All the Smallest Things: Original Draft

The next morning, Maretime Bay was struck by a storm. The rain hit the ground like beats on a drum, and the waves crashed against the cliffs so loudly that everyone could hear them from the Brighthouse.

"Should we reschedule?" Nemona asked over breakfast.

Sunny planted her front hooves on the table. "No! Rain or shine, this announcement is urgent! Besides, we can't reschedule on such short notice."

Later that morning, Sunny, Pipp, and Nemona met up with Hitch under the gazebo in the town square. Pipp got her phone ready and hovered in front of them.

"You remember your lines, right?" Sunny asked Hitch.

Hitch suddenly became very interested in the ceiling. "Uh..."

"Don't worry," said Sunny. She pulled a piece of paper out of her saddlebag and handed it to him; Nemona stared at the way it stuck to their hooves in fascination.

They waited a few minutes for a crowd to gather. Comet arrived first, enthusiastic as ever. The Pippsqueaks followed shortly afterwards, huddled under the same umbrella. Finally, McSnipsalot, Kenneth, and Steven walked straight up to Hitch, oblivious to the downpour.

Realising their live audience probably wasn't going to grow, Sunny pulled a megaphone out of her saddlebag.

"3... 2... 1... Start!" said Pipp as she began the stream.

"Attention, citizens of Maretime Bay!" Sunny boomed.

"And Zephyr Heights," Hitch quickly added.

Sunny continued. "Over this past week, you may have noticed strange things happening all over Equestria. Well, two days ago, my friends and I discovered the cause!" She motioned for Nemona to step in front of her. Nemona waved at the camera. "Creatures from another world called Pokémon have been appearing in flashes of light. This is one of them. Would you like to introduce yourself?" Sunny offered Nemona the megaphone, but she shook her head.

"The name's Nemona, and I'm a Sneasel!" she exclaimed. She did a dramatic leap on the spot, then landed as gracefully as a cat and showed off her claws. The Pippsqueaks gasped in unison.

Then, Sunny looked over to Hitch, who was reading over the script, and coughed to get his attention. He looked up... and the script flew off his hoof. Nemona jumped to grab it, but all she succeeded in was tearing it before it fluttered away into the sea, never to be seen again.

"Do you still remember your lines?" Sunny asked him.

"Sure I do," replied Hitch with a smirk. Sunny handed him the megaphone.

"You may be wondering why she can talk," said Hitch. "That's because our friends, Izzy and Misty, went to Bridlewood to, uh, find a translation spell. Most Pokémon have pony-like intelligence, so it's best to try reasoning with them, but..." He lowered the megaphone and turned to Sunny. "I forgot what I'm supposed to say next!"

"Then improvise!" Sunny shout-whispered back.

Hitch swallowed and spoke into the megaphone again. "Some Pokémon are super dangerous, and scary, and territorial, so... be prepared! Drink plenty of water! Eat your greens!"

Nemona facepalmed and snatched the megaphone from him. "What he means is that a lot of Pokémon are confused or scared, so they might attack. If you see purple sparks on the ground, be sure to keep your distance. You never know what might appear!" She handed the megaphone back to Sunny.

"If you have any Pokémon-related problems that you can't solve on your own, don't be afraid to contact us. However, we need all the help we can get. If you'd like to apply for the Pokémon Emergency Taskforce — PET for short — please write to the Crystal Brighthouse."

"And... cut!" said Pipp as she ended the stream.

After the small crowd dispersed, Hitch sighed, his ears drooping. "Sorry for messing this up, Sunny."

Sunny placed her hoof on his shoulder in reassurance. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Hitch. You tried your best!"

Pipp landed on the ground and trotted towards them. "You three did a~mazing~!" she sang. "I haven't gotten this many views in months, and that's not even counting the ponies who watched this on the jumbotrons!"

Hitch raised an eyebrow. "You can access all the screens in Zephyr Heights?"

"Of course!"

"Anypony want cocoa?" asked Sunny, once they'd returned to the Brighthouse. The other ponies all agreed. "And what about the Pokémon?"

"Yes please," said Penny.

"Nemona? Arven?"

"No thanks. I don't know if it might kill me," said Arven.

"Same," said Nemona.

"You didn't ask me, but no thanks," said Leafeon. Izzy had cast a translation spell on her earlier.

"Me neither," said Pawmot.

"We watched your speech on Zipp's tablet," said Arven, while the others drank their cocoa. "What do we do now?"

Sunny swallowed her latest sip and said, "Wait. The mail won't come until tomorrow morning."

"You also mentioned this Pokémon Emergency Taskforce thing," said Arven. "But who's in it?"

"Well, us ponies, of course, but I was hoping you three could join as well,."

"Five," Leafeon corrected.

"You five." Sunny paused as she gulped down the rest of her cocoa. "After all, who knows how to deal with Pokémon better than actual Pokémon?"

"I'll pass," said Penny.

"Are you sure?" Nemona nudged Penny in the side. "From what I've heard, you handled that Roaring Moon amazingly! Also, do we get uniforms?"

Sunny shook her head. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves..."

"Ooh! I can make the badges!" exclaimed Izzy.

"And I'd appreciate some clothes," muttered Arven.