//------------------------------// // Help from both sides // Story: My Little Pokémon // by Amarvax //------------------------------// The Human World. Canterlot High. Afternoon. A wrongful arrest had been made. Sunset Shimmer was currently in juvenile detention for something she had not done. But rather her human counterpart. Her time would reach three years. A harsh time sentence for her indeed. Help was due, however. Under Principal Celestia's orders, Sunset Shimmer's friends were already trying to find proof of her innocence so that a retrial could be had. Twilight had used the school computer to search for information regarding Sunset Shimmer's arrest. And some juicy information had been found. "Look at this." She pointed at the screen, causing her friends to stare closely at the screen. "It says here that this isn't her first time that she's gone to juvenile detention. This is her 5th time apparently." "5th time? Since when?" Rainbow Dash wondered. "I mean, I've been here longer than her, but I've never heard about her heading there before or staying there a few times. Haven't seen her near juvie either." "How would you know about that...?" Rarity questioned. "Uh...I have reasons." Rainbow Dash chose to be secretive about it, scrunching her mouth. "I've always seen here a lot too." Fluttershy chimed in. "She's always on time for school and that's just about it." "There has to be something else..." Twilight took a closer look, clicking on the video. The video was next to the article as it showed the camera footage from the mall. The footage was fairly limited due to how some of the Pokemon that the thieves owned had interfered with the cameras. But one of the fewer footages that the remaining cameras could find were snippets of the thieves. One of which was indeed Sunset Shimmer. So the video certainly showed the culprit along with a few others. It could only be seen at three different angles. One where Sunset Shimmer was the main focal point, another where an Aipom was next to her and the third with the other thieves. That was all they could go off on. "Hang on...What's that?" Just then, Twilight noticed something. The footage had something peeking from the side. Everyone narrowed their eyes as they spotted some colour pattern that matched Sunset Shimmers hair. It looked to be a mane of some sort. "A mane...It doesn't look like a horse mane." "Nope. But they kinda look like Sunset's hair but she's right there." Pinkie Pie pointed out. "Weird." "Weird is right...unless!" Twilight's mind started accelerating as quickly as it could. "That footage was full of Pokemon. Mainly Aipom but other Pokemon too. Which Pokemon has that same colour scheme as Sunset Shimmer's hair?" "A Pokemon with a similar colour scheme to her? Hmm..." Applejack uttered before pondering. The rest of them did the same. The colour palette of the mane on screen made it clear that there was another individual that shared a similar hair palette to Sunset Shimmer. A striking one. Unfortunately, everyone's knowledge of Pokemon in this world was still limited. They were only learning as they went on with their life, discovering new things. None could think of a Pokemon with that mane scheme. "Nope. Got nothing. It can't be Magmar cause that's not the right shade and that's a mane." Rainbow Dash shook her head in denial. "Not any other Fire-Type I know. Then again, we don't know many..." "But Ash does!" Twilight sat up before being told to stay quiet via Ms Cheerilee. Cheerilee hushed Twilight as the new Canterlot High Student blushed. "Sorry...If anyone has the most knowledge about Pokemon, it's Ash. And Professor Oak mostly but Ash is closer. I know what to do." Twilight quickly grabbed her Xtransceiver. The best object to use in this instance. Without wasting any time, she tapped on Ash's Trainer Number. It wasn't that hard since just Ash and Sunset Shimmer's Trainer Numbers were the only ones there so far. The Xtransceiver then started ringing. And thankfully, at such an important time, Ash answered. His face along with Pikachu's face had been shown as he was currently at Pallet Town. His home. "Hey, Twilight. What's up?" "Pika-Pika?" "Ash. We have a problem here. A major one." Twilight kept her voice down as to not cause too much noise in the library. "I have to tell you and Pikachu this...Sunset Shimmer's been arrested." "What?!" "Pikachu?!" "Ssssshhhh!" Cheerilee heard them through the Xtransceiver as she hushed in their direction once more. Twilight apologized once more before deciding to head outside of the library to negate the noise. "She was just arrested today. We're trying to help her out by using some proof for a retrial. But...there's one image we can't make out. We were hoping you'd be able to tell us what Pokemon has a similar hair colour pattern to Sunset's hair." Twilight requested. "Exactly like her hair." Rarity leaned in. "Colour for colour." "Matches her hair? Well...the only Pokemon I can think about is Pyroar." Ash revealed the Pokemon to them. A Pokemon that they have never heard about. "Pyroar? What's a Pyroar?" Rainbow Dash asked. "It's the evolution of Litleo. Did Sunset's Litleo evolve?" "I don't think so. We saw Litleo just yesterday. And that video we saw on the computer was from weeks ago." Fluttershy shook her head. "I don't think Sunset Shimmer owns a Pyroar. At least, not yet." "So then..." It was at this moment that Ash had quickly put two and two together. Sunset Shimmer did in fact have a Pyroar. However, it was not the Sunset Shimmer that originally came from Equestria. It was the Sunset Shimmer that was born and raised here. "Oh! Then it's her counterpart!" "Counterpart?!" All 6 of them exclaimed before pausing and then nodding afterwards. It all made sense to them once Ash revealed it. But after gaining this revelation they were still shocked at there being a counterpart to Sunset Shimmer that could potentially be trouble from what they had seen from the article. "She's been framed then!" Pinkie Pie grabbed Twilight by the shoulders, aggressively shaking her. "Sunset's innocent! But she's not at the same time!" "Don't start confusing me..." Twilight groaned whilst being shaken. "I gotta know what's going on there. What's up with that world's Sunset Shimmer? Did something happen?" Ash asked. "Well, from what I can put together, they got the wrong Sunset. And now she's facing time in juvie." Twilight explained. "I can see why the police went straight for her..." "That can't be right. The other Sunset I know is pretty nice..." "Unfortunately, darling, that is not the case." Rarity said otherwise. "She's been in juvenile detention 5 times in a row. It's safe to say that she may not be so sweet." Ash thought for a moment. The Sunset Shimmer he met was kind to him, albeit radiating a cocky persona from her. He never saw the other side to her once. "...I'm coming over. I need to talk to her." "Do you know where she is?" asked Applejack. "Yeah. She has an apartment over in that big city. Hold on Pikachu I will be right there!" Hanging up soon after, Ash and Pikachu would make their way here to the Human World as soon as they could. From everything they had gathered, it was a huge mess that had appeared in an instant. "Well, now we know. What do we do now?" Fluttershy uttered. "I say we head to that city and bring in the real culprit right now!" Rainbow Dash was already set on going after this world's Sunset Shimmer and bringing her to justice, just to get their friend out. "He said an apartment and that place sure has some." "Hold on. We're not gonna break in and enter. Let's slow down there." Applejack already knew what Rainbow Dash was aiming for. Thankfully, that idea was thrown out of the window. "We can tell Prinicipal Celestia about it right now." As for Twilight, since Prinicipal Celestia chose to help Sunset Shimmer, the best person to go to at this moment was her. And that's exactly what the six of them were about to do. Meanwhile, Ash and Pikachu would come over as well. The Big City. Afternoon. Arriving at the big city via a van that they had stolen were the Dazzlings and their mother Vivace. Their quest to find all of the sirens and save their species were also involved with the case of Sunset Shimmer and her current arrest. Vivace would assist since Sunset Shimmer was friends with her daughters. Two of them, actually. Adagio doesn't share that same sentiment as Vivace had stopped the van near the city's local park. "Alright. Where would it be? That police station, maybe?" Vivace wondered, gazing at the police station in the distance. "Not sure that's where she'd go to. If anything, it looks more like a station that she'd visit before heading to that place." Aria observed. "I think it works like...she goes to that place first and then they send her off to wherever. At least, that's what I found out in my time here." "Whatever the case, that is the perfect place to be. But approaching it is still up in the air..." Vivace pondered. "What say you three?" "We could just...ask them to let her go?" Sonata suggested as that was the best she could come up with. "Breaking in might work." Aria had a more aggressive choice whilst Adagio stayed out of it. She didn't care much about Sunset Shimmer to come up with something anyway. "There's no way they can handle our Pokemon." "Hm. The more upfront approach. Maybe...but we might end up being locked up in that case..." Vivace replied. "We're far too powerful to be locked up. I still have my magic, so do you and we're far more experienced with our Pokemon than anyone else here." Adagio chimed, shrugging in response. "I thought you didn't want to help?" Vivace leaned to her oldest daughter. "Hmph. I just want this done as quickly as it can be so that we can focus on what's more important." "Well...we could always use the Shift Stones." Sonata pulled out another strong contender for helping Sunset Shimmer. The Shift Stones. Staring at them gave Vivace a clever idea. "The safest option." Vivace grabbed one of the Shift Stones. "I believe that if we use these to disguise ourselves as regulars or anything unassuming, we can easily reach where we need to be. And most of all, if we are to lend Sunset Shimmer one of these, she can change her appearance as well. I suggest either some guards or a Pokemon will do. Maybe even some leaves that managed to fly in. May the Ambrosial Plane forbid we turn into tumbleweeds." "Wow, mom. You're really ahead of things, aren't you?" said a stunned Aria Blaze, impressed with how her mother already had perfect choices. "It's what I do best. I would've enjoyed barging in for a more thrilling decision and a rush of adrenaline that I haven't felt for so long. But, keeping it simple is also effective. Each of you, hold onto your Shift Stones. Use them when we arrive there." They all then exited the van as Vivace made sure to lock it. All they needed to do now was find this Juvenile Detention Centre and appear naturally without any suspicions. The station looked like the best place to start at. They would approach it via their natural appearances but afterwards, the stones would be utilized. While approaching it, they took some time to gaze at the city. The Dazzlings have been here before so they have already witnessed the scope of this place. Vivace as well. It didn't surprise them that much but it was still a treat to see. There were newsstands around the place talking about various Pokemon that have appeared across the world and how no one knows anything about them still. Compared to Equestria, this world didn't have anyone to kickstart them into knowing what Pokemon are, similar to what Ash had done in the beginning. Thus, people were either lost or finding themself in unfavourable situations with these Strange and Wonderful Creatures due to all this limited knowledge. But something else caught their attention. Mainly Adagio and Vivace's. A nearby shop was selling some clothes and jewellery. They stopped by, pressing their faces on the glass and locking onto the expensive clothing and accessories. "Oh!" They gawked. "Mom! Adagio!" Aria cried out, breaking their focus on the clothes and jewellery. The Mother and Daughter grumbled as they moved away from the glass, continuing on their way. Eventually, they had arrived at the station after walking for a few minutes. Upon arriving, they immediately went up to the lady at the desk with Vivace ready to ask all of the questions. "Excuse me. But my daughters and I are here looking for this city's juvenile detention centre. Any idea of where it may be?" Vivace asked. "Oh. Do you need to send your daughters there?" The lady at the desk questioned. "No, but if it ever came down to it..." "Hey!" The three of them exclaimed. "Kidding." Vivace chuckled. But she also put on somewhat of a serious expression. If her children were to go awry, then she would know where to send them. "Well, it's around the outskirts of the city. A fairly far walk from here. Even if you were to drive there." The lady explained, pointing to a map on the wall. "It would take 3 hours at best." "Hm. That should be fine." That time didn't look intimidating to Vivace. Driving there for 3 hours was long but not too long. Especially for a siren. "I do need to ask why you're heading there." But the lady wasn't ready to just let them go so soon. "Is there something important?" "We're just there to see a friend," said Sonata, raising her arm. "Then you'll get a 10-minute call with them at best." But in truth, they would do more than just make a call. Aria, leaning her back against the wall, had noticed a tray over on the left. And on that tray were Poke Balls. A plethora of them that could be seen. Some that had slight dents in them. "Take a look at those Poke Balls...Wonder what happened?" Aria wondered. "Ah, those are Poke Balls we had to restrain from others. They found a way to utilize these creatures to do whatever criminal activities they could get away with. It wasn't easy, let us tell you that. But today's Poke Balls were easy to obtain as the owner didn't do much to stop us." "Oh..." Aria then started thinking about Sunset Shimmer's Pokemon and how they would be at the moment. If they were even aware of their Trainer's arrest. One of those Poke Balls could belong to Sunset Shimmer. Aria went over to Sonata, whispering it in her ear. Sonata understood before passing the message onto Adagio. Adagio nodded in understanding before finishing things off by whispering into Vivace's hair. They now had a new goal. The Poke Balls within the tray. There were quite a few of them to behold and any of them could be either of Sunset's Pokemon. One of the staff members came over, grabbing the tray of Poke Balls. They had been taken away afterwards. This accelerated some issues. Not only did they have to get Sunset Shimmer back, but they would also have to make sure her Pokemon are with her too. "Well, we should get going then. Come on, girls." Vivace whistled before leaving the Police Station with her daughters, ready to head back to the van and maybe try getting those clothes and accessories from before. "Mom." Aria ran in front of her mother. "We need to get those Poke Balls right now. Some of them at least. Sunset Shimmer owns some and any of them could be hers." "Mhm! Mhm!" Sonata nodded in agreement. "Hmm...You're right. That would mean that we would have to play it stealthily in that station. Our path to that detention centre can wait. I know this is aggravating you, Adagio." "It sure is..." "Use the stones in secret." Vivace held out one of the Shift Stones as did her daughters. This was the best time for them to be utilized. "We'll try and find her Pokemon before we leave to the outskirts." Juvenile Detention Center. Her time in this solitary room would be 6 hours. Minutes had already passed, almost reaching an hour at this rate. Sunset Shimmer was the person in question. She waited there for minutes, unable to do much but sit down or even look outside the window. This was by far the worst experience in her life, far surpassing the invasion and how radical that one was. Sunset Shimmer wasn't even sure that her friends knew about her current predicament nor did she know about the help coming her way. She looked outside the window, seeing nearby Flying-Type Pokemon dash through the air. She wished that any of them would come to her aid or a random Pokemon Battle would end up damaging the walls. Sunset Shimmer then relied on something else. Her hidden magic. She started humming a melody, hoping that the Equestrian Magic would be the key to leaving here. But lo and behold, while her pony ears and tail did show themselves, the best they did was radiate light. To top it all off, Sunset would only add to her problems if she had broken out. "I can't draw too much attention to myself...Or I'll just make it worse." Sunset Shimmer restrained herself as the light faded away. The mood wasn't right for it anyway. But the moment she put a stop to it, some knocking could be heard. But it wasn't coming from the door. Instead, it came from the walls. "Huh?" Sunset was alerted to the knocking as she scooched closer to the walls. Her ears were put near it as it was coming from the other solitary and tight-spaced room. Someone was trying to get her attention and it was a success. "Hey. Can you hear me?" The voice of someone had passed through. "Y-Yes?" Sunset Shimmer stuttered. "Oh good. I knew that voice sounded familiar. Sunset, you came back so soon. You've got to see what's changed here while you were gone for a while." "Um...I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm not the Sunset Shimmer you know. I've been framed." She started communicating with the person close to her. "What are you talking about?" But obviously, no one so far believed her. Especially not other inmates. "Look. I've got a surprise. Watch what comes through the walls." Sunset Shimmer looked at the walls, waiting to see what could possibly pass through. Just then, phasing right through the next room to this one was a Ghost-Type. A Shuppet to be exact. "Shuppet." "A Shuppet?!" Sunset Shimmer gasped. "Oh, it would make sense for a Shuppet to be here... It's attracted to feelings of jealousy and vindictiveness." "Is that what that is? I thought it just liked me." The mysterious voice said with a slight chuckle. "It does show up when things get heated." "A place like this would be a feeding ground for Shuppet. This could be a big breakthrough. I could have Shuppet help me leave. Can you make Shuppet do that?" She asked the mysterious person in the next room. "Uh...Not sure I can. This thing only comes by to float around me and do that feeding thing like you said. I don't think it cares much about my freedom." "Shupp." "I still can't pass up this chance..." Sunset Shimmer thought for a moment. This was her best opportunity to free herself. How would Shuppet be of use? A few things came to mind. One of which were emotions. Sunset felt no emotion of malice, jealousy, and resentment. Nothing for Shuppet to eat. It doesn't feed off of sadness at all. But, that was when Sunset Shimmer had someone to resent. Her counterpart. "That's right...If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be in here. This mixup with me and her is why any of this is happening..." "Shupp?" "It's all her fault..." Sunset Shimmer placed all of her resentment onto her counterpart. And why wouldn't she? Considering how things were looking and might start looking, all of that hatred would spew out. However, Sunset Shimmer was only doing this to have Shuppet feed off of it. Just one part of her plan. "Shuppet!" Shuppet gladly took advantage of this. It had circled Sunset Shimmer, using its powers to absorb the resentment and bitterness from her, feeding the Puppet Pokemon. "Shupp! Shuppet!" But even though this was made to feed Shuppet and get the Puppet Pokemon on her good side, she generally was showing some bitterness to her counterpart. Knowing that her counterpart had a reputation here and was the cause of Sunset Shimmer taking the blame, visible resentment could be seen. "Yeah...It's all her fault..." said Sunset before shaking her head. She snapped back to reality, forgetting about her counterpart for a moment. "Shuppet. Can you do me a favour?" "Shuppet." Shuppet enjoyed the bitterness absorbed that it had absorbed so it was willing to take favours. "Right now, there's probably a lot of things for you to feed on in this place. I ended up starting a food fight and tensions are high. Not only can you head there and eat as much as you want, but I need you to find a key. Anything that will unlock this door." "Pet. Shuppet." Shuppet nodded in understanding. A favour plus free food sounded like a safe bet. The Ghost-Type got to work, phasing through the doors. Shuppet could already feel the bitterness coming from the detention centre. Sunset Shimmer played a major part in it truly. Ever since the food fight occurred, despite it lasting for a while, many of the inmates here were ordered to clean the place up via the guards' orders. And that caused some malice to flow. There was already malice within this entire centre but it was higher than ever as there were some inmates who were not happy with Sunset Shimmer, considering she was the one who instigated it. And thanks to the reputation of her counterpart, this was boosted, making it perfect for Shuppet. Shuppet had a wide smile on its face as it was greatly satisfied with what it was feeling. But aside from that, Shuppet also started looking for keys. It had entered the cafeteria as it was still being cleaned up. The Puppet Pokemon made sure to make its boy transparent to avoid being spotted. "Curse that Sunset Shimmer..." One of the inmates growled, mopping the floor. "Can't believe I'm wishing her to get out of here...Why'd she have to come back?" "Pet..." Shuppet nodded in agreement, absorbing the malice here. Its eyes also navigated the area before spotting some keys on the security guards. Right near their pockets and hanging off their belts. Typical. Shuppet had found the jackpot. All that was needed was to snatch it without anyone noticing. Despite choosing to play this with stealth, Shuppet was thinking of causing some slight disruption to at least throw everyone off guard. That was when the Puppet Pokemon came up with the best solution. At least, in its eyes. That would be Will-O-Wisp. A sinister, bluish-white flame had been shot out of its mouth, touching the walls. Upon making contact, the flames had expanded with the first guard noticing something off. He turned around, spotting the emergence of these bluish-white flames. Since these flames were full of spiritual concentration, the fire alarms did not go off. But that didn't stop everyone from witnessing the expanding flames and how they were surrounding the cafeteria. Panic ensued as they all stopped cleaning, screaming and panicking once the flames had spread. "No one panic! Where's that fire extinguisher?!" A guard said, rushing to find the fire extinguisher. It would be located in the kitchen where the lunch lady prepares her food. The inmates couldn't help but panic. But not only that, some of them took this chance as a way to try and escape. Any disruption in a place like this was a miracle for an inmate. And much like Shuppet, their eyes were on the keys. The Fire Extinguisher had already been grabbed by the lunch lady as she rushed out. Upon rushing out, she started spraying it at full force with all foaming water bursting out. However, much to hers and everyone's surprise, the fire didn't go out. In fact, the fire extinguisher didn't even come close to moving. These spectral flames were immune to fire extinguishers. "Oh." And the lunch lady's voice said it all. "Shuppet... " Shuppet soon realized how big of a mistake it had made by choosing Will-O-Wisp. But it would ignore that for the keys. Only for one of the inmates to grab the keys while everything was sent into a frenzy. This didn't help with the fact that the other inmates started causing a ruckus, causing the guards to try and focus on two things. The spectral flames and the frantic inmates. All of this chaos caused the detention centre to go under lockdown with the doors from each room being locked. And this noise soon carried over to the room where Sunset Shimmer was. "What is happening out there...?" Sunset Shimmer wondered, unaware of the absolute pandemonium filling the detention centre. "Oh, I hope Shuppet has those keys..." All she could do now was hope that things go well. She was counting on Shuppet. If only she could count on more. Ash, the Main 6 plus the Dazzlings and their mother could be counted on as well. With the sirens already planning on retrieving her Pokemon and approaching here plus Ash's eventual arrival at the Human World, Sunset Shimmer's fate was hanging in the balance of these different groups as the journey continues. Chapter 681 End.