//------------------------------// // Ninja Village. Meeting Garnet // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// Kalos Region. Ninja Village. Afternoon. An isolated settlement, nestled within a caldera, making it inconspicuous and perfectly defended from outside forces. Here, ninjas reside and leave in peace within their own home alongside their Pokemon. Its people all train as ninjas to become close to their Pokémon and protect the world. Some aren't ninjas yet but they are training to be. They lived a traditional lifestyle. Much like Johto. Wheelbarrows with hay were being pulled with many of the people and Pokemon were helping to build new structures by holding onto ropes. Needles to say, the five fillies were ecstatic to witness this and Clemont and Bonnie felt nostalgic being here again. Finally setting hoof and foot on the ground, they took a moment to admire the scenery before them. "Now that we're here, do you know what this means? We can learn some ninja tricks here!" Scootaloo gushed, thinking about all the possibilities. "I could use those tricks and have them carry me to the top of the Equestria League!" "I could learn some tricks for my contests!" Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara were thinking about something else. "Hm? Oh hey!" One of the villagers immediately recognized Clemont and Bonnie. "Everyone! Clemont and Bonnie are here! And some new faces too." With that shout, mostly everyone had been alerted. The people and Pokemon of Ninja Village recognized Clemont and Bonnie's faces, greeting them and welcoming them back to the settlement. They also greeted the five fillies with their waves. This would technically be their first time seeing ponies. They didn't think children would be the first time. "Clemont? Bonnie?" And an equally familiar face to the two siblings had spotted them. Right on top of one of the rocky hills in this village was a good friend of Clemont and Bonnie. Jumping down from the hill, the individual made a perfect landing without harming himself. And alongside him was a Greninja. This was, of course, one of the people Ash mentioned to Scootaloo and the others when they were just leaving for their journey. Sanpei. And his Greninja. "Sanpei! Greninja!" Clemont and Bonnie exclaimed. "Good to see you both again! Been a while, huh? Ash and Serena aren't with you this time?" "Oh, no they went their separate ways, like us. Right now Ash is just exploring the world as much as he can." Clemont explained. "And Serena's off doing contests instead of showcases now." Bonnie chimed in. "Oh, would've loved to see him again. Another battle with him would've been satisfying" To Sanpei it would. He's certainly been improving himself as a better ninja alongside his Greninja. Both Ash and Sanpei were definitely close to reaching their prime, that's for sure. And who are these five? Ponies?" Sanpei looked over at the five fillies. "Grenin?" "Oh! Howdy!" Apple Bloom waved as she dragged her friends in with her hooves. "We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders! Plus Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon." "Hello!" Diamond Tiara waved. "We're here to learn how to be ninjas! Or learn ninja tricks!" Scootaloo rushed forward, looking up at Sanpei and Greninja. "Please! We can even put Ash on the Xtransceiver for you if you want!" With high excitement, she took out her Xtransceiver, showing Sanpei and Greninja Ash's Trainer number. "My, you're excited," Sanpei said. "I know how you feel though. I was the same when I was younger. And seeing Ash again right now sounds good. You can definitely train to be a ninja. Anyone can. Some of our people here are even training right now." "Really? Yes!" Scootaloo and the others cheered as the young pegasus immediately tapped on Ash's Trainer Number. The Xtransceiver started to ring, lasting a total of 10 seconds before it had been answered. And there, Ash's face had appeared with a Joltik latching onto his face. "Hey, Scootaloo," Ash spoke. "How's your journey been with everyone?" "Great so far! You'll never guess where we are right now? Ninja Village!" Scootaloo screeched as she showed Ash the view of Ninja Village. "That quick? Not bad." Ash nodded in approval. "Pikachu!" "Oh, Ash!" Sanpei noticed Ash on the screen. "Long time no see! Even though...we're not in the same spot right now." "Hey, Sanpei! Greninja! How are things over at Ninja Village?" "Better than ever. Ippei's proving to be an amazing chief of our village." Sanpei gave a thumbs up. "Were gonna be training to learn Ninja Tricks!" Sweetie Belle slid over. "You should really come here and check it out, Ash!" "Ah, sorry, sorry. I'm helping Fluttershy, Pinkie and Jade out at the Pokemon House right now." Ash scratched his hair. "But man, I wish I got a chance to learn Ninja Tricks when I first went there." "More Pokemon are showing up recently. The house is also getting a few upgrades to better manage every other Pokemon that comes by." Fluttershy showed up on the screen. "But it's nothing we can't handle." Jade also appeared with her monotone face and expression. "The rest of the babies are pretty easy." "Oh, let me see." Pinkie Pie appeared on the screen, shifting her eyes around and getting a glimpse of what Ninja Village looks like. "Oooh. Neat." "Huh??" Ash turned around as he heard some crying in the distance. He then turned to face the screen one last time. "Sorry guys. Gotta go. But I'll catch up with you later! Tell me everything, okay?" "Okay!" The five foals and Bonnie exclaimed. And that was the end of that. Ash hung up as he got back to foalsitting some babies. Clemont and Bonnie couldn't have the chance to speak with Ash as the call was cut short. "Aww..." Bonnie pouted. "We didn't even get to see him again." "It's fine." Clemont chuckled. "Good as ever, Ash." Sanpei nodded. "So. Are you five really ready to know and learn what ninjas are capable of?" "We sure are!" Apple Bloom stood up tall. "W-Well, mostly Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle." "If there's anything we can learn we'll take it no matter what," said Scootaloo. "I want to make it to the top of the Equestria League by any means." "And I want to learn something for my contests so I can enter the Grand Festival and win." Sweetie Belle gave her own motivation and goal. "Same here!" Diamond Tiara raised her hoof. "We're just uh...We're just here for support." Apple Bloom and Silver Spoon said. "But we'll try anything else." "Okay, okay. First, as is tradition, we'll test you out. Scootaloo. You're focused on battling, right?" Sanpei pointed at the pegasus. "Yep," Scootaloo confirmed. "Then, how's a Pokemon battle sound? Your best Pokemon against mine." "I'll take it! Ponyta's my best for sure." "And what about us? What do we get to do?" Sweetie Belle and Diamond Tiara stepped up, asking the ninja. "Well after this, we'll put you all through Ninja Training. There's a course just near the outside of the village that can help you get the basics down. Made by Shinobu herself. Those 100 years of experience that she has really makes the whole thing challenging." "Grenin." "100 years?" Silver Spoon repeated "Yeah. See her over there?" Clemont pointed over at the lady ninja Shinobu who waved back at them. "She looks young but she's actually 100 years old." "Really?!" Silver Spoon and the others gasped whilst pulling back. "We were just as surprised as you all." Bonnie giggled. "The obstacle course is new to Ninja Village. Plus, it's easy to grasp but harder to get through depending on how further you get with it." Sanpei explained. "A nice skill-level gap." Clemont snapped his fingers. "That's what I like to see." "It's not too hard for me, is it?" Bonnie asked. "No. Not the early parts." Sanpei gave his honest answer. Scootaloo then looked around, gazing at the various ninjas here as she felt like she was missing one important thing that she would really love to have. "Hey uh, you don't suppose we could wear ninja suits, Sanpei?" Scootaloo questioned. "Ninja suits? Well..." Sanpei took a moment to examine the individuals before him. Giving them a ninja suit would prove to be troublesome for a few reasons. Some of which was the fact that they were children, they have a four-legged build and stance and there haven't been any ninja suits made for anyone else except for the humans. you won't ever catch a Pokemon wearing one. At least not here. "We'll work on that. Come with me and Greninja." Sanpei and Greninja turned around before heading straight for this training course. The battle between him and Scootaloo was about to take place and very soon, the course that was prepared for the rest of the foals. Ninja Obstacle Course. The obstacle course was where they would have their battle. Just near it. Everything here was made to build and train upcoming ninjas or even help them improve. From how the course was structured, it had a fair skill level. Anyone talented could find difficulty in certain spots while anyone new can find parts easy. And sometimes both. Perfect for all ages. Aside from that, both Scootaloo and Sanpei stood on different sides from each other. Acting as the referee was Clemont whilst Bonnie and the others sat by on the rocks, ready to watch this unfold. "Alright, you two. Ready your Pokemon." Clemont ordered. "Go forth, Greninja!" Sanpei pointed forward. "Greninja!" Rushing past him, Greninja was ready for action. "Okay, Ponyta! Go!" Scootaloo used her wing to grab the Poke Ball, acting all stylish before launching it. Out of the ball came the Fire Horse Pokemon. "Ponyta!" "Ponyta against Greninja? Doesn't that seem a bit too one-sided?" Silver Spoon said. "Yeah, but if she was trained by Ash like you all, then she's gonna last a bit." Bonnie knew that Scootaloo could do something in this. After all, Ash is famous for putting Pokemon that have disadvantages against superior Pokemon and most of the time, he comes out on top with them. "Good luck you two!" "Battle start!" "'Kay, Ponyta! Flame Charge, go-go-go!" "Ta!" Starting first and cloaking itself in flames, Ponyta galloped forward, leaving burn marks on the ground and a trail of fire. "Greninja, use Double Team!" "Gre-nin-nin-nin!" Instantly, Greninja had formed multiple copies of himself that flooded the battlefield in various directions as Ponyta was approaching. "Charge through them all until you find the real one!" "Pony!" Narrowing his eyes, the Fire Horse Pokemon focused on all of the clones aiming to take every single one out until he found the real one. At the same time, each of the Greninja ran, approaching Ponyta. Ponyta ended up charging through the clones, destroying them as they vanished in a cloud of smoke. He zigzagged around, tagging and charging every clone that he came through. But he hadn't found the real Greninja yet. As he destroyed them all, the dust clouds had formed into one big cloud afterwards. "Water Shuriken!" "Gre...nin!" Just then, right from above and passing through the dust cloud was the actual Greninja. He had purposefully used the clones to create a cloud big enough to distract and obscure Ponyta. And making multiple of them was just right for a fairly large one. "Ah!" Scootaloo gasped as she looked up, Greninja formed a shuriken of water in its hand, raising it as he was ready to toss it at full speed. "Ponyta! Ember!" "Ponyta!" Retaliating quickly and thanks to Flame Charge increasing his speed, he was able to unleash multiple sparks of flames from his mouth. The two attacks then collided, blowing up before forming an even larger smoke cloud. "Greninja, use Night Slash!" "Ja!" Moving through the smoke, Greninja had created a purple energy sword in the palm of his hand. He then rolled in the air, slashing down at Ponyta with the purple blade of dark energy. "Nyta!" Ponyta cried out as he was pushed back by Night Slash. His hooves scraped and slid on the ground whilst Greninja held onto the sword still. "Let's stay on offence! Night Slash again!" "Grenin!" Greninja went in for a second Night Slash, zooming through the ground with fast feet as he was ready to swing the blade once more. "Ponyta, Horn Attack, go!" "Pony!" The Fire Horse Pokemon's horn suddenly extended as if it was a Sword of Justice while glowing white. Afterwards, Ponyta then swung his horn towards the Ninja Pokemon. Both Horn Attack and Night Slash had met as they clashed. Ponyta's back hooves left the ground whilst both he and Greninja were pushing their weapons against each other. They both growled but only one of them could break through and emerge victorious over this clash. "Greninja!" And that was Greninja. He just had more forced to give due to his years of experience. He won the clash by pushing Ponyta back and simultaneously slashing his horn with Night Slash. "Pony!" Ponyta once again cried out as he skidded on the ground, almost falling over. "Water Shuriken!" "Ninja!" After using Night Slash, Greninja retracted his purple blade before forming a shuriken out of water. Two of them this time. The Ninja Pokemon then threw both of them at the same time. "Not yet! Ponyta! Let's put those hooves to good use! Jump super high!" "Ponyta!" Ponyta let out a grunt as he used his powerful hooves to leap into the air, evading the two Water Shurikens. He even lunged high to the point where he was moving forward. "Double Kick!" "Pony!" After moving forward, the Fire Horse Pokemon lit his hooves up with an orange energy. Afterwards, he thrust both his hooves downwards, smashing them onto Greninja. "Nin!" One hit and it had dealt super-effective damage to the Ninja Pokemon. The Water-Dark-Type had been knocked back by Ponyta's hoof-dive, rolling on the ground. "Oh yes!" Diamond Tiara and the others cheered. "She finally got a hit in!" "Not bad. But that's going to be the last and only hit you'll ever get! Greninja, Night Slash into Water Shuriken!" "Ninja!" Right after being knocked back, Greninja made a swift recovery. He then made two purple energy blades in his hands, rushing forward for one final attack. "Oh uh...!" Scootaloo was thinking about how to deal with two attacks that were about to be unleashed. "Ponyta! Let's use what Ash taught us! Spin around with Flame Charge!" "Pony! Ponyta!" Utilizing Ash's well-known technique, the Counter Shield. By galloping around on the spot at high speeds, the Fire Horse Pokemon summoned an aura of fire that cloaked him. But this time, with all of his circling, the flames sprouted up, shifting in the shape of a pillar. A flame pillar, similar to the Fire-Type move Eruption. This pillar of fire acted as a shield for him. "Gre...nin!" But to Greninja, that didn't matter. WIth pure power, the Ninja Pokemon ended up cutting the spiralling flame pillar in half with his Night Slash blade, ending the Counter Shield. "Oh!" Scootaloo gasped. "Pony?! "Ninja!" Afterwards, Greninja had then formed Water Shuriken on his hands as he tossed it down whilst being over Ponyta. Unable to counteract in time, Ponyta had been hit by Water Shuriken, resulting in an explosion of dust and water. Greninja then descended before lunging back to his position. As the smoke cleared, unfortunately, Ponyta was on the ground unconscious. "Ponyta..." "Ponyta is unable to battle! Greninja wins! Which means Sanpei is the winner!" "Well done, Greninja," Sanpei said to his partner. "Grenin." "Aww..." Scootaloo pouted before walking over to her partner. "Should've seen that coming either way. Good work, Ponyta." "Ponyta." "Mhm. You've definitely been taught by Ash. A technique like that is something he would use without a doubt. Your effort really shows as well." Sanpei crossed his arms, praising Scootaloo for her effort. "Thanks. But geez, you're too fast to keep up with." Scootaloo grinned whilst helping Ponyta up. "When my Ponyta evolves into a Rapidash, he'll be faster than ever. Right, buddy?" "Ponyta." "Well..." Diamond Tiara hoof off the rocks. "Now that that's done? How about that obstacle course, huh?" "Yeah, yeah!" Bonnie, Silver Spoon, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle nodded their heads aggressively. "Slow down. No need to rush things." Sanpei put his hand out. "But yeah, we'll get to that now. First..." Sanpei's stomach growled. "I need to snack on something. When we get to that course, just choose the Pokemon you want to use. Some are compatible with it. Others...not so much." "Meowstic looks like she can do that." Sweetie Belle pointed out. "That'll be easy for her." "My Purrloin too." Diamond Tiara pointed her hoof at herself. "Same for my Glameow." Silver Spoon chimed in. "Do you all have cats...?" Clemont squinted his eyes. "Is my Emolga allowed? It can glide." Apple Bloom asked. "Sorry. But Emolga will have to use the course without its wings." Sanpei shook his head. "Aww..." Apple Bloom pouted. But she knew she would have to get past this course through hard work alone and not an easy way out. Applejack would approve of that. "What do you think you're gonna do when you learn a ninja trick?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I'm gonna learn how to become invisible in the night. There's some stuff I wanna do but I can't do it late at night which sucks." Scootaloo gave her answer. "I'm gonna...um...What else do ninja's do?" Sweetie Belle tilted her head, thinking of all the possibilities she could do when she learns some ninja tricks eventually and how she can surprise Rarity with it. "There's a lot. But learning them day one isn't that easy and impossible. It takes time to learn what a ninja can really accomplish. I know you're all excited to learn something but it won't be so swift. It might take days or more depending on how well you work." "Yeah...I guess so." Scootaloo nodded with her hoof on her hair, rubbing it. "We were just so eager to learn something because of how cool ninjas sounded." "And Ash-Greninja. That was great to see," said Diamond Tiara. "Wait days? But my contest is up in three days!" Sweetie Belle bit her hoof, shuddering. There were only three days until she could take part in her next contest and win her next ribbon. If training as a ninja would take days upon days, then that would just delay things for her. It almost made her regret coming on the journey a tad bit. "Don't worry. You can always come back here any time to learn." Sanpei chuckled. "No pressure. Now, let's eat!" "Greninja!" Equestria. High beyond the natural skies and clouds. Celestial-Gardevoir had made a stunning discovery. During her search for the fabled Pegalyisum, she came across some fairly interesting views. The first was the sea of clouds. Something truly bizarre and equally as interesting as a nation in the sky. She even found some enjoyment by surfing on it since it mimicked natural water. But more than that, when she went further in these high skies, she came across two things of great notice. One was the fact that there was actual land up here with a cloud waterfall, grass and new flowers Celestia has never seen before. But most importantly, a ship had been docked near this land. That was a sign that someone was here. After a set amount of time and coming across the land, Celestia and Passion had separated from each other, reverting to their normal selves. "It's a fairly large ship too," Celestia said as her hooves touched the grass of this sky land. "Nopony else seems to be inside it looks." "Gardevoir." The Princess and her Pokemon felt the grass below them. It felt like ordinary grass here. Nature had found a way to grow even at a height as high as this. When looking at the ship, they could see that it could carry at least 50 ponies inside of it. It even slightly resembled those aluminium battleships the Empress had in store. Minus the battling part. The two of them noticed how nopony was within the ship as they looked through the windows. Passion even placed her hand on the ship, feeling its cold exterior. She tried using her Psychic abilities to see if there was someone truly in there, but there wasn't. "So, they use these ships to sail across the sea clouds. Amazing. And this whole land has such an assortment of sky platforms." Indeed they did. Aside from the beautiful cloud waterfall and flowers in this rainforest, there were numerous platforms with their own surface of land. The one that Celestia was standing on was a platform on its own. But they were large, they could be considered their own rainforests. The distance between the one Celestia and Passion were on and the others in the background and foreground was ludicrous. Some of them could be seen throughout the clouds as if they were mountainscapes. Celestia then went to view the front of the ship, spotting a symbol on it. This symbol was shaped like wings with a golden circle in the middle, making it clear that this was indeed a ship that belonged to pegasi. The wings just gave it away. After seeing the ship, Celestia and Passion then decided to move onwards. It wasn't a full confirmation that Pegalysium existed, but it was a good sign either way. As they walked through this giant landscape, they noticed how the flowers reacted to their movements, spinning their petals around in sync with their hoof and footsteps. The view of it was nice on the eyes but a bit ominous. Flowers aren't known for doing such a thing. But then again, these are newly discovered flowers. The cloud waterfall continued to flow as it was hard to tell where it was going. Celestia and Passion hadn't seen any clouds pour from above so these cloud waterfall must send the clouds somewhere else in this sky land. "Garde?" Then, Passion's Psychic senses were kicking in. She could sense someone nearby. "What is it, Passion?" "Voir." Passion immediately levitated to where she sensed that presence. Celestia spread her wings out, following her partner. She might've finally found someone else in these high skies. They passed through large blue leaves that seemed to separate for them. These plants all seemed to have sentient consciousness as they paved a way for the alicorn and Embrace Pokemon. Not only that, but they were also singing. Mainly the ones that resembled daisies. They sang a song that matched the situation. Fast-paced. The sound they made sounded like bells that jingle during Christmas or Hearths Warming. Their singing actually made Celestia and Passion speed up, proving to be a fairly effective method. They flew over a pond of normal water instead of cloud water like they've been constantly seeing as they noticed how there weren't any wildlife. At least, they haven't spotted wildlife yet. Eventually, Passion came to a screeching halt as she heard a voice in the distance. And afterwards, Celestia went ahead of her, stopping in place. "Hoh...You should really warn me first, Passion." Celestia sighed. "Did you find some..." Before Celestia could finish her last sentence, where Passion was gazing, her ears followed. With a gradual turn of her head, the Sun Princess and Embrace Pokemon had seen their first major sign of life aside from the sentient plants. As expected, in a place like this, only one race could live here. The pegasi and to an extent the griffons. And just like that, after facing that direction, there was one. A pegasus. They finally found one. "There...a pegasus..." Celestia hushed as she was enamoured. Not just her and Passion, but the pegasus they had come across as well. She froze in place after seeing the pony and Pokemon standing before her. A rush of thoughts went through her mind as she had spoken. "What kind of pegasus are you?" She asked in a melodic voice. Her asking that question made Celestia perk up. From what she just said, it sounded like she's never seen an alicorn before. But that made sense considering the stories of how Pegalysium strayed away from Equestria for centuries. "You...Are you from Pegalysium? "Oh." The pegasus adjusted her body to properly face Celestia. "Yes. My name is Garnet." Confirmation. Now that Pegalysium truly is a place that exists, Celestia and Passion had a lot to remember as they came across their first Pegalysium citizen. Garnet. Aside from that, some fun and maybe difficult ninja training was about to occur over at Ninja Village as the journey continues. Chapter 476 End.