Where The Hell?
"Gengar!" Agatha yelled. "Use Nightshade!"
Gengar's entire body glowed purple-black, lighting the stadium in a hellish light, and the challenger's Rapidash whinnied in pain, its flaming mane and tail suddenly burning dark, its body frozen by the attack. The light faded, and there was a moment of silence before Rapidash trembled and then fell. It didn't get back up.
"Rapidash is down! The winner is Gengar!" shouted the voice on the loud speakers. "Both trainers are down to their last Pokemon! What strategy will the challenger use against his otherworldly opponent?"
The challenging trainer threw a Pokeball, and a Tauros emerged, snorting and pawing the field. Gengar grinned at him, but the announcer seemed impressed by this move. "The challenger's final Pokemon is Tauros! This trainer came prepared, indeed! For any of you who don't know, Tauros is immune to ghost-type moves! How will Agatha handle him?"
"Tauros!" cried the challenger, "Thunderbolt!"
Tauros' horns began to spark as he charged at Gengar, bellowing.
"Gengar! Dodge, and then use Hypnosis!" Agatha yelled.
Gengar tried to jump over Tauros, but halfway over Tauros spun and released its Thunderbolt attack. As electricity streaked through the air, Gengar's eyes lit up, and it sent three rings of psychic waves toward its opponent. All three rings struck Tauros just as the electricity hit its mark. Gengar doubled over, and Tauros' head dropped.
"A critical hit to Gengar!" the announcer cried. "It may be paralyzed, but Tauros is fast asleep!"
As Gengar got to his feat, Agatha cried, "Gengar! Dream Eater!"
A black substance started billowing from Tauros' motionless form, and shot straight into Gengar's wide-open mouth.
Tauros woke with a bellow, red in its eyes, and it whipped itself with its three tails as though to lash the rest of the sleep away.
"Tauros, use Ice Beam!" yelled the challenger. In a flash a light, the blue beam struck Gengar hard, freezing the Pokemon solid in a block of ice.
"Gengar is a solid piece of ice! It looks like it might be all over!"
"Finish it with Thunderbolt!" the challenger yelled.
Another yellow flash of blinding light filled the stadium, the ice broke with a shattering noise like glass, and Gengar dropped to the ground. It lay still.
"Gengar is unable to continue! The challenger wins!"
From where I was hidden in the air ducts above the arena, I smiled to myself. That battle was really something, but more importantly, I now had a new transformation. No one had ever used a Tauros against the Elite Four before, not as long as I had been watching them anyway, and every new Pokemon I saw made me stronger.
I turned to go outside, my stomach growling. I hoped I didn't run into anymon out there, but if I wanted to eat, I would have to risk it. "Transform," I whispered. I could feel my body changing, limbs growing, my color turning from pink to red. It was wonderful being a True Ditto, even though all other Pokemon hated them. They all believed that because we could morph at will, we would use that ability to spy on them. It always made me laugh when I heard a normal Ditto was caught, though honestly I wasn't sure I was willing to give them the name 'Ditto.' Those piss-poor excuses for Ditto could only change if their target was standing right in front of them. What good were they?
I headed over to a nearby stream and took a long drink. Tauros' body was powerful, and I found myself wishing my true form was even half as strong. But no matter. I could stay in this form as long as I wanted.
I looked into the water at my reflection, and felt disappointment knot in my chest. Shit! I still couldn't change the two small spots of pink coloring on my rump.
Deciding that grass would make a decent meal, I started to eat. It was good grass, crunchy and sweet, and for a few minutes I stopped worrying about being spotted. It was a long time since I'd enjoyed a meal this much, and I wondered if Tauros' taste buds were more acute than the other Pokemon's I'd been transforming into lately.
"Hey, I found it!"
I froze, turning slowly toward the Ponyta's voice, cursing myself for dropping my guard. Then I turned and galloped away as fast as I could, toward the stadium. Unfortunately, I ran right into their trap. Before I realized what had happened, three Rapidash, two Ponyta, and a Ninetails surrounded me, boxing me in. There was no where left to run. Thinking fast, I quickly changed into an Alakazam. But just as I started to Teleport to safety, Ninetails used Extrasensory. My vision went fuzzy, my thoughts exploded into chaos, and I tried to stop myself, tried to stop what I was doing. But I couldn't remember what I was doing, and a moment later, the Pokemon disappeared, I was gone. But I didn't know where I was going. I blacked out.
* * *
"Damn, he got away again, boss," said one of the Rapidash.
"Not to worry. I saw him flinch as he left," said Ninetails with a laugh.
"What does that have to do with anything?" asked a Ponyta.
Ninetails smirked. "If a Pokemon cannot concentrate while they Teleport, they can be sent anywhere! Most never return alive."
* * *
It felt like only moments later, I opened my eyes and found myself in a forest I'd never seen before. My neck prickled, and I stared at the trees. For mere plants, I sensed they were emitting a large amount of sentient energy. It was unnerving. I decided not to Transform again, at least not for now. There were not many Pokemon that would actively seek out an Alakazam, and even fewer could get the better of one. I walked through the woods for a good twenty minutes, my mind still clearing, but I did not see even one Pokemon. The longer I walked through the forest, the more uncomfortable I became. I could see nothing, but felt everything, as if the Pokemon were a part of the forest itself.
"HELP! Somepony, any pony!"
What was that? I hesitated, uncertain if it would be safe, but then decided it didn't matter. I wanted to see the fight, especially if it was between Pokemon I'd never seen before. The new transformations could be useful. So I lifted myself into the air, and flew toward the screaming. After about three minutes, I drew near to the commotion. I hid in some dense bushes, and then peered out at the scene.
About fifteen dog Pokemon and six pony Pokemon I had never seen before filled the clearing. The dogs all looked the same, but the ponies were all different. Three were large, one lavender with a single horn, one orange with a big floppy hat, and the last pure, clean white with a horn and a deep purple mane. The other three were smaller, one yellow with a massive bow on her head, one white with a horn, and the last orange with wings.
I was ecstatic. So many new transformations! I fixed my attention on the lavender Pokemon with the horn, and used Transform. But nothing happened. I stopped for a moment, confused. How was this possible? I shook my head, and decided to try the pony with the floppy hat instead. I used Transform again, but once again, nothing happened.
There was only one explanation. These creatures were not Pokemon.
"Help! Please Help us!" screamed the white pony. The dog creatures growled at them menacingly, surrounding them, making the ponies cluster together.
It was strange. The dogs had very little brain function, but the ponies had quite a bit. More than many Pokemon, in fact. Should I help them?
No! I was a Ditto! Every creature I'd ever met wanted me dead. Helping these creatures would serve no purpose. They would probably turn on me immediately, when they figured out what I was. On the other hand, how could I live with myself if I let the foals die?
"Big sis, I'm sorry," said the little pony with the bow.
"I know you are," said the orange pony with the hat.
Damn it. What had happened? How did I get here? Teleporting with no idea where I was going could have brought me anywhere. And here I was, surrounded by woods I'd never seen or heard of, trees with strange energy, and animals that were neither human nor Pokemon. But really, since they were not Pokemon, I guess I could assume they didn't want to kill me. And anyway, if I did save them, I could ask them were I was. But how to help them without scaring them? I would have to transform into a Pokemon that resembled them. A pony with a horn? Only one type of Pokemon came to mind.
"Transform," I whispered.
By now, the dogs had completely encircled the group of ponies. I didn't have much time. I took a deep breath and exhaled swiftly, spewing fire into the clearing, engulfing the ponies completely.
"Fire!" the ponies screamed. I galloped into the fray, using Quick Attack so that I wouldn't harm the ponies with my fire attacks. I smacked the first growling, drooling dog creature, and it fell apart into pieces, only to rebuild itself in seconds. I jumped back as the pack started their slow walk toward me, confused and a little disgusted. So physical moves wouldn't work on them, apparently. But maybe fire would. I just had to be careful not to hit the ponies, or the whole point of this battle would be lost. I set myself aflame, and charged into the midst of the pack, smashing into three of them. Instantly they turned to ash. That was enough for the rest of the creatures. They turned tail and ran away, yelping. The cowards.
With the danger passed, I let my protective Fire Spin die. The six ponies looked around, faces still filled with fright. When they realized that the dogs were no longer there, though, they visibly relaxed. Then they saw me.
"Twilight, what is that?" the three larger ones step out in front of the smaller ones, protectively.
The lavender one replied, "I think it's a unicorn."
"But he's on fire! He surely can't be a unicorn," said the white pony.
"Maybe he's some kind of demon pony," said the pony with the big floppy hat.
The one called Twilight said, "He could have had a magical accident that left him that way. Besides, he hasn't moved since the fire died down. I don't think he's going to attack us."
Magical accident? Yes, yes, that was a great way to explain my form! "Yes," I said. "I had an accident a few days ago. I'm sorry if I scared you."
"You see?" said Twilight. "He's just a unicorn." She smiled at me. "Thank you for the save."
"It was nothing. I would never, ever let foals die." Suddenly, up in the sky a ring formed, a ring with every color in the rainbow. I stared at it. "What the hell?"
What ever it was, it was coming right at me. It came in fast, so I used Bounce, narrowly dodging the attack. It hit the ground leaving a small ditch, and a blue pony climbed out of it a moment later.
"Don't worry, girls! Rainbow Dash is here! I'll beat this thing!" said the newcomer.
"Rainbow! He's a friend!" yelled the lavender one.
"Oh! Oops."
As I started my decent, I realized I was going to hit her. "Move if you don't want to get hurt!" I shouted. She looked up but wasn't fast enough. I come down on top of her with a crash.
I rolled off her and she jumped up. "What the hay?" she shouted at me. "Why did you hit me?"
Before I could even start to say something, though, the white pony slapped Rainbow Dash across the face. "How dare you try to hurt the pony who just saved our lives?" She turned and walked over to me, but I didn't want to have anything to do with that. With every step she took, I took one step back. She stopped and blinked. "Dear, why do you keep backing up? All I want to do is thank you."
"Rarity," the smaller white one said. "Look at him. He's been acting spooked since you started walking towards him."
"She's right, Rarity," said Twilight. The she turned to me. "What's wrong? Why are you scared?"
I took one more step back, and answered, "I'm just not used to having any Poke...Pony try to get close to me without wanting me dead, okay?"
For some reason, they looked horrified.
I blinked. "Was it something I said?"
Before I could react, the small one with the bow grabbed onto my leg. I reared up in surprise, trying to get it off, to no avail. I panicked for a moment, but then I heard laughter, and I gave up on freeing myself.
"Mister, it's all right, no pony here will harm you," said the one that attached itself to me, and the others nodded in agreement.
I wished Rapidash was a psychic type so I could read their emotions and decide if they were truthful or not. But right now, I had no idea where I was or how I'd gotten here. So I guess I'd just have to trust them ... for now. They started to come closer again.
"I'd like a few questions answered though, if that's alright," I said.
They smiled at me, and approached more quickly.
"I have some for you as well," said Twilight. "But not here, this place is much too dangerous. By the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle, that's Rarity, her younger sister Sweetie Bell, Applejack and her sister Apple Bloom. This is Rainbow Dash, and--"
"Her sister?" I guessed.
"I wish," said the unknown little pony. "I'm Scootaloo."
With sparkling eyes, Rarity asked, "And what is my gallant knight's name?"
I was taken aback by this question. Pokemon didn't have names unless we were captured, so I said, "I never had a name. Like I told you before, I never had anyone close to me that didn't want me dead." Then I saw the pity in their eyes, and that gave me a funny feeling. No one had ever pitied me before. I wasn't sure I liked it.
"Your mom never gave you a name?" asked Sweetie, her eyes wide.
With a shrug, I replied, "I never knew my parents. Since day one, I've had to fend for myself. Isn't it the same here?"
Once again, I was faced with seven shocked expressions. Then they start to cry.
What the hell was wrong with these creatures? They went from one emotion to another faster then I could change my shape.
A rustling in the bushes snapped me from my thoughts, and two more mares walked out: a pink one with a curly mane, and a pale yellow one with a pink mane. The pale yellow pony looked at me in alarm, eyes widening, and then ducked behind Applejack The other sprang toward me. A Quick Attack? I crouched defensively, but just before she collided with me, she stopped instantly as if she had no momentum at all.
"Omigodiveneverseenyoubeforeivegottagoplansomethingforyou," the pony said. I stared at her, blinking, confused. Was that even a form of speech?
"Umm... hi?" I said. But she was gone in a poof of dust.
"Oh, don't mind her," said Twilight. "That was Pinkie Pie. She's always like that. And the one behind A.J. is Fluttershy. But we should finish our conversation back in town. Come on," she added.
"Hey, wait a minute, what about his name?" Rainbow demanded.
"Well, I guess we can let him pick out his own name when we get to Ponyville," said Rarity.
They started trotting off, until they realized I hadn't budged. The three small ones came running back to me, and started pushing my hindquarters with all their might. Well, I did decide to trust them, right? So I sighed, and started to follow them toward this town. But all I could think as I walked toward a town I'd never heard of, in a world I never knew existed, with a bunch of creatures who didn't act like any creature I'd ever met, was that I really didn't want to pick a name.