this, gladly accepted the offer. She stretched her tiny wings, then took off upwards as fast as she could. After rising about twenty feet into the air, she began a dive-bomb, aimed straight at Pikachu. The human kid called out, "Dodge it, Pikachu, and retaliate with Thunderbolt!" An instant before Rainbow's attack made contact, Pikachu jumped out of her path, and cried out, "Pika—CHU!" A large burst of electricity shot out of the rodent and hit Rainbow Dash, dealing double damage and paralyzing her. The sight made everyone witnessing it freeze in shock and fear. "Alright, we got it right where we want it!" The kid cheered, grabbing a strange spherical device from his belt and winding up a throw. "Go, Pokéb—" "WAIT!" The kid froze. "Uh... Did you hear that, Pikachu?" Pikachu nodded frantically, "Pi Pika, Chu Pi!" He pointed to the rest of the group, most of whom were still frozen. Except for Fluttershy. Fluttershy had instinctively leapt between Rainbow Dash and the kid, spreading her wings in a defensive manner. "That's enough; you leave Rainbow Dash alone!" The boy's jaw dropped. "Wha— you can talk!?" Fluttershy stood her ground. "I don't know who you think you are, but I will not stand by and let my friends get hurt!" The first one to break out of their stunned stupor was Rarity; she squirmed forward to join Fluttershy and added, "Neither shall I!" Spike immediately joined his crush. "Yeah, what she said!" Applejack waddled over and took up a defensive stance. "If ya wanna git Rainbow Dash, yer gonna hafta git past us!" Twilight and Pinkie both quickly joined them, and together, they stood their ground against the boy. Said boy, however, was staring as though he'd seen a ghost. "I-I-I'm sorry, I thought– how can you all– what's going– ughhh," he stuttered, before promptly fainting. The seven Equestrians blinked in surprise. "I think we may have overdone it just a bit," Twilight remarked. "Pika," Pikachu nodded in agreement. About thirty minutes later, the kid was conscious again. "Ugh... Pikachu, I just had the strangest dream; there were a bunch of talking Pokémon, and–" Then he froze as he caught sight of the eight figures looking down at him. Panicking, he scrambled backwards and blurted, "P-please forgive me! I didn't know you could talk; I—" Fluttershy stepped forward and held up a wing in a shushing manner. "Shh, calm down. We didn't mean to scare you; we were just protecting our friend." The kid relaxed a little bit. "If I'd've known you could talk, I wouldn't have attacked in the first place." Rainbow, her paralysis having worn off while he was unconscious, raised an eyebrow and asked, "Yeah, why did you attack us?" He rubbed the back of his head nervously and explained, "Because I thought you were just normal Pokémon, and I wanted to catch you." The entire group asked simultaneously, "Pokémon?" The boy blinked. "You don't know what Pokémon are?" Twilight shook her head. "We aren't exactly from around here." "Well, I'll say!" The kid chuckled. "I'm Ash, by the way. And this is Pikachu." "Pika," the electric rodent nodded. The seven introduced themselves in turn. Ash scratched his head, shrugging off their peculiar names. "So, if you're not from around here, and you don't know what Pokémon are, then where did you even come from?" Twilight grimaced, dreading this moment. "Well, you see, —" Surprisingly, it wasn't Pinkie Pie that butted in this time, but rather Rainbow Dash. "We're from another dimension, where we live in a land called 'Equestria'. Twilight here modified a mirror she has, turning it into a portal that we used to get here. When we went through, we found ourselves turned into these 'Pokémon' things, and then you showed up." The other Elements of Harmony stared at Dashie, surprised that she'd summarized it so eloquently. Ash gaped for a moment, then shrugged. "Well, stranger things have certainly happened to me before..." Twilight did a double-take. "Really? You believe us, just like that?" He nodded, "Being friends involves giving the benefit of the doubt. Besides, the least I can do to make up for attacking is to trust you." Twilight chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose you're right..." Ash took the opportunity to stand up. "Well, if you're not familiar with those bodies, then what're you back in your world?" AJ answered, "Most of us are Ponies." Ash scratched his head. "Ponies? You mean, like Ponyta?" Twilight blinked, then looked down at herself when he pointed. "Well, sorta." Spike chimed in, "I'm the only one of us who isn't a pony; instead, I'm a fire-breathing dragon!" Ash smirked, "You mean like Charizard?" Spike blinked. "Who?" In response, Ash pulled another one of those spherical devices from his belt and tossed it into the air. At the peak of its arc, it opened up and a white energy came out, coalescing until it parted to reveal a HUGE dragon (it was actually only 5' 7", but it seemed huge in comparison to Twilight and the others). Spike gawked, "Holy guacamole!" Charizard opened one of its eyes and smirked cockily, as if to say 'Yep, I know I'm awesome'. Rainbow Dash certainly knew that look. Twilight, however, was more interested in the ball that Charizard came out of. "How'd you do that?" Ash re-caught the spherical device, and held it up. "Oh, this is is a Pokéball. It allows trainers to catch and contain Pokémon." The Princess stared at it, awestruck. AJ pointed at Charizard and asked, "Who's the big guy?" Ash reached into his pocket and procured another device, then pointed it at Charizard. After a moment, the device opened up and began to recite: <> The entire group "Ooh"ed at this. Twilight pointed at the device. "And that?" Ash smiled. "My Pokédex. Professor Oak gave it to me a while ago; it contains all the known data on the known species of Pokémon." Fluttershy oogled at it. "How many is that?" He put a finger to his chin in thought. "Last I heard, it was somewhere around 890." Everyone's jaws dropped. "How do you keep track of it all!?" Fluttershy gaped. The boy held up the Pokédex with a knowing smirk. Then Twilight asked, "Does it know anything about what we've become?" Ash nodded, "Of course! Here, let me." He pointed it at Twilight, and a moment later, it read: <> Twilight blinked. "Really?" She studied Ash's face closely, then gasped. "Oh wow, it's true! And might I say, you're one of the noblest humans I've ever met!" Ash flustered. "Gee, thanks!" He next pointed his device to Fluttershy, and it returned: <> Fluttershy looked at herself and remarked, "I suppose I do look rather cloud-like." Next, Pinkie's turn. <> Pinkie gasped, then spat out a string of sticky substance, just like the Pokédex had said. A mischievous grin spread across her face as she no doubt began to think about the possibilities this gave her. Now, Rainbow Dash. <> AJ snickered, "That's definitely Dash." Rainbow Dash beamed, "Sure is!" AJ face-palmed. Rarity came next. <> Rarity gasped. "Oh, I see! That's actually rather fitting, now that I know that." Ash raised an eyebrow, "You like fashion, huh?" She smirked. "Darling, 'like' doesn't begin to describe it." They all shared a small chuckle at that. Spike's turn, now. <> Everyone blinked. "Did I hear that correctly?" Rarity asked. Spike self-consciously looked back at his tail, at the flame that was apparently his life force. "That's... Wow..." AJ stepped forward. "Hopefully, mah description'll lighten the mood." Ash visibly grimaced. "Well, uh, maybe we shouldn't..." She raised an eyebrow from under the skull she wore. "How bad can it be?" He sighed, relenting. <> Everyone stared at Applejack, who was absolutely mortified at just the thought. Then Twilight piped up, "But that wouldn't make sense; she didn't bring... Wait a second! AJ, you came through the portal wearing your hat, right?" She nodded. "Your hat must've become the skull instead!" Everyone sighed in immense relief, their existential crisis having been narrowly averted. Well, except for Spike; he was still staring at the flame at the end of his tail.
(4) — The Professor is In!The Laboratory was particularly quiet today. Professor Oak was sitting under a tree outside, observing the Pokémon running around the fenced-in area. Among the Pokémon, a Bulbasaur was helping a Tangela practice its Vine Whip, several Tauros were grazing, and a Sceptile was on its own, meditating. Yes, today was particularly calm. Which was why Professor Oak was prepared for something to come and disrupt that. As such, he wasn't surprised when Ash came running up the path, shouting "Professor Oak!!" the whole way. He was even less surprised when the sudden exclamation broke the Tangela's focus, causing it to accidentally let a Vine Whip out, hitting a nearby Tauros. Said Tauros began to freak out from the pain, causing the whole herd to panic and stampede to the other side of the range. The tremors caused by this annoyed Sceptile, but he decided to break the chain, remaining calm and in place. Professor Oak watched all this play out, a large bead of sweat falling down his head. "Ash..." he muttered to himself. Finally, Ash reached Professor Oak, followed by a Galarian Ponyta, a Swablu, a Charmander, and a Swirlix. "Sorry about that, Professor Oak; I'm just excited to get this started as quickly as possible." Professor Oak took a breath to re-center himself. "Now Ash, it's good to see you again, but what could be so exciting that you felt the need to startle all the Pokémon?" The kid cleared his throat before replying, "I'd like you to meet Twilight Sparkle and her friends." Oak peered around Ash to look at the Pokémon. "My, that's quite an interesting assortment of Pokémon. Where'd you find them?" Ash turned to the Galarian Ponyta. "You wanna take it from here?" Oak raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The Ponyta stepped forward, and cleared her throat. "It's nice to meet you, Professor Oak. My name is Twilight Sparkle, I'm a Princess from another dimension, and I'm very curious about Pokémon." Huh. Oak certainly wasn't prepared for that. The Professor brought them all into the Lab, where they proceeded to explain everything. "Fascinating..." Oak mumbled. "We already knew alternate dimensions existed, but to have several intelligent creatures come from one — and be physically transformed by the journey, no less!" "You already know about alternate dimensions?!" Spike asked. Ash answered, "Giratina lives in the Distortion World, and a bunch of Pokémon called the Ultra Beasts come from another universe." "That's right, Ash," Professor Oak commended. He then turned back to Twilight and smiled. "It is a privilege to even live to see this day, let alone be the one you came to." "The feeling's mutual," Twilight smiled back. "I'm really excited to learn all I can about Pokémon." The man laughed. "You remind me of myself. I think we'll get along well." "I can't wait to meet all the Pokémon you have out in that range," Fluttershy commented. "I'll get some snacks cooking!" Pinkie exclaimed, rushing off to find the nearest kitchen. Oak blinked. "How will she do that without knowing any moves?" Spike rolled his eyes. "It's Pinkie Pie; she'll find a way." Ash looked worriedly to where Pinkie had disappeared. "Still, I'd better go help her. Pikachu, you stay here — have some fun with Fluttershy, 'kay?" "Pikachu!" the yellow Pokémon cheered. Ash took off his hat and placed it onto Pikachu's head, before rushing off to find Pinkie. Meanwhile, at Ash's house... *Ding dong!* Delia glanced up from her book at the sound. "Who could that be?" she asked herself, before getting up to answer the door. Standing outside were two young adults of indiscriminate age, both dressed as scouts. The man had blue hair, while the woman had magenta hair. Three guesses as to their actual identities. "Why, hello there," the woman greeted in a clearly fake accent. "My name is 'Hayami',—" "—and my name's 'Eichi'!" The man continued, pitching up his voice in an attempt to sound feminine. "Would you like some cookies?" they both finished together, holding up an indistinct box. Delia stared silently for a moment. Then she slammed the door shut. Jessie groaned. "Nice going, James!" James scowled at Jessie. "Says the woman who decided we should act Japanese!" "Hey, I was working with the disguises you created!" He scoffed, offended. "I happen to like these outfits, thank you very much!" "Wouldja two stop arguin' already?!" A Brooklyn accent came from the box the two were still holding. The lid opened, and out popped Meowth. "You's both idiots, and dat's all dere is to it. Now can we leave before dat lady calls da cops or somethin'?" The two humans glared at him for a moment, before dropping the box to the ground. Meowth let out a pained yelp, climbing out of the box and rubbing his sore heiny. "This is so humiliating," Jessie grumbled as she began to walk away. "We haven't been able to catch that twerp's Pikachu, and we've been trying for..." She paused, "How long have we been trying?" James and Meowth looked at each other, but no answer came. She groaned again. "Why can't we do it? Is there something we're doing wrong?!" "Naw, it's dat kid he's always with," Meowth growled. "As long as dey're both together, dey're inseparable!" A minute of silent contemplation passed as they continued to walk. James looked up, then paused. "Hey, look at that!" He pointed towards Professor Oak's Lab, which had just come into view while they were walking. Within the fenced-off area, among all the Pokémon, was a Pikachu wearing Ash's hat. "Well," Jessie remarked, "that's certainly lucky." Fluttershy was incredibly happy. Even the fact that she was in a foreign world hardly mattered; right now, she was as content as could be. "My, that is certainly an interesting tale," she commented as Infernape finished telling her about his adventures with Ash. "I'm glad everyone came back alright." ~Me too,~ Infernape chattered. ~It's pretty cool how you can understand us without speaking our language.~ "Why thank you," she blushed. "It's my special talent. Now, how about you, Noctowl? Do you have any interesting stories?" ~Oh, do I! So, I'm actually what's known as a 'Shiny Pokémon' — Noctowls aren't usually this color.~ "Ooh!" Fluttershy awed. ~I know, right? They're really rare, and...~ As the Noctowl recounted everything it knew about Shiny Pokémon, Fluttershy's gaze wandered slightly. She saw a Snorlax sunning itself, Pikachu standing near the edge of the range with two people sneaking up behind him, and a Muk who was— Wait a second... uh-oh! Fluttershy gasped, drawing the attention of the Pokémon near her to what she was looking at. The two froze as they realized that they'd been seen by several Pokémon they were already acquainted with — including Pikachu now, too. "Uh..." the man began, "No hard feelings, right?" *BAM!* "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off agaaaaain...!" Fluttershy stared in surprise as the two people were launched towards the horizon by several Pokémon at once. "Uhh... Will they be alright?" ~Unfortunately, yes,~ Unfezant grumbled. Pikachu then explained, ~Those guys are always trying to nab me to give to their evil boss!~ "Oh dear," Fluttershy looked off at where they went. "Who were they?" ~Jessie and James of Team Rocket,~ Infernape stated. ~Although they usually travel with a Meowth, too...~ Unbeknownst to them, however, Meowth had been waiting out of sight, and therefore, hadn't been blasted off along with the two. And now, he was staring at that talking Swablu, with poké-dollar signs in his eyes. Author's Note Oh hey, I'm back with another chapter of this? How special! Initially, Team Rocket was going to appear much later on, but I think it'll be better to introduce them now, so we can get plenty of use out of them.
(3) — A Home Cooked Delia-cacy!Eventually, Ash stood back up. "Well, it's getting late; I really ought to be heading back home." He paused for a moment, then added, "Would you like to come with?" Twilight gasped. She looked to the others for their opinions, and when nobody objected, she eagerly replied, "Oh, yes please!" He nodded, beginning to lead the way back where he'd come from. "Alright, then let's go!" The group began to walk after him as he made his way through the foliage with surprising knowledge. After a while, they left the thicker part of the woods and got on a path. And in no time at all, they were met with a rather small village. A few scattered houses lined the road, and on a hill, a laboratory-looking building stood proud. That was it. That was the entire village, as far as they could tell. A few people were out and about, and whenever they noticed Ash's group, they'd stop, stare for a moment, then shrug it off and keep walking. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for Ash to have a bunch of Pokémon with him. Speaking of which... Twilight hung back to address the rest of the Equestrians. "Okay, girls, we should try and act normal. You saw how Ash reacted when he found out we could talk, so let's keep that to a minimum." Everypony nodded (AJ more hesitantly than the others). Eventually, they reached one of those houses, and Ash let himself in. "Mom, I'm back!" A sweet voice came from another room, "Welcome back! I trust you stayed safe out there?" Ash rolled his eyes. "Mom! I've been to Kalos by myself; I can walk down Route 1 just fine." A chuckle came from his Mom. "I know, dear. Now, did anything happen while you were out?" "Actually," he began, "I met a bunch of new friends!" "Oh?" Her interest was piqued. A moment later, a sweet-looking woman wearing a cooking apron stepped out of what Twilight assumed was the kitchen. She looked at the group and blinked in surprise. "Why, hello there!" "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!" The party planner immediately replied. Understandably, Ash's Mom promptly fainted. Everypony glared at Pinkie Pie, who looked confused. "What?" Thankfully, there were some smelling salts readily available in a closet. It wasn't even a minute before she stirred. Then, remembering why she'd fainted, she sat bolt upright and stared at the group. "Y-you can talk..." Twilight nodded. "Sorry about surprising you like that; Pinkie tends to get excited when meeting new people." Pinkie blushed, nodding. Ash's Mom stammered, "B-but that's not possible; the only Pokémon I've seen talk is Team Rocket's Meowth!" Ash thought for a moment before pointing out, "What about all those Psychic Types that can use telepathy?" She blinked. "Well, besides them." "And Rotom-Dex could talk, too." "And him..." Ash began to count on his fingers, "Then there was that Tentacruel that attacked Hutbur Port, some Gastly have spoken, there was that Slowking in the Orange Isles, Entei, Darkrai, Arceus, Manaphy could say a few things, Hoop–" "Okay, I get it," Ash's Mom gently but firmly stopped the callback-fest before it could get out of control. He rubbed his head bashfully, "Sorry." Twilight stepped forward. "We're actually visiting from another dimension, where we aren't Pokémon." Ash's Mom froze. "W-wha...?" Spike helpfully piped in, "Twilight here is incredibly smart, and she figured out how to –" "N-no," she clarified, "I'm just confused; why come here, of all places?" "Do you mean 'here' as in 'this dimension', or 'here' as in 'your house, specifically'?" "Both, really." Twilight shrugged. "We didn't choose a specific dimension, we just sorta jumped in. And your son here was the first one we met, and he's been nice so far." Ash blushed. "Aw, gee, thanks." Finally somewhat calm, Ash's Mother stood up. "Well, in any case, uh, welcome to the Kanto Region. My name's Delia, and, uh... would you like some food?" Twilight smiled. "Oh, there's no need for that; we're just passing through." Ash stepped forward. "But you ought to be hungry after your journey. It'll be no trouble at all, I promise." Twilight looked to her friends, who all seemed okay with the idea. "Well, experiencing the dietary needs of a novel body does sound tempting..." Everyone except for Spike stared in confusion. "Is, uh, that a yes?" Ash asked. She blinked sheepishly. "Yes." Pretty soon, everyone was in the kitchen, having dinner. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy joined Pikachu and another Pokémon (dubbed 'Mimey' by Delia) on the floor, while Twilight, Spike, and Rarity sat at the table with the humans. Rarity scoffed at the group on the floor. "Ugh, remind me why you're eating on the floor again?" AJ replied, "Well, Ah'm too short ta reach the table." Rarity muttered to herself, "I'm shorter than you right now, yet I'm doing fine." Fluttershy blushed, "I just wanted to relate to my animal friends, since I always feed them like this." Rainbow shrugged. "I dunno; it just feels right to me." Pinkie giggled, "Me too!" The fashionista rolled her eyes. "Why'd I even bother asking?" Twilight, meanwhile, was conversing with Delia. "...and that's when Ash offered to bring us here." Ash's Mom rubbed the back of her head. "Yep, that sure sounds like Ash; always eager to have a battle..." "I said I was sorry!" Ash protested. The three chuckled amongst themselves, before Twilight continued. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you could answer a few questions I have?" "Oh?" Delia asked. "And what would those questions be?" "For starters, why catch Pokémon? What purpose, if any, does it serve, and what do you do afterwards?" Ash's Mom pondered that for a moment. "Well, it really depends on the type of person you are. Some people train them to do battle; others enter them into contests; a few do research; but most people bond with their caught Pokémon. But then again, I'm probably not the best suited for answering that question; the only Pokémon I've ever caught is Mimey, and that was just so I'd have someone to help with the chores." At the mention of his name, Mimey responded with a wave and a "Mime mime!" Delia waved back, then continued, "If you want a better answer, you could always go and visit Professor Oak. He lives down the road at the Pokémon Lab, where he researches all sorts of Pokémon." That piqued Twilight's interest. "Sounds like this Professor Oak is my kind of guy." Ash raised his hand excitedly, "I can take you to him first thing in the morning!" "Maybe not first thing, but yeah, I'd love to," the Princess agreed. After a moment, she addressed her friends. "Well, girls, looks like it's time to head home for the evening." Delia stood up. "Actually, why don't you stay here? We have plenty of room, and—" "As much as we appreciate your hospitality," Twilight interrupted, "some of us have things we need to do back home tomorrow." AJ nodded, "Ah need to make sure the farm's runnin' in tip-top shape." Rarity agreed, "And my boutique won't run itself." "I've got weather duty tomorrow," Rainbow bemoaned. "As much fun as it'd be to stay and explore..." "I understand completely," Delia said, her smile never leaving her face. "But I'm free," Fluttershy piped up. "After I make sure my animal friends are taken care of, of course." "And I'm sure I can make it, too!" Pinkie agreed. "I just need to get one of the Cakes to cover my shift." "I'm sticking with Twilight wherever she goes," Spike pointed out, "so if she'll be here tomorrow, so will I." "Then it's settled: Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike and I will meet you here tomorrow, and you can take us to Professor Oak's Lab." "Deal!" Ash grinned. He held out his hand, and Twilight held out her hoof, which he shook vigorously. "And so, our heroes head back home for the night, with the promise of further adventure! What awaits them in the Kanto Region? Only time will tell, as the journey continues—" "Pinkie, dear," Rarity asked, "Why are you narrating?" The party planner made a shrugging sound. "I dunno, it just felt appropriate."
