Dear Twilight Sparkle,
This news is distressing, but I am pleased to see that you have stepped up and are helping her. I admit I am curious about her, her world, and what she might have to teach us, but her welfare should be considered first. Given your experience on the topic, I feel that there is no one better to help her.
The possibility that odd creatures have entered Equestria from her world is disturbing, and as such I will watch for any odd events that might signify the presence of a ‘Pokémon.’ If you can get information on a way to identify or locate Pokémon reliably, please send it to me. I will help as much as I can, although the fact that secrecy may be better in this matter means that it is more likely for Luna to take a direct role than I.
With faith in your intelligence and abilities,
Princess Celestia
P.S. No bet. If you come across a complete dead end, no other option, I will query Discord on the matter. Right now I feel it’s much better for everyone if he not get involved.
Liz looked at the little cottage. It was like something out of a fairy tale, doors and windows peeking out of the mass of green leaves. Animals were everywhere nearby, and the trees were almost lined with birdhouses and nests. There were little burrows everywhere, and as she approached the little bridge that crossed a little stream she could see a little dock under the bridge.
Liz went over and knocked on the door. The upper half opened, and the air was thick with butterflies for a second before Liz could see Fluttershy. “Oh,” she said, “Hi Liz. Here to see Cica?”
“Yeah,” Liz said. “I can see that there are a lot of things here. Animals. You have a lot of animals.” Liz shook her head. “I’m impressed.”
“Well,” Fluttershy said meekly, “I don’t really take care of all of them. A lot of them just make friends with each other, and so all want to live nearby, and if they’re hurt they know I can take care of their wounds. A lot of them, especially the birds, shuffle around places a lot. In a way, it’s like I get new friends every spring!”
“Okay,” Liz said with a blink. She was worried that her habit of talking to herself (which she was trying her best to fight) and caffeine addiction would make her stand out in town, but in a way the main reason that she stood out was that the bar for normal had been completely changed. Fluttershy was considered odd, but in a good way! In fact, it almost seemed like Twilight and her friends were some of the more notable people in the city. But what were the chances of popping into existence and immediately befriending important people?
“Anyway,” Fluttershy said, “Cica isn’t here right now, he went to go get food, but, um, if you’re up for it, I would like to talk to you about things.”
“Oh,” Liz said hesitantly, “Sure.”
Fluttershy opened the door for Liz, and let her in. The entryway had a number of animals in it, but the main room seemed to be mostly animal-free. “I had a talk with Cica,” Fluttershy said, “And he told me a lot of stuff about your world, a lot of which… well, a lot of it didn’t make sense to me. He tried, he really did, but he isn’t all that eloquent.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Liz said. She always got the idea that her Pokémon were communicating with each other, but she never really thought of them as using language.
“He was talking about things that… um, the ideas kind of scared me. But he seemed to think of them as good things. Like… ‘Pokey-balls’? And… um… Pokémon… battles?”
Liz winced. Oh dear. Without Pokémon, there wasn’t any Pokeballs or battles, and in a comparatively care-free world like Equestria, such things would seem… questionably ethical to barbaric, depending on the pony involved.
“Oh… um, yes, I can see how that would be confusing. Well…” Liz was quiet for a minute. “Um, if you don’t mind, could you get me some coffee while I arrange my thoughts?”
Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any coffee. I always drink tea.”
“Okay,” Liz sighed. She took a number of deep breaths. “Well… I guess we could start with…”
Liz was quiet for a minute, as she considered what all to say.
“Coffee. I’m far, far too undercaffinated for a deep conversation on Pokémon ethics.”
Fluttershy frowned a bit deeper, and shifted uncomfortably. “Um, is it really that complex?”
“Yes,” Liz said with a sigh. “Actually, it’s more complex than that, but even just the basics are pretty in-depth. I think I’ll walk to the coffee shop, get something, and take the time to sort it all out, okay? I’ll need to make it into something that you can understand, which might be hard since I’ve lived my whole life in a completely different culture.” Liz turned around to face the front door. “I’ll be right back. I promise.”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said in a small voice. She hadn’t expected this to be quite so big a deal. Although, maybe Liz really just did need the caffeine.
As Liz approached the door, she stopped, and then leaned her head on the doorframe. “I don’t have any money,” she muttered to herself, “I can’t afford any coffee.”
Liz and Fluttershy entered the library, and Twilight looked up from her book to see the pair with somewhat unhappy expressions. Fluttershy looked concerned, while Liz looked like she had resigned herself to something unpleasant. “What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Well,” Liz said, “Fluttershy asked some deep questions about the ethics back home, and I decided that I needed to be caffeinated for that conversation, and she doesn’t have any coffee, and I figured that I would wind up talking about this to you sooner or later, so… yeah. Might as well talk to two people at a time and get on with it.”
Twilight blinked. As she watched Liz head into the kitchen, she managed to get out, “Oh… allright, then.”
Fluttershy walked up next to Twilight. “I’m worried about this,” She whispered to her friend, not out of any desire to be secretive but instead because she was just feeling small and quiet. “I was talking to Cica, and he said things that I didn’t understand, and I asked Liz about them, and apparently they’re complex ethical issues. I didn’t know to expect that, I just thought that… oh dear. I wasn’t expecting this.”
Liz came back into the room, with a piping hot mug of coffee. “Okay. So, after thinking about it, the first step to figuring out ethics is history, right? And going into the history will buy me enough time for the caffeine to kick in… that was supposed to be my inside voice.” She shook her head. “Focus.” She took a swig of coffee. “Okay, in ancient history, it really boiled down to humans vs Pokémon, in some ways. Pokemon would do what they very well wanted, having abilities like breathing fire, summoning lightning from the skies, turning water to ice and the ability to lift you telekinetically and throw you into the side of a mountain. Humans, on the other hand, had tools. However, basic sledgehammers and brass swords were only so useful against Pokémon, who are generally inordinately durable.
“The obvious solution was domestication, something I know you have because I’ve seen pets around.” Liz glanced at Owlicious, who was snoozing peacefully in the corner. “Humans would find, raise, and train Pokémon to help them in various things, not the least of which was fighting against other Pokémon either for defense or hunting. Beyond that, however, there was the more utilitarian uses for Pokémon, as with humans to guide them they could help cook, maintain fields, build, and generally do stuff that was needed for bigger, better civilizations.
“And from there, you get into wars, but as a general rule wars result in breaks in the ethical code, so let’s not get into those.”
The pair of ponies nodded. “I don’t want to hear about wars at all,” Fluttershy mumbled.
Liz nodded. “Anyway, at some point in time humans discovered Apricorns, which are these kind of… nut or fruit things, which with some tooling could act as containers for Pokémon. This basically made it possible to, after some work, fit any kind of Pokémon into a ball able to fit into your hand.” She showed the pair her hoof in an effort to demonstrate, and then frowned at the lack of proper demonstration. “I think that pony hooves are about the same size as human hands, but I’m not sure. Anyway, keep in mind that Pokémon vary in size between tiny little things and twenty-foot-or-taller behemoths.”
Fluttershy blinked, not understanding. Twilight shook her head. “How does that work?”
“I don’t know, I’m not a scientist,” Liz said, “and I sometimes get the feeling that scientists don’t really know how it works, they just use it. Anyway, from there the technology took off. In modern times, Pokeballs come in a lot of different versions, most of which have to do with making capturing Pokémon easier.”
“I can’t imagine that’s very comfy,” Fluttershy said with a sad frown.
“I have it on good authority that it can be,” Liz responded, “And that it’s certainly not uncomfortable. Once again, I’m not sure how it works. I know for a fact that Pokémon can, to a limited extent, tell what is going on outside of their balls, and can also escape at will for the most part. Some balls are harder to break out of than others, but they all seem to be able to fail if the Pokémon inside figures out how.
“Now, Pokémon are expected to be let out of Pokeballs on a regular basis. Modern Pokeballs do have some kind of life preservation thing, but not letting your Pokémon out regularly enough can have adverse effects on their physical and mental health, not to mention a ton of legal trouble if you’re caught.
“Any kind of Pokémon abuse in general carries with it hefty jail time, suspension of any kind of Pokémon license, and you are forbidden from getting another license for any reason. Abuse, hoarding, neglect, any of that. Of course, with some Pokémon going to jail is better than what the Pokémon would do if it reached its breaking point.”
Twilight nodded and took more notes. “You mentioned something about hoarding? How many do you need to be considered hoarding?”
“So many that you can’t take care of them,” Liz said. “The details are left fuzzy on purpose, I think. If you know what you’re doing, you can have a lot of Pokémon. Gym leaders and Pokémon professors tend to have a lot running around, for sure.”
“Gym leaders?” Fluttershy asked, while Twilight scrawled more notes.
“Um, yes, I’ll get into that in a minute, I need to talk about Pokémon battles themselves first,” Liz said. “Okay… Pokémon battles are basically my world’s favorite past-time.”
The looks on the pair’s faces clearly communicated that they did not come to the right conclusion at all.
“It’s… look, Pokémon are dangerous things, and even in modern times they sometimes attack travelers or even whole cities. For a long while they were considering walling off roads between cities to protect traffic! With that in mind, there was a group that formed called Pokémon trainers, and they did exactly that: they trained Pokémon, and then wandered around places and solved problems, like overly aggressive Pokémon, individuals or groups that used Pokémon for illegal purposes, etc. Since then, the whole situation has changed, but that’s how it started. Anyway, Pokémon trainers would fight each other to see who was better. It was often sparring, but sometimes it became a challenge to decide something. The strongest trainers generally began to form groups, and the groups generally operated out of a given city. Similarly, the strongest of the strongest tended to become movers and shakers in their region. The rag-tag groups of trainers became more and more organized, and the Pokémon League was formed. It was arranged to work with the government: There were eight gym leaders, one in each city, and then the Elite Four and the Regional Champion.
“Now, as time went on, the police became better at what they did, the international police began to crack down on crime syndicates, and the need for a lot of people roaming around to solve problems dropped. As thus, the league was re-tooled to be more of a sporting organization.”
Twilight switched out pens to keep the one she was working with from giving out from the strain. Fluttershy just sat there, mouth open, confused.
“Look, do you have marital arts in Equestria? Think of it like the professional tournament circuit.”
Fluttershy gave a small “oh” and Twilight nodded and noted it down.
“Trainers needed to beat eight gyms, usually the ones in their region but eventually the regions began to recognize each other’s badges, and when they did that they were allowed to enter the Pokémon league. The Pokémon league is a tournament, with eliminations until there is only one person left, the League Champion. From there, it is traditional to challenge the Elite Four, and from there the current Regional Champion, to become the Regional Champion. In theory. In practice, the few times that the Regional Champion has been beaten in that way, they wind up keeping the title and position due to the politics associated with being the Regional Champion. Suffice to say, you are much more popular as a Regional Champion if you go around and help the region. It’s something of a celebrity position, and not everyone can take that kind of pressure. Typically, only gym leaders have really become new champions, because gym leaders are really good at what they do and have the mettle to actually be the Champion and keep the seat.
“Anyway, gym leaders are generally good for the city they are in, because they’re generally successful people that put significant investment into their cities, and are there in case something big comes along and tries to wreck your city.”
There was a pause as Twilight finished her notes and Fluttershy thought about all this. It was unusual, to say the least. After a moment, Fluttershy spoke up. “Um, How does anyone get their first badge? If all the gym leaders are so good at what they do…”
“Gym leaders generally have three or four teams,” Liz explained, “A ‘beginner’ team, an ‘intermediate’ team, and a ‘real’ team. Which team they fight you with, and how serious they fight, is a matter of how many badges you have or otherwise how tough they think you are. Technically, even if you lose to a gym leader, if they are impressed enough they might give you a badge if they felt you proved yourself.”
“How big is a team?” Twilight asked quickly, between notes.
“The legal maximum for a team in the League is six Pokémon, but generally they aren’t all used. Gym leaders are allowed to choose the kind of battle; three on threes are most common, I think, but I might be misremembering,” Liz replied.
“Wow,” Fluttershy said, “I didn’t realize that it was such a big deal. I was worried that it was, you know, um…”
“Don’t worry,” Liz interrupted her, “Ethics are a big concern, both for the Pokémon and the people. I admit that from the outside it doesn’t seem ethical, especially at first, but people love it and try to work within ethics with it. Now, of course, there are groups that hate the whole set up, some even going as far as to say that catching Pokémon at all is wrong, but they’re generally in the minority. Especially since the Team Plasma incident in Unova, however, they’ve had less traction than usual. Suffice to say that a militant extremist Pokémon equality group turned out to be militant, extremist, and not for Pokémon equality at all, and that’s impacted the standing of other, more reasonable groups.”
“Um… how do you go about catching Pokémon?” Fluttershy asked, seeking to change the topic. She felt that the ethical issues were quite simply too complex and deep and full of grey areas.
“There are two main ways,” Liz said, “befriending them and then they come with you, or beating them in battle and catching them in a pokeball.”
Fluttershy tried to hide her frown, but Liz caught it and thought fast. “Look, a lot of Pokémon respect strength. It’s kind of odd, but a lot of Pokémon see beating them in battle as a show of superior power, and therefore you as a candidate for ‘boss.’ It’s pack instincts, and they see you as the alpha. Ideally from there you become friends with them, but that’s not always the case. Some Pokémon run off, some refuse to listen to their new trainers, some wait for the middle of the night, steal your stuff, and tie you to a rock in the middle of a cave with a slab of meat on your lap. That happened to a friend of mine. Ultimately, it’s the Pokémon’s choice.”
“So,” Fluttershy started as she thought about it, “If a Pokémon doesn’t like someone, they can always leave?”
Liz nodded. “Yes. Well, ideally. In practice, there are people with loose, poor, or no morals, but those come up anywhere.”
“Right,” Fluttershy said, “But that’s what all those law people are for, the gym leaders and Elite Four and ‘police’.”
“This is so fascinating,” Twilight giggled to herself, “I’ve read speculative fiction about cultures with different value systems, but this is new and different! Our cultures seem to have the same basic values, but due to the worlds we live in our cultures developed in different ways! It’s like the nature vs. nurture argument, but for entire civilizations!”
“Good to know I managed to present it in a positive light,” Liz said, mostly to herself.
Fluttershy fidgeted. “I’m not sure what to think of it,” She said, “I mean, there is some stuff that should be bad, but… it’s not bad, because the way stuff works where you come from. If you go about it in a bad way, it’s bad, but the thing in and of itself is not bad? Should history be accepted as a reason for things to not be bad? I mean, it shouldn’t be, but you can kind of say that they don’t know a better way, and I certainly don’t have a better way, because any better way I might have would have problems that this way doesn’t have, and… ohhhhhh…” Fluttershy rested her head on the table. “This is all so confusing.”
Twilight switched to a new pen. So many more questions! Before any could be asked, the front door flew open. Standing there was Rainbow Dash. “Aha!” Rainbow said and pointed at Fluttershy and Twilight. “You were allowed a day off yesterday on account of you-know-what and my concussion, and I’m still not allowed into the air, but that does not mean that I can’t teach you how to fly! It just means that I can’t demonstrate, which Fluttershy CAN! Come on, Twilight! I want you to be hovering by tonight, and we can go over gliding from there.”
Twilight sighed exasperatedly. “Rainbow Dash! We are going over ethical and cultural differences between Equestria and Liz’s homeworld! This is more important than learning how to fly!”
Rainbow Dash frowned. “Are you sure? I realize it’s interesting and all, but knowing how to fly would be, you know, really, really useful!”
Twilight sighed. “One more question?”
Rainbow Dash sighed. “One more.”
“Okay,” Twilight said and prepared her pen again. “Now, Liz, how do you get your fist Pokémon?”
“I went to a new trainer day at the gym in my city,” Liz explained, “The ideal method is taking a trip to a Pokémon professor’s lab and get a starting Pokémon from him, but they have a tendency to be out in the middle of nowhere, so it’s a lot easier to just get one from a gym.”
“Was Cica your first?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Because that would be awesome.”
“No,” Liz said, “He was my third. And when I got him he wasn’t a Ninjask, he was a Nincada, about this big, without wings, white skinned… cripes, now I have to describe evolution.”
“Evowhat?” Twilight said.
Rainbow blinked. “Yeah, what she said.”
“Okay,” Liz sighed, “Most Pokémon come in several stages. There is the basic stage, and then most Pokémon can evolve once, and some twice. Some also have a baby stage, which is before the basic stage. The exactitudes of why a Pokémon evolves are up in the air, last I knew. It’s complex, to say the least. Suffice to say that there’s a bright light, and their bodies kind of… rearrange.”
“And they become awesomer?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Liz resisted the urge to roll her eyes. “As a general rule, yes. Before you ask, Cica is fully evolved.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Rainbow Dash said, “Weird as all get out, but really cool.”
Fluttershy let out a slight um, and said to Rainbow Dash, “I thought you said you would let Twilight ask one more question.”
“She asked one that interested me,” Rainbow Dash said simply. “And now, unless there’s another really interesting question, you need to learn to fly.”
Twilight sighed and put her notesheet and pen down. “Allright, allright. You’re looking like you would appreciate a break anyway, Liz.”
“Yeah,” Liz said and took another swig of coffee. “I wanted to go job hunting today, anyway.”
“Oh, do you know how to sort books?” Twilight asked Liz. “I could use someone to run the library while I did research, and sometimes Spike can get a bit busy by himself.”
“I can learn fast,” Liz said, “I stay calm in stressful situations and I’m willing to work hard.”
Rainbow Dash gave an exasperated sigh.
Liz looked at Rainbow Dash, and then back at Twilight. “How about we discuss this after you’ve done some lessons, and I spent some time with my bug?”
“Sounds good!” Twilight said. “I’ll see you in… an hour?”
Rainbow Dash crossed her front legs and shook her head.
“Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, “Twilight isn’t as athletic as you are. She’s not going to be able to train as long.”
“It’s not like she’s out of shape,” Rainbow Dash countered. “Okay, okay, we’ll see what happens.”
Fluttershy shook her head. “Rainbow, I think you’re being cranky because you haven’t flown in over two days.”
“I… well…” Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment. “Yeah… I guess. Sorry. I’ll be at the sport track whenever you’re ready.” A bit embarrassed, Rainbow Dash headed back out of the library.
Fluttershy got up to follow. “I’ll go talk to her,” she said to Twilight, “Try to get her to cheer up. And make sure she’s been taking her medicine.” With that, Fluttershy walked after the ground bound Pegasus.
Liz watched the Pegasus go. That was somewhat awkward. “I should go find Cica, but later can we talk about the history of Equestria? I’m going to have to live here, you know.”
“Oh, yeah,” Twilight said with an awkward smile. “Sure. I suppose that really should take precedence right now, huh?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Liz said, “I recognize that you like to learn a lot. I know that I can be stubborn or curious at times. Here, just as much as at home, everyone seems to have their own personality tics, and you have to be used to that to get along.”
Twilight nodded. “Yeah. I guess there are some universal constants, huh?”
Liz nodded back. “Especially among Pokemon trainers. Something about Pokémon just seems to bring out the quirks in people, or attract quirky people, or something, because Pokémon trainers do not seem to come in ‘sane’.”
Spike looked at the collection of coffee. Twilight didn’t have the stuff much; she mainly kept it around for her parents who did. But even so, when they visited they didn’t have all that much, and for the most part went for decaf. And then Liz comes along, and she drinks the stuff by the pot! They were already almost out.
Spike’s musings were cut short by a familiar feeling, and he stepped back and turned away to keep the dragonfire from scorching the cupboard. It solidified into a message, with Celestia’s royal seal on it. “Huh,” Spike said as he picked up the letter. Twilight had already received one letter from the princess today. That implied that this was something new… or maybe something urgent. Spike opened the seal carefully, and read the note.
Both something new and somewhat urgent, it turns out. Spike went into the main room to tell Twilight, but she was gone. She must have gone out somewhere… but where? Spike tried to think back on the conversation… but he didn’t hear much of it from the pantry. Spike rushed out the door, and began to look around. There wasn’t any time to waste; Princess Celestia wanted to meet Liz!