"Hey, Twilight! Catch!"
"Wha- WAAh!!"
Twilight barely caught with her magic a small bag with a note thrown at her by Sweetie Belle who had suddenly appeared behind her as she had been busy reading a book.
She stared at the bag in wonder, and then at Sweetie Belle. "What?"
"Read the note," Sweetie Belle prompted.
Twilight did so and began to read aloud. "Echo Flower Seeds... Flowers that repeat nearby sounds?"
"Yup. They come from the universe where I was. I know that botany isn't really your domain, but you should find them interesting. At worst, I'm sure that you can find somepony else. The note also has the instructions to make them grow."
"Uh, thanks. So, how was this world?" Twilight asked.
"Very interesting. It was a world with humans and monsters, but the monsters were trapped underground by the humans after a war. But the monsters were very nice, so I helped them, freed them, and made sure that another war wouldn't break out between the two peoples."
Twilight nodded. "So, for once, nothing involving fights?"
"Well... There was that little things about the monsters needing seven human SOULs to break the Barrier keeping them trapped, and plot convenience made that I arrived at the same time that a human child fell in the Underground. So I ended up having to protect her from monsters seeking to take her SOUL."
Sweetie Belle then went on to explain about the SOULs and also about Determination before she did a short summary of her adventure with Frisk and of what she did to help the monsters settle at the surface.
Twilight was very fascinated by the powers of the SOULs and Determination. Although SOULs like they were in the other world didn't exist here, Sweetie Belle was still able to demonstrate the SOUL powers she saw with Starlight as the (unwilling) volunteer. The poor mare almost had a heart attack when Sweetie Belle suddenly sent a blue attack at her without warning.
"If you wish to study these powers, you will have to wait. Alphys is working on a portal."
Twilight was disappointed at this but accepted that she had to wait. She could ask Sweetie Belle to open a rift to this other world but she decided to not bother her with this. Sweetie Belle would have to return to this other world with her so she could open another rift for her to return.
Once she was done with Twilight, Sweetie Belle gathered Apple Bloom and Scootaloo to spend the rest of the day with them, recounting her adventure to them and playing with them.
Then...
"Hey! Spring break starts next week! You know what this means?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo gasped, remembering, and they shouted, "VACATION TO THE POKEMON WORLD!!! YAY!!!"
Which gave a good reason to visit Magolor to see how far he had advanced in his study of the Poké Balls, without forgetting that Apple Bloom and Scootaloo needed translators too.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo each drank a glass of water with a nanobot translator.
"Good! Now that it's done, what is your progress on the Poké Balls?" Sweetie Belle asked to Magolor.
"Oh, I made a LOT of progress! I could talk for hours about these little babies and how much their technology is absolutely prodigious!" Magolor said excitedly. "But I guess that you are primarily interested to hear if I was able to do like you asked, and the answer is yes! I found whatever triggered the transformation into data and their transfer into a computer and I was able to produce Poké Balls without it. I have whole boxes full of them in a room for you and your friends.
But this is nothing compared to what we're developing thanks to this technology! Capsules like these Poké Balls to transport heavy charges and even people all over the planet almost instantaneously by transferring their data from computer to computer! Artificial, digital worlds in which we will be able to live! Video games in virtual reality where we will be in the games! It would be possible to use a single ship to transport billions of people and billions of tons of merchandises as data inside the computers in it!"
"Magolor, calm down."
Sweetie Belle had expected Magolor to let his enthusiasm get the better of him, and she did found what he said fascinating, but she wasn't there for that. All that technological development and stuff was better for Twilight. She just wanted infinite access to ALL her Pokémon without having to worry about that limit of six filled balls per person.
"Sorry," Magolor said sheepishly.
"So, we can now understand everything?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yes. You will quickly find out," Magolor asked.
"And you will be able to talk to the Pokémon like me! Our adventure will be even more fun like that!" Sweetie Belle said excitedly.
"We can't wait!" Apple Bloom shouted.
Exploring a whole new world, getting their own Pokémon, participating in that Pokémon League...
Only a few days left and they could start their (hopefully) first great adventure together.
Sweetie Belle had the honor to be among the first ponies present when Celestia and Luna finally activated the Celestial Music Box.
They had finally done it. They had created a magical music box that could play the Sun Song at predetermined times to move the Sun and the Moon.
And it worked.
A couple of days before the beginning of the Spring Break, Celestia had brought Sweetie Belle along with Twilight, Rarity, and the others, as well as Cadance and Shining Armor, to witness the Box.
They could have given it any look, but they decided for an appearance that was both practical for easy transport (just in case) and that showed the importance of the Box. And so, the Box was a simple small music box like any music box that could be found in a house. However, it was made of gold and silver with a lot of gems encrusted, and the front had a special clock. The clock consisted of a dial with a landscape (the top half being the sky, and the bottom half being the ground) with a hand with the Moon at the end of it poking out of a long horizontal hole in the middle, slowly moving to the right. Currently, the hand had almost reached the 'horizon' of the landscape, and the Moon hand was about to disappear in the hole.
Then, when the Moon was about halfway gone, the Box played the Sun Song just as a new hand with a Sun appeared in the left side of the hole and began to traverse the sky of the landscape.
And when the Sun Song was over, the Moon disappeared beyond the horizon, and the Sun took its place.
It was amazing, and historical.
Too bad this Box was a national secret. Nobody could learn about the Sun Song. Only trusted beings like the ones currently present would be able to know about it. The Box will be hidden somewhere and only Celestia, Luna, Cadance, Twilight, and Sweetie Belle will know where.
And Discord, but they didn't need to worry. He could already screw the movements of the celestial bodies just with a thought so this Box won't change anything for him. Fluttershy just had to talk to him to make sure that he won't reveal its existence to anybody.
And all this thanks to her. Sweetie Belle felt proud that she had such a big role in this.
Another good reason to explore other universes.
As for the Song of Storms, the princesses were still talking with the pegasi managing the weather to find a compromise.
Finally, Friday evening came, and with it, the beginning of the Spring Break.
If Sweetie Belle had calculated right, they will be able to spend only two days in the Pokémon World, even a little less, unless she could find Arceus again or Dialga themself to ask them to do that time trick. Then, they would be able to spend as much time in the Pokémon as they would want.
But in the case they did not, then they knew that they probably won't be able to fully participate in the Pokémon League. Getting the eight badges in two days? Impossible. Not only they had to explore the whole region which would already take a long time, they also had to capture and train their Pokémon until they were strong enough to face the Gym Leaders, without forgetting the Elite 4 and the Champion. Sweetie Belle's Pokémon, even after all these weeks, still had a long way to go.
Well, truthfully, Sweetie Belle hadn't spent a lot of time training them. She mainly let them live their life in Ponyville or played with them. They only trained a few hours from time to time.
But at least, it would be a nice beginning. They could at least get one badge, or maybe two. And Sweetie Belle could always transport them to other regions of the Pokémon World to do some tourism.
And she still wanted to have a look at these Z-Moves and Dynamax. And she hoped to find at least a Mega Stone, without forgetting a Key Stone.
The CMC weren't the only ones going to the Pokémon World for the vacation. Rarity and her friends (including Spike) also decided to come, wanting to take the occasion to see this world. So Sweetie Belle first led them to New Halcandra where Magolor gave a translator for each of them. After that, she gathered everypony for a little lesson in being bipedal.
Because, of course, they won't enter the Pokémon World as their pony and dragon-selves. That would be asking for trouble. So she turned them into humans and began to guide them.
Being already a biped, Spike had no problem. He just had to learn to keep his balance without a tail.
Twilight was also okay, having already spent some time as a human in the world behind the mirror, and more than once.
So the lesson was mainly for the others. Pinkie immediately got the gist of it (of course!), soon followed by Fluttershy, and one by one, everypony was able to walk around on two legs.
Once they were done, Sweetie Belle then gave them, with Twilight's help, information about humans in general to ensure that they won't make a fool of themselves in the other world like it happened to Twilight the first time.
And so, they were ready.
And Sweetie Belle opened the rift to the Pokémon World.
They came out of the rift behind a tree a little out of the way of Pallet Town, near the ocean, so nobody saw them.
"Here we are everyone!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed happily as she waved at the world around, at the town not far, at the ocean, at the mountains, at the sky where they could see some avian Pokémon such as Pidgey and Spearow...
It was breathtaking, but in the end, not that different from Equestria beside the fauna.
Sweetie Belle then pointed at professor Oak's laboratory visible not far. "Let's go! Oh, I almost forgot..." Like the first time, she changed the color of her hair and eyes to not be recognized. She didn't need to do the same to the others however.
"Finally!" Scootaloo shouted impatiently. She couldn't wait to get her first Pokémon!
And many of the others had the same thought.
They entered the laboratory, which had not changed since the previous time, and were quickly greeted by the professor himself who had been working while listening to some news in the radio.
"Oh! Hello! Do you all want to get your first Pokémon?"
Sweetie Belle wrapped Apple Bloom and Scootaloo and hugged them to bring the prof's attention to them. "Only these two for now!"
"Oh my! Sweetie Belle? Already back?"
Right. Several weeks passed in Equestia, but it had been barely over one week there.
"Yup! And I present to you my friends: Apple Bloom and Scootaloo! They want a Starter so they could join me in challenging the Pokémon League."
"So you finally want to try your chance?" the prof asked, and he was answered by a nod. "Very well then, I will prepare the three Starters. What about you?" he asked to the others.
"Twilight Sparkle! It's a honor to meet you professor!" Twilight presented herself before she shook the hand of the professor. "And I present to you my friends: Spike, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy."
As Twilight presented them, they each greeted the prof.
"You are all from the... same place, I presume?" Oak asked.
"Yes," Sweetie Belle answered, not sure if Blue had told him about their true nature or if the prof still believed that they were Pokémon disguised as humans coming from some unknown place.
"I'm not personally interested in participating in the League," Twilight informed. "I'm more of a scholar who would like to learn about the Pokémon. I heard from Sweetie Belle that you are the person to go to for this."
"And she is right!" the prof replied proudly. "I'm never against sharing all the knowledge I gathered about the Pokémon to someone else."
"I... wouldn't mind to... learn about them too... If that's alright of course," Fluttershy said hesitantly.
"Like I said, I won't mind," the prof said.
"I want to participate!" Rainbow Dash then almost yelled.
"Me too! Me too!" Pinkie shouted, bouncing in place and waving her arm excitedly.
"If Rainbow does it, then Ah will too," Applejack said with a cocky grin at her rainbow-haired friend. "Ah'll win the League."
Rainbow returned the grin. "This is on! What about you Rarity?"
Rarity shook her head. "I am not interested either. I just want to see the local fashion."
Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Of course."
Prof. Oak nodded. "Very well. This will ask for a second batch of Starters however, so you will have to wait that I get them. I only have one batch at once. I will start with the young ones."
"Yay!" said young ones yelled in joy.
Soon enough, the prof placed three Poké Balls on a table, the same one than last time.
"I'm sure that Sweetie Belle already told you everything, so I will just let you pick your Starter."
Scootaloo didn't even take the time to answer. Already, she was in front of the table, looking at the balls. Apple Bloom, at least, nodded at the prof before following her. She arrived just as Scootaloo picked one of the balls.
"I choose this one! Charmander!" she shouted, proudly showing the Poké Ball to everyone.
"I knew it! You always are a hothead!" Sweetie Belle said with a giggle, earning a small smack from her friend.
"Mah turn. And Ah choose... this one. Bulbasaur," Apple Bloom said as she took the corresponding Poké Ball. "Ah know ya're gonna be the best, partner."
Sweetie Belle giggled again, having guessed right for the second time. "That's good you two. We should go. We don't have much time before we have to return home. Let's start to get, at least, two badges."
"Aw, but I wanted to fight Apple Bloom and her Bulbasaur," Scootaloo complained.
"We have all the time in the world to battle each others, but we only have about two days to get the badges. Beside, your Pokémon only know two moves for now. It will be better to wait for them to have more."
"She's right," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "Let's go."
Scootaloo sighed. "Alright."
Applejack nodded. "Apple Bloom, remain close to Sweetie Belle."
"Ah will!"
"Don't worry, we won't be far behind you!" Rainbow Dash reassured.
"Before you leave, Sweetie Belle, I must tell you that you should go see Blue once you reach Viridian City. He has something for you."
"Alright, thanks!"
At this moment, they heard something from the radio.
«We just received a report that many witnesses from the region of Orre have spotted numerous people wearing the familiar uniform of Team Rocket at several places. However, because of the still unstable political situation of the region following the disappearance of Team Cipher, the investigation of the sightings didn't happen until it was too late. But the investigations did pick up proofs, mainly video recordings from the witnesses, that there were such people. It isn't the first time that we received reports of people saying that they spotted a member or two of Team Rocket a little everywhere in the world, but this is the first time that we have confirmation of their existence. Their logo seems to prove it as it is the infamous R, but this time, rainbow-colored. Already, people worry that a new Team Rocket is rising from the ashes of the first one, and that what happened in Orre was an operation to retrieve something important for whatever they are planning. Many are thinking of Team Cipher's Shadow Pokémon, which the researches may not have been entirely destroyed. The Pokémon League has already been alerted.»
The reporter then proceeded to remind the history of Team Rocket and Team Cipher, focusing a lot on the exploits of Red and Gold who both played a big role in disbanding the first one.
Professor Oak frowned. "So this is confirmed. They're back. As I feared."
"Just our luck," Sweetie Belle said. "And since we don't know where they are, then I can't just go and wipe them out." She gave a shrug. "Oh well, if they get the good idea of showing themselves in front of me, then I will take care of them. But if they got that Shadow Pokémon technology, then this may get bad."
If what the reporter was saying about Team Cipher was true, then Shadow Pokémon were really bad news. And if Team Rocket got their hands on this technology, then...
She shook her head, choosing not to worry about this for now. If Team Rocket decided to act, then she will be there. Or she could count on the Champions and their legendaries to do the cleaning in her place.
"Let's just go, girls. To Viridian City."