//------------------------------// // Episode 4: The Journey Begins! // Story: Pokemon: Twilight Version // by Next Gen Wonderbolt //------------------------------// The party of four stepped off the train one after the other. The station was just like the ones back in Ponyville. Small and compact, there weren't too many people there and the ones that were were dressed in a homely manner. If Rarity had come with, she would have had a heart attack. Twilight laughed internally causing Rainbow to give her a confusing glance. "What's so funny?" Rainbow asked. "Oh, nothing. Just that if Rarity were here she'd go on a fashion spree." Twilight replied calmly. "Yeah, when it comes to flare, Azure Town lacks it. They don't seem to mind it, but this town can be a real drag sometimes." Crystal commented dryly. "I know what this place needs!" Pinkie shouted excitedly. "It needs a party! That'll get things going!" "Yeah...I don't know if that's what they need. You see, the people here are very laid back." Crystal stated. "What're you talking about, Crystal! Everybody loves parties!!! It'll be so much fun!" None of them noticed another person approach them. She wore a sky blue lab coat and her brown mane flowed in a curly fashion down to her shoulders. She wore a white T-shirt and gray pants while her coat was a light shade of green. She approached the group with a sincere smile. Twilight and Rainbow didn't notice her until she was only a few feet away and even they were surprised when she made a straight beeline for Crystal. "Crystal! It's so good to see you again hon!" The mare said happily. "Mom!" Crystal said as she hugged her mother. "How is everyone doing?" "They're as chipper as ever, Sweetie. Although when they heard you were coming I could hardly keep them from stampeding over here!" "Um, excuse me." Twilight said politely. "Are you, Professor Maple?" "Indeed I am, and you must be Twilight Sparkle, yes?" Maple asked. Twilight nodded. "It's good to finally meet Celestia's prized pupil in person! I'm so glad you decided to help me with this! And who are your friends?" "I'm Rainbow Dash! The coolest and fastest flyer in Equestria." Rainbow smirked confidently. "And I'm Pinkie Pie! You're Professor Maple right?" Pinkie asked. "That's right! And I hate to interrupt, but there's something I need to ask of you." "Of course, Professor. What did yo-" Twilight started. "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!" Pinkie screamed. "What!? Goddess did you need to scream like that!?" Crystal yelled angrily. "We need to have a party first!" "Uh, a party for what?" Rainbow asked. "To celebrate our first step in Cristalla! And to brighten the mood of these town-folk! A party never hurt anyone!" "If you'd like we can celebrate back at the lab? I'm afraid the townspeople don't like parties too much." Maple replied. "I already told her, Mom. " Crystal commented. After much persuasion, Pinkie Pie decided to exclude the townsfolk "for their sake" as the Professor said. As they walked through town to the lab, Twilight spotted many different Pokémon. Some looked like pigeons, while others resembled purple rats which struck her as an odd occurrence. "What are those?" Twilight asked pointing at the two Pokémon. "The bird is called Pidgey and the purple rat is called Rattata." Crystal informed. The party of five continued onward out of town. The cobblestone path slowly turned into a dirt road littered with footsteps of trainers who had probably gone to see Maple in order to receive a Pokémon. The tree leaves shook and swayed as they strolled by, the denizens of the forest milling about and inspecting their visitors with curious gazes. Professor Maple and Crystal continued forward a little ahead of the others. Twilight was at the front of the group while Rainbow hovered just above the canopy of the forest. Pinkie bounced along spinning and twirling around looking for other kinds of Pokémon. "So have you guys decided to name your Pokémon yet?" "We get to name them!?" Pinkie shouted ecstatically. "If you're into that sort of thing, then yeah!" Crystal replied. "Personally, it makes it easier to call them by a nickname rather than say their actual name. Sort of gets confusing when you're battling a trainer who has the same Pokémon as you." A nickname huh... Twilight pondered what sort of name she would give her Pokémon. What would be most suitable for a Pokémon with a plant on it's back? "Nicknames have also been known to be a symbol of friendship between Trainer and Pokémon." Professor Maple stated. "I remember when Crystal first got her Charmander, it's a Charizard now, but the name she gave it is so cute!" "What'd she name it?" Rainbow asked. "Charles." Crystal replied curtly. There was a moment of silence before the trio began giggling at the nickname. "What?" Crystal asked with a concerned look. "Charles the Charizard!" Rainbow cried out, breaking into laughter. Crystal turned slightly red, embarrassment seeping into her cheeks. "T-There's nothing wrong with that name!" "It sounds funny though! Rainbow you should name your Pokémon Charles!" "No way! I'll name him something like Spitfire!" Rainbow shouted bravely. Twilight giggled. Her friends enthusiasm added to her own and her eagerness made her walk just a little bit faster. It wasn't until she was drawn from her friends antics did she realize just how close she had come to running into Professor Maple, who had stopped in the middle of the path. "Why did we stop?" Twilight asked. Crystal pointed to a flock of birds settled in the middle of the road. They were all gathered around feeding on some blue fruit that lay scattered around. The birds were peculiar ones in that they had sharp beaks with bright red wings. Their talons were much sharper compared to a Pidgey's and their movements were aggressive and frantic for a creature that was so small. Rainbow and Pinkie stared in confusion at the flock of birds blocking their path, wondering what was so menacing about them. "These Spearow are blocking out path." Professor Maple explained. "So why don't we just make 'em move?" Rainbow inquired. "Spearow are very territorial and are an aggressive Pokémon. In a whole flock like this if we were to spook them they'd surely attack us." "If we didn't have an electric type ready to take them all down." Crystal replied drawing a ball from her belt. "Wait! What're you doing!? Didn't your mom say not to attack them?" Twilight asked worriedly. "Yeah, but again, that's if we didn't have an electric type." Crystal replied throwing the ball up in the air. A yellow Pokémon with black stripes ringing around it's neck, tail, and ears shot out into the field. It had a shining red orb in it's forehead and a larger version of it on its tail. It stood about up to Twilight's chest, tiny currents of electrical waves rolling across it's tail. Crystal stood confidently next to it with her hands on her hips. She brushed her bangs back and issued commands in an authorative tone. "Alright, Statix, Discharge!" The Pokémon channeled electricity into it's tail and forehead. Both orbs began emanating electrical currents in the air and in the blink of an eye lighting shot forth from the Pokémon striking down all the Spearow violently and promptly. Despite the range of the attack, there were a few Spearow left unharmed who had taken to the sky and begun bearing down on their assailants. "Now Thunderbolt!" Crystal succeeded in taking down two of the Spearow currently diving on them, but there remained seven left who were undeterred by their brother's injuries. Statix attempted to dodge by leaping from side to side. The first three missed entirely while the remaining four all scored direct hits on Statix, sending him into a nearby tree. "Crap." "Language!" Professor Maple scolded her daughter. "Really, Mom!? You wanna do this here!?" Crystal remarked in disbelief. Statix leapt from the bushes he was buried in unscathed and rearing to go. It was bewildering how Statix could take four hits from four different Pokémon and seemingly be unfazed by them. It had a renewed fire in it's beady black eyes, one that reciprocated the feeling from its trainer. The duo stood against the seven Spearow who had grouped up for another attack. Crystal didn't seem worried in the slightest as she issued another command to her Pokémon. "Discharge again!" Another strike of lighting took down all but one Spearow who had swiftly dodged the flurry of electricity which had struck down all the other birds in it's flock. It had the same determination Statix had, but this was directed at the enemy who had taken down his entire flock. Spearow dove down on it's prey, shifting from left to right unpredictably. Statix attempted a thunderbolt, but the Spearow proved to be too fast and it scored a direct hit on Statix sending the Pokémon into the ground. "Seriously!? Jeez how lame is this Pokémon!?" Crystal shouted. "Actually, Crystal, if you don't mind could you use this instance to demonstrate how to properly catch a Pokémon?" Professor Maple said happily. "Seriously." Crystal deadpanned while her mother nodded. Rainbow leaned over to Twilight's ear and whispered in a low tone. "You think we'll find a Pokémon like that here?" "It's certainly a possibility." Twilight replied. "What're you guys whispering about?" Pinkie asked startling the two mares. "Girls, please pay attention. We're going to show you how to catch a Pokémon!" Professor Maple exclaimed. "Really!" Pinkie jumped up and down excited. "Ohmygosh this is so exciting! I can't wait to catch a Pokémon and then throw it a welcoming party and then become really really good friends with him and..." She squealed with excitement. Professor Maple smiled. "Now watch carefully, first thing's first, you need to weaken your target. A healthy Pokémon is quite difficult to catch so try to weaken it wherever possible." Crystal let loose a barrage of thunderbolts only managing to graze the Spearow's wing, but not enough to ground it completely. She pulled out a red handheld device that was different from the poke-gear Twilight had seen on the train. Crystal flipped it open and pressed the button on the top of the device lighting it up with a display of the Spearow and Statix, a yellow bar underneath Spearow and a green bar under Statix. Crystal shrugged her shoulders and slid the device in her back pocket. "Did you see that?" Twilight asked. "No, what'd you see?" Rainbow inquired. "Was it another adorable Pokémon!?" Pinkie asked. "No! That device Crystal pulled out. It had two Pokémon on it with colored bars." "Weird, what do you think it is?" "I'm not sure. Maybe we'll find out once we get to the lab." "Alright, Mom, give me a ball." Crystal demanded holding out her hand. Professor Maple grabbed ball from her pocket, letting the others see it first. "Once the Pokémon is weakened, you want to throw a poke-ball at it." Professor Maple tossed the ball into her daughters hand enlarging it as it drifted through the air. Crystal watched the Spearow carefully as it rounded back for another dive. She waited until it was about halfway when she cocked her arm back and launched the ball at Spearow. The ball was perfectly arced towards Spearow's rate of descent, placing it right in front of the vengefully Pokémon. The ball knocked into Spearow's side and plummeted towards the ground, bringing Spearow with it and locking it inside the capsule. The ball plopped on the dirt below and shook once, then twice, then a third time before making a clicking noise and ultimately cease it's shaking. Crystal sighed and walked over to the ball, picking it up and inspecting it. "Then, once you've weakened it and thrown the ball, you have to wait for it to either be caught or break free. Sometimes a weak Pokémon can still break free of a ball so don't let your guard down! Once you hear that clicking noise it means you've caught it!" "You were one tough bird you know that?" She threw the ball to Professor Maple. "Here, Mom, I can't carry anymore." "Why not?" Twilight asked with a confused look. "There are only six slots on your belt. You can catch more Pokémon if you like, but you'd have to get rid of one if you wanna use the one you just caught." "That's stupid! What if I want to carry more than seven?" Dash argued. "Hey, I didn't design it! Believe me I'm not a fan of it either." "Well, I trust that you've all properly learned how to catch a Pokémon?" Professor Maple inquired. All three nodded their heads in agreement. "Splendid! Then let's continue towards the lab shall we? It's not far now, just up the road." The party of five continued down the path, noting all the new Pokémon they saw on the way to the lab. Twilight asked more questions about Cristalla and how long ago they had discovered the existence of Pokémon. "Well, it was about 7 years ago when we first discovered them. The first one to be documented was Rhydon, then slowly the other 149 were discovered a few months later." "There's a 149 different Pokémon out there!?" Dash shouted. "We're starting to think around 200 now, but at first yes!" Dash stared slack jawed at the Professor who was enjoying herself. Dash then shifted her attention towards Twilight who found humor in the brash mare's bewilderment. "That means there's a 149 more friends to make out there!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I can't wait!" "You won't have to any more, because we've arrived!" Professor Maple shouted. The lab itself wasn't a stand out lab. It's tan brick walls and circular windows we simplistic in design, yet it was charming in it's own way. A single red smokestack jutted out from the roof, and the building was in a secluded spot in the forest surrounded by the towering oak trees. Professor Maple opened the doors for Twilight allowing the trio to walk in and explore the lab. There were a few people milling about, each one with lab coats on and running between different machines. One resembled an incubation chamber while another held a wall of poke-balls with unknown Pokémon inside. Various documents were pinned up on a bulletin board titled Evolution coupled with diagrams of Pokémon changing from one form to another with little side notes that said, what causes it? or how does the stone affect it? each question further intriguing Twilight. Professor Maple approached a desk towards the back of the lab, rummaging around and tossing papers aside. She opened a few drawers, pulling out a few papers and looking inside them. "Now where did they go? I swear I had them right- oh there they are!" She grabbed three red devices that looked similar to what Crystal was carrying. She walked over to the group of Equestrians who had gathered near her desk. "I'm sure you're all wondering why I gave you your Pokémon correct? Well, it's because I want you to have these!" Professor Maple handed each of the girls their device. "So what exactly is this thing anyway?" Rainbow asked inspecting it. "It's a Poke-dex! A high tech encyclopedia designed to record data on every single Pokémon in the region! I am giving these devices to you so that you can record data on all the Pokémon found in the Cristalla region! There are still a great many things we don't know about Pokémon and by sending you three on a journey to complete it, hopefully you can find some of the answers we're looking for! Now these devices are very precious, so I hope you treat each of them with care! The same goes for your Pokémon, I want you three to develop bonds with your partners and with the other Pokémon you catch in the future! This is a great undertaking in Pokémon history so please do your best to complete the Poke-dex!" "You can count on us, Professor. Right, girls?" Twilight looked towards her friends. "Yeah! I'll have it done in ten seconds flat! Don't you worry Professor!" Rainbow replied with a smirk. "Okie Dokie! Let's go find us some Pokémon!" Pinkie shouted happily. "Excellent! Now before you go I have one question for you." Professor Maple smiled gratefully. "What?" The trio asked in unison. "Have you decided on a nickname for your Pokémon?"