Dear Twilight Sparkle,
In my recent years I have learned of your perilous journey's across Equestria and of your efforts to save it! I am also aware of your assignment from Princess Celestia to study friendship and the magic it brings! Your efforts continue to amaze me and it's what has convinced me to entrust you with something. I have conversed with the Princess on this matter, and she has allowed me to send you a very important package! In this box I have placed 3 very special creatures. Ones that we have just recently discovered in the far away Cristalla region! Inside you will also find a train ticket, and a backpack to store your items. I ask that you take one of these Pokemon to raise as your own and travel to the Cristalla region! I have a very important item to give you once you get here! I shall be waiting at the train station in Azure Town for your arrival. Best of Luck!
Sincerely,
Professor Maple
P.S. If possible, see if any of your friends would be interested in raising one of the other two!
Twilight Sparkle lowered the letter onto the table top. Her eyes shifted to the wrapped box sitting on the other side. It was in the middle of summer and the librarian had worn a lavender tank with blue shorts and her mane was tied up in a ponytail. She had found the package with the letter on top waiting on the table and when she had asked Spike where it came from all he said was that someone named Professor Maple had sent one of her Aides to deliver it, then he had departed to Sweet Apple Acres to hang out with Applebloom. Twilight untied the bow, ripped open the wrapping, and opened the box. She squeezed her fingers inside the flaps and forced the top open revealing a silver cylinder, a ticket, and a white backpack. Everything the professor mentioned was in here, but where were the Pokemon? Twilight lifted the backpack out of the box and set it aside, next she removed the cylinder and inspected it. It was moderately heavy with a gold trim and button in the center. Twilight pushed the button and the top half of the container popped open.
Inside were three red and white balls with buttons in the middle of them. They looked like a capsule of some kind or another container like the cylinder. There was a sticky note attached to each one with a different name on them. The first one read Bulbasaur, the next read Squirtle, and the last one read Charmander. Twilight picked up the one that was labeled Bulbasaur and examined it. The ball was relatively lighter than the cylinder it came in, and it was rather bland looking with nothing cosmetic about it.
"I don't get it." Twilight said aloud. "Where's the Pokemon?"
As she spoke, her finger slid across the button and pushed it making the capsule snap open immediately and a large popping sound coming from it. Twilight shrieked and dropped the ball on the floor as she shirked away from it. A red light flashed from inside and jerked outside onto the floor. The red light began to morph into a figure, then the figure finalized into a green creature with a plant bulb on the back. It's beady red eyes stared at Twilight and it looked almost amphibious. The giant bulb on it's back was a dark green while it's body was teal with darker spots all over. Twilight slowly stood up, but leaned against the bookshelf, her hands reaching for something to protect her in case this thing wasn't friendly.
"Bulbasaur!" It exclaimed.
Twilight froze and stared at it. "W-what?"
"Bulba, Bulbasaur!" It yelled again.
"Are you Bulbasaur?" Twilight asked.
"Bulbasaur!" It yelled. It smiled and jumped.
"Well, nice to meet you, Bulbasaur!" Twilight smiled back.
"Bulba!" Bulbasaur yelled.
Twilight then picked up the red and white ball.
"So you were in here huh? I wonder..." Twilight closed the ball and looked towards the other two sitting on the table.
Twilight stood up and walked over placing Bulbasaur's ball in it's pocket and picking up the one labeled Squirtle. Bulbasaur walked over next to Twilight and watched her mess with the ball.
"Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur yelled then grabbed it's pokeball off the table.
"Squirtle. What are you like?"
Twilight was about to push the button when she heard another popping sound. Her head snapped quickly over to where it came from and she caught a glimpse of Bulbasaur morphing back into the red energy it was and returning to the inside of the ball.
"Ah! Bulbasaur!" Twilight yelled.
The lavender mare dropped the ball onto the ground as she leapt for Bulbasaur's ball. Twilight clutched the ball as she tried to find it's edges. Her hands clenched both sides and she tried prying the ball open, but found that opening it was harder than it looked. As she tried opening Bulbasaur's ball, a popping sound echoed behind her and she heard something yell.
"Squirtle!" The thing yelled.
Twilight turned around and saw a baby blue turtle standing in front of her. It had beady black eyes, stubby arms and legs, a tail that curled at the end, and a brown shell to accompany it. It strongly resembled a turtle except for the light blue skin tone and beady black eyes. Judging by how it said Squirtle in a similiar manner to Bulbasaur, Twilight saw Squirtle's ball open and assumed the turtle in front of her was Squirtle. Twilight placed Bulbasaur's ball gently back in it's place as she eyed Squirtle intriguingly.
"Hello." Twilight said.
"Squirtle, Squirt!" Squirtle replied.
Twilight bent down to inspect Squirtle. There was nothing to it really, it looked like a regular turtle, but that was on the outside. Squirtle was bouncing around as Twilight examined it. It had a genuine smile plastered on it's face and it just stared back at Twilight mimicking her eyes. Twilight reached a hand out to Squirtle dangling it just in front of it's face. Squirtle stared at it, then promptly chomped on Twilight's hand.
"Ah! Let go!" Twilight screamed.
Twilight tried yanking her hand out of Squirtle's mouth, but it wouldn't let go. Then Twilight tried again, but harder this time and it still wouldn't budge. Finally, Twilight braced her hand on her arm and braced herself for an even harder pull. Once she was sure she had a good enough grip on it, she yanked again, but this time Squirtle opened it's mouth and freed her hand as she was forcefully pulling it. Twilight wasn't prepared for the unexpected release and she stumbled backwards a couple of steps before falling onto the floor. She sat back up and saw Squirtle with an amused look on it's face. Twilight glared at Squirtle, but it didn't faze it in the slightest making Twilight even more irritated. The unicorn picked up the ball and was about to touch Squirtle with it when the ball popped open itself and Squirtle disappeared inside it. Twilight smiled and placed Squirtle's ball back in it's place.
Finally, the last ball read Charmander. Twilight picked it up and pressed the button, mentally bracing herself for another trouble maker. In front of her appeared an orange salamander. It had Squirtle's black eyes, but it stood taller and it's tail was on fire.
"Wait, fire!?" Twilight screamed.
Her eyes widened when she spotted Charmander's tail fire, and she immediately sprinted to the kitchen. She quickly ran the faucet filling up a bucket of cold water. Once the bucket was halfway full, Twilight snatched it out of the sink and ran back to Charmander. Charmander looked more curious as to what Twilight was doing rather than it's tail burning, but when it spotted the bucket of water it's curiosity turned to fear. Twilight was about to throw the water on Charmander to put out the flame when Charmander leapt up onto the top of the stairs.
"Wait! Stop!" Twilight yelled to Charmander.
"Char!" Charmander yelled wildly shaking it's head.
Twilight tried using her magic to try to grab Charmander, but when she tried Charmander would spit embers at her in an attempt to stop her.
"I'm trying to help you!" Twilight screamed.
Charmander, instead of aiming for Twilight, aimed it's embers at the bucket in her hands. Twilight promptly dropped the bucket to avoid having her legs burnt and the water spilled everywhere. Twilight stood shocked for a moment before glaring angrily at Charmander. Charmander looked relieved and hopped down in front of Twilight.
"Why did you do that!?" Twilight yelled. "I was trying to help put out the fire!"
"Charmander! Charmander Char!" Charmander replied. It moved it's arms to cover it's flame then pointed towards the water soaking the wooden floor, then it pointed back to it's tail and shook it's head violently.
Twilight stared at the water, then at Charmander's flame, then back towards the water. From what she could gather, she assumed that Charmander's tail wasn't supposed to be dowsed and it was to burn continuously throughout the duration of Charmander's life. Twilight sighed heavily and sat down. Charmander went around grabbing various books off the shelf, opening them, staring at the pages, then closing it and tossing it onto the floor. Twilight heard the thump of the book and turned her head to see Charmander tossing a book into the water puddle.
"Hey!" Twilight yelled.
She quickly grabbed the book in her magic saving it from a watery demise. Charmander continued tossing books off the shelf onto the floor and occasionally onto the water puddle.
"Stop throwing them!" Twilight shouted.
"Chaaaaaar." Charmander replied.
Twilight sighed and grabbed Charmander's ball promptly returning Charmander inside of it.
Now that Twilight knew what she had, it was time to choose her partner. Squirtle was definitely the most mischievous one, while Charmander had a reckless attitude, but Bulbasaur on the other hand was the most calm, collected, and best behaved of the group. Considering the pros and cons of each one, Twilight ultimately decided to choose Bulbasaur. She grabbed Bulbasaur's ball and stared at it. Once she choose she was unable to choose another as the bond between the two would be sealed. Twilight hesitated for a few seconds.
Is Bulbasaur the Pokemon I really want?
After a few more seconds, Twilight smiled and nodded her head. Bulbasaur was her choice and it would be her first Pokemon. She placed Bulbasaur's ball on the table and grabbed her backpack out of the box. She placed the ball inside the side pocket and slung it over her shoulder. She then reached inside and drew out the ticket leading to the Cristalla region. It was yellow with various bolded writing on it and it read Ponyville > Azur City and the train listed was the Tidal Express. Twilight glanced around at the library once again. The puddle of water had now dissolved into the floor and the other two Pokemon still rested on the table, and some books were still on the floor.
Maybe I should leave a note for Spike. I'm sure he'll enjoy cleaning all this if it means he gets to spend time with Rarity.
Twilight giggled at the thought. The little dragon still hadn't gotten through to the mare of his dreams, even though she already knew how he felt. Twilight grabbed the post it note attached to Bulbasaur's ball and put the ticket in her pocket. She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a pen from the counter and scribbled on the note.
Spike,
I'm going to be gone for a while. I've recently gotten a new task from Princess Celestia that requires me to be away from the library for a prolonged period of time. I don't know when I'll be back, but please clean up the mess, then you'll be staying with Rarity until I get back.
Twilight
Twilight set the note on the table and walked out towards the lobby. She grabbed Bulbasaur's ball off the table, holding in her hand for a moment. She ran her thumb over the smooth surface and as she did so the ball began shrinking till it was the size of a golf ball. Twilight stood bewildered and curious. She wondered what else this ball could do and what the creature inside was capable of. She'd find out in time though thanks to Professor Maple sending her on a journey to raise one. If there were more pokemon out there in Cristalla, Twilight wanted to meet as many as she could and learn all about them. Twilight was so intrigued with the Pokemon that she didn't hear to door to the library open letting inside two very mischievous pranksters.
"Is she home?"
"I don't think so. C'mon, Pinkie, let's swap 'em before she gets back."
"Don't worry, Dashie! We'll have plenty of time!"
Twilight heard the two whispering and judging by the names spoken she could only assume that Rainbow and Pinkie had attempted to sneak in and prank her. Twilight decided to play her own prank as payback for the invisble ink prank they had played on her last time.
Twilight cast a spell of invisibility over herself. Once the librarian was certain she couldn't be seen, she tiptoed over to Rainbow floating cautiously in the air. She wore a light blue tank top and black shorts with matching boots. Her tail was dangling just low enough for Twilight to grab and give a sharp tug.
"Gah!" Dash yelled. She glared angrily at whatever had grabbed her tail, but nothing was there.
She switched to a look of confusion as she hopelessly scanned for whatever had grabbed her. She slowly floated back down to where she was before and crossed her arms. Twilight then grabbed a hold of some books off the shelf and brought them over to her. She then moved the books underneath Rainbow and positioned them to begin a swarm attack.
"Hurry up, Pinkie!" Dash yelled.
"Done!" Pinkie yelled back.
The party mare bounced down the stairs and smiled up at her associate. She wore a pink t-shirt and deep blue jeans along with white sneakers. The jeans had her cutie mark sewn into the sides.
"All good?"
"Yepperunie! This'll be so funny!"
As both mares tried to depart, the book armada that had remained hidden shot out from nowhere and surrounded the two pranksters.
"Whoa! What's going on!?" Dash shouted.
"Ooh I know I know! They're ghost books!" Pinkie replied.
"Ghost books? Really?" Dash asked.
"I wonder if Twilight knows her books are haunted by ghosts! We should help her get rid of them!" Pinkie replied.
The books advanced on the two trapping them in a corner.
"Well I don't care if they're haunted, nothing's gonna stop me from leaving!" Dash boasted.
The speedster raced for the door, but slammed head first into a wall of hard covers. She bounced back and winced her nose taking most of the impact. She glared angrily at the wall of books blocking her path.
"Stupid books! Move!"
Dash backed up and shot towards the wall of books again and as she braced herself the wall moved at the last second causing her to blast through the wooden door, which had also shot open, and into the dirt in front of the tree. Dash laid stunned on the ground for a few moments, before adopting a look of annoyance. Pinkie Pie still waited inside laughing as her friend had been duped by ghost books. She didn't notice that a good chunk of her tail had disappeared.
"Hey! Gimme back my tail!"
Pinkie ran around the lobby searching for the ghost who had stolen her tail when she caught something on the table. Twilight followed Pinkie's gaze towards the two balls sitting in their spots on the table. Twilight felt her heart leap into her chest. She quickly decloaked and raced over to her friend. Pinkie took some steps forward and examined the balls on the table. She reached out a hoof to touch the button in the center when both balls floated away from her.
"Hey! Come back!" Pinkie pleaded.
The two balls levitated over to Twilight. She snatched them out of mid-air and stuck them in her bag.
"Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted. "What's in the balls?"
"These things called Pokemon." Twilight replied. "Someone named Professor Maple sent them to me. I'm supposed to leave for Azur Town in a little bit."
"Neato! So what are Pokemon?"
"Actually, I don't know. Professor Maple sent me three and asked me to pick one to raise."
"Wowie! What about the other two though? Won't they be super lonely?" Pinkie asked.
"Well the Professor asked me to see if either you or one of the girls wanted to raise one of the other two." Twilight replied.
"Oh oh me me me!"
"I don't know, Pinkie. These seem like a big responsibility."
"Aw, but I'm responsible! I've babysat Pumpkin and Poundcake before! It's super duper easy peasy lemon squeezy!"
The better half of Twilight told her that maybe Pinkie wasn't the best choice to raise a pokemon, but the party mare did have a point. She had babysat foals before, but Twilight wasn't certain that Pokemon were the same thing. Whatever the reason may be, Twilight decided that if Pinkie really wanted to raise Squirtle or Charmander, then Twilight should at least let her try.
"Ok, Pinkie. You can pick one."
"Yay!"
Twilight watched as Pinkie examined each ball. Neither one noticed a very annoyed and distressed pegasus fly back into the lobby.
"Twilight, what's up with your books!? A whole swarm just attacked me!" Dash yelled.
"They're just mad you swapped my ink with invisible ink." Twilight said with a smirk.
"That was you!?" Dash's jaw dropped as she realized she had been messed with.
"Yep." Twilight replied. "All me."
"Not cool!" Dash pouted to accentuate her displeasure.
"Maybe now you'll think twice about swapping my ink." Twilight giggled.
"Whatever." Dash said. "So what're you doing?"
"I'm letting Pinkie choose a Pokemon."
"What's a Pokemon?" Dash asked.
"I don't know, but I'm hoping to learn more about them when I leave for the Cristalla region."
"So why are you giving one to Pinkie?"
"Professor Maple asked me to see if any of you guys wanted to raise one of the other two. I was allowed to choose only one."
"I want this one!" Pinkie yelled.
Pinkie threw the ball into the air and watched as it twirled for a few before popping open and releasing Squirtle.
"Squirtle!" Squirtle shouted.
"Ooh! He's so cute! I want this one!" Pinkie yelled.
"Squirtle Squirt!"
Squirtle jumped up and grabbed the tip of Pinkie's mane in it's mouth.
"Hey! Two can play at that game!" Pinkie replied.
Pinkie then grabbed Squirtle's tail in her own mouth causing the Pokemon to glance down and release her mane which resulted in Pinkie dropping Squirtle's tail.
"Squirtle!"
"Hey, Twilight?" Dash asked.
"Yes, Rainbow?" Twilight replied.
"Do you have anymore Pokemon?"
"I have one more, but this one is kind of...a handful."
"Let me see it."
Twilight gave Dash the ball labeled Charmander and groaned inwardly as Dash threw it up into the air.
"Charmander!" Charmander shouted.
"Whoa." Dash whispered. "This is so cool!"
Charmander crossed it's arms at Dash and blew a puff of smoke.
"Oh yeah, I'm so taking this one!"
Now that everyone had their pokemon, Twilight inwardly laughed. Each pony had gotten a pokemon that resembled their personality. Charmander and Rainbow looked like a perfect match as did Pinkie and Squirtle. Twilight reached into her bag and grabbed Bulbasaur's ball.
Maybe you and I aren't so different after all
"Twilight! Which one did you get?" Pinkie asked.
"Huh?" Twilight replied.
"Yeah, Twi. Which one did you pick?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, I picked Bulbasaur." Twilight replied.
The unicorn tossed her ball in the air, watching as the ball shot open and the red light that was to be Bulbasaur appeared. The bulb like creature formed next to Squirtle and Charmander staring intently at Twilight.
"Bulbasaur!"
"He looks so cool! He's like a plant frog!" Pinkie said.
"He looks kinda lame." Dash replied.
Bulbasaur gave dash an annoyed look that mimicked Twilight's.
"Rainbow! He's not lame!" Twilight said.
"Hey all I'm saying is he's not as cool as Charmander here!" The pegasus explained.
"Char!" Charmander added.
"Oh really?" Twilight asked.
"Really." Dash replied.
Neither mares noticed Bulbasaur and Charmander staring at each other with a fire in their eyes.
"I bet Charmander could outclass Bulbasaur in everything!" Rainbow shouted.
"Prove it." Twilight replied.
Without any warning whatsoever, the two mares teleported to opposite sides and a dome of light encased the two. Charmander and Bulbasaur appeared in front of their respected owners, and the battlefield was cleared of all debris and furniture. Twilight stood across from Rainbow on a diagnol, both mares shocked and confused beyond their wildest dreams.
"What happened!?" Twilight yelled.
"I-I don't know!" Dash yelled back.
In front of the two mares a menu appeared with the options FIGHT, ITEMS, POKeMON, and RUN were laid out in front of them. Above that was a green bar with their Pokemon's name above it and a level to the side. Bulbasaur and Charmander were both level 5 with green health bars. Twilight reached her hand out slowly towards the RUN option until she rested her hand on it. Immediately the text changed and said There's no running from a trainer battle!.
"Trainer battle? What's going on?" Twilight murmured.
"Twilight!" Dash shouted.
"What?" Twilight asked.
"Hurry up will ya?"
Twilight tapped the FIGHT option on the menu and before her was a list of moves. TACKLE and GROWL were the only ones available as the others were just blank spaces with dashes in it. Twilight selected TACKLE and the menu went blank. It was a second before new text appeared.
BULBASAUR used TACKLE!
Bulbasaur immediately shot forward ramming it's body into Charmander and sending the pokemon flying into the wall. Bulbasaur jumped back to it's starting position and stood triumphant over Charmander. Charmander leapt back to it's feet with a new fire in it's eyes.
CHARMANDER used SCRATCH!
Charmander dashed forward a little slower than Bulbasaur dragging it's claw across Bulbasaur's face. Bulbasaur was pushed back a bit from the impact and it shirked away from Charmander. Charmander jumped back to it's starting position with a smirk on it's face. Bulbasaur shook it's head and walked forward.
Twilight inspected Bulbasaur and found that it's bar was a quarter of the way down while Charmander's was a little more than a quarter. Twilight pressed the ITEM option on the menu and another box popped up with something labeled as a POTION in it, but there was only one. Twilight wondered what a potion was, but decided that now may not be the best time to find out. Rainbow had finished selecting her moves and was now waiting impatiently on her friend to select hers. Twilight backed out of the ITEM slot and pressed on FIGHT again. This time she selected GROWL.
BULBASAUR used GROWL!
Bulbasaur took a defensive stance, lowering it's front end and growling furiously at Charmander. Charmander jerked away and looked intimidated by Bulbasaur's growling and both mares got a message on screen that said
CHARMANDER's ATTACK fell!
CHARMANDER used SCRATCH!
Charmander did the same thing as last time although Bulbasaur didn't go as far back. Bulbasaur shrugged off Charmander's attack and patiently awaited it's trainer's command.
Twilight assessed Bulbasaur again and found that his bar was still green and a little above the halfway mark. Bulbasaur stood triumphant in front of her althought that didn't stop it from beginning to pant. Twilight could tell it was already getting tired which pushed her to end the battle as fast as she could. She pressed the FIGHT option again selecting TACKLE.
BULBASAUR used TACKLE!
Bulbasaur took a running start and flung it's body as hard as it could at Charmander. Charmander took the full force of the impact sending it flying across the field and into the barrier surrounding the two mares and pokemon. Charmander flopped onto the ground and didn't get up.
Critical hit!
Twilight glanced at Charmander's bar and saw that it was in the red with a little bit left. Charmander placed both hands on the ground and forced itself back on it's feet. The lizard was panting heavily with a few scratches on it's body. Charmander looked drained and tired, but that didn't stop it from attacking. Bulbasaur took little damage and only now began to pant more noticeably.
Twilight selected tackle one more time, watching as Rainbow looked up at Charmander, then back to her menu.
BULBASAUR used TACKLE!
Bulbasaur tackled Charmander one more time, knocking the pokemon onto it's back and out cold. Rainbow stared at Charmander, then up at it's bar which had nothing left.
CHARMANDER fainted!
BULBASAUR gained 69 exp!
BULBASAUR grew to level 6!
Twilight's menu disappeared and text replaced it.
PkMn Trainer Rainbow Dash was defeated!
"I can't believe I lost..." Rainbow said.
Twilight got 89P for winning!
The dome disappeared and the two friends were back in the lobby of the library. Pinkie was still playing with Squirtle and it appeared she had no idea of what had transpired between the two. Twilight looked over at Rainbow and saw both her and Charmander sitting with their heads down. Bulbasaur looked healthy again which prompted Twilight to return it to it's ball for safe keeping. She placed Bulbasaur in it's ball and moved the ball back to the bag. She then walked over to Rainbow.
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked.
"I lost..." Rainbow replied.
"Rainbow, come on. It was really fun battling with you!"
"I still lost though..."
"I don't think it was a total loss!"
"How?"
"You and Charmander grew closer and stronger!"
"Charmander!" Charmander said.
Rainbow looked down at her pokemon and smiled.
"You're right, Twilight. We did didn't we! And we'll only get stronger! Next time we battle, I won't lose!" Rainbow said bravely.
Twilight giggled. "We'll have to see won't we?"
"You'll have to see when I beat you!"
Twilight smiled and glanced up towards the clock. The minute hand was at the 10 and the hour hand was almost to the 11.
"Oh! I gotta get going!" Twilight said as started out the door.
"Go where?" Pinkie and Rainbow asked in unison.
"To the Cristalla Region!" Twilight declared.
"