“Appleloosa, here we are!” Fairy shouted happily as she and her friends – Breeze, Silk and Flare were in their Pokéballs – entered the city.
“Nice place.” Prism whistled as she watched the city. The whole place was created many years ago like those towns in ‘Old West movies’, and the local townsfolk loved it so much that it kept like that even after the industrialization of the region; they still had things like cellphone towers and all, but they were disguised to keep the theme.
Spike chuckled as he watched the locals walk in old West clothes, or at least with cowboy hats and boots. “Remember when we visited the place for the first time? We pestered our parents until the bought us local clothes.”
“Oh I remember alright, Ah was th’ one who helped you choose.” A voice sounded from their right, prompting the group to turn and face a grinning Applejack. “Hello ya’ll!”
“Hey AJ!” Spike shouted, waving the woman over. She chuckled and walked to them, shaking their hands firmly. “How’s the Gym?”
“It’s still too early in the season, so there haven’t been many challengers yet.” She told them with a chuckle. “What about you, how’s the journey goin’?”
“Fairy caught a Pokémon on early the second day from Canterlot to Ponyville, and we both caught one each on Whitetail Woods. After that we stopped just a few miles outside of Ponyville towards here and trained for a few weeks.” Spike shrugged. “We made a list with the order in which we’ll tackle the Gyms, and we agreed it would be better to go against you first.”
Her eyes twinkled as she smirked. “If ya think I’ll go too easy on you just because ya’ll are newbies an’ mah friends you’re mistaken.”
“We would be insulted if you did.” Fairy said, matching her expression as she tried to butt heads with the older woman.
Considering that she’s small for her age and that Applejack is one of the tallest Gym Leaders on the region of Equus, it didn’t quite work.
“Alright! Do ya’ll wan’ tah have your challenge today or…?” She asked the pair.
“Sorry Applejack, but we’ve been traveling for quite a while. How about in a few days? I still need to capture a third Pokémon for my challenge. I know you do two Pokémon challenges when the trainer only has two Pokémon, but I don’t want to resort to that.” Spike said, rolling his shoulders.
“Alright.” She conceded with a smile. “Why don’t you two stay with us at th’ farm? Ya’ll are practically family, we would be happy to have ya’ll with us for as long as you need it.”
“Are you sure? We don’t want to impose or anything.” The boy asked.
“Screw that, let’s go!” Fairy grinned as she began to pull Spike and Applejack towards the apple farm. “It’s been years since I ate one of Granny Smith’s pies and I want one now!”
Her friends looked at each other amusedly.
Apple Bloom wiped her forehead as she walked back into the barn after doing her chores on the orchard, her sister’s Gogoat pulling the apple-loaded cart just behind her. “Thanks for th’ help, Gogoat!” She smiled at the large Grass-type and he nodded his head in acknowledgement.
Suddenly, a green and yellow blur passed behind her and jumped over the cart, taking many of the apples with it as it sped off in the distance, causing the girl to gasp in surprise and stare at the little thing as it passed; she saw it trip and drop the fruits, but it jumped back to its feet and his behind a bush before the girl could see much more than its shape and colors, and took the apples with one of its moves. Bloom’s face soon grew angry and she gritted her teeth. “Darnation, it did it again!” She growled.
“Goooh.” Gogoat rumbled quietly at the girl for her to calm down.
Apple Bloom drew a deep breath before grumbling unhappily. “Darn critter…” She mumbled.
“Gogoat!” The goat suddenly shouted with a smile as a three figures approached from the distance, though it was more focused on the tallest one.
Apple Bloom spun around and waved when she recognized the group. “AJ! Spike! Fairy!” She shouted.
Fairy smiled and waved as she saw the younger girl. She was wearing a yellow blouse and jeans, along with her trademark giant pink bow on her head. “Hey Apple Bloom! It’s nice to see you, girl!”
“Ah say th’ same!” She grinned, clasping hands with the teenager, both girls snapping their fingers on the same hand as they did. “Ah can’t believe that you’re finally a trainer! Took you long enough if ya ask me!” She laughed.
“Hahah, what about you, you’re almost a year behind already.” Fairy raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, but that was b’cause ah wanted tah start mah journey with th’ other girls.” She rolled her eyes. “Scoots’ finally old enough to have her own Pokémon, and me, Sweetie, Babs and Gabby decided tah wait her since Sweetie also only turned fourteen a few months ago.”
“Good friends stick together after all.” Spike chuckled, remembering that his sister, AJ, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rarity had all gone on their journeys together, meeting Starlight in the middle of it, and also Aguion and his own group which was much bigger, including the Gym Leaders Niner Blaze, Lobis, Metta, Bella and Moonlight.
“And ya’ll know it!” Applejack laughed, remembering her own journey days. “Anyways, is dinner ready? Those two are practically starvin’ if their bellies hav’ any say on it!” As if on cue, the pair’s stomachs growled, causing both Apples to laugh.
“Granny must b’ finishin’ it.” The youngest of the group replied, grinning when she heard a cowbell being rung loudly. “Told ya!”
“Food!” Fairy shouted in glee as she dashed inside the house, Spike and Applejack quickly following her in a quick jog. Apple Bloom stood there for a moment as she looked towards where the little thief from earlier went before following the others with a frustrated sigh.
“Still as good as ever, Granny.” Fairy sighed after swallowing a bite of her pie.
“Yup.” Both Spike and Big Mac – who had arrived just a few moemnts after Fairy dashed in – agreed. Mac sent a small glare towards the grinning boy for trying to steal his catchphrase before both chuckled.
The small Pokémon, from both trainers and the family, who were eating on the other side of the room sent their own compliments, to which Granny only heard them chirping their names with smiles on their faces.
Granny Smith chuckled as well for a moment. “Glad tah hear Ah’m not getting’ rusty.”
Applejack turned her head to look at her sister, who was eaing her pie with an annoyed expression. “Is everythin’ alright, sugarcube?”
Apple Bloom looked at her sister, then around the table to discover that they were paying attention to her now. She sighed. “No, that darn critter stole the apples again.”
Applejack snorted. “That so? Why dah ya care so much about it anyways? We have enough apples this season that a few missin’ isn’t that much of a problem.”
“It’s th’ principle of th’ thing!” She shouted with a frustrated groan. “Ah’ve been tryin’ tah capture that little thief for months and Ah’ve never even seen it properly!”
Fairy and Spike looked at the exchange with confused expressions before turning to the elder of the family. “Context?” Fairy asked.
“Ah few months ago, two or so, a Pokémon appeared in th’ orchard.” Granny explained. “At first it didn’t do much; heck, we would never even had noticed it if it wasn’t for th’ fact that we saw this blur passing aroun’ th’ trees multiple times. But some weeks back it started tah steal fruits and berries from the carts, and while we produce enough tah last a long while, little Apple Bloom took it personally.”
“Of course Ah did!” She shouted angrily. “Every day since then that thing has been stealin’ from the fruits an’ berries Ah harvest as if it’s been focusin’ me!”
Fairy thought for a moment. “Hey AB, what does it looks like?”
Spike smirked. “Looking for a new addition for your team?”
“If bloom here doesn’t mind me capturing it, maybe.” She shrugged.
“As long it’s gone, Ah don’t mind.” She replied quickly. “Anyways, it looks like a little snake, but it had somethin’ wide on its tail. Th’ only other detail Ah got is that its body is either a dark green or a greenish blue, some yellow, an’ the belly was… Ah think Sweetie would call it beige or somethin’ like that. But I’ve never seen a Pokém- why are ya starin’ at me like that?”
Fairy was staring at the girl incredulously; just like Prism and Shade who had both had jumped to the girl’s shoulders and were looking at the youngest Apple in surprise. “Do… do you think it’s her?” Prism asked hopefully.
Shade nodded slowly. “The chances are slim, but…”
“I dunno, I don’t think she would do something like this. Unless...” Fairy mumbled quietly to the Eevee siblings.
Applejack looked between the three of them for a moment before raising a single eyebrow. “Context?” She asked just like Fairy did earlier, earning a snort of amusement from the girl.
“You already know this, but the Professor let anyone get their Pokémon at any day as long as they talk with her first so she can be sure to be on the lab or to put various trainers on the same day.” The others nodded. “That’s what happened a few months ago; a trainer wanted to get her first Pokémon at the lab, and her chosen Pokémon was a good friend of ours, a small and mischievous Snivy that loved to mess around with us and prank just about anyone. We warned the trainer of it, but she wanted our friend because of one single fact: she was a shiny.”
The Apple’s eyes widened, as did the Pokémon who were never in the lab. Spike’s eyes widened as well, but for a different reason. “I remember her! She was one of the Pokémon who were there with us when we used the prototype of the translator; the one that had to be carried around like a purse or a backpack.”
Fairy nodded. “Exactly. The description you said fits her; a shiny Snivy has a dark greenish blue body with yellow leaves and markings and a cream-colored underside, and you know how the body of a Snivy looks.” She reclined on her chair with a frown. “If this is her, then she either A) was too much for her trainer to handle and was released, B) escaped her trainer, or C) they came to an agreement that ended up with Snivy released once again.”
“Optimistic much?” Spike asked good-naturedly as his Eevee jumped to his shoulder.
“I’d put my money on the first, really, but I like to have a good option.” She laughed before turning to Apple Bloom with a smile. “I’ll help you find your thief tomorrow, and if it’s Snivy, then I’ll take her with me.”
Apple Bloom nodded. “An’ if it’s another Pokémon I’ll bring one of AJ’s spare Pokéballs to capture; we can see what we’ll do with it later.”
They finished their food and talked some more, but they soon went to bed, each with their own excuse for being eager for the next day.
Spike yawned again as he walked through the road towards his destiny: a place called Scorched Lands. The place is basically a rocky terrain with a few patches of berry trees here and there, where many Rock, Ground and Fire-type Pokémon live – Fire more so than others, which was Spike’s objective.
“I need a third Pokémon, and a second Pokémon with type advantage is just what the doctor ordered.” He told his Eevee, who was easily keeping up with him at his side. “I have faith that you and Breeze can handle AJ’s team – as long as she’s using the rookies I mean; the real team of a Gym Leader is always made of monsters no matter what type they are.”
Shade snorted. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but yeah I can see that.”
The young man smiled apologetically at his partner. “Sorry, buddy.”
“Why did we have to come so early, though?” Shade yawned. “I don’t mind waking up at eight or so, but six is pushing it.”
Spike chuckled sheepishly. He had asked AJ to wake him up early for them to go, but he forgot just how early a farmworker wakes up. “Sorry. I wanted to wake up before Fairy so we could go search it on our own as a team; we don’t really do things just us all that much.” Shade smiled at his trainer before both of them turned forwards, finally seeing the rocky floor of the Scorched Lands.
“Alright! Operation: Catch the Thief is in action!” Apple Bloom declared confidently as she, Gogoat, Fairy and her team stood in the section of the orchard where the mysterious ‘blur Pokémon’ is seen the most.
Fairy smirked. “Do you want us to do the ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders Thief Catchers, yay!’ thing?”
“Wha- no! Me an’ th’ girls haven’t done that in ever since we were nine!” Bloom shouted with a heavy blush.
“Shame, it was so cute!” Fairy laughed, making Gogoat smile and her Pokémon to tilt their heads in confusion.
“Hey, what is this Cutie Mark Whatever?” Prism asked for them all.
“Later.” Fairy waved them off, nodding at the other girl who was watching the exchange in curiosity. “Alright, do you have your Pokéball with you?”
“Right here.” The red-haired girl said, pulling out an Ultraball. “Ah just hope it works. AJ didn’t give me all that many.” She only gave her three, in fact.
“Good.” Fairy nodded before turning to the Grass-type of their group. “Keep her safe, alright? You know how much of a magnet for trouble she is, and I’m the one saying.”
The goat chuckled. “Understood, Fairy.” He said in a deep voice.
“Alright, let’s do this!” Bloom shouted in excitement, completely ignoring Fairy’s joke, as she ran in one direction with her sister’s starter Pokémon.
Fairy watched her go with a smile. After a few seconds of standing in place, she abruptly turned towards one of the trees. “It’s been a while!” She said with a smile as she looked towards a clump of leaves on a branch, from where a shiny Snivy stepped out with a grin just as big.
“Looks like I still can’t sneak up on you, Fairy.” The Grass-type chuckled.
“I’m the one who trained both you and Prism on you agility, jackass, not to mention that my brother trains Electric-types; I can keep up with your movements easily.” The pink-haired deadpanned.
“Point made.” Snivy shrugged before smirking. “So, Operation: Catch the Thief?”
“She’s pretty pissed that you’ve been stealing from her. I know you’re just kidding around, but she doesn’t.” Fairy smiled. “So when she described the little punk, I had a feeling and decided to help her, on the condition that I could capture it if I was right and ‘it’ was you.”
Snivy nodded. “I see… well, if you really want to capture me, you’re going to have to catch me first!” She grinned.
Fairy grinned back at the challenge. “That’s the idea!”
Snivy’s eyes widened and she immediately jumped from her branch to another just in time to evade an Electroweb, courtesy of Silk who sneaked behind the grass serpent while she was being distracted by the trainer. “Nice try!” She laughed before darting off.
“Shit!” Fairy cursed before following her target. “Let’s go!” She shouted to her Pokémon just as her Spinarak used String Shot to reach her shoulder.
Spike squinted, trying to localize a Fire-typed Pokémon in the distance from where he stood atop from a rock. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose when he didn’t see anything, and just hoped that either one of his partners were having better luck than him.
Speaking of which.
Shade tiredly walked back to his trainer and simply slumped on the floor, exhausted. “Sorry Spike, but I didn’t find anyone.” He mumbled only loud enough for his trainer to hear.
Spike sighed once again and sat on the rock, petting his friend’s head. “It’s alright. Maybe we came here too early, or maybe the Fire-types live on another side of the Scorched Lands.”
“If they do, I found an exception.” Breeze called from above with a smirk, gaining her friend’s attention. “Come on, she’s this way!” She shouted and turned to fly back from where she saw the Pokémon. Spike and Shade looked at each other before jumping form their resting spot and dashing after the Flying-type.
A few minutes later the two sole guys of their group – and it seemed that it will be like that for a while – finally caught up with Breeze, finding her perched on a rock formation and observing a Pokémon train with interest clear in her eyes. Spike panted for breath for a moment and looked at the Pokémon before his eyes widened. ‘As Fairy would say, jack-fucking-pot!’
A few feet away, a Combusken was pummeling a boulder with a move Spike recognized as Night Slash, which looked like two dark purple daggers held by the chick’s claws.
Spike straightened himself as Shade jumped on his shoulder, and he walked out of his cover to a certain distance from the Fire/Fighting-type. The same moment he stopped, the Combusken relaxed and let her move fall before turning to face him.
They stood still, staring at each other’s eyes, the world around them seeming to fade. The Combusken smiled. “Heh, I knew something big was going to happen today.” She chuckled. “You know, I met a few other trainers before, and they didn’t exactly give me time to prepare for battle.”
Spike shrugged. “It’s more fun this way.”
Combusken’s eyes widened slightly for a fraction of a second, but as fast it happened, it was gone. “The two of us think alike, then.” She grinned. “Maybe you’ll be the one to finally dominate me, but you’ll have to defeat me first!”
Spike’s eyebrow twitched at the ‘domination’ part, and he felt that if he captured her his life would be even more interesting than it already is. Shaking the feeling aside, he matched her expression. “Challenge accepted! Breeze, battle cry!”
“The skies are my domain!” Breeze shrieked as she circled her opponent at great speeds before stopping between her trainer and her foe.
Combusken faltered slightly. “A Pidgey? Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”
Breeze’s eye twitched angrily, but Spike chuckled a bit. “Calm down, Breeze, you’re going to prove her wrong soon enough.” In reality Spike was slightly worried. Pidgey may not be a very strong Pokémon normally, but the way the Combusken dismissed her wasn’t she underestimating Breeze, the way she was eyeing his Pidgey calculatingly was enough proof of that; no, she was genuinely hoping for more, for him to throw in a Kadabra or similar. For a Pokémon stronger than her.
For a challenge.
Spike knew that Fighting-typed Pokémon were prideful and often reckless, but he also knew that she was strong. He feared that he’s biting more than he can chew. He could only hope that Breeze was ready for it, because as much as he is confident in Shade, he also knew the Eevee stood no chance.
“Quick Attack!” He shouted, and Breeze shot off like a rocket towards her opponent, who stood he ground for a moment before jumping over the Pidgey, firing an Ember as she did so. Spike and Fairy, however, had trained their Pokémon to dodge attacks without command if possible, and so Breeze made a quick curve to avoid the flames. “Gust!” Breeze turned and beat her wings at a fast rate, producing a powerful gust of wind that blew the Combusken back a few feet.
“Ow, that was actually pretty strong.” She muttered. “Looks like I’ll have to use my ‘serious’ strategy after all.” She straightened herself and used Fire Spin, the line of fire swiftly sliding across the floor until it was under the bird before turning into the fire tornado, but the trainer warned the Pidgey of it and she cancelled her own attack in favor of avoiding the opposing move. ‘They’re actually a pretty good team.’ She mused, dashing towards the Flying-type with Quick Attack, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to use it later without showing them her strategy.
Spike watched the chick approach. “Dodge it and use Twister!” At the last moment Breeze swooped away from Combusken and circled her, draconic winds dancing around her wings before she unleashed it on the groundbound avian. Combusken grunted in pain as she was sent away for the second time that day and flipped herself in mid-air so she fell on her feet. “Quick Attack into Steel Wing, go!” Breeze sped towards the Fire-type once again, but just before she could impact her she let the energy of the Quick Attack fall – but not the speed – and rammed into her with Steel Wing.
“Gah!” Combusken cried out in pain as she was sent tumbling. “Shit, that hurts.”
“Lead’ did say I’d prove you wrong.” Breeze smirked.
The chick smirked back. “Yeah, and you did. You’re much stronger than I thought.” She stood up and brushed her legs. “However I was fighting on the ‘Easy’ difficulty…” She narrowed her eyes and lifted a hand. “… Let’s see if you can handle ‘Normal’.” She snapped her claws and three swords of light circled her for a moment before disappearing.
“Fuck.” Spike growled. “Keep your distance and alternate between Gust and Twister while I think of something!” Breeze nodded in understanding before beating her wings harder to go higher, dodging her foe’s Brick Break as she did. “Normal is weak to Fighting while Flying is strong to it, so they cancel each other. The STAB is still in place, so it’s still dangerous.” He mumbled. “So far I’ve seen Ember, Fire Spin, Swords Dance, Quick Attack, Night Slash and Brick Break, and Combusken naturally learn Double Kick when they evolve so there’s that too.”
He watched as Breeze continued to attack the Combusken, randomly alternating between Gust and Twister to keep the Fire/Fighting-type away while said Pokémon tried her best to get close to the bird, throwing quick Night Slashes as well as a few Pecks here and there. Breeze managed to catch her off-guard by suddenly launching her Hidden Power, the spheres glowing something between orange and brown and pulsing to her heartbeat did not have as much power as he would like however, as Breeze was more of an Attack fighter, not Sp. Attack.
Combusken soon shook her surprise and jumped back, thinking on her strategy. “Gotta finish this quick…” She growled for a moment before relaxing, smiling at the trainer and Pokémon. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been pushed this far.”
“Thanks!” Spike responded with his own smile. “We trained a lot to fight against the Grass Gym in Appleloosa for our first badge, but I only have these two, so I need another to fight; that’s why we’re here battling you.”
“First badge?” Combusken blinked in surprise. “Wow, I know the first few Gyms hold back a lot for the rookies. If that’s right then you’ll get the badge for sure!” She grinned a challenge, her whole body being engulfed in flames. “But if you really want to capture me, you’ll need to beat me when I’m fighting for real… so here I come!” Just as she said that, the flames extinguished and she was gone, disappearing in a blur.
Spike and Breeze’s eyes widened when she did it, frantically looking around to see if they could spot her. “I can’t see her, watch out!” Spike shouted to his Pokémon.
“I can see a faint white blur, but I can’t lock on it!” Breeze shouted back nervously. Her ability was Keen Eye, which turns moves that increases evasion or decreases accuracy useless, and yet she couldn’t spot her enemy. Suddenly her breath was knocked out of her as Combusken appeared out of nowhere and lashed out with a kick, before spinning and unleashing the second attack of her Double Kick, sending the Pidgey away. “Gaah!” She cried out as she impacted the floor and rolled a few feet.
“That… is my Burst Dash technique.” The Fire/Fighting-type said, panting slightly.
Spike mulled over the name for a second before his eyes widened. “Your ability… is Speed Boost, isn’t it? You stalled the battle for long enough for it to stack. But you should have been moving faster than you were so why…?”
“I made myself move slower.” She interrupted. “That way I would surprise you with a sudden burst of speed, but you were pushing me too much, so I speed it up by using Flame Charge to raise my own speed along with my ability.”
“And then you used Quick Attack.” Spike said in understanding. “It’s a move that’s basically a slightly stronger Tackle that also doubles you speed. You were already ridiculously fast, but your Quick Attack guaranteed that you would move too fast for our eyes to see.”
“Downside: it’s something I came up a short time ago, so I’m not used to that speed yet, so it’s best if I use it for short’ bursts’ of speed; unlike I did now, that was me experimenting.” Combusken grimaced. “Not only I tire fast, I can’t see what I’m attacking. I had to wait for your bird to talk for me to lock on her.”
“I see. Thanks for the info.” Breeze coughed as she flapped her wings unsteadily for a moment before she steadied herself a few feet above ground.
“Breeze, don’t push yourself. When can come here and try again tomorrow if she agrees to a rematch.” Spike said in worry.
“And I would, really.” Combusken smiled. If they could push her that far without knowing what she could do, she was eager to see how they would fight when knowing her abilities.
“No, I can still fight!” Breeze screeched at her trainer before turning to her opponent. “As long as I am awake, I will fight… I won’t give up, not after all the training we did, not after all the effort I put into this battle.” She took a deep breath. “I will battle… UNTIL THE END!” She roared as her body was engulfed in a bright light.
The other present widened their eyes as they watched her form change; her body expanded until it were more than double its original size, her tail feathers lengthened and widened like a fan, and from the top of her head, feathers grew like a hair of sorts, covering her head and neck. The light finally faded and they could see her new figure, including the color change of her crest and tail feathers, which were a reddish pink, and red and yellow respectively. She turned her head towards the stunned Fire-type. “So bring it.”
Spike finally got over his own shock and quickly brought out his Pokédex to scan his newly evolved Pokémon.
“Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon. Pidgeotto claims a large are as its territory. This Pokémon flies around, patrolling its living space. If its territory is violated, it shows no mercy in thoroughly punishing the foe with its sharp claws.
Moves learned upon evolution: Aerial Ace.”
Spike closed his dex and turned to his friend with an excited grin. “Holy shit Breeze, you evolved!”
“No shit.” Breeze snarked back with her own grin. “Now come on, we have a fight to win, and I still haven’t used my strongest attack!”
“You know how dangerous Brave Bird is; we can’t spam it around.” Spike rolled his eyes. “But we have one that we can, and we will! Aerial Ace!” Breeze smirked and disappeared from sight much like Combusken had done so earlier, and said Pokémon grimaced as it used Burst Dash in a defensive manner… only for Breeze to slam against her a second later.
Combusken flipped herself and immediately dashed around in a circle, this tie only using her boosted speed as she prepared her Night Slash daggers once again. “Get near her and use Gust!” Breeze shook her own dizziness from the impact and followed her with Aerial Ace once more, appearing behind her foe and beating her wings to create a powerful windstorm, easily two times more powerful than it was before she evolved.
Combusken was sent flying high, but steadied herself and fell to her feet before engulfing her body in flames and she dashed towards her opponent; she couldn’t raise her speed anymore, but it was still her strongest Fire-type move at the moment. Breeze was about to use Aerial Ace again to dodge, but her trainer stopped her. “Let her!” He shouted; a plan that would make Fairy proud coming into mind. Combusken crossed the distance in less than two seconds and had already jumped towards the flying-type. “Steel Wing uppercut!” Breeze’s wings had already taken the silvery sheen before Spike could even finish his command and she slammed her wing’s joined on Combusken’s chin just as she came into range, sending her flying upwards and extinguishing the fire on her body. “Get above her!” Spike shouted as he pulled a Pokéball, and Breeze obeyed his command moving above her foe with Aerial ace. ‘I need to finish this now!’ he thought as his Pokémon got in position, unknowingly mirroring his pink-haired friend.
Snivy dashed on the ground, dodging tree after tree on her path effortlessly and with a grace that would make people think that she was training for a contest. Suddenly her insticts screamed at her and she quickly side-stepped another Electroweb from her pursuers. Fairy had long since gave up on following her on ground to follow her from the branches, which normally would have been more difficult for most people, but not to the girl that had to entertain both her boss’ Aipom and the other Pokémon at the lab that loved to jump through the trees. She too didn’t show any signs of effort as she leaped, swung, wall-jumped and dashed as she chased the young shiny Grass-type.
Fairy pointed a closed fist towards Snivy, and the Spinarak perched on it fired another Electroweb in hopes of tagging and slowing the snake, but alas Snivy dodged it, as well as the Shadow Ball and Hidden Power from both vixens that followed her from the ground. “She’s good!” Flare panted.
“We trained together, and she was one of the few that could actually keep up with me without moves, but she’s always been better at dodging obstacles because of her size!” Prism agreed. If they were in an open field, the Eevee would have caught her target in a second, but the trees in the path kept her from dashing like the snake was, as her smaller stature and let her run under exposed roots and such that the other two had to either jump over or go around.
Which is exactly what happened, with Snivy bursting out of the trees and towards an open road; Fairy jumped high into the air and aimed her living web-shooter. “Toxic Thread!” Silk nodded and fired multiple poisonous purple threads in front of the shiny – Fairy still couldn’t believe that that was supposedly the hardest move that a Spinarak learns naturally, since Silk had learned it by sheer coincidence during her and Breeze’s fight against Sapphyra’s Dratini and Soul’s Gabite –, who widened her eyes and made a sharp turn to avoid it, only for Flare to appear out of nowhere and slam her tails into her.
“Guh!” Snivy groaned as she rolled on the ground.
Fairy fell on the floor and rolled with it to better absorb the impact, and used the momentum to stand up. “Well, we got you.” She said happily to the fallen shiny as she stood up.
“Looks like it.” She huffed. “But you still haven’t caught me!”
“In that case, since she was the one to tag you…” Fairy grinned. “Flare, show her what you got!”
“Alright!” The Vulpix yipped as she jumped to stand before her trainer. Prism and Silk jumped to Fairy’s shoulders to watch the battle.
“So she one of the Pokémon who caught you attention?” Snivy mused, watching the fox with narrowed eyes. “She must be quite fast then.”
“Fast no, but she’s agile as hell.” Fairy shrugged.
Snivy though back to Fairy’s differentiation between speed and agility. ‘Speed: the velocity one can move. Agility: how one can move.’ She thought. If she wasn’t quick, she could bend herself out of attacks. Thinking back that was exactly how Fairy first described both the Snivy and herself while Prism was the contrary; but the human and Snivy trained themselves in their speed while the Eevee trained herself in her agility.
“This is going to be interesting…” She mumbled. The Vulpix must have at least one powerful Fire move by now if she’s training under Fairy, and her most powerful moves were all Grass-typed aside from Slam and- “Got it.” She smiled. She would have one shot at this.
“Quick Attack!” Fairy shouted and her fox was covering the distance in a few seconds and slamming at the stunned Snivy and sending her tumbling.
“NOT FAST MY SHINY ASS!” She roared indignantly at her old friend.
“Well, she wasn’t until Prism got to her!” Fairy cackled in mirth.
“Alright, I was considering going easy on you, but fuck that noise!” She growled and lashed out with her vines, seeking to snare her Vulpix with a Wrap attack. True to Fairy’s word the Vulpix almost effortlessly dodged by jumping through the vines before they coiled around her and spinning around slamming an Iron Tail on her head at Fairy’s command.
Fairy smiled when light erupted from her opponent, Iron Tail’s secondary effect coming into play and lowering her defense. “Continue at it! Mix an Ember every once and a while!”
Flare nodded in understanding and whipped her tail in an arc to attack Snivy once again, but the grass snake parried it with her own tail move: Leaf blade. Flare blinked in surprise, and Snivy backpedaled while spinning on the opposite direction, the sudden loss of pressure on her tails making Flare stumble, resulting in her being too slow to evade the move coming from her other side and sending her flying.
“Oof!” Flare grunted as she fell and tumbled on the floor before she jumped to her paws and unleashed multiple Embers at a rapid-fire, just like Fairy had trained her to do. Snivy didn’t falter when faced by the supper effective attack and summoned multiple leaves that glowed in all colors of the rainbow, commanding them to intercept the flames.
“Oh right, her egg move is Magical Leaf.” Fairy muttered. “Change of plans, use Feint Attack!” Flare disappeared in a surge of black and reappeared at Snivy’s side, attacking her with her tails; Snivy whipped her head towards her attacker and flipped herself upside down with a spin, leaves and wind erupted from her form and keeping her aloft, not only blocking the Feint Attack but also throwing her opponent upwards. “Payback!” Flare did multiple somersaults as her body erupted in dark energy and fell on top of the spinning snake tails first, forcing her against the floor and cracking the ground slightly.
Snivy quickly shook her head and used Wrap, holding the fire fox and slamming her against the ground before unleashing a hail of purple barbs at her that exploded in poison clouds, causing Flare to cough violently. Fairy’s eyes widened as she saw her Pokémon get caught by the Toxic attack. “Flare!”
“Yes!” Snivy grinned; she knew that she couldn’t defeat the Vulpix by trading moves, but now she only needed to wait her opponent to fall. Still, she winced as she put weight on the leg that was struck by the Payback, reminding her that the task would be easier thought than done.
“I’m fine.” Flare said as she shakily stood up. “Not for long, though.” She grunted as she felt the burning sensation from the poison.
“Fairy!” Apple Bloom shouted as she ran to her friend. She turned to the two Pokémon battling and easily connected the dots. “So that’s your friend?” She asked.
“Not now. Flare’s poisoned, I need to finish this quickly.” Fairy gritted her teeth in frustration, her mind going a mile a minute. “Snivy’s defense is low, and she’s already hurt enough that – alright, I have one chance.” Fairy grunted as she pulled a special Pokéball from her purse; a Premier Ball to be exact. Both her and Spike had received one during a festival once, and they both swore to only use them on rare Pokémon, and a shiny more than qualified for that.
That was before they decided to give on being trainers themselves to help their friends and siblings instead.
“Get speed with Quick Attack!” She commanded, and her Pokémon obeyed – albeit slowly, as the poison was causing her pain and impeding her from moving too much – and dashed towards her opponent in a streak of white energy, while her opponent narrowed her eyes and spun Leaf Tornado defensively once again. ‘I have to finish this now!’ Fairy thought as her fox approached her target, unknowingly mirroring her green-haired friend.
Miles away from each other, two teens watched as their Pokémon got closer to their foes, and shouted the order for them to use their most powerful moves. “Brave Bird!” “Flare Blitz!” They roared, making their currently fighting partners smirk and their foes’ eyes to widen in terror.
Breeze’s body erupted in blue fire and impacted Combusken, who opened her beak in a silent scream, and forced her downwards at a rapid speed, violently slamming her against the ground with enough force to create a crater, kicking up a huge cloud of dust and producing a powerful shockwave that threw Spike off-balance for a second before he regained it and checked to see if Shade had fallen from his shoulder. When he saw that he was okay, he turned to the cloud of dust just as Breeze exited it, making a slow circle to watch her opponent, panting heavily and with multiple bruises on her body.
Flare’s body also erupted in flames, but hers were a powerful shade of orange that exploded from her small frame with enough heat that the two girls felt it from several feet away, just before she plowed through the leafy defense and into Snivy, who couldn’t even grunt in pain before the move exploded, creating a big smoke cloud and sending her flying back with enough strength to break the bark of the tree that she slammed against before she fell on the floor.
When both clouds that were obscuring their view dispersed, the trainers spotted their opponents lying on the ground, unmoving and with swirls on their eyes. Both pulled their respective Balls and hurled them. “Pokéball, go!” They shouted as the capsules flew through the air and impacted the fallen Pokémon, absorbing them. They fell on the ground and shook for a few seconds, until they stopped and ding’ed the successful capture with a shower of sparkles.
Fairy slowly walked two steps forwards before breaking into a run and holding the Premier Ball, and doing her usual dance, but she surprised her friends by changing her literal catchphrase. “Welcome to the family… Snivy!” Both of her vixens jumped on her shoulders and thrusted their paws upwards. “Yeah!” “We did it!” They shouted before Flare coughed violently, making her friends widen their eyes before rushing towards the Pokécenter.
Spike also lifted the Pokéball containing his new Pokémon and smiled at it. “Alright then, looks like I caught a Combusken!” He said proudly, doing his own ‘dance’ without realizing, with Shade jumping to his shoulder and nodding and Breeze hovering behind him, puffing her chest in pride. Then they realized what they just did and hung their heads. “Arceus damn it, Fairy.” Spike muttered, rubbing the head of his Flying-type, who winced in pain. Spike smiled at her. “You did a good job, girl, rest a bit and I’ll take you to the Pokécenter.” He said and returned her before turning to run towards the city.
Hours later, Fairy was helping the Apples as an apology for hurting one of their trees during the battle while she waited for Spike to return from his own Pokémon hunt – he had left a note warning her.
The boy knocked against the wood of the barn, catching the attention from the three Apples and one Stryke working inside. Fairy smiled warmly when she saw him. “Finally! I thought you got lost on the desert or something.” She chuckled, throwing an apple at him from where she was sitting on a haystack.
The boy caught it with a smile and took a bite. “Well, I did go hunting on the Scorched Lands, and then my Pokémon were hurt so we had to go to the Pokécenter.” He replied once he swallowed his bite of the fruit. “So, what happened?”
Fairy rubbed the back of her head before holding her Premier Ball up. “Flare got poisoned, so I had to use Flare Blitz to end the fight quickly, which ended up breaking the bark of one of the trees; still got her, though. You?”
He held up one of his Pokéballs as he finished his apple. “This girl here put one hell of a fight earlier. Breeze was in a pretty bad shape by the end of it and we had to go all out with Brave Bird as well.”
Fairy nodded in understanding before jumping off her seat, pulling all three of her Pokéballs currently I use; Spike nodded and threw the remains of his fruit inside a nearby thrash can before pulling his two Pokéballs in use as well, and both of them threw them upwards. “Release party!” “At ease!”
All five Pokéballs in the air opened and released the flashes of white that revealed the Pokémon in all their glory, and both Fairy and her team’s eyes widened I surprise when they saw Combusken and the evolved form of Breeze. “Ho~oly shit Breeze, the fuck he fed you?” Fairy laughed as Silk scurried towards her childhood friend.
“Told you I would evolve first.” Breeze smirked at the small spider.
“Was there any doubt?” Silk rolled her eyes playfully.
Both Spike and Shade walked towards Snivy and sat down next to her. “Hey Snivy, long time no see!” Spike smiled as his Eevee walked forwards and high-fived the Grass-type.
“You grew up a lot, huh Spike?” She grinned, looking the boy up and down.
Flare hesitantly walked towards the Fire-type, who looked at her curiously before extending a claw. “Nice to meet you.” The dual type said with a grin.
Flare brought a paw up and shook ‘hands’ with her with a shy smile. “I say the same.”
“Alright!” Fairy suddenly shouted as she pulled her Pokédex. “I was waiting for you so we could scan our new Pokémon together.” Spike nodded and pulled his own ‘dex, waving Combusken over. They pointed their devices towards their Pokémon.
“Snivy, the Grass Snake Pokémon. They photosynthesize by bathing their tails in sunlight. When they are not feeling well, their tails droop.
Gender: Female
Ability: Overgrow
Moves: Magical Leaf, Vine Whip, Leaf Tornado, Leaf Blade, Wrap, Growth, Slam, Tackle, Toxic.
This Pokémon has the ‘Shiny’ gene. It is slightly more powerful than most of its species.”
“Combusken, the Young Fowl Pokémon. Combusken battles with the intensely hot flames it spews from its beak and with outstandingly destructive kicks. This Pokémon’s cry is very loud and distracting.
Gender: Female
Ability: Speed Boost
Moves: Ember, Flame Charge, Fire Spin, Double Kick, Brick Break, Scratch, Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Peck, Night Slash.”
Applejack whistled. “Those are some darn powerful Pokémon ya’ll hav’ here. Maybe Ah should use one of th’ Pokémon on my real team so ya’ll have an actual challenge?” She teased.
Fairy and Spike looked at each other before glaring at the farm girl. “Fuck no, those things are monsters!” They shouted together, crossing their arms in an ‘X’ and making the woman laugh.
“Alright then.” She said once she got her chuckles back in control. “When do ya want tah have th’ battle?”
Spike looked at his Combusken for a moment before replying. “In a few days; I want to train for a bit to make sure we’re ‘in synch’.” He said, ruffling the Fire/Fighting-type’s crest.
Fairy snickered at the chick’s indignant “Hey!” as she batted her trainer’s hand away and lifted her Snivy from the ground, holding her between her breasts. “Yeah, Nature and I could use the time to catch up, and maybe I could train a bit more with Flare and Silk.”
Spike raised an eyebrow. “Nature? You nicknamed her already?” Fairy and Nature shrugged before the young woman nodded towards Spike’s newest capture. “I rushed to the Pokécenter and after that I just kind of only released her again now.” He said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly before turning to his Pokémon. “So? You want a nickname?”
Combusken stared at him for a moment before shrugging. “As long as it isn’t lame, sure.”
Spike nodded before looking her up and down, trying to think of a ‘not lame’ nickname. “… Therma.” He decided after a few seconds.
She tilted her head. ”As in, thermal? …yeah, I like it.” ‘Therma’ smiled, high-fiving her trainer.
They heard Granny Smith calling for dinner and stood up. “Food!” Fairy shouted in glee as she rushed in, making Spike laugh at the feeling of déjà-vu and follow her, their Pokémon close behind. Therma and Breeze both ended up stuck when they tried to enter at the same time, and the group laughed at the two avians of the group, who just slumped in defeat and waited for Spike to return them and release them inside.