//------------------------------// // MARKETING! // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Unova, Castelia City. The city where the skyscrapers pierce the clouds and a city of grandeur. Over at one of the many company buildings that dwell in Unova, one, in particular, had a slight meeting involving certain topics. "...No good..." A man spoke, having his hand on his chin. "It's no good. All of this isn't working!" He slammed his hands on the table, startling everyone else there." "W-What's wrong, Director?" A worker who was apart of this building asked, spinning around in his chair. "What's wrong? Have a look at this!" He showed off a statistics board to them all. This board showed the stats of what Pokemon-related thing clicks. This entire company was all about marketing everything Pokemon. Whether it be the number of people interested in a certain Pokemon, the age range of trainers, merchandise such as a pretty neat looking Snorlax bag that has its mouth as a zip or just some cute plushies of Pokemon. Point is, it's everything Pokemon. "I don't see the problem. Everything looks fine." A woman shrugged, noticing how the stats were stagnant. They were neither going up nor down. They just stayed still on one continuous line. "That is the problem! We've hit a straight line! All of our products and work aren't hitting as hard as they used to 10 years ago! A bunch of Pokemon have been losing interest since some trainers don't find them interesting enough or whatever! Not only that, but even the younger audience are losing interest. They won't even bat an eye at this cute Phanpy doll. How can they ignore Phanphy?" He squeezed the doll as it made a Phanphy cry in the process. "Maybe they're just growing out of it?" A carefree man commented, holding an Espeon pendant. "I mean, I remember when I was a kid. I was all about a Cinderace action figure. I played with it for days on end. But eventually, I grew out of it and look where I-" "I do not care about your childhood!" "..Oh." "What I do care about is how we're going to cause a huge boom in sales now. Even if everything is just fine and nothing is changing, that means that we've become too predictable. We need something that can really cause a flash across many parts of the world! Any suggestions?" "Oh! A Legendary Pokemon onesie!" A younger female employee moved around in her chair, holding some Shiinotic candles. "An electric coin Pikachu bank?" "A Pokemon board game set in the future!" "Cookie Cutters in the shape of Pokemon Type symbols!" "A super big Shuckle plush that takes up an entire room!" They all gave their suggestions, but none of them were really working for their director. "No, no! Useless! Every last one of them!" He kicked the table in half. "Every last one of them won't do at all..." "How about we put more focus on the trainers? Champion Leon is the strongest trainer, so why not make an action figure based on him and his Charizard?" A man recommended. "We've already tried that but they pale in comparison to the Pokemon. Even these Cynthia pillows aren't proving to be effective!" The director held a pillow with Cynthia's face on it, tossing it aside. "How about we keep making Pikachu products? Those always seem to work." "Obviously! Pikachu always sells! Everyone loves Pikachu! But we can't keep relying on one Pokemon to make a boom. Charizard, Eevee and Lucario are doing well for themselves, but they're not convincing anyone as Pikachu's equal..We need something. Anything." He sat back down, putting his hand over his face. He thought to himself for a bit, unclear of what they could do to really change the game up. "I bet it isn't this difficult to make decisions with the ponies?" A man said to a woman as she nodded. "Wait a minute..." The director stood up. "Pokemon...humans...ponies..." Then it hit him. Something so new and unlikely that it just might work. "Oh by Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing...I think I've got it!" "What?" They all asked. "Yes...this is the breakthrough we needed!" His voice echoed throughout the building, even reaching all of Castelia. Whatever sparked in his mind was sure to shake the world itself. 1 week later. Ponyville, afternoon. "Ow, ow!" Ash held his hand, blowing on it whilst Fluttershy tended to it. "Hoo, that stings!" "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to catch Ferroseed barehanded, Ash." Fluttershy wrapped some bandages around his hand. "Pikapi..." "Yeah...But you're okay now, right Ferroseed?" Ash asked the Thorn Seed Pokemon. "Ferro!" The Grass-Steel-Type nodded, rolling off to do what it normally does. Find some iron and absorb it. "Taking care of all these Pokemon must be tough, huh Fluttershy?" "Pikachu?" "It is. Pokemon are much harder to look after and manage than animals. It's a hoof full indeed. But I have you here, Ash. As long as you're here to help, I'm confident." "That's the spirit." Ash gave a thumbs up, but that only caused his hand to twitch. "Ow!" "And I can't wait to see the Pokemon House upgrade. We really needed it. A lot of Grass, Ground and Flying-Types are having trouble staying warm during this time of the year. Plus, not that many Fire-Types come by here sadly." Fluttershy held Pikachu in her hooves, giving him a head rub. "We can always ask Twilight to help by bringing over some of the Pokemon from Poke Park to assist. There's a lot of Fire-Types at the Crag Area, I hear." "Really? That'd be-" Fluttershy's words had been cut off by a bloodcurdling scream. Only one pony can scream like that. "Rarity!" Both Ash and Twilight exclaimed. "Pi-Pika!" If she's screaming like that then obviously, something horrible must've happened. Major or not. Ash, Pikachu and Fluttershy made their way towards Carousel Boutique as fast they could. Heading there, they could see that Sweetie Belle was standing outside along with Rarity's Leavanny's. If they're outside, then the situation must be dire. "Sweetie Belle! Leavanny What's happening in there?! Ash asked. "Well...It's best that you see for yourself." "Leavan." The three of them entered the boutique in a worried fashion. Immediately having their guard up. What horrible thing could've happened to Rarity? Well... "What. Is. THIS?!" She winced. "Rarity! What's wrong?!" Fluttershy asked, flying over. "What's wrong...What's wrong?! They've gotten my eye colour wrong!" Rarity showed artwork of her, not in pony form. But in human form. Vastly different from the parallel Rarity. Instead, she resembled a human from the Pokemon World. Hair colour and everything. Her dress matched the colour of her fur along with her having purple boots to compliment her hair. And finally, alongside her was a single Leavanny instead of multiple. It was Rarity alright. Down to a T. The only thing off was the eye colour. Someone apparently mixed blue with teal. "...Huh?" Ash and Fluttershy squinted their eyes. "Pika?" Pikachu narrowed his eyes instead. "How could they miss this?! Everything else is perfect but the most vital part! It was this close to perfection and they've ruined it!" "...What is this?" Fluttershy asked, unsure of what her eyes were gazing at. "Oh. This? Well, it's apparently artwork of us, darling. Straight from Castelia City. They're all the buzz right now. Much larger than any buzz I've created." "Did you say...us?" Fluttershy leaned forward. "I did. Have a gander at this." Rarity showed off another one. This time it was of Fluttershy. Anyone could tell that it was Fluttershy based on the yellow top and green skirt. But this time, they actually got everything about her correct instead of forgetting one tiny little thing. And her Pokemon, of course, was her Audino. "I don't believe it..." Fluttershy gasped, gazing her eyes at this unexpected surprise. "I...I...like it.!" She found herself being fond of this human recreation of herself. The way she was designed here just felt right. Right enough to win her over. "Pika..." Pikachu gazed at the human recreation. "This is pretty neat stuff." Ash held one of Applejack and Treecko. "Wonder if they're for some sort of book." "Apparently, they're for some sort of promotional content? Not sure myself." "I wonder if everypony else knows about it." Fluttershy kept looking at her own artwork. "Oh, but they do. From what I heard they're booming over at Castelia and the Pokemon World. Ponyville has just gotten these recently, so there's a minimum amount of them." "I wish I had one of me and the Crusaders." Sweetie Belle puffed her cheeks, a bit upset that only the Mane 6 got artwork. But it only makes sense since they're the most recognizable ponies to the Pokemon World. Among other 3. That being Celestia, Cadence and Luna "Lucky." "Apparently that's not all they did. They've also created these dolls." Rarity used her magic to bring over what seemed to be plushies of her friends. This time, in pony form. "Really now?" Ash took the Twilight plush, feeling how soft it was. "Oh! These are soft! Pikachu, feel it." He lent it to his buddy. "Pika?" Pikachu placed his tiny little mouse hands on the Twilight plush, feeling himself being enchanted by its softness. "Chuuu..." "Mind if I keep this one?" Sweetie Belle went up to the Rarity plush. "Go ahead. They're shipping more merchandise here anyways. Oh, speaking of which! Have a gander!" Rarity pointed her hoof to the window, noticing that more merchandise was coming in. This was made possible by the folks over at that company. Their breakthrough in Pokemon-related products involving ponies was proving to be effective. They brought along with them merchandise that was exclusively for the ponies. In fact, some of these humans were newcomers who had decided to set up a small shop here in Ponyville, but before asking Mayor Mare or else they'd be booted out before they knew it. These products included, saddlebags that had unique patterns based on Pokemon-Types or certain Pokemon, plushies of Celestia, Luna and Cadence, more artwork of the Mane 6 with the four alicorn princesses having their own unique separate ones, special cards of the Mane 6 and their Pokemon that had a special value to them and even had unique appearances. Rainbow Dash's card for example had a rainbow effect if you flip it around. But it wasn't just limited to ponies. Merchandise and products that are already popular in the Pokemon World were sent here. Keychains of many champions such as Lance, Cynthia, Steven, Leon and Diantha. Among other things that would make a foal plead and beg their parents to buy them. Which is exactly what was happening right now. The only reason why Rarity got hers for free was due to the fact that she was apart of the Mane 6. So it's only obvious she gets it for free while everypony else has to pay up. "7 bits for a glove?!" Silver Spoon pulled back as she wanted a glove modelled after Leon's glove but for ponies. "I've got you covered." Diamond Tiara pulled out 7 bits from her saddlebag, buying the pony shaped glove for Silver Spoon. "All of this came from the other world? Sweet." Ash gazed over them. "How much is all of this?" "Well apparently...the currency in this world is a bit lower than ours so...The highest all of these can go for is 75 bits. From what I've heard." The young teenager working there said. "Move aside!" Along came Pinkie Pie, bursting through the crowd of ponies. She was especially interested in this. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity!" "See anything you like, my little pony?" He asked. "Yeah, I do! I'll take this," She grabbed a plushie of herself. "this," and another plushie of her friends. "that and this and that!" She only seemed to be focusing on the stuffed dolls of her friends and nothing else. "If you want all that...then 15 bits lady." "15?! Ugh..." Pinkie Pie groaned. She reached for her saddlebag, getting out 15 bits exactly. "Pleasure doing business with you." He grinned. "It's great that something like this is here. It'll help us get more accustomed to the Pokemon World, ya know." Sonata said. "Mhm." Aria nodded. "It's almost been like what? A whole year since this whole world crossing thing went down. It would make sense for us to get more used to all of this stuff." "And it'll be the anniversary when I and my Leavanny's first met." Rarity said. "I still remember them being little Sewaddle's. They were so adorable! I miss their tiny little bug hands already." "That's for sure. The Sewaddle's were the reason why you ended up liking Bugs in the first place." Sweetie Belle replied. Whilst many ponies were getting their grubby little hooves on these colourful products, Twilight had just received news about all of this. In fact, she had been delivered a package to her castle. Once she opened it, her eyes couldn't believe what she was looking at. Since she was the second most popular pony in her group of friends according to the humans with Fluttershy being the most popular, the amount of merchandise she got was overwhelming, to say the least. "Oh..." Twilight breathed in and out, locking her eyes on the plethora of products. "Twilight...Are you okay?" Spike gulped as he and Starlight were worried. Twilight was hyperventilating at speeds only a Rapidash and Zebstrika would dream of achieving. It was unclear if she was terrified or amazed. The results hadn't shown yet. Her Minccino, Espeon and Vulpix looked at each other with worried emotions. Perhaps all of this was taking a while to process, so Twilight was in a state of imbalance. But eventually, her true reaction had been revealed. What did she think of this? Well, from seeing artwork her as a human with clothing oddly similar to the ones she had back in the parallel world alongside her Pokemon, to the abundance of stuffed dolls made out of her, whether it be of her Cutie Mark or even her head which was also her entire body too, there was only one logical response. "Oh...This is...This is..." She raised the plushie of herself up into the air with her horn trembling. "So cute!" She dug her face inside the box. "Oh. Had us worried there." Starlight sighed. "Wait, cute?" "Twilight's a sucker for things that are super cute. It's why she wanted an Eevee in the first place." Spike explained. "Look at all of this! Look at how sharp my hair is in this!" She showed off the artwork of her as a human. "And look how squishy this one is!" The young alicorn squished the plushie of herself, acting like a child during all of this. "The Pokemon World has the best products! Why didn't we think of buying any of these back when we visited for a while?" "How come I don't have anything based around me..." Spike pouted. "Actually, Spike. I think this is yours." Starlight used her magic to bring over a keychain that had Spike on it. "Works for me." He accepted the keychain even if it was minor. "Where do I even keep these?! Maybe I can put them next to my Smartypants doll...no wait it's missing. Wonder where it went? Oh, well! I have all these items for myself!" She hugged the products, squeeing in the process. What a delight it was to have these in her possession. Moving from Ponyville, Canterlot had gotten a taste of the Pokemon World's products in more ways than one. Celestia in particular was interested in something that involved her. "Unbelievable..." She held up an action figure of her and Passion. They somehow made this in a short amount of time, getting every detail down to a T. But that's to be expected when you have Pokemon working with you. "Oooh..." Luna's eyes gazed at her own figure of her and Darkrai. The best part about these figures is that they light up. More specifically, the manes do. They had implemented a feature that allowed the ethereal manes to flow and glow. They even work better in the dark to give them their extra flash. "If I had known the Pokemon World had objects such as these, I would have requested BigTime Ben to bring in more than just Pokeballs and gym badges," said Celestia, enchanted by the flowing mane of the figure. "I'll say. How did they manage to even perform this?" Luna was looking for something that could give her a hint on how they made the mane flow despite it being made out of plastic. "I think that's another mystery that the World of Pokemon will never reveal." Celestia chuckled. Over at Castelia City. "Success!" The director stood up as the works cheered with victory inside their spirits. "Introducing the ponies to our world's merchandise was a smash hit! So much of a smash hit that they're requesting more from our world! This is the greatest breakthrough yet!" "I know right? Who knew ponies and Pokemon went well with each other?" A girl held up a Celestia and Passion action figure. "Should we give them a TV?" A man wearing an Electrike Hat asked. "Perhaps..." The director rubbed his chin. "Here's what we'll keep on doing. We'll just...ask the ponies what they enjoy and see where we can go from there. Besides, they've already taken a great liking to the artwork portion." "Mhm. And there's already a statistic on which pony seems to be the most popular. Apparently, a lot of ponies are a fan of this human artwork." A young man showed off a statistic chart on his Rotomphone. Fluttershy's human artwork blew past everypony else's without there being any competition. Was it the eyes or the mane that gained attraction? Probably both actually. The director sat down on his chair, having a smile of satisfaction on his face. "This is the start of something spectacular." Adjustments and new concepts continue to reach the ponies. What the Pokemon World holds and is capable of presenting never ceases to amaze them. And with the humans involving themselves more with the ponies, not just limited to Ben's company, the future looks promising, unpredictable and entertaining for days to come, as the journey continues! Chapter 202 End!