With a slow but steady and determined pace, Applejack trudged through the desert. She was no stranger the harsh sun at high noon, but the windblown sand was a harsh adjustment. Still, Applejack was a proud pony, who would go to great lengths to help her friends. Some would call her crazy for choosing the desert voluntarily, but it was their best bet for visibility - no trees to block out the flare smoke. Plus she could handle herself out there, she was used to making do with whatever nature gave her. Indeed, within an hour of stepping foot in the yellow sand, Applejack was carrying a quart of water and a day's supply of cactus fruit.
"Why couldn't they all just stop bickerin'?" Applejack groused, "they're like a bunch o' little foals sometimes." She paused momentarily to take a swig of water and check her bearings. Right on course, just like she thought. She knew it wasn't a race, but couldn't help imagining the looks on their faces when they saw that she got there first. She loved her friends to death, and she'd go to the ends of the earth for them, but the team needed leadership, and she was the mare for the job.
Her train of thought was interrupted by an unsettling maraca noise,
"GAH! RATTLER!" she cried, rearing up and looking around frantically.
"Wait" she said skeptically, dropping back down onto all fours, "there ain't rattlers in Pokemon. But then what was that?"
She looked around curiously, and in the distance she saw an odd green creature that was somewhere between a plant and an animal. It was made up of six cactus bud appendages that made it look vaguely like a legless rabbit. Even more strange, it appeared to be gradually disappearing, as if it were on the world's slowest elevator to the basement.
"Mar! Maractus!" it called, flailing its arms around, the seed pods within making the unnerving rattling noise that had gotten Applejack's attention. As Applejack approached the cactus Pokemon, it became clear that the noise wasn't a threat, it was a distress call - Maractus was stuck in quicksand, and slowly being dragged down. Applejack reached out a hoof to the cactus Pokemon, but it was too far away, and she dared not get closer to the deadly sand trap.
"Maractus, ah can getcha out of there, but ah need you ta stop strugglin', ok?"
"MAR!" replied Maractus, not having any of it.
"You're never gonna get outta there if ya don't listen to me!" Applejack barked. Maractus didn't respond. Its time was running short, the sand had almost reached its shoulders. Applejack crouched down and looked at it with a desperate face
"Maractus, ah'm tellin' you th' truth. If ya just hold still an' lie on yer back, you'll buy yerself enough time fer me t' save ya. Ah pride mahself on bein' honest with mah friends, and nothin' would hurt me more than if ah lost ya cause ya didn't believe me."
Maractus looked at Applejack, and its expression of fear and mistrust melted into warmth. It relaxed its arms, and spread them into a Y-shape. Slowly, it began to tip onto its back.
"Good job, sugarcube." said Applejack encouragingly, "now ah have ta go get somethin' over yon, but ah'm not gonna go far, ah promise. Ah need you ta stay relaxed even though ya can't see me, alright?"
"Maractus." it nodded.
Applejack hurried over to a nearby cactus and readied her hind legs.
"Bucks n' Kicks, ah need y'all on top of yer game." She gave the base of the cactus a good solid buck. It creaked but held firm.
"Consarn it!" she kicked again with all her might, but it didn't budge.
"C'mon AJ," she admonished herself, "ya promised that Maractus ya wouldn't leave 'er hangin' and ya never.. leave'er..." finally the gears clicked in her brain "LEVER! THAT'S IT!" Applejack stretched her back out, and raised her hind legs as high as she could. With one last bit of strength, she would up, and slammed her hooves against the upper half of the cactus, sending it flying off of its base. As fast as she could, she pushed the fallen cactus over to the distressed Maractus, breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that it had continued to follow her instructions.
"Grab this, Maractus!" she instructed, sliding the cactus across the quicksand threshold. Maractus latched itself onto the cactus, and pulled itself free. It shimmied along the cactus trunk as fast as it could, and leapt off as soon as it was out of harm's way.
"See? Ah toldja ah'd getcha outta there." said Applejack with a smile.
"Maractus!" cheered Maractus, and charged at Applejack with its arms extended for a hug.
"Whoa there pardner" cautioned Applejack, "Ah don' think huggin' a cactus is mah best plan o' action." She extended her hoof, "gimme some hoof instead." Maractus curled its fingers into a fist and bumped it against Applejack's hoof
"Y'know, ah think th' two of us would make a pretty darn good team" remarked Applejack, taking out her Starter Ball, "Whaddya say, Maractus?"
Maractus gave Applejack a smile.
"Sounds like a plan!" Applejack lobbed the Starter Ball at Maractus. Upon tapping the Pokemon, it drew it in, then closed, and pinged almost instantly.