Twilight and Rainbow Dash woke up at 8:00 the following morning. They shared a breakfast of foraged berries and bread Rainbow Dash had packed for her trip. They spent the walk to town chatting about the town's Gym Leader.
"She's a schoolteacher." Rainbow Dash explained. "A lot of the kids around here get their first pokémon with her help." She smiled at her Pidgeotto, which flew alongside her. "She helped me meet my friend here when she was still just a little Pidgey." Pidgeotto cooed affectionately, prompting Rainbow to rub her on the head.
"Wow, she sounds amazing." This gym leader reminded Twilight a lot of Cadence. Kind, nurturing, and a pillar of the community.
"Don't underestimate her though." Rainbow warned. "She and her Kangaskhan will plow right through you if you aren't ready. I was hoping to find a pokémon to use against her, and I guess that's going to be Slowpoke."
Twilight smiled. She thought it was funny that despite how annoyed Rainbow Dash was when she accidentally captured it, she didn't release it. Rainbow Dash struck Twilight as somewhere between determined and stubborn, and that once she was committed to something, she stuck with it.
"Well, here we are." Rainbow Dash announced. They had arrived at last at the edge of Ponyville. It was a rustic settlement, tiny when compared to Canterlot. The roads were made of dirt instead of stone, and aside from a choice few, no building stood more than two stories high. Still, the place had a homey charm to it, one that attested to the close-knit community Rainbow Dash had described.
"What should we do, now that we're here?" Twilight asked.
"Didn't plan that out, egghead?" Dash snickered.
"No, I did. Well, sort of. This is all new to me, so I don’t know if anything I thought to do is actually a good idea or not."
"Well, usually when you arrive in a town, you probably want to go to the Pokémon Center first," Rainbow said, "But since neither of us have been doing any battling, I think we can skip that part. I guess the best thing to do would be to look around town."
"And what about the gym?" Twilight asked.
"We'll get to that. Neither of us are ready yet." Dash answered with a wave of her hoof. "But I do know somepony who would help us train. C'mon, she's a friend."
Twilight followed Rainbow across the village, to the opposite edge of town. She stopped at the front gate of a large farm, which was surrounded by acres and acres of apple trees. "Follow me, we'll go talk to Applejack." Rainbow switched to a louder voice. "Hey AJ! You busy?"
An orange mare trotted out from behind the barn to find the source of the noise. "Just finished my chores, Rainbow Dash. Whaddya y'all need?"
"This is Twilight, we met yesterday while I was out fishing." Dash introduced, gesturing to the lilac mare at her side. "We're trying to train up to challenge the gym leader. If you've got time, wanna have a battle? We need to practice."
A wicked grin spread across Applejack's face. "Sounds fine by me. I've been rarin' for some action all week. Just don't go cryin' when you lose, again."
The remark turned Dash red in the face. "That last time was a fluke and you know it!"
Applejack laughed. "And the time 'afore that? Which of you varmits wants to go first?"
"I'm gonna wipe that smug grin off your face." Dash growled, jabbing a hoof at Applejack.
"We'll see about that." She stuck her hoof in her saddlebag and pulled out a dirt-covered pokéball. "I reckon my little pardner is all ready to go. Come on out, Phanpy!" A baby-blue pokémon with a trunk appeared from within the pokéball. "You ready to get beat?"
Rainbow Dash gave her a dirty grin. "Not today. I have a secret weapon. Remember how I said I was going fishing yesterday? Well, I caught a pokémon that's gonna take you down!" Without an introduction, she threw out the ball, releasing a pink mass onto the ground.
"Sloooooow… poke?" It yawned.
"A Slowpoke? Now that's something I never thought I'd see you caught dead with. But it's gonna take a lot more'n surprise to beat me! Use rollout!" She ordered.
Phanpy used its trunk to roll her form into a wheel, and began rushing straight at Slowpoke. It yawned, then looked up at was rolling its way. "Poke…" It yawned.
There was an audible smack, but a distinct lack of a cry from the stricken pokémon. "What in tarnation?" Phanpy had scored a clean hit right on Slowpoke. But the pokémon barely reacted. At best, it seemed to frown a little. "Last time we battled, one rollout and your Pidgeotto
was out for the count."
Rainbow smiled. "That's because rock moves aren't strong against water types. But you know what is strong against a ground type?" Applejack grit her teeth. "Water types. Slowpoke, hit 'em with a water gun!" In no particular hurry, Slowpoke yawned, and then began spraying water from its mouth, hitting Phanpy square in the head.
"That's no good! Use takedown!" Applejack shouted. Phanpy began making a charge straight at Slowpoke, gathering all the speed it could muster.
"Yawn!" Rainbow Dash yelled. And yawn it did. Slowpoke gave an incredible yawn, which induced drowsiness in Phanpy almost immediately. It slowed its charge, before finally collapsing on its side, asleep.
To assert its victory, Slowpoke waddled over to the sleeping Phanpy, and laid down atop the other pokémon's defenseless form. Rainbow Dash nearly fell over laughing. "Looks like I win!" She cheered.
"Ah, shucks. Well done, Dash. Looks like that little feller's got somethin' in him all right. Now how's bout you, girlie?" Applejack asked, looking directly at Twilight.
"Me? Now?" Twilight stammered, "But isn't your pokémon already unconscious? It wouldn’t be fair."
Applejack chuckled. "I've got more'n one pokémon. It ain't smart to be runnin' round with just one." She produced another pokéball from her bag. "C'mon out, Mareep!"
Twilight stepped up to face Applejack. "Okay, here goes. Go, Bulbasaur!" Bulbasaur stepped out from beside Twilight, taking to the makeshift arena.
Applejack tipped her hat to her opponent. "Good luck, girlie. Just cuz you're a rookie don't mean I'll go easy on ya. Mareep, hit 'em with a thundershock!" The woolly pokémon, bristling with electricity, shot a spark straight at Bulbasaur. However, the grass pokémon seemed to shrug it right off.
Bulbasaur resists electric moves. Twilight thought with a grin. Good. If I can make this a battle of attrition, I can win. Twilight prepared to issue her own command. "Bulbasaur, use poison powder!" Bulbasaur fired a barrage of toxic spores at Mareep. The effect was instant. Mareep was covered in a sickly purple haze, slowly sapping its strength.
"Y'all feeling alright?" Applejack asked, concerned. Mareep gave a weak cry in response. "You'll pay for that. Hit 'em with take down!" In spite of its condition, Mareep still hit Bulbasaur hard.
This isn't good. The poison isn't acting fast enough. Then Twilight had another idea. If there was one thing a Bulbasaur could do and do well, it was outlast an opponent. "Use leech seed!" Bulbasaur fired several seeds onto Mareep, which instantly erupted into vines and began sapping her opponent's strength. The seeds would gradually siphon Mareep's vitality and transfer it to Bulbasaur.
This lasted for a few minutes. Mareep would attack, and Bulbasaur would retaliate, but while Bulbasaur's attacks were weaker, the ongoing effects of the poison meant that he would be able to outlast Mareep without a doubt. Finally, after going at it for awhile, the seeds and poisoning drained the last of Mareep's stamina, and it collapsed.
Her defeated opponent nodded. "Hats off to you, kid. That was a mighty fine display y'all put up there. And I wasn't going easy on ya neither."
The sound of children cheering turned their attention from each other. Three fillies had gathered on the fence and had been watching the battle intensely.
"Applebloom!" Applejack scolded. "Shouldn't you an' yer friends be in school?"
"Naw, Ms. Cherilee dismissed us early." The yellow one answered.
"We heard pokémon and thought there might be a battle to watch." Another one added, this one with an orange coat and a purple mane.
"Well, if you've got time to be gawkin' at us, maybe y'all got time to work on your chores?" Applejack said smartly.
"Aww, but sis, if I gotta work, me Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle won't be able to go crusadin' today."
"'Crusading?'" Twilight asked.
"Yep." She sighed. "Ever since they went an' got their cutie marks, they got it in their head they're supposed to help folks find their perfect pokémon partners."
"We're just tryin to help make folks happy!" Applebloom argued. Each of them produced their own pokéball, and showed off their partners. Applebloom had a Pichu, Sweetie Belle a Jigglypuff, and Scootaloo a Torchic. "We got our cutie marks the day we found our pokémon. Some day we're gonna go out on an adventure ourselves."
"That day won't be for awhile, sugarcube. Y'all are too young still." Applejack cantered over to her sister and rubbed her mane.
"What do you know sis? You never left home, even though you're old enough an' you’ve got two pokémon." Applebloom's remark seemed to hit a raw nerve on Applejack.
"Darn right I never left, and it wasn't my choice neither. Big Mac can't run this place by himself, and Granny Smith's too old to help out. I'm not gonna go runnin' off on some fool journey when I'm needed 'round the house." Finally, Applejack ended her scolding tirade and sighed. "It's part of bein' an adult, Applebloom. Sometimes you gotta put your dreams on hold because you have responsibilities to take care of." Applejack returned her attention to her guests. "Sorry y'all had to see that. I just remembered I got some more chores to do. Good luck with the gym, I know you'll do great." She walked off with a wave, leaving Rainbow Dash and Twilight alone.
"She seems really upset." Twilight observed.
"Yeah." Dash sighed. "Her parents vanished ages ago, so it's been up to her and her brother to take care of the farm. AJ and I used to want to leave on a journey together, but now she can't get off the farm."
* * *
Once she was sure nopony was watching, Applejack snuck back around to the farmhouse, releasing her two pokémon from their balls. "Thanks for that battle there, you two." She sighed. Applejack darted up to her bedroom on the second floor. Beside her bed, she had a tackboard she had been debating taking down but could never work up the heart to do it, because the things mounted on it were of sentimental value to her.
Three first prize and two second prize junior trainer's ribbons she'd won at fairs. Several honors she had gotten for her skill as a trainer from pokémon summer camp. On the nightstand below it, sitting in an otherwise empty plastic case, was a small polished piece of metal worked into the shape of a budding plant. Ponyville's own Sprout Badge. She let out a long, drawn out sigh. "If only…" There were seven empty slots to be filled, but unless something were to change soon, Applejack doubted she would ever see her collection completed.