//------------------------------// // Who We Were // Story: Pokemon: Earth and Sky // by raven618 //------------------------------// The Viridian Forest was a lot more peaceful than they had been expecting. From the stories they were told, they had expected a dark and creepy tunnel made of trees that blocked out all light, pairs of glowing eyes watching them from the shadows, and horrible roots trying to trip them up. But instead they had found a relatively well-kept path through the trees, illuminated with shafts of sunlight filtering in down from the canopy. It made for a rather enchanting walk. Applejack pulled out her mother’s journal, matching the trees and plants in there with the greenery she was passing under. “It’s quiet.” Rarity said, “I suspect that I should say that it’s too quiet, but I have no idea what a forest should sound like.” “I get what you mean. Like there should be some Pokémon calling out or something.” As she said this, a small flock of Pidgey took off from the tree they passed. “Ah! Guess we’re just spooking them.” “It would seem so.” She pulled a small sketch pad out of her suitcase and began drawing the different kinds of leaves and bark patterns they were passing. The two walked in relative silence for around twenty minutes, before the Pokémon of the forest became accustomed to their presence. Pidgey resumed their calls from the branches, and the sound of Bug-Pokémon’s wings was almost constant. Applejack began to notice that the path they were following was incredibly windy and was even overgrown in some corners. She was starting to worry that they wandered off the trail and were lost. But the periodic boot prints traveling in both directions, along with the occasional discarded hiking stick, kept her faith that this was the right path. “AHH!” Rarity cried out. She had walked into a small mud puddle and the bottom of her shoes were now caked in it. “Oh, this just terrible. Our second day on the road and I already have to buy new shoes.” “Princess, you’re wearing hiking shoes, they can survive a little bit of mud.” As emphasis she pointed to her own shoes which were permanently brown from the amount of farm work they had seen. “But now they’re going to have nasty stains on them. It’s totally going to clash with the rest of my ensemble.” Applejack looked around, not too far away was a tree with its roots exposed, “If it’s going to bother you that much, why don’t we stop for a moment so you can clean them.” Rarity gave a grateful smile as the two sat down and began scrubbing the mud off her shoes. As they did, Applejack began to reminisce. ‘She hasn’t changed her opinion of dirt since we first met…’ = = = Applejack sat down at her desk. Behind her, Carrot Top was gossiping with Sparkler about something. Caramel was bragging about how his brother was going to win the Pokémon League. She wasn’t concerned with any of this, right now they were in the classroom, so they should be acting like they were in class. “Alright everyone, settle down and take your seats.” Said their teacher. Mayor Mare had short grey hair with a few hints of pink and wore a pair of half-moon glasses. Her clothing consisted of a two-piece suit of a beige color over a white work shirt. “Now, before I begin the lesson, there is a new student who will be joining our class.” She turned towards the door and waved however was on the other side to come in. Stepping through the door was a girl with purple hair curled into a loop. She wore a fancy light blue dress with puffy shoulders and a blue ribbon around the neck. “Class,” Mayor Mare said, “This is Rarity. Her family just moved to Pallet Town, so I want you to make her feel comfortable.” The new girl, Rarity, gave the class a curtsy before sitting down in an unoccupied desk. Applejack didn’t really give the new girl much thought at first. She seemed nice enough, but she acted a little bit fancy for a town like Pallet. It wasn’t until later that day that her true colors came through. They had been taking care of a group of Poliwag for the last two days. Half the class would feed them different plants like rice, leeks, and okra, while the other half would clean the pond of old leaves, pond scum and trash. Rarity looked revulsed at the idea of going anywhere near the pond. “I’m sorry, I just don’t want to get my clothes dirty with pond slime and mud.” “That’s alright dear. Why don’t you help the others with the feeding, okay?” She accepted this and grabbed a bit of food for the Poliwags. Applejack was fuming. None of the other kids were getting dirty (much), so Rarity wouldn’t have either. And if she was that concerned with her dress not getting messy than she shouldn’t have worn such a fancy dress in the first place. That was when Applejack knew; she and Rarity would forever be enemies. = = = Rainbow Dash was not lost. After returning Pidgeot she set out into the Viridian Forest to catch her first Pokémon. The fact that her searches for that Pokémon took her off the beaten path did not mean she was lost. None of this stopped her partner from complaining. “Charmander.” “Hey, don’t worry, Blaze. I’ll find the perfect Pokémon eventually.” “Char-” He sighed with a puff of smoke. Rainbow continued searching the tree line. A few crawly green Pokémon sat overhead. “Too small.” A flock of Pidgey were foraging off to the left. “Too common.” A yellow Pokémon with long ears and a tail shaped like a lightning bolt hopped out of the undergrowth and smiled at her. “Too cute.” She said, dismissing it. The Pokémon seemed the take offence at that, and its red cheeks sparked before it electrocuted the trainer and ran off. “And an attitude problem on top of that.” Rainbow said from the nice soft root she was lying on. Charmander was about to chase after the Electric type when he heard a disturbance from the trees. A loud flapping of wings was followed by a brown and light red feathered Pokémon landing awkwardly on the ground. Charmander began shaking Rainbow so she could get a look at this newcomer. “Char! Charmander!” Rainbow looked up and saw the Pokémon. It was similar to a Pidgey in both shape and size, but its wings were a reddish color with pink tips, and it had a messy looking brown head armed with a sharp beak. “Now that’s more like it.” Rainbow cheered. She got to her feet, took a second to balance herself, and pulled out an empty pokéball. The Flying Pokémon turned towards her and spread its wings in warning. “Spear!” It flew up and divebombed the Fire type. “Alright Blaze! Let’s go! Ember!” “Charmander!” It turned for another attack. As it got closer, Blaze swung its burning tail at it, lighting some of its feathers on fire. The Pokémon franticly flapped its wings, setting lose the burned primaries. “Spearow!” It screeched, before diving at Blaze again, its beak glowing a pale blue. Blaze rolled out of the way, but the tip of Spearow’s beak still struck his tail. “Blaze, use Scratch!” The Charmander ran forwards and jumped, catching the flying Pokémon on its return pass. Both Pokémon fell out of the sky, but Blaze got Spearow underneath him, so the wild Pokémon hit the ground first. Blaze got up and ran back to Rainbow’s feet, while the Spearow was struggling to get back up. “Alright, pokéball go!” Rainbow threw the empty pokéball at the weakened Pokémon. The red and white ball hit true and the Spearow disappeared into red light. The pokéball shook on the ground a few times, before the trigger button on the front lit up and the sound of a ding filled Rainbow’s ears. “We did it!” She cheered. “Charmander Char!” Blaze cheered beside her. Rainbow picked up the pokéball, examining the Spearow within. The Flying type in turn judged her. “I’m going to call you, Swoop.” The Spearow bobbed its head from side to side, like it was savoring its new name. It then tipped its beak down to Rainbow, acknowledging her as his trainer. “Now, where are we?” Charmander stumbled at that. Rainbow looked around the forest, before smiling and running off into the woods. “Come on, let’s go this way.” Charmander ran after his trainer, if not because she knew what she was doing, then because he had to keep her safe. = = = Rarity was enjoying her new school. Her teacher was very nice, and the lessons were interesting while still being fun. Her classmates were also very friendly. The boys were still loud and messy, but they didn’t tease her or play pranks. And many of the girls asked her for advice on how to look pretty. Most of them didn’t need help but she told them some of what she knew anyway. Indeed, Rarity was very happy with her new school. With one exception… “May I sit with you?” She asked one day. The group she was asking to sit with were all from farming families. Carrot Top and Berry Punch both gladly asked her to sit down. Lily didn’t say anything, but that was normal for the quiet girl. And then there was Applejack. “Careful, you might get that new dress of yours messy.” Rarity looked at her periwinkle sundress, “Um, it’s not new.” Applejack just scoffed and collected her lunch. “’Scuse me.” She said, pointedly not addressing the purple haired girl. Rarity watched her move to an empty table and sit down facing away from her. “Did I do something to make her hate me?” “Don’t pay any attention to her,” Berry said, nonchalantly, “Applejack’s just a sour person. She’s got no friends and all she does is work.” Rarity looked back at the farm girl. Her hair reflected the lights it was so greasy, her clothes were heavy with dirty and grim. Even while she was eating, her bites were loud, and her table manners were non-existent. “Yes.” She said, “I suppose you’re right.” She turned back to her food and decided to put Applejack out of her mind forever. = = = A pokéball flew through the air. The Pidgey it was intended for threw its wings forward kicking up a cloud of dust and sand. The ball fell short of its target and the brown Pokémon flew away. “Wha-? I had it!” A boy with dark hair shouted in frustration. His partner Geodude flinching at the loud noises. The boy’s classmates shared a laugh. “Wow, the third rank student can’t even catch a simple Pidgey?” Someone jeered. The Boy turned around with a growl but couldn’t see who had spoken. “I’d like to see you do better!” he challenged. A shorter boy with sandy brown hair stepped forward, his pokéball already in his hand. “Who’s that?” someone asked. “That’s Joe.” A taller boy answered. “One of the B students.” Joe walked into a patch of tall grass, another Pidgey popped out and cawed threateningly. “Go Bellsprout!” His Pokémon was unsettling thin, with root-like feet, green leaves in place of arms, and a yellow bell-shaped head. Its tiny black eyes trained on the Pidgey. “Bellsprout! Toxic!” The Bellsprout’s mouth closed and the Pidgey dashed forwards in a Tackle. The flying Pokémon collided with the plant Pokémon, but it just shrugged the attack off. It then opened its mouth spitting out a vile purple liquid on the Pidgey. The sting of the fluid caused the Pidgey to fall back and away from the Bellsprout. “Good. Now Vine Whip!” Joe said. His Bellsprout moved to attack but again, the Pidgey was much faster. It flew around in a circle before unleashing another Tackle attack. Bellsprout was able to kick it with its roots before it could escape, causing it to fall to the ground. As the wild Pokémon got to its feet, it convulsed as purple liquid dripped off its feathers. “Once more, Vine Whip!” Bellsprout ran towards the downed Flying-Type. Its Vine Whip cracking against its chest. “Pokeball, go!” The red and white sphere hit the Pidgey in the head, turning it into energy. The pokeball gave a shake, followed by a weaker one, then it gave out a ding as the Pidgey stopped struggling. Joe walked up to his new Pokémon as his classmates gave him praise. “I hope we can be friends.” He said, smiling slightly. “Nice work Joe!” “Very well done.” As his classmates congratulated him for his capture, two girls watched from afar. “Who would have thought little Joe would catch a Pokémon?” one said. “It’s only natural.” The other, Giselle, said. “He’s one of us. A member of the graduating class of Viridian Academy.” She walked away from her friend. “We’re the best, nobody is better than us.” Her mind went back to last night, the image of a blonde girl catching a Rattata without battling it pushing its way into her thoughts. “Nobody.” = = = Applejack was having the worst day of her life. First, she had overslept and had to run to school in the rain. Then, because of her haste, she forgot her lunch at home. And then, Mayor Mare’s assignment for them was for them to pair up and observe wild Pokémon outside of town over the weekend. She didn’t have time for sight-seeing; she had chores to take care of, a little sister to look after. And finally, she was partnered up with her. Rarity was having the worst day of her life. Firstly, it had rained this morning, so her petticoats had gotten wet. Secondly, because of the rain, Miss Mare had them spend recess in the gym: running laps, stretching and other activities that only a boy could enjoy. Thirdly, their assignment over the weekend was to observe a number of wild Pokémon around and out of town, then write down what they observed. She wasn’t looking forward to wandering through the tall grass and mud. And fourthly, she was partnered up with her. Both girls were walking side by side out of school. Neither wanted to look at the other. Yet they were stuck with each other for the weekend. “We’ll meet up in front of the school tomorrow. Then head out past Carrot Top’s house and do our assignment there.” Applejack said, hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible. Rarity was a little bothered by Applejack ordering her around, but she wanted to be done with this quickly, so she agreed. “Very well. Shall we say, Eight o’clock?” Applejack sneered slightly. “You sure you’ll get enough beauty sleep if you have to wake up so early?” Rarity had suggested the time because it was the same time as when school started. “I promise, I shall be punctual.” She sharply retorted. Applejack didn’t know what being ‘punctual’ was, but she had more important matters to deal with. “And wear some actual clothes. None of that fancy lace and hanky stuff.” “Excuse me!? I will have you know that a lot of effort goes into my clothing.” “Oh yeah, I’m sure your daddy’s wallet much be very tired.” Rarity was fuming. What gave Applejack the right to insult her like this? But it was unbecoming of a lady to give in to such language. “I just hope you are able to have fun this weekend.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” “From what I’ve heard, you haven’t had fun in your life.” “And who told you that!” “It- Well actually I don’t remember. But I do know it wasn’t your friends, since you don’t really have any.” “Oh yeah? Well neither do you.” Now at this point neither girl had been paying attention to where they had been going, and as such had ended up on a road leading out of town instead of towards either of their houses. There were also no people around to see or hear them. And with both girls in such a state as they were, no one can truly say what happened next. Applejack might have punctuated her sentence with a shove. Or Rarity might have pushed her in response. Maybe they lashed out together. Maybe one of them tripped. Whichever way it happened, both girls had dropped their bags and were grappling with each other on the ground. Applejack tried to throw the spoiled child off of her. But Rarity held firm, and both ended up rolling into a ditch still filled with rainwater. The shock of the water brought Applejack back down to earth. Before her was the girl deathly afraid of getting even slightly dirty, soaking wet with grass in her hair and muddy knees. “Well would ya look at that. You can get dirty! I was starting to think it wasn’t possible.” “Oh, I’ll show you dirty.” Rarity grabbed this mean-spirited creature’s shirt and pulled her down into the mud. Now they both looked like a pair of Diglett, rolling and tossing in the muck. Rarity grabbed at a patch of grass, pulled it out of the ground and threw it at Applejack. Except the grass just stuck to her hand and didn’t do anything. Both of the girls just looked at Rarity’s outstretched hand covered in blades of grass. Rarity coughed, realizing that even if the grass had left her hand, it wouldn’t have done anything. Applejack laughed as she realized the same thing. And just as quickly as the fight started, it ended. Both girls were covered head to toe in mud and laughing their butts off. Applejack offered her hand to help Rarity up. The new girl took it. They both climbed out of the ditch and took a good look at themselves. “I think it's time for a bath.” “I think we’re going to need more than a simple bath.” Rarity said. She walked over to her bag and very carefully removed her umbrella from a side pocket. “What are you doing?” Applejack asked. Rarity opened the umbrella up, turned it upside-down, then put her and Applejack’s bookbags inside it. “Making a basket. Could you help me and grab the other side?” Applejack did and both girls made their way back into town. Rarity’s house was closer, so they went there to clean off. Applejack was more than a little surprised to see that Rarity’s home was actually very ordinary. It was a simple two-story house with a brown roof and white walls. Rarity’s parents were very surprised when their daughter came home, soaking wet and covered in mud, with an equally filthy girl carrying their bags in an umbrella. They quickly set up a hose to get the majority of the mud and grim off the girls. After patting them down with some beach towels, the two moved to the bathroom to scrub off the rest of the dirt. Rarity generously asked Applejack to go first, but Applejack just pulled her into the bathroom and they two of them took the bath together. Rarity laid out a towel at the foot of the tub to catch the water when they were done, then handed something that looked like the brim of a sunhat to her guest. “What’s this?” she asked. “A shampoo cap. It will keep the soap out of your eyes.” “Huh, thanks.” Both girls stripped out of their clothes and stepped into the tub. Rarity and Applejack took turns running the shampoo through each other’s hair. After rinsing it off, Applejack was confused when Rarity grabbed another bottle. “Uh, we already did that.” “That was shampoo, it’s for cleaning hair. This is conditioner, it’s for keeping your hair soft and easy to brush.” “Uh, I don’t really use that kind of stuff.” “I’ve noticed.” She went to put the conditioner in, but Applejack moved away. “Oh come on, just try it once. Please.” Applejack was still a little nervous, but she let Rarity do her thing anyway. Afterwards they took turns scrubbing the other’s back. When they were finished, they changed into Rarity’s sleep wear. “I’ve told your Granny where you are, Applejack. She’s coming over with a new pair of clothes.” Rarity’s mother told them. “Thank you.” Applejack said. They were in Rarity’s bedroom. Naturally she had a full closet and not just a dresser like Applejack had. But in addition to the toys and books lying around the room were drawings of different dresses, coats, hats, even clothes for Pokémon. “What’s all this?” “There designs that I want to make someday.” She pulled out a pink shirt with no sleeves and began to sow a flower design onto the waist. “I think being a fashion designer is such a fun idea. That everyone would be wearing something that you made. It’s exciting.” She kicked her legs at the idea. “What about you, what do you want to do when you grow up?” “I think I want to keep helping my Granny around the farm. I know that’s not as fancy or important as what you want, but it’s enough for me.” Rarity didn’t tease her for her simple answer and went back to sowing. “I want to apologize.” Rarity looked up. “I said a lot of mean things to you and I haven’t been very nice to you. And I didn’t even know you. So I’m sorry.” “Well, I said a lot of mean things to you as well. So I should apologize to you as well.” The two girls awkwardly smiled at each other. “My name’s Applejack. I like good food and the outdoors. I don’t like liars and my favorite color is red.” “My name is Rarity. I like fashion and music. I hate mud and I like too many colors to have a favorite.” Applejack laughed at that then opened her arms, “Do you want to be friends?” Rarity smiled even more, “Yes, I do.” Granny Smith came not too much later. Neither of the girls wanted to talk about the fight, so the whole thing was just awkward for the adults. “You want to come over for breakfast before we get started on our homework tomorrow?” Applejack asked. “I’d love to. Sevenish?” Granny and her parents didn’t seem to object. The two girls left each other that night, but they left each other not as lifelong enemies, but as friends on their way to becoming best friends. = = = Applejack blew into the kindling, starting a contained campfire. Rarity had just finished setting up their tent and was pulling out their dinner. “What are we having?” “Bread and beans, unfortunately.” “Then it’s a good thing I packed these.” She pulled out a can of peaches. “Should make a bland and boring meal into just a boring meal.” “You spoil me.” Rarity joked. The two waited for the beans to finish cooking and let their Pokémon out to eat. “You know what I was thinking about earlier?” Applejack said, “The first time we met.” “Do you mean the first time we met, or that unfortunate period before that?” “The before time. Do you remember why we hated each other so much?” She thought for a moment. “No. Or at least I can’t think of any good reasons.” Applejack looked at her, sensing that she had a follow-up. “I think we were young, foolish, and different.” Yep, that was it. “I guess that fight was the best thing that happened to us.” “Really? You think the fight was the best part of it? Not the bonding we did afterwards?” “We wouldn’t have done any bonding or talking or anything if we hadn’t come to blows.” Rarity sighed, “I suppose you have a point. Thank you, for pulling me out of my comfort zone.” “Thank you, for showing me how to take care of myself.” They both took a drink from their water bottles. After dinner, they both retired. Bulbasaur, Rattata, and Turquoise curled up between their sleeping bags. Ready to take on the step of their lives, together.