Sinnoh Region: Floaroma Town
Sunset Shimmer smiled to herself as she watched the winds brush over the fields of multi-colored flowers in seas of blues, yellows, and pink shadings outside her place of residence, a small cottage in the town of Floaroma. The cottage was simple enough, a red roof with white stucco walls and brown wood framed windows.
To be honest, it was probably the last place you’d expect the current Champion of the Sinnoh Region to live, but that was the point of it all really. This way, nobody uninvited showed up at her doorstep whenever they felt like it. And she still had Videophones to keep in contact with the Elite Four, plus her childhood friends she’d grown up with in Sandgem Town wherever they might have been, along with her fellow Champions.
Sunset smiled as she saw two young Vulpix run through the flower fields chasing each other and occasionally getting into the small bit of roughhousing. One was pure white, the Alola region variant and another was the pure fire type most people were used to seeing on the battlefield. They were only six weeks old, just barely hatched from the eggs that her two Ninetales had laid.
Keeping a keen eye on them from a tree branch was a Fearow/Talonflame pair keeping an eye on everything, While they weren’t romantic partners in any sense, they often kept an eye on the younger Pokemon. This Talonflame, in particular, had earned the title of being Sunset’s prized Pokemon, along with one of her two signatures. Challengers had long learned to fear the Scorching Pokémon along with her other signature. Sunset smiled at the many battles she’d fought to reach the top, to be the very best.
Speaking of which, she smiled as she felt the soft paws of her other signature Pokemon walk up to her. Without even looking, she greeted him.
“Hello Lucario,” the Queen of Sinnoh said politely, a silver bracelet on her left arm holding a Key Stone for her Pokemon.
“Reminiscing?” the Aura Pokémon asked in his usual gruff tone as his gaze followed Sunset’s across the fields.
“A little, yeah… Just thinking about how I got here and all. Amazing how life can change so fast, in the blink of an eye…” Sunset whispered to herself, lost in her memories. Lucario smiled and chuckled to himself before the appendages on the back of his head flared up.
“Speaking of fast, there’s something coming up fast in the skies above us, I can sense it,” Lucario replied, feeling two presences in the sky above him using his Aura. Sunset scanned the skies and then she saw it. A very large draconic like Pokemon with covered in forest green scales with a burnt orange head and wings like thistle leaves. On its back was a dark skinned woman with her long black flowing hair resembling that of a palm tree’s fronds in some ways tied in a ponytail. The woman was wearing an elaborate pink and white dress with a bow tied around the waist. In her hair was a gold tiara with two green gems resembling “Ears” of sorts.
This was Iris, champion of Unova. Sunset smiled as her Druddigon sat down on the grass in front of her house and Iris climbed off the Pokemon’s back.
“So, how’s the husband?” Sunset asked politely, as Iris walked up to her and as if there wasn’t a giant Dragon-type in her front yard.
“How do you think?” Iris replied in a joking tone. “Still acting like a little kid at times, as always,”
“Hey, there’s my Flareon and one of my Ninetales… They’re like little kids as well half the time,”
Iris laughed. “True, true,”
Her attention then turned to Lucario.
“So, you never did tell me how you got ahold of Lucario… I’ve always been curious, honestly.”
Sunset sighed to herself and looked towards Lucario for permission, and he nodded.
“Alright, it happened about two years ago, just as you were starting off your own Pokemon journey and the road to becoming a Champion…”
Johto Region: Outside Cianwood City
Waves crashed against the beach and rocks as a young woman, age 23 with red hair, streaked with blond highlights dressed in a leather jacket once again engaged in her favorite past-time, a Pokemon Battle. It was the middle of a three on three battle, and currently, it was neck and neck. She stood firm in the grass-covered hill overlooking the beach below, a children’s park nearby, hair and jacket blowing in the summer breeze.
On the other side of the battlefield stood a teenage girl, lime green in hair color with a tanned skin tone and headphones around her neck. Nearby, a small orange mouse-like Pokemon watched from the safety of atop a boulder, cheeks sparking with electricity every so often.
Two Pokemon battled high in the sky above them, one heavily resembling a peregrine falcon in some forms and with orange and red plumage. The other was a bird Pokemon with gray and brown features, with resemblances to various fearsome birds of prey.
“Staraptor! Use Double Team!” Lemon Zest commanded, asking her Pokemon to use one of the most frustrating moves in Pokemon Battle to deal with. The reason for this was simple, as revealed when the Pokemon created various mirror images of itself confusing the other Pokemon. Each image was an exact duplicate of the original, no easily discernible differences between them to the untrained eye.
But Sunset would not let her friend and partner go down this easily, she’d faced far more powerful Pokemon than this Staraptor, proven by all eight Sinnoh Region badges pinned to her shoulder bag.
“Talonflame, Keen Eye and then Flamethrower!” Sunset ordered, and the Fire/Flying type cawed out his name in response before his eyes narrowed, and Lemon’s widened as the Scorching Pokémon found the real Staraptor. Like I said, untrained eye.
It then unleashed a blast of pure, hot flame at Staraptor who barrel-rolled left and right to dodge the blasts of scorching devastation.
Staraptor came down at Talonflame with a powerful Aerial Ace, her whole body engulfed in a glowing white light ramming Talonflame hard in the chest knocking it back, and causing it to lose a few feathers. But otherwise, Talonflame seemed fine and shook off the attack before he flew high above Staraptor.
“What’s she doing?” Lemon Zest wondered nervously. Then, she got her answer as Talonflame came down, wings glowing, seemingly covered in metal coating. Her eyes widened. Steel Wing.
“Staraptor, dodge it!” Lemon shouted in fear for her Pokemon.
But Talonflame was much, much faster and more experienced and hit dead on. Staraptor landed on the soft ground with a thud, hitting it dead on. Lemon sighed and stroked her partner’s head feathers softly as Staraptor made soft little noises.
“You did well girl, rest now,” Lemon said to her friend as Talonflame screeched out his name in victory.
“TALLLLLOOON!”
“You did well, Lemon. Haven’t had a trainer push Talon here to his limits in a long while, so that’s fairly impressive,” Sunset complemented as Talonflame perched himself in a tree. Lemon Zest nodded as she watched the Pokemon who had defeated her Staraptor observe the battlefield in interest, head tilted and eyebrow quirked. It sorta resembled a Chatot in some way, amusingly enough. Out of curiosity, Lemon went for her Pokedex and pointed it at Talonflame.
“Talonflame, the Scorching Pokémon and the evolved form of Fletchinder. During an intense battle, Talonflame expels embers from gaps between its feathers. It reaches speeds of more than three-hundred miles per hour chasing prey. During intense battles, its wings give off showers of embers as it flies.”
“No wonder that bird was a tough fight for Staraptor…” Lemon thought to herself as she heard the entry.
“Well, next Pokemon I send out… You won’t get so lucky,” Lemon responded with a cocky smile before throwing another Pokeball and unleashing a dull gray elephant-like Pokemon, trunk and back covered in a thick armored hide.
Sunset’s Pokedex helpfully chirped out the information on this particular Pokemon.
“Donphan, the Armor Pokémon. Donphan is the evolved form of Phanpy. They attack by rolling their bodies into a circle and charging their enemies. They have razor sharp tusks, armor-like skin, and enormous power.”
Sunset swallowed nervously at Donphan, who was pawing the ground with one of its hooves. It definitely looked more powerful than Staraptor and she knew from personal experience how powerful Rollout attacks could be. This would be the decider, that was for sure.
Sunset’s eyes steeled, and then she tossed her next Pokeball. A purple form emerged, looking like it was wearing a cloak. It bore a round head with elaborate tufts resembling that of a witch’s hat atop it.
Lemon nervously swallowed, getting an eerie feeling off this Pokemon, the orange eyes seemingly boring into her soul.
“Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon. Mismagius chants incantations, and while some cause misery, some give happiness as well. It appears as if from nowhere—muttering incantations, placing curses, and giving people terrifying visions. Also, Mismagius have been known to cast spells to make people fall in love, so some people search for this Pokémon as if their life depended on it.”
“Donphan, Rollout attack, now!” Lemon ordered and the Armor Pokemon curled itself up into a ball and rolled towards Mismagius who quickly reacted and flew to the left as Donphan smashed a giant boulder into rubble. That very same boulder in which Lemon’s Dedenne, in fact, was sitting upon, and it leaped off with a surprised cry of “De-De!”
Donphan quickly then followed up with a Rapid Spin spinning like a top with its trunk towards Mismagius. Mismagius let out a cry of pain as it was sent flying back by the attack before being tackled by Donphan, who was launching attack after attack far too quickly for Sunset to order any of her own.
Finally, Sunset got an opening.
“Astonish, now!” She ordered and Mismagius let out a loud cry, although if Donphan looked nervous at all, it didn’t show.
Lemon smirked. At last, she had the upper hand against Sunset. But it wasn’t long to last as Sunset then ordered “Sunny Day!” and the battlefield soon began to brighten as the sun’s power increased before she shouted “Psywave!”
Mismagius fired energy wave after energy wave at Donphan, all charged up from the power of the sun.
“Donphan, move!” Lemon Zest shouted in shock.
But apparently, the Astonish attack had taken an effect after all, as Donphan appeared to be flinching. It was down, but not out.
“Now, wrap things up with Shadow Ball!” Sunset ordered and Mismagius created a ball of pure dark energy in her mouth and fired. Smoke soon filled the battlefield, and when it cleared, Donphan sat unmoving.
Lemon sighed and returned her Pokemon, before punching a tree in frustration. But her (And Sunset’s eyes) widened as Donphan soon regained his footing and stamped the ground in pure vigor. Now the real battle began, and it showed in Donphan’s delight at the battle he’d been given when he used Rollout again, this time landing a successful hit and sending Mismagus flying into a tree.
Mismagius’s eyes closed as it lapsed into unconsciousness and Lemon laughed and leaped for joy as she celebrated in her victory. Sunset smiled as she returned Mismagius to her Pokeball and walked up to Lemon Zest and shook her hand.
“So, lunch?” She asked, gesturing to a nearby picnic table.
After a few sprays of various potions on both sides teams’, the two competing trainers now sat down at that very same picnic table eating various snack foods like apples and cheeses. Dedenne kept on hopping up onto the table and stealing small nibbles of cheese, but neither trainer minded that much and only giggled at the Antenna Pokémon’s antics. Sunset, in particular, gave small little pets to the head at the Pokemon’s mischievousness.
Wingull flew out of the nearby trees filling the afternoon sky and out to sea letting out their calls to communicate with each other as nearby, both Sunset and Lemon’s Pokemon ate their food from their bowls.
Sunset’s Dragonair, (By far the oldest Pokemon on the team age-wise, if not the most experienced. That title belonged to Sunset’s starter, Fletching, now in his fully evolved form of Talonflame.) in particular had to play mediator between Lemon’s Girafarig and Sunset’s Alola Region Ninetales as they kept squabbling over each other’s food. The pure white Kyuubi no Kitsune like Pokemon had taken to repeatedly stealing from the Long Neck Pokémon’s food bowl out of pure spite for losing against it.
Dragonair used a whip of her tail to swipe away at the Ninetales, who was currently in the process of using one of its paws to grab Girafarig’s food bowl.
“Paws to yourself,” Dragonair barked. As the oldest and wisest among Sunset’s team, she found herself often playing the mother figure in order to keep the others in line. Ninetales, along with Sunset’s rather energetic, and that was putting it mildly, Flareon were often the source of headaches.
“What?” Ninetails yelped out, wincing in pain from the blow. “I’m a growing mon, I need my food!”
“Then get it from your own bowl, not somebody else’s,” Dragonair told him flatly before mumbling “I swear, by Arceus…” to herself.
“B-But I deserve it after getting thrashed by that sorry excuse for a Psychic-type!” Ninetales whined, looking pointedly at Girafarig who only snorted and rolled his eyes. In the background, Mismagius floated silently, she figured it best to stay out of the affairs of these idiots. Lemon’s starter, her Serperior was thinking along the same lines.
“Go whinge about it to your Meema, ice-breath,” the Girafarig grumbled. Unlike the regular Ninetales who were pure fire-types, the somewhat rare Ninetales breed found in the Alola region were of a dual typing. Part Ice, and part Fairy, Sunset had used this particular Ninetales to devastating effect when facing Dragon-types. It was her “Dragon-Buster” Pokemon, if you will.
“I have to agree with Dragonair, you’re a bit of a greedy pig,” Talonflame put in, looking up from his food bowl and smacking Ninetales atop the head with one of his wings. “Keep going like that, and I think you’re going to start looking awfully pudgy,” He deadpanned as Ninetales rubbed his head in pain. “And Arceus knows how much you just lovvvvve your appearance.”
Talonflame had drawled out the love in his sentence and used dramatic gestures like he was combing his head feathers with one of his wings to make his point.
“Ooh, burn! Dare I say it, Talonflame flambeed you!” Sunset’s Flareon laughed along with Lemon’s Staraptor.
“Why I oughta…” Ninetales grumbled but made no more swipes towards Girafarig’s food. Dragonair smirked in satisfaction to herself.
Lemon Zest, as she took a bite of her apple leaned over to Sunset.
“What are they saying?” She whispered.
“Don’t ask…” Sunset mumbled, rubbing her head in pain.
Later that evening, as the sun was just beginning to set over the horizon casting lights of red and yellow across the sky, Sunset found herself running along the beaches of Cianwood alongside Flareon and Ninetales. She’d dressed herself in a simple, conservative yellow one piece, eye-catching to be sure but not enough to raise ire among the more prudish types. She’d left all of her other Pokemon back at the Pokemon Center for the night and was only having Flareon and Ninetales run to improve their speed. Ninetales in particular, she hoped, would improve his speed just enough to make up for his low defense.
Well, when I say running alongside I should probably say chasing after Flareon and Ninetales, both of the Pokemon being able to run much faster than your average human.
“Hey… Hey, wait up Nines!” Flareon shouted, panting and using his nickname for the Ice type. Energetic as the Eevee branch and their evolution line were, they still didn’t quite match up to the speed of a Ninetales.
“Now this is the life, running free with everyone able to see moi! Wind rushing through my fur, and me looking damn good if I do say so myself while it does that,” Ninetales yelped out, ignoring Flareon completely.
“Please observe, the Alolan Ninetales in his natural habitat,” Flareon muttered to himself. “Being an arrogant as Hell and a rather narcissistic asshole as ever,”
“I really need to have a talk with Flareon on his language,” Sunset thought privately to herself.
“He doing his Professor Oak thing again?” Ninetales asked dryly. “Seriously, pretending to “Observe” me like I’m some sort of wild Pokemon,”
“Jerk,” Flareon muttered, sticking his tongue out at Ninetales childishly. Suddenly, he looked towards some bushes and saw them rustling. He froze right in place on the spot, screeching to a halt and accidentally kicking sand up in Sunset’s face.
“You hear something, Flareon?” Sunset asked as her Pokemon's ears perked up and twitched. She kneeled down beside the small fox-like Pokemon and kept her eyes on where Flareon was looking. Ninetales, as he padded up along the dunes, scoffed and rolled his eyes.
“Please… Probably just a Venomoth or a Butterfree like last time.” He remarked. Sunset gave him a quick glare and Ninetales promptly shut up.
“No, I swear I hear something in those bushes! Coming this way!” Flareon told them, and readied a Flamethrower attack just in case. But what stumbled out of the bushes was very unexpected.
Something tall, about the size of a human, maybe a little bit smaller covered in blue fur with black highlights and a tan belly limped out of the bushes. All in all, its appearance resembled that of a jackal. It was covered in bruises and bleeding heavily in several places. Briefly, the Pokemon stumbled out of the bushes before collapsing into the sand.
Sunset’s eyes widened.
“A Lucario…” she whispered before shouting for a Nurse.