//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Pokétransfer Unveiled // Story: The Pokémon Crusaders // by Rainbow Dash the Awesome //------------------------------// “Come on, Twilight,” Rainbow started, “what’s the big surprise?” “Patience, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight giggled, “you’ll see as soon as you all take a seat.” “Fine,” Rainbow rolled her eyes as she sat down next to Pinkie. “Good,” Twilight turned to face a large box with a large curtain draped over it, “now, without further ado, I give you...” she quickly tore the drape off of the box, revealing what appeared to be a phone booth, “The Pokétransfer!” “Oo!” Pinkie jumped up, “A phone booth! Hang on a second." “Pinkie, it’s not a-” Twilight started, but was cut off as Pinkie rushed past her and into the machine. “Hi, this is Pinkie Pie. I’m at the Ponyville library; I’d like 4 large pizzas with everything on them.” Pinkie hopped out of the machine and turned to Twilight, “well, that takes care of lunch. It should be here in no time.” “Pinkie,” Twilight facehooved, “it’s not a phone booth. It’s an interdimensional teleportation system.” “A what now?” Applejack raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. “An interdimensional teleportation system,” Twilight repeated. “It’s a portal to the Unova region.” “But Twilight,” Rarity rubbed her chin, “why do you need a machine to go to the Unova region? You already have a spell that can do that.” “It’s not for me, Rarity, it’s for all you girls,” Twilight proudly explained. “With this, you’ll be able to go back and forth to Unova without needing my help.” “Aw yeah,” Rainbow grinned widely, “that’s awesome! Now I can get all the awesome Pokémon I want and become the toughest trainer around!” “And I can make friends with lots and lots of new creatures,” Fluttershy added. “Thank you, Twilight, I can’t wait to go.” Twilight smiled and nodded her head. “You’re welcome, Fluttershy. As soon as it’s finished, you’ll all be able to go to Unova as often as you like.” “What do you mean ‘as soon as it’s finished?’” Applejack asked, “It sure looks finished to me.” “Almost, Applejack,” Twilight placed a hoof on the machine, “but at the moment I still need to program a way to convert it to travel size.” “Travel size? Why in tarnation would it need to travel?” “Simple, because when it sends you to the Unova region, it gets sent there itself. Otherwise, how else would you get back home? I need to find a way to make it smaller once you’re in Unova so you don’t end up losing track of where you left it.” “Um, pardon me, Twilight,” Rarity interrupted, “but I just thought of a small problem with this.” “A problem?” Twilight tilted her head, “What kind of problem?” “Well, if I recall correctly, you said that there are no ponies in Unova, and when Rainbow Dash was there many of the people who saw her assumed she was a Pokémon.” “Yeah, that’s right,” Rainbow nodded, “they all thought I was some kind of new Pokémon.” “Precisely,” Rarity continued, “so, if we travel there frequently, won’t there be a danger of the people living there confusing us for Pokémon? What if one of them actually tries to...” she gulped nervously, “catch us?” She shuddered and continued “I couldn’t possibly live like that, being treated like a pet or forced to battle others.” She cringed a bit at the thought, but suddenly felt something tapping her on the shoulder. She turned to look and saw a Pokéball, covered in a magenta aura, with the button on the front pressed against her shoulder. “AH!” she jumped to the side in fear. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes and realized that the Pokéball was still hovering in the same place as before. Twilight smirked, “See? Pokéballs have no effect on us. They’re designed to catch Pokémon, not ponies. We may not be humans, but we’re not Pokemon either, so we’re just as immune to the effects of Pokeballs as humans are.” Rarity wiped a few beads of sweat from her forehead and sighed in relief. “Well, that’s certainly good to hear, but how did you know that?” “I didn’t,” Twilight winked, “I hadn’t the foggiest idea; you were just the guinea pig.” Rarity’s eye twitched and she let out a nervous chuckle “Um, hehe, good one, Twilight, you really had me there. For a moment I actually thought you were serious. You were joking, weren’t you, Twilight?” She gulped nervously. Twilight stood still for a moment, her eyes darting side to side, before she spoke up. “Anyway,” she turned back to the machine, “even if Pokéballs did work on us, we still won’t need to worry about humans trying to use them on us.” “Why not?” Pinkie inquired. “Because they won’t want to catch other humans.” “Humans?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow, “what’s that have to do with anything?” “Well, because I realize ponies are in short supply in Unova, I programmed the machine to disguise us as humans when we’re there.” “What do you mean you programmed it to do that?” A disembodied voice asked, causing everypony to jump. Suddenly, the shadow of the Pokétransfer began to move, shifting into the form of a Draconequus. It then rose from the ground and changed color, revealing that it was none other than Discord. He grabbed Twilight and gave her a noogie, teasing “Oh Twilight, didn’t you ever learn to give credit where credit is due?” Twilight struggled a bit, but managed to escape Discord’s grip. “Oh yes, I forgot to mention that I did have a little assistance making the Pokétransfer.” “A little?” Discord smirked, “I’m the one who copied your Spacial Rend spell and focused it into the machine. Without me this would be just a phone booth” he crossed his arms and put on an exaggerated frown. Twilight rolled her eyes, “Yes, I know, and I’m very thankful for your help, Discord.” Discord smirked “See? Was that so hard?” “No,” Twilight replied, “sorry I forgot to mention that you had helped at first. Anyway,” she turned to face the others and continued, “Discord gave the machine an illusion spell, which gives ponies the appearance of humans when they use it. When they return to Equestria, the disguise wears off.” “But Twilight,” Rainbow frowned, “how will I be able to fly if I’m a human?” “And how are you and I going to use magic?” Rarity added. “No need to worry,” Discord spoke up, “it is only a disguise. You will not lose your natural pony abilities. Those of you with wings will be able to fly by means of winged shoes, and those of you with horns will be able to channel your magic through your fingertips. And of course, Pinkie and Applejack will retain their Earth Pony strength and stamina.” “Cool,” Rainbow smiled, “I can’t wait! This is gonna be so awesome!” Twilight giggled “Yes, it will be awesome, just as soon as I finish it.” “How long should that take?” Rainbow asked excitedly. Twilight placed her hoof to her chin in thought. “About-” she was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Ponyville Pizza,” came a voice from the other side of the door, “I’ve got 4 large pizzas for somepony named Pinkie Pie.” “Oh boy,” Pinkie ran to the door. Rainbow leaned toward Twilight and whispered “I thought you said it wasn’t a phone booth.” “It wasn’t,” Twilight responded. Pinkie hopped back into the center of the room, four pizza boxes balancing on her mane. “Lunch is here, let’s eat.” She turned and bounced into the kitchen. “Sounds good to me,” Rainbow grinned as she followed Pinkie. “I could go for some grub myself,” Applejack added as she trotted after them. Rarity and Fluttershy both nodded and followed the others. Twilight giggled, “Well, I guess it’s just you and me, Discord. Discord?” She turned and realized Discord was also following the others to the kitchen. She frowned, but a rumbling in her stomach snapped her out of her reverie. Shrugging, she said to herself “Oh well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.” Outside the library, a trio of fillies were looking in the window, listening intently to the conversation. “Whoa, did you hear that?” Scootaloo asked. “Sure did,” Sweetie Belle replied, “that machine can send ponies to the Pokémon place.” “Unova,” Apple Bloom corrected, “and that gives me an idea.” “What is it?” Scootaloo inquired. “If we can use that machine, we might just be able to get our cutie marks as Pokémon trainers.” “That would be so cool!” Scootaloo grinned, “Imagine being the first ponies ever to get Pokémon cutie marks! We’ll be famous.” “Well, ah don’t know about famous, but we’ll definitely earn some bragging rights for a while.” “Hey, as long as it helps us get our cutie marks, then I like it,” Sweetie Belle smiled. “Me too,” Scootaloo responded, “and even if it doesn’t get us a cutie mark, all the Pokémon we catch will still be one awesome consolation prize.” “Exactly,” Apple Bloom nodded, “now, we’re gonna need to find a way to use that machine without Twilight finding out.” “Why?” Sweetie Belle asked. “You know what our sisters and their friends are like, they’ll never let us go. If we ask them, they’re gonna tell us it’s too dangerous and we’re too young.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo frowned, “they’ll never let us go.” “Well they won’t have to,” Apple Bloom grinned, “because we’re gonna sneak in there and use that machine before they even have a chance to stop us.”