Twilight Sparkle has a Pokemon Journey

by Darkmetroidz

Chapter 29- Rival, Ally, Teammate, Friend

"Trixie." Twilight decided. With a slightly disappointed nod, Applejack and Rainbow Dash put away their pokéballs, allowing Trixie to take her place at Twilight's side.

"Thank you Twilight." Trixie stepped to stand at Twilight's left, the two of them standing defiantly against Sonata and Aria. "My pokémon and I are ready." Intensity burned in Trixie's eyes, one that reminded Twilight of the look in her eyes during their battle at the Appleoosa cup. During their battle, Trixie seemed overcome with a fiery passion so powerful it even overrode her sense of showmanship. Her entire mode of speech changed, as had her body language. Twilight smiled. Team Umbra didn't stand a chance.

"Wow, it would have taken me months to make that decision." Aria remarked with a sarcastic bite. "Now hurry up and follow me. If you haven't noticed, this room isn't big enough for us to battle." She led them out a hidden door in the back of the room and up a staircase, putting the trainers and their spectators back on the surface, atop the cliff the base was built into. The top of the mesa had been smoothed out for use as a helipad, giving the four trainers a large flat space to battle on.

"Better." Sonata declared, smiling gleefully.

Aria and Sonata each pulled a pokéball off their belts, holding onto them as they waited for their opponents to do the same. Twilight and Trixie each readied a pokéball of their own. Aria laid out the rules of the battle. "Alright, we'll make this a 3v3. First team to run out loses. Sound good?"

"Fine by me." Twilight answered. Secretly, she was glad not to have to worry about six pokémon. As long as I can keep Gible in his ball, I won't be complaining.

"Before we get started, shall we name the stakes?" Trixie asked. Twilight agreed; they hadn't determined the terms of their battle yet.

"So eager to know what's in store for you?" Aria laughed. "Fine, you first."

Trixie nodded. "Very well. Trixie imposes that if we win, Team Umbra leaves Griffonstone for good, and returns to us the stolen Apricorns."

"Fine. And when we win, all seven of you punks can fork over your pokémon to us." Aria demanded.

"Fine by Trixie. Is this acceptable Twilight?"

I don't know if I can accept. Twilight thought nervously. I don't want to cost my friends their pokémon… "You can have my pokémon, but I demand that my friends be given a chance to defend themselves!" She exclaimed.

"Fine, fine. If we can beat you then the rest of your group shouldn't be a problem." With that, Aria and Sonata both tossed their pokeballs in unison. "Yo Scrafty, let's bring the pain!"

"Drifblim, let's get to it!" Sonata added.

Trixie twirled her own pokéball in hoof. "Let's make quick work of them Twilight. Charmeleon, it's your turn!"

Twilight readied her pokéball, giving it a solid toss. She couldn't afford to show the slightest hint of nervousness or hesitation. Aria was a bully- that much was certain. Ponies like that preyed on the fear and insecurity of their opponents. Twilight needed to project a persona of confidence. If I show the smallest bit of hesitation, I'll be letting down Trixie, and our pokémon. She wasn't about to let that happen. "Heliolisk, let's get to it!"

Heliolisk and Charmeleon lined up against their opponents. While Twilight held a type advantage over Drifblim, the same could not be said about Charmeleon. Dark, Fighting, Flying and Ghost. It was an awkward combination to face. Many of the weaknesses of each type were covered by another. Trixie's Haunter and Deino would both be at a disadvantage here. Better to play it safe with a neutral matchup than risk a bad matchup against one to ensure a good one against another.

This was what made double battles so thrilling to analyze. The addition of a second pokémon added so many more variables into a match, making each double battle like a game of chess for the trainers.

Heliolisk easily outsped the competition, giving Twilight the chance to set the pace for the battle. "Alright Heliolisk, use your charge beam on Drifblim!" Heliolisk obeyed Twilight's command, gathering electricity and loosing it in an electric arc toward Drifblim. The attack was devastating, but Drifblim seemed to hang on.

In spite of the devastating hit, Sonata was smiling. "You've done it now!" At first, Twilight wasn't sure what she meant. But with one swift motion, Drifblim stuffed a berry into its mouth, causing the balloon pokémon to reinflate with renewed vigor. "Leichi berries will boost attack when a pokémon is hurt. And Drifblim's unburden gives it a speed boost once it gets rid of an item!"

These guys are way smarter than most of the other trainers I've fought. Twilight hadn't seen too many Trainers set up combos before, not at least since her clash with Flim and Flam.

"Alright Drifblim, hit 'em with shadow ball!" Drifblim gathered a sphere of darkness, lobbing it Charmeleon's way. The orb hit hard, knocking Charmeleon down. It got up, but it was easy to see that it couldn't take much more.

Without taking her eyes off of their opponents, Trixie growled a warning to her ally. "Twilight, be careful! The Great and Observant Trixie had realized that she has seen these two trainers in action before!"

"What do you mean?" Twilight shot back.

"A good time ago, the Young and Studious Trixie went to observe the Equestria Double Battle Championships in Canterlot. Trixie is certain that these two were the ones who won the tournament."

The recognition elicited a smile from Aria. "Darn right, Blues. Sonata and I were the Equestrian Double Battle Champions for three years running. We couldn’t get a gig at a gym, but Team Umbra is promising us way more than the title of Leaders."

"Just more of a reason for us to want to beat you!" Trixie shouted back. "Alright Charmeleon, finish Drifblim with your fire fang!" With a mouth engulfed in flame, Charmeleon's jaws chomped down on Drifblim, taking the balloon pokémon down. Sonata recalled Drifblim with a scowl, prepping her next pokémon to replace it.

"Scrafty. Focus punch." Aria ordered. Scrafty devoured the power herb in its hand, and Twilight shuddered, anticipating what was coming. In one motion, Scrafty prepared its blow, throwing a devastating punch the way of Heliolisk. The electric reptile was sent flying, knocked unconscious before it hit the ground.

"That hit was unreal!" Twilight gasped. "Come back Heliolisk!" She recalled her pokémon, trying to figure out how she could stop that Scrafty.

"Ninetales! It's your turn!" Sonata smiled. Ninetales spread its tails, howling at the sun. The bright desert sun grew harsher, bathing the fighters in its rays.

Twilight ran her hoof apprehensively over the pokeballs on her belt. I was hoping to save this one for later, but it looks like I don't have any choice. "Silvia, I choose you!"

Twilight's chimera sprang forth from its ball, landing firmly on its four mismatched legs. It let out a muffled roar from beneath its helmet, its eyes locked firmly on Aria and Sonata.

Sonata recoiled at the sight of it. "Eewwww, Aria what the heck is that thing?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it." Aria said back, spitting towards Silvia. "Let's take it down!"

We'll see about that. Twilight thought smugly. She had made sure to give Silvia a quick claw in hopes of being able to get a few cheeky hits in before her opponents could properly react to them. Now let's just hope it works.

A tiny glint of light gave Twilight the confirmation she needed. "Alright Silvia, use dig!" The words had barely left Twilight's mouth by the time Silvia had fully disappeared beneath the earth.

"Scrafty, High Jump Kick!" Aria commanded.

"And Ninetales, use Solarbeam!" Sonata added.

Twilight smiled. Her plan had worked perfectly. With Silvia underground, both of their attacks had missed. Better yet, Aria had gone for high jump kick. She turned around to watch as Scrafty sailed past and landed face first into the side of a cliff. Her pokémon fell off, landing with a thud. Scrafty pulled itself off the ground, massaging its injured knee.

Aria growled with annoyance. "That was pretty slick kid. But after that stunt you pulled in Manehattan I've been waiting to get some payback. You made us look like fools in front of the boss, and nopony makes Aria Blaze look bad and gets away with it!"

"Forgetting about somepony?" All of the battlers turned back toward Trixie, who fumed with indignity after being ignored. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will make you regret forgetting about her presence! Now, Charmeleon, brick break!"

Charmeleon lashed out at Scrafty, landing a solid strike with its clawed hand. After the damage Scrafty had sustained from the missed high jump kick, this attack proved more than it could bear. Scrafty fell, unconscious.

Aria called back Scrafty, tossing out another pokéball. "Let's not take any chances with that dig coming out. Staraptor, it's all you!" Staraptor soared to the sky, letting out an ear-piercing screech; the same one that Twilight had heard when Aria had used it to steal the master ball from her. Staraptor hovered above the battlefield, observing the opposition with its cruel red eyes.

Aria wasted no time taking to the offensive. "Go for an aerial ace, now!" Staraptor dove at Charmeleon, striking it with a wing and knocking Trixie's pokémon to the ground.

"You did well Charmeleon, Trixie thanks you." She recalled her pokémon, quickly taking it out of harm's way.

Sonata sighed. With no targets available to attack, she had to contend herself with using nasty plot. We had better take care of that quickly. Twilight mused. Allowing any pokémon more than one round to boost their attack power could quickly lead to catastrophe. Luckily her answer to it was just about to emerge…

Silvia erupted from beneath the ground, knocking Ninetales flying into the air and landing with a resounding thud. Sonata quickly pulled back her pokémon, her hook shaking with rage as she readied her next one. "Aight then. You punks think you're so cool, huh? Well I'm going to school you so hard your grandfillies will be in detention!" Her enraged scream filled the canyon with an intense echo, even catching Aria by surprise.

Twilight was still trying to make sense of what Sonata was saying when she threw out an ultra ball, and from inside it emerged a four-legged blue pokémon with an imposing blue crest. Twilight held up her pokédex in awe.

Suicune, the Aurora pokemon. Suicune purifies dirtied water and moves with the northern wind. It is rumored to have been born when an unnamed pokémon died in a fire and was brought back to life.

"Suicune…" Twilight gasped. Shining Armor used to tell her stories about the three legendary beasts. If Sonata had Suicune and Adagio had Entei, there was only one place in Equestria that Raikou could logically be…

"Alright Zweilous, let's get to work!" Trixie threw out her next pokémon, a two-headed dragon which roared with anger as it landed on the ground.

Twilight assessed the state of the battlefield. Trixie and I are both down one. Sonata is on her last, and Aria still has two at full strength. She was not enthusiastic about their odds, because even with an advantage, Twilight knew she had at least one, likely two legendary pokémon to contend with, and she was not sure if her team was up to the task. I just have to trust in Silvia. So far it hasn't let me down…

"Where in Equestria did thugs like them get legendary pokémon?" Rarity asked aloud.

Applejack shook her head. "I haven't got a clue. But from what Trixie's was sayin', those two were mighty strong trainers back in the day. Celestia only knows where they've been able to go lookin' for pokémon."

Aria turned to Sonata, giving her a small nod as a signal. "Alright Sonata, time for the old switcheroo." She grinned.

"Roger that!" Sonata giggled back. "Suicune, use roar on that ugly thing!" Suicune howled with incredible force, forcing Silvia back into its pokéball. Without time to think, Twilight threw out one of her other pokéballs. To her misfortune, Ivysaur was dragged out.

Aria cackled with satisfaction. "That's exactly what we wanted! Now Staraptor, hit it with a brave bird!" Staraptor's wings took on a harsh glow as it crashed into Ivysaur, hurting it in the process but completely destroying Ivysaur. He landed on his back, totally unconscious.

Twilight cringed. With one combo, their advantage had been effectively nullified. Unless Trixie could do something to quickly capitalize on Staraptor's wounds, this battle could quickly turn heavily against them.

"Do not fear Twilight! The Great and Powerful Trixie will not allow this to stand!" Trixie gave her cape a flourish, and pointed her hoof at Staraptor. The two heads of Zweilous stopped bickering and turned towards their master's gesture. "Zweilous, go for a dragon rush!" The two heads roared, charging at Staraptor and lashing out with its tail. The hit was solid, and with that on top of the damage sustained from brave bird, Staraptor fell unconscious.

"You're gonna pay for that one!" Aria roared, readying her next pokéball. "Let's end this Raikou!"

Twilight swallowed. Her suspicion had been confirmed, and based on her limited knowledge of the two Legendary Beasts, the combos that their opponents could pull off with them would be devastating. Twilight tossed Silvia back onto the battlefield. This time they wouldn't be able to get rid of it.

"Silvia, use headbutt!" Twilight ordered. Miraculously, Silvia's quick claw activated, and it smashed into Raikou with its heavy metal helmet. The impact stunned Raikou, staggering the beast and knocking it back on its hind legs.

Aria grit her teeth. "Sonata! Don't let them get away with this! Hit them!"

"Right! Suicune, go for the aurora beam!" Suicune fired a blast of energy infused with the colors of an aurora at Zweilous, knocking out the dragon-type immediately. With a scowl, Trixie withdrew her pokémon and prepared her final pokémon.

"It's up to you Haunter!" Trixie threw out her final pokéball. Each combatant now had only one pokémon left, which would make the next few round all the more intense. No room for mistakes now…

"Raikou, use thunder!" Aria boomed. Twilight shuddered. If that attack hit, one of their pokémon was finished. Fortunately, the bolt of lightning went wide, as that attack was notorious for doing,

"Don’t worry Ari, we'll make sure that doesn't happen again!" Sonata said with a gleeful giggle. "Suicune, rain dance!" A downpour began to hit the arid badlands, dousing the rock in more rain than it had likely seen in ages.

Trixie turned to Twilight with genuine worry in her eyes. "This isn't good. Raikou is going to be able to hit thunder every time as long as this stupid rain keeps up. Trixie may be able to stop them, but that plan entirely hinges on Aria attacking you and you surviving it. So Twilight…" She hesitated. "Do you trust me?"

Twilight nodded. "I do."

"Alright then. Let's cross our hooves and try not to lose!"

Aria's eyes betrayed a slight sense of aggravation. She was done with this battle and ready to end it. "Alright Raikou, finish that monster with thunder!"

Checkmate. Twilight smiled. Although Twilight wasn't sure what Trixie wanted to do, everything so far had gone according to plan. "Protect, let's go!" In response, Silvia threw up a protective barrier, blocking the lightning bolt from striking, completely nullifying the damage.

With Raikou's attack nullified, it was Trixie's turn to go on the offensive. "Haunter, use your hypnosis on Suicune!" Haunter bombarded Suicune with psychic rays, lulling it to sleep. Trixie turned to Twilight with a wide grin on her face. "We've got them now! Twilight, you go for Raikou, Trixie has plans for Suicune."

"Don't think you're going to get away with this!" Aria roared. "Thunder, again!" A wicked bolt of lightning descended onto Haunter, engulfing Trixie's pokémon in electricity. Haunter fell to the ground, barely able to remain conscious.

Trixie winced, as if she felt every volt of that attack. "Twilight, Haunter isn't going to be able to take another attack like that." Grimly, she smiled at her. "It's all up to you now. Haunter, use curse on Suicune!"

Haunter impaled itself on ethereal spikes, placing a powerful hex onto Suicune. Once the curse was done, Haunter fell unconscious, the last of its energy used on Suicune.

"Hopefully it will faint before it wakes up. The rest is up to you." She recalled Haunter and took a seat on the ground, watching with an intense gaze as her fate was left in Twilight's hooves.

Twilight considered her options carefully. Raikou was still quite healthy. If she could ignore Suicune for a few rounds, the curse might be able to take down Suicune, or at least weaken it substantially enough to get rid of quickly. At present, Raikou had to be dealt with. Twilight cursed the rain. The heavy downpour was still persisting. Faint gaps in the clouds suggested it might stop soon, but in the meantime, she could not risk getting hit by thunder.

"Alright Silvia, let's bide our time with dig!" Every second Silvia could not be hit was another inch closer to clawing victory back from Team Umbra. Twilight ground her teeth uneasily. She could see the clouds beginning to break up. They couldn't persist much longer. Suicune was trembling, helpless in its sleep as the curse Haunter had put on it slowly drained away its strength. Aria could only growl angrily as she was forced to wait.

Finally, the moment of truth. Silvia erupted from the earth, slamming into Raikou at breakneck speed. Suicune was still soundly asleep, and the curse seemed to have it close to unconsciousness. Raikou was staggered, but it was still very much capable of fighting back. And the twisted grin on Aria's face told Twilight exactly what she intended to do.

"This has gone on long enough." Aria roared. Veins in her neck twitched uneasily, bulging to uncomfortable sizes with each shriek. "Raikou, destroy her little abomination with everything you have! Thunder, go! GO!" Her face was twisted into a deranged grimace, turning the usually beautiful Umbra Commander into a frightful sight indeed.

Lightning gathered in the sky overhead. Twilight swallowed hard. If the rain kept up, she was doomed. Even if it stopped, there was still a 70% chance she was doomed. What's the probability of that? She shook her head. Not the time for math Twilight. All she could do was hope a miracle happened.

"FIRE!" Aria screamed. As the lightning began to reach a critical point, the clouds broke, spilling sunlight onto the rain washed mesa. A gleaming ray of sun shot through the clouds, striking Raikou straight in the eye. Raikou reared up onto its hind legs in pain, causing the lightning bolt to strike far off to the left.

A miracle. "Alright Silvia, now's our time to shine!" Twilight declared, pointing her hoof triumphantly at Raikou. "Finish it with your crush claw!" With massive talons, Silvia raked Raikou, knocking it onto the ground. At the same time, Suicune's frantic turning ceased, submitting to the terrible power of the curse. It too was unconscious.

Aria stared at the battlefield for a moment, too stunned to speak. Her eye twitched uneasily. The veins in her neck which had been throbbing for the last minute had stopped, but remained unnervingly visible.

"What? No!" Sonata wailed. "Next time, I promise, we'll beat you good. Right Aria?"

Aria didn't acknowledge her partner. She remained unmoving, staring through Twilight, off into space. After nearly a minute of this, she collapsed.

"Aria?" Cautiously, Sonata poked Aria's twitching form with her forehoof. No response. She bit her lip worriedly. "Oh no, this is really bad…"

This development caught Twilight by surprise. "Is she okay?"

Sonata turned to Twilight, the tears in her eyes expressing genuine worry. "I think that last battle pushed her blood pressure past the breaking point. I need to get her back to base, pronto!"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Twilight asked. Rainbow and Trixie both moved to object, but Twilight held up a hoof to stop them.

Sonata ignored her, instead pressing a microphone on the collar of her uniform. "Hey, it's Sonata. I need you to get us out of here. NOW." Sonata tried to pick up Aria, but her weight was too much for Sonata to handle by herself. A few minutes passed before a black helicopter came into sight, landing in the center of the makeshift arena.

Two Umbra grunts came out of the vehicle to load Aria into the back. Sonata tentatively approached Twilight, her hooves visible as a sign of peace. "Thank you Twilight," she said with a coy smile. "That was fun. I can't remember the last time either of us got so worked up."

Twilight smiled uneasily. She wasn't sure if that was meant to be a joke, being in as poor taste as it was. "Will she be okay?"

"Hopefully." Sonata sighed. "She usually doesn't get so into it. I think she was having a good time too. As promised, Team Umbra will be leaving Griffonstone for good." Sonata turned towards the helicopter, which was starting to rev up its blades. "Goodbye Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait until we get to battle again. And don't worry, we'll be going all out then. But for now, take this. I think you earned it."

She pulled a small green stone out of her pocket and tossed it Twilight's way. The stone was the size of a large marble and had a similar cat's-eye pattern in it. Twilight examined it closely. Somehow, it looked familiar.

The blades were now at full speed and the helicopter was starting to lift off. "Sonata!" Twilight exclaimed. "Where are the Apricorns you stole?"

"The Apri-who?"

Twilight groaned. She was pretty sure Sonata wasn't playing stupid. "The big purple fruits you stole from the breeder!"

Sonata's eyes lit up as she made the right mental connections. "Oh right, those! We shipped them off to HQ as soon as we got back! Sorry, but you aren't getting those back anytime soon!" With a giggle that sounded more childish than arrogant, Sonata took off, leaving the seven mares to ponder how to react.

"Why'd you try to help them?" Rainbow demanded. "They wanted to rob us."

Twilight shrugged. "Even so, Aria's life might have been in danger. They may not be our friends but we still have an obligation as civilized ponies to help somepony in need."

Trixie rolled her eyes. "That kind streak is going to get you in some serious trouble one of these days. Don't expect for a minute that if the roles were reversed they would have done the same thing for you."

"Maybe. But then again that's what separates me from them."

Applejack could not help but chuckle. "That's mighty philosophical of ya, sugarcube. Hokey, but philosophical."

Trixie shrugged. "Call it what you will. What matters is that Trixie has her pokémon back, and nopony is going to stop the Great and Powerful Trixie from claiming the title of Champion of Equestria."

"So what are you going to do now?" Twilight asked.

Trixie shrugged. "Return to the mainland, win the last three badges at Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire and Canterlot, and challenge the pokémon league. Trixie does not intend to get sidetracked like this again." With that, Trixie whirled around and started to make her way back the way they had came, back through the lair and eventually back toward town. "Oh, before Trixie forgets. Twilight."

"Yes Trixie?"

"Thanks. I owe you one." With that, Trixie cantered off, disappearing into the access tunnel and back into the Team Umbra hideout.

Author's Note:

Holy hell, getting this out has been a bigger pain in the rear than I could have ever imagined. Sorry to wait so long, but life has been a constant punch in the junk for the better part of four months. As of now I'm stuck at school for a whole week with literally nothing to do, so I plan to sit myself down and get some work done on this. Anyway, before anyone goes and questions why Type:Null is using Dig, I'm just assuming that while it isn't a TM in Alola, it is a TM in other regions and Type:Null would probably be compatible.

Comments

[Vakama95096]

I've been waiting for this chapter for a very long time! Great to have you back!

[Darkmetroidz]

8146761 it's good to be back. Plus side of being stuck at school with nothing to do for a week is I can park my butt on a bench, work on this and throw some bread to the birds.