Twilight looked around with interest as they took their first steps onto Route 1. Pressing through the long grass she could see that, while there wasn’t a true road or path of any kind, there was still a distinct grassy passageway lined with trees and bushes. Several Pidgeys, just like the ones in Professor Oak’s garden, could be seen flapping about in the trees.
“How many different kinds of Pokémon are there?” Twilight asked.
Elaine shrugged. “I’m not sure. I know there’s something like a hundred and fifty or so in Kanto alone, but around here you’ll only find Rattatas, Pidgeys, Bellsprouts and Oddishes. We might even see some of their evolved forms, if we’re lucky.”
Twilight frowned at her. “Evolved forms? What do you mean?”
“Ah, right, you wouldn’t know.” Elaine threw her an apologetic glance. “Sorry. Basically, when a Pokémon matures enough or reaches a certain set of conditions they go through what we call an evolution. Take those Pidgeys, for example. Eventually, a few of them will evolve into Pidgetto’s, and some of them might even evolve further into Pidgeot’s.”
Twilight raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Uh… you know that’s not how evolution works, right?”
“It does with Pokémon, at least, with most of them” Elaine replied. “Most of those that do evolve do so when they’ve matured enough or gotten strong enough, but some, like Pikachu, would need to be exposed to a Thunder Stone or something to evolve. N-not that I’d do that to you!” she added quickly after seeing the sour look on Pikachu’s face.
“Does it happen instantaneously?” Twilight asked. Elaine nodded, prompting a thoughtful frown. “It sounds more like a transformation than an evolution,” she muttered, more to herself than anything.
“I guess so,” Elaine admitted. “You’d have to ask Professor Oak or another scientist if you want a better explanation, I’m not really sure of the specifics.” She hummed and tapped her chin as a thought occurred to her. “Hmmm, maybe we should see if we can go and visit Bill?”
“Bill?” Twilight asked.
“He’s a famous Pokémaniac,” Elaine replied. “I’ve heard he gets up to all kinds of crazy experiments, and he’s supposed to have an amazing collection of rare and exotic Pokémon. I bet he’d love to see your little Shimmy!”
“Shim shimmy shim Shimmy,” Sunset muttered. She scuffed the dirt with her hooves, then held one up to her face, frowning as if annoyed at the mud.
Twilight resisted the sudden urge to bend down and scratch her between the ears only with great difficulty. “It’s okay, Sunset. We’ll get you somewhere clean soon.”
Elaine smiled as she watched the two. “You’re really close with your Shimmy.” She reached up and stroked Pikachu’s head affectionately. “I hope me and Pikachu can get that close, right, Pikachu?”
“Pika!”
“Shimmy! Shim!” Sunset called suddenly. The others turned to see what she wanted, only to gasp in surprise when they saw that she had scratched a message in the dirt.
I FIGURED IT OUT.
“Wait, she can write?!” Elaine cried in amazement.
Twilight grinned. “Of course! Sunset, you’re a genius! Now we don’t have to worry about communicating! Oh, wait, what about when we’re in a town or city? I can’t imagine people would be happy with you digging up their gardens or something.”
Sunset just scratched out a single word in response. CHALK.
“That works!” Twilight glanced at Elaine eagerly. “Do you think we can buy chalk in Viridian City?”
Elaine just looked at her in bemusement. “Chalk? I mean… sure, probably, but…” She looked from Twilight to Sunset, struggling to wrap her head around what she was seeing. “She can write?!”
“Well, yeah,” Twilight replied as Sunset nodded. “Can’t other Pokémon?” Elaine just shook her head slowly. “Oh. Well, I guess Sunset is something of a special case.”
Sunset beamed proudly. She was still beaming when something burst out of the grass and slammed into her side.
Sunset cried out in shock and pain as something knocked her clean off her hooves. She looked up to see, to her surprise, a purple and white rat, standing in an aggressive pose and baring its large teeth at her.
“Sunset! Are you alright?!” Twilight called anxiously.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Sunset grumbled as she clambered to her feet, glaring at the rat. “Hey! What gives?!”
“This is my territory!” the rat snarled. “If you want to pass through, you’re gonna have to go through me!”
“She’s not alone!” Sunset kept her eyes on the rat as Pikachu dove off Elaine’s shoulder and landed next to her.
“Yeah, get that Rattata, Pikachu! Use Thundershock!” Elaine shouted.
“You got it!” Pikachu Unfortunately, the sparks of electricity that suddenly crackled out from the red dots on Pikachu’s cheeks caused Sunset to skip away with a yelp of fright.
“Huh? What’s wrong?” Pikachu asked.
“You cheeks are sparking!” Sunset cried in alarm.
Pikachu cocked her head at the little pony. “Well… yeah? I’m an Electric type?”
“What, are you battery operated or someth- whoa!” Sunset barely managed to jump aside as the rat charged at her once more. Furious at the unprovoked attacks, she stomped in front of Pikachu and lowered her horn at the rat. “You know what? Fine. Bring it on, you annoying little rodent.”
“Sunset, be careful!” Twilight warned.
“I’ll be fine,” Sunset growled, not taking her eyes off the Rattata.
“You think you’re tough do ya?” the rat snarled.
Sunset grinned maliciously. “Tougher than a scrawny little runt like you.”
“Oh, now you’re gonna get it!” Just as she’d planned, the rat fell for her taunt and darted at her again. At the last second, Sunset span around on her fore-hooves and bucked as hard as she could. The impact sent the rat sailing through the air to land with a satisfying thump several yards away. Shaking its head to clear it, the Rattata took one look at Sunset’s vengeful smirk, scrambled to its feet and shot away back into the long grass at top speed.
Sunset drew herself up and gave a triumphant nod, satisfied that the Rattata wouldn't be back. She was about to turn back to the others when she heard rapid footsteps and Twilight dropped to her knees next to her. “Sunset! Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sunset replied, inspecting her side. It was hardly the worst thing she’d ever been hit by, but it still felt like it was going to leave a nasty bruise. Seeing Twilight still looking at her anxiously, she sighed and scratched out, I’M OKAY.
Twilight sagged with relief. “That’s good.”
Elaine chuckled nervously. “Sorry. I… uh… probably should have warned you about this. Some wild Pokémon can get pretty territorial with each other. In some places it’s not unheard of for them to even attack people.”
“Could have done with that information a little sooner,” Sunset huffed.
“Ah, quit whining,” Pikachu shot, scampering over to her side and patting her on the shoulder. “You handled yourself well for a Pokémon that’s never been in a fight before.”
Deciding not to mention that she had been in fights before, just not as a Pokémon, Sunset flicked her mane aside and scratched out a new message in the dirt. SHOULD WE KEEP GOING?
“That’s up to you,” Twilight replied. “Are you okay to keep going? Or do you want to rest?”
“I’ve got a potion, if she needs it,” Elaine put in.
“I don’t know what that is, but I’m okay, seriously,” Sunset replied with a shake of her head. “Come on, let’s get moving.” Suiting action to words, she set off again at a gentle trot, though she did make sure to keep herself safely ensconced between Elaine and Twilight, just in case.
Sunset yawned as she sprawled out on the blanket. They had been walking for almost an hour before Elaine had asked if they wanted to take a break. Thankfully, the group hadn't been accosted by any more wild Pokémon in that time. Even better, Elaine had proven herself to be very well prepared for her journey, having packed plenty of sandwiches, several bottles of water, and a nice big picnic blanket for everyone to sit on.
It hadn't taken long for Twilight to start peppering Elaine with more questions about the world they were in. Sunset had listened at first, but her attention had soon drifted, and she had stretched herself out to sunbathe while she had the chance. Strangely, the warmth of the sun made both her horn and her cutie mark tingle. It was an unusual sensation, but quite pleasant all the same.
Less pleasant was the building pressure in her bladder. Eventually, she decided that she would have to swallow her pride and just find a bush to go behind. Clambering to her feet, she waved to get Twilight's attention and scratched a note in the dirt. BACK IN A SECOND.
"Back… but where are you going?" Twilight blushed slightly at Sunset's written response. "Oh, um, okay. Just don't go too far."
"I still think it's crazy that she can write," Elaine said quietly.
"You and me both, sister," Pikachu put in.
Sunset just poked her tongue out and trotted off to the side of the path, looking for a suitably sized tree or a bush. She kept a wary eye out, but she wasn't too bothered about getting attacked. If something did try to target her, she would simply teleport back to the others.
Not far off the path, Sunset found a nice wide tree with plenty of foliage around the bottom. She glanced around in all directions, then, satisfied that she was alone, trotted up to the base of the tree.
"You." Sunset whipped around, almost losing control of her bladder in her shock. A pink fairy-like creature, barely larger than Sunset herself, hovered an inch off the ground only a few feet away. It had a round head that rose up to a point and two narrow antennae, tiny three-fingered hands, translucent wings that sprouted from its back, and sparkling green eyes ringed with black.
"W-what do you want?" Sunset asked warily, wondering where exactly the Pokémon had appeared from. To her astonishment, the creature lowered itself to the ground and bowed its head.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault." The Pokémon's voice had a beautiful, almost musical quality, but it quavered as it spoke, as if it were on the verge of tears. "I'm sorry you were brought into this, but there was no other way."
Sunset stared at the little Pokémon in shock. "No other… what are you talking about?"
The Pokémon looked up at her sadly. "I cannot say, not yet. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but I am begging you. Please, you must become stronger. Both of you must."
"Both of us?" Sunset glanced back towards Twilight and the others. "What are you- huh?" When she turned back around, the Pokémon was gone. She looked around curiously, even checking up in the trees, but the visitor was nowhere to be seen. "What the heck was that about?"