A Little Adventure in Alola
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Prologue
“Just a bit longer… stay still please,” Nica murmured as she gently moved a brush up and down the fur on Pikachu’s back. His eyes were closed and a satisfied smile was present on his face as his tail twitched from side to side. A bucket of dirty water, a damp towel, a used comb and a few other products were scattered around the pair as Nica continued to groom the Pikachu. Translating collars crafted by combined effort of Rarity, Twilight and Starlight decorated their necks. “Our fur sure got messy from our training, but a few more touches and yours will be presentable once more.”
Pikachu didn’t answer, instead choosing to respond by dropping his ears to the side and exposing his head for additional rubbing, one look at his face being enough to know he pleaded for more. With a follow up from the electric mouse’s puppy dog eyes, Nica relented with a sigh and continued to brush.
Starlight and Twilight’s horns were lit, sparking with powerful magic as they sent strong surges into a star-shaped rune before them, eventually charging it. A few open books supported against a stone lay by their side, as well as a large, pony-sized bag with Twilight’s cutie-mark inscribed on it. They were in the post-tirek battlefield, surrounded by daunting walls of stone and numerous craters deep into the ground.
Rainbow Dash kept staring at the rune in anticipation, her shining teeth displayed in a wide smile. Unable to contain her excitement, she darted into the sky and launched back down, creating a huge gust of wind and earning an annoyed, “Hey!” from the princess.
Ace was sitting on his levitating tail, staring at both pokemon with crossed arms. <This isn’t fair, sis! You’ve never brushed my fur. Why is he getting this special treatment?>
”He is getting this ‘special treatment’ because I volunteered to be his guardian during his stay in Equestria. It’s my responsibility to look after him, protect him and ensure that his stay is enjoyable.” Nica closed her eyes and raised her head in pride as she kept pressing her brush against back of Pikachu’s head, her tone serious. “I take my responsibilities very seriously. When he returns to our world and reunites with the heroic Ash Ketchum, I want his fur to be clean and look presentable. What kind of first impression would it be if we returned looking like a mess?” She opened her eyes, grabbing the comb with her tail and rubbing Pikachu near his ears with it. “Besides, you have psychic powers. You can levitate a brush and help yourself.”
<That’s not the same and you know it,> Ace pouted before levitating forward, rounding Nica and stopping in front of Pikachu’s face. <You’re one lucky Pikachu, getting the celebrity treatment and all. Better enjoy it while it lasts.>
“Don’t worry, I enjoy every second of it,” Pikachu said, peeking open one eye. “I’ve had lots of great fun at the riverside with all my new and old friends, witnessed an amazing spectacle, and I even got to train with Nica! I cherish every moment.” He stretched his little limbs, starting with his tiny rear legs and finishing with his forepaws like a cat. “I’m clean and in great shape, and soon I’ll reunite with Ash and show him what I’ve learned. I can’t wait!”
<Oh well. If we’re going with celebrity treatment, we may as well go all out,> Ace exclaimed with a toothy grin. A second later, a silver aura coated his ears as a clean towel and white bottle came floating over from the collected supplies directly into his paws. At Nica and Pikachu’s confused looks, Ace explained, <Coco left me with some of this sweet fur polishing shampoo. This will definitely make you look like a star.> With several drops of the white liquid sinking into the wet towel, Ace proceeded with rubbing Pikachu from top to bottom, levitating the pokemon up as he finished up by quickly cleaning the bottom of his tiny feet. It wasn’t long before the sun began to reflect off of Pikachu’s shiny fur, causing the pokemon to quite literally sparkle.
Ace levitated the bottle and towel back to their respective spots before getting a colorful box with Pinkie’s face drawn on it. “And something from Pinkie’s party supplies,” he said as he unleashed a tiny bit of glitter onto Pikachu’s fur. <And the finishing touch!> he shouted before placing his black glasses on Pikachu’s eyes. <Perfect!>
“I think glasses are a bit overdoing it,” Nica said, pulling the shades off. Ignoring Ace’s complaints she carefully brushed Pikachu’s cheeks, not daring to touch his sensitive dots, before giving a paws up in approval. “And done. I must say, you look great.”
Pikachu examined himself. His limbs, tail, back and belly were all clean and shining. “Thanks.” He looked at Nica. “You’ve really outdone yourself. I don’t deserve any of this.”
“Think of it as my own way of repaying you for all the pokemon and people you saved alongside your trainer,” Nica said with a small blush, wholeheartedly believing in every word she said.
Pikachu snached the brush from Nica’s forepaws and pointed at her. “Nope, none of that!” he called, before stalking forward and attempting to brush the Raichu in return. “Please, just let me repay you for the amazing job you did!”
Nica took two steps backward and shook her forepaws dismissively. “You really don’t have to.”
<Do me, do me!> Ace chanted as he bumped into his sister, pushing her out of the way. He held his forepaws together in a pleading gesture. <Can you work on my fur, pretty please?>
Nica rolled her eyes.
“Uh, I don’t know. I was going to brush Nica…” he began, though stopped when he saw the Raichu’s frown. “Fine, alright.”
<Haha, yes!> Ace cried, allowing Pikachu to climb onto his tail and brush against his white belly. <Oh yes… that’s the spot.>
Nica chuckled before curiously walking towards the large bag with Twilight’s cutie-mark, poking it with a bronze tipped paw. “Are you planning to live in our world or something?” She asked, turning to face the alicorn. “Why did you pack so much?”
Twilight didn’t dare to look away from the rune she charged. “While I’m working on a two-way portal, there’s still a three percent chance something may go wrong. I simply packed the essentials in case of an emergency.”
“Essentials?” Nica questioned, giving the mare a confused glance. “Like what?”
“Well, according to what you and the others have told me, it seems your world doesn’t contain any of the magic ours does. I simply packed a couple of enchanted gems used to refill my reserves in case of a worst case scenario.” Twilight paused and gave a low grunt, powering the rune with an extra burst of magic before continuing. “Oh, I also have several tomes of literature and stacks of notes I can use to make a portal spell leading back to Equestria.” Twilight took a quick breath. “Bottles of water. Hay sandwiches.” She smiled. “And most importantly: Empty notepads for notes and scrolls filled with questions I want to ask the first scholar I encounter! Who knows what mystery your world holds, just waiting to be discovered.”
“Of course you do,” Nica said with a giggle, holding a forepaw in front of her mouth.
Playfully rolling her eyes, Twilight turned her full attention back to the rune before her, exclaiming, “And it’s done!” She jumped back as a portal twice Big Mac’s size grew in front of them. A black and white aura of magic was swirling in a circle, seemingly powering the portal.
“So, what’s the plan, Twi?” Dash asked as she trotted in place, more than eager to fly in as her tail flickered back and forth in excitement.
Twilight walked towards the portal and turned around, addressing pokemon and ponies gathered around it. “Alright, here’s the plan. First, we will use this portal and see if it actually leads into the pokemon world.” She pointed at the regular Raichu. “At this stage of research, I can only open portals to locations where pokemon have already been summoned from in the past. When I consulted it with Nica, she plead for it to be opened at the place where Pikachu was summoned from.”
Pikachu turned to Nica, giving her a grateful smile. “You know you didn’t have to… Actually, nevermind. Thank you,” Pikachu said while sitting on Ace’s tail, their sides pressed against each other. “And thank you Princess Twilight for working so hard on getting us home.” He lowered his head respectfully. “I really appreciate it.”
<What he said,> Ace added. <The trip into this word was nice and all, but only Nica was meant to be here for this long. We better get in touch with Astra and Emily before they panic or something.>
“As I was saying…” Twilight interrupted, giving the two pokemon who spoke up an annoyed glance. When all eyes were on her, she continued, “After we ensure that the portal leads to Alola, we will test if it allows us to return to Equestria and then assess the portal’s stability. If everything seems to be working, we’ll gather all of Ash, Emily and Astra’s pokemon from Ponyville and start to explore Alola until we reunite them with their trainers.”
“And Lillie's Vulpix,” Pikachu cut in. "Not to mention how much Lana must be missing her Popplio."
Twilight sat and clapped her forehooves in excitement. “And I shall make diplomatic contact with the citizens of Alola, and most importantly, research your world!” She spread her wings. “Oh, I just can’t wait.”
Landing next to the group, Dash jumped in and added, “I want to see some cool pokemon battles.” With everyone’s attention on her, she flew up next to the portal and began to punch the air, throwing in a few kicks for variety. “I betcha I could fight them myself. Those pokemon are no match for this Wonderbolt!”
Starlight rubbed her foreleg, glancing at the Raichu with a smile. “And I want to explore that world alongside Nica.”
I visit all the islands of Alola quite often and still remember most of its attractions, Ace said in Starlight’s mind before patting his chest. I can be your guide.
“Appreciated,” Starlight said.
Ace looked at Pikachu and asked, <By the way. Why aren’t Litten and Ninetales here? I thought they would be joining us on this little exploration.>
“They won’t be coming with us this time.”
<What… but why?> Ace asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice, his ears drooping to the side of his head.
Pikachu cleared his throat and explained, “Well… Don’t take it the wrong way, but when I mentioned that you would be part of the exploration team, Litten backed off. Then Ninetales offered Litten a whole day of harsh training, claiming that he could try and teach him the move ‘Flare Blitz.’ As soon as Litten heard that, he took the offer in an instant.”
<Wait… ‘Flare Blitz?’ But Ninetales has never used that move. How will he teach him if he doesn’t even know it?>
Pikachu nodded. “Yea, I asked the same thing but Ninetales said he would improvise. He mentioned that since Litten is his pupil, his performance will reflect on his teaching, so he’s putting in extra work to help Litten improve as much as possible.” Pikachu chuckled. “Saying that my fire buddy is happy with this would be an understatement. This is probably the happiest I’ve seen him since Stoutland.”
Nica held her forepaws on the sides of her head, a dreamy smile present on her face. “So Ninetales finally made a friend outside of the team. That’s so touching!! I thought it would never happen.”
<Same,> Ace said before gesturing for Pikachu to let him borrow his collar. Looking at the portal and pressing collar against his neck, he said, "So, it looks like only the elite, magical pony duo and the adventurous chu brigade will jump in on this mission."
Dash frowned. “Hey, aren’t you forgetting someone?”
"Am I?" Ace asked in a teasing tone, much to her annoyance, and looked at Pikachu. "This makes me wonder. While in Alola, have you and your trainer had to fight any big threats, defend against any criminals or face a large crisis?"
<Well...> Pikachu tapped his chin as Ace gently attached the collar back onto his neck. “There were some great dangers we faced.” Everyone turned to stare at him, startled by how casually he spoke of great danger.
<Do tell,> Ace said.
Nica looked at Pikachu in concern.
“Team Rocket has been trying to capture me and the rest of Ash’s pokemon for years. Lately, a really strong Mimikyu has joined their ranks, and I’ve failed to defeat him in one versus one fight ever since.”
Ace gulped, covering his face with his forepaws. <M-Mimikyu? He’s a ghost and fairy type. Does he know any ghost type attacks?> the Alolan Raichu asked in worry.
“Hmm, I think ‘Shadow Claw’ is a ghost type attack,” Pikachu said as Ace broke into a nervous sweat. “He’s really strong with this move and uses it quite often to hurt me whenever he gets the chance. Why do you ask?”
Ace bit his bottom lip and then gave a small sigh. He held his forepaws together in a pleading gesture and said, <If we… encounter this Mimikyu… can I hide behind you? Please.>
“Hide behind me?” Pikachu asked, caught off guard. He stood up, placed his forepaws on his hips and said, “I thought you were braver than that.”
Ace dropped his forepaws and anxiously rubbed his neck. <Come on little buddy, I’m an attacker. I can’t take strong hits, especially super effective ones! My defensive stats are just too weak.> He pointed at Pikachu. <You may not be a Raichu, but I bet a hardened veteran like you can still take physical hits better than me.> He blushed. <I mean… I will fight by your side and help the best I can. All I ask is if you could keep super effective moves from striking me.>
“Fair enough,” Pikachu said with a nod. “As for the other threat; a few days before I was summoned here, we faced and defeated an Ultra Beast to save a woman named Lusamine. It was an all out battle in another dimension and stuff.”
Dash stomped. “You had such an amazing fight and didn’t tell us? Booo!”
“Ultra Beast? Are they dangerous?” Twilight’s questioned, her notebook and quill hovering beside her.
“Very. So far I have met only one, and it gave us a hard fight. I heard about stuff like Ultra Space, but to be honest,” he shrugged, “it was too complicated for me to understand.”
Twilight smiled. “I see. Hopefully we won’t encounter any of them.”
Pikachu waved his forepaw dismissively. “There’s no need to worry. It has been a week and a half since we rescued Lusamine. There’s no way another Ultra Beast could arrive in Alola already, more or less many of them to cause chaos over the four islands. Besides, if anything does happen, the island guardians can surely take care of it.”
Ace facepawed.
“What?” Pikachu asked.
Ace gave Pikachu a stern glance. <You couldn't help yourself, could you? You just had to Jinx it.> He massaged his forehead. <I bet an Ultra Beast and a few explosions will be among the first things we encounter once we cross that portal.>
“You worry too much,” Pikachu teased before pointing ahead. “Let’s not waste any more time and get going already. I can’t wait to introduce you all to Ash. It’s going to be so amazing!”
Twilight nodded, calling out, “Okay everybody! Next stop, the Alolan Islands.” The alicorn made her way forward before being cut off by Rainbow Dash, who barreled past the mare and flew into the portal with reckless abandon. Rolling her eyes, Twilight followed, her giant bags swinging at her sides. Starlight and Nica both grinned and went through together, matching each other’s steps as the Raichu’s tail was encircled around the unicorn’s hoof.
Ace balanced himself on his rear paws, levitating towards the portal with his VIP passenger sitting right behind him.
Stepping, or in this case floating into another world was certainly a unique experience. Squinting his eyes, he could barely make out his destination, struggling to make out what seemed like a beach covered in miles of sand. So far so good. Doesn’t seem different from diving into water or climbing up a waterfall. His movement slowed down as he had to put more and more power into pushing forwards his levitating tail. Ugh, I would have been there already if it didn't feel like I was floating through a pool of jello… As he got closer, the image became clearer and sharper, and soon enough he was able to make out the finer details.
The spacious beach covered most of the island while further down were rows and rows of comfortable huts and buildings with water being just underneath his tail. He looked at his companions.
Nica kept walking towards the beach while water covered more than half of her belly, eagerly jumping towards her chin. Starlight and Twilight had water reaching up to their knees, while Rainbow Dash flew towards the beach immediately and started scouting the area, on the lookout for anybody who seemed important.
A few seconds later he felt his tail become lighter as his passenger stepped onto the sand.
“Uh, guys,” Twilight said, drawing their attention away from the vast beach. She pointed at the multiple holes and scorch marks covering the buildings on the horizon. “Shouldn’t this be a popular tourist spot? Why is the beach abandoned and some of those tall buildings in ruin?”
Dash flew over and pointed at a floating, white jelly-like creature with numerous tentacles sticking from it. “Is this a pokemon? He’s the only living thing on this beach.”
The creature released a piercing screech and shot a tentacle towards the pony. Dash dodged it in the nick of time and added, “And it doesn’t seem friendly!”
Pikachu took a step back as his rear foot sank into the sand. “It’s… Nihilego! The Ultra Beast we faced before… though a little smaller.”
A few riveting explosions came from the deeper part of the town as smoke started to float towards the sky.
Ace placed forepaws on his hips and looked at Pikachu with a sassy smile. “Time to pick up the phone, Pikachu,” he exclaimed, earning him a confused look of the smaller pokemon. “Because I totally called it!”