"Okay Stephen," Pacing back and forth, I tried not to have a mental break down. "You've been camping before. Just remember the basics." The most important thing right now? Landmarks. I looked around, and besides the forest to my left and the mountain far ahead of me, there was nothing recognizable from what I remember of One Island After walking around for a while, I confirmed that there were no Centers, Marts, Gyms, or a Trainer in sight at all. I sighed, and looked to the forest. "I should probably start walking that way. Trees equal resources, and resources equal basic survival."
I really didn't like being alone in this strange place, so I decided for to bring out a Pokemon companion. I reached at my sash and retrieved a capsule. "Come on out, Nova!" I called out. My arm was extended, and I held out the Pokeball, but there was no red energy, and no Gardevoir standing in front of me. "What?" My mind started going into panic mode, and when I looked at the back of the ball and at the monitor, it read "EMPTY."
I quickly checked the other Pokeballs on my sash only to find the same readout on the rear monitors. I could feel tears running down my cheeks. I couldn't believe it; My companions, my dear friends, were gone. I fell to my knees, unable to process all of this as it kept coming. I was lost in a place with nothing Pokemon-related for miles, or none at all, and my Pokemon team was nowhere to be found. To add to this, I HAD NO WAY TO GET BACK HOME. It took a long time before I calmed down. I took a deep breath and continued my trek to the forest in the distance. I had no idea what other things had in store for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, in a small town called Ponyville...
"Twilight!" A baby purple and green dragon bounded down the steps of the library tree-house with a scroll in claw, the golden royal seal keeping it closed from prying eyes. "We just received something from Canterlot!"
The purple and recently turned Alicorn looked up from her book to her assistant and took the scroll from him. "Thank you, Spike. Princess Celestia rarely writes to me nowadays. She usually communicates with me via the Alicorn Telepathy Spell. It must be important." The purple drake stood by the purple pony, eager to see the contents of the letter, which read:
"Dear Princess Twilight, my faithful student,
My dearest apologies if this letter catches you at a rather unfavorable time, also for not notifying you of this through the telepathy spell. I felt that you should share this with your fellow Elements of Harmony. It is only a recent development, but with your great knowledge of friendship and leadership, you may be able to accomplish much in this assignment.
I am not sure if you were able to sense it, but there was a massive fluctuation of magical energy, and it seems to have emanated from close to Ponyville, on the other side of the Everfree Forest. The amount of energy that was felt could only have been a result of a strong portal spell, but many unicorns have the potential to do this. What caught me off guard was the source. As you know, magic has a distinct feel and source that can be traced. However, when I felt this magic fluctuate, I could immediately tell that the source was something foreign. I would like for you and any of the other, if available, Elements to investigate this. If you have any implication that the creature from the portal has good intentions, then please write to me at once. I would like for us to engage this visitor.
Yours Truly,
Princess Celestia"
"Whoa! We're going to go see an alien?" Spike started bouncing and ran around Twilight excitedly. "It might have some cool armor or zappers or-"
"Spike, you're not going." Twilight cut him off, much to the dragon's dismay. "You're still a young dragon. If this 'visitor' does have intentions that are... well, hostile, then I don't want you around for you to get hurt."
Spike looked sad for a second, but understood what she meant. He changed the subject, "What about the Elements? Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are both away for the week." Rainbow had to go to Cloudsdale for a Weather Captains' meeting, and Pinkie Pie was in Trottingham helping the Cakes with a catering assignment.
"It's actually kind of a good thing, Spike." Twilight smiled, then began to imagine the aforementioned ponies' first interactions with the 'visitor'. "Rainbow might act brashly and attack it, and Pinkie would just overwhelm it with talk about friends and parties."
"True, true." Spike nodded. "And that leaves you, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy." To this Twilight nodded.
"That's right. And since you're not doing anything at the moment," Twilight started."Could you go out and ask the girls to meet here? So I can brief them on the situation?
"You got it, Twilight!" Spike saluted the pony, and jogged out, his first, obvious destination in mind. Once Twilight saw him pass the door, she got up and started gathering books, quills, papers, and binoculars, and putting them in a saddlebag. "A visitor with a foreign magical source? Ooooh, this is going to be so exciting!" The purple mare started packing more enthusiastically.
Twenty Minutes later...
In the library stood four ponies looking over the scroll Princess Celestia sent Twilight earlier. A white unicorn with a luxuriously style purple mane looked on with mild interest. Next to her a yellow pegasus with a pink mane looked very uncertain as to what may come out of the expedition ahead. Lastly, a orange earth pony with a golden blonde mane nodded as she read over the scroll a third time.
"So Twi," Applejack began. "What do you suppose we do once we find this 'visitor' of yours?" The purple mare tapped a hoof to her muzzle in thought.
"We should stay low and unnoticeable. Princess Celestia wants us to make sure the 'visitor' isn't here to bring violence. And hopefully, Fluttershy," the mentioned pegasus instinctively shrunk, "should be able to direct us and help us with any wild animals in the Everfree."
"What can I do to help, darling?" Rarity quipped. "I'm willing to help this cause, just as long as I don't get me hooifcure tottally ruined."
Twilight responded, "Well, all four of us will be looking out for this 'visitor', so don't worry about that, Rarity." Spike came bounding down the stairs once more, and the purple pony turned to him and said, "We'll be going now, Spike. Watch the house, and make sure to finish reshelving the History section, please." The scaled assistant nodded and held the door as the four mares walked out.
"Be careful, everypony!" Spike called from the library. The girls waved back and continued their way to the edge of Everfree Forest. Once there, Fluttershy, of course, was very hesitant to enter. It is the Everfree Forest, and as Applejack said so many times, "It just ain't natural." After a few minutes of convincing, the four stood together and walked united into the Everfree Forest, ready to to accomplish the task.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Back to Stephen's POV...
The minute I stepped into the forest, I started calling out for my Pokemon team. "NOVA!" I called out. "Where are you?" Finding Nova was the highest priority, so we can use her abilities to find the rest of my team. I had been calling her name for about half an hour. I couldn't survive out here without her. I was still hopeful that she was somewhere in this godforsaken forest, but that hope was starting to wane. I was about to stop shouting when I saw a glimpse of something bright, an almost white color, in the distance.
I ran as quickly as my feet could take me, and what I found both relieved me and confused me. Yes, I had found Nova. However, she wasn't the same. Her normal pristine white coat was now a shade of light gray, her red crest and green hair were even darker shades of gray. She turned to me, and her face had a look of contempt.
"Oh. It's you." The Gardevoir mind-spoke. "Where have you been, Stephen? Isn't a good trainer supposed to take care and keep track of his Pokemon?"
"Nova, what-" I started, but was cut off by a shadowy black orb sailing past my head. Nova's hand was raised, palm towards my direction. I could see another one start to form.
"You abandoned us, Stephen. Left us out on our own." Nova's voice began to tremble with rage. "DID YOU EVEN CARE THAT WE WERE GONE? OR DID YOU JUST THINK ABOUT YOUR DEAR KARA?" The second Shadow Ball flew and I stepped forward, barely dodging the projectile. Once clear, I lunged forward and took Nova in a tight hug.
"You know that's not true, Nova." I said, refusing to let go despite her attempts. "I've always cared about you. And you know for a fact that I take care of my Pokemon. You of all of them should know that I do. And I would never abandon you. We swore to never leave each other's side. Do you remember?"
~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~
A young Stephen, around 8 years old was walking along Dewford Town' coast. He was about to return home, where his mother was preparing supper before he heard an unfamiliar cry from Dewford cave. Stephen's mother had always said to never go into the dungeon, but this cry sounded like someone was in trouble. He ran into the entrance of the cave, and saw in the far corner of the the rocky dungeon a group of Sableye surrounding something. Upon closer inspection, they cornered a very scared Ralts, who happened to be the source of the cries. The 8 year old Stephen knelt down and picked up some big rocks; he knew it wouldn't hurt the Sableye much, but it would be enough to distract them from the Ralts. He threw the rocks at the creepy Pokemon, and the projectiles met their target.
"Hey, you stupid Sableyes!" Stephen yelled. The gang of Pokemon turned towards him, their crystalline eyes glowed with something like malice. "Pick on someone your own size!" With that, the dark purple cave Pokemon gave chase to the little boy. The Ralts, who looked up and watched the brave little boy distract the Sableye, continued to watch him trip and fall, and her antagonists began to crowd over him. Then, the little psychic Pokemon let out a cry, and a super bright light suddenly flashed throughout the cavern. The light blinded the Sableye, causnig them to retreat from the boy and into the darkness of the deeper parts of Dewford Cave.
The Ralts saw that Stephen was hurt, and tried the only other move she knew: Teleport. The two ended up back on the beach, and the small creature finally spoke, "Ralts?"
"Oh good, you're okay." Stephen said. "I'm glad. That was very scary, wasn't it?" The green-topped Pokemon nodded. "My mother said to always help Pokemon in trouble." Ralts smiled at this. How nice of this child to do so. "Wanna be friends?" This question caught the psychic type by surprise. "I promise to be the best trainer I can be! We'll have each others backs every time! And we will always stick by each other's side!" As a response, Ralts jumped up and hugged Stephen, just as his mother ran up to him; she'd been looking for him for a long while.
~~~~~~~~Real Time~~~~~~~~~
"And from there, we went on, together, to face rivals all around the world." I looked down at Nova. "I've always considered you more than my Pokemon, you were like my best friend, and the little sister I never had." Nova stopped struggling, letting the memories sink in. "I know this isn't the real you Nova! Please, please come back to me."
A small glow appeared at the top of Nova's head, and I stepped back. I watched as the glow flowed from the top of the Gardevoir's head to her feet. Her normal pure white coat had returned, her red and green were back to their vibrant states. When it was done, Nova looked up to see me clearly this time, and tears welled in her eyes.
"Stephen!" She ran up to me and locked me in an embrace. "I just had the worst dream!"
"It's okay, Nova." I stroked the top of her head. "I'm here now. Nothing's wrong."
The two of us stayed like this for a few more minutes. Nova spoke up, "We're going to find the others, right?" she asked.
"Of course." I replied. And for the second time in our lives, we started our new journey together. This time, we'd search for our lost friends. Then we can start finding a way back home.