Equestria. Canterlot. The Pokemon School. Afternoon.
Twilight's perfect day of running the new Pokemon School was quickly struck by the sword that was Chancellor Neighsay's presence. Now that the school had opened up to other species, it was back in the grasp of the EEA. All she had to do was to make sure that nothing went wrong and the Chancellor would let this school be with its newest development.
"No need to worry, Chancellor Neighsay. Everything's going to be just fine. This school's already set to succeed, Right, Ash?" Twilight shifted her eyes at Ash, praying that everything would turn out swimmingly well.
"Uh, I don't work here but sure! I've been meaning to have a battle right now. A lot of you asked me though." Ash turned to the few students who requested a battle with him.
"Ah. I'm afraid not." Suddenly, Neighsay interjected, halting Ash from going any further. "You're not employed here and you're about to take part in a battle with them?"
"Yeah?"
"Starting fights in schools are regularly frowned upon, especially when it comes to the youth. Aren't you a little old to be battling children?" Neighsay narrowed his eyes. "Maybe on the outside, but on school grounds?"
"Now I'm not in the mood anymore..." Smolder pouted, flying off along with the other students as Neighsay had killed the mood.
"It's fine, it's fine!" Twilight flew in front of Neighsay, rapidly waving her hooves. "It's always been a rule in the school. Plus, Pokemon Battling is arguably the most essential part. Gotta defend yourself in this new world somehow, right?"
"Hm. That is true." Neighsay slowly said, seeing where Twilight was coming from. "Well, since it's for the sake of our well-being, who am I to interject? I advise you to be careful, however. The way others battle is different from how we ponies battle. Have you inspected that?"
"Uhh..." Twilight paused for a moment as Neighsay had a point there. With different creatures from Equestria coming here, each had ways of battling. Twilight knew one thing. Dragons battle aggressively and some are not accustomed to battling. "Well, I'm sure it's fine. We have subjects just for that."
"And you were going to let them start battling without even going through with the subject first?"
"Well, uhh...I didn't think it would be that much of an issue. Everyone always starts a Pokemon Battle here or there somewhere. But now that you mention it, it's probably for the best. I just thought it would be fine since it was always a part of the rules in the beginning."
"Princess Twilight. You are aware of my time speaking with your previous principal, Cynthia, correct?" Neighsay questioned.
"Right...The same day a food fight went off."
"It was easy for Cynthia to speak with me and get things done solely because she had plenty of experience with her world. It was fitting for her, a human, to be in charge of the school. Had it been anyone else, we wouldn't be having this conversation. At the EEA, every time a new principal appears, we have to review them as well"
"A-All the time?" Twilight stuttered. "Even if it's passed the EEA?"
"Of course. The last time somepony become a new principal of a school, the entire school became bankrupt. Since then, we've made sure to properly review every new principal that fills a position. If not, then some random fool can have plenty of power and completely ruin the school. You are the newest principal of the school, so I hope you don't turn out to be the last. Your knowledge of Pokemon is at least promising."
"Hah...Got it." Twilight sighed, lowering her head as Neighsay threw plenty of things to worry about at her. But while she took in everything Neighsay had to say, she was too late to stop a Pokemon Battle. At this very moment, a Pokemon Battle was about to commence. The sound of students could be heard going off near the field where a Pokemon Battle could take place, making Twilight's ears jerk up.
And the one to start this battle would be Smolder, who had multiple dragons by her side, wanting to see a Pokemon Battle as well. The Dragons were certainly catered to the Battling side of Pokemon compared to anyone else so it was inevitable for something like this to happen.
"I would've preferred Ash but I have to make do 'cause I'm already so bored." Smolder expressed, needing to relieve this boredom. She still wasn't feeling this school even after receiving a new Pokemon. And speaking of which, she wasn't going to battle with her new Pokemon but instead, with her Charmander, who has been here since the beginning. Her opponent was a random pony and her Pidgey.
"Wait, wait!" Twilight bellowed. "Not until we've taught you about-"
"Charmander, Scratch!" It was too late. The battle had begun.
"Charmander!" Charmander went first, holding his claws out and rushing at the Tiny Bird Pokemon. Neighsay would simply watch how this would play out. He did say that other creatures would have different ways of battling but it was all a matter of how its executed and how far it goes.
"Pidgey, use Gust!"
"Pidge! Pidgey!" By flapping its wings, the Pidgey would unleash a gust of wind that was small but strong enough to lift Charmander into the air. Charmander found his movements being slowed down by the wind while also feeling his feet leave the ground.
"C-Char!" Charmander gasped before being lifted into the air by the Gust. Afterwards, the wind would strike at him, dealing some damage. The Lizard Pokemon then found himself spinning through the air and landing on the ground afterwards.
"Charmander! Are you alright?!" Smolder bellowed.
"So far so good. Nothing out of the ordinary here." Neighsay commented on this Pokemon Battle.
"Yep. They're all rookies so there won't be anything too crazy!" Twilight nervously laughed, glad that a rather small-scale battle was going on. Had this been someone like Ash, then something staggering could've happened.
"I'm not a rookie!" Smolder heard that, denying the statement of her being a rookie. "Charmander, use Dragonbreath!"
"Char...Mander!" By holding his breath in, Charmander gathered all the dragon energy from within before releasing it in the form of a light blue flame.
"Gust again!"
"Pidgey!" Another Gust would appear just from the flap of Pidgey's wings. However, when trying to blow the Dragonbeath away, Charmander's attack managed to overpower the Gust, consuming it in its draconic energy. As such, Pidgey would be struck by the flames, crying out. "Pi! Pidgey!"
"Great! Now, use Scratch!"
"Just so you know, she is a rookie," Ember spoke, appearing behind Ash and the others. She was the one to confirm how new Smolder was when it came to all of this. All the while, Charmander was going in for another Scratch. This time while Pidgey was on the ground.
"Quick, PIdgey! Fly away!"
"Pi?" Pidgey blinked for a moment before seeing an orange lizard appearing above it with his claws out. "Pidgey?!"
"Mander!" Charmander landed a hit, slashing Pidgey's chest. Not only that, he landed on the chest of the Tiny Bird Pokemon, leaving his foot there.
"Now, Ember!"
"Charmander!" Once more, Charmander would breathe out an attack, but this time, it was the element he was used to. From his mouth, a spark of embers would fly out, landing on Pidgey. Charmander would then leap off Pidgey's body the second the flames burst around its body.
Unable to get up, PIdgey succumbed to the flames. It was truly a display of young trainers and how their battles play out. Not very long compared to the more experienced trainers. Once the flames subsided, Pidgey was seen down and out. It had fainted.
"P-Pidgey..."
"Yes! Haha!" Smolder cackled, showing her draconic tongue as her eyes were in the air, revelling in this victory. "That didn't look new, did it!?"
"I guess not. And it went better than expected..." Twilight sighed with relief before glancing over at Neighsay. Thankfully, this battle turned out fine. Neighsay did twitch a bit once he saw how Charmander got close to Pidgey but it was dismissed. So far, so good. The school wasn't doing anything too out of the ordinary.
"Very well then. Show me the rest of the school and what new developments you've made to it. I will only be here for a few hours and after that, I will leave you to your devices, granting your school the much-needed approval." Neighsay ordered.
"Got it! Ash, back me up here." Twilight scrunched her face. "I need all hands and hooves on deck to make sure this goes well, okay?"
"Sure. I can stay around for a while longer." Ash agreed, willing to see this through with Twilight. If there was a chance that this all went wrong, Ash would try and prevent that chance with all of his might.
"Pikachu!"
Neighsay was given a tour of the school to see what it had to offer now that it was open to other species. And to Twilight, the best way to do so was by seeing the staff first. Twilight brought him to the nearest staff members she could find and it turned out to be ones who were involved with Dark Magic.
Currently, Sombra was remodelling Olympia's classroom by using Dark Magic. Olympia's room already looked fancy and while Sombra kept parts of it around to his liking, he would reshape a majority of it in his image. And that was by using Dark Magic which was flowing everywhere.
"What?" Sombra said, looking over at Twilight as the Dark Magic would fly across the room, grabbing the furniture and infecting it.
"Ehehehe!" Twilight chuckled nervously, looking over at Neighsay to see what he thought about this.
"You have Dark Magic casually in your school?" Neighsay narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to teach this to students?"
"N-Not that kind of Dark Magic! It's the one that's helpful. Cobalion did say that Darkness can be our greatest ally." The Princess of Friendship tried explaining. "Besides! We have Dark-Type Pokemon and they're harmless! For the most part..."
"If you wish to learn about Dark Magic in a school, might as well go to Magehold for that." Sombra laughed, floating in the air by using Dark Magic. "Don't expect me to teach you all about Dark-Types though."
"Princess Twilight. The guidelines say a lot about Dark Magic, as you can tell." Neighsay uttered.
"I can already guess multiple reasons..." Twilight sighed.
"However! It was fine previously when Dark-Type classes were opened up. But this is Equestrian Dark Magic and even though it comes from our land, it's destructive nature is known by many." Neighsay continued. "I'd say that this is a strike."
"A strike?!" Twilight gasped as she already received a strike, failing one of the guidelines.
"Too many and I will have to truly do something about this. But I can trust that you can deal with the Dark Magic, correct?"
"Sure..." The young alicorn lowered her head before moving on to the next classroom, hoping for a better outcome. Now she had to worry about strikes as one flaw wasn't enough to make Neighsay shut this place down. It would take a lot and a gut feeling in Twilight made her believe that multiple reasons were incoming.
The next classroom involved that of Potion Nova. She already found herself a classroom to occupy. Already, multiple potions had been stacked where books usually can be found. Potion Nova came prepared, bringing only the Pokemon Related Potions. And already, she had some students in her classroom on the first day.
"Everything' swell in here! All these potions are easy enough to get anyone interested, especially since they involve Pokemon!" Potion Nova said to the principal, holding out a potion.
"R-Radiant..." In this room as well as Radiant Hope, who recently tried one of Potion Nova's potions. It was a potion that was meant to make her speak like a Pokemon while also understanding any Pokemon. The effect still has not run out. "Hope?"
"Oh, it hasn't run out yet." Potion Nova commented. "Ah, that's fine! It'll wear out eventually. Anyway, I have multiple other potions to try out on the first day. Does anyone have a favourite move or type?"
"Potions that let them act as Pokemon?" Neighsay commented on this as well. "I hope you're not allowing the students to undergo rather destructive transformations. You know very well how dangerous the Pokemon can be."
"I know, I know. But Potion Nova's an expert, I swear. The Pokemon Potions are new as you can imagine but they're efficient. Trust me."
"In the face of children, anyone of them could take full advantage of these potions. On top of that, they are just lying there on the shelves where books once used to be. What's stopping them from grabbing the potions or knocking them over?"
"Well uhh..." Twilight paused.
"Ooh, good point. I don't usually have many over at my home to test my potions out. And even then, I just let anyone use my potions however they want to. It's always so much fun when that happens."
"You just have them use your potions? Without any second thought?" said Neighsay, judgemental about Potion Nova. She sounded rather irresponsible from what he was gathering.
"Nope! Unless it's a potion that I really need to protect." Potion Nova winked before holding a potion out to one of the students.
"Where did you find these teachers? First Dark Magic and now what appears to be irresponsibility and carelessness?"
"I assure you, Chancellor Neighsay, they're completely capable. It's just how they are, that's all. Plus, it makes the learning environment fun. The other teachers here carry that same energy that the students will absolutely love and never feel bored."
"Really now? Show me?"
And she did. The next teachers were a family. Straight from Pegalysium were the descendants of the Legendary Pegasus of Destiny Windkiss. Compared to their descendant, they were rather lacking in wealth after what the Indigo Alliance did to their family in the far past but now they were about to rectify that by working here.
Windflash and exactly 6 of her siblings had shown up here, amazed at the land below. A bit too amazed. They have been
living in the forest and meadow islands for years now, which meant that almost everything else felt incredibly new and different to them. So much so that they couldn't help but touch something, not just stare.
And they did not hold back, holding many Pokemon objects and touching whatever they could. The classroom they occupied was already a mess. Their fascination with Pokemon objects just made them so curious that they started sitting on top of the tables, shuffling the objects and utilizing them.
"What excuse do you have for this?"
"These are ponies from Pegalysium. You'll have to excuse them. They've been living in the forest and meadows their whole life. They're actually of legendary descent and spend a lot of time with Pokemon more than anyone up at PEgalysium."
"So you grabbed random ponies from the wild and let them be teachers?"
"When you put it like that..."
"Being good around a certain thing does not mean they are instantly eligible to become teachers. Look at them. They've made a mess with their curiosity. Has it only been one day since you brought them here?"
"Just around 20 minutes at best."
"20 minutes?!" Neighsay gasped as these were the most recent teachers here.
"In their defence, a lot of the teachers here have never taught before, so it's all new for us. The same goes for the Gym Leaders, remember?"
"This is different. They don't seem to have any experience with their surroundings at all. It's not a matter of if they have experience with teaching, but how they were brought up." Neighsay explained. "Who else do you have here?"
"I'm still looking for more teachers to fill in some missing spots but so far, we have a good number of them. And this is just the first day. Tomorrow is when classes can really start, plus it's getting late and many of them need to get home. Classes won't be long since so many of them live so far away from here."
"Hmph. Tomorrow, you say? By tomorrow, the same teachers will still be here and you will still have plenty of setbacks since you aren't fully prepared. On top of that, the building has not been updated to match the student size. Many of them were outside and not all of them were indoors. Without a large building, truanting will reach an all-time high."
"I understand." Twilight sighed. "Just...come back tomorrow and I'm sure things will be spick and span here."
"I hope so. This experience has been mediocre at best, Princess Twilight. There is a good foundation here, but you have a lot to work on if you want to be up to par with what your old teachers managed to pull." Neighsay warned, walking off as he felt like his work here was done for the day. "I will be back tomorrow to see how the classes truly turn out."
The Chancellor of the EEA was out of here, giving Twilight room to properly breathe at last. Ash didn't need to do much. Nothing went wrong even if things looked rather odd. "Hah...That was close." Twilight sat down, taking a deep breath. "The way he talks is so intimidating, it's insane. I've never felt so nervous before!"
"It's over for today. You can head home and rest." Ash kneeled to get to her level. "And you gotta really put faith in Sombra and the others to make this work."
"They'd better make this work." Twilight facehoofed. "I mean...I think I have some confidence in them. Even Sombra. But for the students...I have no idea what could come from this. They all come from different backgrounds and locations and the worst could happen at any time. Do you think I overshot this, Ash?"
"Hmm...Kinda." Ash shrugged, giving his honest answer. "It's a lot to handle in just one day. Now you've gotta really get things going for tomorrow."
"Right. Tomorrow, I'll show him what this school can do. Cynthia pulled it off by having him approve of the school when she was in charge. I can do the same. I can!" Twilight pumped herself up, believing she can pull it off to the best of her abilities.
With all that said and done, everyone would soon head home, preparing for tomorrow. This was just the opening day for the Pokemon School and that was about it. Tomorrow is when things can really kick off and the subjects can come flying in. For that, Twilight would have a lot of organizing to do until tomorrow. Luckily for her, she was an expert in that.
Ponyville. Twilight's Castle. Nightfall.
"Alright. If I want to get this done, I can't afford to slow down whatsoever." Back at her castle, was continuing to psyche herself up, giving herself the boost she needed. "The EEA has to approve of the new Pokemon School by tomorrow, or it's all over.
"Chancellor Neighsay came over? The guy from the EEA?" In the same room with her was Cold Colt who was not part of the Pokemon School. He already had plenty of Pokemon knowledge in him thanks to being a Rift Pony after all. "I should've seen that coming after the Storm King. It's just like the original timeline."
"Right. I might have to stay awake by using the natural biology of a Rift. I know I did a lot to make sure I could fall asleep after absorbing Rift Magic, but now I-" Twilight paused for a moment before facing Cold Colt. "Just like the original timeline? Wait, this has happened before?!"
"Yep. But uh...It wasn't with a Pokemon School. It was with a School of Friendship." Cold Colt explained, summoning a comic book to read. "That was way newer and fresh than the Pokemon School and Chancellor Neighsay showed up there too."
"Oh! So you know how it ends, right!?"
"Well...Only for the School of Friendship." He shrugged. "This is different. You're running the Pokemon School so it's not like how it was in the original timeline. It could end totally differently there."
"Ah. Drat." Twilight kissed her teeth, wishing she had made a Friendship School now to go with the original timeline. That way, it might not be as stressful. But Cold Colt knew it would be just as, if not more stressful. "Anything you can share with me that might still exist in this timeline though?"
"Well...it sounds like he's not the same as he was before." Cold Colt pondered. "Chancellor Neighsay doesn't sound as grumpy and strict as what he's supposed to be."
"He doesn't? What was he like?"
"All those creatures in the school that aren't ponies? Good luck convincing him. He really loves to do things by the book and it took his own life being in danger to change his mind. But I don't think that's gonna happen this time. Because his life's already been in danger. All of our lives."
"Oh yeah..." Twilight slowly nodded. "Despite how he talks, he does know a lot about what we have now. His interview with Cynthia, even if I never saw it, is proof of that. And with everything that's happened..."
"The Pokemon School doesn't seem that worrying to him. I mean, it'll still be worrying but I think he understands why it has to stick around. For everyone. But that's not gonna change how harsh he's gonna be. Especially tomorrow. He could still bring the whole place down, Twilight. You just have to be careful."
"At least give me a hint of what happened in the original timeline so I can avoid it?"
"Hard to do that if I tell you. You have to let the events come to you to change them yourself. But I guess...you should probably watch out for these 6 kids." Cold Colt slid in, having something to share. "I don't know what happens in this timeline but one thing's for sure, they'll start something."
"Who, exactly?"
Twilight had plenty of work ahead of her. She had to make sure tomorrow was good enough for Chancellor Neighsay otherwise the EEA would pull everything down, making sure the Pokemon School of Equestria was never a thing. And according to Cold Colt, there was one thing Twilight had to be aware of. Or rather, 6 individuals. Whoever they were apparently important enough to be involved in the timeline itself as the journey continues.
Chapter 220 End.