Twilight Sparkle has a Pokemon Journey

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 16- You Scratch My Back

Early the next morning, Twilight and company waved goodbye to Appleoosa. It was settled upon that they would catch a train back to Ponyville, to allow everypony a day to visit home, and for Twilight to make an all-important phone call to Princess Cadence. She needed her pokédex replaced, sooner rather than later. She felt less sure of herself without it. Her entire life had been spent around books before her departure, but the pokedex held nearly a library of information in its hard drive. Without it, Twilight was for the first time in years cut off from information.

She helped Rarity get her things onto the train. Rarity hadn't come into town with much, but between prize money, her trophy and other gifts she had gotten for her victory, she was leaving quite encumbered, and needed a hoof to get everything into their car. Twilight settled down in the padded seat of the train car, and allowed herself to doze off on the long ride east. She hadn't gotten nearly as much rest as she would have liked since arriving, and intended to make up for that lost sleep while she could.

Many hours later, Twilight was woken by an eager hoof prodding her in the ribs. "Twi, wake up!" Rainbow exclaimed, "We're almost there!" Twilight sat up with a yawn to see Ponyville on the horizon, stretching out among the sleepy foothills and plains beneath the mountainous city of Canterlot. There was much chatter about what they intended to do once they returned. Applejack made a point to visit home and run her revised travel plan past her brother- finish her journey with Twilight but take time in the future, perhaps next year, to collect her own badges once she had grown stronger. Fluttershy made note to check on how the pokémon of the Everfree forest's edge were faring, and Rarity meant to check up on her younger sister.

The train screeched to a halt in Ponyville's tiny train station, and from there the mares went their separate ways. Dash offered to help get Rarity's prizes home, freeing up Twilight to visit the pokémon center.

The center was as she remembered it- clean with a red and cream colored façade, and a cozy interior. She made her way to the corner which housed the video phones, inserted a few bits into the slot, and dialed Cadence's number.

"Twilight, is that you?" Cadence's voice came through clear, but the video footage was foggy. "How have you been?"

"Things have been great, thank you." She answered with a smile. "Is something wrong with the video? I can't see you."

After a moment, Cadence's face emerged onto the screen, but the background stayed hazy. "No, the video is fine. It's just we've had a few Koffing get loose in the lab and Celestia and I are having a bit of trouble containing them." A grinning lumpy mass floated across the camera's view, spewing out haze from its pores. Cadence turned away from the camera for a second and brandished a broom at the gas pokémon. "Get back here!" She yelled.

Twilight allowed herself a chuckle. Cadence, as her foalsitter and assistant teacher, had been a constant presence in Twilight's youth, and seeing somepony she respected so deeply so frustrated made her giggle. She knew it had to be unbearable in that lab right now, as the gas Koffing produce were all kinds of foul.

"Um, is this a bad time?" She asked, trying to maintain a straight face.

Cadence darted back in front of the screen, a less than pleased Koffing held low to the ground in her hooves. "No, I think I have things under control here. What do you need?"

Twilight sighed. "Two things. First off, I need a new pokédex. Long story short, we got trapped underground and it was broken when we got carried out on a geyser."

Cadence nodded understandingly. "Uh huh."

"And I need you to identify a strange stone I found." She continued. "Actually, I found it on the same trip."

"Well let's see." Cadence said. Finally, she found the pokéball that belonged to Koffing and returned it inside. She dashed offscreen, presumably to open a window, just as Twilight found the odd stone in her backpack.

"Here it is." Twilight held the stone up to the camera to give Cadence a good look. Its colors still were of a scheme similar to that of her coat and mane, but seemed to shine even brighter. Cadence stared at it for a moment, eyes wide as she tried to process what was before her.

"T-that stone…" She stuttered. "That's a keystone!"

"A keystone to what?" Twilight asked, confused.

"That stone is a key to the power of Mega Evolution." She explained. "Mega Evolution is a strange phenomenon that occurs in battle when both trainer and pokémon are holding corresponding stones. Think of Mega Evolution as a temporary evolution that some pokémon can assume during battle. Mega pokémon are wildly strong, but few trainers are ever able to tap into such power. Either they simply lack the bond with their pokémon to tap into their power, or they simply don't have the stones. Where in Equestria did you find these?"

"At the bottom of Horseshoe Geyser in Appleoosa, there's a spring at the bottom that's connected to a large cave system." Twilight explained. "There are dozens of them down there. Me and all five of my friends got one.

Cadence nodded. "Right. I'll make sure Sheriff Silverstar is alerted right away. That cave must be protected"

The mention of the sheriff immediately caused Twilight to worry. "Why? Why do you need to watch the cave?"

Cadence sighed deeply. "Word has been spreading that Team Umbra is trying to harness the power of Mega Evolution for whatever evil ends they have in mind. It's of utmost importance that we try to keep as many keystones out of their hooves as possible."

"I understand. Would you want us to give you our stones?"

"No." Cadence said, her lighthearted smile returning to her face. "Actually, if there's anywhere I feel those stones would be well-protected, it's with you. Speaking of which, can you tell me what pokémon you have right now?"

Twilight proudly held up her four pokeballs to show to Cadence. "Right now I've got four. Bulbasaur has evolved into Ivysaur, and I also have an Espeon, a Cubone, and I just caught a Helioptile."

"Impressive!" Cadence beamed. "Eventually, one of those pokémon you have will be able to Mega Evolve. So keep your eyes out for mega stones and maybe you'll be able to use it one day."

"So, about my pokédex..?" Twilight asked with an awkward laugh.

"Oh, right!" Cadence dug through some drawers just beneath the camera's view and came back with a shiny red new pokédex. "I can give this to you, but do you think you'd do a favor for me first?"

"Sure Cadence, anything." Twilight owed her for replacing her pokedex anyway, but would have happily helped regardless.

"I'm sorry to ask you to run such a big errand, but I've been very busy, as you can see." She scowled as another Koffing floated across the screen, grinning its annoying grin. "I had an incredibly special pokéball custom-ordered from a lab in Manehattan for a project, but because of concerns about Team Umbra trying to steal it, we decided it was best to hoof deliver it instead of relying on the mail. Do you think you could go for me and pick it up?"

"Sure thing Cadence! I'll get on the next train to Manehattan."

"You're more than welcome to take your friends." Cadence added. "Heck, I'll have tickets ready for you at the train station."

Twilight tried to politely refuse. "That's okay, we can pay our own way. Besides, I'm sure the girls would love to see the city for an afternoon anyway."

Cadence was having none of it. "No, I insist. At this point money is no object for this thing." She leaned in closer to the camera and whispered, "Legally I'm not allowed to say how much I had to spend on this pokéball."

"What kind of pokéball even is it?"

"It's a Master ball," Cadence explained, "The ultimate pokéball. It can catch anything without fail. They're extremely difficult to produce and extremely costly. Can you understand why it's vital we don't let this ball fall into Team Umbra's hooves?"

Twilight nodded. One didn't have to think hard to imagine the destruction that one could unleash if they managed to get their hands on a legendary pokémon like Groudon, Giratina, or Hoopa.

"So are you up to it?" Cadence asked.

"Yep! I'm on the case!" Twilight eagerly answered.

"You're a lifesaver Twi. I'll have your pokedex all ready once you get back to Canterlot, okay?"

"Thanks Cadence." Twilight hung up the phone and went about gathering her friends. Cadence sent the tickets via the phone's attached printer, and she only had a few hours before their train departed. She was now officially on Royal Canterlot business. She needed to be on time.

Twilight quickly notified everypony of the change of plans, asking them to rendezvous at the train station. While most of them were not thrilled to have their visits home cut short, they were still on board to help Twilight on her errand.

The six met up at the train station at four o'clock. Cadence had sent Twilight more instructions via a messenger Staravia, which had arrangements for lodgings and such written for them.

Dear Twilight,

Thank you once again for agreeing to undertake this task for me. I cannot begin to explain how important it is for this pokéball to make it back to Canterlot without incident. Accordingly, I've arranged plans for your lodgings and dining for the night- think of it as Auntie Celestia and my way of saying thank you.

I've gone ahead and made reservations for a suite at the Grand Mareiott Plaza hotel. It should have enough space for all six of you to sleep comfortably, and they have a spa and nightly performances.

On the topic of the job, it is of dire importance you tell absolutely nopony about your task. We cannot risk a Team Umbra agent knowing about the Master ball. I've made arrangements for a clandestine delivery. All you have to do is be outside the Silph Co. building at four P.M. tomorrow and they will slip you a box containing the ball. Once you have it, check out of the hotel and come straight to Canterlot.

I cannot stress how paranoid I am about this delivery. I have a sinking feeling that Team Umbra will try to steal the master ball. I am trusting you to make sure that doesn't happen.

Good luck Twilight. Remember, make sure nopony knows about the Master ball. If it fell into the wrong hooves the results could be catastrophic.

Sincerely, Princess and Professor Mi Amore "Cadence" Cadenza.

Twilight folded the letter and put it away in her bag. "Well girls, that's it. Are you all ready?"

A collective "Yep!" Came in response, and the six waited for a few minutes for the train to pull in. They filed into the car and took their seats. On the rooftop of the train station, three figures wearing black uniforms and hoods put down their binoculars and turned inward to each other.

"Well girls," Said one, as she pulled back her hood, allowing a huge orange puff of mane to spill out. "Looks like the boss was right."

"Do we follow them?" Asked the second, who boasted two long purple ponytails.

"We do." Confirmed the leader. "That Master ball is the rightful property of Team Umbra."

"No it isn't." Argued the third, whose mane was held in a singluar blue ponytail. "That's why we're stealing it."

The second mare sighed, "You're an idiot Sonata."

"Shut up, both of you." The leader snapped. "We need to get moving."

"Should we let Captain Sunset know?" Asked the second one again.

The leader shook her head. "No Aria. This job calls for a kind of subtlety that she isn't capable of. She seems to have it in her sunburnt head that she can solve any problem by waving around that Moltres of hers." She turned her focus to the departing train. "I'll have that master ball, or my name isn't Adagio Dazzle. "

Author's Note:

Feels good to be back!

I've had RA training at school for the last week and a half and it's been murder. But with everyone moved in, i should hopefully have time to work again. I have a few chapters ready to ship so unless i end up swamped again I should have a buffer prepared. Thank you all for sticking with me for so long, and I hope you enjoy this one,.

Goodnight,

Jake "Darkmetroidz"

Comments

[ArcticAce01]

[ArcticAce01]

OMC Love it sooooo much! Ooooo if only if this was one of those stories that accept OC that would make the story even more good and wonderful!... But overall I love it so much

[Booster Spice]

Pity Sirens cant be classed as Pokemon. Adagio would look so good in her Master Ball after Advanced Training.

Looks like Silph, Cadence etc have operators working for them, and that tap on their video helps as well.

The Geyser is the location of the Crystal Tree for this one then, given the source of Megastones? All the cute Squishies in the water.

[Legatus]

Her name is Pissed Pear.