//------------------------------// // Episode 3: Next Stop, Trouble! // Story: Pokemon: Twilight Version // by Next Gen Wonderbolt //------------------------------// Rainbow stared at the pokeball in her hand. The battle against Miles had been a tough one pushing both her and Charmander to their limit. Twilight and Pinkie had both dozed off and were sleeping soundly. Crystal was on her pokegear talking to the Professor. Rainbow didn't catch much of what was being said, but she picked out the words: Miles, Mom, Trouble, and Team Quake. Crystal looked very serious while she was talking, constantly flipping her mane to and fro. Rainbow didn't pay her too much mind. The cyan pegasus was too busy scanning the car for anyone to battle with. Although she hadn't realized it yet, Miles had ignited the competitive fire within her that was currently driving her to best any and all who came across her. After all, the only way to get stronger was to keep on battling! Crystal clicked a button on the gear and placed it on the seat beside her. Her and Rainbow both made eye contact for a few seconds. The two stared at each other in silence before Crystal decided to chime in. "So, Rainbow right?" Crystal asked. "Yeah..." Rainbow replied. "You going to Cristalla too?" "Yeah, what of it?" "Oh nothing. So what's up between you and Miles?" "Whaddya mean?" "Rainbow, I don't know if you're as clueless as Twilight here, but Miles is bad news. There are rumors floating around about him being linked to Team Quake." "Who's Team Quake?" "They're a bunch of thugs who use pokemon to commit crimes. They've been robbing trainers of their pokemon and selling them!" "Whoa, and Miles might be linked to these jerks!? Wait till I get my hands on him!" Rainbow stood up and bolted for the door. "Calm down! It's just a rumor right now, but I still don't trust him." Rainbow grunted and sat back down. She crossed her arms across her chest directing her attention back to the window. It didn't stay like that for long, however, as the train shook vigorously from side to side. Rainbow jumped up out of her seat as Crystal held onto the seat. Twilight and Pinkie were both roused from their dreams and brought back to reality. "What's going on?" Twilight asked. "I don't know, but I bet Miles has something to do with it!" Rainbow shouted. "I'm all for figuring out what just happened. Kinda hard to be comfortable with all this shaking." Crystal said nonchalantly. "Maybe it's some ponies who snuck on just like us!" Pinkie stated. Shouting from the car behind the foursome dispelled that theory. Twilight crept up to the door and peeked through the window. Inside were multiple stallions. Each one had the letter Q tattooed onto their bicep along with red hankies tied around their necks. One was dressed in a black jacket with white sweat pants and he shouted something at the others. His raggedy light blue mane dangled above his steel grey eyes. His coat was a darker blue and his body was well built. Half of the group bolted down into the other car while the other half headed in Twilight's direction. Twilight jumped from the door as it was flung open. The dark blue stallion stepped forward with his hands at his sides. He eyed the four mares in front of him and snickered. "Ladies! If you would kindly hand over your poke-balls then we can be on our way." The stallion said arrogantly. "How about no! If you want I can give you a beat-down as compensation!" Crystal yelled. "Very tempting, but I'll have to pass on that. How about you hand 'em over right now, and I won't have to put you in a hospital bed? It'd be a shame to see that beautiful face all poisoned now wouldn't it?" "Who are you?" Twilight asked. "And why do you want our pokemon? They're not yours!" The stallion laughed. "Who am I? I'm the one and only Aftershock! Second in command of Team Quake! We're on a mission to conquer the world and lucky for you your pokemon have been recruited to join our orgnization! Now why don't you hand 'em over before thing have to get nasty. I wouldn't want to see those pretty faces of yours all full of poison." "No way! If you want Charmander, you're going to have to go through me first!" Rainbow shouted. "Oooh, looks like Grimer gets to have some fun after all. I've got the leprechaun you five get the others." "Yes sir!" The five grunts replied. Twilight watched as two of the grunts jumped at her at the same time. They each pulled out pokeballs and tossed them. One of the pokemon was a purple and white rat with big buck teeth and a curled tail. The other was another bird, but this one had a sharper beak, red and black feathers with a fiery look in it's eyes. Twilight readied herself and tossed Bulbasaur in the air. From a distance, Crystal took note of the battle Twilight was in. Against a Spearow and a Rattatta, Twilight's Bulbasaur wouldn't be strong enough. Crystal turned to Pinkie who was messing with one of the other grunts. "Pinkly! I mean Pinkie!" Crystal cried. "Pinkly? That's a funny name! Whatcha need Cryssi!" Pinkie shouted back. "Help Twilight, I've got these guys!" "Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie sang as she bounced towards Twilight. "Cryssi? Seriously? That name is so lame!" Crystal muttered. She pulled out another pokeball and faced the three grunts in front of her. Rainbow tossed Charmander in the air. In a second the flaming reptile was in front of her ready to go. Aftershock smirked and tossed his own pokeball letting loose a purple sludge that looked like it was fished out of the sewers. "Oh man, I am going to enjoy this! The boss is going to be thrilled when he finds out I snagged a Charmander." Aftershock taunted. "More like he'll be disappointed when you go back with nothing!" Rainbow snarled. Rainbow entered in her attack. Aftershock doing the same. In an instant Charmander lunged towards Grimer with claws outstretched. To Rainbow's surprise, however, Grimer shrunk down until it was no longer visible. Charmander was just as confused as Rainbow, frantically searching for it's opponent. Aftershock laughed at his foe's confusion. Where did it go!? This time Rainbow went with ember, hoping the tiny flames would expose the miniature pokemon. Charmander sprayed embers all over the floor, but couldn't land any on Grimer. Seconds after Charmander was seemingly knocked flat on it's back by nothing. Frustration started building up in Rainbow, and Aftershock's constant laughing only built it up further. Rainbow picked ember again and this time the attack landed. Grimer's health plummeted till there was roughly a quarter left. Aftershock's laughing stopped immediately and was replaced with a cry of worry and anger. Upon further inspection it appeared Charmander had gotten a critical hit on Grimer. resulting in the pokemon's re-sizing. Rainbow smirked with pride. The battle was just getting started. Twilight was just about to initiate the battle when squirtle popped up next to Bulbasaur. She looked to her right to see Pinkie's bouncy mane going up and down as she bounced. It would be an understatement to say that Pinkie was excited for her first battle. She was practically emanating her own energy which in turn made Twilight's excitement rise. "Hey, Twilight! Let's show these meanies who they're messin' with!" Pinkie shouted. Twilight nodded. The two friends entered their commands as their foes did the same. In a moment, Bulbasaur's body was hurled towards the purple rat knocking it into a wall. "Ah! Rattatta, no!" The grunt cried. Twilight smiled with triumph while Squirtle mimicked Bulbasaur, throwing it's body towards the opponent's Spearow. Spearow dodged, however, and instead of countering Squirtle, it sped towards Bulbasaur with it's beak leading. Bulbasaur took the impact head on the vicious attack taking a significant amount of it's health. Twilight looked at the menu. It read, It's super effective!. Twilight mentally noted that as she entered her next command. Crystal stood ready and waiting. The three grunts in front of her each threw out what looked to be giant hamsters. "So you're gonna use Raticates huh? That's so lame! At least spice it up for me." Crystal taunted. "Careful girlie." One of the grunts said. "If you keep talking like that we'll have to get real nasty." Another remarked. Crystal snickered and tossed up three pokeballs. "Look, how about you guys answer to my good ol buddies. Charles, Tessie, Vexal, please take care of these jerks." Out of the pokeballs came a Charizard, a Lapras, and a Pikachu. The three grunts looked in terror at the ensemble before them. Their power seemed to emanate from them, it was obvious that these pokemon had undergone grueling battles and had grown stronger because of it. Crystal laughed at their reactions. "So boys, we ready to get started or do your diapers need to be changed first?" Crystal taunted. "Let's get started shall we?" Crystal entered her commands on a device on her wrist. She crossed her arms and waited for the inevitable. She listened to the device as it read off the battle's execution. "Charles used Flamethrower!" Crystal's wrist narrated. "Tessie used Ice Beam! Vexal used Thunderbolt!" In seconds a flurry of ice, fire, and lightning spewed out at the trio of Raticates knocking each one out cold. The grunts all stood in shock as Crystal smirked and returned each one to it's respective ball. "Better luck next time. And please, try to get some different pokemon. You guys are dorks for using the same ones. Crystal then turned her attention to Twilight and Pinkie. Squirtle made full contact with Spearow, sending it into the wall of the car. The impact took a nice chunk of health out of Spearow, but it didn't K.O. it. Bulbasaur followed suit with it's own tackle effectively knocking Spearow out of the battle. Twilight saw Bulbasaur's level go up to 8, following the level up was a notification saying that it had learned Vine Whip. "What's Vine Whip?" Twilight asked. "Maybe you take a vine like the one's Zecora has and you use it as a whip!" Pinkie suggested. "That would make sense. The title is pretty self-explanatory." "Hey look! Squirtle learned bubble! Now I can have bubbles at my parties!!!' Pinkie shouted gleefully. Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes. Their moment was interrupted when a loud slam came from the battle on the other end. Charmander has scratched Grimer across the face, sending the purple sludge into the wall. Aftershock's face was contorted into one of frustration and anger while Rainbow's showed her intense focus and determination to win. Charmander was just below half while Grimer had a sliver left. "Agh! WHY AM I LOSING TO THIS WEAKLING!?" Aftershock screamed. "Maybe because you don't have what it takes to beat me!" Rainbow remarked. Aftershock could only watch as Charmander landed one final attack to knock out Grimer. The embers dragged across Grimer's face depleting the last of it's health. Twilight and Pinkie cheered for their friend while Crystal did her own little dance to celebrate. "Way to go, Rainbow!" Twilight cheered. "Yeah, Dashie, that was amazing! You totally showed that meanie weenie who's boss!" Pinkie said. "Thanks guys." Rainbow smiled. Aftershock stared in disbelief before collapsing to his knees. Never in his career had he lost to some rookie trainer. One of the grunts from the other car showed up and whispered something into his ear. His despair disappeared and he started laughing manically much to everyone's confusion. "You, you think you've won!? This is only the beginning! You won't be cheering for long! Quake! Move out!" Aftershock shouted. One of the grunts threw down a smokeball that blinded all four mares. The smoke made each one cough and sputter with their eyes closed. When the smoke cleared, Team Quake and Aftershock were gone. Twilight surveyed the scene, but found no clues regarding the criminals. Eventually, the seats came back out and the group could sit again. Twilight thought to herself in silence, thought's of the encounter ricocheting back and forth in her brain. What did he mean? What is this the beginning of? Whatever it is, it definitely means trouble for us and possibly for Equestria. I have feeling this isn't the last time we'll encounter these guys. Whenever that is, I'll have to be ready. The conductor came over the intercom. "Attention passengers. We are now approaching Azure Town." "Home sweet Home." Crystal said. Twilight grabbed her bag and approached the door. Rainbow was right behind and so was Pinkie and Crystal and the four waited patiently to enter the world of Cristalla. Did you retrieve it? Yes sir. Good, I take it there wasn't too much trouble getting it? No sir, but we did run into a snag. Three mares and that Crystal Rel kid again. Three mares? Yes sir. Intelligence says their names are Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. Montes said he ran into them on the train. Hm, this is most troubling indeed...send word to Jade. If these four are going to be an impediment to our goal, then they need to be eliminated.