//------------------------------// // The Friendship Games // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The Human World. Canterlot High. Afternoon. The Friendship Games were about to start as the students from Crystal Prep Academy had shown up. Ash, who had just given a Poke Ball demonstration at Crystal Prep, was here to cheer for mainly Twilight but everyone else too. But speaking of Twilight, the locket device she had made found more magic around this school. And this time, the statue wasn't the cause of it. It could be found indoors. Twilight went towards the inside of the school while having the locket as a radar. Along the way, she passed by some faces that were not familiar to her, but her face was familiar to them. "Hi, Twilight." Sweetie Drops greeted, only for Twilight to pass her by through the stairs and enter the school. But it didn't stop there. As soon as she went inside, many of them recognized her face, greeting the student from another school. "Hey, Twilight!" "Hi, Twilight." "Hey, you. Lookin' good." "Um, hi." Twilight finally replied, turning around. "Hey, what's happenin'?" And another came through with more greetings towards her. Twilight was not expecting this at all. She thought she could just find the magic source and head off. And the greetings kept coming. "Really nice to see you." "Twilight, how ya doin'?" "Twilight, yo!" "Hi. Hello. Uh, good." She felt a bit creeped out right now, but she knew that this was most likely the cause of her Equestria counterpart. The one that Ash told her about last month. But it was still so odd for them to blurt out her name. And while she wasn't looking, she ended up bumping into Flash Sentry. They both fell with Flash's guitar case, spinning on the floor. Twilight's glasses also came off as her vision wasn't the best without them. "Twilight?" Flash said before he and Twilight stood up. "I almost didn't recognize you. When did you start wearin' glasses?" "Um, like, since forever." Twilight shrugged, looking for glasses. But Flash picked them up for her. "Oh, so how long are you here for?" He gave her glasses back. "Just for the Friendship Games." Right. Of course. We'll totally win with you here." After placing the glasses back on her, Twilight's locket started flashing. She could see that more magic was present nearby. She needed to get to it. "Uh, I gotta go." In a rush, she made her way towards the direction of the light. Flash missed his chance to speak with her, even if it wasn't the one he knew. "Uh, okay. Bye? Aw." He lowered his head in disappointment, only for Derpy to come along and give him a comforting pat on the shoulder. Meanwhile, Rarity was busy giving her friends the perfect clothing for the Friendship Games. She didn't need to do this, her friends thought, but Rarity would go for it anyway. So far, Rarity had placed them in a plethora of gear, but none of them have stuck with her. The Pokemon were not exempt from this. And it was just the one Pokemon. Sunset Shimmer's Braixen, even though she wasn't participating. But, she could act as a cheerleader. So Rarity ended up giving her said clothing. "Uh, Rarity, these outfits are great, but why would you put so much time and effort into clothes we might not even wear?" Applejack asked as Rarity zipped off. "You're gonna exhaust yourself before the games even start." "Oh, pff. Kch. Fff. Ts! Don't be silly, darling! Putting effort into clothes is what I live for, and spending time on my friends fills me with energy!" Rarity enthused as the magic within started radiating. Everyone watched as her body glowed brightly. A pony ear appeared as her mane also elongated. Much like Rainbow Dash, she could utilize this without having to do anything extra like before. Everyone had reactions that had them amazed as the room had been lit up. She even ascended. "And magic, too, I guess," said Sunset as Braixen nodded her head in agreement. "Braixen." Braixen was feeling Rarity's enthusiasm much like everyone else in the room. So much so that she twirled her stick around, generating fire from this dazzling light. And after Rarity gave off that light plus Braixen's fire twirl, Twilight followed the source of the magic straight to that dressing room. The locket was spiking up after Rarity used magic in that instance. Twilight then decided to try something new. She had opened the locket as it had acted similarly to the Magic Siphoning Jar. It started pulling the magic straight through the door where Rarity was standing next to. But this had also absorbed the magic from Braixen a bit as well. The magic was ripped from her body and also from Braixen's stick. It didn't seem to affect her as it did for Rarity. After having her magic taken away, Rarity felt drained as she descended to the floor, holding her head. "Actually, Applejack, now that you mention it, I suppose I could use a tiny break." She said out of breath as the pony ear disappeared, bringing her normal ear back. Rarity almost fainted on the floor until Applejack caught her. "I told you." Applejack said. Meanwhile, on the outside, Ash and Pikachu had encountered Twilight after walking through the hallways. Twilight closed her locket before placing it back in her pocket. "Twilight. Are you going ahead like me?" He said, walking up to her. I thought you would be in the line." "Pikachu." "Sorry, Ash. Strayed away from my group." She chuckled nervously. "But um...I'm getting the creeps here. Everyone's saying my name like they know me. I know it's because of my other self but it's so weird." "Yeah, that does sound pretty weird, huh." He patted her on the back. "Just don't think about it too much and focus on those games. Might even buff out when Equestria's Twilight shows up. Or wait...is that just gonna make things complicated?" "I'm pretty sure no one will be confused by two of us. Hopefully." Twilight nudged Ash. Their conversation had been heard through the door to the dressing room, prompting Fluttershy to open it, recognizing the two voices. That wasn't the only recognition here. Principal Celestia, who was with Principal Cinch, had also spotted the familiar faces ahead. "Twilight! Ash! Pikachu!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she and the others poked their head through the door. Meeting with their friends. Well, two of them were their actual friends. One was a counterpart. "Heya." Ash waved at them. "Good to see you guys again." "Pikachu!" "Good to see you too, Ash. But, Twilight, shoulda told us you were comin'," said Applejack. "Um, actually I'm-" Twilight wanted to explain herself and break the confusion. Plus, it would make the whole 'knowing her' shtick fade away instantly. "From our world?" But Pinkie Pie was the one to instantly answer her, throwing Twilight off course. It wouldn't be the first time that Pinkie Pie has predicted what a Twilight was going to say. "H-How did you know?" Twilight stuttered. "Just a hunch." But Pinkie shrugged it off without thinking about it too much. "Is that what it is? I was going to say. Those glasses look too severe for you, darling." Rarity shook her head. "And you're wearing..." Rainbow Dash and the others observed her uniform for a moment. "Crystal Prep uniforms!" "Twilight Sparkle." Finally appearing on the scene was Principal Cinch with Celestia. "Shouldn't you be in line with your students right about now?" "Principal Cinch. Um, sorry about that." Twilight apologized before facing her principal. "Apologies if my prized student has caused any trouble, Celestia. But I don't see anything out of the ordinary here, so I can safely put that to rest." Cinch said. "Your Student?" Celestia then paused for a moment, thinking that this Twilight was the one she's seen before. "Come along, Twilight. Ash, you are a free soul at this rate." Twilight then went along with Cinch, returning to the line. Ash was indeed a free soul in all of this, not bound to any school. "Oh. I didn't know Twilight had a twin sister." Celestia didn't have any context about the scenario at the moment. But that was about to change. "She doesn't!" Pinkie slid in to give context. "That Twilight is obviously the Twilight from this world since it couldn't possibly be the Twilight from the pony world since the Twilight from the pony world doesn't go to Crystal Prep or wear glasses." "Nevermind." Celestia would've preferred for it to be in the dark. At this rate, she's gotten used to all the bizarre things that happen around her school. It's become the norm so far. "Uh, Ash." Rainbow Dash went over to Ash. "Please don't tell you've been to Crystal Prep, have you?" "Sure have." He proudly admitted to it. "I got done giving them all a Poke Ball demonstration back there. And I'm gonna help cheer them on in the Friendship Games today. I mean, I got them psyched and everything too." "You're cheering them on?" Rarity uttered with a displeased tone. "And you psyched them up?" Rainbow Dash pulled back. "I just psyched everyone up for this year's Friendship Games so we can beat them!" "I gonna cheer for you guys too ya know. You're my friends." Ash shrugged. "Pikachu." Seriously?" Rainbow Dash groaned as the rivalry between the two schools was still potent, filling the atmosphere. Most of them weren't too fond or happy about Ash encouraging the school that had humiliated them over and over again. They don't usually feel disappointed with their friends. But their school rivalry ended up causing that disappointment, unfortunately. The only ones not by this were Sunset and Braixen since they were new to the school as well. "But why cheer for them?" Rarity said under breath with disappointment. "I mean...it's okay if you want to cheer for them." So did Fluttershy, but quieter with some kindness sprinkled in. "Uh...Is that a bad thing?" But Ash was out of the loop with both him and Pikachu scratching their hair. "Nevermind it, Ash. It's just a rivalry thing." Sunset went up to him. "I'm new to it too as well." "Oh!" Rainbow Dash gasped. "If they're all pumped, then we gotta do something to pump ourselves up some more! But I already did that song and everything...! Ash! You gotta give us a pep talk too!" Rainbow Dash ran over, holding Ash. "Right now?" Ash questioned whilst being shaken by Rainbow Dash. "I thought you already gave everyone a pep talk or...pep song I guess." "Yeah, but we can't have Crystal Prep be more prepared than us. They beat us every year, ya know. This could be the one time where that could all change." Rainbow Dash raised a finger. "So come on. Just one?" "You've given them a pep talk of your own, Rainbow Dash." Ash held her shoulder. "You've got everyone ready to try and win this, don't you?" "I guess so..." Rainbow Dash nodded. "I get losing a bunch to them can be harsh. Believe me. But don't get too beat-down even if I'm cheering for Crystal Prep too. I've got a friend I wanna see do well. And I wanna see you guys and everyone at the Friendship Games do their best too. You're my friends too. You've readied yourself to finally win this, so use that same energy you gave to everyone else to show them what you can do. Huh, would ya look at that? I did give a pep talk in the end, didn't I?" "Pika-Pikachu." Pikachu laughed with Ash. "I hear ya, Ash." Rainbow Dash slapped her face to get into the spirit of things. "Keep that same energy. Keep that same energy." She repeated the same words to try and maintain herself. And it worked like a charm. "Great. Pikachu and I'll be rooting for you all. We're gonna grab something to eat in the meanwhile!" Ash and Pikachu departed finally, giving the other school a boost in confidence. "Good luck! We'll have a battle after the games, Rainbow Dash!" "Pikachu!" Their voices faded into the background. "Still, I can't believe our world's Twilight goes to Crystal Prep!" Rarity said with disbelief. "You're saying that Twilight's gonna play against us? She'd never do that!" Rainbow Dash denied that possibility. "Our Twilight wouldn't." Fluttershy referred to the Equestria Counterpart. "Our Twilight is a princess in Equestria and an expert in friendship magic!" Sunset exclaimed. "And if she was here, we'd have already figured out why magic is randomly popping up during pep rallies and costume changes." She was clearly a bit agitated right now. She looked at her friends after her frustration showed itself. She took a deep breath afterwards. "Sorry. I'm just frustrated that I haven't heard back from her." "She's a princess in Equestria. Probably got problems of her own to deal with." Applejack aforesaid. "We certainly can't expect her to drop everything and pop through the portal whenever." Rarity delivered her words. "Especially if it's to deal with something as minor as a few random pony-ups." "But they aren't minor! Magic came into this world when I stole Twilight's crown. It's taken a lot for me to earn everyone's trust. If we have to forfeit the games because I can't think of a way to keep it under control..." Sunset crossed her arms, starting to doubt herself. She leaned herself on a locker to try and calm herself down. "Oh, Sunset, I'm sure you'll be able to figure things out," Fluttershy reassured. "You're the one who helped us understand what was goin' on with the sirens. Remember?" And Applejack added to this reassurance. Despite this school rivalry, they put their friends' feelings before anything else. "I guess. But Twilight was the one who really figured out what we needed to defeat them." However, Sunset was straying away from a brighter outlook, despite the solace that her friends tried to give her. But don't you remember, darling? What we needed to defeat them was you." But Rarity knew how to get her back into high sports. With just the right words. And it was super-effective as a smile graced Sunset's face. "All right." She accepted it at last. "Come on, guys!" Rainbow Dash walked ahead, leading her group of friends. "Let's see if we can find any info about the events and come up with a strategy. Gotta stick to Ash's words and keep that same energy we all got from my song. You comin', Sunset?" "I'll... catch up with you guys in a bit." But once again, Sunset Shimmer would stay behind to collect herself. Meanwhile on the outside, Twilight was about to reunite with her group with Cinch leading the way. However, Twilight still felt like apologising and bringing up one key factor as to why she strayed away from her group. "I'm sorry, Principal Cinch." Another apology was given out from Twilight to her principal. She then took out the locket she had made. "I was just following these strange readings. Actually, they led me to those girls and— "Twilight." But Cinch stopped her before she could ramble on. "What you do in your free time is of little interest to me, but while you're here, I and all of Crystal Prep, in fact, require your complete focus. I can trust you to achieve that. Your focus is impressive after all." "I won't lose focus. Not at all." And Twilight made a statement with that, promising to her principal. Cinch had good faith in Twilight. Her top student after all. Twilight was free to venture wherever she wanted as long as it involved the magic that Cinch was curious about. And she did just that. Twilight's attention was thrown back at the statue which held a portal to another world. Twilight was curious as to how much magic she could get from this. Perhaps an abundance if she really tried. She placed her bag down as Zorua and Spike poked their heads out. "Stay right here you two." At the same time, Sunset Shimmer had exited the school, gazing at her book. No reply from the other side yet. "Still no reply." She said whilst also gazing at the statue. Twilight's locket went off, focusing on the statue. She advanced towards the front of the statue while Sunset went to the back. The two of them had yet to realize each other. "Maybe I could pay her a quick visit before the games start." Sunset was planning to pass through just to meet her friend for help. But as soon as she touched the statue, the insignia of her Cutie Mark pulsated before grabbing her hand, forcing Sunset Shimmer to be stuck as energy was flowing out. "Hey, let go!" She tried pushing herself off, but that only made her other arm stuck as well. Now she was trapped. And the reason for this was that Twilight's locket device was interacting with the statue at the same time, stripping the magical properties away from it. Just like what Ghetsis had done during the body swap. "Xien?!" Braixen instantly noticed what the cause of this was as she looked to the side, spotting Twilight and her locket. "Braixen!" Twilight quickly closed her locket, absorbing the magic taken from the portal as both she and Sunset fell on their backs. Braixen ran to Sunset's side while Zorua poked her head out of Twilight's bag. "Twilight!" Zorua cried out, wanting to get to Twilight's side. But she soon saw multiple people nearby as she was too timid to move. The only movement she made was hiding back in the bag so that no one would see her. "Braixen!" Braixen helped Sunset up from the ground, asking if she was okay. "Brai?" "I-I'm fine, Braixen." Sunset groaned before facing the portal. She wondered why it had acted so viciously all of a sudden. But she soon noticed how Twilight also got up, witnessing sparks of magic from the locket. "What did you do?!" "Twilight, you have to check in with the others." But arriving at the scene to grab Twilight was Cadence. The games were about to begin after all. Twilight couldn't waste any time as she ran off, grabbing her bag in the process. Sunset wanted to chase after her for answers, but she wondered what became of the portal after that interaction. Curious, Sunset Shimmer touched the portal once more. But nothing happened. No pulses, no showing of Cutie Marks or any form of magic. Nothing. She gasped before continuously touching the portal to try and get something from it. "Where's the portal? Where's the portal?!" In the gymnasium. In the gymnasium, the synergy and atmosphere were poor. Canterlot High and Crystal Prep students do not like each other in the slightest. Even with a banner saying Welcome Crystal Prep and a plethora of decorations, nothing was cheery about any of this. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat were looking right at Flash Sentry, Sweetie Drops and Lyra. The trio made a smile to be as friendly as they could be as Sour Sweet smiled back. But, due to her name, this quickly switched to her crushing a cup of juice, slamming it on the floor and stepping on it. That was Sour Sweet's way of saying that her school was going to crush Canterlot High. "What do ya mean the portal's gone?" Meanwhile, Applejack and the others were making their way to the gymnasium in outfits as she asked Sunset a question. "I mean it's gone. It's closed. It's not there anymore!" Sunset exclaimed before entering the gymnasium. "Braixen and I saw what happened. The other Twilight did something. I-I don't know what but it messed with the portal the same way Ghetsis did during that whole body swap fiasco." And speaking of Twilight, she was currently on the other side of the gymnasium, ready to enter. But there was one issue. Zorua's fear of others. Twilight hadn't entered yet as the door was half-open. But Sunset and the others spotted her. "What in tarnation is she up to?" Applejack wondered. "Leave this to me." Sunset would personally go up to her, wanting answers about that previous interaction. "I can't go in...!" Zorua uttered, whimpering as she hid her whole body in the bag. "Zorua. I can't advance further if you don't make an effort. Plus I also can't leave you alone, remember?" "Can't I just stay somewhere else?" She asked, staying close to Spike. "With you there? Just us?" "I can't do that. I have to be at the Friendship Games." Twilight sighed before coming to the most simple conclusion. "Ah! I still have your Poke Ball. You can stay in there." "Mmmrrrgh..." Zorua grumbled. "Please don't tell me you're not a fan of the Poke Ball either?" Twilight groaned as Zorua nodded in confirmation. Her predicament was the same as Pikachu and his Poke Ball. Both did not want to stay inside them. That was one major thing they shared in common. "Okay...How about-" "Twilight, what have you been up to?" Sunset cut her off, startling Twilight. Twilight squeaked as Zorua closed the bag herself without Twilight having to do it. "Me? Oh, I was just, uh—" Twilight couldn't finish her sentence. "Who wants to know?!" Entering the scene was Indigo Zap who already had some aggression to bring to the table, pointing at Sunset Shimmer. "Um, we do." And this wasn't helped with Rainbow Dash getting Indigo's face. Soon both Rainbow and Indigo got in each other's faces, butting heads. Alright, everyone. Let's not get too competitive before the games even start." Applejack split them up before things could get heated. Unfortunately, due to the atmosphere, the split-up did not matter as Sugarcoat had something to say as well. "The games aren't really competitive since we've never lost." Honest as always, Sugarcoat was. "That's not a very nice thing to say," Fluttershy said under her breath. "Sorry, dearie, but these games aren't about being nice." Another contender by the name of Sunny Flare taunted. "Pssh. It's no big deal anyway." Rainbow Dash shrugged it off. "At least I...or we've got something you don't." To show off, Rainbow Dash held out her Poke Ball. Within it, Staraptor was resting. "How's that?" "Oh. Hate to break it to you but..." But as a perfect counter, Indigo Zap showed off her POke Ball too. "A few of us have our own catches. "Not so special, are ya?" "Grr...!" Rainbow Dash growled as this was the one thing she was hoping to beat Crystal Prep at. "And we're gonna do more than just win this one. We're gonna dominate." Indigo juggled her Poke Ball. "Ash gave us one huge pep talk. And it was awesome. I'd say this Friendship Game is gonna last a few minutes." "Fine then!" Rainbow Dash stepped back before holding her Poke Ball out. "Bet you don't know how to Pokemon Battle." "Huh?" Indigo uttered with her eyes squinting. "Aha! Gotcha there. Ash didn't teach you that." Rainbow Dash chuckled. "So what? Pokemon aren't even allowed in the Friendship Games." Indigo scoffed, crossing her arms afterwards. "At least not yet..." "Guess we beat you there, didn't we?" Rainbow was prideful in this one sole achievement. "I didn't even need Ash to learn that since he passed that knowledge to Sunset Shimmer." "You're only better at her at one thing and worse at everything else." But Sugarcoat rained on her parade, shutting Rainbow Dash's confidence down. "Yeah, well don't get cocky that Ash popped ya'll up," said Applejack. "We've our own pep talker right here." She then patted Rainbow Dash on the back. "Why? Jealous your friend's not on your side but ours?" Sunny Flare snickered. Twilight backed away, not wanting to get caught up in the overflowing animosity in this area. Zorua was shuddering inside of the bag, hearing the arguments. As Twilight backed up, she bumped into Pinkie Pie who was casually standing around. "Ah!" She gasped before facing the pink-coloured human. "Pinkie? No wait...you're the Pinkie of this world." "You betcha!" Pinkie nodded before holding her hand out. She was kind enough to give a handshake despite the rivalry between both schools. It was mostly due to how this Twilight reminded her of Equestria's Twilight. Twilight accepted the handshake. "Nice to meet you." Twilight greeted as Pinkie Pie rapidly shook her hand. Twilight's glasses fell off as her hair had been let down from Pinkie's hyperactive handshake. "This is like our first meeting! With us, not our other selves! Get what I mean?" "R-Right. I do." Twilight stammered, putting her glasses back on and tying her hair back in its usual ponytail style. "Sorry if I caused any confusion." "No prob! What's that?" Then, Pinkie was curious about the locket in Twilight's possession. It's sort of a spectrometer. I built it to track EM frequencies, but it can also contain anomalies." But despite what Twilight said, Pinkie was out of the zone, unable to understand or reply. "It measures things." Twilight simplified it. "Like the party?" "Yeah, though it doesn't look like much of a party to me." Twilight proved this due to the negative friction exuding within this gymnasium. Some were even asleep, bored of this overall. "I know. Something is definitely missing. Come on! A friend of Ash is a friend of mine!" Pinkie then grabbed Twilight's arm. Dragging her along for the fun. "Hello, everyone! I'd like to take this opportunity to greet all of our visitors from Crystal Prep Academy and welcome them to CHS." Celestia greeted them all, but there was little enthusiasm here. And that enthusiasm came from Pinkie Pie. Speaking of Pinkie, she had convinced Twilight to bring over two massive boxes that were larger than any gift box should be. And heavier too as they were both pushing them. "What in the world is in these?" Twilight grunted. "Party cannons, of course!" shouted Pinkie. "And lastly, I would like to recognize the twelve students that CHS has elected to compete. I don't think we could have chosen a better group to represent the excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship the games stand for." Celestia then looked at the 12 contenders. The Main 6 were a part of that group, but they didn't look too happy right about now. As for Pinkie, only she knew how to bring life to this lifeless party. She swapped the mediocre food with some sweet and excellent food that only she could make. She then turned off the lights, causing the disco ball above to activate. And as for the final touch, she appeared next to Vinyl, giving her a CD to play. Vinyl gladly accepted it as she placed the CD into the player of her booth. Music started playing, one that could get everyone into the mood. And it certainly did as some feet were slowly tapping and swaying, heads were bobbing and a better commotion filled the atmosphere. Soon, both Canterlot High and Crystal Prep got into the mood of things. They even started talking to each other. But Pinkie had something left. The cannons. She flipped the boxes off, revealing two of them. "Um, are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight asked, unsure about the usage of cannons indoors. "Absolutely!" Pinkie blasted both cannons, shooting out high amounts of confetti that flooded the area. Now it truly felt like a party with confetti flying everywhere, mixing well with the music. Twilight was amazed at how easily Pinkie managed to liven the place and reduce the animosity between both schools. Even if frequent. Coupled with Ash's advice on having both schools try their best, win or lose, it helped greatly to loosen tension and build something new. Some of them even felt the spirit to bring out their Pokemon as well. Not all of them had Pokemon. A majority of them only had at least one. Around 16 Pokemon were now within the gymnasium. After such an easy way to make things better, Pinkie Pie's magic started radiating as well. Her body glowed pink as she gained ears, longer hair and the ability to float. "Ooh, floaty!" But just like with Rarity, the locket started reacting. And it did it automatically as always. It instantly aimed itself in Pinkie's direction, almost pulling Twilight away. Twilight gasped as the locket opened by itself. It started absorbing magic from Pinkie Pie and the Pokemon as Twilight tried closing it. Pinkie felt drained after that. She descended, losing her glow in the process. "Aw! Oh... I am party pooped." She said before leaning against the wall, drained. And unlike Braixen, whose magic was taken from her staff, the Pokemon had their magic taken from their bodies. They didn't feel as drained as Pinkie Pie due to the amazing Infinity Energy, but they still felt something off about them. The magic within the locket formed into a small orb with crackles. Twilight looked at the orb, never seeing this happen to the locket before, even though it was new. The locket then sent a white wisp that flew in-between the gap of the seats. Equestrian Magic had been let loose. And speaking of Equestria, Twilight looked through the gap where the wisp went. A flash of light occurred as the magic had opened up a portal to Equestria. Twilight was agape as she saw a dark green forest through the portal. And in the forest was a Trevenant. "Tre?" Trevenant turned to face Twilight with glowing red eyes. Twilight gasped as the Elder Tree Pokemon walked over to try and grab Twilight. "Trevenant!" "!" Twilight pulled back before closing the locket. Right on time as the portal had been shut off as well. Trevenant did not pass through thankfully. Twilight was now taken aback. This device she made was stronger than she expected. But what surprised her was what it had done. The device was not made to create portals. Not at all. Twilight looked around to see that no one had witnessed his magical occurrence that almost led to trouble. But as everyone partied, along came Abacus Cinch to put an end to it, tapping the microphone. Strong feedback came through, harming everyone's ears. The lights were also turned back off, killing the mood entirely along with the disco ball and music. "I'd like to thank Principal Celestia for her unconventional welcome," said Cinch. "It's been four years since the last Friendship Games, but it feels as though nothing has changed. Canterlot High continues to pick its competitors in a popularity contest and Crystal Prep continues to field its top twelve students. It is a comfort to know that even after so many years of losses, your school remains committed to its ideals, however misguided they may be. I wish you all the best of luck, regardless of the inevitable outcome." And just like that, the atmosphere and mood had been turned sour thanks to Cinch's slightly condescending speech. Celestia and Luna were not amused after she brought up Canterlot High's constant losses over the years. "Aw..." Pinkie pouted after her plan had been foiled. "I'm sorry, Pinkie. I thought your party additions were really swell." Applejack said. "They definitely broke the ice." Fluttershy chimed in. Yes. If only that Principal Cinch hadn't frozen it again." Rarity scoffed at the principal. "Yeah, she's awful." Pinkie groaned. "Wow, Pinkie. What happened to you?" Sunset was the only one who noticed how drained she looked from her baggy eyes and ruffled hair. "I don't know. Everyone started having fun after Twilight and I fired the party cannons and I ponied up." "Of course you did." Once more this phenomenon had occurred without musical instruments. "But then the magic just drained right out of me." "Wait, what do you mean "drained out of you?" Sunset corrected her. "Not just you. Take a look." Rainbow Dash grabbed their attention, pointing over at the Pokemon who had been affected. They felt a bit woozy, not having their energetic selves radiate. And that was a shame. Considering they were first-stage Pokemon, relatively small and weak, this magic drain was effective on them. "Xien. Braixen." Braixen nudged Sunset as she showed her the result of this drain. Braixen raised her wand, trying to use Psybeam. However, nothing happened. No Psychic energy emerged from her wand. Even when she tried using Fire Spin, thrusting her wand forward, there was no outcome. "Braixen, your wand. What happened?" Sunset asked. "Braix. Braixen." Braixen then explained how it had been drained, much like the Pokemon here. Not everyone understood her. Only Fluttershy. "Oh! Your wand was drained like Pinkie Pie and the Pokemon?" She translated. "Braixen." "So it's the Pokemon as well." Sunset kneeled as she held Braixen's stick. "And you have a good idea on how this is happening, right Braixen?" "Brai." Indeed she did. She was the first and only one to see Twilight draining the magic from the portal. "Now what? What happens if a Pokemon loses its magic? Is something bad gonna happen to them?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Oh, it's fine. Pokemon can actually regenerate their energy, no problem. Magic or not. That's why their main source of energy is called Infinity Energy." Sunset explained. "Braixen will be back to her absolute best in no time." "Braixen!" Finally, after minutes of waiting, the Friendship games could begin. The whole school was giving a message through the P.A. Luna's voice came through it, alerting those who were or weren't taking part in this. "Good morning, students. I'm sure you're all thrilled to start the first day of the Friendship Games. Our competitors will face off in every aspect of the CHS curriculum, culminating in the elimination equation finale." Welcome to the first event, the Academic Decathlon!" Cadence would be monitoring and announcing things from here on. The competitors were all in their separate groups. "You'll be scored on chemistry, home-ec and everything in between. But remember, only the six students from each team with the most points will move on to event number 2. Good luck!" The first event had begun. A test of intellect. Not too extreme in the physical sense but still extreme in the mental sense. Surprisingly, all of them were skilled in chemistry, knowing a thing or two about them. Almost all, Derpy's work tends to blow up in her face. They all successfully made their own liquid solutions, placing them in flasks. Due to Derpy's flask blowing up, Crystal Prep succeeded in the first event. Next was home-ec, a topic that Pinkie Pie could excel at without issue. But equal in her skill was this world's counterpart of Suri Polimare. Everyone else had made their specialized cakes, but they paled in comparison to Pinkie and Suri's. Celestia, Luna and Cadence would try out the cake made by Suri and her partner. Secretly, this was Celestia's favourite event that she always looked forward to. So much so that she did not care if Canterlot High win or lose, as long as she gets to eat cake. The trio tried out the Shadowbolts cake, enjoying it thoroughly. But that was soon outdone by Pinkie Pie who cut her tall cake in half. She had made artwork of a certain famous woman from long ago. The trio were amazed by the sight of this cake as they dropped their pens away from their clipboard. It was clear who won this won. Cinch was not happy about this loss. Next up was some D&T. AKA Design and Technology. The main goal was to make some birdhouses. Everyone made appealing birdhouses for the eyes that were honestly very basic. But the Shadowbolts ended up having the superior one with way more design and length added to it. Not too impressive, but much better than what everyone else had to offer. Then following that was a spelling bee. And unfortunately, a majority of them lacked the skill to flawlessly succeed in this. The words they were given were something they don't usually say or see. They were alienated by these words. But two of them could flawlessly do this. Those two were Fluttershy and Twilight. And the next one was between Twilight and Sunset. Sunset wasn't too happy with what Twilight had done so far, draining the magic from her friends and everything. Math was their event to tackle. Too complicated for many eyes. Especially Ash. He and Pikachu tried keeping up with all of the numbers on the chalkboard and how fast they were both writing. He felt dazed by this. Counterpart or not, Twilight was also a genius capable of matching Sunset's intellect. Which made him wonder about the Sunset Shimmer he saw that exists in this world. "Incorrect!" Cinch suddenly exclaimed as she was monitoring this event, pointing at Sunset. Sunset lowered her head in disappointment and defeat. The first event of mental skill had come to a close. Everyone was being judged with Luna giving out the announcements. "That means the winner of the Friendship Games' first event is Twilight Sparkle and Crystal Prep!" She announced. Twilight was happy about that, so was Crystal Prep. However, the final first event was so dull that a majority of the applause were slow as well. "That was awesome!" Rainbow Dash ran up to Sunset, hugging her. Her friends were proud of her intellect. "Truly amazing!" Rarity praised her. "But we didn't win!" Sunset wasn't sure why they were so ecstatic about this. "That was as close to winnin' as Canterlot's ever been," said Applejack. Indeed, thanks to Sunset being as smart as Twilight, they came very close. However, this was also Twilight's first time participating in the Friendship Games, so that spoke volumes. "After a careful tally of the points, we'd like to present the students moving on to the Friendship Games' second event," Cadence announced. This was the one everyone was looking forward to since it was the most exciting. Cinch knew of the second event as she was least interested in it. So, she decided to do something quickly while that event occurs as she walked up to Celestia. "Excuse me for a moment. You undergo the second event. I'll be a bit occupied at the moment." "Hm? Well, okay then. We can wait." Celestia nodded. "Do whatever you need to do. But you might miss out on an upset." Celestia winked as Cinch gave an unimpressed gaze. Which was essentially the standard emotion she's always seen with. "I highly doubt that." Cinch went up to one last person. Ash. She had something to tell Ash. "Ash. It seems that I myself am in need of some spare teaching. How about we take the time to do something else. Like, say...catch a Pokemon?" "Right now? But the second event is about to start." Ash replied. "Pika." "Not for a few minutes. We might miss out on the first 10 minutes of it but the entire thing. I trust you can make this quick and efficient." "Hmm...Okay. I can do that." Ash stood up. "I know a place that's pretty close with some Pokemon here and there. It's the forest around this area." "That will do nicely." "Ash! Did you see that?!" Rushing up to Ash, Pikachu and Cinch were Twilight as this was the most excited she's been when doing math. This was because her friends were there to watch her. "Yep. Awesome stuff! I didn't get what was going on though." He and Pikachu laughed. "Pikachu." "Thanks. I-" Twilight's words were cut off when her locket started acting up. More magic was being felt somewhere else. "I'm sorry. Excuse me for a moment." She soon left to see what the origin of this one was. Out in the forest. The forest. The same forest where Ash and Twilight first met via an attack by a Seviper. This was where Ash and Cinch had appeared as Cinch aimed to catch a Pokemon in the meanwhile. She was only doing this since the second event was not that interesting to her. "So. See anything that catches your eye?" Ash asked. "I'll find one that interests me. Hopefully, nothing Canis related." Cinch took out her Poke Ball. She had chosen a Quick Ball for an efficient and instant catch. "Perhaps two." She also had a second Poke Ball with her. A Great Ball. Cinch observed the area to see which Pokemon interested her. Due to the shift into winter, the atmosphere was cold. Which meant that different Pokemon would show up. But it wasn't too cold. Cinch had then spotted the first Pokemon she would like to try and catch. A Honchkrow, sitting on a tree. "That one." She pointed over at the Big Boss Pokemon. "Honchkrow? Nice pick!" Ash enthused. "Pikachu!" "What was that you said back at the academy? Our own style, right?" "Yep. Something like that. Throw it however you want it. Just really put some effort and muscle behind it!" Ash spun his arm around. "That I can do." Cinch held out the Quick Ball, aiming it at the Dark-Flying-Type. She made sure to make this catch secretive and efficient. With some time to gaze at Honchkrow, she threw the Quick Ball. It spun around at an upwards diagonal angle moving at impressive speeds, faster than what Honchkrow could react to. "Honch?" Honchkrow had just turned around but it was too late. The ball had struck the Big Boss Pokemon, pulling it in. The Quick Ball dropped to the ground after bouncing on the tree. Now for the sake. 1...2...3...Gotcha! Honchkrow was caught. "Alright!" Ash and Pikachu cheered with a quick jump. "Nice catch, Cinch!" He patted Cinch on the back, almost making her fall over. Abacus Cinch was a bit fragile as her glasses were also almost knocked off as well. "Thank you," Cinch said, standing upright and adjusting her glasses. She then went over, picking up the Quick Ball and her newly caught Pokemon within it. "That wasn't so difficult. But then again, this Poke Ball is made for a one-time-usage, isn't it?" "Yep. So, feeling lucky for a second one?" "One more wouldn't hurt." Cinch would take one last Pokemon with the Great Ball she had. That would mean heading deeper into the forest. One more and it was back to the Friendship Games. Canterlot High. Twilight went outside to see where the magic was coming from. But nothing so far. She then hid behind a pillar after spotting Sunset and her friends. She didn't want to attract any attention. However, as Sunset and the others walked off, Fluttershy could be seen on her lonesome. She sat down, pacing her bag out as both her Twilight shared one thing in common. They both carried animals in their bags. Specifically, Fluttershy had a cat in her bag that she nuzzled after opening it. However, Twilight was a step further with a Pokemon in her bag. Seeing Fluttershy do this made Twilight compelled to go over. But not before hiding in a bush. She made sounds in the bush before poking her head out. "Do you wanna give her a treat?" Fluttershy asked after spotting Twilight. "Treat?!" Popping out of Twilight's bag by herself was Zorua as she was attracted to anything involving food. But after seeing Fluttershy, she hid her head. "Mmm!" Spike wasn't shy at all as his head poked out too. "Did that Pokemon just talk?" Fluttershy asked. "Yeah. That's just Zorua's Telepathy." Twilight put aside her curiosity of magic for this one small moment. She also sat down with Fluttershy, putting her bag down. "Guess I'm not the only one to smuggle her pet into school. Not sure about Pokemon though." "I have a Pokemon. All the way home. She's a bit too big to fit in my bag." Fluttershy giggled, referring to Audino. More animals emerged from her bag along with a few Pokemon. Mainly the smaller ones as they could all fit in. Fluttershy specifically altered her bag to make it bigger for both Pokemon and animals. "So, your dog's name is Spike, right? Does he talk?" "Um, not that I know of." "Congratulations on winning, by the way." Fluttershy rubbed Spike's stomach. "Though, it didn't seem like anyone on your team was very excited about it." "No one at my school gets excited about anything they didn't do themselves." Twilight held her arm with a frown. "That sounds awful." Fluttershy looked around before picking up a Skitty. One of the Pokemon in her bag. She then brought the Kitten Pokemon over. "Here. Hold this." "Skitty!" Skitty cried out as she was then grabbed by Twilight. "Holding a Pokemon or bunny makes me feel better. Sometimes hugging Audino works for me too. Well, that's ridiculous. But..." Twilight at first dismissed it, but after some time, she was enamoured by the cuteness and comfort of Skitty. "Ooh. It actually kind of works. I'm on the other team and you just lost. Why are you being so nice to me?" "You looked like you needed it." And due to Fluttershy showing her endless kindness, the magic from within starting exuding out of her as well. She ascended with a golden glow and pop-up of pony ears. Her already long hair got longer in the process. But, she got a bonus. Much like her Equestria counterpart, she had wings that glowed on her back. "Whoa!" Twilight gasped. And as soon as she did so, on its own volition, the locket activated, instantly reacting to the magic that was being created by Fluttershy. It then started absorbing Fluttershy's magic and the magic from some of the Pokemon here. However, it could only absorb magic from Pokemon and the people that were in front of her. Zorua was exempt since she was behind Twilight. Except, this time, it was different. Instead of pulling the magic in, the locket started generating portals that appeared around the area frantically, each leading to a different location in Equestria. And within those portals, Pokemon started appearing. And the first few to do so were a small group of Cranidos and Beautifly. "Cranidos!" And after showing up, Spike started barking at the sudden appearance of these Pokemon. "Beau?" "Cra!" Cranidos roared back at Spike as it was aiming to headbutt him. Spike immediately sensed the danger before backing away. Cranidos promptly chased after the dog, using its impressive speed. The other Crandios scattered as they had the instinct to headbutt something. "Spike!" Twilight cried out, seeing her pet being chased. Spike ended up running past the golden aura of magic that radiated from Fluttershy. Little did he know, it affected him greatly as he froze on the spot. That gave Cranidos enough time to catch up. "Spike!" Thankfully, Fluttershy caught him safely. But Cranidos was still approaching. "Crani..!" Fluttershy held onto Spike, bracing for impact. If they were to be hit by Cranidos, it would be bad news. "Beautifly!" But thankfully, Beautifly was there to help, using Gust to push the Head Butt Pokemon away. "Beauti...fly!" "C-Crani!" Cranidos was sent flying as Fluttershy and Spike had been successfully saved. Seeing the danger, Twilight quickly closed the locket, ending the portal resurgence. Fluttershy drained, holding Spike out for Twilight to grab. "Spike, are you okay?" Twilight asked. "Um, I think so." The result of him touching the aura made him speak like his Equestria Counterpart. Twilight froze as she was surprised by that. Her mind was already in a frenzy from the portals and Cranidos, but this surprised her too. The Pokemon, she could understand talking. Not her dog. "Aaaaah!" Freaking out, Twilight ran off to try and think this through. "Twilight, wait!" Spike chased after her after being dropped. As for Fluttershy, she sat down after having the magic drained from her body. She looked at her surroundings to see the Cranidos running around. "Beautifly." "Thanks, Beautifly..." She shuddered before waving goodbye at Twilight and Spike. But there was the issue of the Cranidos to be dealt with as they started smashing their heads on Canterlot High property. And Fluttershy was drained and weak at the moment. She could only leave it up to Beautifly and a few Pokemon. Until they were recovered from the drain as well. "Oh my." As the journey continues. Chapter 594 End.