Our story begins with our hero Flash Sentry, standing in the Equestria League stadium. Springer was on the field, staring down a Pokémon concealed by shadows. While this was going on, the announcer spoke out. "The Equestria League competition has reached its final battle. Who will stand as its ultimate victor?"
"That would be me!" Flash yelled out as he pointed at the Riolu, "alright Springer, use Aura Sphere!"
"Ri!" Springer leapt into the air before creating the ball of energy. "Rio...LU!" The sphere of power struck the opponent, instantly devouring it into an explosion. When the smoke cleared, the Pokémon laid out with swirls in its eyes.
"And there you have it folks!" The announcer screamed, "Equestria's newest champion is Flash Sentry!"
"Thank you, thank you!" Flash cheered as heard the crowd call out his name.
"FLASH, FLASH, FLASH, FLASH!"
"Yes, thank you-"
"FLASH WAKE UP!"
"Augh!" Flash yelped as his head found itself kissing the floor beneath him. His eyes then blinked open, only to see that he was now in reality, which made him try to get off the floor while rubbing his head, "It was just a dream...a beautiful, truly beautiful dream."
"Well dream time's over Flash," hissed a voice, making Flash look up and see one Twilight Sparkle staring down at him.
"Twilight?" he rubbed his eyes of the sleep, "What time is it?"
"Seven o'clock," the girl replied as she pushed her glasses up her nose.
"In the AM!?" Flash asked in a horrified voice, "no human should be up at this hour....unless we're training Pokémon of course."
Twilight rolled her eyes at this, only to turn to the sound of "Ri?" from Springer, who was mimicking Flash's wake up motions.
The researcher let out a long groan, "Listen you two. You need to get up, washed and dressed. We're leaving in an hour, whether you've had breakfast or not." With that, she turned to walk out of the room.
"You know," Flash called out after her. "The library isn't going anywhere."
"Ri," Springer added as he jumped off the bed to get breakfast.
That is, till Twilight's head popped back into the room, complete with a death stare at the two. "Don't ever say that. Libraries are the greatest places in this world. Period."
And as her head disappeared, Flash let out a long groan before moving over to the Pokémon Center's wash room. He showered, brushed his teeth and styled his hair before getting dressed, soon heading down to the cafeteria with half an hour to spare. It was here that he found his friends and all their Pokémon, Doc taking the liberty of feeding his, all of them chowing down as he sat down next to Twilight.
"Took you long enough," she told him as she was both eating and tapping away at her journal.
Flash didn't reply, a low stomach grumble answering for him as he began to load his plate with scrambled eggs and toast, "You know Twilight, it takes time to look this cool. For a Pokémon Master, visual appeal is one of the most important things."
Twilight giggled at this before cocking an eyebrow at the trainer. "Yeah, and the others are hard work, decent knowledge of all Pokémon, and a well trained team. Maybe focus on one of those three before trying to look good."
Flash gave her a mock laugh before he began to eat his breakfast while Spike turned to Twilight. "So where are we meeting this Professor Luna?"
Professor Luna as it turned out, was Professor Celestia's little sister and a field researcher. It turned out Luna would gather data in the field, which she would then sent to Celestia for study and analysis. Despite this, Twilight had never actually heard about her.
"I wrote to Celestia last night, and she said we were to meet Professor Luna outside the Bales Town Library at ten o'clock."
"Ten?" Flash asked with wide eyes, "it's gonna take us two hours to get there?!"
Twilight shook her head at this. "No. It's only a twenty minute walk, but I'm sure Professor Luna's already there. She is a professional after all, so of course she'll want to get whatever it is she wants to show us ready before we arrive. But if we get there early, we'll get to see whatever it is while it's being made ready." Twilight shivered in anticipation, obviously excited about the days events. That and a bit of drool appearing in her lips.
The boys simply stared at her, all obviously a little disturbed by her excitement with the exception of Spike, as he ws used to this sort of thing from his sister. Doc then blinked at the sight before sighing, "Oookay. I guess it wouldn't hurt to arrive there a little early." The other two grumbled but didn't argue, mainly due to them wanting seconds for their breakfast right now. It wasn't long till the clock struck eight, the four trainers and their Pokémon were finally ready to head out. They returned all but Springer and their newest teammate Peewee, before heading out of the Pokémon Center.
Bales Town was a quaint little village, with many simple little houses and shops scattered about the place. The only large building there was both the oldest and what Twilight considered to be the most important one in town. It was the Bales Town Library, which was a square tower like building that was five stories high. Design wise, it appeared to be made out of green stone with oak wood doors and window shutters. The building was considered to be packed to the brim with one of the biggest amount of different books about the history of Equestria.
"Wow..." the four humans and their Pokémon gasped as they looked the building over.
"There it is...I've dreamed of this moment for so long." Twilight squealed as she raised her shaky hands towards the door, grasping it firmly before taking a deep breath. "This is it!" She cheered before pushing on the door, only for it to stay where it was. Twilight raised an eyebrow before trying to pull it again, only for the same result to follow. "Come on...open!"
"Errr Twilight?" Flash told her as he tapped her shoulder. "I think it might be locked."
"Hey look." They all turned to Spike, who was staring at a notice pinned to a bulletin board. They all moved over to it as Doc read it out.
"Bales Town Library, closed for the day."
"NO!" Twilight almost screamed as she once again began attacking the door, "This can't be happening! All that knowledge is only a door away and I can't get to it." She fell to her knees as tears filled her eyes.
Flash patted her on the head. "Hey, maybe its closed because of whatever Professor Luna's doing here. I'm sure she'll let us in."
Hearing this made Twilight instantly perk up. "You're right! She must already be inside!" She leapt back to her feet before calling out, "PROFESSOR!"
No response.
"Huh...guess she's not here yet."
"Maybe we should come back when we were supposed to arrive," Spike suggested.
Twilight glared back at her brother, making him backpedal. "Don't be silly Spike! She'll be here any second now. You'll see." She turned back to the door and stared at it expectedly while the boys all shared an unsure glance over this.
And so, they waited. The boys did anything they could to pass the time, ten to thirty to an hour soon passing. Boredom took them as Spike and Peewee starting playing fetch while Flash and Springer played rock paper scissors. Doc on the other hand, decided to go call his factory, mainly making sure everything was good while they waited, all the while Twilight continued to stare at the library.
Then, the time limit hit as Doc groaned, "Alright, it's ten. At least we're on time."
Twilight groaned as her eyes finally looked away from the building, her head dropping with her shoulders slumped over. "Where is she?!"
"Maybe she's late?" Spike added, only to get another glare from his sister.
"Don't say that Spike! A professor should never be late!"
Thirty more minutes later...
"How about now sis?" Spike grumbled as he was now glaring at his sister.
"Don't say another word Spike. Professor Luna will be here and-"
"Excuse me?" The group all hopped in place before seeing someone walking towards them. It was a woman who looked a little younger than Celestia. She had blue skin and long hair that was two shades of blue, one lighter and one darker than her skin. She wore a purple blouse with a white color and dark blue pants, along with a white lab coat covering it all. Her blouse had a moon emblem on it. That and she had a slightly half-lidded stare coming from her eyes, a yawn escaping her breath as she scratched her side. She then graced them with a half-smile, "Good morning everyone. You all must be the ones my sister told me about. Have you been waiting long?"
Spike was about to reply, only for Twilight to leap in front of him, rapidly waving her arms. "No, of course not."
The boys all grumbled at her, while the woman just smiled. "Excellent. I'm Professor Luna, and I've heard a great deal about you all."
"You have?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Of course. You're Flash Sentry, the boy who was able to save Canterlot when Champagoon went on a rampage." She turned to the others, smiling as she looked them over. "And of course there's the Trottingham City Gym Leader, my sister's top student and her little brother."
Everyone smiled at this, only to see Luna turn and gesture them to follow. "Well then, shall we get going?"
Hearing this, Twilight's vision moved between her and library. "Wait a minute, aren't we going into the library?"
Luna shook her head as she started walking. "No, we were just going to meet here. The place I wanted to show you is a little further down the road."
Twilight's eyes twitched at this response, tears about to fall, "But...but..."
Seeing the reaction about to happen, Flash patted her shoulder before trying to push her ahead. "Come on Twilight. Whatever she has to show us, I bet it'll still be interesting."
"But Flash, the library and the books and-"
"Professor Celestia wants us to see this Twilight." Flash interrupted, only to see Twilight's eyes go wide at the statement. Knowing he was on to something, he smirked at her, "Come on, let's follow Professor Luna for now."
Twilight let out a sigh, nodding. "Okay...."
The group then followed after Luna, completely unaware that they were being watched. Around the corner of the library, three figures had been spying on the group. It was Big Score and his flunkies.
"Just our luck," Rickashay said first. "We come to nab ourselves some rare books to sell and instead, we get to run into those twerps."
"Yes, very lucky." Score replied while giving Rickashay and Boulder a big greasy grin, "I've been waiting for the chance to get my payback on those twerps. Plus, that woman with them is Professor Luna. If she's here, something big must be going down, and that means a chance for a major payday for us."
Rickashay and Boulder both mimicked his grin, "Oh, this is gonna be fun boss."
A Little Later...
Luna had now led the group to the only modern looking building in the village, which was made completely out of metal and glass. "Welcome to Bales Town Fossil Research Lab," Luna told them as they entered, only for the group to notice that the room they were in looked more like a museum than a lab. "Here, we study fossils and other ancient discoveries to learn more about the world of the past."
"Wow...." the group gasped as they stared at the sights around them. Lining the walls were glass cases, all with different fossils inside. Above them were drawings, all of them depicting what these fossils would look like if they were still alive.
Twilight put her hand over her mouth as she stared at the sights, "Incredible. Aerodactyl, Armaldo, Rampardos and Carracosta...these are all ancient extinct Pokémon."
"Now this was worth getting up for," Flash added.
"Ri," Springer agreed.
Doc then looked back at Luna, "So professor, what brings us to here today? I'm sure this isn't just a guided tour you agreed to give."
Luna laughed at this. "You're right about that. You see, today's a very special day." She lead them through another set of doors, finding themselves inside an actual lab now. "In my travels to unravel the secrets of the Pokémon world, I've come across many amazing things. But I have never found anything that's as amazing as this."
In that moment, the group noticed another person in the lab. The man had gray skin and white hair, wearing glasses and a lab coat while looking over something on a table in front of him. They watched as he looked up from his work and turning towards them. "Ah, Professor Luna. Are these the ones you were telling me about?"
Luna nodded and pointed to the group, "Yes. This is Twilight Sparkle, Flash Sentry, Spike, Time Turner and their Pokémon."
"Hello, I'm Professor Research. It's nice to meet you."
The rest of the group all shared hellos before Twilight asked, "so what are you researching right now?"
Luna and Research both smiled before moving to show them over to the table. There, a fossil that had a grid design on its shell sat there, making Doc instantly comment, "Its a Shell Fossil."
Luna nodded at this. "That's correct. This fossil was once a Pokémon known as Armadiload, which use to live in the Equestria Region in large numbers. And this fossil, is extra special. It actually has trace amounts of DNA."
Twilight and Doc's eyes went wide while Flash and Spike shared a confused look. "Ooookay, someone wanna clue us non-brainiacs in?"
"Yeah!" Spike added, "What's so special about DNA?"
Twilight rolled her eyes, shaking her head as well. "DNA is the building blocks that make up every living thing. It carries the genetic code needed for a life form to exist. DNA usually disappears after fossilisation, but if this one contains a trace of it-"
"Then we can use it to reanimate the fossil and bring it back to life," Luna finished.
This got Flash and Spike's eyes going wide. "You mean we're gonna get to see a real life extinct Pokémon?" Flash asked, only to get a smile and nod from Luna.
"AWESOME!" Spike cheered.
"Awesome indeed," Research replied as he picked up the fossil and placed it in a machine that had a large metal tube with glass door on the front. "Now, let's get this guy awake."
Twilight gasped at the metal marvel that the fossil was being placed in. "Don't tell me...is that?"
"A Fossil Reanimation Machine," Luna answered.
"Incredible..."
They watched as Research placed the fossil inside the machine before the door shut, the tube soon filling with white smoke. As this happened, Research moved over to a computer. "Extracting DNA sample...sample extracted. Analyzing DNA signature...signature analyzed. Beginning reanimation!" The machine lit up as the lights above them flicked on and off. "Body construction at eighty five percent. Ninety, ninety five, ninety six, ninety seven, ninety eight, ninety nine...body construction at one hundred percent!"
They all stared in amazement as they watched the doors open, releasing the a pillar smoke into the room. Coughs and fanning of arms soon followed, only for them to see a new sight. In place of the fossil was now a quadrupedal Pokémon, one that was about three and a half feet in height and four and a half feet in length from head to tail tip. Its body mostly consisted of a large brown shell with white around the edges and a black grid pattern covering it. The underside of its shell was purple, while its front legs were surrounded by a similar brown armoring. Its back legs only had knee pads, with a design similar to its shell. It's head was yellow, with a brown helmet covering its forehead and around the sides of its head. Sticking out of the holes on either side of its head were a pair of triple spiked ears. Its tail and feet were also yellow, each foot sporting a trio of long claws. Everyone stared in amazement at the newly revived Pokémon as Flash pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Armadiload
Category: Shell Pokémon
Type: Rock
Info: In ancient times, this Pokémon's shell was as hard as a rock. To protect itself, it curled itself into a ball and rolled around, following its nose to search for food.
Armadiload opened its eyes, revealing a pair of emerald lights as it began to look around. "Arm?"
Luna stepped towards it with a big smile on her face. "Hello there, it's nice to meet you. I'm Professor Lu-"
"ARMADILOAD!" The ancient Pokémon screamed before leaping out of the machine, immediately curling itself up before spinning forwards. As it landed, the ball instantly shot at Luna, who barely managed to dodge along with the others.
"Look out!" Flash yelled as they all leapt out of the way, only to see Armadiload race around the room, knocking into anything as it hopped back and forth. "What is wrong with that thing?!"
"It's scared," Luna replied as she dodged again. "The poor thing is frightened after waking up."
"So what do we do?" Spike asked.
"We need to calm it down." Luna replied again, "We can't let it leave the lab either. Who know what would happen then."
"Got it. Leave it to me!" Flash said before he pulled out a Pokeball. "Prongs, I chose you!" He tossed the ball in the air, soon revealing the deer Pokémon.
"Fay!" Prongs cried out.
"Prongs!" Flash pointed at the spinning ball of destruction, "Leech Seed! Now!"
Prongs nodded as his horns began to glow, "Fay...THAWN!" The horns flew off and struck Armadiload before a series of vines shot out, instantly wrapping around the Pokémon.
"Arma!" Armadiload stopped its spinning as it found itself tangled up in the vines, only for its energy to be slowly drained. "Arma arma! Ar...ma...diload…"
The others moved over to Flash and Prongs as they watched Armadiload slowly calm down.
"Nice one Flash." Spike commented.
"Thanks," Flash replied as they watched Luna move over to the ancient Pokémon.
The professor kneeled down and locked eyes with it, soon reaching out and petting its the head. "I'm sorry we scared you. Please, we don't want to hurt you. We're your friends."
Armadiload stared at her for several seconds, only to smile. "Arma."
Luna nodded at this, Flash then signaling Prongs to stop as Luna took the Pokémon in her arms. "I know you're scared, but there's no reason for you to be. This world might be a little different from the one your used to, but you'll soon learn to love it."
The rest of the group all smiled at Luna's skill with a Pokémon she had never had any experience with. Twilight then shined a huge grin as she crossed her arms, "She's Celestia's sister alright. Truly incredible."
"They both are," Doc added. "Armadiload has so much power."
"Only one of the many mysteries it'll help us solve," Research finished. "Come, let us examine our new friend."
Outside the lab...
"A super rare ancient Pokémon," Score said with drool almost appearing in his mouth as him and his crew stared into one of the building's windows. "Private collectors will pay a small fortune for it."
"But how are we gonna get our hands on it?" Rickashay asked as he pointed to the group inside. "Don't forget what happened the last time we fought those guys."
Score smirked at his minion. "This time we won't take anything for granted. We'll hit them hard and fast before they can react, got it?"
"Got it!" The two replied.
"Good. Let's make our easy fortune boys!"
Back inside, the now fully calmed Armadiload was now standing on one of the tables while Luna did a thorough examination. "Say ah," Luna said as she held up a light up to the Pokémon's mouth.
"Arm," Armadiload replied as it opened its mouth, the light soon going in as Luna tilted her head at this sight.
She smiled as she soon switched it off. "Perfect. You're one hundred percent healthy. There doesn't appear to be any defects brought on by the restoration at all."
"That's great to hear," Twilight added, only to hear a sudden grumbling sound. "What was that?"
"Arrrma." The Shell Pokémon frowned as it looked down at its stomach, "Arma."
"Looks like somebody's hungry."
Flash chuckled, "well what do you expect. He hasn't eaten a thing in millions of years." This made everybody laugh as Research walked up to them, carrying a bowl filled with many different berries.
"Here we are," he said as he placed the bowl down in front of it. "I checked the fossil records and these are all the closest things we have to the vegetation that used to grow in the area Luna found Armadiload's fossil." Everyone then watched as Armadiload sniffed the bowl, as if judging whether it wanted to even try it. Eventually, it sat on its back legs before using the claws on its front ones to grab one of them, which it brought up to its mouth before taking a bite.
Everyone watched with baited breath as Armadiload tasted the fruit. Then, a joyful cry followed, "ARMADILOAD!" It finished off the rest in an instant, making them all giggle at the happy sight.
"He likes it!" Spike cheered.
"Terra!" Peewee cheered as well, mimicking Spike.
"Excellent," Luna said with a clap of her hands, "Now we know that we don't have to worry about it getting hungry."
Once Armadiload finished it's meal, they all brought it outside so it could get some exercise. "Armadiload!" It cheered as it, Springer, Prongs and Peewee began to run around.
"Looks like he's enjoying the outside world," Twilight commented as she watched them. "Even though this world is so different from the one its known for so long."
"I agree..." Luna told her before showing a slight frown. "My sister warned me that reviving it might not be such a good idea, but I couldn't allow this chance to pass me by. The chance to learn more about a Pokémon we could only ever make guesses about is a once in a life time opportunity."
"So Celestia was concerned about this?" Doc asked as he pointed at the happy Pokémon.
Luna sighed but nodded. "My sister's always been more of play it safe kind or researcher, always fearing the worst outcome that might occur. She's always trying to talk me out of my fields of research, thinking I might be in over my head."
The group all shared an unsure look, feeling there might be some tension between the professor siblings. Flash leaned over to Twilight and whispered into her ear, "you think that's why Celestia wanted us here? So we could help if things got out of control?"
"It's starting to look like it," Twilight replied, frowning at the idea.
Whilst the humans had been distracted, the Pokémon were still enjoying themselves. Armadiload was loving being out in this new world. Before, it had always been under constant threat of attack by the likes of Tyrantrum or Aerodactyl, so it never got a chance to enjoy life. Now however, it felt like it didn't have to be scared all the time. "Arma!" It cheered as it chased after Peewee, who was flying low so the ancient Pokémon had a chance of catching him. In that moment however, it noticed something laying on the ground near some bushes, something that looked like a berry. The delicious fruit looked like the one it had been given before, causing Armadiload to lick its lips before moving over to it. It grabbed the fruit and quickly ate it, only to see another piece of fruit just a little ways away. It then moved over to eat it, only to see another piece through the bushes. And as it hopped through the green, it saw a line of fruit, all ready for the taking.
"Arma! Armadiload!" It cheered as it began following the line of fruit, getting further and further away from the others.
Meanwhile...
Back with the humans, they were still taking about Luna's studies. But in that moment, Research exited the building with a confused look on his face that did not go unnoticed as Luna asked him, "Is everything okay?"
Research gave them a worried look. "Not really. The rest of the fruit I had left out to feed Armadiload later has mysteriously vanished. I can't find any of it, and I just asked around."
The group all shared confused glances before Flash spoke up, "You sure you didn't just move it?"
"I don't remember doing that," Research replied.
"Then what could have happened to it?" Twilight wondered. "I mean, why would-"
"ARMADILOAD!" Everyone hopped in place at the sudden cry, only for them to look back to their Pokémon and see Armadiload was nowhere in sight.
"Oh no," Luna said before rushing through the nearby bushed, the others and their Pokémon following suite.
They continued to run towards the Pokémon's cries, eventually leading them to three people dragging away a certain Pokémon. The is made Flash go wide-eyed as he yelped, "You guys again?!"
Hearing this, Score, Rickashay and Boulder looked up at them as Score let out a low grumble, "Damn it. I told you two we needed to be quicker."
"Sorry boss, but this thing's stronger than we thought."
A death glare quickly appeared on Luna's face as she yelled, "Who are you stupid idiots and what do you think you're doing with Armadiload?!"
"They're a bunch of no-good thieves!" Spike told her. "We met them back in Trottingham City where they tried to steal the Pokémon that work with Doc!"
"Yeah, and we would have gotten away with it if not for you meddling kids." Score barked before turning to Springer, "and your mangy mutt."
"RIOLU!" Springer yelled, taking offence at being called a mutt.
"But that doesn't matter now," Score patted Armadiload's shell. "Because now we have something that's bound to put us on easy street once we sell it to the highest bidder."
"You can't do that!" Flash yelled back. "Armadiload's not something you can sell to make a quick buck."
"Release him now!" Luna ordered them.
"Not happening," the three thugs pulled out their Pokeballs. "I won't be stopped again. Jesterror, go!"
"Stompice, go!"
"Spikorn!" The three of them tossed their Pokeballs, releasing the ones inside. Jesterror, Stompice and Spikorn all soon appeared, the Pokémon quickly recognizing the teens that had beaten them before, causing them to frown as they were ready for payback.
"We won't let you get away this! Springer, Prongs, get them!" Flash's Pokémon rushed forwards as Twilight and Doc pulled out their Pokeballs.
"Come on out Owlicious."
"You too Higear!" Their Pokémon appeared and stood besides Flash's.
"Jesterror, use Slash!" Score ordered, Jesterror soon rushing forwards while holding up its arms. The long sleeves rolled down to reveal a pair of sharp glowing claws.
"Jest!" It yelled as it swung them at Springer, who barely managed to dodge it.
"Damn it. None of Springer's attacks will work on Jesterror."
"Mine will," Doc added. "Higear, Gear Grind!"
"Hi!" Higear threw its gear hands at Jesterror, who was forced to leap away from Springer as it dodged.
"Now Gyro Ball!" Higear shot towards the clown as it started spinning, allowing Springer to rush towards the Pokémon it wanted to battled.
Stompice was fighting Owlicious, who could only peck at it. "Ice Shard!" Rickashay ordered, causing it to fire a block of ice at the owl.
"RI!" Springer tossed an Aura Sphere at the shard, shattering it as they made contact.
Twilight smiled at Springer, then at its trainer. "Thanks Flash!"
"No problem. Now, use Quick Attack Springer!"
Luna went wide-eyed at this sight. "My sister had told me about your special Riolu, but to actually see it use Aura Sphere is amazing."
Flash nodded at her before turning to his other Pokémon. Prongs was rushing around Spikorn, who was trying to get a lock on the Grass Fawn Pokémon, only for Flash to yell, "Double Kick!"
"Fay!" Prongs spun around, slamming its back hooves into Spikorn.
While the battle was going on, Luna saw that Armadiload was unoccupied now. It was also trying to get out of the net, but was stuck. But as she tried to see if she could make a move, her ears heard another voice. "Come on guys!" She turned and saw Spike yelling, Peewee also cheering from atop his head. It was then she had an idea and tapped the boy on the shoulder, making him look towards her. "What's up?" He asked before she whispered something into his ear, Peewee also hearing. The two listened and nodded, smiling as they looked back at her. "You got it."
"Terr," Peewee leapt off his head and took to the sky. With this, the dragon quickly made its way over the battle, making sure it wasn't seen as he landed atop Armadiload, the Pokémon soon nibbling at the net.
Unfortunately, Score was about to order another attack from Jesterror as he heard a new sound. He turned and saw Peewee, making his face red with anger as he yelled, "Hey! Get away from there!" He rushed over to Peewee before trying to kick him, only for the Terragon to leap back into the air.
"Ember!" Spike told Peewee.
"Terr!" He took a deep breath in before unleashing a flurry of fireballs, "WAGON!"
"AH!" Score cried as he leapt away from the attack, only for it to hit Armadiload. Luckily, his shell protected him from the attack and allowed the net to be burnt away.
"Arma!" Armadiload curled up and began spinning, shooting past Score and his cronies and towards its new friends.
"Hey!" Rickashay barked as the revived Pokémon rolled passed them, coming to a stop in front of Luna.
"Don't let that thing escape!" Score yelled as their Pokémon rushed to their side. "Jesterror, use Confuse Ray on all of them!"
"Jesterror!" It replied, soon shooting a volley of red beams from its eyes.
"DODGE!" Flash, Twilight and Doc ordered, their Pokémon doing as they were told and leaping out of the way just in time.
However, Armadiload did not do so and was struck by the attack. "Arma!" It flinched as the attack took effect, causing it to begin to stagger around.
"Oh no," Luna said before walking to it. "Armadiload, are you okay?"
The revived Pokémon turned to her and opened its eyes, but it didn't see Luna. In its confused state, it saw her and all the others as dark shadows with sharp teeth and fangs. "Arma!" It cried as it stepped backwards.
"Armadiload, its me. I'm your friend." She held out her hand, but Armadiload saw this as an attack.
"ARMADILOAD!" It cried, only for its entire body to suddenly explode with white and blue light, which consumed it completely. It's body then began to grow, reshaping itself into a larger spikier form.
"Great scott!" Doc said.
"What's happening?" Spike asked as they all shielded their eyes.
"Armadiload's evolving!" Doc yelped.
Finally, the light faded and standing in Armadiload's place was a new Pokémon. It was a giant Ankylosaurus, standing at seven foot tall and eight foot long. It's back was covered in a large shell with black and yellow spikes lining it. Under it's shell was the color purple while its legs were covered in an armor that was the same color as its shell. Its head had a helmet that covered everything but its face, and had a pair of sharp horns on both sides. Its tail was armored like the rest of its body, with a large spiky black wrecking ball on the very end. "ANKYLOAD!"
"Armadiload evolved into Ankyload," Luna gasped as Flash pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Ankyload
Category: Iron Shell Pokémon
Type: Rock/Steel
Info: The evolved form of Armadiload. Its whole body is covered in hardened skin, but it also has hard protuberances coming out all over its body. Therefore, its charge attack has extraordinary destructive power.
"Incredible," Twilight added.
"Armadiload must have evolved to protect itself," Research explained as he backpedaled from the sight. "The confusion is making its battle instincts take over."
"This could be bad," Doc gulped, also backpedaling at the sight.
Big Score on the other hand, just smile at the sight, "Alright! That's even better! I bet we can make some serious dough from an evolved fossil Pokémon!" He turned to the others, "We're making money tonight boys! Catch that thing!"
However, as these words came out of Score's mouth, Ankyload turned towards them in its confusion. "ANKYLOAD!" It screamed as it raised its now glowing wrecking ball tail.
"That's Tail Hammer!" Research cried as they watched Ankyload swing it at the criminals. The three leapt back as the attack to hit the ground, only for the force of the impact to instantly create an explosion.
"AUGH!!!" The three and their Pokémon screamed as the explosion sent them flying into the air, breaking through the trees and sending them into the horizon.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Score roared. "We almost had our payday!"
"How does this keep happening?!" Rickashay asked, only to get a shrug in response from Boulder. With that, the six all disappeared into the horizon.
Back on the ground, the gang watched in terror as Ankyload thrashed around wildly. As it did, Luna tried to call out to the creature, "Ankyload, you need to calm down! Its okay, the danger is over now! Those thieves won't hurt you anymore!"
Ankyload replied with another roar, the spikes on its shell now glowing before flying into the air. The needles then switched direction, the attack now heading towards Luna.
"Look out!" Flash yelled as he rushed up and shoved Luna, both just missing the spikes as they hit the ground and exploded. The others also had to back off in fear of being struck by the attack. But as they did this, Ankyload took this moment to begin to turn around and walk away, its footsteps making the ground shake as the tore through a few trees.
"This is bad," Research said as he watched the sight. "Ankyload's heading straight into town. If we don't stop it, who knows how much damage it could do."
"Then we'll stop it before that happens," Flash explained as he picked himself up and rushed after Ankyload with his Pokémon.
The rest of them quickly followed suit, Luna sighing as they did so. "This is all my fault. Celestia was right, I didn't know what I was getting into when reviving Armadiload."
"This isn't your fault Luna," Twilight told her. "You didn't know this was going to happen, no one could. That doesn't mean reviving Armadiload was a mistake."
Spike nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I'm sure he's happy to be here, and once we calm him down, he'll still be happy to be here."
"What's happened has happened," Doc added. "We can't change that, but we can change what happens next. We need to find a way to calm Ankyload down, and to do that we need your help."
Luna nodded as they continued to run. "You're right. If that's the case, the best way to heal confusion would be to place Ankyload in a Pokeball. But to do that, we'll need to catch it."
"Then that's what we'll do," Flash said as they were about to catch up to Ankyload. "Alright, since this worked last time...Prongs, Leech Seed!"
Prongs nodded, his horns glowing as they shot off its head, "THAWN!" The horns struck Ankyload like before, morphing into a mess of vines as they wrapped up the beast like before. However, the Ankyload's strength was too much this time as its claws instantly ripped the vines off.
Flash's face fell at the sight. "Well that didn't work."
"It's too powerful," Doc added as he looked at Tockwork's Pokeball, a grimace appearing on his face. "I hate to say it, but I don't think any of our moves will be of any use against its strength and defensive power. Especially if Ankyload is in that kind of condition."
"So what do we do?" Spike asked as he pointed at the Pokémon. "How are we suppose to catch something if we can't even hurt it?"
"Terr!" Peewee added.
Research then snapped his fingers, "Wait...what if we gave it another status condition?"
Luna blinked at this, only to nod. "Ah! That could work! If we cancel out the confusion, it might allow us the chance to catch it!"
"But none of use have a Pokémon that can grant a status condition," Twilight told her as she stared back at the Pokémon still making its way towards the town. "At least not directly."
Luna just smiled at this before pulling out a Pokeball. "Leave it to me. Lallaby, wake up!"
She tossed the ball into the air, only for a red light to reveal a little bipedal sheep like creature with white wool. It was also wearing a pink vest and helmet, with a pair of spiral horns on its head. The Pokémon opened its eyes and looked around. "La?"
"Whose that Pokémon?" Flash asked as he pulled out his Pokedex.
Name: Lallaby
Category: Dream Sheep Pokémon
Type: Psychic
Info: This Pokemon sleeps over twenty hours a day. It is said to be able to connect its dreams to those of the people around it, allowing them to speak in the dream realm.
"A cute Pokémon and all," Spike said as he pointed to the sheep in confusion. "But how's that little fuzzball supposed to stop a behemoth like Ankyload?"
Luna simply smiled as she turned to Twilight. "Have your Psychick fly Lallaby in front of Ankyload." Twilight blinked at the instructions, but did as she was told. Owlicious flew down and picked up Lallaby, lifting her into the air before flying past Ankyload. Once a good distance infront, Luna then ordered. "Lallaby, Yawn!"
Lallaby nodded before taking a deep breath. "Lala...bye!" As she breathed out, a large pink bubble grew from out of her mouth before floating out towards Ankyload.
In its confused state, Ankyload didn't even notice the bubble until it hit its face and popped. "Ank?" It said before it's eyelids suddenly got heavy, only for it to keel over, its eyes now closed. The ground shook as it fell asleep, snoring as a snot bubble inflated and deflated from its nose. "Ank...kilo."
Everyone sighed in relief as they walked over to the sleeping giant, Luna patting it on the head. "I'm sorry about all this Ankyload," she knelt down and pulled out a Pokeball. "But I promise, I won't do wrong by you." With that, she tabbed the ball against Ankyload's head before it opened up and released the red energy. It enveloped the Iron Shell Pokémon before sucking it into the ball, soon slamming shut. They watched it jiggle in her hand once, twice, three times before-
DING!
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, glad the ordeal was over.
Luna stood up and turned to the group with a big frown before bowing. "Thank you everyone. This situation could have been much worse without the lot of you here."
"No problem," Flash said as he relaxed his hands behind his head. "All in a day's work."
"Ri," Springer agreed, mimicking Flash's motions.
Twilight nodded at this. "They're right. We were happy to help Professor Luna. But...you do realize that in the end, it was you who saved the day."
"Maybe," Luna replied as she looked down at the Pokeball, "but I now realize that I need to find someone to train Ankyload to master its new power."
Spike turned to Flash, "maybe you should train it?"
In response, Flash shook his head. "No, I'm not ready for something that powerful yet."
"I'm not sure if anyone is," Doc added.
Luna however, smiled back at the group. "I think I know someone who can handle it."
That night...
After the events of the day, Flash and the others had all returned to the Pokémon Center to rest. Luna on the other hand, was back at the lab and was currently on the phone. "That's quite a story," a male voice coming out of the video phone told her.
"And that's why I'm sending Ankyload to you," Luna told them. "You're the only trainer I know who will be able to train it to master its brute strength."
"Leave it to me. I won't let you down."
Luna nodded before placing Ankyload's Pokeball on the transport, the device digitizing it as it sent it to the other line. "Transport complete," she said as she tapped a few keys on the machine.
"I've got it on my end. I'll start training tomorrow."
"Thank you," Luna replied as she finished typing.
"Any news about that other thing you came to Bales Town to search for?"
Luna shook her head. "It looks like the info was off. I've found no evidence that they've been anywhere near here."
"That's concerning. Alright, we'll just have to keep looking. Call me if you have any new information."
"Same with you," Luna replied before cutting the call, a long sigh soon leaving her. "You guys are out there somewhere, and we'll find you."
The next morning...
Luna and our heroes were now standing outside the Pokémon Center, all having had a good night's sleep. Now, it was time for Luna to head out.
"Well, I'm off. I'm guessing you all will be staying here for a while?" Luna asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You know it," Twilight said with a huge grin. "I still haven't had a chance to check out the library after all."
"But don't we need to-ow!"
"Be quiet Spike." Twilight hissed, nudging her little brother before turning back to Luna, "We'll see some other time Professor Luna."
Luna laughed at this. "Well, I know you're gonna enjoy the library. Good luck on your journey everyone." With that, she turned and began to walk off, waving to them as she did. The rest of the gang all yelled their goodbyes as they waved.
A meeting with Celestia's little sister has lead to a once in a life time experience. How will Ankyload truly settle into this modern world, and what adventures await our heroes as they stay in Bales Town? You will just have to stay tuned to find out.