Why me? Celestia thought as she gaped at the Pokémon before her. Why don’t things like this happen to the Griffins or Zebras? Of course the Princess didn’t voice any of this, instead she stepped forward and greeted the Pokémon. “Greetings Mewtwo, and welcome to Canterlot… how did you get in here?”
The Genetic Pokémon smirked. “I teleported to Canterlot at my lord’s request, and after I… removed a few obstacles outside, your guards let me in.”
Celestia looked to the shaking guard at her side and excused him, and he was out of the room before she even finished her sentence. “What are you doing here?” There was no question she was upset that the Psychic-type had scared her guards. “What does Arceus want?”
“Lord Arceus believes it would be beneficial if our races had the means to communicate with each other, I’m here to represent the Pokémon in any dealings that occur.”
After a moment Twilight figured out what he meant. “You mean, you’re an ambassador?”
Mewtwo nodded. “I believe that is the term Lord Arceus used.”
Celestia swallowed nervously. “Don't you believe,” She began. “That a representative who is… closer to us in appearance would help soothe the transition?” While Celestia did feel that this was true, it was more that she could sense the power radiating form Mewtwo, and after seeing Arceus’ display, it made her nervous.
“Yes,” Luna quickly agreed. “Like the young stallion we encountered at the temple yesterday… what was his name?”
“Keldeo, as he is known, is not well suited for this position.” Mewtwo explained. “To quote a friend, ‘He has great potential, but he is cocky, headstrong and lacks patience.’”
Celestia shook her head. “Fine,” Now she was more eager than ever to start the meeting. “Phalanx!” A Pegasus guard, different from the one who had interrupted the meeting, rounded the corner. “Take Lord Mewtwo,” She glared at the Pokémon, who smirked at the title. “To the dignitary wing and give him a room, and whatever else he requires.”
“Y-yes your highness,” The stallion said, nervously eyeing the Psychic-type. “P-please follow me sir.”
Mewtwo smiled and bowed to the Princesses. “Much obliged, your highnesses.” Mewtwo floated after the guard but before he vanished from sight, turned back and spoke as if he were still right next to the ponies. “And I trust that, in the event of an official meeting, you will contact me? I’d hate to have to burst in unannounced.” The legendary turned back and floated out of sight.
“Now one of them is in the castle.” Luna shook her head. “I do not like where this is going, sister.”
Celestia just shook her head and turned around, walking back into the conference room, where she was greeted by the sight of Professor Juniper and Gene staring at each other. “What is-?”
She was interrupted when the Psychic-types leapt at each other, electing a gasp from all except Belle and Fang, and grabbed each other in a hug. “Gene!” Juniper cried, breaking away from the Gallade. “It’s been too long.”
“I know,” He sighed. “I would’ve visited but,”
“I know,” Juniper stopped him. “Iris told me what happened.” Gene looked away from the professor. “But it’s still good to see you!” She said. “And you too Belle.”
“Ok, back up,” Twilight said to Gene. “What and who is that and how do you know her?”
Gene smiled at the Alicorn. “Everyone, this is Professor Juniper, a Pokémon researcher and a good friend of mine.”
“The ‘what’ is a little complicated,” Juniper explained. “I’m currently a Pokémon know as a Beheeyem but I’m supposed to be human, like Gene.”
“Another one?” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Just how many of you are gonna show up?”
Gene and Juniper looked at each other and smiled.
“I can think of a few more.” the Gallade answered. “And to answer that last question, I met Juniper when I spent a few years in Unova, she and a few others found out about me and Belle, they were the first ones who did who didn’t turn me into the cops.”
Juniper shrugged. “Belle explained the situation to us and we didn’t see why we had to.”
Belle smiled. When she and Gene had stayed in Unova, those had been some of the best years of their life together.
Celestia ushered her sister and student back to their seats. “As interesting as it would be to hear this story, we really need to get on with this meeting.”
Gene shrugged and returned to his seat, Juniper taking the free one beside him.
“Now,” Celestia began. “As you all are aware, as of yesterday, Pokémon, including some who used to be humans, appeared in Equestria.” She looked around, and seeing no confusion, continued. “What we are here to do is figure out a way to either convince or force Arceus to undo his actions and return everything to normal.” Most of the beings in the room nodded, the abstaining members consisted of Gene and Belle. “Does anyone have any ideas?” She asked suddenly, shocking most in attendance. “Because I know nothing about Arceus and could really use some information.” She looked expectantly to the Pokémon around the table, most of whom developed a sudden interest in the ceiling.
They had all been confident about helping the Princess when they went into the meeting, but now that they were being asked for information that could possibly lead to someone acting against their god, it was an awkward position.
“Supposedly,” Korrina finally answered. “Arceus is a Normal-type Pokémon. That would make him vulnerable to Fighting-type attacks but not much else.”
Celestia nodded, and was about to ask about Fighting-Types, when Misty interrupted her. “But Arceus is supposed to have seventeen different plates, one representing each type, that allow him to change his type depending on which plate he’s holding.”
Celestia sighed. “And that means…?”
“Lord Arceus would be able to nullify or effectively weaken any move to the point where it would do little to no damage.” Lucario explained.
Celestia mentally wrote off using any scornful Pokémon or former humans against Arceus. It was a long shot anyway. She assured herself.
“Alright,” She said. “What else?” None of the Pokémon spoke, but this time the silence was born of ignorance.
“Uhh," Gene rubbed the back of his head. “Legend says he hatched from an egg in a place where there was nothing and created the universe.” He quoted his Pokédex.
Celestia looked at them all in disbelief.
“Do none of you know anything about your own god?” She asked.
“Well, until recently no one was a hundred percent sure he existed.” Misty explained sheepishly.
“He was imprisoned, I think, in another dimension.” Juniper sighed. “But no one has any idea how he got there… well, actually I suppose the other legendaries might but it’s not like they’ll say anything.”
Celestia shook her head. She knew this plan had been a long shot, but she had still hoped that some vital piece of information would come up, now all she knew was that Arceus could be stopped, but no one knew how.
Celestia took a deep breath and decided to come back to that problem later. “Alright,” She sighed. “If we can’t figure out how to stop Arceus and undo all of this now, then we’re going to have to deal with the other Pokémon, so please,” She nodded to the assembled trainers, Pokémon, and professor. “Explain.”
The Pokémon all looked at each other, with the majority looking to Juniper, after a moment the Cerebral Pokémon floated a few inches out of her chair and began. “Alright, where to begin… any specific questions?”
Twilight smiled giddily and teleported a note pad and paper from somewhere. She had jotted down copious notes from their excursion yesterday and she was excited to have an actual expert answer some of her questions. “I have a few,” A list unrolled until it reached the floor, and Discord and the princesses chuckled. Most of Twilight’s friends rolled their eyes and the Pokémon gaped. “First off,” She began. “How many different kinds of Pokémon are there? I have a rough number thanks to something Arceus said but I wanna be sure.”
Juniper smiled. She rarely met someone this enthusiastic about learning. “Counting all the legendaries? There are over seven hundred species of Pokémon.”
Twilight jotted the number down in her notes. “Next question; you've mentioned ‘types’ several times. Could you please explain this?”
Gene sighed. He knew they were in trouble now; Twilight was just as enthusiastic about learning about Pokémon as Juniper was about teaching about them. “We’re going to be here for a while.” he told Belle.
Darkrai sat alone in his room, thinking about the events that had transpired in the past few days, specifically what had happened last night.
The night had gotten off to a great start, he had met Cresselia in the hall of paintings and the pair had spent their time looking over the paintings of the Sinnoh region, remembering the good times they had shared. As the night had drawn to a close Darkrai had ‘walked’ Cresselia to her room. Everything had seemed so picturesque, Cresselia looked so beautiful in the fire light and they were entirely alone, but before anything else had happened Darkrai sensed something in the dreamscape. Something that seemed scared, and angry.
Before Cresselia could say or do anything Darkrai had bade her good night and rushed to his room, leaving the extremely disappointed and slightly heart-broken Lunar Pokémon alone.
Darkrai hated himself for doing that to her. But he had a good reason. Darkrai was utterly terrified of the dreamscape, or, more precisely, his relationship with it. Back on Earth, Darkrai had entered the realm of dreams once, in Unova. Her face still haunted his nightmares.
“She deserves better.” Darkrai tried to assure himself. “I would just end up hurting her.” The Pitch-Black Pokémon was silent for a moment, then he sighed and floated out of his room, making sure Cresselia wasn’t around, before floating towards the library. “I suppose researching the dreamscape couldn't hurt.” He said to himself. “Perhaps I can find something about-”
“Relic Song!” Before the Dark-type could react a blaring fanfare accosted his ears, temporarily disorienting him and causing him to drop to the ground in pain.
When Darkrai finally regained his senses and looked up he was not surprised at who he saw before him. “Well,” Meloetta said, tapping her foot. “I’m waiting.”
“What do you want, Meloetta?” Darkrai asked, floating over to her.
The Melody Pokémon, in her Pirouette Form, glared at him. “You know exactly what I want, Darkrai,” Darkrai winced. She was definitely angry. Meloetta never acted like this and she almost never used Relic Song as anything other than entertainment. “Tell me what you did to Cresselia.”
“I didn’t do anything,” He sneered. “We had a lovely evening, then we said our goodbyes, nothing more, nothing less.”
Darkrai tried to escape the Normal-type but she flew in front of him. “You really are an idiot, you know that?”
Darkrai growled at her. “Tread carefully Meloetta,” He said, dark energy collecting in his hands. “Even in that form, you do not want to be hit with my Dark Pulse.”
Meloetta didn't even move. In fact, she acted as if Darkrai had made no threat at all. “You asked Cresselia out and you didn’t even kiss her goodnight.”
“I will not stand here and be harassed by you.” Darkrai attempted to turn into his shadow form to escape but Meloetta stopped him again.
“If you even try that, I swear to Arceus, I will Perish Song you and leave you in Cresselia’s room,” She smirked as Darkrai stopped cold. “I’ll even wrap you up like a little present, maybe an early Valentine’s day gift, hmm?” Darkrai pulled himself out of the floor. “Course she’ll think it’s from you but-”
“Alright!” Darkrai didn’t need to hear anymore. “You spent too much time around humans.” Meloetta had always been a people’s favorite when it came to legendaries, she’d even given a few concerts in modern time, although the Sacred Swordsmen had been on guard each time. Her interactions with humans meant that she was a lot more… devious when it came to her plans. The only one that beat her was Hoopa, but she was the Mischief Pokémon. “What do you want from me?”
"I want to help you Darkrai." She said, her voice tinged with sadness.
"No one can help me," Darkrai turned away from her. "Not even Arceus can help me." That part was actually true, because Cresselia and Darkrai had been created to represent stages of the moon, their abilities reflected this. Cresselia, the crescent moon, represented good dreams and peaceful sleep. Darkrai, the new moon, embodied darkness and nightmares. This was just how they had formed. Arceus hadn't wanted Drakrai to have his powers, and he had tried to remove them, to no avail.
Darkrai felt a hand on his shoulder and turned back. "Just tell her how you feel Darkrai." Meloetta practically begged. "She cares about you, she can help."
The Dark-type remained silent, Cresselia had tried to help him before, her natural ability, which gave pleasant dream, only weakened his ability for a short while before the two balanced each other out. "At the very least she could help you with the stress."
Darkrai shook his head. "I would just end up hurting her." He said. "I, I don't deserve her. She'd be better off if she never even knew me."
Darkrai was suddenly hit with a surprisingly powerful Wake-Up Slap. "Don't even think like that! Cresselia loves you, and if you would just admit your feelings to her then you wouldn't be feeling this way! Meloetta cried tears in her eyes. The Melody Pokemon couldn't deal with this anymore, she was one of the legendaries who represented peace, and her songs were meant to cheer people up, depression didn't suit her.
“If you decide you actually wanna talk,” She said, dropping out of Pirouette Form. “You know where to find me.”
Meloetta flew to her room, leaving Darkrai alone in the hall, she needed to cheer herself up, and she had something in her room that would do just that It was one of the many books Arceus had been moving to the temple’s library. Meloetta floated into her room and passed a variety of musical instruments and equipment that would make a music academy jealous. Harps, cellos and trumpets sat alongside guitars, sound tables, and even a grand piano, odder instruments, accordions, xylophones, and one man band gear was also placed sporadically around the room and Meloetta once again thanked Arceus for moving her gear when he brought them all here.
Temporarily ignoring the instruments Meloetta settled on her bed and found where she had left off. “The art of the Heartsong,” She re-read the title of the book. “By Musical Interlude, caused when the emotions of one or more ponies, and in rarer cases Zebras, Griffins and other races, run high enough to affect the natural magic of an area the beings in the surrounding area find themselves unable to resist the pull and join in a song and dance related to the original pony’s predicament.” Meloetta smiled and kept reading. “In other cases it can lead to a smaller group of creatures to come to a realization about each other, often related to friendship or love.” Meloetta skipped ahead to the cause section. “... The predicament must be very important to the being singing, although musically talented and powerful magic beings, (*See, powerful magical beings at front for list) can cause them at will.”
Meloetta re-read the entry. “Musically talented or magically powerful huh?” She said with a grin. “I know I count for at least one of those.”
Darkrai, still floating limply in the hall didn't know what the Melody Pokemon was doing, and he didn't care. “They don’t understand,” He sunk into the floor, shifting into shadow form, and launched off. “Not even Yveltal or Giratina can understand.” Darkrai shot through the hallways, faster than most of the other legendaries could have seen. “Why can’t I learn to control this?” Ever since his creation, Darkrai had been plagued by his ability. Whenever he was scared, stressed, or nervous, his powers kicked in, and he had been very nervous last night.
Unbeknownst to Meloetta or most of the others, Darkrai had planned to officially begin courting Cresselia the night before, or that’s what Virizion had called it when he had asked her for advice, but once the... force from the dreamscape had interrupted he had lost his nerve.
“What is wrong with me?” He asked as he shot out the mouth of the temple, Darkrai flew up the sides and rose from the roof, sitting on the edge and staring into the forest.
“Maybe Meloetta is right,” He said. “Maybe I should just tell her.” The Dark-type wanted nothing more than to confess his feelings to her, and it was common knowledge that she wanted the same, so why did he have to hold himself back? “I don’t deserve her,” He shook his head. “I just... GAHHH!” A void of darkness pulsed around him. “Why is this so difficult?!” He shouted to the sky.
Shaymin’s ears twitched. “Zygarde?” She looked to her friend, who was currently removing the chaos from a section of woods. “Did you hear something?”
“No.” He answered simply.
Shaymin sighed as Zygarde continued forward, erasing the chaos magic that permeated the area. Again she released the pollen from the flowers on her back and forced the plants to reshape. “Pretty sure that I-”
“Yah!” she heard Zygarde yelp and raced forward, she was surprised to find Zygarde wrapped in what looked like a possessed Frenzy Plant attack. His thick scales prevented them from digging into his skin and his tail was wrapped around a tree to hold him in place. Once he saw the Grass-type he blushed slightly. “A little help?” He asked, electing a giggle from her.
“Fine.” Again she released her pollen and the vines immediately stopped squirming. “Let go.” Shaymin commanded, the Plunder Vines released Zygarde and coiled loosely around the clearing.
“Thanksss,” He looked at the Plunder Vines, squinted, the shot off in the direction they had come.
“Wait up!” Shaymin had no chance of keeping up with the snake due to her stubby legs. “Why aren’t there any Gracidea flowers here?” She asked, panting. When she finally found Zygarde he was uprooting some form of fly trap from which the Plunder Vines came. The plant itself was very calm as the Order Pokémon ripped it to shreds. Shaymin rolled her eyes and walked slowly up to the gruesome scene, she stopped when one of the plants seeds landed in front of her.
She smiled and was going to pick it up, when she smelled something coming from the seed, she leaned in to get a better whiff, then jumped backwards as the scent of chaos entered her nostrils. “Just like those odd blue plants from earlier,” She commented remembering the patch of blue flowers they had encountered and subsequently destroyed.
As Shaymin watched her friend obliterate the passive plant she was unaware that something was creeping up behind her, only once it was several feet behind her did she sense its presence, once she did she jumped and spun around to face... a Blitzle? No, this creature was slightly taller than a Blitzle, but not as tall as a Zebstrika, plus, it wore a fair amount of jewelry and looked decidedly more... feminine. Shaymin could sense no ill intent from the creature, so she decided to greet her, figuring she was probably one of the ponies Arceus had mentioned.
“Greetings,” She said with a smile. “I am Lady Shaymin and that,” She gestured to Zygarde, who had finished destroying the Plunder Plant and was sapping the chaos from the area. “Is Lord Zygarde. Are you a pony?”
For a moment the creature didn’t speak, then she cleared her throat and, in an accent Shaymin didn’t recognize, introduced herself. “My name is Zecora and zebra is my kind, now could you please tell me what I did just find?”
Shaymin smiled. “Zygarde’s been purifying this forest. It’s completely polluted with chaos magic.”
Zecora shook her head. “In your friend’s quest to change the Everfree, did you stop to consider what the effect might be?”
Zecora has been searching for the cause of the Everfree’s trouble since yesterday, when an odd being had come to her home seeking shelter, after her initial shock Zecora had allowed the being entry, then after her recount of how vicious some of the creatures had become, Zecora had gone to find the cause, and hopefully stop it. “In upsetting the balance of magic in the land, you might end up forcing the chaos god’s hand.”
Zygarde abruptly stopped his process and turned to Zecora, he cocked his head a slithered over to the mare, bending down to look her in the eyes he said. “Misss Zecora, I asssure you that any attemptsss to return thisss foressst to chaosss will be ssstopped by me.” He smirked. “And bessidesss, I do not believe thisss ssso called god isss all he’sss cracked up to be.”
Zecora sighed. “Discord is chaos, embodied and true, if he attacks full power it would be the end of you.”
Zygarde chuckled and rose to his full height. “Well perhapsss my full title will disssuade his attacksss,” He smiled down at the little mare. “I am Zygarde, lord of order and harmony.” In truth he added the harmony part onto the end because he was pretty sure they were the same and he wanted to impress Zecora. “Now tell me Misss Zecora,” He bent down to her height again. “Which one alwaysss comesss out on top?”
Arceus sat in his pocket dimension, looking over the strings of fate. Problem was there were too many possible outcomes because of the amount of criteria he had to take in. “Let’s see… avoid pissing off Celestia so much that she tries to drop the sun on Equestria due to mental instability, more of an inconvenience, considering I’d have to destroy her.” Arceus was mainly working to make sure that the worst possible outcomes didn’t come about. “Problematic humans... oh sweet eternity, he’s here? I need to talk to Reshiram and Zekrom about this one.” Arceus slightly regretted taking memories from all the legendaries when collecting the humans, although this specific human wasn’t Arceus’ least favorite. “A lot of Gym Leaders and almost eighty percent of the Elite Fours and Champions, the birds’ saviors… hmm, all the regional professors? I thought for sure at least one of them wouldn’t make it.”
“You know,” A familiar voice came from behind the god. “You spend an awful lot of time in here for someone who just spent an awful lot of time in here.”
Arceus dropped the lines in his grasp and they disappeared, leaving himself and Mew with nothing in the pocket dimension. “Sorry, sweetie,” The god said. “With what happened in the dreamscape last night, I thought it might be a good idea to check what the future might hold.”
“Can’t you just send Dialga or Celebi to check?” Mew asked. Her brother and niece were experts in time travel. Mew was actually surprised neither of them had known about Arceus’ plan.
Arceus shook his head. “The time stream is completely out of whack at the moment, a fact that has not gone unnoticed,” Arceus though for a moment, then looked back to his daughter. “Neither of them would be able to jump more than a week into the past or a few days into the future, and only for a few hours.”
Arceus knew that once the events involving the Princesses calmed down the future would open up and become clearer, but he feared the Pokémon’s very existence in the world had cut the time lines to the past, this was supported by the fact that none of the ponies he had met so far, including the immortals, had even heard of his kind.
This only caused a problem for a few beings who could actually use time travel, but still. Arceus looked over a particularly disturbing future and frowned. With every possible outcome it was nearly impossible to tell which ones were serious. “You know what, Mew?” He asked rhetorically. “You’re right, I have been spending way too much time in here.” An instant later the pair found themselves back in the Hall of Legends. “I think it’s about time I go and chat with everyone,” The god trotted down one of the hallways and called back. “If any of the locals show up, come and find me.”
Mew sighed and put both her paws to her face, shaking her head. She loved her father, she really did, but he could be so absentminded. The middle of an interspecies issue and went to talk with old friends, plus Darkrai was still on the roof and Cresselia was locked in her room, not to mention Groudon and Kyogre were duking it out in the arena and Rayquaza was becoming impatient about not being in the air. And Suicune still hadn't returned, although considering the Aurora Pokémon’s free spirited attitude that wasn’t surprising. “What else could possibly go wro-?” Mew stopped herself before she finished, having a god for a father had taught her not to taunt the universe.
“-But only if the attacks are used together.” Professor Juniper finished.
“Fascinating.” Twilight said, jotting down yet another piece of information, she was about to ask another question when she realized she hadn’t given anypony else a chance. “Does anypony have any questions they’d like answered?”
She looked around the table and was surprised when Rarity spoke up. “Actually I have some, for Gene and Belle.”
Everyone who wasn’t asleep turned to the pair and saw that Gene was fast asleep and snoozing on Belle’s shoulder, the Gardevoir had a small smile across her face but once she registered what was happening she sighed and nudged her mate awake.
“What’s that?” Gene asked groggily, jolting awake and, due to his position, slicing an arm blade through the arm of his chair. “Sorry,” He said blushing, electing laughs from several members of the audience. “What’d I miss?"
“I have a few questions about those memories you showed me earlier, dear.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight asked. “You can share memories?”
Belle smiled. “Psychic-types can do a large variety of things, sharing memories with others is a simple way of telling stories.” Sharing memories also had much deeper meanings, but that part came into play between mated pairs, again she couldn’t wait to begin teaching Gene how to use his new powers.
While Twilight recorded this information in her notes Rarity asked her first questions. “Well for starters, why did you look so different?” She asked Belle. “It looked like you were a completely different pony – err… Pokémon back then.”
“Yeah,” Gene said as if it was obvious. “She was a Ralts.”
Everyone was silent for a moment then Applejack spoke up. “Look, Ah kinda wanna avoid another session where we try and figure out what the other is askin’ so why don’t ya just explain, as clearly as ya can, what ya just said.”
Belle and Gene looked to each other and shared a few thoughts before Gene looked back at everyone else.
“Belle evolved.” Gene said with a shrug. “I don’t know what more I can say.”
Twilight nearly dropped her notepad.
“That’s not possible,” she gasped. “Evolution takes hundreds, if not thousands of years. It was first documented by Charles Darwhinny back in-”
“Twi,” Applejack interrupted. “Now’s not the time fer a history lesson, sugarcube.”
“Oh, uh, right, carry on.” Twilight blushed.
Gene and Belle were now both very confused. “Ok, let’s see... Juniper?”
The Pokémon professor sighed. “Evolution occurs when a Pokémon gains enough energy to trigger a transformation in its DNA, this can occur naturally over time, when a Pokémon becomes physically stronger, or through various external stimuli,”
Celestia listened intently to the Professor’s speech, and was once again assured that sending Bio Chem out of the room was the right choice. Twilight was inquisitive enough, but Bio Chem was... unpredictable, especially when it came to genetics. She made a mental note to retrieve the Trubbish from his lab after the meeting.
“Furthermore,” Juniper continued. “A Pokémon can only evolve two times in an evolutionary chain, equaling three total forms.”
“Exactly,” Gene said. “Thanks, Juniper.”
“No problem.” Juniper settled back in her seat and Gene took over.
“So like Juniper said, a Pokémon can evolve twice, what you saw, Rarity, was the first form of a Gardevoir’s evolution. When I first met Belle she was just a cute little Ralts,” Belle blushed softly. “After a while she evolved into a beautiful young Kirlia.” Her blush grew deeper. “And finally she became the stunningly gorgeous Gardevoir who sits next to me today.” Belle was as red as a tomato as Gene finished. “And one more thing, some Pokémon can evolve a third time, it’s called a mega evolution but it’s only temporary.”
“Oh, what Pokémon can Mega evolve?” Twilight asked giddily.
Gene smiled “I’d say about… half of the Pokémon in this room. Lucario, Houndoom, and Gardevoir all have Mega forms.”
Twilight nodded and wrote the information down. “Can we see?”
Korrina shook her head. “Sorry Princess, you need a special stone to Mega Evolve a Pokémon, and I lost Lucario’s when I came here.”
“Same for Belle’s.” Gene added, when Korrina looked at him in confusion he just replied. “I didn’t go to Kalos just to get gym badges.”
Twilight’s ears dropped. “Oh alright, Rarity, you said you had more questions?”
The fashionista nodded. “Indeed, although really just one more.” She again looked to Gene and Belle. “What on Equestria is a Pokéball?”
“Yes!” Luna exclaimed, startling everyone, including the Swablu on her horn, which once again darted into Luna’s mane. “Arceus mentioned those yesterday, but was interrupted before he was able to explain.”
This time Misty answered. “A Pokéball is a device that allows a trainer to capture Pokémon,” Fluttershy developed a worried look on her face. “It’s some kind of capsule system and-”
“Um, excuse me?” Fluttershy spoke up. “But what do you mean capture? Does it hurt them?”
“No” Misty assured her. “It doesn’t hurt and it just... captures them, I don’t know how to explain it.”
Belle smiled. “I can show you,” She looked to the princesses. “If your highnesses would allow it.”
Luna and Celestia looked at each other, then the elder sister nodded. “Alright.”
“But if anything feels out of the ordinary,” Luna warned. “We will not hesitate to strike.”
Belle nodded and, while no one noticed Gene tightened his grip on the arm of his chair, the one he hadn’t sliced through. No one threatens Belle. A voice in the back of his head whispered.
Before he could do anything Belle’s voice spoke in his mind. “Who do you think we should show them? Fang, Draco, Webber?”
Thinking over his team of Pokémon for a moment, Gene decided. “Go with Draco.”
Belle nodded and she activated her powers, feeding the memories of the battle into the minds of every being in the room.
“Alright, Belle use Magical Leaf!”
“Kirlia!” Belle shot the attack towards her opponent, hitting him full on.
“Viii...” The Vibrava buzzed as it righted itself in the air, then launched its own attack. “Supersonic!”
The sound waves shot towards Belle at an alarmingly fast rate, Gene had just enough time to call out his next command. “Use Teleport!”
Belle disappeared in a flash of light and the Supersonic struck the ground, confusing the Vibration Pokémon, until Belle reappeared behind him and Gene called out. “Now, use Shadow Ball!”
“Kirliii-a!” The Ghost-type move hit Vibrava head on, knocking it to the ground.
“Now!” Belle told her trainer, using her limited telepathic powers.
“Right,” Gene reached into his bag and pulled out a red and white sphere, he tapped the button on the center and it expanded from ping-pong sized to baseball sized. “Go, Pokéball!”
He threw the ball towards the Ground/Dragon-type and as it hit the Pokémon was transformed into red light and sucked into the ball. It wriggled once, twice, three times, then after a fourth it dinged.
“Yes!” Gene cried throwing his arms in the air. “We did it.” Belle blushed softly. Not many trainers gave their Pokémon as much credit as Gene did. Gene walked over to the Pokéball and picked it up, smiling, and threw it into the air. “Come on out!”
Vibrava blinked his eyes as he landed on the ground. “Vibrava?” He looked at his new trainer quizzically.
“Hi,” Gene said with a wave. “I’m Gene, this is Belle,”
“Hello.” The Psychic-type greeted the new addition happily.
“And welcome to the team.” Gene rubbed his Pokémon’s head, causing the Ground-type to smile softly, Pokémon could tell what kind of trainer a human was and, there were definitely worse alternatives to being caught by someone like Gene. “Now before I introduce you to everyone else,” Gene continued. “I like to give all my Pokémon names,” He smiled, he had had this one planned for a while. “What do you think of Draco?”
Everyone gasped as the memories stopped, and Gene started to explain. “That’s basically how a Pokéball works, you have to weaken-AHH!”
Gene was suddenly knocked out of his chair and tackled to the floor by a surprisingly fast moving yellow projectile. “How. Dare. You.” Fluttershy looked Gene right in the eyes. “How dare you take poor little creatures out of their homes and force them to battle! How dare you-EEP!”
Fluttershy suddenly found herself hanging upside down in the air, facing a perturbed looking Belle. “I hate having to repeat myself,” She said calmly. “Do NOT harm my mate or I will shred your mind. And I don’t want to hurt you Miss Fluttershy.” Fluttershy was shocked silent. “Understand?” Belle asked through gritted teeth.
“U-uh huh.” Fluttershy nodded nervously.
“Good.” Belle placed Fluttershy back in her seat and pulled Gene upright, the Gallade shot a disapproving glare at his mate but it disappeared as she pecked him on the cheek.
“Now then,” Gene said as he sat back down. “What the heck?”
“I think Flutters is just a teensy bit mad about what you did to the little buggy thing.” Pinkie explained.
“Ok, a.) It’s a Vibrava and his name is Draco. And b.) Draco was actually glad I caught him after a while, he told me it was pretty boring in the Hoenn Desert.” Gene explained.
“I’m afraid I have to agree with Fluttershy on this one darling,” Rarity interrupted. “If you are forcibly capturing those poor creatures and forcing them to battle, well it just doesn’t seem right!” Most of the others mumbled in agreement.
“Sweet Arceus,” Korrina groaned. “You guys sound like those idiots from Unova a few years back.” The angry/confused looks Korrina received shut her up.
“Look, I can kinda see where you guys are coming from,” Gene consented. “I personally prefer having my team out of their Pokéballs, walking alongside me. But Belle joined me willingly and I kinda rescued Fang, plus have you seen these guys?” He gestured to the Houndoom sleeping between his and Belle’s chair. “Do you really think I could keep him under control if he wanted to leave?”
A few seconds passed before someone spoke up. “So if I understand what you’re saying correctly,” Twilight began. “Then it’s ultimately up to the Pokémon to decide whether or not they stay with their… Trainer, and battle?”
Gene nodded. “More or less.”
“Still don’t seem entirely right to me.” Applejack grumbled.
“Which part exactly?” Belle inquired. “The capture? The battling? The idea of a Pokéball?”
“All of it really.” The Earth pony answered after a moment. “Doesn’t seem natural, what them humans did.” Whether Applejack forgot that four of the beings in the room used to be humans, or whether she directly ignored it was unclear.
“Well,” Belle began. “Pokémon actually battle with each other naturally so they can become stronger and evolve. As for the Pokéballs, I’ve never spent much time in one myself but from what I’ve heard they’re not that bad, sorta like taking a nap. And the capturing... while some Pokémon, and humans actually, don’t agree with it, it isn’t actually that much of a problem. If the Pokémon wants out they can always break out of their Pokéball and run away. Others learn to trust, respect and love their Trainer over time, and for others…” She smiled and placed a hand on her mate’s arm. “For others, it’s the best thing that ever happened to them.”
“Aww.” Three voices cried at once, the first, not surprisingly was Rarity, the second, Princess Luna, and the third, almost shockingly, was Discord, whom everyone thought was asleep.
“What?” The Draconequus asked. “Just because I’m the spirit of disharmony I can’t have a heart?” To prove his point he reached into his chest and pulled out a heart, making everyone gasp before they realized it was a Hearts and Hooves day chocolate box, the chocolates actually were shaped like hearts.
“Oook,” Gene said, slightly mortified. “I’m gonna ignore that. Anyone else wanna say anything?”
Fluttershy sighed. “I still don’t like the idea but, I guess if it really is their choice,”
“And you haven’t brought any of these orbs with you.” Luna added.
“I guess it’s kinda alright, maybe.” The former humans let out a sigh of relief, although Fluttershy was still largley doubtful of the idea in her mind.
“Well,” Celestia said. “I suppose that’s more than enough for one day.” She eyed Twilight’s extensive notes, and thought back to the fact that she had almost tackled Gene herself before Fluttershy took the initiative. “Luna, Twilight… and Discord, meet me in my chambers in an hour,”
“Oh, Tia,” Discord swooned falsely. “I had no idea you were into that kinda thing.”
While most of the ponies, and Pokémon, looked horrified, Celestia just rolled her eyes and continued. “I have something I need to take care of, but after that we have to discuss some more…” She looked glanced around the room at the amassed beings. “…Delicate matters in private; the rest of you feel free to do as you please, when you are ready just talk to my guards and they will escort you to your rooms, which I’ve already set aside for all of you. Any questions?”
No one spoke up.
“In that case,” Celestia got up from the table. “I have to see a cat about a god.”