All the Smallest Things: Original Draft

Everyone followed the Scatterbug to the door. Sunny opened it and saw Posey Bloom on the other side.

"What's the matter?" Sunny asked.

"A deer's eating my flowers!" Posey yelled. "I know you're good at dealing with problems like this."

"What's a deer doing in Maretime Bay?" asked Misty. "I thought they lived in forests."

Sunny's eyes widened, and she gasped. "It must be another Pokémon!"

"A what?" asked Posey, scrunching her face.

"We'll explain on the way," Izzy chimed in. "Let's go!"

"I'll stay behind," said Hitch. "I need to take Sparky back to my place."

Sunny gave Hitch an understanding nod. While he headed upstairs, the Scatterbug climbed onto Misty's back, and the others followed Posey.

Posey's garden was a mess. Most of her flowers were missing their heads, and the soil was covered in two-toed hoofprints. A pink fawn with a flower on its head pranced between the flowerbeds, but bolted behind the pale-yellow cottage when the group got closer.

"It's a Deerling!" exclaimed Nemona.

"She talks?" Posey muttered to Sunny.

While Sunny explained everything, Nemona raised her fist and prepared to punch the Deerling with ice, but Penny gently touched her arm with a ribbon.

"I have a better idea for how to deal with this..." Penny turned towards the ponies. "Izzy?"

Izzy turned away from Sunny. "Huh?"

"Do you think you could cast the translation spell again?" Penny asked softly.

"Sure!" Izzy exclaimed.

"But be quiet. We don't want to scare it."

Misty, who had also turned away from Sunny, bent down to Penny's level. "Could I try? I'm a lot quieter than Izzy." She raised up to Izzy's level. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken." Then, she whispered the instructions for the translation spell into Misty's ear, and went back to help Sunny explain what happened in Bridlewood.

Misty took a cautious step towards the Deerling. Her ears swivelled, listening out for any sounds that might scare it. Once she saw the Deerling, it was facing the other way, so she took her opportunity to quickly zap it.

The Deerling jumped on the spot and started to run away. The Scatterbug jumped off Misty's back and spat out a string of silk from its mouthparts that wrapped around the Deerling's legs and made it trip.

"Ow!" the Deerling gasped, which Misty took as a sign that her translation spell worked. She trotted to the Deerling's side.

"Um, sorry about that," Misty said. She crouched down. "We just want to know, why were you eating the flowers?"

The Deerling gulped. "I... I was hungry," he stammered. "I d-didn't know these flowers b-belonged to anyone."

"It's okay. Everypony makes mistakes... every Pokémon?"

Misty heard Nemona and Penny walk up to her.

"Did you win?" asked Nemona.

"I wouldn't put it that way..." Misty mumbled. "This Deerling just seems scared."

Penny touched the Deerling with a ribbon and asked, "Do you know how you got here?"

"No..." sighed the Deerling. "I lived in a forest by a river in the mountains with my h-herd... but then I woke up h-here this morning and... and I don't know where they are!" Tears beaded in the corners of his eyes.

"Ssssh, it's okay..." Misty soothed. "We'll help you find your family."

"Shouldn't we find a place for him to stay?" Penny suggested.

"Good idea!" exclaimed Penny, loud enough for the Deerling to flinch. "Except... where? I don't know this place well enough." She crossed her arms and tilted her head.

"Me neither." Misty shook her head. "I think it'd be best if he stayed with his own kind. Let's ask for help..."

The Deerling shakily stood up, and the group headed towards the front of Posey's house.

They saw Sunny point at a five-leaved plant. "That's an Oddish," she said to Posey.

Just as Posey's hooves glowed green as she prepared to use flora magic, Izzy gasped. "Don't uproot it! We found one in the community garden earlier, and it screamed when we pulled it out."

"So what should I do?" asked Posey.

"I'm... not sure," said Sunny.

"They usually walk away at night," said Nemona.

Posey tilted her head and squinted in disbelief. "Right... what?"

Sunny and Izzy smiled when they saw the others. "Did you deal with the Deerling?"

"We did!" exclaimed Izzy. "He's scared and lonely. We want to find a place for him to stay, but we don't know where his family is."

Sunny put a hoof under her chin. "Hmm... Pipp should be back from Mane Melody soon. We could ask her to send out a bulletin! For now, he could come with us to the Brighthouse. It's pretty safe there."

"R-really?" asked the Deerling, so quietly it was almost a whisper. Sunny nodded in response.

Misty, meanwhile, was looking at something glowing by her side. "What's happening?"

Everyone shielded their eyes as the Scatterbug was enveloped by bright white light. Its antennae retracted into its head, and the white ruff around its neck spread out into a cape that covered the rest of its body. Then, the glowing stopped.

"Congratulations!" exclaimed Nemona. "Your Scatterbug evolved into a Spewpa!"

"It what?"

"It grew up," Penny said.

"I can explain more if you want," said Nemona. "But first, let's go back to the Brighthouse!"