Chapter One: Memories of the Past
As the sun had begun to rise, the rays of morning light at least somewhat raised the temperatures on a certain high and snowy mountain. Despite the presence of the sun, the cold wind continued blowing, keeping the ice and snow in the area from melting. This very mountain was so rarely visited by travelers due to the many dangers in its area. The temperature became so cold, that even most Fire-type Pokémon would feel a great deal of discomfort. Even with these extreme conditions, many other kinds of Pokémon managed to put up with the mountain and made it their home. Though it didn’t get many visitors, the dangerous landscape lying on the border between the Johto and Kanto regions had a name that was widely known... Mt. Silver.
While many dangerous Pokémon lived in the harsh environment of the mountain, the only Pokémon on top of Mt. Silver were those that belonged to the three young men who had decided to spend the night. However, regardless of what time it was, the screeches of the many dangerous Pokémon who lived on the mountain could be heard from below. Though, that didn’t make too much of a difference, since two of these three men were already wide awake.
The names of these young men were Kojak, Richard and Marcus. They were all very talented Pokémon trainers who came from separate regions. Whether it was by luck or fate, they have decided to travel the world together to see what new journeys would await them as a team, rather than individuals.
Kojak’s appearance almost made him look like he had never set foot into human civilization. Roughly the same height as Marcus, not a hint of fat could be found on his muscular body, compliments of his years of strict training. He didn’t care as much for his brown hair as he did for his muscles, which was unkempt and long enough to reach past his back. Being able to withstand how cold Mt. Silver was, he wore a gray, short-sleeve jacket that had the design of the Legendary Pokémon, Moltres on the back. Kojak was never one to wear complicated clothes that covered his legs and settled for a pair of black sweats, and though though people may have called him crazy, the young man always went barefoot.
He’ll probably never know why or how, but the day Kojak was found by Bruno of the Elite Four, he was near death and had absolutely no memory. Naturally, Bruno didn’t just leave him to die and in addition to seeing to it that the boy got the treatment he needed, he used the influence the Elite Four had on Kanto to reach out far and wide. It was a noble effort, but there was no luck in finding someone who knew the child. Bruno’s efforts, however, did catch the interest of the famous researcher, Professor Samuel Oak, who personally traveled all the way to the Indigo Plateau once the mysterious boy was finished recuperating. Sadly, even though his wounds were healed, nothing came back to his memory.
Originally, Bruno had no interest in becoming a father, but things change. By the time Oak paid his visit, Bruno had given up on the losing battle to find any relatives for the child and took him in as his own. Giving him the name “Kojak”, Bruno played a big role in his adopted son’s future as a trainer. So when Oak arrived, Kojak already had an average understanding of the types and characteristics of Pokémon, and this came off as great importance since the professor expressed his sympathy by offering Kojak his first one.
Even though he remembered nothing of who he was before Bruno found him, deciding his starter Pokémon was the first steps in Kojak becoming the type of person who doesn’t seek easy victories. Sensing he would one day challenge his father, who uses a few Rock-types, Kojak didn’t choose Bulbasaur or Squirtle who would have the advantage. Instead, he decided to continue his training with the Fire-type, Charmander as his first Pokémon.
It’s amazing how quickly someone’s personality can change. Indeed choosing Charmander provided the fresh trainer with more trouble than if he had chosen Squirtle or Bulbasaur instead. An example happened after Kojak endured another year of Bruno’s training and decided to head off on his own by descending to Viridian City. One of the gym leaders who Bruno had told him so much about, lived in this city, but since he refused to waste his time on a rookie, the closest option was Pewter City’s gym leader, the Rock-type specialist, Brock. Kojak knew very well that Rock-types would have the advantage over his Charmander, but because of Bruno’s training, Kojak has gone from a child who was timid because of his missing memory, to one who craved excitement and a good challenge.
As much as he respected his adoptive father for taking him in, Kojak also aimed to surpass Bruno, as battling one of the Elite Four was one of the biggest challenges he could find. However, even though he’s come to enjoy fighting strong opponents, Kojak was by no means stupid and was aware that even though he succeeded in defeating Brock, he wasn’t ready to take on Bruno or his colleagues. His opponent may have given him a hard time due to having the advantage in type matchup, but Brock was the weakest gym leader in Kanto and the experience Kojak acquired from his victory would only take him so far. Besides, he wouldn’t be allowed to properly challenge the Elite Four unless he earned the remaining badges.
By the time his Charmander evolved into Charmeleon, Kojak learned that even though he needed a set of eight gym badges to challenge Indigo Plateau, they didn’t necessarily have to be Kanto’s badges. During a good talk with Professor Oak, he learned of the Johto region and how close it was to Kanto. Not only did they have their own set of gyms, but a trainer who acquires all the badges can take on Indigo Plateau just as easily. Sure Kojak already had the lead in Kanto since he already had one of their badges, but he couldn’t help growing curious of what he’d find if he started over. Holding on to the Boulder Badge he won from Brock, he decided to cross over and earn his right to battle the Elite Four by winning the badges of Johto instead.
Gradually, the boy became stronger, and developed a fighting style where he goes all out at the first opportunity. No matter how much he changed the Pokémon on his team, there would always be one or two who had been trained for speed in order to raise the chances of landing the first blow. Each time he found someone to battle, Kojak would search for ways to bring his opponent’s Pokémon closer to his own and make it easier to hit them with powerful attacks. While not all of his Pokémon had the advantage when it came to being fast, Kojak worked hard to ensure they built the stamina to endure a long and difficult battle.
He held off on battling his father longer than he thought and ended up going back and forth between the Kanto and Johto regions, gaining more experience as a trainer with each trip. However, after a few years when his travels brought him back to Johto, he faced his strongest opponent yet. And that opponent was Marcus. Quite the opposite of Kojak’s energetic and positive personality, Marcus revealed himself to be quiet and cold—he hadn’t even told Kojak his name, saying it was of no importance. Even with this cold demeanor, Kojak knew a talented trainer when he saw one and even though he was a stranger back then, Marcus didn’t turn down the invitation to battle.
It quickly became clear to Kojak that his opponent wasn’t from around these parts, especially when Marcus brought out Pokémon he had never seen before. His instincts weren’t wrong when he sensed Marcus had experience, but Kojak was no pushover and even though he knew so little about them, he managed to take down 4 of Marcus’ Pokémon. Unfortunately, in the process of earning his 4th victory, Charizard was the only one he had left. Just looking at Kojak’s starter, Marcus knew that even if he had more Pokémon who could fight, only one member of his team stood a chance and summoned a Fire-type called “Incineroar”. It was a hard day’s fight, prolonged by the fact that both of them were Fire-types, but in the end, Incineroar was victorious.
This was the first time in a while that Kojak had lost and naturally, he wanted to at least learn the name of this mysterious trainer. Unfortunately even after such an exhausting battle, Marcus remained stubborn and left without saying anything. It was strange, as even though Kojak had conducted a diligent search for his potential rival, he wasn’t able to find him. In fact, his search has encouraged him to finally return to Indigo Plateau, where some of the best trainers were gathering. Every year, a tournament was held for trainers who have earned all the badges either for Kanto or Johto. The winner would not only earn their place in the hall of fame, but would have the privilege to challenge the Elite Four whenever they wish.
To Kojak’s disappointment, Marcus was not participating this year, but he wasn’t going to drop out after coming this far. Whether they got their badges from Johto or Kanto, everyone competing offered a chance for Kojak to show how well his training paid off. There were plenty of close calls, but he succeeded in making it to the finals, where Lorelei of the Elite Four was waiting to personally present him with his fresh, golden trophy after the referee made his victory official. Of course, a trophy wasn’t enough, as Kojak would need to get his photo taken and added to the Pokémon League’s hall of fame.
Allowing Lorelei to lead him down the hall that displayed Indigo Plateau’s past champions, Kojak almost dropped his hard-earned trophy when he laid his eyes on the latest portrait. It turned out the winner of last year’s competition... was Marcus, and that’s how Kojak finally learned his name. Interesting enough, Lorelei mentioned that not only had he never returned to exert his right to challenge the Elite Four, but his winning trophy had been smashed against the floor. Regardless, once his Pokémon were healthy again, Kojak was finally able to battle the very trainers he’s looked up to ever since they took him in. As impressive as it was for someone to win the tournament, only three trainers in Indigo Plateau’s history presented the skills necessary to get past the Elite Four... and Kojak intended to be the fourth.
It was tempting to stay and reserve the throne that Kojak received the right to sit in after becoming the new champion, but it was never in his nature to settle in one place and he decided to move on. If the unlikely event occured that the winner of the next tournament made it through the Elite Four to become the next champion, Kojak wouldn’t be there to defend his title. Continuing on his way, he decided to pay a visit to the gym leader of Saffron City, as well as his girlfriend, Sabrina. He came at a good time too, as Sabrina had just returned from abroad with something to give Kojak as a congratulatory gift. Telling Kojak she had been traveling the Hoenn region, she surprised him by presenting him with an unfamiliar baby Pokémon whom she rescued from abandonment and went by the name “Meditite”.
Holding the young Pokémon, he recalled how he and Sabrina first met. Since she was a Kanto gym leader, Kojak never had to challenge the Psychic Pokémon specialist when he stopped by Saffron City during the years traveling back and forth between the Kanto and Johto regions. During one of these occasional visits, however, he saw how some thug was trying to claim her gym so he could sell it to a trainer using Dark-types. Hard as she struggled, her Pokémon couldn’t handle it alone, so Kojak decided to step in. Being on a completely different level than Sabrina, he made quick work of the thugs and their Pokémon.
Impressed by how he defended her and the gym, Sabrina developed a crush on Kojak, and he soon returned to affection and took her out on their first date by having a picnic by the lake near the Indigo Plateau. However, the relationship became a complicated one, since Kojak wanted to travel while Sabrina was satisfied remaining in Saffron City to run her gym. Time and time again, they were tempted into breaking up, but no such thing happened. No matter how far apart they were, Kojak made sure to keep in touch with his girlfriend. In fact, another reason Sabrina gave him the Meditite, was to encourage him to go and explore the region that she was born in.
Eventually, he gave in and set sail for Hoenn, leaving some of his Pokémon behind to make room for his future teammates. What he didn’t expect, was that two years later, he would reunite with the mysterious trainer named Marcus and not only challenge him to another battle, but decide to accompany him after he lost again. No matter how hard he tried, Kojak wouldn’t let Marcus get away again, since staying beside him and seeing him train would surely teach him what he needed to know to surpass him. However, as the years passed, Kojak seems to have stopped taking this rivalry as seriously as he used to, and found himself tolerating Marcus’ arrogance.
The one named Richard had finally woken up, as the scent of Kojak’s stew triggered his empty stomach. who had just exited from his tent. It was typical for him to be the last one of the trio to wake up, due to how engrossed he becomes in reading books and research notes he brought on his travels. He was confident that the ice around Mt. Silver would further his research on how Pokémon can cultivate and survive in such freezing temperatures. As a bonus, coming out here has helped with his study of evolution stones, as the ice is cold enough to freeze and crack its inners without any form of heat.
With the tent still shut, Richard changed out of his sleepwear and into an outfit appropriate for Mt. Silver’s cold weather. Out of the three men, Richard was the tallest and contrary to Kojak’s wild, long hair, Richard’s hair was nice and short. He combated the cold temperature with a blue overcoat that was presented to him as a gift after he drove off a group of biker thugs a few years back. Blowing in the wind, the coat went down to his legs and stopped next to his black boots. His pants were almost the same shade of blue as his coat, and were held in place by the belt that he carried his Pokéballs with. The shiny gold buttons on his overcoat were left unfastened, which didn’t make much of a difference when it came to the long red scarf he downed. However, since he chose to leave his coat open, it revealed the simple black shirt he wore underneath, as well as a necklace that was attached to the only Pokéball Richard chose not to put on his belt.
Born in the Kalos region capital, Lumiose City to wealthy, but snobbish parents, Richard was constantly pressured to submit to their suffocating expectations. Coming from a long line of aristocrats, they had already decided even before he was born, that their son would learn to climb the social ladder and marry an equally aristocratic woman to continue their legacy. Furthermore, they hated Pokémon, and wanted to make sure Richard had nothing to do with them. Persistent as they were, Richard decided it would be a nightmare to follow in their footsteps. As he continued to defy them, they resorted to having the mansion’s staff keep a close eye on him until he broke. It was only on the day he was to turn 14, that Richard successfully escaped the mansion without being caught.
Lumiose just happened to be the same city where Professor Sycamore’s lab was, and the said professor was waiting for the boy craving freedom and adventure to arrive. While Sycamore wasn’t the least bit fond of Richard’s parents, he had been observing their son from afar and came to acknowledge how different their opinions were on Pokémon. Having the duty of presenting a child with their companion when they came around Richard’s age, Sycamore made the perfect birthday present when he introduced Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie.
Taking one look at the beautiful Fire-type, Fennekin, Richard’s mind was made up. Unfortunately, Fennekin tend to be a temperamental species, and the one Richard had his eyes on wasn’t an exception. To this day, he still remembers how the moment he held his soon-to-be companion for the first time, she instantly responded by scratching at his arms and then tried to burn his face. Sycamore observed the entire thing and offered a more compliant starter, but much to the professor’s surprise, the boy stuck with Fennekin. That temperamental nature of hers, ironically ended up providing Richard the chance to escape after he made the mistake of coming home.
Even now, Richard doesn’t know what possessed him into coming home, but after doing so, he finally faced facts that his parents’ concern for their son was using him for monetary and social gain and cut all ties with them after surviving the chaos that followed. Since Fennekin had refused to go back in her ball, Richard was forced to carry her when he retreated to Sycamore’s lab with as much as he could get during the fiasco. When he filled the professor in on what happened, Sycamore noticed his new trainer had received some new scratches and repeated his offer to replace Fennekin. Even back then, Richard so something in the vixen that he couldn’t explain and once again refused to return her.
After Sycamore’s generosity has provided him with everything he needed to start his adventure, including empty Pokéballs, Richard was on his way. He used the time of his stay at the lab wisely, since there was no better place he could think of to learn about Pokémon. Sycamore had allowed him to see his reserve and the many kinds of Pokémon that they cared for and allowed to roam freely. Richard enjoyed his stay, as it was like going to a zoo and studying afar, but since Fennekin resumed her feisty behavior, Richard realized that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish his first priority of taming the vixen if he was cooped up in Sycamore’s lab.
Putting what he learned to the test, Richard experimented ways to steadily get Fennekin to acknowledge him as her trainer. Such included cooking her favorite foods and grooming her. As he repeated these methods, Fennekin’s hostility slowly began to melt away, eventually reaching the point where she’d follow orders. It was then that Richard moved on to see what kind of discoveries awaited him on his adventure. He maintained the pace that would provide him the time he needed to learn as much as he could. Richard found rewards for his patience, such as his Fennekin evolving into Braixen. It was after he pulled off a swift victory against Ramos of Coumarine City, that she became the strong and proud Delphox she is now.
Though even with these accomplishments, many trainers labeled Richard a weakling who is more interested in science than Pokémon training, but they were quickly proven wrong. Of course, Delphox can’t take all the credit, for Richard has caught and raised many other Pokémon while roaming the Kalos region and sharpening his skills. Whether by luck or by fate, after months of carefully studying and training, Richard had earned all eight of the Kalos gym badges. Sycamore expected that he would go and take on the Pokémon League tournament, but Richard took a different approach. Not wanting his goals to be bound to a single region when the world was such a big place, he held onto the badges and decided to hold off on this year’s tournament so he could see what was outside the Kalos region.
The Sinnoh region was his first stop, as he intended to meet the region’s leading expert, Professor Rowan upon arriving in Sandgem Town. Indeed, he learned much when the intimidating-looking, but kind man agreed to fill him in on what he has researched over many years. Conversely, Professor Rowan was able to learn quite a few things from Richard during his visit, especially since he brought Pokémon that don’t inhabit Sinnoh. He would spend the next five years under Professor Rowan’s wing before continuing on with his journey.
Taking a two day hike to Jubilife City, he wasn’t too thrilled about coming to the biggest city in Sinnoh, primarily because it reminded so much of his miserable childhood back in the equally big city of Lumiose. Blocking out the memories became much easier when he ventured deeper into Jubilife and came across a heated battle taking place in the middle of the vast city.
It was here that Richard first laid eyes on Kojak and Marcus, as they were the ones who were fighting. While he didn’t personally know them at the moment, news of the Indigo Plateau championships reached as far as the Kalos region, so Richard quickly recognized their faces, especially Kojak’s since he had a reputation for defeating the Indigo League’s Elite Four. As surprised as Richard was to see Kojak lose to a man with a less-known reputation, he got a bigger surprise when he noticed how differently they treated their Pokémon when it was time to put them back in their Pokéballs.
Displeased as Richard was for the lack of appreciation before him, he would later develop a huge amount of respect for both trainers after what happened the following night. Having himself cut off from his family years ago, Richard would have never expected thugs to break into his hotel room after being hired by his parents to bring him back. Their plot would have succeeded if the two trainers who Richard saw battling that afternoon hadn’t miraculously come to his rescue. Introductions were in order was the thugs has left and once Richard learned their names, he felt devoted to Marcus and Kojak and felt the need to repay them. To this extent, he decided to accompany them on their journey and use his knowledge to the best of its ability.
Usually, a book shouldn’t be judged by its cover, but that didn’t apply to the man who was looking down from Mt. Silver’s incredible height. An unusual combination of pleasant and intimidating, Marcus Thorne had jet black hair, partly covered by a brown stetson and his face was cleanly shaven, making him seem more like a teenager than a man who was in his late 20s. Handsome as he may be, the rest of Marcus’ appearance, exposed his true, dangerous nature. He wore an open black jacket that was torn at the shoulders, revealing muscles that rivaled Kojak’s. Since it was left unzipped, his chest was left exposed, showing his muscular chest that was covered by a dark gray tank top. He also wore gloves on both his hands and like his jacket, they were torn, exposing his fingers. In addition to being in better shape than his jacket, Marcus’ pants were a slightly lighter shade of black, and he had spiked braces strapped on each leg, matching the one he wore on his right arm. Finally, he wore black boots with sharp spurs attached to each one.
If physical appearances weren’t enough, his behavior would surely expose his disturbed nature. Looking at how cold and emotionless his unique purple eyes were, one can assume whatever happened to him was a tragedy, but even after so many years, Marcus has never told anyone his entire story. The most anyone was able to get out of him, was that his horror occurred at an age where he was still too young to become a licensed Pokémon trainer, and by the time he received a Litten from Professor Kukui, there were few things he despised more than Pokémon—Amongst them was weakness.
This deep burning hatred only got worse over time, so it only made sense that the boy learned to become a fighter. With his new Litten, Marcus underwent the training that made him take his first steps towards becoming the cold-hearted man he is today. The more his hatred grew, the harder he pushed his Pokémon and therefore, the more became successful he became in combat.
Unlike Kojak and Richard, Marcus wasn’t interested in finding more Pokémon than he could carry—the six on his belt were the only ones in his entire possession. Even before getting a full team, Marcus displayed a brutality and talent to surpass the Alola Kahunas and moved on to bigger challenges as he searched for the Pokémon that would earn their spot on his team.
Litten, who in time evolved into Torracat, and again into Incineroar, was the Pokémon on Marcus’ team who played the biggest role in her trainer making a name for himself as one of the best, yet most ruthless trainers the Alola region and beyond has ever known. This is primarily because Incineroar had never lost a battle in her entire life. Even before meeting Marcus as a Litten, she shared traits with her master, such as hating the sight of weakness. Such traits only grew stronger as she endured Marcus’ training and evolved. However, she was also unique, for while her kind are known to disobey and even attack their trainers, this Incineroar genuinely respects and cares about Marcus, despite how hard he is on her, obeying his every order no matter how cruel.
Marcus reached into his pocket to pull out a box of cigarettes, having developed an interest in smoking a few days before coming to Mt. Silver. He could feel Incineroar rattle in her ball, wanting to do him a favor by giving him a light, but Marcus ignored her and eventually, the ball stopped shaking. Pulling out a lighter, he brought the flame to the tip of his cigarette and took his first smoke for the day. The fact that he was beginning to smoke, showed that he has fallen even further.
“Marcus, didn’t I explain before that those cigarettes don’t come without a price? Keep this up and you’ll end up losing a few pearly whites and parts of that “flawless” skin,” Kojak quipped with a smirk. Marcus acted as though he didn’t hear the witty remark and exhaled the smoke. It seemed like he didn’t even notice that Richard was walking towards him. As the medical expert of the team, he didn’t think of it as a laughing matter, and looked at Marcus in disgust as he inhaled his cigarette again.
“Seriously, Marcus,” he said, leaning down “you know how I feel about smoking. In addition to being disgusting, it’s harmful not just us, but to our Pokémon.” This was one of the few times Richard tried to reach out to Marcus, as just like Kojak, he has virtually given up on getting through to this arrogant man. When he finally opened his eyes to look up at Richard, the typical, emotionless look let him know that he was wasting his time. Sighing that he failed once again, Richard walked away, tired of the smell of smoke.
Marcus carried on with his put out his cigarette while watching Richard eat the stew that Kojak had prepared. He on the other hand didn’t take a single bite, but the moment his accomplices were done finished, Marcus stood up and spoke his first words for the day.
“Let’s get out of here,” he ordered, walking over to grab his backpack, which had been lying by his tent. “If you don’t hurry, I’m leaving you behind.” With that, Kojak and Richard followed Marcus’ lead as he made his way down the path they had to travel to get up here.
The weather on Mt. Silver was disastrous, but the weather was quite the opposite elsewhere. Here in the land known as Equestria, not a single human or Pokémon could be found. In their absence, the land was inhabited by ponies.
The town known as “Ponyville” was small, but it had a reputation as the friendliest place in Equestria. Though everyone in town seemed to be busy in their own way, there was no doubt that each of them has at least once stopped to look at the single castle that resided in their little community. A castle that was not only home to a princess, but a hero.
As the light of the sun shone into her bedroom, the young alicorn Twilight Sparkle woke up with a happy sigh. It was almost time to begin another day at her new School of Friendship, and Twilight was especially excited since she had scheduled to take her students for another field trip. She could already imagine how eager they were to get out of bed and start the big day.
Trotting downstairs, Twilight smiled to see that her number one assistant had gotten up before her and was preparing her favorite breakfast. Ever since Spike got his wings from that molt incident, he’s become a lot more independent with his lifestyle. For example, he’s been spending more time with other colts, playing whatever kind of games they love to play. Given how much he did for her and her friends, Twilight did nothing to stop him from hanging out with the foals.
Even after she finished her breakfast, it was still early enough for the students to still be asleep. Luckily, Twilight couldn’t think of a better way to wake them up than to present them with a nice, tasty breakfast made by Pinkie Pie and Applejack. If Twilight didn’t know any better, she’d say those two mares were probably already wide awake and cooking up something in the school cafeteria.
Conveniently, by the time the lavender alicorn was fully awake and had gotten herself cleaned up, it was just about time to start class. Twilight could already imagine her students’ young and happy faces, which hopefully would stay happy for this field trip. Although she has already forgiven them, she clearly remembered what happened on the last field trip when Applejack and Rainbow Dash were competing to be the teacher of the month, endangering the students in the process.
Though she had her own duties as the headmare of the school, Twilight has decided to supervise today’s field trip alongside her guidance counselor, Starlight Glimmer. The day was just beginning and she was already that this field trip is going to work out much better than the last.
As Twilight had anticipated, when she arrived at the school, she was quickly greeted by her students who were smiling and eager to get today’s adventure underway. Starlight gave her former teacher a wink to reassure her that she had her back. Though, she was concerned that Twilight ended up overpacking when it was time to head out, and remained unconvinced when Twilight claimed to have only packed the essentials.
“Let’s be on our way then class and remember, stay together,” Twilight said firmly, getting a nod from her students in return. The walk to the Everfree Forest didn’t take too much time, 10 minutes at the most. Even before they arrived at the forest, the kids followed their headmare’s instructions of making sure not to get separated.
“Uh, Headmare Twilight? Are you... sure we won’t run into those creatures that attacked us like last time?” Ocellus asked as the group took their first steps into the forest. Even though the young changeling had made good friends here in Ponyville, she retained parts of her shy and nervous nature, especially in a place with as many nasty surprises as this forest.
Twilight was aware amongst all things, Ocellus was mainly wary of the pukwudgie. Fortunately, the young princess took the liberty on studying when the pukwudgie come out, and on this particular day, they are scheduled to take long naps so they would have the strength to nurture their young later on. Ocellus was relieved when Twilight explained this to her.
After strolling around the forest for a good 20 minutes, Twilight decided that a short break was in order. Looking around, she saw that not a single threatening animal was in sight as her students were taking time to drink some water, and once they were rehydrated, she saw it as good as time as any to review today’s plan.
“Attention every-creature! As I’m sure you are aware, we have quite a number of fun activities planned for today’s field trip,” she said before she pulled out the scroll containing today’s schedule. As it unrolled and hit the ground, the same could say the same for the students’ jaws. When Twilight looked up from the scroll to see their reactions, it was difficult for her to tell if it was from the long schedule, or the amount of fun they were going to have.
“Do all of her plans have to written on a schedule this long?” Smolder whispered to Starlight, which made the light purple unicorn giggle. They were obviously unaware that Twilight could still hear them.
“No, they’re usually a lot longer than this one,” Starlight whispered back. Annoyed, Twilight finally got their attention back by coughing a few times, and they immediately ended the conversation with sheepish smiles.
“As I was saying, for today’s fun-filled activities, we will begin with a little hooves-on experience about the journey my friends and I made when we searched for the mysterious Elements of Harmony, including the trials we had to face to get to them. First off, we are standing right outside the exit of the forest where Rarity, willingly helped our dear friend, Steven, the sea serpent, fix his broken mustache by cutting off her tail using Steven’s scales. Thanks to her generosity, Steven helped us cross this very river to one of our next trials,” she explained.
“Didn’t we learn about this in history class?” Sandbar asked. Twilight smiled and nodded at the green colt, happy to see he’s been paying attention to his studies.
“Indeed Sandbar, but what better way to learn about the Elements of Harmony than to witness the trials that took place here with your very own eyes? After all, it’s not every day you get to see a piece of history up close, now is it?” Contrary to what the excited mare was expecting, her students just responded by shrugging.
“Oh, don’t be that way,” she said, keeping a smile plastered on her face. “Come on, I’ll even show you all to the abandoned castle of the royal sisters where my friends and I faced Nightmare Moon!”
“Yak not like scary, abandoned castle!” Yona said and Sandbar put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. I turned around and smiled reassuringly.
“I promise you all, there’s nothing to be afraid of. If things get a little out of hand, Starlight and I will handle it. Now, shall we move on ahead? The bridge is only a hop, skip and a jump away,” Twilight said, confidently. Once her words seemed to have done the trick, the group continued on our way. Even though she was a grown mare and the head of the school, the excitement almost made Twilight want to scream and dance around like Pinkie Pie. Of course, she did no such thing, and continued to lead Starlight and the students forward until she could see the clearing of the forest.
“Okay class, beyond this river lies the bridge leading to the castle of the royal sisters! Is everyone excited about this?” Twilight asked, but none of them replied. Before she had the chance to question their silence, she noticed that Starlight’s cutie mark was glowing. The surprise was doubled as she pointed to Twilight’s own cutie mark, which was glowing as well. Naturally, Twilight groaned as she really don’t want to cancel the field trip so early, but if the map needs us, it wasn’t up for debate.
“I’m sorry, class, but we’re gonna have to return to school on short notice,” Starlight said and of course, they all groaned in disappointment.
“Yak not want to leave so soon!” Yona complained.
“I’m sorry but...” Twilight stopped and flicked her ears as she picked up the faint sound of rustling from the nearby bushes. Curiosity seems to have gotten the better of her, as she couldn’t help walking over to the said bushes.
“Stay here,” she said firmly before making my way through the bushes, readying herself for whatever she might find by channeling her magic to her horn.
The first thing Marcus, Kojak and Richard noticed as they came back to their senses, was how the weather was a lot less stormy than it was on Mt. Silver. It wasn’t long before they realized they were no longer on the mountain, but rather some kind of forest. Crazy as it is, the trio hadn’t even a remote idea as to how we got here. The last thing they could remember, was descending down the mountain and now here they were on the ground. What was also strange, was that each of them was feeling sore.
Shaking off the pain, Marcus pulled himself back onto his feet and stretched out to ease his aching joints. While having no memory of how they got here, he was annoyed that he had lost his cigarette during their mysterious transportation and reached into his jacket to pull a fresh one out of the box. He was pleased that he hadn’t lost the box nor the lighter and started to fiddle with the device to get a flame. Richard who was also loosening his joints, looked over and shook his head to see that Marcus had replaced his cigarette.
“Seriously? We’ve been mysteriously relocated to somewhere not even our Pokédex maps can locate, and the first thing you want to do is smoke?” he criticized. “The least you could do is make sure you have all your Pokémon.” As if to make his point, he took one of his own Pokéballs off his belt and held it up.
“You have eyes, you can clearly see that my Pokémon are still where I left them,” Marcus retorted as coldly as ever. When he finally got his lighter to spark a flame, he brought it to the tip of his cigarette and felt the stress wash away as the addictive chemicals entered his system.
“Whatever, where are we?” Richard asked as he went back to stretching.
“Last time I checked, we were just moments away from leaving that blistering mountain,” Kojak replied. “How can...”
“Shut up,” Marcus cut him off, as he sensed that someone was watching them and gazed over to the nearby bush. “We have company...” While he avoided getting help from his Pokémon as often as he could, he had no idea what was in that bush and decided not to take any chances. Taking one of the Pokéballs from his belt, he readied his attack. Whatever was spying on them, Marcus decided it probably wasn’t worth using Incineroar and settled for another Pokémon.
“If you can understand me, come on out. I won’t tell you again,” he warned, as he pressed the button to enlarge the ball. He lost his patience after another minute, and tossed the ball into the air, releasing the rare Dragon-type Pokémon, Kommo-O. The large golden scales on her tail rang loudly as she swished it back and forth with a roar. Though, she quickly settled down so she could hear Marcus introduce her to her target. No verbal commands were necessary this time, as Kommo-O took off towards to bushes after seeing Marcus simply point towards them.
“Wait! Wait! Wait! Wait!” Twilight screamed as she finally decided to reveal herself. Hearing Marcus command her to wait, Kommo-O halted her assault with her claws just inches away from Twilight’s face.
An awkward moment of silence went by, only to be broken as Marcus and Twilight asked the same thing in unison.
“Who are you?”