When morning came, sunlight seeped through the library’s window and onto the sleeping faces the Pokémon in the bed. Tom’s sleeping faced scrunched from the sudden appearance of the sun’s rays. He opened his eyes, looked at his surroundings and saw he was sleeping in the small guest room of his new friend. He also saw Pikachu curled up next to his next him with a pleasant look on his face. He carefully rose from his spot on the bed and stretched his limbs. Some cracks were emitted from some areas of his body. After that, his stomach growled, alerting him of his growing hunger. All of these noises awoke Pikachu from her slumber. She rose up and yawned before wiping her eyes with her paws.
“Is it already time to get up?” Pikachu asked, opening her mouth to yawn.
“Yeah. Looks like it. How did you sleep?” Tom asked.
“Just fine. And you? Did you have that dream again?” Pikachu asked, curious if he had that premonition dream he had before.
“Only a few flashes but nothing else. I’m sure if anything bad appears, I’ll be ready for it.” Tom said, not feeling concerned about his visions.
“And I’ll be right there beside you.” The mouse pokemon said, jumping on his back to nuzzle his cheek.
“Right. Together.” Tom said, accepting the nuzzle from his friend. He stopped the nuzzle once he caught a whiff of something. “Do you smell something?”
Pikachu began to sniff the air as well. She said, “I do smell something and it smells delicious.”
Tom grabbed his bag from the bed frame and walked towards the door to his bedroom with Pikachu following close behind. Once he walked up to the door, after a couple of minutes trying to turn the knob, he opened the door and walked out.
The two of them left the room while avoiding making too much noise. He didn’t want to wake up Twilight if she was still sleeping. Once they made it out of the hallway, and down the stairs. They sniffed the air, in search of the smell’s origin. Their eyes some came upon a doorway with a light on. That was where the smell was coming from. They walked up towards the doorway and looked inside.
Inside the room was a well furnished kitchen with a stove, oven, fridge and a table with plenty of chairs. At the front of the stove, standing on a stool, was a small, purple dragon with green spikes that started from the top of its head to the base of its spiky tail.
Tom couldn’t believe this: he was sent to another world as a Pokémon, he’s made friends with talking ponies, and now he looking at a real dragon making pancakes. Now, he’s seen everything. The small dragon heard movement coming from behind him and turned around. His eyes met with Tom’s.
“You must be the two that stayed over last night, right?” The small dragon asked.
“Yeah. My name’s Tom and the one on my back is Pikachu.” Tom said.
“Pika Pi.” Pikachu responded.
“She said it’s nice to meet you.” Tom translated.
“Oh, well, it’s nice to meet you too. My name’s Spike, Twilight’s #1 assistant.” Spike said, puffing his chest out with pride.
“Wow. I heard she had an assistant, but never knew you were a dragon. You’re pretty cool.” Tom said, complimenting the young dragon’s appearance.
“Aw, thanks.” Spike said, embarrassed from his compliment.
“Do you need any help making breakfast?” Tom asked.
“Not really. I’m just about done. You can take a seat while I finish things up here.” Spike said, returning to his cooking.
Since the dragon didn’t need help, Tom walked up to the dinner table and took a seat. Pikachu hopped off of his back and sat in the seat right beside him. While Spike was cooking, Tom used this opportunity to get to know Spike. He told him how he was sent to this new world, while Spike told him how he became Twilight’s assistant. After a couple minutes of talking, Twilight walked in with a tired look on her face.
“Good morning, Spike.” She said before noticing her two houseguests sitting at the table. “Oh… Good morning, Tom. Pikachu.”
“Good morning, Twilight.” Tom said.
“Pika.” Pikachu responded.
“Have you had the chance to know Spike, Tom?” Twilight said, taking a seat across from him.
“Sure. We learned a lot about each other before you got here. You’ve got a pretty amazing assistant.” Tom said.
“I know. The best ever,” Twilight said, looking at the young dragon, thinking of how important he was to her.
“Aw, shucks.” Spike said, scratching the back of his head from all the compliments he was getting.
After another few minutes, Spike was finally done cooking. He took the stacks of pancakes and placed them on three different plates. Twilight used her magic to help carry the plates to lighten the dragon’s load. With that out of the way, he poured a few cups of milk and placed them on the table. He also placed bowl of berries in front of Pikachu and a bowl of gems in front of himself.
“Breakfast is served.” Spike said before taking a bite into one the gems. The rest of them began eating their own food. Tom’s eyes widen at the first bite of his pancakes.
“Wow, Spike. These are the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted.” Tom said enjoying his breakfast.
“Thanks, Tom.” Spike said, eating his way through the bowl of gemstones while taking a few swigs of his milk.
“By the way, Tom, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you.” Twilight said, placing her cup of milk down with her magic.
“What is it?” Tom asked.
“I wanted to know more about the Pokémon. They’re a new species to Equestria and we have little knowledge of them. You’re the only one who knows anything about them and I was hoping you’d share what you know.” Twilight asked, hoping that her new friend would share his information.
“Of course, Twilight. I’ll tell you. What do you want to know?” Tom asked, noticing a scroll and quill appeared, covered in her magical aura.
“Firstly, how many Pokémon are there?” Twilight asked.
“Well, there are many different species that vary among types, but my last count was 905. Tom said, surprised at the total number given to her.
“Interesting. Now, what do you mean by types?” Twilight asked.
“I am referring to the different elemental properties associated with both the Pokémon and their moves. There are a total of 18 elements: normal, fire, water, grass, electric, ice, fighting, poison, ground, flying, psychic, bug, rock, ghost, dark, dragon, steel, and fairy.” Tom said, surprising Twilight by the number by all of the elements the Pokémon could control.
“There are that many elements?” Twilight asked, scribbling down every word that he was said.
“Yes. For example, Keldeo, the Pokémon that I am right now, is a water and fighting type. Now, that doesn’t mean I can’t use other elements but those are just the main ones.” Tom said, taking another bite of his pancakes.
“And there are Dragon types too?” Spike asked, joining the conversation.
“Of course. Dragon types are scarce by there are plenty of them,plus they’re really strong. Do you wanna see one?” Tom asked the small Drake.
Spike nodded his head and Tom thought through one of the dragon types he could turn into. Once he made his choice, he closed his eyes as his body glowed its usual multicolored aura. When his body was done changing shape, they all saw Tom’s new form.
He was a bipedal, grayish-green Pokémon with pale, straight tusks protruding from the sides of his mouth. The back of his head was dark grayish-green with a tall, slightly curved horn. Large, dark grayish-green ovals surround his red eyes, and he had a short, rounded snout with large nostrils.
“This form is called Axew, and it’s a dragon type.” Tom said before grabbing his cup of milk and taking a nice long drink.
Spike could not believe another dragon was standing right in front of him. He knew Tom wasn’t an average dragon like him, but it was still nice to see another one of his kind. He rose from his seat and walked up to the Dragon pokemon. Tom saw this and rose from his seat as well. Once the two were in front of one another, they just stood there starting at one another.
“Incredible. You two share so many similarities with one another even though you’re not the same species.” Twilight said, amazed by sight of two dragons in front of her.
“You’re right. I always wondered what a real dragon would look like, compared to a dragon type pokemon.” Tom said before turning around and sitting back down in his seat.
“I’m just glad there’s another dragon around here that I can hang with. I know you’re not a real dragon but it still feels nice.” Spike said right after sitting back down and finishing his meal.
“I understand, Spike. So, is there anything else you want to ask me, Twilight?” Tom asked, eating his last bite of pancakes.
“Not right now, but if I have anymore I’ll be sure to ask.” Twilight said, also finishing her breakfast before picking up all of the finished plates and taking them to the sink.
“So, what are you going to do with the rest of your day?” Twilight asked, turning on her sink to wash the dishes.
“I was thinking about getting a job somewhere in town. Twilight, do you any pony who's hiring for the moment?” Tom asked, picking up Pikachu’s food bowl and taking it towards Twilight.
“Hmm... I think Applejack may have said she could use more workers over at Sweet Apple Acres. It’s a family’s farm at the edge of Ponyville.” Twilight suggested.
“Great. Thanks, Twilight.” Tom said as she nodded her head, accepting his gratitude.
After they were all finished eating, they washed all of their dishes and placed them in the cabinet. Once they were done, Tom turned back into Keldeo, grabbed his treasure bag and walked into the living room. Pikachu hopped onto his back as he was nearing the front door.
"We’ll be back in a few hours guys!" Tom called out.
“Okay. Be careful out there.” Twilight said from the kitchen.
“We will.” Tom said, opening the door, then closing it behind him.
When the door closed, Twilight was just finishing up on putting away of the cleaned utensils. Once she was finished, she turned to her assistant and lifted up her scroll with her magic.
“Spike. Send this to Princess Celestia. She‘ll like to know everything about Tom and what we learned from him.” Twilight said, bringing up the scroll to the dragon.
“Sure thing, Twilight.” Spike said, taking a deep breath before blowing a light green flame onto the parchment. Instead of be burnt to cinders, it changed into a soft mist before flying out the window.
When Tom made it out of the library, he was met with the sights of Ponyville, receiving a few 'Hellos' and waves from the ponies. It really made him happy to see these amazing creatures warm up to him after only meeting him once. There were even a couple of Pokémon walking beside the town’s ponies. It really made him happy to see these two different species living together without worry.
After saying hi to a lot of ponies, he and Pikachu finally came across the farm. They could not believe what was in front of their eyes. There were thousands of apple trees that extended across the horizon. Each apple was glistening from the morning sun, showing just how sweet they looked from afar. This was truly an amazing site.
They continued their walked down the path to farm house, hoping to find their Apple friend.
"Bark! Bark!"
They were stoped in their tracks once they heard the sound of a dog. At first they thought it was a Pokemon barking, but after hearing more barking, it sounded like a regular dog. They followed the barking, thinking that it could lead to a pony they could talk to.
As the barking sound continued to increase, the dog making that sound was coming into view. It was a small dog with a brown coat of fur on top of its body and a white underbelly under it. Around its neck was a red collar with a golden tag.
When Tom got a closer look at the dog, he saw the dog standing on its hind legs, barking at something in the tree. Behind it was Applejack and Apple Bloom, also looking in the apple tree. He was curious what they were looking and decided to look up into the tree as well. It looked like any of the other Apple trees around the farm, until he saw one of the apples moving. He was surprised by this and got squinted his eyes to get a closer look. What looked like apples were actually just a bunch of Applelins.
From his spot, he could see the Apple Core Pokémon was looking down at the ponies and the barking dog. He decided to walk up to his friends to see if there was something wrong. As he was getting closer, he could hear Applejack and Apple Bloom speaking to one another.
“What are those things, Applejack?” Apple Bloom asked, looking up at the strange creatures in the tree.
“I don’t know. May they’re those Pokémon Tom was talking about.” Applejack said.
“But why are they are in one of apple trees?” Apple Bloom asked.
“I have no idea, Sugarcube. No idea.” Applejack said, looking at the same creatures she was looking at, not sure what to do about them.
“That tears it, I’m taking a closer look.” Apple Bloom said, turning around and bucking the apple tree. The Applins were shook from the tree and fell onto her mane, rolling around it as they found it be comfortable. “They’re like living apples.”
“That’s because they’re Applins.”
The apple sisters and the dog looked towards where the voice came from. They saw Tom walking up to them with Pikachu riding on his back. They smiled at this and walked up to him.
“Tom!” Apple Bloom said before she jumped at him and hugged his leg. Tom chuckled as he ruffled her mane, knocking the apple Pokémon out of it.
"Hey Apple Bloom. How you have been doing lately?” Tom asked as the yellow filly let go of his leg.
She giggle and said, "I'm doing fine, Tom. You know what these Pokémon are?"
“Yes. These are a species of Pokémon that burrows into an apple, which serves as a home, food source, and protection against preying bird Pokémon.” Tom said, looking at the inching moving apples inching away from them.
The brown dog suddenly walked up to Tom’s leg and began sniffing him. It circled his body, surveying him carefully before stopping right in front of him. From of its body, he could tell the dog was female. He smiled and bent his knees to get just about eye level to the small canine. Pikachu slid off of his back when he was close enough to the dog’s face.
"Hey, girl. My name is Tom and behind me is Pikachu. We’re both friends of Applejack and Apple Bloom." Tom said, greeting the brown dog.
She looked at me for a bit, until she started to walk up to him. He stuck out his hoof as a show of good faith. She started sniffing it for a second, before she barked happily and lunged at him, licking his face.
"Hahahaha! Down girl! Heel! Stop! That tickles!" Tom laughed, receiving various licks from the dog. Pikachu laughed at her friend from being covered in slobber before the dog stopped and jumped on her. She was being licked nonstop by the dog before running away with the dog giving chase.
Applejack giggled and said, “Well, it looks like Winona like you two. So, what brings ya to our farm?"
"I'm looking for a job, and Twilight said you might be hiring for the moment." Tom explained.
“You should definitely work here. It’d be so fun to have you and Pikachu here.” Apple Bloom said with a gleam in her eyes.
"Hmm...ah think we can get ya a job here, but it takes a lot of work, if you're up for it." Applejack said.
“I’m up to it. I’ve had all kinds of jobs back home, so working on a farm shouldn’t be much of problem.” Tom said.
“Alright, then. Let’s go talk to Granny Smith so she can meet yah.” Applejack said as she turned around and walked up to the farm
"So, what kind of work do you do on this farm?" Tom asked.
"My family and I mainly pick apples and sell them at the market. We also take care of the pigs, sheep, bail hay, and keep the farm clean. If you work here, then you’ll have to get up at the crack of dawn," Apple Bloom explained.
“It doesn’t sound too hard. Most of my previous jobs had me work from early in the mornings to late at night. The amount of work and working times never concerned me." Tom replied.
Applejack smiled, "That's the spirit sugarcube!"
After a few seconds of walking, they soon came up to the house next to the red barn. On the house’s front porch was a old mare with green fur and a white, frizzing mane and tail. On her flank was an apple pie mark. She was sitting in a rocking chair, sleeping the day away.
“Is that your grandmother, Applejack?” Tom asked, pointing at the sleeping mare in the rocking chair.
“Yep. That’s Granny Smith.” Applejack said, walking up to the old mare, trying to wake her up by nudging her shoulder. “Up and at-am, Granny Smith. We have a guest."
"Huh..oh wa?" The old mare opened her eyes, which were an amber like color. She said, "Oh, hello Applejack. What’s that you said? She looked ahead and saw a pony standing next the Apple Bloom."And who might this young whippersnapper be?"
"Granny Smith, this is Tom. Tom, this is Granny Smith." Applejack said.
He nodded and walked up to the old mare. He stuck his hoof out and said, “It’s a pleasure to me you, Ms smith.”
"Mah, Mah, aren't you the gentlecolt. It's nice to meet you as well, Sonny. And call me Granny Smith." She said, bumping her hoof against his and shaking in the same motion as a handshake.
“Granny, he’s the one who saved me and Sweetie Bell from that manticore yesterday.” Apple Bloom said.
“Oh, really. Well, thank you for savin’ my granddaughter, Tom.” Granny Smith said, bowing her head to the young man.
“Oh, it was nothing. I was just lucky I made it in time.” Tom said, rubbing his head with one of his hooves.
"He’s just being modest, Granny. Tom was incredible.” Apple Bloom said.
“And he needs a job, and ah was thinking he could work her on the farm.” Applejack added.
“Well, he does seem fit enough for the job. And he did save Apple Bloom. Oh, why not? He has the job.” Granny Smith said, bring a smile to his face.
“Really?” Tom asked.
“Sure. Why don’t you start by first going gathering up some apples?” Granny Smith said, pointing towards some buckets and the apple trees.
“Okay. What do I have to do?” Tom asked.
“Take some of the buckets over there and place all of the apples from those tree into them. When yer done, bring the buckets and place it where others." Applejack explained, pointing to some trees.
Tom placed his bag on the ground, walked up to the buckets and picked them up with his mouth. Once he placed them around the trees, he stood in front of one of the trees and bucked his legs with a Double Kick. The double attack was enough to shake out all of the apples, plus a few Applins. He took out the Applins, so they don’t get mistaken as real apples and started working on the other apples.
“That stallion is quite something.” Granny Smith said, rocking back and forth in her chair.
“He sure is.” Applejack said with a certain look in her eyes. This didn’t go unnoticed by her grandmother.
He may even be the pony perfect for you.” Applejack said.
Applejack blushed and then said, "Granny!”
“Oh, that be amazing. If you two date, then I’d have a new older brother.” Apple Bloom said with a look of excitement in her eyes.
“Hold on, you two. Tom and I are just friends. And we only met just yesterday.” Applejack said.
“Oh, calm down, Applejack. We’re just teasing you. And if you two do end up together then that would be perfect.” Granny Smith said, increasing the size of the red on Applejack’s face.
Before this could get even more embarrassing, Tom returned with the last of the apples. When he dropped off the final bucket, he said, “I’m done.”
The three mares looked at the full buckets of apples with wide eyes. Applejack asked, “You’re done already?”
“Yep.” Tom said, nodding his head.
“How did you get done so fast?” Apple Bloom asked.
He shrugged his shoulder and said, “Guess I just have strong legs.”
“Well, if you could this work done in a few minutes, then we’ll definitely have you on the fair. Be back here tomorrow at the crack of dawn for your first day.” Granny Smith said.
“Thank you for the opportunity. I promise I won’t let you down.” Tom said, bowing his head to show his gratitude.
“I know you won’t.” Granny Smith said.
Tom grabbed his bag from the ground and searched for his electric friend. He found her still be chased by Winona. He said, “Pikachu! It’s time to go!”
Pikachu stopped running once she heard her friend say her name. She ran towards her friend, while Winona missed the mouse and ran into a tree. Once she was close enough, she hopped on her friends back and took a long rest. After that, Tom said his goodbyes and left the farm.
He was walking on the dirt path, walking in the opposite direction of the apple farm.
“What should we do for the rest of our day?” Tom asked the tired rodent riding on his back.
“I don’t know. All I want to do is rest.” Pikachu said while taking a few deep breaths.
“Okay. Maybe we can find to place to re-“ Tom said before stopping after a thought crossed his mind. This didn’t go unnoticed by his tired friend.
“Tom? What’s wrong?” Pikachu asked.
“I just remembered I was suppose to be training with Shinji yesterday before I met the girls.” Tom said, recalling the events of yesterday.
“Oh yeah. After everything that happened, I forgot about that. You think he’ll be mad?” Pikachu asked.
“Probably. Only one way to find out.” Tom said before a soft glow covered his body and he changed shape. Pikachu held onto his back while he transformed so she wouldn’t fall off.
Once his transformation was over, he took the form of an avian Pokémon with large wings, sharp talons, and a short, hooked beak. His glossy plumage was mostly brown with cream-colored underparts and flight feathers. His head had a decorated crest that was nearly as long as his body. The center feathers of his crest were yellow, while the outer feathers are red. The fan-like feathers of his tail were red or brown. His beak and legs were pink, and there were three forward-facing toes and one backward-facing toe on each foot. Behind each eye was an angular black marking.
“Hold on.” Tom said before taking flight. He soared through the sky with Pikachu holding on tight to his feathers. He flew towards the Everfree Forest, hoping his sensei wasn’t too mad with him.
After a few minutes of flying, Tom finally found the area where him and Shinji last trained. Once he landed, Pikachu fell off of his back while he transformed back into Keldeo.
“Where could he be?” Tom asked, searching the empty field for his fighting teaching.
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s searching the forest for us.” Pikachu said, standing up to help him search for Urshifu.
“Or maybe he standing right behind you.”
The two of them flinched after hearing a voice appear for right behind him. They visibly sweating as they turned around saw Shinji with angry look on his face. They could just see how angry he was with his flaring aura around his body.
“You know, you are the one who asked me to train you. So, the least you could do is show up on time when I expect you to.” Shinji said, clearly angry from his pupil’s absence.
“I know that I was supposed to come back after my break, but I have a really good reason for not showing up.” Tom explained.
“If your life was not in danger, then there should not be any reason why should have been late.” Shinji said, expecting a good reason for why the young shapeshifter missed his training.
“Well…”
And so Tom began teelling the story of yesterday’s events. He told him about the angry Simisear, meeting Fluttershy, seeing visions of the future, battling a manticore, saving two fillies and making new friends. All the while head talking, Shinji did not say a word and listened to the entirety of his pupil’s story. Once he was done, he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
“While I’m glad you‘re alright, I still don’t appreciate you not letting me know what happened.” Shinji said.
“I know and I’m sorry. I’d understand if you wouldn’t wanted to train me again.” Tom said, shocking Pikachu with what he said. Before she said anything, Shinji spoke.
“You’re not getting off that easy. If you think my training was tough before, you haven seem anything yet.” Shinji said, surprising his pupil.
“Really? You’ll still train me?” Tom asked.
“Of course I will. I agreed to training you and I do not go back on my word. Now, are you prepared for today’s training.” Shinji asked.
Tom smiled at his mentor before steeling his face. He said, “Yes, Sensei.”
Shinji was not lying when he said that their training was going to be tougher. Tom spent the day running around with boulders on his back while dodging attacks from Shinji. After that he to do - bunch of reps with a sleeping Munchlax. Then he spent a few hours doing leg pull ups, push-ups with Pikachu on his back and a lot of hand stands.
After a whole day of training, their training session came to an end. Once he was told he was done, Tom fell on the ground, completely exhausted from today’s training.
“That should be all today. Head back to the village before you friends get worried.” Shinji said to his downed student.
“Okay.” Tom said, rising up from the ground and took a few deep breaths before transforming back into Pidgeot. Pikachu climbed back onto his back before he flew into the direction of Ponyville. Shinji watched as the two were flying before they were out of sight.
He sighed and said, “So he has the Aura Vision. Arceus, what are you up to?”
Their flight back to the village was relaxing, and very calm. The wind was in their fur and feathers as he the just enjoyed the sight of the setting sun. While flying, they saw met a few flying Pokémon while flying over the village.
Once they made it back to the library, Tom transformed back into Keldeo and entered his home. It came to a surprise that both library’s lights were off, revealing that Twilight and Spike must be asleep.
Tom walked along the first, trying to avoid making any noise. When he finally made it up the stairs, he walked down the hall and into his and Pikachu’s bedroom. After the two of them entered the room, they quickly made it towards their bed.
After a long day, they just decided to close their eyes and go to sleep. This was the beginning of his new life in Equestria.