//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Gathering Information 
// Story: Harmony of Heroes: Ultimate Multiverse Explorers 
// by Lucar 
//------------------------------//

Sweetie Belle briefly returned to the lab with the excuse of asking the prof if he had a map of the region that he could give, which he gladly did. It was actually more a pamphlet that seemed to hold a lot of information about the region that Sweetie Belle couldn't wait to read. Of course, to read, she quickly took the knowledge out of the prof's mind, as well as the speech so she will be able to understand the humans without needing the translator (but she will still use it to understand the Pokémon). She only took this, however. She didn't want to take every single info out of someone's mind. Language, both speech and text, was the only exception she allowed.

Judging by the small headache she got, it was better this way. Her still mortal mind wasn't adapted to receive so much info at once. By the way, she will have to find a way to stock all these info she will collect as she explores more and more universes, because she won't be able to remember everything.

Also, she noted down to ask Magolor is he could create a text translator. Heck, she will ask him if there wasn't a way to directly transplant the speech translator and text translator in her so she won't have to learn new languages at all, leaving more place in her brain for other useful info.

And of course, create more for her friends so they will be able to understand when they will join her.

She had the feeling that the Ancient technology will be very useful in the near future. Too bad most of it worked only in the presence of Matters, although there were Matter generators like the one inside the Lor Starcutter that solved the problem.

Well, first, they had to rediscover how to build one, and even Magolor didn't know yet. It will take some years studying the generator inside the Lor (which was the only one still working so far that they've found. There were generators inside NOVA and the Access Ark, but... And of course, Haltmann, who had uncovered how to build one since he built the Access Ark, wasn't here anymore) before they would see more of them start to pop up everywhere.

Sweetie Belle wondered if building many generators will have some effects in her universe. Like, turning it into a Dream Universe bis, with food popping up everywhere, the possibility to breathe underwater and in space, and so on.

Anyway, with the knowledge of the local language in mind, and a pamphlet of the region in hand, Sweetie Belle exited the lab for the second time and went to sit on a nearby bench to read the paper.

The map inside showed that the region was named Kanto, and that there were only ten cities and towns. All the places of interest had a number, and in another page, the numbers were listed with the names of the places and some info. For example, it was indicated that Pallet Town was where the laboratory of the famous Professor Oak was situated, and it was also from this town that the ex-Champions Red and Blue originated.

Funny enough, all the cities, and even some other places, were named after colors, or in Pallet Town's case, something related to colors. It reminded her of her adventures against Drawcia and Claycia.

Obviously, it showed where the eight Gyms were, with the presence of a ninth, unofficial Gym, a fighting dojo, in Saffron City. For each Gym, it was indicated who was the current Gym Leader, and their specificities such as which type they specialised. About this, the Viridian Gym was apparently specialised in Ground-type, but when the previous Gym Leader, Giovanni, left, Blue took over and the Gym became one of the rare Gyms in the world to not specialise in a specific type.

Gyms weren't the only places of interest, however. There were many other interesting locations, like the Indigo Plateau which was the siege of the Pokemon League of Kanto AND Johto, a neighboring region in the West; the Lavender Radio Tower which was apparently originally where Pokémon were buried, but after an attack of Team Rocket to loot the graves, they were moved to a safer location and the tower was reconverted into a radio tower; Mt. Moon which was where you could find a rare stone named Moon Stone that came from meteorites regularly falling on the mountain for some reason, and it was also there that fossils of prehistoric Pokémon could be more often found; the Silph Co. in Saffron City that manufactured many technologies related to Pokémon such as the Poké Balls; and it continued!

The pamphlet also indicated what were the best locations to capture Pokémon. For example, Mt. Moon was a nice place to find wild Clefairy. Sadly, apparently, a lot of locations were recently lost. The Pokémon Tower had been home to many Ghost Pokémon before it was repurposed, and many Electric Pokémon had moved into the Power Plant when it was abandoned, only to move away when it was refurbished. The Safari Park, where it was possible to find many rare Pokémon, also recently closed.

The pamphlet itself now advised that you had better chances to find Ghost Pokémon in other regions than in Kanto. There were just no place in Kanto anymore that had the perfect conditions to be the home of wild Ghost Pokémon, not even the newly built House of Memories that was the new home of the graves from the tower. A little note indicated that the Pokémon League was thinking of doing something about this after complaints from the trainers.

Not that Sweetie Belle minded. If she wanted to capture a Ghost Pokémon, then she would just fly to Johto and search there.

Done with the pamphlet, Sweetie put it inside her backpack and left Pallet Town to return to Viridian City where she intended to discover more about Pokémon and the Pokémon League around which almost everything seemed to revolve.

On the way, she left Squirtle out of its Poké Ball, wanting to talk to it.

Hey. I guess it's time we have a talk.

Uh... I guess.

Since we're gonna be partners for a long time, then I will be straight. I'm not a Pokémon, contrary to what everyone thinks, even if I look like one.

Squirtle stared at her in shock. Really?! Then what are you?

Sweetie Belle smirked. An alien from another universe.

Squirtle's jaw dropped before he was filled with horror.

Sweetie Belle giggled. What? Scared that I'm gonna do experiments on you? Well... I must admit that some members of my species wouldn't be against it, too curious for their own good, but I'm not like that. And I'm not a scout for an alien invasion. I just want to make friends, live adventures, and have fun. And you will see, my homeworld isn't bad. You will love it. The others won't be able to understand you and talk to you in your mind however, I'm a special case. Anyway, what's your gender?

This came so out of nowhere that Squirtle couldn't help but shout "What?"

Your gender. You know, if you are a boy or a girl. I remarked that the humans use a neuter pronoun to speak about Pokémon as if they were simple animals, but you are clearly intelligent, so I would rather avoid using it, but I don't know what is your gender.

Squirtle stared at Sweetie Belle for a few seconds before he answered I'm a male.

Okay. And do you have a name? Beside Squirtle, of course, but since Squirtle is the name of your species...

Pokémon don't really bother with names, so we don't mind if the humans give us one.

Really? Alright then. But I don't know what to name you Sweetie Belle then took the Pokédex and turned it on. "Let's see if I can find some info about you that could help me... So... Squirtle... Okay... Okay... Oh? Pokémon grow up by evolving? Something I will have to look up. So... Wartortle? Nice! And it evolves again! So... What the buck?! Are these freaking cannons coming out of its shell?!"

Sweetie's expression made Squirtle laugh before he said "Yeah. That's our final evolution, Blastoise. A real watertank on legs. And again, I heard that our Mega-evolution is even more epic."

"Mega-evolution?"

"I don't know much, but I heard that it's an extra, temporary, very powerful evolution that some Pokémon possess. I don't know how it works however. Maybe this machine can tell you?"

"Mmh..." Sweetie Belle began searching again and eventually found an image that made her splutter. "That's... one big cannon... Wait... Gigantamax Blastoise? What is..." With a press of a button, another image replaced the one of Mega-Blastoise. "EEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH?!?!!"

"What is it?! What is it?!" shouted Squirtle as he bounced, wanting to look at the image.

Sweetie Belle let him see, making his jaw drop again as she said "It's not a tank anymore. It's a freaking war fortress! What is Gigantamax?"

"No idea. I think I heard the prof say the word a couple of times, but he never said what it was."

"Definitively something else I will have to look up." Coming out of her shock, she returned to look at the entries of Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise. "Mmh... I may have the perfect name for you, but the problem is that it's already taken by the tortoise of a friend. Bah, no matter, I will still give it to you. What do you think of Tank?"

"I like it!"

Sweetie Belle smiled. "Let's go for Tank, then. Mmh?" She remarked something in the tall grass that was turned threateningly toward them. It was one of these purple and white rodent-like Pokémon that she saw at several reprises. "Someone wants a fight it seems. Alright, Tank! Let's add a new member to our team!"

"Yeah!"

Tank positioned himself in front of the rodent. After a quick scan with the Pokédex so she didn't have to search in the list of known Pokémon, Sweetie Belle discovered that it was called a Rattata, a Normal-type. In the entry of the Rattata was a list of moves that it may know, which wasn't much apparently. Only Normal-type moves and Dark-type moves.

The Rattata started the fight with a Tackle.

Let's do like against the Bulbasaur. Turn around!

Tank understood and turned so that the Rattata hit the shell. The Rattata wasn't as big and strong as the Bulbasaur, so it just pushed Tank a little while the rat got stunned badly.

Now, Tackle it. And Tackle it again once it lands.

Tank did so, and the Rattata was sent flying by the hit. When it landed, Tank Tackled it again, sending it flying a second time. When it landed, it was almost knocked out. Sweetie Belle used the occasion to throw one of the empty Poké Balls at it. The ball hit, opened, and turned the Pokémon into red energy that entered it before it closed. After a few seconds of struggle, the ball stopped moving, and the Rattata was definitively caught.

"Yes!" yelled Sweetie Belle in victory before she gave a small high five to Tank. She then took the ball and opened it, releasing the Rattata who was obviously still hurt, but much less aggressive.

"Ugh... you got me..."

"Hello! Wait a second, I'll heal you," said Sweetie Belle before she put a hand on Rattata's head and used her powers to heal it, to the Pokémon's amazement. Once she was done, she petted it. "There. Welcome to the team. What are your moves? You can talk, I will understand you."

The Rattata looked at her in wonder before it answered. "Uh... Tackle, Tail Whip, and Quick Attack. But... What..."

Tank whispered to it "She's an alien. But don't worry, she's nice."

The Rattata looked at him as if he was crazy in return, much to Sweetie's amusement. "I will explain to you while we move to Viridian City. But, first, what is your gender?"

"What?"



Sweetie Belle, Tank, and the newly named Ratzo (who was a male who said that it was visible because females had shorter whiskers and lighter fur) entered Viridian City. Sweetie Belle quickly asked someone if there was a library, and the person gave her the directions to a building. In there, she passed the following hours learning about the Pokémon and the Pokémon League, only getting out to have a meal with her Pokémon (she had to win a battle against another trainer to get enough money).

She learned about all the types, their strong points and weaknesses. Thanks to it, she knew that she had a big advantage over Brock, the Gym Leader of Pewter City who was a Rock-type specialist, and Water was very effective against Rock. But obviously, she would have a big disadvantage against Watta, the Gym Leader of Vermilion City who was an Electric-type specialist (because Electric is effective against Water, duh!). Ratzo could be useful against Watta because Normal-type was neither strong nor weak against the Electric-type, but it would be better if she could get her hooves/hands on a Ground-type who were totally immune to Electric-moves. A visit to the Diglett's Cave to capture a Diglett (a pure Ground-type Pokémon) may be in order.

She learned about Mega-Evolutions and Gigantamax, which led to learning about Dynamax. Mega-Evolutions were like Tank explained, a temporary evolution that was very powerful, but possible only when the trainer possessed a Key Stone while the Pokémon hold a corresponding Mega Stone (for example, a Blastoisinite for Blastoise). However, both the Key Stone and the Mega Stones were rare and hard to obtain. As for the Dynamax, it was a phenomenon only present in some spots of the Galar region caused by Eternatus' defeat which caused its energy to leak as it slumbered. To be clear, as awesome as it would be to use the Dynamax, it was not possible outside of Galar.

Unless Sweetie Belle learned to copy this energy to use it at will.

Note to self: visit the Galar region.

She also learned about the existence of the Z-Moves, but if they were really related to those Ultra Wormholes like it was speculated, then she may have to visit the Alola region too to copy the corresponding energy to use them outside of it. Also, thanks to these Ultra Wormholes, she apparently wasn't the first extra-dimensional being visiting this world. And apparently, alien Pokémon were rather common.

As for the Pokémon League, Sweetie Belle had already guessed most of it thanks to Blue and the prof. It was an organisation that organized Pokémon competitions all over the world in the form of regional leagues such as the Indigo Plateau, and it was this organisation that established the rules and regulations relating to Pokémon that everyone was forced to follow, even the ones not participating in the competitions. As such, a trainer couldn't hold more than six Pokémon at once, and if they captured a new Pokémon, then the Pokémon will be transformed into data and sent into a storage system where they will live in an artificial environment. There was no way around it, all the Poké Balls were built with this. So nobody could have more than six Pokémon unless they managed to create their own Poké Balls. And to access the Pokémon stored, the trainers had to use PCs present in specialised buildings such as Pokémon Centers (which were the equivalent of hospitals for Pokémon). Well, that was before. Recently, they invented what was called the Pokémon Box Link which allowed trainers to access the storage from everywhere, but it was still fairly recent, and so, wasn't present yet in all regions.

And since the Pokémon had such an important place, then the Pokemon League had a lot of pull in the world and was very powerful, easily the most powerful entity, especially now that some of the Champions had in their teams many Legendaries, including some of the most powerful ones.

Speaking of powerful Legendaries, this universe, or multiverse because of the whole Ultra Wormhole stuff, was created by such a Pokémon. A real God named Arceus. And she learned that the little pink cat-like Pokémon she became friend with, named Mew, was none other than the ancestor of all the Pokémon of this world excepted most of the Legendaries (and excluding the alien ones and the ones created by humans like Porygon, of course), nothing else, and was considered extinct.

What were the chances then of encountering Mew almost immediately after entering this world? Mew must have been very interested in her to approach her like that. From what little information there was on it, Mew was very shy and only showed itself to a select few, and even then, never really approached. If she had known, she would have taken a photo and showed it to the prof! His face would have been priceless!

And now, she wondered if she will encounter this Arceus. Becoming friend with another God would be nice.

From there, she learned everything she could about the Pokémon, their moves, and their types (both the Pokémon and the moves) until the library closed. She then had a dinner in a restaurant after battling a few trainers to get their money (Very convenient!), then battled a few more trainers to help Tank and Ratzo become stronger and learn new moves (and gain more money, she already gained more money in this world that she was ever given back in Equestria) before she went to sleep in the Pokémon Center of Viridian City where a Jigglypuff helped her falling asleep by using Sing (in battle, it was a move where the Pokémon sang a lullaby to make their opponent fall asleep and make them vulnerable, but here, it was a simple way to help people find sleep).

Before she lost consciousness, Sweetie Belle thought to herself that it would be nice to have a Jigglypuff so they could Sing together.