“Man, that smells so good.” Ash says with a wide smile while watching Riley stir a ladle in a pot.
“No kidding.” Spike says while drooling.
“Pika, Pika.” Pikachu says doing the same.
“Don’t drool too much.” Riley states.
Twilight was sitting on a log, looking around at the green field around her, seeing the trees and seeing many caterpillar-looking Pokemon crawling around them. She was a little grossed out by the sight, but other than that, still was in disbelief. Just last week she had encountered a magical force that turned her into an evil villain, nearly destroying Canterlot High, now she was in this mysterious world full of these mythical-looking creatures.
As fascinating as they were to her, she was still uneasy about the whole thing. The fact that Midnight was behind this and the idea that she was actually a real… whatever she was, just living inside of her and trying to take over her still didn’t settle in.
“Alright, breakfast is served.” Riley says as Ash pumps his fist in the air.
He and the Pokemon went up and got bowls for themselves. Spike inspected the soup before turning to Pikachu and seeing him eat a bit.
“Is it good?” He asked.
“Pikachu! ~” The mouse says happily.
He turned back to the soup, then gave it a lick before smiling and began chowing down.
“Oh, man, Riley. This is awesome!” Ash says with glee. “Man, I could learn a lot from you and Brock.”
“Slow down, don’t choke yourself before we get to training.” The man tells him.
The boy smiled before turning to Twilight and realizing she didn’t have a bowl. He decided to grab one and walk over to her.
“Hey, Twilight.” He asks before seeing her still looking down, not saying anything. “Twilight?” He says again before placing his bowl down. “Twilight-?” He then reached out to tap her shoulder.
She squealed a bit, flinching back before looking up at him with a frightened face. The sudden shout startled him a bit and took him aback. They stared into each other’s eyes for a bit before seeing her bowl in his hand. He looked down, then held it out to her.
“T-the soup’s done.” He says, still bewildered.
She stared for another second before straightening herself up. “Thank you.” She says while taking it from him.
She looked down at her soup for a second before looking at the rest. They all had looks of sympathy plastered on their faces. She felt a little uneasy as she turned away before she began eating. The boy sat on the log next to her.
“You okay?” He asked as she looked back at him.
“Y-yeah, sorry.” She says before awkwardly laughing. “‘This’ is good.” She then says, trying to brush it off.
“If you’re thinking about Midnight Sparkle, I believe you don’t have to worry. At least not right now.” Riley explains before giving the other Pokemon a bowl as well. “As I said, we’ll start with the basics after breakfast we’ll start with the basics on aura.”
“Thanks, but… it’s not really that… well, actually it kinda is, but it’s more of…” She says while looking around at the Pokemon. “Uh… this… world and… all.”
“Hey, it’s no trouble really. It’s actually understandable.” Ash tells her. “I bet you don’t have much amazement in your world, huh?”
“I mean… I… well, I don’t really know how I would put it.”
“Still, a world without Pokemon. Who could imagine something like that?”
“Easy for you to say. You weren’t dragged out of your world and dropped into a strange place full of strange creatures and… all that other stuff.”
“Well, I can’t say I haven’t been in another world before.” The boy then says which caused her to perk up.
“Unfortunately, I’m not experienced in such a thing.” Riley says.
“Is this your first time?” Spike asked Pikachu.
“Pika.” The yellow mouse shook his head in response.
“Huh, go figure.”
Chapter 5: Aura 101
Once they were done with breakfast, they went out in the field. Ash and Twilight sat in the grass with Riley sitting in front of them, all three with their legs crossed. Spike, Pikachu, and Charizard sat on the side, watching them.
“Are you two ready?” Riley asked.
“I’m ready, alright!” Ash says with enthusiasm.
“Um…” Twilight says, looking back and forth. “I-I think so.”
“Good. Now before we begin, there is one thing you must know.” The man began explaining. “The most important part you must remember is to control aura you must have a clear mind. More or less, you must relax your body more than anything else.”
Hearing that, Ash straightened himself up and let himself relax like he was said. Twilight watched and followed his example.
“The second most important part is to relinquish any negative thoughts. They will hinder you the most while using your aura. This also tends to be the hardest part about it.” The man continued to explain.
“Got it.” Ash says.
“Uh… is there a third thing we need to remember?” Twilight asked.
“Just one more. It’s to use it wisely and preserve it. Overuse of it could cause some unintended consequences.” Riley states. “Do you understand now?”
“Yeah, got it.” Ash says.
Twilight looked at him before turning back. “I… I guess…”
“It’s okay to admit if you understand or not.” Riley asked.
“No, no, I understand most of what you said… some… a bit…” She says, looking unsure.
“Don’t worry. There’s no need to rush this training.” Riley says before moving his hands up as if holding something. “Let’s start by forming a normal aura sphere. To do this, you’ll need to channel energy through your body and into your hands.” He explains before Twilight raises her hand. “Yes?”
“Uh… how do you ‘channel’ energy exactly?” She asked.
“It’s not hard to do. As I said, all you have to do is relax and focus.”
Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion before looking left and right. Spike looked at Pikachu in confusion who just shrugged.
Riley then proceeded to create an aura sphere without effort, much to the other two’s amazement. He held it out in one hand as it floated above his palm before it dissolved.
“Once you successfully create one, you’ll be ready for the next step.” He explained. “Ash, would you like to start?”
“Sure thing.” Ash says with a thumbs up.
He started by putting his hands together as if he was holding something, then closed his eyes. They waited, nothing happened for a while. Twilight looked back and forth between them, opened her mouth about to say something before a flash filled the boy’s hands. When he opened his eyes, he looked at his hands and smiled widely before holding up an aura sphere in one hand.
“Sweet! Look at that.” He says all giddy. “Hey, Pikachu, Charizard! Look at this!” He says while tossing the sphere around like a ball.
“Pika, Pika!” The little mouse cheers happily while the aforementioned dragon roars in the same tone.
“Good job. I think you’re ready for the next step.” Riley says before looking at the girl. “And Twilight.”
“Huh? O-oh, right. Um…” She says before looking at Ash. “S-so, I just do what he did?” She asked, getting a nod in return. “Okay… okay I can do this. I can do this.” She says while shifting a bit.
“Remember, don’t force yourself. Just relax your mind and release the tension in your muscles.”
“Right, right.” She says before breathing in, then out, getting her hands in position, and closing her eyes.
“Good. Now focus your mind on channeling energy to your hands.”
“Got it, got it.”
She did what he said… well, did what she thought it was supposed to be. She breathed out before focusing hard. Her eyes squinted a bit and her body tensed for a moment, but she did as she was told and calmed down, continuing on the mindset to create an aura sphere.
She waited a bit… then a little longer… then longer… then opened her eyes and looked at her hands to see… nothing. Nothing was there. She didn’t see anything in her hands.
“I-it’s not working. A-am I doing something wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Easy, I didn’t say you had to get it done on your first try.” Riley states. “Just keep trying until you do.”
“A-are you sure that I can do this? He did it so easily.” She says referring to Ash.
“Well, it’s not exactly the first time I used aura.” Ash states.
“The likes of what?” Riley asked.
“Well, there was one time in Sinnoh when a Riolu was in trouble and he used his aura to talk to me and I used my own to keep track of where he was going.”
“S-see? He’s done this before. I haven’t.” Twilight tries to explain.
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you’re incapable. As I said, there’s no need to rush this.” Riley tells her. “For now, we’ll focus on Ash’s training. If we can’t get you to learn to use aura, then… well-”
“We’ll find another to get rid of these evil things in us.” Ash says. “No matter what.”
Twilight still felt unsure, but held onto his word. Riley smiled at the boy’s determination as his Lucario went up and patted him on the back. Riolu sat by, watching with interest.
“So, how long do you think it’s gonna take?” Spike asked, looking at Pikachu.
“Pika, Pika. Pikachu.” The mouse tells him.
“Do they?” He says with a raised eyebrow, before humming. “Well, never been on one of your little adventures before.”
“Okay, but like… off topic.” Twilight says while standing up. “I-is there a bathroom somewhere around here?” She asked and they all stared at her.
Ash looked away before nervously scratching his head. “Uh…” He says which made her look nervous.
“Uh… outhouse?” She then asked.
“Pikachu.” Pikachu sighed.
“Yeah, I don’t think so, either.” Spike responds as Charizard huffs with a hand on his head.
“Y-you’re saying there…” Twilight gulped. “I-isn’t even a toilet nearby or anything?”
“Well, as I said, there isn’t really any civilization here other than the Pokemon.” Riley explained.
She stared for a moment, eyes slowly widening in fear. “S-so I’d have to… go in the woods?”
“It seems that way.”
“A-a-a-a-” She stumbled over her words before shaking her head. “You cannot be serious!”
“I mean, it more or less happens with traveling.” Ash says before going over to his bag and digging through it. “I got supplies to help.”
She paused for a second before hunching over with a groan. “And I thought Midnight would’ve been the worst thing I’d be dealing with.”
(Later)
Ash was throwing his backpack on as Twilight came back, soap, water bottle, and toilet paper in hand. She looked horrified as she handed the supplies back.
“That was horrible.” She says before seeing the boy start walking. “Wait… where are you going?”
“I’m just gonna go for a walk around the island for a bit. Ya know, see what it has to offer and everything.” He tells her.
“W-what about the… ya know… training to use… aura…?”
“Well, one of the parts about training is to have a clear and calm mind, right?” He asked while adjusting his backpack straps. “Taking a walk could help.”
“Pika.” Pikachu says while jumping onto his shoulder.
“We won’t be gone for too long.” He then says as he walks down a dirt road.
She stood dumbfounded before Spike flew up and landed on her shoulder. “He may have a point. You should try it too.” He says.
“I should?” She asked.
“Hey, he’s the expert here.”
She looked back at the campsite, watching the orange dragon start stretching while Riley and Lucario came back with more firewood. She looked up in thought before sighing.
“What the heck. Hey! Wait up for me!” She called out as she ran in the direction of the boy.
Riolu watched, still seeming interested. Lucario noticed as he turned to face him. The older jackal just gave a shrug, which the younger seemed to take an acceptable answer and hopped onto its feet before trotting off in the duo’s direction.
Charizard saw and gave Lucario a questioning look with a raised brow, only getting a shrug in return before he did the same.
(Meanwhile)
“Okay, so uh…” Twilight says while following the boy. “Is there anything else you’d like to tell me? Maybe something I should be concerned about… like any kind of dangers?”
“Not much really. There are some places you’ll need to watch for like territories that have some dangerous Pokemon, but other than that, I don’t think there’s much more.” Ash explains to her.
“Is there any way to tell if we’re anywhere dangerous?”
“Yeah, stuff like claw marks on trees, there might be some webs done by Bug Type Pokemon, sometimes there are young ones that the parent Pokemon can be extremely protective over.”
“And uh… how often do you travel?” She asks.
“I’ve been doing it ever since I was ten.”
“Oh, I see… wait what?”
“Yeah, I first started my journey around my home region Kanto. It was a real blast. I got to see a lot of different Pokemon.”
“You traveled an entire region on your own at ten years old?”
“Not on my own. I had my friends with me and that made everything awesome.”
“Pika, Pika.” Pikachu chimed in.
“Still, ten years old. How could your parents allow that?” Twilight asked as they came to a stop.
“It’s just a thing. Every kid ten or older can get a license to become a Pokemon Trainer.” Ash explains. “It felt like a dream when I finally became a trainer. That was my first step to becoming a Pokemon Master.”
“Pokemon Master?”
“Yeah. It’s always been my dream.” Ash says while he started scratching Pikachu’s chin before he continued walking.
Twilight was still a little astonished when hearing about how kids become Pokemon Trainers at so young… well, a little was an understatement. She still had tons of questions to ask, though wasn’t sure what to ask next.
Her thoughts were suddenly cut short when she felt something land on her head. She looked up and saw what looked like a round owl-like creature looking down at her with curious red eyes.
“H-hello?” She says with a hand up, a little nervous.
All it did was hoot in response. She looked at Spike who just shrugged with a shake of his head, not knowing what to do either. It then hopped off her head and onto the ground, pecking at it.
“That’s a Hoothoot.” Ash says while walking up to her.
“A what now?”
“Well, uh…” He says before thinking for a moment. “Here, maybe this will explain better.”
He took off his backpack and looked through it. As he was, the owl turned up, making eye contact with her and staring with a tilt of its head. It made her feel uncomfortable before it turned back to peck at the ground, before catching a worm.
“Here we are.” Ash then pulled out some kind of device that intrigued Twilight.
“Cool, but what is it?” Spike asked with a brow raised.
“It’s a Pokedex. It tells you what Pokemon you come across.” He says before showing them the screen which scanned the Pokemon, then started talking.
“Hoothoot: the Owl Pokémon. Hoothoot has a perfect sense of time. Whatever happens, it keeps rhythm by precisely tilting its head in time. It always stands on one foot. It changes feet so fast, the movement can rarely be seen.” It explained to them.
“Oh, my gosh, that is so cool.” Twilight says with a cheery smile.
“I actually had one of these back then. If you think this is cool, you should see what it evolves into.” Ash says before putting his Pokedex away. “If you want I could help you catch it.”
“Ah, no. I-I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Um, well.” She looked at the owl. “I-I think Spike is enough for me.”
“Yeah, I’m not looking to have a roommate.” Spike also says
“Alright, suit yourself.” Ash says before the two of them continued walking, not much longer into their walk, they then come to a stop and stare in awe as their partners jumped off their shoulders. “Woah.”
Right in front of them was a field with a long and burnt crater across from them. Following that were several burnt trees and a few more craters as some of the Pokemon were staring, either in shock, fear, or curiosity.
“Did… D-Did we do all this?” Twilight asked in astonishment.
“I think so.” Ash responded. “I can’t believe I even have the power to cause this much destruction at all.” He says before he turns and sees the girl stepping back. “Twilight? Where’re you going?”
“I-I’m sorry, I…” She stuttered while rubbing her arms. “I-I need a minute. I’ll see you back at the campsite.” She says before turning and walking away.
“Um… okay. Don’t get lost.” He tells her.
As she left, he had a worried look on his face before turning back to the destruction. He then got a sudden sting in his head, grunting as he rubbed his temple before looking back.
“Pikachu.” Pikachu says.
“I think we might be here for a while too.” Spike says.
(Canterlot High)
“Wait, wait, wait.” Flash says as the group all stood in front of the statue. “So, let me get this straight, the Twilight that currently goes to our school right now is not the Twilight that I met, but the one I did meet came from another world where she’s a princess?”
“Yep, that’s the long and short of it.” Rainbow tells him.
The boy put a hand on his head. “Honestly, this is kinda hard to take in.”
“You wouldn’t be the first to say that.” AJ tells him.
“So, what are we doing here?” Rainbow asked.
“I thought it’d be obvious by now.” Sunset says. “As much as she might be dealing with some things in Equestria, we’re gonna need Princess Twilight’s help. I don’t think this is something we do on our own.”
“You sure about that?” Flash asked.
“She’s helped us out a lot before. If there’s anypony that could help us figure out how Midnight’s magic works, it’s Twilight. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Sunset then went into the statue and disappeared.
The group stared for a minute… before Flash spoke up. “So, do we just… sit here.”
“Yeah, this is the part that gets boring.” Rainbow says.
“I brought cupcakes!” Pinkie then says as she pulled out a tray of cupcakes surprising the others.
To be continued…