We keep moving, the cries and noises of various Pokémon setting my equine companions on edge after seeing just how brutal a fight could be. Nature is scary, and here, it can be a nightmare. Literally in some cases.
As we walk along, Rarity is starting to get acclimated to the Bug-types, no longer jumping a foot in the air each time she spots a Caterpie or Wurmple crawling out of a log. Then we come upon something very different. A human. He approaches me with a friendly ‘Hi!’ and we start a little chat, eventually the subject becomes what he’s here for.
“I’m looking for tough trainers to battle against, and soon I’ll be prepared to take on a Gym leader and get my first badge. That said, how about a little battle?”
“Yeah!” I shout excitedly, then reality kicks me in the face like a Hitmonlee. “But I don’t have any Pokémon to battle with...”
“Oh, a coordinator, huh? Yeah, those two don’t look like they’d do well in a real fight.”
Huh? I then realize he was referring to Rarity and Twilight! I turn to Twilight and give her an evil grin. “No, not really, but I’m willing to give it a shot. I’m game!”
Twilight just looks confused and the trainer and I shake hands to set rules and begin the battle. “One-on-One, one Pokémon each, no items, and no physically crippling moves.”
He smiles. “Fine with me, let’s go!”
We back up and he carefully chooses a Pokéball from his belt and tosses it into the air. The mares beside me stare in awe as the bright light shoots out of the ball and a Rattata forms as the glow subsides.
“Alright Twi, let’s see what you got!” The purple mare stares at me with a ‘What the heck?’ face, but I push her forward. “Come on Twilight. I’ve seen you do plenty of stuff, give it a try. You can do this!”
Twilight gets a strange look on her face. I admit her receiving compliments from me is rare, but it’s just my instinct. Trainers need to be kind to Pokémon if they want to win. Cautiously, Twilight walks up to the small Normal type. The Rattata, clearly having been in battles before, gets it’s ‘game face’ on, and I admit that seeing it in person is a little disconcerting. Twilight feels the same way, but I offer more support.
“You’ve faced off bigger things, give it your best!” At my praise, Twilight seems to actually become more confident immediately. She gives the rat Pokémon a fierce gaze as well, and the other trainer shouts for the battle to begin.
I then realize I don’t know what to tell Twilight to do. I have to give orders to keep up appearances, but I don’t know what to tell her. I can’t just call out moves and have her understand what spells to use! Well on the other hand...
“Alright Twilight, use, uh... Psychic?” Twilight looks at me confusedly. The other trainer then makes his command.
“Rattata, use Bite!” Twi’s eyes go wide as the rat Pokémon leaps at her. She tries to back off, but her foe is too fast and bites her hard on the leg. I don’t know how to describe the sound Twilight makes, but it does not sound at all pleasant.
I shake my head, I need to... Idea! “Twilight, use Telekinesis. It can’t outpace you if it’s not touching the ground!”
Twilight seems surprised, but her horn glows and Rattata is lifted into the air, where it scurries around, unable to get a footing on the air.
I follow up with another command. “Now use Confusion, throw it!” Twilight obeys and she hurls the rat into a nearby tree to her left. Rarity and I wince as we see the Pokémon impact the tree hard enough to make an echoing ‘thwack’.
To Twilight’s utter shock, the Rattata gets back up, ready for more. Forgot how resilient the things are.
“Quick Attack!” Rattata becomes a purple and white blur as it slams into Twilight’s side, knocking her over. Shit.
“Come on Twilight, use... Psybeam!” She seems to get the gist of it from the name and fires a laser of magic at her opponent. It’s not very cone-shaped nor multicolored, but good enough I guess. The other trainer does look a bit suspicious.
“Rattata, Super Fang!” Oh fuck, please tell me Twilight paid attention when I-
Twilight looks very hurt. Not sure how much ‘health’ she had, but whatever it was just got cut in half.
“Quick Attack again!” The usual blur repeats it’s attack from earlier and this time Twilight has a hard time getting up. I run over to pick her up.
“Stop the battle! You win, you win...”
The trainer looks at Twilight and I apologetically. “Jeez man, I’m sorry. I guess I got carried away. Is she gonna be okay?”
I look Twilight over and aside from the bite marks and heavy bruises, she doesn’t look that bad, just exhausted.
“Yeah, I- I think so.” I pick up Twilight in my arms, and the trainer calls back his Rattata. We then go our separate ways, him wishing me luck.
Rarity just stares at me as we walk. “What in the world was that!?”
I sigh and readjust my hold on Twilight. “That was a Pokémon battle. I told you that getting mixed up in a battle can be bad if not prepared, because this is what happens.”
Our walking has led us out of the forest and back into the grasslands.
“But that creature... it was so brutal! Twilight barely stood a chance!”
“I told you that Rattata are fast and durable, but you two wouldn’t listen to me!” I don’t know why I was suddenly angry, but I was. Maybe because I lost my first real battle. “This is the Pokémon world. Pokémon are strong and dangerous, more so than anything you could possibly imagine. These battles? They are one of the most common practices because Pokémon can handle it!”
“How common a practice is it?” Twilight asks. “Once a day?”
I scoff. “Yeah right. The more prolific and prepared trainers try to get at least two battles every hour!”
I continue, ignoring the wide-eyed stares I got from the two. “And Rattata like that, yeah they’re tough, but overall they are pretty weak. True, any Pokémon can become the equivalent of a one-man-army if given proper training, but Rattata are still not that tough, comparatively.”
“Why would you want to come to such a brutal, violent place like this?” Rarity asks. I turn to reply, but something catches my eye. We seem to have wound up near a cliff overlooking the ocean and there are tons of Pokémon.
Far above, near the cloud layer, I barely catch a glimpse of a Fearow circling. It’s hard to tell, but I think it’s a sharp magenta coloration. Too bad it’s too far up... and I don’t have any Pokéballs or anything to catch it with anyways.
The seaside is beautiful, though, with a couple of Dewgong playing in the water, another looking like its getting territorial with a Sealeo on the rocks. Must be cold water, then, if both of those are hanging out around here. Strange, because it’s actually kinda warm up here.
I stumble back as a flock of Wingull buzz by, flying up the cliff face at a breakneck pace, followed by a really pissed-looking Braviary. The whole procession is cawing and screeching up a storm, the cries of ‘Wing!’ and the ear-splitting scream of the enraged eagle-based pokemon sounding like an echo.
A Ledyba crawls slowly to the end of a tree branch and looks at Rarity and Twilight with curiosity evident in its large eyes, no trace of fear to be found in the normally timid Pokémon.
A Masquerain flutters by, huge eye-spots flashing menacingly, but it’s not interested in a fight, just a whimsical passing.
The colors and the cool air from the sea, carrying the scent of salt-spray and a million new animals I’ve never met in person before make me smile and gesture at the gleaming waves and cerulean sky.
“This is why. It’s just fantastic. Dangerous, but so beautiful...” As if to punctuate my statement, I catch a glimpse of an immensely long, blue serpentine form porpoise out of the water a long distance off shore. I have no idea what region I’ve landed in, but it’s a great one, I can tell.
“I am so getting my license. I don’t wanna miss out on all this because of legal issues.” I turn to Rarity and set Twi down to let her stretch her legs. “What do you guys think? Wanna be trainers? Travelling the world, meeting new creatures like you’ve never imagined. Journeying through many environs, braving whatever challenge we may face in the name of success and discovery?”
The two ponies look at each other uneasily, though Rarity glances up at the oddly brave Ledyba. The white pony answers first. “Well... I suppose this world isn’t so bad... Also, what is this curious little one?” she asks, as Twilight thinks things over. The Ledyba inches a little further out on the branch, until it crackles and breaks, sending the poor thing almost to the ground before Rarity catches it in her telekinesis.
“That’s a Ledyba. It’s a Bug type and they are known for being rather skittish. Seems this one’s a bit different. I-” I was about to continue on to movesets and strategies and such, but I recall the fact that nobody needs to know that much. This soon at least. “They are more good at being showy, using special techniques to confuse or distract opponents, though it’s fairly decent in combat if need be. More of a contest Pokémon though.”
Rarity looks over as the Ledyba clings to her, shivering slightly. “Contests? Oh, the poor dear is so frightened... Explain about these ‘contests’, while I tend to the dear.” She begins stroking the pokemon’s shell, calming it quickly.
“Well, contests are kind of like talent shows for Pokémon. Someone who participates in them is called a coordinator, rather than a trainer. The contests don’t involve fighting, instead the coordinator gives commands to their Pokémon to be showy and impressive. It’s all about looking pretty or cool or just amazing. Then each Pokémon is judged and the winner gets a prize. It’s an alternative for trainers who don’t want to have their Pokémon getting hurt.”
Rarity looks down, thoughtfully, at the Pokémon snuggled up to her foreleg. “Well, that does sound better than making them fight... I suppose we’d need to stay here for a bit to sight-see, might as well enjoy ourselves, right, Twilight?”
The purple unicorn is looking down at the ground, before nodding slightly. She raises her gaze to meet mine, a look of stark determination coloring her expression in a way I’ve never seen before.
“You said you wanted to be a Pokémon master? As in, the best trainer ever? I’m going to do the same. And I’ll do it with as little harm to any Pokémon as possible!” The unicorn puffs her chest out and smiles. “And I have enough magic to send back weekly reports on what’s happening without being tired at all, so we can keep everypony back home from getting worried!”
“You? The best of the best? Hah, you didn’t even listen to me when I told you what was dangerous about Rattata! You’ve got a lot of learning to do if you wanna top me! Let’s see how you do on your first day!”
She smiles back. “Learning is what I do best Anthony. And I plan to make friends with my ‘team’ as you called them, not just catch them.”
“And that’s the sign of a trainer that’s going to go far.” I nod happily at her with a warm smile. “But you still have a ways to go. If you honestly want to try and top me someday, you’re gonna have to work hard.”
“You’re on, Anthony! I’m going to win before you know it!” With that, we set off on the trail, the Ledyba still clinging to Rarity.