“And then, bam!” Rainbow threw a hoof up in the air to emphasize her point, “Twilight blasted one of those Spacial things from her horn and tore open a rip in space, which is what we used to get home!”
“Oh my,” Rarity’s eyes widened, “that sounds like a very impressive feat.” She turned to Twilight and asked “It didn’t wear you out too much, did it?”
“Not too much,” Twilight shook her head, “in fact, it only caused a minor headache the first time, and all three of the other times I’ve used it I felt fine.”
“Three?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “I know you used it to send us home, but when was the third time you used it?”
“Oh, right,” Twilight giggled a bit, “I guess I forgot to mention it to you, mainly because you were sound asleep five minutes after we got back.”
“Can you blame me?” Rainbow crossed her hooves, “I just couldn’t wait to get some sleep after the long day I’d had.”
“I understand, Rainbow,” Twilight nodded, “that’s why I didn’t wake you.”
“But you still haven’t answered my question; when did you go back?”
“Well, actually it was about an hour after we got back.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to pay one more visit to Professor Juniper so I could get a bit of information that could help us know how to raise these Pokémon we brought home. She was generous enough to give me this,” she lit up her horn with magic and picked something up off of a nearby table. When she floated it in front of her, Rainbow and Pinkie both recognized it as a Pokédex.
“A Pokédex,” Rainbow smiled widely, “awesome!”
“A Poké-what?” Applejack raised an eyebrow.
“A Pokédex,” Twilight replied, “it’s a device that contains detailed descriptions of every known species of Pokémon.”
“All of them?!?” Fluttershy beamed. She was sitting among a group consisting of nearly all of the Pokémon that had been brought home. The only ones not there were Looney, who was floating next to Pinkie, and Oshawott, who was sitting in Rainbow’s lap. “How many are there?” she asked excitedly.
“It says here that the exact number is unknown because more are being discovered all the time, but there are currently 648 included in the database.”
“648?!?” Fluttershy‘s smile widened, “Oh, I’d love to go there and make friends with each and every one of them.
“Well, that might be possible,” Twilight responded, “once I’ve done a bit more research on ways to get there.”
“What do you mean?” Rainbow asked. “You’ve got that Spacial Rend thing; isn’t that enough?”
“Not exactly, Rainbow,” Twilight shook her head, “that only works if I’m available to come with the pony that wants to visit Unova. I’m a princess, and even though I haven’t been given many royal duties just yet, I do expect to have more in the near future. When that happens, I won’t be available to send you to Unova, nor to accompany you there so I can send you back. I plan to design a way for ponies to harness the power of my Spacial Rend without myself being present. It won’t be for commercial use, but for research.”
“But-”
“Don’t worry, Fluttershy,” Twilight giggled, “I will make exceptions for you girls.”
Fluttershy sighed in relief and wiped a few beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead. “Thanks, Twilight, I don’t think I could stand knowing there’s a world full of wonderful creatures that I could never visit.”
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled warmly, “soon I’ll make sure all of you can have Pokémon of your own.”
“All of us?” Applejack interjected, “How are all of us gonna do that if none of us have any of those Pokéball things?”
Twilight smirked and replied, “Who said you don’t?” Her horn lit up again, this time lifting her saddlebag off the back of a chair in the corner of the library. The saddlebag floated over to the middle of the group, then opened, revealing that it was full of Pokéballs. “Ta da!” Twilight cheered.
“Where did you get all those?!?” Rainbow gasped.
“From Professor Juniper. When I told her I wanted to come back to study Pokémon again in the future, she was happy to provide me with enough Pokéballs for all six of us.”
“Really?” Rarity asked, “That was strangely accommodating.”
“She’s a professor,” Twilight replied, “of course she was eager to provide me with these when I explained that it was for the sake of future research.”
“Aw yeah,” Rainbow grinned, “first she gave me Oshawott, then tried to help me get home, and now she’s given you a Pokedex and Pokéballs? I’ve definitely gotta remember to bring her those postcards I promised, and maybe a few bits to thank her.”
“Rainbow,” Twilight responded, “I don’t think Equestrian currency has any value in Unova.”
“Oh, right,” Rainbow chuckled and rubbed the back of her head with a hoof.
“Relax, Rainbow,” Twilight patted Rainbow on the back, “the postcards will be enough. That’s all she asked for, after all.”
“You’re right, Twilight,” Rainbow nodded, “I’ll just make sure to get a lot of postcards.”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Twilight smiled. “That reminds me, I wonder how Princess Celestia liked the souvenir I brought her.”
The door to Princess Celestia’s throne room opened and a royal guard entered, a small box supported in his magic. “Your highness,” he began, “I bring you a package from Princess Twilight Sparkle.”
“Ah, this must be the souvenir she promised me,” Princess Celestia smiled, taking the box in her magical grip, “thank you for delivering it to me.”
“You’re welcome, Princess,” the guard nodded as he turned and left the throne room.
Princess Celestia opened the box, tilting her head in confusion when she saw what was inside, a note taped to the side of a red and white ball. She picked up both items, removed the note from the ball, and read it.
“Dear Princess Celestia,
I have brought you a new pet to take care of. It is contained inside of the enclosed ball, which is known as a Pokéball. I hope you enjoy this new companion as much as I enjoyed the act of obtaining it for you.
Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle”
“Hm,” Princess Celestia held up the Pokéball, not quite sure how it worked. She turned it around and noticed that there was a large button in the middle of it. Carefully, she pressed the button with a hoof.
The Pokéball burst open, causing Celestia to jump back in surprise as a beam of white energy was released. The beam landed on the ground next to Celestia and materialized into the form of a massive purple blob. “Muk!” The blob smiled and wrapped Celestia in a big hug.
“AHHHH!”