//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: The Celestial Tower (Revised) // Story: Cutie Mark Crusaders: Pokemon Trainers! // by JXWheeler //------------------------------// "I don't know, Apple Bloom... that cave sounds dangerous." Scootaloo was imagining all the scary Pokémon that could be in Chargestone Cave as Apple Bloom facepalmed herself. Apple Bloom looked at the map again and said, "Okay fine! We'll go to the north where the Celestial Tower is." Scootaloo sighed in relief. "Why are you so scared anyway, Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, making Scootaloo growl. "I'm not scared! I'm just.. concerned for your safety!" "Chicken..." Apple Bloom jokingly replied. "I'm not a chicken!" Scootaloo stomped one foot on the ground before Riolu, nicknamed Skeeter, stepped in. "Enough, girls! Can we just please move on?" The three girls nodded as Skeeter sighed rubbing his temples. "What did I get myself into?" He sighed as he tightened the red scarf around his neck. A few minutes had passed when Sweetie Belle decided to speak up. "Hey Scootaloo... if Riolu is your Pokémon..." "Skeeter!" Scootaloo cut in. "Sorry, if Skeeter is your Pokémon now... where is his Pokéball?" Sweetie Belle raised her eyebrow as she looked at the Riolu. Scootaloo giggled lightly before pulling out her trainer hat and putting it on. "She makes a good point Skeeter, I have to catch you to make you officially my Pokémon." "Okay, but do you have any other Pokémon to battle me with?" Skeeter questioned getting a confused look from the girl. "No... does that mean I can't catch you?" Scootaloo sounded defeated when she said this. "Not really, just throw a Pokéball at me and see if it works." Skeeter smiled as he leaped out of Scootaloo's arms and stood in front of her. Scootaloo took out a Pokéball and turned her hat around. She then took the position of a pitcher and shouted. "Pokéball, go!" She threw the Pokéball at Skeeter, but, instead of it opening to catch him, the back of the ball smacked Skeeter in the face making him recoil in pain. "Ouch!" Skeeter rubbed his nose as Scootaloo sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "Sorry... I threw it wrong." She then sighed as she took another and struck the same pose. Her trainer hat was still backwards on her head, she once again shouted. "Pokéball, go!" "Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Skeeter waved his arms in front of him, afraid it would smack him in the face again, but this time the button of the ball clicked on his head and sucked him in. The ball shook for a few moments, but soon stopped and made a small pinging noise. Scootaloo beamed with happiness as she picked up the Pokéball and twirled around before holding it forward. "Yes! I caught Riolu!" The other two crusaders jumped and yelled. "Yahoo!" "Skeeter, come on out!" She tossed the Pokéball into the air, causing it to open and let out Skeeter. Skeeter on the other hand was still in his arms up, scared face, position before he stood erect and looked around. "Oh... guess it worked this time." Scootaloo ran up to Skeeter and lifted him in her arms again. "Now you are officially mine!" Just then the realization hit her. "Hey girls did I get my cutie mark?!" Apple Bloom slightly lifted up Scootaloo's dress to examine her upper thigh but sighed shaking her head. "Nope, sorry." Scootaloo sighed in disappointment. "Aw man." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle just giggled as they started walking forward. "Come on Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle called out. "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming..." Scootaloo sighed before she started to follow the girls. It only took an hour before Scootaloo started complaining about being lost. "Face it Sweetie Belle, you read the map wrong." "No I didn't! It says that the tower is right over that hill!" "Over the hill, over the hill!" "Don't copy me Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle spat out. "Hey! That wasn't me!" Scootaloo said defensively. "Then who-" Sweetie Belle was soon cut off. "Girls, look!" Apple Bloom pointed to a strange bird-looking Pokémon that was hopping on the tree branch nearby. It had a yellow chest, blue wings, a green underbelly, and a head shaped like a music note. "Girls, look; girls, look!" The Chatot responded, making Apple Bloom raise her eyebrow. "Are ya copying me?" Apple Bloom growled. "Are ya copying me? Are ya copying me?" The Chatot then whistled, making Apple Bloom yell in frustration. "Stop that!" Apple Bloom yelled. "Stop that!" The Chatot responded, making Sweetie Belle roll on the ground laughing. "That's not funny, Sweetie Belle!" Apple Bloom looked at the laughing Sweetie Belle, then back at the Chatot who was now flying towards the laughing girl. "Chatot finally made girl laugh, Chatot call her friend!" Sweetie Belle slowly went from laughing, to giggling, to silence as she looked at Chatot with a smile. "A friend? You mean you want to be my friend?" The Chatot nodded it's head before landing on Sweetie Belle's shoulder and nuzzling her cheek making her giggle. "Well, okay then! As of now, you are my Pokémon!" "Your Pokémon, your Pokémon!" The Chatot flapped it's wings happily as it said this. "Apple Bloom, quick, give me a Pokéball!" Apple Bloom reluctantly took a Pokéball from the bag and handed it to Sweetie Belle, who lightly tapped it against Chatot's head, making it get sucked in. The ball shook a few times, but soon stopped and released a bunch of sparks and a metallic ping. Sweetie Belle smiled as she held the Pokéball against her chest. "Yes! I caught Chatot!" She held the Pokéball out in front of her with a wink. "Hey! That's my line!" Scootaloo shouted, making Sweetie Belle giggle. "Sorry, I just had to do it." Sweetie Belle replied. "So the dictionary got a chatterbox to go with it, how ironic." Apple Bloom said with slight annoyance. "Hey! Quit calling me that!" Sweetie Belle yelled. Skeeter just sighed, having now accepted his fate of forever being a part of this interesting bunch. "So Skeeter... what attacks can you do anyway?" Scootaloo looked at the Riolu in her arms who was also looking up at her. "Well... I know Ice Punch, Focus Blast, Low Kick, and Force Palm." Skeeter smiled after saying this, pleased that he had more moves than the average Riolu. "Sweet! With moves like that, we can't lose!" Both Scootaloo and Skeeter smiled at each other, making Apple Bloom sigh with envy. As the three girls walked on, eventually Apple Bloom stopped them and pointed to a tall tower nearby. "Look! Ah'll bet there are a ton of powerful Pokémon in there!" The other two girls nodded as they quickened their pace. “The map says this is the Celestial Tower, and whoever rings the bell on top can make a wish!” Sweetie Belle said with excitement in her voice as she closed the map and put it in her bag. “Well, what are we waiting for, girls? Let’s go up and ring that bell!” Scootaloo said with enthusiasm. The three girls cheered as they ran forward to the tower where they would make their ultimate wish. Once they got to the tower, they stopped frozen in their tracks. "So... who wants to go in first? Scootaloo?" Sweetie Belle asked, making Scootaloo shake her head vigorously. "Quit being such chickens, girls! Don't ya want your Pokémon Trainer Cutie Marks?" The other two girls nodded before following Apple Bloom inside. Once inside, they were met by an eerie tune that seemed highly out of place. "Wh- What's that scary music playing?" Sweetie Belle asked as she held on to Scootaloo, who in turn tightened her grip on the now suffocating Skeeter. "Grip... too tight... can't breath... dying..." Skeeter was trying his best to telepathically tell the girls but they were too frozen in fear from the music. "Vision... fading... too late... it's too late..." Skeeter then passed out once Scootaloo noticed what she was doing. "Oh my gosh!" Scootaloo released her grip on Skeeter who quickly gasped for air and glared up at her. "I'm sooo sorry, Skeeter!" "It's fine, just warn me next time." Skeeter responded, making Scootaloo giggle nervously. "Well girls, the Pokémon aren't gonna catch themselves." Apple Bloom said nervously as all three of them gulped. After a few minutes they finally walked in, making the door slam behind them. Scootaloo quickly ran back and started banging on the door. "Hey open up! Don't lock us in here!!" Scootaloo pleaded as Skeeter simply sighed standing next to Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle took another look at the information on the tower in her book and sighed. “It seems this place is also a tourist trap, so there’s a chance the ghost Pokémon are toying with us...” “Well it ain’t funny!” Apple Bloom responded as a few creepy laughs were emitted around the room. “Come on girls! Let’s just get to the top and ring that bell!” Scootaloo yelled as they ran up the stairs. A dark figure floated right behind them slowly. After going up numerous flights of stairs, the crusaders each fell against one another at the very top. All three of them were tired from non-stop running. “Why... were there... so many... floors?!” Scootaloo said in frustration. “There shouldn’t have been... that many... must have been... another prank...” Sweetie Belle responded, obviously out of breath. “Well... let’s ring that bell... and get our... wish...” Apple Bloom stated as she slowly stood up. Just then, an eerie voice had called out instantly freezing up the crusaders in their place. “Elgyem.” "Is that a Pokémon?" Scootaloo asked timidly. "It appears there is an Elgyem nearby." Sweetie Belle said as she flipped through a few pages of her Pokémon Encyclopedia. "Where did you get that book anyway? Ah don’t remember you having that in Equestria," Apple Bloom asked with a raised eyebrow. "While you both were arguing where to go I went and got this book from the library, they were generous enough to give it to me free of charge!" "Smart girl." Skeeter smiled as once again they hear the same voice. "Elgyem!" A small, green figure swooped down past the girls making them shriek with fear. "This time it's my turn to get a Pokémon!" Apple Bloom took a Pokéball out the bag and threw it at the figure looming in front of them. However, instead of catching it, the ball was blasted back by Elgyem's Psychic, smacking Apple Bloom in the face. "Ow!" She held her face in pain as Sweetie Belle laughed. "You have to battle it first to weaken it! Chatot, come on out!" Sweetie Belle took her Pokéball from the side pocket of the bag and tossed it releasing the parrot Pokémon. "Chatot, use Wing Attack!" Chatot looked at Elgyem and flew up high before making it's wings glow. "Chatot!" It then swooped down and flew right past the Elgyem, striking it down to the ground. It then circled around the Elgyem who was struggling to get back up. "Chatot, use Chatter!" Chatot then started to blab away worse than Pinkie Pie, annoying everyone in the room, including the crusaders and Skeeter, into submission. "Shut that bird up!!" Scootaloo yelled, making Chatot change it's choice of words. "Scootaloo is a chicken, bawk bawk bawk chicken chicken, scared little chicken!" "Hey!!" Scootaloo yelled, making Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom crack up. Elgyem couldn't take the annoyance anymore, so it floated down to the Pokéball Apple Bloom had thrown, groaning, "El... gyem..." After only a few seconds it tapped the ball once to enlarge it, and then again to open it and get sucked in. The ball shook a few times, then stopped and pinged. Apple Bloom's eyes widened as she saw what just happened. "No way! Did I just? Did I really?" She was repeating this process for awhile before Skeeter jumped up and slapped her across the face. "Ow!... Thanks I needed that." She then walked over to the Pokéball and picked it up with a smile. "I CAUGHT ELGYEM! YEE-HAW!!" Her outburst echoed throughout the tower making a bunch of eerie voices return their response. Scootaloo quickly spoke up to the others. "Let's ring that bell and get out of here!" The other two nodded as they ran to the bell and rung it. “Please oh please, great Celestial Tower Bell of hope... grant our wish of giving us our cutie marks as Pokémon trainers!” Sweetie Belle called up to it. The other two girls both agreed, so they waited for a few seconds. “Nothing is happening... did it work?” Scootaloo asked. “It had to have worked! It probably takes time, or maybe we have to leave first.” Sweetie Belle responded. The three girls then went back down the stairs and tried to open the door, but found that it was still locked. “What do we do now? We are locked in!” Apple Bloom said obviously panicked. "Stand back girls, I'll blast it open!" The three girls stood back as Skeeter charged up a Focus Blast and tossed it at the door. Instead of blasting it open though, the door swung open and the Focus Blast crashed into a tree outside of the tower. "Huh... I didn’t see that coming." He shook his head as he and the three girls ran out. Once outside, the doors closed again and the three girls celebrated. "Now we all have a Pokémon!" Apple Bloom exclaimed as she cuddled her Pokéball affectionately.