Equestria. Ponyville. Twilight's Lab. Day.
"Look at this. An all-new roadmap for the Equestria League." Twilight was currently showing Rainbow Dash a layout for the Equestria League. Mainly for the Gym Leaders, who were the roadblocks towards the league. "The Gym Leaders for the most part are the same."
"Yeah. There's Roseluck." Rainbow Dash pointed her hoof at Roseluck's face. "And it looks like someone finally replaced Misty for the second Gym Leader. I didn't think it would be BonBon though. Then there's Sunset Shimmer, Zecora, Soarin, Ms Harshwinny, yeah-yeah, I know that."
"The last one looks like a surprise. It's just a shadow." Twilight observed the final Gym Leader slot. It was a shadowy figure with no name below. A complete mystery. "But the seventh one is still undecided looks like. That's the one you'll be shooting for soon, Rainbow Dash."
"You know it! This one's got a theme too. It's...Uh..." Rainbow Dash froze for a second as her face showed absolute confusion. She took a closer look at the 8th Gym Leader and theming around it. "Facial Hair? W-What's up with that?"
"My guess is that it has to do with Pokemon that have facial hair on them. Bit of a funny concept, don't you think?" Twilight giggled. "And it looks like it's right over...here?!" Soon, Twilight bellowed before noticing where the 8th Gym was located. It was at Ponyville. The closest gym to Ponyville was the Grass-Type Gym, which had previously swapped places. Starting in Whitetail Wood and soon moving to Saddle Lake.
"Oh, so the final Gym's in Ponyville, eh? And the leader's Mayor Mare, huh." Rainbow Dash noticed. "Yeah, she's strong so I totally get it."
"It looks like it sometimes switches from Mayor Mare to Hollow. I mean..." Twilight thought about Hollow and his Pokemon for a moment. "He does own a lot of Pokemon, doesn't he?"
"What do you say we go and check her gym out? If I had to guess, it would be Town Hall that's the gym, right?" Rainbow Dash was eager to see Mayor Mare and her potential new Pokemon considering she had been revealed to be an Equestria League Gym Leader.
"Not yet. There's just one thing I want to confirm. It's about PokePark." But Twilight wasn't ready to do that as of now. "I'm curious if they're similar to BigTime Ben? Since we know he's related to the Rift, is PokePark as well? Are all the Pokemon there from another time and-" She then looked at Rainbow Dash, knowing that hours would be spent trying to figure all of it out. "B-But we can come back to that another time."
They would head to Town Hall as it would be shorter than figuring out this question.
Town Hall.
"Mayor Mare? Hello?" Entering Town Hall were Twilight and Rainbow Dash, here to see if Mayor Mare was up for a Gym Battle. Twilight's voice echoed throughout the hall with some delays. Thankfully, Mayor Mare was here. She could be seen sitting on the floor, facing a box. Stoutland was in the corner, yawning and having a great rest.
"Oh! Princess Twilight!" Mayor Mare was alert. "And Rainbow Dash? Ooh, this is a bit sudden!"
"Sudden? Did we come at a bad time?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Oh, no-no-no." She soon faced them, standing upright. "I was just going over the Poke Balls I have in this box. They're brand new. Just came in today. Along with the updated Equestria League roadmap."
"I already read it out. See?" Twilight held the roadmap paper out with her magic, showing it to the Mayor of Ponyville. "You're up next and Rainbow Dash here was hoping you could battle her soon."
"Now might be a good place to start! You're extra close to us so we don't have to move around all that much!" Dash got in front of Twilight, excited to get this Gym Battle rolling. "I don't know what's up with that Facial Hair thing, but it's gonna be challenging right?"
"Yes. We could battle now. Except...there is an issue." Begrudgingly, Mayor sighed as there was a catch to all of this. "You see. Stoutland is still my only Pokemon. I have no other Pokemon to fill in. Even though the last few gyms are 2 on 2, I am stuck on one."
"Oh. So no battle then?" Rainbow Dash was visibly disappointed.
"I took this role just yesterday. But I don't own a second Pokemon to finish things. I can already tell that a storm of trainers could be approaching Ponyville just to battle me after learning about the 7th Gym." Just as Mayor Mare said that, the sounds of rapid hoofsteps and wingbeats could be heard. Mainly the hoofsteps.
The ground started rumbling as the alicorn, earth pony and pegasus took a peep through the windows. Lo and behold, there were many trainers approaching. All of them had most definitely passed their 6th Gym Battles, which was arguably the hardest considering how powerful Ms Harshwinny appeared to be.
"Right on time. And I'm just slightly unprepared!" Mayor Mare screeched. "I need to catch the right Pokemon so that the stage can be set for everypony. Otherwise, Hollow will have to do most of the hard work."
"W-Well, which Pokemon do you need? I mean, it's Facial Hair themed for some reason," said Twilight.
"Only Pokemon that have facial hair. The first one and only one I have is Stoutland. These are the Pokemon I need." Mayor Mare quickly ran over to the table, showing Twilight and Rainbow Dash a sheet of paper consisting of the recommended Pokemon. "Alakazam, Samurott, Probopass, Whiscash and Galarian Koffing. Just them."
"Those are some pretty strong Pokemon. And kinda rare in a way." Rainbow Dash observed.
"I know. But they fit the descriptions perfectly. If I can get at least two more of them, I can allow the Gym Battles to fully commence."
"Twilight. You've got a Samurott over at PokePark. Can Mayor Mare have that one?"
"Well..." The Princess of Friendship bit her lip, currently in a quandary. "That Samurott is technically my Pokemon ever since BigTime Ben entrusted me with PokePark. I'm not sure Gym Leaders are meant to have Pokemon that aren't theirs. Right?"
"It must be my own Pokemon." Mayor Mare established. There were rules to this and unfortunately, they couldn't be bent from the looks of things. "Training them is an issue as well. If I get them immediately on the first day, there won't be a clear bond with them at all. Will I be able to battle in sync with them with little synergy? Oh! I should've caught some Pokemon earlier!"
Mayor Mare was showing visible signs of vexation. It was rare for her to show them considering how cool, calm and collected she was. And it didn't help that the Pokemon Trainers had appeared in front of Town Hall with a knock on the door coming through.
The mayor scrunched her face with Twilight kindly opening the door for her. Once it had opened, all those Pokemon Trainers from across Equestria had shown up, ready to complete their next Gym Battle. That way, they could reach the final one soon.
"We're here for the next gym. We heard it finally came." A pegasus grinned as they all already had their Poke Balls out along with their partner Pokemon beside them.
"Uh...you're right about that." Twilight winked while Mayor Mare slowly rotated, facing the challengers. "But you're gonna have to wait just a bit longer."
"Wait? How come?" A unicorn peered his head over, asking Twilight.
"Just some minor upshots and issues." Twilight explained. "Plus, you're all a bit early right now, don't you think?"
"We came all the way here and have been waiting for a while for the next Gym to finally open up. We can't just skip to the last one anyway."
"Yeah. I had to rematch Ms Harshwinny 12 times to make it this far. All that struggling is gonna pay off." One pony who had battled Harshwinnys gym for quite a few times spoke.
"12 times? Yikes..." Twilight had never heard of so many attempts for one Pokemon Batte.
"Patience, everypony." Mayor Mare approached. "I will get to you all. However, I'm afraid you will all have to wait in sparse times. I already have Rainbow Dash up first, so I can cover a few of you today and the rest next time. I am still the Mayor of Ponyville, after all." Mayor Mare gave a good solution to this. Despite her worries, she could still maintain an issue and calm it down.
"Aww...." Naturally, some of them groaned as they would have to wait some more to have their chance of earning that 7th Gym Badge. But, they had to go with it. Rainbow Dash was lucky to be here first before everypony else. The doors were closed on them as Mayor Mare would get back to all of them soon.
"Okay..." With that out of the way, the mayor could breathe before building up panic levels. "I need those Pokemon. Now." She demanded with severity in her tone.
"Why not just try the Pokemon House? Maybe they've got something for you?"
"Unfortunately, these Pokemon are far too rare. I checked and not a single one was in sight. I know you sometimes have starters at your lab, Princess Twilight. But that Oshawott would take too long to evolve and with no time at all. And Galarian Koffing is a completely different story! Hoh..." She calmed herself down with Stoutland coming to her side. "I don't usually get sloppy...If not for a long time."
"It's alright, Mayor Mare." Twilight walked over. "We can sort this all out. If you ask me, I think it's best to have Hollow fill in while we get the rest of the Pokemon. Frenzy Forest might be the answer to all of this."
"Hmm...But Hollow is expecting a baby soon. It wouldn't feel right to have him go through this. Especially with how long it might take us..." Mayor Mare was on the fence with this. This was truly a scenario that needed careful decisions and planning. "But...we're wasting enough time as it is...Let's do that shall we." It would be left in the hands of Hollow for now.
And in the meanwhile, Mayor Mare would set out to catch at least one of the required Pokemon. But, they would leave via the exit of the Town Hall instead of the entrance. A quick call was made to Hollow as they set off for Frenzy Forest.
Frenzy Forest. Afternoon.
Frenzy Forest. Home to many Pokemon. Almost equal in size to the Pokemon House. Mayor Mare had to not only find one of them but also bond with them in what would seem to be little time.
The best approach right now were the many areas in the forest that were based on all 18 Types. Twilight had a list of areas that they had to visit. The Psychic, Water, Rock and Poison Area. Although, the Poison Area would be essentially obsolete since Galarian Weezing can mostly be found in Galar. But if Mayor Mare could catch either one from the three areas, it would do wonders.
"I know an Alakazam that lives here. I interacted with it when I was researching more about Pokemon. I'm sure he'll help you out." said Twilight. Indeed, an Alakazam that she knew existed here. The same Alakazam that allows her to eat her least favourite food, quesadillas with the mysterious spoons and enjoy them.
And speaking of which, that same Alakazam could be seen sitting near a lake, meditating peacefully, levitating his two spoons. The Psychic Area wasn't too full of Psychic Pokemon, so finding a specific one was fairly easy. "There he is. That's facial hair number one."
"Excellent." Mayor Mare lowered her voice as to not break Alakazam's meditative focus. "You are already acquainted with him. This could work out for us after all."
"Of course. Besides, even if you can't form a powerful bond with Alakazam in the beginning, a Pokemon can still listen to you even when you first catch it." Twilight nodded.
"Mm. But...I feel as if I won't be pushing the Trainers to the best of their abilities at that rate. With Stoutland, I can do so, but with any one of these Pokemon, not so much." Mayor Mare still saw the downside to this. Truthfully, she wanted to challenge the Pokemon Trainers at their best.
And while it is a common fact that Gym Leaders are constantly holding back against challengers, they still put in a ton of effort against their opponents.
"Bah, don't sweat it." But Rainbow Dash wasn't bothered by it at all. "All out or not, I'm still gonna get that Gym Badge. Plus, I know Stoutland's gonna give me and my Pokemon some trouble anyway. Isn't that right, Castform?"
"Castform."
"Gothitelle." Just then, the voice of a Gothitelle could be heard. Right behind them, a shadow had been cast. The trio and their Pokemon swivelled to see the infamous Gardevoir with a menacing crooked face standing before them "Telle."
"GAH!" They were taken aback by Gothitelle's face, screaming with shock and fear. That immediately broke Alakazam's meditation in a heartbeat.
"Kazam?"
"Gothitelle." The menacing Gothitelle hovered away casually. As if she didn't just spook them each with their hearts racing and making audible sounds.
"Hoh..." Twilight and Eve fell on their backs. "That was way scarier than it was..."
"E-Espeon..."
"Alakazam." Noticing Twilight, Alakazam hovered over to greet the Princess of Friendship promptly. Twilight and Espeon looked up while still on their backs, witnessing the face of Alakazam appear in their vision. "Ala?"
"Oh...Alakazam. Sorry if we broke your meditation." She and Espeon sat up. Alakazam didn't mind. They were given a spook by Gothitelle after all. "But we have a favour to ask of you."
"Alakazam?"
"You see, Mayor Mare here's a Gym Leader back at Ponyville. Her Gym is all about Facial Hair Pokemon. Heh." Twilight couldn't help but giggle at that again. There was something so amusing about this Gym theme. "But she only has one Pokemon that fits that category. Stoutland over there. We were hoping that you could help out Mayor Mare with that. Since...ya know...you have Facial Hair?"
"La...Alakazam..." Alakazam thought about it for a moment.
"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Rainbow Dash asked her alicorn friend.
"Positive."
"Kazam," Alakazam concluded. With a head nod, he decided to assist them and solve their issue. He was surprisingly calm about it. Perhaps it had something to do with his intelligence.
"You'll do it? Oh, thank you so much, Alakazam!" Twilight exclaimed, clapping her hooves. "See, Mayor Mare? There's no need to worry!"
"You make it seem so easy..." A relieved Mayor Mare chuckled before taking out a Poke Ball from her saddlebag. "Alright then. Thank you for giving me this chance, Alakazam." She then threw Poke Ball.
"Alakazam." The Psi Pokemon nodded before having the Poke Ball connect with him. The light shrunk him down as the Poke Ball then dropped, beginning to roll as always.
1...2...3...Gotcha! Alakazam was caught.
That was the first Pokemon with facial hair that had been caught. Mayor Mare felt that major stress diminish. It wasn't difficult at all to catch herself an Alakazam. The benefits of friendship. "Excellent." She went to pick the Poke Ball up.
"Well, I think that's." Rainbow Dash shrugged, believing this to be a good place to close things off. "I mean, it's only gonna be a 2 on 2, right? Having one more Pokemon was the way to end things, right?"
"Not quite, Rainbow Dash." Mayor Mare said otherwise. "While I did catch myself an Alakazam, using just him and Stoutland would be exhausting to both of them. With every Pokemon Trainer that comes to challenge me, my Pokemon will need breaks to rest. That is more Pokemon are necessary so that the minimum of them don't tire."
"Hm...Yeah, you're right." Rainbow Dash was eager to have her Gym Battle with Mayor Mare but she understood the limitations.
"At least two more will do so for my team. Galarian Weezing can be for another time."
"Right. Next up, Whiscash. The Water area's where we need to be." Twilight showed the list as Whiscash was up next. "And Probopass could be easier than Samurott. Finding a Samurott out in the wild is not easy."
Up next was Whiscash. Another common Pokemon to find and not exceeding rare such as Samurott or even Galarian Weezing. At the same time, back at Ponyville, Hollow was currently filling in for Mayor Mare while she searches for a few more Pokemon. He would have to handle multiple Pokemon Trainers in succession.
Over at the water, spotting Pokemon could prove to be tricky. Not that there weren't many Pokemon here. The Water area was brimming with Pokemon due to them being one of the most abundant types out there. However, because there are so many of them, it can be hard to find a specific one.
"Those numbers look intimidating, but no need to worry," Twilight reassured. "We just need to lure Whiscash out."
"How are we gonna do that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Hmm...Asking them might not do the trick." Twilight was put in a quandary, thinking of the best possible solution to find Whiscash in this sea of Pokemon. It was far too overcrowded to try and head in.
"I got it!" Rainbow Dash thought of something. "What if I have Luxray use Discharge on the lake and see which Water-Type comes out fine? Whiscash is Water-Ground, right?"
"Uh...A bit too aggressive..." But that idea wouldn't fly. While it made sense in its own right, harming the Pokemon, every single one of them, suddenly wouldn't do or be approved. But, an idea eventually sprung up for her. Her Pokedex. "Aha!" She pulled out her Pokedex, relying on its capabilities.
"What's that gonna do?" Rainbow Dash wasn't sure how the Pokedex would be of any use in this instance.
"Our Pokedexes can do more than just can Pokemon. They can scan for nearby Pokemon. Watch." She turned it on, allowing the Pokdex's functions to play out. She moved it across the area as it read out different dex entries each time a Water-Type had been seen by it.
"Luvdisc. The Rendezvous Pokemon. Luvdisc live in shallow seas in the tropics. This heart-shaped Pokémon earned its name by swimming after loving couples it spotted in the ocean’s waves. Luvdisc’s heart-shaped body is a symbol of love and romance. It is said that any couple meeting this Pokémon is promised a loving relationship that never ends."
"No not-" But Twilight quickly paused once she heard something from the dex entry. "Really? I'll keep that in mind." A cheeky grin formed as she continued to move the Pokedex.
"Corsola. The Coral Pokemon. Corsola’s branches glitter very beautifully in seven colours when they catch sunlight. If any branch breaks off, this Pokémon grows it back in just one night. Clusters of Corsola congregate in warm seas where they serve as ideal hiding places for smaller Pokémon. When the water temperature falls, this Pokémon migrates to the southern seas. They prefer unpolluted southern seas. Their coral branches lose their colour and deteriorate in dirty water."
She moved it again as the Pokedex continued scanning nearby Water-Types. Twilight also flew into the air to try and get a better view as well. The Pokedex even scanned Pokemon that were fully submerged in the lake instead of halfway in it.
"Chinchou. The Angler Pokemon. Chinchou lets loose positive and negative electrical charges from its two antennas to make its prey faint. This Pokémon flashes its electric lights to exchange signals with others. This Pokémon’s cells create so much electrical power, it even makes itself tingle slightly."
"No..." Twilight searched again. The Pokedex might end up going through every Water-Type here before it could reach Whiscash. That is until the Pokemon of the hour had been picked up. Deep below.
"Whiscash. The Whiskers Pokemon. Whiscash is extremely territorial. Just one of these Pokémon will claim a large pond as its exclusive territory. If a foe approaches it, it thrashes about and triggers a massive earthquake. Its vision is not that good. It senses vibrations in the water with its whiskers to determine the location of its prey. It will eat anything—if it is alive, Whiscash will eat it."
"Jackpot! We found it!" Twilight cried out, waving at her friends. She then pointed her hoof at the lake as Whiscash was deep underwater. "Just underwater! Deep down!"
"This Lake doesn't appear too deep. This could be our chance," said Mayor Mare. Twilight had already cast the underwater breathing spell on her friends, allowing them to breathe underwater for 20 minutes tops. They knew what they had to do. Head underwater and catch Whiscash.
Mayor Mare and Stoutland were the first to enter, leaping into the lake of Frenzy Forest. Rainbow Dash followed, deciding to be stylish about it. She jumped in reverse, putting her hooves behind her head to seem cool while also closing her eyes, putting on a smirk. Twilight and Espeon went last by just walking into the lake.
Once they were underneath, more Water-Types had been seen. Immediately, a school of Goldeen swam past them at high velocity. They closed their eyes once the Goldeen passed by. After having that slight brush, Whiscash could be seen up ahead.
"There it is!" Rainbow Dash was the first to spot the Whiskers Pokemon.
"Cash?" Naturally, being a territorial Pokemon, Whiscash was alerted to any nearby noise. And once Rainbow Dash bellowed, the Water-Ground-Type had turned its attention to them.
"We won't need any talking for this Pokemon. I know what to do." Mayor Mare swam ahead of the others. She had read Whiscash's Pokedex entry to know one thing. Territorial Pokemon are hard to chat with. And judging from how Whiscash looked at them, it was safe to say that a Pokemon Battle was imminent.
"Whiscash!" Whiscash sawm over. Its mouth opened up, unleashing Ice Beam as it chilled parts of the water.
"Here it comes! Stoutland, use Crunch!"
"Stout...Land!" Stoutland opened his mouth, causing a Dark Aura to fill his fangs. The Big-Hearted Pokemon had then bit Ice Beam suddenly The grip of his mouth managed to crush the beam until it dispersed into Ice particles.
"A battle it is! Stoutland, hed in and use Crunch once more!"
"Stoutland!" Stoutland would have to battle outside of his natural element. Within the lake, he started paddling his dog feet. However, this proved to be troublesome as Stoutland could not move that fast underwater. He couldn't get far at all. "S-Stout.."
"Oh...I should've expected this." Mayor Mare facehoofed, realizing how large of a disadvantage she and Stoutland were at.
"Cash!" Seeing them vulnerable, Whiscash had then used Water Pulse, unleashing a pulsing blast of water. The blast blended well with the lake as Stoutland had received a direct hit, hurling through the water.
"S-Stoutland!"
"Stoutland!" Mayor Mare gasped as Whiscash was about to unleash a second Water Pulse without taking a break. Despite how goofy some may see it as Whiscash can be aggressive when they need to be.
"Hang on, Mayor Mare!" Rainbow Dash suddenly got in front of the mayor. "We'll help wear it down for you. Castform, let's go!"
"Castform!" Castform and Rainbow Dash chose to assist Mayor Mare in catching this one Pokemon. Once Castform flew out of Rainbow Dash's saddlebag, his cells reacted to the water, causing him to change into his Rainy Form.
"You're double weak to this! Energy Ball!"
"Cast...Form!" Immediately after appearing, Castform had used Energy Ball, unleashing a green sphere of nature energy. Energy Ball had intercepted Water Pulse as they had cancelled each other out.
"Again!"
"Form!" Castform unleashed another Energy Ball consecutively. The ball had passed through the water and the particles made from the previous clash before crashing into the Whiskers Pokemon. Being Water and Ground meant that this attack stung Whiscash to a high degree.
"Cash!"
"I would've preferred a solo battle, but thank you for the help either way! Stoutland, Giga Impact!"
"Stoutland!" After finally recovering, Stoutland could dish out a heavy blow to Whiscash. The Big-Hearted Pokemon couldn't move all that much underwater. But with a certain Pokemon move, that could change. And Giga Impact was that move. Surrounding himself in a sparking white energy, Stoutland took off like a rocket, moving through the lake with a white trail.
"Cash?" Whiscash shook its head before noticing Stoutland approaching. The Water-Groud-Type was met with a head collision from Stoutland with the energy of Giga Impact going off. The lake itself shook from this explosive outburst, causing nearby Water-Types to back away. Stoutland hurled through the water after the impact, needing time to recharge. However, this attack plus the Energy Ball from before had greatly weakened Whiscash.
"Now's my chance! Go, Poke Ball!" Mayor Mare saw the riveting change as she launched the Poke Ball at full force through the water. Except this was Dive Ball. A normal Poke Ball wouldn't move that fast in the water but a Dive Ball was made specifically for the water.
Hurling at great speeds, it had bonked Whiscash on the head, minimising it to fit within the Dive Ball. And now, it was time for it to shake.
1...2...3...Gotcha! Whiscash was caught.
That was the second one caught today. Mayor Mare was on a roll so far. That meant that she would only need one more. Probopass. That Pokemon was less challenging to get than Samurott and Galarian Weezing. "Success! Hah...And here I was worried over having little. Thank you for assisting, Rainbow Dash."
"Stoutland."
"Esp? Espeon?!" But suddenly, Espeon alerted everyone, aiming her paw past one of the sea walls. Her gem had sensed something incoming. Once she had their attention, they were all met with an intimidating sight.
Appearing from the corner of the sea walls within the lake was another Whiscash. And a third. And a fourth. Soon a fifth and sixth and seventh had shown up. A school of Whiscash had shown themself, unexpectedly. Not just from the front but from the back as well.
They had been surrounded and judging by how one of their species had been captured with Mayor Mare currently holding the Dive Ball, it was safe to say that they were not too pleased at the moment. All of them were territorial. In fact, they basically shared one big territory in a small area.
"Oh." Twilight and the others soon found themselves in some trouble that they weren't expecting. If anything, the Pokedex was giving them a foreshadow of things to come.
But, as it is with these Pokemon Adventures. Mayor Mare's small quest to catch certain Pokemon for her Gym wasn't over yet. And Rainbow Dash was waiting for that chance to battle her. But first, there was this slight roadblock that they had found themselves in to deal with as the journey continues.
Chapter 674 End.